Supernatural Season Finale Review: Brother’s Keeper

Jensen Ackles got to play a sinister Dean. He wasn’t full Mark-evil but very close. On what appears to be an average vampire hunting case, Dean causes the death of fellow hunter Rudy. At first it seems he doesn’t care. First we see how swiftly he takes out one of the vampires. We actually take the place of the vampire’s head as it topples of his body. One swipe with the machete, and Dean knocks us to the floor. Much how the emotional blow of seeing our beloved Dean turning into a ruthless murderer floored us.

Dean sees the beat up image of Cas and Rudy’s dead body in the mirror, literally reflecting his recent bad deeds. He’s not capable of feeling that guilt, but he’s aware of the damage he’s caused and what more he could do if he’s not stopped. He guilt trips Sam, trying to prove that they only attract trouble, and them dying would be a positive thing.

The episode asks the hard question: “What is evil?” Has all the good the boys have done over the years–y’know, saving people, hunting things–make up for all the mistakes they’ve made as well? The people who died by accident, the guy whose soul Sam sacrifices, and more recently the heroic death of Charlie. Are the boys, even possessed or Marked or led astray, still fundamentally good? Thus ends Supernatural Philosophy 101. Hand in your homework before next class.

Jeremy Carver and the rest of the Supernatural crew allowed us a few light moments to ease the tension. Cas summons Crowley via the crossroads, a classic. But Crowley points out the silliness in this, saying he should have just called him on his cell phone. Cas answers: “You weren’t in my contacts list.” It shows how much the show has grown and changed with the times. Communicating with supernatural creatures used to be steeped in mystery and danger. Now the boys can just text the King of Hell. Kinda funny how all that turned out.

Death gets to make an appearance (spoiled by the teaser trailer. They tend to give too much away.) Dean’s plan is to have Death deal him the fatal blow. This didn’t turn out like he expected, when Death said that Sam had to die. This whole Cain and Abel thing has been teased for so long…even before the Cain and Abel storyline. In previous seasons, it was a Lucifer vs. Michael thing. Ironically, Dean was on the side of good that time. Brother vs. Brother makes for good drama. Some things never change.

Rowena made sure she couldn’t get written off the show by displaying her true strength, turning Cas into a bloody-eyed zombie to attack Crowley. We can only wonder if the Book of the Damned didn’t lift Dean’s curse, but transferred it to Rowena, making her more powerful and a force to be reckoned with next season.

It was quite an ending cliffhanger to have everything resolved…only to see the red lightning strike the Earth and release a demonic black cloud to overtake the Impala. The Darkness appears to be another apocalyptic season end. Anything less might be too soft for a Supernatural finale.

See you next fall, Sam and Dean.