Slicing And Dicing: Supernatural Review, S10 Ep10, "The Hunter Games"

Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner are fabled as the writers of the worst episodes. (Black woman in dog collar, anyone?) And while this script was no great shakes, the direction of John Badham and the high-powered performances by the cast kept the episode popping along.  The visual aspects were beautifully done.

What was missing was any feeling of resolution.  Still, it was fun.

Disclaimer: My reaction was colored by the fact that I was watching with my husband, who dislikes the show.  However, he was sucked into the scenes with Crowley and his mother, laughing his head off. He wants Castiel's pimpmobile.  He enjoyed the episode, particularly Crowley and Metatron.  Since I loves me some Metatron, this was a truly special occasion.  He was easily persuaded to walk the dog after the show.  I might never recover.

The Road So Far: Kick. Ass.  These segments are always the best part of any premiere or finale, tightly edited, packed with action.  Edited to ELO's "Long Black Road," this gets the main storylines across with a brevity I wish they could manage in the episodes themselves.  Plus lots of cool beheadings and crashes and stuff.

Now: A frightened Crowley runs through the corridor of the mens room castle or whatever. His demons surround him and stab him to death. He wakes up and finds mother Rowena (Ruth Connell) standing over him solicitously. The use of premonitions and dream sequences during the openings is really starting to piss me off. Do they write these solely for the purpose of the promos??

A-Story: Dean and Sam trying to get the MOC off Dean by any means necessary.  First, Castiel brings Metatron (Curtis Armstrong) to the bunker.  It kind of gets stupider from there.

B-Story: Crowley and his mother, Rowena. She is machinating all over the place. Crowley, initially mistrustful, loses 75% of his intellect and trusts her.  I do love that she calls him "Fergus".

C-Story: Castiel and Claire. That's all you're getting out of me. She and her annoying hairdo go off into the horizon at the end.  Please, please don't come back.


"Bye, Claire. I have to get back to my true love, Dean."

My fervent hope for "The Hunter's Game" was for Dean would go crazy and slaughter Claire, thus driving a wedge between Dean and Castiel.  Alas, she lives.


The MOC could probably use some antibiotic cream the way he keeps handling it.

Dean sits on his memory-foam mattress, having flashbacks from the massacre.  Very nice intercutting between now and then.  He looks at himself in a broken mirror (symbolism!).  Then he goes to the main room to jaw with Sam and Cas.  No lore about the MOC, no nothing.  Dean is seriously fucked.

Castiel calls in some favors and an angel named Ingrid brings a hooded figure to him.  Castiel removes the hood, revealing Metatron.  Now, you might think the hood shouldn't be revealed until after Metatron is in the dungeon, so that HE DOESN'T KNOW WHERE IT IS.  But that would spoil the reveal!  Jesus Christ, these writers are idiots sometimes.

Metatron, as always, brings the snark bigtime.  When he gets a look at the dungeon, he says, "Is this where you bring the kinky chicks?" Sam, who is not allowed to have any discernible personality, ignores him and chains him up.  He proceeds to grill Metatron, who is ecstatic that Dean is alive and completely out of his mind. "He's gone nuclear!" However, the Scribe of God stops laughing when Sam reveals Dean.  Who is, if you think about it, looking completely out of his mind.  In a quiet, brooding Dean kinda way. Oops.



Metatron needs a change of pants.
Once Dean is in the dungeon, Sam loses all of the good lines. Metatron says the cure starts with The First Blade.  Sam and Dean do a walk-and-talk about why this is a stupid idea, which you know they're going to do because every tv show in the known universe has a character at some point say "this is the stupidest idea we've ever had." I can't remember why Sam leaves Dean alone with Metatron, but he does, and everything goes to shit.  Metatron baits Dean, activating the Mark.  Which is a really suicidal thing to do when you're chained to a chair and Dean has an angel blade.

Does anyone remember in Season 5 when Dean punched Castiel and nearly broke his fist?  No, I don't either. Since then angels have gotten a lot more spongy.  Dean not only beats the crap out of Metatron, he slices and dices.

