Supernatural Season 7 Awards - Part 2

The Supernatural Season 7 Awards continue!

Here's part 2 of mine and Tiny's hits and misses for the season that was!

FAVOURITE VILLAIN

AMY: Dick Roman. I like Dick. Yes I went there. I’d kind of forgotten how fabulous he was until I started rewatching the season when my DVD arrived. His humour. His delivery. His smarmy grin. Oh he’s wonderful. How he tore Crowley down with a withering look and a smart retort totally awesome. He was a pretty cool baddie!

TINY: I love the return of Mark Pellegrino. I confess, I have a huge crush on Pellegrino. I have loved him more since Lost where he plays Jacobs, and I love Jacobs. I love him. Only if I could hug him at a convention, my life will be complete. I really love how Lucifer is written in season seven. This is the devil he should have been playing all this time. I think he really plays the devil who toys with Sam’s damaged soul, it is really torturing for Sam. His ‘personality’ really shines through as the devil on Sam’s shoulder. Season seven’s Lucifer is different from season’s five because the writing team really have fun writing the different side of Lucifer, he is always meant to be the devil who tricks you to do wrongs and give in to him. Lucifer loves to win, and he always wins.

Honorable mention: Death! Pickle chips anyone? And Oh Crowley!!

FAVOURITE GOOD GUY (OR LADY)

AMY: Outside of Dean? Eliot Ness. Now this is probably because of a mix of reasons. 1. Alex Krycek – yes I was a fan of Nicholas Lea in The X Files. 2. The Untouchables – yes I really love that movie. But beyond that, I liked Eliot’s style. I liked his take on hunting. I liked what he said to Dean. And he looked great in a suit!

TINY: Supernatural has always been great when bringing in great guest stars. Charlie (played by Felicia Day) is awesome as Charlie. I love the way she is introduced as the IT nerd who loves her life. Charlie is the Merry and Pippin in The Lord of the Rings, their lives are so fun and they love their lives, simple things in live make them happy. But when evil strikes, like Merry and Pippin, Charlie steps up, be a hero and fight evil alongside with Dean and Sam in the epic quest. Good woman!!! I hope Felicia Day will have time and make a return to season eight!

MOST UNDER-USED CHARACTER

AMY: The Impala! Ha!  That is all.

TINY: The Impala! BABY doesn’t get enough credit for being the love of Dean’s life and one of the most awesome cars in popular culture. I am not sure if I like the fact that BABY is locked down for most part of the season. I get why the decision is made to do so because season seven is about taking everything and everyone away from Dean and Sam. I love how BABY is introduced back to the season in the season finale, and BABY deserves to be treated like the way it is written and shot. I wish I get to see Dean’s face while he drives BABY. While I am ok with the fact that Meg is seen to be the first one to step out of BABY, it should have been Dean, but I can live with it J I want to see more BABY in season eight!!

BEST CONFRONTATION

AMY: I really loved the confrontation between Sam and Dean in The Mentalists. It was the confrontation that needed to happen. What was said needed to be said and I was glad Dean did it. I also thought he was right. He did do what had to be done and he did it because Sam couldn’t. If Amy had gone on another murdering spree, Sam would never have forgiven himself. She was a monster, she’d killed to protect her son, if put in the same situation, she would have done it again. Sam needed to hear that. He thought he was angry with Dean because Dean had killed Sam’s friend, but I think this helped Sam realise, he was angry with Dean, because Dean had lied. I thought this was a fantastic scene. It’s one of my favourites of the season.

TINY: The Sam and Lucifer confrontations through out season seven have been intense and the writing of it has been very consistent. The storyarc/ unfinished business/ and the whole messing with Sam’s mind have been very well executed. And through the storytelling, I think Lucifer’s true personality really comes through – the devil on Sam’s shoulder, and see how far he can push Sam before he gives up. I think it is the best way to address Sam’s damaged soul. Stuff like this doesn’t just go away. Sam does everything he can to confront Lucifer, he really tries and struggles. But human souls are fragile. Poor Sammy.

FAVOURITE GUEST STAR

AMY: Nicholas Lea. Yeah, I was pretty damn excited that Nic Lea was going to be on the show. Supernaturalgets great guest stars and I totally love it when they’re genre guest stars too. I really hope they find a way to bring Ness into the present so we get to see Nic again!

TINY: Is it redundant to name Misha my Favourite Guest Star? Seeing Misha is a ‘guest star’ in season seven, I have to go with Misha!!! But apart from Misha, this season invited many of iconic names in the business The X Files, Buffy, Dr Horrible and Pirates of the Caribbean. And if I have to pick another one, it would have to be Felicia Day (aka Charlie).

Honorable mention: DJ Qualls (aka Garth).

BIGGEST ‘I KNEW IT’ MOMENT

AMY: Probably Cass being alive, or maybe Bobby being a ghost. I loved how they revealed both of these. The Bobby ghost reveal was particularly great. I think we all figured it was Bobby and we all assumed Cass was still kicking, but you still yell out I KNEW IT when the big secret is popped!

TINY: Cas is not dead! HE IS ALIVE! HE IS ALIVE!! I can’t say I am surprised, but I am just glad he isn’t dead! He is a friggin angel and he is alive!!!

BEST CHARACTER MOMENT

AMY: It’s almost like the entirety of Death’s Door. The character moments for Bobby were stunning. My favourite being when he said, “Well, as fate would have it, I adopted two boys, and they grew up great. They grew up heroes.” It said so much about Bobby and it sort of made me sad. It made me feel a little lonely for him. But it also made it crystal clear how much he loved those boys. They were HIS boys. The fact that he chose them bickering and making fun of each other as his final memory. Oh yeah, the whole episode, but in particular, these two moments were my favourite. They really gave us insight into who Bobby was, not as a hunter, but as a man.

