Supernatural Hiatus Hunting: 5.22 – “Swan Song”
Next is the spooky sounds, bloody bodies hanging downward, a trough of blood, Sam is stoically cleaning off the demon knife, and Cas is getting together the blood into plastic jugs. Wow, this is creepy. I know Sam has to justify the means, but this is just so graphic, even for him. Dean is a bystander and he looks really bothered. They come outside, Castiel and Sam carrying four jugs of demon blood to put into the Impala trunk. Dean stops to wipe blood off his cheek and he’s got a bad feeling about this.
Dean decides to check in on Bobby, who’s nearby checking out omens in the back of his van. I’m glad he kept the van, it’s so much cooler than the beat up Chevelle because it looks more bad ass. It can hold more weapons too. Although, the van is a Dodge, so I’m shocked it’s still running (ducks flying objects from Dodge lovers. Both of them.) “I still can’t get used to you at eye level,” Dean jokes to Bobby. Bobby just gives him a wry smile. Bobby wants to know if he was right. “As always Yoda, two stunt demons inside, just like you said.” You’re going to notice many Star Wars type references and themes in this episode. I’ll point them out as I catch them, but I’m thinking Yoda is pretty obvious.
Bobby wants to know if they “got it.” Yep, all the “go juice Sammy can drink.” That mere idea leaves a pit in my stomach, as I’m sure it does Deans. Yeah, because me and a fictional character can so relate like that. “You okay?” Bobby asks Dean. ”Not really,” and he moves on. At least he’s being honest. Bobby doesn’t think he has much, cyclone in Florida, temperature drops in Detroit, wildfires in LA – wait a second, Detroit? Uh oh. Temperature has dropped twenty degrees but only in a five block radius in downtown. ”That’s the one,” Dean says. “Devil’s in Detroit.” Bobby wants to know if he’s sure. I’m shocked, did Dean not share his Detroit story with Bobby? Oh, he’s sure. Both Bobby and Dean look over at Sam, who’s pretty jittery right now. He should be!
Okay, time for another scene that’s going to toy with my emotions. That’s because Kripke is an evil bastard. I swear I need a code word for those strife filled moments that cause me terrible grief. This is probably Kripke getting back at me for all those “Bazingas”I threw at him earlier in the season. Touché, wise one, touché. The Impala drives down the dark road with the van following behind. My guess it that’s the road to Detroit. Castiel is sleeping in the back of the Impala. What, he didn’t want to ride shotgun with Bobby? Dean looks back at Cas. “Aw, isn’t he a little angel?” As cute as it is, Sam points out the disturbingly obvious part of that nap. ”Angels don’t sleep.” I guess the point is, Cas is human now.
This is the prime moment for Sam and Dean to start talking. “Sam, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Dean says. Sam acknowledges he’d be nuts to have a good feeling about this. That’s not Dean’s point. Detroit. Satan always said this would happen in Detroit. “Maybe this is him rolling out the red carpet. Maybe he knows something we don’t.” Sam isn’t stupid about this. “I’m sure he knows a buttload we don’t, but you gotta hope he doesn’t know about the rings.” Sorry Sam, but I imagine that’s going to be impossible to keep from him. If Gabriel knew about it, Lucifer should. Especially since you and Dean just turned up where horseman were and took their rings.
Sam sees this as an opportunity to get in some pressing unfinished business, aka, the dying wish. I grab a Kleenex. “It this thing goes our way, and I Triple Lindy into that box, you know I’m not coming back.” This is where my heart drops into my stomach and I fall apart. Then I laugh a little to stop myself from crying, because the Triple Lindy was an actual dive done by stunt double Rodney Dangerfield in Back To School. It was a triple cannonball in the air. Such a wonderfully absurd moment. But then I get sad again, for we’ve known the tragic outcome of Sam’s plan, but to hear Sam say it, it’s killing me.
