What Happened to Castiel?
Supernatural once again utilized flashbacks to Purgatory, but this time the elusive angel was finally seen again. After torturing a monster (and Dean really enjoys that a bit too much, doesn’t he?) Dean and his new BFF Benny found Castiel crouching by the side of a lake. Fortunately, he was no longer crazy. Unfortunately, he was in a bad state. Naturally Benny tried to drive a wedge between Dean and the angel, demanding that Castiel explain why he left Dean all alone when they first arrived, but Castiel admitted that he’s a liability in Purgatory since there are so many things – including leviathans – that want to kill him, so he’s stayed away in order to protect Dean. Dean seemed forgiving and told Cas that he and Benny have a way out and they want Castiel to come along. Benny was displeased about the angel jumping through the portal with them, but Dean was insistent, even in the face of Castiel’s reluctance to leave.
But it was the final scene with Castiel that freaked me out. Crowley had coldly warned Kevin that people who are no longer useful to Dean end up dead and Kevin echoed this as a reason to split from the Winchesters. Moments after that line was delivered we saw what may have been Dean’s final moments in Purgatory (I’m guessing). But instead of focusing on the human, all we saw was a shot of Castiel brokenly screaming Dean’s name as he was (presumably) left behind.
I’m Not Leaving Here Without You. Understand?
Since learning that Castiel obviously considers Purgatory to be a place to atone for his sins, I’ve been of the mindset that he chose to remain behind and allowed Dean to escape. Of course, we don’t exactly know what happened in that final, cliffhanger scene, but was that, in fact, Dean’s escape? Did he choose to leave Castiel behind, despite the angel’s begging? Is that why Dean refuses to tell Sam the whole truth about what happened? Given the fact that Benny was so eager to drive a wedge between Dean and Cas from the get go, I still believe that Benny is somehow involved in Castiel’s extended stay in Purgatory. No matter what Dean did, I think that Benny is opportunistic and had no intention of allowing Castiel to remain behind. But the anticipation is killing me! I want to know what happened!
Vatican City vs. The Moon
Overall, this episode was a good one. Hey, what do you know? Supernatural season 8 is off to a great start! The quest is engaging and more personal than the leviathans last year, the villains are more familiar and the episode was a lot of fun. Mrs. Tran wins every award ever. Strong, capable women are not always seen on this show, but when they are they should be nurtured and protected not…you know…killed. I thought tonight was another perfect blend of mytharc, story progression, drama, action and comedy.
My favorite scene (besides anything with Mrs. Tran, obviously) had to have been the bidding scene between Crowley and the angel, which was just the right amount of humor and outlandishness. I mean, come on! The real Mona Lisa is the one where she’s topless? Is that the reason for the smirk? Plus, I loved when the angel just offered up Vatican City as a bargaining chip.
No More Crappy Speeches
Dean and Sam don’t really understand the simple losses that take place in the Supernatural world. Not that Mrs. Tran’s trauma and the danger to Kevin is “simple” mind you, but the Winchesters are too used to dealing with enormous and devastating levels of death and destruction. Their worldview about the price you need to pay is influenced by the body count that has been wracked up throughout their long hunting careers starting, of course, with the death of their own mother. To them, losing someone else is regrettable, but necessary.
Kevin can’t understand that. Frankly, no one should really be able to understand that. There’s something about accepting death and sacrifice in the name of the greater good that, while understandable and necessary, is sad and inhuman. Not that the boys don’t care, of course, but they just don’t understand the point of view of the person who’s never really had to deal with “acceptable” losses. Kevin’s reaction to Dean’s platitudes and the situation was perfectly understandable. It was incredibly dangerous and stupid mind you, but understandable. And, frankly, it was a bit of a plot device to throw another wrench in the Winchesters’ plans, but I’ll accept it. Now they’re back to square one. They have an end goal, but no real means to go about achieving it. At least, not yet.
On the other hand, it was grossly unfair for Crowley and Kevin to say that Dean is a user. Like I said, Dean and Sam understand that some losses are “acceptable” in the grand struggle for good and evil, but they are not users. They don’t willingly sacrifice people they consider non-useful. In fact, they’ve often gone above and beyond to save people that shouldn’t necessarily have been saved and this has, at times, backfired for them. I know that the show tried to convince us that post-Purgatory Dean is some horrible user because he said that giving up Mrs. Tran’s soul was cheap in exchange for closing the Gates to Hell, but the truth of the matter is that Mrs. Tran made the choice to give up her soul all by herself. Yes, she was under some terrible circumstances, but it was still her choice. And for all of Dean’s speeches to Kevin that he was in the hunting game now, the truth is that he couldn’t have forced Kevin to get in on the quest unless Kevin was prepared to accept that this was his path in life. Hell, Dean even got angry with Sam for failing to look after Kevin for the last year. Does that sound like someone who is prepared to throw Kevin away at the right opportunity? Dean doesn’t willingly offer up people as sacrifices, whether they’re useful or not. Jo and Ellen accepted their own deaths and were prepared to offer themselves up for the apocalypse. Sam chose to jump into Hell to save the world. Dean learns to live with these choices that other people make – and, yes, sometimes he might even think that the loss of a soul or the death of a friend is an acceptable price to pay for the greater good – but Dean is not the selfish, friend-killing monster that Crowley tried to imply. That’s actually why I desperately hope that Dean didn’t willingly leave Castiel behind in Purgatory. I don’t want to see him live up to the terrible taunts that Crowley flung at him.
Odds and Ends
-So that explains Sam’s hair. He needed to keep it long to imitate Thor and wield his hammer! Everything makes sense now! But seriously, that was amusing.
-Post-Purgatory Dean is more similar to Post-Hell Dean than I had originally suspected. They’re both not afraid to let their torturous sides loose. But Dean seemed to derive far more pleasure from torturing now than when he escaped from Hell. Don’t get me wrong, I like BadassDean, but I have to wonder whether this love affair with torturing will bode well for him in the long run.
-“Is that what you’ve been doing all year? Watching television?” Mrs. Tran for the win.
-Crowley to Dean: “Listen to moose, squirrel.” The moose zingers don’t get old.
A new episode of Supernatural will be airing on October 17 (watch a preview). Check out some more set interviews, spoilers, photos and sneak peeks on our Supernatural page.
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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…