Last week Lynn and Nightsky (from the Winchester Family Business) were at an academic conference on Popular Culture, giving carefully prepared papers on (what else?) Supernatural and moderating panels and generally working our butts off. So Thursday night was a welcome break to watch the new Supernatural episode with a room full of fellow acafans (academics who are also passionate fans). Oh, and pie. Lots of pie. Being the resourceful women we are, we loaded up some plates with free conference food and then crowded into our friends Susan and Mandy’s room. Balancing overloaded plates precariously, we settled in to watch. Come along with us, if you will, to see what happens next…
The THEN came on and the room fell silent. For a minute anyway.
Lynn: KEVIN! Is Osric in this episode? Please let Osric be in this episode! (Alas, Osric was in fact NOT in this episode…)
The NOW begins, which repeats the scene we saw last week of Castiel and Lucifer having a tussle, and Lucifer full on lunging at Castiel and stabbing him in the stomach. Wait, what? Is that what we saw last week?
Nightsky: Hold on, when did that happen??
Lynn: He stabbed him last week but not like THAT, am I right?
Susan and Mandy (who remember things much better than the two of us) He did stab him last week, but he swiped high, it was a high slice not a gut stab!
Cas staggers through the woods, clearly way more injured than he seemed to be last week when he prevailed and stabbed Lucifer instead. He falls to the ground – to be found by the shocked teenagers of the week who of course do what? Poke him with a stick.
Everyone in the room: WHAT IS HAPPENING??
Two minutes in and we were all confused; turns out, that didn’t ease much during this episode.
Cas wakes up, seems to be feeling a lot better, and for some reason goes right back to where he escaped from Asmodeus and starts yelling at the top of his lungs for Lucifer.
Nightsky: Why the Sam Hill would he go back and yell like that? They just got away from the guy!
Everyone else: I got nothin’.
Switch gears (there’s a lot of that in this episode too, as in hang on or you’ll get whiplash from the constant back and forth) and we’re in Missouri and Danneel is roller skating down the sidewalk and meeting cute with some guy with a wedding cake.
Lynn: DANNEEL!!!!
ETA: WAS that Danneel??? I was so anticipating seeing her that I was sure it was, but now I’m not so sure. Of course, I’m pretty much not sure about anything at this point…
The guy catches Danneel, the cake smashes to the ground.
Nightsky: Some wedding is going horribly wrong somewhere…
Turns out Cupid is trying to matchmake but uh oh Cupid, Lucifer is standing right behind you. Lucifer questions him about where the angels are, roughs the poor guy up, steals some of his grace. Cupid begs for his life, sobbing, and Lucifer momentarily seems to soften.
Lucifer: Ok, ok Cupid.
Lynn: (giggling) OK Cupid?
But no, we end up with a poor dead Cupid.
Three minutes in and everyone is still massively confused.
Nightsky has lots of questions.
Nightsky: Lucifer just happens to be in the city that Cupid is in? Cupid is the symbol of love and kindness, and that’s who he kills? Wouldn’t some random angel do? Perhaps it’s just to prove how despicable Lucifer is, seeking out love and goodness just to kill it.
Lynn: I got nothin’.
The conversation between Lucifer and Cupid reiterates the ‘heaven is running out of angels’ thing that seemed to come out of nowhere in Season 13.
Nightsky: I find that hard to swallow. All those legions of angels and now there’s just a handful? Yes, there was the fall, but really, there are that few?
Everyone agreed that the lack of angels seems to be a major motivating theme all of a sudden, so now it’s important – which means the likelihood of it bothers us more. But okay.
Scene change again, and the Winchesters finally make an appearance!
Everyone: Yay!
Castiel is suddenly back with them in the bunker. He fills them in on Asmodeus and the bad news that they’ve been talking to Asmodeus all that time as he impersonates Cas.
Sam and Dean do a lot of huh? And look grumpy about everything.
Castiel goes on. And oh there’s an AU version of Kevin Tran and Michael out there and he’s trying to get to this world to wreak havoc. All this is very bad news indeed, and Sam and Dean are definitely facepalming.
Nightsky: I absolutely love the confounded look on Sam and Dean’s faces because they are mirroring the look on every viewer’s face right now watching this episode.
Then Cas casually mentions that he’s been working with Lucifer.
This was one of Lynn’s favorite scenes, even though it was small.
Lynn: OMG the look on Sam’s face. The look on DEAN’s face! When they realize that Lucifer is no longer in the AU and he’s back — and a threat. After what Sam told us about his fear of Lucifer last week, that was tough to see.
Dean is definitely not happy about this turn of events.
Dean: Cas, I told you not to do anything stupid.
Cas is defensive, and his retort is delivered in an uncharacteristically biting way.
