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Supernatural: Goodbye Stranger

Dean: "Do you really think we can trust... Megstiel?"

I had a hard time making myself sit down and write this review. That's odd, because I rarely have trouble writing about Supernatural. But after watching this week's episode, all I could see was the boys peeling off in the Impala, leaving Meg dead on the ground. There was something about it that really bugged me. Was it that they just eliminated yet another long-running female character in the Supernaturalverse?

Yes, they were burned by Meg in the past, as well as Ruby in a great big way, but Meg took bullets for them, she guarded Castiel when he lost his noodle, and she was just tortured for an entire year by the minions of Hell, wondering all the while why the Winchesters weren't showing up to rescue her. Hadn't she earned something from the Winchesters? At the very least, respect and acknowledgement? (Even though I totally understood why Sam wouldn't give her Amelia's name.)

Was Meg redeemable? I've always wondered what was really going on with her. But I did become fond of her, and I loved the way she flirted with Castiel. The conversation where she told him that they were going to order pizza and have a liaison when all this was over was the best scene in the episode, and I really wish I'd seen it. They had a strange, long-running angel/demon relationship, and I'm sad it's over.


(In memoriam: the "pizza man" exchange in season six's "Caged Heat".)

I was of course happy that we got Castiel back, and especially that he was shocked back to his factory settings by the angel tablet and is finally free of Naomi. It was nice that his love of Dean did it, too, trumping months of conditioning and a room full of dead practice Deans. (How did they do that? Make a bloodied Jensen lie down in a hundred different positions and CGI them together?) Castiel chose Dean over heaven. I knew he would.

But Castiel also chose a bus trip somewhere over letting Dean have the angel tablet. Yes, there's something fun about the idea of Castiel on a bus trip. And I'm also happy that for the first time in a long time, Castiel isn't being possessed, manipulated or in any other way influenced by the sequence of supernatural beings that have been using him as a puppet. Hooray for free will. But why does Castiel think Dean can't be trusted with the angel tablet? Is it because Dean thinks angels are dicks and he might be tempted to close the gates of Heaven?

I was also glad they didn't continue to drag out Sam keeping his new, supernatural health problems from Dean. Apparently, Sam is disintegrating on a subatomic level, and even angels can't heal him. Of course, Cas touching Sam and healing him, like he just did with Dean (and not for the first time), would make the trials plot null and void. We can't have that, because the season isn't over.

Bits and pieces:

Voluptuous Asian Lovelies, the earlier version of Busty Asian Beauties. Sam gave Dean ten minutes alone with Miss October before they left. That was a little less judgmental than Sam used to be with Dean.

— Naomi and Crowley knew each other in Mesopotamia. I assume that was awhile back. Were they lovers? Sort of like an earlier version of Megstiel?

— Before he saw the bloody tissues, Dean called Sam "Doc Holliday." Holliday died of consumption.

— I thought at first that the Ph.D candidate with the curlers had lucked out, having Dean and Sam there when three demons came to the door. But no. Poor thing.

— This week: Lincoln Springs, Missouri. Sam was agent Landt and Dean, agent Tandy. I think. Anyone know who they were supposed to be?

— Lucifer had dozens of secret crypts, huh? The Raiders of the Lost Ark map room/homemade model of Lincoln Springs was cool. Somebody had to make that, you know. Why can't I have a job like that?

— Why didn't Dean put the angel tablet back in the angel-warded box to keep Castiel from getting it?

— Nice use of the song in the title, "Goodbye Stranger." Come back soon, Castiel.

Quotes:

Dean: "What is this, God's toothpick?"
I didn't know what it was, but Dan did. And I'm the one who went to Sunday School. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Lance

Dean: "So somebody's killing demons. Wow, that is awesome. I feel like we should send a card. Or flowers. What kind of flowers are thanks for killing demons?"
I don't know. What's a weird, scary sounding flower? Snapdragons? Nasturtiums? Any suggestions?

Castiel: "I'm hoping the strange haired demon in the kitchen is more knowledgeable than the others I interrogated."
Do women even wear curlers like that any more?

Castiel: (from the kitchen) "You know, I can hear you both. I am a celestial being."

Demon: "What can I say? She has a thing for smutton chops."

Meg: "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"
Gotta love a demon who quotes Star Wars. She must have had that one ready for a long time.

Dean: "So I gotta ask. What's up with the hair?"
Meg: "Thanks for noticing, Dean. But this wasn't my idea. It was Crowley's. And it's just another reason I want to stab him in the face."

