Review: Has Supernatural fallen from grace?
The 9th season of Supernatural premiered on the CW Tuesday at 9 p.m. The episode, “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here,” picked up right where season 8 left off with the angels fallen from heaven and Sam near death in a hospital.
One of the Winchester brothers being dead or dying at the start of a new season of Supernatural is a bit of a cliché for the show at this point. However, the writers did do a few things to shake it up this time. Jared Padalecki does a great job of showing just how tired of his life Sam really is. When Sam meets Death he doesn’t bargain with Death to spare him, but rather he makes Death promise that if he dies it will be final.
Something I really liked was that since a lot of this episode took place within Sam’s own head we got to see guest appearances by a few fan-favorite characters, like the aforementioned Death and Bobby Singer. It may be strange that it was Bobby who personified Sam’s desire to finally lay down and die, but it makes sense considering Bobby’s own futile struggle to try and cheat death in the earlier seasons.
Dean, however, was not about to simply let Sam die. There is a great scene in the hospital’s chapel that shows Dean’s level of desperation. After first praying to and receiving no answer from Castiel, he puts out a blanket call to every angel. This, of course, makes Dean a target for the various angels who are looking to use him to find and punish Castiel for his role in banishing them from heaven.
Not all of the angels are bad, though, because Dean meets the angel Ezekiel who offers to heal Sam via possessing him. Dean reluctantly agrees and Sam is healed, although he does not know he is playing host to an angel.
To be honest, I didn’t like this twist for one single reason. Nearly every season the Winchester brothers hide some secret from one another and every season they say they’ve learned their lesson and promise to stop keeping secrets. They never learn their lesson, and I’m sure this is going to cause trouble down the road.
Castiel’s story arch was the best part of the show. Unlike the other angels who fell from heaven, Castile was actually turned mortal when he fell. It was interesting to watch him adjust to life as a human. One of the best scenes in the show was a scene in a laundry mat where Castiel disregards his trademark trench coat. This was a great way to show Castiel come to terms with his new mortal existence.
Overall, this was a great start to a new season, and I’m excited to see where things go from here. The angels may have fallen from grace, but Supernatural hasn’t looked this good in a long time.
Edited by Jennifer Brake
