WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, IDJIT!
Ahem. So thanks to our reduced Supernatural reviews this season, we should get caught up with Season 9 before we talk about our thoughts on the finale and the season as a whole. When we left off, Sam and Dean were beating themselves up over the death of Kevin while Castiel struggled not to become a leader for the angels again, despite everyone from Metatron on down attempting to convince him that hey, being an angel leader was what he was meant to do. Most importantly, Dean got the First Blade, which can only be wielded if one has the Mark of Cain. Thanks to a roadtrip with Crowley, Dean met the original Cain and got said Mark. Now he’s the only person on Earth who can use the First Blade. What can the First Blade do? It can kill Abaddon (and Crowley, and Metatron). One brief and ill-timed venture to Chicago later, the Winchesters manage to off Abaddon and are all set for their boss fight of the season: Metatron.
All three of the main actors hit the news circuit in the days leading up to the finale, each promising us that this finale would take the Winchesters somewhere they’d never been before. Since Season 9 has been a tired retread of all the Winchesters’ golden oldies, such a promise was nigh on unbelievable. It’s like a third-rate boyfriend promising you that not only would he remember your anniversary, he would do something so incredible you’d marry him right then and there. Is that something Supernatural‘s even capable of? I’m gonna say no, but let’s hold the verdict until after the jump.
Supernatural‘s numerous problems have already been laid out numerous times,and this finale was no different. In the episodes leading up to the finale, women were casually objectified and then, usually, killed; fans were made fun of; queerbaiting abounded. However, the plot and character arcs (or lack thereof) already had problems enough for a thousand words.
gif via spnfans
In our last episode, Gadreel, who alongside Crowley has been given the redemption arc this season, came to the Winchesters’ bunker to offer his services in bringing Metatron down. Sam and Cas are willing to trust him, even though he killed Kevin (using Sam’s body). Dean shakes Gadreel’s hand—and then slashes his chest open with the First Blade. Sam and Cas force him down into the basement and lock him there, rightly thinking that Dean’s gone batshit crazy and shouldn’t be in on the killing Metatron plan. Dean starts vomiting blood and summons Crowley, who tells him that while he’s the wielder of the First Blade, the state of his health has a direct correlation to the number of people he’s killed. When he hasn’t killed anyone, well, he’d better get used to the taste of his own blood.
Crowley gets Dean out of the bunker (how he did it remains unknown; I hope Dean didn’t do anything stupider than he’s already done) and the two of them resume their search for Metatron. They’re joined by Sam, who tells them that Metatron’s been performing miracles and making sure that bystanders get them on camera—so it’s pretty easy to follow his trail. Meanwhile, Cas and Gadreel sneak their way into Heaven’s secret door by using the Star Wars Wookie trap—the victorious Gadreel brings in Heaven’s most wanted in chains. Once they’re inside, though, the angels turn on them. They knew it was a trap all along (hey, have they seen Star Wars?) and the two of them are put in jail. Gadreel’s an eager little redemption bunny, though, and carves an Enochian rune for destruction on his chest, killing himself and blowing the doors of the cell wide open. Cas is able to get to Metatron’s office and search it for the angel tablet from which Metatron is getting his Godly powers.
Crowley has, at this point, disappeared, leaving Sam and Dean to face Metatron on their own. Or not. Dean knocks Sam out and leaves him by the side of the Impala, saying that killing Metatron is something he has to do armed only with his blade and his enormous amounts of manpain. He proceeds to the worn-down tenement building where Metatron is meditating, really playing up his Jesus act for the homeless people whom he healed earlier that day. The two of them fight, and although Dean has the Blade, Metatron manages to stab Dean through the heart with his angel blade. He escapes back to Heaven as Sam wakes up and hurries to Dean’s side. “I’m proud of us,” Dean chokes out, probably delirious due to blood loss. Proud of what? The people he’s killed? The douchebag he’s become?
