Thoughts on Supernatural 12.15: “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell”
Okay, this is another one of those pieces with a little of this and little of that and the result is a pretty okay episode. The important part of this episode was not so much the meat and bones it offered in and of itself, but rather the groundwork it laid out for the back third of the season, which all told was fairly intriguing.
Brotherly Confessional
Thank goodness this wasn’t another knock-down, drag out battle of hurt, will or even the emotional toil of lies being kept between the brothers. Not to say that doesn’t have it’s place from time to time, but we’ve done that too much in recent years and it was refreshing to move away from that rehash. Sam let Dean know that the jobs they’ve been going on so frequently were not the result of a cleverly designed algorithm/app, but rather at the beck and call of the British Men of Letters with whom Sam has decided to work. Dean reacted…calmly, acceptingly and all-around in an un-Deanlike manner. It was all so curious that I can’t help but thinking – given how quickly everyone in the Winchester clan has jumped aboard this BMoL train, it’s going to crash so hard and fast any day now. Or, Dean’s got something up his sleeve – because he swallowed this so readily. Right? Thoughts?
Heaven’s Playground
Castiel has been invited to play amongst the clouds once again – and by the Gardener Joshua himself. The possibilities that lay before us are….curious. Could we be getting ready to say goodbye to Castiel in the near future? We know he misses Heaven but Sam and Dean are his family.
Frankly, it would be good to have something key for Castiel to do again, in the Celestial sense. Don’t misunderstand – I love him dearly and wouldn’t want him to go anywhere, not too long certainly. But remember the early days in season four, when lights burst and winds roared in his presence. Cas was mission and purpose and power. Now, though much more human in the best of ways (including his love of and loyalty towards the Winchesters), there is a plethora of untapped potential behind blue eyes. Maybe this sandbox offers the first step towards it.
Rightful King
Crowley proved that for all the other doubtful moves he may have made this year – including not putting Lucifer back in that Cage – forethought wasn’t on his list of failures. I have to admit that I underestimated our King in a big way – and was preparing to be disappointed by the Lucifer-escapes-to-Dominate-Hell plot right until the end. Am I the only one pleasantly surprised by the twist of the warded vessel? Truthfully, I was prepared for Crowley to come back and be, well, crucified by Lucifer. This was so much better and was exactly what the original, devious Crowley we know and love would do.
Honestly, I’m not positive about how Lucifer has been used so far, though I’ll never complain about Mark Pelligrino, he’s so much fun when he’s bad! And it was great to watch the minion sycophants puff into the ether, wasn’t it? Perhaps Lucifer is the key to Kelly Klein – or vice versa.
If it’s time to say goodbye to Lucifer, and it seems that maybe we might be headed that way – because he doesn’t have much of a role these days either – then a big, explosive finale sounds like just the ticket – because between Cas, Crowley – and Lucifer too – there are some major players setting up on the board for the finale.
Hellhounds and Happenstance
As stories-of-the-week go, the hellhound can be argued as more of a convenient plot device than anything of worthwhile substance. Then again, the hellhound was an admitted contrivance in a manner of speaking by the demon henchman, so that almost makes it okay. In the end, coupling the visuals throughout the episode – Lucifer’s failed wings, the demon puff – with the Lucifer breakout conspiracy results, the whole thing ultimately turns out pretty decent: the boys wear glasses, calling back to the Trials of way back when and looking great in the process – not to mention the JDM referencing bat.
Final Thoughts
I know, it’s short – painfully short really – as reviews go. Honestly, there isn’t much to say about this episode. Some fun visuals – wings, demon dissolves, hounds of hell – and most importantly, key groundwork for the final piece of the season. What I’m most interested in based on this episode is how everything and everyone will converge around Kelly Klein and Dagon, Mary Winchester and the British MoL in that finale showdown. So, points for holding my attention so thoroughly and starting to build the bridge to end.
Hands up with your theories on the final days of season 12 – comment below!
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