Seven Things About Supernatural: 14x08 - "Byzantium"

[dorkilysoulless]

So let's take a minute to recognize that the writers knew damn well what they were doing. To wit:

I want gonna hype tweet tonight’s episode... but then I decided to:
TISSUES, WINE, COZY BLANKET... required for tonight’s new #supernatural written by the great story mistress herself @Merecuda #SPNFamily

— 🦉Davy Perez 🦉 (@davyperez) December 6, 2018

And also:

Tonight! A totally-not-emotionally-devastating* episode of #Supernatural, written by the incomparable @Merecuda. Watch it!

— Bobo Berens (@robertberens) December 6, 2018

And you know, I appreciate that level of honesty from the creative team. It helps me plan my alcohol consumption, and whether I should also invest in a bag of Smashmallows in addition to treefrogie84's ice cream supply.

1. Jack is officially and unambiguously their son, and this is both the best and worst thing. Best because I love the ways that we're seeing each of them grow and become more well-rounded people. Worst because oh no, some of that process is watching them grieve and come apart. It's a more mature grief, too, than we've seen in previous seasons. That's consistent with a lot of the development we've seen in S14. The boys are using their words, Cas' emotional intelligence has been on display these last few episodes, etc. But damn. Dean missing the moment of death. Sam leaving to go process by doing a practical, physical thing and failing. Cas being bereft. And then, of course, the three of them with their drinking-and-nougat wake, and y'all, I'm tearing up writing about it. My heart.
   
2. The THEN segment telegraphed the Lily Sunder appearance, which I know was necessary for the general audience -- and we saw her in the promo pics -- but I confess I had a chuckle until she arrived and everything was, again, pain. Except... Well, actually her journey this episode was kind of a lovely thing. I'm usually a little twitchy when recurring female characters die, but hers is a character that deserved peace long ago, and it's nice to see her get it.
   
3. Her arrival also finally -- finally! -- gave us a Pagan deity operating in a state of non-fuckery. Anubis, it turns out, is kind of fantastic. While I'm still not entirely sold on the abacus, the visual effect was both effective and pleasing, and if there's one thing Supernatural stresses, beings aren't static, and cultures clash/exchange. The idea that individuals decide their fates is consistent with the idea of weighing the heart as well; your choices and your intentions, what you carry and what you move on from in wisdom all shape your trajectory both in life and death. Talk about a message that fits well into Supernatural while also being mythologically consistent.
   
4. Jack and Kelly's reunion. Again, oh my heart. Everything about it is sad, but also perfect and warm, and I will take this bittersweet and roll around in it, even if it makes me ache. I was not expecting her to show up, and after the Lily Sunder spoiler in THEN, this was a pleasant surprise. Also, Jack's heaven is a road trip with his dads. Help.
   
5. So one thing Meredith Glynn did in this ep that absolutely fucked me up was a permutation of The Winchesters Use Their Words where they kind of lampshaded their own flaws while also foreshadowing Cas' deal with the empty. In particular, arriving to find Sam and being concerned he'd made a deal, Sam's line about "Taking risks, making crappy deals, it's what we do!" By the time we get to Cas' deal, we both expect it and also hope he'll flip the script. But there's hope, too: his deal happens in tandem with Lily Sunder's sacrifice, and the result is ultimately one that ends well. Cas has made a bad bed, but...well.
   
6. Thinking about the deal Cas makes with the Empty, it's almost a curse. It wants Cas to suffer, and he will: with the weight and knowledge of the deal itself, the fear of happiness and forgetting it, the weight of the lie he asks Jack to join him in...it's fairy tale stuff. What remains to be seen is what kind of fairy tale we're working from: the kind where cleverness wins the day, or the kind where everyone dies.
   
7. Naomi. Another unexpected appearance, which for me was both yay (because I adore Amanda Tapping) and oh no (because Naomi is never someone you want to see). Naomi asking for help is always bad. So it was a tense thing to have her asking Cas to intervene in ways that benefit Heaven, a pleasure to see Cas continue to make wiser choices about her, and a little unnerving when she offers Cas a tidbit of info: Michael's general location. (I'm willing to be that's going to blow Cas' lie open eventually, too.)
   

