Jeremy Carver, sir, you certainly know how to make an impression. The season 8 finale of Supernatural delivered so many terrific individual moments, gave the fans a spectacular final 10 minutes, tied up some loose ends and left so many amazing possibilities for season 9 that my head is basically reeling.
The Deal
It’s clear that “Sacrifice” had two separate, though interconnected, stories. One of them was about Heaven, which is where we’ll begin. Metatron was taking Castiel on what he called the second Angel Tablet Trial, which involved taking Cupid’s bow. This allowed for a few moments of really fun comedy as Cas tried to play matchmaker to make a cupid appear, but Naomi’s henchmen had finally found their angel and delivered the news that he was with “the scribe”. Metatron was taken from Cas and strapped to Naomi’s torture chair, so Castiel went looking for Dean for help.
Meanwhile, around the same time, the Winchesters were approaching their own Trial, the third one to be exact. As Crowley was preparing to kill another Winchester ally (Jody! And he was flirting with her before he tried to kill her in a scene that was equally awesome and disturbing), the boys decided to surrender, but they wanted the Angel Tablet in exchange. Crowley agreed, but he fell for the oldest trick in the book: the fighting Winchesters. Instead of signing Crowley’s ridiculously long contract, Dean slapped some demon warded cuffs on his wrist and they tied the King of Hell to a chair.
Sam confessed his sins before beginning the ritual that would cure Crowley (Mark Sheppard proved himself one of the stars of this episode, by the way) and the fissure between the brothers was brought up again. The truth is that Sam and Dean have come together again in the second half of this season, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still hurt feelings buried between them. There’s about four seasons worth of hurt feelings there that are pushed aside for the next common goal they always have to achieve. But just before Sam began the ritual, in came Castiel. He needed Dean’s help to complete the Angel Tablet Trials and while Dean was clearly hesitant to leave his brother, Sam said he had everything under control. Except he didn’t. Because nothing good ever comes from the boys separating. Alright, in this case technically learning about the fact that Sam might *die* if he completed the trials was a good thing, but we’re splitting hairs here.
The point is that Castiel and Dean handed off the Angel Tablet to Kevin, who has holed up in the Men of Letters bunker at Dean’s insistence. Of course, Kevin isn’t exactly happy about being forced to translate an entire Tablet in 6 hours, but Castiel got forceful and impressed upon Kevin what the rest of us already know: there is no escaping this life. Kevin is a prophet. Sam and Dean are hunters. Castiel is an angel (for now). They all have their duties and they will do them until the day they die because these are not just duties, they are fundamental cores of their personality. We have seen that Dean cannot live a normal life. We have seen Sam succeed at it better than his brother, but I truly believe that for all of Sam’s rebelling against a life of hunting, he cannot escape the basic fact that hunting is in his blood. Kevin agreed to translate the Tablet (who can resist a forceful Cas?) and off the angel and Dean went to retrieve a cupid’s bow.
Meanwhile, Up in Heaven….
The nice thing about the exchange between Metatron and Naomi was that it gave us greater insight – finally – into what Naomi was all about. The truth is that her motivations – while appearing evil – have been somewhat conflicting and murky all season. As I see it after their talk, Naomi was essentially an “enforcer” of the archangels. When God disappeared, she planned to “debrief” Metatron to glean what they could have his knowledge of the Tablets, but his fear caused him to leave Heaven. Since then, he’s laid low, and Naomi has simply been trying to make do once all of her bosses disappeared.
But there’s something within Naomi that gets stirred when she gets inside Metatron’s head. She makes a visit to Cas and Dean just as Kevin is telling Dean that the Trials Metatron had Cas undertake aren’t mentioned in the Angel Tablet at all. Naomi delivers the news that Metatron has led Castiel astray, but Cas is reluctant to trust her (and with good reason). We should, of course, stop for a moment to address Castiel’s naiveté in this scenario. I’ve seen a lot of people claim that it’s too similar to his season 6 storyline, but I believe the difference between then and now is Castiel’s free will. Castiel did some awful things in season 6 but they were all *his choice*. He chose to work with Crowley and to go up against Raphael and to open the door to Purgatory. To him, like with Sam in season 4, he may have felt that he didn’t have a choice because it was the “right” thing to do, but that’s not accurate. Castiel chose his path. Here, however, he was manipulated, plain and simple. I believe that Naomi’s control and the severing of that control and the confusion that followed made him more susceptible to Metatron, but the truth is that the Winchesters also eagerly asked Metatron to join with them. They trusted him with their prophet and they were just as manipulated about his intentions as Castiel was.
