A Supernatural FiveByFive review,
So, big I had to split it in two!
We have some catching up to do, so what better way to do it than a very special Supernatural FiveByFive review! This is where we take a look at the five episodes leading up to the midseason cliffhanger: episodes 5.05 Dog Dean Afternoon, 5.06 Heaven Can’t Wait, 5.07 Bad Boys, 5.08 Rock and a Hard Place, and 5.09 Holy Terror. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so get started reading or cherry pick the reviews you’re interested in. Episodes 5.08, and 5.09 are in this second part. Go!
Supernatural 5.08 – “Rock and a Hard Place”
Just like in the last episode, when an old friend calls the Winchesters for help, they will always come running. This time the old friend is an audience favorite, Sheriff Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes). People are disappearing in a town in her jurisdiction and there is a supernatural element to the incidents (a blue flash and people lifting S.U.V.s with their bare hands). This episode could be considered a filler episode since there isn’t any action to advance the season arc until the very end, but that would not really be fair since the episode did give us some fun moments to add to the Winchester gospels archives. So, here is a “Mini5x5” within the Supernatural FiveByFive Review of things I liked about this episode.
- Sheriff Mills expanding her knowledge of the supernatural beyond her wildest dreams. Twice in the episode, the Sheriff is gob smacked to hear about things she hadn’t encountered before – first it was angels (to which Dean says, “Don’t get your pants on fire. They suck.”); and second, dragons (Jody: “Those are a thing?”) Not to mention getting to throw down with a Roman goddess of the hearth that eats lapsed virgins (born again and original flavor).
- Sam and Dean becoming born-again virgins and signing a “purity pledge” (Dean: “I don’t think we can really un-ring that bell” and “So, you just hit the virginity ‘do-over’ button and all is good with the man upstairs?”). Put that one right up there with Dean being “re-hymenated” after returning from hell.
- The Purity Pledge support group where Sam and Dean explain why they have chosen to be virgins again – Sam’s bad luck with women (Dean: “He ain’t lying.”) and Dean’s revolving door of women (Dean: “You’re drunk. You shack up. Then, it’s the whole morning thing. You know, ‘hey, that was fun.’ And then, ‘adios,’ you know? Always the ‘adios.’”). But the best part was Dean getting caught up in the moment and turning the group session into an excerpt of the erotic adventures of Dean Winchester – that was priceless. And he ends it with, “But, the whole thing was just a little too, uh… sticky.”
- Only Dean Winchester would end up in a Purity Pledge group that is run by a counselor who happens to be an ex-porn star (Casa Erotica lives on!). Enough said.
- Sheriff Jody Mills on the case! It was great to see her researching with Sam, reminiscing about Bobby, punching Tammy, and ganking a Roman goddess. And I loved her lightly sarcastic exit line as she leaves the hotel, arm in a sling: “Don’t get the door for me or anything.” Ms. Mills, always a pleasure.
I have to throw in an honorable mention for the character of Tammy (Amanda Lisman) – a person with the kind of personality that makes the supernatural beings look normal.
But she is multi-faceted. She is a poet: “I wrote a new piece of verse. It’s called, ‘Sex is a Racket and God’s Ball is in Your Court.’” She is conscientious: “She has no idea what kind of girl Honor is?!” “… I bring real cookies for the bake sale. Honor just brings Oreos!” And she is well educated: “But… pagans use blood. Are you pagans?!” Plus, she can take a punch and she is a real, original flavor virgin – not refurbished. Yes, Tammy makes it into the Supernatural Quirky Character Hall of Fame (right next to the fairy expert lady from episode 6.09 “Clap Your Hands If You Believe”).
But here is where things start to get scary. Once again, Sam is faced with a supernatural being telling him that something is off about him – he is finally getting a clue. Sam keeps going round and round on what is wrong with him and Dean’s guilt gets to be too much. But, before Dean can barely get the words out, “It’s not you, Sam,” Zeke takes over and ominously warns him against revealing his existence to Sam (“I wouldn’t do that, Dean.”). The exchange is but a moment and Sam is back again. And as Sam leaves the hotel room, it is clear to Dean that he has gotten the two of them in way over their heads.
Supernatural 5.09 – “Holy Terror”
I’m still reeling from the impact of the events in this episode and I imagine I will be for some time to come. And all I can think is to quote The Beatles and say to Dean: “Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight, carry that weight a long time…”
After a massive angel slaughter occurs, Sam and Dean are on the case – and so is Castiel. With angels split into two warring factions and killing each other right and left, it’s almost as if the Winchesters didn’t avert the apocalypse at all. Dean is getting antsy and pressuring Zeke to finish healing Sam and get the hell out of his brother, but Zeke says he is not done. And he’s not too thrilled to be working on a case involving angels, either. When the boys run into Castiel working the same case, both Zeke and Dean are on edge, each with major secrets they don’t want revealed. And when the web of secrets starts to unravel, we find that the lies run deeper than we ever imagined. When Sam/Zeke left them alone for a bit, I was hoping that Dean was finally going to tell Cas the truth about the deal he had made with Zeke. But instead he only tells half of the truth and compounds the mistake by asking Cas to leave again. Perhaps if Cas had stayed, he would have been able to discover that Ezekiel was not who he claimed.
