Supernatural had a strong three-episode return this winter. Then it went on a three-week hiatus, and I’m not sure what happened. “Good Intentions” certainly has good, er…intentions, but overall, it feels disconnected with itself and the larger season narrative.
We finally catch up with Jack and Mary in the Apocalypse world. Feels weird that we’ve left them hanging for three episodes, which makes their entire story here feel rushed. Jack and Mary meet in a cell, figure out how to escape, meet Apocalypse Bobby, and save the day while proving to the apocalypse survivors that Jack is not on the side of the angels. There’s also some weird romantic (sexual?) tension between Mary and Bobby (one-sided at least, as it’s implied Bobby and this world’s Mary maybe had a thing?) I do like the revelation that Apocalypse Mary never made the demon deal with Azazel to save John, so Sam and Dean were never born to stop the apocalypse. It’s one of those “the choices we make” kind of things, and in keeping in line with the multiverse theory, what choices you do or do not make might be the opposite somewhere else. However, the idea that because Sam and Dean were never born to stop the apocalypse backtracks on the whole season five theme a bit.
In season five, Sam and Dean are told by the angels they are meant to be the vessels for Michael and Lucifer respectively, and in doing so, bring on the apocalypse or stop the apocalypse, I can never remember what the point of that fight was supposed to be. But in typical Winchester fashion, the brothers tell destiny to screw itself, name themselves Team Free Will, and fight the apocalypse their own way. To say the apocalypse is brought on because Sam and Dean were never born in a different world puts destiny back in control. Who’s to say someone else couldn’t have saved the day in their place? It’s an entire world where two in four billion people affected the world this badly when they never even existed. Supernatural has played with the idea of Sam and Dean being almost akin to superheroes before, but the show has always worked better with them staying in the shadows.
Back on Earth, Sam, Dean, Cas, and Donatello are still trying to figure out a way to save Jack and Mary by opening a rift to Apocalypse world. To do that, Donatello has to translate the demon tablet for a spell. Ever since Asmodeus cornered Donatello at the TV version of KFC, Donatello has been acting weird. So for Sam to conclude that Donatello has no soul seems odd. I’m a little lost on how Donatello is even alive in the first place, and since his return in this season’s second episode, he’s seemed pretty normal to me. Sam said Amara took Donatello’s soul, but Donatello didn’t start acting odd until Asmodeus did something to him. It could be Sam’s just mistaken, but Cas knows Donatello was working for Asmodeus, but they don’t jump to that very obvious conclusion. It was only an episode ago when all this happened, which is why it doesn’t feel like a genuine plot to me. Donatello’s now brain dead without ever getting a chance to pass along information to Asmodeus. Seems like a wasted opportunity.
Then, there’s the matter of Cas and his torture of Donatello. Sometimes, I think Sam and Dean forget Cas is an angel and for billions of years was a benevolent follower of god who performed righteous acts in his name. Cas’ actions in this episode make sense to me, especially when he tells Dean that he’s been brought back for a reason, which is to stop the war between Michael and Lucifer. He needs a sense of purpose, even if that purpose is self-driven.
Moving forward, we’ve got a bit of a scavenger on our hands as the brothers search for the ingredients for the spell. Good news, though. We’re only two weeks away from the Scooby Doo animated crossover.
Stray Thoughts
- I can’t remember what they were called, but I enjoyed the bit where Dean and Cas fight those giant cavemen looking people. Anytime magical creatures actually look like magical creatures instead of a human hybrid, the show’s making waves.
- Mary’s quiet and subdued nature in this episode was inspiring as she calmly tells Jack what’s going to happen to her. This is the first time I’ve really, really liked Mary. Sometimes, she feels out of place in the show, but not here.
- Gabriel makes no appearance here. Hopefully, he comes into play soon.
- The title “Good Intentions” doesn’t work for me. It’s probably a play on the saying “the path to hell is paved with good intentions,” but Cas seems to be the only one the title refers to. Usually, titles work on multiple levels, layering itself within the different plot threads to produce a larger theme for the episode. What the good intentions here are, I’m not so sure.
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