I was so excited for this episode to air. I was expecting a lot of angst between the brothers. What I got was... well, I got some brother angst, but more than that I got a surprising amount of Rowena and Cas. Not what I would have asked for exactly, but it turns out it was exactly what I wanted. This episode was amazing. Let's dive in.
Cons:
Unfortunately, the amazingness isn't across the board. There were a few things to really hate about this episode. There was some good representation from the ladies to start with: four women with actual names. Amara, Rowena, Billie, Ambriel. But the bad news is, two of those ladies end up dead by the end of the hour. Ambriel was a one-off character, and I quite liked her. Turns out, she was really just there to give Cas a crisis of self-confidence and then die. Lame! And then there's Rowena. While her death served the function of shocking the audience, it ultimately feels sort of pointless. Am I the only one who felt like her build-up on this show has been totally wasted? There was so much more she could have done. So much more they could have explored. But she ultimately met her end as nothing more than an example of what Lucifer is capable of. Ugh.
And as long as we're talking about the women, let's just touch on Amara. Last time we saw her, she had been mega-smited by a whole host of Angels. It didn't do her in, to nobody's surprise. She's back to being her old creepy self in no time. She kills Ambriel but spares Cas to send a message to Crowley: "I am coming." I know I'm suppose to be scared of her, or maybe I'm supposed to think she's hot, but it's just not working. It's not the actress's fault. As of yet, I'm just more annoyed with the Darkness as a villain than anything else. I keep waiting for her to start showing up as a proper Big Bad, but she doesn't even come close to making the kinds of waves Lucifer made in this episode.
There were a few moments of silliness, such as the existence of something called "Smiting Sickness," which meant that Dean couldn't go with Cas to try and find Amara. It was a pretty lazy way for them to separate Dean and Cas at this critical junction. It would have worked just as well, and played a bit more into the theme of Cas being "expendable," if Dean has merely sent Cas in alone because he wanted to go find Sam, not because he literally couldn't come along.
The big fat twist of the episode is pretty great - Lucifer spends the whole episode trying to convince Sam to say "yes" to possession, but in the end it's Cas who ends up giving in, allowing Lucifer to possess him and escape the Cage. But while the twist itself was great, the buildup to it was a little on-the-nose. This idea of Cas having low self-worth is a pretty complex one that they've touched on before, but it felt a bit belabored here, as they seemingly brought Ambriel in just to remind us that Cas isn't sure that he's a true hero like the Winchesters. This is what leads him to make a big, huge, mistake, one that undermines Sam's bravery and faith. I wish I could have been more convinced of Cas's motivations and thought processes here. It was a little too simplistic.
Pros:
But I started off by saying that this episode was amazing, and it really, really was.
Let's start again with the ladies. I'm super annoyed at the deaths, and Amara doesn't really do it for me, but there were some things to like, as well.
Billie the Reaper is awesome! She's so no-nonsense, and I am totally on her side. She's an adversary for Sam and Dean that's going to sneak in and hit them when they least expect it. She's Death, maybe even more so than Death was Death, if that makes any sense. She was pretty funny in her brief exchange with Dean, and I loved her totally unsurprised reaction to Cas dramatically materializing on the floor in her office.
And then there's Ambriel - the thing that pissed me off so much about her death is that I was really liking her up until that point. She was a good counter-point to Cas and some of the other angels we've met, who all seem to be there to either offer exposition or to be big significant players in Heavenly politics. Ambriel was a grunt. A worker bee. She compared herself with Cas not to be cruel, but to say that it's okay to be expendable. There's nobility in doing a job and doing it well. I wish her character hadn't been killed off, because I think there was a lot of potential there. And the actress playing her was so adorable!
Dean and Cas had a pretty great scene together towards the top of the episode. Cas finds Dean suffering from Smiting Sickness (I'm still laughing about that, to be honest) and is very concerned about his well-being. The amount of worry that Cas showed to Dean was completely unnecessary from a story stand-point, and did nothing but serve to remind us that Cas would do anything in the world for Dean Winchester. This makes the further examination of Cas' character pretty difficult to swallow - I mentioned above that it was a little bit on-the-nose, but even so, seeing the way Cas showed concern for Dean's wellbeing in this episode contrasted nicely to Dean's uber-focus on Sam. Of course Dean is more worried about Sam for the time-being, but Cas watches Dean run to Sam in Lucifer's cage not once, but twice, while Cas is left to fight off Lucifer alone. He also knows he's being used as a tool by Amara, and to some extent he's being used by Dean, too, who needs backup to get Sam back. It's a shame that Cas' development is going to be pushed aside for a while as we now have Misha playing Lucifer. I saw some real potential in regards to Cas' feelings of self-worth, and wish we could have explored that more.
