How do you manage a tone that needs to marry witty sarcasm with end of the world cataclysm and still achieve a sense of the dramatic? It’s a good question and one that more prestigious shows than Supernatural have completely botched. This past season has been the best one yet, leading up to a smack-down between Lucifer and Michael, life and death, heaven and hell that promised to completely obliterate anything in its path; both dramatically and physically.

The Winchesters had a wild ride this season, and they did it with a great cast of side characters including Pelligrino’s Milton-esque Satan, the archangel-turned-trickster, Gabriel and the demon turncoat, Crowley. Castiel and Bobby continued to be strong support, and Sam and Dean were never more compelling than when trying to quell their own sibling rivalry while saving the world.

So, then, how can the ‘end of all things’ really be satisfying for a show that was often content to hang-back from big, chaotic action and deliver human moments? How could we watch Armageddon unravel and still feel like a sixth season wouldn’t be anti-climactic? Was it possible to reveal God and not turn everything into a mockery of itself?

Folks, not only did Kripke and team answer all those questions admirably, they did it with style and understatement. To be honest, this was not remotely what I was expecting–anticipating more bluster and noise–but this one episode wraps up the season, and the previous five seasons, so well that I approached the final moments afraid that the promise of season six was a smokescreen. And yet, things are poised for that too.

I’m going to talk briefly about the ep, but I’m avoiding plot synopsis this time because I truly believe that what works is in the execution, and the gang has done such great work that it shouldn’t be left to my words to reveal it. If you are reading this to find out what happens, I suggest watching the ep yourself, and if you haven’t seen any Supernatural, here’s a great time to go pick up Season 1 and get started.

For the rest of the Supernatural faithful, lets get to it.

First, it should be said that there is something impressive about a season finale that promises and delivers a struggle for the apocalypse and yet whose best moment involves a nostalgic backstory about the Impala. That’s right, eat your heart out Lost, the car got a flashback and it didn’t take an hour of our time. It was also far more thematically relevant to the show in which it took place than anything Lindelof and Cuse have offered up flashback-wise on that damned island this season.

Resolving the primary conflict regarding the Devil, Dean and Sam so early in the story, and having Lucifer being propelled into close proximity with Sam was a great choice. The confrontation in Detroit took place 15 minutes in, and the sense of hopelessness that the end of all things would bring about was achieved not by scenes of global destruction, but simply watching the characters lose the things they valued; their friends, family and free will. All of that gone, and the hour not even half over.

The setting choices for the episode were also unique and inspired, with the creators opting for abandoned buildings and empty, daytime cemetarys over the usual pomp and circumstance. There weren’t even many extras standing around to remind us that it was THE WORLD that Sam and Dean were fighting to save. In-fact, the last twenty minutes or so are almost predominately just three actors standing in a field talking. Yes, that’s right, the fall of man comes down to five siblings (three bodies) working out their own junk. Instead of it feeling slight and unsatisfying, it felt appropriate and right. This was neither a bang or a whimper, but more of a final desperate plea before the plunge.

Dean, Adam and Sam were the character we physically could see, and Michael and Lucifer the ones riding piggyback. But Jared Padalecki did the best acting of his career as he switched between a determined Sam and a strangely ambivalent Lucifer. There’s no gnashing of teeth as he ushers in the end, and the scene in the cemetery where he earnestly pleads with Michael to abandon their war and leave the stage together is legitimately compelling. This is good writing and good acting, because we can see Pelligrino’s Satan looking out through Padalecki’s eyes. I’m always impressed when that sort of stunt is pulled off.

There were some shocking moments, some perfectly poignant ones, and some great comedic riffs as well, and as per the usual, the writers didn’t overplay their hand. They were culminating a very personal character driven story and they didn’t betray it for the apocalypse. When tragedy struck, it felt operatic and pre-ordained. Even though we understand the ground is littered with bodies that can’t stay dead, they made us feel the loss.

Best of all, it was just purely entertaining. There was no feeling of being strung around or denied closure, and even when the issue of God was not resolved as I expected, the tease towards the end was enough for me. It showed a nice bit of misdirection, and it makes alot of sense in the context of the show.

