Usually after an episode I’m immediately on the fan boards sharing my initial reactions. I then spend time and more posts trying to debunk what complainers and dissenters have to say, asking people in general to look deeper than what was presented.
I did none of that after watching “Heaven and Hell.” After watching, I was left with more questions than answers, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I wasn’t ready for discussion. I immediately did the re-watch, and while the episode came across far better the second time, I was still left trying to reconcile all what was presented. So, in something different for me, I went to bed to sleep on it.
I’m still trying to make sense of it all. The setup seems straightforward enough. On one side are the angels. They can’t feel, they’ve never seen the face of God (except four of them), and they act purely on faith and orders. On the other side are the demons, most of whom were human once and turned demons when they forgot their humanity. The rest are ancient fallen angels following Lucifer. In the middle are the Winchester brothers, one saved by angels and aligned with a fallen angel, one cursed with demon blood and aligned with a benevolent demon (supposedly). The explosive result (besides two very opposite sex scenes) happens when all sides come together in one place to fight for what they believe is right. We get a battle between good and evil, and in the end we still aren’t sure which side was which and who won.
It Wasn’t Flawless
First, I’ll get the nitpicks out of the way, so I can rave over all the great character moments. This episode was written by Eric Kripke himself and his imagination went a little wild here. First, that whole idea of “ripping out grace” is borderline ridiculous to me. Nah, forget borderline. It fell in Kentucky? It’s a tree? Uriel is able to capture it and put it in a vial? All Anna had to do is get her grace back with said vial and she’s an angel again? Don’t angels fall because of disobedience? Sorry, but all that doesn’t even look good on paper. It certainly didn’t work when acted out.
Second, I’m still scratching my head over the construction that went into the “plan” of bringing the angels and demons together. Given the risky timing variables, like Ruby ending up getting tortured and the angels showing up late in the morning (when Ruby sneaked out in the middle of the night), it seemed to be a plan held together by a wing and a prayer (excuse the pun). I don’t know, maybe it’s me, but I figured Sam and Dean would be a little slicker than that. It went over clunky despite the decent end result.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Leora
"...Jensen easily outperforms anyone on the small screen today. "
Except Jared.
Your rating of B+ is right on the money. The storyline was very clunky. While it was nice to see Dean's back, the sex scene was a little too contrived for my taste. But I enjoyed the showdown between the angels and demons and am glad Anna is gone to -- wherever? Ruby is starting to grow on me, however I still do not fully trust her.
It's going to be a LONG wait for Jan. 15th.
2 - Alice Jester
Leora - You are exactly right. Except Jared. I should have clarified anyone OUTSIDE of the show. You throw Jensen and Jared together with Misha Collins and Jim Beaver and no show could stand up against that.
3 - Jayne
How can anyone not like Bad Company? That's my only nitpick of your review. As usual I agree with pretty much everything you say. You've even managed to sort of change my mind on Ruby.
Only thing is, I'm pretty sure Dean called Uriel "Junkless" not "Chuckles" which followed on from the sexless Ken reference Dean made to him earlier in the dream sequence.
4 - strangelove
Leora
Jensen outperforms Jared by a mile. No offense to Jared, but he's hardly the versatile and compelling actor Jensen is.
Alice, the plan was Sam's. So, you can blame him for the idiocy of it.
5 - tina
No Jensen doesnt , maybe in Season 1 but not anymore Jared is up there with him easily now , and I find him equally compelling as Jensen and Jared has had less to work with.
6 - strangelove
Yes Jensen does. Jared is still not up to caliber. While he may be better than he was, he still hasn't nor ever will catch up with Jensen, simply because Jared just doesn't have it.
Jared also has had just as much to work with, so I'm a bit tired of the lame excuses about Jared not having the same experience, not having the same stuff. Jared just doesn't bring it to the table as much as Jensen.
Heck, look at the scene between Wisdom and Ackles. That crackled with tension and both actors are very good. And that was only a few minutes long.
7 - Kam
Oh, let's please not turn this into yet ANOTHER Jensen versus Jared comparison. Those are all over the web and are tiresome. Seriously.
Awesome review. Thank you!
8 - Ana
"It’s a shame that such acting performances are rarely recognized in the sci-fi genre, for Jensen easily outperforms anyone on the small screen today."
Being in the midst of a stellar end to The Shield, I'd offer up Chiklis, Goggins and Pounder as contenders for this as well. But considering his age and his network, Jensen certainly is remarkable, and he certainly outperforms any other actors in either of those categories (under-30 and/or CW).
