Recap – “Hammer of The Gods”
Sam and Dean are back in their room and needless to say, rattled as hell. “Okay, did that, Holy crap!” Dean says. Now you’re talking proper gibberish Dean. Sam decides to throw this moment in his face. “By the way, next time I say let’s keep driving, let’s keep driving.” Dean agrees that for next time, but they’re in a mess now. Sam wonders what they do next . Dean suggests rescuing the people in the freezer and gank a few a freaks along the way if they’re lucky. “And when are you ever lucky?” It’s Gabriel, now on the sofa. Those angels get the best appearances.
“You know what, bite me Gabriel,” Dean says. “Maybe later,” quips Gabriel. Hah! Those two need a room. Dean thinks this situation has Gabe’s stink all over it and he denies it. “I’m the Costner to your Houston.” Hmm, interesting metaphor. He’s there to save them. “You want to pull us out of the fire?” Dean asks. “Bingo,” Gabe answers. Those guys are either going to dust them or use them as bait. They’re “overboned.” Is that a word? It’s not even in the Urban Dictionary. Dean brings up Gabe’s message from “Changing Channels” that he wanted them to play their roles. He’s “overboning” them.
Gabe says the end is still happening, Michael and Lucifer are going to “dance the Lambada.” Interesting. I took them more to be Tango people. Not tonight, not there. Why does he care? He claims he doesn’t, but he and Kali, uh, “had a thing.” Oh, so he wants to save Kali. I’ll accept that reason. “The chick was all hands.” Ha! Good joke. He admits to being sentimental. Sam doesn’t care about that. He’s still too uptight about the whole meat suit thing. “Do they have a chance, against Satan?” Dean doesn’t like the suggestion. “You got a better idea Dean?” Gabriel looks at him seriously. “It’s a bad idea. Lucifer’s going to turn them into fingerpaint.” That’s another good analogy. I guess they were saving all the good ones for Gabe.
He wants to get them out of there and Dean is ready for him to zap them away. He would if he could, but Kali has them by the “short and curlies.” Yikes! That’s an image I don’t need in my head. It’s a blood spell. They’re on a leash. Dean wants to know what that means. “It means it’s time for a little of the old, black magic.” He pulls out some breath spray. Really Gabe? She’s so cold. She’s not your type. You need someone more…I don’t know…fun.
Dean wants to take the “hors d’ouvres” in the freezer with them. Gabe hates the idea. It’s going to be hard enough to get them out of there. Oh, but Dean’s thinking. They called him Loki, which means they don’t know who he is. Gabe reminds them he’s in witness protection. Dean threatens to reveal to “The Legion of Doom his secret identity” if he doesn’t do what they ask. “They don’t seem like a pro-angel type of crowd.” “I’ll take your voices away,” Gabe threatens. “We’ll write it down,” Dean says. “I’ll cut off your hands, ” replies Gabe. “Well the people are going to be asking ‘why are you guys running around with no hands?'” Dean wins. This episode got WAY more interesting when these three are put together. Awesome stuff. Gabe stares down Dean, then Sam who throws a glare at him in support of Dean. “Fine,” he says irritated.
Kali is in the bedroom removing that red shirt to reveal the black bra underneath. What happened to unpretty Goddesses with sagging boobs? The lights go out, the candles light by themselves and there’s Gabriel standing with a leer and a rose. He greets her in French, she tells him to leave. He acknowledges she always did play hard to get. She moved on and he mocks her for choosing Baldur. I agree with him there. What a tool. She calls in uncomplicated. Yep, tool.
Sam and Dean are freely walking the lobby (?) and hear the man from the restaurant screaming. They duck around the corner and the man is being dragged to the front desk, where the Gods are holding him down and fat oriental God is holding a cleaver. He sees Dean and pleads for help but Sam…uh…stops him? “It’s too late?” It is??? Since when? Then Dean actually listens to Sam? Huh? What happened to the saving people thing? Let me see, what was that code word I used for extreme out of character moments? Oh, that’s right. Bazinga!
