Preview Supernatural Episode 7.21 “Reading is Fundamental”

With only two episodes left until the season finale, things are beginning to happen. This episode Castiel is back, a new prophet is created, archangels arrive on earth and Ben Edlund is in charge of it all! Now that’s a lot of happenings!

So let’s start with Cass and see if we can develop a possible theory of what we might see on Friday.

We were reunited with Cass in “The Bourne Again Identity, when Dean, searching for a cure for Sam, found his old friend suffering from amnesia and living a suburban life unaware of his angelic abilities. That life ended when Dean, aided by Meg (played by Rachel Miner) encouraged Cass to remember his previous identity, help Dean break through a wall of demons guarding Sam, and use his healing powers to cure his brother. However, absorbing Sam’s psychotic visions, combined with his own amnesia, proved too much for the guardian angel to handle and when we last saw Cass, he was sitting unresponsive on a hospital bed. Meg orchestrated a position for herself as Cass’ nurse and has stood guard over him ever since.

In this episode, coinciding with the arrive of two new archangels, Cass mysteriously awakens and runs head first into trouble, of course, not without Dean, Sam and Meg at his side. Seems the archangels, though on earth to search for a prophet, find Cass and are not to please with what he did in his brief stint as God.

Besides Cass, the Winchesters also have their hands full with the cruciform tablet they stole from Roman, and the arrival of a new prophet named Kevin (played by Osric Chau). The same prophet the two archangels try to capture for their own purposes, whatever that maybe.

The boys believe Kevin holds the key that can help them defeat the Leviathans. For one thing, they hope either he or Cass can read the ancient tablet.

Unfortunately the boys and Cass’ reunion is not what they hoped for. While has does remember them, which brings smiles to both their faces, (something we haven’t seen for a while)….

…that joy is short lived, when they see Cass’ new trick. Seems he likes using his powers to turn out the room lights when he talks someone into pulling his finger. (Leave it to Edlund to come up with that!)

Think Dean and Sam are surprised? Hehehe I love the look on Meg’s face. It’s like “and I spent all my time here for this!”

I’m sorry, but that is a lot funnier to me that Dean teaching Charlie to flirt! Misha is so sincere about it and his laugh is really nice. Just that Cass doesn’t laugh, so it’s not all him.

His traumatic issues have left him a bit worse for wear, but I love that he still wears the trench coat. Cass is certainly in there and his powers seem to be intact. Not entirely what the boys wanted to see, or needed to, now that they are close to getting Roman.

That not only saddens them, but we see how it frustrates Dean as he and Cass attempt to play a board game. Yeah, not sure why that would take place now, but maybe it’s a form of therapy.

At some point, the brothers ask Cass to decipher the tablet, but I’m guessing it’s not going to work.

Enter the evil archangels! However it happens, they eventually find Cass and the episode heats up. Looks like Cass tries to play his game with the female archangel who is just as perplexed as the boys were, though she is not amused. In fact, she calls Cass insane! Not nice…maybe he’s a little south of center, but insane is a bit harsh. (Smile)

Given the scene in the promo, I doubt Cass gets a chance to finish his game. I’m guessing Dean uses this time to draw his sigil. Either that or Meg keeps the angels attention for Dean though not in a non-painful way. She really is sent flying.

However it works, Dean draws his sigil in blood and sends the visitors packing. Love the way he kicks butt!

I’m assuming the sigil is just aimed at Archangels. Otherwise it would kind of defeat the purpose if Cass is set away with them.

The photo still of Meg with the spork seems to be after the Archangel throws her into the wall as she doesn’t have it before the incident and in the photo still the wall behind her is damaged. Looks like she hit with a lot of force too.

Have to wonder where the spork came from. Did one of the angels drop it before they were sapped away or did she have it all along? Who knows, but a demon as deadly as Meg with a spork, it a force to be reckoned with. Wonder who she is looking at here. Could be, she recovers from the slam and gets up with the spork in hand.  Sure hope it’s not Cass she is threatening with that.

And apparently Kevin is at the hospital too as a photo still shows us he is looking at the tablet, though by that time it’s been broken.

Maybe it was affected in the angel tussle. Could be they want the tablet as much as Roman. Love the look on Meg’s face. She remind anyone of Clif? She looks like one staunch guard dog, or maybe I should say hellhound. (Smile)

The photo stills and promos show us the boys and Cass make it to Rufus’ cabin before the Archangels catch up with them again. Meg is not in those stills but we do see her confronting a semi on a dark, foggy deserted road.

It appears the angels also seem to like the semi, but why is a question. Edlund’s mind works in mysterious ways.

Given the angelic poses of the two Archangels, this maybe when we first see them in the episode. The other two must be angelic muscle. Who the bodies are on the ground is a question answered on Friday. Doubt one is Meg though. She isn’t going to be stopped by a semi or an Archangel. The promo also gives us a very quick glimpse of her in a fight with more than one opponent so I like to think she is doing something to protect the boys and Cass. And as she is in the finale, she must come out on top by the end of the show. In case you haven’t guessed, I like Meg. Wish she and the boys could always be on the same side. At least for the rest of this season she seems to be.