So, where now? I get the suspicion that it’s going to start again with a new storyline, one not completely dependent upon what’s been brewing these last five years. In fact, there’s the opportunity to turn the basic thrust of the show on it’s head. In season 1, Dean found Sam living a well adjusted, happy life and pulled him out for the hunt. Kripke closed last night with the potential for the exact opposite to happen.

Regardless of where it goes from here, the show has had a stellar run, with no bad seasons and a couple of great ones. Few I can think of had it that good. Now, lets seem them top it if they can. Good luck guys. See you in September.

How does it go again? Jacob I have loved, and the other guy I just forgot to name?

Folks, get ready. There will be spoilers and likely a mini-rant, unless I can control myself. I’ll do my best.  Last night we were supposed to learn the truth behind the black smoke, and the relationship between Jacob and the man in black, and there were even hints that we would finally get a justifiable explanation for what the island really is (besides that cork in the bottle explanation).  There has even much speculation regarding the infamous ‘skeletons in the cave’ plot point that the show runners held up all these years as proof that they always had the end in sight.

I’m calling shenanigans on that last part, and on this entire episode in fact. For those looking for a basic recap of the events, lets get to that first. To begin with, there’s little of real value to speak of regarding the present day island adventures. Everyone is just picking up and moving on after the devastating blow dealt last week. Instead, like Richard’s previous episode, this entry went back to the past–way back– to give us a peek into the history of Jacob and the MIB.

The backstory begins with the lone female survivor of a shipwreck washing up on the island and meeting a mysterious woman, who has apparently been there for awhile. The castaway is a pregnant woman who gives birth to two sons, one named Jacob and the other, unexpected, isn’t given a name before his mother is murdered by the stranger. These two boys are raised by the murderess and she becomes an ‘imposter’ mother to them. We see them years later, as pre-teens, and they are already growing into their respective roles. Jacob is a dutiful, loving son, content to follow his mother’s orders and wishes, practicing obedience and discipline. The BIB (boy in black) is restless, questioning, and suspicious of the ‘just believe’ messages that his surrogate mother is feeding him.

About those messages. I’d be restless too. Early on in the ep we get an explanation for why the island is important, courtesy of Not-the-Mama. She takes the boys to a grotto of glowing light and explains that this light is special, that it is a light that all men have within them, but always desire more of. Men will always try and take the light for themselves. If the light on this island goes out, the light goes out everywhere else too. So, she’s here to protect it, and she says that one them will grow up to be a guardian too.

That’s it. A special grotto of glowing light. Wow. The Dharma Initiative would have been plenty disappointed. True Lost believers are no doubt going to call me out on this and tell me that it’s just a set-up for an explanation, but with two episodes left (albeit one is 2.5 hours long) I’m suspecting this is probably going to be about the best we get, at least in regards to the mysterious woman who’s guarding the light.

Also of interest this episode was the fact that MIB’s real mother returns to him as a ghost and gives him instructions on how to build the Frozen Donkey Wheel from previous seasons. This is by far my favorite ‘dumb science Lost moment’ ever. The instructions given are less difficult than those two sheet spreads that come with Ikea furniture. In fact, it seems like all he has to do is insert wheel, harness light and water, and turn. Viola! You are transported to somewhere else in the world! Yea, again, I bet the DI folks would have been eating their own arms to learn this stuff.

The rest is more of a muddle than anything else. MIB finds the original Others, and somehow, although it isn’t explained, his ‘fake’ mother kills all of them. Jacob refuses to mistrust his mother even when he learns she is the woman who killed his biological mom and has been, at least on one front, lying to them the whole time. This paints Jacob in a very different light, and we don’t see him as a hero or a steadfast guardian but a man afraid to ask hard questions about what he’s being told. In the end, he throws his own brother down into the grotto, and what emerges is the Black Smoke.

My reading of this then is not that MIB is actually manifested into the black smoke–as Jacob finds his broken body–but that the Smoke monster has been down there for ages and took the opportunity to grab MIB’s persona when it had the chance. So, on one hand, it’s reassuring to know that Smokey isn’t just a man who can turn into the monster, but rather he’s something darker masquerading as, what, candidates? I mean, prior to his death, MIB was a candidate too? Murdered in a fashion similar to John, right?