The difference, of course, is that Cas was used as a direct pawn while the Winchesters were not and while Dean seemed a bit suspicious about the Angel Tablet Trials as Cas was describing them to him, no one had any reason to distrust Metatron. I don’t believe this makes Castiel foolish or weak. I think he was just confused and desperate. He was sad after Dean rejected his apology and he was eager to find a way to fix the Heaven that he had helped break. I don’t think Castiel can be blamed for what Metatron did, even if he is somewhat responsible for the steps that allowed Metatron’s plan to come to fruition.
Speaking of Metatron’s plan, Naomi spilled the beans that Metatron was keeping some important facts from the boys, including the fact that Sam would die if he completed the third Demon Trial. As she raced back to Heaven, Dean and Cas rushed to the church where Sam had been holed up with Crowley.
Concluded on next page…
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You highlighted all the plot-holes most of us had issues with the entire season perfectly.The writers should pay attention!
Metatron, WOW what a totally unexpected turn of the events. I was waiting for Naomi to be a whole new level of bad but surprise surprise! I’d say Amanda Tapping made me believe Naomi being on the right side this time given what she’s done all season speaks for her acting skills, well done!
Mark Sheppard, simple phenomenal!
Jensen & Jared, nailed it perfectly & my GOD was that conversation long overdue! I sure hope the back-stabbing & hiding secrets will stop coz it’s been truly overly utilized.Considering the events that happened tonight, they should rid of their old habits and remain on the same page coz A, they can’t afford splitting up & fighting at this point, and B: if they do, that would defeat the purpose of them coming together in the first place and that amazing scene would lose its meaning.
I’m concerned about Sam’s condition. I don’t think he’ll be perfectly OK when the show returns as he didn’t finish the trials and Kevin mentioned there’ll be consequences to that?
One final note, please please PLEASE make Dean back on his game like we’ve seen him tonight. No more I’m worthless crap seriously! Also, I’d really like him to have a significant role in the mytharc next season. The show has been on its best when both Winchesters were involved in the mytharc (S 4 & 5).
This is… I don’t… I think I stopped breathing for a few minutes back there. I am literally having some sort of mental breakdown I cannot even describe how amazing and absolutely terrific this episode was. As you said at the beginning of this article, Jeremy Carver definitely knows how to make one hell of an impression. That final scene, the falling angels, was by far the best scene Supernatural has ever delivered, surpassing even both the opening of Lucifer’s cage and Castiel’s mounting of the throne of God.
I am truly at a loss of words. And as of right now I am against Supernatural ever ending at all. I won’t be able to survive without a 10th, 11th and even 12th season. TV will not be the same without this magnificent show, this epic piece of heavenly gold. Never end Supernatural, never end.
Heil Supernatural!~
Thank Clarissa for the recap. Amazing finale.
Excellent review, excellent comments, I am still rather speechless at the entire thing. The ending was perfection; not to be harsh, but nice to see some special effects at work lol. :) And I love the fact that I care about more than just Sam and Dean here, I care about Kevin way more than I expected; I love Crowley in my own weird way and wonder what’s gonna happen to him; and of course I care about Castiel–dear, dear Castiel, who always wants to make things right, and he ends up the victim. I’m curious about his memories as well, and wondering if his reaction to the falling angels was with knowledge, or just human fascination at an event. (though he seemed to have knowledge imho). So many things can happen next year, I was so pleased with this season, and I’m looking forward to the next!
