Supernatural Episode 7.10 Review: An Emotional Midseason Finale

The midseason finale of Supernatural left me reeling and in tears. I’m not too proud to admit that I was touched by the character study that occurred throughout the episode. I know that there are some Supernatural fans out there who have never been very fond of Bobby. But like him or not, he’s become an essential character on this show and a crucial person in Sam and Dean’s lives. Those of us who are fond of him are kind of freaking out right now. But let’s begin at the beginning.

Racing Against the Clock

After Bobby had been shot in the head by Dick Roman in the previous episode, Sam and Dean quickly realized something was wrong with him. While Dean frantically drove to a hospital, Sam tried to do some basic first aid to ensure Bobby didn’t die before they could get him to an emergency room. When they did arrive, the doctors and nurses immediately swarmed around Bobby, trying to save his life. Dean wanted the bullet removed, but they weren’t able to do the surgery with Bobby’s life so unstable. Later, a hospital worker came by to talk to Dean about donating Bobby’s organs. Dean didn’t even want to think of Bobby dying and shouted at the man that his ‘uncle’would survive. Dean stormed outside where he found none other than Dick Roman.

Furious, Dean confronted Roman, vowing to kill him for what he’s done to Bobby and taunting him. Roman couldn’t do anything in public, not with so many people with cameras watching the exchange. By the way, is no one concerned that the infamous Winchesters can now be confirmed as alive once again? After all they went through with the leviathan versions of themselves, Sam and Dean better hope no one puts the video of Roman and Dean up on YouTube.

Inside the hospital, Sam was silently struggling. Dean’s default setting in these situations is denial, denial, denial. But Sam’s is grief. He wanted Dean to brace himself for the possibility that they might lose Bobby, but Dean refused to believe it.

Let’s Inception This Sucker

Meanwhile, Bobby may not have been moving much on that hospital bed, but a lot of action was taking place inside his head. In fact, from the moment he was shot, Bobby was conscious inside his head and he was desperate to get a series of numbers to Sam and Dean which apparently relate to the leviathans’plans.

But it wasn’t that easy. Because Supernatural never is. While Bobby originally imagined himself back in the forrest from the previous episode with the Winchesters, he soon realized he was just dreaming. He later came across Rufus and a reaper. The reaper told Bobby he was in a coma and he should just accompany him into the great beyond, but Bobby refused to pass on.

Instead, Bobby met up with Rufus once again and confronted him about a near death experience he had during a case they worked on. Rufus told him that he managed to escape death only by confronting his worst memories – going deeper and deeper until he could find the door that would lead him away from death. First, Bobby thought his worst memories might have something to do with his wife, Karen, who appeared in this episode. We learned that three days before she died, the two of them had a terrible fight. She had always wanted children and he finally told her he had no intention of becoming a father. Her heart was broken.

But we soon learned the reason he didn’t want to be a father. As it turns out, Bobby’s own father was a terrible, abusive man who beat on his wife and son. Bobby’s worst memory was actually the night be finally stood up to his father and killed him so that he would stop beating his mother.

Between all of these bad memories was a powerful message and one that came to define Bobby’s life: he actually did turn out to be a father. We saw scenes here and there of Bobby with Sam and Dean. In one scene, we saw Bobby taking a young Dean to a park to throw around a baseball, despite John wanting Dean to do some target practice. Later, Bobby argued with John on the phone, insisting that young Dean just needed to be a kid once in a while.

It took Bobby a while to realize, but he did turn out to be a good father, as he later told the father from his memories. After all, he raised two boys who eventually turned into men and became heroes.

The Ultimate Cliffhanger

The problem, however, was that Bobby’s brain was essentially dying. The reaper warned him that, piece by piece, his brain was being destroyed by the bullet. So he had a choice: he would move on with the reaper or remain trapped inside his last remaining memory. Bobby was able to wake up for a moment and wrote the number sequence that relates to the leviathans on Sam’s hand. He fondly called the boys ‘idjits’and then flat-lined. The doctors scrambled to bring him back, while unconscious Bobby told the reaper he wanted to remain behind with his last memory, which consisted of Sam and Dean fondly arguing about movies and snacks. When even the shades of the boys disappeared, the reaper asked Bobby what his next move would be. Die or remain a shell inside his own head?

