Holy codependency, Batman. Like, wow. That premiere was dark. In a good way. It was a brilliant premiere. One of the better episodes of Supernatural ever. I had some teeny tiny flaws with it but really they are more problems that involve speculation about the future - which is hardly fair, if I'm really judging this episode on its own. But I might as well dive in and discuss my thoughts about all this stuff, huh?
So. Sam is in the hospital, and he's really sick. Dean hears from the doctor that there's really nothing left to do, and Dean being Dean of course refuses to accept that. He prays to Cas, asking for his help. But no, hold the phone - he's not asking for his help, he's just asking for his presence. He just wants Cas there. It was a beautiful scene. As someone who only mildly ships Destiel, I really could not help myself from getting all gushy over this one. The sweet soft music in the background, Jensen's choked up and desperate acting... ugh. So much love for this moment.
Cas doesn't show up, obviously, and Dean then turns his prayer to a wider audience. He basically makes a general announcement to all angels, asking for help and promising help in return. As Dean later says, this proves he's pretty darn desperate, since he has no way of knowing what these angels will do when they turn up. After a conversation with a grievance counselor, Dean realizes that even if angels don't turn up, he might still have someone who can help.
And here comes one of the truly funny moments in the episode (but funny in a seriously dark way). Dean goes to the trunk of the impala and talks to Crowley, who has apparently been tied up in there this whole time. He asks for a confirmation via knocking that he's still alive, but before he can continue talking, an angel turns up. And he is pretty darn threatening. He tells Dean that he's not planning to do any helping - it will be the other way around. And then... our newest angel friend Ezekiel shows up. Together, Dean and Ezekiel kill the other angel.
Ezekiel tries to help Sam, but he's too weak for him to do much. Meanwhile, Dean has to deal with all of the other angels basically trying to tear the hospital down. Dean draws protective symbols in Sam's room, and then leaves to go deal with the problem. Angels are everywhere, Dean is being beaten to a bloody pulp, and why? Because all of the angels are looking for Castiel. And they all assume Dean will know where he is. This is amazing on so many levels, one of which is that Dean refuses to even contemplate betraying Cas, even if he doesn't know his exact location. Dean uses his own blood to draw the angel repelling symbol on the ground and banishes the angels to... well... good question. As Dean points out, Heaven is closed. So where do they go?
Anyway, Ezekiel gives the bad news that Sam is basically a goner. There may still be one way to save him though... possession. Apparently Ezekiel is very weak, and since Sam is as well, Ezekiel could possess him and heal both himself and Sam from the inside. Dean is understandably freaked out.
But before I go on we need to backtrack a moment to talk about what's been going on with Sam this whole time. He's in his head. And Dean is there. And Bobby is there. And there are some... arguments. Basically, Dean represents the part of Sam that doesn't want to die, and Bobby represents the part that is ready to let go. The most important thing in watching these scenes is to remember that this isn't Dean. It's not Bobby. It's how Sam imagines them. And in a way, that makes it even more heartbreaking.
Dean, in Sam's head, is angry and desperate and willing to do anything to keep Sam alive. Bobby is his usual ornery self, but he tells Sam it's okay to move on and be done with the hardships of the world. One of the most precious moments in the episode is when Bobby talks about how much good Sam has done. He tells him that he saved the world, and that he'll be leaving it a better place. But it's not Bobby. It's Sam's projection of Bobby. I'm not saying that if Bobby had been there he wouldn't have said those things, but remember the last conversation Bobby and Sam had? It involved Bobby acting really disappointed about Sam's actions of late. And now Sam shows how badly he wants confirmation that his father figure is proud of him. Like, wow. Ouch.
Anyway, the saddest thing ever happens when Dean shows up, stabs Bobby, and actually physically attacks Sam to stop him from choosing to die. Remember, once again, that Dean is being how Sam imagines him. That means that Sam knows full well how much he means to his brother, and how badly this is going to hurt him. And yet, still, he chooses death. He walks away from Mind-Dean and into a cabin, where Death himself awaits.
So now, to go back to the hospital, where Dean is thinking about Ezekiel's offer. Dean immediately knows that Sam would never consent to being possessed. For a moment, I was thinking, wow, Dean. That's very big of you to respect your brother's choices and let him g - oh, no, wait. Of course not. Because Dean Winchester is so dependent on his brother that he would never ever let him die ever ever ever. He asks Ezekiel if he can see into Sam's mind as confirmation of how bad things have gotten.
Dean gets to then witness a heartbreaking conversation between Sam and Death, where Sam asks for a promise from Death that if he dies this time, it will be permanent. Nobody will ever be able to bring him back. The fact that Sam sounds so sincere for this conversation is truly terrible. And the look on Dean's face when he hears it... ugh. My heart. It's dying. But anyway, this incident seems to cement in Dean's mind the fact that Ezekiel's plan is his brother's only hope. Only one problem - Dean knows that Sam will never say yes to being possessed by Ezekiel. So...
Inside Sam's head, Dean appears. He's begging. He's telling Sam that he's found the solution, and that Sam needs to stop shutting him out. Then there's the already famous line "there ain't no me if there ain't no you," which, hello, freakin' codependent as all hell. But anyway, Sam agrees to let Dean help. Dean says "is that a yes?" Sam looks at Death, then looks at his brother, and says "Yes."
At which point Dean puts his hand on Sam's shoulder and morphs into Ezekiel and the look of betrayal/confusion on Sam's face is just too much and then I died and I am a ghost writing this review because there are too many feelings happening all at once oh my word.
