Alice’s Review – “Let It Bleed”
“Let It Bleed” has all the makings of a great episode. Bringing a horror fiction icon like H.P. Lovecraft into the mythology (albeit taking liberties with his real backstory), coming up with a credible way to crack the door to purgatory, giving Dean Winchester a powerhouse emotional story in which he lives one of his worst nightmares, continue Castiel’s saga by having him do his best to make amends but failing, and of course making sure everything the second to last episode of the season does what it must do to segue into a traditional blockbuster finale.
So why didn’t I enjoy it?
Let’s start with the obvious reason. It depressed the crap out of me. We’ve endured one very dark and somber season and by episode 21, I was looking for some more hope or something more uplifting, like our heroes banding together in their desperate hour to fight evil. Remember last season’s “Two Minutes ‘Til Midnight?” The heroes triumphing in their missions, everything falling into place to take on Lucifer, and together as a unified team they face the horrifying reality that one of their own is taking a fall to save humanity. It was heroic, awe inspiring, and Dean’s scene with Death gives me freaking chills to this day!
On top of that, I hoped that after last week’s stunning (and series landmark) episode, “The Man Who Would Be King,” Castiel would earn redemption by saving Dean and/or saving Ben and Lisa. Oh wait, he did that. Um, I was hoping Dean would appreciate those actions? Gee, what was I thinking?
Before I get started, I know that many didn’t like the season finale, “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” for the same reason I didn’t like this one. It was too depressing. The difference for me is I actually dug Sam’s intense psychological struggle. In my review of that episode, I acknowledged that Sam did pull things together a bit quickly and the episode, especially the angel drama, seemed too rushed, but hey, I still loved what we did get with Sam’s struggle. The first 30 minutes were great before it fell apart.
Sam’s wall had to come down. It was inevitable. He couldn’t exist in that condition, three separate aspects of his being divided by a wall. He had to become whole again. So that struggle that he faced made sense to me. The fact that it was taken down by Castiel made it even more shocking.
In Dean’s case, did we really need another Lisa and Ben drama? Don’t get me wrong, I really love Lisa and Ben and the impact they’ve had on Dean’s life. But why this? Why the horror of watching them get captured by Crowley, Lisa being critically wounded after being possessed, and then Dean taking Castiel’s gift of life and making them forget he existed? That’s got “Days of Our Lives” all over it, not a credible plot like their poignant parting in “Mannequin 3: The Reckoning.” It’s an actual “Jump The Shark” moment.
I know, this is a Sci-fi show. I’m calling out for credibility? Sam had a freaking wall in his head! Sure it’s a fine line, but what I’ve always adored about Lisa and Ben is that they brought a healthy dose of reality and normalcy to Dean’s screwed up life. They represented the other side of life, the part he always wished he had. They gave him real human situations to juggle in between completely messed up ones. “Let It Bleed” managed to toss all that out the window.
Other than getting one most awesome, on the brink of tears, heart ripping into pieces before our very eyes, Emmy worthy scene in the hospital from Jensen, I felt completely unsatisfied by the whole Ben and Lisa outcome. We can get into “what ifs” and say that not remembering will now put them more into danger, but I do wonder if this plot was constructed just because TPTB realized that they took the whole Ben and Lisa drama too far. Since they had to kill 40 minutes why not erase their mistakes? I’d actually believe that if the finale wasn’t such a crowded mess plot wise.
You know though, I digress. The way I’m writing this, I’m making it sound all bad. There were some parts of this episode I really loved. Most of it involved Bobby and the mythology revolving around H.P. Lovecraft. Jim Beaver, who’s had some really strong material this season, is again given a huge reason to shine. He makes one terrific investigative reporter. I laughed at his biting sarcasm that flew by the H.P Lovecraft uber fan. (“You must be catnip to the ladies.” Bwah!). I thought his scene with the old man in the asylum is easily one of the most endearing moments we’ve had this season, if not the entire series. I especially got caught up in how Bobby was the only one that showed sympathy over the man’s mother.
Then there’s him and Eleanor Visyak. Oh Ellie. I knew it was too good too be true. The chemistry is just too good. That marks her for doom. The twist about Dr. Visyak being a monster of purgatory is not only perfect, continuity wise it makes a lot of sense. Plus it becomes a good excuse to bring back a great guest actress in Kim Johnston Ulrich. I swear, Bobby’s streak with the ladies is every bit as deadly than Sam’s, maybe more so. That’s another really depressing part.
Let’s not forget Balthazar, who continues to be an incredible addition (so naturally an eventual subtraction) to this twisted angel plot. I felt so bad for him when he badly tries to cover his surprise when Sam and Dean tell him about Castiel’s deal with Crowley. The scene between Balthazar and Castiel in the tranquil forest is, oh how do I describe something so perfect? It not only is a painful confrontation over loyalty and deception, it loosely follows a parallel between Sam and Dean in seasons four and five. Castiel has a dangerous plan, one that might not just destroy him, but half the planet with him. We could tell though that Balthazar’s true concern is for his buddy, despite his obvious hurt over Castiel keeping secrets. So much so, he ends up becoming a double agent and helping Sam and Dean. His motives are pure. Castiel needs to be stopped for his own good. Fat lot of good that did him (yeah, still bitter about that).
I did love Lisa as a demon. Cindy Sampson is amazing playing something evil. Very very cool. The things she said to mess with both Dean and Ben’s head, whoa! Also, while it’s extremely predictable that when Dean is truly angry he’s outright dangerous and will take out everyone single handedly, I loved seeing it anyway. Picking off demons one by one with ease while he rescues Lisa and Ben, that’s pure classic Dean. The fact it happened off camera this time but we could still hear it, even better.
It all ends there though. Castiel, coming off of the absolutely perfect “The Man Who Would Be King,” becomes perplexing (aka, written all over the map). A few scenes turned more into head scratchers than powerful emotional struggles. I get it, he thinks it’s too late. He can’t back down. Yet he pleads to Dean to support him and is still there to save him and heal Lisa. How is that consistent with his statement at the end of the previous episode that Dean can’t stop him because he’s an angel? Why is he coming back for Dean’s approval? Didn’t that ship already sail? Again, I do believe it was dragged on drama designed to kill time that didn’t need killin’.
Dean however, his actions with Castiel are the most head scratching. He’s convinced that Castiel is wrong, yet accepts his help anyway then tells him that none of it changes anything? Really? Wow, it’s sort of “When The Levee Breaks” all over again. Honestly, why was Dean being so unyielding? Why couldn’t he reluctantly follow Cas? He’s done it for Sam before. Do we go back to the same reasons he couldn’t trust Sam in season four? Is it because Castiel deceived him with one lie? Chose a demon over him? Is this pride interrupting his judgment again? Why can’t he see Castiel’s perspective? Has he not learned what happens when he does this? That makes his plea to Castiel/New God at the end of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” that much more out of character. Dean is not a too little, too late kind of guy.
I know, before I get shouted down by Dean fans, I’m not attacking Dean as a person or his choices here. I’m questioning the writing and how is character is all over the map. Think about it, he shuns Castiel, refuses to help, but then takes his help anyway as far as Ben and Lisa are concerned, but doesn’t give Castiel any benefit of the doubt. Then in the next episode he and Castiel are back to being at bitter odds? (Before what Castiel did to Sam anyway. Now that was a declaration of war!) Oh but wait, Cas is God now, let’s suck up to him? (**walking around in circles looking all around for the explainable plot progression that whizzed by me**).