Minor quibbles, the pacing seemed a bit herky-jerky, and I wish that the season ender, and the important mytharc episodes this year had been given more time, instead of weak ‘monster of the week’ episodes, it took away a lot of tension. Yes, the season started off with Purgatory, Where is Castiel, WTF Sam, but the writers turned that around mis-season and went somewhere new, except for the fact Castiel was manipulated again, too easily trusting and too desperate to save heaven, he just ruined it. The falling angels sequence was amazing, but the snippet of a suited man falling with wings took some of the epicness out, not to mention landing in the water beside the Winchesters, I’ve always wanted to see angels true forms in the show, and reducing them to their meatsuits in this instance, robbed the moment of it’s horror – just a bit – for me. Now we have to find out what the (pardon the pun) fallout will be, angels now hunted by demons as pure sources of grace, or angels reduced (like anna) to infants. Or maybe even angels no longer of import to the Winchesters, now that Metatron is in heaven all alone.
Excellent review Clarissa, and I agree with pretty much everything you said. Now that’s what I call a season finale! I spent most of this episode yelling, “Holy crap!” at my tv. It was just that good. The last 10 minutes were some of the most intense moments of the show, and props must definitely be given to the effects team and music department for the angels falling sequence. The combination of the visual effects and the powerful score was simultaneously beautiful, heartbreaking, and terrifying. Nicely done.
I must admit that I am more disappointed than surprised by Metatron. I had a bad feeling about him when we first met him, but I tried to push it aside in the hopes that I was just being paranoid and he would turn out to be one of the good guys. Alas, he’s just like all the other angels: selfish and power-hungry. I mean, what good will come from banishing all angels to Earth? With few exceptions, I never considered the angels good guys, but at least they helped to maintain the balance. Basically, now that there are no more angels there is no ying to the demons’ yang. Who is going to maintain the balance now? Hunters? There aren’t enough of them because every time a soul goes to Hell a new demon is born. And I have a feeling that once the demons realize that they are the most powerful entity left, they are going to get even bolder than they’ve been in the past. I just really wanted Metatron to be one of the good guys because the Boys (and Cas) could use an actual ally right about now. And Dean, good lord. I feel so deeply for Dean right now because he’s literally got it coming at him from all sides. Look to the right and he’s got Sam dying and all the other crap that they have between them. Look to the left, and he’s got Cas being overly naive and trusting the wrong people again, paving the way for chaos. Look to the front, and he’s got Crowley and his demons trying to take over everything. Look to the back, and he’s got Metatron stabbing him in it. Not to mention he’s got Kevin trying to continually run away from his destiny. Dean is barely holding the center and I wanted Metatron to be a help instead of a hindrance.
That conversation between Sam and Dean has been a long time coming. While I don’t think that exchange totally clears the air, it certainly laid the foundation for them to truly begin to deal with some of their issues. It also helped me understand Sam a bit more regarding Benny. In seasons past, when Sam made bad decisions I still felt like I was able to understand why he was behaving that way. Even though I didn’t agree with him and felt like he was in the wrong, I still understood. However, during the first part of this season, I was kind of at a loss. Given his history I couldn’t understand why Sam was acting the way he was toward Benny, thus, I was pretty frustrated with Sam for the first part of the season. But I get it now. Every time Sam saw Benny and how much Dean trusted him, Sam was reminded of his greatest sin. I still don’t think it was right, but at least I get it now.
I get what you’re saying about Cas, but I kinda sorta disagree. Yes, in S6 everything that happened was a result of Cas’s choices. Yes, for a lot of this season Cas was controlled/manipulated by Naomi. But at the same time, some of what happened towards the end was a result of his choices too. I don’t care how manipulated or confused Cas was after breaking Naomi’s hold, I don’t see any justification for him not trusting Dean and taking off with the angel tablet. His decision to do that put him in a position to be manipulated by Metatron. And even his decision to take on the fake angel trials was made without running it past Dean which was the problem in the first place. Yeah, Dean may have been duped by Metatron too, but he had suspicions about the trials as soon as Cas mentioned it. It would seem to me that Cas should’ve learned by now that his instincts, or lack thereof, aren’t good and he needs to run big decisions like that by the Winchesters first.
Although there have been a few missteps, I have thoroughly enjoyed S8. I feel like the show found its mojo again and this finale set up so many wonderful possibilities for S9 and beyond. What is the aftermath going to be like on Earth and in Heaven with all the angels on Earth? Is Crowley truly changed or is he faking? I think he’s faking. I am monumentally bummed that I have to wait all frakking summer to find out what happens next (especially with Sam in such a horrible condition) but I’m excited about the future. And that’s a feeling that I haven’t had from Supernatural for a little while. Also, I just want to take a moment and mention how much I have enjoyed your reviews this season. You have done a consistently wonderful job and I look forward to debating with you next season. :)
Great write-up, thank you! This is among my favorite SPN season finales and I liked so many things, but that final sequence with the angels falling was a real stand out in the history of the show.