Dean: "Really? 'Cause I saw you Zero Dark Thirty that demon. You were more than persuasive."

Meg: "So who's up for fleeing?"

Castiel: "These wounds have festered."
Meg: "You really do know how to make a girl's nethers quiver, don't you?"
Castiel: "I am aware of how to do that. Although it doesn't usually involve cleaning wounds."

Meg: "Do you ever miss the apocalypse?"
Castiel: "No. Why would I miss the end of times?"
Meg: "I miss the simplicity. I was bad, you were good, life was easier. Now it's all so messy. I'm kinda good, which sucks. And you're kinda bad, which is actually all manner of hot. If I survive this, we're going to order some pizza and we're gonna move some furniture around."


Meg: "There's one part I don't understand. You hit a dog and stopped. Why?"
Crowley said that Meg was his dog. All I could think of was that the Winchesters didn't stop for Meg.

Dean: "I may not be able to carry the burden that comes along with these trials, but I can carry you."
Sam: "You realize you kinda just quoted Lord of the Rings?"
Dean: "Come on, man, but it's the Rudy hobbit. Rudy hobbit always gets a pass."

What did you all think? How many dead demons out of four?

Billie
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Billie Doux has been reviewing Supernatural for so long that Dean and Sam Winchester feel like old friends. Courageous, adventurous, gorgeous old friends.

17 comments:

  1. Finally! Lol I have been checking since yesterday for this review, because I was pumped about the episode. Seems you didn't love as much. And I'm shocked, Billie. You really didn't know what the Spear of Destiny was? I...I don't know what to say. Didn't you watch Constantine?

    Anyways great episode. I like this tablet storyline and I'm glad we are moving forward with that. What happened at the end? Did Cas activate the tablet or something? I wonder what it did. He seemed like he saw something that made him sure that he couldn't give it to Dean. Hmmm...I'm with you on them killing another female character. Though I wasn't very fond of this version of Meg.

    Overall I give it 4 out of 4 dead demon bodies. Loved the end with Dean and Cas, even if it was exactly like the season 5 finale scene.

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  2. Great review Billie! I enjoyed this episode as well but I had a different take on what happened to Meg. I think she gave the boys permission to go do their thing and then get out of there. If they had gone back, Crowley would have just killed them. Meg knew she was dead and maybe she wanted her death to mean something. I also loved the bits between Meg and Castiel and the fact that Castiel is now free from Naomi except for the part where he is being hunted by her and Crowley now. I think that at some point he will want to make up for his many mistakes, hopefully not through the same kind of self-sacrifice as Meg.

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  3. The boys were agents Lynne and Tandy as in Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy of ELO. Loved this episode so much! But like you I wasn't thrilled the boys just left Meg.

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  4. I knew Meg was done the moment I saw her making hot plans with Castiel. Very Whedon-y thing to do, kill of a character the moment she was getting on with someone. Also, unfair :(

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  5. He was her unicorn :(

    Farewell Meg. You lasted 8 seasons on this show without dying. Not even Sam and Dean have done that. I tip my hat to you.

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  6. In the same episode where Castiel kisses Meg he also pretends to burn Crowley's bones, if I remember correctly. And later when Bobby researches Crowley's past he learns that when he was human he was from the UK and that he lived there in the 1600s or 1700s, I think. Sam and Dean even travel to the UK to find the bones and burn them for real this time if he doesn't free Bobby from his contract. So when did Crowley go to Mesopotamia? Surely his bones wouldn't have survived all this time if he was alive back then.

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  7. I've often wondered exactly how bound to time demons are. Maybe this is a hint that they have time-hopping abilities too? Or maybe it's just a continuity snarl.

    Would've loved this episode if not for the whole "Meg dying" thing. I'm by no means a feminist (I find those who brand themselves as such have a tendency to trivialize those inequalities that work against the other half of the population - though this clearly isn't the place to debate the finer points of gender politics), but even I'm beginning to become sensitive to the trend. Apparently having a vagina is tantamount to a death sentence in the Supernatural-'verse.

    There's still a little bit of me that's hoping Meg somehow isn't dead, though. I'm a bit fuzzy on the rules of killing demons with pointy objects, but a gut-shot like that wouldn't have instantly killed a human, and she seemed to flash a little less than most when she dropped. But I'm probably grasping at straws.

    Oh well. Still beats the hell out of the last one.

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  8. I had a similar initial reaction to the boys driving away after Meg's death. It seemed so harsh. But then I immediately started to question whether my reaction was colored by the whole "yet another death of a recurring female character" issue. Because I didn't really like Meg. And I'm not broken up about her death. But, it still seemed particularly cold to leave that way given that she did go out fighting for them.

