Supernatural 10X2 Reichenbach
Spoilers! You have been warned!
I guess my overwhelming impression walking away from this episode is that it felt like the points made here felt more like they belonged in the previous episode. Like, two thirds of the content felt like had they been included in the premiere would have juiced the premiere, rather than it just sitting there limply, as I feel it did. In a way, more of what we wanted to know about Deanmon was here. I felt like this episode went by so fast, but then, there was more interesting stuff. I have a feeling that all the stuff with Deanmon is going to be over really quickly, and I'm going to wish they got into it a bit more.
He's an interesting being, Deanmon. Not a human, not a demon. He's a mixture of mercilessness, and yet also a sense of justice. In a way, he's become a cog in that machine of the universe that he described as "There's no higher power, there's no God. I mean, there's just chaos, and violence, and random unpredictable evil that comes out of nowhere and rips you to shreds. You want me to believe in this stuff? I'm going to need to see some hard proof. You got any?" in season 2. And while I would argue that Dean's world view has altered to include that there is a God, I doubt the rest of it has. That random unpredictable evil has simply expanded from vengeful ghosts and ghouls to demons, leviathans and angels. God is an absent father, like his own, whose main mission is not caring or love, but some other lofty agenda to which he is willing to sacrifice anything and anyone. The angels that were watching were doing so to make sure the Winchester boys were on the right track to bring about the apocalypse.
My point being, Dean has now become a cog in that machinery of evil, and it's interesting that he gets into that car, looks at that wormy guy, deconstructs him in seconds and, while still being a violent maniac (the smile was chilling), he refuses to operate the injustice which would render him one of those violent unpredictable evils which rips someone to shreds. So he kills Lester.
But he's not one thing or the other, and Crowley was a little foolish to think that Dean of all people was going to pick a side. Dean has always gone his own way. He's still very much Dean. And Dean is tired of being the Universe's bitch. He never wants the party to end, because if he never leaves the bar, he never has to be a part of the larger picture. Being a part of the big picture has never been to Dean's advantage.
It's really interesting that he isn't, as I thought, using his words as weapons to poke at people he knows. No. He's using the cold truth about himself. How he's good for his word. How he has to restrain himself from killing Sam. How he will not be merciful when he gets loose. I don't doubt he would have killed Sam. I think he would. There is some aspect to the Deanmon which is that he wants to be as bad as everyone thinks he's going to be...and yet not necessarily in the ways. I still have hopes to see a Dean with his filters off, letting Sam and Castiel have it, but I doubt it will happen, because there is a core of our Dean in there. He is still frantically trying to protect himself.
But, at the same time, there's discordance from the Dean we know. The Impala is no longer a beloved symbol or home, it's 'just a car'. He'll kill his brother. He's yet to mention Cas or the deal with heaven.
There's even new differences between the Deanmon we saw in Black and the one here. Last week, we saw that Dean, for all his demon-ness, was still basically in a fully consenting relationship with one woman. This week, he's groping a stripper who wants nothing to do with him. Last week, he was in busy bars with lots of other people. This week the bars are empty, save Dean and the employees and he basically has a drink in almost every scene. Last week the killing came to him, this week he goes to the killing. In Reichenbach, we see that the party has ended, but Dean is refusing to let it end. When the party ends, the misery sets in.
I hope we dig into why Dean, who is still a little human, doesn't want to be cured. And what exactly he wants for himself in this state. Unless we get to the meat of the issue, this was a lil' weird, following Black.
Other points...
Hannah. * sigh* I want to like having a female character being developed because there are so few of them, but I often feel as if Hannah's extremist character isn't so much a character as the conforming and obedient rules of the angels personified. And while I feel there is a need to see someone comfortable in and desirous for that role to counter those who have rebelled against it, rather than her feeling naturalistic and having emotional reasons for doing what she does, she seems to get the most extreme versions of behavior which would make good drama, but don't all glue together well into an actual character. I had such a weird time reconciling Reichenbach's Hannah with Black's Hannah, and I'm praying, PRAYING that the mentioning by the tow-truck lady that Hannah liked Castiel remains a mistake of a human layering a human interpretation onto an angelic concept. Let us not forget, they are brother and sister (And to everyone who writes those weird Angel Mating Practices fics, please remember, that if such a system existed it would basically be institutionalized incest). I fear Hannah will be taught about humanity by falling in lurrve for Castiel, who is the most human of all the angels, save Metatron. And it's not that I want to save Castiel for Dean, and I certainly don't want Hannah to die, but, really? This is how we're going about this? The lady angels can't change their minds about shit unless they fall in love?