Sam, who has been hanging out finishing Catcher In The Rye, hears the screams.  He and Cas run to the locked door.  Instead of having spare keys, Sam tries kicking in the door.  Instead of not wasting time by watching Sam kick in the door, Cas blows it open.  Sam restrains Dean while Cas doesn't heal Metatron (buh?) but takes him back to Heaven.


"Say my name! Say my name!"


(I had to put this kid from Episode 1 back in!)


"Listen, man, there is this incredible scene in Catcher In The Rye where Holden--"
"Shut the fuck up, Sam, you know you aren't supposed to have any real dialogue."

They call Crowley and have a meeting in the rain to convince him to get the Blade.  Crowley says no. "Can't we catch a movie? Hang out?"  Hee.  Back at the men's room, Rowena casts a spell to let her spirit find her son.  There's a nice visual of the city below, but then it keeps going and going and going until I thought we were going to end up in Jakarta.

 
Rowena has an orgasm when she sees THIS:


OMG OMG OMG MINE MINE MINE MINE

Damn, that's one fine looking hunk of man.

Back in the men's room, Rowena henchman blah blah blah Crowley finds First Blade missing blah blah blah Rowena kills henchman blah blah convinces Crowley everyone is plotting against him except his dear sweet mother.  Oh, for God's sake, Crowley, you didn't get to be the King of Hell without knowing who your enemies are.  You can't see through the obvious lies your mother is spewing?  It's just...MOVING ON!


No, Crowley's not snorting cocaine.

Sam looks up from Catcher In The Rye and exposits that Cain had retired from killing for centuries, so Dean should be able to do the same thing.  This is demonstrated at the end where, instead of taking out two of Claire's buddies who are trying to kill him, he beats a park bench to death.

The closing scene is Castiel bidding farewell to Claire then running her over with his car.

Random Thoughts:

Beyond carving Metatron like an ice sculpture, was there any forward momentum?


FINALLY, Claire and her annoying hairdo acknowledged that she is looking at her dead father.

If Sam can't have any storyline, can he have good hair?  Please?  I saw some vids from the San Francisco convention and GOOD LORD THAT IS HAIR THAT IS A NATURAL WONDER SHOW WHAT ARE YOU DOING??


Next week: Stuff.  I forgot.  Sorry.

Photograph of Ruth Connell copyright Ruth Connell

Ole Black Eyes: Review, Supernatural 9x23 "Do You Believe In Miracles"

Despite expectations, Tuesday's finale did not leave me a sobbing wreck. It left me with my stomach hurting, looking into the darkness, with the urge to cry deep in my heart.  And slightly disappointed that Dean didn't turn into an anime schoolgirl with weird sparkly eyes. I called that one wrong!

“Do You Believe in Miracles,” written by show runner Jeremy Carver and directed by Thomas P. Wright, had to fight not only with the memories of other finales, but also the repeated tropes of the show. Particularly when it comes to death, the brothers’ relationship, etc. There were quite a few derivative scenes and plotlines. But you know something? I didn’t give a damn, even as I was watching and thinking, “Yeah, we’ve seen this before.” And the ending turned a basic “Supernatural” trope on its head.

THEN: Obligatory "Carry On My Wayward Son" montage. This song gets more depressing every year. There will never be any peace for the Winchesters, they will never be done. I'd rather hear "Rock me, Amadeus."



















This joke caused me to get blocked on Twitter by Jim Michaels.  Trufax. 

NOW: The episode picks up where we left off, Gadreel falling to the ground, stabbed, bloodthirsty!Dean being held back by Cas and Sam.  Cas holds him as Sam wrestles away the blade.  They lock Dean in the bunker dungeon (that place proves to be endlessly useful!).  Sam and Castiel put the blade in a metal box...on a table?  WTF?  Are you guys that dumb?

 
"He'll never find it here."  "Yeah."

