Supernatural Review: Season 9 Episode 23 "Do You Believe In Miracles?"

By: Jeremy Carver

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

          So this is the Season 9 finale...a.k.a. I hate the world and just about everything in it right now and I'm going to go cry in a corner with some mint chocolate chip ice-cream and a shock blanket and maybe some emo music. But I'll get over it. Maybe.

        Whatever else you can say about Supernatural (and believe me...I have had a LOT to complain about this season), they know how to do a good season finale. The episodes are always epic, tense, heartfelt, and always, ALWAYS end on some sort of crippling emotional cliffhanger. Do You Believe In Miracles? is no different.
     
        This season had a few missteps. Lots of plot threads that seemed to be going in ever-further-apart directions and no chance of everything tying together for a coherent season finale. But we all know we shouldn't doubt the writers of Supernatural whenever it comes to their finales. They've taken a mess of a season and managed to make some sense of it. And a darn great season finale in the process.

      We see Castiel and Gadreel join forces with Sam against the common threat of Metatron. We see Dean and Crowley go on a mission of their own. We see Dean deal with the effects of Cain's Mark/Blade. And it all comes together in the end for one of the most shocking twists and cliffhangers I have ever seen.


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- I cried the whole way through the recap to 'Carry On My Wayward Son'. Hey...after nine seasons of gut-wrenching, heart-breaking season finales (usually with a cliffhanger to rival Sherlock) the song'll do that to you.

- It was probably symbolic that Sam started this episode by begging Dean to 'just let it go'. Sounds like what Dean was saying about the Trials last season.

- Metatron won't answer to any name but God now. Somehow it never ends well whenever an angel tries to play Father.

- "More reverb" "Because I'm Lou Gehrig?!" HA! Somehow it really makes me laugh that Metatron was using the voice distorter that we all use whenever we're trying to sound like a god.

- Crowley getting a massage. I don't think my eyes will ever recover from that image!

- "Love...if I wanted a soapy massage from Dr. Phil, I would hit three on speed-dial." Umm...does the King of Hell have Dr. Phil on speed-dial? As in, they speak regularly? Huh.

- And now we have gone full-circle with Dean being the one working with a demon and Sam buddying around with Castiel and trying to stop him.

- "He and Crowley have been bromancing over the blade..." 

- Metatron wants to be God. Wow. Original.

- Dean's driving Baby recklessly...we know something's wrong.

- Dean just compared Hell to Game of Thrones! A very Dean thing to do...but I don't think Crowley appreciated it. And did Crowley say he kicked his blood addiction? Too bad. I was starting to like junkie!Crowley...

- And of course Metatron was caught on a video that went viral. One thing that made me laugh during this part of the episode (see...even sad SPN episodes have plenty of jokes in them too) was Cas making a reference to The Rookie and Gadreel just not getting it. It's nice to see that Castiel wasn't the only socially awkward angel in Heaven's hosts.

- Sam is having nightmares about Gadreel killing Kevin. It's a testament to how much he loves his brother that he's even willing to work with that angel. Dean should listen to him. Not only is Sam willing to discuss both sides of the argument and put blame where blame is true for the first time this season (about time they both realized that guilt is a two-way street when it comes to them) but he's also just confessed to not sleeping well and all the stuff that usually triggers Dean's Big Brother instincts right away. Looks like Dean is on a slippery slope to Cainland and it only goes downhill faster as the episode progresses.

- Crowley has definitely come to 'like' Moose and Squirrel a bit. Just a bit. As much as his blackened, twisted, demonic heart is capable of liking anything, that is. I kept expecting Dean to whip out the blade and stab him in that fare-thee-well scene...and it was such a relief that he didn't.

- The entrance to Heaven is in a sandbox. I...what?!

- A sandbox that leads to an elevator, apparently. Gotta love the way the angel's side of heaven acts rather like a set of business offices and corporate ladders.

- I about jumped out of my chair whenever the cells and prisons slammed into place around Castiel and Gadreel. I did not see that coming! That they would be found out was inevitable (When have things ever gone Castiel or the Winchester's way?) but I honestly didn't think it would happen that fast.

- Metatron's (Oh sorry...Marv's) false humility makes me want to hurl. So now not only is he playing God the Father, but he also wants to take on the role of God the Son too? Gosh!

