SPN 5x10
So I actually NEEDED THAT BOX OF TISSUES NEXT TO ME. Oh my god. Oh my GOD.
I am in deep and complete awe of how well our show pulled this off. This is the motherfucking APOCALYPSE, and people are going to fucking die. What counts is how they go down, and these women went down fucking SWINGING, with dignity and grace and truckloads of courage and heart. I have always been fond of the Harvelle girls, but this episode cemented them as two of my favorite SPN characters in its entire run. That was epic. In the full, traditional, deserves-an-enormous-tragic-poem-written-about-them kind of way.
Character death, at its best, serves to up the stakes in a narrative, demonstrates that there is truly shit on the line here, that the authors are not fucking around. I view Wash's death in Serenity as the best storytelling move I have EVER WITNESSED, because it gave the entire story urgency and a true sense of tragedy, and the fear that anyone could bite the dust at any moment.
This is the first time I've truly felt like the APOCALPYSE is going down. THE APOCALYPSE. You know, the end of the WORLD? Lucifer walking the earth, demons unleashed, chaos and death and pain and the end of normal life as we know it? This is the first time the show made me FEEL anything like that. (The other time this season came close was, interestingly, the other episode with the Harvelles.) Jo and Ellen were exquisite and heartbreaking. That is one of the most powerful scenes this show has ever done. apocalypsos put it beautifully - Ellen and Jo got a sendoff worthy of the WINCHESTERS, and that is a sign of the greatest respect for these characters. If they had to go (and they did - this episode would have had no weight if everyone came out of "their last night on earth" smelling like roses, and no way could the show narratively have done Ellen or Jo's grief justice if only one of them had died) this was the only way to let them go with the weight they deserved.
Jo's bravery was stunning. I started crying as soon as she was down and mauled, and I just kept sobbing harder and harder at her brave little face. At her insistence that her mom treat her like an adult, this one time. Her steely, unwavering resolve that she needed to do this because it was the right thing to do. Not for her own purposes, not to save herself or her mom, but because the world was in trouble and she could do her part to try and help. It's the ultimate tragedy that her sacrifice (and Ellen's) did not achieve what it was meant to (though it did rescue the Winchesters, which will, in the end, mean something, obviously), but that doesn't change the power and grace of her action.
The moment when Ellen realized her little girl had passed made something tear inside me.
Rest in peace, Ellen and Jo Harvelle. And hats off, Alona and Samantha. That was television at its absolute finest. You will be sorely missed.
(Now I'm listening to all the saddest Supernatural songs and making myself sob more. God, this show.)
As for the rest of the episode - that was amazing. I hope this is the tack they'll take for the rest of the season, because while the hilarious episodes have been, well, hilarious, I am more than ready to get down to the dirty business of SAVING THE WORLD. I'm really glad they're getting back to the concept of the four horsemen, though I'm a little confused by the approach. If War was wandering around months ago (beginning of the season!), where have the others been? Did Lucifer let him out first? Was it not as big a deal as releasing Death? Where are the other two (Pestilence and Famine)? Are they as charmingly horrible/horribly charming as War was? Gosh I sure hope so, and I hope we meet them soon. Angels are entertaining and all, but I'm finding the Big Bads of the Apocalypse to be the most riveting, so I'd like to go back to them please.
One thing that I find a little distracting is that Sam and Dean HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE DOING!! They go to where the devil is with - what plan? Sam wanders up, yells a bit, distracts him so Dean can sneak up on the Devil and shoot him in the head? Wow, they are geniuses. *facepalm* I mean, I know they have very little to go on, but they're feeling less like heroes and more like lost little boys. I suppose that's the point, though. They're very much helpless in the face of this. I hope they find their agency at some point though.
Castiel was the most likeable he's been all season in this episode. I hate when they use him as a comedic prop. I think Castiel is amazing when he's being a BADASS ANGEL, you know, like he ACTUALLY IS. So when he was being all mysterious and stoic, teleporting everywhere in an extremely disconcerting manner, and particularly when he was in that ring of fire and staring down the fucking Devil with no doubt in his eyes - that was AMAZING. That's the Castiel I've been missing! The one who descended on that warehouse and took bullets in the chest without blinking, and told Dean "I gripped you tight and raised you from perdition". I like THAT angel. So I was very glad to see his return. He and Lucifer were crazy intense together, I loved it.
I loved the role Bobby played, even when sidelined. Dean called him with such little boy desperation, and Bobby gently yet firmly yanked him back on track, though you can tell his heart is breaking too. That was such a beautiful fatherly scene, and my heart reached out to both of them.
And CROWLEY!!! Omg Mark Sheppard, BE MORE AMAZING. "Then don't miss, MORONS." Heee. <333333 He was super fantabulous, and I really hope they bring him back. I'm very curious about whether Crowley knew that the gun wouldn't kill Lucifer or not! I do have one question about that though - isn't the gun supposed to kill demons? Or did we find out it can kill angels too? Cause Lucifer's an angel!
Speaking of Lucifer - LOVE. Hahahah, but no seriously, Mark Pellegrino is a GEENIUS. I like that he's kind of moved on from trying to convince people that he's just misunderstood, but he's still got this genial everyman-ness to him that is so fucking disconcerting. "Oh hai Death!" Lolwhat! Sam, never say yes to Lucifer, because we'd lose Mark Pellegrino then! ;) "These horsemen are so demanding." Seriously, such brilliant casting.
Everything about this episode was pitch perfect. "Then I am going to spend it with a little thing I call self-respect." She has grown SO MUCH. The character AND the actress. (JOOOOO. ;___;) The fatass banker selling his soul for a bailout (and getting a gay kiss for his efforts, LOL)! That PHOTO! ;___; Nu!Meg was entertaining and bitchy! Oh and there were maybe some Winchesters in this episode, idk. It was kind of stupidly adorable how they were joking about Sam having trust issues with a demon. I cringed, but then Sam loled and they CLINKED BEERS and it was really cute. But the Winchesters really did feel secondary this episode.
HARVELLES. I salute you. ♥