Metatron has a techie hook up an intercom that blocks out all other signals from Angel Radio. "Metatron?" the techie asks. "Metatron?" Nothing.  "God?" Metatron looks up. "I'm writing a story about love," he says. "Like The Notebook?" asks the techie, adding eagerly, "I love The Notebook!"  Metatron takes the mike and announces to the angels that he is temporarily leaving the heavenly gates closed while he goes on a special trip.  The angels look up from their typewriters and filing, which begs the question: what the fuck are the angels doing, typing and on the phone?  Or all of those angel command centers?  WHAT? WHAT? TELL ME, GODDAMN IT, IT BUGS THE CRAP OUT OF ME EACH EPISODE!

 Metatron has been a great Big Bad.  He's a nerd who wants revenge, the classic "disgruntled employee" who had to listen to God.  He's slimy and funny, going to from ew to holy shit! in the blink of an eye.  Sometimes Curtis Armstrong's mugging gets a bit much.  He sulks and pouts, assumes an authority he's not comfortable with, and overplays his hand.  Also, he monologues about writing, which only got boring by the end.  I like having a Big Bad who doesn't come with a big sign blinking over his head: EVIL!

Following a bloody trail from the bunker, Sam and Cas drive the pimpmobile to find Baby parked with blood all over the seat.Gadreel lays in the grass.  Cas heals him, which burns out a little more of Cas's rapidly decreasing grace.  There's a new, if short-lived Team Free Will. After (literally) puking his guts out, Dean wastes no time summoning Crowley, who is enjoying his reinstatement.


It's good to be the King.

 "I really, really need to kill!" Dean tells everyone's favorite demon.  "What's happening to me?" Crowley: “It’s the Mark. It wants you to kill. The more you kill, the better you feel. The less you kill, the less better you feel." Dean: “How much less better?" Crowley: “One would imagine the least best better."   i.e. dead.

I love Crowley. No wonder he made such a lousy Big Bad last season. As we learned earlier, Cain was the first demon.  Dean's human body can't handle that sort of power.  Dean demands Crowley bust him out of there and get the First Blade.  When Sam, Castiel and Gadreel return to the bunkers--dun dun DUN--they find the Blade and Dean gone.  Seriously, how could they expect anything else? Jeez.

A woman talking on her cell is hit by a car and dies in the street.  But--a pathetic, shuffling figure raises her from the dead!  "Call me...Marv," he tells his flock.

At a watering hole, Dean does research and generally acts like an asshole.  Crowley has fallen hard for Dean.  He asks Dean, "Is this all there is?  Don't you want to howl at the moon (naked with me)?" Next season, Crowley and Cas won't be battling for Dean's soul, they'll be battling for Dean.  "I've loved you for seven seasons!"  "He's grown tired of you, Castiel.  Bugger off." A video of Marv raising the woman from the dead has gone viral.  There have been some complaints about how fast it happened, but I'm guessing those critics are above the age of fifteen.  Kids be having madskillz these days.  Dean leaves to go to Sam, leaving his cheeseburger untouched.  Never a good sign.


"The look of love, is in your eyes..."

Sam awaits at a trailer park for his brother.  He is seriously pissed, so he and Dean have the fight they should have had six episodes ago.  Dean says something defensive about Gadreel.  Sam spits out: "Who you let in the front door in the first place? You tricked me Dean, and now I’m the one who wakes up in the middle of the night seeing my hands killing Kevin, not you.”  You go, Sam!  Stand up for yourself!  We've been waiting for this all season!  It's short-lived, but at this point...


 "It's about goddamn time I got some decent dialogue, beeyotch!"

Nevertheless, they agree to go find Metatron together.  “I’m gonna take my best shot, no matter the consequences,” Dean says. Which might get them killed. “I know,” says Sam. Meaning, I'm not going to try to stop you.  Dean kicks Crowley to the curb.

Miracle woman told Sam Marv's next stop: a homeless encampment. Meanwhile, Cas and Gad in the pimpmobile, pull up in front of a child's playground. The entrance to Metatron's office is through the sandbox! Gadreel pretends that he has captured Castiel (Cas makes a movie reference but I didn't get it either) and they are let in. A whirlwind rises up, the angels disappear and...an office building elevator opens into Metatron's office.  Hee.


 The walls come atumblin'...up?

