The Angel Angle

Whose Side Are They On?

Supernatural has never been a show to shy away from tough topics or portraying the gray line that always exists between good and evil. Angels have been portrayed as selfish and powerful creatures that would just as soon destroy the planet as save a cat in a tree.

 

There have been a few good eggs and we came to realize that while there are some bad, there are also many others like Castiel that want to look out for the human race. After the death of literally thousands my evil Cas, it appears the angels are taking a cautious stance with Naomi seemingly as the ring leader.

 

The angels have always kept their true intentions pretty close to the vest. I can't help but wonder that the endgame is for them and what part Sam, Dean and Cas play in it. We've seen other angels pop up occasionally, but always in minor roles and acting more robotic than anything else.

 

Naomi is one of the few that actually seems to show some real emotion, but I am still not even sure if she's actually an angel. She does have the ability to control Cas and apparently keep him out of heaven. She also pulled him out of purgatory, so that makes her kind of high up on the food chain. As the mid-season finally wraps up and the next episode that premieres in January seems back on the angel/ demon story line.

 

I admit that this season is thrilling and I can't wait until I the new episodes come back in January.

 

 

Cartoon hijinks on Supernatural

MASH's Mike Farrell guest stars

I was wondering when they were going to have one of those funny episodes again after the death of the Trickster, so I was pleasantly surprised by the recent episode. The brothers and Castiel investigate the strange death of a man whose heart literally beat out of his chest.

They also find out that banks are being robbed using similar cartoony tricks and trace everything to an old folks home. There they meet an old friend and powerful psychokinetic that can warp reality. He had retreated into his own mind and was being manipulated by the center's manager.

Besides the endless cartoon actions and stunts, this actually did a great job of moving the plot without getting too serious. We learn more about what happened to Sam through flashbacks, possibly the worst part of the show, and that Castiel doesn't want to return to heaven because of what he did to it when he went all bad.

He's afraid that if he goes back that he'll want to kill himself. It's pretty powerful stuff, but it peppered with literally zany hilarity. Amanda Tapping was back as Naomi and they have Castiel on a pretty short leash. They won't let him visit heaven except to where they are. Although, at this point we don't know exactly on what team she's playing.

Is she God in disguise? Rogue angel? Who knows? Hopefully, we will know soon enough. There's still more new episodes coming, so my guess things are going to get flushed out pretty quick.

Season is not disappointing

Familiar faces and story lines bring back old feelings

As the Winchesters take a much deserved break for the Thanksgiving holiday, I am going to reflect on the events of this season an how they have renewed my interest in this show.

I will admit that the past few seasons have been lackluster at best. Once the primary story line of the Winchesters saving the world from Satan was over, the was obvious the show lacked direction. If you add in various management shakeups, then you get a recipe for disaster.

We can all agree that the Leviathan storylines was pretty lame and even though we had a dead Bobby, ghost Bobby and finally dead-ghost Bobby. The last two seasons in particular were so bad I had a hard time even watching them. What ever did happen to Frank anyway?

This season has brought all the greatness of the early Supernatural seasons. The storyline is new and exciting, the characters are familiar and that classic rock rebel vibe is back in full force. I missed Castiel and Crowley and their interactions. This season has been refreshing.

The brothers may be rehashing the same old conflicts that they always have, but at least there's no Dick Roman. I do find it funny that they have apparently completely removed any hint of the Leviathans in the real world and we only see glimpses in purgatory. You'd think the disappearance or murder of one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the world might get noticed.

I can't wait for things to return now that Castiel is back in the picture.

Supernatural shocker: Cas comes back

Col. Carter/ Helen Magnus is an angel?

Things are certainly heating on Supernatural in what has got to be the best season the series has had in the last few years. The episode starts with Dean seeing a disheveled Castiel walking down the road, but when he looks back, the angel is gone.

Dean thinks he's going bonkers, but when the angel shows up and stays, we know that Cas is back. He gets a good shower and the trio are off to find Kevin who has been kidnapped by Crowley again. MCs mom got duped by a Craigslist witch who told her she was helping to make a demon bomb, but instead sold them out.

She did manage to capture one of the demons and Dean was able to “convince” him to give up Crowley's destination. He has the tablet and cut off one of Kevin's fingers to force him to read it. The brothers and Cas walk in and Cas puts on a good shoe for Crowley even though he's still really weak. The tablet is cut in half and and everything is copasetic.