I agree with your take on the Sam and Dean scene. Personally I’m not a big fan of the “only each other/nothing else matters” approach to their codependency but I didn’t get this vibe here, I think it was about the standing issues between them and this moment was necessary to move them forward. As you said, I don’t think this was about that Dean has friends, it’s Sam’s deep fears about failing Dean, and that he can’t live up to the surrogate brothers who’ve watched Dean’s back. The brothers will be close to others, that doesn’t change the strong bond between them and what Sam means to Dean and vice versa.
The Dean and Castiel scenes made me really happy, and that they finally sat down over beers and had a quiet talk, I’ve been wanting that for a long time.
I loved the Castiel storyline. Although it’s sad he didn’t get to make a choice here, I’ve found his story this season satisfying and I think the character was brought into better focus, and there’s a great setup here for season 9. I hope we’ll see more of the Sam and Dean and Castiel dynamics next season, as well as further development of the Dean and Cas relationship and some more Sam and Cas as well.
Also I think things are still wide open for Dean to have some kind of major plot link. While I’m a little let down on that, I’ve been really happy with Dean’s characterization this season and his personal arc.
Season 8 felt like a really strong season overall.
Loved the brotherly moment so so SO much. I felt like a needed a powerful intimate moment like that, cause it’s been missing for quite a long time .. and it was probably the most honest talk they ever got ..
Sad about losing Abbadon e Naomi as well, ’cause they were two strong charachters and the actress were fenomenal really :(
About Sam and his bringin up Cas and Benny ‘s relationship with Dean I feel like it was a long thing coming up and I thought they were never going to address it from Sam POV. I really enjoy the deep, meaningful bond Dean forges with these charachters, but I also always thought it left Sam a bit isolated, and emotionally cut out. This little aknowledging of how he deal with important charachters like Cas and Benny and their bond with Dean was somehow needed in my opinion, and I don’t think it’s jealousy either .. or maybe it is in a way, but not just for the sake of it. Sam saw first with Cas, and this season with Benny, the kind of blind faith and trust Dean gave to them that he never seemed to give to Sam, and not because he thinks he’s something less then Cas or Benny, but because Sam is his little brother and Dean will always have an extra-instinct to shield him. Sam sees it as Dean not trusting him enough or judging him not strong/capable enough .. when really it’s the sheer terror of losing him, of not being able to protect him and save him that’s talking … That somwhow often kept them from having a balanced relationship ’cause Dean always wanted to be the one to shoulder everything and keep Sam from even the possibility of being hurt. With Cas and Benny was always something more of a brother in arms kind of bond .. while with Sam was sharing the foxhole, but keeping an eye on him, meking sure Sam was one step behind of him, to keep him safe. Sam felt he was lacking something, and that was why Dean was keeping him a step behind. Cas and Benny, each in their own way, were the incarnation of Sam’s failure yes, but also, and more than anything the personification of Sam’s lackings as a brother/hunter/partner ..
In this way you can tell he was jealous of the trust Dean had in them, which he never felt Dean had in him. And when Cas let Dean down, Dean, instead of coming to terms with the fact the everyone makes mistakes, and so reconsidering all his way of thinking, just found someone else to trust .. a vampire nontheless .. That’s where all sam’s anger came from in my opinion. Dean trusting an angel the way he doesn’t trust him he can cope with .. but Dean trusting a vampire over him was too much. And I’m not saying Dean is at fault here .. with all the Sam not looking for him when he was in purgatory … I’m completely on board with everything Dean said and did. Dean had every right to feel like he felt, but finally I’m coming to understand a little bit of where Sam was coming from this season ..
With their talk at the end of this ep they finally got to clear all that and I really really loved it. It’s rare to see Sam letting go like this and I’m glad he finally get to talk to his brother about it ALL, without being harsh, or resentful, or angry .. just *completely* honest.