After last week's episode of Supernatural, which was a soaring, sweeping and heart-breaking example of what the show's writers, actors and directors are capable of, I had my doubts that such amazing momentum could continue through the two remaining episodes "Let It Bleed" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much". I hate it when I'm right about things like this. Because I'm still trying to figure things out and nothing much happened that we didn't already know would happen, I'll do quick recaps of both episodes and move on to an extended Question section.
SPOILERS!
"Let It Bleed"
Dean is still angsty about Cas refusing to abandon his deal with Crowley. Bobby tells the boys that Cas stole a Campbell journal from them that contains more clues about how to open Purgatory. Fortunately, Bobby (suspicious bastard) had made a copy, and tries to head Cas off by following the same trail. Meanwhile, Crowley and his demon thugs kidnap Lisa and Ben, increasing Dean's angst by a factor of ten at the very least. The brothers call Balthazar for help and fill him in on Cas' plan. Balthazar zaps away to confirm the facts with Cas and decides to keep helping him anyway. Dean tries to torture Lisa and Ben's location out of a series of demons, and one of them breaks through the Devil's Trap. Cas shows up and kills the demon and asks Dean, once again, to trust him. Dean refuses. Balthazar shows up, having sussed out the location of Lisa and Ben. He takes the Winchesters there but is unable to enter the building because Crowley had thoroughly angel-proofed it. Sam immediately gets knocked out and locked in a closet, and Dean kills some demons and sets Lisa and Ben free - except oh no! Lisa's actually possessed by a demon! She threatens Ben and taunts Dean and hints yet again that Dean is actually Ben's father, though she immediately says "Just kidding!" Dean starts to recite the exorcism ritual and Lisa stabs herself so that she'll die once Dean finishes. He scoops Lisa up, hands Ben a shotgun, and blasts his way out of there, picking Sam up on the way. They rush Lisa to the hospital but she's dying anyway. Cas shows up and apologizes, heals Lisa, and erases any memory of Dean from Lisa and Ben's minds. Oh so sad. Bobby follows a trail of Lovecraft clues to his former blonde professor lover, who is actually some kind of monster from Purgatory. Bobby tells her that she's not safe and that Cas is on his way, but she tells him that she can take care of herself. Cas snatches her easily.
"The Man Who Knew Too Much"
Sam has lost it. The wall came down when Cas touched him, in order to prevent Bobby and the Winchesters from being able to stop him from opening Purgatory (the blonde monster lady told him how, and she died). Now Sam is trapped inside his own mind, surrounded by menacing metaphors and whatnot. Dean is freaking out, but Bobby tells him that this is exactly what Cas wants, so the two of them head out to stop Cas and Crowley. Balthazar betrayed their location to them, even though he was harboring doubts about going against Cas. Cas, holding a jar of blood for the ritual, tells Crowley that once they crack open Purgatory, he's not planning on sharing any of the souls with him. He tells Crowley to flee or die, and Crowley chooses to flee. Balthazar shows up and Cas kills him for his betrayal. Crowley comes back with Rafael, however, having made a new deal. Raf wants the souls from Purgatory, and tells Cas to flee or die. Cas flees, after giving Raf the jar of blood. Crowley and Rafael begin the ritual while Dean and Bobby sneak in the back. They put up a token resistance but Crowley easily subdues them, and continues with the ritual. It doesn't work. Cas shows up, looking very smug. Crowley realizes that Cas must have tricked them and switched jars. Cas is now full of souls, demonstrating this by glowing really brightly. Crowley gets his ass out of there, and Cas snaps his fingers and explodes Rafael. Dean and Bobby cautiously approach Cas and tell him to put the souls back, but Cas refuses (he's totally high as a kite on all these souls). Sam (having killed a few versions of himself in his mind) sneaks up behind him and stabs him with an angel sword, but it doesn't work. Cas claims that he's not an angel anymore - he's a newer, better God, and they'd all better bow down to him before he explodes them, too.
Seriously. That's it. Let's get to the Questions part.
Questions that still need some freaking answers already:
WTF?! (I don't think anything needs to be added to this one.)
So... How about those Heavenly weapons then? That sure turned out to be a major plot point - NOT! We saw two of the weapons and heard vague mentions of others. There was an entire meta-episode dedicated to Balthazar giving those weapons to Cas. They were really talked up - remember when Cas said that whoever had the weapons won the war? Now we get to the season finale and they aren't even mentioned. Look, I'd accept that the weapons were a red herring if the writers had wrapped it all up a little better, but that didn't happen, and so it annoys me.
What about Death? Death was the one who got Sam's soul back and told Dean that "it's all about the souls." And it was. But what does Death care about souls anyway? He's just interested in the transitional period, if I understand correctly. If it was important enough for him to mention, wouldn't it have been important enough for him to show up again at some point? Apparently not.