Cas: Well, he was weak and given the context of our imminent annihilation, it didn’t seem stupid. Lucifer wanted to help fight Michael.
Sam: (clearly unconvinced) Sure…
Cas: (still defensive) If he were lying, I’d have known it.
Lynn: Wait, he didn’t know when Metatron was lying, though…
Nightsky: But Lucifer was mostly human and Cas has been able to tell when humans were lying. Even after he took part of Cupid’s grace, he was still mostly human. Maybe that’s why?
Everyone: Hmmm
Sam: (suddenly sounding vulnerable and about ten years younger) He say anything about our mom?
Cas: She’s alive, that’s all I know. I’m sorry.
Like I said, this was one of our favorite scenes.
Nightsky: What I saw there was an excellent continuity in Sam’s character, a little boy worried about his mother. And Dean is the one who’s being strong, which is consistent with the last couple episodes. That was phenomenal acting on both their parts, Jared especially picking up from last week.
Lynn: That little scene broke my heart. We know how terrified and traumatized Sam is from Lucifer and both he and Dean thought that they had neutralized that threat – how horrible to find out that he’s in their backyard again. Every abuse survivor’s worst nightmare. Every protective person who cares about someone who has been abused, also their worst nightmare.
Scene change, and we pick up seeing just how human Lucifer in fact is, as he shivers in the cold and his stomach growls with hunger watching people dine al fresco (even though it’s apparently very cold, so weird…)
Scene change, and we switch to Amodeus having a testy conversation with Mr. Ketch.
Another player on the board!
Lynn: Do we even know why Ketch is working with Asmodeus and how that came to be? Also, gotta say, Ketch does not seem very intimidated by Asmodeus. He just called his plan to capture Lucifer “monumentally stupid”.
Asmodeus for some reason doesn’t seem to hold that against Ketch. Instead he changes the plan to kill Lucifer instead of capture him and sends Ketch on his way.
Nightsky: I’m sympathetic to Ketch…
Lynn: (incredulous) What now??
Nightsky: He has the courage to stand up to Asmodeus, but he does seem very intimidated by the assignment to go kill Lucifer.
Lynn: Nope, not sympathetic to Ketch. Sorry, David Haydn-Jones, love you. But I hated the whole British Men of Letters thing and am not a fan of any of them, even the charming-on-the-surface ones.
Asmodeus tells Ketch that an angel blade to the heart should kill Lucifer.
Nightsky: So why did Cas just stab Lucifer with an angel blade but Lucifer walked away with not even a wound apparently?
Lynn: Maybe because it wasn’t to the heart? Honestly I have no clue what happened in that first scene.
Everyone: (shaking heads in confusion)
Scene switch, back to Lucifer, who has decided to take up panhandling. Except he’s not very good at it.
Lucifer: Give me money, come on, what’sa matter with you?
We all were amused by Mark Pellegrino’s portrayal of Lucifer – he does comedy very well. But the cost of those comedic moments is a dilution of the terrifying threat that Lucifer is supposed to pose.
The nice homeless man who was also panhandling takes Lucifer to do some dumpster diving, which he doesn’t appreciate in the least. He does, on the other hand, appreciate the man’s description of a powerful healer named Sister Jo who can heal people with ‘glowing hands.’ Uh oh. We all know what that means.
Note: both Lynn and Nightsky were absolutely convinced that Lucifer was just going to kill that nice homeless man and take all his money. Glad to be wrong though.
Scene switch, back to the bunker, and a little more Winchesters.
Everyone: Yay!
Dean apologizes to Castiel for not knowing it wasn’t him on the phone. Cas, for his part, is focused on finding Mary and Jack and unconcerned about the Winchesters not coming after him. He’s almost dismissive, which again doesn’t seem exactly like Cas.
Cas: I’m fine, Dean.
Dean: You sure about that?
Lynn: I’m not sure about that! Is Cas okay? Is Cas really Cas? Honestly I haven’t been 100% sure since he came back from the Empty. He’s definitely seemed different since then – those little evil smirks, the way he’s defensive with Dean and Sam….I dunno. I’m just not sure.
Anyway… enter Donatello.
Everyone: Donatello is back??
Nightsky: At this point, my eyes are starting to cross over. Another player on the already crowded chess board.
Lynn: I have a headache…
Sam tells Donatello that they don’t have an angel tablet, because that’s on “Earth 2”.
Nightsky: So we now know that Sam is a fan of ‘The Flash’ because that’s what they call it on that show!
Everyone else: Who knew? (Answer: Not the rest of us…)
But they do have – the demon tablet!
Lynn: Wait, when did they get the demon tablet? They’ve had it for a while, right? How come they didn’t have Donatello work on it earlier if they knew how to contact him and that he could read it?
Nightsky: I have a headache too.