Back to Kali and Gabe, who is pouring champagne. He’s trying to woo a spiteful Hindu God with drink? She calls him pathetic. It ends up she’s the one that called him there, because she thought he’d take it seriously. Oh, he does. “I’m taking this seriously. Ship sinking, time to get off.” She doesn’t think it has to be like that but he’s afraid it does. “If we fight-” she says, “you die,” Gabriel answers. She wants to know what makes him an expert. He claims to have tussled with “those winged ass-monkeys once or twice.” Yeah, probably more than that. He grabs her hand and sincerely begs her to not do this. She claims she has to which makes Gabriel really sad. Aw, he does care for her. He sees that she’s not going to budge and asks her to not blame him for trying. “Still love me?” “No,” she says. She grabs him and they kiss passionately. Aww, the Trickster is in wuv.
Back to Sam and Dean trying to rescue the other humans from the fridge. Zao dude grabs Dean and throws him into a rack. Then he chokes Sam, thwarting his lock picking attempt. Back to Gabe and Kali who are making out and while doing so he tries to grab the vials of Sam and Dean’s blood. It cuts between that and Sam getting choked. Kali pulls out a knife and knicks Gabe in the neck. Dean somehow finds a wooden stake (???) and gets big choking dude through the heart. He falls and Sam is released. Dean wants to know where Gabriel is. He’s busy with other things, like Kali figuring it all out. “You must take me for a fool, Gabriel.” She holds up her bloody hand. “You’re bound to me, now and forever.”
Instead of fading to commercial, there’s the…Ghostfacers? The screen distorts some more and sure enough there’s Harry and Ed. “Ghostfacers!” they scream into the camera. Then the opening logo and them song from the “Ghostfacers” episode roll. It’s the whole crew from the Webisodes. Then there’s Harry and Ed offering their warning. “If you’re dead, you better stay dead. Because if not, we’re gonna kill you.” The logo comes up announcing the web series on CWTV.com. For those in the US, check it out! You know, that promo is actually funnier and way better than this whole episode so far! Way to shake things up CW.
Sam and Dean are again dragged into the ballroom but this time Gabriel is there, rolling his eyes. “How long have you known?” He asks Kali. “Long enough,” she claims. Sam and Dean are thrown into chairs next to Gabe, whose looking mighty uncomfortable. “How’s the rescue going?” Dean asks. He gets a sarcastic smile from Gabe in response. Kali announces to everyone The Trickster has tricked them. He begs Kali to don’t do this, but she’s still hung up on the fact he’s hers now. They she gets all sexy, because that’s what happens when you’re a great looking God with awesome power, throwing herself all over an archangel because there’s something she wants.
Oh there, she found it. It’s his archangel’s blade. That he just happens to keep in his jacket. Ooookaaaayy. Good thing for her, huh? “From the archangel Gabriel.” Oh boy, I’m stunned (sarcasm there). At least Gabe has a proper answer. “Okay, okay, so I’ve got wings. Like kotex.” That’s a poor line coming from a man. Notice how Sam and Dean just watch all this in the background like wallpaper and Sam is looking very uneasy. Dude needs some sleep. Just to show you how boring this episode is to me, I’m suddenly visualizing Sam and Dean a la Big Trouble in Little China taking some magic potion that makes them feel happy. An invincible. Maybe season seven if we’re lucky.
Hey Alice,
OK, you have some very good points. I too thought Dean’s talk to Gabriel about killing his brother was WAY out of character.
However, the whole Gabriel buys the farm and then tells the boys about the ring thing….well.
Have you ever been under pressure and rationalized an idea to yourself that, given more time and clearer thinking you would not have done?
