‘Supernatural’: I’m proud of us 

Come here. Let me look at you. Hey, look at me. It’s not even that bad. It’s not even that bad, all right? Hey, listen to me. We’re gonna patch you up, okay? You’ll be good as new. Huh? I’m gonna take care of you. I’m gonna take you care of you. I’ve got you. (The CW)

You can’t escape me, Dean. You’re going to die. And this … this is what you’re going to become.

Gadreel is on the floor of the Bunker. Sam and Cas are struggling to hold Dean back. With a roar, he throws them both off. Sam puts himself between his brother and the wounded angel. Dean growls at him to move. It’s like his voice is coming from a place that’s not quite human. FORESHADOWING! Castiel wraps his arms around Dean from behind and Sam lunges for the Blade. He tells Dean to let it go, his voice getting softer each time, until he’s finally able to penetrate the Blade’s hum.

They somehow get Dean into Crowley’s dungeon. Sam reasonables that, until they have a better handle on what the Blade is doing to Dean, this is where he’ll stay. Dean questions – LOUDLY – the logic of locking up the one guy who has an actual shot at killing Metatron. “Hello of a plan, fellas!” Dean’s shouting is met with silence. Cas and Sam walk out and lock him in.

Sam wraps the Blade in its magic shamWOW and stows it in a metal box (in plain sight) in the library. They go to check on Gadreel, but he’s gone. They follow the trail of blood a short distance away. Gadreel has abandoned his car and drug himself off into the tall grass to die. Castiel hurries to him and reaches out two fingers. Gadreel shrinks back. Healing him will only weaken Castiel further. Cas heals him anyway. He comes over gray and woozy when it’s done.

Crowley is enjoying his return to power with a much-needed massage. His masseuse wonders though … shouldn’t he give all the demons flocking back to him some direction?

“Love, if I wanted a soapy massage from Dr. Phil, I would have hit ’3′ on the speed dial.”

Before she can return to her tender ministrations, the room begins to shake. Crowley is being summoned. By a Winchester.

Dean has managed to open the dungeon’s inner door and gather the ingredients for a delicious summoning salad. Crowley appears, wondering what the smell is. When he sees where he’s standing, he realizes it’s probably residual him. The boys did have him marinating down there for a good while. Dean demands to know what’s happening to him. He can’t turn it off. Ever since Abaddon … it’s like a high. He needs to kill. And if he doesn’t … Crowley fills in the blank. He yaks his bloody guts out. Literally. Crowley tells him the Mark

him to kill. “The more you kill, the better you feel. The less you kill, the less better you feel.” Dean is visibly worried and just a little scared. How much less better?

Dean strips the statement down to its bare bones. Dead. He grasps for some way out. What about Cain? He had the Mark and didn’t die. Crowley reminds him that Cain was a demon. Dean’s body isn’t strong enough to contain the Blade’s power. Dean cradles the arm that bears the Mark. What if he got rid of it? Does Dean want to get rid of it … asks Crowley? Dean stays on mission. What he wants is Metatron. And Crowley is going to help him.

By the time Sam and Cas get back to the Bunker with Gadreel, Dean and the Blade are gone and the place reeks of sulphur. Sam leaves Dean a quietly desperate voicemail. Call him back. Don’t do this. Gadreel is all like, ‘Or …

do this’. He tells them that Metatron is drawing power from the angel tablet. If they can break the connection between the two, Metatron will be reduced to just another angel, and Dean will be able to kill him. They just have to get into Heaven.