"Misha Collins with resounding distinction sells the deep struggle within Castiel with only pained looks in his eyes."
He's wonderful, yes. What a great find he's been for the show... he manages to convey alien, angelic distance, while showing us the character's growing emotional responses. Excellent.
Great review, Alice, thanks! :)
9 - Sandy
Great review Alice. As usual I raced home on Friday night to watch online. Since we're 21 hours ahead I have to wait! *impatient* I did frown a couple of times. And when Anna did the blood thing to stop the first fight and then didnt know how she did it, I found myself shouting "bullsh*t!" lol. But that last scene...well that blew me away. Jensen sure can act!!! Those emotions...those facial expressions....hang on while I swim out of the shallow end... hmmm on second thoughts....think I'll stay here....
10 - Jessica
"While he may be better than he was, he still hasn't nor ever will catch up with Jensen, simply because Jared just doesn't have it."
Whatever.
Alice: Great review! As usual I agree with most everything you said. I think Dean did say "junkless" and not "Chuckles". The whole ripping out of grace, it becoming a tree and then Uriel bottling it was almost laughable. Only Jared and Jensen could sell something that silly!
However, even the silliest Supernatural episode beats most anything else on TV today.
11 - Theori
There have got to be some deleted scenes somewhere. The whole "Plan" had to have made sense to someone at some point and it just didn't translate from paper to screen. Didn't Kripke write this episode?
12 - Alice Jester
I’m a mom, so I’m going to do here what I do with my kids when they start bickering over trivial things. I’m ending it with my final say!
Jensen is an exceptional actor. I’m sure I don’t need to explain why.
Jared is an exceptional actor. Didn’t anyone read my praises of his performance last week? If anyone believes that Jared hasn’t taken the role of Sam into amazing heights, I challenge you to watch the pilot and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” back to back. Night and day.
Comparing Jensen and Jared is like comparing apples and oranges. Both are different and bring unique strengths to their roles that no one else can. My point was that Jensen’s last scene in “Heaven and Hell” was worthy of the Emmy reels. A lot of his big scenes are. Jared’s approach is more subtle, but for anyone carefully watching, it’s just as haunting. It makes sense, since Sam’s character is not meant to be as open as Dean.
So, in summary, they’re both great. We’re lucky to have them on the show!
Ahem, better now. For everyone else, thanks for the comments! I’ll tell you what actor really blew me away in “Heaven and Hell”. It’s Misha Collins. We better see more of him, for I credit a part of season four’s success to his appearance on this show.
I’ll have to go back and triple check what I heard Dean call Uriel after the final showdown. I’m working on the full recap now, I’ll have to make sure I hear it right for that. I agree, I’ll give Kripke a pass on one silly subplot considering it’s still better than all the crap I see out there today. For example, Heroes is really silly anymore.
Kripke wrote this and is also responsible for post production, so if it was edited poorly, that's probably on him too! Ah, the burdens on being the man in charge. I forgive him though.
Only six and half more weeks of hiatus!
13 - Huppy
I really liked reading your review, Alice. You give such a good analysis. And similar to you, I could not post a critique on the episode until the next day. I had to sleep on it to see what I really thought about the episode.
It is not one of the best ones, for the reasons you mentioned. The plot about getting Anna's grace back and going to a tree in Kentucky was too ridiculous. And Sam actually devised a plan for the angels and demons to fight it out? It just seemed to have happened rather than any plan being executed.
I was not pleased with Anna. For someone who at one time was Castiel's and Uriel's boss, she was so passive. It was the boys who thought of getting Pam's help and also figured out where Anna's grace landed. I also really didn't like that rather than giving herself up to Castiel and Uriel, she waited until after Dean was pressured by Uriel and Sam's life was threatened. And then Anna tells Dean, "I forgive you." That was so big of her.
The way the angels are being depicted is also disappointing to me. I don't want angels to be unquestioning robots; I thought they would have knowledge and wisdom and understanding of God's plans. As it is, angels are better than demons, but not a whole lot better. And I agree with you, it is pretty obvious that Castiel, with his doubts and questions,is headed toward a fall. And I guess we are supposed to be happy about that.
Last season, I would never have thought that we would ever speculate if Ruby loves Sam. When she first started following him around M7, she didn't know him, so she had to have another agenda. Will that agenda be changed? Does she really love Sam? I am glad that they are integrating Ruby more in the storyline; it gives Genevieve a better chance to act, and I think she is doing better.