Metatron gets back to Heaven just in time to see Cas smash the angel tablet all over the floor. He advances on Cas and tells him all of his dastardly plans, to which Cas gestures at the microphone that’s been broadcasting his words to all the angels on angel radio. And thus Metatron is captured. Bit anti-climactic. That’s because the real climax is in the last few minutes, when, undoing a whole season’s worth of character development, Sam goes to make a deal with Crowley to bring Dean back from death. Unbeknownst to him, though, Crowley is already at Dean’s bedside, where he tells Dean that the original Cain couldn’t die as long as he had the Mark. He wraps Dean’s lifeless hand around the Blade and tells him, “What you’re feeling right now? It’s not death. It’s life. A new kind of life.” Dean’s eyes open. They’re demon black.
So Dean’s gone full-on dark side! That’s not something we’ve seen before, if you don’t count the forty years Dean spent in Hell that no one ever mentions. And honestly, it was something that a lot of people predicted. The First Blade was clearly doing something to Dean’s mental state, and he got more and more dickish with each passing episode. It’s not a big jump to think that he might become a demon. It’s just too bad that in doing so, the writers reinforced the Winchester problem that this show has had all along. “They did the thing!” I shouted at Saika and Stinekey in the safety of the after-show chatroom. “They did the thing and they did it poorly!”
It’s not the first time that a Winchester (or honorary Winchester Castiel) has pursued greater power as the means to defeat a villain. It’s just that usually, that Winchester is Sam. Sam wanted to defeat Lilith, so he consorted with Ruby and drank demon blood and ended up unleashing Lucifer onto the Earth. Then Cas needed more power to defeat Raphael, so he worked with Crowley to inhale a bunch of Purgatory souls that ended up driving him crazy and unleashing Leviathans onto the Earth. In both cases, Sam and Cas pursued power willingly, sure of the rightness of their actions and sure they could control their newfound power. In both cases, they were proven wrong. In both cases, they apologized and sought atonement.
Not so for Dean Winchester. Throughout the seasons, Dean has consistently been characterized as the character who has to step into the action, because his compatriots are either too weak to fight or too weak to be trusted. Dean doesn’t tell Sam all the information sometimes, because he doesn’t trust Sam at that point or because he has so much manpain that he thinks he has to manage everything himself. As Lady Geek Girl so eloquently said, Dean is the noble older brother who always has to protect his tragically misguided younger brother from himself. Dean’s taking on the Mark of Cain this season could have been a great way to subvert this character arc and show that Dean, too, was a fallible character.
Yet this is not what the narrative did at all. Yes, Dean was thrilled to take the Mark of Cain because it meant he had a weapon with which to defeat Abaddon, but he was always shown as having his doubts about it. He started drinking himself to sleep, afraid of what he was becoming. In this, he’s meant to be the tragic character that accepts a powerful burden because he’s somehow the only one strong enough for it, and he’s not addicted but he’ll totally suffer through being chosen. Then, when he does become addicted to it, any concerns that Sam and Cas have are shouted down as Dean declares himself and his plans a dictatorship. When he turns into a demon at the end, it doesn’t even seem like a natural consequence of his mistakes—it comes off as more of a gotcha deus ex machina. Dean was in charge of Sam and Cas’s narratives—the writers wanted us to think Sam and Cas were wrong because Dean thought they were wrong. Turns out Dean’s in charge of his own narrative, too.
Even though we all know that what Dean’s doing is leading both himself and his relationship with Sam down the path of no return, the narrative never acknowledges it. Dean’s given many opportunities throughout the season to apologize to Sam for making him host an angel and for that angel killing Kevin, but he never does so. Even when he’s killed by Metatron, his last words are not an apology. It’s not that Sam should have accepted an apology—he definitely shouldn’t—it’s that Dean needs to acknowledge the truth of his mistakes. I mean, what was that hugely metaphorical Ghostfacers episode even for if not for this?!
