Supernatural Review: Season 8 Episode 12 "As Time Goes By"

By: Adam Glass

**Spoilers**

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

         Did you know that there was a sitcom with this title starring Geoffrey Palmer and Judi Dench? Anybody? No? Okay...

       This episode is a prime example of something that should have spelled instant disaster for the unlucky sod who dared to attempt it. SPN is a show that is particularly good at taking something that, anywhere else, would be an unmitigated mess and turning it into shining gold. Sometimes that happens with absolutely off-the-wall comedy episodes and sometimes it takes the form of deep, deep drama. This is the latter...though there is certainly plenty of SPN's trademark snark in there as well. The story involves Henry Winchester (the paternal grandfather of Sam and Dean) time-travelling through their motel closet room, on the run from a demon. And yes, I know that sounds like absolutely the dumbest thing you've ever heard, but bear with me. If you've seen the episode (which, if you're reading this, I really hope you have) then you understand. So, anyway, Henry Winchester comes to call and we are given a look at the heritage of John, Sam, and Dean. Thus far in the show we have seen more than enough of the Campbell side of the family (Seriously...was I the only one annoyed by Samuel & Company?) but we don't really know much about the Winchesters. Enter this episode!

        This episode is absolutely nuts. It is a game-changer for the story line and is just an absolute gem of writing, with the humor and drama perfectly balanced alongside compelling characters and mythos. It's one that I always tell people causally watching the series that THEY CAN NOT MISS IT. And I have brought in one such viewer today: Leslie Conzatti, our resident cast expert (unlike me who couldn't tell Jared and Jensen apart until The French Mistake) and casual fan of SPN. She has some interesting thoughts on this episode that I have asked her to share with us...         

Leslie Says:

        This episode BLEW. MY. MIND. I had just come off the whole Leviathan thing, and two comical episodes (Hunteri Heroici and LARP And The Real Girl) and I was looking forward to Everybody Hates Hitler...but what was this? The Winchester bros meet their grandfather? Was he going to be anything like Samuel? If so, then I wasn't too thrilled...

-I would have to say, I identified with Dean when Henry fell out of that closet door. Here I was thinking the whole beginning sequence was just a flashback, and then--WHOOSH!

-Actually, my first thought on the manifestation of Abbadon was "Why on earth didn't Emily ever mention this on her Top Ten Character Introductions? Because I really think that was among the most shocking introductions for a really-awesome character (played to perfection by Alaina Huffman--the Moriarty/Andrew Scott of the Supernatural fandom) ever on the series. She's ginger, she's impossible to slay, she can kill with a single slap--and she's "much sexier" than Sam Winchester. Look out!

-Well, now we know that all the good looks are on the Winchester side... Fluke of casting, or may one suppose this was intentional? Because Gil McKinney as Henry Winchester is AWESOME. He can escape cuffs one-handed, has split-second recall of highly effective spell-casting, and adapts to the 21st century with marvelous ease. Major respect for that character and the man who brought him to life!

-Say what you like, but the timing of reveals and expansions on this show has been SPOT ON EVERY TIME. No "Plot Devices of Total Convenience" (which you all know is one of my pet peeves...) here--everything is discovered or added just when it needs to be--so if the SPN team waits this long to finally introduce the reservoir of knowledge and the "legacy" that is the most powerful and knowledgeable a human can possibly get concerning all things supernatural.... you KNOW that the Winchesters aren't just "ganking monsters" anymore. Stuff just got real.

-Speaking of writing... I could not believe the level of continuity this episode brought. Typically, when dealing with time travel, shows make no bones about changing something in the past to affect the future. And yet every time Supernatural has gone to the past (what are we at now, three? Five?) it has only served to answer questions that we've had (WHERE was Henry when he "abandoned" John as a young boy, which set him on the path to becoming a Hunter and training his boys? Why have we not heard about the Men of Letters society till now? Why did John start keeping a journal, anyway? Bobby doesn't have one...) from way back in the FIRST EPISODE. The events of the past, then, aren't there to justify radical changes to the present... they EXPLAIN things that are ALREADY THERE and SOLIDIFY the continuum... EVERY. TIME. This is time travel done right, people!

-On a side note... we all know how slim of an education the Winchesters actually got, moving from town to town as frequently as they did. It must have been a miracle (or some kind of favor owed) that Sam got into Stanford at all, much less landed an interview with Harvard. Now we find out they could have been Men of Letters... but how vastly different would the show have been if that had happened? If Season 1 had ended with the discovery of the Bunker?