What was that three years of bonding between Dean and Castiel? That history they had together? It all unravels that fast? At least Sam and Dean in season four had a long and slow (and perfectly plotted) decline in their relationship. Here Dean and Castiel’s rift comes out of nowhere at the end of the season. What happened to Dean’s grand speech at the end of “And Then There Were None” about clean slates? I recognize this will be a topic to probe further in the “A Deeper Look At Season Six Dean Winchester” article, but I’m just so confused as to how he and Castiel’s relationship could have fallen apart so easily. It just seemed stronger than that.
To add insult to injury, Sam’s role in “Let It Bleed” pushes my head scratching into full blown hair ripping out of its follicles. When I end up fondly reminiscing of the good ole days of “Mannequin 3: The Reckoning” (an episode I loathed until now) when Sam gives Dean an ultimate show of support in a dark hour, something is seriously wrong. Sam cautiously deals with Dean the entire episode by walking on pins and needles, isn’t there to save his brother against possible demon attack during interrogation, isn’t there with him at the hospital, and he picks up a whiskey glass? Not that I don’t get why he did that, but why now, why this drama? I could have picked ten other more stressing times where he should have been pounding the hard stuff. Then after Dean’s heart crushing goodbye to Lisa and Ben, SAM BERATES DEAN? Tells him what he did is really low? Huh? Um, er, where were you Sam during all that hospital drama? Where were the puppy dog eyes agonizing over your stricken brother? Where was your silent support that you’re there for him? Were you off drinking more whiskey? None of Sam’s actions made sense after the deeply personal and in sync brotherly bonding of late.
With this episode, it all hit me. I’m getting tired of the darkness and the pointless plots that go nowhere. The no win, let’s throw another bombshell at these guys and watch them fall apart scenario. Dean doesn’t deserve this. Then again, he never does. How much of it can a fan watch though before getting too frustrated? Where’s my tender brotherly ending? I did not need to see Sam getting shouted down instead of them having a moment, even if he had it coming. Dean loses two people he loved the most (outside of family) and one of his best friends FOR NO GOOD REASON. He didn’t sacrifice for the greater good this time. On top of all that, the cool monster gets captured by the angel. Surprise, surprise. Let me guess, by next episode, she joins the death pool. When deaths become that predictable, they become pointless. But then again, I’ve already made clear my opinions about that, so pardon the redundancy.
I won’t go on because a deeper analysis of the issues seen here will be done in upcoming articles about season six. I’m certain that in my disappointment I missed the real point of this episode, which was to further Dean’s dramatic arc and add another layer to his already tortured character. I personally think they should have stretched out “The Man Who Knew Too Much” into two hours (one hour Sam drama, one hour Sam, Dean and Bobby bonding together to stop Castiel) and scrapped this one instead. That way, the drama could have fallen on the brothers and not Dean having yet another horrific go with Ben and Lisa. I honestly thought that ship had sailed seven episodes ago.
Jasminka and Bardicvoice were able to find the gems with “Let It Bleed” and their perspectives are certainly much healthier than mine in this case. I highly endorse their reviews for something more inspired. I just had trouble getting past certain things and that was after I gave myself a week to think about it. Instead, I got madder. I can assure, “Let It Bleed” is not on my rewatch list. I’m not even going to give it a grade because I don’t think I’d be very fair with it. I can say this, at least it’s not “Bugs” or “Hammer of The Gods.”
I know that each finale episode, “Let It Bleed” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much” were very polarizing with fans. So which one did you like best? Why? Which one made you actually scream in total frustration over the half assed plotting? Please, tell me what I missed.
Alice Jester is the founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, programmer, web designer, site administrator, marketer, and moderator for The Winchester Family Business. She is a 30 year IT applications and database expert with a penchant for creative and freelance writing in her spare (ha!!) time. That’s on top of being a wife, mother of two active kids, and four loving (aka needy) pets.
I agree yet disagree here.
What I agree with: I do wonder where Sam went off to during this hospital exchange. Even if he had come to tell Dean that he would give him some privacy would have been a bit better than his absence.
I also wonder where he had slipped off to when Dean got attacked. Part of me gets it that he’s having a hard time watching Dean fall back on his skills learned in Hell, but even so he should have been there for Dean. The reasoning behind why he is not is elusive.
I do agree on the over kill on killing off characters—to a point. It doesn’t serve the story to give us these amazing minor characters only to kill them off. I know they drummed up this as a ploy to get eyes and the like—dangling the idea that we could lose either Bobby or Cas—which seems a bit of a cheat. On the other hand, I do see some of the sense in the deaths they chose. It’s just a shame that we had to learn probably the two most interesting ones introduced in the season.
What I disagree on is the fact that as this episode has sunk in I now think we all saw it coming in Live Free Twi Hard. Dean had to cut Lisa and Ben from his life, so his choice at the end of this episode, despite the help coming from Cas, makes some sense. We can all go in circles if it was right or wrong, but it makes sense when you put it in that perspective. I, too, thought that the book had closed on this storyline, however, but did not feel it had reached soap proportions. (I watch Young and the Restless mostly to mock it. Talk about plot holes one can drive a bus through). I think, also, some of Dean’s actions here are set up for season 7 in some ways. We won’t know until we get there. Up until this episode, we had Lisa and Ben largely still floating around for them. It seems to be a storyline either you loved or didn’t and so they chose to end it. I am touched by the way they ended it, as sad and heartbreaking as it is. And yet, I almost have this nagging feeling that it could be revived in some way at some stage—Dean still remembers and the bad guys won’t mind using that.
I do agree that Cindy was amazing in this episode. She really sold possessed Lisa.
We’ve had Lisa and Ben a faraway dream for Dean since their introduction. To have them survive is worth something. I had them at the top of my list to buy it when they leaked the two deaths would happen. To not have them killed was a good thing in my book.
I’d have to say I lean more towards the Man Who Knew Too Much at this stage, but I enjoyed both really.
I think Sera Gamble should not be writer and showrunner at the same time. She wrote great episodes in the past, but two she wrote this year sucked.
She has little understanding of the character of Dean, which is why he is alweays all over the map in her episodes. He has become a plot device instead of a character. I hated his whole arc this season and BEG Sera Gamble to try to avoid this mess in 7.
Sera forgot to write for Sam in this one which is why this one didnt grab me quite has much has the second episode The Man who Knew to much.
I havent overly had a problem with Lisa/Ben except the sl wasnt handled very well from the start but I enjoyed Lisa/Cindy in this but ultimately a episode that fell abit flat for me.
Oh, Alice, it depressed the crap out of you? Well, it depressed me, too, and not only a little. This episode was truly sad, filled with hopelessness and sacrifice. Damn the writers.
I still liked the episode (since I seem to be a masochist at heart… oh dear… I need therapy, eh? :-* ), and I thought – upon watching it – that Dean is returning to old strategies when confronted with pain – shoving it down, not talking about it, much like he did in early seasons.
