A Partial Review of Supernatural Season Six

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A few days ago, we watched the perfectly tuned Supernatural episode, “The Man Who Would Be King”.   It was emotionally powerful, and harkened back to the dark and powerful episodes of past seasons of the series.    The episode was also compared to the relatively lacklustre series of episodes, arcs and general plot in Season 6.   I was particularly interested in one comment that the episode redeemed the less than stellar performance of the particular season.   It tied the disjointed arcs, answered a lot of questions, and teased us with an interesting premise for a Big Bad; personally, I was reminded of the Neil Gaiman work, “Good Omens”.

But two weeks away from the two-part season finale, can we really say that it redeemed the season as a whole?   While we could praise the episode’s successful experiment of focusing on a side character (as they did with Bobby Singer a few episodes back), or how they tied all the loose ends together and even the brilliant acting of the cast—of particular note is the believable conflicting emotions with Dean—to fully appreciate this episode we have to review the series storyline leading to it.

The first half of the first episode of Season Six—that is, the opening montage—was a nice touch.   We were given a view of the sharp contrast between the state of things now with Dean and the life he led as a hunter.   The immediate question and plot arc was: how would he react to Sam’s return?   Would they go looking for answers in the same way as they did in the first episode of Season 4 after Dean wrenched out from Hell?   There was something to look forward to.    But the episode seemed a bit off, and there was this remarkable distance between the story and the viewers.   Worse, it felt like the first episode wanted to be the last episode, or as a brief epilogue attached to Season 5.   Dean literally closed the door on a returned Sam, and for that matter, hunting.   He didn’t want to ask questions.   He just wanted to leave things the way they were.

 Like a painful tooth extraction—or a root canal, for that matter—Dean was wrenched away from his idyllic life and back to the chaos of hunting monsters, demons and whatnot.   It was as if we were being punished for wanting to extend Supernatural to another season.   It was somewhat similar to the Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and equally as dark.   And for a while they tweaked with a new dynamic—Dean balancing his domestic life with his hunting one on the one hand, and working with Sam’s Campbell posse in the other.   There was also a war in Heaven which could have affected the everyday lives of Sam and Dean.  But it didn’t.  Not for a while, anyway.   

 Instead, the first episodes focused on how to make the new dynamic work.   It didn’t.   Many episodes saw Dean and Sam acting completely out of character.   And after the episode “Live Free or Twi-Hard”, the would-have-been sympathetic domestic life of Dean was taken away from him and the old “dynamic duo” dynamic propped back up.   It felt off, as did the new plot arc of “finding Sam’s soul”—which diverted the two’s attention while in the back of our heads there was still the nagging question of “what about that war in Heaven?” For the longest time there wasn’t an episode which reminded us that there was one.   Actually, for the longest time, there wasn’t a Big Bad to focus on.   It made the episodes flounder for a while.

 Crowley did make sense as a villain when he was finally introduced, and he fit nicely with the problem of Sam’s soul.   But the whole “real estate” plan of expanding to purgatory?   Gathering and trapping the patriarchs of all monsters and risking life and limb so he could get more land?  It felt off. Of course, “The Man Who would Be King” would explain this wasn’t the whole truth, but that was a half a season away.   Were we supposed to question the authenticity of his plans?   It just felt off.

The relatively-faded quality of the first half of the season was followed by a somewhat mixed second half.    There were the nice touches of the “unique episodes”, like the “a day in the life of Bobby Singer” one and “the characters out of the book” one.   Sam got his soul back and consequently gave way to a new plot device (Don’t scratch that head!).  And there was the “Mother” which substituted Crowley.   But these plot arcs somehow remained disjointed.  And the Mother did not make herself felt enough in the episodes. She didn’t even share enough air-time with the war raging in Heaven since the first half.     

 Finally came the episode leading up to “Man Who Would Be King”.   Sam and Dean somehow defeated the Mother, and it is revealed that Crowley and Castiel were working together.   “Mommy Dearest” then, as the episode that followed, felt like one larger episode altogether.    The first felt off unless it was paired with the next part.   That is why we will treat “Mommy Dearest” as if it was the first half of “Man Who Would Be King”.

The Supernatural Episode, “Lucifer Rising” was similar to “The Man Who Would Be King”, but much more brilliant. For one thing, it tied entire seasons together, and it pulled that act off perfectly.  It worked, because the seasons it tied together were strong in themselves.    Season 1 was about the search for Dad.   Season 2 was the rising of Lilith.  Season 3 was Dean’s demon deal.   With everything set up after three seasons, Season 4 proceeded to “get the gears running”.  They all fit nicely together because they didn’t contradict one another.  

 “The Man Who Would Be King”, in contrast, felt at one point like a redeeming episode which lifted the disjointed plots and average episodes together and a massive ret-con in another.  Didn’t Crowley raise Sam from Hell, and ransom a soul he didn’t actually have?   But it was Castiel who did that; and demons lie, anyway.   Wasn’t it all about a less than believable “real estate” expansion to purgatory?   No, it was about the more believable “soul-factory” of purgatory, which incidentally tied with the civil war in Heaven.  It’s not that it didn’t make sense; it just felt like we were made to believe in some facts already, and there weren’t enough doubts planted to make it think it was otherwise.   There wasn’t enough lead up to the big reveal, just disjointed themes that somehow felt like they lead somewhere—and (surprise!) actually do.

 Mind you, the episode in itself was powerful.   The moral crisis of an angel forced to make hard decisions and suffer even harder consequences makes for gripping viewing.  As did the “Good Omens” dynamic of Castiel and Crowley, though they didn’t leave enough episodes to play with that possibility.    And also the consequent emotional conflicts within Dean and Castiel himself.   But tied together to Season 6?   It redeems the season, but barely.  This episode ends up mostly mixed.   

Season Six is better understood parallel to Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Season 6.  A return of a major character, dark and gritty episodes, and villains all too personal for comfort.  The series felt out of its element in this season, but it did find its footing somehow in the last two episodes.  And there is still the series finale.   It’s true that, in all, the season remains at least above average, but give it a chance; it could still blow your mind and set you up for Season 7.