Supernatural: Unity (15x17)

It's weird, I would have bet good money on this being a Buckleming episode, given how crowded it felt. But no, we're saving those chuckle-fucks for the penultimate episode, which just bodes... really super great and awesome.

Cons:

Like I said, this shit was crowded. In the span of one episode, we learn what Jack's final task is, learn what his weapon is and how he's going to use it to kill Chuck and Amara, see him implement said plan, and then fail at it, the episode ending with him on the verge of death with no outlet. It all happened lightning-fast.

And on the flip-side of that? I'm really feeling the pressure, considering there are only three episodes left, and I'm starting to get mighty nervous that our friend Castiel might not survive next week's outing. The trouble is... why has this whole last run of episodes been about Dean resenting Jack? Like, is there not enough else going on? The plot twist in this episode is really actually quite good, and it appeased one of my biggest worries about a way they might end the show in a really dumb fashion. But it's replaced by other concerns, one of which being that the Jack conflict feels manufactured, and has been given center stage for the end of the whole show. Jack is great, but why is Jack the main character after fifteen years?

Another rushed pacing moment... Dean has really lost the plot, hasn't he. I kind of like the idea of him getting so worked up, and his pain over his lack of free will making him act erratically and all that. I can totally dig that and see where he's coming from, to be thanking Jack and willing to sacrifice him, to go against what Sam and Cas want... but his whole point is that he can't live feeling like he's lacking free will anymore, right? Does that mean he'd rather be alive, and alone, than risk seeing what comes next if Chuck doesn't die? Like, he pulled a gun on Sam. A gun. Aimed at his chest. He didn't go for knocking him unconscious or trapping him, he straight-up threatened to shoot him. I can't imagine we're supposed to take that as a legitimate thing that might have really happened, but for me, the ramp-up to that level of behavior did not feel warranted.

Pros:

Despite the frenetic pacing, I do love me some good old fashioned melodrama, so I loved it when Dean is all "Jack isn't family!" and Sam makes the Pikachu face, and of course Jack heard it, and then they have to have a talk about it later on... Dean thanking Jack for his noble sacrifice was a really strange and intense moment that I quite liked for the sheer discomfort of it. This isn't Dean Winchester, he shouldn't be willing to let a kid die to save the world, but he's in such a twisted, emotionally messy place that it doesn't feel completely out of character. He needs to redeem himself, bigtime, of course... but I don't think it was written in such a way that made no sense for who Dean is and the trauma he's been through.

And I also think we forget sometimes that Jack is not human. His conception of the world isn't going to line up with what a young human man might think. He wants Dean's forgiveness/approval so much he's willing to die for it, but he also appreciates the narrative symmetry of his death serving a greater purpose and cleansing the path forward for the people he loves. As Sam says, it's very brave... but that doesn't mean it's not wrong.

Obviously obsessed with Dean talking about how he'd give up anything to kill Chuck and be free of him... and then Sam saying "would you give me up?" because we all know the answer is no, and Sam knows the answer is no... this codependency stuff is Bad but also So Fun To Watch, y'all.

The biggest, most important revelation of the episode, and the one that makes me cautiously optimistic that they won't screw up the ending too bad, is what Chuck revealed about this particular world. Dean and Amara? Not something he planned on turning romantic. Cas sticking around and becoming family with the Winchesters? Decidedly not part of the script. He refers to them as broken toys who won't obey, and hopefully Dean hears this for what it really means: they do have free will. They always have. They've disobeyed Chuck's will time and time again, and even though they fell into his trap regarding Jack and Amara this time around, in that he knew what they would do, knew what Billie was up to, it's still clear that they're making their own choices. That's really important for setting up the endgame. I'll still be... pretty damn pissed if anyone dies for noble sacrifice reasons in the next couple of weeks (ugh, it's gonna be Cas, I can just feel it in my bones, they're gonna kill him...), but oddly, I'll be less angry about it if it happens in a way that comes organically from the situation, and not something pre-ordained by a higher power as "the only way."

Seeing the Empty in the form of Meg was really fun, a way of calling back to a fan-fave without artificially injecting bad reasons for seeing old faces. The Empty is going to be... ahem... relevant for Cas' eventual fate (god, can you tell I'm incredibly nervous?), and I think seeing it here was appropriate.

Amara. Oh, Amara. Talk about a stealth-fave. I found her super annoying in her introductory season, but now she seems like a super chill gal who honestly just wants to relax and wants nothing to do with all these men and their messy situations, and like, girl same. I will say that she seems a little bit too persuadable, willing to believe Dean right away, and then willing to believe Chuck again just as quickly, but I think that sort of works given that she has all the power in the world but very little practical earth experience. The fusing of Chuck and Amara was a shocking development that I did not see coming, and it sets things in motion for a less predictable final showdown...

If indeed we even get a final showdown! Because guess what y'all, Billie is the final boss! Or... I don't know. Maybe. If someone had told me that at the start of Season Fifteen, I would have been annoyed by it. But as we round the final corner, if we want to honor the story as it's been told thus far, this actually makes a lot of sense and makes me excited for what the final episodes will be like. Please don't make it grimdark and stupid and pointless and dour... that would be such a waste of everything being developed narratively.

We shall see. I've got to say, my emotional investment is defensively low right now, because I don't want to have my heart broken by this dumb television program. I hope to be pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed.

7.5/10