No one remembered, so on we go.
If you’re keeping track, so far we’re confused about Castiel’s stabbing, Lucifer’s miraculous healing even though he seems mostly human, why Asmodeus thinks an angel blade will now kill Lucifer, and how the boys got the demon tablet. Now we have to contend with Donatello too!
Lynn: I like Donatello. He likes chicken wings.
Annnnnd scene change, we’re back to Sister Jo, healing people and looking serenely – dare I say angelicly – beautiful. And making a very good living too, charging desperate people for the privilege of being healed. Lucifer is impressed. He still intends to drain her grace and kill her, but he’s impressed.
Scene change, and we get a tiny bit more Winchesters and Castiel.
Everyone: Yay!
Sam and Dean and Cas investigate Cupid’s death, which means we get a minute of the boys in their fed suits. They figure out that Lucifer is powering up. And if he manages to do that?
Dean: We’re boned.
Cas: (deadpan) Epically.
Everyone: lol
Scene change, back to the Lucifer and Sister Jo story line.
Lynn: I’m so dizzy…
Sister Jo is notably not intimidated by Lucifer.
Nightsky: That’s a parallel to Ketch not being intimidated by Asmodeus, she’s also not intimidated.
Lynn: Nightsky’s good with the parallels, gotta say. Also, is that backdrop from ‘Fan Fiction’??? Is that The Road So Far? Why does the road sign say Lawrence? Is this a bit of meta crammed in here??
Nightsky: And it’s a stage…what does that mean?
Lynn: OMG I have such a headache.
Sister Jo is a fascinating character, on that everyone agreed, and Danneel Ackles is doing a bang up job portraying her. A businesswoman, an angel who hated her lower level job and wanted more – and found it after the fall, on Earth. We appreciated the attention to giving this new character enough backstory that we could understand her motivations, even as we realized we don’t get that nearly as often as we should. She coolly negotiates with Lucifer even as he’s about to drink her dry – and convinces him!
Here’s where it gets weird. Like, really weird. Lucifer drinking from Sister Jo isn’t like any other grace drinking we’ve ever seen. It’s downright erotic is what it is.
Lynn: Not sure how I feel about that…
Nightsky: At this point I’m also confused by Sister Jo – she’s a businesswoman but she legitimately seems to want to help Lucifer. It doesn’t seem just like self preservation, she sees him as a way to rise to the top by clinging to his coattails.
Lynn: I think that’s accurate.
Nightsky: What confused me is her figuring out that someone may have followed Lucifer – she’s actively thinking on his behalf already in that scene. That was a very fast switch to the “enemy” side, wasn’t it?
Lynn: Hence the headache…There are so many players on this board! But I think that’s part of her character, she is quick, can think on her feet and figure out who it’s most advantageous for her to ally herself with at that moment.
Meanwhile Sam finds the nice homeless man and figures out where Lucifer is headed – and now the Winchesters are also on their way to Sister Jo. Sam, Dean and Cas go after Lucifer and Sister Jo but instead they find – Ketch!
Ketch: (disappointed) It’s only you.
Lynn: Definitely not my reaction if Sam, Dean and Cas walked in.
Sam, Dean and Cas do not fall for Ketch’s attempt to convince them he’s able to be trusted. One of the best moments in the episode was Cas losing patience and just zapping Ketch into unconsciousness. We are all fans of the badass version of Castiel who we don’t see nearly enough. His two finger zaps have not been used as often as they should be, and his disgusted fed up face when he does it? Priceless.
Everyone: Yay!
Still not sure that’s entirely Cas, but we enjoyed that moment anyway.
Smart!Sam set up an alert for when Sister Jo uses her credit card, which allows them to track her to a motel. Interestingly, the motel’s ‘Restaurant’ sign is burnt out – except for the ‘AU’ in the middle. Good catch, Nightsky! Nice little nod from the set dec people.
We have to sit through more weirdly erotic Lucifer and Sister Jo grace drinking, with Sister Jo whispering “we don’t have to rush, we can do this slowly”.
Nightsky: Didn’t Ruby say something very similar when Sam was drinking her blood?
Susan: Maybe eventually we’ll have Sam killing Sister Jo (Jensen’s real life wife) while Dean holds her, the same way Dean killed Ruby (Jared’s real life wife) while Sam is holding her….
Lynn: lol that’s exactly what Jared said at a recent con. Like then Jensen will also have to explain to his kids why Uncle Jared killed mommy the same way Jared has to explain to his kids why Uncle Jensen did!
Gotta say, no one in the room was a big fan of the Sister Jo/Lucifer pseudo sexual encounter, which was eventually made not so subtle when they fall back onto the bed together, winded and seemingly satiated.
