Supernatural 15x20 "Carry On" - The Series Finale

That's a wrap on Supernatural, a show I watched from the pilot episode when it very first aired, and hung on to all the way through the end. It was a bumpy road at times, and the last years tend to blend together compared to the earlier seasons. I stopped recapping every episode in the middle of season fourteen, and you could say why would you stop so close to the end? It wasn't the same for me anymore, to be honest. And I was tired of being kind of negative toward something that I really did love. 

But I did continue to watch, and as last week's penultimate episode ended, I wondered just what could be in store for this series finale. Last week felt like a finale already! They defeated GAHHG (Great Almighty He Him God for those who haven't been to this blog in awhile (or ever), that's what I nicknamed God because I much preferred Chuck when he was just Chuck), they could live their lives! Isn't that what it was all about? But while certainly that may have been a satisfying finale in a way, this one was much more, because it really hit you with that emotional gut punch.

The Winchesters die. For real this time, no take backsies. And they get to die in just the ways they always wanted - Dean in a blaze of glory, fighting some vampires, hunting with his brother, doing what he always thought he was best at (though we know he was good at more than just hunting - okay I meant that earnestly but it sounds naughty and, well hey, Dean would appreciate that too), and Sam having a family, growing old. It's not clear if Sam continued hunting, though with his son's devil's trap tattoo peaking out on his arm there at the end, there was at least some hunting business going on throughout his life.

Probably the two toughest episodes to write in a TV series are the pilot and the series finale. A lot rides on those two episodes, and to me, still sitting here with tears in my eyes as I write this, I think they accomplished a satisfying, emotional, and somewhat unexpected end to this long-running series. And for that, I say thank you and, like the episode title says, Carry On.

Supernatural 14x14 "Ouroboros"

As you may have noticed, I did not write up this review on Thursday night after the episode aired. I know this means it will get less hits and such, but I figure why put myself under a certain kind of pressure for a few hits. I don't love the show as much as I used to, I don't feel the urgency to watch it like I once did, so I'm going to watch and write these up by the weekend, but without a set date in mind. At least for now that is the plan. Part of this decision may stem from the fact that I was extra disappointed with the previous episode, but it's also been a long time coming.

Okay, on to this episode. Things are essentially back to normal, apart from Dean confessing to Castiel that he's not really sleeping with the effort to keep Michael at bay. But the four guys are all out on a hunt together, chasing down a dude that's killing other dudes and eating them. It turns out that said dude is a Gorgon, a la Medusa, who paralyzes his victims and uses snakes and such. Do we care about this Monster of the Week? Not really.

The important thing here is that he is able to see everyone but Castiel and Jack coming, seemingly because of their angel-ness and near-angel-ness. Which means that, with the help of Rowena's tracking spell, those two will be able to get close to this Gorgon before he spots them with his near-future visions, unlike the brothers Winchester. So, they track him down, fight a bit, Castiel gets hit with the paralyzing stuff, which works for some reason, the Gorgon tells some story about an egg that relates to Jack, basically insinuating he might be the real bad guy or some such. Blah blah, they kill him. But not before Dean gets hit on the head, which leads to the rest of the episode. Oh, and Jack uses his angel powers (the ones that will eventually drain him of his soul if he keeps doing it) to heal Castiel, who of course doesn't want him to keep doing that, etc.

They head back to the bunker, and they are unsure what to do about Dean, who is still unconscious. Because that might mean Michael can get out, right? Right. He manages to sort of escape, at least in the way that he can talk to Rowena in her mind, and get her to agree to let him in, which... whatever. Over people flip flopping between good and evil, honestly. She lets him in, kills a bunch of people in the bunker, including that Maggie girl who's been hanging around and not doing much.

But then Jack steps in. He's not having it, no sir. Despite Michael acting all cocky like Jack can't do anything to him, he uses his powers to weaken Michael, and then forces him out of Rowena. He does some stuff to his essence, and then consumes the grace that remains. Jack says he's back to himself, but I guess that's now the question for the rest of the season - is he really?

Random Thoughts:

- I mean, hopefully this is the end of the Michael storyline. It was getting stale and repetitive, for sure.

- Lately I keep thinking what shows that are forced to be over 20 episodes a season might have been if they could have been more like 10-12 instead. Man, so much unnecessary filler would be cut. I know some people like to have a show on for a while so they have something to watch every week that they like, but I'd rather it be good the whole time, you know?

Quotes:

Rowena: You, always blaming witches.
Dean: 'Cause a lot of times it's witches.

Dean: This is like an A/V club presentation.
Jack: What's an A/V club?
Castiel: It's a special group for people who do not play sports.
Dean: Yeah, he's A/V club.

Dean: I'm on a first name basis with a psycho penpal. That's...aces.

Rowena: Of course, Samuel. Until very recently, I was the villain.

Jack: I'm the son of Lucifer, I'm a hunter, and I'm a Winchester.

Previous Episode

Supernatural 14x13 "Lebanon"

My friends, I think I got myself too hyped for this episode. I was honestly really looking forward to it, but I felt kinda let down. The structure of the episode was just a bit wonky, why did they need the whole beginning with those dumb kids? They could've cut straight to them with the pearl saying it's supposed to grant your deepest wish so it wasn't 20 minutes of filler in the beginning. It seemed like there was hardly any history there even though that's what it was supposed to be about.

I don't know, maybe I'm crazy and over-analyzing. I'm sure a lot of people loved it. But okay let's get into the recap portion of things. As I mentioned, there's this whole beginning part where the guys are looking for this skull because another hunter who had it was killed and this dude took the skull and put it in his collection and... I mean, do you care? I don't care. The point is, they get a bunch of occult stuff in the Impala, then head into town (aka Lebanon), and the Impala gets stolen by a punk kid with all the stuff inside, they track it down, figure out there's a magical pearl in with the stuff.

So. Yes. They have the pearl. It grants wishes. Dean's like alrighty let's try it so I can get Michael out of my head. Well, he seems to get Michael out (though this is truthfully never fully addressed unless I completely spaced out), but he also, you know, brings his dad, John Winchester himself, there to the future. But a very specific version of the dad, from 2003, before all of the events of the show. Why would Dean want this particular version of John back? No idea. Not addressed. But he's here, and the boys tell him all about what has happened, and he's the most caring version of John we've ever seen from here on out. Not that John couldn't be caring, but you know what I mean.

Mary walks in and they're immediately kissing, and while they mack, Sam pulls Dean aside to rain on his parade about how messing with time travel is rarely a good idea. It will inevitably change things. Dean wants to ignore that, at least for now, and have a nice family dinner of Winchester Surprise that we've only heard about as of this season, but is now folklore of the family as if it were always a thing.

While Dean and Sam head out to get the ingredients, they realize that things have already started to change. Since in this version of the timeline, John disappeared in 2003, Dean never ended up going to get Sam (I mean, really? The whole reason he went to get Sam in the first place in 2005 was because John was missing. Are we supposed to believe that Dean went and got him and because they never found John, Sam went back to school in this reality? IDK, guys, IDK.). So, Sam is now some tech goofus while Dean is still hunting and also wanted by the police for many beheadings.