We have seen him open up more, actually talk about what was going on in his mind, but now he’s beginning to shut it all away again. I am eager to re-watch the whole sixth season as a whole and perhaps then understand better why he is doing this and the development of this (old) mind-set.
Apart from Sam and Bobby (and Cas?), Lisa and Ben are closest to his heart. And with people that close to him, he has always been utterly vulnerable and easily hurt almost beyond repair. Perhaps at this point he is willing to ask Castiel for more of his power (wiping their minds), but is still too hurt to remember his stanza about clean slates.
I think Dean needs a lot of time generally to adjust to changes in another person he loves. He needed a long time to accept what happened to Sam, and with Castiel’s changes proceeding in this high speed, he probably has no idea yet how to deal with it, so he shuts himself off.
That’s a strategy he knows always works. He will need time to think, to feel what all what happened does to him. Though I believe that Castiel brought Sam’s wall down will in all likelihood appear unforgiveable to him, despite Cas’ promise to be there to save Sam.
You know, as for Lisa and Ben – I think the writers were looking for a way to get rid of them. It was not the most elegant way, though.
And, well, in real life things like that often happen for no good reason, unfortunately. I doubt it though that the writers wanted to bring that touch of reality into the mix. Ah, I’m afraid, I’m not of help here.
Reading your review saddened me, I have to confess. As much as I enjoy them usually, I was so moved that you felt so frustrated about the whole thing.
Perhaps when you delve into your Deeper Look of Season Six Dean you will find something else… I hope.
Personally, I liked the 22nd episode better. Not because it was Sam centered (well, being a notorious Sam-devotee… 😉 ), but because it made a lot of sense to me.
It moved me, it shattered me in a way and made me curious to get into season seven as soon as possible. But I also liked Let it Bleed. First of all, the acting was amazing (now I’m being redundant), and it added another layer to Dean… I am with you, though, when it comes to wanting to scream at the writers for their undying love for making the protagonists suffer beyond belief or repair.
Here’s to a more hopeful season seven!
Love, Jas
I am glad Lisa and Ben are gone, the writers made a terrible mistake introducing these characters in the most contrived and poorly executed way. Sera Gamble was like a dog with a bone, who just would not let go and lost fans in the process.
Soap opera storylines do not belong in a show like this. Funny how CS suddenly comes to life as a demon, before then her character was a one dimensional character with too much gloss and fake tan.
God Riddance to the worst characters this show has ever had.
I reread your review and agree very much, epecially on Dean’s ooc-ness and the overwhelming levels of depression – TPTB forget they are to entertain first.
I’m glad you saw that the guys listening to Cas’s point of view or talking ad nauseum at him would not have changed anything about the road he took. I’ve read way too many fan comments about “if only Sam & Dean were nicer to Cas none of this would have happened”, as though this is Days of Our Lives or the all-girls high school prom.
I agree that Sam should be with Dean in the hospital, and that the fall of the Wall of Sam must have been a whole episode so we could see more of the union of brothers!I also liked the episodes. I’m not a fan of Lisa and Ben so his departure does not affect me!. I look forward to Season 7. I love Supernatural. Jared and action in the last episode was Sobredaliente. I must admit that he’s staying SPN for more but boy this hurts me to admit it!
Hi Alice,
Great Review. It pretty much says exactly what I feel.
This is my first time posting a comment here. I am a regular poster on a different site, but I have visited your site often since I discovered it a couple of months ago. I think the articles here are excellent. They give me great insight into the characters and the show.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. You spoke of not knowing what was going on with Dean in relation to Cas in this episode. While I’m not a literature person, at all, I see echos of a hero’s fall for Cas in Dean’s behavior. While I don’t think that Cas would have decided not to open Purgatory if Dean, Sam, and Bobby had behaved differently, I do believe that Cas, as he was before he was truly separated from Dean, would not have double-crossed Crowley, that is if the writers kept with their characterization of Cas, but I think that Crowley would have double-crossed him. So, basically, the writers saw that they needed something to make Cas double-crossing Crowley successfully seem probable, and Cas being completely alone with not only no one to turn to for guidance but no one that he felt even cared about him, at all, was the best way to accomplish it, so they had Dean act the way he did, even though it was completely out of character for him. So, basically, Dean was used as a plot device in that instance.
I don’t like it one bit, but that’s what I think they did.
Welcome! I always get excited over first time posters. We have such deep discussions here, sometimes they can be overwhelming. Glad you’ve chosen to give your thoughts.
That’s an interesting theory about Castiel double crossing Crowley. To be honest, if he was on board with Sam and Dean, he likely wouldn’t have killed Balthazar either (still upset over that). You’re right though, he still would have opened the door to Purgatory no matter what.
Honest, I don’t I like how they handled the whole unraveling of the plot and relationship drama in general. It seemed all thrown together too quickly. I’m going to be doing a deep season six review soon and this is definitely an angle I’ll consider (as many of the comments I’ve read here).
Thanks for commenting! I hope we see more from you.
“With this episode, it all hit me. I’m getting tired of the darkness and the pointless plots that go nowhere. The no win, let’s throw another bombshell at these guys and watch them fall apart scenario. Dean doesn’t deserve this. Then again, he never does. How much of it can a fan watch though before getting too frustrated? Where’s my tender brotherly ending? I did not need to see Sam getting shouted down instead of them having a moment, even if he had it coming. Dean loses two people he loved the most (outside of family) and one of his best friends FOR NO GOOD REASON. He didn’t sacrifice for the greater good this time. On top of all that, the cool monster gets captured by the angel. Surprise, surprise. Let me guess, by next episode, she joins the death pool. When deaths become that predictable, they become pointless. But then again, I’ve already made clear my opinions about that, so pardon the redundancy.”
Alice,
these words of yours sort of sum up my entire season 6 opinion which is why I stated that there would be no Season 7 for me.
Having had a week to process the thought of no Season 7 or any other future seasons of SPN (although I am so happily watching all my DVDs S1 through 5) and digest the news that Misha will not be a regular in S7 I am allowing myself a spark of hope that perhaps Sera and Co. have recognized that they bit off way too much, had way too much fun dangling tempting storylines that failed to resolve in any way at all that was satisfying and way overindulged themselves once freed of the five-year mytharc.
Perhaps, just perhaps Castiel as god will be dispatched (as in depowered) in the first episode and Castiel will go far, far away. (I adore Misha’s work here and wish for a better outcome, perhaps if Cas’ story had solely revolved around heaven’s missing nukes and the brothers occasionally happening upon a hunt which was caused by one of those missing nukes (as the Third Man hinted at) then Cas’ story would have been quite satisfying and there wouldn’t have been all this betrayal and darkness and OCC moments for these characters — ah, well, that ship sailed thus no going back)
Sera made some comments recently that the boys need to be in the Impala doing their hunting (paraphrased to be sure) but that is hope that she is going back and recognizing that having angels swoop in and transport the boys wherever they need to go isn’t the best part of the recipe, two guys hunting in the backroads of America, that’s the recipe that pleases.