Everyone: (grimaces)
Nightsky: I’m confused again. When Cas lost his grace to Metatron, he took it all. Anna gave up all of it. Was there ever a point when someone took only part?
Lynn: Michael didn’t take it all from Lucifer in the AU, right?
Nightsky: So why can’t Lucifer regenerate it as fast as Sister Jo is? She says she’s losing enough to feel almost human and yet regenerating that quickly, but he can’t seem to regenerate hardly at all?
Lynn: And why didn’t Lucifer enjoy it like Sister Jo seems to be…
Nightsky: And what makes an archangel an archangel? I assumed their grace was different.
Lynn: More powerful, right.
Nightsky: Now Lucifer is filling up on the bargain brand version of grace – will that work to make him back into an archangel?
Everyone: (grimaces)
Lucifer opens up to Sister Jo in their sort of but not really post coital state, saying he always wanted to fit in, to please a father he couldn’t please. Then he tries to take it back, uncomfortable with the intimacy. Much like Crowley, with his blood-fueled temporary humanity, Lucifer’s started feeling things that he doesn’t want to.
Sister Jo also opens up to Lucifer, saying she’s envious of humans for their ability to love. She also confesses her resentment about being stuck on the lower rung of the very hierarchical heaven. A nobody. Again, the backstory and explanation of the character’s motivations was much appreciated.
Lucifer gets out of bed and tries to push away his burst of emotionality, saying he will soon get back to being the “King of Lies”.
Nightsky: Wait a minute, didn’t Lucifer swear to Sam that he never lies?
Lynn: I thought the same thing – he totally did! Why is he suddenly saying he’s King of Lies??
Everyone: I got nothin’.
Next thing we know, Donatello has unwisely gone out by himself for more chicken wings. Asmodeus, in the form of Castiel, intercepts him, gets way too much information, and then zaps his memory and makes sure he will report his progress.
Lynn: Wait, why did the Winchesters let him wander around by himself when they know Asmodeus is a shape shifter?? Why didn’t they even warn him? That made no sense. Convenient but nonsensical. I hate that.
Also lol at Evil Colonel Sanders holding a chicken wing.
Scene switch, back to Lucifer reading the bible and asking why nobody fact checked it, and more Smart!Sam tapping in to call Sister Jo and lure her outside. She immediately makes the decision to lie to them, telling them pointedly that Lucifer is still very weak. Confusingly, Castiel clearly doesn’t know that Sister Jo is lying to them.
Nightsky: So wait, her grace regenerated enough in one night that Cas can’t tell she’s lying, and yet Lucifer’s hadn’t in all that time for Cas to tell that he was??
Lynn: Oh Sister Jo, what are you doing warning Lucifer like that?
What follows is a priceless scene though, as Lucifer pretends to have no strength and Sister Jo pretends to be on the Winchesters’ side.
Lucifer: Dean, nice jacket there Dean. Your hair, Sam, it’s magnificent. Is that a leave in conditioner?
Everyone: lol
Dean: (bites his lip because damn it Lucifer, you hurt his little brother!)
Sam, bless his heart, tries to protect Sister Jo, telling her “we got this”. She repays them by tossing Sam across the room, and then Lucifer tortures the Winchesters and Cas for the fun of it before Ketch arrives and tosses a demon bomb at him. Lucifer is strong enough to teleport him and Sister Jo away, and she reiterates her loyalty to him, at least as long as he’s able to help her.
Lucifer: Okay, where do we go now?
Lynn: Lucifer sure isn’t much of a master planner anymore, is he? Sister Jo is clearly calling the shots and coming up with the plans here.
Nightsky: I didn’t expect him to ask her either.
We get it, Show, Sister Jo is smart. Lucifer isn’t usually clueless though.
Back to the Winchesters, Ketch has another go at convincing them to go after Lucifer together with him.
Sam: Dude, why would we ever trust you?
Ketch comes clean about working with Asmodeus and offers to pass information to the Winchesters.
Nightsky: So that’s the third double agent. Donatello is now a mole, Ketch is offering to be a mole, and I’m not entirely sure Jo isn’t playing some long game.
Lynn: Agreed. I think Sister Jo could switch allegiances at any time if it benefits her.
Nightsky: So Donatello and Ketch cancel each other out. I totally believe Ketch. When they shot him a few episodes ago, that wasn’t an honorable thing to do.
Lynn: (incredulous again) Honorable? That is not Ketch!
(Clearly Ketch is a point of disagreement for Lynn and Nightsky, much to the amusement of the rest of the room.)
Ketch insists that letting Lucifer free is his line in the sand that he won’t cross.
Ketch: I’m the lesser of at least 3 evils.
Nightsky: Michael, Lucifer and…Asmodeus?
Lynn: I don’t know, I’m too busy laughing because David Haydn-Jones has a less than three thing for his charity campaign and he just said less than three.