So, while they're out and about, they see some bright lights that could only be from an angel declaring themselves to complete strangers because that's what they do in this timeline even though the only reason they got involved in the world's affairs before was because of the whole Winchesters being special thing, but I guess because time is being messed with, it's fine, whatever. Cool, bro.  Zachariah and Castiel, now back to a version of season four Castiel, are here and declare themselves and beat up the brothers, and Sam can kill Zachariah this time, and blah blah they banish Castiel with an angel symbol thingamabob and ok, let's go back to the bunker and tell everyone the bad news that dad has to go back to his timeline, because duh.

Now there are some father-son moments between both John and Sam and John and Dean, and everyone gets to be very touchy feely and talk about stuff. John is very proud of his boys, Sam is over his old resentment toward his dad, etc. They ponder whether changing things even further back in time would be better for them, but of course they're themselves and besides, we saw what that life could be like way back in season two in one of my actual favorite episodes of the series (that's What Is and What Should Never Be, for those who haven't figured it out already), albeit without John in the picture.

Anyway, they come together and bash the pearl, and John slowly disappears back to his time. All is back to normal, or as normal as it ever has been for this Winchester crew.

Random Thoughts:

- Like Sam would ever pick up a cursed object and almost pull the string on it. Puh-lease.

- Did I miss where they called themselves Campbell before? Are we just supposed to know they go by that name in town near the bunker?

- I'm sorry, I really wanted to like this episode, I really did. I was really thinking it would be the best episode of the season. Maybe my expectations were just too high.

- I do feel bad being mostly negative anymore; you'd think I was never a fan. But this was my favorite show back in the first five seasons. I went to the first Paley Fest panel for it back in season one, you guys. It just makes me sad.

Quotes:

Dean: They always talk too much.

Dean: This is like the best worst thing that could happen. 'Cause you love serial killers, but you hate clowns.
Sam: Yeah, Dean, I get it.

Dean: I Googled me as well. A lot of beheadings.

Zachariah: Come on, Constantine.
Castiel: I don't understand that reference.
Zachariah: You wouldn't.

Dean: Would we be better off? I don't know, maybe. But I gotta be honest, I don't know who that Dean Winchester is.

John: You two, you take care of each other.
Sam: We always do.

Previous Episode

Supernatural 14x12 "Prophet and Loss"

Legit question: do any of you care about the Nick storyline, like, at all? Because I could give two hoots. But fine, I'll talk about it really quick since this episode went into it. Nick escapes from police custody at the hospital where he's being kept and goes back to his house, where he talks to the ghost of his wife. She asks him to come back or whatever, and he's like no I choose Lucifer, wherever he may be. Bleep bloop.

Okay on to the main story at hand - Sam and Dean are heading toward the ocean, I guess, with the coffin capsule thingy that has a name, I'm sure, but it's not really important. Sam is not stoked about this trip, and even less so when Dean starts apologizing for not always being there for him when they were kids, like some kind of close to death confession tour. So he drums them up a case to take on while on their way.

The case involves a kid who has taken to killing people in very biblical ways, and carving enochian script into them after their deaths. They run his name by Castiel and figure out that he was to be the next prophet after Donatello, but he shouldn't have been called yet because Donatello is technically still alive, though in a coma.

They find the evil prophet dude just in time before he kills his next victim, and are like dude, you are not hearing GAHHG tell you what to do. He gets so distraught that when he manages to get Dean's gun off of him, he shoots himself in the noggin. Well, so much for that guy. But the bigger question is, why was he called up in the first place? They figure it must be because Donatello is in some in between place, not really alive, but not really dead, and so another prophet was called up, but not called up properly. But that just means it will happen again, unless they do something about ole Donny.

They meet Castiel at the care center where Donatello is in his coma, and they're all ready to pull the plug on the guy when the doctor mentions offhand that he's been saying some odd phrases. Luckily they have video of it, how nice, and they realize that he's been speaking enochian. Which I guess means he can be healed, because Castiel does just that, bringing him back from the brink of death.  But, lest we forget, Donatello still doesn't have a soul, so all is not completely right with the world.

After all of that is over, or as over as it can be, I guess, Sam drunkenly gives Dean a piece of his mind, basically telling him that they don't give up, and he can't understand why Dean would give up so easily. He even goes so far as to punch Dean in the face! My goodness, Sam! Dean eventually agrees to let everyone try as long as possible to find another way to fix things, but also tells Sam that if worse comes to worse, he will need to go in the box.

Random Thoughts:

- Am I the only one who didn't remember that Donatello was still alive?

- Next week's 300th episode, from what little I saw of the preview that always gets cut off by my DVR, looks like a lot of fun. It's the first episode in a while that I'm looking forward to, to be honest.

- The show was just renewed for a 15th season. Holy moly. I suppose I will face the dilemma once again whether to continue on with the recaps here or not.

- Can we be done with the Nick/Lucifer storyline once and for all?

Quotes:

Dean: I never said I wasn't scared.

Dean: I don't need to get shaky on this thing.
Sam: Wouldn't be the worst thing.

Sam: So if we could not have conversations that sound like deathbed apologies, I would really appreciate it.

Dean: Does the name Tony Alvarez mean anything to you?
Castiel: Yes.
Dean: Say more.

Dean: Thinking, highly overrated.

Castiel: This is the regular him but, he doesn't have a soul.
Dean: Well, nobody's perfect.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x11 "Damaged Goods"

It's been some time since we've caught up with the murderous Nick, so let's throw him into this episode, shall we? That's right, Nick is back, and he's tied up a demon to question it about where Mary Winchester is, because apparently the demons keep tabs on the whereabouts of the Winchesters? Why is he looking for Mary? Well, we'll get to that.

Meanwhile, Dean is also on his way to see Mary. It's clear from the start of the episode that something is up with him after receiving the information from reaper Billie in last week's episode about the only way he can defeat Michael. He wants to go visit Mary, and he doesn't want Sam to go with him, which immediately raises everyone's red flags, but Sam goes along with it... for now. Mary also gets a bad feeling once Dean shows up, especially after Dean gets somewhat nostalgic (though come on, Dean is always the one who gets nostalgic out of everybody), and even moreso when she notices that he's doing something strange in the tool shed.

But hold up, I forgot Dean also had a brief chat with Donna earlier on in the episode. That's just to make sure we know he's near her, so when she shows up later, it's not a big surprise. Because once Nick makes it to town, guess who pulls him over? But she doesn't know who he is, only that he's driving a stolen van. He manages to get the drop on her and heads off to track down Mary.

Why does he want to track down Mary, one wonders? Because apparently she supposedly killed the demon that murdered his family. Only she didn't actually kill the demon, but rather trapped it in an enochian box. He forces her to take him to the box, which is in one of those storage facilities where they keep all kinds of creepy things. Around this time, Sam has shown up at the cabin to find Dean looking for his mom after getting a warning call from Donna.

