Supernatural – Six degrees of Heaven Bacon

Finally, after all that waiting, “The Song Remains The Same” got us back to the big story. Not that I’m complaining about the episodes we’ve seen since the show returned from the holiday break. They’ve been great. But this is what I’ve been waiting for, and it really lived up to the hype. Old friends, and enemies, returned as we caught up with Castiel, Anna, and Uriel. We got to revisit the ’70s and check in on how things are going for young John and Mary. And, oh yeah… we met that other guy for the first time too… That’s kind of a big deal. We should probably talk about that after the jump.

Let’s start with Anna (Julie McNiven). This was so not what I was expecting from her return. I always thought we’d be seeing her again, but had her clearly pegged as joining the boys on their side of the fight. And, I suppose, she was, in a round-a-bout way. Her goal, stopping Lucifer, was the same. How she wanted to do it though, not so much. She also had the perfect line to totally sell the opening, “Sam Winchester has to die.” Boom. Cut to black. How do you look away after that? I have to say, I liked the surprise of her plan, and the questions it raised.

Going back in time to kill John (Matt Cohen) and Mary (Amy Gumenick) was probably the thing that surprised me most about this episode. Not that Anna would do it, so much as that I would really enjoy it. I’m always very iffy on any kind of time travel shenanigans. My long standing rule has always been that only Doctor Who should go mucking about with time. Everyone else is just waiting for it to blow up in their face. I did buy in here though, for two reasons. First, Sam and Dean going back to the future made for a few really great scenes. And, more practically, the writers defused much of the time travel confusion with Mary and John having their memories wiped of the events.

The best of those scenes for me is really a toss-up between Sam getting to tell John that he understands, and Dean telling Mary what her future is. Both were big, heavy scenes that add a lot of weight to the boys’ stories. Sure, young John didn’t understand what Sam was really talking about, but it was still very good for Sam moving forward. Dean, it just rips your heart out. It’s the last thing he wants to do, but it’s what he has to do. Lucky for us, if not them, neither of them had their minds wiped, so all of that carries forward with them.

That’s not to say it was all gloom and doom. In typical Supernatural style, there was a bit of the fun stuff sprinkled in throughout. My favorite was Castiel’s dead pan reaction to another wise crack from Dean, “I don’t understand that reference.” It’s really not a funny line, but it’s a hilarious delivery. I also enjoyed the awkward conversation when the boys met John. “Mary’s dad was pretty much like a grandpa to us.” And you have to laugh, just a little, at Dean’s new moniker for the trio, Team Free Will.

And then there’s Michael…. Who saw that coming? I was sure that Castiel had found a way to jump into John’s body and really didn’t catch on until I heard his name. That’s a huge moment for our apocalypse story, and set the table for that long overdue conversation between Michael and Dean. Michael makes quite a case. Think of the millions of tiny events that have led the Winchesters to where they are. “It’s all destiny. It’s not random. It’s not chance. It’s a plan….” Is it really that simple? Do all of their protests just amount to a Sisyphean biding of time?  Is it like everyone keeps telling them, they’ll say yes?

I tend to think not. But it does make for quite the interesting question. And the boys are left pondering it just as we all are. It sets things up so well as we move forward. We all know what has to be coming. And we all have absolutely no idea how it’s going to play out. I can’t wait to finally learn the answer.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Feb 04, 2010 @ 22:30 EST5EDT