Although, to be honest, this could be my annoyance that all 'female' angels (not counting reapers, although adding Tessa and April does not improve the picture much) with multiple appearances (not dead in a single episode, Hi Adina, Muriel, Hester, Hael) end up being slavishly devoted to heaven and their agenda (not to mention all tend to want to stab and judge first) and all 'male' are free thinkers and radicals. As I tend to remember these are technically genderless beings, it's the show itself that makes it pointed. Naomi, Ingrid, Hannah, even Anna Milton. Raphael was a female for the time, and yes, Castiel possessed Claire, but Raphael has been the one gender-bender. The 'males' have been allowed a lot more variation. On one end, we have Micheal, Samandriel or Zachariah who are loyal to Heaven, or Raphael and Uriel who are loyal to a belief in what Heaven's plan is when the road is unclear, then we have black sheep and free-will advocates Castiel, Gabriel and Balthazar, confused Gadreel and Malachai and Batholomew who want to retake heaven and rule it in their image, like Metatron and Lucifer who both also want to remake things. Female angels tend to be mindlessly devoted, male angels can be double agents, free thinkers...and this bothers me.
But, back to the Castiel/Hannah scenes. While there was so much less going on in the sense of dialogue and action in Reichenbach with Cas and Hannah, there was so much MORE going on than in Black. The crashing of the car, encountering humans in their natural habitat. I almost died of the cute with Cas and the little girl on the couch. And I can't help but love seeing the angels deal with being biological. And seeing Hannah see humans in a normal moment. In her seeing Castiel interact with the child, their charges. Although she lived as human for a time, I feel this is her first real encounter with humanity. THIS is what Black needed, this scene with the angels.
The Cas reaction to Deanmon? No lies, I was hoping for a smidge more from the angel who raised Dean from perdition and fell from grace for him. Maybe face to face will be better. Honestly, this is like watching a train wreck determined not to give the tiniest hint there might be anything between Dean and Cas...
Oh no, it's WAY better to queerbait Dean and Crowley, right? Crowley is obviously feeling tender for the days when he and Dean were together and partying. And WHY do they keep adding slashbait when everyone involved in the show screams at the fans it's all in their heads? Am I the only one who thinks this? Until they give us some alternative reading of why Crowley is looking at pictures of he and Dean on his phone, pining, I'm just going to assume there were a couple of threesomes in that shared hotel room. I doubt they will though. This show is alllll about not really talking about feelings, after all, or being so vague about them there are several equally valid interpretations.
…Okay, the backstory on Cole. It totally belonged in Black too. Generally, I like the idea that a lot of the random slaughter- and they've just been killing vessels for years now- is coming back to bite them in the ass. Although I'm not sure about the timing; it looked like Dean had the Kurd blade, which puts Cole as 13 in Season 4/5 at the earliest, which I don't think would make Cole old enough, but what-ev.
And I think THAT'S what's troubling me about these episodes. TPTB are being so careful the episodes ultimately don't feel like they have traction. They don't want Dean to be balls-to-the-wall-evil, they don't want to uncover any issues that might have to be fully dealt with unless it means bodily peril. Let's not TALK about angels getting free will, let's have a fight. Let's not TALK about Dean being a Deanmon, let's threaten violence. Let's not TALK about the trail of bodies behind us, let's have a fight. Let's not TALK about why Deanmon doesn't want to take orders, let's threaten violence. Let's not examine the relationship that boosted our ratings, let's make sure the characters are never together and mute their realistic reactions.
I'm over this careful thing. I'm over the stoicism. Get the fuck on with it. Get messy or go home. You've got one or maybe two seasons left in you. What the hell are you pussy fotting around for?