Anyway, Jared pulls off some amazing acting as Ezekiel and then we see Sam and Dean in the impala. Sam wakes up having no memory of anything that's happened since the church, and all is well with the Winchester Brothers. Except for the part where Sam is now possessed by an angel and he has no idea and Dean totally tricked him into giving his consent even though clearly Sam was ready to die.
And I know the above rant sounds like I disapprove... and well, I do, on a human level. But on a story arc/character level, this is awesome. It's showing the darkest side of the Winchester's creepy dependence on one another. Dean's willingness to do something so heinous to save Sam's life just proves that they are so far past anything approaching normal. The repercussions for this are going to be epic.
As far as Ezekiel goes - I'm sad we didn't get to see Tahmoh Penikett sink his teeth into this role for a bit longer, but I think he did a wonderful job in the brief moments we had, and I think that Jared kicked ass at playing the character as well. I'm not sure yet whether I think he's going to be evil or not, but either way the consequences for Dean's actions are sure to be extremely interesting to watch.
Now I have to back up once more and talk about everyone's favorite angel, Castiel. Welcome Misha Collins to the regular cast! I'm excited, as I think most of the fans are. His journey in this episode was done very well. I heard a lot of people worrying that the show runners were going to turn Cas-as-a-human into something of a joke, but I'm happy to report that this was not the case. The situation was treated with as much gravity as was appropriate for such a traumatic event in Cas' life.
He has to deal with the realities of humanity - he gets injured, and it hurts. He needs money and transportation to get places. He's being hunted by the angels but he has hope that maybe some of them might still accept him. His conversation with Dean was wonderful. His concern for Sam was palpable and I really enjoyed how his first instinct was to explain things to Dean and make sure he had his forgiveness. And then there's the touching fact that Dean, who previously had been begging Cas to be there, tells him to stay away for his own safety.
The character of Hael was a really interesting addition. She seems to be innocent and scared, and Cas tells her that their banishment from Heaven can be looked at as an opportunity to do what they want, rather than what they've been told. However (Destiel shippers rejoice) once he talks to Dean he's ready to ditch his new angel friend and rush to help his boyfr - I mean friend. However, Hael has other plans. She knocks Cas out and forces him to go on a bit of a road trip with her.
What is she after? His vessel. Yes, that's right, folks. His. Vessel. I don't think people realize what a big deal this is. We've got Sam, unknowingly possessed by an angel, and now we have Cas, threatened by someone who wants to do the same thing. So what does Cas do about it? He buckles up, drives the car off the road, and then kills Hael once he learns that she plans to reveal his location to the other angels. Cas' willingness to kill one of his own in order to stay alive is really interesting here.
He then goes to a laundromat, strips (yum) and gets ready to wash the blood off of the iconic trench coat. However, he only has a bit of money on him, so instead he dresses in unattended clothes and uses the money to buy water from the vending machine. Which he drinks. Quite desperately and sexily, I might add.
Misha Collins knocked this one right out of the park. From the second we see him on screen, it's clear that something is different. He is more expressive, more open with his emotions and his opinions. He behaves... well... human. But he's still Cas. I am so glad that his interactions with the human world are not being played for laughs. It's being treated seriously, as it should. I particularly love the scene with Hael (before we know she's crazy and vessel-coveting) where Cas talks about the opportunity now in front of them. It shows him in a nurturing, kind, and dare I say angelic sort of way. It shows us that Cas still ultimately wants to help people. It is his driving force.
As much as I would have loved to see Cas reunite with our boys in this episode, I'm really enjoying the development of his separate story arc. I'm hoping that we get more new characters and watch Cas interact in the human world and figure out his new place.
So. Now I've just got to briefly mention the problem with this episode. It wasn't big, it wasn't enough to detract from the good stuff, but it was still there. We see the recurrence of two old characters in this episode: Bobby and Death. Both are used to great effect, here, I'll admit. But if that's all we get of Bobby's return, I'll be severely disappointed. Not because it was bad, but because it was... well, if that was it, then it was unnecessary. I was hoping to see the realm of Heaven come into play as a real place, here, and I was hoping to see Bobby enter into the plot as more than just part of Sam's subconscious.
Then there are our two new characters: Hael and Ezekiel. Hael was really interesting, and they killed her off immediately. I'm really hoping we get to see more and more of the new angels and how Cas deals with them, because while Hael was really good while she was there, she was gone far too quickly. And then Ezekiel. Obviously we're not done with him as a character, since he's actually inside one of our protagonists at the moment, but we might be done with Ezekiel as portrayed by Tahmoh Penikett. And that's a big shame. I love Jared, Jensen, and Misha. I really do. But fresh meat is sort of necessary at this point. I'm just hoping that we get some new characters who stick around.
At the end of the day, this was a fantastic premiere. It was so superbly acted. Jensen really knocked it out of the park with Dean's desperation about Sam. He looked about ready to burst into tears on several occasions. Misha, as I mentioned, did such a good job showing us all these new and human traits of Cas, while also displaying the inherent angelic nature still within him. Jared did an amazing job playing Ezekiel, but I think the highlight of his performance for me was his heartfelt conversation with Death. Just the knowledge that Sam is ready to die is sad enough to keep me crying about it until next week.
And speaking of next week, I promise I won't ramble on this much about every new episode of Supernatural, no matter how much I love it. Anyways - great opening!
9/10
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