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Supernatural: Two Minutes to Midnight

Dean: "Good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse."
Sam: "Yeah. Good luck killing Death."

I love it when they surprise me. I was expecting fireworks and blood and action, and what did we get? A philosophical discussion over deep dish pizza.

Okay, there was action, too. And flying green snot. But that scene in the pizzeria really impressed me. Death is as old as God? Death will eventually reap God? Is that true, or does Death have delusions of grandeur? Death kept calling Dean insignificant, a bacteria, but you'd think he'd be especially interested in a man who has cheated Death so many times. And how interesting that Death met Dean in a restaurant called Rinascita, which is Italian for Rebirth.

Death told Dean that Sam was the only one who could beat Lucifer. It took the entire episode to bring everyone else to the same conclusion, too. Except for Dean, of course, who just can't let go of his need to protect Sam. I thought the scene where Sam told Dean that he was "the least of any of you" (how Biblical) while the two of them were physically separated by a bright light was beautifully shot and felt like foreshadowing. Uh oh.

The two best Horsemen in one episode was an embarrassment of riches. I thought Pestilence was going to be my favorite Horseman (except for Methos, of course), and Matt Frewer was as wonderfully gross and manic as he could have been, but Julian Richings' Death was remarkable, too: he was so cadaverous, so still and powerful.


But my favorite part of the episode was again Mark Sheppard's Crowley, who has become one of my favorite Supernatural characters ever. Either Crowley has a soft spot for the Winchesters and their friends, or he wants them to think he does – I've given up trying to figure out what Crowley's motivations are. (I assume we'll find out eventually.) Giving Bobby back his legs when he wasn't even asked was oddly decent of Crowley; what a delightful scene that was. I only wish we'd gotten to see Mark Sheppard and Jim Beaver kissing, too.

Castiel is a big favorite of mine, too. He may have lost his angel mojo, he may have had to catch a bus and use a sawed-off, but he has come a long way. He believes in both Dean and Sam now. Is Dean the only one who doesn't believe Sam can do it? Actually, I'm having a hard time believing Sam can do it, too.

I was expecting this episode to upset me, but instead, I really enjoyed it. I laughed out loud several times and it flew by, like most episodes of this show.

Bits and pieces:

— Dean, don't eat pizza with Death! That just felt like a huge mistake. Maybe I'm thinking of the edict not to eat anything in Hades or you're bound to return. Lying to Death could have been a tactical error on Dean's part, too.

— I particularly liked Jensen Ackles' performance in the pizzeria. He completely nailed Dean's total respect for Death and state of extreme freakout overlaid by the enforced calm he needed to get the job done.

— Adam is now possessed by Michael, who doesn't burn out his vessels. Does that mean there's a possibility that Adam will live, and that we might even see him next season? I don't see Michael in Adam permanently. I bet that Dean does say yes to Michael next week.

— Lucifer's vessels drink demon blood to keep from exploding. That explains why Ruby got Sam addicted to it.

— The demons at the Niveus warehouse had the weirder demon eyes, not the blacked out ones. Does that mean they were higher level demons, like old Yellow Eyes?

— The video feed on Pestilence was blurred out. They did that before with shapeshifters in season two's "Nightshifter," if I remember correctly.

— Death's scythe reminded me a little of the one on Buffy. Scythe matters.

— Loved the reference Death made to other planets. It made the god stuff even bigger and goddier.

— Crowley called Sam "Gigantor." I thought Eunice Kennedy as Dean's nana was fun, too.

— How did Lucifer get stuck in the box in the first place? Did someone else steal all of the rings to lock him in back in the seventies? Was this mentioned at the beginning of the season and I'm just forgetting?

— The Horsemen were associated with horses of particular colors: War with the red car, Famine was in a black one, and Death was in a huge old white car. Pestilence drove an old Pinto (ha ha). Was it green? He was called Dr. Green. I rather thought that was because of the color of the flying snot, though.


— In "The End," which was set in 2014, Castiel had gone human. At the time, it was funny but didn't seem all that likely. It does now.

— Davenport, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois. Chicago just missed being wiped out by the Croatoan virus. Chicago, ill.

Quotes:

Castiel: "Apparently, after Van Nuys, I suddenly appeared bloody and unconscious on a shrimping boat off Delacroix."

