The big mystery of Supernatural was answered last week when we learned Castiel was secretly working with Crowley. But now it’s time for the explanation, and this week brings a big moral dilemma as Cas tells his side of the story regarding his actions for the past year. Is Cas doing the right thing or is he the new Lucifer?
If the answer to that question was simple, this show wouldn’t be as good. Instead, Castiel’s story is full of difficult conflicts and I’m still not sure what I think. Cas does some good things, but, as the saying goes, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
The Past
We start a year ago after Cas teamed up with two boys and a drunk to stop the Apocalypse and change the destiny of the world. It was Cas who brought Sam back from the cage, though he regrets it. He seemed to bring Sam back just because he could, but he doesn’t address the issue of whether he purposefully brought him back without a soul.
Then Cas went to Heaven to try and explain the concept of freedom to the other angels, but all they care about is what God wants them to do with their freedom, kind of missing the point. In Ken Lay’s Heaven (yes, the Enron CEO got to go to Heaven), Raphael began the war with Cas by wanting to get back on track with God’s plan by releasing Michael and Lucifer, restarting the Apocalypse. Cas didn’t accept that as a possibility, but he wasn’t strong enough to fight back.
Next is, for me, the most important scene in the episode, when Cas comes to ask Dean for help, but sees him raking leaves and chooses not to bring him back into the fray. Dean was out and Cas didn’t want to pull him back in. He thought he was doing the right thing, but if Cas had talked to Dean, everything would’ve worked out differently.
Enter Crowley, who had a deal to make with Cas. They took a tour of Hell (which consists of people standing in line forever) where Crowley suggested a partnership to find Purgatory and use the 30 or 40 million souls, divided evenly, to ensure that Cas defeats Raphael, Crowley keeps control of Hell and there’s no more talk of bringing back the Apocalypse.
Crowley made some good points, and as much as he sucks up to Cas, one thing is a little obvious: an angel turning against Heaven and starting a war (which Cas does) is essentially the new Lucifer. It really is complicated. A loan of 50,000 souls got Cas started and he went back to Heaven to draw the line in the sand: You’re on Team Raphael or Team Castiel.
In the end, we learn Cas was telling his story to God, beginning Him for a sign about what he should do. But as always, God stayed out of it. God really needs to make an appearance, because his absence has gone on for too long.
The Present
While Cas tells his story to God, the story unfolds as the boys are hot on the trail of Crowley, which leaves Cas in a difficult position between his two alliances. Sam, Dean and Bobby get a lead on the demon equivalent of Bobby, a dispatcher named Ellsworth (a hilarious reference to the fact that it was Jim Beaver’s character’s name on Deadwood). But Cas overhears and kills him before they get there.
The boys show up and find nothing except for Crowley’s henchmen who try and kill them, but Cas steps in to make the save. Unfortunately for Cas, he uses the same “Superman going to the dark side” metaphor that he overheard Bobby use earlier, clueing the boys into the fact that Cas is spying on them and can’t be trusted.
So the boys lure Cas out and trap him in a ring of fire to get the truth, which they do, but Crowley interrupts their interrogation. Cas makes one last-ditch effort to talk to Dean, but Dean simply begs Cas to stop his plan and trust him. Cas can’t do it, and it looks like Dean and Cas are no longer BFFs. Instead, they’re enemies.
So what do you think? Is Cas doing the right thing, or is he doing the wrong thing for the right reasons?
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
