I suppose we all had some forewarning that Castiel would be going away, especially when Misha Collins was cut as a regular. But now that he has gone into that obliterated pile of black goo at the bottom of a Kansas retention pond, his demise is starting to sink in a bit. Sera Gamble has even confirmed that Castiel is indeed dead, but we know that in Supernatural that doesn't mean he's truly gone. Yet, we are left with a hole, and perhaps a lot of sorrow depending on what fan you ask.
Call this a fan memorial service. Picture if you will a happy place, perhaps the peaceful garden in Heaven where the autistic man is flying the bright, beautiful kite on a Tuesday afternoon. It's a sunny day, the bloody trenchcoat is floating in the center, and everyone is gathered in a circle to share their fondest memories of this wayward angel that in the end had no freaking idea what he was getting into when he was sent to Hell and Earth to save Dean Winchester.
I'll go first.
"Castiel, you had our attention from the word go. We "little ants" as you angels like to call us never saw giant dark angel wings before and we were certainly in awe. You saw something in Dean so yes, we liked you. Great minds think alike! Quite frankly at the time, we were hoping some being like you would come along and shake up things a bit. Things were getting quite dull with just the demons running amok. I mean, what would Star Wars have been with just the stormtroopers?
We know that your true form was the size of the Chrysler building, yet there was something endearing about your vessel choice, tax accountant on the edge. That thin tie never did sit quite right, did it? When it came to life on earth you were childlike, never quite grasping all our concepts, but that's what made you so special. We could laugh at your little irregularities, like not understanding personal space and missing every single pop culture reference that Sam and Dean threw at you. I don't know how many mishaps have happened in my living room when I spit out my drink after hearing your deadpan words like, "She's Glenn Close," and "He's not on any flatbread." Oh, despite the desperation of the situation, you kept it light, even when you didn't realize it.
You were a true friend and grasped the very human qualities of loyalty. You took both brothers under your wing, even after one used his demon abilities to accidentally start the apocalypse and had steamy "relations" with a hot demon chick. Of course you decided to see what that was like yourself and found that demon chicks in leather do have a certain quality. We don't blame you for having that curiosity.
We loved your profound bond with Dean, even if he couldn't understand that you made that deal with Crowley so he could continue his life with Lisa and Ben. It's all water under the...reservoir now. You averted one disaster yet started another, but that's okay. Considering you learned from the Winchesters who have been doing that for years, it's understandable. Abominations to the natural order indeed! You have earned your place as an honorary human, at least our eyes.
All in all you made us laugh, you made us cry, and you made us feel for you when the writers ran out of things for you to do, and your end did come with at least some brief redemption. Sorry to see you go so soon. We hope that you are out there somewhere, with God/Chuck perhaps, drinking whiskey and taking on that whole virgin/hooker thing. It was Dean's hope once you'd get laid before you die, so we can only hope that becomes an after life thing for you.
Rest in peace my friend, you served your trenchcoat well. If God/Chuck or some desperate writer decides to bring you back, may you never have to don the wardrobe of Columbo again."
Okay, that's my pitiful attempt, but then again I never really know what to say at these things. Anyone else have words for our favorite fallen angel?
Comments
Cass, my most beloved brother, I will refuse to accept your demise till 'Supernatural' itself ends! Your coat will forever be a shrine reminding your loving siblings and friends of you love, glory, and eternal patience (and misconstruded humor) forever! Our hearts are broken and bleeding for all the Four Realms to see! Rest well, beloved,Castiel ! You MORE than deserve it!
Your journey has inspired us. You started out as a faithful soldier, and a distant admirer of humanity. Slowly, with the help of a few special humans, you grew to understand this world, and to recognize the fallacies that you had once accepted unquestioningly . You were punished for daring to step out of line, but when the moment came you sided with us, and stuck by us to the bitter end.
Even as a cast off of Heaven you continued to fight. When all hope seemed lost, when the Devil had no one to oppose him and you felt your faith betrayed, you still fought, even if you could not say why. You showed the truest loyalty, and learned all that love and friendship could teach. Four friends saved the world, and you found free will in the bargain.
And you used it, as best you could. Sometimes you shone and sometimes you faltered. Naivete and pride misled you, and you knew not how to rise above your situation. You only knew that you had to keep fighting, and you did. You betrayed and were betrayed. You vanquished your enemy in the end, but at the cost of isolation. You lost yourself. You tried to rule the world, and discovered that you were not equal to the task.
