The WFB Admins’ Top 15 “Supernatural” Episodes List: #3
Time for your WFB Admins’ #3 pick in their Top 15 “Supernatural” episodes. You know what that means right? Yes…we’re getting close to number 1, but….it’s only 3 days until the hellatus ends!
So let’s get to it…here are our picks for #3
#sweetondean’s #3
“The End”
Why: What a staggeringly brilliant episode. I remember watching “The End” for the first time and being totally gobsmacked. The premise of throwing Dean 5 years into the future to face himself is fascinating. A great idea with an awesome script by Ben Edund. It’s beautifully directed by Steve Boyum and lit by Serge and his team. But it’s the performances that probably shine the most in this episode.
Future!Dean seems subtly different to ’09 Dean, in the way he holds his body, talks, in the gravity of his face, yet his apocalypse weary, jaded attitude makes him almost a different character entirely. To be honest, around this time I was thinking Dean was pretty damn jaded, until we met Future!Dean. ’09 Dean seemed positively light-hearted in comparison! The light and shade that Jensen puts into the same character who’s been changed via different experiences, is so finely nuanced, it’s a real tour de force. Future!Dean’s the same guy, but different. We all knew Jensen was good, but this hammered home how good.
Future!Cass is totally different to ’09 Cass. For a lot of us, this different Cass was the first time we’d seen Misha do what was essentially a different character. Because free and easy, hippy Cass is completely different to the Castiel we’d grown to know. I kind of love scruffy, hippy Cass and his orgy loving ways! He’s such a smart-ass too. Misha did a great job with him.
This is the first time we got to see Jared play Lucifer, resplendent in a white suit. This Lucifer is a bit different to how he plays him later in the season, once Mark Pellegrino put his stamp on the character, you can tell Jared took influence from that, but even here, you can see the beginnings of what came later. I like this Lucifer, he’s so earnest. Lucifer is by far one of my favourite characters in “Supernatural”. I adore the way he’s written. I remember thinking and actually I still think, that how the writers approached Lucifer was really ballsy. In the garden scene when he says, “Now tell me, does the punishment fit the crime?” I distinctly remember thinking holy crap, because Ben and Jared actually made me feel kind of sorry for the Devil! As wrong as I knew that was”¦I couldn’t help but get suckered in by him. Nice work.
Of course, a large part of enabling these guys to give such fabulous performances is the magnificent script by Ben Edlund. It’s one of his best. Maybe his best. I don’t know. He’s so brilliant it’s hard for me to pick. “The End” is thick with mythology, which I love, has such a heavy heart, is such a desperately grim concept, yet it’s infused with Edlund’s irreverent humour which simply bounces off the characters he writes so, so beautifully. This could have been a terribly dour episode, but it’s not”¦it’s got some great funny moments, lovely Dean humour, really surprising Cass humour and a whacking big dollop of hope.
Also, I totally dig when Supernatural draws on past episodes and past seasons, so the whole Croatoan virus revisted thing is just so cool to me. I also appreciated the reintroduction of The Colt. Of course, we now know it can kill all but 5 things…one of which is the Devil, so Future!Dean was out of luck anyway, but I love that we saw that gun again. Oh and Future!Dean isn’t wearing the amulet…which always makes me wonder if they’d already decided to toss it in the bin later in the season. That kind of thing fascinates me, that kind of future development of plot lines and whatnot.
“The End” was an instant favourite. Instant. For all these reasons and for watching Jensen play against Jensen, I mean, that will never, ever get old.
And if you haven’t listened to the commentary, you should”¦because you will laugh so hard at the comedy stylings of Kripke and Edlund, with Bob Singer trying to rein these two brilliant nutballs in. It’s pure joy!
Oh and one more thing I should mention about this episode”¦.thigh-holster. Sorry I had to take a dip in the shallow end, but damn, that thigh-holster, DAMN.
Favourite Quote: Oh this is sooooo easy:
Dean to Sam: “We keep each other human”
The whole quote is”¦
“Maybe we are each others Achilles Heel. Maybe they’ll find a way to use us against each other, I don’t know… I just know we’re all we’ve got. More than that, we keep each other human.”
The thing about this is”¦it represents the brothers to me, but more than that, it represents Dean. In amongst everything, the anger and hurt he was still feeling, the Lucifer/Michael vessel thing”¦with Heaven and Hell pulling and pushing them every which way, Dean saw what would become of them if the brothers didn’t stick together and he put everything aside for family, but more specifically, for Sam. Because they’re all they have and without Sam, he’d become someone he didn’t want to be and without Dean, Sam may wind up being lost forever and Dean couldn’t, wouldn’t allow that. So nothing else mattered in that moment except his brother, except them. I think this scene represents who Dean is at his heart and what the Winchester brothers mean to each other. They stick together, no matter what”¦.and when they take a moment to remember that, it’s awesome.
“We keep each other human” is my favourite quote from “Supernatural”, not just from this episode, from the entire series. It means so much to me, I have it tattooed on my arm.