Really? The key to Purgatory was conveniently contained in Bobby's former lady friend? All it took was some blood and a ritual to open the door? The Lovecraft thing was cool, but really? My disbelief can be suspended no further.
Exactly what was Crowley expecting to get out of a deal with Rafael? Remember the whole Apocalypse thing? How was he expecting to survive if he turned Rafael into a freaking God? He's cagier than that.
Why, oh why did they have to bring up the Ben-might-really-be-Dean's-son thing AGAIN? Hasn't this been asked and answered about a bajillion times?
Speaking of Lisa and Bobby's blonde lady friend, where is the love for any women on this show? You've got poor defenseless Lisa who needs to be rescued, but first, a little slut-shaming! You just can't trust these nasty bitches that sleep with other guys, can you? And stupid blonde monster lady, thinking that she could possibly protect herself, and then spilling her guts like a weak woman would.
Why kill Balthazar? He was entertaining, even though he had almost zero character development, and I would have liked to have seen more of him.
And now we move on to Castiel. Look, I like my characters to have a little ambiguity, and Supernatural usually excels at highlighting ambiguity. What is "good"? What is "evil"? What is "right", and what is "wrong"? Etc., etc., etc. But what I don't like is a fundamental character change within the space of three episodes (at most). The only way I can make sense of this is that the strain of dealing with Crowley and fighting a losing War in Heaven pushed Cas over the edge, and he's now gone completely mad. I'm sure the addition of millions of souls didn't help, either. Whatever it is that is telling Bobby and the Winchesters to bow down, it's not Cas. Not really. Maybe something other than the souls slipped through when Cas did the ritual. Since Supernatural was kind enough to weave H.P. Lovecraft into all of this, I'm just going to cling to my belief that Cas is being possessed by Cthulu until I find out otherwise.
I want my angel back, damnit, and I feel like this whole season has been mis-handled. The writers neglected Cas' character until "The Man Who Would Be King", and then shoe-horned in this major character flip. To me, this speaks of either an inablility or lack of interest in introducing new characters and then keeping them. I'm okay with Cas getting morally gray, but becoming a tyrannical God? I'm not buying it, and if things don't progress to my satisfaction when the seventh season starts next fall, then my love for Supernatural beyond the fifth season will officially be dead.
On the bright side, Burn Notice will start up soon.
Next Season:
Who even knows.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
You're Still In Debt, Boys (Ungrateful Dicks)
Having had the weekend to process my feelings about Friday's episode of Supernatural (yes, seriously, it was that good. Anyone who is not currently a fan must Netflix the series immediately. It's all worth it by Season Four), I've decided to compile a list of all of the good things Castiel has done for Sam, Dean and Bobby, and compare it to a list of all the good things that Sam, Dean and Bobby have done for Castiel. I am both a nerd and a fan, so this should not surprise anyone.
I'm doing this because I'm still reeling about how hard the Winchesters are being on Cas, and this is clearly a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, and all that. And judging by the comments on io9's recap, I'm not alone in this. I'm hoping that we're left with some feeling of redemption for Cas by the end of the season, because he's certainly proved himself in the past.
Good Things Cas Has Done for the Winchesters:
1. Raising Dean from Hell (Season Four, "Lazarus Rising"). In this episode, angels are introduced as the flip side to the demon coin, and Cas' first appearance couldn't be more badass. He brushes of multiple gunshot wounds and a knife to the heart as if they were nothing, and tells Dean that Heaven has plans for him. And he introduces himself thusly: "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition."
2. Sending Dean back in time to get the full backstory on Azazel's history with the Winchesters (Season Four, "In the Beginning"). Dean meets his mother, father, and maternal grandparents. The deal Mary was forced to make with Azazel explains a lot, and while it was a painful experience for him, it was still good to know.
3. Cas stops Alastair from killing Dean (Season Four, "On the Head of a Pin"). Alastair broke out of the Devil's Trap with covert assistance from Uriel and beat the tar out of Dean. Cas stabs him before he can finish the job, and gets the tar beat out him, too.
4. Cas gives Dean the means to stop Sam from dealing with Lilith (Season Four, "The Monster at the End of This Book"). Dean is desperate to keep Chuck's prophecy about Sam and Lilith from coming to pass, and Cas gives him a hint (wink wink, nudge nudge) about using an archangel to do it.
5. Cas tries to meet with Dean in order to tell him something important (Season Four, "The Rapture"). This gets his ass dragged back to Heaven by the other angels, where it is implied that they tortured Cas back into obedience.
6. Cas saves Sam and Dean, along with Jimmy's daughter, from demons (Season Four, "The Rapture"). When Cas' vessel, Jimmy, and the Winchesters are cornered by demons, Cas uses Jimmy's daughter as a vessel to save the day.
7. Cas rebels against Heaven at Dean's request, and sends him to Sam in order to prevent him from breaking the final seal, releasing Lucifer (Season Four, "Lucifer Rising"). Sadly, Sam does it anyway.