What kills me more, Dean is aware, so Sam wants him to promise something. ”You’ve got to promise not to try and bring me back.” Okay, now Dean is upset. That is not what he agreed to. “Your Hell is going to make my tour look like Graceland. You want me to just sit by and do nothing?” Man, that so does not make me feel better. In fact, I’m getting weepy. Sammy, no!!!
“Once the cage is shut, you can’t go poking at it Dean. It’s too risky.” Dean breaks into the nos. “As if I’m going to let you rot in there.” Sam says that’s exactly what he’s going to do. He doesn’t have a choice. “You can’t ask me to do that,” Dean says with raised voice. Which shocks me they haven’t woken up Cas by now. “I’m sorry Dean, you have to,” Sam says. Wow, the no win scenario. This is going to suck. Dean wants to know then what he’s supposed to do. “You go find Lisa. You pray to God she’s dumb enough to take you in, you have barbecues and go to football games. You go live some normal apple pie life Dean. Promise me.” Dean doesn’t take this seriously until he sees the look on Sam’s face. Then he turns back and he’s very troubled. We don’t get an answer, but we know he said yes. The question is, will he keep his promise? We know how Sam is with dying wishes.
Bobby sees demons through binoculars in an old rundown building that looks like some seedier areas of Detroit. It’s pretty dead on except for the Chinese restaurant. There aren’t many of those in town. Greek or Polish would have been more accurate. The caption says “Detroit, Michigan” just in case we don’t know the obvious. Or for those people in other countries that don’t know Detroit is in Michigan and need a geography lesson. For the record, Michigan is a beautiful state. There’s only one blight in that whole state and it’s… Detroit.
Bobby comes in and announces there are demons, at least two dozen of them. Dean was right, something’s up. Dean is NOT happy about being right. Luci is there. Dean briskly walks over to the back of the Impala, leaving Sam to give Bobby the puppy dog eyes of goodbye. The time has come. They stare at each other for a few seconds, and then a distraught Bobby walks over and they both share teary glances. ”See you around kid,” Bobby says and Sam repeats with determination “see you around.” That’s hunter code for “in another life if we’re lucky.”
Dean watches this from the back of the Impala pretty much destroyed on the inside. Even Cas has that angel look of pity that he’s so good at. Bobby gives Sam a huge hug. “When he gets in, you fight him tooth and nail, you understand. Keep swinging. Don’t give an inch.” “Yes sir,” Sam replies, and Bobby walks away to pull himself together. Sam takes in a troubled sigh as does Dean. It’s not making either of them feel better. Sam runs his hand over his face to try and stop himself from busting into tears and turns to Castiel. He holds out his hand. “Take care of these guys, alright?” Castiel looks at him with frustration. “You know I can’t do that.” Oh, poor angel. Not taking this human thing well at all.
Sam sadly smiles and says with shaken voice, “Just humor me.” “You want me to lie?” Castiel asks and before Sam can answer Castiel gives him a fake bravado. “Sure, it’ll be fine.” Sam realizes this is not what he needs to be hearing. ”Just stop talking.” Castiel does and they share an awkward glance before Castiel looks over at one very bothered Dean standing by the open trunk of the Impala. Sam goes over there next with the entire weight of the world on his shoulders, which actually isn’t far from the truth. He stares at the gallons of demon blood and has one simple request for Dean. THIS KILLS ME. “You mind not watching this?” Sam humbly asks. It’s so obvious that what Sam is about to do is going to be very hard on him, but it’s something he can’t do in front of his brother. Dean, still in a foul mood about the whole thing, nods and leaves Sam alone.
The scene does a quick fade in and out, indicating a short time has passed. Dean is sill not happy. Sam slams the trunk door and has somehow managed to stay clean through chugging four gallons of demon blood. He’s got that wild look in his eye and manic disposition. Oh yeah, he’s juiced and ready to go. Sam leads to charge into the street of Chinese restaurants (so no Detroit) and yells “Alright. We’re here you sons of bitches. Come and get it.” Two demons naturally come out and Dean asks if their father is home. So, that earns them the invite upstairs where our favorite rotting evil archangel is there waiting. He’s far more cordial than his goons. “Hey guys, so nice of you to drop in.”It is nice that for an evil overload, he did learn his manners.
