In the sixth episode of the ninth season of Supernatural, Dean and Cas track down a rogue angel, while Kevin and Sam offer something to Crowley. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
Trigger Warning: For discussion of depression, suicide, and body horror/gore.
That was an undeniably sad episode, good lord. Like??? I wasn’t prepared for where this went??? Let’s discuss “Heaven Can’t Wait.â€
Dean
At this point, all I feel is concern towards Dean. I’m concerned because he is piling lie upon mistruth upon omission, and it’s only a matter of time before it crumbles down around him. I think Dean’s intent is clear, first of all. He knows that Sam is in a fragile state because of Ezekiel’s presence. He also recognizes that Castiel is not exactly adjusting well to being a mortal man, so he figures it’s easier not to tell him about the permanence of Metatron’s spell.
That doesn’t make this easier. It doesn’t make this precarious balance any simpler. It’s just getting worse, and eventually, both Sam and Castiel will discover the truth, and then??? Oh god, I don’t actually want to think about it.
Sam / Kevin / Crowley
Look, you don’t trust Crowley. That is the basis of practically every scene that he is in. We know this! We understand this! So when Sam and Kevin were trying to negotiate a deal with Crowley to get him to translate parts of the angel tablets, I kept waiting for the inevitable twist. Crowley would double cross them. That’s what he does. He’s cruel and mean and does whatever he can to get what he wants. So I fully expected a number of outcomes from his “call†with Abaddon:
1) He would reveal that he knew the location of the bunker all along by telling his minions to come get him.
2) He would strike a deal with Abaddon if she freed him.
3) He wouldn’t do either of those things, but he’d reveal that he couldn’t read that style of cuneiform.
So consider me really fucking surprised… well, sort of? It’s true that Crowley honors his deals, though more often than not, it’s to his benefits. However, Supernatural takes this a step further because Crowley’s deal isn’t just about getting what he wants. I’d actually theorize that his actions in this episode are entirely motivated by the fact that right at this moment, he has nothing that he wants. Not only is he still in the possession of the Winchesters and utterly hopeless, but he’s losing Hell, too. Abaddon is absolutely taking it from underneath him. She’s stealing his minions; she’s taking souls before they’re ready; she’s voiding most of Crowley’s existing contracts. What power does he have? That gag where Crowley got put on hold was funny; I won’t deny that. But it’s indicative of his status. He can’t reach whomever he wants anymore.
How does a person like Crowley deal with circumstances like this? Usually, with a heavy does of cynicism and sarcasm, so that’s precisely what I thought would come from him. It’s what he does, you know? But the show instead builds off that shocking moment in last season’s finale to show us that in this moment of desperation, Crowley wants to feel something real. He wants to feel something human. So he injects himself with Kevin’s blood, all so he can get closer to some sort of humanity.
Which is terribly ironic, given what Castiel is struggling with.
Castiel
Look, this may just be the best thing this show has done with this character. (I’m still mad that there are so many visual and textual references to a romance between Castiel and Dean in this episode, WHY EVEN GIVE US THAT POTENTIAL IF YOU’RE JUST GOING TO WASTE IT. We all know why. SIGH.) While Crowley is secretly trying to find humanity, Castiel has been given it in spades. But does he want it? After being cast out of the Men of Letters bunker, it’s not like he was given anything to help him survive out in the world.
But he does it. In direct demonstration of his belief that humanity is resilient, Castiel finds a way to make a living. There’s an obvious humor to seeing him in the whole Gas-n-Sip outfit, to watch him do such typical and everyday-human things, because it’s so unlike the Cas we know. But he’s still struggling to understand a world that he’s now been forced into. It’s not like he’s trying to assimilate into humanity for some sort of experiment. He is human in every way, so there’s no choice here. He has to learn how to survive. So I found his characterization charming and charismatic, and then UNBELIEVABLY SAD.
It’s sad because I don’t know if Castiel wants to remain human. It’s through the story of Ephraim and the Pepto-Bismal-exploding people (WHAT THE HELL, NO THANK YOU) that “Heaven Can’t Wait†explores purpose and meaning in human life. Ephraim, one of the angels of mercy in Heaven, is used to extinguishing life that is in incredible pain. But how does the fabric of pain appear to him once he’s on Earth? Pain is part of our life here. (Which is why it’s so frustrating to hear Dean and that sheriff speak so dismissively of people with mental illness or depression. Where is our Dean Winchester who is protective of these kind of people because he knows what that feels like?) And Castiel learns the hard way just how common pain is. Hell, even I fell the whole date with Nora! I HAVE ALSO TOTALLY SHOWED UP TO SOMETHING I THOUGHT WAS A DATE BUT DEFINITELY WAS NOT. That kind of rejection – one based around misinterpretation and disappointment – is brutal.
But does our sadness mean we want to give up? Sometimes, yes. In the case of the characters in “Heaven Can’t Wait†– including Castiel – they were miserable or sad or depressed, but none of them wanted stop living. Now, I’m not saying that this episode is a nuanced look at suicide or depression, because it’s not. I did like that there was an undercurrent of hope here. These people all felt awful for justifiable reasons, and yet they chose to live. Castiel seems to have chosen to stay human, at least for the time being, and that means he’s going to deal with the pain and frustration of being one of us. That doesn’t mean life is going to be easier for him; I got the sense that he’d feel a lot better dealing with this if he had someone helping him. (That someone is Dean. COME ON, SHOW.)
He doesn’t, though. Like Crowley, he’s entirely alone.
The video for “Heaven Can’t Wait†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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