Aside from all that, Season 9 as a whole suffered from a hugely ineffective pacing problem. Many of the plotlines (Abaddon, Bartholomew, Buddy Boyle, the dull and thankfully not picked up SPN spinoff) were tied up or simply drifted away into the ether before the finale, which left only Metatron for the last episode. As for the Gadreel and Crowley redemption arcs, while Crowley’s could have worked, Gadreel’s would have been a far easier sell if he hadn’t killed Kevin. As it stands, Sam and Cas just look silly for ever trusting him again. Abaddon doesn’t get a redemption arc, of course, because why redeem female villains?
And, of course, the Supernatural fanbase has been clamoring for a Dean/Castiel pairing (or a Sam/Dean pairing) since the beginning of the show, and if it had happened, it would go a long way towards alleviating Supernatural’s frankly gross queerbaiting problem. When Metatron was telling another angel about Cas this season, he even said, “He’s in love—” pause for approximately a million years “—with humanity.” Sure. Did Destiel become canon? No, it did not, and it most likely never will. Mark another season of useless queerbaiting in Supernatural’s favor.
What did you all think of the finale? Let me know in the comments.
incredibly apropos gif via thewinchestercave
Lady Geek Girl and Friends 
As for the Gadreel and Crowley redemption arcs, while Crowley’s could have worked, Gadreel’s would have been a far easier sell if he hadn’t killed Kevin. As it stands, Sam and Cas just look silly for ever trusting him again.
Cas and Sam had little choice but to trust him. He came to them offering help. They needed all the help they could get. They would have looked far more silly if they hadn’t accepted his help, especially since he did turn out to be loyal.
When he turns into a demon at the end, it doesn’t even seem like a natural consequence of his mistakes—it comes off as more of a gotcha deus ex machina. Dean was in charge of Sam and Cas’s narratives—the writers wanted us to think Sam and Cas were wrong because Dean thought they were wrong. Turns out Dean’s in charge of his own narrative, too.
I don’t really remember it happening this way with Sam. Sam did apologize for some of his mistakes, but he also made it clear to Dean that Dean, and Dean stifling him, was the main reason why he started drinking demon blood and all the rest. Remember how they said that the only way to help Sam was for Dean to start supporting him and accepting him? Dean did. That seemed to be the interminable message of season 5.
I have to admit I’m somewhat confused by your criticism of Dean’s story. The story was, to me anyway, in character for Dean. Dean generally doesn’t apologize and doesn’t go out of his way to talk about the mistakes he made.
The whole story was to show the consequences of this behavior. His refusal to face what he did led to him becoming what he feared most (a demon). The whole story was about him being a fallible character. The whole story was precisely about the natural consequence of his mistakes. Dean was warned bad things would happen to him. Dean didn’t care. I don’t see the “gotcha” in any of this.
I don’t think they did a very good job with most of the other stories this season, but I feel like they pretty much did most of what you are describing for Dean’s story.
Abaddon doesn’t get a redemption arc, of course, because why redeem female villains?
Naomi and Meg got redemption arcs as well. It’s just that, like most female characters on this show, they were killed off soon afterward (of course so was Gadreel).
Because of the queerbaiting (or rather the backpedaling, mocking and erasure in the first few episodes of S9), I stopped watching Supernatural but I continued to read the recaps.
So, when I read that Dean became a Demon, I thought, “What the hell?” and watched the finale.
My thoughts:
You hit the nail on the head about Dean and Hell (and Dean and Purgatory if we’re going to go there). Any time Dean has had an arc of his own, we hear next to nothing about it and only get his “manpain” in the aftermath. The writers had so many chances to put both brothers on better paths during and after Season 8 and yet they decided to make both brothers complete idiots all over again.
