Supernatural 4x16 Episode Review
Pre-Show
Tivo’s description of 4.16:
“On the Head of a Pin” - Castiel and Uriel ask Dean to use the torturing skills he learned in hell to extract information from Alastair, Dean’s world is shattered when Alastair reveals shocking information.
What I’m looking forward to: I’m expecting to be blown away by the shocking information. I’m thinking it has something to do with Sam being addicted to demon blood which I think is coming up in the next few episodes-or this one actually, since there was that clip of him cutting and drinking off of Ruby in one of the promos, so it’s more that Dean and Bobby’s intervention is on it’s way in a few episodes. (Actually, now that I think about it, I’m really looking forward to the episode that’s basically AU fanfic where Sam and Dean think they’re office workers who don’t know each other, but they turn to hunting anyway because they’re just naturals at it-I expect awesomeness from that one.)…anyway, yeah the information could be about what he was preparing Dean for in hell, something about John, or of course what’s really happening to Sam in the big picture. I doubt that he would have information about what the angel’s plans are for Dean (so dreading that it’s going to be really bad, but hoping that if it is that will give Castiel the impetus to choose Dean over his orders).
On the Dean/Cas note: The preview clip with Cas standing behind Dean looks like it’s going to be a rewind material, and I expect that this is really setting up to be a turning point episode leading to Castiel saving Dean from going too far down the torture path, thus picking Dean over his brethren and going up against Uriel. Don’t know if that’s all happening in this episode, probably not because I think this is where Anna shows up and Cas tells her he’s considering disobedience. I’d prefer if he were confiding in Dean again, but I have a feeling it’s about Dean so he can’t really do so at that point.
Sam and Dean: I don’t want to ruin the anticipation by checking the promos again, but I don’t think there were even any scenes with Sam and Dean together, and I don’t think there’s even a hunt-a real myth-arc heavy episode. Is the myth-arc stuff when all the growing distance between the brothers is more apparent? It would make sense since it’s the root of their conflict. I hope they have some decent time together at the beginning of the ep at least. That promo shot of Cas by the empty motel beds makes me wonder though what the context was. It’s not like he would be unable to find them if they weren’t hidden by hex bags or something, right? So, that has to be after giving orders or something…but it looks so much like he came there and they were both gone.
Real life/fangirl note: A really cool girl I work with said she didn’t think our lovely male leads were all that hot. I was shocked-shocked!, but I told myself it was only because she didn’t watch the show. I mean, even if you don’t watch for the eyecandy, how can you not acknowledge the hot?
Post-Show
My expectation of what would be ‘big’: Of course, the thing that I thought was going to be a big the insane development actually turned out to be something I’d seen in a promo a few days ago. Still pretty big news and the source of that amazing Dean/Cas scene at the end.
Dean’s destiny:
Needed? We just got back from needed! - Dean
Seems like everyone’s dying these days. - Dean
You know, it’s your professionalism that I respect. - Alastair
Ruin the one real weapon we have? - Anna
It’s not blame that falls on you, Dean, it’s fate. - Castiel
Of course we don’t know how Dean is supposed to stop Lucifer (more on that in a moment), but we seem to have gotten the answer on why Dean was pulled out of hell-when he spilled blood in hell, he was the first seal, so he was resurrected as the only one who could stop Lucifer. Jensen Ackles in that final scene-I thought that he was good with the moist eyes when he was telling Castiel that he wouldn’t like the man who came back from torturing Alistair, and with the lip quiver just before he turned around and saw that Alastair had broken free, but that final scene where he was just hurt, with the fate of the world in his hands, it was one of the most moving I’ve seen on this show. He sounded like a scared child barely able to speak through his stuffed nose and puffy lips.
Sam’s views on Dean, and on himself:
I’m stronger than that now, now I can kill. - Sam
Castiel’s face said it all. I knew about the demon blood drinking going on, but actually seeing Sam outside of that context turned out to be much worse. It was like watching a different person and the show’s handled that development well with this episode as kind of a capping point. I don’t know how next week’s AU episode is going to work-it seems like it’ll be a bit comedic, but that could be jarring after watching Sam this week. I kind of hated when he showed up and saved Cas from the reverse-exorcism and apparently killed Alastair because it just gives more fuel to his idea that Dean’s not strong enough, and that only his demon powers can save the day. I hate to see Sam looking at Dean as weak, and it overpowers my disappointment in him trolloping on down to the dark side.
When the scene transitioned from Sam drinking Ruby’s blood to Dean torturing Alastair, I started looking at the episode as having this theme of our heroes both turning to the darkside in different ways-Dean not wanting to go near it, but ultimately doing as he was asked (he was pretty good at taking orders growing up) and Sam telling himself that he was doing the right thing, but showing all the signs of a delusional addict. When Pam said last week that if Sam thought he had good intentions he was kidding himself, I didn’t think much more of it than when everyone else said he was messing with bad stuff. But seeing him tonight just made it clear that he really is lying to himself at this point, justifying something that he just wants to do. I really hadn’t even bought that idea before this episode.