Metatron is at his desk, typing away at a new story. A marvelous story! “Full of love and heartbreak and … love.” He finishes a page and turns his attention to the angel from IT. Neal tells him everything is set. All he has to do is flip the switch and every angel – on Earth and in Heaven – will hear his voice. This signal will block out all other voices on angel radio. Metatron eagerly picks up the mike. His voice echoes as he says hello. His expression turns sour. Neal says he needs more reverb. “Because I’m Lou Gehrig?” Hee! A few adjustments and Neal gives him the ‘and, we’re LIVE!’ finger point. ” … Don’t do that.” Double hee! Metatron welcomes the angels back in the same tone a principal would use on the first day of school. He’s moved that they’ve accepted him as their new God. His heart is full, and he’s embarking on a new project. “It will be … glorious.” With the short address complete, Metatron hurries off. Neal has a concerned, wondering where Metatron is going. “To tell the rest of the story.”

Dean, Crowley, and the Blade repair to a bar and grille. Dean opens his laptop and tells the waitress he’ll have a black coffee. Crowley is appalled. He may be evil, but he’s not a d-bag. Well, he is, but he draws the line at camping. “What’s the tip on a single cup of joe? A nickel?” The server is like, ‘If that. Preach’. Dean amends his order to a double cheeseburger with everything, heavy on the onions. He glares at Crowley and goes back to his angel smitings and crazy acts of god search-fu. Crowley looks around the restaurant. So this is what he and Moose do … “Criss cross the country, searching for evil. And you never get tired of the rat race? Never get the urge to just bugger off and howl at the moon? Never ask yourself … Is this it? Is this all there is?” Crowley suddenly realizes he’s stopped talking about Dean and started talking about himself. He quickly reminds Dean that he kicked human blood, so. Dean doesn’t care. “Oh, so you’re full metal d-bag again. Well, that’s fantastic. Would you like a stuffed bear?” Hee! Crowley says he’s just making conversation. Fine, Dean will play along. How are tricks in Hell? Crowley snaps that Hell is fine. “Hell’s complicated …”

Two of Crowley’s droogs walk through the door. One of them hands him a cell phone. He waves them off and passes it to Dean. “Apparently, your angel has gone viral.” Dean watches as a woman steps into the path of a pickup truck. A crowd gathers around, and a panicked voice cries out that she’s dead. A shabby man gently says he’s not so sure. He kneels down and places his hand on her forehead. She twitches back to life. He helps her sit up, whispering in her ear. The camera zooms in. Metatron looks up and smiles. Crowley says the video was taken just a few hours before in Muncie, Indiana. Dean asks what Metatron said to the woman. Crowley cocks an eyebrow. “Exactly.” Dean quickly packs up and tosses a few bills on the table. He leaves the burger untouched.

It’s when a dog doesn’t eat. That’s when you know something’s really wrong.

They motor to the home of the woman Metatron revived. Sam is already there, waiting. “I guess one of us doesn’t need a demon to help follow a clue trail.” He talked to “miracle lady”. She’s gone, and while Dean and Crowley have been bromancing, Dean’s

friends are risking their aspirations to help him win this fight. His real friends like Castiel. And Gadreel. Wait,

of all people just call Gadreel a friend? Does Jeremy Carver

? Dean is as stunned as I am.  Just so he’s clear, Sam is talking about the angel who took him for a joy ride and slaughtered Kevin? Sam throws it back at him. The angel

let in the front door in the first place. So … Gadreel gets a pass? Is that what Sam’s saying? “You tricked me, Dean. And now I’m the one who wakes up in the middle of the night seeing my hands killing Kevin. Not you.” Hey, remember back in Season 2 when Sam made Dean go to a faith healer, even though Dean seemed at peace with his death, and a Reaper took another man’s life in place of his? I bet Dean still thinks about him, too.  In conclusion, SHUT UP,

You know what, let’s just ignore that nonsense and skip to the end where Sam says he’s on board with Dean killing Metatron. And that they’re going to do it together. Somehow it doesn’t have quite the same emotional weight as Dean telling Sam he’ll back his play to jump into the pit with Lucifer. I guess that’s what happens when the writers give Sam less of an emotional arc, and more of an emotional web woven by a spider on crack. It doesn’t feel earned.