Since it was clear that something was not right with Ezekiel, finding out that it wasn’t really him was not a big surprise –the real surprise was having Metatron confront him with his true identity. Metatron reveals that Sam’s angel hijacker is Gadreel, one of the most hated angels that ever existed. He was “God’s most trusted,” tasked with keeping evil from entering the Garden of Eden, but he failed – the serpent entered. As Metatron lambasts for his past wrongs and then sympathizes with him for being so misunderstood, we realize “the serpent” is at work again. Just as he did with Castiel, Metatron manipulates Gadreel, gaining his trust and then treating him as a confidante (yes, help me help you). Gadreel is so panic-stricken at being found out and even more desperate for redemption that he is ready to do anything Metatron asks. Later, when Metatron asks Gadreel to help him build a new heaven and he accepts, we know that the serpent has entered the Garden.
And once again, Castiel is used to lighten the mood (just before it gets really dark). His praying montage was quite amusing (and it gets him a response!). Anyone who has seen Misha Collins’ guest starring role on Nip/Tuck will understand why I just kept thinking, “Namaste.”
Castiel’s subsequent kidnapping and torture, plus the murder of Muriel, shows how far the warring angels have fallen. It seems to be the catalyst for Cas taking such a violent, drastic action as stealing another angel’s grace and killing him. I wish it was clearer if this was something that Cas always knew was an option to regain his grace or not. His comment about his actions being barbaric seems to indicate that it was something he knew he could do, but never thought he would ever even consider. Will there be negative repercussions to “cannibalizing” another angel? Will he be at full angel strength again? I guess we will have to see. In the end, he did what he had to.
And that seems to be the theme of this episode – “I did what I had to.” Dean says it to excuse his lies to Sam, Castiel says it to justify his barbaric actions against another angel, and Gadreel says it as he looks down at the body of Kevin Tran – the person he had to eliminate in order to pledge his fidelity to Metatron. When Metatron was pushing Gadreel to decide and without knowing the name of the person to be slain, I still hoped that Gadreel would realize he was being manipulated and refuse. And I think it’s possible he was going to refuse or at least try to work around it. But when he overheard Dean and Kevin planning the spell to reach Sam, he had to stop that from happening. Then when he realized that Dean (and Castiel) knew that Ezekiel had died, he panicked. What appeared to be Sam’s anger at Dean’s betrayal was really Gadreel knowing he was backed into a corner. He could not continue the charade of being Sam. He had to decide. And he did. He did what he had to. And Kevin paid the price.
Supernatural airs on The CW on Tuesdays at 9/8c. Full episodes are also available at the http://www.cwtv.com/shows/supernatural/ and On Demand (check your cable listings) as well as on iTunes, Amazon, Hulu and Google Play.
Supernatural Fun Quotes
I always like to include some of my favorite quotes and exchanges from the episode. If you have some quotes or moments you liked, please share in the comments section.
#1 – Rock and a Hard Place
Dean: “I didn’t peg you for “churchy.”
Sheriff Jody Mills: “Yeah. You know… choking on the ladies’ room floor ‘cause of witchcraft kind of makes a higher power seem relevant.”
#2 – Holy Terror
Castiel, to Sam and Dean in a bar: “Well, Bartholomew wants to reverse Metatron’s spell. Presumably to – to retake heaven once his following is large enough. That’s according to April.”
Dean: “The Reaper you banged.”
Castiel: “Yeah. And you stabbed.”
Dean: “Yeah. She was hot.”
Castiel: [sighs] “So hot. And very nice… up to the point she started torturing me.”
Dean: “Yeah, well, not every hookup’s perfect.” [pats Cas on the shoulder]
#3 – Holy Terror
Metatron to Gadreel in the alley: “I was actually the one who freed you.”
Sam/Gadreel: “You?”
Metatron: I was the one who caused all the angels to fall… including the imprisoned ones. [beat] You’re welcome.”
#4 – Holy Terror
Metatron: “And so.. Plan B: Rebuild heaven as the place God envisioned it – only with a handpicked few. No more anemic functionaries like Bartholomew. [beat] And no more stupid angels! [beat] Maybe some funny ones.”
#5 – Holy Terror
Metatron: “Frankly, I never got used to them. I lived among them for centuries. I had to isolate myself to keep sane.”
Sam/Gadreel: “Humans do seem chaotic, Metatron.”
Metatron: “Which makes them fascinating, but… all that emotion. Geez. And the wasted energy. It’s just… exhausting.”
Sam/Gadreel: “I know. Sam Winchester – it is a mess in here. And the brother… I do not know where to start.”
#6 – Holy Terror
Kevin, studying the tablet for a way to reverse Metatron’s spell: “This part is nearly indecipherable. Almost like when Metatron wrote it down, he wanted to keep the words hidden… even from prophets.”
#7 – Holy Terror
Gadreel: “I did what I had to.”
And the final quote/exchange of the episodes is also the most devastating one.
From Holy Terror:
Dean: “You’re gonna have to trust me, okay? Trust that I told you everything that I can for now. Can you do that?”
Kevin: “I always trust you. [beat] And I always end up screwed.”
