In the sixth episode of the ninth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, Dean and Cas track down a rogue angel, while Kevin and Sam offer something to Crowley. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of depression, suicide, and body horror\/gore.<\/b><\/p>\n
That was an undeniably sad episode, good lord. Like??? I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t prepared for where this went??? Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discuss \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Heaven Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Wait.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Dean<\/b><\/p>\n
At this point, all I feel is concern towards Dean. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m concerned because he is piling lie upon mistruth upon omission, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a matter of time before it crumbles down around him. I think Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intent is clear, first of all. He knows that Sam is in a fragile state because of Ezekiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence. He also recognizes that Castiel is not exactly adjusting well to being a mortal man, so he figures it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easier\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i> to tell him about the permanence of Metatron\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spell.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make this easier. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make this precarious balance any simpler. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just getting worse, and eventually, both Sam and Castiel will discover the truth, and then??? Oh god, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually want to think about it.<\/p>\n
Sam \/ Kevin \/ Crowley<\/b><\/p>\n
Look, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he does. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cruel and mean and does whatever he can to get what he wants. So I fully expected a number of outcomes from his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153call\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with Abaddon:<\/p>\n
1) He would reveal that he knew the location of the bunker all along by telling his minions to come get him.<\/p>\n
2) He would strike a deal with Abaddon if she freed him.<\/p>\n
3) He wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do either of those things, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d reveal that he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t read that style\u00c2\u00a0of cuneiform.<\/p>\n
So consider me\u00c2\u00a0really<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0fucking surprised\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, sort of? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true that Crowley honors his deals, though more often than not, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to his benefits. However,\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>takes this a step further because Crowley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s deal isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just about getting what he wants. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d actually theorize that his actions in this episode are entirely motivated by the fact that right at this moment, he has\u00c2\u00a0nothing<\/i> that he wants. Not only is he still in the possession of the Winchesters and utterly hopeless, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s losing Hell, too. Abaddon is\u00c2\u00a0absolutely taking it from underneath him. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stealing his minions; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taking souls before they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re ready; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voiding most of Crowley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s existing contracts. What power does he have? That gag where Crowley got put on hold was funny; I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny that. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s indicative of his status. He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reach whomever he wants anymore.<\/p>\n
How does a person like Crowley deal with circumstances like this? Usually, with a heavy does of cynicism and sarcasm, so that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s precisely what I thought would come from him. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he does, you know? But the show instead builds off that shocking moment in last season\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blood, all so he can get closer to some sort of humanity.<\/p>\n
Which is terribly ironic, given what Castiel is struggling with.<\/p>\n
Castiel<\/b><\/p>\n
Look, this may just be the best thing this show has done with this character. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE 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\u00c2\u00a0want<\/i> it? After being cast out of the Men of Letters bunker, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like he was given anything to help him survive out in the world.<\/p>\n
But he does it. In direct demonstration of his belief that humanity is resilient, Castiel finds a way to make a living. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so unlike the Cas we know. But he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still struggling to understand a world that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now been forced into. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to assimilate into humanity for some sort of experiment. He\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i> human in every way, so there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no choice here. He\u00c2\u00a0has<\/i> to learn how to survive. So I found his characterization charming and charismatic, and then UNBELIEVABLY SAD.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sad because I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if Castiel\u00c2\u00a0wants<\/i> to remain human. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s through the story of Ephraim and the Pepto-Bismal-exploding people (WHAT THE HELL, NO THANK YOU) that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Heaven Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Wait\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on Earth? Pain is part of our life here. (Which is why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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\u00c2\u00a0I<\/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 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c one based around misinterpretation and disappointment \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is\u00c2\u00a0brutal<\/i>.<\/p>\n
But does our sadness mean we want to give up? Sometimes, yes. In the case of the characters in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Heaven Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Wait\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including Castiel \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they were miserable or sad or depressed, but none of them wanted stop living. Now, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not saying that this episode is a nuanced look at suicide or depression, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not. I did\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to deal with the pain and frustration of being one of us. That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean life is going to be easier for him; I got the sense that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d feel a lot better dealing with this if he had someone helping him. (That someone is Dean. COME ON, SHOW.)<\/p>\n
He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, though. Like Crowley, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entirely alone.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Heaven Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Wait\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 sixth episode of the ninth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural, Dean and Cas track down a rogue angel, while Kevin and Sam offer something to Crowley. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[590],"tags":[591],"class_list":["post-4569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supernatural","tag-mark-watches-supernatural"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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