But things immediately start taking a turn for the worse when Dylan, a local teenager, is killed while under the Winchesters’ supervision. At the funeral service, Dylan’s parents, Rob and Jane, blame the brothers for the death. While the Reverend struggles for words, Leah has a vision and predicts that Dylan and all the others who have passed on will come back when the dead rise come Judgment Day. Leah tells the townsfolk that they are the chosen ones, and if they follow the angels’ commandments, they will be given Paradise on Earth.
These new commandments preclude gambling, drinking, and pre-marital sex (“Dean, they basically just outlawed 90 percent of your personality!”). Dean tells Sam that it’s not their call to decide if this situation is acceptable or not. It seems like more of Dean’s I-don’t-care attitude, but he then goes to talk to Leah, and we realize that Dean desperately wants to believe what Leah is saying – even at the expense of his lifestyle. She tells him that while things will get very bad, their ultimate victory is inevitable. Dean admits that being chosen feels like a curse, and Leah points out: “Must be hard, being the vessel of Heaven and having no hope”
Meanwhile, Sam is at the bar with Paul for a now illegal drink. Paul is not comfortable with the new religious fervour that has gripped the town; he believes in being authentic, and not praying to a God he doesn’t believe in just because it’s the Apocalypse. Sam admits for the first time that he thinks God stopped caring.
When Sam joins Dean back at the motel, he informs him that the communications towers have been shut down, isolating the town from the rest of the world. Sam wonders if the angels are having their fun, but Dean doesn’t want to pursue the conversation. Despite the curfew, he goes for a walk.
The Reverend and some townspeople – including Jane – follow an upset Leah to Paul’s bar. The angels have told Leah that they can’t go to Paradise because there are still some people who are disobeying the commandments. They want to destroy all the alcohol and have Paul leave town, but he refuses. Dean, hearing the commotion, walks in on them and helps the Reverend try to keep tempers down. Amidst more commotion, Jane shoots Paul dead, claiming, “No one is going to stop me from seeing my son again.”
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Article comments
1 - Jaim
Great review! I thought it was interesting how Sam has become the brother with a renewed sense of hope or at least determination whereas Dean seems lost. However, even though Dean is lost he still seems to have enough faith to kill Leah, unbeknownst to himself. This moment in the show reminded me of a scene in the mini-series of Stephen Kings' "The Stand"(if you haven't seen it you would probably enjoy it). Mother Abigail is talking to Rob Lowe's character about the role each of them will play to defeat Satan and what God expects of them. Then Rob Lowe's character writes(his character is deaf) that he doesn't believe in God, wherein she replies with a laugh, "It doesn't matter if you don't believe in God because God believes in you." I think that this sentiment is being subtly displayed within Supernatural right now. Dean and Castiel are feeling abandoned by God and also unsure what they are fighting to save, but even with that crisis of faith, they still have an urge to fight. Dean, most of all, still is able to defeat evil and be that God warrior.
I wonder that if Sam's renewed sense of determination to do the right thing will again lead him astray(i.e. becoming Lucifer's vessel)and he will make a choice that seems like it's for the greater good but actually will only fuel the apocalypse even more. He is a man who is easily swayed by a sense of self-righteousness. He believes he's right and that's enough for him to take action whereas Dean can see the shades of gray. Ironically, in the beginning of the series I would have characterized the two in the opposite manner. However, Dean seems to have more of an intuitiveness about this rough fight between good and evil than Sam. I think some of this has to do with Dean being on the road most of his life, never getting off time like Sam was able to do.
2 - Sahar
Thank you Jaim! I'm really happy you liked the review. I haven't yet watch "The Stand", but the scene you mention is quite reminiscent of the current situation in Supernatural. And your reflection about Sam's sense of determination to do the right thing could lead him astray is an excellent one. Fans seem to think that because he made that mistake before, he can't make it again. However, Supernatural has proven to us time and again that it's a pretty 'real' show - barring the supernatural occurrences, lol - real enough that the characters are not typical two dimensional ones that only go forward. That's not who irl people are; we take two steps forward, one step back, we spin around, we do somersaults... Which is what Sam and Dean have been doing. In short... It's an excellent question and you never know ;)
3 - Jaim
I too like the realistic aspects of the Supernatural universe. The creators don't want characters to become completely saved or completely beyond redemption or how else would we as an audience relate. I think fans think that Sam wouldn't be careless enough to make the same mistake, but I wonder how much of his decisions are fueled, unbeknownst to him, by the demonic blood that is flowing within his being. He was forever tainted by that blood as an infant and even more so by ingesting it during the previous season. How do we know that this isn't having a subtle power over his decision-making? Consciously, he thinks he's looking to end the apocalypse yet all of is actions may still lead to him becoming the vessel. I almost wonder if this has to happen, which is why God isn't interfering, because this eventual confrontation between Michael and Lucifer leads to a new beginning of sorts. I remember reading Paradise Lost, and the narrator making a point to show that Lucifer, even in hell, couldn't use his wings to fly over the fire lake until God deemed it so. Although Lucifer tried to thwart God and failed he was still a creation of God, a creation God knew would become a force to fuel doubt within humanity. I have a feeling that God knows what Lucifer will do not only because God is omniscient but because Lucifer is still a creation of God. God knows what role Lucifer must play because he created him to play that role.
Ultimately, the way the confrontation comes together depends on the choices that Dean makes, because he is still a pure vessel(untainted like Sam) and truly has free will. Sahar, do you think that this apocalypse may be necessary for something else to occur? I get this feeling that the end conflict needs to happen for something else to come in to fruition. No one ever thinks about what comes after the apocalypse. We always assume that nothing is left but maybe that isn't truth.
4 - Dundus
The exact phrase for what would be required to kill the Whore of Babylon was "servant of heaven," not "a true warrior of God." I think the semantics are important, since Michael and Zachariah seem to be in charge of heaven now, and all of Team Free Will is endorsed by God.
Also, the episode was set in Blue Earth, Minnesota, not Blue Haven. It's come up before, as the home of Pastor Jim, which is weird since they didn't refer to him at all in the episode. Perhaps that's lying on the cutting room floor somewhere.