Pestilence: "It doesn't matter. It's too late." That doesn't sound good.

Bobby: "Why'd you take a picture?"
Crowley: "Why'd you have to use tongue?"

Sam: "I don't know what else to do. Except to try to do what's gotta be done."
Crowley: "And... scene."

Sam: "Remember when we used to just hunt wendigos? How simple things were?"
Dean: "Not really."

Crowley: "Hey, let's stop for pizza." That was weird. Did Crowley pick up on where Death really was without realizing it, or was it just supposed to be funny?

Dean: "You'll reap God?"
Death: "Oh, yes. God will die too, Dean."
Dean: "Well, this is way above my pay grade."
Death: "Just a bit."

Dean: "What about Chicago?"
Death: "I suppose it can stay. I like the pizza."

Dan thought this one was fractured. Maybe it was, but I loved it anyway. Four out of four slices of deep dish pizza,

Billie
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Billie Doux adores Supernatural which is a good thing since apparently, it's eternal.

19 comments:

  1. I think Michael put Lucifer in his box originally, which is why Michael is set to have a big showdown with him - he's beaten him before and he thinks he can do it again.

    Great episode, though I don't like Castiel being basically human now. Maybe they're doing that as setup for him to be a regular for next season (perhaps to replace Sam?) and leaving him as an angel would make him too strong for regular episodes. If so, I'll miss him doing his 'popping', which Crowley seems to be doing now instead.

    Oh, apparently Death's scythe has been on the show before - Alastair had it in a previous episode, he used it to kill Reapers and break one of the 66 seals.

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  2. Oooh! Migmit! What Firefly reference? Did I miss it?

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  3. This felt like two different episodes mashed together out of timing and necessity. Yet against the odds it all worked. Dean’s one to one with Death was epic and intimate at the same time. Great casting there for Death. Fingers crossed we see him again next season (I'm actually warming to the idea now).

    Seeing Bobby get out of that wheel chair was both heart warming and heartbreaking because I almost certain now that he’s going to die, possibly saving Sam and Dean by sending Lucifer back into his cage. Even if it saves the world I don’t want Bobby to die. The poor guy’s suffered enough already.

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  4. Hi Billie,
    I have to say I like the way you like this show, you just keep bringing up the good stuff, even when sometimes I just can see things that way. I, for once, felt like I have missed a bunch of episodes since the last one, seems to me like everything is rushing up too quickly, but hey it is the apocalypse, isn’t it? But what really bothers me is that it feels like everybody is on board with Sam saying yes to Lucifer, when just some episodes ago it was a huge thing Dean saying yes to Michael. I just don’t get what was the problem with that plan. I mean, sure it could damage Dean (but it would be a good reason to sacrifice himself this time), and probably people were going to die in the battle, but Michael against Lucifer, while the later in a weakened vessel, could have been better that the opposite. Please, don’t get me wrong I’m not bickering about the episode, I like it, but I just feel like I’m the only one who just don’t understand something.
    Cecile

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  5. Really liked this one, and Crowley and Bobby were simply fantastic. And Death?. Amazing.

    My only complaint is that they resolved Pestilence way too quickly. It was a waste of Matt Frewer's talent.

    Guess this was Plan B if they got renewed for a new season. We'll see what happens.. next week?

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  6. You did:

    http://a4.vox.com/6a00e398c5c26f00050123de2b1ca4860c-pi

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  7. Serenity Valley Convalescent Home. :) I'll have to revise my review. I missed a couple of other things, too.

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  8. the guys in the niveus warehouse weren't demons, they were people infected with the croatian virus

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  9. I believe Anon is correct. I think there were some demons, too, but the ones with the weird eyes were the Croatoan zombies.

    I don't think Crowley was being magnanimous by giving Bobby his legs back. To me, it felt like a set up to keep Bobby's soul. If it was a sub-condition of the deal, then Bobby will likely have to lose the use of his legs again if he gets his soul back. I don't trust Crowley at all, even though he is amusing as hell.

    I felt like they dispatched Pestilence way too quickly. Given that there's only one episode left, they did need to move things along, but it felt rushed. I was shocked when they had the ring halfway through the episode.

