Proverbs 17:3 says “Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the LORD tests the heart”. Does this make sense to you? It makes no sense to me, so let’s just dive right into last week’s episode of Supernatural instead of trying to figure out what the Bible verse it’s named after means!
I’m not even going to delve too deeply into the storyline of this episode because I honestly feel like it’s kinda inconsequential (like every choice the Winchesters make HEY-OH!).
We start with some fun broments. Dean buys ghost pepper jerky because I guess he’s not the only white dude on the planet to say “It’s not that hot”. It obviously is and we get to see Dean pour water on himself. YAY!
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Also I was lying before, we don’t start with the broments, that’s just what I’d rather see. We actually start with three post-grad gal pals glamping in the woods. They drink and celebrate/mourn the end of an era of camping without dudes before hearing a noise outside the tent, which they decide to check out one by one. See, if they had brought guys, they could have sent them out as sacrifi– I mean as scouts. There is the inevitable flesh tearing and screaming and we cut to the Supernatural logo.
Anyway, back to the boys, who have decided to investigate some “animal attacks” out that way! Honestly, no one is buying the mountain lion story, and other than a cursory glance at the Winchesters’(hella outdated) badges, the sheriff seems glad to hand this mess off.
Conveniently enough, there is one witness to the most recent attacks! Ashley, literally the only one of the trio with zero prospects managed to survive (her student loan sharks are THRILLED) with nothing more than a delicate scratch on her face and a concussion (her hair still looks FAB though). Dean reassures her that no matter how weird the shit she saw was, they’ve seen it. It takes five seconds for her to tell him all about claws and fangs and ya know… the actual name of her attacker. Fantastic!
I should mention that Sam is still having his creepy ass visions. This time he’s LuciSam and Dean tries to kill baby bro with the Colt, only to end up in ashes. He also has some fun visions of Dean killing him with the First Blade. So Sam is getting some great sleep. But this is a thing I’ll talk about later. I just want you to know I didn’t forget.
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Okay, back to this tired hunt. Ashley names her attacker, and Dean and Sam go visit him and his bro at their cabin, where everything screams “I EAT PEOPLE!!’ but rather than kill them now, the bros decide to wait. No one knows why.
Later, Ashley winds up staying with Dean and Sam because she “has nowhere else to go” and I would call foul, but her major and her life’s ambitions both scream “going nowhere”. Sam goes to find grub and Ashley and Dean have a nice chat. Ashley laments that she wishes Fate were real, and Dean scoffs before falling asleep. Damn!
Once Sam returns, they realize the little co-ed is gone! Oh no! The were-bros got her! I need to mention here again that, even as a viewer, everything about this feels off. There isn’t a rhythm to the story, and it’s all moving too quickly (I mean it’s only halfway through the episode at this point!). Dean and Sam head back to the cabin and hey! They’re there! They free Ashley, and fight the were-bros. Until now I have failed to mention that one were-bro is a vegan while the other is a full-blown people eater, but I think it’s important to mention this so that you know why one brother kills the other in this moment before killing himself. There are too many self-aware monsters this season for my taste; it makes rooting against them hard. Either way, the only reason Dean and Sam live is because a werewolf allows them to. Ashley, however, has no such luck, as she legit trips and falls dead onto some deer antlers. I won’t lie; I yelled “What the fuck” at my TV.
Ash doesn’t stay dead, though, because we’re all living in Chuck’s playground where there are no rules. Ash is actually Lilith, the badass demon who’s currently salty over not being able to bang or kill Dean, which, get in line. After knocking Sam out, she forces Dean to take her to the Equalizer (as only Dean calls it) back at the motel. They spar and jab, but during the car ride, Dean learns about Chuck’s perverse and toxic plan of ending the world with Dean and Sam. No matter the story, it has to end with one bro killing the other.
The pair gets to the motel only to see that, oops! Dean doesn’t have it! Lilith tries her hand at lingchi, but only gets to like, three cuts in before baby bro interrupts her with a Devil’s trap bullet. The trap doesn’t hold for long, though, and Lilith quickly catches up with the boys. Liltih does her best Sherlock impression and finds the Equalizer lickity split. I mean, honestly, this is just plain stupidity on the brother’s part. The glovebox? Really? With no warding or anything? YOU HAVE A WHOLE ASS TRUNK FOR THIS EXACT REASON. Lilith winds up melting the gun before vanishing, which doesn’t leave the brothers in the best of spots, if I’m being honest.
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Back at the bunker, we hear that Sam is trying to warn Cas (and others) about Chuck still being around, and we get some sad Dean. I can’t help but wonder though whether Dean is upset that Chuck never left, or if he’s sad that something went wrong and he can’t blame Cas for it… Hmmm. Something to ponder. And yes, I’m still pretty pissed about how Dean left things with Cas. Sam finally tells Dean about the visions he’s been having (notice how chill Dean is about this “betrayal”), and the two figure that it’s possible for Sam to be seeing all of Chuck’s possible endings for them, due to the connection between Sam and Chuck via bulletwound. Even though Dean is pretty hopeless and despondent, Sam and his visions are clearly going to be a key factor in TFW’s fight and their survival
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I would be lying if I said that I’ve found this final season easy to write about. There is so much on the show, and so much meta floating around, that it’s really hard to talk about shit without falling down a rabbithole. HOWEVER, Dean asked Sam how they’d beat God, and I think I know the answer: Cas. Cas is the only thing that Chuck hasn’t ever really been able to control. He’s the obstacle that Chuck has always had to write around. Killing him never works, and he can only stay away for so long. Regardless of his powers, Cas is always willing and happy to fight and die for the Winchesters. The angel has never been quite right, which means that for the entire series, Cas may be the most important being on the planet. He enters stories he “doesn’t belong in” and he always manages to disrupt The Plan. I know there are fans who will reject this (the brothers! IT’S ONLY ABOUT THE BROTHERS!!!!), but I think I’m onto something here. None of Chuck’s endings ever involve Cas, so my thinking is that, regardless of what Chuck writes for the brothers, the fallen angel will manage to save us all.
What did you think of Proverbs 17:3??
