In the first episode of the tenth season of Supernatural, this is a little more underwhelming than I expected. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.Â
So much potential, so little of it used. This was a weird episode, y’all.
Castiel / Hannah
I think we’re seeing the same issue I had with most of season nine appearing here again: we are told a lot about this world, and we are shown very little of it. We hear from Hannah about the changes in Heaven, but what does that mean to us when none of them are on the screen? There’s no record of the changes. Instead, Hannah shows up at Castiel’s hotel room (or is it an apartment? Where is he staying? Why are these things just dropped into the show with no explanation?) just to spout exposition, introduce a new plot that barely makes sense, and then commit to said plot without any attempt to explain her motivation for her behavior.
So, Heaven is rebuilding, and the angels have largely figured out to rule each other. That’s cool. So whose authority is she invoking when trying to bring Adina and Daniel home? Why is it necessary that they come back? The only reason we’re given is that Heaven is open, so everyone has to go back? Because that’s just the way it is? Is there something missing? I recognize that this episode gives us three cliffhangers, so it might be explained in the next one, but that’s the larger problem with “Black.” After such a grand end to season nine, this feels like a whimper.
The only conflict here that shows promise is Castiel’s need for grace, though that’s largely stuck on the back burner here. I don’t have a clue how he’ll get some, but I wonder if that story will be intertwined with his interest in humanity. The problem, of course, is that Cas’s need for grace is a life-or-death matter. He’ll die permanently without it.
I just hope that the next episode gives us a lot more than this one did when it comes to these two.
Sam / Cas
There’s a lot more meat to Sam’s story than there seems to be on the surface, and I do appreciate that when it comes down to it, Sam Winchester absolutely wants his brother back. You can see it in his face and in his actions. At the same time, he’s been presented with one whopper of a moral quandary: Just how far should he go in saving Dean if Dean truly has become a demon?
The surveillance tape scene is crucial because Sam isn’t allowed to be in denial anymore. Dean is a demon now, point blank. And sure, right now, he’s only killing Abaddon’s minions that Crowley is sending to him, but what if he goes further than this? What if he starts doing some truly evil shit? Does Sam decide to honor Dean’s request to let him go? Or does he hunt him down?
Unfortunately, this quest of Sam’s is also completely weighed down by the confusing and deliberately ambiguous sidetrack that is… that one guy. Did he say his name? I didn’t catch it. Apparently, he is a hunter, but only a hunter of Dean, because Dean did something? Not Demon!Dean, but real Dean. (I’ve typed that name so many times that it no longer seems real anymore.) With no real explanation for this part of the story, it’s hard for me to care about about what’s happening. I mean… so Dean did something messed up? Well, I’m not surprised. No one is! So… what is all this?
It’s mostly Dean’s story, isn’t it?
Dean / Crowley
There is an obvious humor to the reveal that Dean’s time post-demon is spent in a dive bar in North Dakota having sex and drinking and doing really bad karaoke. It’s almost too obvious, of course, and it mostly makes me confused. However, it’s the show’s ambiguity throughout this premiere that bewilders me the most. So, Dean and Crowley decide to spend some time off the grid, reveling in debauchery and sin, just for the sake of it. Yes? Have I got it so far? It’s all part of Crowley’s teambuilding for Dean, an attempt to get closer to him so that the two of them can rule Hell together.
Except Dean is only technically a demon? He’s otherwise human as long as the Mark of Cain is fed with kills (hence Crowley’s plan to send Abaddon’s followers to Dean). If Dean goes too long without killing? He turns into a demon. Which he already is. Sort of? So either option Dean has before him is terrible. He can become a killer or a demon. Or both. Except when is he in the demon state? All the time? Only some of the time? Is he possessed or is his soul now demonic? Is it both?
I’M VERY CONFUSED. I suppose I was looking forward to something akin to Angelus on Angel, a version of a good character who is now unabashedly bad. Dean is aggressively straight in this episode (Y A W N), he has a lot of sex (Y A W N), he beats up a dude out of a weird sense of honor (Y A W N), and – wait. How can he have a sense of right and wrong like that as a demon? Like, he knew that Anne Marie’s boyfriend/lover was a douche, and he beat him up to protect her. How does that work? Did he momentarily care for her?
I’ve asked a lot of questions, I know. Sometimes, that’s a good thing, but I was mostly left wondering what the hell was going on by this premiere. I’m hoping that the next episode provides me with more concrete answers and a sense of what this season’s arc might be. But mostly? This was kind of disappointing.
The video for “Black” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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