Supernatural: On the Head of a Pin

Posted by: Stacy  •  March 25, 2009 @ 11:17pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

So someone is killing angels. I read some previews and a couple said something about someone using Lucifer's sword to kill angels but that turned out to be a bunch of bunk. So if you read about the sword thing, forget about that...the killing of the angels part was right though. The first angel down that we see is a blonde that was in a huge car accident. Castiel is saddened when he gets there, just before the cops, and he refers to her as "sister". Hey, I will take a sad Cas over no Cas at all...I like the guy despite the fact that he is an angel and Dean has previously referred to angels as "dicks with wings".

You know how the first scene that has the boys in it usually starts with something that comes full circle at the end of the show? Dean is sad. He isn't his usual go-getter, slay the bad guys, make corny jokes and score with the chicks Dean we know and love. He is hurting over Pam's death but instead of getting angry like Sam demands of him, he is just weary of burying friends. So the Winchesters check into their next motel room. "Home, Crappy Home". Cas and Uriel are there and the boys are needed. "Needed? We just got back from needed!" No rest for the Wi...nchesters (Sam might be headed towards wicked on a speeding train, but Dean is on a road of redemption...but for what? Stay tuned!) Cas is typically close-mouthed and Uriel is just as typically an a-hole; all vengeance, his way or suffer. Seven angels from their garrison are dead and Alistair isn't spilling the beans on what is going on. Uriel says they are not asking when they reveal that they are here to pick up Dean to take him to torture the information about the angel deaths from Al. Sam is ticked. Dean is ticked. Crap, I am ticked. I mean, what the hell?? Torture doesn't seem to be high priority on a list of good deeds or the saving of the world through righteous actions. But I guess who better to torture one of hell's best guys than his star pupil. POP, they are all gone and Sam is left alone.

Cas does not want Dean to torture Al, he would do anything to not put Dean through it and it bothers him that his superiors would demand this. Uriel is a jerk so he is all for it of course (Cas says to ask anyone, Uriel is the funniest in the garrison...ick, that is a sad state of affairs). Dean goes in to the room where Al is strung up and in a demon-keeper-inner circle. Al gives him only disdain, but Dean is inventive...having thought of things to do to Al while he himself was on the rack. Holy water injections are his go-to torture devices.

Meanwhile, demon-blood brother is with demon-in-coma-girl's-body, aka Ruby. Ruby does a little chant and burns a map that conveniently doesn't burn in the centre where Dean is located. Ruby is for the torture. Sam is sure that Dean cannot handle the job. But Sam can...with a little help from more demon blood. Uh Sam, the demon blood in you is what is leading you down the bad path...well he didn't listen to me and instead drank Ruby's blood to make him stronger. In fact, he begged for it. Gotta say, I didn't see that coming.

Anna (was an angel, fell, became human, became an angel again) comes to talk to Castiel. She is wearing the same form that she had as a human (so we can recognize her). She tries to convince Cas that these orders for Dean cannot be right. She nurtures his doubt that this is a righteous order from on high. Cas cannot let go of the fact that she fell and cannot get past his orders to kill her. I guess since she fell, when she came back she is the equivalent of a "fallen angel" a.k.a. a demon. I kinda like her despite the fact that she and Dean made love...it lacked the spark and passion that Dean needs in a fling, much less a relationship. Now Tess, the reaper, perhaps she would be a worthy mate for Dean.

The demon-keeper-inner seal is made of salt. A tap turns on by itself and starts dripping on the salt, unbeknownst to Dean. Meanwhile, the torture continues with Al taunting Dean about torturing his Dad on the rack. He mocks Dean by telling him how John was supposed to be the one and yet he never broke, even after 100 years. The one what? There was a reason that Lilith wanted Dean in hell so bad. The first seal of the 66, the seal that must be broken first for everything to fall into place, was for a righteous man to shed blood in hell. Soooo, when Dean finally broke and started torturing souls, he started the possibility of hell on earth; Dean started the impending apocalypse. Al breaks loose now that the circle is broken by the dripping water. He beats the crap out of Dean. Cas comes in and fights Al but is losing and Al tries to send him back to heaven since he cannot kill him. Enter Sam. Now as close to full strength as he is probably going to get (I am sure I will be proven wrong here) he uses his powers to get the truth out of Al before he kills him...and I don't mean send him back to hell, I mean destroy him forever. The truth is that it is NOT demons that are killing the angels and it is not Lilith behind it at all.

Al is dead. Cas is in doubt of his orders. Sam is more evil than good, despite his good intentions (road to hell, you know). Dean is in the hospital, clinging to life. Cas expresses his doubt to Uriel who agrees that something in heaven isn't right. No answers there, so Cas searches out Anna. His best line of the show (in my opinion) is "I am considering disobedience". Haha, straight-laced Cas...made me laugh. He asks for her help, she tells him that it is time to think for himself. Choosing a course of action is terrifying to him. Then he sees a tap and it starts him to thinking. So he goes back to the torture chamber. Uriel meets him there. Uriel hates humans. He doesn't understand how God has given them free-will and loves them unconditionally. Uriel is a bad guy. Well, he seemed like one from the start anyways and I didn't like him, I am ok with him being an adversary. After some fighting and Uriel divulging that he has been killing the angels that have refused to join him and their brother (Lucifer), Cas is going to lose...until Anna sneaks in and stabs Uriel from behind. Turns out that the only thing that can kill an angel IS an angel. Makes sense, Al couldn't kill Cas, just send him back to heaven. The best image in this episode was of Uriel lying on the concrete floor: debris all around him, aerial view of Uriel dead with huge burnt wings spread out over the floor. Very cool.

Now we are at the full-circle part I pointed out at the beginning. Cas is talking to a still hospitalized Dean. Dean is angry, but in a sad way. Are you alright? No thanks to you. Uriel is dead, he was working against us. Is it true about the first seal; was it my fault? Yes. We figured out what Lilith had planned and we laid siege to hell but we were too late. Here is why you are so important though: the righteous man that starts it is the only one that can finish it...our fate rests with you. Then you guys are screwed, I am not strong enough..."I am not the man that either of our Dads wanted me to be". Find someone else. And like that, Dean quits and the episode is over.

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