Scene change, and Lucifer (with Sister Jo at his side, clearly the mastermind of this plan) is trying to convince the remaining angels that they need him.
Nightsky: We’ve seen that angel before.
Lynn: (always terrible at recognizing people, but in her defense there have been like a zillion characters in this episode) We have?
Lucifer offers the angels what they want the most – the ability to make more angels and to get their wings back. Duma (okay, Lynn remembers her now) disses Sister Jo, and Lucifer demands respect for her, which is exactly what she most wants.
Scene change, back at the bunker. The Winchesters have a tiny bit more dialogue.
Donatello goes off when Sam tries to be encouraging about his progress.
Donatello: It’s like pulling friggin’ teeth!
Everyone: lol
Nevertheless, Sam is relieved that at least they now have a plan. They’ll work with Ketch for now, but aren’t going to trust him, and then they will… (Dean cocks his gun meaningfully, which was kinda hot)
Scene change, and there’s the reveal of Lucifer sitting on the throne of Heaven, Sister Jo at his side.
Lucifer: Hail to the King, baby.
Nightsky: Repulsive.
Lynn: Don’t mince words, Nightsky.
Kinda shocked the angels went with this idea, though. I mean, it won’t end poorly, right? Of course not.
We end not with the Winchesters and Cas, but with Ketch reporting in to Asmodeus. He admits that even he doesn’t think he can beat the devil at full power. Asmodeus, however, has another big reveal. He pulls out a certain lost (and conveniently just found) artifact which turns out to be an Archangel blade – the only known weapon capable of destroying an Archangel.
Nightsky: So there’s only one then? Like the First Blade?
Lynn: It’s exhausting having so many reveals in one episode!
At this point the confused look on Ketch’s face was the same look we all had on our faces. The archangel blade? What now? We were all waiting for Ketch to say exactly that so we could all agree with him.
Ketch: But the blade is only effective when wielded by an archangel.
Asmodeus, and this episode, much to the chagrin of Lynn’s aching head, is still not done with the reveals.
Asmodeus: Allow me to make an introduction. Mr. Ketch.
There’s a dramatic pause, as everyone waits to see who the mysterious bent over figure in Asmodeus’ cell really is.
Everyone in the room: Who the hell is it????
Asmodeus: Meet the archangel Gabriel.
Everyone in the room: LOSES IT
Our heads were already spinning and now we have the return of Gabriel – and Richard Speight Jr??? It was too much for a room full of fangirls exhausted from an academic conference, approximately 200 scene switches and multiple reveals.
Nightsky: But we saw Gabriel’s wings!
Lynn: Wait, so Lucifer didn’t know he had to stab him with an archangel blade to kill him? That was just an angel blade so it didn’t work? So why did we see his wings??
Nightsky: Wait, it’s not the only thing that can kill an archangel, because when Michael was trying to kill Lucifer, this never came up. When Adam showed up in Stull Cemetery, he didn’t have an archangel blade. Did Gabriel have it hidden away so his brothers couldn’t kill each other?
Lynn: Look, I’m super glad that Gabriel is alive, but how is Gabriel alive? Oh, my head hurts…
Susan: Remember how back in Hammer of the Gods, Kali had a vial of Gabriel’s blood? What if she…
Lynn and Nightsky: (are reaching for the Advil)
Later, back in our hotel room, Lynn and Nightsky did a lot of exclaiming “I’m so confused” and trying to figure out what the hell happened in that episode.
Lynn: Was the kitchen sink in that episode? Pretty sure it was.
Nightsky: I’m still trying to figure out how Gabriel is alive.
Lynn: And what was up with the Winchesters? They weren’t very memorable players in this episode, they were oddly wooden and did alot of what amounted to “Hmm” “Huh” – it was like the Rocky Horror Picture Show Scene when Rocky just keeps going “Uhh” every time the camera is turned to him. “Janet!” “Brad!” “Rocky!” “Uhh!”
Nightsky: lol
We were still scratching our heads the next day when we did a rewatch. We agreed on liking Sister Jo, both the writing and characterization and the portrayal by Danneel Ackles. We were amused by Lucifer and Mark Pellegrino’s comedic talents. We were sad that Osric was in fact not in the episode, glad that Richard Speight Jr. was, and confused about whether canon had been expanded, amended or altered by some of the events that took place. Admittedly, our brains were pretty tired from academic-ing all day long, but it seems like that episode really did have everything, including that sink.
What do you think? Do you have an explanation for some of the things that confused us? Tell us in the comments if so!
Caps by @kayb625
–Lynn
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Most of what I thought, you already mentioned. It was not my favourite episode. Too much…. everything. It’s like there was a basket of things that needed to be revealed and it was all thrown in one episode.