That is a really cool effect.  Way to go, VFX department!  Cas and Gadreel are locked in Heaven's jail, where Gadreel has spent centuries since letting the serpent into the garden.  And there's Hannah, with her strange pants (seriously, what's with the rolled up cuffs? ), glaring at them.

 
Was her vessel wading at the time?

 Gadreel freaks for obvious reasons.  Cas begs Hannah to listen to him, and she's "I've had enough of your bullshit kthanks".  Gadreel monologues, and after three rewatches I still couldn't figure out what he was saying.  Cas is like, you're redeemed, okay? Gadreel has used a piece of broken concrete to cut the suicide bomber rune into his chest.



 "You're gonna miss my bitchface next season!"


And...BOOM!

 
It's epic when shit blows up!!!

Metatron rolls a shopping cart into the homeless encampment-cum-this week's abandoned warehouse.  He cures a hobo's diabetes.  Another man, an angel, denounces Metatron, trying to tell everyone what a scumbag he is.  "Marv" starts to take out an angel blade, but the crowd goes crazy (great visual of the little schlub inching the blade clumsily up his sleeve), throws a tarp on him and beats the other angel to death.  Metatron kicks the angel blade toward the mob to help finish him off.  He is the happiest little killer angel.


 First day out, and you've turned them into Ukrainians

That night, Sam takes the First Blade out of the impala's trunk (after Dean has had a fast orgasm after touching it) and they agree to go in, Blade blazing.  But then Dean knocks Sam out and off goes the First Blade, Dean tagging after it. The homeless folk know Dean Winchester because Metatron told them he was coming.  Dean walks through an atmospheric red and yellow lit set--why aren't the homeless people living in there?  In my neighborhood, the "tunnel people" live in the train tracks underground.  But I digress.

Dean finds Metatron in the lotus position. I should tell you that my husband came in and laughed during this part, especially when Dean asked if there would be shirts saying "What Would Metatron Do?"  Heh. Until the fight started, and he left but fast.

“The problem with you, Dean, is the cynicism. Always with the cynicism, But most people, even the real belly crawlers living in filth, or Brentwood, they don’t want to be cynical. They just want something to believe in.”  Metatron tells Dean that humanity prays to God when they feel they've "failed" Him, and God "didn't even know their names!"

 
For once, I agree with Metatron. 

“I’m blaming you for Kevin. I’m blaming you for taking Cas’ grace. Hell, I’m blaming you for the Cubs not winning the World Series in the last hundred freaking years. Whatever it is, I’m blaming you.” Dean goes at Metatron--and proceeds to get the ever-living shit beat out of him.  "You've got some superjuice," Metatron says with a grin.  "You have the jawbone of an ass, and it is awesome!" He pauses. "Try being powered by the Word of God."  And resumes beating the shit out of Dean.  Sam arrives in time to see Metatron skewer his brother with an angel blade.

 
 

Dean looks at his brother, and he knows that he's failed at everything, he knows he's going to die and oh god oh jesus Jensen Ackles is just so GOOD...



Upstairs, Hannah leads Castiel to Metatron's office.  Castiel finds the word of God inside the manual typewriter.  Which all writers desperately wish we had.  The tablet, not the typewriter.  Cas drops the tablet at the same moment that Dean falls to the ground.  Metatron poofs out of there to his office.

Metatron has Cas handcuffed to a chair. He gleefully informs Cas that Dean is dead.  He says that Castiel’s purpose wasn’t to "save Heaven or mankind, but to save Dean."  In a scene right out of "A Face In The Crowd," (look it up--it was Andy Griffith's first starring part as the folksy hypocrite Lonesome Rhodes) Metatron monologues about how stupid angels are and that humanity is a pile of bleecch.  "Your problem," Metatron says, preparing to also skewer Cas, "is that you don't know how to tell a story."  "No, but you did."  Cas hitches his head at the live microphone.  The other angels bust in and take Metatron into custody.

Down on earth, Sam is determined to get Dean to a hospital. In a scene that mirrors the beginning of the season, Dean is ready to die. Dean: “It’s better this way. The mark, it’s making me into something I don’t want to be.” Dean: “What happened to you being OK with this?" Sam: “I lied." Dean: “Ain’t 
that a bitch." 
 