TINY: The Dean and Castiel garage scene in Survival of the Fittest illustrates forgiveness and maturity. I don’t know about you, but I am relieved after watching that scene. I feel the weight on my shoulder as a viewer has been lifted off, imagine how Dean and Cas feel! Dean has a big heart and he will never walk away from his family and friends, including Cas. Dean may not be able to forgive Cas completely, but this is Dean’s version of forgiveness, and that’s big! There is a great dialogue exchange between Dean and Cas in Survival of the Fittest. Cas has been trying to understand humans and their emotions/ behaviors ever since his arrival in season four. Some of the events he has experienced really have brought out emotions he doesn’t know they exist before.

FAVOURITE SAM AND DEAN MOMENT

AMY: Oh the end of Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie. It’s such a wonderful scene. To see Dean laugh and to see Sam enjoy Dean’s laughter. Dean’s apology for psychologically scarring Sam, Sam’s smart-assed “Which time”, the giant slinky. THE GIANT SLINKY! The whole scene makes my face hurt from the grinning! I love moments like these between the boys. Here’s to a few in season 8!

TINY: My favourite Sam and Dean moment is actually from the end of Plucky. That’s just good times! That scene reminds me of the end of season one’s Hell House when Dean and Sam prank Ed and Harry. We haven’t seen Dean and Sam having fun for a long time and it is such a great way to see the brothers having fun and a good laugh. Good times. I love that brotherly moment.

BIGGEST WTF MOMENT

AMY: I think it was when Dean and Cass disappeared and left Sam standing alone and then we cut to Purgatory and I was all “WTF??! WHAT’S HAPPENING? I HAVE TO WAIT HOW LONG TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENING?!” Yeah, it kind of took me by surprise.

TINY: Dean having a daughter and Sam marrying Becky…! Like WTF?!

FAVOURITE COMEDIC MOMENT IN AN EPISODE

AMY: It’s from Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie:

DEAN:  Cops have a theory?

SAM: Yeah, they think the ball washer did it.

DEAN: The what?

SAM: The... ball washer.

DEAN: *Smirks* The what?

SAM: The ball – *throws hands in the air*

Heeeee! Dean is so annoying! (Bless)

TINY: I am greedy. I am going to name two comedic moments, one for Sam and one for Dean. I love seeing Sam so scared of clowns in Plucky. LOVE IT! And the more he hides it, the funnier it gets. It’s been awhile since I find Sam funny! For Dean, I love his comedic side in Time After Time. I love how Dean just gets so into being an Untouchable. Who is that sexy dude in the fedora – Winchester. Dean Winchester!

BEST EPISODE

AMY: This is by far the trickiest of categories. When Supernatural shines, it dazzles. There were several episodes this season that were particularly strong. Strong in creative, structure, story and performance. But the best?

Death’s Door. This is a beautifully made hour of television. The script was perfection. It was complex, the way it shifted through realities, yet it never felt convoluted or cumbersome. It covered a lot of ground, in the waking world and the world inside Bobby’s head. We got a glimpse into who Bobby really was and what had happened to him in the past that affected everything for him in his future and we discovered the two things most important to him, Sam and Dean. The performances were spectacular. Jim, Steven, Jensen, Jared. The lighting was beautiful, the different worlds having different tones and the glow to Bobby’s favourite memory as all else faded around him. It was smart and heart wrenching, but didn’t rely on sacrine moments to tug at the emotions, because that wouldn’t be the Winchesters and that wouldn’t be Bobby. It felt true to all of them, while completely destroying all of us. Sera’s words, Bob Singer’s direction, Serge’s lighting and the cast’s powerful yet understated performances all mix together to create one of finest moments in Supernatural.

TINY: What constitutes the Best Episode of Supernatural? It should be an episode with a great written script, great character-driven story, great plot, great twist, great direction, great pace and great performance. Everything has to be flawless executed. And seeing this is Supernatural, it should also have the class brotherly moments, Dean’s one-liners, Sam’s puppy eyes, the Impala, the gore, the suspense and the classic rock. While the show proves us over the years that a single episode of Supernatural can contain all the above elements without overwhelming the audience, Supernatural is very very good with the way their characters are constructed and written, Dean and Sam are given, but when it comes to other characters such as Bobby and Cas, the writing team does not do lazy. It is episode such as Death’s Door reminds me how integral Bobby is to the overall story and how important Bobby is as a father figure to the boys. It is characters such as Bobby give Dean and Sam the meaning of ‘family don’t end with blood.’

Death's Door gets my vote for being the Best Episode for season seven. This episode is written by Sera Gamble and directed by Robert Singer. What I love about this episode is that the way Bobby is written – he is the son, the hunter and a father figure. The episode is packed with backstory about Bobby’s childhood, his fear, angst, darkness, frustration.. everything that makes Bobby who he is as a person and as a hunter. Despite having a very dark childhood and loosing his wife Karen over a demonic possession, Bobby turns out to be a great hunter who helps people and he is a father figure to Dean and Sam. Perhaps it is the ‘family don’t end with blood’ mentality that keeps Bobby going because, subconsciously, he does have someone to ‘come home’ to – his two adopted sons -- so to speak. He truly loves the boys, he truly cares about the boys. Death’s Door shows us the Bobby we haven’t seen before. We’ve known Bobby since season one but only until season seven we get to know Bobby’s past in depth. Death’s Door treats Bobby with respect and this is no doubt in my mind the best episode of season seven of Supernatural.  