It's then that Castiel is transported to what we assume is heaven and a new angel, Naomi, played by the amazing Amanda Tapping, best known for Col. Samantha Carter from Stargate and Helen Magnus from Sanctuary.

She cryptically tell Cas that he will stay with the Winchesters and tell her about what they do and that he will have no recollection of it. I don't know what her agenda is or whose side she's really on, but it's guaranteed to be cool.

The difference in Dean

Garth as the new Bobby

Since he first came on the scene, Garth has quickly become one of my favorite characters on the show. D.J. Qualls has a knack for playing the innocent and naive kid even though he's experienced. The brothers found themselves battling a hyperpossessing civil war ghost with Garth and the battle between good and evil once again took on shades of gray.

The first revelations we find is that Garth has become the new Bobby since Sam quit the biz and Dean got stuck in purgatory. Garth even wears an old had that Bobby gave him and has taken to using some of his phrases as well. It's weird to think as Garth as a treasure trove of supernatural knowledge, but he's apparently doing pretty good as he received several calls from hunters.

Needless to day, Dean didn't take this well. Bobby was like a father to him and seeing Garth butcher his phrases and wear his hat was too much for him. Dean lashed out at Garth and hurt his feeling, but Garth shot it right back at him saying that Bobby's death wasn't just felt by the brothers, but by the entire hunting community. Dean ultimately realized that Garth actually knows what he's doing and gave him his blessing.

Sam and Dean also had it out again...like they do every season...and Dean admitted that he wasn't the same person he was a few years ago. Dean killed Sam's childhood friend in cold blood just because she had killed a few humans to keep her son from starving, but he wouldn't kill Benny who could very well kill again.

I was wondering when this would come up, but as the episode ended there was little resolution...as usual.  

It's all about the Benjamin

Benny takes center stage on Supernatural

Other than a few flashback, we haven't really seen much of Dean's Purgatory savior Benny, but the latest episode shines a light on this vampire's motives for getting back into the world.

Benny has an agenda and it's to avenge the human love that his maker and nest took from him. He was part of a group of vampire pirates that bled the rich and let the sea wash away their victims. That was until he met free spirited Amelia who was traveling the world.

Benny ends up running away with her and his maker tracks him down, kills him and vows to drain Amelia. His first business when he came back was to avenge her death by killing his maker. A nasty fight leaves him injured and he calls Dean in to help him out.

Dean ends up helping him, but Benny finds out that his maker didn't kill his love, but turned into a vampire and has now become second in command. She helps Benny have the tools necessary to kill his maker, but when its all said and done she's no longer the free spirit.

Dean ends up cutting her head off and Benny is left with a crisis of conscience and purpose. Benny isn't like most vampires and only drinks from donated blood and not from live humans. He's also not evil and Dean respects him. We find out that even though Benny considered Cas a liability, he still saved his life.

I really ended up liking Benny's character by the end of the episode and felt sorry for him.

Dean Winchester is a Jerkface

And I’m pretty much ready for Supernatural to end.

I’m not going to stop watching Supernatural. Yes, there’s plenty of misogyny, double standards, pointless plot trends, and other annoyances to go around. Yes, this season has me shouting at Dean during every scene—and though I hope it’s an intentional plot device, I am pretty sure it’s just same old, same old.

Let’s recap, shall we? Sam wanted out of the family business from episode one, yet Dean sort of bullied him back into it, spanning multiple seasons of Sam yearning for a non-hunting life while Dean insisted it was their duty. And when Dean died and went to hell, Sam not only kept hunting—he also tried to rescue Dean to no avail.

Then, when Sam went to hell—in a much worse way than Dean, mind you—Dean moved on. He lived with Lisa for a year, being a father to Ben and pretty much living in paradise. Even though Sam returned—and was even soulless—he tried to leave Dean alone to live his dream.

Now, however, Sam tried to do the same out of loneliness while Dean was in purgatory—and Dean came home furious that he dared to do such a thing! Dean Winchester can do no wrong, and god forbid Sammy try to have a life of his own.

And remember when everyone freaked out when Sam hit his low and opened the gates of Hell by killing Lilith—and before that, screwing that awful demon Ruby? It was perfectly okay that Dean started these events in motion by torturing who knows how many people in Hell, but we must condemn Sam for undoing the final seal when he was trying to do the opposite.