Or, look at it this way. Lucifer has always been stronger than Gabe. He knows it. (back before Lucifer ended up in his box, you can just picture it….Gabe being all, I’m a bad ass angel, and Lucifer grabbing him in a headlock and giving Gabe a nuggie going all “awe, you’re so cute little bro”…)
Then Luci ends up in a change, the tension at home is MASSIVE and Gabe books it for witness protection. Now he’s down with the humans, he’s stronger than all of them and he gets to know them the way NONE of this brothers have.
I think Gabe really had no idea what he was up against. Sure, he talked like he did, but I think it was all a front. He hasn’t had dealing with his brother in millenia. He would have an idea of what to expect, but he probably wasn’t really in the know any more than the Winchesters. I think it that he may have convinced himself that it was more likely he could take Lucifer out then the boys succeeding in getting the rest of the rings and getting Lucifer back in his cage.
I also agree with what Pete has said. Gabriel needed to get off the fence and stand up for himself.
And he did. In fine fashion. He will be missed.
Yes, Alice, even when you don’t particularly like an episode you do a great recap. Thanks.
Now the euphoria’s worn off some this one does look a bit shonky … Some good moments, especially at the end, but the Gods were all rather bargain basement. For the record Baldur was a D-list cutie whose sole claim to fame was that he was killed by his brother – Maybe that’s why they chose him and not Thor or someone more interesting. Odin did go in for hanged sacrifices, animal and human, but the whole canibalism thing was just a lot of cheap yuk-moments to fill out the story.
It might just be wishful thinking but I don’t think the Trickster’s going to stay dead. ( I mean, who does? ) The only God to go unsmushed was his not-entirely-ex-sweetie-pie who scampered off to parts unknown with a vial of his blood and mythology is loaded with characters who die and then get regenerated from their own toenails or whatever ( Osiris and, er … lots of others I’ll remember in a minute … ) So who knows? I really, really hope he does pop up again further down the line. He was great, and if they keep chopping throught the regulars at this rate there’ll be no-one left to to f*ck up the guys in S6!
Why did Gabriel have to die? I think the answer seems simple (I still hope it’s not, I always loved the multilayered complexity of the show) – the myth arc has to come to a close, angels have to go, respectively have to be killed off. That’s how it appears to be (again: hoping to be proved wrong, though, there’s one particular angel I’d like to see again – and I would have loved to see more or Richard Spreight Jr., I loved his character, my fave pain in the ass).
Why didn’t Gabriel with his knack for survival and hedonism come to the brothers, tell them how to get Lucifer into his cage and help them do it? That would have also been standing up to his brother in the end, but with a realistic chance (well, maybe) to perhaps survive the confrontation. Except – Gabriel was suicidal and hoped to be killed by his brother. His speech about humankind shows a different state of mind, though. He would have been more useful to the brothers alive, this sacrifice was senseless. He could have left his double to confront Lucifer while leaving with the Winchesters.
Initially I wasn’t crazy about this episode, but I kinda liked it. After reading your review on blogcritics I was having second thoughts, watched it again, and now I think I agree in many aspects with you.
Some things also bothered me, after re-watching it – the Gods, for instance. What kind of assembly was that? One of the Big Norse Kahunas, Odin and Baldur also? , but Ganesh (and if he was there, why was Kali also present, one Hindu God might have been enough)? The Roman Gods sent Mercury, probably to report to Jupiter (had it been the Greeks we would have seen Hermes here)… and what about the other religions?
I know, this might be a bit geeky here (or nerdy?) but why were some religions twice represented and other were not? A Voodoo guy, and Zao Shen but no other ones? Really cool would have been to bring Osiris into the mix (the guy certainly would not like to give his underworld thing to Lucifer, eh?) or some other goddess… there are so many religions out there. We never really heard of those, but now they’re brought up, shortly before the apocalypse?
The writers try to save this with Kali’s Western-arrogance speech, and I agree with you, Alice, poorly done. This was no goddess, more a whiny teen (I’m thinking ‘evil’ Galadriel when it comes to the goddess I would have loved to see here). None of the ‘gods’ actually convinced me to be a powerful, immortal being. This was a wanting Clash of the Titans impression.