Outside of those two bits of information, there was only one remaining element, and that’s the skeletons in the cave. I really doubt that back in season 2 or 3 when Lindelof and Cuse said that audiences would realize they had always had the end in mind when we saw the skeletons that they were referring to the fact it’s Jacob’s brother and foster mother in that cave. Really? Two characters we barely knew until this last season? Doesn’t this just smack of more of the re-routing of the mythology they have been doing all season in order to make it one big ‘good vs. bad’ show? I still have questions, but I’m not really put in the mood to ask them anymore. I feel it’s as futile as trying to detect the philosophical identity of Transformers 2 or unravel the mystery of why Carrot Top ever had 15 minutes of fame. There’s just no way we will ever get an answer that matches the thought expending contemplating them.

Maybe I’m just sour, but for me, this episode, with all of its distraction and generality has gone a long way to dampening my enthusiasm for the end. I think I just want it to be done already. It’s not too late to pull it out of the fire, but to say I’m not beginning to feel the burn would be a lie.

Well, it’s official. ‘Supernatural’ surely doesn’t fear the reaper.

We’ve seen the heavenly host, manifestations of the seven deadly sins, most of the riders of the Apocalypse and Lucifer himself. Heck, a few weeks ago we got a hotel consortium of pagan gods. But tonight’s episode gave us a concept as character; Death, in the flesh, roaming the streets of Chicago and preempting a massive, apocalyptic disaster. And, it worked, in a number of perfectly creepy ways.

Julian Richings, whose gaunt, Ichabod Crane features and inhuman complexion target him naturally for roles like this, was nothing short of spellbinding. Channeling the kind of mythological invention and magical realism that Neil Gamain would be proud of, the show heads delivered one of the finest scenes in Supernatural history; Dean sitting down reluctantly to share a deep-dish pizza with Death. Pepperoni and cheese has never seemed so foreboding.

The rest of the episode, ramping its way up for next week’s finale, demonstrated the same tragic-comic flair and graphic novel giddiness.The times have never been darker, but as a cast and crew, I’m not sure I’ve seen Supernatural more alive and cheerful. This episode was crammed full of incident and event, and character dynamics that made each new scene a joy to savor. From giving Matt Frewer a nice opening scene to wrap up the Pestilence story, to a scene sure to become the comedic high point of the season; Crowley’s camera phone snapshot of he and Bobby locking lips.

“Why did you take a picture?”

“ Why did you use your tongue?”

As per the usual, Kripke and company mixed the playfulness with the darker edge the show is known for.  The kiss is humorous, but what it signifies—a dangerous deal with Bobby’s soul hanging in the balance—isn’t so much.

 Crowley, a relatively new add-on to the cast, has his work cut out for him trying to join this well-knit gang, and so far he’s a welcome addition. I’m hoping he’s less treacherous than he seems, but he is a demon after all. Still unclear how holding Bobby’s soul for collateral is actually making him safe, as I seem to remember it being defined that if you kill the demon holding the contract, you regain the soul. Sort of puts a target on your head, no?  

It also must be admired how well the production staff has managed to conjure the apocalypse while delivering only limited carnage. There’s a feel that the world’s just on the edge of getting flushed, but most of it is down to how everything is shot, composed and presented. This is an entire universe taking one, collective deep breath. Just take a look at that fabulous moment where the Big Grim shows up in Chicago for the first time, with a haunting version of the folk song, ‘O, Death’ playing on the soundtrack.

Better still is the intelligence with which the scriptwriters have written the character of Death. He isn’t one more fallen angel, or a small beans demon, with an axe to grind. He’s so old in fact, that his contempt and disdain for such a small scale squabble (the apocalypse, a small scale squabble!) is palpable in his conversations with Dean. He offers the ring freely with the condition that the eldest Winchester make sure his brother does what needs to doing to trap Lucifer in the fire. Wily old Death no doubt already has seen this entire thing go down, and he’s just pushing what needs pushed.

