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Review for 4x22 'Lucifer Rising'
Never in a million years did I see that one coming. No, I am not talking about Ruby’s agenda and I don’t mean the reveal of the angels’ game plan either. I am talking about fact that this finale ended on a moment of grace between the brothers and that the first spark of hope, forgiveness and salvation for their relationship, was bestowed upon us after an agonising year of watching them falling apart! Thank you, Eric Kripke, for giving us that moment and sending us off into the hiatus on a positive note. That said, I did have quibbles with this episode, mytharc-wise especially, but also character-wise, and I hope that S5 will be able to reconcile me with the plot points I am not completely comfortable with.
First off, this review took me so long, because when I started writing, I tried to delve into the mytharc and pull it together based on the new information we received in Lucifer Rising. After I spent half a day only mulling over the various possibilities of how and when the partnership between Ruby and Lilith came to pass, including the amount of information either of the characters had at a given time, and trying to find the one combination that would produce the least amount of inconsistencies and plotholes, I realised that this is a project in its own right and to incorporate it into this review would only blow up the wordcount beyond reasonable limits. So, I concentrated on the characters in this review, only touching upon a few selective mytharc points and will post a more detailed analysis of the mytharc in a later post. Let me just say as much:
From interviews, season guides and audio-commentaries we know that Kripke & Co mostly make the mytharc up as they go, and I always thought it was fantastic how the writers managed to retroactively piece the elements of the various seasons together and still managed to keep it mostly consistent. There have always been minor plotholes and inconsistencies, but nothing that would really collapse the arc altogether. The attempt to unite the YED arc with the Lilith arc in one story that served the same goal, namely the rising of Lucifer, though, has the potential to just do that in my opinion. So far I only explored a few angles on Azazel, Lilith, Ruby and the master plan, but I can already tell that it will probably not be possible to pull the story together without dismissing parts of it as invalid. I find that regrettable, because in my opinion it wasn't necessary to bend the mytharc in this direction, but well, in the end my biggest concern is character consistency anyway and as long as the show stays on track with that part of the story, I guess I will just shrug the rest off.
So, onto the review, but be warned, I hit a new wordcount record with this one. I am not quite sure how that happened! *g*
After Kripke’s last script for S4, Heaven and Hell, which undoubtedly was my least favourite episode of the season, I was a bit nervous and not sure what to expect from Lucifer Rising, but to my relief he found back to his usual form and delivered an excellent finale. Furthermore, he managed to surprise me for once and give me the one thing I didn’t expect from this finale: a first step on the way to a reconciliation between the brothers. I was absolutely sure the season would end on a brother versus brother scenario, leaving utter hopelessness in its wake, so I am grateful that Kripke let us down easy for the hiatus. The finale as a whole had a lot of parallels to the S2 finale: The main villain of the past two seasons met her demise, a door to another realm was opened, unleashing a terrible horror upon the world and despite the grim situation, the brothers share a hopeful moment. Nice!
I absolutely loved the matching opening shots for Sam and Dean, starting out with their blurry faces and then the camera slowly zooming in, bringing them into focus. It was a great visual tool to show that both brothers were completely preoccupied with the aftermath of their fight. It also nicely set up a theme, that wove throughout the episode, namely that even amidst trying to prevent the apocalypse, both Sam and Dean were both unable to focus for an extended period of time on anything but their falling-out. Dean, desperately trying to find a way to get to his brother and Sam, pondering the truths in Dean’s words and looking for direction from his brother in his darkest hour, clearly demonstrated how much their separation weighed on their minds. So, despite the fact that the brothers only had one scene in the whole episode together, it had still a very Sam’n’Dean centric focus.
Bobby: "He’s your brother. And he’s drowning."
I loved Bobby’s speech to Dean about going after Sam. ♥ I don’t think it was condescending or hypocritical, instead I think it simply showed how well Bobby knows Dean. It had a completely different connotation than Sam’s words to Dean in their confrontation in Sex and Violence or Zachariah’s slap to the face in It’s a Terrible Life, because those tried to devaluate Dean’s pain about his own guilt and the horrible things that had happened to him in hell. Bobby’s words on the other hand were designed to remind Dean of what’s important to him and not to diminish the righteous anger and hurt he feels.
Fact is, Dean can’t hold a grudge if his life depended on it, especially not against Sam. His resigned attitude was the immediate emotional reaction to their fight in When The Levee Breaks, but I don’t think he really meant it when he stated that Sam wasn’t his brother anymore. I am not saying that Dean didn’t have every right in the world to feel tired of chasing after Sam and resent his hurtful behaviour, but giving up on his little brother isn’t really in Dean’s make-up. I think Bobby was well aware that eventually Dean would have come around on the subject and if Dean hadn’t done everything in his power to try and reconnect to his brother, to save him from his misguided path, he would have beat himself up about it. If time wouldn’t have been a pressing issue, Bobby might have waited until Dean sorted his feelings out, but as it was, I think he was right to try and push Dean out of his despondent state of mind.
I also loved that Bobby pointed out to Dean that he acted like his father in this instance and that that’s not who Dean is, that he is better than that. It was interesting that when Dean protests against Bobby’s statement that his father was a coward, he is talking about John, the hunter, while Bobby is talking about John, the father. I agree with Bobby’s assessment that John was inadequate when it came to meeting the emotional needs of his children. His inability to overcome his own pride and fears in favour of reconnecting with Sam, when he was at Stanford, and his decision to permanently cut him out of his life instead, was always one of my biggest issues with John. I think Bobby’s argument is especially effective here, because after Jump The Shark Dean revised his own opinion on John, not only when it came to his qualities as a father, but also his flaws as a man. Walking down the same path as his father where his personal relationship with Sam is concerned is probably the last thing Dean would want right now.
