Supernatural season 5 episode 10 review

5.10 Abandon All Hope

Abandon All Hope brought the show back to its high point after last week’s dip, The Real Ghostbusters. It marked the last 40 minute adventure for the boys before the show’s hiatus in America. Luckily for us Brits, we don’t need to wait six weeks for the next chapter in the saga. Still, it’s of little value considering we had to wait an extra five months for season 5 to finally roll onto our screens. But it’s all holy water under the bridge now. Let’s move on and stop dwelling on it, okay?

Abandon All Hope heralded the welcome return of the show’s favourite female characters, mother and daughter hunting team Ellen and Jo, this time on a mission to help Sam and Dean. After the revelations of last week, the brothers went in search of the demon Crowley, who has the legendary ‘kill-all’ gun, The Colt. Expecting a fight, they were surprised to find Crowley rather willing for the boys to put an end to Lucifer, with the demon citing that, as the antichrist is still an angel, his return to glory will mean an end to his kind. And he sure as hell doesn’t want that.

Mark Pellegrino also made his welcome return, swapping the sandy beaches of Lost for his turn as the stoic and macabre Lucifer.

The scene on the hill was, in my opinion, genuinely creepy. The producers seem to have rolled out a little more money this time, with the lighting and landscape all adding to the effect. However, it was Pellegrino himself who really sold the elements of tension in the scene and, once again, he demonstrated why he was chosen for the role.

The pinnacle of the scene and the climax to the episode overall was, of course, the moment where the barrel of The Colt was pointed to Lucifer. For one nail-biting moment, every fan in the land thought the boys had finally won.  But this is Supernatural we’re discussing here and so, of course, things can only end badly.

As Lucifer’s eyes snapped open again, all hopes were, indeed, abandoned that the Winchesters will ever win the battle against the apocalypse. Everything remains to be seen, but this little moment of crushing realisation helped to make the episode such a good one.

Misha Collins, brilliant as ever, got the chance to play Castiel both comically and straight. His reaction to meeting Lucifer, even in the short scene, showed both an awkward confusion as well as strength to the character. Castiel also wins the ‘comedy highlight of the week’ with the drinking scene with Ellen.

The relationship between Dean and Jo has always been an interesting one. Throughout the five seasons, the writers never seemed to sure which direction to take it in, especially considering that Jo is substantially younger than Dean. In season 2, Jo seemed merely to be exhibiting all the classic signs of a schoolgirl crush.

Later, Dean came, saw, but never really conquered, and the characters eventually parted ways. But with Jo back, albeit only before her big death scene, the two hunters seemed closer and more affectionate. There were the elements of brooding tension and lingering eye contact and, of course, that final kiss.

But what arguably made Abandon All Hope one of the best this series was the culling of Ellen and Jo. For two, much loved characters who have managed to remarkably survive the cruel, Kripke- shaped hands of death for five seasons, it was a moment of sadness for all SPN fans. But even if they were sent into that other-worldly light, at least it was in a style befitting two, hardcore demon-fighting warriors. Some people die in their sleep. Jo and Ellen die in a blaze of hell hounds and explosives.

That they had sacrificed themselves for the ultimate good was better still. Besides, what with all these apocalyptic shenanigans, maybe it’s better to bail out now rather than live to see the end of the world?

Read our review of episode 9 here. Catch the show on Living in the UK.