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nerdylittleshit · 6 years

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Thoughts about Spn 14x02

SPOILERS AHEAD! BEWARE!

A bit later, but man what an episode. I really liked it a lot, more than the season opener, and there is lots to talk about. The plot, just as in 14x01, was kinda there, but not worth getting into, because all in all not much happened. Considering this season contains 3 episodes less than usual, it is interesting to see how much time so far has been spent on setting up the characters instead of moving forward the plot. What made this episode were the character moments, and they had lots of them, and I really liked that instead of Sam and Dean (or Michael) our focus was this time on Cas, Jack and Nick.

One of the things I usually criticize Bucklemming for is their handling of the plot, because a lot of their episodes in the past had been crammed with plot, hardly allowing the characters (and the audience) to breathe. They did the exact opposite this time, taking out the speed, making a character driven episode, and now I wonder if this is where their actual strength is (and hoping we get more episodes like this from them in the future). I know I had in the past expressed my fair share of criticism of Bucklemming, though I try to be objective, but this time I really think both the writing and the acting is what made it such an excellent episode.

But, as always, let’s take a closer look.

Of monsters and men

“That's not a man. That's a monster. That's a monster, and then -- and then Lucifer found me and made me a monster, too.”

If you have read my review for the last episode you know that I wasn’t pleased to see Nick return. Part of that is my personal dislike for Mark Pellegrino. There are a lot of shows that I watch where I know little to nothing about the actors in it, with Supernatural however the actors and their actions are always part of my radar, and I admittedly have a hard time watching an actor/actress that I dislike for very personal reasons. That being said, Mark Pellegrino did a really good job in this episode, and a rather see him as Nick than as Lucifer. I also liked the direction where the Nick storyline is headed, which might be a bit of foretelling of what Dean will go through now that Michael has left (*Thor voice*: Is he though?).

The great question the episode asks is that of monsters and men, if Nick is one or the other, or maybe both. The story goes back to what little we know about Nick – a man who has lost his wife and son in the most horrible way and drowning in grief said yes to Lucifer, to get some sense of justice. It seems though that at first Nick didn’t even remember what happened and why he said yes, until Cas reminded him. Then however he becomes obsessed with the idea of finding out who killed his family. I don’t think we can blame him for wanting to find out the truth, however I think Cas already suspects that something might be wrong with Nick. He still uses Lucifer’s mannerisms, apparently unaware of it. Later he asks what Nick will do when he finds out who did it, perhaps already suspecting Nick might do something horribly, something Lucifer would have done.

And then we had the end scene with Nick’s confrontation with Arty and him murdering Arty, with the same weapon Nick’s family was killed. This is the first clue that Nick might have killed his own family. The others are that there was no evidence (no DNA, no fingerprints, because the murderer never had left), and that Arty said that there was no man. There are two versions here that could be true. In one Nick was innocent and a victim and what he did in the end was due to Lucifer’s influence on him. He was a man who became a monster. In the other version Nick had always been a monster, had killed his own family, and then supressed the memory so much that he believed a man had done it.

Personally I did like this twist. Everyone is convinced that Nick is a victim, Cas even admits that only because of it he can bear to be near Nick. Nick has convinced himself he is a victim, or rather Lucifer did. Lucifer did turn the narrative around, he made the killer into the victim, which would allow himself to become his vessel. Michael as well turns the narrative around, offering a world where the hunted become the hunters. It is, purposely or not, a comment to our current political climate, where offenders claim to be the actual victims, and victims are afraid to tell the truth, because there will be the ones to be blamed. It would fit Lucifer to see a man who had killed his wife and son and say, no look, you are the actual victim here, all why wearing the face of the dead wife.

Days of Future Past

“The past, where you came from, that's important, but it is not as important as the future and where you're going.”

I have a lot of feelings and they all taste like Nougat. Jack is still on his journey to accept his human self, but instead of improving his human skills he tries to find out when his grace will come back, thinking it is the only thing that is useful about him. Cas of course can relate, because Jack’s future is Cas’s past. And he gives some excellent advice.

“But I had something else that was extremely helpful. I had myself. Just the basic me, as, uh as Dean would say, without all the bells and whistles.”

Cas needed to learn to rely on himself, and that is a great lesson, in and outside the show. To find strength in yourself, even at times where you seemingly have lost everything. Both Cas and Jack had learned to associate their value with their powers, fearing that without them they are useless. And even when Cas says he had Sam and Dean, we know it is not entirely true. Cas was for some time completely alone, without his powers, and some very basic understanding of the human world. And yet he survived and it made him stronger, and all in all it did help him to become the person he is today, someone who has learned from his past, but doesn’t let the past define himself.

Last season the focus was all on Jack being Lucifer’s son, and what influence his father might have on him, and what he would do with his powers. Now without powers Jack turns to his human side and gets to know his mother’s family. I am so grateful the show doesn’t forget Kelly, and her sacrifice and how much she means to Jack. It saddens me that her parents will never know what happened to her, will never know who Jack really is, that they can never find real closure. And it is interesting that Jack describes them as the only real family he has left. Does that mean he no longer sees Sam, Dean and Cas as his family?

And then of course we have the conversation between Cas and Jack, concerning Dean and what will happen to him. Jack argues that Michael should be stopped at all costs, even if it costs Dean’s life, because that is what Dean would have wanted, rather than seeing Michael destroying another world. Cas of course argues against it, and it is evident how surprised and hurt he is by Jack’s word. And yet, a couple years ago, Cas was not much different, and would have agreed that one human life doesn’t weigh more than the entire world. Of course Cas has a much deeper emotional investment in Dean than Jack. Jack does care about Dean, but he has witnessed a world that Michael had already destroyed. Again, Cas’s past is Jack’s future. Jack is still at the beginning of the journey Cas has been on for years now.

Man in the Mirror

“Why be the hunted when you can be the hunter?”

The Michael aka Dinkle storyline was the least interesting to me. Then again I am generally not a big fan of the Michael!Dean development. Michael follows his plan from last episode, choosing monsters as the ones worth saving, as they are pure. (What ever happened to Jo after her call to Sam? What did she see, what did she tell Sam?) He experiments on vampires and then turns to werewolves, and in the end it seemed he found out how to make monsters stronger. Plotwise it means that the monsters the Winchesters will face in the near future will become more interesting again, as they can be no longer killed the way they used to before. The big question is however: Where is Michael?

It is possible Michael did leave Dean, and found himself a new vessel (can werewolves become vessels? They are technical still human). But it would involve a lot or trouble and Dean is after all his perfect vessel, so why leave? The other (more popular) theory is that Michael is still inside Dean, dormant for now, and will show himself in time. This way he would have access to all kind of weapons and information at the MoL bunker. If Michael simply left it would seem a bit anti-climatic, especially as he had no reason to do so, so now we have to wait for the other shoe to drop.

Some other things

New Bobby isn’t like our Bobby, and this was most evident when he wanted to kill the young vampire lady. He operates much more black and white, whereas Sam and Dean have for years now operated in grey areas. This will cause some conflict in the future.

Nick accuses Cas to be no different than Lucifer, and yet Cas couldn’t be more different than Lucifer. Lucifer never cared about anyone but himself, whereas Cas cares so much about everyone his heart is bleeding out from it. And with all the horrible things he has done, much of it to heaven and other angels, his biggest regret is still what happened to Jimmy and his family.

That being sad Cas is the worst babysitter. Both Jack and Nick left the bunker, one at a great risk of his own life, the other a great risk to everyone else. Please hire Steve Harrington next time.

Until next week <3

#supernatural #spn 14x02 #gods and monsters #spn meta #my meta #spoilers

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