Like you, I utterly deplore the tragedy of Lisa and Ben having no memory of Dean; it’s so bleak. Sure, as others have stated it’s possible that Dean and Sam will end up on a hunt in Lisa and Ben’s town and memories will come flooding back. I’d like to hope but I believe that like the amulet, this has just been thrown away because it was convenient and the writers were tired of hearing about it. They should have left it be at Mannequin (although for me I believe that story ended at Two and a half men and that Lisa and Ben are somewhere ‘out there’ safe and sound and ready to receive Dean when needed but they also aren’t ‘on hold’. Kinda like Missouri Mosely, she’s alive and well; never heard of again but alive and well.)
While neither of these two final episodes of Season 6 pleased me I am on board with your thoughts/reviews of both of them. Sam’s story was somewhat satisfying in that his will to live, his love for his brother was his ‘shining light’ and pulled him through. However, the whole soulless arc for half a season was utterly depressing and longwinded (but then again I believe the writers each wanted a turn at writing for this character and there was so much fun being had since all were freed from the prior five years — Jared’s work deserves an A++++++++ even as I won’t watch any episodes after Weeekend at Bobby’s until Like A Virgin)
Still, the final episode this season was rushed because it sought to do too much. Lisa and Ben should not have been the story of the second to last episode, this should have been owned by Sam’s struggle as you stated with Cas’ battle and Sam, Dean and Bobby working to stop/save him as the final episode.
Perhaps, perhaps with a new president of the network who apparently is a fan of the show and Sera and Co. having had this season to experiment and explore, perhaps they’ll gather themselves back up and get back to basics for the future.
As much as last year this time I couldn’t imagine SPN without Castiel, I’m now hoping that next season Castiel is gone or like Azazel of S2, appears only three times.
I give Let it Bleed a D in my book but an A for your review…you hit all the right notes.
[quote]Dean however, his actions with Castiel are the most head scratching. He’s convinced that Castiel is wrong, yet accepts his help anyway then tells him that none of it changes anything? Really? Wow, it’s sort of “When The Levee Breaks†all over again. Honestly, why was Dean being so unyielding? Why couldn’t he reluctantly follow Cas? He’s done it for Sam before. Do we go back to the same reasons he couldn’t trust Sam in season four? Is it because Castiel deceived him with one lie? Chose a demon over him? Is this pride interrupting his judgment again? Why can’t he see Castiel’s perspective? Has he not learned what happens when he does this? [/quote]
I see every reason for Dean to not trust Cas. In reality he has known Cas for four years. During season four Cas was following orders and acting in direct contradiction to the ends Dean wanted. He only changed sides at the last minute.
During season five he was a loyal friend and ally, but he did spend much of the season on his quest for God, not spending time with Dean and building on that profound bond that he spoke of.
During the missing year, Castiel avoided Dean entirely. I once read that for the most part friendship is based on proximity and I think that is true. Dean couldn’t be building his bonds with Cas when Cas wasn’t there. During this year, Cas was also (unknown to Dean) dealing with demons, raising Sam then not telling Dean that he had done so, and taking his “regrettable actions” that led to the final break.
From day one of this season Castiel was lying to Dean. Because he allowed Dean to believe that Crowley had freed Sam’s body, Dean was able to be blackmailed into working for Crowley to save Sam’s soul. That was a course of action that Dean would have rejected for any other reason than to save Sam. Cas was determined that Dean should not save Sam’s soul, for reasons that we do not truly understand.
Castiel has spent more of his time on this show going against Dean’s morals than in supporting them. Dean has to remember that Cas whisked him away to the Green Room so that Sam could break the final seal. On some level, the trust that Cas gained during season five was built on a base of the sand of his former betrayals. So I understand why Dean could not follow Cas in what he saw as a misguided, dangerous and wrong course. In contrast, Sam’s betrayal and fall were built on years of living together, loving each other and having each other’s backs for the most part. The trust Dean regained in Sam was built on a wall not on sand.
Dean did not ask Castiel to heal Lisa, and yes, it was a little hypocritical for him to ask for the final “blessing” of the mind wipe. But I think healing Lisa brought back memories of the Cas that had been family, that had been a friend and frankly, Cas was the only one with the power to grant Dean’s wish. Although Dean still wouldn’t do what Cas wanted and would work to stop him, he still held to the shreds of trust that were left. These were completely destroyed IMHO when Cas brought down Sam’s wall. The action of asking for help for Lisa and Ben was Dean reaching out for what turned out to be the final time. It is sad, but probably inevitable.
You have elucidated everything I’ve felt about Dean and Castiel’s “relationship”. In my mind, no relationship can be based on long absences, bald-faced lies and lies by omission and outright sabotage to the Winchester relationship. Castiel has done all of these things, to Dean and to Sam, as well. And it just seemed to me that Dean was being a bit too generous with Castiel when he said they were like brothers. Not by any stretch of the imagination did they have a relationship and history that Dean had (has) with Sam. Castiel has had more quality time with Crowley and to a lesser degree, Bobby. The one odd time they spent together – when Dean took Cas to a ‘house of ill repute’ seemed, to me, Dean using Cas as a substitute for a missing Sam and Dean trying inordinately hard to make a connection that just didn’t click. I’m only speaking for myself here but Castiel being used as a Deus Ex Machina does not a friendship make. When Dean was talking to Cas about their friendship, my reaction was… ‘What? When?’ I guess I’m pretty much in the minority thinking that. But, in the grand scheme of things, Supernatural has been about two brothers and the lengths they would go to for one another. Nothing else compares. JMHO.. 😉
You’re not in the minority, many cried foul over the forced idea that there was any kind of real friendship between Cas and Dean (and Sam). All season 6 Dean has been mostly indifferent and rude to Cas, and then to suddenly call him a “friend” or “brother” is barking laughable. Cas crossed many lines, but the last unforgivable line was breaking Sam’s protective mental wall and causing him to “suffer horrifically”. Cas put a conditional on saving Sam only if Dean stayed out of Cas’ plan. And since Dean didn’t, Cas had no intention of saving Sam. Thankfully, Sam was stronger than Cas gave him credit for and saved himself.
Hi Alice – I have to say that I do agree with Jas and Bardicvoice about this episode. I liked it very much (if you can like something that breaks your heart) as at the end, Lisa and Ben, who I love very much, are still alive and kicking. It certainly was no “jump the shark” moment for me at all. Jensen was awesome and portrayed the pain of poor Dean so very well. Emmy material surely, if only those doofuses would watch genre shows once in a while. I’m hoping when all is done there will still be a hope that Dean can find his happiness with Lisa and Ben. (Ben is his kid, after all! I say so, so that is it.! :-* )
I do agree about the darkness and how we do need a sliver of hope once in a while to offset the pain and also, STOP KILLING OFF ALL THE GREAT GUEST STARS!!!! I’m still grieving Ellen, Jo, Gabriel & Rufus. Come on, enough is enough! 😥
Also, I don’t see the problem with Dean not caving in to Cas as Dean is right about it. He usually is right about that kind of thing as he didn’t cave in to Sam and Ruby. Dean has a good heart and his instincts are nearly always correct. Why would we want him to sugar coat it when he knows very well he is right and they are wrong. Sam was wrong in season 4 and Cas is just as wrong this season. He can be generous with his forgiveness when the danger has passed or when he has to pick up the pieces of his friend who has gone off the rails. Hopefully that will come in season 7.