The best scene was the last scene, between Dean and Sam. It was heartbreaking.
What's also heartbreaking is no more SN episodes until January!! Oh well.
14 - Emma
Great review Alice,
I agree the fallen angel needing her angel-juice was a bit of a stretch but they made it work.
Dean's sex scene with Anna (thank you Kripke) was stunning to watch. Also, the removal of his amulet I think has a deeper underlying meaning, like he was taking down a wall and letting someone in to see the real him. Anna knew about the things he did in Hell and still cared for him, that's something he truely needed because he feels like a monster and would give anything to take his feelings away.
Misha blew me away with his eyes (and not just beacuse they are beautiful baby blues) the agony coming through was breath taking. He truely adds so much depth to Castiel and it is that depth (and relationship with Dean) that I love about the character.
The final scene: It is one of those scenes from this show that I am incapable of watching without reaching for the tissues. I cried my eyes out. Jensen blows me away and out does hiself every time. Jared has also blown me away (Metamorphosis anyone?) but as a Dean Girl Jensen just gets to me. Truely Emmy worthy.
This is a little thing I noticed and got from the Dean/Uriel dream scene: When Uriel figures out Dean bedded Anna and laughs Dean's response is: what do you care, you're junkless down there, hmm like a Ken Doll? Now not only did I laugh at that line but I also took it to mean that a human mortal man was able to completely satisfy an angel in ways no one else could (and I'm not just talking in the backseat of the Impala). Did anyone else feel this way?
15 - elle2
Alice,
Great review.
There was and is so much to love about this episode, some things to like [even I, a longtime non-fan of GC's acting talent found her at least likeable to watch in most scenes here]and yep, there's plenty in here to 'cause pause and head scratching and then the question of ...huh?
I won't reiterate my thoughts as you captured them all above but I will add this:
I hope the second half of the season brings a conlusion to Ruby's storyline. Season 3 was her beginning, manipulative, secretive and oh, so not trustworthy.
This season she's become a new character -- and Kripke did say in an early interview that Ruby's character would change this season -- she's shown a willingness to sacrifice for both brothers, Dean and her have found a tolerable working rhythm but all that change (and now we're in the middle of her character arc) comes at a price.
Ruby's appears seems a bit clunky, she's become a contrivance for the plot. There is no mystery that she and Sam worked together training his 'demon killing skills.' and she can't hide from Dean her influence and she's garnered a fair bit of trust w/her willingness to be tortured by Alistair.
More importantly to why she comes and goes, because she has quite thoroughly alienated herself within the demonic realm, where does she go when not with Sam and Dean?
For me, it's time to answer the ultimate question, what's her true motivation and the character has served her purpose, she got Sam to open up to his powers. He's shown a firm committment to not using them again [ don't believe for a second he won't tap into them when pushed though ] but it appears based on their converstation that he knows full well what he needs to do = practice. Ruby isn't needed anymore for this.
I'm tired/bored of wondering what her 'mysterious plan' is w/the Winchesters and hope the Mr. Kripke's penchant for not leeting storylines whither around unnecessarily means that he'll be wrapping hers up.
As for the angels, love the subtle change to Castiel, Misha Collins and EK both stated that Castiel is a bit conflicted and will begin to question what he knows. He's been questioning more and more since In The Beginning -- that end scene before taking Dean 'back to the present' shows that what Dean endured in 1973 affected Castiel as well.
There is a lot more to love than dislike about this episode and it is well worth multiple viewings...go back and watch as Dean ponders that grace falling is pure creation and not ground zero, and then rewatch Lazarus Rising and the destruction around his gravesite...symbolic? Deeper meaning??? Nothing whatsoever??? Don't know but the fact that Dean ponders it is reason enough, Dean actually is thinking about God.
Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, not only are you buff for a nerd but what an awesome brother. Loved how he sat solidly at Dean's back supportive and not judgemental, much like Dean's lack of judgement at last week's reveal. Neither brother judged the other for what had happened but it's interesting that Sam trusted Dean not to judge him and that Dean willingly showed he wouldn't judge Sam and could sit directly opposite him.
Dean didn't/doesn't trust Sam not to judge him simply because Dean cannot forgive himself. Sam, wisely didn't push Dean into the confession, he never moved to look his brother in the eye, he knew that any movement on his part would shut Dean down.
