Supernatural 9.09 – Holy Terror

I’m not entirely sure what just happened. As prepared as I usually am for some kind of heartbreak from Supernatural, the devastating blow they dealt us in the mid-season finale has thrown me for a loop.

Let’s rewind for a second. The angels are starting a war because each faction believes they can take on Metatron, win, and regain heaven. Meanwhile Metatron is trying to be the new God. In all honesty, I’m not sure how I feel about the angel storyline. I felt like it took up a lot of time with lengthy exposition when we could have been seeing more of Sam’s questions about the time he was losing and Dean’s struggle to find more plausible lies to throw in his brother’s direction.

The one advantage to Metatron’s reappearance was that we got to see more of Jared Padalecki’s outstanding transformation into Ezekiel. Or not Ezekiel! We now know that he is actually possessed by Gadreel, an imprisoned angel held responsible for the spread of evil throughout humanity. He’s been in hiding since he fell, since all angels, even ones locked up, are banished to earth. The reveal that this has not been Ezekiel all along was definitely a shock. He had been so convincing in the spinning of his tales to Dean; but then again, we’ve all learned that angels really are in this for their own gain, we shouldn’t ever be surprised at their treachery. He seems to be terribly intimidated by Metatron and I feel like his allegiance is purely self-preservation. One would like to think he would see the bigger picture, the impact this is going to have on the human race as well as, on a smaller scale, the brothers who have saved his life; but these aren’t the fluffy-winged Christmas tree toppers, these are Supernatural angels.

I have to say I’m a little confused about Cas’ sudden realization that he could steal someone else’s grace and regain all his angel-y powers. Did he know this before? If he did, why didn’t he grab Hael’s in the first episode as she lay crumpled and bleeding. Perfect opportunity missed? He did seem regretful of his actions when he was talking on the phone with Dean, so maybe he had been reluctant to perpetuate such violence. I think I’m going to miss human Cas; I had wanted that storyline to continue for a bit longer than it did, but maybe now he can fix Sam once they figure out a way to expel Gadreel.

The  brother moments in this episode were outstanding. I’ve loved where they are at with their relationship this season, and while that will go sideways once all this is out in the open, I have a huge amount of confidence that they are starting from a much stronger position so their reconciliation should be fast – I hope. I was actually relieved that the fight they had in the store-room as Dean revealed his actions wasn’t Sam. It was such a strong response, and while it afforded us the opportunity to see some incredible acting from both Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, it was hard to watch them at such odds again. Knowing that was a performance by Gadreel made it easier to take, although I suspect the actual confession will be just as hard to watch.

And that brings us to that last scene. What more can you say about Jensen Ackles’ performance, other than it was perfection. Over the years he’s brought many moments to our screens that will stick with us, but the ones where that One Perfect Tear falls are the ones that hit us where it hurts. We saw a broken, exhausted Dean, reminiscent, worryingly, of the man we saw almost end it all in season 5. Sam/Gadreel was walking away, apparently lost to him, and in front of him was the body of this young kid, just starting out in his life, who he had told just moments earlier to trust him. I don’t know how he comes back from this, but the sooner his brother is by his side again I’m sure we’ll see the healing begin.

I had been trying to bury my head in the sand a little as social media speculated that Kevin could be facing his demise. I couldn’t believe the show would take one more beloved character from us. The minute Metatron handed Gadreel that slip of paper, though, my heart sank. I just knew. I wanted to believe that Dean would dash in and save the day and frankly, I’m angry that he’s gone. I loved the relationship he had with Sam and Dean; he’d given so much of himself, and at such personal cost, yet he stuck with them. Osric Chau brought so many layers to the character that he was kept around for so much longer than originally planned. And on top of that, Chau has become a firm fan favorite because of his passion for the show and the Supernatural Family. His farewell to the fans was heartfelt and heartbreaking. Nobody ever really dies on Supernatural and family don’t end with blood. I’m holding on to that, at least!