Ackles and Padalecki, as well as Jim Beaver and Misha Collins continue to do fantastic work, and I commend everyone for avoiding more tearful/whiny moments where characters lament and struggle with their fate. Everyone here is behaving like they are in zero hour, making decisions with limited emotional thought because that’s what is needed.  Instead of the strange flip-flopping we see on Lost, there’s a consistency to the dramatic direction of the acting.

And now, it all comes down to Sam, it seems. Will Lucifer win the day? Are we going to wrap up the apocalypse this season? Will God make his much teased appearance? And when season 6 rolls around, will it echo what Sam said last night?

“Remember when all we used to do was hunt wendigos? Do you remember that?”

Yes, Sam, I do. And although I’d love to see that again, me thinks you have all come too far for that to happen again. No matter, you are currently in the midst of Supernatural’s best season. Enjoy the ride.

  Tonight’s Lost was a bit of a doozy. I’ve been expecting the other shoe to drop for quite awhile, and if you ask me, it hasn’t happened soon enough. Still, what happened to the survivors tonight is one of the most significant story threads so far this season.

So, I’m giving you ample warning now. There are spoilers below. Steer clear unless you want some very specific plot points divulged.

Yes, people died tonight. Quite a few people. Characters that we have cared for and invested in are now out of the picture, although we are left with their sideways selves to soften the blow. And yet, outside of some major carnage, was there anything in this episode that really put it ahead of the rest of the season, story wise? I think so.

First off, we have the lines of battle drawn, and the real plan of the dark man has been revealed. He’s been hiding his cards and lying through his teeth, but now the survivors see fully his true colors, even Claire. After using Jack and Sayid to help rescue Sawyer and the gang from the bear cages (again!), Dark Locke took all of the reunited Losties back to the plane, and revealed the explosive device hidden within. He points out that Widmore wanted to kill all of them by trapping them together in a confined space. He suggests instead they take the submarine, and like lemmings they go along.

Now, I have a bit of a problem with how some of the characters were written in tonight’s episode. Everything seemed designed narratively to get them on board that sub and into a predicament that would bring about the tragic events at the climax. Of course Sawyer doesn’t trust Smokey, but I’m a little unclear what he means when he tells Jack “Just get him in the water, and I’ll do the rest.” I thought there was something clandestine going on here, but when they do put the plan into action, it’s nothing more than Jack pushing Flocke into the water and Sawyer getting  Lapidus to submerge the sub ASAP.

Also, there’s the bit that no one sees the obvious dangerous in following this manifestation of Locke. Hurley half-heartedly protests, but he doesn’t push the issue. It is as if everyone is purposefully ignoring the fact that the thing in front of them is a monster that has killed, intentionally or inadvertently, a great number of their friends over the years. Jack has fully adopted the original Locke’s mannerisms, ideals and stubbornness, but even he seems too easily maneuvered in getting on that boat.

Oddest of all is that when the script requires him to, Sayid stops being a zombie. Now, either there is a subtle turning point that I missed where Sayid overthrew the darkness that had claimed him (maybe Desmond did something to him, or his refusal to kill Des triggered it) but suddenly and seemingly without warning, he was old Sayid again. This kind of wishy-washy back and forth is what mars even good episodes of the show and tonight was no exception. Just like Sun’s inexplicable loss of language (not explained and probably never will be now), Sayid’s ‘contamination’ by the darkness was never fully explained, and it seemed to vanish completely by the time he grabbed that bomb and sacrificed himself for the others.

And then there are those moments on the submarine, when the 815ers learn that the dark man’s plan has nothing to do with taking them all back with him, but rather destroying all of them. I suspect his intention is to still get off the island, but maybe the conditions are different. Maybe once Jacob and any potential candidates are dead, Smokey can leave as easy as you please. Either way, I enjoyed the subversion and the method by which it occurred. The drowning of Sun and Jin was a truly emotional moment, and I think that it was handled with enough delicacy as to still have emotional impact even though the characters had been separated physically for some time on the show. Sayid’s sacrifice felt more superficial, but as a set piece, the sub served its purpose, and for really the first time it became clear that what’s being witnessed is the end game of the show.

When the survivors drag themselves sputtering to the shore, there aren’t nearly as many of them left and they also know Desmond is still on the island, trapped in a well. All of the myriad mysteries and questions are slowly melting away, but I’m still holding out for some interlocking pieces in these upcoming final hours. The show has moved back on track in the island segments, and in tonight’s truncated sideways world it also generated some dramatic poignancy.

