Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Supernatural 9x18 "Meta Fiction"

Wow. Okay. That was probably the best episode of this show in a while. There was an unexpected guest star (was his name in the credits? If so, I missed it) and a whole lot of references that, according to my boyfriend, are only accessible to those that have watched the show from the beginning. Or, you know, not just this season. There were references to the Supernatural novels, Casa Erotica, and so much more. A real fan's heaven.
Recap/review of Supernatural 9x18 "Meta Fiction" by freshfromthe.com
Don't mess with the dude with the Mark of Cain.

Anyway! Let's get on the actual plot. Last we saw Castiel, he had just offed Bartholomew and was less than receptive to the idea of being a new leader for the angels. You know, because it turned out so well (aka terrible) before. He's still feeling a bit peckish on the idea, and even moreso when he finds a group of angels slaughtered by some of Metatron's followers. A survivor is ready to follow his leadership, but he still says nein. Instead, he calls up the Winchesters to try to figure out what this homing beacon signal thing is that's on the wall there that called to all the angels in the area.

They're not sure what it is, but they do know that other groups of angels have been slaughtered nearby, so they decide to meet up with him in the area to try to figure it out. Well, things don't exactly go to plan. Cas ends up getting a visit from none other than... Gabriel?! What! Lest you forget, Gabriel, our erstwhile Trickster, supposedly died back in season five. Of course, it was never 100% certain that he really died, and now he's here to tell Cas that he wants to unite the angels against Metatron.

Recap/review of Supernatural 9x18 "Meta Fiction" by freshfromthe.com
Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
But, it turns out that it was all, you guessed it, trick. The whole Cas and Gabe take on the world buddy comedy was to be short-lived, because it was only all in Cas' head. In truth, he had been snatched up by Metatron, who wants him to take up the mantel of the angel leader. Why would he want him to do that, when it would mean uniting angels against him, that is, Metatron? Because he basically wants to lead them like lambs to the slaughter. Cas, being the noble angel he is, refuses.

Meanwhile, the brothers Winchester manage to track down Gadreel, who is the one setting up the angel beacon signals (really the horn of Gabriel or something). They trap him and tie him and try to get him to talk, but he's doing no such thing. He tries to get Dean all riled up enough to kill him, but luckily Dean dampens the bloodlust surging through his veins thanks to his Mark and only beats him up a lot.

Metatron suggests a trade to Sam - Gadreel for Castiel, no strings attached. The brothers take this as their opportunity to trap Metatron seeing as this is the first time they'll actually know where he'll be and when. But, duh, Metatron is expecting just such a deception. And it doesn't matter anyway, because apparently the holy oil fire doesn't do much to him at all. They end up making the trade in the end, but you have to feel it's only because Metatron is using them in some way.

Because, indeed, by the end, Castiel does decide to finally take ownership of his ability to lead, and calls the other angels to him. Is he falling straight into Metatron's plan? This seems to be somewhat of a nasty habit of his, so hopefully they find a way around that this time, because Metatron did seem especially pleased with himself there at the end of the episode.

Random Thoughts:

- Metatron giving Castiel basically all of pop culture knowledge for, you know, forever, is interesting. Now he gets references to the Death Star and pretty much everything else. This change should open up new avenues of comedy rather than just the old "I don't get that reference" schpiel.

- Cas also found out about Dean's Mark this episode, and basically looked pissed about it, and told Sam to keep an eye on him. Sam actually seemed more concerned about Dean than he has in some time there at the end as well.

- Did you all enjoy the shower scene at the top of the episode? I said "oh my, the ladies are going to love this."

- Metatron told Cas that his stolen grace is going to run out - so does that mean Cas is going to be forced to get another? Hmm.

- Will the angel and demon storylines converge somehow? We've basically got the whole trying to get back into Heaven thing for the angels, and the whole Crowley versus Abaddon thing for the demons. Hopefully they manager to intertwine them by the end of the season, which isn't too far away now.

Quotes:

Castiel: What's honorable about a miniature bar in a motel room?
Dean: Everything.

Castiel: Life on the road... smells.

Castiel: So I assume you faked your death.
Gabriel: And I assume you weren't let into Mensa while I was gone.

Gabriel: I used most of my juice to get back into porn. ... That came out wrong. ... So did that.

Castiel: I'm just a soldier.
Gabriel: Bitch, please. You've been God more than Dad has.

Metatron: First rule of writer's club: steal from the best.

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3 comments:

  1. That was Gabriel aka Richard Speight and the episode was good I love it myself............. now can't wait till next week.

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  2. We saw the mark of Gabriel's burned angel wings when he died. Shouldn't that be definitive proof that he really did die? Or did I miss something? :)

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    1. You would think it would be, but he IS the Trickster, master of mind games, so who really knows!

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