If an archangel can only be killed by an archangel blade, what happened to Gabriel? Obviously Luci ( I’m going to call him Luci, ok?) would know that. He’s not stupid.
If Asmodeus really wants to know what’s going on, he could shape shift into anyone he wanted. Creepy. I wonder if we’re going to see a Sam/Asmodeus. I know Jared could pull it off.
Cas is jarring right now, not really Cas, which makes me wonder if Cas ever came back from the Empty. Hopefully, when our show comes back maybe there will be some answers. Like is there a Season 14?
If you have ever seen interviews with the boys (especially at cons) they keep saying that 300 episodes seems like a good milestone to stop at, which would make season 14 like a half season. And the CW execs have said that they will go on with the show as long as J2 want to. I mean, there is no official confirmation of this, but they have said it many times, so it seems likely. But who knows for sure?
Excellent question! Actually they’re all excellent questions. Let’s just hope we get some actual answers soon!
So much this
“But the cost of those comedic moments is a dilution of the terrifying threat that Lucifer is supposed to pose”
Which for me, started at the end of S11 (when Andrew took over) and Lucifer turned from being the most terrifying being on SPN, to a comedian with Daddy issues. Even the angels don’t seem scared anymore, just disgruntled.
I think all the cast members on this ep did the best they could, with what they were given, which was a very small amount of screen time each. It was pretty much Lucifer’s story, which is getting less interesting the more we see. Lucifer on the throne of heaven should be frightening, SPN is supposed to be horror, but this just.. isn’t..
Sam and Dean could have been removed from this ep, and it wouldn’t have made a difference. Although J2 tried their hardest to wring every bit out of what they were given.
After all that whinging from me, i will end on a positive note by saying the previous two episodes were the best two of the season so far.
Yes, I agree, the last two episodes were fabulous – so I guess that gives me hope for the rest of the season. But this one really did give me an actual headache. And I missed Sam and Dean being….well, Sam and Dean!
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode – it was fast moving, and had a lot of great moments. Lots of twists and turns which I always dig, strong Sam and Dean moments, and a fun script. I loved Sister Jo and where Danneel seems to be taking her, I loved the Gabriel reveal, I love that Donatello is back and damn hilarious. I’m intrigued by Lucifer being back in heaven and where the hell that will go (probably to hell) and what that will mean to the guys, nothing good of course. And did I mention Gabriel? I screamed OMG so loud. Great moment. The second time I watched the episode, I enjoyed it even more.
I legit thought of you the second we knew it was Gabriel (and Richard) 🙂 I’m happy about him being back too, and I agree that Danneel did a great job with what is so far an interesting character. But I still got a headache 😉
I hate to say this, but Buckner-Leming episodes are not my favorites, generally speaking. This episode was strangely paced, played with canon (since when can Lucifer just make angels?), just didn’t work in a lot of ways. But then BAM! They brought my beloved Gabriel back and I was so happy I almost forgot the previous 42 minutes…
Also as a side note, I believe in the Bible somewhere Satan is called the king of lies, or the father of lies or something.
Buckner-Lemming started (and finished) killing Stargate. When I saw they had entered the pool of writers I said OH NOO!!. And here they come again, with stupid gimmicks, no respect for both actors & characters & a complete disconnect from the canon. Basically trying to kill the series.
Lucifer said that since he was there when God made the angels, he knows what it takes to make them.
Totally agree with you that the Buckner-Leming episodes are not my favorite either. The seem to lack in cannon continuity and they do seem to jump around a lot. But there is always some interesting reveal in them!
Not my favorites either, though they do have quite a job to tackle when they have to address so many things in a single episode! Hmmm, I just thought Lucifer in previous seasons made a big deal over not ever lying, so that seemed weird.
”Sam and Dean do a lot of huh? And look grumpy about everything”
Me too Sam and Dean…me too.
lol yes I can relate 🙂
So-Done!Cas is one of my favorite flavors of Cas.
And I agree, the “King of Lies” thing kind of bugged me too.
Also, rollerskates girl was definitely *not* Danneel.
I like Sister Jo a lot, and I do think she still has her own agenda. Throughout the episode she was totally playing Lucifer. The whole “you scratch my back” thing… but what was she getting out of it exactly? Lucifer is egotistical enough to assume that her reward is getting to not be killed, but she’s clearly smart enough to be using him for something more. I also read the whole “erotic grace drinking” thing as another aspect of that. Like the parallel you drew with Ruby — it’s purposeful, and serves to stroke his ego/ reinforce that she’s on his side/ create more of a dependency.
Now, it’s possible that getting Luci back to power and being his number two *was* Sister Jo’s greater endgame, but I’m not sure I totally buy it– she doesn’t seem content to be number two. And I know he’s supposed to be back at full power now or whatever (at least, the show is implying that) but I still wouldn’t be surprised if she eventually takes him down.