Before we go back to Lucifer’s lair, Chuck continues his sweet story about the Impala. The Impala has a few things other cars have and “a few things they don’t.” Cue Sam and Dean with their arsenal in the trunk. Hey, that’s no worse that the bibles she had to haul. ”But none of that stuff’s important. This is the stuff that’s important.” He talks about the time Sam as a young boy stuffed an army man in the ash tray and it’s still stuck there today. Or the legos young Dean that shoved into the vents that to this day rattle when the heat comes on. ”These are the things that make the car theirs.” What’s not spoken but shown is underneath the carpet these boys carved their initials. What they also didn’t show was John smacking the living crap out of them for doing this.
So, because we’re already emotionally spent, why not show to footage from “Devil’s Trap” of the Impala getting smashed with Winchesters in it? Gotta pour salt in those wounds. ”Even when Dean rebuilt her from the ground up, he made sure all these little things stayed. Cause it’s the blemishes that make her beautiful.” Aww, what a sweet story! You are a softie, aren’t you Kripke? So that brings us back to Satan somehow. Moment over. ”The Devil doesn’t know or care what kind of car the boys drive.”
Satan frosts up the window with his breath and draws a pitchfork. I’m not sure why he needs it, but hey, even Satan likes to draw in frosted windows. He reveals the fact that people assume he burns hot, but it’s the opposite. Yeah, that’s good to know for”¦I have no clue. ”Well I’ll alert the media,” Dean says. There’s a good answer! It should be noted that Sam is looking pretty manic right now. Definitely hopped up on demon blood. Jared really had to shift gears a lot in this episode and man did he blow us away! Just about every scene we see a totally different side of Sam and it’s so wonderful. The problem is Jared makes it look seamless by now so I think a lot of people overlooked it when watching at first.
Lucifer lets Dean’s comments pass and is curious as to why they are there. ”I mean stomping through my front door is a tad suicidal, don’t you think?” Manic Sammy lets him know they aren’t there to fight him. He wants to say yes. Lucifer is actually surprised? Really? Didn’t he always say this would happen in Detroit? I absolutely love this next part!!! I’m sure anyone reading reviews of mine knows that I love it when Sam uses his demon powers to kick some serious demon butt. He’s only used them once this season and that was so amazing! This is brief but it shows how very powerful he is by now. It’s awesome. He closes his eyes and the two stunt demons go zap in no time. The only time I remember seeing that is when Lucifer did that to those demons in “Abandon All Hope.” So, WOW! It freaks Dean out.
Lucifer realizes he’s full of Ovaltine, which is funny considering that’s that Azazel called demon blood too. ”You heard me, Yes!” Wow, Sam is really on edge. Lucifer realizes he’s serious. Sam uses the story that judgment day is a runaway train and they just want to get off. Careful Sam, Luci is smarter than that. Sam gives him proposal, let Lucifer have his free ride but when it’s over he lives, Dean lives, he brings his parents back. No, Luci knows the plan. ”Can you please drop the telenovela?” Hee, good reference. Lucifer knows about the rings. Sam tries to play dumb, but that’s rarely worked before and so doesn’t with Satan. ”The horseman’s rings, the magic keys to my cage, ring a bell? Come on Sam I’ve never lied to you, you could at least pay me the same respect.”
We see Dean’s crushed face, for their grand plan has gone south. Sam doesn’t back down though. Lucifer says he’s not mad, probably because he knows it has a snowball’s chance. He is intrigued by the possibilities though. ”A wrestling match inside your noggin, I like the idea.” Sam has that whole ready to burst from rage look about him. Lucifer goes on in great evil villain style, and I must say here that Mark Pellegrino has done an amazing job this season at the ole holy overlord. Thanks for all he’s contributed, but his time is done here. ”Just you and me, one round, no tricks. You win, you jump in the hole, I win, well (evil smile) then I win.” Ha! Just like Samifer in “The End.”
