Sofia’s Review: Supernatural 9.06 “Heaven Can’t Wait”

This show lives to toy with my emotions. I’ve been worried about Cass ever since Dean sent him on his way and when I saw the previews for this episode I was glad to see Cass adjusting to human life. He found himself a job at the Gas-n-sip so at least he had a source of income. No more accepting sandwiches from reapers in back alleys. That’s a step in the right direction.

And he seemed fairly content at the start of the episode; working hard, studying human interactions, becoming friendly with his boss. Of course it broke my heart to find out that he was sleeping on the floor in the back room and the only clothes he owns are the ones on his back. Come on, Dean! Give the guy a little money before you send him on his way. Maybe set him up with one of your many credit cards.

But the hits didn’t stop there either. The one bright spot in Castiel’s otherwise monotonous life was the chemistry between him and his manager. He was pretty proud of himself after she asked him out. It was kind of adorable. The whole scene with Dean helping Cass get ready and offering him pointers gave me a serious case of the feels. And then they crushed my heart. I really did not see that babysitting job coming. Did anyone suspect it? How could you? She clearly asked him out!

Thankfully, the babysitting job ended up giving Cass a new perspective. (And it gave us the sweetest rendition of ‘Believe it or Not” ever.) Cass began to realize what it must be like for these angels to be cast down to Earth, many of them for the first time.

Cass: “Nobody explains, you’re just shoved out kicking and screaming into this human life. You don’t have any idea why it feels the way it feels. This confusion…it just feels like it’s a hairs-breadth from terror or pain. You know, just when you think you understand how it will turn out you’re wrong; you didn’t understand anything at all. I guess that’s just how it is when you’re new at this. “

I’m glad Cass has realized that he has some responsibility here. It’s not his fault that the angels fell, but they are here now and many of them are lost. Cass has a few years of experience under his belt and if he could find a way to show these confused angels the ropes I think he could save some lives. My only concern, and it’s a big one,  is that most of these angels want Cass dead. So why would they take the time to listen to him? You would think that since Cass lost his grace and is completely human the other angels would see that he couldn’t have been in on Metatron’s plan to close Heaven’s gates. I guess you can’t reason with angels!

According to Crowley, our little feathered friends aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe in irreversible circumstances. Not on this show where the dead come back to life and people travel through time. I think Crowley’s bluffing. Why? I don’t know. Maybe just to be an ass. But I think he may have an endgame in mind.

It was clear from his “bad connection” and his conversation with Abaddon that he is quickly losing control of Hell and all his loyalists. Abaddon is changing the rules, collecting on deals before their time and pretty much doing whatever she wants. Crowley can’t possibly take her on alone. So I find myself wondering if he has a plan for these angels. Maybe he wants to pit them against Abaddon and the demons and swoop in to take over when the damage is done? Who knows? Crowley is bag of mysteries. And that’s why we love to hate him so much.

Speaking of mysteries, what was he doing with that blood at the end of the episode? I had to actually rewind to try and figure out whose blood it was. I’m still a little unclear as to how he got the blood in the first place. At first I thought maybe it was Sam’s purified blood and Crowley was trying to finish the spell to cure himself. But Sam never drew any blood from what I could see. So I assume it has to be Kevin’s blood. Afterall, Crowley made a big stink about wanting a little variety. But why would he inject himself with Kevin’s blood? Is it pure because he’s a prophet? Or does it contain some other benefits we don’t know about? Is Crowley a human blood junkie now?  I am so intrigued by this turn of events but I really have no idea where it’s going. Any guesses?

One thing that really surprised me about this episode was that it turned out to be kind of a monster-of-the-week scenario. When I saw previews and heard about exploding angels I assumed we were talking about angels possessing unsuitable vessels. We found out earlier this season that not everyone is vessel material. And if you’re not, you explode. So I was surprised to learn about Ephraim, an angel who follows pain and “relieves” it.

While I was surprised that this episode turned out to be more of a monster-of-the-week format, I was not disappointed by it. As is usually the case, these seemingly self-contained episodes typically help us figure out something about our boys. In this case, the story served to help us realize the pain and confusion that Cass is experiencing. It also helped him realize his desire to help rather than go on trying to be a normal human. I wonder what his next step will be? Will he keep working at the Gas-n-sip? Or will he go off on his own?

Dean encouraged Cass to live his life and let Dean and Sam figure out the angel stuff. And it did really seem like Dean was happy to have Cass safe. I just can’t help but remember that some of Dean’s resistance is stemming from Zeke. If Cass comes around, Zeke is going to take off, and where will that leave Sam? I am dying to know what Cass would think of this situation. It can’t be long now before someone finds out, right?

Overall I really enjoyed this episode! We got to see Cass and Kevin who I’ve been missing in these past episodes. We also got a little bit of interesting movement on the Abaddon/Crowley front. I’m interested in seeing how these angel and demon storylines intersect as the season goes on! The promo for next week also looks fun. Could it be? A good old fashioned ghost hunt?

As usual I have some stray thoughts and quotes worth mentioning.
Cass: “High…five…” So awkward.

Can someone explain the relationship between the Cuneiform and the Elamites? They totally lost me in the explanation of Kevin’s tablet translation.

It was kind of refreshing having some solo Sam and Dean time. I obviously love when they’re together and would prefer that 90% of the time. But every now and then it’s fun to see them flying solo. And I like to think it gave Sam and Kevin some good bonding time which I love.

I was so grossed out once we found out what the pink spray was. (Blood, skin, hair, nails, internal organs…) Yuck.  

Dean: “I’d like a pack of menthols and some beef jerky.”

Cass: “When I fell to Earth I didn’t just lose my powers. I had nothing.”

Sam: I don’t know, last time we met she was pretty terrifying; scarier than you’ve been in years.”
While I loved this line, I still don’t think Abaddon is scarier than Crowley. Crowley is cold and calculated and would never be foolish enough to underestimate the Winchesters.

Crowley throwing the paper ball at Sam’s face actually made me laugh out loud.

Dean: “I’ve never had powers.”
Cass: “You are a hunter.”
Dean: “You’re a hunter in training.”
Cass: “You said I sucked.”
Aw, poor Cass! Not that Dean was wrong, he did kind of suck.  

Dean: “If she says she’s happy to go Dutch, she’s lying.”
Wise words Dean Winchester, wise words.

I was so impressed with Castiel’s quick thinking when he used the rose thorns to make himself bleed so he could draw the angel banishing sigil. Too bad it didn’t work.

Crowley: “You think you can control Hell with chaos alone?”

Ephraim: “By choosing a human life, you already gave up. You chose death.”

Crowley calls Kevin “Short Round”. A nice shout-out to Jared’s season 8 blooper. If you haven’t watched the gag reel, I highly recommend it. It’s hilarious.