8. Cas dies trying hold off the archangel, buying time for Dean to stop Sam (Season Four, "Lucifer Rising").
9. Cas rescues Sam and Dean from Zachariah by coming back from the dead and killing two angels (Season Five, "Sympathy for the Devil"). When Cas decides on a course of action, he commits to it. Having come back without knowing exactly how or why, his first instinct is to protect the Winchesters.
10. Cas carves Enochian sigil into the brothers' ribs, thereby hiding them from all angels (Season Five, "Sympathy for the Devil"). A much-needed measure of protection, since Dean is intended to be Michael's vessel and Sam is intended to be Lucifer's.
11. Cas saves Dean from Zachariah, who sent Dean into the future to see the consequences of refusing Michael (Season Five, "The End"). In it, we learn that Dean would become an even bigger asshole and willingly sacrifice Cas and other friends in order to get a shot at Lucifer.
12. Cas tries to rescue the brothers from Gabriel's TV Land, and gives them clues to the Trickster's true identity (Season Five, "Changing Channels"). Since Gabriel is an archangel, he easily thwarts Cas' attempts to save the boys, and sends him somewhere nasty.
13. Cas tracks down Crowley and the Colt (Season Five, "Abandon All Hope..."). Though Cas couldn't retrieve the Colt directly because of Enochian wards on Crowley's house, he led the Winchesters straight to him.
14. Cas is captured by Lucifer and refuses to join him (Season Five, "Abandon All Hope..."). When Cas tries to gather information about the Reapers, he's trapped in holy fire by Lucifer. Lucifer asks him to join up, and Cas flatly refuses, saying that he won't let Lucifer take Sam as a vessel, and that he'd die before helping him.
15. Cas escapes the holy fire and zaps Sam and Dean away (Season Five, "Abandon All Hope..."). Cas breaks free of the holy fire and rescues the boys before Lucifer finishes summoning Death.
16. Cas meets with Anna, who has escaped from Heaven and is out to kill Sam (Season Five, "The Song Remains the Same"). Even though Anna's plan might be workable, Cas refuses to let her kill Sam, staying loyal to his friend.
17. Cas tracks Anna back to 1978 and takes the Winchesters back in time, despite the fact that he's running on his own steam and the trip weakens him considerably (Season Five, "The Song Remains the Same").
18. Cas helps the Winchesters get the story on the effects of Famine (Season Five, "My Bloody Valentine"). He catches a Cupid for some background, helps Dean lock Sam down, and tries to get Famine's ring before he's sidetracked by a tray of raw meat.
19. Cas, still reeling from the news of God's apathy and battling a truly massive hangover, helps the Winchesters kill the Whore of Babylon (Season Five, "99 Problems"). The Whore casts an Enochin spell on him, causing to collapse.
20. Cas drags Dean to Bobby's to keep him from saying yes to Michael (Season Five, "The Point of No Return"), where he also takes off to fight angels and get to resurrected Adam before Heaven does. He finds Dean after he escapes and knocks some sense into him. Then he single-handedly takes out the angels guarding the Beautiful Room to give Sam and Dean the chance to save Adam. He does this by carving the banishing sigil into his chest, and disappears along with the rest of the angels.
21. Cas cuts Pestilence's ring from his finger, using up the last of his angelic power to resist the demon's assault of disease and saving the Winchesters in the process (Season Five, "Two Minutes to Midnight"). He also helps Sam and Bobby prevent the Croatoan virus from being distributed under the guise of a flu vaccine.
22. Cas banishes Adam/Michael with a Molotov cocktail of holy fire, giving Dean the chance to try to talk to Sam/Lucifer (Season Five, "Swan Song"). Lucifer gets pissed about this and explodes him into a million pieces.
23. Cas comes back to life and heals Dean of the serious pounding Lucifer gave him, and brings Bobby back to life as well (Season Five, "Swan Song").
Good Thing the Winchesters Have Done for Cas:
1. Dean hitting the demon Alastair in the head, preventing him from casting a spell on Cas (Season Four, "Heaven and Hell"). Alastair had Cas against the ropes, and would have banished the angel back to Heaven if Dean hadn't beaned the demon in the head.
2. Sam and Dean allow Cas the opportunity to capture Alastair (Season Four, "Death Takes a Holiday"). They didn't know they were doing it, and probably wouldn't have helped him out if they knew, so this barely counts.
3. Dean agrees to torture Alastair for information (Season Four, "On the Head of a Pin"). Though he was dragged into it against his will, and only agrees because Cas told him how much he wished he didn't have to.
4. Sam stops Alastair from sending Cas back to Heaven (Season Four, "On the Head of a Pin"). This was pretty incidental, as Sam was intending to save Dean anyway, and he drank a lot of demon blood to do it.
