In the second episode of the ninth season of Supernatural, the war on Earth now includes MORE DEMONS! Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
Trigger Warning: For discussion of consent and race/tokenism.
Okay, if this is a sign of what season nine is going to address, I’m on board. I kind of love the idea that Earth will be a battleground between the angels, cast out of Heaven, and the demons, chaotic in the wake of their King being kidnapped. Everything is a mess, and the more exciting parts of “Devil May Care†hint at the potential of this season’s arc.
LET US DISCUSS THINGS.
Kevin Tran
There’s a meta conversation that could be had regarding Kevin’s role within Supernatural: he is a person of color within a very white show, and therefore, it’s highly possible that Crowley’s prediction will come true. Once Kevin doesn’t serve a purpose to the writers, he’ll be cast out. Tokenism is something that a lot of us who are marginalized in our respective cultures have to deal with. I’ve appreciated that the show fleshed out Kevin Tran in season eight, but I worry that he’s not going to get much development beyond this episode. The truth is that for the second half of last season, Kevin really was just a source of information to the Winchesters, particularly Dean. I don’t think that’s a mischaracterization. Why else is Kevin so willing to listen to Crowley?
Well, that’s one aspect of it. He’s stuck in the Bunker, he’s always working, and he feels trapped. But the way in which Crowley tempts Kevin is another reason why he falls for Crowley’s manipulation. To a point, I guess? I know we haven’t seen Kevin’s mother since last season, so it’s entirely possible she’s still alive, but I hate that Kevin has hope when it could so easily be a lie. All of this makes me wonder: what is Kevin’s role this season? At the end of “Devil May Care,†Dean makes an impassioned speech about how Kevin is family. Which is great! And very touching! But that’s literally the first time he’s ever done anything that affectionate for Kevin, so it makes sense to me that Kevin doubted whether or not Dean actually cared about him. So that means Kevin is staying, right? But for what? To recite exposition? And that is what tokenism feels like. I enjoy Osric Chau a great deal, and I think he offers up a fantastic dynamic to the cast that the show doesn’t use all that much. I’m biased, sure, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for everyone on this show to get good stories for them, you know?
Abaddon
Alaina Huffman is fun to watch in this role, which I’m thankful for because I don’t know that much of “Devil May Care†feels all that different from some of the earlier seasons of the show. In a more general sense, I am drawn to the story of Hell trying to sort itself out, of this power play by Abaddon. That’s interesting to me. The execution of that is a little stale to me at times. Most of this feels like a very run-of-the-mill action set, a whole lot like the one in “Abandon All Hope…†for example. It’s an abandoned, vacant part of town, and the Winchesters have to fight off demons. Not groundbreaking for the show. And while I was pleased to see some new hunters, it was also hard to care about characters we’ve never met before. Who is Irv? Or Tracy? They feel like they’re stuffed into this episode just to serve the main story and nothing more. (That’s related to tokenism, too. I’ll admit to being utterly surprised that Tracy survived this episode; I was certain she’d be killed. So… yay? I think?)
Ezekiel
So, I wasn’t bored watching this episode, but I certainly felt like I snapped to attention once Ezekiel – within Sam – “woke up.†I DID NOT THINK OF THIS RAMIFICATION OF THE POSSESSION. Ezekiel has an interest in keeping Sam alive and safe, and that means he’ll probably continue to show up like this to do so. Which is good for Sam… I guess? That’s the complication of this story, though. Sam never truly consented to this, so it’s hard to ever guess or surmise how Sam might feel about any of this. Couple that with his lack of memory of events where Ezekiel was present, and this becomes a rather uncomfortable reality.
A good example of that is the final scene in “Devil May Care.†Sam relates his recent happiness to Dean, and it’s not a magical, beautiful moment. Is Sam’s health and joy due to Ezekiel? Whenever Ezekiel leaves, does that mean that suddenly, Sam’s progress disappears? That’s not even factoring in his anger and betrayal, which he’ll surely feel when he discovers what really happened to him. And you can see Dean squirming as he hears how Sam feels at the moment. This is what Dean has to live with, and I hope he doesn’t try to dodge responsibility for it.
EVERYTHING IS UNCOMFORTABLE.
The video for “Devil May Care†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Ireland. Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
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