So there it was, the Supernatural Season 7 Awards! I hope you enjoyed it. 
Now....ROLL ON SEASON 8!
-Amy

You can read part 1 of the Supernatural Season 7 Awards here

Supernatural Season 7 Awards - Part 1

Tiny and I have been at it again! We've put together our awards for the best and worst, favourite and least favourite elements of season 7.

So without further adieu....here's part 1 of Amy and Tiny's Supernatural Season 7 Awards!

FAVORITE FILLER

AMY: I always get squirrely about what constitutes a ‘filler’. Does the episode have to be completely void of mythology? Or does it have to in no way progress the story? Whatever, I’m saying Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie. I like this episode a lot. I like the brother’s dynamic in this one. I love that Sam’s phobia throws Dean right into teasing big brother mode. It was nice to see a bit of lightness in his mood…even if it was at Sam’s expense. I also loved Sam dropping into little brother mode as he chanted what Dean told him, “If it bleeds you can kill it”. It had fantastic throwbacks to season 2 with the rainbow farting Unicorn and Sam’s fear of clowns and then that wonderful scene between the brothers at the end, complete with laughter, apologies and giant slinkies. Yeah, it was a super fun episode.

Very Honourable Mention: Time After Time.

TINY: Time After Time is no doubt my favorite filler of season seven. Written by Robbie Thompson and directed by Philip Sgriccia, Time After Time is hands down one of the coolest Supernatural episodes of all time.

Personally, I love time travel and alternate reality stories in pop culture – Back to the Future, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Somewhere in Time (that’s right!), Lost, Stargate SG1, you name it. And I love it when Supernatural does time travel/ alternative reality episodes such as What Is And What Should Never Be, In The Beginning, The Song Remains The Same, Frontierland, The French Mistake, Changing Channels, and in season seven, we have Time After Time – they are all bloody brilliant! Not only that, I love it whenever Supernatural reveals a different side of Dean – the fanboy Dean. It’s wonderful to see him gets to play doctor, cowboy and the Untouchable. I also love the fact that the writing team of Supernatural is so in tune with the pop culture and create their own version of a mash-up of Eliot Ness, Untouchable and supernatural hunting. Just like Elizabeth Bennett as the zombie hunter and Lincoln as the vampire hunter, it’s just so much fun! Brilliant stuff! All I want now is Ben Edlund writing a ninja episode with Ben as the ninja. Just saying...

LEAST FAVOURITE FILLER

AMY: This is kind of an easy one for me, Season 7, Time For A Wedding. I really didn’t care for this episode. I didn’t find it funny. I’d liked Becky the couple of times we’d met her previously and this episode tore all that down. It made me actively dislike Becky and I didn’t like that at all! I thought it was hideous what she did to Sam and then hideous how she allowed Sam to pretty much crush Dean’s heart. He’d never, ever be so cruel to his brother, ever. I didn’t see it as a poke at the fans initially and but after a pretty good conversation with one of my fellow Supernaturalbloggers, I saw that maybe they were having a bit of a go at a certain section of the fandom. As my friend said, you open that gate you can’t expect the fans not to flood through. You can’t do episodes where you’re playful with the fans by ripping down that fourth wall and then slap their hands away. But that’s not why it’s my least favourite filler, I wasn’t offended or anything...it was just disappointing. Strangely my favourite and least favourite fillers were written by Dabb and Loflin. They had a very patchy season.

TINY: My least favorite filler is definitely Defending Your Life. I get why Dean is put on trial, and I understand a hero sometimes needs to show self-doubt, it is part of the hero’s journey, but the story is poorly executed and the writing isn’t at its best. Perhaps it’s the fact that I hate it when people-killing monsters judge Dean like he is crap. He is a hero! We should all know by now, monsters are just monsters, even when they are posted as ‘gods’. That’s the way Dean should see this case rather than going along with the whole trial. May be it is just the way it’s written? Dean doesn’t feel guilty at all, but it is written as if he feels guilty. Dean does not feel guilty for killing Amy Pond, not once. It is the secret he is keeping from Sam that drives him into destruction. The only thing I love about this episode, apart from the boys’ good look, is the return of Jo. I miss her!

FAVOURITE EPISODE

AMY: Tricky one. I have a few favourites in Season 7, but the one I’ve watched the most is probably Slash Fiction. It’s an episode I randomly pop on. I think one of the things I like about it is seeing Jensen and Jared do different versions of Sam and Dean.  It’s good to see them stretch like that. I also really like Chet, the Leviathan in Bobby’s basement and the introduction of Frank Devereaux. This is the episode we lost Baby for the remainder of the season, which was a bummer but as compensation, we had Dean singing All Out Of Love. We also got a little romance with Bobby and Sheriff Mills. I like the story, the script, the guest stars, the use of recurring characters and Leviathan Sam and Dean. It’s a goodie.

TINY: This is a super hard one to pick! But my winner is The Born-Again Identity for a few reasons. It is one of the most anticipated episodes of the season. Cas’ death and return are one of the most debated topics this season. Cas’ disappearance and re-appearance have almost defined a certain timeline in season seven. Cas’ disappearance marks the beginning of the Leviathans’ domination over Dean and Sam. Never before have the boys been so stripped down, no thanks to the Leviathans. Cas reappears just in time for the battle against the Leviathans. His reappearance also marks the beginning of forgiveness – not only forgiveness from Dean but Cas also learns how to deal with his guilt despite the fact that he can never forgive himself for what he does. Cas as a character has been very symbolic and philosophical this season. Sera Gamble skillfully writes a remarkable episode to mark the beginning of the born-again Cas.

