Abandon All Hope

ABANDON ALL HOPE opens at a metropolis cross roads where rich Mr. Pendleton eagerly awaits a beautiful demon to kiss so he can seal the deal to get his bank bailed out. Unfortunately, for the extremely homophobic geezer, Crowley has decided to land this big fish himself. The pucker takes place and Pendleton is left disgusted, but debt free. Lurking in the background is Castiel. The celestial spy, code named “Huggy Bear,” has tracked down the demon with the colt. Cas follows him to an impenetrable house and calls in reinforcements.

Later that night a beautiful and distraught woman—it’s Jo Harvelle!—rings the house for help after her car breaks down. The guards let her in and just as they’re ready to pounce, Dean and Sam swoop in.

“The Hardy Boys finally found me.” Crowley

It seems Crowley has been waiting for the Winchesters, but instead of putting up a fight he does the damndest thing…he kills his own guards and hands over the Colt. Er, surely it’s not that easy?

“Take this to Lucifer and empty it into his face.” Crowley

Then again. Seems Crowley believes it’s just a matter of time before Lucifer turns on his own. First the humans, then his minions. If Lucifer is dead, Crowley will survive. The boys reluctantly believe he’s on the up and up and taking their strange luck a step further Sam asks, “You wouldn’t happen to know where the devil is perchance, wouldja.” Crowley tells them he’s got an appointment in Carthage, Missouri.

“I think I’m starting to feel something.” Cas

Ellen is trying her hardest to get Cas drunk, while Jo watches in amazement and Sam and Dean argue about splitting up. Dean doesn’t want Sam to go to Carthage because he fears they’d be handing over the vessel. Sam insists they have to stay together. Dean finally agrees but calls it a stupid freakin’ idea. Then he goes and hits on Jo with a last night on Earth speech. Just as it looks like she’ll capitulate she laughingly denies him, saying she’d rather die with her dignity. (Stupid woman!) Out of nowhere Bobby demands they all take a picture together, but their reckless silliness morphs to an “oh, shit” moment when Cas says, “This is our last night on earth.”

The boys, Ellen, Jo and Cas arrive in Carthage to find an empty town and no cell phone signal. The brothers decide to check out the PD and leave the other three to look around. Cas quickly discovers the town isn’t empty, but completely over run with reapers. He goes off to investigate and finds himself imprisoned in a fire circle by Lucifer.

“You’re not taking Sam Winchester. I won’t let you.” Cas

Satan’s skin is growing thin, his vessel isn’t strong enough to contain him. Cas tells him he’ll never allow him to get to Sam. Lucifer doesn’t understand why Cas won’t side with him, but the angel said he’d die before letting that happen.

Meanwhile Meg has shown up and unleashed a pack of hellhounds on the Scooby gang. Dean pulls a horror movie heroine move and trips. Before he can be devoured Jo fights off the mutt but is disemboweled. The Winchesters and the Harvelles hole up in a store and everyone comes to the realization that Jo is not going to survive her injuries. Contacting Bobby by CB Dean learns that Lucifer is intending to unleash the Angel of Death. The reapers are waiting for their big boss to show up at midnight.

“Can we be realistic about this, please? My guts are being held in by an ace bandage.” Jo

The boys need to get out and use the colt to kill Lucifer. Jo suggests building a bomb, which she’ll trigger, while her mom and the boys escape through the roof. She’s not going to make it anyhow, and if they don’t do something the hellhounds will never stop hunting them. The boys and Ellen are horrified by her suggestion, but come to the sad reality that it’s their only option. They cobble together explosives from propane tanks, lanterns, nails, salt, wire and a doorbell and then fold Jo’s hand around the trigger.