But thank you Sera for not killing Lisa and Ben. 🙄
Hi Alice –
It seems I fall somewhere between your opinion of this episode and Jasminka and Bardicvoice’s. I think I lean more toward Jas and Bardic, though, than to yours, but still some of the points that irk you likewise annoy me. For one thing, I agree that it would have been better to have just left the Lisa and Ben storyline in the past than to pull the essential do-over of a memory wipe with it. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Lisa and Ben storyline up until the memory wipe anyway, and think it was largely wasted opportunity. But we’d said goodbye to them twice already in a manner sufficient to bring closure to me (Lisa’s cutting conversation with Dean in You Can’t Handle the Truth and again in Mannequin 3) and [i]now [/i] they bring them back only to still not completely shut that door?? Bring them back or let it go already.
I do disagree, however, with the assessment that Dean did not appreciate Cas saving Lisa at the end. Dean even said “thank youâ€, which is pretty rare for him to do, especially to Cas. But no matter how much Dean appreciated that action, it did not change that Dean knows what Cas is doing is not only wrong but extremely dangerous. And I suspect Dean sees through Cas’s protestations that there is no other way to beat Raphael to the truth that Cas is on the verge of a serious power trip – if anyone should recognize the signs by now after his experience with Sam in season 4 it’s Dean. He’s lived this before. Even his words to Cas in the finale “do you even see how far off the rails you’ve gone†is reminiscent of his asking Sam in Metamorphosis “do you know how far off the reservation you’ve goneâ€. And just like in season 4 when it wasn’t that Dean couldn’t trust Sam, he just couldn’t trust that it was Sam’s judgment in light of Ruby’s manipulation and influence, he can’t trust Cas now because he can’t trust how much is really Cas and how much of Cas’s judgment has been perverted through dealings with Crowley. Plus, it’s not like Cas wanted to suck down a bunch of pure happy loving gentle souls – Cas wanted to suck in monster souls, perverse twisted and inhuman souls purposefully drawn into himself. Common sense just says that’s a bad idea, and no true brother or friend would get on board and just watch that happen. I contend that Dean’s stance against Cas’s plan wasn’t solely about preventing purgatory from being opened – it was about saving Cas from himself if possible too.
And I think it’s gotten forgotten in a lot of the discussion that Cas did not tell Dean just one lie. Cas has been lying to Dean since his first appearance this season, and not on minor stuff either but on some whoppers. Cas is as responsible for Dean’s forced servitude to Crowley earlier in the season as Crowley himself is. Cas didn’t even have to blow his cover or admit to raising Sam to prevent Dean and Sam being used in this manner, he could simply have told Dean Crowley was lying about having the power and couldn’t help them get Sam’s soul back, which was Dean’s instinct in the first place “you’re nothing but a punkass crossroads demon – you don’t have that kind of powerâ€. But even though Cas is just as unlikely to have initiated that “hostage situation†as the Lisa and Ben one, in many ways what he did was worse — he allowed it to continue because it was beneficial to him in the long run, never mind that Cas knew full well Dean’s endeavour was futile and that Crowley nor himself could never retrieve Sam’s soul in return for Dean and Sam working for them. That’s a huge betrayal right there, and I think we would be remiss not to think that Dean connected those dots pretty quickly.
As for Dean’s sudden switch in attitude to Castiel following Castiel powering up, well, he’s not stupid. He’s dealing with in essence an extremely dangerous child, and he’s talking to him slowly, carefully, and placatingly – he knows the only way they’re getting out alive (Cas included) is if he can get through to Cas and talk him down in the next few moments. And I believe even though the switch in approach was Dean’s best strategic option in the moment, I also believe it was largely sincere in intent if not in word. No, I don’t think Dean believed it when he agreed with Cas that Cas was right, but Dean was also brushing aside what was no longer important — who was right or wrong does not matter in those final moments (though it may resurface later), and Dean simply shoves the issue out of the way to focus on what to do next and minimize as much damage as possible.
I do agree with you too that Dean is not a too little too late kind of guy, and that gives me hope for next season. I believe that was said in the heat of the moment, with the enormous guilt and pressure of Lisa dying before him, and I believe there was also some anger transference there onto Castiel from the sting of Ben’s anger at Dean himself as Ben walked away from him when Dean attempted to apologize. Ben rejected Dean’s apology, Dean rejected Castiel’s. Given time, I think Dean will be offering that same “clean slate†to Castiel that he offered to Bobby and Sam at Rufus’s grave. Though it will probably be a long time – it will not be easy for him to get past Cas intentionally breaking Sam’s wall to gain tactical advantage.
I agree that Dean was talking to a child. I thought of the gunman in Mystery Spot. Dean talks in a very soothing voice, and I got the impression that in this scene he was trying to prevent the “gun” Cas holds from going off in the same manner. Dean is placating a crazy person to buy some time—be it for Sam to stab the blade in Cas’s back, or to make Cas see sense, or to simply get away without dying before forming a plan to fight back. I, by no means, think they will give in to Cas when everything is said and done.
I totally agree with you. I liked the episode and the season even with all the problems. However, I think Sera & Co. may be taking too much of the blame. I mean, editing has a lot to do with an episode, too. How much ended on the editorial floor instead of in the episode to make things more cohesive? No one can say. It would be nice if on the DVD’s they put in those deleted scenes (I think they did it for some Season 1 episodes) and let us judge for ourselves. I still remember that scene from Home that got deleted where John’s former partner and friend stated that John loved his wife and doted on his sons. There was also the revelation that John’s behavior had gotten so strange that there was concern for his children. I found that tidbit fascinating.
As for the way Dean spoke to Cas at the end, it reminded me of the way someone would try to coax someone away from doing something harmful to themselves and/or others and try to get them to snap back into reason. I’m not really sure if Dean was paying attention to what Sam was doing in the background since he was giving Cas his undivided attention. Did anyone else notice that there was no blood on the blade after Cas pulled it out?
Yes, there were many problems and plot strings still left dangling, but I think a lot of them will be resolved next year.
liked your references to deleted scenes from S1. The one I found which if hadn’t been cut make more sense was from the pilot. I always wondered after Dean droped Sam back at his apartment with Jess who Dean ended up there to save Sam from the fire. Deleted scene explains why Dean turned around and went back
Sorry Alice, I liked this episode.
When Demon!Lisa stabbed herself, I jumped off the couch and started doing the happy dance. After the commercial, and she was in the hospital, I actually said to the tv ‘Chuckdamn it’. Then Cas did the last good thing for Dean and took away their memories and I started doing the happy dance again. 😀
How did a one weekend stand become what Dean thinks of when ‘he sees himself happy’? Cassie was the girl that he told the truth to, he wasn’t happy with her???
Please. 🙄
Finally, we can say goodbye and good riddance to Lisa and her bratty kid. Don’t let the door hit you as you leave. 😆
Mia, I love you. Did you see Cindy Sampson on ‘Being Human’?. She played a girl named ‘Cindy’, with a teenage son named ‘Bernie’. The son gets turned into a vampire. Even watching other shows, Lisa still haunts us. 😆
Alice, sorry if you were disappointed with ‘Let it bleed’, but sometimes it is the little things in life that you have to enjoy. No more Lisa and Ben, all good.