LEAST FAVOURITE EPISODE

AMY: It’s Season 7, Time For A Wedding, for all of the reasons I said earlier. It just doesn’t do it for me at all.

If I had to pick another, it would be Defending Your Life– which was written by Adam Glass, another patchy writer on the show. This was simply a weak story that had great potential to go deep into Dean Winchester’s damaged psyche, but took so long to set up the Monster Of The Week, that we glossed over the elements of the episode that threatened to have any substance. It also misconstrued Dean’s guilt as being about killing Amy behind Sam’s back, when it was the fact that he was lying to Sam that was eating him up alive. Add to it another pussy of a God who was not even remotely threatening or interesting and yeah, just ordinary on every level. Maybe this is my least favourite episode actually. Seriously, it’s a toss-up.

TINY: Defending Your Life…NEXT…

FAVOURITE WRITER

AMY: Ben Edlund is my favourite writer forever and he did some very nice work in Season 7.  Hello, Cruel Word, How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters (HTWFAIM), Repo Man, which I think is overlooked but has some really fantastic elements and Reading Is Fundamental, which is a bit of a masterpiece of the obtuse reference and layered script. I watched HTWFAIMjust yesterday and marvelled at the wonderful dialogue. Ben has a skill at balancing the humour and pathos of the story that only the very senior writers on Supernatural seem to be able to do. I love Ben. I think he’s a fabulously creative writer, director and human being. He’s one of my heroes and an inspiration.

My second favourite writer of the season is a newbie to the show, Robbie Thomas. Robbie wrote, Slash Fiction, Time After Time and The Girl With The Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo. What a stellar start to his tenure at Supernatural. When the show was signed for Season 8, he was one of the writers that I was hoping and praying would be back and apparently he will be. I’m looking forward to seeing some lovely work from him soon.

TINY: Once again, Ben Edlund is my favorite writer this season. I kind of miss the Ghostfacers Ben, but I am really digging his profound and complex writing. Ben’s ideas are getting deeper and more philosophical. As an aspiring writer, I really learn a lot from Ben’s episodes. On paper, it may not seem a lot, but if you deconstruct the story and the characters into layers, there are actually a lot of juicy stuff there. I think Supernatural needs Ben’s voice and I am glad he is back for season eight.

FAVOURITE DIRECTOR

AMY: In a couple more seasons I might say Jensen Ackles, because he’s showing great skill and he’s my favourite everything…but until I’ve seen a bit more of his directing prowess, I will say Phil Sgriccia. Phil’s done some lovely work this season, including the season opener Meet The New Boss and the fantastic time travel piece Time After Time. The thing I find with Phil’s episodes is that he tries different shots and angles and sometimes shot transitions. I think this probably comes from being an editor in his previous life, so it gives him that dual eye. But really, the quality of direction on Supernaturalis so high, it’s very difficult to pin point the best of the best! But if I must, I’m saying Phil.

TINY: Philip Sgriccia for directing Time After Time! I think the way the story depicts Dean and Sam investigating the case in a different time and space, is exceptionally well executed, kudos not only to the writing but also to Phil’s direction in storytelling and editing. The episode is also shot as a period film -- the sceneries, the costumes and the big band jazz really give the episode a sense of time. Time After Time is definitely done the Chicago way!

BEST USE OF SONG

AMY: All Out Of Love. I really can’t go past that. It’s a fantastic scene. It reveals, once again, that Dean is nowhere near as cool as he likes to think he is. It showcases Jensen’s goofiness. I love that he really goes for it when it comes to the comedy. He’s lovely at comedy. I’m baffled how Jared kept a straight face. It’s a wonderful scene.

Special mention goes to Walking On The Sunshine with Charlie having an alone moment and dancing up a storm in the glass elevator and Starry, Starry Night, which was perfect for the scene between Cass and Dean.

Oh hang on…I think my favourite music cue might be…Black Water when the boys and Bobby were walking away from the reservoir after Levi!Cass disappeared under the surface and the Leviathan were seeping out into the water supply. That was pretty cool.

So can I have four?

TINY: Supernatural is known for the use of classic rock. But I love the fact that the show thinks outside the square and doesn’t use classic rock just for the sake of it. It is about choosing the most appropriate song to tell a story or reflect the emotional state of a character. So to me, the best use of song is Don McLean’s Vincent (Starry Starry Night) for Cas. This is very close to becoming the WTF moment of the season, but this is the best song to illustrate Cas’ ‘off the rocket’ state of mind. I can’t think of a better song than Vincent to reflect ‘Cas-gone-nuts’. If you listen to the lyrics, perhaps Cas can be associated with Van Gogh’s state of mind when he took his own life. A very sad song indeed.

Honourable mention: Dean/ Jensen singing Air Supply’s All Out of Love; and Katrina and the Waves’s Walking on Sunshine.

BEST QUOTE

AMY: I loved Dean’s “…Is the Chicago Way” in Time After Time followed by his pouty “Never watch that movie again.” Poor Dean. I also loved his “Nobody puts Baby in a corner”. Oh Dean, you are such a nerd.

Honourable mentions:

Dick Roman: “Don’t roofie me and call it romance.”

Dude in café: “You’re a virile manifestation of the divine.”

TINY: Best quote has got to be something Dean says. It is just how my mind works!! Sorry Sam, you are good but Dean is the King of Quotes: “The Chicago Way.”

MOST HEART BREAKING MOMENT

AMY: Bobby. Bobby. Bobby. Bobby. Death’s Door had me bawling. Still does. That moment when Bobby says “Idjits” and dies and leaves the boys just standing there. Then we pull back to replicate the closing scene of In My Time Of Dying when the brothers watched John die. Losing 2 dads…so sad. Then we go into Bobby’s melon and see what was the memory he decided was his best, the one he saved to last, his boys, goofing off calling each other jerk-face and ass-hat and then fading away…A-Wahhhhhh! The whole thing is so damn heart wrenching. Probably the saddest episode ever.