Worse yet, they’re now going there with this Demon Dean arc (or at least the first few episodes depending on whether they have the balls to actually see a Demon Dean arc through most if not the entire season). I won’t argue that it doesn’t fit. Dean’s fear of becoming a Demon has come up in past seasons more than once. That said…
My fears:
1. They’ll ramp up the queerbaiting: Use Dean’s sudden demonhood as the perfect out to queerbait the character as bi (or incredibly flirty/open to anything) with Crowley, Castiel or anybody else who is male; and then, once Dean’s cured of his demon nature, erase the entire thing by saying, “Well, that really wasn’t Dean. That was just him being a Demon and you know Demons will have sex with anything. Dean’s a hot-blooded, all-American entirely heterosexual male.”
– Of course, by then fans will have learned subconsciously to equate bisexuality and homosexuality with evil and the concept that either can be cured.
2. That Demon Dean is just another SPN “trap.” What do I mean? The SPN creative team is really good at coming up with these wonderful storyline/arc ideas and then letting them unravel horribly with bad dialogue, editing, nonsensical outcomes and characters or character stories disappearing never to be heard of again or at least for several seasons.
3. By the end of S10, it will have all been for nothing because yet again Sam or Dean, or both, won’t have improved in any way character-wise. Oh, and they’ll be in the middle of yet another shitty situation.
Sam will still be selfish and bitching about how Dean can’t let him go. Dean will still be depressed, drinking or self-sacrificing. Some enemy who has done horrific things will be working with them. Dean will still be sexually repressed OR, worse yet, he will (if they make him bi/open) feel that he was raped by, or forced himself upon whichever male he gets involved with and will then be suicidal or self-hating.
– This will have fans subconsciously equating bisexuality and homosexuality with depraved behavior.
Of course, we can’t forget that the SPN writers have done this before or that they never ever hesitate to go somewhere they shouldn’t because of fear of making Dean or Castiel bisexual.
Note: I’m not a Destiel fan. It simply didn’t escape my notice that in the first episodes of S9, they decided to force a heterosexual Castiel down everyone’s throats (again, referencing rape with possession of the woman he had sex with who was then killed followed by Dean praising him for his hetero experience) instead of outing Dean finally as bi — even though the character was originally based on a bisexual character. They gave us Dean seeing things from a dog’s perspective (including having feelings for a female poodle to emphasis yet again his hetero nature). They even forced fans to listen to Dean talking about his heterosexual-ness in a re-virgining episode and then forced fans to watch teenage Dean and his girl crush.
Ask yourself, how many times did they try to force Sam’s heterosexuality down the fan’s throats this season?
And don’t even get me started on the Friends of Dorothy episode that mocked fanfiction and gave mixed messages about LGBT characters.
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So yeah… I don’t have high hopes for S10.
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And, there’s my last fear: In S10, death will still not be permanent.
– Of course, by then fans will have learned subconsciously to equate bisexuality and homosexuality with evil and the concept that either can be cured.
I’d be surprised if they take that risk with Dean. I’m sure they will wink and joke, but it would at most be like Crowley, who has repeatedly implied he’s queer, while generally only being onscreen with women.
They even forced fans to listen to Dean talking about his heterosexual-ness in a re-virgining episode and then forced fans to watch teenage Dean and his girl crush.
I actually thought they did a nice job with Dean and his crush. There were a few puppy love scenes in the flashback, but in present day it was just some fondness and nostalgia. If they were trying to reinforce heterosexuality, they could have tried a lot harder.
“I’d be surprised if they take that risk with Dean. I’m sure they will wink and joke, but it would at most be like Crowley, who has repeatedly implied he’s queer, while generally only being onscreen with women.”
The above statement is precisely why queerbaiting in Supernatural is such a huge problem.
It shows that the creative team has essentially convinced some fans that it’s okay to wink and joke about gay themes and use queerbaiting tactics with non-gay or closeted/repressed bi characters without follow through.