Anyhoo, Sam knows where Metatron is going next, and he’s not much inclined to share with Crowley. Dean quickly and coldly breaks up with him. He doesn’t know what Crowley expected, and he doesn’t really care. “But you wanted off the hamster wheel. Get off.”

Castiel and Gadreel pull up to a playground in Arkansas. The door to Heaven is here? Gadreel says it is, guarded by two of Metatron’s most loyal angels. One of them keeps up appearances by joylessly swinging on the swing set. Castiel holds up a set of handcuffs. He has a plan for getting past the guards. “Wookie.” Gadreel stares at him blankly before admitting he has no idea what that means. Castiel tries to explain, and gets a stink eye back. Maybe he should have said ‘Cylon’ instead.

The ruse gets them past the guards. Unfortunately, it works exactly as well as it did in

They step into the sandbox portal, and step out of an elevator into Heaven’s central office. The jackets hanging on the wall are a nice touch. Will Heaven’s next war be fought over who controls the thermostat? Gadreel and Castiel are met by Hannah and another mid-level manager angel, Ingrid. They show them into Metatron’s office. Castiel barely has time to give Gadreel a rakish smuggler’s grin before the lights go out. The warm wood paneling of the office is replaced with the rough cut stone walls of prison cells. Too late Gadreel realizes where they are.

Cas tries to convince Hannah to release them and let them prove that Metatron is a fraud. Gadreel sits silently in his cell, slowing unspooling. He muses bitterly on the thousands of years he spent in the same hole, thinking of nothing but redemption. “I thought of

– no cause – other than my own. The only thing that matters in the end, is the mission. Protecting those who would not, and can not, protect themselves. The humans. None of us is bigger than that.”

Miracle Lady’s intel leads the boys to an abandoned factory turned homeless encampment. Dean pops the trunk on Baby’s arsenal. His hand shakes. The Blade’s hum drowns out everything else as he reaches out to touch it.

Cause it makes him feel like he’s a man, when he puts the spike into his vein. Then the Blade tells him things aren’t quite the same …

Sam has a worried, but pushes through it. He asks Dean if he’s good. Yeah, Dean’s good.  Sam gives a little, ‘Yep, we’re doing this’ jerk of his head and reaches into the trunk. He takes out the shamWOW wrapped Blade and puts it in Dean’s hand. Forgetting his previous statements against social awkwardness, Dean tries to bust out the misty good-bye speech. “Listen, Sammy … about the … you know, the last couple of months …” Sam says he knows. This time there’s no Bon Jovi to fill the silence. “So, before we find something else to fight about, tell me … ready to cut this bish?” Sam closes Baby’s trunk and turns to pick up the weapons bag from the ground. When he turns back around, his face collides with Dean’s right fist. Boom goes the Moose. Dean bends down next to Sam. “Sorry, little brother. It’s not your fight.”

Gadreel begins to pick up a head of steam. He has Castiel and Hannah’s attention, but he’s not really talking to them. He says he will not allow his fear and self absorption to prevent him from seeing the mission through to the end. “Not anymore.” He turns around. He’s used the rocks in his cell to cut the power sigil into his chest. He calmly tells Castiel to move to the other side of his cell, and keep his head down.

“When they say my name, perhaps I won’t just be the one who let the serpent in. Perhaps I will be known as one of the many who gave Heaven a second chance.”

Hannah rushes to the cell door, fumbling with the heavy key. It’s too late. Gadreel focuses his sweaty, hollow-eyed attention on her. “Run, sister.” He stabs himself with the sharp, pointy end of a stone. His grace explodes out of him, blowing the doors off both cells. Hannah stands over his prone, lifeless body. “Do you believe him now?”