Crowley and Rowena had a lot of good moments in this episode. Of course, we started with the absurd Christmas-based dream, where baby Crowley opened up a Sam doll and eagerly greeted Lucifer-Santa when he arrived to bring presents. Rowena is trapped in this recurring nightmare, but Lucifer talks to her and sets the plan in motion, the plan that Rowena carries out when she allows Lucifer to break her wards and pull Sam inside the Cage. Crowley's resentment of his mother really shines through as he uses a collar to enslave her to his will. This collar was provided by Billie, who gave it to Dean when he came down to Hell to get Sam. It forces Rowena to perform a spell that will send Lucifer back down into the pit. But if Sam says yes before Rowena is done with the spell, all is lost, since Lucifer will be bound to earth by his earthly vessel.
Rowena's death, while annoying in principle, was handled expertly within the episode itself. Her lust and devotion to Lucifer are part of what brought her down. She's attracted to power, but a powerful entity like Lucifer knows that she's a liability. Just before her death scene, Crowley asks her why she hates him. It was an interesting moment, because of course Rowena was forced to answer honestly. Crowley clearly has some deeper issues than he's ready to admit to, or else he wouldn't have asked the question in the first place. Rowena answers that she hates him because he reminds her of when she was weak. If she didn't hate him, she might love him, and that she will not do. Watching Misha, as Lucifer, break her neck made me awfully sympathetic towards both Crowley and Rowena, which is a hard thing to pull off.
Of course we've got to talk about Sam and Dean, and their incredible codependency. First, there's the voicemail on Sam's phone. Apparently Dean stole it at some point and recorded a new out-going message, saying that Sam couldn't come to the phone because "he's waxing, like, everything." You can hear Sam yelling at Dean in the background. I find it absolutely adorable that Sam didn't change that message. Even if we don't see it every day, these two still goof off and have fun as brothers.
Contrast that light-heartedness with the rest of the stuff going on here - I loved the moment when Dean sees Crowley in Hell and Crowley tells him not to worry about Sam. Dean's response: "I'm sorry, have you met me?" And it's so true - Dean doesn't even know how not to worry about Sam. Later, when he hears Sam in pain, he runs to the Cage without a second thought to help his brother, despite the more concrete plan with Rowena already taking place. It is, of course, adorable that Cas comes along too. He loves Sam as well. In the Cage, we got lots of Dean touching Sam, concerned about his injuries and how he's holding up. And then after they are out of immediate danger, Dean keeps it simple, merely asking Sam if he's okay. Sam replies that he's not sure, which I loved. As messed up as their relationship is, both of them are really trying to be honest about how they feel.
We actually got to see the real consequences of Sam and Dean's codependency in this episode, through the eyes of Sam and Lucifer. Part of Lucifer's quest to convince Sam to say yes is to take him through some earlier moments of his life and examine how Sam Winchester turned from the great hero who stopped the apocalypse to a codependent weakling who would let the world burn for the sake of his brother. As harsh as that might sound, Lucifer makes a very compelling argument. He shows Sam during his time with Amelia, and points out that Sam has been so guilty about leaving his brother in Purgatory that he will never be able to stand losing him again. And Dean has never been able to stand losing Sam. So they will keep choosing each other over the fate of the rest of the world, again and again. And that is messed up. That is what this season is all about addressing and unpacking. Hearing it spelled out so harshly by Lucifer was a good way to get the point across. It's starting to make me think that this show might end with some Winchester deaths after all, as tragic as that would be.
Sam Winchester gets MVP for this episode, for-freakin'-sure. All of Sam and Lucifer's scenes were painful and perfect to watch, and I want to take some of my favorite moments and look at them a bit closer.
