Supernatural Season 11 Episode 9 Review: O Brother Where Art Thou?
Sean McKenna
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So, where exactly is God on Supernatural?
No one seems to have any clue, and that includes his sister, the Darkness, but that doesn’t mean he can’t appear at some point, right?
I’m sure the writers have had to grapple with the concept of even choosing whether or not to bring his character to the screen, considering the reveal of the Darkness as his sibling, and what with all the recent talk about God in general.
It seems almost inevitable that he should appear, and yet, I also could see Sam and Dean figuring out a way to stop the Darkness without him ever even showing up. After all, they’ve managed to get this far without God having to appear and throw down with some big baddie.
And it certainly makes me wonder what bigger baddie there could be for Sam and Dean to have to face than the Darkness/Amara. I know Supernatural doesn’t appear to have an endgame yet, but where the heck do you go after God’s sister?
I’m glad that we got to see Amara’s powers advance some more on Supernatural Season 11 Episode 9, and she’s clearly continued to age with her soul snacks. Though now, she’s pretty good at obliterating humans and angels like they are nothing.
At least Dean tried to kill her this time rather than faltering, but even that didn’t work. How can he and Sam possibly manage to stop her?
I’m also still super confused on Amara and Dean’s connection. I get that he and she both have the Mark and they have a bond because of that, but what’s up with the makeout session? Am I just missing something?
And what does her being one with Dean even mean? And what does that do for her?
I’ve definitely been intrigued by the whole concept surrounding the Darkness, and I’ve enjoyed seeing Amara become more powerful rather quickly, but her scenes with Dean weren’t that interesting during the hour. It didn't feel like she had anything drastically new to say to him.
Though, it was kind of cool to see that major flash of light from the angels hit Amara. Not that I think it did anything, but it had me believing that all of the angels had managed to band together to strike her down. That’s some serious solidarity after they’ve all been at war with each other and dividing off into factions.
Except that made me wonder where Castiel was the entire hour. I mean, he can’t seriously be still binging Netflix, right?
Look, it was fine when Sam and Dean went off on their one-off side hunts. It makes sense why Castiel wouldn’t appear. But when there’s huge myth arc stuff involving the Darkness and Lucifer’s cage?
It’s like the writers forgot about Castiel or something. Maybe he’ll have something to do after the fallout of the midseason finale, but his absence was definitely noticeable.
But the best parts of the episode were hands down the ones involving Lucifer. Mark Pellegrino gave a captivating performance, and he stole pretty much every scene he was in. Just his delivery to his dialogue made you want more from his character.
Pellegrino makes Lucifer a villain you love to watch, and even when trapped behind a cage, he remains as menacing and manipulative as ever.
It wasn’t really a surprise that it was Lucifer sending Sam the visions, but I was so pleased that Sam refused to let him use him to get topside. It felt like such progress for his character.
And while Sam and Dean did manage to get split up during the episode, I was also pleased that the brothers worked out the dangerous plan together. Sam didn’t just run off without Dean to Crowley. The two agreed to try and figure things out as a team, even with it being dangerous.
Sure, things got a little complicated and the brothers got split up, but I was glad to see the general direction for the two when it came to dealing with Sam's visions and the cage.
There was some solid stakes and tension when it came to Sam and Lucifer's interactions. And when Lucifer pulled Sam into the cage with him, I was actually worried for Sam.
How much damage is he going to take? Do the two of them go back to the actual cage and not the cage Rowena summoned them to? And is the series really going to keep ignoring that Adam and Michael are technically in the cage, too?
Crowley and Rowena didn't really add much to the hour besides the script needing them to be there to get to Lucifer. I even kept wishing the scenes would stop cutting back to their conversations and bickering. And it really wasn't a surprise that Rowena again pulled a fast one.
Sometimes I just can't help but sigh every time Rowena gets involved.
But even with some of my misgivings, I was engaged for most of the midseason finale. There were even times where it felt like a season finale – except we don't have to wait a whole year to find out what happens next. And of course, Pellegrino was a standout as Lucifer.
If anything, the episode really has me looking forward to seeing just where the Darkness storyline will go, and what the aftermath of Lucifer and Sam will be. And who knows, maybe God will be stepping in soon?
What did you think? What's Lucifer going to do to Sam? What's up with Amara and Dean? Sound off below, and be sure to see it all again when you watch Supernatural online now!
Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.