 Dean stops Sam, looks at his brother and I'm starting to cry just typing this.  "I'm proud of us," he says, and dies.

 

Sam cups Dean's head, in direct reference to S2 "All Hell Breaks Loose Part One" and starts crying.  Shoot me, but I didn't quite buy Jared's acting.  There was only one tear, not tears and snot and messiness like all of the other times his brother died.  That is one of the strangest sentences I have ever written.

Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" starts and oh god I'm just staring, not crying, just staring.  Sam brings Dean's body to the bunker, places it on a bed, and leaves to drink himself  into oblivion.



Sam goes into the dungeon, prepared to summon Crowley and get Dean back.  We've been here before. But we haven't.  Crowley is already in the bedroom, staring down at Dean's dead body.  Dean looks SO DEAD. His limbs and face are yellow, his lips are blue, he looks DEAD.  It gives me chills.

 

Crowley sits by Dean's body, gazing at it sadly.  "Your brother's summoning me," he says.  Side note: hasn't Crowley had to come immediately when summoned, unless he's in a devil's trap?  This scene's too good to quibble.  Crowley didn't expect Dean to die.  He talks about...something.  Then tells Dean he's not dead, that he's entering into a "new kind of life."  Crowley puts the Blade in Dean's hand and places it over his heart.  "See what I see.  Feel what I feel.  Now let's go howl at the moon."

   
EEEEEEEEEEK!

So, Crowley got Dean after all.  "I win, Cas!"  We leave Sam a basket case, Castiel's grace burning out, Gadreel dead, Metatron sulking in Angel Jail and the Gates of Heaven still closed.   That's all, folks!

I need to go lie down.

All Writers Are Lunatics* Supernatural Ep. 9x18, "Meta Fiction"

Novels and stories that examine, experiment with, or poke fun at the conventions and genres of fiction itself can all be classified as metafiction. The term "meta-fiction" means "beyond fiction" or "over fiction," indicating that the author or narrator stands "beyond" or "over" the fictional text and judges it in a highly self-conscious way. Patrick Kennedy

Being a writer, I enjoyed “Meta Fiction” on as many levels as the episode provided. It was written by Robbie Thompson and directed by Thomas J. Wright.  Few things make me, as the fans put it, "squee."  Not Dean, or Sam, or Castiel.  But intellectual concepts and realistic touches? Squee!

There was the story, the story-within-a-story, a breaking the fourth wall fake-out, and my favorite, an exploration of what it means to be a writer. Not only a writer of a long-running television show (There is an off-hand joke about “retcon.” Thompson tweeted that ret-con is now canon), but also the writer of stories. There is the deep satisfaction of building your own world, populated by your creations. However, characters are created, but they make decisions the writer never intended. Unexpected plot holes and mistakes occur. Fortunately, there’s rewriting. But is that last a good thing in this case?

"Meta Fiction" tied up many loose ends, and did the impossible: it made the angel war interesting.  As long as we leave Malachi and the others out of it, I'm good.

THEN: A whole lot of stuff, including Castiel stealing another angel’s grace.

NOW: In a quiet library, classical music plays on an old LP, a fire in the fireplace, books on the shelves...and Metatron, in spectacles, a figured silk robe, tapping away at a manual typewriter. I love Curtis Armstrong, and I'm happy I've never seen his other work. I'm unspoiled, shall we say.

This is a deliberate throw-back to Chuck, aka God, at the end of Season 5. He looks at us (his teeth are British, circa 1950. It ain’t pretty) and says “What makes a story work? It is the plot, the characters, the text? The subtext? And who gives a story meaning? Is it the writer? Or you? Tonight, I thought I would tell you a little story and let you decide."

The “SUPERNATURAL” title card is quickly pulled off. Heavenly trumpets blare as:



Dean is in the shower, and screams of fangirls break the eardrums of anyone in their vicinity. He looks at the Mark and--can it be--a SMALL CUT SCAR below it on his forearm?? For years I’ve wondered why those cuts insta-heal. Squee!  Sam's worried about Dean, and it's a satisfying role reversal from previous seasons.  This time, Sam has to watch helplessly as his brother changes.  Sam is scared and out of his depth.