Back at the cabin, the saintly group eventually finds the boys and makes their presence know very loudly…..like ‘blowing off the door’ loudly and all the sigils everywhere doesn’t seem to faze them.

The promos only show us a short clip into what happens next. We know Lady Archangel and Cass do have a talk and it ended with her slapping Cass hard. And yes, that is Dean standing behind her. Doubt he likes that much.

Here we see the scene from two promos. In one she just seems to be hitting Cass. In the other, her blows knock him to the ground, where she grabs him by the collar, pulls out her spork and raises it with the obvious intent of killing Cass. We all know that doesn’t happen, but we do see the boys watch an angel die at the end of the trailer, so lady Archangel must have met with a spork….her own!

The trailer shows us one of her blows is blocked which is a big surprise to her. In fact it looks like an invisible force turns it back on her. And the look on her face goes from anger to fear. Guess the downward thrust of her spork ended up in her instead of Cass. And the boys watch it all with quite a surprised look on their faces.

I’m guessing the angels missed Ghost!Bobby in the cabin. Haven’t seen him in any of the promos so far but I would think, even if the boys didn’t have the flask with them at the hospital, it would definitely be at the cabin. And Cass is a friend of Bobby’s too, so hope that’s where Edlund decides to bring Bobby front and center. After all, these angels have taken human form so Bobby should be just as able to bounce them around as much as he did Roman.

Scratch one archangel and the other one doesn’t even know it happened. He’s hoping Cass picks up the spork and does away with him too. Or maybe Meg shows up at this point as there is the angel muscle to deal with also. I’m going to say, one point to Team Free Will!

We also have photos of Sam and Kevin working with the tablet. At some point we know the boys find out they need to acquire 3 items to defeat the levies. Maybe that is what Kevin deciphers for them from the tablet. Seems very strange that any info on the leviathans would exist since they are older than earth and the angels. How would the secret to their deaths be known to any ancient society? Guess that’s one of the questions we will get answered by the seasons end.

We also have other information on Kevin Tran. First, this is the first of his three episode arc and yes he is in the finale. Various spoilers tell us he’s just a really dedicated high school student who doesn’t want to get involved in anything other than his text books. He also doesn’t believe in the supernatural. – Big mistake.

Unfortunately he is hit by a lightning bolt and becomes “activated” as a prophet. (Given he survived that AND is well enough to walk and talk, he definitely has some heavenly connection!) So now he’s introduced to hunters, demons and angels. All these things he didn’t believe in before are now a big part of his life…. and all he wanted was to get a good SAT score. Awww, sorry Kevin, welcome to the Winchester’s world.

For anyone interested in archangel history, numerous religious texts talk about the 7 archangels, and that’s all there ever were. Four, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel, are the ones that appear most often and the ones the show has used so far. The other three have no definitive names, but have been listed as Selaphiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel, Simiel, Oriphiel, Zachariel, Zadakiel, Sarathiel and Aniel. Obviously TPTB have a wealth of names to choose from, or they can just make up their own. Interestingly Lucifer isn’t listed among them, but that matters not to the series.

So where are they? Michael is in the cage and Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel are dead…currently. That leaves three that could appear looking for Cass. Luckily for the boys, only two show up this episode.

One final note…NO BABY AGAIN! I know she is in the finale, but I keep hoping she comes back sooner.

Edlund always has a twist in his episodes, but as always, that will never be given in any of the promos or episode stills. I thinking maybe this one will have something to do with Cass. Maybe somehow these angels unknowingly restore Cass to normal. But that is just a guess…or maybe my subconscious secret wish. (Smile)

Okay, so much for my interpretation of the spoilers. I’m sure we will know more when we hear Bob Singer’s Producers take on the episode. So, what do you all think?

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Official Synopsis: Meg calls Dean and Sam and tells them Castiel is awake and talking. Meanwhile, a teenager named Kevin (guest star Osric Chau) gets hit by a bolt of lightning and is turned into a reluctant prophet. Sam and Dean believe Kevin holds the key to defeating the Leviathans but must fight off two Archangels who want him for their own purposes. Written by CW Publicity

Ben Edlund, long time fan favourite, wrote and directed this episode, his second for the series. He also wrote and directed “The Man Who Would Be King” last year. Edlund’s only other TV directing credit is Angel‘s “Smile Time,” which he also wrote. It has been called “possibly one of the best episodes of TV ever”. Other episodes he has penned include “How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters,” “Repo Man,” “Hello, Cruel World,” “On the Head of a Pin,” “Clap Your Hands if You Believe,” and the meta episode “The French Mistake.”

Cast (IMDb) includes Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer), Rachel Miner (Meg), Osric Chau (Kevin).

Side note: It is not uncommon for IMDb to be in error with the casting overview. So just take it with a grain of salt
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Photo stills for the episode can be found here.

Promo Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eD-RYDlgJA

Sneak Peak:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifrOJAagqWA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4l2BTlqRLA#

CHCH promo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4GTUJCL36o

Happy episode everyone!

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