TVLine is warning us to brace ourselves for episode 21. Jared says: “Sam deals with something pretty harrowing and terrifying and has a few owies” which goes along with the spoilers I posted here.
Also, co-showrunner Andrew Dabb assured TVLine that despite Sam’s recent crisis of faith, he and Dean are “charging forward” and “very much are on the same page.” As the brothers continue to gather the ingredients needed to open the rift between the worlds, they remain focused on the mission. Dabb says: “Once the rubber hits the road, once they’re on that path, they’re hellbent to get it done. That’s where we’re going to see our guys, really, for the rest of the season.”
Desperate for any news on Supernatural. — Iain Sam is going to be put through the wringer toward the end of the season — and Jared Padalecki spent many hours in the makeup chair because of it. “Let’s say Sam Winchester goes through trials and tribulations that leave him pretty beat up,” the actor says. “And at the risk of getting fired, that’s as far as I’ll go with it, but it was a long time.”
As always with Meredith Gylnn’s episodes, I feel as though I get way more out of them the second time around – and I don’t mean that as a criticism; if anything it’s a testament to how good these writers (well, with two obvious exceptions) are at writing a layered story.
For instance, it might seem obvious, but I didn’t really think about this the first time I saw the episode, just because it was all new: in the cold open in Jack’s torture scene, they could have had Sam and Dean die in a myriad of ways, but they chose fire. And then throughout the episode, we hear again and again from Jack that he is looking up to Sam and Dean, like parents. Neither of them died on the ceiling in Jack’s torture dream, but, there’s still that same thread running through their stories.
And like so many things this season (and the last couple seasons), we’re all about retreading old ground but doing something different (by and large…I’m still bitter about 10×21 vs 12×21 but that’s neither here nor there).
Jack wants his parental figures to accept him and fake!Cas tries to drive a wedge there, but it doesn’t work. In this regard, Jack has early Sam’s arc, but there’s hope that this will go better for him that it did for Sam.
Mary, too, gets closure/redemption for her past, in multiple ways. We see her act far more maternal to Jack than she has to Sam and Dean (which, I get on a logical level, even if my Jodyness struggles to sympathize with). And, Bobby tells her that she made the right choice with the demon deal, even if it caused pain for her sons. Of course, neither Mary could have known the true repercussions of the deal, and this is not to blame AU!Mary Campbell for her decision. Just because Mary Campbell didn’t make the deal doesn’t mean she doomed the world. There are what, 7 billion people on Earth? This is what we call a “team effort” – there’s no way ONE person is responsible for all the decisions and actions (or lack thereof) of everyone else on Earth. Anyway, my point is, our Mary has been carrying this burden around with her forever, and hopefully she realizes that this isn’t all her fault.
Interesting parallel: Donatello makes a jab at Dean that for once, this isn’t something Dean’s been specially chosen by God to do. We get so used to the Winchesters/Campbells being at the center of everything that it was interesting to have a character point out that no, sometimes, you’re just a regular ol’ human. Of course, Donatello means this as an insult, but he doesn’t understand that, truthfully, there’s nothing Dean would rather hear in the world more: that he’s not important, he’s not responsible for the fate of the world. And can you blame him?
Other things…
Sam’s instant defeat as soon as they realize Donatello’s been playing them for a sucker. 😦 Sam needs a win!!
Dean and Cas are still so close yet so far. Dean tries to talk to Cas and check in with him, but he’s still not getting the words quite right… A criticism he levels at Cas later (lol seriously, Dean? You’re gonna question an angel’s Enochian? What a goober) and which Cas huffily dismisses.
And not just the Enochian: Cas once again reiterates that he loves Dean (and Sam). He knows what he means. He’s using the right words.
Yes, I’m aware that Sam and Dean were both hurt by Donatello and Dean’s attack was more severe, which would obviously account for Cas’ instant warrior-mode determination, and it might have happened even if Dean and Sam’s roles were reversed in this episode, but the fact is, the story wasn’t written that way. Dean is the one who nearly dies, Cas rushes to him, and then goes full badass on Donatello.
Donatello: *dying out of breath* “Running is hard.” Same, dude.
Random note: is it bad that I only just figured out where I knew the actor from??? Seriously, if I’d realized it was Holtz from Angel, I woulda been screaming, don’t let him anywhere near, Jack!!! But oh well. Jack still ended up in a war dimension, honing his powers…and oh hey wait he should only be a baby but suddenly he’s an adult…and jfc I know I ranted back in s12 about how tired of evil mystical pregnancies I was after Cordelia but…ok Imma stop now because I’m just rambling at this point.
Gog and Magog fangirling over how pretty Dean and Cas are. They’re not wrong. I am 100% here for feminist queer prehistoric warriors.
Also Dean: don’t dis the loincloths. Did you fight a fearsome flannel and denim beast and then skin it for your wardrobe? Didn’t think so.
The last scene with Cas explaining the spell ingredients. Of course we only get clear shots of Dean – he’s so concerned and you know it kills him when Cas throws his own words back at him. Really, though, Dean and Sam don’t have a leg to stand on when they accuse him of going too far (hey, Dean, remember how you threatened Kaia at gunpoint not too long ago, buddy?), but that doesn’t mean that what Cas did to Donatello isn’t terrifying. Just because they’ve all done scary af things doesn’t mean they should all continue. But, as Cas pointed out: if he hadn’t, where would they be? It’s a sticky situation all around.
Also, Jack’s shadow puppets. He’s so smol and badass and I love him.
Notes: Would anyone be interested in a companion fic to this?
He was never going to die. Never going to stop feeling sharp hunger pains in his stomach, never not going to feel his own blood sliding down his skin. Never going to get rid of wires sealing his lips shut so he couldn’t even scream out his agony. It was a fact he was slowly resigning himself to.
Then his cell door opened.
His cell door never opened, not even when they fed him. They just shoved the food through a slot in the door. It usually didn’t land anywhere near him, forcing him to crawl forward as far as his chains would let him and eat off the floor like a dog. (He hadn’t eaten in a while. The wire got in the way.) Even when they tortured him, they knocked him out with magic so they could move him to the room with all the weapons without letting him learn the layout of the place and possibly plan his escape.
“Gabriel?”
Gabriel raised his head, muscles screaming in protest, and squinted through the blood in his eyes. Whoever it was was so tall and broad they blocked most of the light that came through the open door. God, he couldn’t even see their soul. He almost wept.
The person approached Gabriel and he didn’t even bother to flinch, just let his head drop forward and closed his eyes. The person didn’t draw on his skin with a knife or sow wires into his skin, though. They were doing something with his chains – taking them off? Were they going to move him somewhere? The chains clattered against the stone bench Gabriel sat on. The person squatted down to take off the chains around his ankles.
They stood up and picked him up like he was a rag doll. Their shirt was too rough on his skin and their hands were too tight on his wounds. Gabriel’s head lolled back and he tried to moan pitifully, but between the wires in his lips and the dried blood gluing them together, no noise came out.
Read the rest on AO3 (because it’s apparently too long for tumblr mobile to handle and I can’t post it from my laptop at the moment).
Karate, SPN Demonic Octopus Guardian 