Supernatural: Unfinished Business (13x20)

This was pretty great. I'm all for more Gabriel content, we got some good stuff with Jack and Mary, and a surprisingly good Winchester Broment there at the end.

Cons:

I continue to be miffed by what they did to Kevin's character in the Apocalypse World. I get that it's not the same Kevin Tran that we know and love, but still. It kind of drives me crazy that he's in the show but doesn't get to interact with anybody who would have known his original self. And now he appears to be dead. Again.

I feel like I make this complaint every week, but there were a few clunky moments of exposition. At one point towards the beginning I think Dean even said to Sam "as you know," before repeating plot points so we'd know what everybody was up to. Yikes.

Pros:

Let's start with the subplot - little Jack is feeling invincible, but Mary cautions him that going after Michael by himself is a bad idea. Kevin Tran ends up going nuclear on everybody, killing a bunch of rebels. Mary only survives because Jack uses his baby angel wings to shield her. By the way, Mary and Jack's relationship is everything and I am so here for it. I love the idea of Jack wanting to help people, but maybe going a little too far with it. Now he has a serious reality check - he's seen what can happen, the kinds of powerful entities he's up against. Jack is full of raw power, but he's only half archangel, after all.

I love Gabriel. I love the way that Richard Speight Jr. is portraying him here. It would have been so easy for them to go a different route, where Gabriel was never really bothered by all the torture, where the whole thing was just another trick. But no. Dude is supremely messed up by what happened to him, and he's out for revenge. Sure, he's killed Asmodeus, but now he wants to get the people who did this to him: Loki, and Loki's three sons. The mythology of why Gabriel was sort of Loki in the earlier seasons of the show is explained, and we see as Gabriel attempts to keep up a cheery, irreverent facade while going on his mission of revenge.

In a lesser version of this script, Sam and Dean would just get swept along in Gabe's chaos for no good reason. They'd just shrug and help him. But here, we see how complicated the situation is. They make a deal with Gabriel, saying that if they help him to kill his enemies, he will help them with the Michael issue. But Sam and Dean aren't idiots, and they fully suspect that Gabriel might not hold up his end of the deal. So why help him? Dean thinks that Sam is doing it because he's getting caught up in the revenge fantasy. But Sam seems to genuinely want to help Gabriel. This is just like with Rowena - Sam knows what it is to feel helpless. Sure, Dean spent time in Hell being tortured as well, but I don't think he can truly understand the psychological torment that Sam faced at Lucifer's hands. And knowing that Lucifer is still out there is agony for Sam in a way that Dean can't connect with.

We get a good mix of Gabriel being hilarious and witty, and moments where he totally breaks, and we can see the fury and pain. He completes his mission in killing Loki and his three sons, and actually decides to stick around and help the boys. It's hard to trust him, of course, but it seems for the time being that he really does want to do the right thing. I knew I liked this guy for a reason.

The final conversation between Sam and Dean is one of the greats - I love it when they actually address their problems and have a good talk about it. Sam is annoyed that Dean seems to be benching Sam for no good reason - he went to the Apocalypse world with Ketch instead of Sam, and he ran off in search of Loki without waiting for Sam and Gabriel to back him up. Dean counters Sam's accusation with: "Sam, I'm not going to apologize for protecting you." He then goes on to explain that he doesn't care what happens to him, he only cares about what happens to Sam. And the last time they dealt with a coming Apocalypse, Sam ended up dead, in Hell with Lucifer.

This is great. This is the kind of subtle stuff I like in Supernatural, when they manage to pull it off. Dean has always protected Sam. He's always cared so much more about Sam's life than his own. But Sam is right that Dean seems to be pushing him aside more than is usual. If Sam is still dealing with trauma related to his time with Lucifer, then Dean is still dealing with trauma from the year he spent believing Sam was lost to him forever. This is some good stuff.

Of course, Sam ends the episode with one of the best all-time Winchester brother quotes. He talks about how they are going to go through the rift and save Mom and Jack, together. If something goes wrong, they'll deal with it. Together. And, if they die... "we'll do that together too." At this point, these two are well aware that they can't survive without each other. It may be supremely messed up, but I honestly can't see it changing any time soon.

And we've arrived at the end of another season of Supernatural... just three episodes left. Usually the last three episodes are kind of one big finale. On balance, I'm pretty happy with where we're at - we've got Rowena, Cas, Gabriel, Sam, and Dean, with an assist from Ketch, Charlie, Mary, and Jack in the other world... I think Michael might have something to be afraid of.

9/10