As I said in my last review, I think Bobby is probably the only character in the show, who is able to talk to the boys on this level and have them listen to him. He is a long-standing father figure, whom both Sam and Dean trust explicitly, he has no ulterior motives and he clearly loves both boys like they were his own sons. Dean knows that Bobby’s intention isn’t to hurt him and that he doesn’t lie to him. That doesn’t always make Bobby right, but at least Dean can always count on the fact that Bobby will tell him flat out what he thinks and sometimes that’s more valuable than to beat around the bush out of a misdirected sense of protection.
Sam: "You’re talking like I got an after. I can feel it inside me, Ruby. I’ve changed, for good. There’s no going back now."
I have to admit that I hoped that at least some of Sam’s decisions over the last season would be vindicated in the finale and that the show would try to find some sort of middle ground between Sam and Dean’s positions. Alas, Sam has been proven terribly wrong, misguided and was played by Ruby all along. However, I am immensely pleased at how the show played the whole Sam-goes-evil part of the story. For the better part of S2/3 I dreaded that plotline, because I feared they would make Sam irredeemably evil. This though, a slow descent into darkness, lead by good intentions, but doomed by bad choices, was undoubtedly the most elegant route they could have taken, not to mention the most dramatic one.
For the most part of the second half of the season we have seen Sam determinedly moving forward in his course - stubbornness, pride, the need to prove himself to his brother and turn his 'curse' into something good egging him on. At the beginning of Lucifer Rising that determination seemed to be replaced with resignation and weariness. It’s clear that he is not expecting to make it out of this fight alive, and maybe he doesn’t even want to. His fight with Dean obviously took it out of him. During the abduction and interrogation of the possessed nurse Sam is focused and driven, but when he has a quiet moment to really think, he asks himself if Dean is right after all, especially when he is confronted with the magnitude of the decision he is about to make, i.e. sacrificing a life for the greater good. Ruby’s attempts to push him forward, finally make him snap and take a time-out.
I think it was extremely important that we got to see that Sam had doubts about what he was about to do, doubts that grew so massive that he halted in his stride and took the time to think about it and even look for his brother’s advice, despite their falling-out. His expression when he listens to Dean's altered voicemail was absolutely devastating and there's no doubt that it pushes him over the edge. Still, even though he is completely convinced that he does it for the greater good, Sam knows that sacrificing the girl is wrong. His hesitancy shows that his conscience is intact and in the end he deliberately crosses that line. He had a choice, even after hearing Dean’s fake voicemail, and he dismissed that choice out of hurt, self-loathing and his inability to back down from his path out of his own volition. I think it’s not only that Dean seemed to have given up on him, it’s also that he has given up on himself, with all bridges burned behind him, he convinced himself he had no other choice than to move forward. After all, if he doesn't, it would have all been for nothing.
Sam ordering Ruby to kill the nurse, so he could drink her blood was the darkest moment in the complete show for me and I struggled very hard with it. I always knew that deliberately killing an innocent was crossing a line for me, and I was never sure if I could forgive that step for either Sam or Dean, and I really hoped I would never need to find out. Sam was willing to sacrifice an innocent in the show before, more than once even. In Mystery Spot he agreed to bleed a person dry, in order to summon the Trickster and force him to return Dean to him. And in Jus in Bello Sam considered to sacrifice Nancy, on the off chance that it will save the lives of 30 people. We can even go way back to In My Time Of Dying, where Sam stated to John that he would be willing to utilise a faith healer to save Dean, again, human sacrifice included. So, the potential for ruthlessness has always been there, Sam just never went through with it, and I am convinced that he hadn’t done it here either, if he hadn’t been pushed into it so cruelly by the angels.
Talking of, I have seen speculations that it was Ruby, who altered the voicemail message, but I am pretty sure that it was Zachariah. He stated to Dean that Sam needed a nudge in the right direction to fulfil his role in their plans and that he will make sure that Sam plays it the way they want him to. There’s no doubt that Dean's original message would indeed have stopped Sam, so said 'nudge' was obviously to alter the voicemail. The fact that Dean was able to call Sam when he arrived at the green room, while his reception was cut off after his talk with Zachariah, suggests that the angels facilitated his first call, in order to change it into a devastating blow for Sam. Also, we know from Death Takes A Holiday that angels are able to fake voices, while there is no evidence in the show that Ruby would have that kind of power. So, I think Ruby's little smile when she listens to Sam was more about seeing Sam's obvious distress over that phone call. I guess, she could easily gather what the call was about. In any case, the fact that the angels used Dean of all people to manipulate Sam into crossing that last boundary is especially heartbreaking.
Ruby: "No, it wasn’t the blood. It was you and your choices. I just gave you the options and you chose the right path every time."