Fabulous. I had thought Kim Manners directed this but on the second viewing actually read the credits and saw that it was J. Miller Tobin. He's directed BUABS and AVSC so he gave us another treat here and yes, Charles Beeson gave us a masterpiece last week, I had been worried as he hasn't really wowed me yet, he did last week.
I'm sanely and calmly counting down until the next new episodes (only 52 more days) and plan to rewatch all series' episodes in groups by who directed, and then by who wrote...just for kicks and giggles.
Enjoy some much deserved down time.
16 - Baronius
Alice, I'm glad you had the same misgivings about this episode as I did. Actually, I've got a lot of problems with this whole arc. Like with the angels: two months ago, they were beings of unspeakable power. Now, they can be stopped with spells and hex bags and apparently weapons. Demons can stand up to them, and Alistair could even beat one in a fight. And that's not even touching on the whole grace-in-a-vial thing.
It's weird. It's been a very good season so far, but with a weak arc.
17 - Rosewood
Thanks for the review! I think you let Kripke off easy. I give him a B-. Show tries so hard and usually excels, but Metallicar is angry with the cliched and overlong sex scene that smeered a handprint on its window.
Jensen and Jared's performances in the entire episode, and then Jensen especially in that final scene lifted the whole episode.
I agree that like Jensen and Jared, Misha Collins can do more with his eyes than other actors do with their whole bodies and paragraphs of dialog. I hope Kripke really plays out Castiel's character conflicts - more than just for plot purposes.
(Also, I didn't check the TiVo, but I also heard Dean refer to Uriel as "junkless".)
I was a bit surprised there wasn't a cliffhanger; just alot of questions. What else does Sammy know how to do, and what's he juicing with to amp his mojo? Ruby seemed confident Sam could take out Alistair before he refused to try.
Did Anna destroy Alistair or just blow him back to hell?
Why was Alistair able to kick Castiel's butt?
If Anna got her grace back, is she in heaven's custody awaiting trial/execution or is she hiding someplace?
We've only seen a Dean hallucination of her. When are we going to see Lilith?
So much to think about over the break! cheers,
Wendy
18 - Kate
Delighted to read your review. I agree that Jensen is one of the best actors out there in television and I would love to see him get the recognition he is due. I am not getting into Jared/Jensen - I think the fact that they pull off a show with only 2 characters showing up every week shows their abilities. That is not an easy task and they can make me laugh or break my heart with just a glance.
I hate to have to wait for the next episode but I will be going back to watch the older episodes in the meantime - and reading your older blog entries as well.
19 - Kelly Hicks
I always enjoy reading your reviews - thank you!
However, I gladly followed the storyline this week, even the beautiful oak Grace tree. But I'm pretty easy to please:)
I do disagree, though, as did other readers, about Bad Company. It's just a personal preference, but I've always thought them terribly underappreciated. Seems they may be to Dean as Kansas is to Sam. I think it was Bad Company that kept Dean and Cassie company in the first season:)
Have a good rest and I look forward to seeing you back here, all refreshed, in January.
Thanks so much for your fun review:)
20 - Alice Jester
Yeah, I knew I was likely in the minority over Bad Company, but hey, I'm always one to speak my mind. To each his own. :)
I knew Dean called Uriel "junkless" in their scene together after Dean did it with Anna, but at the very end, when sending Castiel and Uriel away, I thought he said chuckles. My fault for not being that specific.
It did bother me as well that Castiel couldn't destroy Alastair, and I really think that threw Castiel for a loop as well, adding to his disillusion. I'm willing to grant a little latitude that the angels aren't the almighty beings we thought they should be, but if they can raise Dean from Hell, they shouldn't be totally hapless. I'm hoping they'll get their moments of redemption.
As for the clunky story in this one (although I do think the arc has been very strong until this), I have this theory that when the writers and producers got together for the script readthrough, several skipped out because Kripke forgot the donuts. How else could that whole team have let such things slide? Ah well, I still trust in Kripke, and I'll faithfully wait until January.
It's possible next month I'll go back and do some season one reviews. I've done three for season two, but I've never touched season one. It might be fun to go back and see how much what was done then ties into what we see now. "Home" is at the top of my list.
21 - Rene
As usual your review is great. I do have to disagree on the sex scene, I would have been just as happy with a bare backed Dean then the contrived sex scene we got.
Otherwise I loved what you had to say. Have a great holiday.