Maybe they could have gotten rid of Lisa and Ben in the first half hour, and then started the whole battle of the Sams during the second half, with a cliffhanger at the end with Soulless One vs Sammy. Then start ‘Man who knew too much’ with Sammy defeating the Soulless One and going after Hell!Sam. That would have left more time for Sam, Dean and Bobby to take on Cas, but I am still happy with the way that the season ended.
Sam and Dean are alive and close. Bobby is alive. Lisa and Ben are gone. We are set up for next season with questions that need answers.
Lisa and Ben are gone. That alone, is reason to celebrate. 😆 😆
I made the mistake of watching the episode a second tiime. When I had only seen it once, I was more or less agreeing with Bardic. Having watched it again, I’m more with you, Alice. It was freaking annoying the second time through and instead of feeling bad for Dean, which I did becuae I’m not made of stone and Jensen is that awesome, I was mad at him. Dean, you paternalistic bastard. I hope you feel bad, now, Idjit. If what he did actually protected Lisa and Ben, OK — but it doesn’t. He still cares about them, they can still be used as leverage agaiinst him. And Dean, the Dean I know and love (including his tendency toward paternalistic decision making), is SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT!!!
I agree that more of Sam putting himself together and the Lovecraft and angel stuff would have been enough for the whole two hours.
I said this on the S6 bitterness page — I don’t have bitterness per se – I really liked S6 a lot but show really needs to be moving back towards the hopeful end of the spectrum.
Show really needs to put the ‘win’ back in Winchester.
I completely agree with your Dean analysis here.. I felt so bewildered by his response.. hello.. Dean Winchester does NOT bow down to anyone… not even God.. Why did they right him all frightened and snivel-y?? Disgraceful..
I too am done with the Lisa /Ben storyline.. what is the moral that he can never be happy? First off, I believe that Lisa knew from the very beginning how screwed up Dean was (beginning s.6) yet that was “the happiest year of her life..”?? So basically she was happy loving a man who she knew was in agony? :p next please.. should have never killed off Jo..
The whole Cass thing still has me saddened.. way to ruin 3 seasons worth of epic character building in two episodes.. 🙁 🙁 Castiel, I get his position.. but I did NOT like hearing him say they were never family.. Cass was more like a brother to them than Adam..
Season 7 better bring back the morale and family ties.. the whole season can be summer up in one picture, sam stabbing Cass in the back.. they have all felt betrayed by someone this season.
The one positive I am taking out of this season is my view of the youngest brother Sam. I finally found myself calling him Sam (not Sammy) at the end of the last season.. he is becoming such a wonderful person it is nice to go back and see all he’s endured.. he will get through this.. just like Dean did.. and they will both end up all the stronger..
Sam stabbing Castiel in the back had nothing to do with betrayal on Sams part he was the one betrayed by Castiel and his wall breaking . And Castiel was Deans family or brother or whatever he is to Dean just because Dean proclaims Castiel family doesnt mean Sam has to follow suit . The whole Castiel/Sam relationship was built on a house of cards has it .was.
Raises hand timidly…
I liked this episode. I appreciate that Lisa and Ben aren’t dead. I think the writers could have killed off Lisa. They kill off secondary adult characters all the time. In fact, as many are saying (and I agree) that’s a growing weakness, and problem for the Show.
But, if they’d killed Ben? He’s a child. He may be Dean’s son And he still young enough that he should have some innocence. If they’d chosen to kill him, they could never bring him back. I don’t think the audience could willing suspend disbelief and accept the resurrection of a child. Without that willing suspension of disbelief, you don’t have fiction and drama.
So they twisted that idea, and killed Dean in the minds of Lisa and Ben. I thought it was a very Dean-like reaction, but still very sad.
I also interpreted Dean’s “too little, too late” statement to Cas differently. I heard it more as “That’s good information and I’m glad to know it, but it won’t save Lisa now.” In the same way Ben’s fear prevented him from hearing Dean’s apology, I think Dean’s fear and guilt affected all his interactions with Cas in LIB.
I got frustrated because neither of them would listen to each other. They’re the classic men, driving around in circles, instead of just asking for directions.
I don’t think it was out of character for Dean to be in awe of new G/god Cas. I think he was trying to deal tactically with a rapidly changing situation, and trying to keep Cas calm, so he didn’t explode or suddenly turn and kill them.
I think he was being truthful too. “Yes Cas. I was wrong. Your plan worked. Raphael is dead.” I think he is still concerned about Cas and his well-being. But he’s also still very angry about how Cas treated Sam. That’s a definite plot thread for Season 7.
I think the writers should have made Sam more supportive of Dean. Maybe Sam felt guilty too and didn’t want to hang out in the hospital? That’s the only reason I can think of for him not being there. I hope at some point the brothers do talk about Lisa & Ben. That’ll be a good teary fight scene!
I had some issues with TMWKTM as well. I think again, the season got a little big for the creative minds and they tried to tie up too much in just a few episodes. Maybe they need to start tying up loose ends in Episode 17 or 18?
I think a lot of fan frustration stems from all the red herrings, MacGuffins and dropped threads of this seasons. (I touch on the idea of dropped threads – or in my case missing notes – in my article “A Supernatural Symphony”, if anyone’s interested.)
I apologize for rambling. But I did want to say this episode really struck an emotional chord with me, and gave me lots to think about in terms of relationships, and friendships and that’s why I like this show.
Alice,
I really like your reviews and I find that most of the time I agree with you. Again, I agree with most of this (the Lisa/Ben storyline, Bobby, Lovecraft, Balthazar, and the needless pain and angst).
A couple of things that I have different thoughts on are the Dean/Castiel reactions and Sam’s reaction to the memory wipe.
I struggled with trying to figure out Dean’s and Cas’s reactions too, so I watched the last few episodes a few times. At some point it hit me that this was really written like a the breakup of a marriage — one spouse cheating on the other. It starts with one person in the couple feeling that he/she is being taken advantage of, starts an affair which leads to more distancing and a string of lies. Even though the secret is not out yet, tension builds (the digs at each other and the eye rolls in Mommy Dearest). And then finally it all comes out and the two parties react more emotionally than rationally.
There’s all of the affair subtext in the Crowley/Cas meetup in The Man Who Would Be King, complete with Ms. Jones music in the background. There’s Dean’s reactions. Instead of trying to reason with Cas, he gets defensive and emotional. I’m paraphrasing loosely here, but his reactions are “Just do it because I’m asking you to,” and at the end, “Do it for me (do it so that you don’t cause me any more pain)”. In Let It Bleed, Dean’s in a defensive, “I’m too angry to talk to you right now” mood. And there’s just as much of this on Cas’s side. Every time Dean rejects him, that pushes Cas further to Crowley and makes him more defensive. I think he pulled down Sam’s wall to strike out at Dean and to sever their relationship. In the end, when Cas is pumped up on souls and confronting Crowley and Raphael, Cas keeps looking over at Dean, as if Dean’s reaction is more important to him than what’s going on with Raphael and Crowley.
