In the seventh episode of the eighth season of Supernatural, I just realized what the title refers to. Help me. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
Trigger Warning: For gore/blood
TOO MUCH HAPPENED.
The Trans
I just adore these characters so much, y’all. That is also a death sentence in this world, so WHOMP WHOMP. To be honest, I was super worried that this would be the episode where the writers would kill them off. If Kevin read the tablet, how could he serve a purpose within the show itself? If Ms. Tran failed to protect her son, how could she still be alive? And it’s sometimes frustrating to think about it this way. Not all the time, mind you. The show does work well to build suspense throughout this episode by making the threat of death very, very real. At the same time, I just want this show to be able to explore other characters (and their dynamic with the Winchesters) without everything always ending in death. (And yes, the fact that this show has sustained two Asian characters for this long is surprising and will still make me sad if we get to a point where these two people aren’t around anymore.) I see so much potential here, and I want to see it explored, but I can’t really get my hopes up anymore, you know?
Still, I enjoyed this so much because of how interesting Ms. Tran is as a character. She’s motherly in a way that isn’t a caricature and is also quite refreshing within this show’s history. She’s not fearless, either. No, she knows exactly what to fear, and she takes precautions in order to avoid anything happening to her and her son. At the same time, she’s remarkably proactive! While she ultimately messes up by using a witch to help her, I think it’s actually pretty amazing that she even thought to use Craigslist to gather supplies for another demon bomb. She’s so resourceful! SHE CAPTURED A DEMON AND PUT HIM IN THE TRUNK OF HER CAR, Y’ALL.
I wonder, then, if Kevin had some secondary plan the whole time, but was unable to pull it off before Castiel arrived. Like his mother, Kevin is stubborn and resilient, and despite that he is tortured and is forced to watch a future prophet ripped to shreds, he doesn’t budge an inch. Well.. until Crowley CUTS ONE OF HIS FINGERS OFF. (Why, episode title. WHY.) Did he do this knowing that Crowley would most likely kill him after he finished translating the tablet? Did he have a backup plan? Was he just tired of running and hiding for the past year? We don’t find out yet, but I’m guessing the events of this episode will have a huge affect on Kevin’s role in the future. HE WANTS REVENGE.
GuiltÂ
I definitely believed that the two glimpses of Castiel that Dean saw in the early parts of “A Little Slice of Kevin†were hallucinations. He was seeing what he wanted to see, not what actually happened. (Oh, the irony!) Why? Because he was tortured by the guilt of possibly not doing everything in his power to pull Cas into the portal out of Purgatory. We know that Dean does not think highly of himself most of the time, and the memory of Cas slipping away was eating away at him. He kept replaying the moment in his mind, over and over again, tormenting himself with the possibilities.
So what does it mean to him that Castiel is alive and relatively okay? Well, like every distressing thing in season eight, that answer is complicated. I noticed that we never got a scene that was, for lack of a better term, a happy reunion. No hugs, no emotional welcomes, just Dean’s utter shock and disbelief. I think that’s an intentional thing that the show did. Dean isn’t UNHAPPY to see Cas, mind you. But I think he realizes instantly that his perception of events tells him that Cas might think he didn’t try hard enough. And it’s something he believes deep-down, enough that he has that outburst outside of the Impala.
The twist here, though, is that Dean’s mind saw what it wanted in Purgatory. Castiel willingly pushed Dean away, all so that he could remain behind as PENANCE. It’s actually a fascinating character moment because the writers use it to acknowledge the terrible things that Castiel did in Heaven and on Earth. Castiel knew that he’d never accept himself again if he didn’t pay for his sins. Y’all, Dean was punishing himself over something HE DIDN’T EVEN DO. (Which is, of course, one of many ironies within this episode, since Dean didn’t know that Castiel stayed in Purgatory in order to punish himself as well.) Like, I can’t imagine a more telling example of Dean’s self-hatred. This is what he does to himself, time and time again. I actually felt like Castiel’s message to him – that Dean can’t save everyone, that everything is not always Dean’s responsibility – was something we would have heard directed at Sam earlier in this show, you know?
OH HOW THE TURN TABLES.
Naomi
Answering a mystery with another mystery? HOW DARE YOU. HOW DARE YOU. I am pleased that the “mystery†of what happened to Cas in Purgatory was not dragged out beyond this episode. I did mention during the video for this that it’s kind of a common thing for this show to do. How many times has someone been brought back without knowing the means to it?
WELL, HERE IT IS. It’s Amanda Tapping (!!!!!! MY QUEEN !!!!!) as Naomi who is responsible for Castiel’s escape, and WHAT THE FUCK. She’s having Castiel spy on the Winchesters (ostensibly because of those tablets), and she’s doing so completely against his will. That scene is so deliberately bizarre and unsettling, and I want a thousand more of them. Just… what plans does she have here? What role does she have in heaven? HOW UNPREPARED AM I???
Amanda Tapping is on Supernatural, y’all. I’m so thrilled. SO THRILLED.
The video for “A Little Slice of Kevin†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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