-Can I just say how brilliant this episode is in managing to revisit the progression of the entire show in just 1 hour? Henry can't believe the boys are hunters and not Men of Letters... but Hunters is the only life we've ever seen them in. We've never realized they had much of an option. Henry is convinced that if he goes back and changes the past, "There will never be an apocalypse"... but since there have been seven and a half seasons already, we know that "Apocalypse" should be plural, not singular, as Henry misjudges. And when Larry claims that the best thing for the Bunker is to make it so that NOBODY can have that knowledge... that again displays the disconnect these intellectual monks have with the events of the last seven years of this show. Sam (and all the rest of the viewers) are shocked that these men could be so defensive with the one thing that would finally give them one-up on the angels and the demons they're facing!

-And then comes That Moment When Henry Winchester Totally Screwed With Every Future Episode of Supernatural Ever.... not to mention the eventual "Grand Finale."

         I had been enjoying the episode up to this point. I was ready for a gut-wrenching death scene, because hey, these guys have practiced enough, it was bound to be good!

But this.... THIS..... THIS!!!!

        I seriously lost my head for about five minutes. No other show has made me want to throw my laptop across the room like this one line did. AS LONG AS WE'RE ALIVE.... How many fans have postulated that the show is going to end with the final and definitive deaths of both Winchesters? If you've seen this episode, you KNOW the ramifications of that outcome, poetic as it may be: "As long as we're alive, THE WORLD CAN ALWAYS HOPE."

        Really, Carver? REALLY? You want to tie the "hope of the world" to the lives of the two main characters like that? So if they DID die.... would that spell the abandonment of hope for the world? So if I see an episode called "Pandora's Box" I know what's coming???

       I think this one line has sealed the fate of the end of this show. In a few short sentences, in the space of about ten seconds, Carver has basically dictated the ending before we've hit the final act. I can think of only one scenario that will fit the established trend of acknowledging past references in future episodes; anything less than the Finale I'm thinking of (which will either happen, or they'll come up with something MUCH better, I'm sure! But just remember that you heard it here first!) will be a shame and a tarnish to the whole show. And they can't ignore it now. It's done been did. And it's all Carver's fault.

     This episode was awesome. It made a "Woman of Letters" outta me. Full marks!

Emily Says:

         Oh yeah. This AWESOME episode that gave us both the Men of Letters heritage and the promise of great, dark things to come. It was nuts, it was crazy, it was ridiculous, it was amazing. It was an example of why, in my opinion, Season 8 was absolutely phenomenal and a definite high point in the show.  

Notes:

- The cinematography of this episode was just beautiful. Props really need to be given to the SPN directors for delivering again and again. The colors, the angles, the perspectives...just wow. It was a perfect marriage of characters, writing, and direction. The episode is gorgeous.

- I really love the idea of the Knights of Hell. We've needed a real intimidating demon villain for a while now because, since Lilith died, there hasn't been anyone. Oh sure we've had Crowley as a constant thorn in our sides...but he's more like that annoying cockroach that you can never quite eradicate than a huge, in-your-face threat. Abaddon is dangerous.

- "You're not going anywhere, 007, till we get some answers." HENRY WINCHESTER IS AN AWESOME CHARACTER! I know I say that about all members of this family (I even liked John) but I was in love with him since the moment he stumbled out of that closet. He is portrayed very much as a man out of his time and the actor they cast to play him even looks enough like Sam and Dean to more than convince me in the role. Seriously. The casting director of this show must have made a crossroads deal or something.

- Dean called Abaddon 'Betty Crocker'. *snort*

- We also get an explanation of what happened to Sam in-between Seasons 7 & 8 to the tune of the mournful observation that all there is on the Winchester Family Tree is a bunch of dead branches. Really, episode, really? Did you have to say that so bluntly? We all get it!

           There's not a whole lot else I can say about this episode that Leslie hasn't already elaborated on. It is sad, it is dramatic, it is hilarious in places, and it introduces us to a new side of Sam and Dean's family. Henry Winchester died a hero, going to save the life of his grandson, and he succeeded in passing down the legacy of the Men of Letters to Sam and Dean. RIP, Henry. As Time Goes By is a SOLID 5/5.

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