In earlier years of Supernatural, the second episode of the season didn’t always tie in heavily to the mythology of the season, although this practice generally changed in later years. Tonight, the writers chose to take the smart route and addressed the storyline set up in the premiere, taking it one step farther. After all, it seemed too easy, didn’t it? Kevin delivering the news that there was a way to close the gates of Hell and conveniently hiding and retrieving information crucial to this quest was just too simple, right? Well, by the end of the episode the task isn’t simple any longer. Because there’s nothing that says “a day in the Winchester life” like a set of crappy circumstances.
Tiger Mommy
After watching Channing get killed by Crowley in the season premiere, Kevin demanded that the brothers take him to visit his mother. Dean was against the idea, convinced that Mrs. Tran was bait and, therefore, Crowley needed to keep her alive. But Kevin was insistent and the boys found out that she was, indeed, being watched by demons. They managed to kill all of her guards and then gave her a crash course in the supernatural elements of life. It turns out that Kevin’s mom is pretty awesome and she accepted everything pretty well. When the boys insisted that they would bring her to a safe house while they sought the tablet, she insisted that she was coming along. After all, someone had to protect Kevin.
It turns out Mrs. Tran was very useful. After heading to a train station to find the tablet Kevin had hidden in a locker, they discovered that the locker’s items had been stolen and pawned. When they confronted the pawn shop owner who sold the tablet, Mrs. Tran threatened him with a tax audit courtesy of her brother to get him to pony up the information.
All of this led to a god named Plutus (the god of greed). The group was confronted by Plutus’ right hand man (I’m calling him RHM for short because I don’t know his name) who said that Kevin’s presence was requested at a special auction for the tablet and other rare items.
The Winchesters and Mrs. Tran managed to score an invite as well, but soon learned that they were way out of their league at this particular event. Plans to steal the tablet didn’t go so well and matters were further complicated when Crowley showed up, eager to buy the tablet for himself (as well an angel who asked Dean about Castiel’s fate and wanted to protect the Word on behalf of the angels).
Take My Soul. Please.
When it looked like all hope was lost and Kevin himself was added to the tablet as an item up for bid, Mrs. Tran offered up her soul. Plutus agreed to take it as payment, convinced that her sacrifice was worth the price of the tablet. But Crowley and RHM had other ideas and Crowley secretly possessed her. He got his hands on the tablet but was wiling to leave Kevin. A chase ensued where Dean was prepared to kill Mrs. Tran in order to get rid of Crowley, but the moment passed. In the end, Mrs. Tran seemed terribly traumatized by the sequence of events, although she at least still had her soul intact. But now Crowley knows what the tablet can be used for. And Kevin decided that potentially sacrificing his mother was not an acceptable price to pay for this quest, so he took Mrs. Tran and bolted, leaving the Winchesters alone with no tablet and no prophet to read it.
Concluded on next page…
Follow Us
My brain is not forming coherent enough sentences to say much right now. All I know is DEAN/CAS DEAN/CAS DEAN/CAS /DEATH
I loved this episode so much, it surpassed all of my expectations! I don’t think I took a breath the whole episode. Crowley was fabulous, Kevin was fabulous, Kevin’s mom was even more fabulous, Alfie the angel was fabulous…and don’t even get me started on Sam and Dean and Cas.
Cas! Our angel is back and looking very worse for wear. I knew he must have disappeared to protect Dean, I just knew it! And we got the hug that we’ve been waiting years for! It was so wonderful to see Dean actually show some concern for Cas and show that he really does care for his friend. Over the past couple of seasons there were times I was starting to wonder. The ongoing theme in this ep of those that are close to the Winchesters get killed and/or tossed away when they’re no longer necessary has me both intrigued and worried for Cas. I hope that’s not indicative of what’s to come.
And I think what I loved most about this ep was the angel saying what Cas fans have been saying all along. Even though he’s made some (admittedly huge) mistakes, he always meant well. Too much heart has always been his problem. Thank you for this, Jeremy Carver.
Last but not least, the one liners in this had me rolling. Kevin’s mom rules all.
The past 2 eps have been such a wonderful start to the season. Let’s hope they can keep this up.
Didn’t Alfie look familiar? Hasn’t he been on Supernatural before? Who the heck was that guy?