I am so tired of this crap. Dean killed a monster woman who rescued Sam last season in cold blood after she killed to feed her children, but now it’s perfectly fine for Dean to pair up with a bloodsucking vampire. Dean Winchester is a jerkface and I’m sick of him. I don’t care how pretty this boy is; I don’t want to watch him anymore.

I do want to watch Sam, though, even though I’m growing tired of his flashbacks. I hope this season is their last. I used to truly love this show, but it’s gotten ridiculous—even boring—and tiresome. Let’s find the prophet, send all the demons to hell or wherever, and end this whole thing before it gets too painful to watch and my eyes start bleeding.

Supernatural footage

An homage to Paranormal Activity

To be honest, I have done a lot writing about found footage movies lately because of the release of Paranormal Activity 4, but I certainly didn't expect to write about it here. It seems the writers of Supernatural have joined found footage bandwagon in the latest episode.

The episode revolves around three students, one of which is putting together a movie. It's your typical handsome hulk, hot girlfriend and nerdy dweeb scenario and is shot using a variety of angles including hand-held and hidden security-like cameras.

The Winchesters come upon a gruesome scene and find a laptop with a note saying to “watch me.” The jock ends up getting bit by a pure blood werewolf and slowly begins to change, going so far as to kill and eat the heart of the campus douchebag. The nerdy guy gets envious and finds the pure blood and blackmails him into biting him.

Back at the apartment, jock werewolf and nerd werewolf fight because he wants the hot girl. Jock gets stabbed with a silver knife and nerdy guy bites hot girl to turn her. She freaks out until she starts to change and then leaves the bathroom and rips nerdy guy to shreds.

She pleads on the video to let her go since she technically hasn't attacked a human. Dean, who killed Sam's friend for almost the same thing, suggests letting her go. All and all, I thought the episode was well done and a quality standalone episode. I thought the found footage aspect was a little cheesy, but it was a good change of pace. I am sure many people missed the Winchesters this episode.

Monster of The Week

Series examines complex relationship

After many, many and many more story arc episodes, it's nice to get back to the Monster of the Week even it was a little lame. The episode did touch on the subject of Sam going back to a normal life after ridding the world of demons.

It's an odd relationship with the brothers this year. They are both looking for normalcy, but it two completely different ways. Sam wants the white picket fence, dog and adoring wife that he had while Dean was in Purgatory. Dean's been in survival mode for a year and wants to get back to the only thing he really knows how to do: hunt.

In this episode, the brothers defeat an Mayan warrior that has stayed young for centuries by making a deal with one of their gods. The only caveat was that people had to die to keep him young. He eventually tired of living and killed himself, but when his organs were harvested and given to sick people, they discovered they could become almost superhuman by doing the same ritual.

When it was all said and done, Dean enjoyed the normalcy of defeating the bad guy and saving people. For Sam, it just reinforced his departure from normalcy. I don't know where the writers are going with this, but Sam can't expect to quit cold turkey. Even if he gave it up, Sam's got enough enemies out there that eventually someone is going to find him.

He's nearly ended and saved the world. He's killed hundreds of creatures and left a wake of bodies behind him. For the Winchester brothers, what we think of as normal isn't an options.

 

Yes, it's getting better

Episode II gives us what we want.

I knew things were going to be awesome when they played FBI agents and identified themselves as Sixx and Neil. That was a sign to the fans that things were getting back to normal in the Supernatural universe.

It was a nod to naming themselves after classic rock band members, but that practice was curtailed after the Leviathans made them public enemy number 1. Last season, everything changed and no one liked it. They killed off Bobby, they made Cas crazy and there were so many lame “Dick” jokes that you wanted to change the channel.

This episode brought back everything that made Supernatural great. The humor. The in-jokes. The premise was that Plutus, a god, was auctioning off the demon tablet to the highest bidder. Dean, Sam, Kevin and his mom visit it with the goal of winning or taking it. Crowley was also there, as well as an angel.

Needless to day, things don't quite go as well as planned and Crowley ends up with the tablet, but not Kevin. Kevin jumps ship afraid that Dean will end up getting him killed. We saw a few more flashbacks of Purgatory and finally saw Cas. Cas disappeared after they arrived and has been dealing with the baddies.

We don't know what ends up happening to Cas, but it's not going to be good that's for sure. Next week, we are going to see what Sam did and what his normal life was like.

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