- Dean knocked Sam out. DEAN KNOCKED SAM OUT! After all of the things Sam has said this episode about wanting to actually go down together this time and to fight side by side, despite all of their fighting over the latter half of the season, DEAN KNOCKED SAMMY OUT?!

- It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the distinct feeling that it was more about going after Metatron alone and less about protecting Sam. Which is supposed to be Dean's modus operandi. I really hate the bloody Mark of Cain!

- And Gadreel just got the Speech of the Season as he talked about how the angels had a mission from God to protect earth and the human race and how they should let nothing...not the forces of Hell nor their own self-absorption keep them from that mission. THANK YOU! It's about time one of the angels said that. And given that this is Gadreel, a fallen angel who let the Serpent into the Garden of Eden and spent thousands of years in punishment for that failing - contemplating right and wrong and fate and choice, the speech about redemption and duty just makes me want to stand up and salute. Everyone deserves forgiveness, and I'd like to think that (like Meg) Gadreel got his before the end.

- Metatron brought up the Crusades and basically all of the other rot that people spout off about God whenever things go wrong. Do you know who else on this show did that in an effort to excuse himself/convince someone to do wrong? Lucifer. Lucifer used the very same argument whenever he tricked Nick into selling his soul to be a vessel. "I've walked among them." I hate to remind you, Metatron, old boy, but even in this universe God did that too.

- Dean in this finale reminded me a lot of Sam high on demon blood from Season 4. Except Dean was just broody and angry instead of having the excuse of an angel-tampered voicemail to push him over the edge.

- Metatron hid the Angel Tablet inside his typewriter. I'm not sure whether to shake my head in relief that Cas thought to look there or to laugh at his arrogance and bizarre sense of humor.

- You know...it almost felt too easy, the way Castiel defeated Metatron by just leaving the angel radio microphone he had rigged up turned on to 'Broadcast'. Still, it did my heart good to be able to see Castiel be awesome again. He's just felt a bit off this season ever since First Born. Castiel just doesn't work as the 'Chosen One' leader of a resistance. It doesn't fit his character. This was much better.

- It was physically painful to watch whenever Metatron stabbed Dean. Sure maybe they drew out the death scene a bit with clichéd slow-motion shots lingering on Sam and Dean's faces and then Sam crying over his brother's body (for what...the eighth death now?), but there's a reason those types of choices are clichéd...they work. The music only made it worse; right up there with 'Bad Moon Rising' from the Season 1 finale.
         
- They have been telegraphing for a while now that one of the brothers was going to die. Honestly...my money was on Sam. He dodged a bullet last season and, well, it's been three seasons since he's kicked the bucket so it was his turn. I thought that Dean was going to be compelled by the Mark to kill Sam or something like that...so I was all prepared emotionally and determined not to punch something or cry my eyes out. And it didn't happen. What we got was way, way worse!

- So...is Dean in Hell now? Again? Hopefully shooting the breeze with Crowley instead of being tortured this time? Or is he in Heaven? Or, Chuck forbid, is he back in Purgatory? Do we ever find out? At least in all of the past cliffhanger deaths we've been given some idea of where the soul of the deceased has gone. BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO DEAN?!?!?!

- Sam prepares to summon Crowley, after drinking by himself in the dark for a while. And Sam is officially no longer Mr. Nice Guy. He's not going to bargain with Crowley. Crowley IS going to help Dean.

- No, wait, no. It doesn't end there. The cliffhanger is FAR worse than that! Nine seasons in and this show can still surprise me. Wait for it...

Legitimate last scene from episode.

            I hate this show. No. I take it back...I love to hate this show. It's so infuriating, heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, life-stealing, utterly brilliant and unbelievable! This is, without a doubt, the WORST emotional cliffhanger ever introduced on this show. Worse than Dean or Sam going to Hell, worse than Sam losing his mind, worse than Dean and Cas being sent to Purgatory, worse than angels falling...Dean's nightmare from Season 3 has come true and HE'S A DEMON!!!!

          In the past, no matter how bad things got, we always knew that the boys would be united in the end. They always retained their humanity. This is something utterly new and uncharted and I am excited (if a bit scared) to see how they deal with it next season. Mind blowing and gut wrenching, Do You Believe In Miracles? is a solid 5/5!



What do you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?