“I’ll see you on the otherside. Probably sooner rather than later.” Dean
“Make it later.” Jo

Dean gives Jo a tender kiss goodbye and then Ellen announces that she’s staying with her daughter. Someone has to open the door and she will not leave her little girl alone. She tells Dean to kick it in the ass. The boys leave and Ellen unchains the door and goes to sit next to her child. She tells Jo, “I will always love you, baby” and then realizes Jo has passed away. Ellen starts to cry and then the doors open. She can hear the scrabbling of invisible dogs coming her way. One arm tight around her daughter she poses her finger over the trigger and waits until she feels a hellhound’s breath on her face.

“You can go straight back to hell you ugly bitch.” Ellen

Kaboom! The Harvelle’s and hellhounds are no more.

The Winchesters find Lucifer shoveling dirt onto something while an audience of townsmen (who are actually demons) watch. The boys forego any last words and tricking Lucifer manage to shoot him in the head. Yesss! Nooooo, he gets back up again. Seems there’s only five things in creation the colt won’t kill and he’s one of them. He knocks Dean out and asks Sam if he’d just give himself up now. Sam says never, but Lucifer says he’s pretty sure he’ll surrender in the next six months in Detroit. Then he reveals that he’s covering a mass grave, women and children first, and he offers their lives, blood and souls, along with some demons to complete his tribute.

While he calls the Angel of Death forth, Cas manages to get the best of Meg and break out of his circle. But it’s too little, too late.

“Oh, hello, death.” Lucifer

That right there would’ve been a helluva cliffhanger for this hiatus, but the show inexplicably ends with the Winchesters back at Bobby’s place where he morosely takes the last keepsake of the Harvelle’s, the pic they all took, and throws it in the fire.

The End.

I have mixed feelings on this episode. Hated the ending. Why burn that picture? And Lucifer’s line gave a stronger, punchier finale. I also didn’t like that the boys, when faced with what they genuinely thought might be their last moments, had no final words for each other. I loved the emotional farewell for the Harvelle girls. It was tender and kick ass at the same time. They were the best part of this episode for me and I think this is just the beginning of the self sacrifice we’re going to see. Loved how Pellegrino played Lucifer as smarmy and petulant, but unyieldingly confident. And I look forward to seeing what happens next. Too bad we have to wait so long. So what did you think? Was it a mixed bag for you too?

All-Time Favorite Episodes

I've made some adjustments to my all-time favorite episodes this season. I couldn't QUITE get it down to a top ten (good, right?) See if any of yours match.

1) Changing Channels

2) I Believe the Children Are Our Future

3) Croatoan

4) The Monster at the End of this Book

5) Monster Movie

6) Jus in Bello

7) What Is and What Should Never Be

8) A Very Supernatural Christmas

9) Bad Day at Black Rock

10) Hell House

11) Hookman

12) Faith

13) Scarecrow

14) The Pilot

However, I also have some episodes I'd happily never watch again.

1) Metamorphosis

2) Bugs

3) Red Sky at Morning (and I was SO looking forward to this one)

4) The Usual Suspects

5) Everybody Loves a Clown (except for the last scene)

6) Route 666 (except for the love scene)

What about you? Are you a bigger fan than I am? Will you watch an episode over no matter what?

Supernatural News

TV Guide's Hot List for 2009 is out, and Misha Collins as Castiel made the list as Hot Wings. :) Have to say I agree.

And Supernatural is one of TV Guide's favorite shows of 2009.

TV.com has a sneak peek at next week's episode, "Abandon All Hope," which it is also reporting is the last new episode until Jan. 14. (However, IMDB.com has an episode titled "Sam, Interrupted" listed for Nov. 26, but that's Thanksgiving, right? And then another episode titled "Back to the Future II" without a run date.) The clip from next week is also available on the CW's site.

This one isn't a news item, but MJ found this Supernatural animation story on YouTube. Worth a view if you have about 3 minutes. It's the first installment of what appears will be a series.

Breaking Down "The Real Ghostbusters"

Unless you were 100% capable of avoiding spoilers of any type, you knew tonight's episode was going to take place at a Supernatural convention. I thought it was super-cool that rotation put me in charge of the recap for this ep, since I've been to a Supernatural convention! So I can honestly say...this was nothing like the real thing.