Ruby’s admission that the blood she was feeding Sam wasn’t the source of his powers, but simply a psychological crutch to allow Sam to use the original powers Azazel gave him, was one of the most surprising moments of the episode, but it finally answered the question why Sam’s powers seemed to be so different from those of the other psychic kids, because neither Ava nor Jake needed to drink blood to expand their own powers. They always described accessing their powers as simply flipping a switch in the brain. Both Ava and Jake though, turned irredeemably evil, once they’d flipped that switch, while Sam never fully made that step, no matter how bad things got and that’s most likely owed to the fact that Sam never consciously unlocked all his powers. I’ve speculated after Jump The Shark that Sam might have built a psychological barrier against using his powers, which is why they always only worked against demons and not against other creatures, indicating that maybe that was the only use of his powers that Sam allowed himself. We have seen how hard he struggled in the flashbacks in I Know What You Did Last Summer to successfully utilize his powers and I guess it was back then when Ruby decided to employed her little trick.
Ruby’s confession raises the question if the addiction and the withdrawal symptoms Sam experienced, when he stopped drinking the blood, were a purely psychological reaction or if there was a real chemical dependency involved. The theory that it was only a psychological dependency would fit with the fact that Sam experienced no withdrawal symptoms when he stopped drinking the blood after Metamorphosis. He didn’t want the powers then, so he didn’t need them. His extreme withdrawal symptoms in When The Levee Breaks would then be a purely psychosomatic reaction.
The second theory is that the blood didn’t affect his powers, but that it still caused physiological changes and a chemical dependency. This theory is supported by the fact that Castiel stated that drinking the blood would permanently change Sam on a fundamental level, a statement that Sam himself repeated at the beginning of the episode. If the blood was indeed addictive, Ruby would have killed two birds with one stone, because not only gave it Sam the psychological push to access his powers, but is also gave her another hook into Sam, making sure that he was dependent on her in every way possible. The lack of withdrawal symptoms at the beginning of the season could be explained with the assumption that the doses and intervals in which Sam took the blood back then were still below the addictive threshold and only when he started to swallow it on a regular basis and in increasing amounts his addiction manifested. The detox he was subjected to would have caused real withdrawal symptoms then. Overall, I lean towards the second theory, mostly because Sam’s extreme reaction to the detox seems more plausible to me under this assumption.
In the end the question remains if Sam is indeed permanently changed now and what that means for him as a person. We saw his eyes turn demon-black when he killed Lilith, which, by the way, is an interesting detail, because when Jake used his powers, his eyes turned yellow, which indicates that Sam might have turned into something different than the YED had planned. Anyway, Ruby’s statement that he used his powers up when he killed Lilith is ambiguous. Will Sam simply need to recuperate and be able to access his powers in the future without the psychological crutch of drinking blood or did he lose his powers altogether, now that he achieved the goal the powers were created for? In any case, Sam’s absolutely horrified and devastated reaction to what he had done, as well as his sincere and broken apology to Dean clearly indicated that Sam’s personality is still intact. It was the most genuine 'Sammy' we have seen all season long, and that gives me hope for his arc in S5.
I loved that Sam and Dean killed Ruby together. Sam holding Ruby while Dean stabbed her with her own knife was a very powerful image; Sam and Dean are reunited, facing towards each other and acting as one, with Ruby literally standing between them, a position she figuratively took for two seasons now. Several times in these last two seasons Sam stopped Dean from killing Ruby and it was important to see that he finally broke out of the hold she had over him. The moment not only marked a change in the brother’s relationship and the first step on a road to reconciliation, but also a change in Sam, a change that allowed him to make the right choice this time. The closing image with Sam and Dean instinctively reaching out to each other, as Lucifer breaks free from his prison, was a beautiful sight to behold. Things are far from being right between them, but it’s a start.
Ruby: "I was the best of those sons of bitches. The most loyal. I’m awesome."
Finally Ruby’s ulterior motives were revealed, and I am glad to see that my belief that she is evil and plays a multi-layered long-con was vindicated. The revelation that she was in cahoots with Lilith and goaded Sam into his role of breaking the last seal wasn’t particularly surprising, but I think her character arc was actually deeply satisfying and one of the best villain arcs in the show. However, I do think that overall the character would have vastly profited from casting continuity, not only because I think Katie Cassidy was, after all, the better actress, but also because the plot demanded a change in Ruby’s personality and with the same actress that change would have been more distinctly attributed to the character itself and not the actress. While I have to admit that I am a bit frustrated about the fact that Ruby made Sam look pretty foolish for ever falling for her act and coming to trust her, I think the writers managed to show the various psychological factors that allowed Ruby to play Sam.
When Ruby arrived on the scene, Sam just learned of his brother’s deal for his life. He was vulnerable then, not only because he feared to lose his brother, but also because he felt alone when Dean refused to acknowledge the emotional toll his deal took on Sam and forbade him to find a way out of the deal. So, Ruby catered to Sam’s most urgent needs: a way to save Dean and someone who supported him. She also claimed in The Kids Are Alright that she was interested in Sam, because she wanted to find out what the YED’s plans for Sam were and what he tried to cover up, when he murdered Mary’s friends (which, by the way, we still don’t know) and apparently she was lying back then, so I assume it was simply an additional way to peak Sam’s interest in her. Over the course of S3 she seemingly tried to prove herself to Sam by being a helpful ally, she restored the Colt, saved Sam and Dean on various occasions, created protective hex bags and provided them with information.
