Supernatural - Season 5 Review

And Season 5 is dead and buried. I must be making some kind of record. 5 seasons in 7 days. I told a friend on twitter that Supernatural is worse than crack. Not that I’ve ever smoked crack. But I imagine it feels very much like this. The more you have, the more you want. And friends, I WANT.

However, I did learn my lesson from my last post. I will not be going episode by episode this time. I won’t do that to my loyal readers again. No more novels from this girl. So sorry about that. Though, if you love this show half as much as I do, I am sure you understand. For this season, just a few highlights and thoughts to share. I'll keep it as brief as possible. (Sweating from the stress).

This season, for me, was all about redemption, faith and home. Redemption for Sam. He wanted and needed it so badly. Honestly I have mixed feelings about the way Dean treated Sam throughout the season. Yes. Sam really fucked up. Not just “oops I made a mistake” but seriously fucked up beyond fixing. He started the fricking apocalypse for frak sakes! So I kind of get Dean being unable to trust him. Sam had lied. Had gone against everything Dean had taught him growing up. For Dean it must have been worse than any beating he’d ever taken. But Dean has to remember, he’s no saint. He played his part in getting the ball rolling. And Sam was so sorry. Not that “sorry” can undo anything. But Sam’s remorse was so strong and true. And of course losing faith in Sam led Dean to lose Faith in everything. Faith in humanity, in his family, in himself. Dean just isn’t Dean without his self assuredness. Famine was right. Dean was dead inside. And to see it, to watch it unfold, was more tragic than anything. More tragic than Sam’s continued blood lust. Every time he was near the stuff I was yelling aloud at my TV in the same voice I use for my 3 year old niece when she’s getting into something that she’s not supposed to touch.

The underlying home theme didn’t really register until the finale, which made me look back throughout the rest of the episodes. Because for the Winchester brothers, home is not a town or a building. It’s something else entirely. They were lost for a while, but they made it back there just in time.

The mythology this season was also a ton of fun. I love apocalypse stuff. Which seems really creepy typed out like that. But it was all very interesting to me. God and Lucifer. The angels and the demons. The Four Horsemen. I loved it. Actually makes me want to read Revelations again. And Dante’s Divine Comedy. I was especially fascinated by Dean’s conversation with Death in 5x21. I thought Death was really cool. I could have watched Death and Dean talk it out for days. I’m weird. It’s ok for you to think so. Also, I think I have become completely bipolar thanks to this show. All day every day laughing my head off or crying my brains out. About what you ask? Here goes:

What made me laugh until it hurt?

“I Believe the Children Are Our Future” – 5x6: That Tooth Fairy who “looks like Belushi” was HILARIOUS! And Dean’s hairy palms? Sam’s look of disgust? PRICELESS!

“The Curious Case Of Dean Winchester” – 5x7: I’m too lazy to look up his name but that guy playing old Dean did some serious research. He was magnificent. The fighting with Bobby killed me.
Sam: It's like Grumpy Old Men.
Old Dean and Bobby: Shut up, Sam!
And Sam got The Clap. Fantastic!

“Changing Channels” – 5x8: Aside from the faux Grey’s Anatomy stuff (which was hilarious) there was THIS. I honest to God thought I might pass out from laughing. I could have died you guys. For reals.

“The Real Ghostbusters” – 5x9: The moments when Supernatural incorporates the fandom into the show itself is so endearing and brilliant. Is there any other show with the balls to do this?

“Sam, Interrupted” – 5x11: These boys do crazy so well. “I don't have any elephant books.” *DEAD* And then there is THIS which kills me deader than dead. Pudding will never be the same.

“Swap Meat” – 5x12: That first sequence with Gary in the Sam suit had me convulsing with laughter. Jared just KILLED it. How he got through any of that with a printable take is beyond me. “Crystal, I would love to have the sex with you.”

Througout the season, the overall hilarity of Castiel’s inability to understand pop culture references (which Dean uses as he breathes) and his deadpan responses to such will bring joy to my heart for years to come:
Dean: Cherub?
Castiel: Yeah, they're all over the world. There are dozens of them.
Dean: You mean the little flying fat kids in diapers?
Castiel: They're not incontinent.

What made me bawl my damn eyes out?

“The Devil You Know – 5x1: The conversation between Sam and Dean at the end of this episode was so hard. Sam is so sorry and Dean is so disappointed. “I don’t think we could ever be what we were.” It’s heart crushing.

“Good God, Y'all” – 5x2: I hate, hate, hate that Dean gave up his necklace. Partly because the moment that it was given to him was one of the most touching for me. And partly because I just can’t stand to see him without it. Wanna know what else I hate? THE BROTHERS WINCHESTER SEPARATED! *SOB, SNIFFLE, TEARS*

“Free to Be You and Me” – 5x3: The opening montage of Sam and Dean going their separate ways is nearly impossible to watch without wracking sobs, all set perfectly to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man.” No matter what has happened, nothing is right unless they are together.

"The End” – 5x4: “We’re all we’ve got.” Would it have killed them to hug?

“Abandon All Hope” – 5x10: Such loss. I had wanted Jo and Dean to hook up since they were pretend together in “No Exit” (2x6). So, for me, the goodbye kiss on the forehead was hard. The goodbye kiss on the lips was agonizing.

“The Song Remains the Same” – 5x13: The conversations between Dean and their mom and especially between Sam and their dad were so much more than beautiful. Despite everything these boys have been through in their short lives, they still love and need their parents. So much.

“Dark Side of the Moon” – 5x16: There were a lot of moments in this episode that really broke me but none more so than Dean’s memory of fireworks with Sam. I was just sitting and watching, eating my breakfast. And then this scene came along and hit me like a ton of bricks. One second I was fine, the next I was rolled up in a ball with sobs shaking my entire body. I can’t even put my finger on exactly why it triggered me like that but it did. Maybe it was Dean’s first really real, happy smile in the longest time. Maybe seeing them as they should be. Please tell me in the comments that I was not the only one to spaz out like that. What a beautiful mess that was. And now every time I hear Bob Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door,” people are going to want to know what’s wrong with my helplessly crying dumbass.

“Swan Song” – 5x22: Where do I even start? From “The Road So Far” to the closing credits I was a God Damned mess. Through the story of the Impala (I dare you to read and not break down); I learned all about what home really is. The Impala was their physical home and a symbolic home as well. But in spirit, when we’re talking souls, they were each other’s home. Where ever they were, together, they were home. And I feel that after so much time fighting and doubting and losing faith in each other, they were able to make it back there before the end. Dean refused to give up on Sam (“Rock of Ages” by Def Leppard will, from here forward, be my go to song for motivation) and when it came down to it, Sam came through (after the most spectacular montage ever created by humans, which was triggered, of course, by the magical Impala). Watching Satan in the Sam suit beat the shit out of Dean; while Dean continued to reach out to Sam (“I’m not going to leave you”) was so hard to watch that I feel I might be damaged for life. But, Team Free Will won the battle. Sam did what he set out to do. And Dean kept his promise. The entire thing was ridiculous in how gut stripping it was. It is ridiculous how shredded my heart and soul feel even hours later while writing this. I know their story isn’t over (judging by Sam’s showing up at Lisa’s in the end) but for right now, I’m just devastated. And, maybe, a tiny bit hopeful.

Peace or Freedom?