Nick pulls in some sap to be a vessel for the demon dude, and breaks open the box. Said demon Abraxis is very demon-y, but basically tells him that the reason he killed his family was because Lucifer told him to. Like, duh. What else were you thinking would be the case, Nick? Luckily, Sam and Dean show up in time to stop the demon from killing everyone, yada yada, fight fight, demon dies.

But, of course, the important bit is at the end of the episode when we find out what Dean has been building. As anyone with half a brain might have guessed, it's a box/coffin of sorts that has the power to detain and archangel. Sam is all like no way man, those aren't possible to build. But duh, Dean got the instructions from Billie, so that's that. Sam is, of course, against Dean's decision to lock himself, and therefore Michael, up in the box, but Dean is adamant that he'll do it with or without Sam's help, so Sam reluctantly agrees.

But, you guys, this is Supernatural, they'll find another way, or he'll be in the box for the summer and then they'll figure out what to do. That's the Winchester way.

Random Thoughts:

- Dang, I thought it was next week that was the special 300th episode, but it's two weeks. Darn it. That's the one episode I'm looking forward to!

- It seems like at least Michael will end up in the box somehow, but who knows.

- I enjoyed that this episode was pretty simple without any big monster thing to deal with, and instead focusing more on Dean's internal struggle.

Quotes:

Sam: Then, he hugged me.
Mary: That's sweet.
Sam: Mom, we don't hug.

Mary: It was so greasy, a heart attack on a plate.
Dean: A delicious heart attack on a plate. And I would like mine with extra cheese.

Nick: If you feel like screaming, you can go ahead. Because we're pretty...remote.

Dean: Now you can either let me do it alone, or you could help me. But I'm doing this.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x10 "Nihilism"

Well, we're back from winter hiatus. Seems like it went by so fast, no? Feels like just yesterday we were seeing Michael take back over Dean in the last episode. But here we are, ready to pick back up where we left off.

Sam, Jack, and Castiel face Michael and manage to distract him enough to get him into some angel cuffs so he can't snap his fingers and make them all go poof. All while they are hearing reports from that girl, whatever her name is that's been featured this season (I wanna say Maggie?) is calling them to tell them the monsters are wrecking havoc and on their way to get them, blah blah etc etc. Luckily, Sam remembers that they always have reapers watching over them, so he calls for some help, and they get transported back to the bunker.

But now the monsters are just on their way to the bunker! They've only got so much time to figure out what to do to try to get Dean back. Michael is all ho hum I'll just wait for my monsters to come save me, while Sam decides to try that mind connector thingy to reach Dean inside wherever Michael has him buried down. He and Castiel head inside Dean's mind. While Cas is shifting through Dean's memories of all of the trauma he's been through, trying to figure out where Michael would've stashed him, Sam figures out that no, the best way to keep Dean complacent and quiet is to keep him somewhere he would like. And that's when they hear the place where Dean actually is...

Rocky's Bar, a bar Michael has invented for him run, with Pamela by his side helping him out. He's in what you might call a time loop of sorts, replaying the same thing over and over again. Sam and Cas manage to make it into this loop of his, and though it takes some doing, they eventually start to reach him by pointing out that one, Pamela got blinded, and two, she's also dead. And then Sam says the magic word, which I don't remember being a thing, but I would hope I am just forgetting that tidbit, and bang, Dean remembers everything. Michael shows up then inside the dream or whatever you want to call it, and they soon figure out that he's the same as them in there, he can't snap his fingers and kill them. They manage to team up against him and lock him away in the closet, where the closet basically represents Dean's mind.

Meanwhile, the monsters start breaking into the bunker (well, if you want to get technical, they were let in by someone who was turned), and Jack ends up using some of his angel powers to kill them all. Cas gives him a lecture about this later, because the more of the magic he uses, the more of his soul that goes away. And we all remember soulless Sam was such a hoot with his lack of morals and all.

In his room, Dean is visited by head reaper Billie, who informs him that the many books in her library describing the many different ways he could die have all changed to Michael breaking free and killing the world. Well, all of the books, but one. Which she has brought for Dean to peruse, because it always goes well when someone knows their fate. But he seems a bit flabbergasted by the book and doesn't know what to do with it. And of course we don't see what's written, because that would get rid of the tension, I guess.  So we're left wondering for the future just what's in the BOOOOK?!

Random Thoughts:

- I'll be honest, the only episode I'm looking forward to is the upcoming 300th episode which features a certain returning guest star. It will be hard to miss who this is unless you live under a rock considering this person is featured on one of the covers of Entertainment Weekly this week, but I'll refrain just in case.

- Seriously though, where did Poughkeepsie come from?

Quotes:

Dean: How can you always have a boyfriend?
Pamela: How can you only want what you can't have?
Dean: Ohh.
Pamela: Besides, you don't want me, you just like to flirt. I'm a psychic, so I kinda know.

Michael: Cool science project, I give it a solid B-.

Dean: My mind, my rules. I got him. I'm the cage.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x09 “The Spear”

For some reason I thought last week was supposed to be the mid-season finale, but no, here we are. And of course things head back into archangel territory for said finale. As you might recall, the angels were able to let our erstwhile team know the whereabouts of Michael, so now they just have to get the spear that can kill him and get the job done. Easy peasy lemon squeezey, right?

Ha! Ha ha! So, first of all, Sam has called upon Garth to go into the lion's den, as it were, so that they can get a spy into Michael's organization. He's been doing well so far, but now he's to the point where they want him to get initiated into the special superpowers club, and he isn't able to fake his way through on that one. Garth is forced to drink the special juice with part of Michael's grace in order to keep up his charade. While he's fine at first, we'll soon find out that Michael can control those who have taken his grace. Dun dun dun. First, though, he is able to tell them that Michael's minions have located Kaia and her spear, and just where they think she is. Helpful.

Meanwhile, I completely forgot there was some egg thing that Ketch was trying to find... somewhere. I guess it can trap Michael or something. It turns out he did find it, but then had to send it through the mail system, and it hasn't arrived yet. So, Sam and Jack head out to get the egg at the mail facility where it's currently residing, and Dean and Cas go off to find Kaia. While Sam and Jack do get the egg, they are soon thwarted by Michael and some minions. Michael destroys the egg and knocks out Sam while the minions take Jack.

In some recycling warehouse, Dean and Cas are able to track down Kaia and her spear. And this time, she's willing to give it to them if they'll get her back to her home world, because at least there she's not constantly being chased by Michael. Dean tells her they'll do it, even though Jack can't open gates anymore, because that's so Dean.

