Where there’s a Winchester, there’s a way

Danger! Danger! Spoilers Will Robinson!
Supernatural season three (and a few weeny season four) spoilers are contained in the following post!

So we’ve watched the last episode of the current season, and the phrase “the shit has well and truly hit the fan” would only apply if the fan were forty-two foot wide and several herds of cows had donated to the excrement being flung at it. I watched it, stunned. Then a few days later I watched it again. Then a few days later I had to go back and watch it yet again. Just in case.

It’s now been a week and I’m comfortable with how it all went down now. Now I can put all this down on virtual paper.

First of all, can we dispense with all the Bela-hating and conversely, the rumour that she might be back to help in some shape or form? I enjoyed disliking Bela – she’s the Gul Dukat figure, you’re supposed to hate her – get over it. Not like Gordon, who ok, we didn’t like, but we kind of understood why he was the bastard he was. You had to admire the man’s dedication (cos we all know that “dedication’s what you need”!) And The God Who Is Eric Kripke has already confirmed that Bela will not be back for season four, even though he did concede that no-one’s actually dead in ‘Supernatural’ until you’ve seen irrefutable proof (Ash? I’m sorry man, but one watch does not CSI evidence make).

Anyway, back to episode 3.16, ‘No Rest For the Wicked’. Again, superbly written and I loved the torture of it all coming down to the very last few moments. What a way to finish a season – the mother of all cliffhangers! Except clearly, whether it’s a cliffhanger or not depends on your view of the characters and just what they’re capable of. I’m still absolutely convinced that the moment at the beginning, where Sam suddenly looks very much like some awful spirit or demon creature to Dean’s eyes, was one of the hallucinations that Bobby said Dean would have had, being so close to Hell itself. I’m not of the camp that says perhaps Sam wasn’t really Sam the whole episode. Come on people, where’s the fun in that? You think Eric Kripke would even consider some Bobby Ewing cop-out next season? Especially when several million fans would find him and kill him if he did?

Much like Sam will probably do to Ruby pretty soon, if he could find her again. After all, she appeared to escape before Sam could knife her. As long as she’s not found and taken care of by Lilith, she will probably be back to irk Sam – and she really, really cannot do enough to make up for bringing Lilith down on them. Cos ooh, let’s see – the two Boys could not have been possessed by the demon bint cos they have their pentogram tats. So that leaves just Bobby or Ruby. As Bobby was out of the house at the crucial moment, it had to be Ruby’s meat suit she borrowed. Which, in my eyes, puts her square in ‘ultimate blame’ territory. And her attempt at sympathy or perhaps regret as they “see” the hellhound coming for Dean? Stow it. We’re not interested after what she facilitated.

Dean’s got his shit together alright, and for that we love him. Having the strength to go down to stop a vengeful cycle of deals with demons calling the shots? Bloody marvellous, and as he once said, “Sometimes you have to take one for the team.” It sucks and it’s not fair, but he was right, absolutely right all the way: sometimes shit happens and it’s not how you get out of it, it’s how you prevent others from getting what they want by you losing that’s what counts. For example, now that Dean’s clinically dead, the deal is complete, and all above board according to the contract. That’s going to be helpful in future, of that I have no doubt. And Sam is now the angriest young man in the history of angry young men. And he’s been left with a sharp knife, and his brother’s instructions to go at this thing like Dad would have done.

Dean’s refusal to repeat his father’s mistakes, or to put anyone at all in unnecessary jeopardy over him, and ultimately his will to die and go to Hell as demanded by his contract… What do you say to that? What can you say to that? Apart from that he must have balls of solid rock? I was reminded of that scene in ‘True Romance’. Clarence’s dad (Dennis Hopper) gets a visit from the evil, evil bastard (Christopher Walken) after the whereabouts of his son. He knows he’s going to die, he knows it’s going to be nasty, but he also knows he’s never going to give up his son. The whole scene made me teary cos of the absolute certainty of what he was doing, cos he knew what came next. But he would not give up his son, and he would not go down without insulting Mr Walken in a profound, educated way that would be sure to stick with him for a long time after he’d killed him. One of my favourite ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ scenes taught me this at a young age: “[Doctor Bashir:] They broke seven of your transverse ribs and fractured your clavicle!” [Garak:] “Yes, but I got off several cutting remarks which no doubt did serious damage to their egos.”