    Overall, I thought this was a strong and engaging episode. I loved the opening scenes of the boys at the batcave ("voluptuous Asian lovelies" gave me quite the chuckle), the image of all the dead Deans was striking, and I have to admit that Dean giving a pass to Rudy hobbit made me smile.

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  9. Yet again, the boys promise not to lie each other. I'm not holding my breath.

    I'm sorry to see Meg go. Although she wasn't my favorite character, I did like her in this episode. If demons can be redeemed and angels can be bad, what an interesting world this could be.

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  10. I have to say I really loved this episode. Any episode that starts off with Dean prowling with a gun in his hands has got to be worth something.

    I am glad that Cas is back to normal and that he decided, on his own, that Dean can't be trusted with the angel tablet. Things keep getting more interesting.
    I also go the impression from Naomi that the tablet could "restart" heaven and the angels.

    As far as Meg, I saw her death as a sort of redemption for her past evil deeds. I was just re-watching season one and my, she was a pretty evil demon!
    Dying in the defense of the Winchesters after everything she had done seemed the only sort of way she could ever have earned something from them, especially, Dean.
    Dean can't forget everything she has done, from trying to kill John, killing Kaleb, Pastor Jim, Jo and Ellen.

    While she did help them, it was always for some gain, mainly that Crowley wanted her dead. She turned to helping the Winchesters and somewhere along the way (Cas and the pizzaman incident maybe?) she began to be less demon-like.

    Sam being Sam seemed to understand her (he did have a thing for the first "meg").

    Don't get me wrong, I am not glad to see her go, but watching the boys drive off didn't jar me as much as others. Perhaps because I have those season one episodes fresh in my head?

    Anyway, my two cents.
    I am looking forward to the "hunting school" next week.

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  11. I liked it, especially with the opening scene of those bloodied Deans and the struggle that Cas had with his mind and Naomi. I also liked that Dean now knows about Sam.

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  12. i can't believe they killed meg!
    she was the one lady character to last this long and she was becoming super badass.

    ugh as camarilla said, it was a very whedon esque thing to do and that sucks.

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  13. I have a strong feeling that Meg is not gone for good (well..at least hoping she's not)... Redemption has been explored a number of times and in many different ways over the years on Supernatural, but, never with a demon. Given the fact that Meg has, in fact, over the past two plus seasons helped both the Winchesters and Cas it may be a strong possibility that she is on the road to redemption even if she was seeking it knowingly or not......It would certainly be a very interesting avenue to explore..maybe the simple act of sacrificing herself for Cas and the boys will give her a second chance being that it was such a selfless act which is completely out of character for any demon....I would definitely like to see a relationship between Meg and Cas further explored, and with a redemption of sorts would be more apt to happen.

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  14. I loved this episode! I hope Castiel brings Meg back--as a human. The opening scene with Cas killing all the Deans set the pace for me to stop breathing, and I didn't start again till the show ended, I swear! Cas beating on Dean while Naomi ordered him to kill Dean! Meg and Sam discussing Amelia and her time "inside" him years ago! Cas and Meg discussing their "pizza man" experience and her suggestion that they order a pizza and move furniture around! Cas taking the Angel Tablet and disappearing with it! Naomi and Crowley discussing their past in the very distant past! And Meg sacrificing her life so the Winchesters could escape! Like I said, this ep was AMAZING! -- Robin Vogel

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  15. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I believe Crowley called Meg his whore. He told Sam that he was angry at him for killing his dog. (That would be the hell hound that Sam killed.) I'm kind of hoping that because we didn't actually see Meg's skeleton flash through, maybe she isn't dead? I was hoping for a happy ending for Megastiel.
    Thanks for the running dialogue. I can't tell you how very much I've enjoyed reading your ideas, and the ideas of your readers.

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  16. Meg doesn't really have a skeleton - she is living in some human host, who may be alive or dead. I think demon Meg is truly dead. But in Supernatural, that doesn't necessarily mean much.

    I agree, Crowley is annoyed at Sam for killing his pet hellhound.

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  17. It was a great episode , I am unhappy to see Meg go as she did Grow on me , I loved how she refered to Castiel as her Unicorn. With the knife it seems if you are stabbed in the head or torso area then it kills you, But anywhere else is not a instakill area. I hope they find a way to bring Meg back I like the idea of Megastiel. Sams face as they were driving off after Meg died was nice.

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