TINY: I feel like we have created this category for Bobby. This category is previously known as Best Death. Bobby’s death is a much-debated topic for the season. We have always sensed death is near. Every time when spoilers say ‘there will be a death of a much loved character’, we go ‘please, not Bobby’. But his time has come! Bobby is taken away from us. Death’s Door is the perfect send-off for a character like Bobby. But after his first death, he returns to the show as Ghost!Bobby, which is another much debated topic. Ghost!Bobby works for awhile but when the idea of Bobby becoming an angry spirit, that’s pretty heart breaking too. And then he is gone, again. Triple the sadness! Whatever happens, both occasions have very emotional scenes and we really experience the sadness of Dean, Sam and Cas for losing the same friend twice.

Jim appeared at Comic Con back in July, surely he didn’t invite himself!! So…will Bobby be back in season eight? Just because your character is dead, it doesn’t mean we won’t see you again. It is Supernatural afterall.

COOLEST MONSTER DEATH

AMY: How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters when Dr. Gaines got “bibbed”. Okay, we didn’t see it…but the concept of “bibbing” is just brilliant! Every time I watch this episode my mind goes crazy with how you can eat your whole body! How, how did he eat his own head? Did his mouth just kind of bend all the way back around on itself and then he disappeared into nothing…leaving just a black oil slick? What?! I want to see! I want to see “bibbing” real bad. Conceptually, this might be the coolest monster death ever!

TINY: Dick Roman! His death scene isn’t as dramatic as the death of YED, Lucifer or Michael. But the build up of his death is really good, the way he dies doesn’t disappoint. Dick is a good villain, he somehow reminds me of the Luthors in Smallville. While Dick doesn’t go down as one of the best villains ever on the show, he is good at screwing the boys, causing disruption. James Patrick Stuart has done a fantastic job as Dick. Thanks for sticking around.

BEST FIGHT

AMY: I’m taking this to mean a fistfight, or physical fight, so I’m going to say the Clowns vs. Sam. It was pretty funny and pretty full on. I remember Jared saying he ached for days after it. I love that it ended in a shower of glitter! Only on Supernatural!

TINY: OK so, I am not going to pick a physical fight. But I will pick a emotional ‘fight’ between Sam and Dean. At the end of The Mentalists when Dean flips and tells Sam to quit being a bitch for Amy Pond’s death. Dean isn’t feeling guilty about killing Amy Pond, he has to kill a monster who kills people. That’s what they do as hunters. That’s what family does, do each other’s dirty work! It is a dialogue the brothers have to have. I am glad it happens as I don’t want see this to drag on any longer. And I think this fight is important. I feel that after this fight, the dark cloud is gone…no more secret. And I think the brothers are somehow bonded over this incident and trust is rebuild.  

Read Part 2 here!
-Amy

Review - Supernatural season 7 finale - 7.23 "Survival Of The Fittest"

Warning - contain episode spoilers 

See here’s the thing when dealing with Crowley, he will always find a way to bone you. 

Supernatural season finales, is there anything as exciting and harrowing? I must admit I spent the whole week sweating on it. I’d managed to stay relatively spoiler free. I didn’t read any of the preview articles. I didn’t watch any of the preview clips. Then the Upfronts came along and I’m afraid I’m weak willed and couldn’t stay away from Jensen in that grey suit, shiny tie and hiatus scruff…so bam...suddenly I knew more than I wanted to know about where the brothers were going to find themselves at the end of “Survival Of The Fittest”. Between Mr Ackles and his extra tall buddy, apparently masquerading as Grizzly Adams, I was spoiled rotten; both in plot possibilities, prettiness and the wonderful visual of the boys voting with their 5th extremity. Thank you Jensen. That will forever be seared into my mind’s eye to muse over………………

What was I saying? Oh right. Finale.

So Saturday comes along (remember I’m an Aussie) and I wake up extra early, feeling slightly nauseated and in a flop sweat. The closer it gets to the time the more I’m overcome by a sense of dread. I mean I literally feel like I might throw up a little. I’m so concerned about Sam and Dean Winchester I’m having a minor panic attack! Is this normal? I know most of you would say, yes, yes it is and I know nearly everyone outside of my Supernatural family would say, no Amy it certainly is not, please get a life. Then I would explain to them how I have a life, rich with stories of love and loyalty, of brothers and family, of heroes and villains, of rising above expectations, of falling to temptation, of shiny black cars and the myriad of emotions and frailties that make up humanity and they would walk away shaking their heads as I grinned triumphantly! But I digress. I was so nervous before watching this finale I didn’t know what to do with myself. Then Carry On Wayward Son started and then I cried….

