Ep. 6x20: The Man Who Would Be King
Spoilery post. Although most of you who might read this will already have watched the episode considering it's Monday.
I enjoyed this episode a lot. It only further proves my point of course. That this season is a nonstop rollercoaster of good episodes and bad episodes. For me, this was a good one.
There's a assbutt load of tidbits up for analysis from this episode. But I'm afraid I do not have the energy for that right now.
My experience of Cas the character has been an interesting one. I was not one of those ga-ga fans who squee'd from the very first bulb he blew in the beginning of Season 4. I remember that I was not ready for the introduction of Angels and Heaven and all that. I was not ready for the show to take on, what for me was a much more religious slant. But, I did warm up to Cas. I would have to look back in my old reviews to find which episode it was. But eventually I accepted him. The more time has passed, the more I have come to love him. Being who he is - kind of disjointed with our world and human social behavior, he's been both endearing but also hard to fully connect with the way we can with say Bobby and the boys. Despite that, it felt very right when in THIS episode Dean said that he considered Cas a brother.
Anyways, I'd have to say that I am a fan of Cas. If I had to rank, he would come fourth. I would see him go before I saw Bobby or the boys go. But I would be really sad to see him gone.
I really felt for Cas in this episode. I think we have to remember always that he is an Angel. A year or two with the Winchesters is not enough to make him capable of making choices on his own now that God appears to still be MIA. While it may be right to go against the grain sometimes, that does not mean it'll be easy. Cas is trying to act like a human, you could say.
We see that in this episode. Or, rather, he is experiencing things all we humans do when we are forced to grapple with life's decisions.
I don't really know who's side I'm on, if we're meant to take sides now. I feel like they laid out everybody's points of view so clearly and equally that I feel for them all. Cas knows he's fucking up, but he really does have good intentions mixed in there. This episode proves the old saying that "The road to Hell is mixed with good intentions," though of course.
I also feel from the boys & Bobby's POV. They feel betrayed. They have been betrayed, or lied to at the very least. It's all very family. This episode also reminded me about how Supernatural has always been about family. Cas has been behaving just like people do when they need to, and should go to their family and/or closest friends, but don't. Don't because they feel like they can't. Don't because they don't want to deal with the feelings that might poke.
Crowley? Raphael? Well Crowley is perhaps finally proving to be a better villain than I've been giving him credit for. I'm going to enjoy finding out what his real endgame is. Raphael is perhaps the only one, besides Crowley, who is making sense right now. These two are not troubled by doubts, indecision, or mixed loyalties. They're just doing what they do.
Last couple things:
- Oh how I love Dean & Cas' special bond. What I love even more is when the show lets Dean/Jensen share feelings without words. Or without speaking, I should perhaps say this time (since sometimes Cas was narrating). I really really like when Jensen gets to show off how good he is at the subtler more nuanced stuff. Just body language and especially facial language, if you will.
- That and I have always loved Dean for being the one whose emotions run really deep, and stir the surface the way they do. Dean's always been complicated. I mean, there's always been more than meet's the eye. So that's why I love that he was the one trying the hardest to stay loyal and to keep believing in Cas.
- Did Cas bring Sam back without a soul on purpose? That question is up for grabs, I suppose. But considering we're talking about rescuing him from the box that is able to contain Lucifer? I'd say no, it was not on purpose. I think that question came up simply in the heat of the moment in this episode.
- Things are still on course for my predictions from last episode. Cas is or has gone darkside. Sorta'. He's more going than gone, but he's very far down the slippery slope. Like Sam/Ruby far. While I don't want Cas dead or gone from the show. And I don't want him to be the next Lucifer. I'm now feeling more and more like I'd want the season cliffhanger to be darkside!Cas.
- I just don't know how things can be resolved with Crowley and Raphael. Maybe they can't be? Maybe that's the point? But surely we don't want the apocalypse out of the box again, right?
I enjoyed this episode a lot. It only further proves my point of course. That this season is a nonstop rollercoaster of good episodes and bad episodes. For me, this was a good one.
There's a assbutt load of tidbits up for analysis from this episode. But I'm afraid I do not have the energy for that right now.
My experience of Cas the character has been an interesting one. I was not one of those ga-ga fans who squee'd from the very first bulb he blew in the beginning of Season 4. I remember that I was not ready for the introduction of Angels and Heaven and all that. I was not ready for the show to take on, what for me was a much more religious slant. But, I did warm up to Cas. I would have to look back in my old reviews to find which episode it was. But eventually I accepted him. The more time has passed, the more I have come to love him. Being who he is - kind of disjointed with our world and human social behavior, he's been both endearing but also hard to fully connect with the way we can with say Bobby and the boys. Despite that, it felt very right when in THIS episode Dean said that he considered Cas a brother.
Anyways, I'd have to say that I am a fan of Cas. If I had to rank, he would come fourth. I would see him go before I saw Bobby or the boys go. But I would be really sad to see him gone.
I really felt for Cas in this episode. I think we have to remember always that he is an Angel. A year or two with the Winchesters is not enough to make him capable of making choices on his own now that God appears to still be MIA. While it may be right to go against the grain sometimes, that does not mean it'll be easy. Cas is trying to act like a human, you could say.
We see that in this episode. Or, rather, he is experiencing things all we humans do when we are forced to grapple with life's decisions.
I don't really know who's side I'm on, if we're meant to take sides now. I feel like they laid out everybody's points of view so clearly and equally that I feel for them all. Cas knows he's fucking up, but he really does have good intentions mixed in there. This episode proves the old saying that "The road to Hell is mixed with good intentions," though of course.
I also feel from the boys & Bobby's POV. They feel betrayed. They have been betrayed, or lied to at the very least. It's all very family. This episode also reminded me about how Supernatural has always been about family. Cas has been behaving just like people do when they need to, and should go to their family and/or closest friends, but don't. Don't because they feel like they can't. Don't because they don't want to deal with the feelings that might poke.
Crowley? Raphael? Well Crowley is perhaps finally proving to be a better villain than I've been giving him credit for. I'm going to enjoy finding out what his real endgame is. Raphael is perhaps the only one, besides Crowley, who is making sense right now. These two are not troubled by doubts, indecision, or mixed loyalties. They're just doing what they do.
Last couple things:
- Oh how I love Dean & Cas' special bond. What I love even more is when the show lets Dean/Jensen share feelings without words. Or without speaking, I should perhaps say this time (since sometimes Cas was narrating). I really really like when Jensen gets to show off how good he is at the subtler more nuanced stuff. Just body language and especially facial language, if you will.
- That and I have always loved Dean for being the one whose emotions run really deep, and stir the surface the way they do. Dean's always been complicated. I mean, there's always been more than meet's the eye. So that's why I love that he was the one trying the hardest to stay loyal and to keep believing in Cas.
- Did Cas bring Sam back without a soul on purpose? That question is up for grabs, I suppose. But considering we're talking about rescuing him from the box that is able to contain Lucifer? I'd say no, it was not on purpose. I think that question came up simply in the heat of the moment in this episode.
- Things are still on course for my predictions from last episode. Cas is or has gone darkside. Sorta'. He's more going than gone, but he's very far down the slippery slope. Like Sam/Ruby far. While I don't want Cas dead or gone from the show. And I don't want him to be the next Lucifer. I'm now feeling more and more like I'd want the season cliffhanger to be darkside!Cas.
- I just don't know how things can be resolved with Crowley and Raphael. Maybe they can't be? Maybe that's the point? But surely we don't want the apocalypse out of the box again, right?