After watching the cold open of this week’s episode of Supernatural, I’ve decided I’m never going to question what my wife is making for dinner again. It’s not worth taking a candlestick holder to the skull. Meatloaf? Sounds great, honey! After that bit of skullcrushery we jumped back into the Winchester dysfunction that’s been simmering for a while now. Dean and Sam still aren’t talking and now Dean is dealing with the intoxicating allure of the First Blade (his “precious” as it turns out). Those withdrawals lead to an obsession with finding Abaddon and being reunited with the blade that keeps Dean at the bunker while Sam journeys to Illinois to solve the case from the cold open. As soon as Sam cracks the front door Dean cracks open a bottle of booze. He’s in a dark place right now.
My mind jumped from demon possession to angel possession as Sam investigated the case. This mystery had to morph into a history lesson before Sam could fully understand what he was up against, and what an interesting lesson it was. As told by former nun turned sassy old lady Julie, we witnessed Abaddon’s origin story. In 1958 Henry Winchester and Josie Sands were in Milton to investigate a nun’s suicide at St. Bonaventure Coventry. We knew that Josie and Henry were friends. What we didn’t know was how Josie came to be possessed. Her origin story and sacrifice for Henry – the man she loved – was tragic. Abaddon has been played as such an evil character that it’s refreshing to now feel sympathy for the poor vessel who sacrificed her life to save her friend. You wish there was some way Josie could find peace once Abaddon is killed, but after watching Kevin’s mom ice that poor vessel a few weeks back, I’m sure Sam and Dean will totally ignore the meat suit Abaddon has worn for decades now.
Once Sam figured out what happened in 1958, he investigated St. Bonaventure and found Agnes (who was there in 1958 when Abaddon possessed Josie) harvesting souls to convert into soldiers in Abaddon’s demon army. I was really into this scene until the demon decided to choke Sam rather than stabbing him with the knife in her hand. Give me a break! This show has utilized the “trapped, escape, kill” cliché so much it shouldn’t bother me but this week it was just egregious. We desperately need a new structure for climactic scenes on this show. We at least got the wrinkle of Sam almost exorcising the demon with a recording on his phone. After setting the souls free Sam returned to the bunker and threw himself into research along with Dean. With Abaddon harvesting souls both brothers now share a mutual interest to find her and end her bid for the throne. Maybe this “monster factory” storyline will last longer than Dick Roman’s version did in Season 7.
Dean’s storyline took him to a bar with his new BFF Crowley. Mark Sheppard was fantastic this episode as he found himself in the opposite situation he was in last week. With Dean wallowing in misery it was up to Crowley to light a fire under the eldest Winchester’s ass. It was the way he chose to test Dean’s dedication to the cause that made this storyline worthwhile. I actually liked Jake’s character just in the couple of minutes we spent with him. I wrote in my notes that I hoped we’d see him again. Turns out he was simply working with Crowley to determine if Dean was ready, and the test proved that he was. Ready for what, you ask? I’m assuming Crowley needed to know that Dean was serious about wielding the First Blade and finding Abaddon. If it's something else, I guess we’ll find out soon as this season is winding down!
Line of the week
“I’m going to go water the lily. Care to cross streams?” – Crowley
Next week on Supernatural
Metatron isn’t trying to play God! He’s trying to play Chuck!
