#tmwwbk my fave ep of ALL TIME

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 172: 5x21, 6x20, 9x21, 10x21

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

May 6, 2022

5x21: Two Minutes to Midnight

Written by: Sera Gamble

Directed by: Phil Sgriccia

Original air date: May 6, 2010

Plot Synopsis:

Bobby sells Crowley his soul in exchange for the location of Death, while Pestilence infects the Winchesters with a deadly disease.

Features:

A petri dish of diseases, Cas first experience with being human, Pestilence’s senior care facility, Cas cutting off Pestilence’s finger, Bobby’s soul belonging to Crowley, O Death aka the most kickass character intro possible, the sub-clause in Bobby’s contract, the distribution of Croatoan, an Angel with a Shotgun, Death’s eating habits.

My Thoughts:

This episode is where the pacing goes wrong in season 5, which is a shame because it’s so close to a slam dunk. We should not have had two horseman sharing an episode, especially not with Death as one of them. Death being markedly different from his siblings should merit him having an entire episode, even if the actual screen time he gets doesn’t change. 

Even though watching Pestilence on screen is Bad for me, the return to Croatoan as a plot point could have had more weight and we could have had more time to watch Sam be unambiguously good and strengthen Bobby’s point of view at the end of the episode. There are a couple episodes that could be tossed to split this one into two and give each horseman his due. Personally, my choice would be Swap Meat - it doesn’t have much bearing on the plot and it was my lowest ranked episode of the season. You could also do The Curious Case of Dean Winchester, which while funny has some distressing disability politics, or The Real Ghostbusters, whose only relevant plot point was learning that Bela gave the Colt to Crowley and not Lilith.

War’s episode can stay where it is, and while you could rearrange things a bit more to spread the horsemen out, I think the major issues are solved. 

Death’s intro kicks total ass. He steals every scene he’s in. I love when Reapers were freaky and just stood stock still facing whatever was coming next. The biggest bummer is that after Death’s line about reaping God, God doesn’t even die at the end of the series. 

Notable Lines:

“I'm saying that I am thirsty and my head aches. I have a bug bite that itches no matter how much I scratch it, and I'm saying that I'm just incredibly…” “Human.”

“You are not the burnt and broken shell of a man that I believed you to be.”

“Believe me, I know exactly how screwed up I am. You, Bobby, Cas...I'm the least of any of you.”

“To a thing like me, a thing like you, well...Think how you'd feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started to get snarky. This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that's barely out of its diapers. I'm old, Dean. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you.”

“I'm more powerful than you can process, and I'm enslaved to a bratty child with a temper tantrum.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.4

IMdB Rating: 9.3

6x20: The Man Who Would Be King

Written by: Ben Edlund

Directed by: Ben Edlund

Original air date: May 6, 2011

Plot Synopsis:

Castiel tells his story in his own words and confesses to some interesting choices.

Features:

Cas’ story, peak Crowley, Cas longingly looking at Dean while invisible, Bobby’s demon counterpart, smiting in the name of secrecy, Cas as God’s Chosen, teaching poetry to fish, Dean raking leaves, Cas’ sex appeal, the saddest ring of holy fire we’ve ever seen. 

My Thoughts:

This is my favourite episode of the entire series. In my head when I set my rating scale, it was Carry on on one end of the spectrum and The Man Who Would Be King on the other. There isn’t a single thing about this episode that I would change. 

Crowley is a master manipulator, succeeding even when Cas knows what he’s doing. The deal he offers is irresistible, and he plants the seeds that start a Heavenly civil war.

Dean shows more faith in this episode than we have ever seen before or since. He’s pulled a gun on his father, he’s locked Sam in a panic room, but even with every instinct and sign saying that Cas is dangerous, he can’t believe it until he’s presented with irrefutable proof and even then, he keeps trying to fix it. 

And Cas… this episode gets even better in retrospect. Not just because now, in canon, this is a tragedy of a gay love story, but also because we know for sure now that God is a writer. In praying to God to tell his story, he doesn’t just force his father into the role of audience member, he unintentionally puts himself in God, the original storyteller’s, place. And the choices he makes in this episode lead to the Godstiel arc. 

Notable Lines:

“I've been here for a very long time. And I remember many things. I remember being at a shoreline, watching a little grey fish heave itself up on the beach and an older brother saying, ‘don't step on that fish, Castiel. Big plans for that fish.’"

“the stench of that Impala's all over your overcoat, Angel.”

“The worst part was Dean, trying so hard to be loyal, with every instinct telling him otherwise.”

