Supernatural: Ouroboros (14x14)

Well, that was just great!

Cons:

This is an odd thing to comment on, but sometimes I feel like the acting in the pain reactions is sort of... off. Like there's this big moment towards the end of the episode where Jack is doing his cool power surge thing on Michael, and Sam, Dean, and Cas all cringe because of a high ringing noise. Their reactions were not simultaneous - Dean did his a beat after Sam and Cas, and I feel like I could almost hear someone off-camera cuing them when to react to the sound that was added in post. It's actually not the first time I've noticed something like that in Supernatural. Just thought I'd mention it here.

If that's the end of Michael, then I've got to say... he was not nearly as cool of a villain as I was hoping for. The final showdown being between Jack and Michael didn't feel earned, since Dean is the one who has been struggling with him all this time. On a similar note, why did all of the hunters have to die? We didn't spend enough time developing them to make their deaths have impact. I feel like some very, very, slight scriptural changes could have been made to justify keeping this larger ensemble in the wings... we almost had the perfect system! Just a throw-away line about Sam calling in to check on various hunts, or someone mentioning that a few of the hunters have moved to different cities to set up their own headquarters... that's all I would have needed. Why undo the idea of Sam as the new Bobby, running a network of hunters? That was a great concept that was thrown away because the extra people were somewhat inconvenient to explain away.

Pros:

But for the most part? This episode was amazing! Let's start with the case-of-the-week aspect. The Gorgon was actually properly sinister, and the imagery was really gory. It was kind of old-school Supernatural in a way I appreciated, even though it put me off a little bit to see the Gorgon reach into his victim's chest cavity. I also liked how creative the case was, with the bad guy able to stay one step ahead by eating his victim's eyes and seeing the future. I like starting cases in medias res. We know that the Winchester crew has been on this guy's trail for a while now, which only heightens the danger and tension when they finally start to catch up. The Gorgon's performance was just the right amount of actually scary and totally camp. I appreciated that he was going after male victims because recently women have started to be too cautious about strangers.

Rowena was an unexpected delight this week. I love her banter with Sam, the fact that she's not-so-secretly worried about Jack, her willingness to let Michael in so she can protect her friends... it was all excellent. I'm also pleasantly surprised that she survived the hour. The moment she was possessed by Michael, I thought Sam was going to be able to kill Michael by killing Rowena, thus fulfilling Rowena's prophesied death. That would have been pretty brutal, but also predictable, and I'm really glad we didn't go that route.

The scene where Rowena and Sam pretend to be concerned dog owners was hilarious, and the punchline of the dog actually being Jack worked great. I love that Rowena plays up the camp of it all, and although Sam is a bit exasperated, he plays along and pretends that they really are a couple. Rowena's right - pretending to be FBI agents isn't the only way to get things done when working a case!

Everybody knows about Supernatural's famous "power creep" problem, and it's also common among fans to make fun of the way the boys are always tossed around during fights with monsters without ever seeming to suffer any lasting harm. Some of my favorite C-plot episodes are ones that break this pattern. This wasn't exactly a C-plot, of course, but it had a basic monster-of-the-week setup for a lot of it, and then suddenly Dean gets a head injury and nobody can wake him up. I loved this, because it reminded everyone of the mortality of these characters. More specifically, the fact that they don't know they're on a TV show, and are never going to die going after a one-episode monster. Sam's worry for Dean was enormously touching. He asks Rowena desperately what he should do. It's all so... mundane. Obviously everyone's worried about Michael trapped in Dean's head, but more than that, it's just the same worry anyone would have when dealing with a serious head injury. I loved how simple it was, while still tying in to the A-plot.

Let's talk about Cas. This was a great episode for him. Seeing him on the hunt with the rest of the team was obviously a lot of fun, especially since he does a good job and seems to be a competent hunter. The scene with Cas and Dean at the restaurant is obviously one that people are going to be talking a lot about. Dean is always so careful with Cas, sort of gentle with him like he doesn't want to upset him, but also doesn't want to accidentally fall into the trap of Cas' concern, because he's afraid it'll break him. I love that Cas can see through Dean's nonchalance, and I especially love that Cas tells Dean how impressive he's being by keeping Michael at bay. Obviously there's not a lot Cas can do in the moment to help Dean, but I do think it's important for Dean to understand his own strength, and know that his family believes in him.

And then there's the delightful Destiel angst - the look on Cas' face when he woke up and realized that Dean was in trouble, the crack in his voice when he told Sam he couldn't heal him... just murder me now. In particular, the conversation between Jack and Cas was just so precious and important. Whatever happens in the future of this show, I will always maintain that Cas is in love with Dean - Misha seems to be playing to that specifically. And yet he lives with a great burden: Dean and Sam, his family, are mortal. Even if they keep defying the odds and live to an old age, Cas will likely lose them before they lose him. Jack is still so new to the world, and he's still learning that loving mortals is a curse as well as a gift. I liked having a conversation between these two immortal beings, to contextualize the journey of these characters in a new way.

So... Jack. I'm of two minds about what happens at the end of this episode. Is it really as easy as that? Is Jack fully back to power, restored, and no longer using his soul to keep himself going? Did we just kill two birds with one stone, and clear the slate for different problems moving forward? Or... does Jack have his powers back, but at the expense of a piece of his humanity? I like not knowing. I'm pretty okay with anything that lets Jack stick around, honestly. And that moment? Calling himself a Winchester? My heart grew three sizes, I swear. I love that kid.

I think that's where I'll stop for now. There was a lot of stuff that I really, really enjoyed in this episode. It made me stop thinking about the shape of the season, or what's going to happen next, or how all of the pieces will fit together. While I was watching it, I was totally engrossed, and I can't wait for next week!

9/10