I love that Jack is the hopeful believer who pursues the reluctant John, and when Jack throws John’s own line about believing back at him, in this other world, it tied the threads together better than many of the more forced writing attempts have. Still, there’s a clear reluctance on the creators part to start pushing these pieces together. There they are, all in that hospital together, most of them anyway, and I still feel like I’m being toyed with.

For my money, even the death scenes aside, the most heartfelt and touching moment of the evening came with the realization that in sideways world John had what he always wanted, a loving relationship with his dad, and it was taken when he crashed a private plane and took Anthony’s mobility away from him, rendering him a vegetable. There was an extra layer of depth in the fact that we have seen the tragic nature of John’s relationship with his vile father in his other life. When and if he finally remembers that, he may view his pleasant memories with his father as a gift, not a curse.

Finally, there was compelling info to be found even within the teasers for next week, which suggest we will finally learn the identity and nature of the dark man, and what his relationship to Jacob and the island really is.

See ya next week, when we get one step closer to the end of all things…

Live together, die alone. Early in Lost’s history, that phrase was strip mined for as much emotional currency as the show could draw from it.

Last night, the castaways in both universes moved ever closer to making it once more a reality. Finally, with quick, broad strokes, the series headliners are bringing all the characters together for the kind of sweeping ensemble interaction that made those first few seasons such a pleasure to watch. Jack and Claire finally meet one another after discovering they are siblings, Jack confronts the thing wearing the skin of the man he’s grown to respect, and Sawyer, of all people, starts organizing the gang for a trip off the island.

It was a good episode, all things considered, although calling it hectic would be an understatement. There’s a lack of fluid movement, but that probably had a lot to do with the attempt to cover so much ground in both realities and give each character as much screen time and impact as could be fit into a single episode. I counted more reunions than have possibly ever occurred on the show.

First up, there’s Jack and Dark Locke, in a scene I quite enjoyed. Something of the Smoke monster’s personality and opinion towards the man whose body it’s using is on display here. Several episodes ago, when the monster was talking to Sawyer or Ben (I don’t actually recall who right now), it said it had chosen Locke because he had sought something more, dared to find meaning. He was almost reverent in his choice of words. When confronting Jack, who seems to have adopted the similar path of John, the monster berates Locke and calls him stupid and paints him as a pathetic loser.

Jack defends the real Locke, but the dark one mocks him for it. I think here we are finally seeing that Smokey is actually fearful or at least confounded by the kind of fidelity to the island that John had, and perhaps more threatened by men of faith than men of science like the former Jack or men of war like Widmore. For Jack’s part, it’s an interesting character arc that brings him to a place where he’s championing the beliefs of a man he once despised and openly opposed.

On the island Jack was also reunited with Claire, who seems genuinely glad to see him and while emotionally manipulated by the monster, she doesn’t seem to have been stripped of her identity in the same way that Sayid has. It is also finally revealed that the Smoke monster was using Christian Shepherd’s visage to lead and direct Jack, and presumably it’s also the same force that told John he must go to the mainland and bring everyone back. How much of what the original John thought of as the ‘will of the island’ was just Smokey pulling the strings.

Later, Sun and Jin would get a touching reunion, and Sun’s voice would return just as she found what she was looking for. Just one question there. What exactly was the purpose of the entire ‘losing your ability to speak’ plot thread. Was there a reason?

One of the more ambiguous island moments was Sayid’s mission to kill Desmond. Turns out the well wasn’t that deep, and Des was still alive. Sayid was going to shoot him, and seemingly was turned from that task when Hume asked him what the woman he was doing all this for would say about his current actions. We never learned what happened to Desmond, although Sayid insisted to Smokey that he had killed the man. You could smell the lie a mile away, though, and I think Flocke did too.

