Supernatural 5×22

[rusty_halo]

That was... weird. It felt anticlimactic for a finale; mostly it just hit me that this isn't really My Show, as much as I would like it to be. I'm not invested the way the flailing people on my flist are.

I think I was enjoying this show a lot more on a meta level, like in terms of seeing how it was structured over seasons and how it dealt with its expanding mythology, its cast changes, its interweaving of arcs, and its character development. You can't really get a sense of that long-term stuff in a single episode. This one felt so... short. Watching the entire series in the course of two weeks was really incredibly fascinating and satisfying in a way a single episode just can't be.

It was also very difficult to invest in what was at stake in this episode. The apocalypse, the fight that's going to wipe out much of humanity, and it consists of... two guys snarking at each other alone in a field in Kansas? Really? I know the thing we're really invested in is whether Sam will overcome Lucifer, but it would've been nice to have a more visceral sense of why it mattered.

Is Castiel going to be gone now? Are there casting spoilers? I haven't the first clue where to get spoilers for this fandom. (Feel free to spoil me for his presence or absence, if you happen to know, but nothing else.)

I really, really wish I shipped Sam/Dean, because this episode was so full of shippy goodness about the two of them. I mean, montages of how much they love each other?! I'm sure it would've made me a lot happier if I could squee over the pairing. I don't suppose anyone can rec, like, maybe the top two or three classic Sam/Dean fics that would be most likely to get a newbie over her incest squick?

Okay, I liked that Chuck was god. I was so skeptical when they introduced the religious mythology, but that was blasphemous and funny and awesome on a meta level. Having Dean the character call up Chuck the writer to ask what was going to happen next was also all kinds of meta awesome. (Though I could've done without the self-indulgent angst over how to write an ending.)

Also I liked that Sam's free will triumphed, and that Dean was willing to let go enough to accept that Sam had to make his own decision. Dean was incredibly mature in this episode, honestly, I mean, where did my fucked up mess of a character go? For once he put Sam's choices over his own need to protect Sam, and he put Sam's wishes for his future above his own desire for self-destruction.

Although living someone else's dream for your future is usually not a good thing. I can't imagine the domestic life is going to work out terribly well for Dean, though I don't know how much of the depression we're seeing in his final scene is due to him not being satisfied with that life and how much is just him aching over losing Sam. Regardless, ending on him drinking is not a particularly good sign.

(I like how they deal with his drinking in general--it's obviously a problem but they haven't felt the need to get all Very Special Episode about it. *knocks on wood*)

I'm a little bothered by how Lisa always just seems to be there, waiting, for Dean. Wouldn't she have, like, a boyfriend? Or, y'know, some form of life or characterization of her own? (Maybe we'll get that next year.)

On a personal level I'm so utterly squicked by any idealization of a "domestic life," but on a storytelling level it makes perfect sense as a challenge for the character and a way to explore another facet of the character. Dean's always had something of a fascination with the "normal" life he never had, from his protesting-too-much dismissal of it to his secret dream of living it. So, now we'll get to see how he actually does with it.

This was structured very much like a series ending and not like a season ending. I assume that's because it was the showrunner's swan song? (Ah, clever titling.) But it'll be back next season, and I guess I shouldn't start trying to spoil myself by learning everything I can about how it's going to change or not change. Argh. This sucks, you guys, having an open canon and having to WAIT. I want to know what happens next!

(Note to self: you have five seasons to rewatch, and reams of fanfiction to occupy you for months. Stop whining.)

ETA: More thoughts on 5x22 here (I liked it better after sleeping on it).

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[chase820]

Rivkat's Sam/Dean stories are fab. I read them, and I've seen maybe three episodes of SPN. I'm particularly fond of "Captured by the Game" and "Filthy Mind." I believe she also writes some Dean/Castiel. All her stuff is at AO3.

[rusty_halo]

Excellent; I will definitely check out her stuff. Thank you for the rec--I keep being surprised by how many good writers from the BtVS days write SPN too.

[chase820]

Well, the universes are not unalike. Rivka's incredibly prolific, so you have lots of reading ahead of you! :)