The flashback scenes were golden, as I already mentioned. I loved the way they took us through the journey of Sam as a hero. Colin Ford was back as Young Sam, and he was adorable as ever. Seeing Amelia and the dog was also fun. (Even though Amelia still makes no sense as a plot point).
Lucifer almost manages to convince Sam that saying "yes" is the right thing to do, but one thing stops Sam from giving in - he has faith in Dean and Cas. He knows that even if Lucifer defeats Amara, he'll go on to cause more havoc than ever. He trusts in himself, and in his family, to find another way to beat the Darkness. When he first finds himself trapped in the Cage with Lucifer, he says that he's not afraid, because he knows that Lucifer will taunt and torture him, but he also knows that Dean will save him. This faith in his brother is so powerful and beautiful, despite all the icky codependency issues that go along with it. And ultimately, we see that Sam still is the hero that he used to be. Sure, maybe he's made some mistakes and has a lot of issues to unpack. But he tells Lucifer: "I'm ready to die, and I'm ready to watch people I love die. But I'm not ready to be your bitch." Oh my word, Sam Winchester. I'm so freakin' proud of you.
The "Cage Match" (lol get it?) between Lucifer and Team Free Will was outstanding, especially given the lighthearted and goofy way Lucifer was playing it. He wasn't even breaking a sweat, dealing with these three. He gets Dean pinned to the wall and tells Sam that his brother will die unless he says "yes," but in a very smart subversion of the typical suspenseful wait, we get instead Cas jumping back to his feet and tackling Lucifer to get him away from Dean. Lucifer corners Cas, ready to deliver a death blow, while Dean rushes back to Sam's side instead of staying to help (I'm a little bitter about it, to be honest), and this is when Cas gives Lucifer permission to possess him. It was a tense scene with lots of great buildup, drama, and even a bit of humor.
And speaking of humor, this episode was full of hilarious moments and snappy dialogue.
Lucifer tells Sam that he misses who Sam used to be, a decisive guy who goes after what he wants, as evidenced by a scene in which he kisses a girl on a study date. Lucifer tells Sam that he gets "a solid B on the tongue action," which was great. Did anybody else notice that he says that as part of a list of things he misses about the old Sam? He makes it sound like he's experienced this tongue action personally, which is creepy times one million but also suits the humor of the moment.
Amara, coming across Cas, easily thwarts his attempts to kill her and disdainfully wonders why God ever took a special interest in him. "My brother always did have horrible taste in men." I mean, on a Biblical level this just means that Amara doesn't approve of God's chosen people. But also God is totally gay now and you can't take that away from me ever ever ever.
Rowena doesn't like the torture slave collar that Crowley and Dean force on her, and she remarks that Crowley has some sort of "Oedipal Fifty Shades" thing going on. Yikes. That made me laugh and wince at the same time.
After Sam is out of the cage, and the whole gang believes Lucifer is safely back where he belongs, Crowley announces that "this has been a horrible train wreck," and asks Sam, Dean, and Cas to get "the hell out of Hell." I just loved Mark Sheppard's delivery on that.
There was a really cheeky reference to FOX's new show about Lucifer. When Sam asks Lucifer what he'll do once he defeats Amara, Lucifer shrugs and says "move to LA, solve crimes?" which is the plot of FOX's new show. (Which seems like it's going to be a disaster, but we'll see).
I'll end this review with the end of the episode, appropriately enough. The twist with Lucifer possessing Cas leads to a great moment for Misha to shine. He does a great job with Mark Pellegrino's mannerisms. I still say that Jared is a better Lucifer, but I'm so, so excited to see what Misha does with Lucifer-pretending-to-be-Cas. I'm sure it's going to be awesome. Rowena's death is appropriately shocking, and I love Crowley's reaction to the revelation of Lucifer's presence. He doesn't even bother pretending to be tough. He just says "bloody hell," then gets up and tries to run away. That moment of Crowley's brought home how big a deal Lucifer really is. I mean, Crowley's not as intimidating as he once was, but it still takes a lot to rattle him that badly. I can't wait to see what Lucifer has in store for the interim King of Hell...
I think that's where I'll stop. This was a fantastic opening episode for the second half of the season. I'm beyond excited to see what Misha does with Lucifer, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what Lucifer is going to do to our boys.
9/10
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