Favourite Scene: The scene that accompanies the above quote is a favourite, no doubt. I was desperately disappointed, when I was in Vancouver, to discover that the actual location is on private land and you can’t get to that spot. I had to be happy with photographing it from a distance. I so wanted to stand there though, where that line was uttered.
But, my favourite scene from “The End” has to be the garden scene, when Dean faces Lucifer in the shape of Sam. The set, the script, the performances”¦it’s perfection. Oh and yes, I can quote Dean’s speech by heart”¦.
Dean: “You’re not fooling me, you know that? With this sympathy-for-the-devil crap. I know what you are.”
Lucifer: “What am I?”
Dean: “You’re the same thing, only bigger. The same brand of cockroach I’ve been squashing my whole life. An ugly, evil, belly-to-the-ground, supernatural piece of crap. The only difference between them and you is the size of your ego.”
Dean’s face after he finishes this speech, so sad and broken as he draws in a shaky, kind of nervous breath. The whole thing is perfect.
“The End”…. I really love this episode.
(Ardeospina’s #3 is on page 2)
The End… oh Chuck, that was so good.
And thigh holster….
Funny little story, my Ex and our best friend have decided to cosplay cyber punk security guards at a big role playing convention. BEcause… just because. And he asked me to take picture. and as he got dressed, he put on a thigh holster.. and I swear, I stood there for a whole ten seconds, all that was in my head was “thigh-holster, fucking thigh-holster” playing in my head over and over again.
I must admit though, I don´t like Changing Channels. Not, because it´s bad, but because I have trouble with the “funny” episodes in general. I don´t like slapstick and I don´t like it, when they make Dean look dumb, as they sometimes like to do.
Though I love the and, when they trap Gabe. Oh and… Gabriel, I adore him!
“The End” has a very special place in my heart. Not a very special place on my top 15 list, unfortunately, but definitely in my heart! Seriously, though, it’s in my top 25, and it makes me happy to see it listed here. My favorite quote: “Oh I learned a lesson all right. Just not the one you wanted to teach!” Because we knew right then he would go get Sammy. My second favorite quote: “This isn’t funny, Dean! The voice says I’m almost out of minutes!” Plus the image of Cas just standing by the side of the road for a few hours… oh, Castiel, you awkward son-of-a-god. But I don’t have either of those quotes tattooed, so, you win!
As for “Changing Channels”, the question is not why is it so high, but why is it so low?! Lol, you’ll see it on my list tomorrow, if you look closely.
My #3 is “Dark Side of the Moon”. I love everything about this episode – it is my go-to if I’m ever in need of cheering up. I thought they had an amazing interpretation of Heaven, with each soul’s unique version, and the customized view of the Garden. How great was it that Ash used String Theory to navigate between the dimensions? Pretty great. The scenes that showed Heaven for each of the boys did a perfect job of making me completely sympathetic to both of them, despite the fact that they were at odds. Dean needs Sam in his life, needs to take care of others, and Sam needs independence and the freedom to take care of himself. Zachariah was delightful smarmy, but the worst part was when Joshua told them that God just didn’t care. Or rather, when he told Dean, who had been trying so hard not to give up, that he didn’t believe in himself or Sam anymore. Hulksmash!!! No wonder Dean throws out the amulet, and tells Sam episodes later that he doesn’t believe in him. Those words were basically put in his mouth by Joshua, and perhaps God. But I did say this episode cheers me up, right? Mostly, it’s the first scene in Heaven, the way the sky looks, the music that plays, and the smile on Dean’s face as he watches little kid Sam be happy. But also, it’s the fact that Dean wuvs hugs.
“Um… apparently you ‘wuv hugs'”. – Sam
The End has always had a special place in my heart. Jensen’s performance in this episode was staggering. He laid me out! I was crying right along with him in that last scene. Imagine being in Lucifers presence. Speaking to him that way. That was so Dean! The special effects always knocked me out as well. I love the scene where FutureDean pours them both a drink. Then they both pick up a glass. It was seamless. You know it is 2 seperate pieces of film, but you could never tell from the finished product.
Lazarus Rising. What can you say about an episode that good. The opening grave scene was exhillerating to say the least. The Bobby/Sam reunions. Pamela!! Who could forget her perfect line “You’re invited to Grumpy!”. Or Dean’s immediate response-“You are NOT invited!”. Or where she chose to “touch” Dean. PRICELESS! The entire scene between Dean and Castiel was one of the most memorable in any show I have ever watched.
The End is my #1 pick of all time fav episodes.
The acting by Jensen in the episode, as Kripke states on the commentary was Emmy worthy.
I love every moment of it.
My favorite scene and quote are when Dean asks Lucifer/Sam:
Dean: well go ahead kill me
Lucifer: ( tilts head to look behind Dean at 2014 dead Dean on the ground) gives a slight smirk and says…don’t you think that would be a little redundant?
Love it!