by Bob Teoh
via digitalspy.com
This week’s “Supernatural” episode was high-paced and thrilling, and it brought back some old faces while introducing some new ones. With the season finale less than two episodes away, the writers continue to direct all their attention back to the Leviathan storyline.
The Winchester brothers break open the table they stole from Dick Roman, which causes a heavenly lightning to hit overachieving high school student Kevin Tran, turning him into an unwilling prophet. This event attracts the attention of many beings and wakes up Castiel, who has been in deep sleep since he shifted Sam’s curse on to himself. Meg the demon alerts the brothers, and they seek the fallen angel for help, but though his memories are intact, the curse has rendered him completely insane.
Despite being merely a shell of his former self, Castiel explains that the tablet contains the Word of God and when unearthed, it will choose a Keeper of the Word as the prophet. Driven by a mysterious voice in his head, Kevin also arrives and displays the ability to the read the inscribed words. Meanwhile, Dean tries desperately to make Castiel acknowledge his mistakes and help the brothers defeat the Leviathans, but the angel’s madness clogs his ability to care.
As Kevin begins to decipher the tablet, a group of angels arrive to take him away so he can learn to interpret the Word. The brothers manage to banish them temporarily, but they nevertheless track them back to their hideout. In a final showdown, the angel’s leader is driven her fury to kill Castiel, but Meg intervenes. The other angels allow Kevin to finish interpreting the tablet before returning him to his home.
The brothers discover that they need “a bone of a righteous mortal” and “three bloods of the fallen.” The fallen angel Castiel offers them the first ingredient, his own blood, and disappears.
I was very impressed by how the writers brought back some of its Judeo-Christian mythology from the previous seasons to spice up the Leviathan story arc. Many critics have complained that this particular storyline has been developed rather slowly. The reintroduction of angels and demons, however, immediately sped up the pace of the story.
It is heartbreaking to see Castiel caught in a sort of limbo state where he is able to face his own mistakes. Nevertheless, I found it somewhat comforting to see the angel experience blissful ignorance and peace for the first time. The writers made a very interesting choice lifting the weight off his shoulders, and I can’t wait to see how they will weave him back into the storyline.
The producers of “Supernatural” have just announced that the series has been picked up by CW for an eighth season, so it is safe to say that the writers will hit us with another cliff-hanger for the season finale.
Bob Teoh is a staff writer. Email him at entertainment@nyunews.com.
