This episode was sooo painful! And not in a bad way. Seriously, I was emotionally compromised by viewing this particular installment of Supernatural. Like almost any episode that I review, there were some noticeable flaws, but I'll get to those in a moment. Let's start first with a plot summary.
After noticing some flickering lights and such, Sam and Dean discover that the bunker is haunted. However, they know that a spirit couldn't have gotten in past all of the protections, so they realize that whoever it is, it must be someone who died in the bunker. Sure enough, Kevin turns up. He has disturbing news - ever since the angels fell, people haven't been getting in to Heaven. Every dead soul is just stuck in the veil, in between worlds. Through communications with other spirits, Kevin has determined that his mother was still alive as of one week previously. He asks the Winchesters to find her for him.
Sam and Dean are still not getting along, but of course they agree to go help Kevin. They go to the woods where a woman named Candy was killed, and they manage to communicate with her. She describes how she was captured in a storage facility and tortured. They manage to find this storage facility, and they discover that Crowley was the one holding these people hostage - they were all the loved ones of important figures. Sam finds Mrs. Tran, while Dean is attacked by a demon that Crowley had left in charge. They all manage to escape, only after letting Mrs. Tran kill the demon herself. They go back to the bunker, where Mrs. Tran is reunited with the ghost of her son. Since Kevin can't pass on to Heaven, he is going to go home with his mother while Sam and Dean try to fix this mess and get him and the other lost souls to Heaven.
Before Kevin and Mrs. Tran leave, Kevin asks Sam and Dean to promise him that they'll stop fighting and forgive each other. They agree to do so, but once Kevin leaves, the brothers go back to ignoring one another.
Meanwhile, Cas is trying to track down Metatron. He comes across another faction of angels called the Penitents, but they've been mostly killed off. Then, some of Bartholomew's angels show up and take Cas to their leader. Bart and Cas share a hug, and we learn that Bart served under Cas during the war against the archangels. Bart now proposes that they team up and track down Metatron, because even if their methods are different, they both want to restore the angels to Heaven. Cas is hesitant, and becomes even more so when Bart tortures an angel from the destroyed faction to find out more information. When Cas refuses to finish off the torture victim, Bart does it instead, and then turns on Cas. Cas fights back and gains control over Bart, but refuses to kill him. That is, until Bart tries to attack him from behind. Cas kills him and leaves. In the end, Bart's followers come to Cas and say they want him to lead them. Cas does not want to be a leader, but we are left uncertain as to what he'll do with these new unwanted followers.
Alright! I'll start with the stuff I didn't like. Really, there was just one big thing: Sam and Dean are being idiots. And I'm not talking about their brotherly relationship... I'm talking about their hunting skills. These guys are supposed to be the best in the business, and they straight up got themselves tricked by a couple of low-life demons by walking straight into a super obvious trap. I found myself rolling my eyes pretty hardcore at that.
The only other thing I didn't really like was the whole part with Candy. It felt like an unnecessary detour for them to take. Couldn't Kevin have just learned more from Candy, so Sam and Dean could go straight to the warehouse without this weird intermediary step? Maybe that's a nitpick.
But now onto the good stuff!
Mrs. Linda Tran is a bad ass. I love how strong she is, and I think the best moment of the whole episode was when she asks Sam to take her to her son, and Sam starts to tell her the truth, but Mrs. Tran just interrupts and firmly repeats that Sam will take her to her son. She knows the truth, but she also knows she can't succumb to grief while they're still in such immediate danger.
Kevin calls Dean out on his crap. Dean has this pitiful speech where he apologizes to Kevin for everything, and Kevin finally becomes visible, and complains that he doesn't want to listen to a Winchester self-pity party. This was so fantastic. It was basically the show calling itself out on using Kevin for Dean's man-pain. Hopefully this means that Kevin the ghost will continue to play a role in events, and be important in his own right.
Even though I just praised Kevin rolling his eyes at Dean's speech, I also have to praise the speech itself... because... you know, Jensen's acting. I'll never get over how amazing he is.
