SUPERNATURAL: Abandon All Hope

Okay guys, this was a major moment in the SUPERNATURAL-verse and there seem to be a lot of mixed feelings and strong reactions from the little of the online feedback that I’ve seen. One thing is for sure – we fans won’t ever forget the episode where we said goodbye to Ellen and Jo, who, if they had to go, got a pretty amazing send-off. They kicked major ass and were far and away the big heroes of the episode. Jo saved Dean’s life and lost her own as a result. Ellen sacrificed herself to stay behind go out in a blaze of glory with her dying daughter and allow Sam and Dean to continue the hunt for Lucifer. We’ll come back to all this in a few.

Since Becky conveniently gave Sam a hot tip on the Colt at the end of last week’s episode, we begin this week with the Three Musketeers tracking down Crowley to go about getting the gun back. Cas finds Crowley closing a deal under a bridge with a big-shot banker. I guess even the government handouts weren’t enough for some and they had to deal with the big guy downstairs to get the job done (would anyone be surprised?). Cas reports that the deal is “going down” as he speaks to Dean – I love when Cas uses colloquial terms in an attempt to blend with Sam and Dean – it always fails but always makes me laugh. He follows Crowley to his palatial mansion that’s handily covered in angel-repelling graffiti, so Dean, Jo and Sam join the party since they can get past the gates while Crowley relaxes inside. I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve come home from a long day at work, poured myself a stiff drink and sat back with a little Aaron Neville and some nice uplifting Nazi propaganda films. It’s the only way to cap off a day, really.

Crowley seems to be expecting them, and when they meet he basically hands the Colt over, after telling the brothers that they’re functioning morons. Dean’s reaction? “You’re functioning…morons…” Ouch – I hope Crowley survived that wicked comeback, but I was glad for the small moments of comic relief sprinkled through the first half of the episode – we needed it. Crowley explains that he wants Lucifer dead just as badly as they do, because once he wins the war against Michael, he’ll ditch all of the demons, who he sees simply as tools to help him in his rise to power. Hmmmm…this all seems pretty convenient – Crowley even hands over a bunch of ammunition to boot. I’m as confused and skeptical as Sam and Dean are – and wondering why he was listening to “Everybody Plays the Fool” just before they spoke. Foreshadowing?

I was loving the crazy, dysfunctional family vibe with everyone hanging out together on their “last night on earth”, and all of the fun it inspired. Cas throwing back tequila shots, impressing Ellen and Jo, and Dean trying his best to get into Jo’s pants. To be clear, when Dean Winchester propositions you with the “last night on earth” line on a night that truly could be your last on earth, you say yes. There are no other acceptable answers in that scenario. They all cap the night off by taking the world’s most ominous group photograph ever, and I know at that instant that something really, really bad is coming.

The next morning, in Carthage, Missouri, everyone (minus Bobby) is looking for Lucifer, and Cas sees something else: reapers, reapers, everywhere. This was a truly creepy scene, juxtaposing the silent reapers calmly standing and staring with the uber religious signs looming overhead. The reapers really reminded me of the Gentlemen in “Hush”, my favourite Buffy episode ever, which made the fangirl in me very happy. I’m pretty sure that at least half of the Caucasian grandpas in the Vancouver area were on set that day.

Cas was basically restrained during the episode, trapped by Lucifer in a fire circle, and bickering with Meg. Lucifer was showing signs of wear and tear on his vessel, which is slowly starting to decay, but that didn’t stop him from trying to sweet-talk Cas into siding with him over Michael. Cas wouldn’t budge, and it was really great to see him so protective of the brothers, and Sam in particular, since he and Sam have a bit of a thorny history at this point. We’ve seen Cas rip into Sam about his role in the Apocalypse more than once this season. At this point though, Cas and the brothers are a team, and they will not turn on each other.

A sidenote on Meg: I have no problem with Rachel Miner in the role. I know a lot of fans disapprove, but let’s face it: most new female cast members on this show have a pretty rough time of it getting in good with the fanbase. I think Rachel’s doing a bang up job as New Meg. She wanted Sam and Dean to join her to visit her dad for a powwow and released the hellhounds when Dean refused. I realized how traumatized I still am by the season 3 finale because I was panicking watching Dean get attacked once more by the invisible dogs. Holy mother, that was unpleasant. In her first heroic act of the night, Jo came to his rescue, only to fall victim to the hounds herself. I have to throw a big sarcastic “thanks” to the sound editor who got all crazy with the injured dog sounds. I know that they’re hellhounds, but it was killing me – I watched the show with headphones on, so it was especially painful – I can’t deal with animals (real or fictional) getting hurt; even invisible evil ones apparently. Jo was so good right after the attack, depicting her state of panic and serious pain that I was panicking a bit myself. I think my heart rate elevated while I was watching it, like when you watch someone running out of air in a movie and you start to feel like the oxygen level in the room has dropped a bit, you know?