Meanwhile, Cas is drawn to an empty warehouse by a strange noise. En route, his coat snags on a piece of machinery and the lining is torn (important later, folks). He finds a huge room full of dead angels and the Horn of Gabriel, which has been used as an angel duck call.

The one living angel, Hannah, tells Castiel that Metatron slaughtered all who wouldn’t rally to his cause. She begs him to lead the rebel angels. “I’m no leader,” as he insists multiple times throughout the episode. When Cas returns to his motel room, he calls Sam. Dean listens with a smile as Cas says, “I miss my wings. Life on the road...it smells.” Cas smiles hearing Dean’s voice. It’s a lovely moment, and the only one in the episode where Dean seems at all like his old self. 

Cas's character development is richly enjoyable.  Castiel's experience as a human has opened him up emotionally, leaving him more vulnerable and confused.  He's at a level of vulnerability the Winchesters were many seasons ago.  Sam and Cas are tentatively forming a friendship that is both about Dean and about itself.  Both man and angel have repeatedly had the experience of being controlled by others, and both are similar in nature.  They are both warriors, Castiel instinctively, Sam because he has to be. 

Sam mentions there’s no way back into Heaven--“That’s what Crowley said,” Dean gruffs. Sam remembers a witch boy in Ogden who helped them once upon a time, and drives off.

The witch boy, now a stoner who puts the Big Lebowski to shame, runs a head shop, with a sideline on fairy bones and gryphon feathers. Gadreel comes in. The stoner is adorable, which means he’s about to be doornailed.

This guy gets me really hot.  Don't judge me!

We’re back at Castiel’s seedy digs, when the lights flicker and the tv snaps on--to Casa Erotica! And there is GABRIEL!!

(Cue yours truly clapping and jumping up and down like a little kid.) He appears in the motel room, older and wearier, but still full of wisecracks.

Richard Speight Jr. will now get paid more for convention appearances.

He’s been in hiding in heaven, but got hurt in the Fall. “I used of my juice to get into porn--that came out wrong.” They drive off in Cas’s pimpmobile. I want Cas to own that car for the rest of the season.  Maybe the pimpmobile and the Impala can mate and have...extremely weird little car babies.

Gabriel’s incessant Rat Pack patois wears thin quickly. Half of it could have been cut, which would have improved his conversation with Cas immensely. Gabriel tells Cas they’re rebels and Gabriel will be the new leader. Cas knows this is out of character for Gabriel (squee!). Gabriel points out they’re running out of gas (set-up! Squee!) They pull up at a Gas-n-Sip to gas up, where a gang of Metatron’s angels show up. Gabriel says he’ll hold them off, while Cas escape and be the leader. “I’m no leader,” Cas says for the umpteenth time, reaches for his angel blade--and discovers the lining is untorn.

When he tells his comrade, Gabriel, crestfallen, says, “Continuity errors.” He snaps his fingers and the Hell’s Angels disappear. Castiel pushes his angel blade into his comrade, and it sinks into a hologram. “Are you dead?” Castiel asks. Gabriel, smirking, snaps his fingers--

Castiel is bound and gagged in Metatron’s library. “I’ll let you decide,” he says, rounding back to the pre-credits. He has been our unreliable narrator!

Meanwhile, in the abandoned warehouse du jour, Sam and Dean have trapped Gadreel in a ring of holy fire. The Winchesters are damned lucky our economy is in the tank, otherwise most of those warehouses would be fully operational and they'd be screwed.

"Looks like you traded down, asshole!"

Sam goes into BAMF mode (rowrr) before Dean pulls him off and tells him to go get Cas. Pot, meet dangerously overheated kettle. Dean’s eyes are frighteningly dead.

Metatron is delighted that it was the torn overcoat that gave him away, drawing out the thread and looking at it appreciatively. (Squee!) Metatron gets sick of Cas never getting any references and blams! him with every book, movie and tv show that Metatron has consumed in the past millennia. Cas’s head doesn’t explode, but he can now name-check Muriel Rukeyser! (Squee!) I have a strong suspicion what Metatron just did to Cas is going to backfire spectacularly.

