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The opening to last night’s episode of Supernatural was a doozy. Sam and Dean, running from a horde of demons in the Impala, are saved by a no-nonsense group of demon fighters in a fire truck, who exorcise the fiends via a bullhorn. The entire thing has an almost post apocalyptic feel to it, like Armageddon has passed the boys right by. 

What they discover as they ride into town is that the entire population is hanging out in the church, packing salt rounds in the community center, and waiting for the pastor’s daughter to give the next revelation. Yet, as the biblical imagery builds on the show, the theme of faith feels like an ever growing point of contention for the writers.

Castiel has abandoned his faith in God completely, chalking it up to absentee parent syndrome and attempting to drink away his angelic troubles. Sam wants to believe, but it doesn’t seem like there is anyone left who wants to believe in him. Dean doesn’t seem to care or believe in anything; even his cock-sure, snarky asides and cheerful hedonism lack passion. The world is going to hell in a hand basket, and for characters that have already been there or at least tasted of its rot, there are no new surprises.

The end looks to play out as they always figured it would; an cataclysmic smack-down between the archangel Michael and the fallen one, Lucifer, with Sam and Dean playing avatars to the angel adversaries. In the face of so much darkness, what can be done? During their brief stint in heaven, the angel Joshua told them ‘that God doesn’t see the apocalypse as his problem’ and they should stop seeking him out. I expected darkness this late into the end of all things, but I wasn’t prepared for how far they have taken the concept of a fallen world, a corrupt spiritual dominion, and the idea of a silent and absent God. Although, Sam, Dean and Castiel have abandoned hope, I’m still rooting for the big Guy showing up and putting these recent events into perspective.

For instance, what exactly are we to make of last night’s episode? To be sure, it moved the story forward and possessed the usually strong construction of events and plotting, but at the same time it felt like an odd jigsaw of previous storylines, themes and confusing character motivation. There was also an extremely pointed finger at being religiously devout, and in light of recent events on the show, I’m having a hard time determining exactly what view the writers have here. Part of the problem may stem from the fact this seems to be set up as part of a larger story arc, but instead it played out like a short version of your typical ‘monster-of-the-week’ episode.

With the whore of Babylon, the boys had an interesting villain who was handled in a less than interesting way. Lying demons that deceive the multitudes in order to acquire souls is pretty much old hat on Supernatural, and it was clear from nearly the first appearance of the character that she was a force of evil and not good. By depicting the large majority of the ‘flock’ as willing to follow her insane ranting, there’s a diagnosis that most ‘true believers’ only do so because they need to so badly; the parents who eventually kill to ensure paradise, commit the act because they can’t deal with the idea of their son gone from them. The only contrast is the pastor of the congregation who recognizes moral decay and deception beneath the veneer of ‘truth and redemption’. In a nice turn, he doesn’t lose his faith, but rises to the occasion.

Or at least, that’s where the story seemed to be going. In a last minute bit of bait-and-switch, Dean kills the whore himself, ousting him as a ‘true servant of heaven.’ All of this, with ten minutes of the episode still left.  Sam calls him on it, but he eventually ditches his brother–after doing so symbolically at the end of last episode–and drives off. His destination? The home of his old fling (Cindy Sampson) whose face he envisions every time he imagines himself happy and away from the hunting gig. Dean shows up, tells her that he thinks of her often in the face of all he endures, and then promises her that arrangements will be made for she and her son when he cuts the deal he’s about to make.

Seems some people never learn, and Dean’s headed off to give up his meat suit to the archangel Michael for the impending apocalypse. Whether he’s forgotten that it’s Sam, wearing Lucifer’s skin, he’s supposed to fight or he just doesn’t care isn’t made clear. I suspect that based on the fact he didn’t even tell his brother goodbye, that it’s the latter.

I’m not sure I buy this plot development though. I get that Dean has grown weary of fighting, that he’s lost the one bit of hope he had–namely that God would show up and intervene–and now he’s doing the one thing that could possibly save everyone. But, his resolve seems to come after the whore informs him that the result of the apocalypse will be peace on Earth. Even after Castiel ousts her as a deceiver who never told the truth about anything, Dean still seems stuck in the same thought process. I suppose next week will help clear up the lingering questions of motivation, and we will see the actual outcomes of Dean’s deal with the angels.

With five episodes left, my guess is that it isn’t long before Sam himself falls to Lucifer’s desires. What of Bobby, who learned he might be the only thing standing between Sam and the devil? You’d think he wouldn’t be letting the boys out of his sight after that.

I suspect all will be made clear soon, and knowing Kripke and company have written God into the script, here’s hoping he has some good news when he shows. And if we are lucky, he will be played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.