Dean has no trouble passing through the encampment. Metatron – Marv – said he was coming. He finds the would-be messiah inside the old factory, meditating. Dean is not impressed with this latest chapter in the story. “You can save the humble pie, Jesus routine for somebody who gives a darn.” Metatron laments Dean’s cynicism. “

with the cynicism. Most people – I mean, even the real belly crawlers, living in filth … or

– they don’t want to be cynical. They just want something to believe in.” And why shouldn’t it be Metatron? Dean points out that it’s only been a day, and the people in the encampment have already shed blood for him. “You are nothing but Bernie Madoff with wings.” Is Dean calling Metatron a fraud? Well allow him to retort. Dean and Metatron pace slowly back and forth, mirroring each other. The lighting on Jensen in this scene is insane. Well played director Thomas J. Wright. Well played. Metatron asks if Dean has any idea the effort it took to get God to work a rope line. “He hated it! And you know, humans sense that.” So they prayed, and fought, and died, and blamed themselves for being ignored by a god who didn’t even know their names. But Metatron does. Because he has walked among them. And he can save them. All he asks for is a little worship in return. Is that so wrong? Is Dean blaming him for giving humanity what it wants?? When Dean answers, it comes out like a roar.

“I’m blaming you for Kevin!! I’m blaming you for taking Cas’s grace.” He slowly unrolls the Blade from its shamWOW. He begins to warm to this growing list of grievances. “Hello, I’m blaming you for the Cubs not winning the World Series for the last hundred frigging years.” The Blade hums. Dean gets a look on his face that is both crazed and ecstatic. “Whatever it is,

.” The Blade quivers in Dean’s hand. Metatron asks him to consider what will happen if he succeeds, and Metatron dies. “What’s the world left with then, hmm? A herd of panty waisted angels, and

?” Dean steps closer. He stopped listening after the part about Metatron dying. Metatron throws up his hands in disgusted surrender. Fine. They’ll fight … unless Dean wants to stall a little while longer.

“Here’s a news flash. Humpty and Dumpty are starring in their very own version of

right now.” Dean takes a step back, quickly trying to decide whether or not Metatron is telling the truth. He decides it doesn’t matter. He swings the Blade. Metatron easily blocks the blow, so Dean punches him in the nose. Metatron smiles. He gives Dean the Morpheus ‘bring it’ hand wave. With another roar, Dean attacks. Metatron side steps him and sends him flying through the air. Dean crashes into the wall and thuds to the floor. He picks himself up and takes an unsteady step. Metatron sends him back to the wall with a flick of his wrist. He kicks the Blade out of Dean’s hand and then boots him in the face. “You’re powered by the bone of a jackass, and it is just

! Right? Here’s a tip … Next time? Try to be powered by the Word of God.”

Kicking Dean’s aspirations. Kicking Dean’s aspirations. Kicking Dean’s aspirations. Is there a season that hasn’t ended with someone trying to beat the pretty off him? The blows rain down. Metatron holds Dean’s face is his hands. Dean looks up into his eyes. Metatron wants him to know this fight was over before it began … but Dean isn’t done yet. He reaches out, and the Blade slides into his hand. He’s sitting at a slight lean with his back against the wall. His legs are stretched out in front of him. I’m not sure if he can still feel them. He sits up straight, and the tip of Metatron’s gladius meets him. Dean gasps in surprise and pain as it slips into his chest. Metatron grins an ugly, feral smile and twists the blade for good measure, because that’s just the kind of benevolent god he is. Dean looks down at the blade as Metatron pulls it free. Dean always knew he would die bloody. He just thought he would take the monster with him.

Sam cries out from the other side of the room. Dean turns to look at his brother with eyes full of love – and regret. He didn’t want Sammy to see this. He didn’t want Sammy to watch him die again.

Sam runs to his side. Metatron smiles and shrugs all, ‘You win some, you lose some’. Sam tugs Dean upright. He opens his eyes as the factory begins to shake. Sam stands and attacks. Metatron winks out of sight. Dean groans at Sam to leave before he comes back. He can barely get the words out. Sam shushes him and presses a bandana to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. He babbles that they’ll find a doctor, a spell … Dean stops him.