5. Sam and Dean keep Cas' vessel, Jimmy, alive long enough for him to drop back into him (Season Four, "The Rapture"). Sort of. Sam ruins it by letting Jimmy get away, and Dean's plan to rescue Jimmy's family leads to the brothers' capture as well.
6. Dean inspires Cas to rebel and stop the Apocalypse from happening (Season Four, "Lucifer Rising"). Since this ultimately gave Cas a taste of freedom, I'll add it to this list, even though it also resulted in his death.
7. Dean lets Cas borrow his amulet to aid in his search for God (Season Five, "Good God, Y'All!"). Even though he grumbles and craps on Cas' idea in the process. Cas gives him a little what-for.
8. Dean helps Cas track down and trap Rafael for a little interrogation (Season Five, "Free to Be You and Me"). Sadly, this accomplishes nothing but enlightening us all to what a dick Rafael is.
9. Sam and Dean trap Gabriel and force him to let Cas go (Season Five, "Changing Channels"). Though they first got all the information they could out of Gabriel, they eventually remembered their old buddy Cas.
10. Sam and Dean scrape Cas off the sidewalk after their time-travel and rent him a hotel room in which to recover (Season Five, "The Song Remains the Same"). They also prevent him from falling on the floor when Cas miraculously makes it back to the present.
11. Sam kills Famine, thus freeing Cas from his compulsion to scarf down raw meat (Season Five, "My Bloody Valentine"). So I guess Sam saved Cas from E. coli?
12. Sam and Dean do some recon in Heaven for Cas, since they happen to be dead anyway (Season Five, "Dark Side of the Moon"). They grumble a bit about it, though.
13. Dean kills the Whore of Babylon, supposedly ending the spell she cast on Cas (Season Five, "99 Problems"). He and Sam bring Cas back to the hotel and let him crash there until he recovers.
The Wrap-Up:
These are all just from the fourth and fifth seasons. I could go on to mention all of the things Cas has done for the Winchesters in the sixth season, including raising Sam from the Cage, all on his own (even though he missed Sam's soul, I think we can cut him some slack because of how difficult it was). Cas has basically been at their beck and call all season, and they haven't done much to help him out with his Civil War in Heaven. Yes, Cas has been working with Crowley and keeping it from the Winchesters, but he's trying to keep Rafael from re-starting the Apocalypse. He's protected them without them even knowing it, and they can't even refrain from condemning him from doing the same thing they've ALL done in the past.
So, Dean. Sam. Bobby. Cas is still ahead on the good deeds list, and way far ahead on the "dying for you" list. You all need to grow up.
I'm doing this because I'm still reeling about how hard the Winchesters are being on Cas, and this is clearly a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone, and all that. And judging by the comments on io9's recap, I'm not alone in this. I'm hoping that we're left with some feeling of redemption for Cas by the end of the season, because he's certainly proved himself in the past.
Good Things Cas Has Done for the Winchesters:
1. Raising Dean from Hell (Season Four, "Lazarus Rising"). In this episode, angels are introduced as the flip side to the demon coin, and Cas' first appearance couldn't be more badass. He brushes of multiple gunshot wounds and a knife to the heart as if they were nothing, and tells Dean that Heaven has plans for him. And he introduces himself thusly: "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition."
2. Sending Dean back in time to get the full backstory on Azazel's history with the Winchesters (Season Four, "In the Beginning"). Dean meets his mother, father, and maternal grandparents. The deal Mary was forced to make with Azazel explains a lot, and while it was a painful experience for him, it was still good to know.
3. Cas stops Alastair from killing Dean (Season Four, "On the Head of a Pin"). Alastair broke out of the Devil's Trap with covert assistance from Uriel and beat the tar out of Dean. Cas stabs him before he can finish the job, and gets the tar beat out him, too.
4. Cas gives Dean the means to stop Sam from dealing with Lilith (Season Four, "The Monster at the End of This Book"). Dean is desperate to keep Chuck's prophecy about Sam and Lilith from coming to pass, and Cas gives him a hint (wink wink, nudge nudge) about using an archangel to do it.
5. Cas tries to meet with Dean in order to tell him something important (Season Four, "The Rapture"). This gets his ass dragged back to Heaven by the other angels, where it is implied that they tortured Cas back into obedience.
6. Cas saves Sam and Dean, along with Jimmy's daughter, from demons (Season Four, "The Rapture"). When Cas' vessel, Jimmy, and the Winchesters are cornered by demons, Cas uses Jimmy's daughter as a vessel to save the day.
7. Cas rebels against Heaven at Dean's request, and sends him to Sam in order to prevent him from breaking the final seal, releasing Lucifer (Season Four, "Lucifer Rising"). Sadly, Sam does it anyway.