“It's simple. Freedom is a length of rope. God wants you to hang yourself with it."

“I believe it's what you would call a...Tragedy from the human perspective.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 10

IMdB Rating: 8.9

9x21: King of the Damned

Written by: Buckleming

Directed by: P. J. Pesce

Original air date: May 6, 2014

Plot Synopsis:

Abaddon makes a deal with Crowley to stop the Winchesters and recover the first blade. Castiel tries to bring Gadreel to his side in the war against Metatron.

Features:

Abaddon in the 1700s, Cas as commander, Gavin MacLeod and Crowley’s smidgeon of humanity, insecure weenie angels, collecting the First Blade, Abaddon’s death, 

My Thoughts:

For an episode about killing a seasons-long villain, I was remarkably bored the whole time. The theory is there - Cas becoming a commander again when the last time he marshaled forces in a civil war went so disastrously, Crowley being confronted with the human part of himself, Dean using the Blade - but it’s executed badly. I had neutral feelings the entire time except when I was being annoyed about how Buckleming write angels, which I will never stop complaining about. 

Angels should not be able to hang out in a bar and convincingly replicate humans hanging out. It gets rid of everything that makes them interesting. The contrast is glaring, having just recently watched The Great Escapist where they so clearly had thought patterns wildly different from ours. 

The Gavin thing is mildly uncomfortable and flirts with abuse apologism. Haha it’s so funny that Crowley beat his kid when he was human. It also makes the “smidgeon of humanity” thing less effective as a theme or plot device. If he didn’t give a shit while he was human the first time why would he give a shit when he’s only barely human now? I would rather see the dynamic where Gavin loved his dad and has to reckon with how different he is now that his soul is corrupted, but that humanity still comes through and saves his life. 

Notable Lines:

There was not a single one that I cared about tbh. 

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 3.9

IMdB Rating: 8.7

10x21: Dark Dynasty

Written by: Buckleming

Directed by: Robert Singer

Original air date: May 6, 2015

Plot Synopsis:

While investigating a strange murder, Sam and Dean discover the killer has the same tattoo as those from the Styne family; Castiel plays referee when Charlie and Rowena must work together; Crowley turns to an old enemy for help with Rowena.

Features:

Bogus eyesight studies, the Stynes harvesting body parts, some Microsoft product placement, Rowena and Charlie butting heads, the Winchesters lying to each other again, Crowley chatting with a hamster, Dean getting accosted while he tries to buy pizza, bioengineering, the indestructibility of the Book of the Damned.

My Thoughts:

I don’t think I need to say “Fuck Buckleming” here, but I will - Fuck them. 

Most of this episode is boring and most of what isn’t is dumb bullshit. The only thing I kind of liked was the scene where Rowena reads Charlie, but even that is more powerful if we’re going to see them together have some kind of dynamic shift, which we don’t. 

The Frankenstein twist is dumb and a human body can’t accommodate multiple hearts. The idea that a family of white douchebags caused the Arab Spring is insulting and racist, and there was no reason to include that in their backstory because it was a throwaway line. 

I understand intellectually the plot point of Charlie dying. Narratively, we need something to tip Dean over the edge to fully give in to the Mark of Cain, and a side character that they already have history with is the best way to do that. The problem is that her reason for dying so insanely stupid. She left the warded, protected room because Rowena was being annoying and she needed quiet? And she chose to do it at the moment when she was already getting what she needed because Cas had moved Rowena out of her space? Nothing you say will make me believe that Charlie didn’t own noise-canceling headphones. 

Her death scene was brave at the very least, I love her making the choice to send the information that can save her friend instead of giving it up to save herself, but it’s soured by the whole lead up to it. There were better ways to force her into a vulnerable position, but they had to choose the one that would make it Sam’s fault the most, rather than having Rowena trick her or something. 

Also, the title of this episode just makes me think of Duck Dynasty, which I know exclusively through annoying ass commercials I saw a lot of in High School.

Notable Lines:

“Let me tell you about you . . . a difficult and lonely childhood. Tragedy, absent parents. Always outside the mainstream. Sexually progressive. Living in your own head for solace and direction.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 2.2

IMdB Rating: 7.3

In Conclusion: ignoring the misery of a 2 Buckleming day, I saved 6x20 for last and I am riding that Bedlund high.

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#Stackednatural #supernatural #spn #5x21 #Two Minutes to Midnight #6x20 #The Man Who Would Be King #9x21 #King of the Damned #10x21 #Dark Dynasty #tmwwbk my fave ep of ALL TIME