‘Supernatural’ Recap: ‘Gimme Shelter’

10/22/2020

Written by Juanita ‘Obi-Juan’ Bonner

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 1515 of ‘Supernatural’.

When I mentioned faith in reference to commercialized holidays in my previous week’s review of 15.14: ‘Last Holiday’, I had no idea the latest episode would visit this topic in such an epic fashion. And this time, holidays are no where to be found. Additionally, the writers take care to balance a common practice of dual sided storytelling as the scenes flip back and forth throughout. Therefore, I thought I would visit each side of the story by dissecting how they are presented: the light and the dark. The former shows Castiel (Misha Collins) and Jack (Alexander Calvert) in search of a murderer at a faith based community center. While the latter has Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) tracking down Amara (Emily Swallow). Plus, both, in traditional Supernaturalverse fashion, allow the writers to throw in a few lessons, surprises and comedic zingers along the way. So before you can say “greener than Baby Yoda,” let’s get started, shall we?

Side A: The Light

Focusing on the Patchwork Community Center, throughout this narrative, we get to see both Cas and Jack bear witness to faith and by extension the light. As they – or should I say Agent’s Swift and Lovato (LOL!!) – investigate, they are drawn to the community center inhabitants in different ways. Jack, who’s tasked with playing the volunteer, spends time with Sylvia (Nicole Muñoz). And Cas, as Agent Swift (*wink*), interviews Sylvia’s father, Pastor Joe (Steve Bacic). Who just so happened to also play Dr. Sexy in 5.08: ‘Changing Channels’ – NICE!! Oh, and Nicole Muñoz was the little girl Nora, all those years ago, in 2.02: ‘Everybody Loves a Clown’. And to this I say… YAY, the returning actor cameos are back!!

God (Rob Benedict) is seen by Sylvia and Pastor Joe in very different ways following the passing of Sylvia’s mother and Joe’s wife. Sylvia, just like her mother, accepts that her mother’s passing was God’s will. Pastor Joe, grief stricken by his wife’s choices, decides that rather than continue to follow a single deity like Sylvia, that he should instead open his center to ALL faiths using the Bible’s Seven Virtues and a belief in humanity approach. This change, coupled with her father’s neglect, drives Sylvia mad, causing her to act out God’s will with the Bible; using the Commandments and the Seven Deadly Sins as guides. We see lies, false Gods, greed, lust, wrath and pride on full display before the end. Not to mention, Sylvia breaks several commandments and commits a few Deadly Sins of her own along the way. It’s funny how these crazy “Hallelujah types” seem to think murder is okay when done in the name of God. I mean, the faith in Chuck is just weird (insert eyeroll here!!) at this point, right?? LOL! Regardless, all of this makes for a wonderful homage to not only the Biblical sense of the Seven Deadly Sins, but with the gruesome death and torture scenes, to the movie SE7EN (1995; New Line Cinema) as well. And, we can’t forget the throwback to the memorable demons seen in 3.01: ‘The Magnificent Seven’ which is just AWESOME!!

Another parallel theme for our boys is how both Cas and Jack struggle in their own way to find light, not through God, but within themselves. Plus, there is a particularly moving scene where Cas lays bare his feelings on following orders, losing his way, finding a family, becoming a father and in the end, finding himself and meaningful purpose again. It all ties in perfectly and I loved it!! But one of the things I truly enjoyed is the fact that we actually get to see both Cas and Jack’s reactions to other people referencing God. To these folks, God, no matter the form, is an all-powerful being. Yet, to our boys, and us, he’s a “glorified fanboy,” who sees his creations as toys. For a bit, I pondered on how far this show has come. On how much Team Free Will has fought over the years and just how angry and TRULY disappointed Chuck has made them all!! How one person’s faith is another person’s Hell. Which, by the end of this tale, I conclude, is EXACTLY what the writers were going for. They throw in a mischievous demon named Zack (Adam Beauchesne) for good measure. I wonder if he’ll resurface before the series ends, you?