I’m not a slash fan – that’s not where this is coming from – but I think if you watch those last few episodes under then lens of the a romance gone bad due to infidelity, then the reactions all start to make sense. This combined with the other Destiel jokes (the angel in a trenchcoat who’s in love with you) and all of the gender neutral references to angels is making me wonder where this is going. By gender neutral references, I’m talking about all of the feminine nicknames/references that Crowley and Balthazar have used this season toward Cas, and Raphael coming back in a woman’s vessel.
As for Sam’s reaction, I didn’t have a problem with him getting angry at Dean for erasing Lisa and Ben’s memories. Dean overstepped by taking away other people’s memories without their consent, and Sam always confronted Dean when he though Dean was wrong. Plus, amnesia is personal for Sam right now.
I just watched the episode again tonight for my daughter, who hadn’t seen the finales yet (she’s been catching up on season six). I only just now caught Sam telling Dean that if anyone knows about this sort of thing and Dean cut him off. It was very personal for Sam. So yes, I get that reaction now. I get Dean’s too. He knows what he did was wrong, but that won’t change things. Still depressing, but understandable.
You make some very interesting points about Castiel and Dean more being like the breakup of a marriage. I’m going to be digging into this further over the next few weeks and you’ve certainly given me a POV to consider!
Cool! I’ll forward to reading what you write. 🙂
Alice, I understand, but respectfully disagree with a lot of your review! So apologies in advance for the length of my response – it kind of morphed into a look at Castiel. I am interested though in your (and Mo Ryan’s) comments about how depressing you found the episode. I had the exact same reaction to Unforgiven earlier in the season.
I agree with the commenters above on why Dean was placating Castiel in the last scene of 6.22 – it actually reminded me of Dean in Swan Song and his reaction to Lucifer. And I did not find the Cas-Dean relationship confusing – I thought they were each making last ditch efforts to reach out to the other that failed.
I also agree with the commenters on Castiel’s various deceptions over the past few seasons, particularly this last one, and how it is not the same as when Sam deceived Dean. N.B. Dean did reluctantly and briefly deceive Cas in 6.20, but almost immediately apologised for it. Has he ever been less than honest with Castiel apart from that? Over something major, anyway. If he has I cannot immediately think of it, but do correct me if I am wrong. Dean is certainly nowhere near perfect, and can be antagonistic and rude, but as Castiel himself noted, he is loyal to the core.
On the other hand, there’s Castiel. Don’t get me wrong. I think Misha is phenomenal, and on and off I have loved Castiel over the last three years, but I want to look at whether the breakdown of his relationship with Dean has been out of blue, or perhaps whether a reversion to type has been factor.
In the beginning (how apropos!) of Season 4, Castiel saved Dean from Hell – and then threatened to send him back there. In On the Head of a Pin, he helped ensure Dean became a torturer again and then told him he had broken the First Seal. Then after being taken back to Heaven himself for re-indoctrination (?torture) in The Rapture, he possessed Jimmy Novak’s daughter and then Jimmy again. In When the Levee Breaks, he betrayed Anna, made Dean make a deal to serve the angels and betrayed Sam and Dean by letting Sam out of the panic room – thus making the Apocalypse and Sam’s sacrifice inevitable, and then took Dean to the Beautiful Room to wait to be sacrificed as Michael’s vessel.
His whole arc over the season was one of deception for what he believed was a greater good. Not unlike Sam’s parallel arc (albeit under the influence of an addiction). Granted, at the eleventh hour, Castiel did redeem himself by turning on Zachariah (after Dean convinced him it was worth dying for) and helping Dean to try and stop Sam killing Lilith and he paid for it with his ‘life’ – but perhaps foreshadowing of ‘too little, too late?
Season 5, however, saw Castiel given a second chance as he was resurrected and the Winchesters were saved from Lucifer in the opening episode. And Castiel seemed very much a part of Team Free Will – learning from previous mistakes and fighting the good fight, albeit blaming Dean for his fall from grace. Over the course of the season, however Dean and he (and Sam and Bobby) became brothers-in-arms, teaming up to prevent the Apocalypse. Although, in mid-season Castiel was prepared once more to kill an ‘innocent’ of sorts (the brief and incomprehensible introduction of the child anti-Christ), subsequently in Changing Channels, Abandon all Hope, The Song Remains the Same and My Bloody Valentine, he remained loyal to the brothers. Then, in 99 Problems Castiel loses his faith, and in Point of No Return beats Dean up for doing the same. But he does help the brothers attempt to rescue Adam and in Swan Song once again sacrifices himself for them, along with Bobby and, most horrifically, Sam. So overall, Season 5 was the one year when Castiel seemed to be solidly with the Winchesters.
And then in the last few minutes of Season 5, once again, Castiel was resurrected. I think this twice-resurrection, the admiration of his fellow angels coupled with his anger at being told to bow to Raphael and the poisonous whisperings of Crowley in his ear, undid most of the progress he made in Season 5. He brought Sam back without a soul (did Castiel know? I am unsure, but he certainly suspected – see 6.20) causing untold harm, did not tell Dean (to protect him? Partly I think) and then set about leading a civil war in Heaven.
And while his friends/brothers, Sam and Dean are trapped by Crowley into a deal, he does not lift a finger. Does not tell them Balthazar is working for him and comes to them in The Third Man and in You Can’t Handle the Truth only to get the weapons from Heaven back. Nor does he warn them about Samuel Campbell. All of this leads to Dean being ‘killed’ by Soulless Sam as a vampire. Giving Castiel the benefit of the doubt that he meant well still, even then the saying goes, ‘all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’. And then there are those good intentions and where that road leads…
By the middle of Season 6, is, for me, where the pace of Castiel’s descent into megalomania speeds up. In 6.10, even when Samuel betrays Sam and Dean to Crowley and they are close to death again, Castiel makes no attempt to come clean and (?unforgiveably) fakes Crowley’s death. He also tries to convince Dean to not re-ensoul Sam (for legitimate reasons?) in Appointment in Samara and Bobby almost gets killed in the process.
And to what end? Castiel wants the twisted monster souls hidden away in Purgatory. To swallow them, to become powerful enough to prevent Raphael from reigniting the Apocalypse. But I think Castiel is lying to himself about that still being his primary motivation. It may initially have been, but as he says in 6.20 pride is very much driving factor now, and he certainly in Frontierland seems to know how to leach energy easily enough from Bobby’s soul. Has he already become addicted by then? Shades of Season 4 Sam, indeed.
After, Sam has got his soul back I do believe Castiel was pleased to see him. But he was so far down the road of opening Purgatory by now, that it was almost an echo of his former self and his actions have now led to the monster Eve breaking through and causing more untold harm. The slide downwards continues to quicken and in 6.15, The French Mistake, he uses Sam and Dean as unwitting pawns, putting them in harm’s way through Virgil. In 6.17, he puts them in harm’s way again when he rewrites history and Fate comes after them and he lies when at the end they ask him why Balthazar raised the Titanic.
Then in 6.18, he kills his own lieutenant – granted while helping the Winchesters to get some phoenix ash – but that was to kill Eve whose resurrection was triggered by Castiel’s actions. And finally in 6.19 Eve traps them all, reveals that Crowley is still alive and Dean almost gets turned/killed again, saved only by his own ingenuity, and Castiel still does not come clean… but now Team Free Will are starting to suspect him.