Then, there was Sawyer’s plan to grab as many of the remaining sane castaways and get them to the submarine so they could escape without Smokey, and thwart his plans. I found it interesting that Jack doesn’t push harder for his sister’s inclusion on the boat, but Kate does, prompting Claire to put down her rifle and join them. In another moment of perfect symmetry echoing the relationship between John and Jack from season 3, Sawyer gives Jack a choice; give up the quest to stay on the island, or get off the boat. Jack jumps into the water and heads back towards the shoreline, and when he gets there he finds Dark Locke and his remaining army, right before Widmore’s people strafe them with what appear to be bombs of some sort. The episode ends with Locke carrying Jack into the jungle and exclaiming, ‘Don’t worry, you’re with me now.’

I presume then that this makes Jack the last recruit? Also was I the only one fearful that the wilderness version of Tina Fey was gonna shoot Sawyer and or Sun and Jinn down on the beach? For one terrible moment, I thought the show was really going to throw us for a loop and murder all of them, what with the sideways world being a safety net of sorts. Thankfully that didn’t happen. Yet.

Speaking of sideways world, there’s a damaged John Locke is on the brink of death, potentially remembering his other life, with Jack Shepherd poised to save his life. In fact, sideways world finally put almost every one of the big names into everyone else’s orbit last night. Sun recognizes Locke from the island when she is taken to the hospital, and Jack and David meet Claire for the first time, and Ilana, who is a lawyer in this world. What is less clear to me is how Desmond recognizes Ilana as part of the plan, as I don’t think he has met her in either world. The answer is most likely that he didn’t, but managed to piece together the connection between Jack and Claire. Maybe Ilana is just along for the ride.

Ben is in the ambulance with Locke, and Kate’s chilling at the police station with Sawyer, who later heads out with Myles and arrests Sayid Jarrah as he’s planning to make a getaway. Slick bit with the garden hose Sawyer.

The pieces are being moved into alignment, and now the biggest question I have about this world is this. Without an island to hold him, what happened to the Smoke Monster? Where is he? And for that matter, where is Jacob?

Great work guys, and I’m hoping you can sustain the momentum for the final four.

See ya next week on the island, when the show teases to give us more insight into the smoke monster’s identity.

  With only five episodes left in the season, Supernatural ramped up the end game last night and brought another peripheral character back to the apocalypse. In typical fashion, Kripke and company managed to balance a pervading sense of doom against the dramatic and emotional identity of the show. Sam, Dean, Cas and the gang are up against the wall now, and yet the show still finds time to inject some generous doses of humor.

Take for example the opening scene of ‘Point of No Return’ which finds the angel Zachariah (Kurt Fuller) hitting the bar at happy hour with other disgruntled office types. He’s commiserating with one clearly disgruntled cubicle jockey and they are throwing around terms like ‘upper management’ and Zach laments ‘I only needed one yes and still I couldn’t seal the deal.’ It’s one of the most amusing and human-oriented moments that the show has given any of the angels outside of Castiel. Then, to puncture the light atmosphere, the glory of Michael arrives and burns out the eyes of all the patrons.

That kind of discordant tension between the goofy and the darkly serious exists all through this episode, which marks a kind of turning in the storyline. Dean has been despondent and disenchanted, ready to give up his person to Michael so he can wage a war with Lucifer. Bobby has been teetering on the brink since he lost his legs, Castiel slowly becoming a bitter, atheistic mess despite being a former angel. Then there’s Sam, once the poster boy for twisted ambition, trying desperately to hold everyone together as a family. And, just as things are poised to snap, the writers bring back another Winchester, Adam.

That’s an interesting move, considering Adam had a single episode last season wherein he was not only revealed to be the long lost brother of Sam and Dean, but also really a ghoul, masquerading as the young man he recently killed. By the time the Winchesters found the real Adam, he had long been dead. Now, in an excellent sense of symmetry he returns from heaven, pulled out of retirement by Zachariah and touted as the newest candidate to serve as vessel for Michael. Dean, all ready to do some cosmic leasing of his skin, is taken aback by that;  he doesn’t want to sacrifice anyone else in his stead, and he doesn’t trust or believe that Sam will be capable of resisting Lucifer.

There were several strong confrontational scenes between Dean and nearly every member of the group last night. Particularly moving was a moment where Bobby places the bullet he’s been saving for suicide out of a desk drawer and relates “The only reason I haven’t done it is I made a promise to YOU! Also quite stirring (and entertaining) is the sequence where Castiel gives Dean a ferocious beating to prevent his heading off to commission the celestial host.