Your example of Crowley is perfect in just how badly twisted this has become. It has been implied that Crowley became more flexible sexually as a Demon, which tells fans that the creatives can use Demon nature (as they’ve written it) as an excuse to throw in some winks and nods for humor and ratings purposes without any follow through. Crowley spent centuries as a Demon… so, unless it’s outright stated, we have no way of knowing whether he was bisexual originally as a human or not.
Unless it becomes canon, the SPN creative team gets to always fall back on the excuse, “Well, we’re not queerbaiting. This is just how Demons act. It doesn’t matter if you were straight as a human because Demons do anything and everything and Crowley likes to flirt.” That excuse then makes it okay to queerbait with characters who might not be gay or are closeted and then negate it all later with mythology excuses or by “curing” a character of their sort of YOLO nature.
As for the flashback: I wouldn’t have minded Dean’s puppy love if the writers hadn’t spent eight seasons implying through queerbaiting that he could ever be more. In fact, I didn’t even realize how bad it was until Season 8’s massive after school special moments with Dean and Benny and Sam and Amelia. Up until that moment, I had come to believe more and more that Dean was bi but that he would always be closeted/repressed.
It was only because of the increasing amount of queerbaiting in Season 8, I actually started to think it was possible that they would finally admit in this show that Dean is bisexual and have an arc with him dealing with his identity which has been greatly influenced by his fears of trying to live up to John and Bobby and his need to be the responsible parent-type to Sam.
Then, they decided to backtrack it all with Season 9.
So, I have little hope that they won’t go there (whether it’s only winks and nods or full on sexual exploration) with Demon Dean in S10.
It shows that the creative team has essentially convinced some fans that it’s okay to wink and joke about gay themes and use queerbaiting tactics with non-gay or closeted/repressed bi characters without follow through.
I think it depends on the character and expectations. People don’t expect much out of Crowley, so they won’t see his flirtation as queerbaiting. If Dean does it, that may be another matter entirely.
Then, they decided to backtrack it all with Season 9.
It’s tough for me to say what was or wasn’t backtracked, because, while there was one episode where they came very close, in my mind, to suggesting Dean was queer (the episode with Aaron and the golem), Jensen Ackles later said this scene was written as a straight man being uncomfortable. So I’m not sure what they were intending. I feel like I just expected too much from a problematic show, and let fandom culture persuade me. There were a fair amount of reminders in season 8 that he enjoyed women, porn, etc. Even moreso than season 9, overall.
Season 9 was more explicit in that one, awful, episode about the virgins, but otherwise I feel like his sexuality was all but nonexistent for most of the season. I noticed that when they needed to give examples of how the mark was changing Dean, they used things like not sleeping or not eating, instead of anything like, “He’s not interested in the ladies now.” So I tend to think they are just gradually deemphasizing his sexuality as a whole.
Speaking only for myself, as a queer viewer, when I watched this season, I never came away with, “Dean sure is straight and they’re pushing hard to let us know.” I saw him in a puppy love flashback relationship, and then one really awful, horribly written encounter with a woman which felt trashy and grimy. I assume he is straight, and we will never go beyond queerbaiting and jokes, but it’s far less clear for me than it was in most earlier seasons.
Of course season 10 will probably have a lot of demon Dean and women, so this might just be a one-off.
I do feel like the show was, for some reason, bound and determined to show us Castiel’s heterosexuality in that awful, awful episode with the reaper. But then after that they stopped entirely (even when he was human – he clearly had no real interest in the woman he worked for). That whole episode was so disgusting and pointless.
Focusing on Castiel’s heterosexuality in that episode was the backpedaling from the baiting in earlier seasons and attempts at erasure.
The writers also made a point of revisiting Castiel’s experience with “April? (was that her name?)” — not to mention re-emphasizing his supposed heterosexuality — by having he and Dean talk about it while sitting with Sam at a bar in a later episode (can’t remember which one).
The scene plays out horribly with Cas and Dean separately portrayed as fantasizing about the woman the reaper was riding and almost drooling about how hot she was until the attempt on Castiel’s life.
It was a pretty disgusting as well.
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