Episode Title: “Holy Terror”
Writers: Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming
Director: Thomas J. Wright
Previously on “Supernatural”:
Episode 9.08 “Rock and a Hard Place”
I’ve never really understood the idea behind the “mid-season finale.” I know that it’s about making money, sweeping… something, and rating your TV shows. Did I mention money? That’s probably wrong, but then again, the bureaucracy of Television has never come easy to me.
For once, I’m happy to see “Supernatural’s” mid-season finale. The frustrating first half of the current season (season nine) has primarily subsisted on subplots and self-contained stories. The only story to get more than three episodes worth of attention is Ezekiel’s possession of Sam (Jared Padalecki), which has amounted to two to three minutes worth of footage in a majority of the nine episodes so far.
Castiel (Misha Collins), who was bumped up to a regular this season has been featured in less than half of the nine episodes. Cas’ story has been plotted around the new found humanity that came to him at the end of last season and how he’s adjusting to it. “Supernatural” has somehow made this taste stale after only three episodes. Three!
The mirror tactic that “Supernatural” season nine has also used to emulate “Supernatural” season three has been a gigantic failure. The fallen angels should be a game changer; their character profiles fit that of a scared child and anarchy. Instead, they’ve been pushed to the side in exchange for more filler than a Twinkie ever needed. To bring back an ’80s classic of sorts: “where’s the angels?”
Conversely, “Holy Terror” begins with an all out angel fight; the greatest number of angels on screen at one time this whole season. The angels stand in two separate groups with two separate leaders; It’s biker angels (On the side of Bartholomew (Adam Harrington).) vs. the Churchy angels (Disciples of Malachi. That doesn’t feel “Children of the Corn-ish” at all.) in some strange survivor series like match, minus the tights and fake wrestling maneuvers. The angels are fighting amongst themselves instead of uniting. All have the common goal of trying to reverse Metatron’s (Curtis Armstrong) spell, but they are still on a divided front. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? This development feels like it should have a higher body count than it does, evidence of the poor writing coming from the writers room this season.
Speaking of Metatron, Armstrong reprises his role, appearing before Sam/Ezekiel at one point. He outs the angel possessing Sam as not actually being Ezekiel – whom we later find out died in the fall. Instead he is the angel Gadriel. In heaven, Gadriel was one of God’s elite, in charge of keeping evil out of Eden, and he failed miserably at it. For that, he was imprisoned until the second fall from Metatron’s spell. Jared Padalecki’s great performances as the possessed Sam has been a high watermark this season and continues to shine. Gadriel is emotionally deep, and conflicted about his past and the new possible future ahead of him. Metatron is looking to make Heaven into a by invitation only kind of club with Tron as the new god known as X. Looks like Member’s Only jackets are back on the table!
Castiel has the most amount of character development in this episode than he’s had all season. At the start, he’s exploring his fun human side: tossing back a few beers with the boys, helping investigate the angel deaths. In a montage of hilarious prayer scenes that last hours and runs through numerous religions, an angel shows up and captures Castiel. Good news though, the angel form of Castiel is back! Post-torture, he convinces one of his tormentors to free him and in the process steals his grace. He drops out of the episode after being restored, but the questions remains: what kind of angel will Cas be? Will the human traits still be there or does having grace again negate all of that?
“Holy Terror’s” twists will go down as some of the greatest in “Supernatural’s” run on the CW. The elephant in the room – the possession of Sam – comes to a front. Kevin (Osric Chau) finds a spell to cut off angels from hearing conversations between humans for a certain period of time. Dean (Jensen Ackles) uses this time to talk to Sam, to tell him the truth about his possession, and ask him to expel the angel. In a swerve, Gadriel altered the spell and according to him, expelled Sam from his own body. In the process, he does the angel lay on hands thing and kills Kevin, burnt eye sockets and all.
I thought to myself earlier this week about “Supernatural’s” ability to hold itself back when it comes to character deaths in the post-Kripke seasons, with the exception of Bobby (Jim Beaver). Kevin’s death means something more to the “Supernatural” fandom. He’s not Bobby, but he’s a character that didn’t ask for his fate, and he still gave everything for the Winchester cause. The loss is going to be heavy in the episodes to come, and so help me God “Supernatural,” if you bring him back, I WILL RIOT!
The episode ends in the same kind of hopelessness that “The Empire Strikes Back” did. Dean sits on the floor quietly calling out to Kevin in the hopes of a response.
Episodes like this, while amazing, frustrate me to no end. Where was this all season? Why was there no buildup for either faction of angels? It doesn’t detract much from the episode, but hearkens back to how shoddy the writing has been all season long. I still can’t really complain at all, because “Holy Terror” is “Supernatural’s” best episode in the post Eric Kripke years. It’s full of all the things that make the show great, but never feels jarring for just how much they fit into the hour. Could they finally be on track for a coherent rest of the season? The previews are certainly promising.