I never compare season finales to each other. I never say, oh it wasn’t quite “Swan Song” or it didn’t grab me like “No Rest For The Wicked.” I let every season finale stand on its own merits. They each sit within the structure of an overall season arc. It’s like comparing apples and oranges, they taste different, so why bother. “Survival Of The Fittest” launched us with a jetpack strapped to our backs, screaming towards season 8. Holy fudgin’ crap. What a kicker! For some reason I didn’t see it coming even though I’d discussed ad nauseam what the end might be and Purgatory was certainly on the discussion list. I knew Dean would find himself in a tricky situation, I just didn’t think it would be alone in Purgatory with Sammy back on Earth not knowing where Dean had gone. We were left with them apart and normally that would leave me in a state of horror. But not this time. On the contrary. I’m so damn excited about what this opens up that I can’t stop thinking about it. Sure we’ve done the brother’s separated and in Hell before, but that was through self-sacrifice and to some degree choice. We’ve also done the brothers separated through emotional conflict but that was once again, through choice (and you’d be right in assuming I don’t like that). This time Dean was simply zapped away, caught in the jet stream of Dick Roman’s whatever the hell that was. Sam’s left behind with no real clue what just happened to his brother, though being the brainiac he is, it’s not going to take him long to reach the conclusion Dean has been sucked into Purgatory. But they weren’t prepared for this. They weren’t prepared to be separated. It wasn’t discussed, they weren’t expecting it, they didn’t want it. This makes the whole thing feel very different to me and I dig it! I gotta say though, who the hell would want to save the world? Look what happens when you do! First Sam goes to Hell after stopping the Apocalypse now Dean goes to Purgatory after stopping the Chompocalypse. That sucks ass! But it’s so goooooooood! Ooooo it’s so good! The possibilities!

First things first. So we’ve despatched Dick. The Levis have been neutered, with Dick sent back to Purgatory (WHERE DEAN IS!) and the rest of them left wandering the earth Dickless, practically impotent. Their story reached a climax and exploded. They couldn’t pull off their master plan for creaming humanity. It was all cocked up by those pesky Winchesters. Awww come on! It’s my last chance to get in as many dick jokes as I can! Ok I’ll stop now. Sorry….(Yeah, I’m so not sorry). Anyhooo…. I enjoyed the Leviathan as the big bad this season, but I think their one failing was their lack of interest in the Winchesters. It made them feel less of a threat because their threat was global and in being about everyone, it lost the personal touch. Also, the Leviathan represented people we might have come in contact with, as in the corporate douche-bag up on level 5, so in some ways they were too familiar to be really scary though in other ways that familiarity made them all the more frightening. But, for me they lacked the creepiness of say Lucifer. Actually I found Lucifer disturbingly hot; (even though we know he burns cold), my bad, but I’m sorry, the Devil was smokin’, so he’s probably a bad example for me to use! But do you see where I’m struggling to get to? The Leviathan were almost too worldly to be otherworldly and in that sense lacked a bit of punch. But I did enjoy them or I should say, Dick. I love Dick Roman. He was smarmy and smug and so awful he was wonderful. James Patrick Stuart relished that character. You could see how much fun he was having with Dick Roman. Totally great villain. Also, the Leviathan plan was masterful and they were certainly different and I applaud the Supernatural creative team for pushing the big bad a bit and creating something that wasn’t your typical monster. Can I ask a question though? This might be a dumb one. It came to me while watching that last scene of Dean being surrounded but the critters in Purgatory. If the Leviathan are goo, how do they normally get around? Ok, so they shifted into humans on earth, but I wonder what form they take in Purgatory? Are they just a slick of ooze sliming their way across the ground? That doesn’t seem very frightening! Unless they’re like the Blob! The Blob! Oh we need a Blob monster next season. How cool would that be! Whoa….I digress!

So the boys burnt the flask. No surprise there, it’s what I thought would happen. Bobby did indeed request that the boys burn the flask and put him out of his misery. It was his choice. How it was done was beautiful and unexpected though. To not see Bobby flame out and to only see the glow of the flames on the boy’s beautiful, tragic faces was a masterful touch. It made it a far more personal to just have Sam and Dean experience it (and Cass silent on the stairs I guess), and it also saved us the distress of seeing one of our favourite characters go up in smoke. Watching Bobby die the first time was enough for me. The burning of the flask held the emotional wallop I knew it would and once again I bawled my eyes out for the loss of Bobby Singer. I was never in love with the GhostBobby scenario, as much as I enjoyed the moment we saw him again and the extra time we got to spend with him. In hindsight, I’m not really sure what the reasoning was in bringing him back. He helped the brother’s work through the clues, but they could’ve got there alone and frankly I would’ve preferred that they did and though he offered more information on what he remember from Dick’s office prior to being shot in the custard, most of that Frank had already worked through via the numbers. So really, in the end, what was the point? I love Bobby to pieces so from that perspective it was good to see him, but the circumstances were so harsh and so unfair. Still, I don’t feel his original death was marred by his reappearance as a spirit with vengeful tendencies. I still look at “Death’s Door” as being his true out. The question now of course is whether he’s gone for good, or as much as anyone ever is in Supernatural. Being as we are about to explore Purgatory, I imagine there’s a chance he could pop up again. I prefer to think of him in Heaven with his wife and all the people he’s loved over the years, it seems unfair that after everything he’s done, after everyone he’s saved, he be in Purgatory with monsters. But it’s been said before that we really don’t know where spirits go when they flame out. Are they put to rest? Or as they were spirits and didn’t move on after death, does that put them in the realm of Purgatory? Because Bobby possessed a maid, does that put his eternal soul in jeopardy? I hope not. I don’t want Bobby’s story to keep dragging on. I’m kind of done with it now. We’ve said goodbye to him twice, I don’t want to say goodbye to him again. I guess there’s the chance that when we get Dean out of Purgatory, if Bobby is there he could ride Dean’s coat tails out, but….to be very honest with you….I don’t want that. As much as I love Jim Beaver, as much as I love Bobby Singer, I don’t want to have an easy out. Is this the end of Bobby Singer? A big part of me says yes and I’m cool with it. Thank you Bobby and R.I.P.