@Melody
Yeah you’ve got it right my friend. Yes the angel Alfie had indeed been on Supernatural .He acually played the kid who was interested in insects and really understood their behaviour in supernatural season 1 epidode “BUGS “.
It had me wondering for a moment though , and then it clicked me.
Awesome episode !Loved the way everything made sense and tied in together.Full of basdass kicks, action , gore and humour.
Yes! he looked very familiar for me too, his name is Tyler Johnson, also worked in Smallville, but in this episode he was uncredited, don’t know why though.
Thanks, that’s exactly who he was. It was really bugging me. Crap, that was a great missed opportunity to acknowledge someone from their past. They could have recognized the kid who just happened to be a vessel. It would have been interesting to find out what had happened to him since season 1, did he go to college and get away from his dad like Sam encouraged? The angel could have told them.
I have a question. Does Kevin not have an archangel tethered to him or have they all been wiped out? I’m not sure if that had been answered in the show previously and I might have missed it.
I’m not entirely clear about this, but I believe the idea is that there were only four archangels – Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Lucifer – the only four angels that ever saw God, according to Anna. And we all know what happened to those four.
Thanks for your reply! I was thinking along those lines too. I was sort of hoping for an explanation especially when Kevin was getting an antipossession tattoo. Seems odd that a prophet would need that. Good episode, though :)
I enjoyed this episode it had the right blend of brotherly moments, humor, pathos and gore. Linda Tran is the kind of woman I like smart, with a quick wit and a good right upper cut, I liked Sam the mathlete and his Thor moment, Dean’s comic moment with the arsenal and his down right scary PTSD with Linda Tran, the angel Samadriel and his hero worship of Cas, liked the pawnshop scene, the sports car and the use of music.
Good episode except: Why did Dean just stand there as Crowley chatted and then walked out the door? Why didn’t he run over and pick up the tablet before Crowley – getting back into this body – excited the room? He was willing to chase down and kill Crowley in Mrs. Tran but not regular Crowley – what the hell?!?!?!
Why didn’t Sam?
Damn good question. They both just stood there while he walked out the door. Oh that pissed me off.
I miss when Dean’s BFF was Sam, not anyone else, especially Benny or Castiel ;-( Sam’s BFF has always been Dean. And if they insist on always giving Dean other guys to bond with instead of Sam, why doesn’t Sam ever get one? Sorry, I’m not fond of Castiel and never have been, but the vocal part of fandom won out, so I guess I should surrender. I just wish the writers and Carver would stop saying that the heart of the show is the relationship between the brothers, when clearly they prefer playing with Dean and his buddies than the brothers and their friendship. Shame, the show started out so good for a few years.
Hey, I’m all for Sam and Dean having interaction with others, but I’m not interested in sacrificing the Sam-Dean relationship at the altar of Dean-Castiel and Dean-Benny. Hope Carver has something in mind for those of us who care about this particular relationship.
Sam does have someone. Amelia.
@MELODY.
Yeah you’ve got right my friend.Yes the angel, Alfie was indeed on Supernatural.He actually played the 16 year old son of larry ,the builder of the cursed neighbourhood in supernatural season 1 episode”BUGS”.
He had a keen interest in animals ,especially in insects and liked to keep a collection. It had me wondering for a moment though too but it then clicked me, largely due to my rewatching of the entire series from scratch after the end of season 7. And yeah i also found it odd about dean just standing there and not grabing the tablet.
It was an awesome episode !Loved how the way everything made sense and tied in together.A complete package of gore , badass action and humour.
Thank you. I also rewatched the entire series over the summer, and I knew I’d seen that face during that time. I stopped several times during the episode and just studied his face trying to figure out where I’d seen him before. Again, thank you.
Wow, this episode was brilliant-the laughs, the drama, the action-Crowley, Plutus, Linda Tran ladies and gentlemen, Kevin, Sam as Thor, the purgatory hug for Dean and Cas, even the taunts thrown at Dean had a massive impact-the whole episode cracked along and the hints of Dean torturer and Sams concern were intriguing. Benny continues to be an interesting murky new player-the angel asking about Cas and Linda Tran choosing the Winchesters (bless her)-I just loved it. The Cas cliff hanger has me chomping at the bit for more, as does the fact the boys have to start all over again on this new quest. Great. I also loved the Sam is a smart dude moments too.