The Uriel reveal:
Uriel’s the funniest angel in the garrison, ask anyone. - Castiel
“Lilith is not behind this, she wouldn’t kill 7 angels, she’d kill a hundred.” - Alastair
“It’s strange how a leaky pipe can undo the work of angels when we are supposed to be the agents of fate.”- Castiel
“I only killed the ones who said ‘no’.”- Uriel
For the majority of this episode, I thought Anna was behind the murders, the way she showed up just after the pipe’s screws started turning, the way Castiel said the devil’s trap couldn’t have broken, and the way Sam said it wasn’t a demon. I can’t believe Uriel tried to take out Dean-not cool, man, you said you were beginning to like the guy. Robert Wisdom’s face when he was talking about Lucifer was a great bit of acting-the scene reminded me of Dogma with the “you sound like Lucifer, man!” exchange-the whole speech was so fallen angel it was perfect. When I’d seen clips of Cas and Uriel fighting, I’d assumed it was going to have something to do with Castiel disobeying, I didn’t even think of Uriel as anything but following orders. Thinking back on their conversation in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester, where Castiel told Uriel that he was close to blasphemy with his bitterness about humanity, his reveal speech was nicely foreshadowed. Pretty depressing though.
John in hell: At first I thought this was Alastair’s big surprise, until the rest of it came out, but it was just like another hit to Dean’s already fragile self-esteem and they picked it up at the end with Dean saying “Well I guess I’m not the man either of my dads wanted me to be.” It just added another level of pain to the news.
Angel-heavy episode:
I think maybe our father isn’t giving the orders anymore, maybe there is something wrong.- Castiel
I expect if one isn’t big on the angels, this was not a good episode for you as they seemed to be on way more than either Sam or Dean. I love Castiel, and was into Uriel as a contrast until he was revealed to be Mr. Trick to Lucifer’s Mayor (yay for Season 3 Buffy references!), but even I noticed that the episode was severely lacking in Sam and Dean. They got some amazing scenes, although it’s easier for me to notice the ones that Dean had as I’m so disappointed in Sam, but each of them had major developments happen. Still, those major developments seemed to be sprinkled throughout an episode filled with Castiel, Uriel and Anna. It was odd and I imagine that this is what some people felt when Sam was only in a few seconds of In the Beginning. It wasn’t as obvious to me there, perhaps because of the time travel device. I hope that the lack of Winchester doesn’t cause a lot of bitching throughout fandom though because I like the myth arc stuff and don’t want people turning against it.
Castiel’s nickname: I did not like Anna using the nickname. It seems odd coming from an angel, even if she’d been living as human. I love when Dean uses it, and I had lots of lovely moments listening to him saying “Cas” tonight, and I’m fine with Sam using it, but it was just weird having Anna do it.
Dean/Cas:
Castiel: My superiors have begun to question my sympathies.
Dean: Your sympathies?
Castiel: I was getting to close to the humans in my charge. You. They feel I’ve begun to express emotions, the doorways to doubt, this can impair my judgment.
Fuck, this was an amazing episode for those two. Cas kept getting saved by people who were not Dean, but this had to be the top episode for them as a ‘ship, to the point that I need to bullet-point this.
§ Dean’s “You can’t ask me to do this, Cas. Not this.” Dean turned to Cas for help, for understanding of why he didn’t want to torture Alastair, he expected Cas to know why he didn’t want to and it felt so personal when he asked.
§ “I want to talk to Cas alone.” Dean is becoming to see Castiel as someone to trust, to rely on.
§ We got the reveal that fic authors have been speculating on: Castiel’s revelation that his judgment was being questioned and he was basically demoted because he was expressing emotions towards Dean. That alone would have been great, but there was more.
§ “For what it’s worth, I would give anything not to have you do this.” Castiel just cares so much, and it didn’t sound like an angel not wanting for anyone to have to do that, it sounded like Cas not wanting Dean to do it. Excuse my language, but fuck was that awesome. It was like the most romantic line reading Misha could give it.
§ Cas being the first one who Dean saw when he woke up in the hospital.
§ “You need to be more careful.” “You need to learn how to manage a damn devil’ trap.”
§ “He was working against us.” Something about Misha’s line reading there combined with the look on his face-I can’t get what it is, but it just stood out to me. If anyone actually reads my ramblings and gets what it was, please tell me.
§ When Dean asked “Is it true? Did I break the first seal? Did I start all this?” I just wanted Cas to go hug him.
§ When Dean said “Well then you guys are screwed. I can’t do it, Cas. It’s too big. Alastair was right, I’m not all here, I’m not strong enough. Well I guess I’m not the man either of my dads wanted me to be. Find someone else. It’s not me.” I just wanted Cas to say he believed in him, just to show that somebody believed Dean was strong enough, especially in the face of Sam’s earlier comment.
§ This episode is screaming for a coda, the way it ended with Castiel sitting beside physically and emotionally broken Dean’s hospital bed with Sam nowhere in sight.
“Sister”: I noted that Cas called the dead angel at the beginning “sister” where the prior references to “brothers” seemed to enforce the idea that angels were genderless. This seems like something worth noting for fic authors if they want to stick with canon.