“The Mark … it’s making me into something I don’t want to be.”

Sam tells him not to worry about the Mark. They’ll figure it out later. He hoists Dean off the ground and slowly helps him through the factory. Dean asks what happened with Sam being okay with this?

.  Sam’s hair is still the hair.  Dean’s soul is the pocket watch.

Dean stumbles to a stop. He smiles and lightly claps a hand on Sam’s shoulder.

“Well played … So, Gadreel bites the dust. And the angel tablet, arguably the most powerful instrument in the history of the universe, is in pieces and for what again? Oh, that’s right. To save Dean Winchester … You draped yourself in the flag of Heaven, but ultimately, it was all about saving one human, right? Well guess what …”

And now they can all get back on the same page. Metatron will mop up the last bit of resistance, and the rest of the angels

. “Because they are frightened little sheep following my crook wherever it leads.” And when they’re back in the penthouse, trust him. They’re not going to care how they got there. He says that Castiel’s problem – the reason his grace is slowly burning away and his reputation is long extinguished – is that he lacks curiosity. “You never learned how to tell a good story.” Metatron brandishes the gladius, preparing the deliver the killing blow. Castiel’s eyes follow the blade’s tip. The blood is still wet. Dean’s blood. Cas leans forward. “But you did.” He turns and looks at the PA. The red light is on. The mike is hot.

Hannah leads the other angels into the office. They seize Metatron and lock him in a cell. Hannah tells Castiel he’s doing the right thing, letting the scribe live. “It’s what a leader would do.” Yeah, good luck with that next season. Cas cuts her off. He’s no leader. “I never was. I just want to be an angel.” Hannah asks him about his grace. What will he do? “You will die if you don’t replenish it.” Castiel doesn’t look especially concerned by his looming fate. What –

Come down off your throne and leave your body alone. Somebody must change. You are the reason I’ve been waiting so long. Somebody holds the key.

Sam lays Dean’s body down on his bed in the Bunker. Memory foam. Does it still remember him? Sam’s eye lids are red rimmed. He looks down on his brother’s battered face. He swallows the tears before they start. He goes to the library and pours a glass of sweet brown.

But I’m near the end and I just ain’t got the time. And I’m wasted and I can’t find my way home.

He goes back to Crowley’s dungeon. All the ingredients for the summoning spell are still laid out on the floor. He shakes his head. His expression is hard and resolved. “Crowley. You got him into this mess. You

A figure stands in shadow in the doorway. For one hopeful moment I thought it was Castiel. It’s Crowley. He takes a seat at Dean’s desk. He tells Dean that Sam is, bless his soul, summoning him as he speaks. “Make a deal. Bring you back. It’s exactly what I was talking about, isn’t it? It’s all become so …

“You have to believe me. When I suggested you take on the Mark of Cain I didn’t know this was going to happen … Not really. I mean, I might not have told you the entire truth.”

“But I never lied. I never lied, Dean. That’s important. It’s fundamental. But …”

“There is one story about Cain that I might have … forgotten to tell you. Apparently, he too was willing to accept death rather than becoming the killer the Mark wanted him to be. So he took his own life with the Blade. He died. Except as rumor has it, the Mark never quite let go.” Crowley pulls the Blade from inside his coat.

“You can understand why I never spoke of this. Why set hearts aflutter with mere speculation?” Crowley stands and walks over to the bed. “It wasn’t until you summoned me … no, it wasn’t truly until you left the cheeseburger uneaten.” Crowley bends down and places the Blade in Dean’s hand. “And I began to let myself believe …” He bends Dean’s elbow so that the Blade is now resting on his chest.

“Listen to me, Dean Winchester. What you’re feeling right now is not death, it’s life. A new kind of life. Open your eyes, Dean.