Michael gives Jack a big schpiel about how they can see the world together or something, honestly I wasn't even listening, blah blah, and leaves Jack alone long enough that Sam can come save him. They then encounter Garth, who gets all taken over by Michael, but ultimately are able to subdue him and tie him up in the trunk to deal with later. Cas and Dean arrive, and they soon realize this has all been too easy. If Michael had wanted to, he could've sent a million minions after them this whole time, but he hasn't. He's been luring them to him in this tower. Well, might as well walk into the trap, right?

Blah blah, fighting fighting. Dean is able to get the spear pointing at Michael's neck, but of course he doesn't kill him, because duh, it's only mid-season. Those weird flashes that had been showing up for a couple episodes happen again, and bing bang boom, Michael is back inside Dean's body. Yep, he left some kind of door where he could go back in. He claims it was so he could break Dean so he'd be more compliant. I'm not sure what he thinks he did just in that moment that would break him, because he's like oh he's much quieter now. Ummm your grand plan hasn't even happened yet? But ok. I guess maybe because he snaps the spear that he thinks that has broken Dean? Sure.

And basically that's all she wrote. He snaps his finger to black and now we're left to wonder just what his grand plan is.

Random Thoughts:

- I feel like Hitomi Plaza was a nod to Nakatomi Plaza from Die Hard, no?

- Man there be some spoilers readily available around the interwebs about something happening in the 300th episode. I suppose I don't care that I read it, but the fact that you read it in the headline and not by clicking through is pretty annoying.

- At least they acknowledge that everyone dies and comes back to life on this show.

- Happy holidays everyone! Hope you have a great holiday season and see you in the new year for the rest of season 14!

Quotes:

Jack: Sam says this stuff will rot your teeth, but I like it.

Jack: You mean, dying and coming back to life?
Castiel: Yeah, we've all been through it. It's something of a rite of passage around here.

Garth: Balls.

Werewolf: The only thing that can take him down now is the full Ichabod.

Sam: Who taught you how to pick a lock?
Jack: I did. And the internet.

Dean: So, zero amount of surprise.
Sam: Walking right into a trap.
Castiel: Which is set by a full-power archangel.
Dean: Impossible odds. Feels like home.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x08 "Byzantium"

Look, this show never lets any popular character whose actor enjoys being on the show stay dead for long, so I'm just going to cut straight to the chase here and tell you now that Jack doesn't stay dead either. Legit we are all dead from shock, right? So how did he NOT stay dead? Let's get to it...

Yes, Jack does actually die. But that's right at the beginning of the episode, so we know already that team free will is going to do something about it after giving themselves one night of drinking and reminiscing just in case. Sam calls up Lily Sunder from many moons ago who I barely remembered at all. But she did some kind of special angel magic to keep herself from dying so she could hunt down angels because they killed her daughter or something. ANYway, Sam has called her up because he thinks maybe she can read some of Kevin's angel tablet scribblings.

She can't. But she has an idea that they can use the magic she was using to basically use part of Jack's soul to keep him alive. Oh also she's old now instead of young because she's stopped using the magic. Just a minor detail. In order for this whole thing to work, though, Castiel has to go find Jack up in heaven so they can merge his soul with his body. Got all that?

Now, Lily isn't willing to do all of this for free. She has one condition - that they make sure she gets into heaven when she dies, as she's pretty sure she's going to hell. To find out her fate, Sam and Dean have to call upon Anubis who apparently is some kind of soul-weigher for heaven. And he confirms her worst fears - she'll be going to hell. Thus, she no longer wants to help them out, but they appeal to her motherly side, asking that she not let them go through what she went through in losing a child. Just to wrap up this side of things - she agrees, dies in the process of helping them, and ends up being able to get into heaven in the end after all because she did such a good deed.

Okay, now let's get to Jack. He gets himself into heaven, but soon figures out that's where he is and goes in search of his mom. He seems to find her pretty easily, and they have a nice reunion, though it doesn't last very long. That's, of course, 'cause Cas has come to find him. Only he's found something else too - apparently, the big empty that was a thing back in season 13 is now after Jack because it believes that because he's not entirely human, he belongs in the empty rather than heaven. So, it's basically storming heaven to find him.

It uses Castiel as a way to get to Jack by taking on the form of another angel, blah blah. Basically, Castiel ends up making a deal with the empty - take him in Jack's place. The empty agrees to this deal, but decides not to take Castiel right away, but rather wait and take him right at the moment where he feels happiest. Oh and as a thank you for inadvertently helping them out, the angels decide to tell Castiel where they think Michael may be.

So, yes, Jack is back in his body, though with a little less of his soul, and the gang now knows where Michael probably is. Next up, they need to find the spear that can kill him. You know, simple.

Random Thoughts:

- I totally thought this was the last episode before the winter hiatus, but I was wrong. Sigh. Honestly I was ready for a break but oh well.

- Lots of callbacks to some esoteric stuff in this episode with Lily Sunder and the whole empty business. I guess they're trying to tie up some loose ends?

Quotes:

Sam: So what do we do?
Dean: Say goodbye. Tomorrow. Tonight, we get loaded.

Lily: You can do that? You can summon a god?
Dean: We've done it before.

Dean: I don't like rolling the dice on the word of a psycho ex-angel killer.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x07 "Unhuman Nature"

Did you think the show might go off on a tangent rather than deal with the Jack sickness right away? I wouldn't have put it past them. But thankfully, no, this episode is almost all about Jack, with a little bit of Nick thrown in.

Let's get the Nick stuff out of the way first. You remember Nick, formally Lucifer, who's now searching for the killer of his family. He's been killing people as he searches because he's, like, enjoying it or something. Basically he's been corrupted by Lucifer. He finally manages to track down the guy who did the killing, but it turns out he was possessed when he did it, so it's not really his fault. But Nick kills him anyway, and in the aftermath sort of prays to Lucifer, wanting him back. And we are subjected to this goofy red-eyed skeleton emerging out of goop thing while that is going on and I just... what? Can we never let ANYTHING go, show?

Whatever. Back to the main storyline of the evening - Jack's all sick and the boys don't know what to do. Once he starts convulsing and foaming at the mouth, they rush him to the hospital, but they don't understand what's happening. Next on the docket is Rowena, who tries to help him with some spell work, after a little convincing that she should help the son of the devil. But it doesn't do any good either.

Jack decides he doesn't want to sit around while they try to figure something out, so Dean decides to take him out for some last days fun. It includes letting Jack drive the Impala, so you know Dean really likes this kid now. They also grab some burgers and then share a sweet moment fishing where Jack basically tells Dean that these are the things he'll miss - being with those he cares about.

Meanwhile, Sam has heard from Ketch about some special shaman healer dude that may know how to help Jack. Castiel heads over to see the guy, Sergei, who gives him some old archangel grace he got from Gabriel back in the day, and tells him there's a spell he'll need to do as well. His price is yet to be determined, so we'll probably see him back again someday.

