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Season five. What a pretty big season for this little show. One reason is the fact that there was a season five. So few shows make it to this milestone. So few shows get to celebrate the coveted 100th episode. So few shows get to decide that despite the success they're ending the planned five year mytharc anyway. Okay, maybe that's the only show I know of. So season five now gets to be labeled as the penultimate season. It's over, but its not.
I held out doing this review for a while. I had intended on writing this months ago, shortly after the airing of "Swan Song" but the scathing posts of disapproval and open bitterness interlaced with the passionate outcries of support left me waiting until the dust settled. Season five did perplex us in many ways and time was needed for an objective analysis. Now here we are, ready for the season five DVD release and all eyes are focused on season six. The time is right.
Come on, admit it. You secretly (or maybe not so secretly) wanted Supernatural's season five to be something it wasn't. It's okay, it's just between you and me, us fans. I won't tell anyone. Maybe expectations were high. Maybe it's just that season four spoiled us so much. Maybe you're like me and dreamt for once that a genre show would give you that "perfect" ending. Curses, foiled again!
Nah, I kid. It wasn't a bad season by any means. There were some absolutely "kill-you-dead" moments that any fan heavily invested in a show craves, but it wasn't a masterpiece either. Granted it was near impossible for season five to stand up to the gold standard of season four, one of the best seasons in television in my opinion let alone Supernatural. Still, expectations were high so there was bound to be some disappointment. As I learned a while ago though from the creative yet sometimes overwhelmed minds of Chris Carter and more recently Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, there is no perfect ending. While I'm completely satisfied with the way season five and the mytharc ended, the journey getting there did get bumpy at times.
Season five wasn't as fluid as season four. Heck, it made the hobbled by the writer's strike season three look well plotted. Despite that, I've never been more entertained, stunned, or emotionally wrecked. This show continued to go outside the box and give it's loyal fans and casual viewers alike something different. Any proper analysis though from a passionate fan or not has to avoid the "wows" and "what if's" and take an analytical look at what was given. The goal of this review is to look at the 22 episodes presented and answer the question, "Did it all add up?"
Season Four
It's impossible to start with season five without going back to season four. The comparisons are inevitable since they are so strongly tied together. Season four was masterful at so many things, starting with the show's primary core, the brothers and their constantly tumultuous relationship. Season four painstakingly yet brilliantly pulled Sam and Dean apart. The slow plotting of their deteriorating bond paralleled the pre-apocalyptic events perfectly. As the brothers fell apart, we got closer to the end of the world. For a fan their rift was positively heart shattering but so compelling as well. It was high drama done right.
Season four also expanded, no exploded, the universe by introducing angels. It was a game changer. Then it turned out Heaven and Hell weren't all that different. Each had an agenda and the plight of man wasn't in either of their interests. The payoff at the end that both angels and demons were eager to start the apocalypse was the satisfying outcome to a season long mystery that kept us guessing the entire time. Sam and Dean were the pawns of the plan and deceived into doing their bidding, despite good intentions. That's where season five starts, the apocalypse has begun and Sam and Dean still have important roles to play. In other words, the universe isn't done screwing with them yet.
Season five actually did a great job of carrying on the real core of this show, the epic story of two brothers. It all played out with the long, slow and painful reconciliation of Sam and Dean. It wasn't easy and often hard to watch but it made sense throughout, for it had to take more than a quick "that's alright" to heal a fractured relationship that was seasons in the making.
Sam, coming off of his disastrous and unforgiving mistake, had no other choice than to lay low and put his faith in Dean. He learned the hard way once and for all going out on his own only resulted in tragedy. He stuck with his brother through it all, even when Dean lost faith in him. Dean's journey went in the opposite direction, for he finally felt the weight from intense burdens he put upon himself. He cracked by doing something very human, losing all hope. God let him down, angels let him down, his family let him down. Sam had done nothing for years but lie to him and then ultimately betray him. When push came to shove, how could he have total faith in Sam? He'd been burned too many times by the brother that always wanted to leave. The brother who didn't value family. He had to carry on his fight alone and found he couldn't do it.
Oh, but he did find that faith again, all because of Sam's ultimate show of faith in him. It was only then that Dean was able to do the one thing he hadn't been able to do thus far, trust Sam to do the right thing. Yes, that meant that he would lose his brother. He'd have to let go. Through all the horrible traumatic events and losses that got in their way, Sam and Dean stood together in the end and that bond helped them overcome all odds. Ultimately, that's what heroes do. However, as we've learned from this show by now, being the hero comes at a deep personal cost too and there was no shortage of suffering at the Winchester's expense. It was tragic, sad, somewhat depressing at times but it felt real. The apocalypse is no picnic.
In looking at season five beyond the core of the brotherly drama and their inspirational story of triumphing over evil by standing together, the foundation of got shaky. So what happened? Let's take a closer look by examining the good, the bad, and the ugly of season five.
