I think Supernatural Ate My Brain (or thoughts on 5.10 and other bloggy ramblings) (spoilers)
I want to say something profound and properly analytical about episode 5.10 "Abandon All Hope." Unfortunately I think it broke (or maybe ate) my brain.
I went into tonight's episode knowing that it would probably be suspenseful and cliff-hanger ridden and for the first time in a long time, Supernatural actually had me nervous, anxious, wound up tight with anticipation. And of course it only got worse as the episode went on.
I was thrilled to have Mark Sheppard in this episode. I think it's some sort of honor--it's a sure sign that a show has arrived when he gets to play some masterfully, morally ambiguous character.
I was really happy to see Ellen and Jo back on Supernatural. It was a real treat to get two episodes with them this season. I never hated Jo (unlike a large and vocal part of the population), although, I do admit to being duped into thinking Ellen was actually working for the demons back in season 2 (the whole Gordon/"roadhouse connections" debacle in season 2; *sigh* a prime example of why dropping storylines after you've already laid the groundwork for them can be a bad thing; your audience gets confused). But then again, Kripke also killed off two of the best female characters he's had on the show, after ignoring them for two seasons. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. Their sacrifice was noble, and it does mean that the entire Harvelle family died trying to help Winchesters. But then again there's also the futility aspect to it, insofar as the Colt won't kill Lucifer. (But they did ensure that Sam and Dean got away and got to test out the Colt.) Still, this does feel like Kripke (or rather his writing staff) doesn't really know what to do with female protagonist-type characters, so they get killed off to make it easier on the writers.
Boy am I worried about Cas. I don't think he's caving to Lucifer (I hope), but then again, his powers seem to be fading faster than they did in the alternate future we saw in "The End." Go Cas for how he got himself out of the holy oil fire ring! I actually cheered aloud when he used Meg to break the circle. As demons go, she is one cranky little comeuppance-deserving menace. Although, I'm really hoping she wasn't killed by that stunt. I want more Meg. I particularly want to know what happened to convert her from "I don't give a rat's ass about the master plan" and being all bitter at her "daddy" Azazel and being star-struck, henchdemon for Lucifer. I'm guessing he related to her on the "we got screwed over by our families" level.
Dean was lovely in this. Sucks that he got knocked out and missed Sam and Lucifer's exchange ('cause what are the odds Sam will actually share that tidbit?), but otherwise his characterization seemed to be, for the most part, genuine. I loved his "last night on earth" offer to Jo (although, that whole almost-kiss/her turning him down thing was a little over-the-top as fanservice goes... and Kripke might have been reaching a little far to try to please both the Dean/Jo fans and the Jo-haters at the same time, but at least this packed a bitter punch when it turns out it was Jo's last night on earth). I think I may have to go back and watch some Season 2 Jo (don't gasp; I already said I didn't hate her), just to get a good juxtaposition of both her and Dean's characters then and now. The nice thing is they really did grow and change, showing actual, genuine character development.
Let's see... I'm not sure I like where Kripke's heading with the plot, although, if he's going to either of two hypothetical place I think he's probably going, at least I'll be right, even if I'm not happy about it. Sammy's "I'm gonna kill you" promise to Lucier was reminiscent of Dean's pledge to kill Azazel way back when. Dean made good on his threat, so maybe Sam will too.
I'm also glad that the Colt actually *can't* be the Deus Ex Machina this time around. Now, I would like an explanation of why the Colt can't kill Lucifer and 4 other beings (the Horsemen maybe? Or can it maybe not kill god and Michael and maybe a few other people/things; it's all very curious). I also wonder if the original (pre-Ruby reengineering) Colt could have killed Lucifer. Hmm... But like I said, I'm realy glad it's not going to save the day this time. We were really starting to run out of ways to make Boss baddies dodging bullets suspenseful and original.
I wish they'd showed Cas at the end. Yeah, I'm confident he got out of the battlfield, but still; it seems like they have a tendency of abandoning him at the end of an episode (I'm thinking of Sam and Dean sinking into the Impala at the end of "Changing Channels" while Cas was left standing by himself all banged up). I also realized that I experienced genuine fear for Cas's character and I really don't want him to die. I am also anxious about him becoming disempowered. Who knew; I was really pissed at him for being so sanctimonious and for burning out Pamela's eyes last season, but I really do like him now, and who he's becoming (Cas and Ellen doing shots is probably the funniest-bad-wrong thing Supernatural has ever done, IMHO).
I had more thoughts. I had good analysis. But the episode ate my brain. It's all too jumbled up. It's been so long since Supernatural actually packed enough suspense and anxiety to really make me white-knuckle it through an episode, that I forgot how draining it could be. And now we have to wait 2 months for a new episode. *sigh* But for now, we have many deep, frightful thoughts to ponder about Sam and Dean's futures and whether or not they'll be able to short-circuit this millennia-old family drama from playing out to the same inevitable conclusion again. (I'm really hoping they do.)