And yet, Sam never really trusted her. Her openly hostile relationship with Dean, her snarky, demonic wit, arrogant attitude and pushy behaviour were clearly the wrong approach to win Sam over, despite her efforts to get into his good graces. Sure, he prevented Dean from killing her, because she presented his only hope for Dean’s survival, but he never lied about Ruby to Dean and whenever Sam was forced to choose between Ruby and his brother (Jus in Bello, No Rest For The Wicked), he always chose Dean. However, Ruby’s steady presence and help in S3 allowed her to get her hooks into Sam and pull him in, once he was at his utmost vulnerable, namely after Dean’s death.
When Sam was drowning in guilt and grief, Ruby gave Sam again what he needed most, comfort and a goal to focus his emotions: taking revenge on Lilith. Her conscious choice to change her approach to Sam and drop her pushy attitude, switching to a meek, accommodating and gentle persona instead, was a brilliant move, that even temporarily thawed Dean’s hatred towards her. She was careful not to push Sam too much and avoided any of her earlier hostile confrontations with Dean, basically giving him no opening to discredit her in Sam’s eyes. The tension in the brother’s relationship worked in her favour as well, she only needed to wait it out and apply the right pressure in the critical moment, i.e. forcing Sam into withdrawal by disappearing. And her patience paid off for her, Sam followed her like a lamb to the slaughter.
Ruby’s final reveal in Lucifer Rising was well done. While I think that Cortese overplayed Ruby in her 'I’m awesome' speech, her almost gentle attempt to convince Sam that he was the one and that he will be rewarded for his loyalty, was well played. As a side note, I think her claim that it has always been about Sam refers to the fact that he was the sole survivor of the Cold Oak death match and hence the YED's prodigy. It makes no sense whatsoever that she would refer to Sam as the chosen one right from the start, when the YED set his plans in motion. The fact that Azazel created dozens of psychic children over more than three decades amply proves that Sam was simply one amongst many. Anyway, it’s interesting that after all her time with Sam and seeing how much he struggled with his path, she still believed that in the end Sam would choose to stand at Lucifer’s side, or hers, for that matter. I don’t think she expected Sam to turn on her, when Dean barged in and I assume she was too intoxicated by her own success to realise the danger for herself in that moment and that was her downfall.
All in all I have never been the biggest fan of Ruby, but I think it might be fun to re-watch S3/4 with her real agenda in mind and follow the little twists and turns her character has taken over the seasons.
Dean: "If there’s something worth fighting for, this is it!"
Just like Sam, Dean confronted his own darkness this season, and he was pushed to the brink of complete destruction in the process. But over the last couple of episodes we have seen him slowly finding his determination back and in Lucifer Rising he doesn’t hesitate to fully throw himself into his chosen course of action. He meets Zachariah as an equal and he doesn’t even allow himself to react to his low blow of reminding Dean that he has been the first seal and started the whole situation in the first place. His devastated expression when he realises not only the scale of what Zachariah has planned, but also how badly he has been deceived by the angel was heartbreaking, and I absolutely loved that the first thing Dean does after Zachariah revealed his plans to him is breaking the vow he gave to the angels just days before, consequences be damned. That’s such a typical Dean reaction. Fantastic!
I really loved Dean’s phone call to Sam. It reminded me of their conversation in Scarecrow, where Dean reached out to his brother, despite the fact that it was Sam who ditched him, finding the exact right words to break down the walls between them. He has always been the peacemaker of the family and he cannot not try and mend things with his brother. While he didn’t try to gloss over his own hurt and anger in the message he left for his brother, he conveyed the two things Sam needed most from him, an apology and acceptance. "We're brothers, we're family, and no matter how bad it gets, that doesn't change. Sammy, I’m sorry." ♥ I love that Bobby’s short speech and a couple of hours of reflection, while locked up in the angels’ greenroom, were enough to pull Dean out of his earlier resigned headspace and find back to what has always been the core of his character, his love for his family. I really hope that at some point in the S5 opener Sam gets to know the real message Dean left for him.
Castiel: "What is so worth saving? I see nothing but pain here."
I loved how Dean’s central dialogue with Castiel echoed Dean’s conversation with Anna in Heaven and Hell. Back then it was Dean who argued that he would trade the pain and guilt of his existence as a human for an unfeeling, yet peaceful existence as an angel any time. Burdened by the shame he felt for what he had done in hell, he wasn’t able to look beyond his pain, but since then he walked through the valley of darkness and came out on the other side a stronger man than before. Castiel’s sudden doubts about the merits of saving mankind are most likely a result of the brainwashing he received during his disciplinary measure in heaven. It obviously managed to reduce Castiel to a shadow of the angel was before, his ducked body posture throughout the episode was speaking volumes of his state of mind. There was a noticeable power shift between Castiel and Dean in this episode as well. Castiel was subdued, full of doubt and unable to look Dean in the eye, knowing that he was wrong, while Dean took the confident and determined position of someone who has the truth on his side.
Dean’s passionate speech about humanity being the one thing worth fighting for and his appeal to Castiel’s sense of right and wrong was great and wonderfully played by Jensen and Misha. Kudos! I was relieved that Dean reached Castiel and motivated him to finally break away from Zachariah, taking a step towards self-determination and trust his instincts. His statement that they all will be hunted down and killed for their disobedience, is only partly true though, at least where Dean is concerned. If Zachariah is right and Dean is the only one who will be able to kill Lucifer, they need him and they have no real leverage anymore to force Dean to do anything he doesn’t want to. It will be interesting to see how that will play out in S5.
