Supernatural: Abandon all Hope...

[fajrdrako]

"Abandon all Hope" - finally, the kind of Supernatural episode I most like. Suspense, heroism, spookiness, action, explosions, things lurking in the dark, drama, evil supernatural entities; humour and tragedy alike. A story I can take seriously.

And Crowley! I assume that was a tip of the hat to Neil Gaiman? Or a reference to Alistair? Or both? It was a real treat to see him played so deftly by Mark Sheppard, who seems to be cropping up in every second show I watch these days - he was in the first episode of White Collar, too.

1. Nice to see the rapport between the brothers - "we face this together". Yup. So wonderful.
   
   
2. I liked Sam's defiance of Lucifer.
   
   
3. It's a sign of lack of confidence that I'm not particularly interested in seeing Death or his ramifications. I have no reason to think he won't be interesting - I certainly liked War. So why does this one not excite me?
   
   
4. Death and taxes. I've been reading Terry Pratchett lately. "Death and taxes? I'm Death. The one that only comes once."
   
   
5. I liked Bobby here a lot. I might really becoming to like and accept him as a character on the level I think I'm supposed to. Bobby always seemed a little lightweight to me, for the role he has. Not sure why.
   
   
6. Loved the death of Jo. And Ellen. Suitably heroic. They died to save Sam and Dean. (Though I'm not sure why Lucifer, or the demons, or whoever, can't just send the Hellhounds after them anywhere.)
   
   
7. And at last, a Castiel I can take seriously, too. Facing off against Lucifer. Nice. Good use of Meg, too, and the moment where it looked as if he might kiss her - before tossing her into the flames. I liked the theme of kisses here: a kiss between Crowley and the Piggy Banker (great epithet!), a kiss between Dean and the dying Jo, no kiss between Castiel and Meg... Affection, pacts, deals, double-dealing, promises.
   
   
8. At last, Lucifer seemed interesting. Not quite compelling, not the charismatic figure I'd want him to be, but... interesting. A sort of rough, workmanlike Lucifer without pretensions. But shouldn't Lucifer be full of pretensions?
   
   
9. The talk about demons who want Lucifer to rule because he'll give them heaven, and the demons who think (or know) Lucifer will destroy them - I loved all that, the political divisions in heaven and hell. What did Lilith believe?
   
   
10. I looked up Wikipedia to see eight places named Carthage in the US, and one in Canada. Cathage MI is a real place, but Wikipedia seems oblivious to any Civil War battles there. Ah, well, esoteric history... known to few.
    
    
11. How long till the next episode? I really felt we were back on track here, or at least, telling the story I wanted to hear about.