Mallena’s Musings: Supernatural 13.06 “Tombstone”

For this article, I decided to stir things up a bit.  I’m in a weird mood, so I’m doing some very strange and random musings at the end of my Supernatural review.  You’re welcome.

I’m not the biggest fan of this episode; it starts with a cold open that doesn’t add to the drama, but detracts from it.  Sam and Dean found out that Castiel’s alive, so instead of going straight there, we have to watch Dean and an unknown fellow in a graveyard.  To make the early scenes even more banal, this happens: “Oh Cas, you’re back.”  Hug, hug.  “Now, let’s go get Jack and work a case.”  That’s it, really?  We’ve had so many deaths and resurrections on this show; some of them get me blubbering like nobody’s business, but this time I’d like to quote the musical, A Chorus Line :

Six months later I heard that Karp had died. And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul…and cried.  Cause I felt nothing.

Sorry, folks, but that’s how I feel about Castiel’s death and return.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed him for many a season.  It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve realized that he’s not contributing very much to my enjoyment of the show.  I miss all the variations of Cas that we used to have and I hope that his story becomes more interesting.  It might be that Dabb has many twists, turns, thrills, chills, and epic moments for our angel buddy in the coming months.  Right?  Maybe?

I do enjoy Dean’s antics, up to a point, though many of them almost seem like caricatures of Dean Winchester.  Sleeping with his gun, being grumpy over coffee, fanboying about the western memorabilia – they seem old hat, somehow.  Jensen does look good in western wear, I’ll admit to that. I’m not thrilled with the idea that Dean’s all better now because he got his angel friend back.  “Whoopdy frigging doo,” as they say on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

I did like it when he climbed in that hole in the ground – now that was very amusing.  There’s no way that I’d have done it.  Just the thought of getting stuck and not being able to get out…that scares me almost as much as possibly meeting that ghoul around a bend.  Dean’s brave, though.  We learned in “Jump the Shark” that Dean’s good at earthen tunnels and finding ghouls.  Sam digs around a gravesite with his bare hands for a clue.  I have a clue for him:  wear gloves next time, eww. The monster this time is just okay, but I did enjoy the fellow who helps Dean.  If the show’s going to separate Sam and Dean, at least they gave us someone interesting.  It’s not the same as our boys, though.

After a shoot-out, in which Sam and Dean couldn’t hit the side of a barn, we get poor Jack feeling terrible that a security guard unwisely stepped into his line of fire.  That’s definitely an accident; if that guard had just stayed back, he would have been fine. It’s a miracle that no one else is hit by stray bullets.  On a cop show I watched, they had an episode where a man fires a gun into the air to scare off a car thief, and the bullet kills a man a block over. Bullets were flying everywhere, but like when Sam and Dean trash a motel room fighting, no one seems to be anywhere nearby.

I’m sad that Jack thinks so little of himself and that he can only think about the bad things he’s done, not all the good he’s done and could still do.  Huh, that reminds me of someone.

Oh, yeah.  Sam’s in this episode, too.  He looks nice when he’s all a-sleeping.

Jack’s reunion with Cas is sweet, but I’m rolling my eyes at the ending.  Did Jack get lessons in avoidance from Mary?  Jack didn’t want to risk hurting Sam, Dean, or Castiel – so, I guess he’s going to take the chance of hurting strangers that he comes across in his travels, instead.  Oh, well.

Random Musings with Bonus Songs for Castiel

I’m reminded of City Slickers (1991) when I watch this western-themed episode of Supernatural.  It’s like we send Dean Winchester to an Old West dude ranch.  He finds his smile as he travels with his returned friend, the Angel “I don’t sleep at all” Castiel, young “I don’t sleep much” Jack, and Sam “I love watching him sleep” Winchester.  (That last quote’s mine.) 

Here’s a song I wrote for Castiel: (set to the tune of “Oh Christmas Tree.”)

Oh Castiel, Oh Castiel,

Why’d you have come back so quickly?

Oh Castiel, Oh Castiel,

We never had time to properly miss thee.

And we’re afraid that you will get between

The epic brotherhood of Sam and Dean.

Oh Castiel, Oh Castiel,

Please pray to Chuck for better writing.

When Jack said, “You’re afraid of me,” I immediately thought of Anthony Fremont from The Twilight Zone.  I love the old series, but I really love the movie version that was produced in 1983.  “Kick the Can” and “It’s a Good Life” with Kathleen Quinlan as Helen Foley, were my favorite segments.  In this version, Helen decides to take Anthony on the road with her.  She’s going to teach him to do good things, instead of bad.  Just don’t get him angry, Helen, if you don’t want to see something really scary.

I’ve modified this song in Castiel’s honor:

Little Dean had an angel that they wouldn’t let him keep

So, he put him up for sale at a price he thought was cheap

He took him to a neighbor to ask him for advice

He said, “Leave Castiel here. He can help me smite the mice.

But the Cas came back, he wouldn’t stay away

He was sitting on the porch the very next day

The Cas came back, he didn’t want to roam

The very next day it was Home, Sweet Home.

Then Dean met a man who was driving way out West

He would take Castiel along as a special honored guest

The steering wheel was wobbly, he drove into a tree

The car was just a total wreck as anyone could see

But the Cas came back, he wouldn’t stay away

He was sitting on the porch the very next day

Castiel came back, he didn’t want to roam

The very next day it was Home, Sweet Home.

So, Sammy bought a gun from the Human Cannonball

He put Castiel inside with Tri-Nitro Alcohol

When he pulled the trigger, the cannon made a roar

The neighbors all surrendered ’cause they thought it was a war

But the Cas came back, he wouldn’t stay away

He was sitting on the porch the very next day

Castiel came back, he didn’t want to roam

The very next day it was Home, Sweet Home.

Then Sammy gave the Cas to a man who had a bomb

When he took Castiel away, he was acting cool and calm

And then the bomb exploded, it made an awful sound

They searched and searched for ages but the man was never found

But the Cas came back, he wouldn’t stay away

he was sitting on the porch the very next day

Castiel came back, he didn’t want to roam

The very next day it was Home, Sweet Home.

This song is a popular children’s and folk tune which has evolved from a song of the same name written by Harry S. Miller in 1893.  This version of the song was featured on The Muppet Show.

Athena reminds me of Geena Davis, quite a bit.  This picture is from one of my favorite movies, A League of Their Own.

Dean wears a string tie called a bolo.  My dad wore those all the time when I was growing up.  He was born in Montana just before the Great Depression and died in Utah almost 85 years later.  My dad always said that he loved his string ties because he never could figure out how to tie the other ones, very well.

I’d also like to invite you to watch this gem of a slideshow, which was written/produced/directed by Alice Jester:

https://thewinchesterfamilybusiness.com/articles/article-archives/slideshows/18275-the-winchester-family-business-short-attention-span-theater-presents-castiel-s-lament

Th, th, th, that’s all folks!

—-Mallena

Image courtesy of news.uark.edu