However, I am frustrated about Castiel’s arc in these last couple of episodes, mainly because he essentially needed to relearn a lesson, he should already have learned in On The Head Of A Pin, i.e. that he should trust in God and that his faith will guide him to know right from wrong. Uriel deceived him, but with Zachariah he had full disclosure and still chose to follow the orders he had been given, despite his obvious struggle with it. Castiel made a bad choice when he decided to follow Zachariah and in the end that choice cost the boys dearly. While Sam and Dean made bad choices as well, they acted on basis of misinformation, Castiel has no such excuse. In the end his turn-around was too little, too late. So, I still hope that it is addressed at some point that it was Castiel who set Sam free from Bobby’s panic room and we’ll get to see how Sam, Dean and Castiel deal with the possible fall-out to that.
Zachariah: "God has left the building."
I know a lot of people have a problem with the fact that the angels are depicted as morally ambiguous on the show, endangering their status as a force for good. Personally, I think though that the writers showed clearly that the angels are a disparate group, with different factions and different agendas and while it is undeniable that some of these factions are clearly misguided due to what they interpret as God’s absence, it doesn’t mean that angels in general are sinister. Just like Dean said: "Just because there’s a couple of bad apples doesn’t mean the whole barrel is rotten." Zachariah and Uriel present the one end of the spectrum, angels who lost their faith and as a consequence fell victim to their own ambitions and ideals and lost their path. Anna and Castiel though represent the other end of the spectrum, angels who embrace compassion and love for humankind, steadfast in their faith. I know, Anna chose to fall because her faith wavered, but I think her actions showed that she never lost sight of God’s true will.
I tend to think that Castiel and Anna represent the majority of the angels and that this majority is simply manipulated by their few superiors or said superiors wouldn’t have worried so much about the 'grunts on the ground' finding out about their real plans. Zachariah affirmed himself that they would have had a mutiny on their hands if their true goals would have ever been revealed to the other angels. Zachariah and his associates purposefully mislead their fellow angels, using their faith and trust to their own advantage. I would speculate that Castiel, maybe even with the help of Anna, will try to mobilise the faithful forces of God and overturn the angel hierarchy in S5.
Anyway, Zachariah’s cheerful speech about rising Lucifer in order to force an epic battle between good and evil, to end hell and the demonic forces once and for all and establish Paradise on earth, left no doubt that he isn’t in the least concerned about the massive human casualties involved. I am not sure how exactly the apocalypse and Lucifer will lead to an elimination of hell, but I guess we’ll find that out in S5. In any case I think the reveal of Zachariah’s plans finally offered a possible answer to the question what Dean’s test in It’s The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester was all about. Castiel and Uriel’s suggestion to smite a whole town in order to eliminate the threat of one demon, simulates on a small scale the end game of the angels, namely sacrificing thousands of innocent people in favour of killing Lucifer and bringing peace on earth. Dean’s decision to rather sacrifice himself than the innocent townspeople would have clearly demonstrated to Zachariah and his accomplices, that given the choice, Dean would have never played along with their plans and hence needed to be kept on a strict need-to-know basis.
Moreover, Castiel, who was Dean’s primary point of contact with the angels, also needed to be fed with carefully chosen information, so he wouldn’t be able to relay any information to Dean that would make him suspicious of the angels’ agenda. For example, Castiel stated in In The Beginning that the angels don’t know what the YED’s end game was and I tend to think that this was a case of misdirection on Zachariah’s behalf, because it wouldn’t be difficult to make the leap from the YED’s plan to rise Lucifer to Sam and his powers. If Dean would have even had an inkling about what the final goal of Sam’s powers was, I am pretty sure, nothing could have stopped Dean from killing Ruby and beat some sense into Sam. Although I guess that with this information Sam would have stopped using his powers on his own accord and killed Ruby himself. By pretending that they didn’t want Sam to further pursue his course, they effectively kept themselves in Dean’s good graces, relatively speaking of course, while keeping their own goals hidden. It also explains why they never took any action against Sam.
Dean: "You know what’s real? People. Families. That’s real!"
There was one thing about this finale that I loved nearly as much as the brothers being reunited and that was how it lead the show back to the basic premise: Sam and Dean against evil. One of the biggest problems of this season for me was that Sam and Dean seemed to be reduced to pawns in their own story, not only in the way their story took a backseat a couple of times in favour of the angels versus demons storyline, but also in the way they were directed and manipulated by outside forces to do their bidding. Sam was lead on by Ruby and Dean was lead on by the angels, and even if Dean tried to fight the angels’ authority over him, while Sam didn’t fight Ruby’s hold over him, ultimately they still were both played by their different 'allies'. The faction of angels that tried to push Dean into his 'destiny' turned out to be just as manipulative as the demons, who tried to push Sam into his', and in that regard the brothers were pretty much on even ground.