22 - vichi
Hi Alice,
Nice to read your point of view about this episode. I am one of those who actually loved the episode from the first time. I was blown away by Jensen's performance and his last scene was heartbreaking.
About angels and demons, well what can I say? I don't know how they suppossed to be but if Kripke wants them this way it's fine with me. I am not very religious and this show is not about religion so I wont talk about that:))) But I must say that when they spoke about Anna's grace falling from the sky like a meteor I though, wow, they are going to find Clark Kent:)))
The famous sex scene in the Impala: I loved it. I like Bad company and Ready for love was perfect. I remembered that Dean's first sex scene from Route 666, with Cassie (that was a bad sex scene by the way)was also on a Bad Company's song :She brings me love. That's why I love so much this show:continuity.
The hand scene at the end, in the Impala, was very Titanic and I think Kripke did it on purpose, to tease us and play with us, to see how we'll react. But also could mean that just like in Titanic, there can't be happy endings. As silly as is seems, Anna and Dean could be Rose and Jack...no happy endings. So I can understand this scene, this is the way I saw it. I might be wrong...but who knows what Kripke had in mind?
I loved Misha as Castiel in this episode. He becomes more human and I'm afraid that he is going to fall soon.
As a Deangirl all the way, I have to say that Jensen Ackles did an amazing job with his character this episode. You could see the pain and the guilt on his face when he betrayed Anna for Sam, or the remorse and pain when he talked about his time in Hell. I was crying with him.
This show is amazing, it's not perfect but I like it this way. There are better episodes and worst ones but it's the only show that I watch not only once but everytime I can. So this hiatus, I am gonna rewatch my favorites episodes all over again:)
As for you, Happy holiday and can't wait for you to come back with new articles about this wonderful show:)
23 - Suze
Hiya
It's only a thought, but in something I read Kripke gave " American Gods " by Neil Gaimen as one of his influences for the show and that has both a giant magic tree and a character who carries her life on a string around her neck, so maybe he was riffing on that when he wrote this episode?
As for the call-that-a-plan? plan, that was one of Sams, remember, and his saving the day brainwaves tend to come down anywhere between daft and downright insane, so this was quite a result, considering.
24 - heraldtalia
Hi, Alice! I enjoyed your review as usual, and thanks for your constant level-headedness when it comes to the whole ridiculous Jensen v Jared thing. They both rock and neither one of them would thank their fans for bashing the other one.
I just have to say that I actually really love the mytharc and to me, and like vichi, I loved this ep from the first time I saw it. Maybe it's because I'm agnostic and a fan of Constantine, Preacher, and Dogma, but I don't mind the shows depictions of angels and their nature at all. In fact, I'm relieved Supernatural has not become a weekly sermon. I like that Uriel and Castiel are flawed and that some of the demons are possibly stronger than some of the angels--because otherwise, the stakes are much lower because why wouldn't the angels just wipe out all the demons walking the earth? If it were too easy, I wouldn't be as on the edge of my seat. We also know Cass said earlier this season that some angels had been killed, presumably by demons.
As for the grace thing, I personally don't find it any more ridiculous than a working wishing well (and it's much less ridiculous than the teddy bear), a cursed rabbit's foot, salt working against demons and ghosts or any other supernatural aspect of the show. Again, maybe that's just because it's all mythology to me and the show is clearly trying to establish its own take on biblical events that does not necessarily conform to the Christian Bible, the Torah or the Koran. I do have to say that some people I've been trying to get to watch the show, and who were not necessarily impressed with suicidal teddy bears and B-horror movie homages were very impressed with the last two eps.
And I am so with you on the Emmys and the acting. As a longtime fan of "genre" TV, it drives me crazy that talented actors like Jensen never get recognized simply because they are on a genre show. *sighs*
Anyway, thanks for the review and it's going to be a LONG wait til the 15th!
P.S. Since you seem to understand the ratings--and I totally don't--I was wondering if SPN's numbers have been staying up this season compared to last? And is SPN still the 2nd highest rated scripted drama on the CW, or is that One Tree Hill now? Thanks!
25 - Suze
Hi again
I'm with Heraldtalia, I loved the last 2 episodes. The idea of a bottle of magic angel life juice is no more unbelievable than the idea of there being angels in the first place. I'm not religious either and I like the way the show is presenting the 2 sides as different in ideology but similar in their methods. After all, the higher up demons started out as angels in the first place so they would have the same fire power and general outlook on things, wouldn't they?
Life is good, roll on January!