The beginning of the episode was a great way to continue the reflection on the meaning of faith. Often I find that people think that faith is blind devotion; however, is that truly the case? Sam thought he was helping out the good side, but he was blinded by his own desire to help – and look what happened to him.
War: Good intentions. Quick slide to hell, buddy boy.
Dean — well, we all know I love Dean, but he doesn’t have any faith in God. He’s the leader of the crowd arguing that because of the terrible things happening in the world, either there is no God, or God doesn’t care (and therefore, by definition, He isn’t ‘God’). Neither does Zachariah have any faith in God, since he has taken it upon himself to fulfill prophecies and take care of the Apocalypse. I won’t go into that again, since I have made my feelings about Zachariah very clear.
Which begs the question: does anyone in this show have faith?
Surprisingly, yes — the confused angel-boy with the remarkably clean off-white trench coat does. Despite his level of uncertainty in what is right and what is wrong, despite with his continuous questioning of what he should or shouldn’t do, and despite his rebellion against the other angels, it seems that Castiel might be the one character on Supernatural who has the most faith. After all, isn’t he the only one who, now that everything has gone really wrong, decides to find God?
Dean: God.
Castiel: Yes.
Dean: God.
Castiel: Yes. He isn’t in heaven. He has to be somewhere.
Dean [wryly]: Try New Mexico. I hear He’s on a tortilla.
Cas [after a moment’s thought and the most hilarious expression on his face]: No, He’s not on any flatbread.
Dean’s opinion about God is all the more ironic in that in all these years, had Dean wanted to find God, he could have done it himself with the amulet he had been wearing most of his life – i.e. since Sam gave it to him on Christmas a long time ago, an amulet that means so much to him that he barely if ever takes it off.
Dean [giving the amulet to Castiel]: Don’t lose it. [Rolls his shoulders uncomfortably.] Great. Now I feel naked.
It’s interesting that the amulet went from Bobby to John Winchester to Sam to Dean. If this amulet was meant to help find God, is there a reason why John gave it to Sam, considering the warning he had given Dean?
Speaking of the amulet, I have to mention yet again that this cast is absolutely brilliant. Jensen Ackles’ facial expression when he looks down at the amulet? Priceless.
It was nice to see Rufus, Jo, and Ellen again. Especially Rufus, since just hearing Steven Williams’ voice takes me back about 10 years, to when he portrayed X on The X-Files (no, not the X of the title, but… just go watch the series, okay?). As a die-hard X-Files fan, it is understandable that this was one of my favourite exchanges from this episode:
Soldier boy: So… You think that all of this is coming from out of space?
Dean: This isn’t The X-Files, pal.
Speaking of The X-files, I think Mulder would have had quite a fit at this line:
Roger [still in shock]: My wife’s eyes turned black. Came at me with a brick. Kind of makes you embrace the paranormal.
Which brings me to a couple of interesting points I’d like to mention, honed through years of watching people make fun of Mulder and once again brought to light while watching people disbelieve Sam and Dean.
First of all, most people see the world in black and white. Something exists or doesn’t.
Second, most people feel the urge to make a decision about things they have no way of being able to decide on. They oftentimes refuse to believe in anything they can’t explain, dismissing it out of hand, unable to admit that perhaps they don’t see it or don’t understand it because of the limitations of their own minds rather than the existence of said thing. So much for the advances in the scientific process.
Third, people tend to make these decisions based on their own experience only, limiting the world and its vast array of experiences and opinions to their own. Again, so much for the advances in the scientific process.
And fourth, not many seem to be able to accept that perhaps they can’t understand something, and that all they can hope is to understand it better and better through years of research, reading, and experience.
How can any person who hasn’t spent hours upon hours, if not their entire lives, studying the universe and various theories describing it, mathematical and other, decide if aliens exist or not? And why can’t people accept that they don’t have the knowledge to answer that question and keep looking?
Bobby gave Sam the Amulet to give to John, but being John didn’t show up for Christmas, he gave it to Dean. I do not believe that it was ever in John’s possession.
Thank you for the clarification, Tracy! I missed that bit. It does beg the question: what would have happened, had John gotten the amulet? Would things have ended up very differently?
I think, perhaps, John was the one that was originally meant to be Michael’s vessel. I remember the one eppie where they said, the first seal was broken when a righteous man gave in to evil in hell and broke. They couldn’t break John, even though he was in hell longer… Dean broke after 30 years… that was the first seal and perhaps making Dean the vessel? So many complex weaving.
You make an excellent point! Perhaps it would be a way of atoning for the person who broke the first seal? And do you think that John was chosen to go into Hell to become the righteous man to break the first seal, or that it just happened that John, because he was at the right place at the right time, became the righteous man they hoped would break the seal?
It’s hard to say, really, but the demons had their eye on that family for a long time. Remember when Dean went back and met his mom. John was killed by Azazel and he brought him back to life after Mary agreed to his terms, which was to say in bed when he showed up sometime in the future. She went to Sam and died for it.
They wanted Sam all along for whatever reason… something was in play for a long time.
John seems to have been a righteous man all of his life and the way that the angels and demons play them.. it’s hard to believe that there is such a thing as right place, right time. I think they go where they are steered to go, but are unknowing of it.
No matter what they do… what choices they make, it always turns out to be what was destined in the first place. They can’t break the cycle.
I do remember that. Do you think the demons’ interest in the Winchester family started then? And perhaps it’s not in the Winchesters as much as it is in Dean’s mothers’ family. There is also the question of John telling Dean that he might have to one day kill Sam. Does it have to do with the breaking of the final seal? Or with something else that has yet to happen? I wonder if these are questions we are going to get answers for or not!
I’m sorry but even though I agree with almost everything, I am afraid I don’t agree with John being a righteous man. Even if he had had the amulet (which I don’t think makes you a righteous man btw) still he was a distracted father. He left his children – especially Dean – to fend for themselves. He abandoned the family he had in pursuit of vengeance for the family he did not have. Vengeance is not a righteous reason. Saving people is. And after all we only have the word of a demon (demons lie) that John actually lasted that long. In any case I do believe Dean is a righteous man and his terrible shame and guilt at what he did – or believes he did – in hell proves it.
You’re right – seeking vengeance at the expense of your family’s well-being isn’t what a righteous man would do. I never thought of that.
You’re also right in that all we know about John sojourn in hell is what the demons have told us – and demons are quite notorious for their lying skills!
Perhaps that was the whole point of getting Dean into hell? Because, like you mention, he’s more righteous than his father?
Very valid point and I agree with you on that. I feel so bad for Dean, having to raise Sam. I can’t imagine how hard that had to be on him.. *and yes, I know they aren’t real, but it does happen in real life way too much*.
Makes you wonder… How did John manage to crawl out of hell? Did he have help from another demon that wanted Azazel dead? Lilith?
Excellent point -again- Tracy… I searched fan discussion forums but haven’t found anything yet. I’ll keep looking and let you know if I find anything – please let me know if you find anything else out, too!