The Road So Far

Last season saw the brothers in a battle with their biggest foe yet: the Darkness. Upon reuniting the Darkness with her brother, AKA God, the brothers were able to take a long relaxing vacation…oh wait, nope. The boys never catch a break. Dean and Sam are reunited with their mother…who’s been dead for thirty-three years. Oh and Lucifer is footloose and fancy-free (with a baby on the way!) Spoilers ahead.

Synopsis

The episode begins with an angel, Benjamin, being killed by a creepy woman with an eyepatch. No, this isn’t the beginning of Kill Bill vol. 1. Before he dies, Benjamin sends out an SOS via angel radio, which Castiel hears. With Lucifer still MIA and Mary hunting on her own (or on a date with Jason Statham…jury’s still out), the boys have been in the bunker, with Dean and Cas apparently giving each other the silent treatment, much to Sam’s dismay. When Castiel decides to meet up with some angel friends of his to discuss Benjamin’s demise, Sam and Dean insist on joining him, leading to the most awkward car ride in the history of the show.

When the boys arrive at the arranged meeting place, Castiel leaves to meet his angel friends alone because they’re not too fond of humans. Being the jealous boyfriend that he is, this lasts all of twenty seconds before he storms in and squeezes in next to Castiel. Poor Sam probably had one quarter of a butt cheek in the booth.

In the course of the meeting, Mirabel, another angel, is killed by the one-eyed woman. Ishim is injured, and the Winchesters immediately take the angels to a secure location to regroup. Sam and Dean decide to try talking to the woman, Lily, since she apparently has no quarrel with humans, only angels.

While Sam and Dean visit Lily, Castiel heals Ishim. As we hear Lily’s story, we see a flashback to Castiel, Ishim, Mirabel, and Benjamin a century earlier. While the other three angels are in the same vessels, Castiel appears in a female vessel (was this the face that launched 1,000 ships? yes, yes it was). We see Ishim tell Castiel and the other angels that Lily and her angel husband, Akobel, have a child, a nephilim, and that it is their duty to get rid of the little girl.

What Sam and Dean discover, however, is that Ishim lied.

As it turns out, angels can be douchebag victimizers of women too.

In the end, Lily saves Castiel, Dean, and Sam from Ishim by using Enochian magic, thereby ending Ishim’s control over her and regaining her agency. Dean and Cas end their silent treatment, and the boys all return to the bunker for a beer.

Anyone else think it’s just the calm before the storm?

The Big Picture

Excuse me for a moment while I celebrate that SPN writers finally re-recognised that angels are agender(…non-gendered?…gender neutral?), and that canonically speaking, Castiel has had a female vessel and a male vessel.

I think this is important because, well, personally I think it’s rather simplistic to think of metaphysical beings in terms of human features and gender. In fact, I hope to see more of this gender-bending in the future. This likely will open the door for other angels…say, Lucifer…to take vessels of the other gender such as…say, Mary Winchester.

Just a thought.

Until next time, fam.

-TC