Sam is starting to fray around the edges a bit, Dean looks totally scared. ”What do you say Sam?” Lucifer says closing out his pitch. ”A fiddle of gold against your soul says I’m better than you.” The Devil Went Down To Georgia? Hey, it works. Sam is upset, Dean wants to abandon ship right now but sees Sam is thinking about it. ”So he knows, it doesn’t change anything.” ”Sam,” Dean pleads. ”We don’t have a choice,” Sam replies and Dean is really scared now. ”No,” he begs. Sam pauses and Dean looks at Lucifer freaking out while Lucifer gives them a smug stare. ”Yes,” Sam says. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Lucifer does his thing and the bright light of angelic body swapping happens. Dean closes his eyes, which perplexes me since he had no trouble with Zachariah. Not nitpicking other episodes though. Castiel and Bobby see the bright light and hear the angel screeching from outside the window and what a great shot. They give each other an “oh shit!” kind of look. That’s a proper reaction.
The light goes down and the only man standing is a stunned Dean while Sam and now empty Nick vessel are unconscious on the floor. Dean comes to his senses, pulls the rings out of his pocket, throws them on the wall and does his awesome Enochian chanting with his hand out. So, the mystery of the preview picture has been explained, as is why Sam is unconscious on the floor. The wall opens in a swirling vortex, just in time for Samifer (what I’ll refer to them in the scenes from now on) to come to. So far Sam is still in control and yells in an Oscar worthy performance that he can feel him inside. Yes, the Oscar worthy performance thing is our clue. Dean is buying it though and yells for him to go now. Samifer’s lovely long hair is flopping everywhere in the wind as he fights himself tooth and nail over to the entrance.
Yeah, as you all have figured out by now, we’re only twenty minutes in. So Samifer is going to jump in the hole, right? Hee, I knew none of you were fooled. Suddenly Sam’s strife filled face goes evil and he turns around to face one horrified Dean. ”I was just messing with you,” Samifer boasts. ”Sammy’s long gone.” Then Samifer does the reverse Enochian spell, and how many times have I said how wonderful Jared sounds with he does these languages? I know, lots. It helps that it’s more commanding since he’s now the evil overlord.
The hole closes and Samifer grabs the rings from the wall. This is his chance to rub it in and boy does he! He examines the rings, which close up look like a poorly welded together prop (low budget, they get a pass) and then looks up at one angry Dean with that mocking pity. ”I told you, this would always happen in Detroit.” Dean looks at him like he’s trying not to lose it, so Samifer explodes him to bits. Nah, just messing. Something worse as far as Dean’s concerned. Samifer disappears with the rings, leaving him all alone with three corpses. So, now Dean loses it and final shot is him grasping his head with his tear filled eyes. Oh Dean! I go upstairs and take a long breather, for there’s so much more and these guys have already made me their weepy bitch.
FYI – The recap is missing from page 2. Will be back when it reappears! Page 1 was great, a relief from the moaning and groaning of the other comments at the “news”.
A truly epic episode; it doesn’t get any better than this. And Bevie is right, I think Page 2 is broken.
I started watching live in early S8 and went back to watch the entire series from the beginning. Afterwards, when dipping my toes in to some of the fandom sites (particularly TWFB) during S8 winter hiatus, went back to read a lot of the old reviews and couldn’t believe the reaction was as mixed as it was, and people were giving Eric Kripke grief about this episode. In retrospect, I couldn’t imagine it ending any other way.
Well, damn, if just reading this hasn’t made me want to bawl. It’s amazing how nearly five years down the line, an episode can still pull at the heartstrings so effectively, and that’s without even having watched it!
A lovely trip down memory lane, and a nice tribute to one of the best episodes they ever made. Thank you.
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