8. Cas dies trying hold off the archangel, buying time for Dean to stop Sam (Season Four, "Lucifer Rising").
9. Cas rescues Sam and Dean from Zachariah by coming back from the dead and killing two angels (Season Five, "Sympathy for the Devil"). When Cas decides on a course of action, he commits to it. Having come back without knowing exactly how or why, his first instinct is to protect the Winchesters.
10. Cas carves Enochian sigil into the brothers' ribs, thereby hiding them from all angels (Season Five, "Sympathy for the Devil"). A much-needed measure of protection, since Dean is intended to be Michael's vessel and Sam is intended to be Lucifer's.
11. Cas saves Dean from Zachariah, who sent Dean into the future to see the consequences of refusing Michael (Season Five, "The End"). In it, we learn that Dean would become an even bigger asshole and willingly sacrifice Cas and other friends in order to get a shot at Lucifer.
12. Cas tries to rescue the brothers from Gabriel's TV Land, and gives them clues to the Trickster's true identity (Season Five, "Changing Channels"). Since Gabriel is an archangel, he easily thwarts Cas' attempts to save the boys, and sends him somewhere nasty.
13. Cas tracks down Crowley and the Colt (Season Five, "Abandon All Hope..."). Though Cas couldn't retrieve the Colt directly because of Enochian wards on Crowley's house, he led the Winchesters straight to him.
14. Cas is captured by Lucifer and refuses to join him (Season Five, "Abandon All Hope..."). When Cas tries to gather information about the Reapers, he's trapped in holy fire by Lucifer. Lucifer asks him to join up, and Cas flatly refuses, saying that he won't let Lucifer take Sam as a vessel, and that he'd die before helping him.
15. Cas escapes the holy fire and zaps Sam and Dean away (Season Five, "Abandon All Hope..."). Cas breaks free of the holy fire and rescues the boys before Lucifer finishes summoning Death.
16. Cas meets with Anna, who has escaped from Heaven and is out to kill Sam (Season Five, "The Song Remains the Same"). Even though Anna's plan might be workable, Cas refuses to let her kill Sam, staying loyal to his friend.
17. Cas tracks Anna back to 1978 and takes the Winchesters back in time, despite the fact that he's running on his own steam and the trip weakens him considerably (Season Five, "The Song Remains the Same").
18. Cas helps the Winchesters get the story on the effects of Famine (Season Five, "My Bloody Valentine"). He catches a Cupid for some background, helps Dean lock Sam down, and tries to get Famine's ring before he's sidetracked by a tray of raw meat.
19. Cas, still reeling from the news of God's apathy and battling a truly massive hangover, helps the Winchesters kill the Whore of Babylon (Season Five, "99 Problems"). The Whore casts an Enochin spell on him, causing to collapse.
20. Cas drags Dean to Bobby's to keep him from saying yes to Michael (Season Five, "The Point of No Return"), where he also takes off to fight angels and get to resurrected Adam before Heaven does. He finds Dean after he escapes and knocks some sense into him. Then he single-handedly takes out the angels guarding the Beautiful Room to give Sam and Dean the chance to save Adam. He does this by carving the banishing sigil into his chest, and disappears along with the rest of the angels.
21. Cas cuts Pestilence's ring from his finger, using up the last of his angelic power to resist the demon's assault of disease and saving the Winchesters in the process (Season Five, "Two Minutes to Midnight"). He also helps Sam and Bobby prevent the Croatoan virus from being distributed under the guise of a flu vaccine.
22. Cas banishes Adam/Michael with a Molotov cocktail of holy fire, giving Dean the chance to try to talk to Sam/Lucifer (Season Five, "Swan Song"). Lucifer gets pissed about this and explodes him into a million pieces.
23. Cas comes back to life and heals Dean of the serious pounding Lucifer gave him, and brings Bobby back to life as well (Season Five, "Swan Song").
Good Thing the Winchesters Have Done for Cas:
1. Dean hitting the demon Alastair in the head, preventing him from casting a spell on Cas (Season Four, "Heaven and Hell"). Alastair had Cas against the ropes, and would have banished the angel back to Heaven if Dean hadn't beaned the demon in the head.
2. Sam and Dean allow Cas the opportunity to capture Alastair (Season Four, "Death Takes a Holiday"). They didn't know they were doing it, and probably wouldn't have helped him out if they knew, so this barely counts.
3. Dean agrees to torture Alastair for information (Season Four, "On the Head of a Pin"). Though he was dragged into it against his will, and only agrees because Cas told him how much he wished he didn't have to.
4. Sam stops Alastair from sending Cas back to Heaven (Season Four, "On the Head of a Pin"). This was pretty incidental, as Sam was intending to save Dean anyway, and he drank a lot of demon blood to do it.
5. Sam and Dean keep Cas' vessel, Jimmy, alive long enough for him to drop back into him (Season Four, "The Rapture"). Sort of. Sam ruins it by letting Jimmy get away, and Dean's plan to rescue Jimmy's family leads to the brothers' capture as well.