Fade to black.

Oh. My. God.

What a cruel, cruel show Supernatural is. To leave us – and Bobby’s life – hanging for a month.

Pass Me a Tissue, Please

While this midseason finale didn’t do much with the season’s mythology or villains, I thought it was the most introspective Bobby episode we’ve ever seen. The truth is, Bobby has always been a bit of an enigma. It’s taken years for us to learn much about him as a character and to see glimpses into his past. We know who he is now, of course, but we never really learned all the circumstances that brought him to this point.

Like I said, some fans who might not like Bobby may not have been happy that this episode was a bit of a love letter to his character. But the truth is, each of the characters (and their actors) were amazing. Jensen Ackles knocked the emotional scenes out of the park as he usually does, while Sam’s quiet desperation was heartbreaking.

But now I’m really, really concerned about Bobby’s fate. How to save him from something this serious? If the reaper is to be believed, then Bobby is basically brain dead. I cannot believe the show would kill him. After what happened with Castiel, getting rid of Bobby would be the absolute wrong decision, even if this episode could have served as a beautiful – and fitting – send-off. But the Winchesters, and the Supernatural fans, simply cannot lose another character as important as Bobby.

I loved how Bobby’s happy memories all revolved around Sam and Dean. He obviously didn’t set out to become a father, but he became one nonetheless. And the truth is, he was as equally an important father as John Winchester. There was never a better scene that demonstrated the differences between those two father figures as the one where Bobby was on the phone in this episode, arguing with John about playing baseball with Dean versus teaching him how to shoot a gun.

Here’s the bottom line: no one is questioning that John loved his boys. But from the moment that Mary died in the fire, John was on a mission. He was on a mission to understand and hunt the thing that killed his wife. To achieve this, he needed not only to protect his sons (the last pieces of Mary that he had left), but he also needed to turn them into men who could help him with his end goal. Unfortunately, John died before he could kill Azazel, but he spent his life – and the lives of his children – with a single-minded focus that unfortunately gave them some terrific demon-hunting skills, but pretty crappy childhoods.

Then there’s Bobby. Bobby obviously fell into a parental role by accident, but he excelled at it. He absolutely wanted to teach the boys the skills they needed to survive in the hunting world, but he also wanted to give them some semblance of a life. Recall the scene in episode 6.01 when Bobby told Dean that he failed to tell him Sam was back from Hell because all he wanted was for Dean to live a normal life with Lisa and Ben. I would be interested to know if the writers believe John would have made the same choice as Bobby.

That is the dividing line between Bobby and John: that one was in it for revenge and was forced to use his children as his little helpers in order to achieve it, while the other simply grew to love the two men that the boys had become. Both wanted to protect the boys, but John was a victim of fate and could never have become the father figure that Bobby turned out to be.

I know it’s too late to change anything now, but the Supernatural writers absolutely cannot kill off Bobby. I couldn’t take it. The fandom couldn’t take it. And, most importantly, the characters couldn’t take it. My gut tells me that Bobby may languish in a coma for a few episodes until Sam and Dean are able to get their hands on some supernatural assistance. They probably won’t sell their souls, but maybe a certain angel might swoop in and save the day? Wishful thinking, I know. I don’t know how the show will do it, but as long as Bobby lives, I’m willing to buy whatever explanation they have for healing his brain and getting him moving again. There’s a fine line between showing us that the world of Supernatural is a serious one where people die and killing off the last friend and family member that the Winchesters have.

I can only hope that Supernatural doesn’t cross that line. After tonight’s emotional episode, I simply cannot take any more anguish.

Now that we’ve hit the midseason finale, I plan on taking a look back at the first half of Supernatural‘s seventh season and sharing some thoughts with all of you. So you don’t only hear my thoughts, I’ll be soliciting the opinions of several other writers and websites in the fandom for a big midseason review. Make sure you check back early next week for it!

Supernatural is now officially on hiatus until January 6. Watch a trailer here for the January episodes. After tonight’s amazing performance by Jim Beaver, take a look through this episode’s Supernatural slide-show, which features Bobby’s most memorable scenes.