So they try the spell and the grace and at first it seems to be working. Jack says he's feeling better, and his eyes glow golden for a moment. But it doesn't last long, and soon he's back to passing out on the ground. Cas tries to get Sergei to come in person, but he refuses. Rowena isn't any help either, so for now we're left with Jack possibly dying in the near future. I doubt it will happen, especially considering Dean seemed to be experiencing some kind of angel feelings in the episode. Somehow Michael will probably play back into saving Jack's life, but I could be wrong.

Random Thoughts:

- I mean are they honestly going to have Lucifer come back? What was that stupid skeleton thing? It felt like another show as being inserted into this one, honestly.

- I guess they made everyone clear out of the bunker or something? Seemed awfully empty for Jack being all sicky. Feel like everyone would be trying to nose in.

- Looks like we've got two new episodes left before the winter hiatus hits. What are you guys thinking of the season so far?

Quotes:

Rowena: Bollocks.

Dean: We're taking Baby for some exercise.
Sam: You think that's a good idea?
Dean: Yeah.

Dean: Whoa, let's keep it between the lines.

Dean: What do you think?
Jack: It's like I'm you!
Dean: No. It's not.

Castiel: I wouldn't call Ketch stellar.
Sergei: Then you have met him.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x06 "Optimism"

I know viewers tend to hate it when Sam and Dean are split up in episodes of the show, but I thought it was quite fun and effective in this one. I suppose it helps that there was a lot of humor in one of the storylines, but still. It just shows they don't always have to be together for an episode to be entertaining.

Sam has gone off to help Charlie with a case. Some people have been going missing under mysterious circumstances and they're staking out the bus stop where it happens. Most of the episode for them is spent talking in the truck. Basically, the gist of their conversations are that Charlie doesn't like hunting and wants to stop. She'd rather go live in a cabin somewhere. It also turns out that she had met the love of her life in the other world, but she died after the apocalypse started.

Eventually, they see this dude in a weird black outfit with a kind of beekeeper's hat on and chase him down. It's some kind of weird fly monster that's been taking people. They kill it pretty easily and save his latest victim. Sam uses this win as a way to tell Charlie that she shouldn't give up on hunting, essentially because they're saving people and it gives them meaning, etc.

Meanwhile, back at the bunker, Jack is getting restless and eventually manages to convince Dean to go on a hunt with him. After Dean sees a bit of himself in Jack in the way they both feel guilty about the whole Michael situation, he reluctantly agrees. So they head off to check out a mysterious death in another small town, and soon come to find out that the local librarian Harper's suitors seem to always end up dead. They head over to have a chat with her, and Jack manages to get on her good side pretty quickly, even garnering an invite back to her apartment, ostensibly to get a book she thinks he'll like.

Now it was pretty clear to me that whatever was doing the killing was doing it on her behalf, either because it thought these guys were going to hurt her or something. I was mostly right, but we'll get to that in a sec. Jack tests Harper with silver, holy water, and a muttered "Christo" and knows she can't be a demon. He also thinks that she might be in love with him, which resulted in a great conversation over the phone with Dean, who was quickly finding out that there was definitely a monster involved in all of this.

He hurries over to Harper's place, the monster on his tail, only for them to find out that the monster is Harper's high school boyfriend turned zombie. It turns out she comes from a line of necromancers and brought him back from the dead. Now he kills would-be suitors as a kind of weird fetish game for them. Dean and Jack manage to overcome zombie boy, but Harper gets away. I don't think we've seen the last of her, though, as we last see her writing a love letter of sorts to Jack. You know, I love you, but I'll have to kill you and bring you back before we can be together. That sort of thing.

Once they're back at the bunker, Jack tries to get Dean to admit that he should be allowed to go on hunts. But his argument gets interrupted by another coughing attack, this time accompanied with a bloody nose and him passing out, leaving Dean to wonder what the hell he should do. Guess we'll find out in a couple weeks!

Random Thoughts:

- The humor in this one is fun. I looked up the writer's (Steve Yockey) other episodes and realized I have enjoyed a lot of them.

- I'm just glad they didn't draw out this illness thing with Jack for too long, or have him keep hiding it for episodes on end. They usually draw things out, so it's been nice they haven't been AS much on some things so far this season.

- The fly guy was sort of creepier in his weird outfit than when the hat came off, right? That was such a getup!

- With Jack being pretty popular, I doubt they're going to kill him off, but what do you guys think?

Quotes:

Jack: Sam wanted someone around when you came back. He's worried about you.
Dean: Yeah. Sounds like him.

Jack: What's courting?
Dean: It's what you do before dating.
Jack: Ah. And that's what you do before the sex.
Waitress: Sometimes you just have the sex.

Dean: Eat up. Pie is important.

Dean: Old man my ass.

Dean: Look, I promise you that Harper Sayles is not in love with you, okay? Would you calm down?
Jack: Okay. But if she is, I need to know everything about sex. Go.

Sam: We don't want to tackle some guy because he's into weird fashion.
Charlie: Mmm. Don't we?

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x05 "Nightmare Logic"

Funny story. I didn't really feel like watching the show and doing the recap last night, so I was like well, I'll just wait until morning. Then I went to play the show from the DVR, and it turned out the news had pre-empted the entire thing anyway, so I wouldn't have been able to watch it even if I had wanted to! But, anyway, on to the show...

Sam has been leading the group of, I guess we'll call them hunters now, at the bunker. One of the hunters, Maggie, was out on a hunt and never checked in. Naturally, Sam was feeling very responsible about the whole thing, though Dean tries to reassure him that they'll find her and it's not his fault, etc. They head out to the place she was hunting and soon discover that Mary and Bobby are already there, and using their same historical society aliases, ha.

Turns out, Maggie had been texting them for tips and advice, and when they hadn't heard from her, they came to check it out. Bobby gives Sam grief for being a terrible leader or something, though Mary tries to diffuse the situation. When they separate into pairs to look into things, Mary reveals that there's something Bobby is hiding, and that also she may be interested in him romantically if he'd quit being closed off. On the hunting front, they discover that a hunter had previously been there and was killed.

I haven't really talked about the monster situation at all. Basically, when they "kill" the monsters, they turn into dust. Not your typical situation, since every monster seems to be different, from a ghoul, to a vampire, to Bobby's dead son Daniel, who apparently was killed by Michael or his angels back in the other world. Bobby, of course, tries to go off on his own when he sees Daniel, and gets beaten up pretty bad, only for Mary to come in and almost get killed by this Daniel figure as well. But Bobby is able to overcome and gets rid of the monster-ish thing.

So just what is the deal with these monsters anyway? Well, as is true in almost every procedural-type show, it is naturally one of the first people you meet in the episode - Neil, the nurse for the old dude in the house that they're investigating. It turns out that he's a djinn and has been hiding Maggie in the attic to drain her blood. I thought it looked like a djinn setup, but then I was like I'm confused I thought they were like in visions or something... but ah ha. Right. Michael has beefed up this djinn so that he can make people's nightmares come to life. He did this to djinn around the country (or world? who knows), and they've been laying traps for hunters to pick them off one by one. Fun times.

