Supernatural Review: Season 10 Episode 14 "The Executioner's Song"

By: Robert Berens

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

            I knew it, I knew it, I KNEW IT! And I'm not happy about being right.

        We are back to our season arc this week with the return of Cain as he picks off his descendants one-by-one as they're on death row, solely to get the attention of his two most famous descendants, Sam and Dean Winchester.


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- Are we ever going to get an explanation for the salmon-colored light that Cain uses to smite demons? Huh? Are we? Because, despite myself, I am quite curious.

- That guy in the prison looks very much like Sir Gwaine from Merlin. Please tell me I'm not the only one to see it.

- Love the visuals of Cain slowly stalking down the hall and turning the lights out as he goes. Whatever grievances I may have with the MoC story, I do honestly like Cain as a character. Maybe it's the charm of Timothy Omundson.

- Hmmm. Sam and Dean are breaking into a prison with fake badges? Risky, risky. I cringe every time they come in contact with law officials of this kind, even though they look little like the mugshots that are on file. Maybe it's a good thing that Sam has turned into Rapunzel over the course of this show...

- They had better be thanking their lucky stars that they evaded capture, seeing how death row of SuperMax would have been their destination at one point in their lives. Just sayin'

- "Bass fishing, needlepoint, that's a hobby. Collecting serial killer stats? That is an illness."

- Omundson still has the flowing locks and beard from Gallavant. I confess I kind of chortled whenever they zoomed in on his profile. It looked like it belonged on a medieval coin. About Billy Shakespeare.

- It's so good to see Castiel being a badass again with interrogating demons. He's been conspicuously absent thus far for much of the season, and it's really a delight to see him again, doing what he does best. I am a little bit miffed that Cain was able to fling him around like a ragdoll, though. C'mon! ABADDON, another totally awesome Knight, was scared to death at the thought that an angel might be hanging around with the Winchesters. What is this madness?!

- Crowley being bored to death by the political and business side of Hell will never not be funny to me. Neither will Rowena being a total helicopter smother mother (in the worst possible way) and attempting to manipulate Crowley. At least we now know that Crowley, sort of, knows that she is not at all on his side. I was getting worried for a bit there.

- Have I mentioned that I really love the relationship between Crowley and Rowena? I could watch these two all day. Give them a spin-off already, darn it!

- I'm pretty sure Rowena was making a reference to King Solomen with her 'split the baby' talk. "I'd cut this pulling, pathetic, greed-grubbing git in two." Charming, Rowena, charming. And somehow I think you missed the principle of catching more flies with honey than with vinegar. Darling, calling your son a 'chunky child' and 'a bit of a bloater' in front of his court isn't exactly a way to get in his good books.

- On a side note, why hasn't Crowley been assassinated yet? Are there really no demons powerful enough left after all the wars? Because, fun as he is, he's not exactly Azazel or Lilith. He's kind of a wimp now, actually. Is everybody really that afraid of him?

- I got chills whenever Castiel showed us the graveyard that Cain has been making. That looked like ash on the ground. It called back shades of Cas resurrecting Dean or the field where Adam was brought back to life. Only, instead of being a site of resurrection, it was a site of death.

- "This is a massacre!" "Yes. And soon it will be a genocide."

- Okay, so whenever Cain revealed that he was culling his descendants, I had a horrible thought (just about the same time that Cas expressed it). Cain is the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first two humans. That means that almost all of the people on earth are descended from him. Think about it! Abel was murdered. That means that Cain was the one to pass down the bloodline for many years. Adam and Eve did have a third son (Seth) but he was much younger and so wouldn't have started having children for years after Cain did.

- We at last know what Rowena is after. She wants Crowley to take out the head of the Grand Coven. Interesting...

- Is it wrong that I really WANT to see Rowena and Crowley go on a rampage together? They'd make a great team and be a lot of fun to watch. The only problem is, I'm pretty sure such an action would end with one or both of them dead. And I don't want that.

- Dean's wearing the red shirt that he favored as a demon again. This is not a good sign, methinks.

- I love how every time Dean calls Crowley the name on Crowley's phone is 'Not Moose'.

- "What the matter, Crowley? Suddenly grow a conscience? Don't want to put a minor in danger?"

- We got a few lovely (but heartbreaking...typical) broments in this episode. It seems like the writers are really making up for the abysmal lack of them in Season 9. This can't be anything but a good thing.

- I am still miffed that Cain (a demon) wasn't the slightest bit affected by Castiel's mojo.

- "I need you three out here to take out anything that comes out of there. I'm serious. Whatever. Comes. Out." Oh Dean...

- We really need to give a shout-out to Jensen Ackles. I don't like the MoC story line very much, but he just sells it...even to me. I'm always amazed by what these guys can do with the roles they are given. Wow. Just wow. Especially the scenes where Dean is using the Blade. It's Jensen Ackles' face...but it's not his eyes. And it's not Dean's eyes either.

- So after a frankly thrilling Darth Vader-esque execution scene (telling us that the title of this episode SHOULD have been 'The Executioner's Death Song') Dean walks out of the barn room again and coldly hands the Blade to Castiel. I have to say that this was an extremely electrified climax to the episode. It was exciting to see Cain back again and it was great to see he and Dean face off against each other. What made it so scary, though, was Jensen Ackles' performance. I'm telling you, he's been just amazing. He alternated between frenzied slashing and a cold, calm, controlled persona that was just eerie. You could SEE Dean fighting the effects of battle with the Blade.

         THIS episode should have been the mid-season finale. I liked the episode we got (though Claire is a bit grating on repeated views) but this just has the epic, end-all feel that I think they were trying to strike. Cain was a great addition to the episode and I love the way he kept goading Dean while they were fighting. We also ended this episode with the reveal that I have been dreading ever since Cain was introduced. In order for Dean to master control over the Mark and the Blade, he is going to have to kill Sam. I knew it, I KNEW IT! WHY COULDN'T I BE WRONG THIS TIME?! I have a bad feeling about the season finale. The Executioner's Song is a 5/5.

He sits there with you

All concern and love

When you look at him

You feel it should be enough

But still there's a thread

Of unrest in your heart

When you think of how

It all could fall apart

"We'll fix this." He says

And he means every word

Yet the love that he shows

Is a two-edged sword

"Cain found a way!"

But you wonder if he knows

What the price really was

For Cain's final blow

Cain killed his brother

He spilled Abel's blood

And with that one act

Managed to stem the Mark's flood

At the thought, your heart breaks

Your mouth's dry as a bone

You feel sick, your hands shake

You turn into stone

Your brother, your soulmate

For him you'd go to Hell

And you'll not drag him down

With you just 'cause you fell

"Like Cain did." He still says

And you bite your tongue

For when you think of that story

You want to scream at him to run

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