BLACK EYES. BLACK HEARTS. THE FANDOM IN THIS MOMENT. (30sec2tam.tumblr.com)

You know what I love about this show? They spend all season telling you what’s going to happen, and then the big shocking reveal at the end is that

. Were you surprised when Dean opened his eyes? No. Did you scream and shriek and lose your damn mind? Does that final moment still make you squee four months later? Oh, yes. Yes it does.

A little uneven at times, but there was a lot about Season 9 that I found satisfying. Tahmoh Penikett was a great addition.  I loves me some Helo.  Misha had some lovely moments as human!Castiel (which I would have liked to see more of). JODY MILLS LIVES! Teen!Dean. Kevin freaking Solo. Timothy Omundsen as the greatest bringer of death since Death. Shower!Dean.

dead horse of Sam’s headspace because I’m sure you’re tired of me yelling at you about it. Just, please writers, let us

to Sam’s head and don’t just send him stomping off to his room to pout.

I would have liked to see more of Abaddon – Alaina Huffman is awesome and she and Jensen have mad chemistry. It’s not too late for Abaddemondean to be a thing! – but this isn’t a show about the power struggles in Hell. And in the end, it wasn’t even really about killing her, per se. It was about reaching that final moment with Dean and Crowley.

One of the nice things about writing a recap in September is finding out if the theories you had in May hold water. I speculated after “Mother’s Little Helper” that Dean would give in to the Mark, kill Abaddon and Crowley, and become the King of Hell. Or, if he didn’t kill Crowley, that they would become rivals for the throne. But rather than rivals, now I think Crowley wants to groom Dean to be his heir. The promo for Season 10 would seem to bear this out, so yay for me. I’ll take that stuffed bear, please and thank you. And, I mean honestly, Crowley has been a fanboy since the first time he rode shotgun in Baby in Season 5. Two key points lead me to this conclusion: Crowley’s relationship with his son, and his being over it-ness at running Hell.

Crowley may like being King, but he’d grown sick of the job almost as soon as he took it. Go back to Season 6, and complaining to Bobby about what evil, lying prats demons are. “Try to show them a new way, a better way, and what do you get? Bugger all. You know, there’s days that I think that Lucifer’s whole ‘spike anything with black eyes’ plan wasn’t half bad.” And even after Crowley gets his throne back, he doesn’t seem much interested in ruling, as his masseuse pointed out. The gilt is off the crown. Is “this” all there is?

The amount of time “King of the Damned” spent on Gavin just felt odd. Why focus so heavily on him and his relationship with Crowley? Why in Episode 21, so close to the end of the season, only to send him wandering off into a park? Will he find Adam, so that together, they can never be spoken of again? I think it’s because we needed to see Crowley’s effort – and failure – to connect with his son. They’re each a disappointment to the other. But Dean – Dean is the son Crowley never had. Smart, tough, capable, and ruthless in the pursuit of an objective. He’s a son to make a father proud.

And that’s why Crowley’s “Howl at the moon” speech is so significant.  There was no one in the room but him and Dean. There’s no reason to think he was lying. It’s like a bizarro call back to Dean’s speech to Sam’s dead body in Season 2.  It’s important to Crowley that Dean believe him – even if he was playing the long con this whole time. It’s no fun howling at the moon by yourself.

As heart breaking as Dean’s death scene was – Proud of us.

! – how excited are we for Deanmon? SO EXCITE! I loved Robo!Sam in Season 6. Robo!Sam was fun, and you could tell Jared was enjoying exploring that side of Sam. I am so looking forward to Jensen kicking out the jams on a Dean that is stripped of all his guilt, angst, and self loathing. Although Jensen warned at Comic Con that sex, booze, and bar fights Deanmon isn’t comical. He’s scary.

Oh, yes. Scary Dean will do nicely. Bring it on, Season 10!

airs Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on The CW.  Season 10 begins October 7.

Tags: demondean | Destiel | Mark of Dean | spn | supernatural | More

demondean | Destiel | Mark of Dean | spn | supernatural | ugly crying

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