Regardless, they're able to save Maggie and get rid of the djinn, and head back home to the bunker. Bobby confides in Mary about what happened to his son, and they decide to take some time off while he recuperates from his wounds. Bobby also apologizes to Sam and tells him he's more or less doing a good job. And Dean, of course, is feeling guilty about one more thing that Michael did while in control of his body. It never ends!

Random Thoughts:

- So, I'm thinking this may be my last season doing these recaps. Unless next season ends up being the last season, which at this rate it doesn't seem likely. I just don't have the heart for it that I once did, and it seems like so few people really read them anyway. Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind.

- Having a djinn just reminded me of the far superior episode back from season 2, What Is and What Should Never Be. Man, one of the best. In fact, I named it as my #5 out of 50 episodes of all time, at least up through season 10, though I doubt any of these episodes from these past few seasons would crack the top 10 out of 50 at all.

- I didn't even really touch on the family story that was going on throughout this episode, but it wasn't really that important other than Dean telling the daughter of the old guy to let go of past mistakes and admitting that he was trying to but it's difficult.

Quotes:

Bobby: This case is obviously not a milk run.

Mary: Watching you these last few weeks, you know what I've been saying to myself? This is what he was born to do.

Dean: He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep. He grew himself one of those Kenny Rogers' beards. No offense.

Dean: What happened to you?
Bobby: I could ask you the same question.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x04 "Mint Condition"

That was a pretty fun episode - a nice Halloween-y diversion from the main angel-y storyline of the season. It's funny how these later seasons I tend to enjoy the one-off episodes more whereas back in the day it used to be the other way around. So, yes, this is a monster o' the week episode, going back to tried and true territory for the Winchesters with a classic ghost hunt.

Dean has been holed up in his room at the bunker, not wanting to interact with all of the strangers in what is essentially his home, eating pizza and watching horror movie marathons. Sam is a bit worried about him, so luckily he comes across a case that he thinks just might tickle Dean's fancy - a comic book store worker was attacked by a Thundercats toy come to life! Yup, Dean is IN.

They head on over to investigate, and the dude, Stuart, tries to tell them he made it all up, but it soon becomes clear that he did NOT make it all up when he is attacked again, this time with the Winchesters helpfully nearby staking out his house. They save him from a killer chainsaw, and that's when Dean brings out the EMF detector and figures out that they have a ghost on their hands.

Dean hangs back at the hospital to make sure Stuart's mom doesn't go back to his house, while Sam heads off to try to find out who the ghost may be. He doesn't have much luck at Stuart's house, so he heads back over to the comic book store to check in with Samantha, one of the other workers. It turns out that the former owner of the store died recently, and he was not too fond of Stuart, who was stealing from the store. Just as Sam is asking about where his body is buried (it isn't, it was cremated), the ghost shows up to cause some mayhem.

The ghost takes over the Hatchet Man figure that has been playing a large part in this whole episode, not only the figure, but also the movies he is from that Dean was watching earlier and that he discusses throughout with Dirk, another of the comic book store workers. ANYWAY, the ghost heads on over to the hospital to go after Stuart, much running and fighting ensues, and Sam and Samantha make it just in time to surmise that the item the ghost is attached to is likely the keychain that goes with the store. Torch time, babies!

With the ghost mystery solved, the brothers head back to the bunker, having a patented Impala chat about feelings on the way. Basically, Sam tells Dean he can't keeping hiding away, and Dean thanks Sam for getting him out of the house and out of his funk. Aw, bros.

Random Thoughts:

- The moment when Dean is about to elbow the fire hose glass but instead sees if it's unlocked. Ha, too funny.

- Did they name the comic book nerd who is attacked Stuart in reference to the owner of the comic book store in Big Bang Theory? Haha.

- There were a lot of fun little moments throughout this episode. Nice brotherly banter, Dean geeking out over horror movies. Sam finally admitting why he hates Halloween (basically, he puked on a girl he was about to kiss).

Quotes:

Dean: Oh wow.
Sam: What? Oh. Yes. I shaved.

Dean: Since when is okay part of this job?

Dean: She's like your twin. Soft, delicate features, luxurious hair. She's like your wonder twin.

Sam: Can't believe you had her make us apple cider.
Dean: She offered.

Samantha: Where'd you learn how to do this?
Sam: I had a messed up childhood.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x03 "The Scar"

Dean is back, and not ready to deal with his emotions. What a shocker! Everyone is worried about him, of course, Sam especially, but Dean just wants to get to the bottom of things, which turns out to be something to do with this mysterious scar on his arm. Turns out, something was able to hurt Michael while he was in Dean, so whatever that was is obvi super important.

And wouldn't you know it, one Jody Mills just happens to be involved in finding said weapon! She just happens to be working on a case where some dead bodies also exhibit a very similar wound to the one Dean has. So everyone is all gung ho about going up to Sioux Falls and finding the weapon and its wielder. Jack is all ready to go with them, but of course they are still holding him back. Only it turns out that one of the other hunters around the bunker just happens to bring in this cursed girl, so Cas also stays behind with Jack to take care of this girl.

So let's go through the Cas and Jack storyline real quick first. Jack is all ready to run away because he's feeling pretty sorry for himself, but then he decides to stay when he sees the sick girl. While Cas and this other lady work on a spell to try to save the girl, Jack chats her up, and she does some very on-the-nose dialoguing about how she ran away and she regrets it, blah blah. The most important bit of the whole thing is that basically this witch took her and a few other girls in and it is blatantly obvious that said witch used this necklace thing the girl has on to start stealing her youth.

Long story short, when Cas' witch reversal spell doesn't work and the girl seemingly dies, Jack figures out that the witch is wearing a necklace very similar to the girl and figures that the girl's life force might be inside it. Bang bang goes the necklace, and the girl gets her life force back, and Cas is all kinds of proud of Jack for thinking on his feet. He also offers to go on a real hunting trip with him once the Winchesters get back. All would be fine and dandy, except that Jack now seems to be coughing up blood. Dun dun dun.

Okay, on to the Winchester story. They meet up with Jody and start investigating the woods, and soon enough find the person responsible for the wound - Kaia's double from the bad place. The spear she brought over has some kind of special powers and can hurt Michael. Dean is all gung ho about trying to get it away from her, but she's not one to giver over her special weapon so easily, especially not to Dean. That goes on hold, anyway, because some super vamps show up and start beating everyone up. Luckily, Kaia's special weapon is also good at killing these new super monsters, so she takes them out pretty easily.

Dean confesses to Sam that he does sort of remember what happened during the time with Michael, even though earlier he claimed it had gone by in a blink. Rather, he felt like he was drowning the entire time, trying to come up for air. And now he feels responsible for whatever Michael does, because he said yes in the first place. Ah, typical Winchesters, trying to take all the blame on themselves!

Random Thoughts:

- Wonder what is wrong with Jack. Seems like he might get his grace back just in time to save himself or something?