Comments
Much of what you said I was nodding along to, one or two points I differ on but that's just this one fan's personal opinion, and hardly anything to quivel over. But the 'nodding off' comment had my eyebrows raised. Eh? I mean EH?!
No, I followed your logic and your point, but it did cause a double take on my part.
Again, thanks for the wrap up and YAY!!! S6 is just around the corner!
That said, I'm excited for something fresh and new in season six - without the heaviness of the apocolypse, Heaven and Hell looming over the boys. Fun though it was, a reboot season sounds like exactly what we need to keep life in the show. And maybe give the writers a chance to regroup and keep things moving in a good direction with new ideas to flesh out.
Only a few weeks until season 6 and now I'm even more excited!
I'm of the opinion that you gave Season 5 an objective and well-thought out review and gave it kudos where it deserved them and knocks similarly where deserved.
If I were to rank the seasons I definitely would waver between putting this before Season 3 but after Seasons 2 and 4 (as the highest) and then there are many a time -- especially when focusing on the pacing aspect --that it's the lowest of the five seasons as the show was established enough by Season 5 that it should leap over 1 and 3. In one they were finding their way and in 3 between the writers' strike they also had to refind their stride after killing Yellow Eyes in Season 2.
When Season 5 works, it works but too often there are fabulous moments in otherwise less than stellar episodes.
One point that I do make is that I think many people overlook the fact that humans CAN kill angels in the land of SPN they just need the right weapon. In OTHOAP Uriel states that only angels can kill angels but as he states that he reveals a new, never before seen, weapon. To me it is clearly implied that the reason only angels can kill angels is because only angels have these weapons and it is the weapon, not the bearer, that has the power to kill.
Add that to the fact that in PONR Castiel dispatches two angels carrying similar weapons and prominently gives them to Sam and Dean tells us that Castiel knows the boys need these weapons going forward in a confrontation against angels.
That is why Dean was able to kill Zach and why Sam tried as both boys had those weapons.
However, my statements may not be something that you are in agreement with just as I fail to see the bringing back up of the demon blood thing for Sam. Ruby said in Lucifer Rising that Sam didn't need the blood, that he had the power in him all the time. Yet, for some reason it was dredged up again in Two Minutes to Midnight that Sam needed to suck down copious amounts of blood to 'wear' Lucifer. Makes no sense whatsoever. The question that was left lingering..."Yo u didn't need the feather to fly, Dumbo" never got answered in a satisfying way. Rather than let him continue with his detox and Demon Blood Anonymous journey they settled back for the tired and had him suck down the 'go juice' in order to wear Lucifer. If it's in the bloodline, then it's in the bloodline. Michael didn't need his vessel to have anything special other than the blood of John Winchester.
Alas, mistakes happen and loose strings are left to be pulled. I'm of the opinion that those strings, while annoying if focused on, should rather be tucked away and I plan to move forward. I've never attempted anything as ambitious as what Kripke and Co. did and while I wish there were some things cleaner, I'm glad they 'went for it'. When it worked it rocked and when it didn't...I ignore it. That way I continue to be excited about the show and only wish that September 24th were closer!
Thanks for giving an objective review to the season. It was worth the wait!
Yes, there were details that were changed and never mentioned in the plot…and to die-hard fans they would notice their absent right away. (The amulet, the ring, the bracelets… again a push from CW?) That's the bane of any show with a cult following. At least the amulet was written into the story, but it was used for a lot of sad emotion and really it could have been done a lot better. (Course now I’m an armchair writer, but a point bought out on many websites). As alluded to in Vancon, hopefully they boys were right and Gamble will start to turn things around. I really think the show would benefit from it EMENSELY.
I have to admit, I'm trying to not expect too much from any tv show or movie and thus stay open for it - by that strategy I end up mostly liking it. This season I loved, though there were some bumby bits...
In contrast to the opinion of what Sablegreen said above (I hope to have understood her right, if not - my apologies, dear fellow writer(!), I was happy with the turns the characters took. Though I had loved season one's Sam and Dean, I loved them even more in season five, as their characters had become richer in colours and with more facets than originally described. It came naturally. I loved the continuity of character development.
When the season ended I thought - wow, this is my favourite ever! But I guess I was under the influence of the heart-wrenching three-part finale. My brain doesn't work well under a bombardment of tears.
Now, with some time having passed, I see the missed opportunities and I see what I missed - there were several logic-inconsist encies, you mentioned them... I would have loved to see more of the other arch angels, get explained why it was possible to exchange Adam for Dean, what was the true story behind the amulet, what about the anti-Christ, why not more story to the horsemen?
Still, I did love the season. A lot. I loved the acting fest for the lead actors as well as the supporting cast. I loved to see them grow and become even more skilled. I agreed with most of your thoughts and disagreed with some, but in general I appreciate your level-headed discourse! I think in the end, it is the best way to praise a show - looking at its strenghts and weaknesses and still remaining a fan curious about what will come.
so, I guess, you and I are basically of the same opinion. Ha, who would have thought?