Ketch. Man, I don’t know what to think.
His argument is totally plausible in the enemy of my enemy sense– he’s not a good guy and can’t pretend to be, but he still doesn’t want Lucifer walking around making Hell on earth so he’s willing to team up against Asmodeus.
But on the other hand, I still don’t entirely trust it and he very well might turn around and betray the boys again. I just don’t know.
I am so curious about Gabriel and how they will handle that. I agree, it’s pretty convoluted and needs some explanation. I personally love the show and am willing to handwave certain things and give them the benefit of the doubt — but they at least have to try and give some kind of semi-plausible reason. If they don’t address it at all, I would be mad.
But so many questions– does this mean the “Metatron-Gabriel” was real? Regardless of whether he was real or not, does this mean that Gabriel, Trickster extraordinaire, survived Hammer of the Gods after all or was he brought back somehow? And either way, why did Chuck seem to think that he was dead at the end of Season 11? Was he dead then but has been brought back since, or was he just so well hidden/warded/had been gone for so long that Chuck assumed he was dead?
Also I wonder if we’re gonna get some kind of torture-brainwashed Gabriel then? I mean, Asmodeus seems to think he’s gonna do as told, so there’s gotta be something there. So does this mean we’ll have a brainwashed Gabriel vs. Team Free Will showdown?
You’re right that there was SO MUCH going on in this episode, and a lot of plotholes or at least things I didn’t quite get. But there was also a lot to enjoy and presumably this sets up some major events for the rest of the season.
Those are all questions that I have too – I just hope they don’t all get handwaved so we get some answers. I also love enough about the show to handwave some things, but I have my limits!
I hate to go against fandom but I thought Daneels performance was wooden at first. I think she needs to loosen up a bit. I think she didn’t want to upstage her husband or disappoint him. But don’t listen to me I could just be jealous.
Gabriel is back. That lying SOB. he kept it cool in Orlando telling everyone that Chuck couldn’t bring him back as it would take to long or some such nonsense. As for Lucifer. I adore Mark pelligrino. He is my favorite Lucifer of all the Lucifer s that have ever been. I asked hi m in Orlando who he liked filming torturing more Jared or Mark. I loved his answer. It was quite in character. As for the rest of the episode meh. But I must say season 13 is one of the best ones in a while.
I’m too confused to say much, but I think maybe Cas gave the demon tablet to the boys. Cas found it under Metatron’s mattress when he went to look for Metatron. When Cas went back to the Bunker to tell them he let Metatron go, he might have left it with them.
As good an explanation as any!
I just felt that this episode was messy, too many plotlines and far to many new characters. I’ll probably rewatch once and then never again…
And canon issues, the angelsword that killed Gabriel looked the same as all other angelblades. And now an archangel’s blade suddenly looks different? WTF?
Not one of my favorites…
Messy is a good word for it. I doubt I’ll rewatch this one either, unless I’m in the mood for something confusing. As a challenge or something. Yeah, nope, probably not…
I’ve only watched once and really don’t feel like watching it again to see if it’s any better second time around. The superficial amusement was to the detriment of canon and the Winchesters, and really, though I was delighted to have Donatello back, and always wanted Gabriel to be alive, this was a really naff way to do it.
Confused? You will be after this week’s episode of Soap!
Lol yes! And that’s the thing, I sometimes enjoy the superficial amusement in the moment, but it takes away from what I need the Show to ultimately be.
I can’t help but wonder why they named Danneel’s character two names that are both similar to previous major characters (Jo Harvelle and Anna Milton). Are they trying to make us think of those two characters for some reason? Is it just a joke, because they were both love interests for Dean, and Danneel is Jensen’s wife?
Everything else you mentioned I’ve also questioned, except for Ketch working for Asmodeus. I figure Ketch will work for anyone who keeps him in suits. The grace regeneration thing, Gabriel not being dead (some think he’s from the AU world), and everything else. So many out of character actions. So many plot holes.
With Anna, at least, it was only fans/Julie McNiven that speculated Anna’s angelic name was Anael. Which, why would her human parents name her something so close to her real name? Too coincidental. But from some of the stuff I’ve found online, Anael appears to be considered an angel of health, which makes the whole faith healer thing make some sense.
Oh I didn’t think of that – I did wonder why they named her Jo when we already had an iconic character with that name. Maybe a little meta nudge nudge.