The disgruntled demon employee of Crowley's was really hilarious. I loved how expressive he was, and how annoyed he was with Crowley. It just made me chuckle. I know Crowley wasn't in this episode, but his presence was very felt - I liked the interesting dynamic where Dean has started to somewhat treat Crowley as a business partner, and Sam feels the need to remind his brother how evil he is. It's a bit of a subtle mirror to Sam's relationship with Ruby. Very interesting.
All of Cas' subplot was fantastic. I was so happy to see him get a story line all his own, and even though I crave more Dean/Cas interactions, it was sort of refreshing that the Winchesters didn't talk about Cas, and Cas didn't talk about the Winchesters, at all in this episode. Cas just got to be Cas. And Cas... is a freakin' bad ass. Seriously, he was intense in this episode. I don't know what's going to happen with this new faction trying to elect Cas as their leader, but I'm very excited to find out.
Sam and Dean still haven't fixed their relationship! Yes, I'm putting this with the good things. I just love that they're not brushing this fight under the rug, like they have so many other times over the years. Their current relationship problems are going to have to come to a head at some point, and then hopefully they can start the healing process.
So, yeah! Basically, I was very happy over all with this episode, and I'm beyond excited to see what's next.
8/10
Alright! I'll start with the stuff I didn't like. Really, there was just one big thing: Sam and Dean are being idiots. And I'm not talking about their brotherly relationship... I'm talking about their hunting skills. These guys are supposed to be the best in the business, and they straight up got themselves tricked by a couple of low-life demons by walking straight into a super obvious trap. I found myself rolling my eyes pretty hardcore at that.
The only other thing I didn't really like was the whole part with Candy. It felt like an unnecessary detour for them to take. Couldn't Kevin have just learned more from Candy, so Sam and Dean could go straight to the warehouse without this weird intermediary step? Maybe that's a nitpick.
But now onto the good stuff!
Mrs. Linda Tran is a bad ass. I love how strong she is, and I think the best moment of the whole episode was when she asks Sam to take her to her son, and Sam starts to tell her the truth, but Mrs. Tran just interrupts and firmly repeats that Sam will take her to her son. She knows the truth, but she also knows she can't succumb to grief while they're still in such immediate danger.
Kevin calls Dean out on his crap. Dean has this pitiful speech where he apologizes to Kevin for everything, and Kevin finally becomes visible, and complains that he doesn't want to listen to a Winchester self-pity party. This was so fantastic. It was basically the show calling itself out on using Kevin for Dean's man-pain. Hopefully this means that Kevin the ghost will continue to play a role in events, and be important in his own right.
Even though I just praised Kevin rolling his eyes at Dean's speech, I also have to praise the speech itself... because... you know, Jensen's acting. I'll never get over how amazing he is.
The disgruntled demon employee of Crowley's was really hilarious. I loved how expressive he was, and how annoyed he was with Crowley. It just made me chuckle. I know Crowley wasn't in this episode, but his presence was very felt - I liked the interesting dynamic where Dean has started to somewhat treat Crowley as a business partner, and Sam feels the need to remind his brother how evil he is. It's a bit of a subtle mirror to Sam's relationship with Ruby. Very interesting.
All of Cas' subplot was fantastic. I was so happy to see him get a story line all his own, and even though I crave more Dean/Cas interactions, it was sort of refreshing that the Winchesters didn't talk about Cas, and Cas didn't talk about the Winchesters, at all in this episode. Cas just got to be Cas. And Cas... is a freakin' bad ass. Seriously, he was intense in this episode. I don't know what's going to happen with this new faction trying to elect Cas as their leader, but I'm very excited to find out.
Sam and Dean still haven't fixed their relationship! Yes, I'm putting this with the good things. I just love that they're not brushing this fight under the rug, like they have so many other times over the years. Their current relationship problems are going to have to come to a head at some point, and then hopefully they can start the healing process.
So, yeah! Basically, I was very happy over all with this episode, and I'm beyond excited to see what's next.
8/10
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