In the twenty-third and final episode of the eighth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, this is clearly something y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all were waiting for me to see. It says something about my life that I have had people waiting over a year to watch a moose cry. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m making jokes about this because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easier to deal with the pain with humor than to actually think about what just happened. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to end this ridiculous introduction now.<\/p>\n
Honestly, this was one of the better season finales on this show. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK ABOUT WHY THAT IS.<\/p>\n
Crowley<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to jump around here a bit, if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mind, because there are a lot of pieces that make the whole what it is. Now, I am utterly furious that this episode has cliffhanger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d me on LITERALLY EVERY PLOT that was currently active at the beginning of the episode. One thing I really wanted to know was whether or not Crowley was acting during the final third of this episode. (Regardless of that outcome, Mark Sheppard deserves a lot of credit for an unreal performance here.) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to tell because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a thin line between the two possibilities. That subtle change \u00e2\u20ac\u201c where Crowley is babbling about\u00c2\u00a0Girls<\/i> and then he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suddenly begging to be loved \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is one of the most electrifying things I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen on this show. And yet, I still couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite believe that Crowley was truly being healed. Look, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perhaps the craftiest character on this show. Despite that Gabriel played the Trickster role already, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to see a lot of that personality in Crowley as well. So how could I know it was real? I\u00c2\u00a0wanted<\/i> it to be real; the possibility of Crowley being healed was way too fascinating to me. But I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really get what I want on this show, do I? DO I???<\/p>\n
Jody Mills<\/b><\/p>\n
Well, I got Jody Mills, so PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING IS OKAY, REVIEW OVER.<\/p>\n
It was nice to see her, though I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like an episode she actually stars in because SHE IS ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTERS ON THIS SHOW. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thankful she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still alive.<\/p>\n
Metatron \/ Castiel<\/b><\/p>\n
I genuinely did not suspect that Metatron was up to\u00c2\u00a0anything<\/i> here, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Not once did I question his act. Not once did I think he was manipulating Castiel.\u00c2\u00a0Now<\/i> I understand why the show waited so long to introduce this plot line. I came into \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sacrifice\u00e2\u20ac\u009d concerned about how cluttered and overflowing this episode might feel, given that there were so many things unfolding at once, but this did not feel like either of those descriptors at all. The pacing for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sacrifice\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is certainly a lot faster than most of this season, but it works well placed at the end of the season. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s particularly the case for Metatron. He comes across as a cowardly and reticent in his appearances prior to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sacrifice.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I wonder how much of that was intentional. Was he always waiting for an opportunity to get revenge against the archangels and their supporters? When Sam and Dean showed up to his hotel room, did he suddenly realize that he has the perfect means to enact his revenge? I imagine that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case, which explains why he decided to save Kevin. Kevin was a means to an end, a way to win trust so that he could move closer to Castiel.<\/p>\n
Just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 holy shit, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. The ramifications of this are going to be huge, and not just for Heaven. This means that Metatron is the ONLY angel left in Heaven, though. Yes? ALL OF HEAVEN TO HIMSELF???? But what is that compared to Castiel, who ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T AN ANGEL ANYMORE??? Oh my god, I genuinely feel terrible for Cas, who wanted so badly to right the wrongs in his life, and instead, he ran straight into the arms of someone who manipulated him.<\/p>\n
Kevin<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad the Winchesters finally realized that they should stick Kevin in the Men of Letters bunker. ABOUT TIME. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the safest place imaginable for him! Does that mean he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be around in season nine to help out the Winchesters? What about his mother? Is she actually dead? I know that this show doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let its characters have a life outside of hunting, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to see Kevin get the chance. Which means I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get that, but OH WELL.<\/p>\n
Misty-Eyed Boy Talk<\/b><\/p>\n
look<\/p>\n
LOOK.<\/p>\n
I poke fun at Winchester angst, I know it. The show often thrives on it, sometime sheightening the drama just so we can see the Winchesters fight and argue and take shots at one another, and then they emote and awkwardly hug and avoid feelings and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fairly repetitive cycle. Sometimes that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good, sometimes it feels like the show is doing it just because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re\u00c2\u00a0supposed<\/i> to do. (That feels more the case for season eight than any of those that came before it.)<\/p>\n
The show alternates between treating the emotional journey between these two brothers super great and\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, not so great at times. It depends. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve mentioned being tired of Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manly refusals to talk about feelings during this season\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reviews, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good example of something that just builds conflict, but doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hold any real meaning for me. So why, then, does the big dramatic confrontation between Dean and Sam finally feel so true and genuine here in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sacrifice\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n
Well, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be honest about biases! I was going to like that final scene because SAMMY BEING A GIANT BALL OF TEARFUL EMOTIONS. That alone was enough to make me feel like we were getting a scene that, frankly, felt like it was overdue. Look, even if Dean didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever think he was treating Sam in a way to make him perceive their relationship as he does here, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still how it happened. Sam still feels like his one big sin \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the only thing he confessed to purify himself \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is that he is a constant disappointment to his big brother. And how could he\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i> feel this? Everything that Dean lists as a suggestion to Sam about what to confess prior to the start of the third trial is one example after another of Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disappointment. After the experience of the past year, it makes sense to me \u00e2\u20ac\u201c heartbreakingly so \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that Sam would come to believe that his death would end a long string of disappointments.<\/p>\n
This is what Sam needed. He needed to hear that even if he had made mistakes in the past, that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean Dean doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t love him, that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an endless disappointment as a person, that he isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0needed<\/i> in the here and now. I mean, these two put aside the chance to close Hell\u00c2\u00a0forever\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>in order to repair their relationship in some way, to give themselves the opportunity to LIVE. Is it foolish? OF COURSE IT IS. But it has to be. We have to see them willing to put family in front of their job instead of the other way around. For once, the sacrifice isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a Winchester.<\/p>\n
Fallen Angels<\/b><\/p>\n
LITERALLY ONE OF THE COOLEST, MOST CHILLING MOMENTS OF THE WHOLE SHOW. The music, the horrifying beauty of it,\u00c2\u00a0the potential<\/i>. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made my issues with season 8 pretty clear. I AM REALLY FUCKING EXCITED FOR SEASON 9. This is such a fascinating thing to make the Winchesters deal with, on top of the fact that they still have Crowley AND Cas is a human AND Abaddon is still out there in the world AND Naomi is dead AND my feelings. Whew, these are going to be some fun predictions.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sacrifice\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – 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.<\/a> In the twenty-third and final episode of the eighth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural, this is clearly something y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all were waiting for me to see. It says something about my life that I have had people waiting over a year to watch a … Continue reading
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