I could feel much of fandom (i.e. the people who love the show) holding their collective breath at how Kripke and Co. were going to handle this. I caught a glimpse, via Google alert, of a question posed on a blog, about whether Kripke knows that not all fans are super crazy. Well, yeah, of course he does, but we're not very good TV fodder. And come on. Honestly, who doesn't have an inner Becky?

The show opens with the Impala racing...somewhere. Screeching up to an old-fashioned hotel a la "Playthings." Sam and Dean hurry out of the car and go charging across the parking lot, except Dean is brought up short by...three more Impalas! They find Chuck pacing in front of the hotel, all nervous and stuff, and surprised to see them even though Sam says he texted them an emergency call and they drove all night. Without actually talking to Chuck to find out what was wrong. Hm. That's pretty strong loyalty, boys.

Turns out Becky borrowed Chuck's phone. From his pants. I don't know why she thought it was so important to get the guys there, since she doesn't rush to out them or anything, but...oh, wait. Super-mega-crush on Sam. Delusions fed when he remembers her name and she believes she's been in his every waking thought, the way he's been in hers. Okay, that's pretty powerful motivation.

Sam and Dean follow Chuck and Becky into the building, and we see more signs (after the Impalas) that this convention is really patterned more on the general sci-fi/fan conventions than the Supernatural-centric ones. There were no Impalas in New Jersey. Besides the guests, there were maybe 5 men in attendance, but on the show, it was mostly men. In real life, a few people dress up, some amazingly well, but on the show, everyone was someone. I think poor Fritz-the-hookman was my favorite. He questioned details of the show, and Becky scolded him with the real-life wank-builder, "If you don't like it, don't read the books!"

Sam and Dean watch for a few minutes, long enough for me to wonder why they bother, but I guess there's a car-crash quality to lingering. They're ready to bail when the real ghosts show up, and I have to say, I think most of the mystery was handled well.

Instead of coincidence, there's logic built into what happens. The convention people want authenticity, so they pick a hotel that is rumored to be haunted. Because Supernatural is real, the haunting is, too. (Did anyone else have moments of surreality during all this? Fake under fake real under real real and I lost track of what made sense and what didn't!) The haunting is pretty basic, with a couple of twists. Crazy woman killed kids, now they all haunt the place, they salt and burn the crazy woman's bones, but it turns out the kids were the real problem, so they have to dig them up, too. You always know there's going to be a twist when they're burning skeletons at 9:27 p.m.

The kids were creepy/scary, the mother/orphanage director wild/scary, the ghost effects gave the willies. But threaded through it was a lot of poignancy. We've got Barnes and Demian, Sam and Dean wannabes, comical with their lowered voices and struggles to stay in character (did anyone else imagine the actors going "Score! Conventions, here we come!" when they got the parts?). Dean at first disdains them, Sam feels sorry for them, and they irritate Dean so much, acting out his real life, that he kind of blows up at them. Sam and Dean's lives suck, he tells them, and they're nuts for glamorizing or romanticizing it. Later, Demian points out to Dean that he gets to wake up every day knowing he makes a difference. It's a reminder Dean needs every so often, because his life does suck, but he has a brother who'd die for him, and that's more than a lot of people have.

Dean and Sam also discover that these regular people, these dorks with sad lives, have a lot more to them. They're brave. Even after faced with deadly reality, they're willing to help because all those people are in danger, and they end up saving the boys' asses. That perspective is valuable when facing the apocalypse, too. Dean's able to stand so firm against accepting Michael into him because he's on humanity's side, but it's got to be easy to lose sight of what that means when you're surrounded by a) angels and demons who disdain humanity, and b) examples worthy of that disdain. Barnes and Demian and the Hooters waitress and even crazy Becky help ground the boys in their purpose.