Dean breaking down on the radio with Bobby was patented Jensen Ackles dynamite acting. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the level of acting on this show is criminally overlooked in terms of recognition. When his breath hitched and he just couldn’t speak anymore….gah. After his emotional break, Bobby was able to focus him on the task at hand, which was good. There’s no time to cry when hellhounds are trying to break down your door.

When Jo broke down her plan of building a bomb and staying behind to press the button so that everyone else could escape, you knew that there were no other good options, but oh my god, I wanted there to be. Ellen’s reaction was incredible – she and Jo really have terrific mother/daughter chemistry and they absolutely killed me last night. I was more choked up watching them than I ever have been watching Kitty and Norah on Brothers & Sisters, and that’s saying a lot.

Cue the action-packed bomb-building sequence, which in my perfect world would have been a fun teamwork montage set to some awesome 80’s pop song, but with Jo there bleeding to death, it would have been less than appropriate.

Dean and Jo’s goodbye was perfectly, perfectly handled – I almost expected them to bust out declarations of love to pull at the viewers’ heartstrings, but I loved the subtlety of the kiss on the forehead, the knowing looks that said everything, and finally, the real kiss that was so full of pain and lost potential it was heartbreaking. No words were required. Nicely done show, nicely done.

Ellen couldn’t abandon her baby girl, plus they needed someone to unlock all of the doors for the hellhounds, so she stayed behind with Jo to do what had to be done. Good thing too, since poor Jo didn’t make it till the end (although, I think I’d rather be her than the one who had to endure the hounds’ entrance and keep my finger on the button). I had a feeling Ellen would do this – I just couldn’t imagine her leaving her daughter to die alone. She stayed, she watched Jo die, she yelled at the hellhounds, and then she pushed the button. Boom goes the dynamite. Farewell ladies, you will be missed. What a great tribute to two of my favourite characters.

The boys find Lucifer leading the remaining townsfolk in some sort of dig, and Sam distracts him while Dean sneaks up with the Colt. I have to say it kind of drives me crazy when the good guy takes a few moments to get in a final verbal jab at the bad guy before he finishes him off – it gives me angina to watch it. I’m just sitting there internally (or externally, whatever) screaming “shoot him!!!!! SHOOT. HIM!!!!!!!!!! He did land a perfect shot to the head, and it was a little too easy. Of course it was too easy – did anyone really think Lucifer was going to die at this point in the season? However, I was really shocked that the Colt failed. What the what is going on? Is the Colt fake? Is the ammo bogus? Is Lucifer impervious to the Colt’s one-size-fits-all capabilities?

Yes, it turns out that Lucifer is impervious – he is one of only five beings that is. What are the other four? The Horsemen? God? Unknowns? He knocks Dean out and uses the opportunity to give Sam the ole’ “we’re the same, with asshat brothers, and being different, so why you gotta bust my balls?” speech that Sam and Dean have each heard from various characters what seems like 100 times now (even Cas got it earlier). Yet, the words seemed to strike a chord with Sam, or maybe he was just really angry. Sam again refuses consent to act as the vessel, and Lucifer assures him that he will relent, within six months, in Detroit. That’s awfully specific. If it was me, I would go to Mexico and focus on the important stuff, like AVOIDING DETROIT AT ALL COSTS. However, I think we’ve just been given the location of the big final battle of the season because luckily Sam and Dean are way more courageous than me – of course they will go to Detroit. When we last see Lucifer, he is welcoming the new Horseman to the party: Death is now officially in the building. War was pretty badass, so I’m expecting nothing less from Death. Can’t wait to see where it goes.

I knew that photograph was going to come back to try to make me cry before the end of the episode, and I was right. But why did Bobby burn it? I couldn’t have done that, but I’m not a hunter hardened by time and tragedy, so what do I know? And now we have two whole months to anticipate where the season is going to go from here. If nothing else, last night’s episode upped the stakes – we have now lost two beloved characters, and Sam and Dean have lost two beloved and important allies. On top of all that, the Colt was their hope, and now it’s useless (against Lucifer). Consider hope sufficiently abandoned. What the eff are they supposed to do now?

So, there is a bit of confusion with the 2010 premiere date. I had heard the 14th, but the promo below shows January 21st. I’ll keep you posted once it’s clear, and I’ll also be updating via my Twitter, @TONicole. The first episode of the New Year looks pretty dark and I’m excited already. The brothers are in a mental institution, and it seems to be pretty Sam-heavy which thrills me. I love me some Dean, but I’m ready to get into the Sam side of things for a bit. I still can’t believe we have to wait two months, but with the holidays and everything, it’ll fly by – just wait.

Now, it’s your turn: how are you coping with the losses? What’s your theory on the Colt? How can the boys possibly beat the devil now? We’ve got all the time in the world to talk about it, so let’s talk!