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Supernatural: Meet the New Boss

"We all saw him. No beard, no robe. He was young and sexy. He had a raincoat."

Sometimes I think I'm just a one-woman Supernatural cheering squad. But this was an excellent season premiere, wasn't it?

I don't know what tickled me more: Castiel's holy rampage across America, Crowley hiding out in a trailer in Tennessee drinking cheap scotch, or that entire break-in scene with the Castiel-Death confrontation. The Winchesters are accustomed to interacting with angels, Horsemen, monsters and gods, although Bobby and Sam were a bit freaked by Death. Who knows what that poor couple thought?

Am I twisted for being a little sad that Castiel didn't get to be God for awhile longer? Smiting homophobes, white supremacists, politicians and motivational speakers, disbanding the KKK, controlling who goes to Hell, I swear I've had fantasies just like that. I probably wouldn't blow up a publishing house, though. (I wish they'd said which one, although I can guess.) Castiel also healed a blind man. More of that would have been good, of course.

We might have just lost Castiel forever, although we did see him return for a moment, and you never can tell on this show. If this was his swan song, at least he mended fences to some extent when he asked Dean for help. I'm not sure that Leviathans sound threatening, but anything that will keep Misha Collins returning is okay by me. (Although as far as I'm concerned, a Leviathan is a huge, living ship with escaped prisoners on it.)

(Poor Jimmy. Is he even still in there?)

As usual, the Winchester brothers were on the brink of collapse. Sam wasn't doing so well, what with the Hellraiser slash Lucifer hallucinations. Those were hallucinations, weren't they? Or is Lucifer exerting some sort of psychic control from the cage? Dean rallied enough to repair the Impala, but he was again at the point of giving up the fight and spending what time he had left watching Asian cartoon porn on a laptop in Bobby's kitchen. Very Dean. That made me smile.

Just by the way, isn't it a bit contradictory that the boys did the same thing to kill Cass that Cass did to kill Raphael, i.e., forming an alliance with Crowley? Why was it okay for the boys, but not for Cass? Because they're not angels?

Anyway, thank you, Supernatural powers that be, for bringing back Death. I absolutely love Death. Thank you, Supernatural powers that be, for bringing Crowley back, because I love him, too. And it was great seeing Mark Pellegrino again, although not much fun for Sam.

Bits and pieces:

— The new credits are black and white, sort of like a dripping photographic negative. "Then" was set to "Soul Ride."


— A field of dead angels. Not something you see every day. It was sort of like a symmetrical piece of abstract art. M.C. Escher.

— Ever practical, Bobby was the first to kneel before Castiel.

— The senator that Castiel planned to smite had a Michele Bachmann vibe.

— I was wondering how they could possibly bring down anyone with Castiel's power, and of course, his vessel burned out, like Lucifer burned out Nick. Supernatural gets a good continuity point.

— Crowley is always listening to music, and his choices are fun. This time, it was "These Boots are Made for Walking."

— This episode's Most Obvious Symbolism was probably Sam falling with his hand right on a piece of upturned broken glass. He's broken out of the cage, but there will be some nasty scars.

— In this season's hair report, Jared's hair was definitely longer. And interestingly, so was Jensen's. This was Dean's first new do in seven seasons, and it looked odd to me. Was his hair darker?

Quotes:

Castiel: "Once you were my favorite pets, before you turned and bit me."

Reverend: "Someone has to speak for God."
Castiel: "And who says you speak for God? You're wrong. I am utterly indifferent to sexual orientation."

Reverend: "Okay. Fun's over, friend."
Castiel: "Tell your flock where your genitals have been before you speak to me."

Sam: "Motivational speakers?"
Dean: "Yeah. I'm not sure new Cass gets irony even better than old Cass."

Castiel: "Hello, Crowley. You look stressed."
Crowley: "Bollocks."

Crowley: "Fancy a drink before you smite me?"

Dean: "I just pray to God it's true."
Bobby: "We need to come up with a new saying for that."