Thank you. Jas
But more seriously I agree with what you said about the boys repairing their relationship. For me what marked the fact that season five did its job was that it made the heart breakingly horrible bits of season four when the boys were pulling apart copeable with because you had seen the end of season five where they were reconciled and stronger. I barely registered how brilliant On the Head of a Pin is until I re-watched it after season five ended because it was so upsetting the first time! It's still deeply upsetting but you know it gets better!
Sorry for the rambling, i hope this is understandable, I'm not nearly as good at this as you! Anyway a fab review!
I've only had the chance to watch the first three discs - a man needs sleep, ya know - so I want to wait to take in the stretch run before giving the mytharc the attention it deserves, but on 5.6, I loved the Twilight Zone-esque premise, but I think in a way they bit off more than they could have chewed, thus decided to shelve Jesse (almost?) permanently. One word could nuke the heavens? That's God-talent; Lucifer is to Jesse nearly as much as Dean is to Death. Introducing that much mojo is too much of a game changer.
As for 5.7, I don't think it suffers before Changing Channels. Seven episodes in, and they needed to deal with Bobby's psyche a bit before they started to amp up the fire and brimstone. We see Sam and Dean every week wringing hands. I do agree about 5.9. I love that ep (though the Colt business seems quite the tacked-on-at-th e-last-minute MacGuffinery) but going immediately from Changing Channels to Abandon All Hope would have worked better. Even Shakespeare didn't use comedy *all* the time to shuffle between scenes of despair.
99 Problems was before Point of No Return, so, huh? Unless I'm misreading what you're saying, and that you're complaining about angel vs. angel, a complaint I share. Frankly, a human shouldn't have the ability to kill an angel, even with a holy howitzer. That said, fucking fantastic to see Dean stick that psychopath, muah.
Michael was certainly more terrifying in 5.13 than in Swan Song, and don't get me started on Raphael. Look, there's only four archangels, so having another secondary character pop up at least once more isn't going to overload the viewing circuits.
The Ugly covers mostly the mytharc, so I'll wait, but I didn't mind the extra gross. Probably a guy thing.
Since the black-eyed demons were never really *the* bad guy, I could see them as more lackeys. I would have preferred them to have been used more as scary SS bastards, a threat in their own right, but when you've only got 40 minutes. I much preferred Nicki Aycox as Meg, so her sparing use didn't bother me, but I do think it was a missed opportunity.
Overall, four was leading up to the breaking point, so in a weird way, it was going to be more compelling, tighter storytelling aside (which it had); as a famous French bowler from Springfield once opined, the anticipation is better than the deed.
Though, I'd like to watch the season a few dozen times before coming to a not-really-perm anent conclusion. Can't judge an album after only a hundred spins, right?
Oh, site bit: I got timed out after taking too long to type up this incoherent comment. Not sure if that problem is recurring for anyone else. Damn internets!
I would have to agree with majority of your assessment of season 5.
There were definitely some consistency issues, some missed opportunities and a few scratching of the head moments wondering WTH was that!
On the whole I have to say I enjoyed Season 5. It kept me captivated and I found I was able to get something from each episode, even if at times it was an extremely small tidbit.
To me Supernatural is like riding a roller coaster, it has its ups and downs, its twist and turns and at times it just spins you into a loop. I don’t believe there is one emotion I haven’t experienced with this show and that’s one of the many things I love about Supernatural. You just never know what to expect or what’s going to happen.
All you can do is hang on tight and enjoy the ride.
Like others,I was nodding my head in total agreement with you as well as laughing outloud at:"Heck, it made the hobbled by the writer's strike season three look well plotted."
My only change would be "gold standard of season four" nope it was a platinum standard IMHO which is why horror of horrors I actually found myself falling asleep
Would have been happy with Show ending at 'Swan Song' but certainly not complaining that we have at least another year to follow the exploits of the Winchesters.
Let's hope consistency reigns this year and any 'head-scratchin g' is due to fans wondering "how the Hell did they come up with such an awesome plot?"
15 days and counting *bangs head against a wall*
In terms of no. of viewers [according to Wiki -http://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/ Supernatural_(s eason_5)], it is perhaps surprising that some of less well regarded episodes had respectable numbers.
These include :
The Curious Case of Dean Winchester - 2.90 million
Sam, Interrupted - 2.79 million
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid - 2.95 million (the Season's highest numbers)
Hammer of the Gods - 2.82 million
Compare the numbers for some of my personal favorite episodes (at least from what I can see from YouTube, since Season 5's DVD has not yet hit Singapore shores) -
The Song Remains the Same - 2.28 million (one of the Season's lowest, but this was shown after Swap Meat).
Dark Side of the Moon - 2.40 million.
For the sake of completeness :
Sympathy for the Devil - 2.90 million
Swan Song - 2.84 million.