6. Dean inspires Cas to rebel and stop the Apocalypse from happening (Season Four, "Lucifer Rising"). Since this ultimately gave Cas a taste of freedom, I'll add it to this list, even though it also resulted in his death.
7. Dean lets Cas borrow his amulet to aid in his search for God (Season Five, "Good God, Y'All!"). Even though he grumbles and craps on Cas' idea in the process. Cas gives him a little what-for.
8. Dean helps Cas track down and trap Rafael for a little interrogation (Season Five, "Free to Be You and Me"). Sadly, this accomplishes nothing but enlightening us all to what a dick Rafael is.
9. Sam and Dean trap Gabriel and force him to let Cas go (Season Five, "Changing Channels"). Though they first got all the information they could out of Gabriel, they eventually remembered their old buddy Cas.
10. Sam and Dean scrape Cas off the sidewalk after their time-travel and rent him a hotel room in which to recover (Season Five, "The Song Remains the Same"). They also prevent him from falling on the floor when Cas miraculously makes it back to the present.
11. Sam kills Famine, thus freeing Cas from his compulsion to scarf down raw meat (Season Five, "My Bloody Valentine"). So I guess Sam saved Cas from E. coli?
12. Sam and Dean do some recon in Heaven for Cas, since they happen to be dead anyway (Season Five, "Dark Side of the Moon"). They grumble a bit about it, though.
13. Dean kills the Whore of Babylon, supposedly ending the spell she cast on Cas (Season Five, "99 Problems"). He and Sam bring Cas back to the hotel and let him crash there until he recovers.
The Wrap-Up:
These are all just from the fourth and fifth seasons. I could go on to mention all of the things Cas has done for the Winchesters in the sixth season, including raising Sam from the Cage, all on his own (even though he missed Sam's soul, I think we can cut him some slack because of how difficult it was). Cas has basically been at their beck and call all season, and they haven't done much to help him out with his Civil War in Heaven. Yes, Cas has been working with Crowley and keeping it from the Winchesters, but he's trying to keep Rafael from re-starting the Apocalypse. He's protected them without them even knowing it, and they can't even refrain from condemning him from doing the same thing they've ALL done in the past.
So, Dean. Sam. Bobby. Cas is still ahead on the good deeds list, and way far ahead on the "dying for you" list. You all need to grow up.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
The Price of Freedom
Last night's episode of Supernatural, "The Man Who Would Be King", set out to accomplish two things:
1. Recap the entire season from Castiel's perspective
2. Explain the development of his character into a new, possibly terminal, arc
Rather than recap this episode in as much detail as I have previously, I'll highlight the main themes and expand on them.
SPOILERS!
God:
After finishing this episode I was left with the impression that our quiet, unassuming angel has been screaming inside for help during the entirety of season six, and has received none. Cas narrates his experience of suddenly being resurrected at the end of the fifth season. He marvels at the fact that the Winchesters, with his and Bobby's help, were able to re-write the ending of the world's oldest story. He recounts what he learned from his interactions with Sam and Dean - he learned to fight, to stand up for himself, and to make his own decisions. Sure, this got him exploded by Sam/Lucifer, but he came back. Cas came back without knowing why, without knowing exactly who brought him back, and without an understanding of what he's supposed to do now. All he has is faith that God recognized his sacrifices and approved of what he'd done. After healing Dean of his injuries and bringing Bobby back to life, Cas fought his way back into Hell to raise Sam alone, because he thought it was right. When he deposited Sam in front of Lisa's house, he admits he should have known something was wrong when Sam walked away from the sight of his brother.
Upon his return to Heaven, Castiel is greeted by some of his fellow angels, who are astonished to see him alive. They ask him what God wants them to do, and he tries to explain his concept of freedom to them. He tells them that they are all free to choose their own paths, but the angels are unable to understand. Angels were made to follow orders, not to make decisions. Cas meets with Rafael at great personal risk, heady with the experience of having survived the unsurvivable. Rafael is unmoved by recent events, and instructs Cas to publicly submit to him and renounce his rebellion so that the rest of the angels remember their place. His first order of business is to release Michael and Lucifer from the Cage, and to fight the Final Battle as they all intended. Cas refuses to submit and defies Rafael right there, and the archangel kicks him into next week. It's abundantly clear that Cas cannot defeat him alone.
It's a cruel God that would put someone like Cas in such a situation, and not give him the means to do anything about it.
Freedom:
Faced with the decision to either submit to Rafael or die by his older brother's hand, Cas considers turning to the only person he can think of for help. He watches Dean rake the leaves in Lisa's yard, invisible, and cannot bring himself to ask more from someone who's already sacrificed so much. Then Crowley appears with a proposition. Crowley doesn't want to lose his new position as King of Hell, and if Rafael succeeds in opening the Cage, that's exactly what will happen. So Crowley invites Cas to draw Heaven into a Civil War to keep Rafael occupied while Crowley searches for Purgatory. Once Purgatory is found, the two of them will split the souls in order to accomplish their respective goals. Crowley tells Cas to capitalize on his apparent status as God's chosen and lead all the angels that would follow him into war.