- I always find it funny in episodes where people mention others a lot, but they're not in the episode at all. Like, we didn't get to see Dean and Mary's reunion. Claire and the other girls were mentioned a bunch, but not seen, even though they were in the same town. I know it's budgetary and whatever, it just doesn't always make logical sense in the story.

- The bewitched girl storyline was ridiculously predictable. And talk about SUCH an on-the-nose talk about running away when he had literally just been about to run away. Good grief.

- What do you think of Sam's beard? For some reason it almost looks fake to me? Or maybe just too meticulously groomed or something?

Quotes:

Dean: Duck Dynasty called, and they say they want it all back.
Sam: Some people say I look good.
Dean: No. No, Sam, no people say that.

Dean: I didn't mean to be a dick.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x02 "Gods and Monsters"

Well, that was quick. Only two episodes with Michael inhabiting Dean's body, huh? Of course, it seems like a trap, so maybe Michael's just laying low in Dean's body for now or something. Not sure that's even possible, but who knows!

That's jumping ahead, though. This week we catch up with Michael's plans a bit. He's been tracking down vampires and trying to feed them some mixture of angel grace and blood or something in order to create super versions of them. The testing stages leave some bodies lying around with burned out eyes that bring the others in his direction, but I'll get to that in a minute. Eventually he meets with an alpha werewolf and gets him to agree to give his solution whatsit to his werewolves, and that's about all we know about his ultimate plans.

Meanwhile, the others get wind of these dead bodies with the burned out eyes and figure it must be Michael. Sam, Mary, and Bobby head out to track him down, leaving Cas and Jack behind. For Cas, it's because he's an angel and would draw attention. For Jack, it's because he's pretty green without his super special powers, which has left him feeling pretty low and worthless. After some chats with Cas, he decides to seek out his mother's parents, the Klines. Apparently they don't even know that their daughter is dead, but at least Jack has some sense and doesn't tell them that he's their grandson, despite obviously heavily wanting to. He also doesn't tell them that Kelly is dead, even though it seemed like at least her dad kind of got the hint.

Cas also tries to sort of chat with Nick, the ole Lucifer-suit who's still hanging around for reasons unknown to this viewer. He's starting to get some memories back of his time as Lucifer, and wonders why he would ever say yes. Now I don't remember if we actually saw why he said yes originally, but I think it's basically implied that he killed his whole family with a hammer? Basically, he finds out that his family was murdered and the case hasn't been solved. Cas for some reason lets him go off to try to investigate, and he ends up talking to the neighbor who reported seeing someone there. When the neighbor tries to backpedal on that bit of his story, Nick loses it and kills him with a hammer, which he had just said was how his family had been killed. So either he's trying to be poetic by killing this guy in the way his family was killed, or the implication is that he was the killer. Or maybe that was already openly shown back in season five and I just don't remember!

Anyway, Sam, Mary, and Bobby track down a vampire and she tells them where she thinks Michael will be, blah blah. They fight some of the super-powered werewolves, who are immune to silver. And then Dean just kind of walks in and is like hi guys, not sure where Michael is but he just left so I'm here, okay? Okay then!

Random Thoughts:

- I quite enjoyed the scene with Jack and his grandparents. It was pretty sad that they didn't know what had happened to her, and also sad that he couldn't tell them who he really was either. So much sadness!

- I honestly thought Michael was going to go and ask Nick to be his vessel there at the end, but nope. At least not for now, anyway.

- What is Michael's grand plan, anyhow? This whole wanting to promote beings he sees as pure or what-have-you is kind of silly.

- There was also a brief mention that Jack could get his powers back in as early as a month, or it could take a century. Basically, whenever the show decides they need a nice deus ex machina!

Quotes:

Bobby: Who goes to Duluth in October?

Michael: Did you honestly think I don't know what you are? You think you picked me? I picked you.

Castiel: There are worse ways to be human than being kind.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 14x01 "Stranger in a Strange Land"

Back in the saddle again, I guess! Yep, we're back to another season of Supernatural, which started with kind of an... ehhhhh, okay. In case you forgot, basically they saved a bunch of people from another world, but in order to do so, Dean had to say yes to Michael taking over his body, and so now he's still possessed by him, and Sam and the others don't know where he is, blah blah.

So where is he? Just, you know, roaming around asking a bunch of people and angels and otherwise nasty things what they want. Mostly he seems to be unsatisfied with their answers, as I guess he's looking for an ally to "make a better world" in his eyes. Apparently he decides that a vampire is the right type of thing to team up with, as that's who he's teaming up with at the end of the episode. And that's about all we saw of Michael/Dean this episode!

Meanwhile, Team Free Will is very much down in the dumps as it's been a few weeks and they can't find Dean or a way to get him free of Michael. What they can find is Castiel acting a dunce bucket and getting duped by some demons, leading said demons to call up Sam to make a deal to hand over Castiel. In exchange for what, one wonders? We find that out once Sam and company arrive -- apparently this new charismatic demon named Kip wants to have the deal Crowley did. Basically, he gives Sam information and Sam looks the other way about demon dealings.

Sam's in no mood for such suggestions, and so with the help of mostly Mary and Bobby, with Jack and this girl Maggie tagging along pretty much to get beat up and stuff, Sam manages to kill this Kip, and basically tells the other demons that he doesn't intend to let anyone become to new the King of Hell, and they can take it up with him if they have a problem with that. Said demons promptly smoke out of their human hosts because Sam Winchester is so scary with his depresso beard, man.

Jack also does a fair bit of moping throughout the episode because his grace was drained by Lucifer and he's without powers and feels helpless. Sam and Cas try to comfort him, but what probably really comforts him is the fact that his grace should come back over time? Okay, never knew that before.

Also, apparently Nick, Lucifer's host body aka Mark Pellegrino, survived getting stabbed, and somehow also made it over to this world? Did I miss that happening? Man, guys, sometimes you just have to let characters go eventually. I mean, really.

Finally, the episode ended with Anael aka Sister Jo aka the one angel we saw Michael talk to because it was probably fun for Jensen and Danneel Ackles to do a scene together again... whoa that sentence got unwieldy! Basically Anael calls up Sam at the end of the episode because she's not too happy about this new Michael being around. Dun dun dun!

Random Thoughts:

- Way to go, CW, with spoiling that Lucifer aka Nick was going to be around in the commercial before it actually happened!

- What do people think of Jensen playing Michael for a bit?

- I actually liked that demon character, Kip, so boo hoo for me that he got killed off so quickly.

- Classic episode of Supes just waiting around with not much actually happening.

Quotes:

Jamil: What do you want?
Michael: What I've always wanted. A better world.

Kip: How is it that you lost Dean? I thought you two were joined at the... everything.

Kip: But it's like salt water taffy, or infants. I just like the taste.

Kip: You are a damn legend, Sam. An icon. The shoulders. The hair. You are my Beyonce.

Sam: That's what I thought.

