{"id":5634,"date":"2016-05-28T16:58:42","date_gmt":"2016-05-28T23:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5634"},"modified":"2016-05-28T16:58:42","modified_gmt":"2016-05-28T23:58:42","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s11e23-alpha-and-omega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/05\/mark-watches-supernatural-s11e23-alpha-and-omega\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S11E23 – Alpha and Omega"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-third and final episode of the eleventh season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, well, this happened. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I think this is a fitting end to season eleven because it highlights the things the show did right this year. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a story that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all over the place, variating from one tone to the next, giving us details of a potential story and then yanking them away from us. So, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Alpha and Omega\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ends up being satisfying on a number of fronts while being hopelessly frustrating on others.<\/p>\n

LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK.<\/p>\n

The Dying Sun<\/b><\/p>\n

I think that in hindsight, I massively misinterpreted what happened here, and you can see the evidence for it ALL OVER the video for this episode. I heard Amara say that she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t responsible for the sun dying and that it was due to God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weakening, and my brain went, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, someone else must have done that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Yet it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a much more insidious thing: God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death\u00c2\u00a0required<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the death of his creation. And in the first time in\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0history, the rest of the world watched it happen.<\/p>\n

The snippets we get of this story are fascinating and surreal, which means that I felt cheated by how little of it there was. At the same time, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a strange thing to nitpick because\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has always made their conflicts intensely personal instead of wide-reaching or political. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair, since a show should be able to choose what their focus is. But the whole urban fantasy trope of hiding an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alternate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d universe within our own feels tiring after eleven seasons. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen so much of it, and this felt like the first genuine attempt to pull back the curtain. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a peak. The multiple newscast sequences give the audience a glimpse into a universe where something terrible and awful is happening to the whole\u00c2\u00a0world<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Andrew Dabb\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s script takes this and gives the existential suffering to the main cast instead. Sure, we see those protestors warning others of the end of the world, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dean, Crowley, Rowena, and God who all give up. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the ones who resign themselves to an inevitable fate: the world is just going to end. And I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame them! Prior to Rowena\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s construction of the soul bomb, I had not a single idea how Amara could be stopped. Still, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strange that the show wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t show us much of anything outside the compound. What else is dying because of the sun dying? Are people freaking out around the world? All I knew was that everyone in the bunker was sad and hopeless, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an unsatisfying focus. The show could give us some other story, but we get one that makes it hard to believe that anything significant to the main cast. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to kill off anyone on the screen, so what risk is there in portraying their ennui?<\/p>\n

Ultimately, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>keep missing the mark. In this specific context, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no risk in the story.<\/p>\n

The Soul Bomb<\/b><\/p>\n

This same issue is why Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to\u00c2\u00a0be<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the bomb felt so weird. There was an undeniable finality to this script. I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to say otherwise! These people were saying goodbye to Dean, and it\u00c2\u00a0did<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0feel real. But how many times has a Winchester died? How many times have Sam and Dean said goodbye? While I appreciated the emotional depth to Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conversation with Castiel, he had virtually no development within this season, so it still felt like too little too late on top of repetition. I wanted to believe the sincerity on the screen, but how can I do that if I know that Dean isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to die? So I lacked the suspension of disbelief as the team collected souls and then inserted them into Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s body. All of this was to give him a powerful character moment, one that never quite came to fruition. (Well, I have complicated feelings on that, actually. More in a sec.) It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that the entire cast of characters revolves around Dean in the second half of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Alpha and Omega.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d What about their development? Why introduce Billie if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just going to provide the magical solution to the soul bomb conundrum and then disappear without a single insight into her character?<\/p>\n

Well, we know why.<\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something very cool in the idea of a soul bomb. I admit that. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weird to never get to see \u00c2\u00a0it. But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I have complicated thoughts on that.<\/p>\n

The Confrontation<\/b><\/p>\n

In the end, we get an explanation for Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s connection to Dean \u00e2\u20ac\u201c sort of. I\u00c2\u00a0think<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that this episode confirmed that Amara was desperate for an emotional connection after she \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lost\u00e2\u20ac\u009d her brother. She chose Dean as a strange version of a substitute for God. I guess? But hey, WHAT DO I KNOW? (Very little, apparently.) I was\u00c2\u00a0much<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0more impressed with the way this show took Amara\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revenge narrative, allowed her to confront God about it, and then DID NOT PUNISH HER FOR HAVING SAID OPINION. I am\u00c2\u00a0still<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0shocked that there was an actual HAPPY ENDING on this show. Like, WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN? (Well, it did recently in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Chiggers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d BUT STILL.)<\/p>\n

Look, I have no problem saying the resolution of this conflict is cheesy, but\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has its whole thing with family. So I found it thematically appropriate that family matters in the end for Amara and God. The two of them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c especially Amara \u00e2\u20ac\u201c have legitimate issues with one another, and the show doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that they shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t resolve them. Instead, God accepts Amara as she is, which is a huge step in the right direction. It matters. Their future is merely hinted at, but in the wake of it, Amara thanks Dean for\u00c2\u00a0trying<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to come to a solution that didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t involve destruction. If he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t done that, the world would have ended. So here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m conflicted: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m tired of the threat of Winchester death being a plot device, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the idea of Dean being the voice of reason who talks his way out of a problem. He gave Amara a third option that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d not considered; he empathized with her by explaining why revenge hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever worked for him. DEAN EMPATHIZED WITH SOMEONE TO END A CONFLICT. YES.\u00c2\u00a0YES<\/i>.<\/p>\n

So the writing is actually fantastic in this context. Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sacrifice doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen, but I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel cheated by it. Instead, the show goes in a completely different direction. It may feel a little weird, since the big fight isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a fight at all, but if the show can give me emotional character parallels instead? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fine.<\/p>\n

Toni Bevell<\/b><\/p>\n

Well. I admit that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s potential for this storyline, but you know what?\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has teased me before. If the Men of Letters are the Big Bad in season twelve, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want the show to\u00c2\u00a0also<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0ignore the claims that Toni makes. The Winchesters are responsible for a LOT OF SHIT. A lot.\u00c2\u00a0Shall I make a list<\/i>? No, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll take forever. But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to wait until I see how this shapes up before I get excited.<\/p>\n

Mary<\/b><\/p>\n

BUT YEAH, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M GOING TO UNEQUIVOCALLY STATE THAT AMARA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GIFT TO DEAN IS THE MOST SHOCKING THING THIS SHOW HAS DONE IN AGES. WHAT THE FUCK IS\u00c2\u00a0SUPERNATURAL<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0GOING TO BE IF MARY WINCHESTER IS SUDDENLY ALIVE AND WELL. I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW. I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T FATHOM IT. IT IS VERY EXCITING.<\/p>\n

Please don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mess this up.<\/p>\n

A note about season 12: I am going to hold off on commissions for season 12 because I have no idea what my schedule will be for the fall. As of this review, I have three chapters left in my final edits for my novel before I start submitting it, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to load myself up and then find out I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make time for reviews. I will let y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all know in the fall if it is possible to cram the show back into my schedule. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who commented, bought videos, and otherwise supported me through\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not done with it, but I still want to say nice things to all of you. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the best.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Alpha and Omega\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>.
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Death Note<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/em>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"