Over the course of the episode though both Bobby and Dean make the point that heaven and hell, demonic agendas and angelic schemes are not what is important - people and family, that’s what is important, what is real, and it’s the only thing worth fighting for. Consequentially, at the end of Lucifer Rising the Winchester brothers took their fate back into their own hands and refused to be pushed around any longer. Destinies be damned and prophecies be damned as well. They are finally not on the side of demons or angels anymore, they are on the side of humankind and that’s how is should be, because it has always been that way: Saving people, hunting things. The family business! ♥
What else was noteworthy:
(1) I really like the symmetry of Dean, selling his soul for Sam, willing to forfeit his own life and soul, thus unknowingly aiding in breaking the first seal and Sam, going off the rails to avenge his brother's death, willing to forfeit his own life and soul and unknowingly being used for breaking the last seal. Both brothers made bad choices over the years, choices that almost broke them apart and lead the world to the verge of destruction and the tragedy of it all is that most of these choices were made out of love. They are not alone responsible of course, many different factions came together to make Lucifer’s rising possible, but still, the guilt both brothers will carry for every death that will come out of this turn of events is unimaginable. I hope the writers will find a believable way to deal with the psychological fallout to that guilt in S5 and still allow them to heal.
(2) I have to say that I am glad that Lilith met her demise in Lucifer Rising, because honestly, she has been the most ineffective villain in the show ever. The biggest problem was that most of Lilith’s actions took place off-screen and we were rather told than shown how dangerous she is. The only time I ever got a sense of menace from the character was in her incarnation as the little girl in No Rest For The Wicked and in the short scene where Cassidy portrayed her. Other than that she simply made no impression on me and if we add the fact that she was unable to harm Sam (and that little fact still remains unexplained) and preferred her lackeys to do the dirty work for her, it’s unsurprising that she came off as ineffective and cowardly, rather than as an evil presence in the show. She also lacked a distinct personality. While the YED was always instantly identifiable, no matter who played him, there was no such sense of continuity with Lilith.
(3) I was happy that Chuck made a short appearance. Chuck is just awesome! ♥ I really loved that he reached out to Castiel in a gesture of comfort and then sheepishly withdrew his hand when Castiel stared him down with what I would imagine to be a look of reprimand. I laughed out loud at that little moment.
In conclusion: While it was a fitting finish to this season and a great episode, Lucifer Rising was probably my least favourite finale of all four seasons so far. It didn’t quite pack the punch of the other finales, especially emotionally, although if we count When The Levee Breaks and Lucifer Rising as a two part finale, the emotional punch was definitely there as well. In any case, the fact that they ended the season on a hopeful and positive note for the brothers allowed me to look beyond the pain I felt watching most of this season and will make it easier for me to re-watch S4 with the enjoyment that this excellently written season deserves.
I look forward to S5 immensely and while I don’t dare to speculate what Kripke’s evil mind might come up with, here is what I want to see: The brothers were broken apart over 22 episodes this season, and I want to see the same amount of care that went into separating them applied to healing them and re-establish their brotherly bond. The show rarely shies away from the psychological ramifications for the events that hit the characters, so I expect Sam to struggle with his guilt, coming to terms with what he has done. I’d like for him to learn that the demon blood doesn’t define who he is and find back to his true self. I want to see Dean growing beyond his torment and self-esteem issues and become the determined, focused hero he is meant to be. I’d also like to see Castiel’s growth into self-determination and the mobilisation of the faithful angels, cleaning heaven from the misguided angel factions and re-establish God’s true word. I really hope for Lucifer to be a forceful and terrifying villain of the YED’s calibre, giving the show back an identifiable, engaging big bad for the (presumably) last season.
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I hit a new record in wordcount with this one. I am not quite sure how that happened! *g*
Oh, I can easily imagine how that happened! You sit at your keyboard and start typing, and more and more thoughts occur to you (plus there are more characters to analyse these days) and the next thing you know you are breaking personal records left, right and centre!
it’s also that he has given up on himself
*nods* That's the perfect description of Sam's state of mind in this episode. He has completely given up on who he once thought he was, believes that he has burned all his bridges and there can be no going back, so he has to carry on because if he doesn't then it was all for nothing - achieving his goal is literally all he has left to cling to for comfort. Damn but his failure is going to hit him hard.
She also claimed in The Kids Are Alright that she was interested in Sam, because she wanted to find out what the YED’s plans for Sam were and what he tried to cover up, when he murdered Mary’s friends (which, by the way, we still don’t know) and apparently she was lying back then, so I assume it was simply an additional way to peak Sam’s interest in her.
Hmm. I'm not so sure. We've already talked about this, I know, but I'm still not convinced that either Ruby or Lilith knew exactly what the YED had planned for Sam back then, at that early stage. I haven't thought it through properly, as you know, but at the moment I tend to suspect that they knew only that Sam was important for some reason, and Ruby being sent in to cultivate him was part of the process of finding out just why he was important.
I think her claim that it has always been about Sam refers to the fact that he was the sole survivor of the Cold Oak death match and hence the YED's prodigy.
*nods* Me too. It was all about Sam from Ruby and Lilith's point of view because by the time they picked up the pieces of the YED's plan, Sam was the last man standing of the special children.
Castiel stated in In The Beginning that the angels don’t know what the YED’s end game was and I tend to think that this was a case of misdirection on Zachariah’s behalf
Also the perfect out for the writers, no? It allows them to contradict themselves as much as they like where high command is concerned, because Castiel never knew back then what was really going on.
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he has to carry on because if he doesn't then it was all for nothing
Exactly. All this pain and hurt and separation is only justified if in the end he can achieve something good. The fact that he threw it all away for an illusion is an incredibly bleak realisation for Sam. He broke my heart when he realised where Ruby had lead him. Man, the emotional fall-out to this season for Sam should be massive in S5.