Seeing Dean in Purgatory at the end of the episode left me wondering if he’s going to think he deserves to be there. He’s alive I gather, though that’s weird because everyone else in Purgatory is dead. I’m hoping he doesn’t get overcome by the malaise of the season and start to think this is his destiny. He believes he’s a monster, a killer. He carries guilt about everyone he’s ever known who got caught in the crossfire of his life and ended up dead. He carries guilt for each and every soul he tortured in Hell. Is this the place he always thought he’d wind up? Will his stint in Purgatory help him get over some of those feelings of self-loathing and give him a new view on life when he emerges? In biblical terms, Purgatory is where the soul goes to be cleansed of all past transgressions in preparation for ascension into Heaven. This could be a good thing for Dean. A bloody good cleansing. As much I was freaking out about Dean being in Purgatory, in the dark and murky woods, surrounded by God knows what, part of me got a little thrill. I like nothing more than seeing Dean go into full on Hunter mode. The guy is so skilled and so smart, seeing him faced with insurmountable odds and conquering them is a joy to behold and let’s face it, we know he’s going to be ok. I just hope that he’s not shell shocked when he emerges. I hope this experience isn’t another one that damages his psyche. I hope it makes him stronger somehow. I’m wearing my rose coloured glasses again aren’t I?

Seriously though, I have absolutely zip idea how this is going to play out. One must imagine there are a lot of monsters down there who’d like to see Dean Winchester dead. Are you kidding? A bunch of them are there because of him. But who else is there? There were monsters and spirits who weren’t evil that would’ve ended up in Purgatory. What about all the people Ash couldn’t find in Heaven? Angels? The dead ones, are they there? They don’t have souls, so you’d think not but who knows. Is Adam there because Michael has a hold of his body and so his soul has been expelled? Dr V? She must have gone back to Purgatory. Who and what is actually in Purgatory? See how exciting this is! I see either Dean tracking down friendlies or the friendlies coming to find and help Dean. But what a great big fat unknown. There’s an opportunity here for the writers to create a whole new Universe, with new lore and exploration and development of existing lore. I’m so thrilled by this twist. It’s an absolute corker.

Of course Dean is not entirely on his own, Castiel was sucked into Purgatory with him. I’m pretty sure Cass just went on a recon mission when he disappeared. We needed to end up with the visual of both the boys alone. It wouldn’t have done to have Cass by Dean’s side while Sam is shown by himself in the lab. We needed the synergy of the two shots of the brothers in their isolation. Cass zapping away was for creative and cohesive emotional resonance. Dean, like Sam, was suddenly all alone. Did you notice Cass’ voice at the end when he spoke to Dean? Sound familiar to you? It was deep, gruff and straight talking Castiel. No bees. No craziness. I think that feeling like Dean is offering some form of forgiveness and helping the Winchesters to put an end to Dick and not destroying everything as he feared he would, has brought Cass back. I said in my write up of “Reading Is Fundamental” that I thought Cass was hiding behind his craziness because to do otherwise was to face what he’d done. I think we saw this idea come to fruition when he said he couldn’t help because he’d destroyed everything and he’d destroy everything again. He was terrfied to try; terrified he’d blow it. I’m glad Dean yelled at Cass to clean up his mess. It may not have seemed to get through to him in the moment, but I’m sure that it did. Add to that watching the boys suffer as they put Bobby to rest and Dean’s “Bottom of the ninth and you’re the only guy left on the bench, sorry I’d rather have you” speech and Cass seems to be coming back from his place of self doubt to be more like the Angel we remember. He was the only one who could help, so he had to help. It was his fault. Dean was right, he needed to “nut up” and I’m glad he did. How he helps in Purgatory is yet to be seen. Can he pop back and forth between the dimensions of Purgatory and Earth? Or is he stuck in there with Dean, which will be interesting seeing as their relationship is still not quite solid. I’m intrigued to see what has become of Cass, what his abilities are in relation to Purgatory and to what level he is reborn and is able to assist.

But I don’t want Castiel to grip Dean tight and rescue him again. I don't want an Angel-easy-out. It’s Sam I want to save Dean. It's Sam's turn. I'm sure his being unable to rescue Dean from Hell has always weighed upon him. This is his chance to put a little something to rest. Plus I'd just love to see Sam save his big brother. Neither of the Winchesters have been able to rescue the other from the major threats…i.e. being in Hell. Sure on smaller issues they’ve had success. Like in “Faith” when Sam took Dean to the healer or in “Appointment in Samara” when Dean got Death to restore Sam’s soul or “The Born-Again Identity” when he brought Castiel to restore Sam’s mind. Under those circumstances they’ve been able to save each other and they’ve always found a way to save each other emotionally, but neither could find a way to get the other out of Hell. But now, here's Sam's chance. Sam knows how to crack the door to Purgatory. They've done it before. The trouble is, what gets out if he goes in? That’s if the story goes that route. Sam’s never done very well on his own, neither has Dean for that matter, they aren’t whole without the other brother, but he's not as totally alone as Crowley attests to. He does have a few friends still alive that he can call on for help, or support. There’s Sheriff Mills, there’s the hunter Garth. There are people out there for Sam. Crowley is wrong on that count. But Sam’s been through a hell of a lot this season, his mind is only just starting to repair and now he’s without Dean and doesn’t know where Dean is or if he’s alive. The guy’s on shaky ground at best, how will he deal with this blow? Man, poor Sammy. Something tells me he’s going to go at this problem like a dog with a bone, because there’s no way he’ll rest until he knows his brother is ok. Remember how he was when the Trickster/Gabriel killed Dean? Gah! I'm scared for him! But on the flipside, I have so much faith in Sam and his strength and his smarts and his love for his brother. I’m pretty excited to see where he goes with this problem. I’m also interested to see how long the writers keep the brothers apart.