It appears that the stolen grace is burning Cas from the inside. Metatron wants to be the hero of the story, and Castiel the villain. Castiel will rally troops for Metatron to slaughter, providing Cas with an unlimited supply of grace. “I’m no leader,” Castiel says for the 10,001st time. Listen, buster, clam up and accept your fate and we can all go home sooner, okay?

We’re back at the warehouse where Gadreel is chained to a chair. Dean is enjoying this week’s mandatory torture porn. Gadreel taunts him with the EXACT SHAME SHIT WE’VE BEEN LISTENING TO FOR NINE SEASONS.

Something original? "He can't deal with your being bisexual and in love with Castiel!"

As he said to Sam, “you’re a coward.” A) This makes no sense B) He says it the same way, which reminds me that Tamoh Penikett seriously needs to get that stick out of his ass. Dean almost kills him, but instead goes into the bathroom to splash his face with dirty cold water.  Which begs the question--why does Gadreel want to die?  WTF?

Sam goes to Cas’s seedy motel to find him gone, and a cell phone with six unanswered messages from Dean. (Aside: wouldn’t it be hilarious if it said “Dean” with a little heart emoji?) Metatron appears and offers him an even trade, angel for angel. When he’s gone, Sam tries to reach Dean, but Dean has also left his phone in the old washroom and stomped out, murder in his eyes. Seriously, Dean could be the Big Bad right now if he was pointed in the right direction. He is fucking SCARY.


"Holy crap, Dean, you're turning into a serial killer!" "Tell me about it."

The next day, everyone shows up at the appointed place. Metatron is trapped in a circle of holy fire.  Only he's not!

He not only blows out the ring of holy fire, he erases the angel warding in the Impala’s trunk and releases the Men of Letters handcuffs from Gadreel. Metatron is now God. He knows the boys will try to take him down. “It’ll be a hell of a show," he says, all but skipping with delight. "I’m going to enjoy watching you try.”   He disappears.

Motel parking lot, night. Sam points out that Metatron is powering up using the Angel Tablet. Dean makes a reference to Star Wars, and Cas sort of gets it. “Did you just understand a Death Star reference?” Dean asks in disbelief.  Castiel looks at him.  "There's something different about you."  Dean gives him a reassuring pat.

Cas grabs Dean's arm and rolls up his sleeve.  When he sees the Mark, he quietly freaks and says, "What have you done?"

"Now you can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery!"

Dean pulls away and gets into the car.  Cas asks Sam to keep an eye on his brother. Sam pats Cas on the shoulder and says, "Be safe."

Gadreel enters Metatron’s study, and Gadreel asks--wait for it--“Is the door secure?”

Metatron smiles and says, “THE WAY HOME IS SAFE.”

THERE IS A DOOR TO HEAVEN!!

(Squee.)

Wow, Crowley is one nasty bitch, even when he's not in the actual episode.  Any chance of a Crowley/Metatron face off?

Back in his library, Metatron talks about how certain things did not go according to plan. God’s mistake was publishing the first draft. But Metatron intends to rewrite. "What writer doesn’t love a good twist? My job is to set up interesting characters and see where they lead me. The byproduct of having well-drawn characters is they may surprise you. But I know something they don't know - the ending. How I get there doesn't matter as long as everybody plays their part."

And that begs the question I asked at the beginning: at Metatron's hands, is rewriting a good thing?

There is a chilling montage of Metatron typing in sync with Cas’s actions, as "The Sun Don't Shine Anymore" plays.

Cas creates his own Horn of Gabriel and welcomes his followers at the motel--

--as Metatron types exactly that! At the end, there is a close-up as he types: TO BE CONTINUED.

"Meta Fiction" left me mindfucked, exhilarated, and strangely angry. Really angry, because now I won’t know how much of what we see is through Metatron’s eyes, and how much he will determine the action through his writing. Metatron is now God. And from now on he is our unreliable narrator. And we won't know when.

And that, dear readers, is a very good thing.

*Quote from Cornelia Funke

All screencaps from screencap.net