And so to Lilith. Had trouble controlling Ruby’s meat suit, did we? Or actually striking Sam down by yourself? Hmm, interesting either way. And let’s see: you’ve nothing left with which to torture Sam. There’s nothing you could say that would make him listen to you. I don’t think he believes he can get Dean back, in whatever form, so the white-eyed bitch better watch out, or little Sammy Winchester is going to show her what sharp pointy objects are for. Or Jedi Mind Tricks. Either way, I would not want to be her when Sam tracks her down. Don’t believe he’d do it? You saw what he did to the Crossroads Demon, and she was just a harmless vendor.

A while ago, Dean joked about being Batman. Now we wet ourselves – cos when you were kids, did you do that too? When you scored a goal from more’n twenty feet int park, or did all yer homework inside of an hour, or climbed a tree that was unclimbable? And then, to prove “I am The Greatest!” you shouted “I am Batman!” No? Well we did. It was just a way to show how ace you were. So there’s Dean, in the season three episode ‘Bad Day At Black Rock’, and after some monumentally fab set pieces during which he has the best luck, but also manages to take out two guys with nowt but a wall, a pen and a remote control, he simply looks at Sam and tells him: “I’m Batman!

He was right. I do believe that Dean is Batman. Sam might be the Luke Skywalker character, and up until perhaps season two, Dean was definitely Han Solo. But now I know he’s not, he’s Batman. Why? Cos he isn’t the one with special secret powers, he just works hard. He has no special hidden secret skills (unless you count his ability to get a threesome with the Doublemint Twins), other than being a normal bloke who manages to do extraordinary things. Sam’s the one to watch, sure, cos he’s capable of things he can’t even grasp right now. But Dean? He’s just a man, with a man’s courage. You know he’s nothing but a man, but he can never fail… No-one but the pure of heart may find the Golden Grail…

Sorry, got a bit side-tracked there. But you get the picture.

And sticking with Queen for a bit – I do believe this is one of those times when ‘no mortal man can win this day’. Dean has to realise that one, he’s dead, and two, cos of this he has no physical body and therefore hanging from giant meat hooks in Hell may not be the torture it’s supposed to be. A moment to realise, ‘Labyrinth’-style, that Lilith has no power over him, and who knows what he could get away with? Bela believed he could “kill the bitch”, and I do too. If Sam doesn’t reach her first, that is.

What was that Rule Of Acquisition Quark made up? “When Morn leaves, it’s all over.” So no, I don’t believe Dean’s going to be swinging in Hell for long. And I don’t believe anyone’s going to stop them getting their fifth and final season next year, either. I liked this episode – how crap would it have been if they had somehow managed to find a way out for Dean at the very last minute? There was never going to be a way out, and at least he had realised that early on and sorted his life out accordingly. Pity Sam could never accept it – but would any of us? Then again, I was the one with ‘The Last Fight’ by Velvet Revolver going through my head as the episode started…

Phew! What a season-ender. Don’t think I’ve read so much into an episode since ‘Doctor bloody Who’. Speaking of which:


And just in case you’re interested, I have another work of ‘Supernatural’ fanfiction up at the archive. Entitled “Where There’s a Will”, it also deals with the fictional idea of Dean getting out of his deal without having to die. Sorry – wrote it before the end episode came up, so I suppose it’s all AU now. Or moot. Either way, it’s up if you fancy a read.

Oooh! Almost forgot! It’s towel day! Join the hoobiest froobs who always know where their towels are!

That’s it, I’m off to brave the humidity and heat to pretend I actually do have a plan for spending my Sundays. Soopytwist.

Tags:
Doctor Who ~ Supernatural ~ Dean Winchester ~ Jensen Ackles ~ Sam Winchester ~ Jared Padalecki ~ Eric Kripke~ Bela Talbot ~ Lauren Cohan ~ DS9 ~ Ruby~ Ruby ~ Douglas Adams ~ Towel Day