Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Supernatural episode “We Happy Few.” If you haven’t watched it yet, hop into the Impala and drive away.
The penultimate episode of Supernatural’s 11th season went in a direction I didn’t expect. A confrontation between God/Chuck and Lucifer (who is still Casifer) was inevitable. At another, earlier point in the season, it could have easily been the meat of an entire episode. The father and son duo have millennia of baggage to unpack. But since it’s almost time for the finale, their reconciliation (that’s a generous term) was paired with a showdown against Amara.
Before Dean and Sam summoned the troops on Chuck’s behalf, he and Lucifer had a talk. Lucifer played the role of a wronged and petulant child, to the point of shutting himself in a room and played loud music, and Chuck was the parent refusing to admit he made a mistake. It was a situation made for hilarity, especially with Sam and Dean Winchester, kings of family issues, serving as the mediators.
The fate of the world is hanging in the balance since the Darkness is ready to burn it all down, so it was nice to step back and take a deep breath and laugh. You couldn’t help but do so when Dean offered the helpful tip of handing out apologies without meaning them. (Chuck’s initial response to Lucifer was like all the non-apologies we see on the internet.) But the light tone took a turn as God/Chuck owned up to his missteps and admitted he screwed up when he sent Lucifer away after giving him the Mark and realizing Lucifer wasn’t strong enough to bear it. It sounded like God couldn’t bear the shame of the burden he’d put upon his favorite child.
The heartfelt apology was what Lucifer needed to move onto solving the Amara problem. He and Chuck formulated a plan involving calling in every resource at their disposal. They had archangels on their side the first time around. In this instance, they had angels, demons, and witches. It wasn’t quite the same, but those are all elements that have been rolling around in the series and given how we’ve seen all of the groups react to the Darkness news in recent months, it was smart to pull them all together against her.
Sam and Dean recruiting for the big boss battle was like Oceans 11Â lite. They gathered forces and so did Castiel. We got a glimpse of the real Castiel when Casifer went to rally the angels. It’s been a long time since the switch happened, but I admit I adore Misha Collins playing Cas as Lucifer. He got the chance to play Lucifer in a different, more serious way opposite of Chuck during their therapy session, and he was compelling. For a minute during Chuck’s apology, I felt sorry for Lucifer–which isn’t something I would have thought possible. Related: Rob Benedict killed it.
The fight against the Darkenss was both epic but not quite as big as I imagined it would be. Everyone stepped into to weaken Amara in order for God to put her in the trap again. Chuck explained he couldn’t kill Amara because her darkness was needed to balance the light and keep the universe in harmony. It’s a convenient concept, sure, but an understandable one that made sense for the story. On the opposite side of making sense was Sam volunteering to take the Mark once Chuck got it off Amara. It didn’t end up sticking, but what a dumb idea for Sam to consider! I couldn’t help but cringe just picturing the sort of repetitive nonsense it would have put the Winchesters through.
Fortunately and unfortunately, Amara overpowered Chuck and took the Mark back. That’s where the battle zigged instead of zagged. It looked like the Darkness killed her brother, but they didn’t leave his status as a cliffhanger. Chuck’s alive—dying but still alive. But Casifer? It’s unknown. Anyway, Amara said she wanted Chuck to watch her burn the world he created to ash. It’s such a typical villain statement; I wasn’t impressed.
Random observations:
- How fabulous is it for Chuck to keep using the World’s Greatest Dad mug?
- Rowena’s wardrobe is fabulous. I like how she never changes out of her gowns for any occasion, not even battle. She’s always elegant.
- They took time to explain the little things, and it kept you from being distracted by asking questions. For example, they addressed why God could heal Lucifer but not bring back the other archangels and why Chuck couldn’t simply compel people like Rowena to join the battle.
Were you surprised to see the big fight against Amara take place now instead of in the season 11 finale? What did you think about God’s apology to Lucifer? Share your thoughts with me in the comments or come talk to me on Twitter.
Images: The CW