Hi, Clarissa. Very good review. I agree with a lot of what you said, and I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. I was kind of worrying that Dabb & Laughlin had lost their touch, but this episode restored my faith in them. The writing was solid and the episode advanced the season-long mytharc much more than I expected they would this early. I think I might have a girl-crush on Ms. Tran. She was hilarious and awesome. She pretty much stole every scene she was in, and I’m very grateful that that didn’t kill her off. I think she’ll be a good addition to the Winchester world. I am more interested than ever to find out what happened to Cas in Purgatory. Benny said that he didn’t know whether angels could leave through the escape hatch, so could it be that the portal refused Cas and pulled Dean through? After what Dean said about not leaving Purgatory without Cas, I don’t think Dean abandoned him. But I’m dying to find out what happened.
One thing that bothered me about his episode was Kevin’s decision to run off on the Winchesters. I understand he was upset that Dean was about to kill his mom. That’s totally understandable. But leaving the Boys is not the smartest thing for him to do at this point. It’s not just Crowley that’s after him. Now there are all manner of other monsters/gods/creepy crawlies that know he’s a prophet and they will be after him too. I assume he figures he can take care of himself because he learned a few tricks to protect himself from demons, but he doesn’t really know what’s out there. Also, what makes Kevin think that Dean is gonna toss him to the side when he’s of no further use? Because Crowley said so? And Crowley has been so honest with Kevin up to this point right? Dean is the one who came to look for Kevin in the first place. And Dean went looking for him not because he (Dean) knew about the tablet, but because he felt like Kevin was his responsibility and it was just the right thing to do.
One thing I disagree with you a little about is Benny. I understand your position, but I don’t think that Benny was necessarily trying to drive a wedge between Dean and Castiel at that point. It seems to me that Dean and Benny had been looking for Cas for some time, and the two of them had forged a bond during that time. Benny seemed like he was being protective of Dean more than anything else. I think he wanted to know more for himself why Castiel seemingly abandoned Dean. Because Dean didn’t believe that Cas abandoned him anyway. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t really trust Benny, and he may at some point try to force Dean to choose between him and Cas. But I don’t think that’s what happened here.
I really loved this episode. All the parts came together to form a solid episode that advanced the overall plot. I’m falling in love with Supernatural all over again. Let’s just hope we can keep this momentum all season.
“Dean seemed forgiving and told Cas that he and Benny have a way out and they want Castiel to come along”
As a fan of both Dean and Castiel, this line cracked me up! “Seemed forgiving”? That implies doubt and still ponders on the theme of “forgiveness from Dean”, which I believe happened a few episodes ago! Whenever we have seen Dean so far in Purgatory, he has been “interrogating” monsters as to Cas’ whereabouts. Not to exact revenge, as we saw the moment he laid eyes on Cas and immediately hugged him. Also, I didn’t see Benny trying to drive a wedge between Dean and Castiel – rather in that short scene I too thought Benny came across as being very protective on Dean’s behalf.
I liked this episode a lot and I agree with you, Mrs. Tran was made of win.
Yes, but Dean also seemed very angry for a few moments when he thought that Castiel just bailed on him. Remember the sequence of events: he thought that Castiel got separated from him by force and then was flabergasted when Castiel denied that. Then Cas explained that he left to protect Dean and Dean forgave him for momentarily doubting him. That’s why I used that phrase. Obviously we know Dean’s been desperate to find him and they had a wonderful reunion, but there was a bit of uncertainty there for a few moments.
I think people are very divided about Benny. I don’t think he can be trusted and I just feel like the way he asked Cas why he left Dean was kind of sudden and out of left field. I may turn out to be completely wrong about Benny and I’ll happily admit that if the time comes, but for now I’m suspicious.
I agree with you about Benny. Something’s off with him, and he was a little too eager to turn Dean against him.
I don’t belive Dean left Cas on purpose.
The Dean and Cas reunion was perfect!
Dean is holding Cas’s hand pretty hard in that last scene, trying to drag him up.
I really really doubt Dean wanted to leave Cas. I think something held Cas back, and Dean wasn’t strong enough to overcome it, or some other force is involved – Cas is being manipulated according to spoilers.
Dean will feel guilt anyway, because that’s Dean. And everyone will blame him anyway, because that’s fandom, when it comes to Dean…