Supernatural: Nihilism (14x10)

My heart!!!

Cons:

When Maggie was leading the gang from the alternate world, I literally forgot who she was for a second. I didn't hate her moments in the episode, but this character, and all of the folks from the apocalypse world, have been somewhat mismanaged this season. We needed more buildup for them. Also, is Garth still in the trunk? Ha.

How did they get cuffs that could contain an Archangel? That felt a tad unrealistic to me. This show famously has a big problem with power creep, but an equally big problem is that the Winchesters have exactly as much power as the show needs them to have, for whatever plot contrivance they've come up with. These cuffs exist, but in another moment they might not, depending on whether or not they want Michael to be free.

Pros:

But whatever. This episode kicked ass. I love Dean so much and I'm so sad all of the time about him. But let's start with some smaller subplot stuff first.

Like I said, I didn't hate the stuff with Maggie. It was fun to see that these folks from the other world show such loyalty to Sam, Dean, and Cas. It's cute to know that Sam has garnered so much loyalty, and that there's this whole system in place to deal with catastrophe. I mean, sure, Michael and his monsters are a little overwhelming, but at least it's something.

Also, Jack. One of the great things about Michael in this episode is that he tailors his psychological torture to each person's fears and insecurities. Pretty basic stuff for a villain, of course, but it's done here so well. Michael might have tried to get to Jack by pointing out that he's useless without his powers, but that's not quite the route he takes. That's part of it, sure, but more specifically, Michael plays on Jack's insecurities about Dean's feelings towards him. He says that Dean didn't really care when Jack died, that Dean only cares about Sam and Cas, and that Jack is just a burden for him. Of course, Michael is in Dean's head while he's saying all of this. And at the same time, Jack can't help but remember that Dean wasn't exactly warm towards him in the beginning.

All of this delicious angst leads to a great moment where Jack is able to use his powers to save everyone from Michael's monsters in the bunker. Using his powers burns off part of his soul, but he does it anyway to save his family. There's a really excellent coda to Jack's little subplot where he talks with Cas, and Cas gives him a "concerned dad" lecture. Cas knows what could happen if Jack lets too much of his soul burn away. The consequences could be more dire than just Jack's life. I love this, and I love that the super-powered nephilim thing is now coming with some serious costs. Jack can maybe still use his powers to save the day, but there are limited bullets in that chamber. I'll be interested to track Jack's psychological state as we move forward.

And oh boy. Speaking of psychological states... let's talk about Dean Winchester. The prison that Michael uses to trap him is not one of torture, and it's not one of pure bliss, either. As Sam and Cas figure out, it's... contentment. Things aren't perfect. Dean has a bar and has a good friend in Pamela, but the bar is in dire financial trouble, and Pamela is just a friend - Dean doesn't have a partner or spouse. Sam and Cas are still out there hunting, and Dean still has to deal with monsters seeking revenge. It's... in between. It's maybe the happiest ending Dean can imagine for himself, given all of the trauma he's been through. Anything better, and Dean would suspect that something was wrong.

Cas and Sam are just so deliciously scared the whole episode. Seeing their worry for Dean is obviously precious to me in every way. I want to point out that once again Sam and Cas are framed within this episode as being equal parts of Dean's life. When Michael is taunting Jack, he says that Dean doesn't really love him: "you're not Sam, you're not Cas." In Dean's mind prison, Sam and Cas are out together on a ghoul hunt, and should be back soon. When Michael shows up, and Dean awakens to what's really going on, Michael tries to tear Sam and Cas down, and also torture Dean, by suggesting some really ugly things about their relationships: Dean doesn't really care about Cas, he just feels like he owes him. And Sam? Dean knows that Sam is going to leave him again one day, and that he can't really trust him. Hearing these words is painful for everyone involved, in the best way possible. Michael really is conniving.

Also, Michael mocks Cas by quoting his first words to Dean: "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition." It was utter perfection and I had to stop and rewind to watch it again.

Somebody with more time than me is going to go back and catch all of the little snippets we heard in Dean's mind, when Cas was looking for him. There was a lot of really juicy stuff in there, and I want to hear more. We hear Dean screaming in pain, we hear him calling out Sam's name, we hear him confronting the evil within him when he had the Mark of Cain... I want to do more analysis of this great material.

Often with Supernatural, the thing I care about most is the way the characters react to these various premises. Often, the premises themselves are kind of weak, or cliche, or predictable. But I actually gasped out loud when Dean said "I'm the cage" after trapping Michael within his own mind. Maybe it is kind of predictable, given the stuff this show has done before, but I love this concept. 100% golden. Now we get to watch Dean struggle with his inner darkness in a very literal way, and we know that the threat of Michael breaking through is always there, lurking just around the corner. This is going to give Jensen some great acting opportunities.

Finally, let's talk about that scene with Billie in the end. This is some Doctor Strange from Infinity War shit going on, and I am here for it! Billie tells Dean that all of his potential future deaths have been re-written, and all end with Michael breaking free and destroying the earth using Dean as a vessel. All... except one. And she hands the book to Dean. Dean reads it, but we don't get to know what it says. I'm SO. HERE. FOR. THIS. The look on Dean's face as he reads the words is so enigmatic. Is he heartbroken? Confused? We can see in the promo for next week's episode that Dean is acting weird. Some of that is probably because he has Michael locked up in his brain, but obviously a big part of it is knowing what needs to happen to save the world. I'm absolutely delighted by this turn of events!

That's where I'll stop for now. Excellent episode. Truly amazing. Very scared for whatever happens moving forward!

9/10