At first Cas would have none of it - and then Crowley offered him a loan of fifty thousand hellbound souls, giving him enough power to strike a blow against Rafael and deliver an ultimatum to Heaven. So we learn that Cas faked Crowley's death in "Caged Heat", and has given the Winchesters the runaround in their attempts to find the demon now. He listens in on their conversations and hates himself for it. He saves them from Crowley's demon hit squad, and threatens to back out of his deal with Crowley if the Winchesters come to harm.
All this time, Cas is plagued with doubt, constantly questioning himself and pouring out his uncertainty to a cold, unfeeling and unresponsive void.
Family:
Lying is against Cas' nature, and eventually he slips up and gives himself away. And though it was Dean who was asking Sam and Bobby to give the angel the benefit of the doubt, it's Dean who lures him into a trap of holy fire. They demand to know the truth, and as soon as Cas admits that he's been working with Crowley, they don't want to hear any more. Cas tries to explain himself, trying to start from the beginning by telling Sam that he was the one who raised him from Hell. Sam angrily cuts him off, demanding to know whether Cas brought him back soul-less on purpose. Cas is truly hurt that Sam would even think that, and realizes that these mortals could never understand. Their conversation is interrupted by demons closing in on them, and Cas orders them to run. Crowley frees Cas from the holy fire and gleefully remarks on how friends can turn on each other. He even ventures that he and Cas are the new Devil and the new God, working together. Cas vehemently shoots this idea down, and tells him to leave.
Cas tries to reconcile with Dean, slipping past Bobby's ineffective angel wards with ease. Dean tells Cas that he should stop working with Crowley, and Cas attempts to explain, yet again, that if he doesn't defeat Rafael then the Apocalypse will come around again. Dean expands on the idea of how little family he has, and that he thinks of Cas like a brother. He asks him, as a brother, not to do this. Cas doesn't change his mind, believing that this is the only course of action for him. Dean states that he will do what he must to stop him.
Cas finishes his narration, which all along was a prayer - one last prayer - to God, asking him if what he's doing is right. He begs for a sign to tell him, either way...and gets nothing.
Thoughts and Questions:
So all of the forgiveness crap that Dean spouted to Sam and Bobby at Rufus' funeral apparently doesn't apply to Cas. Sam started the Apocalypse - Cas is trying to keep it from happening again. And if Rafael does succed in bringing the Final Battle about, guess who's back on the menu as a vessel. That's right. Sam.
Sam would still be rotting in Hell if it weren't for Cas - and gratitude was not forthcoming.
I call bullshit on Dean's "family first" claim. When Dean says "family first", he means "Sam first". Sam comes first before Bobby, Cas, Lisa and Ben - and Adam. Dean spared exactly one thought for his half-brother this season, even though Adam suffered (and is still suffering) the same fate as Sam. Dean acts as though he's personally betrayed whenever someone he claims as family does something he doesn't like.
Cas rebelled in the fourth season to keep Sam from starting the Apocalypse. It wasn't enough. He died.
Cas banished Michael with holy fire to give Dean the chance to speak to Sam/Lucifer. It wasn't enough. He died.
Cas is dealing with Crowley to keep Rafael from re-starting the Apocalypse. The deal will go from bad to worse. It won't be enough. He's going to die.
In Two Weeks:
We're treated to a double-feature on May 20th. Will Cas succeed and redeem himself?
1. Recap the entire season from Castiel's perspective
2. Explain the development of his character into a new, possibly terminal, arc
Rather than recap this episode in as much detail as I have previously, I'll highlight the main themes and expand on them.
SPOILERS!
God:
After finishing this episode I was left with the impression that our quiet, unassuming angel has been screaming inside for help during the entirety of season six, and has received none. Cas narrates his experience of suddenly being resurrected at the end of the fifth season. He marvels at the fact that the Winchesters, with his and Bobby's help, were able to re-write the ending of the world's oldest story. He recounts what he learned from his interactions with Sam and Dean - he learned to fight, to stand up for himself, and to make his own decisions. Sure, this got him exploded by Sam/Lucifer, but he came back. Cas came back without knowing why, without knowing exactly who brought him back, and without an understanding of what he's supposed to do now. All he has is faith that God recognized his sacrifices and approved of what he'd done. After healing Dean of his injuries and bringing Bobby back to life, Cas fought his way back into Hell to raise Sam alone, because he thought it was right. When he deposited Sam in front of Lisa's house, he admits he should have known something was wrong when Sam walked away from the sight of his brother.
