WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, IDJIT!
So this is the last episode we’re going to get before Supernatural goes on hiatus for a few more weeks. Was it any good? Hit the jump to find out.
So this episode was all about the second trial, which was to save an innocent soul from hell. When the boys talk to a renegade reaper and discover that Bobby’s trapped in Hell, it seems like they’ve stumbled on the obvious choice and Sam heads off to Hell, via Purgatory, to pull out the old buzzard and knock out trial two.
Because seriously, innocent soul trapped in Hell, that SCREAMS ADAM GUYS COME ON
First of all, way to pull one over on us with the Bobby thing, SPN! I was not expecting to see Bobby again for real, especially because 1) Jim Beaver was adamantly denying any involvement on Twitter, and 2) they talked about Bobby in the extended preview last week. I figured they’d pull the old switcheroo on us and blow our minds by finally bringing back Adam. I’m thankful, though, that it was a one-episode thing, because we’ve already put Bobby to rest so many times on this show that it was starting to get tedious.
I also want to wish a fond farewell to Benny. His character left me with mixed feelings throughout this season, but his death in this episode was a little forced, like “Oh we conveniently have a suicidal vampire on hand, call him up to help Sam out of Purgatory”. At least he got a better sendoff than Amelia did.
I’m really worried about Kevin, although I don’t think Crowley actually has him. When the Winchesters busted into the boat at the end, there was no broken glass or wreckage like there had been when Crowley showed up. Furthermore, unless Crowley is an angel or at least not a demon, there’s no way he could have actually busted up those sigils Kevin was painting. I’m holding to this theory both because I think an unbalanced Kevin with a Hallucicrowley is way more interesting story-wise than a Kevin held hostage by actual Crowley, and because it would also mean that Mrs. Tran is possibly still alive.
Speaking of killing awesome characters of color, there was some annoying racism this episode. For the first time, a not-Crowley male demon shows up at the crossroads, and he happens to be black. What follows? The Winchesters torture the shit out of him and then kill him. Then there was Ajay, the titular taxi driver. He was a pretty cool character, and when he made the deal with Sam and Dean I was really happy, because the Winchesters owing him a favor meant he was going to stick around, right? Nope. Crowley ganks him in retaliation for letting Sam into Hell, and that’s that. And if Linda Tran is really dead, well, I’m gonna be heading out to the Supernatural filming location to knock some everliving heads together, because that is just not okay.
Naomi showed up a couple times this episode (accompanied by the angel-wings noise, this time, quashing last week’s speculation that she was something else entirely). She was her usual annoying self at first, trying to get to Dean the way she had gotten to Castiel in previous episodes, but it was uneffective. Later, she shows up to interfere and take Bobby’s soul back to heaven to thwart Crowley. I liked that they showed this because it makes her less of a two-dimensional villain and more of a character with good intentions who is totally off-base with the means she’s using for her ends.
All in all, this was a relatively mediocre episode. I wish that there had been some sort of twist to the soul-in-hell thing, whether it was Adam or someone else, since they went in expecting to find Bobby. I’m more worried about Kevin than I am about anything else, but I guess they had to end on an annoying cliffhanger since it’s going on break for three weeks.
Next time we see the return of Charlie, though, so that’s never a bad thing.
Lady Geek Girl and Friends 