And I agree with you Alice, several ‘Bazinga’ moments here – due to the writers who are not so familiar with the characters? What was this episode intended for? A filler before the real end begins? A means to get rid off another angel?
What did I like – well, I don’t mind watching the guys do their thing, as I just love the characters, even when an episode is not exactly the best one, but am disappointed when out of character moments happen. Same goes for Dean being his old self (just like that, as I said before, that was not authentic, to my mind) and Sam… well, that I bought more, as he might just be freaked out with Lucifer approaching, still in mind Dean’s open voiced mistrust concerning the matter. I still believe, Lucifer will ‘wear Sam to the prom’ (I would just love to see Jared play that again! I’m hungry for some great acting, always guilty of that), and I think deep down Sam believes that, too.
I loved Lucifer’s demonstration of power – we had not been informed before how powerful he exactly is. This is one scary dude. I loved the confrontation (minus the killing) of Lucifer and Gabriel and Gabriels I-believe-in-humanity speech. Hated him being killed off so senselessly, though.
Loved your recap, Alice. It’s always like watching an episode again. I concur with the other comments – even when you don’t like an episode, you give us a fine recap, and that’s what a good writer should be able to do. Kudos to you.
Best , Jas
One of the finest Simpsons lines ever!
To play devil’s advocate a few times, I get the whole save the world thing, but Sam and Dean versus a bunch of gods? Though I was disappointed that both Norsemen weren’t more hardass than they should have been.
To riff on Jas’ geekery, and this is only speculation, I assume that in the SPN cosmology, the power of a god or goddess rises and falls based on how much he/she/it is worshiped, prayed to, etc. Consider how weak they are compared to the minions of the largest cult on earth.
Plus, world serpents and turtles are far more interesting than monotheism, plus plus you’d be a bit bummed too if you had hypocritical Jesusheads running around fucking up your minions for centuries. This is why we’re lucky Ohio doesn’t have any. 😉
One thing I do agree with you is, where the hell is Raphael? Um, one of the archangels, might want to give him at least one more scene.
And nothing amps up the angst-o-meter like killing off a legitimate hero. I wouldn’t call his death senseless. Remember, he’s not shying away from the hubris either, been hoisting own petards for centuries. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he honestly thought he could knock Lucifer off. The Winchesters’ stubborn humanism rubbed off on him, and hell, he *was* shocked when Lucifer wasn’t fooled by his illusions.
Bugs? Seriously? I enjoyed this episode (though yeah, a few moments upon second reflection were a tad Bazinga-y perhaps) but at least you write the best recaps around or we’d have to go Simpsons again:
“Hey you, let’s fight!”
“Them’s fightin’ words!” 😀
Hi Alice,
Great recap! I too was crushed that Gabriel died – he wsa my favourite recurring character (followed by Chuck). Regarding the illogic of Gabe trying to kill Lucifer despite knowing about the rings – to me, it seemed that he was forced into that confrontation because Lucifer had Kali and the boys. Gabriel wanted to get them away, but had he gone with them, Lucifer would have been hot on their heels without anyone to distract/hold him off. I don’t think Gabriel expected to win – hence the dvd plan b – but he took a shot and if by some miracle he defeated Lucifer, all the better. I sincerely hope we seem Gabriel again – even if the storyline has to be brought to an end (which begs the question – what about Cas?!?!? He HAS to stay!!!) I’m sure the super clever minds behind this show could find a new way to use him.
Thanks for the recap!
T-minus 8 hours to episode 20!
Have to agree with the rest here Alice. Even when you don’t like an episode your review is still great and this one was really amusing.
I hated hated hated that they killed off my favourite antagonist the Trickster! Will really miss his irony and sarcasm something fierce. You perished being a real hero Gabe and will not be forgotten. (and hopefully be brought back sometime in the future. Perhaps Dad will take pity on his wayward son and being him back like he did Cas).
