Supernatural: Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (12x15)

You know, this episode of Supernatural actually did something quite clever. The story structure was strange, in that in some ways this was a C-plot episode, but in other ways, the main plot of the episode served as a bridge between the biggest going concerns in the main plot. This is even cleverly suggested by the title, "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell." Let's dive in.

Cons:

I really don't have much to complain about. Clumsy exposition in one or two spots, I guess... that's always true of this show, though. Also, Sam does lie to Dean about working with the BMOL, which I specifically said would piss me off if it happened. Luckily, by the end of the episode it's resolved. I actually didn't mind it too much, but I still think it's annoying that Sam lied to Dean about it even a little bit. It felt unnecessary after all the hooplah over Mary lying.

Pros:

So, the main plot of the episode is that a young couple are camping, when suddenly the guy, Marcus, gets ripped apart by a Hell Hound. The girl, Gwen, is also attacked, but she gets away. Sam and Dean show up, and they call in Crowley for an assist. He wants to kill this Hell Hound too, because it's Ramsey, the original Hell Hound, controllable only by Lucifer himself. Sam manages to kill the beast, and all is well.

This plot thread is a perfectly serviceable, fairly standard, example of C-plot Supernatural. I liked Gwen. I liked the fact that her grief over Marcus' death was mixed in with a lot of guilt. She knows that he loved her a lot more than she loved him. He was going to propose, while she was getting ready to end the relationship. I also loved Crowley and Dean working together. Those two just crack me up. Especially when Dean suggested that maybe he'd rubbed off on Crowley, since he was helping them to save Gwen. Crowley replies that maybe he's the one who's "rubbed off all over you." This gives Dean the very understandable creeps. One of the ending moments shows Gwen giving Crowley a big hug and telling Sam and Dean that he seems "nice." That's just fantastic.

Then you've also got the humor with the car. Dean is very nervous giving Sam the keys so he can drive Gwen around and keep her safe. When Ramsey attacks the car, trapping Sam and Gwen inside, Sam almost looks more concerned about the damage to the impala than he does about his own life!

I also love the fact that Sam gets to kill the Hell Hound. I'm not sure why they're doing it, but for whatever reason, Sam is getting all the big kills lately. He killed Ramiel, he killed the Alpha Vampire, and now he's killed the fiercest Hell Hound of the bunch. I feel like they're building up to something here, and as a real Sam fan, I'm excited to see what it could be.

But what's so fascinating about this central plot thread is that it's connected to all the bigger concerns in the season-long arcs.

For one, the Hell Hound Ramsey was actually released by a couple of demons who want Crowley out, and want Lucifer free. They manage to get Crowley out of the way long enough to make a deal with Lucifer, and then free him from his chains. He immediately kills the two demons who freed him, of course. And then we learn that Crowley was actually ten steps ahead of him - Lucifer's vessel itself has been warded like the Cage. He is a prisoner in his own flesh, and Crowley controls him.

Bad-ass Crowley makes an awesome return! I love Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer, but I'll admit that the best part of this episode was seeing Crowley pull one over on him. Crowley manages to keep a passive face the whole time Lucifer is taunting him, knowing that he'll have the final word. Oh boy. This is great. Comedy shout-out to the two demons who freed Lucifer. One of them was selfishly asking for whatever he could get out of the deal, while the other one just wanted to do his part to "Make Hell Great Again." These same demons distracted Crowley earlier with some of the bureaucratic backlog that the King of Hell really needed to deal with. Issues like how many babies are enough for a meal, Crossroads deals requiring higher approval, tort reform... you know. Hell stuff.

At the same time, Cas meets up with an angel who says that Cas can come back home and be welcomed in Heaven if only he helps find Kelly and the Anti-Christ she's carrying around inside her. Cas ends the episode by returning to Heaven for the first time in a long while.

On the one hand, the conflict between Heaven and Earth for Cas has been done to death already. On the other hand, I love the idea of giving Cas a real and permanent choice. Thus far, he's chosen humanity. He's chosen the Winchesters. But his alliance with his human family is undercut ever so slightly by the fact that Heaven doesn't want him. If Heaven does want him, then suddenly the choice becomes a lot more real. I'd love to see Cas making a choice - a real, permanent choice. He'd have to turn his back on Heaven forever, or else say goodbye to the Winchesters forever. I think we all know what choice he'd make, but I'd still love to see it happen.

And then while all of this is going on, Sam decides to come clean to Dean about the BMOL. He tells him that all the cases they've been working over the past two weeks have been given to them by the Brits. Dean is not happy, but Sam apologizes, and explains that these guys get results. Dean admits that just because they don't trust the BMOL, doesn't mean they can't work with them. I mean, Hell, he just spent the day working with Crowley.

This is great. I'm having to go back on what I said in last week's review, because despite the fact that Sam lied to Dean, we ended up with this great conversation. Sam apologized for lying, and decided to come clean all on his own, before Dean found out some other way. And Dean didn't get all self-righteous about it, either. He decides to trust Sam's play, even if he doesn't like it.

Sam and Dean had a number of great fun domestic moments in this one, like Sam telling Dean to take a shower and knowing how long he'd been wearing the same boxers. Dean razzes him a bit about his fancy shampoo, and it's all just so... familial. These two are as close as two brothers can be, partially as a consequence of living out of a car for the better part of their lives. It's nice to be reminded of that.

Oh, and Lucille the bat from The Walking Dead makes a lovely and hilarious cameo. Dean mentions that "dad loved this thing" as he puts the bat, wrapped with barbed-wire, on the table. This show. I just cannot.

9.5/10