Which brings us to the last three episodes, which have shown the wheels come completely off for Castiel and he is now travelling alone at break-neck speed, unheeding of the warnings of his friends. He asks God for guidance in 6.20, confesses to spying on his friends, and once more almost getting them killed as Crowley sends his goons after them. Castiel does warn Crowley off so there may still be vestiges of Cas that remain, but he continues to lie to them until Dean catches him out and they trap him in a circle of holy fire. And even then he indirectly blames Dean by asking him where he was when Castiel needed advice…Wow. Perhaps having no soul means the inability to say ‘mea culpa’ for angels as well as humans. Even then Dean still reaches out to him at the end of the episode, but Castiel is too far gone by then to hear him.
Then, finally because of Castiel’s unholy alliance with Crowley, Dean’s surrogate family is sacrificed and although Castiel makes one last effort to convince Dean to not fight him, he tragically echoes Crowley and the faint possibility of a rapprochement dies a swift death. As a final good act, he does heal Lisa and in a brief moment of connection helps Dean by wiping Lisa and Ben’s memories clean. Perhaps in memory of the friendship they had? Perhaps to put himself in the right when he knows he is doing wrong elsewhere? Perhaps for Dean to be in his debt? I don’t know, but I do not think he did it for purely unselfish reasons any more than he stopped by at Bobby’s to only mend fences that night he stole Moishe Campbell’s diary. I don’t think he can see right and wrong from where he is now.
And then, in the finale, a truly unforgiveable act. Castiel deliberately brings down the wall in Sam’s mind. To distract the brothers from preventing him from opening Purgatory. And even when promising to help Sam, Castiel makes it conditional on them backing off. He then kills two more angels, opens Purgatory, absorbs millions of monster souls, proclaims himself the new, better ‘god’, and orders the humans to bow down or he would destroy them…
Like Dean said at the end of Season 4: ‘You need a bigger word than sorry’.
In summary: No shark-jumping anywhere for me 🙂
Alice not exactly upset with your review, my heart is with you. It took me a week before I could watch it again. I liked the episode more than you did not I was not a happy camper. These are my thoughts
Supernatural from the pilot up to and including “King†has been my favorite show. Dean and Sam Winchester became real characters almost real people that I wanted to invest my time, emotions and really care what happened to them. Dean has always been my favorite he is the character I am attracted to but I loved Sam too.
Watching the last two episodes were the hardest to watch. I jumped for joy “The Road So Far†was finally done to “Carry on My Wayward Son†missed that in Season 4 & 5 yelling “YES now that’s the way to start.
That was the last yipee
Breakdown “Let It Bleed†When something crashed into Lisa’s house & killed the guy she was dating, Ben calling Dean frantically asking for his help to save them trepidation set in and never left. Didn’t see it coming it was Crowley behind their abduction.. Poor Dean his desperation panic & dread of what he feared the most came true. Long time since I’ve seen Dean that determined come hell or high water he would do anything to save them. Listening to Dean fight his way through all the demons sent his way & finally getting to Lisa & Ben. Knew it wouldn’t be that simple rescuing them. Demon possessing Lisa was been there done that & a cop out. Accepted it until demon taunted Dean saying Ben was his son. YES! T H E N immediately destroy that as demon rescinds said statement with ***** Lisa has no idea who fathered Ben. There I lost it burst into tears my heart being torn apart & hurting as much as Dean. Sera & Eric YOU BLEW IT! . If I had a sawed off shotgun I’d have put rock salt through the TV & been happy I would be missing this injustice. Demon stabs Lisa before Dean could exorcist it. I’m yelling “Oh Sera please don’t kill her or Ben or both.
Well they didn’t kill them but what they did was worse. Wipe all memory of their time with Dean the good the bad and the ugly. Jensen handled these scenes in his wonderful understated performance as usual. The look on Dean’s face did me in never mind him. The hurt, love lost, destitute hopelessness & incredible pain. I wanted to go to him slip my hand into his squeeze it letting him know as gently as possible he was not alone he was worth so much more than he can every imagine or believe tell him you’re going to be ok because you are loved.
[quote]In general I liked the episodes, great scenes between Cass and Dean isn’t their chemistry never stops striking me. And the performances of Jared, Jim, Mark Sheppard, Sebastian and Cindy WOW great actors.
But yes “[b]Let it bleed[/b]†I didn’t like either the part where Cass erased Lisa and Ben’s memory for me that was like “[b]series writing 1.1[/b]†I remember telling a friend two weeks before the season finale, that I didn’t want Lisa and Ben dead, that I would prefer Cass erase their memories, but obviously I wasn’t expecting that from the Supernatural writers!!!!!!!!! ([i]and I know the writers removed Ben and Lisa characters cause a lot of fans didn’t like them, although I wish once in a while the writers stop listen to them and follow their own instincts cause a lot of times the same fans that say for example: that they don’t like Lisa and Ben next season they are asking to bring the characters back[/i])
And now the people are commenting: what is going to think Lisa when she comes back to her house and find the pictures of her with the guy who hit them with the car 😀 …. and when she finds her boyfriend the doctor dead in the house.
Did you notice that Sam never spoke with Ben?, that he never said a word to Ben, I’m not sure with Lisa but with Ben I’m sure. 🙁
—-> Hi guys. I just wanna know, why did Castiel removes the wall in the re-ensouled Sam?? TY. Just a bit confused… 🙂
One last comment Alice what bothered me the most was the bleak hopeless futile and tragic life of Dean and Sam as it stands right now thet have no reason to go on if pain and suffering is all there is. Dean has to get some reward for all he gave up and all the responsibility heaped on his young shoulders the day he lost his mother. I believe Ben is his son, and through Ben and maybe Lisa Dean will find some happiness and peace 🙂
In general I liked the episodes, great scenes between Cass and Dean isn’t their chemistry never stops striking me. And the performances of Jared, Jim, Mark Sheppard, Sebastian and Cindy WOW great actors.
But yes “[b]Let it bleed[/b]†I didn’t like either the part where Cass erased Lisa and Ben’s memory for me that was like “[b]series writing 1.1[/b]†I remember telling a friend two weeks before the season finale, that I didn’t want Lisa and Ben dead, that I would prefer Cass erase their memories, but obviously I wasn’t expecting that from the Supernatural writers!!!!!!!!! ([i]and I know the writers removed Ben and Lisa characters cause a lot of fans didn’t like them, although I wish once in a while the writers stop listen to them and follow their own instincts cause a lot of times the same fans that say for example: that they don’t like Lisa and Ben next season they are asking to bring the characters back[/i])
And now the people are commenting: what is going to think Lisa when she comes back to her house and find the pictures of her with the guy who hit them with the car 😀 …. and when she finds her boyfriend the doctor dead in the house.
Did you notice that Sam never spoke with Ben?, that he never said a word to Ben, I’m not sure with Lisa but with Ben I’m sure. 🙁
I liked a lot “the man who knew too much†I really hope in the beginning of season 7 they explore something about Sam’s hell memory’s cause I think is going to be a little awkward that they spend half of season worried about what could happen to Sam when he remembers hell and in the end it doesn’t happen anything.
Hi guys. I just wanna know, why did Castiel removes the wall in the re-ensouled Sam?? TY. Just a bit confused…