The humor in this episode wound up being a lot more subtle, I thought, than it could have been. They made Barnes and Demian partners, tweaking the whole Wincest thing in a new, sweet way. They gave Chuck a crush on Becky, and when Chuck went all manly and swept the (iron?) microphone stand (or was it a hat rack?) through the ghost, he caught Becky's attention. Sam's response to her "easy" let-down was probably a lot nicer than Jared would like to be to some real-life fans.

And then, as the episode closes, it launches us back toward the apocalypse. Becky, avid reader that she is, knows what Bella did with the Colt back in "Time is on my Side." The boys must not have read that far into the series, and Chuck didn't remember. But now they have a lead, a true lead on the one weapon they think can kill Lucifer.

Next week, we get Mark Sheppard, aka Badger from Firefly! Lucifer is back, and it looks like so is the darkness in which we dwelled in the beginning of the season. Given that we're going to be just shy of halfway through, I'm guessing the Colt's not gonna work. Thoughts?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photo credits The CW. I wish they'd stop teasing us with rehearsal footage. Sam in a T-shirt...mmmmmmm.

Recap written without the influence of much-needed cold meds, aka fuzzy brain, so please don't hesitate to comment with corrections or clarifications or additional thoughts that I feel are swimming elusively somewhere in my head but didn't make it out.

SPNews

Misha tells the Huffington Post that Castiel has a dubious skill he’ll be showing off, along with an upcoming showdown with Lucifer. If you don’t mind mild spoilers, read the interview here.

Buddy TV wonders if there’s more to Dean’s question "Would your Mother and Father still be alive if your brother was never born?" than just allowing him to avoid the nutcracker.

According to this poll, Supernatural is the #1 favorite imported show in Japan.

Tom Surette of TV.com calls Supernatural “the best show on television that nobody watches” and says it’s “one of the most daring and entertaining shows on television.”

Casting News: (Slightly spoilerish) Producers are looking for an actor to guest star as a 17-year-old Gary in episode 12 "Swap Meat". The character is described as being "Puny, gawky, bespectacled, smart and geeky, he’s a naive, amateur Satanist who works at a fast food joint and longs to break free from his wealthy, stifling parents". [SpoilerTV]

Finally, news that will thrill some and make others weep, Jensen is engaged! That’s right, he and longtime girlfriend, Danneel Harris, will be tying the knot. Here’s a pic of them at this weekend’s Breeder’s Cup. And you can read more about the official announcement here.

Changing Channels

Tonight’s episode opened with a voice-over from Dean: “Supernatural is filmed before a live studio audience.” LOL! “Supernatural: The Sit-Com” had Dean mugging and Sam making exaggerated movements and the bitch-face. I have to say, the theme song was fun—two hunting bros, when demons come out to play—LOL. Also, the bicycle built for two!

Two days earlier, Sam and Dean are investigating a man killed by the Incredible Hulk (Lou Ferrigno, not Bana or Norton. I loved Dean’s matter-of-factness following this line of questioning). Sam is pretty quick to identify the Trickster as the baddy, based on the punishment fitting the crime (the vic was a hot-head, you wouldn’t like him when he was angry) and candy wrappers at the crime scene. Sam wants to recruit the Trickster’s help, thinking the Trickster isn’t going to want the world to end, and will work against the demons and angels. Funny that Dean didn’t know MySpace a couple of seasons ago and now asks Sam why he wants to be Facebook Friends with the Trickster.

A fake call on the police radio sends them to an abandoned warehouse. When they walk through the door, they’re suddenly wearing doctor coats and are in the halls of Seattle Mercy Hospital, the setting of “Dr. Sexy, M.D.” Sam is accosted by a female doctor who slaps his face and says “seriously” a lot. Dean points out the characters, including Johnny Drake, who’s a ghost in the mind of the sexy-but-neurotic female doctor. The brothers riff about why the show has ghosts, and then Dean goes all fan-boy when Dr. Sexy himself approaches. Dean knocks him off for wearing tennis shoes instead of Dr. Sexy’s cowboy boots, and Dr. Sexy morphs into the Trickster.