Dean: "Who feels like hog-tying Death tonight?"
Bobby: "Old age is overrated, anyhow."

Dean: "Excuse me. You got any Grey Poupon?"

Death: "I know God. And you, sir, are no God."

Death: "Try to bind me again, you'll die before you start. Nice pickle chips, by the way."

Lucifer: "Hi, Sam. Long time, no spooning."
Ick.

Castiel: "I really overreached." Gee, you think?

Four out of four fried pickle chips,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

20 comments:

  1. "I am utterly indifferent to sexual orientation" was a great line, specially with Misha's delivery.

    That was a season's worth of events on the first episode, wasn't it? I wish Cas had been God for a while longer too. And now it seems the Big Bad will be the Leviathans. The only other leviathan I remember was the biblical whale that ate Jonah. It was huge.

    That made me think there's a lot of parallelism between how the seasons of SN and Buffy were laid out. I'll ponder some more and tell what I mean another day.

    I love Death and Crowley too, Billie. And I join your cheer squad for SN.

    Just one thing: the song we heard on "then" is called "Slow Ride".

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  2. I didn't love the season premiere as much as you did Billie. After facing Lucifer & Armageddon, how can I get excited about leviathans when I have almost no reference for them?

    However, I will give this episode five out of four smited homophobic preachers from the Midwest just because Cass became God & that was his very first act. Big high five to Sera Gamble & Eric Kripke. The smiting of 'Michelle Bachman' was pretty rad too! Love this from a show that doesn't usually get too political.

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  3. Just want to say: trench coat on a tortilla! That's why I love this show.

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  4. As someone on Tumblr said:

    "I feel like Leviathan!Cas is basically just what happens when you mix Misha and Tequila."

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  5. Was a great season premiere. Having the Cas/God thing resolved so quickly gave me hope that they've taken a cue from VD and won't be dragging the plots for too long, like they did last season.

    The Leviathans didn't seem very threatening, more like naughty children. It will be nice to see Misha play a more lively character.

    Alot of this episode, (Sam's Hell world, the souls trying to break free of Cas) reminded me of the old Nightmare on Elm Street movies. I wonder if it was just me or if it was the writers intention.

    After last seasons iffy plot progression, it's nice to see this season getting off to a great start.

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  6. Is it just me, or was the part where the souls try to burst from Cas' stomach a pretty darn good and creepy special effect?

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  7. It's so rewarding to avoid spoilers and opening credits. The appearance of Mark P. was a complete surprise to me and I actually applauded when Sam turned as saw him! I had hoped all summer that hal-Luci-nations would be part of Sam's hell torment. So glad they went there.

    Overall I loved the opener. In addition to Lucifer, Death and Crowley were wonderful. Loved the boys and Bobby. Cas/Godstiel/LeviaCas was incredible. They didn't hit any real sour notes (although they almost did with Sam keeping secrets again. Thankfully that was quickly dispensed with.)

    I don't have a problem with the boys anger at Cas even though they have sometimes allied with demons. I mean, I don't think many people blame Dean for being angry with what Sam did in season 4. Dean had worked with Ruby several times himself but few think that makes him a hypocrite. Because that wasn't the real problem, was it? In the same way, working with Crowley is not the real problem with what Cas did.

    Anyway, thank you Billie for your great reviews. I survived Hellatus reading through all your old SPN reviews and I expect I will be back to read your take on each new episode as the season progresses.

    This is my first comment, btw...
    RoseCompose

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  8. A leviathan is a sea monster - think Loch Ness. Leviathans are the gatekeepers of hell in demon-lore. They will probably get worse. :)

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  9. And let Supernatural Season 7 begin!

    Billie, I will totally join your Supernatural cheering squad. This was definitely one of the better season openers we've had, and reminds me why I love this show so much.

