(Season 4, Episode 10 – “Heaven And Hell”)
Earlier this week, my copy of the internet told me this would be the last new Supernatural until January. With that in mind, I was expecting some big things to send us all off to holiday. And, we got ‘em. Angels battling demons, super-demons even, is pretty big. The boys defying Castiel and Uriel, also pretty big. The really big deal though, as is often the case, came in the last few minutes of the episode, with Sam and Dean parked along some little country road. Finally, some revelations regarding Dean’s time down below. Big ones.
Let’s put that one in our back pockets for now, though, and get to the rest of the episode. Picking up right where we left off last week, it was just as most of us had guessed. There was no way the boys were just going to hand over Anna (Julie McNiven). While I expected that, I hadn’t really considered just how ineffective they would be in that fight, as we saw when Castiel (Misha Collins) knocked Sam out with a touch. What a great twist when Anna sent them far away with a spell. As Sam put it, “That blood spell, it’s some serious crap, man.”
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That, of course, led us to the first discovery that I didn’t see coming. Anna is an angel. There was a nice bit of continuity having Pamela (Traci Dinwiddie) return, but even after finding out, it didn’t go like I thought it would. Anna’s views on Heaven, being human, and why she ripped out her grace all worked very well for her story. I’m just surprised they went there. A marble statue, only four angels have seen God, etc. But hey, if you are going to do Heaven, Hell, Lucifer, and the whole ball of wax, you might as well go all in. I did especially like how she described her years on Earth and the way it correlated to Dean’s relationship with his father.
The other bit that I completely missed was the setup for the big showdown. I’m going to go ahead and blame all the commenters here for that. All of your talk about not being able to trust Ruby (Genevieve Cortese) apparently had me just waiting for her to sell the boys out. When she dialed up Alastair (Mark Rolston), I thought, “They were right!” As we know now, that wasn’t exactly the case. There was a method to the madness. Although, her pestering Sam about using his power does again call into question just what her motives really are.
Dean’s dealings with Uriel (Robert Wisdom) further masked the ruse. Dean is hard to break, but as soon as Uriel made the comment about knowing where to apply pressure, it was clear that Sam was now in play. And if we know anything about Dean, we know he’ll do anything to protect his brother. So, it was all very believable, and quite the surprise when we learned that getting the angels (Godzilla) and demons (Mothra) to face off was the plan all along. Well done.
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I wasn’t as surprised by Dean’s revelation. They hinted at it well when Alastair said that he showed such promise. I was more surprised that we got that answer so soon, thinking we’d have to wait most of the season for those results. They were much what you would imagine from time spent in Hell. Grisly, evil, and very troubling. It’s a grim tale, and one that will continue to color Dean’s actions as they work their way through the seal mission. As if his part in all of this wasn’t complicated enough already, he now has to do it with this additional burden. A tip of the hat to Jensen Ackles for that final scene, as well.
So, there we have it. A great finish to the first segment of season four. I’m hoping that Anna getting her grace back wasn’t the end for the character on the show. She seems particularly suited to lending the boys a hand somewhere down the line, and I would welcome more from her. I’m also trying not to read too much into the fact that Dean slept with an angel, while Sam is sleeping with a demon. Is that a harbinger of things to come? Could the boys end up on opposite sides of this fight? You certainly want to think no, but then visions of Darth Ruby and all of her “Use the force Sam” shenanigans pop up … I can’t wait for January.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Nov 21, 2008 @ 02:53 EST5EDT
Hey, don’t blame us commenters for not catching a clumsy setup! To me, that was the biggest let down of the episode. I thought the scenario of Dean sacrificing Anna for Sam was a great peek at the difficult choices he’ll have to make in the future. It was disappointing to find out it was all a ruse.
Even if Ruby’s dealings with Allistair had been real, I didn’t really think what she was asking for was actually a betrayal of Sam and Dean. Just of Anna, she was trying to cut their losses and save the boys.