The drive home comes with exchanges between Cas and Jack and OMC I am so here for it!! These father and son encounters are so desperately needed. Including their hilarious takes depicting the annoyed yet gentle dad and the naively excited boy. I mean… the matching ties, Marvelous Marvin, social media, and Kool-Aid scenes are all just excellent, am I right!?! LOL! As for Cas… it’s been comical yet disheartening over the years to see him struggle to understand his role in all this. The ever-diligent Angel of the Lord is now the loving father of Chuck’s ultimate end. WOW! And Jack? Well, he’s still so young, but we’ve certainly seen him go through many changes as well. But in the end, in his most grown up scene yet, he tells Cas that killing Chuck and Amara (Emily Swallow), will also kill him. Wait… what?? NOOOOO!!! Cas is visibly devastated and says, “NO! I watched you die once and I will not do it again.” But considering Jack believes his sacrifice is the only way Sam and Dean will forgive him, he puts his hand on Cas’s shoulder and says, “It’s not your choice.” **SIGH**

Side B: The Dark

Deciding on a long shot, Sam and Dean follow a lead on an unexplained blackout in Atlantic City in hopes of finding Amara, who, apparently loves Keno… LOL!! Turns out, picking up Dean’s distinctive musk (Meat Man? LOL!!) and Cas’s “Angelic APB” signal, Amara, appearing at a gas station in Pennsylvania, finds them first. VERY NICE!! As the three of them eat at a Pierogi restaurant, which, by the way, has the word PIE in it (*wink*), I realize just how much is riding on this little sit down. Especially once Amara, like an annoying fly, swats away Sam and Dean’s attempts at turning her against her own brother.

A few interesting tidbits emerge. First, we find out that the former Death (Julian Richings) stretched the truth when saying The Darkness was born first. In fact, Amara and Chuck are twins!! WHOA! “Creation and destruction,” locked together in a balance of light and dark. Which, upon further thought, makes total sense, no? Second, when Chuck trapped Amara, the separation caused the creation of our universe. Basically, The Big Bang. Yeah… that one!! HOLY COW!! Third, Amara still believes that it hurt Chuck deeply to cage her. REALLY? I mean. Has she met this tantrum throwing, arrogant “squirrely weirdo?” LOL!! She also feels that she’ll suffer agony if the tables were turned. Therefore, she senses the impending doom but isn’t interested in helping the Winchesters’ trap Chuck. *Frowny face*

The boys, at a loss and feeling simply defeated, are about to leave when Dean turns the car off and goes back inside. He asks Amara why. Not why she won’t help, but why… why did she give Sam and Dean their mother back? What lesson was she trying to teach? She tells him the answer was two-fold. She wanted Dean to understand that Mary (Samantha Smith) was just a human and his thoughts of a perfect life where Mary originally lived were always “just a myth.” Welp, she’s not wrong there!! Second, she hoped giving Dean his mother back would help him release his anger. Um… yeah, not so much with this one!!! This brings me to my fourth tidbit. It’s here where I start to realize why all this has been so easy for Dean. Why it doesn’t bother him to double cross Amara as much as it does Sam. His anger! He projects his pain to blame Amara. For all of it! If she hadn’t brought Mary back, Jack couldn’t have killed her. And most importantly, Dean wouldn’t have lost her again!! Then, without so much as a blink, Dean, when she asks if she can trust him, looks Amara right in the face and says, “I would never hurt you.” HOLY COW… what a scene!! I think back to my discussion of Dean’s breakdown over his anger in my recap of 15.09: ‘The Trap’ and realize that maybe the dark doesn’t only include Amara. Interesting, no??

Back at The Bunker, Dean catches up with Cas just as he’s about the leave set on looking for another way to end Chuck and Amara. A way that doesn’t involve losing Jack. Go Cas… GO!!! We love Jack and don’t want to see him die. But wait… is he going to share Jack’s secret?

As the screen faded to black, I pondered on each side of the story. Both brush with good and evil in their own ways, but just how far will each of them go and how many lines will be crossed before it’s over? But beyond that, who will survive? Will Cas sacrifice himself to see Jack live? And will Dean, forever trying to save… well… everyone… finally lose himself in the process? I can’t imagine a family motto that reads, ‘saving people, losing ourselves,’ can you? Let me know in the comments below or reach out to me @obi_juanita on Twitter. Until next time… GO TEAM FREE WILL!!

0 Comments