Supernatural: The Man Who Knew Too Much

Posted by: Kyle Tetarenko  •  May 24, 2011 @ 8:48pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Now that Castiel has everything he needs to open the doors to Purgatory, Dean and Bobby are racing to stop their former friend. Unfortunately for Sam, Castiel has also broken the damn inside of his head as he fights to survive within his own dreams in this season's finale.

When Bobby and the Winchester's catch up with Ellie, she reveals in her dying moments that the blood of someone from Purgatory and a virgin are needed to complete the ritual. Castiel soon shows up and is sorry for what happened but no longer cares what they think of him and when they refuse to back off Castiel breaks the wall down in Sam's mind, flooding his mind with memories from hell and everything else he did when he was without his soul. Now that the home team is down a man they call on their new ally Balthazar for help; the result is mixed as he gives Dean and Bobby Castiel's location but will do no more. Dean and Bobby are more than disappointed but with little time to waste they have to leave Sam behind at Bobby's. In yet another surprising play Castiel renegotiates the deal with Crowley: the king of hell gets nothing while he takes everything. Forced to leave on punishment of death, Crowley returns with a surprising ally far worse than Castiel could have thought with plans to reignite the apocalypse.

In this year's season finale, "The Man Who knew Too Much" did not disappoint. While not as strong as the previous "Let It Bleed", there are few complaints I can make against it. Though it was a great plot point to break the damn in Sam's mind I wish that it wasn't resolved over the course of only one episode. The wall in Sam's mind was constructed by Death himself and Sam was able to overcome a lot of his adversity with relative ease. Though the idea that Sam had to confront different versions of himself was an especially compelling idea, the story could have been stretched out rather than rushed. After spending a number of episodes early on in the season to save Sam I hope he has to grapple with his memories in season seven.

While it was also great to watch Castiel utterly destroy Raphael in closing moments, I wish we were shown more of the world especially in regards to the civil war in hell. "The Man Who Would Be King" was easily the best episode of the season for good reason; it showed Castiel with the other angels as well as what they were up against. Although Castiel often mentioned how his side was losing, not showing the audience was a huge drawback in the season; Raphael being destroyed so quickly just further illustrates that point.

With little surprise, it was the angels and demons that once again handed in the best performances of the show. Misha Collins has always been superb as Castiel and if you have watched him since his first appearance in season four then you have seen how much he has changed, especially just recently. Castiel's talk with Dean in the final moments was heartbreaking as their relationship finally crumbled. His quest to save heaven and earth made him a reluctant leader and now the new God. I cannot wait to see what happens next season with him even though Misha Collins will no longer be a regular on the series. Though he had so little time to show his character, Sebastian Roché was excellent as Balthazar. I found him annoying early on I am very impressed by how well Roché portrayed Balthazar's inner conflict of betraying his friend in such a short time. Lastly, Mark Sheppard continues his sensational performance as Crowley and I am relieved that he will be returning in some capacity next season. Wouldn't it be great if Sam and Dean had to work with him again but this time to stop Castiel from smiting the world?

At the end of the season, Supernatural has definitely gone out on a high note. Sure, there were times when I could barely stand t watch the show simply because I knew it was capable of much more but no series is perfect. Hopefully you enjoyed my reviews over the year and join me again next season when Supernatural returns for season seven.

Tags: Supernatural, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel, Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, Balthazar, Sabastian Roche, Mark Sheppard

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Original Comments Posted (1)

Andrew Burns says...

Roche was great. I wish they would have kept him around, but like in Fringe they killed him off to for some reason. I loved Sam's line about the Old Spice and the whiskey.

So Misha Collins isn't going to be a series regular anymore? Do you know why? Maybe its for the best so Supernatural can aim its focus more towards the brothers.

May 26, 2011 12:45am

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