I'm still not convinced that either Ruby or Lilith knew exactly what the YED had planned for Sam back then
Well, since the YED was dead and obviously played his cards close to his chest, I can't quite see where Ruby would have acquired the information about his plans, if not from him, while he was still alive. Maybe she was another off-spring of his'. Thinking of off-springs: The only possibility that comes to my mind would be Meg. She seemed to know the YEDs plans, at least that's what her statement 'I don't care about the master plan' in BUABS would suggest. But I would think that the show would have mentioned it, if Meg was in the picture somehow.
Also the perfect out for the writers, no?
ROFL so true. I think one of the joys of rewatching S4 will be to look at everything the angels said at any given moment and figure out how to interpret the validity of those statements. LOL
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It still bugs me that if the YED always planned to break the seals to free Lucifer it lends credibility to Alistair's claims about trying to use John as the first seal, which I really, really hate. The notion fits nicely with the YED pressing John to sell his soul for Dean - and if Lilith, who controlled the crossroads demons, wasn't fully informed of the plan at that stage, that would explain why the crossroads demon was so willing to trade John for Dean in S2 (that need to know thing can backfire so easily!). I just really hate the thought of being expected to believe in badass John who never broke under torture.
*needs to think some more*
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Yeah, I know. I don't like that any more than you do. I mean, yeah, one could argue that once he had John in hell, the YED started the last phase of his plan, namely the Cold Oak death match. Ava disappeared in Hunted already and to match all children against each other took what? Roughly 5 months? So, the YED was probably pretty sure that he had Lilith free just around the time the first seal (John) would have been broken. But then John didn't break (no frakkin way!) and he was killed and chaos ensued. Bah.
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Heh. It does, but I tend to think that's what makes it the most plausible scenario! I have no problem with Ruby/Lilith/whoever picking up bits of information here and there from various sources, because it has a ring of truth about it to picture them scrabbling around after Azazel's death in search of whatever fragments of information they could unearth from whatever sources they could find, piecing them together until they formed a picture that seemed clear enough to run with. It is annoying, but to me it's the scenario that makes most sense. At the moment.
I really wished they had left the YED arc and the Lilith arc separated.
Yeah, me too. It seems they came to the conclusion that they were never going to have time or space to resolve various loose hanging strands of mytharc separately, so decided to stitch them all together as best they could.
The John thing annoys me too much to expand upon. Safe to say we are in agreement!
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Excellent meta. Sam's current predicament is heartbreaking. It's made clear he thinks he's going to die, taking out Lilith. And he doesn't care because the one person he truly loves sent him away and hasn't called, hasn't reached out, the way he always does reach out. And then, thanks to Zachariah's manipulations, he believes it really is all over. No second chance. No forgiveness. No last minute reprieve. And the cruelty for us, knowing that there was, because Dean did reach out. Waah!
I don't think Sam thinks it's an hallucination at the end. There's too much hope in his face and voice. He really does think Dean's come back. But the other voices are too loud, and it's already started and he has to finish it. He has to finish it or why else did he start? Why did he do any of it, culminating in that dreadful act of killing the nurse and drinking her blood?
I think it's been important for both boys to be knocked down so hard and so low. They've taken different paths, but they've both fallen. And I like that it's Dean who went down first and has found his feet again, so he can help Sam find his feet. Because that's what he does. He takes care of his little brother. And in a situation like this, if they were both down at the same time neither could get up.
And I really like that Castiel was played too. I like that he made some bad choices, did some things that he'll have to live with too. It's all about change and growth and evolution.
Like you, I think Bobby was spot on. He handled Dean just right. So did Zachariah, in Terrible Life, but his intent was sinister. Bobby is motivated by nothing but love.
I know what you mean about a lot of the villain action happening off screen, but then if that story had been pursued people would have complained about less boys on the screen. So the writers can't win. Given the challenges of tv land, I think the showrunners have done a stirling job. As you know, I love the addition of the angels this season. I think that's added a fabulous new dimension and I look forward to seeing how that plays out next season. But if you don't like them you don't. For my sake I'm really glad I do, because I know how it feels to be disappointed in a show. But I'm sorry it's spoiled things for you, truly.
I mean, I absolutely love the fact that the guys were turned into pawns. I love that they got played and used and thrown around. It's part of the overall story and I love it. You need the lows to appreciate the highs -- that single moment of unity between them at the very end is so sweet precisely because the road to their estrangement has been so relentless and heartbreaking to watch.
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I know, Sam breaks my heart. His expression when he realises how badly he was played? I think that was his equivalent of Dean's moment of despair at the end of On The Head Of A Pin. Man, I hope that you are right and Dean will be the one to help him back to his feet. Help him to forgive himself. Sam will go through some serious issues next season and I look forward to that.
Oh, please, don't misunderstand me, I love the addition of the angels. I think it was a fabulous move and re-energised the writers visibly. I think S4 was one of the best written Supernatural seasons! I am not disappointed with the show, I think if I had to go through a Sam vs Dean season, then this was the perfect way to play it. There have only been 3 episodes where I felt that the angel/demon plot was overpowering the Winchester story, out of 22, that's not much. I can live with that.
I dislike the boys being played, that's true, it makes me uncomfortable, which I guess is the point, but that doesn't mean that I dislike the angels, I just assume that I like them even better now that it is clear who plays what kind of game. Faith and Houses of the Holy have always been two of my favourite episodes of the show and I love how SN took the themes in those episodes and extended them over a whole season. Especially Sam and Dean's different approach to faith and how it was influenced by the knowledge of the existence of angels. Fantastic stuff!