Jack: All I did was get punched in the face.
Castiel: To be fair, we all got punched in the face.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural Season 13: A Look Back

Typically when we get around to this time of year, close to the start of another season of most of TV, but also of Supernatural, which obviously is the focus here, I write up a list of my five favorite episodes of the season. But as has been the case with many of the more recent seasons, the episodes really all start to blur together to the point where I only remember actual episode details of maybe one or two without any prompting. This didn't used to be the case. I still remember details from many of the earlier season episodes easily even now when I haven't watched them in years.

It's strange, really, that Supernatural has become something of a phenomenon recently, with a steady popularity that, to me, may result from some older fans falling off, and newer fans finding the show now. Back when it first started, fans were taking to Livejournal communities to profess their love, finding their fandom friends when it seemed like no one in the real world had even heard of the show. Today, most people have heard of it, and honestly I'm not sure where the fandom goes anymore for the same kind of camaraderie that Livejournal offered back in the mid-2000s.

All of this is to say that while I could spend the time to really jog my memory about what were my top five episodes of this past season, I don't really want to. I've been avoiding it all summer, in fact. The show doesn't instill the same kind of love in me that it used to, which I know I've talked about on here before, and I don't want to praise something on my personal blog that I don't really believe in anymore. It's a question every season - do I continue recapping, or do I stop? Do I keep on until what has definitely become the bitter end, or hang up my hat now and call it a day?

If there was one episode from this season that I truly enjoyed, it was ScoobyNatural. It was goofy and fun and if you had watched any Scooby Doo growing up, had a lot of references that were enjoyable. It probably deserves to be in the top 50 somewhere, though I'm not sure it would be suuuuper high. I also remember the Wayward Sisters episode, though is it one of the best, really? Or is it just memorable because of all the hubbub around it? Jack was a good addition to the season, I wasn't expecting to like him, but almost from the beginning I did.

At the same time, this season was yet again about bringing back a bunch of dead characters. I'm over it. No death has any stakes anymore. And the end of the season with Dean becoming a vessel for Michael truly came nearly out of left field with barely any hinting that angel vessels were going to become important again. Gabriel came back. Rowena came back. Lucifer was around yet again. "Yet again" is a problem, because honestly, what can the show do anymore that isn't a retread of something it's already done?

With that, I shall sign off for today. Should I still recap season fourteen? Do people actually enjoy reading them when they are mostly sarcastic and point out the problems? For me, these are not rhetorical questions, so if you're reading this and have an opinion, please do leave it in the comments or hit me up on Twitter or the Facebook page.

Supernatural 13x23 "Let the Good Times Roll"

Here we are, the end of season thirteen. Can you believe it? The little show that could just keeps could-ing. That's a word, don't even.

After last week's episode, everyone was back safe in our world. Or the Supernatural world, I should say, as clearly this isn't our world. Semantics! Anyway, everyone is starting to feel like they might be okay with just staying in this world since Lucifer and Michael are stuck in the other one, but we all know that's going to be short-lived, as ole Luci made a deal with Michael to make a rift and come on over, come on over, baby. So, you know, he could get his baby, aka Jack, and walk off in the sunset, or universe, as he was arguing. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Yes, they all soon enough discover that Lucifer is back in town. And Jack is a little more receptive to him this time around, since he's feeling all guilty about hurting people and whatnot. He thinks yeah, maybe Lucifer's offer to head off into the universe at large and explore and make some lightsabers might not be such a bad idea. Of course, that becomes short-lived, because they find out that Lucifer didn't come over alone, he made a deal.

Michael comes a calling at the bunker while Jack and Lucifer are off contemplating the Milky Way. While Mary and Bobby get away with that Maggie girl (yeah, I skipped that whole storyline, whatever), Dean, Sam, and Castiel get beaten up by Michael. But Sam is able to shoot off a prayer to Jack, who does hear it and comes to their rescue. But of course Lucifer has to join in as well, and when Jack finds out about his dad's deal with Michael, he gets very angry. You're thinking oh he'll have to kill his dad, but instead Lucifer pulls out that archangel killing blade and steals some of Jack's grace with it, making him uber-powerful. He ends up absconding with Jack and Sam in a kerfuffle, leaving Dean and Cas with a powered-down Michael whose vessel is losing its mojo.

Dean, knowing that Lucifer has Sam and Jack, but mostly Sam, ends up making what will surely be known as a rash decision - he decides to let himself be used as a vessel by Michael. You know, they haven't talked about this since around season give, but Dean is supposed to be Michael's "sword" aka his perfect vessel, and Sam is supposed to be Lucifer's. I'm not sure if Lucifer since got a special vessel, because the original version of this guy degraded, but I'm on a tangent here. The point is, Dean offers himself up to try to defeat Lucifer.

Because, yes, Lucifer is basically giving Sam and Jack a choice - either one of them kills the other, or they both die. Sam wants Jack to kill him, but Jack is determined to off himself, convinced that Sam has a better chance at defeating Lucifer. He's just starting to stab himself in the gut with the archangel blade when Dean/Michael shows up and gets to beating up Lucifer, with a lot of air acrobatics that just look goofy. It looks like Dean/Michael isn't going to succeed, but then Sam tosses him the archangel blade at just the right moment and BAM. Lucifer gets it in the gut.... and we finally, just maybe, have a true death of Lucifer, angel wings burned into the ground and all.

Everyone has just enough time to celebrate for a few minute before Michael makes his presence known and promptly takes over Dean's body, because duh. Obviously once he was inside he wasn't just going to leave it easily. And the show ends on one of the most hokey still frames with a slight zoom in I have ever seen of Dean strolling down the street in what I can only call a grandpa or possibly hipster cap, his eyes glowing all Michael blue. I straight up cackled at that shot, my goodness.

And that's where things are to end the season. Ciao bellas... until season fourteen.

Random Thoughts:

- The intro to the recap was a lot of fun, with Rowena saying isn't there music and then Kansas rolling in.

- Honestly, they could have at least addressed the whole vessel thing at some point before it just suddenly became important in the finale. That was basically the whole point of season five, you know?

- I didn't really think of this before, but would Mary have known Bobby? I feel like... no. John met him after she died, and he's not that much older than her for him to have been a hunter back when she was growing up. Unless I just am silly and she didn't know him? But I feel like she did? It doesn't matter, really.

- Are you happy to see Lucifer gone? I mean, finally. They've only been fighting that villain for years.

Quotes:

Bobby: And you call where we come from Apocalypse World?

Castiel: They're talking about whether Kylie Jenner would make a good mother. I can sense this doesn't help.

Mary: That's trouble.
Bobby: Ginger trouble. The worst kind.

Sam: You're talking about retiring? You?
Dean: If I knew the world was safe, hell yeah. You know why? 'Cause we frickin' earned it.

Jack: He's here to help.
Bobby: He is?
Lucifer: You know it, Longmire.

Dean: Well, as Shakespeare once said... eat me, dick bag.

Lucifer: I'm thinking fire-breathing dragons, sassy-talking robots.

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