And so Supernatural comes to an end with a double bill of incredible action and angst-filled episodes.If this had been the actual ending of the show, as it was originally intended, then this might have gone down in television history as one of the all-time great series-wrapping finales.
As things stand, though, no matter how brilliant these two episodes were, knowing the show is coming back (in some form) next year slightly undermines the impact.
After the brothers rather hurriedly confront Pestilence (Matt Frewer) and get his ring, Two Minutes To Midnight sees Sam and Dean splitting their gang up.
Sam, Castiel (now human) and Bobby head off to thwart The Horseman's plans to spread the Croatoan virus while Dean and Crowley go to Chicago to confront the final Horseman: Death (Julian Richings).
The Horsemen have been played by some pretty great actors in this series, but Julian Richings steals the show with his terrifying, underplayed, soft-spoken portrayal of an entity "older than God". It's primarily a single scene, with Death and Dean sharing a pizza, and yet it's one of the most brilliant, and unnerving, in all the years of Supernatural.
The slight disappointment with this episode actually doesn't manifest itself until Swan Song, where suddenly the great character of Crowley (Mark Sheppard) disappears from the story without a word; no mention is made of him again or Bobby's trade with him (that got his legs restored).
I realise we're supposed to take him as a man of his word (that he was just holding Bobby's soul as security against the Winchesters killing him), but he's a demon, for Pete's sake - and when have demons ever stuck to their promises? Are we to assume then that Bobby got his soul back? I just think that should have been mentioned - even in passing - as it's quite a big deal.
Swan Song has Sam and Dean facing down the Devil in Detroit (as he always predicted they would), but unfortunately he (Mark Pellegrino) knows all about their scheme to use the Horsemen's rings to lock him back in his cage once he has taken over Sam's body.
Naturally, things don't go according to plan, and it looks like the Devil has won the day.
The script, by show creator Eric Kripke, makes great play of the fact that the Yellow-Eyed Demon's minions have been guiding Sam all his life - even his prom date was a demon!
Once again we are treated to a stunning performance, this time by Jared Padalecki as 'possessed Sam'. There's a sequence where he is talking to himself in a cracked mirror, when it takes a moment for it to sink in he is playing both Lucifer and Sam - rather than it being too different actors!
The strength of both Two Minutes To Midnight and Swan Song has certainly come from the character interaction and acting chops of the main cast; the direction of the action plot, although exciting and subject to the occasional hic-cup, had a certain feeling of pre-destination to it and no matter how Sam and Dean have tried to fight it, things have eventually worked out as we always suspected they would.
Matters come to a head in a graveyard outside Lawrence, Kansas - bringing things back to where they started - with a three-way tussle between Lucifer, in Sam's body, Michael, in the body of Sam and Dean's half-brother, Adam (Jake Abel), and Dean (flying by the seat of his pants).
I'm not sure what was more shocking: the casual way Lucifer dispensed with two well-loved characters with the flick of his wrist or the brutal beat-down he gave Dean before Sam was able to wrestle control back of his body.
The episode was broken up with a great voice-over by the prophet Chuck (Rob Benedict) recounting the story of the Impala, Dean's car, and, as poetic as it was, I had to wonder where this was going until everything came together in that final conflict.
As I said at the beginning of this review, if this had been the end of Supernatural, I would have been very satisfied and labeled it as 'brave' and an 'instant classic'.
As it stands Swan Song is simply a strong ending to a season and we'll have to wait until Season Six rolls along to see if any of this sticks or the show is going to fall back on its comic book style "revolving door" policy on death and trips to Hell.
Even bringing the action back to Lawrence for this showdown had a satisfyingly epic feel of finality about it, as did making such clever use of the Impala (which has always been like a significant extra character in the show) and its history.
Dean's coda, as well, of his perfect life with the woman of his dreams actually felt like it could work and be the happy ending and reward he deserved.
All these elements spelled a perfect wrap-up to the rich mythology and intricate backstory of Supernatural.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want Supernatural to end, but the overall story of the five years was masterfully crafted to lead to this moment - Sam and Dean's entire lives were building to this - and you have to wonder where the show can go now.
And what was with that final shot? Did that even make sense? Or is it an omen of things to come next year?
You didn't mention it in your review, but do you believe that Chuck was not actually a prophet at all, but was in fact God? Thats something I took away from the finale, and makes a lot of sense - he never abandoned everything, or gave up caring, but took a passive role in helping Sam and Dean win.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard anything about the next series? Because it sure looks like Dean's story is over.
Sometimes I can be so dumb! When 'Chuck' vanished, I just thought that was something 'prophets' did in the Supernaturalverse when their job was done.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, sometimes his messages were blocked and... oh, I don't know. I'll have to give that further thought.
As to season six, haven't heard anything yet. But as I said in my write-up I'm very concerned/anxious that they're not going to undo the brilliance of these past years just for the sake of padding the mythology out for another year.