It was a relief to me to see Dean seem like his old self again. He even looked years younger. So good to see him smile again and get to eat his pie. Dean happy (or not entirely in despair) makes me happy. Sammy was a little bit of a wet blanket here, but then he’s not getting enough sleep and wore himself out last episode trying to fix his brother.
Rather than looking forward to the next episodes, I find myself only worrying about the safety of Bobby and Cas. The writers are hell bent on desiccating the cast of this show and I feel like mourning even though I presume our boys will triumph. And I have NO DESIRE to see either one of them being mere meat suits for Luci and Mike. I hope they stay human and that Team Free Will will be victorious in the end.
At the shallow end of the pool, didn’t they look gorgeous soaking wet at the start of the episode? Woohoo! 😉
BTW, just because everything seems to mean something on this show, I looked up the name of the motel on good old Wikipedia….
The Elysian Fields Motel
In Greek mythology, the Elysian Fields in Elysium were the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous.
Of course. 🙂
Just popping in quickly to say that I have to agree with you about this episode, Alice, though perhaps not as vehemently. I didn’t particularly care for it, mostly because the concept was really cool, but the execution not so much.
And I think what they were saying was “uberboned” not “overboned.”
Lastly, while I did think Dean’s asking Gabriel to kill his brother was a bit harsh, I’m not so sure how out of character it was for him since we’ve seen over and over again that he has an incredible double standard when it comes to his brother. At the very least he could have used a better argument.
I see that Dean’s “can’t or won’t” bothered many viwers, as it well should. I was one that found this comment very weird coming from Dean. But someone at another site commented that actually Dean was asking Gabriel the following question: ‘So you can’t kill YOUR brother, but you expect me or Sam to do it?’ This makes more sense when you come to think of it.
I’m thinking there’s no way they killed of Gabe for no reason. I feel like something like this went down:
Writer 1: (insert great idea here) But you know what that means.
Writer 2: We’re gonna have to kill off Gabe.
Writer 1: …
Writer 2: …
Writer 1: Well, fuck. No one’s gonna like that.
I agree that Dean was more commenting on the fact that everyone expects him and Sam to kill each other if it comes down to it, but everyone else is reluctant? Eh.
And oh goodness, I love Lucifer to pieces. Of course he’s evil and stuff, but I find him the most interesting thing either. When he showed up on earth he was so gung-ho, he was like “I’m gonna get this done, yeah!” and now he’s like “nothing’s going my way…UGGH” and killing people left and right and north.
I think this was a filler episode to the max. They had the issue of the other religions nagging at them and they needed to show how powerful Lucifer is and kill off Gabe before whatever’s gonna go down is gonna go down in the next three episodes and they were like “let’s just get it over with.” It’s like a whole episode of exposition…bet the writers drew straws for it. And overall, this isn’t a bad episode. It’s just relatively, compared to the run of intense awesome ones we’ve had, slow and boringish.
Loved your review Alice. Yes, I agree with all the ‘out-of-character’ moments you stated for the boys. Just couldn’t believe the boys would let someone be killed while they watched! So not SPN. Sam’s faces as Dean launched his plan, and when Luci appeared were SO Sam though, and Dean hitting on Kali….kind of nice to see his old ways again….even though she did him a favor by cutting him off. No way is she in Dean’s league. 😀
So you think she released them from the blood spells off camera? I hope so…as she is still alive, still upset about Luci and now, hopefully, upset about Gab’s death, I can see her wanting to keep a foot-in-the- door with the boys too.
Yes, it didn’t make sense to me that Gab would challenge his bro knowing about the rings. Really I don’t like bro vs. bro violence. Gab should have given Luci his speech, and left with the boys. No need to kill a sibling. But in all honesty, the writers have been inconsistent like this more than once this season. Hopeful this will end in season 6.
I really enjoyed this episode. As for Gab fans, myself included, God brought Cass back, and he can do it with Gab too… Here’s hoping!