    I did really like the scene with Dean and Death. Very quiet and creepy. Death's contention that he was older than God and that he would eventually reap him, too, was pretty interesting (and unsettling). I wonder if God has to pay taxes, too. :)

    I wasn't over-the-moon with this one, but it had some very nice beats, and I'm looking forward to the season finale.

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  10. Okay, I perhaps am completely off...but I kept getting a strange vibe during this particular episode....that Crowley will turn out to be God. Any thoughts?

    I loved this episode. Completely loved the haunting music sequence that introduced death. Loved the quiet conversation in the diner. Supernatural at its best!

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  11. Eva, I think that is the coolest idea I've ever heard. I hope you're right!

    (Hey, wait. Crowley said something about Lucifer killing his...valet? Butler? Gardener? We did meet God's gardener a few episodes ago.)

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  12. Ok thank you Josie! It was driving me crazy towards the end of the episode. It was the way he kept on just "being" around, helping the Winchesters as well as Bobby for good measure. Like we've seen before, we thought Gabriel was a demon of sorts as the Trickster. I don't find it too hard to believe that what we thought was a demon could actually be something much more significant.

    They said that God was currently walking among humans meaning he is in human form. And we haven't seen the amulet that senses his presence in quite a while so it wouldn't be sending off any signals one way or another.

    Many ideas I'm throwing around....could be totally wrong! But I'm really really hoping I'm right!

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  13. Oh and God supposedly having "left" the building. It made me think of Lost and Jacob's version of God. Wanting to show that people have the ability to help themselves and that he didn't think it was his job to intervene. Maybe to advise sometimes, but action certainly isn't his thing. Maybe that's why I kept getting that idea about Crowley. I don't think God ever left the building. Maybe he's been there all along?

    Grr! Can't wait until next week :-)

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  14. I really don't think that Crowley is God - think about it, God is supposed to be all knowing. We know he supports Dean and Sam, so why would he give them the Colt to use on Lucifer? Lucifer knew the Colt couldn't kill him, one would expect God to know as well. Also, why make the bargain for Bobby's soul? If he was God he could just say 'I have a source that told me where Death will be ...'

    Crowley also actively avoids Sam because Sam keeps trying to kill him. I doubt Sam has the ability to kill God, so why would Crowley be so keen to steer clear of him? It can't be because he thinks Sam is evil - God let Sam into heaven after all.

    On top of that, we know that Crowley pretty much is the king of the crossroad demons. Why the heck would God be posing as a demon in order to steal human souls with crossroad deals? Doesn't that seem a little bit malevolant for him? Sure God may be an apathetic jerk, but I wouldn't say he was outright evil enough to trick humans out of their souls as Crowley does.

    And don't forget as well that it was confirmed that Crowley was Lilith's 'right hand man'. In addition to that, he has repeatedly stated his reason for wanting Lucifer dead to be because he himself is a demon and he is afraid that Lucifer will kill off all demons if he wins. If Crowley were God I'd expect him to keep his motivations a secret and be more mysterious, but I genuinely believe that he is helping because he thinks Lucifer will ice the demons should he win, just as he says. Plus why would God need Bobby's soul as insurance against the Winchesters killing him? Sure, if he were really a demon then that's a smart move. If he's really God then it's a pointless one, because surely God would be harder to kill than Lucifer, and the Winchesters cant even kill Lucifer.

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  15. Death's car wasn't white. It was pale as the horse he's supposed to ride.

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  16. That conversation with Death was amazing and a bit chilling. And Dean even had pizza!
    Very good episode and that whole exchange between Crowley and Bobby is hilarious:

    Bobby: Why did you take a picture?
    Crowley: Why did you use tongue?

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  17. Loved this episode, and the review, Billie! Although, I always found it strange that Sam, Bobby, and Castiel went to stop the croatoan zombies, leaving Dean alone to face the horseman, Death. I feel like Death was pretty much the biggest, baddest horseman, and it seemed out of character to let Dean face him alone. Just wanted to point that out.

    The music introducing Death was amazing!

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  18. I lost it with Bobby and Crowley I thought it was just a one off joke but it went from a picture too tongue then the boys just looking at him like.... UHHHH Bobby you wanna confess something XD

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