I agree that a lot happend in this episode and not all of it made 100 % sense. But I still liked the episode. I have a few annotations to this review, first I didn`t think that the girl on the roller blades has been Danneel. I might be wrong, but I think she looked different and it would not make sense to me if it had been Danneel. I might also have a theory why Lucifer didn`t take all of Sister Jo´s grace. Maybe an archangel needs more grace than just from one angel to fully restore his powers and if he took all of an angels grace she wouldn`t be an angel anymore. But if he only took parts of it, the angel replenishes it and he can extract her more often and doesn`t have to look out for other angels. Like using her as a filling station. About the sensual portraying of the taking grace, I have no idea why they did that, but imo they did the same with Sam drinking demon blood from Ruby. That looked kind of sensual too.
Only one thing that bothers me. Angel grace drainging only lasts a few seconds and then the Angel is empty. But with Sister Jo? Endless long Angel Grace sucking? And she’s still got something AND can recharge? Castiel couldn’t at all.
Maybe Lucifer can control how much grace he is taking. Normally angels have no reason to take the grace that slow, because they usually take all of it. And about Castiel, has that been his own grace at the time ?
Yep. Exactly.
If I remember Lucifer was consuming Jo’s grace much slower than he did the cupid. The difference between Jo’s/Lucifer’s grace recharging, is it’s their grace. When Castiel was on stolen grace, he had none of his own. So, the more power he used the faster the grace would burn out.
Everything that was said in this review exactly echoed what was going on in my head when I was watching this episode, so thank you.
The inconsistency of angel grace is really bothering me. There needs to be some sort of ‘reason’ why Cas and Lucifer cannot recharge quickly but lesser angels can?! Like that seems so ‘off’! I also must say that I believe Ketch to be a ‘Company’ Man, meaning that he’d rather follow orders and be part of something else than be alone. So in that light, allying with the New King of Hell makes sense, but he will always make sure he ends up on the winning side.
My guess is Gabriel faked his death again. He *is* the Trickster, remember?
Well that’s fine with me since I’m glad he’s back – I just hope we get to hear the explanation 🙂
Same here! I nearly screamed when I saw him. I never even GUESSED it would be Gabe!
I thoroughly enjoyed the second half of this episode. First half – well, typical Team Nepotism, but I felt like they tagged out at that point because that Sister Jo and Lucifer grace thing was amazing – such a callback to Sam and Ruby, and the afterglow was a nice throwback to the Crowley and human blood. I’m doing a terrible job explaining of why I liked this, but it just worked for me. Even Lucifer’s acknowledgment of how he hates feeling human throws him back into that “despises humanity” realm.
Lucifer taking over Heaven has been his game plan since, well, first there was light … and then not too long after that cosmically speaking. After hearing about how she hated her position in Heaven and how she wasn’t able to break out of her assigned role or contribute new ideas, it makes sense that Jo/Anaya (was that her angel name?) would fit in with Lucifer, the original rebel who thought he could do better running the place.
The Gabriel reveal was amazing although the idea of a silent Gabriel is interesting and a bit disappointing. There’ll be no snarky one liners with that sown up mouth. I had assumed that was alternate reality Gabriel since we have an alternate reality Michael. Perhaps there are alternate reality weapons, too? In the French Mistake (the original AU episode, and honestly did anyone see that spawning this many worlds?) Sam wasn’t able to do magic because there’s no magic in our worlds. But to be fair I’ve only watched once and as usual Team Nepotism through so much crap at us (enough with Donatello. Kill him off already.) that I sort of lost track of what was where dimensionally.
Alsos:
I’m sure Asmodeus is terrifying, but I just keep thinking “and featuring Chris Parnell as evil Colonel Sanders.”
Cupid isn’t an individual, but rather a type of angel (I think) since we had one in My Bloody Valentine and that trucker that Metatron killed, plus Sam needed a bow for the trials. (I think … haven’t checked that.) So, I’m okay with one cupid going down, since it wasn’t a definitive “there’s only one guy and he’ll be missed” thing.
Dean and Sam’s reactions to Michael and Lucifer coming back was emotionally packed for being a short scene. Totally agree with you there.
I like the manipulation of the angels at the end for Lucifer’s rise to the thrown: one, it fits with Lucifer will find a way to manipulate you and offer you exactly what you want; and two, the angels have been portrayed as followers.
I did get the Ruby and Crowley blood-drinking-humanity parallels and usually I would love that sort of thing, but in this episode maybe they were just too surrounded with lots of other head-scratching-confusing things for me to appreciate them! And I also can’t find Asmodeus scary, he’s just too much evil Col. Sanders for me. I don’t find anyone very scary right now, and that scares me!!
I always look forward to reading your reviews because even if there is something that doesn’t sit right or seems off you always seem to have a good theory or explanation behind it. But I have to say this review is well, somewhat disappointing. I don’t see any of your usual thought provoking questions or insights. To be honest all i see is a snarky, nonsense filled column.
Yes this is your page and you’re entitled to your opinion just as I am also. I hope we can get back to the classic Fangasm reviews going forward