But, as usual, the most emotionally rich bits were held for the Winchester brothers. This time, not just Sam and Dean, who go a long way to sorting out their recent, growing estrangement, but Adam also who isn’t exactly keen on becoming one of the ol’ Winchester boys just because the apocalypse is heading up the coast. When Adam is taken by Zachariah as a trap for Dean, and Sam reveals that he’s bringing his older brother along because he knows he will do the right thing, the switch flips for the elder Winchester.

Dean doesn’t succumb, kills Zachariah, and Adam is seemingly snatched up by Michael, while Cas is no doubt also in trouble and presumably surrounded by angels. This leaves the boys down two compatriots, Lucifer is still on the loose, and while Zachariah is gone, his boss, Michael may have the vessel he needs to wage his war. Not exactly a victory, but now the brothers are at least once again on the same page.

The episode resolves with Sam and Dean pushing the past into the background, and planning a united stand against the forces opposing them. They commit to getting Adam and Cas back and bringing the fight to Lucifer instead of waiting around for a heavenly war that will level the world.

Again, the writers manage to have their existential suffering and biblical denouements and still get us back to where we, the audience, want to be; riding around in that Impala with Sam and Dean vs. the world. 

Now, more than ever, I’m looking forward to the final showdown with Jacob…err, I mean, Satan.

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.

After a significant decline in viewers this year, Fox has canceled 24. About an hour ago, producer Jon Cassar revealed on his Twitter that the show will not return for a ninth season, saying:

“News from the 24 set,the crew has been told that 24 has come to an end. There will b no season 9. Its been a great run, thans all 4 watching”

This was not very surprising. Earlier this month, Variety reported that season eight would probably be Jack’s final hurrah. However, there was hope for the series when NBC showed interest in picking up the show. That deal has apparently fallen through, presumably due to the high production costs.

I’m sad to see 24 go this way. Although the show has steadily declined ever since the near-perfect first season, I’ve always loved it. With Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland has created a true American hero for our times, as well as one of the best TV characters ever. However, 24 has definitely lost its edge. The show’s premier tragically coincided with 9/11, giving the story added weight. In that first year, the story was fresh, the suspense was unbearable, and the 24-hour concept really paid off.

Unfortunately, after a couple of seasons the characters were still great but we had seen the same story already. Although still a good show, by season 5 it felt old. I kept watching, though, just to see what happened to Jack and Chloe next. The current season is nothing special. Terrorists are still doing what they do, and Jack is there to save the day. The story still has those twists that we’ve come to expect, and in the last few hours, the audience has really been thrown a few curveballs.

Yes, all good things must come to an end. I don’t want this season to be the last, though, unless it was planned that way from the beginning. The show needs a true conclusion, and I am worried that it won’t get one with this abrupt cancellation. I would love for Jack to die in the finale. It’s a fitting end. He’s already sacrificed so much protecting America from terrorists, giving his life for his country would be perfect.

In an interview with THR, showrunner Howard Gordon said, “We’ve taken a risk in the last eight episodes. It was challenging to the writers, to the actors. We’re taking a risk, the show has to do that. Without spoiling what’s to come, it’s pretty dark and complex and a place that was uncomfortable for us to write and for some of the actors to act. We really swung for the fences. Because the show is as old as it is, this season hasn’t really been given its due. But our audience is hanging in there with us and I think it’s been a very successful season.” He also said that, although the ending did not change after the news, he’s hoping that this season is a fitting ending to the series.

So, no more 24 on TV, but the movie is moving ahead as planned. Billy Ray (State of Play) is currently working on a script set in Europe. About the movie, Gordon said, “Jack is really the center of it, catching up with him emotionally and locationally where he is. The opportunity is not to use the real-time aspect and also to do it on a scale the TV show never allowed.”

I don’t think a movie suits this franchise. What set it apart was the 24-hour real-time aspect and the suspense that came from the serial format. When you put it into a film, it becomes an ordinary military thriller. But if the television writers fail us, maybe a proper finale will come in the form of the movie.

Source: /Film