Sam tries to talk to the Trickster, who says if they survive the next 24 hours, they’ll talk. He disappears and Dean and Sam try to escape. When Dean tells a patient at the fake hospital that none of it is real, he shoots Dean in the back. Dean ends up on the operating table with Sam as the surgeon, who asks for a penknife, dental floss and a fifth of whiskey to operate.

The brothers then appear—as in, suddenly—on a Japanese game show called “Nutcracker.” They’re standing, legs spread, while the host asks questions in Japanese. Sam can’t answer, so he gets smacked in the groin by a giant spring-loaded ball. When Castiel appears to save them, he disappears. The host chides them, saying he doesn’t want pretty boy angels. Dean decides to play the role and gets the answer right—in Japanese.

Their next appearance is in a commercial for genital herpes. Sam doesn’t want to, but the boys realize they have to play their roles to survive. He says his lines, then does a nice lay-up in the basketball game his character is playing.

Back to the sit-com. The Trickster shows up and wants the brothers to take their roles (ahhh) as Lucifer and Michael to get the show on the road, to accept the roles destiny has chosen. If they don’t, they’ll stay in TV Land.

Next is a procedural cop show, a la CSI. The brothers are dressed hot as hell, in suits, blue shirts and shades. At night. They adopt gravelly voices and toy with the glasses. They joke over the body with a CSI tech who’s eating a lollipop, and stab him with a stick. Turned out to be the wrong guy, but when the Trickster shows himself, Sam is there to stab him and the brothers return to reality.

Or….not. Suddenly Sam is the voice of Metallicar, in a Knight Rider take-off. Sam-as-the-car and Dean discuss whether or not the stake didn’t work because their nemesis is something else, not a Trickster after all. The Trickster shows up and Sam and Dean light a circle of flames around him. Turns out he’s the archangel Gabriel who had left heaven and was happy until the apocalypse began. He blames the brothers for HIS brothers killing each other. He says there’s not stopping this, that this war is about 2 brothers who loved each other and betrayed each other.

He says the brothers were born to be the vessels: the big brother, loyal to an absent father, the little brother, rebellious, and that one has to kill the other. Heaven has always known it would come to Sam and Dean.

Gabriel tells them he wished this was a TV show with easy answers, but it’s going to end bloody. Oh, dear, not a good sign for the end of the season!

Dean is defiant, but Sam looks worried. Dean does get Castiel back, and accuses Gabriel of being too afraid to stand up to his family of angels. He puts out the fire and the brothers and Cas leave. The ending was a little weak, with the brothers climbing in the car asking what they were going to do and not having an answer.

I really wanted to like this show more. Maybe on a second viewing. What did you think?

Are You Watching?

All of us here at Supernatural Sisters love Supernatural, sing its praises, and wish more people were watching. So when I stumbled onto some fan-made promo clips on YouTube tonight while trying to come up with a topic for today's blog (I'm doing about 10 things and have a big case of brain fry), I was intrigued by them and started watching. What fun! They all are tied together under the theme "Are You Watching?" and each gives great clips, reasons for watching the show.

This is the one I saw first, which led me to the others. Great combination of clips, music and just general awesomeness.

You can click through on YouTube and find them, or you can go to their site and click either on the "download" or "youtube" links for each of the 61 different promos to view them. The one linked above is the 61st one, called "The Famous Winchester Boys." I haven't watched them all, but a couple of others I liked were:

No. 10 -- "Sharp-Dressed Men"

No. 41 -- "Dean's Geek Brother"

And for more fun on YouTube...

If you haven't seen the gag reel from last season, here it is in its entirety.

But I honestly think these clips from it, shot at ComicCon, are funnier because of the crowd's reactions.

So, seen any good Supernatural-related vids lately that we haven't already discussed here before?