Although I was eager to see Dean give up Anna and the repercussions that would cause, I was pretty unsettled by the Hell revelation (pun intended). I don’t know if it’s because we didn’t get to go on that journey with him, but I don’t like that he caved from the torture. Next, they’ll be telling us that he enjoyed torturing souls (I guess they already might’ve, if he showed such potential). It just really isn’t in keeping with the Dean I love. The one who thought he was worthless crap, but who always did what was right.
Dude If you got strung up for 30 years with demons using you like a frog in a labtest and after they had completely disassembled you, to find yourself completely regenerated again an then starting over again you would crumble to 30 years good effort I say I mean 30 minutes sounds bad enough.
Although dean needs to stop being such a bearch looking after sam he looks like a puss half the time, they need to portray sam as a lucifers son and dead as gods right hand combined to save the world, my bad if thats there plan
What was clumsy for me was much of the dialogue in the first half of the show. Felt like a lot of it was forced. I wondered myself if the Sam/Ruby Dean/Anna pairing was some kind of foreshadowing. I hope it doesn’t come down to that but I have a feeling that they wouldn’t be setting all of this up if they weren’t going to follow through.
I had read that there was going to be a big reveal in this episode and I wasn’t let down. Dean damn near broke my heart telling what happened to him in hell. I admit it, tears were shed. But to me it doesn’t take away from the Dean we all love. Like Sam said, no one would have lasted as long as Dean.
Finally, leave it to Supernatural to surprise us with complete non-surprise. They’ve never actually given us a reason not to trust Ruby, but we don’t anyway. And yet we’re still surprised when the one time she looks like she’s betraying them, she’s not. Also, like weirdy said above, not much of a betrayal to begin with.
No more Supernatural until next year…I’m already in withdrawal.
Amazing episode!!! can’t belive that we have to whait soooo much for another episode… well it could be worse! :)
You would think that if you capture “angel grace” you would put it in a more solid, or unbreakable recipient! LOL, just a though…
I like the fact that Dean succumbed while in hell. Dean had no hope. None. For thirty years he endured torture day after day after day. Who *wouldn’t* break eventually? That he still has the capacity to feel ashamed that he tortured (most likely) souls that deserved to be in hell–that speaks of an extraordinary character. I liked this episode, flaws and all. A great finish for the first half of the season.
Ditto to everything you said. But there were two things that made me laugh: Sam calling Castiel “Cass” and Anna’s grace landing in Kentucky. I had to pause my tivo for sec after that one.
After two episode back to back where the both the boys get laid, it funny to see their moves. Sam, who is the sensitive and understanding one, has wall-slamming, back-sratching angry sex. And Dean, who is the macho, sarcastic one, has caring, girl-on-top sex.
It’s the nice, quiet boys like Sam who are the real wildcats, Hilda. :)
Ha! I’ll have to keep that in mind…
Well, I see your point about Dean still being able to feel ashamed of himself…I guess he wasn’t too far along in the becoming a demon process.
Well I don’t have much more to add to what’s been said already except that I too tip my hat to Jensen Ackles for that last scene. It was practically Emmy worthy. Jensen Ackles is in my opinion one of the best young actors on TV right now and I hope that after Supernatural is over he’ll have a long and prolific career. I really wish that this show and Jensen in particular would get more credit from the mainstream TV press (although the folks over at TV Guide seem to give it a lot of respect). The show is probably hampered somewhat in the quest for mainstream praise by the fact that it resides on the CW, which is not only the home of horrible teeny bopper fare like 90210 and Gossip Girl, but who choose to endlessly promote that drivel over a quality show like Supernatural.
Angel baby Season5?
Jared is equally as good not just Jensen ,so give that young man some credit too.
Nothing to say about this one, Sam is the only thing I feel attatched to right now, not sure what I am watching anymore
Sams sls have vanished including his mytharc, I cant get going at all this season and I want to.
I so loved where this episode took me. It’s going to be hard waiting to for what comes next. I must say Dean and the angel was pretty hot. It was always Sam who got the sexy scenes.
The battle is setting up to be big. I still am weary about Ruby, sure she’s helping out but I think she’s got movtives for Sam all for herself. She got ripped up pretty good, is she due for a new body?
I do hope Anna returns for the big fight.