And even though the brothers are apart, they kind of are still together, because you know their primary focus will be worrying about the other and finding a way back to each other. Dean also has the task of staying alive and Sam has the task of cleaning up the Leviathan mess and rescuing Kevin and possibly Meg from Crowley but you know neither brother will be far from the other’s mind. So, that’s why I’m ok with this separation, because it’s not coming from a place of anger between the Winchesters and I can only see it making them stronger both as individuals and as a team. I’m not one of those fans who’s all, oh Dean needs a story, Sam needs a story, for me it’s THEIR story. I’m happy when we explore both of their characters individually and see their individual development, but it’s their relationship that holds the most joy for me and I can’t wait until we see them restored. Having said that, I do hope we get at least a couple of episodes to explore this separated scenario. I hope the writers are brave enough to believe we can cope with that. I know I can, because the aftermath will be epic.

And speaking of Crowley, why does he need Kevin. What’s he want with a Prophet. I get why he took Meg, she’s been a naughty girl in his eyes, but Kevin? I’m scratching my head at why he’d need the protector of the Word of God. I’m really starting to pitch a tent in the Crowley’s not a demon camp. I don’t know what he might be, but I’m starting think he’s not what he seems. He has way too much power. Look at the power he was wielding in this episode. He got out of his contract with Dick, which you’d imagine he couldn’t have as demon contracts are unbreakable, he seems to know everything, he has a veritable army at his disposal, he appears to be more powerful than the Leviathan, than Lucifer. He totally boned the Winchesters again and got everything he wanted. Is he just damn clever or is he something else completely? I’m pretty sure our frenemy Crowley will be a major player in season 8 and seeing as I totally love him, that can only be a good thing.

Of course the other character that featured in “Survival Of The Fittest” was The Impala! Baby is back and looking purdy! I may have fist pumped the air and hollered WOOOOHOOOO, when she came down the highway! How lovely was that first scene…silent, except for some birds tweeting, until you start to here her thrumming in the distance and then Born To Be Wild kicks in. It was perfect. Did you notice when she was hooning down the highway and bursting through the gates of Sucrocorp there were two guys in the front seats? And did you notice that we didn’t see the lines “Don’t die” “Yeah you too” that were in the promo? I heard a lot of people complaining that we saw Meg drive the car but not Dean, but go back and look. I think they cut a scene. I think Sam and Dean are in the front seat and somewhere between the burst through the gate shot and Meg driving through the sign shot, they cut out a scene. I reckon after crashing through the gate they originally pulled around the back, Sam and Dean got out, told Meg she knew what to do…maybe there was a snarky line about not hurting his car from Dean, Meg tears off, Sam, Dean and Cass are at the back door of Surcrocorp, they do the don’t die lines we saw in the promo and go inside, maybe Sam goes in that way and Cass and Dean another way – that’s how they split up – and then cut to outside again and Meg drives through the sign. This is how I think it went down before they had to lose some time in the edit! Because there are definitely Sam and Dean look-a-likes in the front of the Impala right up until Meg gets out. Go look! Wait…finish reading first. I promise I’m nearly done.

So there we go. “Survival Of The Fittest” was a doozy and I think it was pretty awesome finale. Once again, everyone’s performances were spot on. Jared’s alone Sam at the end was excruciating to witness. Season 7 has come to an end and we are left with a lot of very cool and exciting questions. How will Sam find out that Dean is in Purgatory? Will his fragile, barely healed mind be able to cope with this latest crisis? How will Dean survive Purgatory? Who or what is in there with him? Any old friends that might help? How hot is he going to look fighting for his life? How will he get out? Will Sammy be able to rescue him? What’s Cass’ role in getting Sam and Dean reunited? What’s with Crowley and what’s he want with Kevin? Will the boys rescue Meg? Is Bobby gone for good? Who’s going to tow the Impala out of that sign and was Sammy paying enough attention to Dean to be able to fix her, or will her repairs go on Burt Aframian’s credit card? Why didn’t everyone run when Dick started pulsating! If they’d just got out of range, we wouldn’t be in this sticky mess! Sorry…just had to get one more in there. But the biggest question of all…..HOW ARE WE GOING TO SURVIVE UNTIL OCTOBER?!

Well, thanks for reading and supporting me. During hiatus I'll have some projects that I'm working on that will hopefully keep you entertained. I have the All Hell Breaks Loose III convention in Sydney next weekend with Misha, Jim, Richard, Traci and Ghostfacer Travis Wester, so that should be a hoot and I’ll be writing that up for you. Plus I’m off to VanCon in August (insert epic squee here) so I have that to look forward to as well and believe me, there will be reports! Then it'll be season 8 and I'll be back writing the episode reviews!

Oh one more thing. I’d like to thank Sera Gamble for 7 years of beautiful story telling. She’s one of my favourite writers of the series and many of her episodes are amongst the ones I go to constantly. “Faith” is probably my favourite episode ever and those of you who know me are aware of how I’ve chosen to express that. I love her work. I find her personally inspiring both as a would-be writer and a female television professional. I will miss her voice terribly and I wish her all the best. I’m excited to see what she does next and I know I’ll be following her career with interest. I’d also like to welcome aboard Jeremy Carver, he too is one of my favourite writers and I couldn’t be more thrilled with his inclusion back into the fold for season 8. Very few writers have delivered such beautiful narrative as Jeremy has and I’m sure the show will flourish under his deft touch. Who else can see this show doing a Smallville….10 seasons anyone? 

So, let me know your thoughts and theories on the episode and I’ll see you soon with a write up of the shenanigans at the Aussie con…we are a little naughty us Aussies!

Bye for now….keep the faith, October will be here before we know it! 

- Amy