All in all, I'm emotionally compromised in ways that I was more prepared to be next week. And next week? Well, at a guess, my liver isn't even a little bit ready.

Comments

[li_izumi]

First, "I'm usually a little twitchy when recurring female characters die, but hers is a character that deserved peace long ago, and it's nice to see her get it." --so much agreement here. I liked seeing Lily pass on, particularly since the show kept going and showed us her judging, showed us that she's going to get up to Heaven and be with her daughter again. Yes, she's dead, but it's such a peaceful end for her.

Secondly, I thought when we saw that Dumah was The Empty that Naomi wasn't really Naomi, that she was just another part of the Empty, trying to get Cas to help The Empty get Jack. With Naomi appearing at the end, that might sink that thought of mine.

This episode beautifully, painfully sets up some interesting story possibilities for the future...

[dorkilysoulless]

Exactly. Lily's been through a lot. It's time for some peace, and to be returned to her family. Honestly, the only fault I can find is that maybe Dean's being manipulative in his confrontation -- he's good at it, and there are times it's hard to tell if he's being earnest or aiming to achieve a goal -- and even that? Well, he's not strictly wrong.

I hadn't had that thought re: Naomi as the Empty. It's possible, but that also feels like maybe more layers than are strictly necessary.

[li_izumi]

Oh there was definitely a level of deliberate manipulation in his confrontation. It was earnest in his feelings of loss and desperation, but he channeled that into words he knew would hurt and maybe, just maybe, push her to help.

[dorkilysoulless]

Oh yeah. His motives were solid, even if it's hard to tell with Dean sometimes where his sincerity begins and ends.

And honestly, I'm not even sure I'd be thinking about it if not for 14x06, and how it showcases how good Dean is in that arena by having Jack act it out for him during the hunt with the librarian.

[lizbobjones]

My "Oh no is Naomi dead" "YAY SHE'S ALIVE" feels so bad but she Must Live.

*hands you a cup of tea* take it easy before next episode, Bobo can be pretty vicious to the Feels when he's on form and THIS is what he's bouncing off D:

[nellerie]

I am so very, very afraid.... this can only become worse.

[temetnosce]

Thanks for the horrible reminder that we're doing a Bobo ep next. We're not gonna survive this.

[lizbobjones]

*sound of Bobo sneaking up on us*

[temetnosce]

What sound what do you mean he's silent like a killer ninja bear.

[dorkilysoulless]

"Bear" is not the first word I think of when I look at Robert Berens.

[temetnosce]

idk tho

[dorkilysoulless]

[dorkilysoulless]

If Robert Berens annihilates me, it's probably what I would have wanted.

Probably.

[nellerie]

(also, do you know there's a supernatural meta community here?)

[dorkilysoulless]

supernatural_meta, right?

Seven Things is kind of how I like to do watch notes for myself (and discussion with friends), but I know I'll want to watch/contribute over there as well!

[temetnosce]

The result for Lily Sunder was wonderful. I think it's particularly interesting because not all people see Heaven as really...a positive solution. But it was in this case, and I think that lays some groundwork there. Heaven has screwed up in the past since it has terrible guidance, but I don't think it's a bad place. The people who can't deal with being trapped in one Heaven find ways to navigate them, the people who are happy reliving their greatest hits are fine. Mostly it needs to hold itself together (and obviously it's still better than the alternative.) But yes, for Lily I found that really interesting, especially considering she knew the spell might kill her. That's one hell of a sacrifice, honestly. It was an admiral goodbye to one of my favorite new characters in years.

[dorkilysoulless]

Yeah, there's something kind of horrific about Heaven as constructed on the show. I think the stasis of it is distressing, and the lack of agency. If the consciousness continues to exist, it's not the worst thing that could happen, but...

Well, yeah. For some people, being reunited is their deepest desire. Lily's whole arc revolved around her child. That reunion? Long overdue.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes especially to #5 but really to all of it.