    Mark P. was a wonderful surprise, even if he was in the credits. I was hoping that we would actually be able to see what's going on in Sam's head, and that Lucifer would be apart of that. Now I'm kind of hoping for an appearance from Michael.

    God!Cas was so much fun to watch. I honestly expected him to be God until the next episode, and was a little disappointed that this plot thread was over and done with so quickly. It was amazing to see Misha play something different then the normal Castiel. It looked like he was having a lot of fun, especially when the Leviathans took over. I'm praying that they were lying when they said Cas was dead, but personally, I don't have much faith. At least he tried to mend the fences a little.

    Another wonderful review Billie! Supernatural never feels complete without reading your review.

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  10. I was thinking the Leviathan was more like the Titans, especially based on the definition we were given by the show. I don't remember the definition right now, but when I watched, I was thinking "Yes, like the titans."

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  11. Awesome! Just a great opener with humor (trenchcoat in a tortilla) and scary moments. And Misha did an excellent job. I also love how Sam´s wall is being more fleshed out.

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  12. I found this episode very engaging. I was never quite sure where they were going to go with it, and some of the character confrontations were incredibly compelling. Death v. GodCas was particularly strong.

    Thanks to those of you providing some perspective on the mythological significance of leviathans, because I'm in the same boat as Billie. To me, a Leviathan is a living ship, not a scary monster from the deep. :)

    Very curious to see where things go from here.

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  13. Great opener! I was shocked that they wrapped up God!Cas so quickly, though did appreciate all his smitings, campaign staff not withstanding.

    I am not sure what to think about the leviathans though - Misha Collins is far too adorable to convincingly play primordial monsters, I hope they don't disappoint compared to Lucifer. Hopefully Misha will make me eat my words :-)

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  14. Like Billie and Jess, I kept thinking of a certain living ship when everyone started talking about Leviathans. Which is also why I instantly thought 'Harvey' when Lucifer showed up.

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  15. Hello, long time lurker/first time commenter Jesse.

    I loved the premiere, way better than last years. Mischa Collins rocked it and Castiel was such a wonderfully liberal God. We need more of those. I wished CasGod stuck around longer but I'm kinda liking the idea of the Leviathans, and of Collins turning heel and being a guy with excess of personality.

    I thought the Leviathans had more of an Old Ones feel, very Lovecraftian. Isn't that what Death called them, Old Ones?

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  16. Last season premiere was the worst of the show's history, but this season is right there among the best episodes of the show. It's better then last season's finale for sure and could be the finale instead, leaving us with a leviathan cliffhanger instead of the God one.

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  17. Wow, but I have missed the boys. Thanks, Netflix, for giving me season seven to catch up with them.

    Would love to have seen a bit more of God. Castiel did exactly what I would do if I were God for a day, except maybe kill angels. That felt creepy to me.

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  18. ChrisB - Me too! I was so happy when I got the Netflix email "Netflix has just added Supernatural Season 7" SQUEE!
    I watched this ep and the Dr Who ep "A Town Called Mercy" the same day (or close to each other anyway) and love that both had lines with similar meaning:
    Doctor: “I speak horse. He's called Susan and he wants you to respect his life choices.”
    Castiel: "And who says you speak for God? You're wrong. I am utterly indifferent to sexual orientation."

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  19. I sort of wish he'd gotten to be God longer too, Billie, or that his breakdown was over several episodes instead of one. I loved the stained glass Cas and the trench coat on a tortilla joke.

    I'm not a fan of murder, but I like who Cas chose to smite. Fake Westboro totally had it coming.

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  20. Season seven is not on everyone's favorite lists, but I love it. This opener is very good. Poor Sam is not doing well, but tries to hide it so he doesnt worry Dean. Plus we get a very smart and funny scene with Death. I loved the couple who owned the house. They were tied up and gagged, but still watched the action and responded to it with their expressions. We also get Cas, Crowley and Lucifer. What's not to love?? Maybe just not JP's sideburns. Isn't this the season where they do an Elvis impression and almost cover his whole face?

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