By: Andrew Dabb
**SPOILERS**
If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.
I've seen a few people talking and saying about how this was a good episode but not a good mid season finale. I respectfully disagree. What is Supernatural about? C'mon, guys, what is it about? SPN is about family. And what did we get in this episode? Castiel facing up to what he did to Jimmy Novak's family. We got a Crowley - Rowena family reunion. We got Sam and Dean trying to hold on to what they've built together and reminiscing about rare family holidays with John. We got a blatant emphasis on FAMILY.
And that's pretty much all that needs to be said. On with the moment-by-moment analysis!
Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:
- IT'S ABOUT TIME THEY DID SOMETHING ABOUT JIMMY AND HIS FAMILY! Ahem...
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| Thank you, Claire. |
- That being said, Jimmy is dead? I thought angels couldn't possess empty vessels. That's why Lucifer and Michael wouldn't just kill Sam and Dean and bypass their need to say 'Yes'. I'm confused...
- I officially think I like Claire. ESPECIALLY because she called Cas out on some of the terrible things he's done through the years and then didn't just forgive him right off the bat. That was good character development.
- "You know, I think I might have bedbugs. Any tips?" "You should sleep tight and not let them bite." Did...did Castiel just make a Dad Joke?
- Dean's table manners are deplorable. Close your mouth when you chew, dude!
- I do love how they've exaggerated all of Dean's personality traits recently...eating too much, laughing at stupid videos on the internet, making immature jokes, driving out of his way to hook up with a girl...it's like Dean knows the Mark is starting to change him again and he's stubbornly hanging on to every scrap of humanity he's got.
- "And now you're just, I dunno, nicer. Kind of a doof, no offence." Have you been reading this blog, Claire? Because I seem to remember saying similar things about post-Season 7 Cas too...yet we still love him.
- Claire stole his wallet. I like her.
- Oh, Dean, talk to Sam already! It is interesting that he asked Cas to smite him or throw him into the sun because he knows that Sam will try anything to save him again and he doesn't want to hurt Sam. Last time was too close. He almost smashed Sam's brains in.
- Rowena was a horrible mother. You know? I am actually enjoying the Crowley Family Reunion quite a bit. We'll see how I feel a bit further along in the season, but for now it's a lot of fun.
- And is it just me or is Crowley a bit...off this season? I mean, he hasn't exactly been his normal terrible self ever since getting a cocktail of Sam's blood and probably Trial magic shot into his veins, but he just seems off.
- The guy Claire runs off to who had her steal from that store reminds me of a better written and better cast Freaks & Geeks guy from Season 8. Like, that guy was obviously a snake. I smelled a rat the minute I saw him. This guy...it's obvious why Claire keeps going back to him as a father figure.
- Cas' attempts at being a father were certainly interesting. But Claire needs somebody who can actually help her and love her. Can I suggest that maybe she could go to Jody? Jody and Donna could start a home for 'A Monster Killed My Parents' kids.
- "You killed my dad, is that enough for you?" You go, girl!
- Rowena is the saving light and grace of this season and I will hear no words against her. She is a new female character who is multi-faceted, interesting, and a lot of fun. She also knows exactly how to get under Crowley's skin. The scene where she calls him 'Fergus' and then cheekily asks him how he died is just beautiful. If this season features Rowena and Crowley (mother and son duo from Hell) as the villains along with the MoC, I think it will shape up to be a good season.
- "You know John Winchester isn't going to win any #1 Dad Awards, but whenever we really needed him...he'd be there."
- I love the story of how Sam and Dean talked John into taking them into NYC for a day on the town despite the fact that John hated the city (and how Dean got himself sloshed and possibly drugged in a bar because of a group of girls). "Son, you don't like me, that's fine. It's not my job to make you like me...it's my job to raise you right." Hehehe...now THAT sounds like something my parents would say whenever I started whining.
- Personally I don't see how Dean killing all those guys was all that bad, in the context of the show. Sure they were human, but just barely. They were going to rape a 17-year-old girl. They had it coming. And Dean did try to warn them. Not to mention the fact that Sam and Dean regularly hack their way through possessed meatsuits and witches without a twinge of regret.
- But then, I suppose the point was that, even though he might have been acting at first with good intentions, that was still no excuse. It's about TIME we got that again!
We've desperately needed some story line for Castiel like this. I enjoyed the parts with him tonight (maybe what I've been itching for was for someone to hold him accountable for his actions) and at no point in this episode did I roll my eyes and look at the time because I was bored. It sparkled with wit and heart the whole way through and the ending, while not surprising, certainly left a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach that'll make waiting until January for the rest all the harder. The focus of the episode was where it should have been - on family - and everything tied together in a nice story line that worked on storytelling and emotion rather than shocking reveals and melodrama. I give The Things We Left Behind a 4/5.
What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?
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