And yet, in spite of all your mistakes, you remembered friendship, and you answered its call. You humbled yourself, and saved the world from the dangers of your vanity with the help of those friends you found that you could not forget.
You fell, rose, and fell again. And in the end Castiel, your sincerity and your sorrow and your flaws remind us of who you have become. You became one of us. A human. A brother. A friend. Always.
The very fact that we are all, in our way, grieving for our loss is the most telling sign of your meaning to the Winchester Gospels and in our lives.
I read fan fiction about you every day. In some small way it makes me still feel connected to you. Whatever stage we are at, we can all agree you mattered and STILL matter to many. To me you represented hope in the lives of the Winchesters. Seeing an angel cope with the demands of humanity and unlike many of the Host, demonstrate generosity, faith and loyalty was inspiring. It also meant a lot for me that for once Dean had someone to turn to that he could rely on. You were the one person he didn't have to protect, instead you protected him. I will always love you for that.
Thanks for commenting and your point is understandable. We're honoring his memory. No one ever really dies on Supernatural. I'm just going with what Sera Gamble said.
Sera:
It's time to let the cat out of the bag before you lose more viewers. You are not a foolish person. I see that Brad and Eugenie are back.
It's time to stop tormenting your fans. Before you have no fans. Not that J&J aren't enough, but your fans require MORE than enough.
Give them what they want, or you won't be able to get a job on Octocobra.
Great Octocobra line BTW.
"Gamble also confirmed what many fans had hoped, which is that we haven’t seen the last of Castiel, who the boys presume to be dead. “We all love Misha [Collins], and we plan to write material for him. But in terms of where we are in the story right now, it’s a lot about Sam and Dean and Bobby losing this person that was incredibly important to them.â€
Their story line right now is to make the boys suffer losses and strip them of their defenses and isolate them from their allies--so it makes sense to deprive them of Cas, as he is both a powerful ally and a very close friend. Doesn't mean they have to do it permanently.
What can I say about Cas himself?
Oh my dear God! I hardly know where to begin, there is so much to say!
He is a beautiful being in all his powerful and flawed glory. I have been so deeply moved by his journey and by watching him learn and seek and try, when no one else in Heaven really seemed interested in anything more than themselves. Castiel, despite his mistakes and flaws always seemed to me to be the most righteous and truly sacred of all his sisters and brothers. He was the one who who still had faith, who still wanted to see God and follow the plan, who sought guidance and revelation for the sake of both Heaven and Earth. Castiel wanted to save us all, humans and angels alike. He was different, awkward, often isolated or removed, but in the end he was all heart. Even at his worst, in the face of his biggest and most terrible mistake, when he'd rather accidentally gone all darkside, he was still trying to do right by us, to set things right, to save the world, to be a good parent. He did it all wrong and royally screwed up, he was full to the brim with pride and hubris and it made my chest ache to watch it...but even then, deep down it was all about searching for goodness and making things better. How could you fail to love him? How is that anything less than beautiful?
May he return to us soon and at last know his own worth, his own place in the universe and that he is love. And mayGod/Chuck get up off his pasty white behind and show Castiel and his boys some freaky gratitude!
So I'm still in denial phase: I refuse to think that's the last we've seen of Castiel. Maybe I could have accepted his demise if it was less rushed and sad and he had really the chance to redeem himself, fix Sam's mind, earn Dean's forgiveness.
But if that's the real departure of Dean's "best friend", then I could go directly to the anger phase...
And by the way, just because we are fond of Cas doesn't mean we don't care for Sammy. I don't get that at all. Sammy is still here among the living. I don't believe he will ever die unless both the boys go together, like Cassidy and Sundance. Hope that never never happens. After all, this is the saga of the Winchester brothers and we can be allowed to care when their friends depart this earthly plane. I know they care.
Sera wants to just have Cas be dead in Ep 2, fine, whatever, I don't have to watch the rest of the season for her to string me along with some false hope that Misha or Cas might come back. I've had enough. That was a lame exit, it was dumb, and it had no impact or meaning, and it was the lowest and dumbest way to exit a character. I'm shocked that Ben would write an exit like this. Some two minute zombie walk scene is stupid and I will keep saying that until the day they bring Castiel back and fix what lame ending they have done.