I agree with you, the writers did an outstanding job this season. I hope they make Lucifer and the apocalypse work on their miniskule budget.
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See, I never felt the angels/demons overpowered anything. I think the story expanded this year and so it had to change to reflect that. You can't have an expanded, more epic storyline without including more points of view. It just won't work. Now by all means argue that you don't want an epic storyline, that you want to keep the story narrow and focused. But for me, that gets stale very fast. And I think the writers and actors would get stale on it too. You need a bigger engine driving the story, I think. And I also feel that once the entire story is told, we'll have a total perspective on what's going on and the narrative as a whole. I am looking forward to that. Knowing where we are now, I love looking at earlier episodes because there's a totally different perspective at work.
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I love going back to older seasons as well. It's amazing to look at the characters and think where they end up and the best part of it is, that you can follow the different steps of when and why the characters changed. There is such an amazing sense of continuity and consistency with the characters. It always makes me proud of our little show. :)
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I will grant that there have been some issues, especially earlier in the season, with pacing and tone. Partly I think that's because they were trying to juggle the story with the chance of being cancelled so they just didn't know how much time they had to do all this. But that's the reality of tv and I think we, the audience, need to chill with that. Unless you've got the luxury of a guaranteed long term pick up you're always dicing on the edge of the abyss. Given the uncertainties the team have had to cope with from the get go I think it's astonishing they've kept the story as coherent as it is.
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Yeah, the restraint and pressure Kripke's team is subjected to is terrible. I am always amazed what they do with the small budget they have and how they managed to mostly keep their creative integrity intact, although the network tried to meddle with the show. It's just a shame that tv execs aren't willing anymore to give a show the chance to develop. I mean, I am under the impression that only a decade or so shows got more chances to find their audience and tell their story. Even X-Files wasn't an instant mega-success. Nowadays though shows get cancelled after 13 episodes, if they don't produce the desired results instantly. It's madness. Sometimes I think that showrunners, who really want to tell their own story, should better consider writing a book than producing a tv show. *g*
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With a few exceptions, what we have is a business model predicated on instant return. There'll always be a difficult balancing act between the pragmatic and the creative -- these same issues happen in the publishing world, too -- and it's exacerbated when those making the decisions don't actually love stories -- they love money. If you can, read a book called Who's Killing Hollywood, by Peter Bart. Very illuminating, if depressing.
It's always a miracle when a show succeeds. Usually it's despite the networks,not because of them.
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it's exacerbated when those making the decisions don't actually love stories -- they love money.
WORD! Really, I mean I get that TV is a business and it costs money, so it needs to gain money in return, but it's still a creative media and that originality and creativity in storytelling are sacrificed is just frustrating. Is it really too much to ask that the networks try to produce at least 1-2 creative concepts per year and finance those through their big productions?
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I've been reading your reviews for a while, and I'm now commenting for the first time with my new shining account (also, you have probably noticed that I took some of your icons; I hope it's okay). Your reviews are among the only one that I always enjoy, even when I don't agree.
Actually, I thought it might end that way. But everyone was so pessimistic that I didn't dare to really believe it. Thank you, Eric Kripke, for proving me right!
I don't know. I have been giving a lot of thoughts to the mytharc, when I should have been doing other things (like sleeping...), and I thought it was mostly consistent, surprisingly. But I agree that it is a whole separate meta.
I have seen the two theories, and didn't know what to think, but I am finally going with yours. The ability to fake voices is indeed more consistent with what we know about angel's powers.
This is also the theory I prefer, but I have seen few people supporting it.
I like how you go back on what happened to Sam since the beginning of season 3. Not many people seem to remember that Sam did not trust Ruby at first. As you said, he even chose Dean over her a few times. Ruby used a lot of patience and skill to bring Sam where she needed him.
Oh, yeah, I totally thought of "Scarecrow", also because of the way the brothers kept looking mournfully at their phones ^^
Show!!
Thank you for the excellent meta!
PS: Do you mind if I friend you?
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Thank you, Eric Kripke, for proving me right!
Heh, I am pessimistic by nature. The last two season finales I had a pretty good idea at what was going to happen, so this time I was really surprised. *g*
I don't know. I have been giving a lot of thoughts to the mytharc, when I should have been doing other things (like sleeping...), and I thought it was mostly consistent, surprisingly.
Well, we'll see when I manage to get my mytharc meta ready. But the fact alone that Ruby and Lilith worked together is thought-food for days. I mean Lilith tried to kill Sam 3 times in S3, to find the right combination of what Lilith knew, what Ruby knew, if they already worked togther then or later etc, it's a web of possibilities and most of them are inconsistent at one point or another. And I haven't even thought about Azazel yet. So, yeah, I'll try to get a meta about it ready and then I open it for discussion and input. *g*
Ruby used a lot of patience and skill to bring Sam where she needed him.
Oh, absolutely, she was a master manipulator. I don't really see Sam trusting her until the middle of S4, when he increasingly backed himself into a corner with Dean and then had nobody else to turn to but Ruby.
Go ahead and friend me! ;) And the icons are for taking, so no problem, glad you found one you liked. :)
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I look forward to it!
Yeah, probably. He does say in "Lazarus Rising" that he's not sure he trusts her.
I love the scenery icons. I always forget how visually beautiful this show is until people make art with it.
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