Supernatural: Sacrifice (823)

I’m a little sad.  No new Supernatural for four months.  Unlike the past three years, I will be watching the repeats.  Well, maybe except for “Bitten” and “Best Friends with Benefits.”  I didn’t even mind the Sam/Amelia stuff, but then I thought there might be more to it than there was.

I always go into Supernatural‘s  season finales skeptical.  I hate cliffhangers, and that’s pretty much all this show does.  But “Sacrifice” was satisfying, while still leaving many questions open.

The trials are taking their toll on poor Sammy.

With demon king Crowley killing all the Winchester saves last week, many feared for Sheriff Jody Mills.  Sure enough, “Sacrifice” led with Sheriff Mills, trying to get back into the dating pool.  Except her date was Crowley (under a pseudonym, of course).  Once again, Crowley called the boys to  bargain for Jody’s life.  It’s not clear whether the brothers made their deal in time to save Jody, but I’m going with “yes,” for sheer grief avoidance purposes.

Sam and Dean meet Crowley at Bobby’s old auto graveyard to trade the demon tablet for the angel tablet, and to call off the trials.  But Dean ensnares Crowley with the demon-binding handcuffs discovered last week (or the week before?).  Crowley’s the demon Sam is going to cure.

They take Crowley to an old church (sacred ground),   To purify his blood, Sam enters a confessional, but there’s no priest.  [Actually, this is a major tenet  of Protestantism—communication with God directly instead of going through a priest.  (I remember this from my confirmation lesson days.)]

Castiel shows up to ask for Dean’s assistance on his quest to close the gates of heaven.  Naomi has captured Metatron and carted him off to heaven.  Dean reluctantly agrees to go with Cass, leaving Sam alone to deal with Crowley.

The dynamic duo (Dean and Cass) return to the Men of Letters bunker to give the angel tablet to Kevin translate.  Kevin’s rather pissy, saying Dean promised him he could get back to his old life.  In one of the best scenes of the episode, Castiel grabs him by the collar and says emphatically, “You are a prophet of the Lord.  Always and forever… Untilyouceasetoexistandthen-anotherprophettakesyourplace.”  Misha Collins’s delivery is wonderful.

Just a couple of angels, shootin’ the breeze.

If Metatron seemed a little hinky last week, it’s because he was.  By drilling into Meta’s mind, Naomi discovers the trials Castiel is performing aren’t meant to close heaven’s gates, they’re part of a spell to cast all angels out of heaven.  Seems Metatron has been holding a grudge for millennia after being chased from heaven.  While inside Meta’s head, Naomi also discovers the third trial will kill Sam.  She relays this message to Dean before Metatron slays her with a drill bit to the cranium.

Sam doesn’t seem to be making much progress with Crowley.  In fact, Crowley bites Sam, drawing blood.  While Sam is tending to his wound, Crowley uses the blood-phone to call for help.  Only Abaddon shows up.  And she’s quite pissed that Crowley proclaimed himself the king of hell.  She does a great job of beating Crowley up—Sam, too—before Sam douses her with holy oil and sets her on fire.  The Josie Sands vessel is destroyed, but Abaddon escapes in the black smoke cloud.  When was the last time we saw that?

The last bit of Metatron’s spell is to take Castiel’s grace and send him back to earth, apparently as a human.  Metatron tells him to live a full life, with love and family; and when he dies, he’s to return to heaven and tell Metatron his story.  Geez, Meta, again with the stories.

Brotherly moment #2685.

Dean returns to Sam in time and tells him to stop the trial, because completing it will kill him.  Sam says, “So?”  What a different Sam this is from the one who said he saw a light at the end of the tunnel in “Trial and Error.”  But here he’s reeling from all his failures Dean threw at him at the beginning of the episode.  Dean reassures Sam he’s the most important person in his life.  He adds that he’s fine without closing the gates of hell, because with everything they learned this year, they can kick some serious demon butt next season.

In the end, Castiel is wandering in the wilderness while Dean and Sam watch thousands of angels fall to earth.  Pretty impressive.

Thank you, Jeremy Carver, for a superb season.  You’ve made me excited about this show again.

[Photos credit the CW]