Upon his return to Heaven, Castiel is greeted by some of his fellow angels, who are astonished to see him alive. They ask him what God wants them to do, and he tries to explain his concept of freedom to them. He tells them that they are all free to choose their own paths, but the angels are unable to understand. Angels were made to follow orders, not to make decisions. Cas meets with Rafael at great personal risk, heady with the experience of having survived the unsurvivable. Rafael is unmoved by recent events, and instructs Cas to publicly submit to him and renounce his rebellion so that the rest of the angels remember their place. His first order of business is to release Michael and Lucifer from the Cage, and to fight the Final Battle as they all intended. Cas refuses to submit and defies Rafael right there, and the archangel kicks him into next week. It's abundantly clear that Cas cannot defeat him alone.
It's a cruel God that would put someone like Cas in such a situation, and not give him the means to do anything about it.
Freedom:
Faced with the decision to either submit to Rafael or die by his older brother's hand, Cas considers turning to the only person he can think of for help. He watches Dean rake the leaves in Lisa's yard, invisible, and cannot bring himself to ask more from someone who's already sacrificed so much. Then Crowley appears with a proposition. Crowley doesn't want to lose his new position as King of Hell, and if Rafael succeeds in opening the Cage, that's exactly what will happen. So Crowley invites Cas to draw Heaven into a Civil War to keep Rafael occupied while Crowley searches for Purgatory. Once Purgatory is found, the two of them will split the souls in order to accomplish their respective goals. Crowley tells Cas to capitalize on his apparent status as God's chosen and lead all the angels that would follow him into war.
At first Cas would have none of it - and then Crowley offered him a loan of fifty thousand hellbound souls, giving him enough power to strike a blow against Rafael and deliver an ultimatum to Heaven. So we learn that Cas faked Crowley's death in "Caged Heat", and has given the Winchesters the runaround in their attempts to find the demon now. He listens in on their conversations and hates himself for it. He saves them from Crowley's demon hit squad, and threatens to back out of his deal with Crowley if the Winchesters come to harm.
All this time, Cas is plagued with doubt, constantly questioning himself and pouring out his uncertainty to a cold, unfeeling and unresponsive void.
Family:
Lying is against Cas' nature, and eventually he slips up and gives himself away. And though it was Dean who was asking Sam and Bobby to give the angel the benefit of the doubt, it's Dean who lures him into a trap of holy fire. They demand to know the truth, and as soon as Cas admits that he's been working with Crowley, they don't want to hear any more. Cas tries to explain himself, trying to start from the beginning by telling Sam that he was the one who raised him from Hell. Sam angrily cuts him off, demanding to know whether Cas brought him back soul-less on purpose. Cas is truly hurt that Sam would even think that, and realizes that these mortals could never understand. Their conversation is interrupted by demons closing in on them, and Cas orders them to run. Crowley frees Cas from the holy fire and gleefully remarks on how friends can turn on each other. He even ventures that he and Cas are the new Devil and the new God, working together. Cas vehemently shoots this idea down, and tells him to leave.
Cas tries to reconcile with Dean, slipping past Bobby's ineffective angel wards with ease. Dean tells Cas that he should stop working with Crowley, and Cas attempts to explain, yet again, that if he doesn't defeat Rafael then the Apocalypse will come around again. Dean expands on the idea of how little family he has, and that he thinks of Cas like a brother. He asks him, as a brother, not to do this. Cas doesn't change his mind, believing that this is the only course of action for him. Dean states that he will do what he must to stop him.
Cas finishes his narration, which all along was a prayer - one last prayer - to God, asking him if what he's doing is right. He begs for a sign to tell him, either way...and gets nothing.
Thoughts and Questions:
So all of the forgiveness crap that Dean spouted to Sam and Bobby at Rufus' funeral apparently doesn't apply to Cas. Sam started the Apocalypse - Cas is trying to keep it from happening again. And if Rafael does succed in bringing the Final Battle about, guess who's back on the menu as a vessel. That's right. Sam.
Sam would still be rotting in Hell if it weren't for Cas - and gratitude was not forthcoming.
I call bullshit on Dean's "family first" claim. When Dean says "family first", he means "Sam first". Sam comes first before Bobby, Cas, Lisa and Ben - and Adam. Dean spared exactly one thought for his half-brother this season, even though Adam suffered (and is still suffering) the same fate as Sam. Dean acts as though he's personally betrayed whenever someone he claims as family does something he doesn't like.
Cas rebelled in the fourth season to keep Sam from starting the Apocalypse. It wasn't enough. He died.
Cas banished Michael with holy fire to give Dean the chance to speak to Sam/Lucifer. It wasn't enough. He died.
Cas is dealing with Crowley to keep Rafael from re-starting the Apocalypse. The deal will go from bad to worse. It won't be enough. He's going to die.
In Two Weeks:
We're treated to a double-feature on May 20th. Will Cas succeed and redeem himself?
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