I’m gutted.
Heartbroken. Sad. Devastated. Shocked. Lying flat on the floor of my office staring up at the ceiling in a semi-catatonic state of disbelief. If you don’t want to know why Supernatural‘s midseason finale left me in this state, DO NOT read on.
Let’s start with OMG moment No. 1: Our beloved Kevin Tran is dead. He was killed by an angel named Gadreel, who we learned was the REAL angel inhabiting Sam’s body.
Yup, it turns out Ezekiel, the angel that Castiel had nothing but nice things to say about earlier in the season, was killed in the Great Angel Fall of 2013. So Gadreel essentially stole his identity. But how did that turn into the death of Kevin Tran? I’ll explain…
Gadreel took Zeke’s identity because he was trying to repair his reputation, which had been damaged after he fudged his duty to guard the Garden of Eden thousands of years ago, an incident that had gotten him send to Angel Jail (PS: I’d watch that show). Gadreel had been rotting in the celestial slammer until he was freed by Metatron’s Angel Shower in the season 8 finale. And once he was back on Earth, Gadreel decided to steal the identity of a good guy angel, in this case Zeke. We learned all this via Metatron, who showed up to tell Gadreel that his secret was no longer safe.
In the scene where all of this was revealed, we also learned that Metatron’s ultimate goal was to become the ruler of a new heaven. (He wants to be called “X,” which made me chuckle because I thought of Ted Mosby’s college DJ pseudonym, Doctor X.) And he intended for Gadreel to be his No. 2…if he carried out the killing of Kevin Tran to prove his loyalty. (He wrote Kevin’s name on a card that we didn’t see until later. So for a while, we were worried about basically everyone.)
Earlier, Castiel had joined Sam and Dean on a hunt — and enjoyed his first beer as a human — that ultimately revealed a few details about a brewing war for heaven. Yes, you read that right. A freaking war for heaven. Epic.
But in the process of investigating, poor Cas got captured and tortured by Malachi, one of the angels who has a stake in this impending war. Cas got away, luckily, and while executing his escape, he also managed to walk away with something very important — another angel’s grace. (He killed one of Malachi’s goons and stole his!) So Castiel’s an angel again, and his timing couldn’t have been better because Dean’s going to need his help more than ever. What helps is that during the course of this packed episode, Dean did get a chance to tell Cas the truth about what’s going on with Sam. So it’s all out in the open. In fact, it’s a good thing he did tell Cas, because Cas is the one who told Dean about Zeke being dead.
Once wise to Gadreel’s identity theft, Dean had Kevin cook up a spell that would allow him talk to Sam without having Not Zeke overhear their conversation. But, in the end, the spell did not work. So when Dean told Sam the truth in a hugely emotional scene that concluded with Dean begging Sam to expel the angel inside of him, Gadreel heard it all. (Note: Dean did not know Gadreel’s name.) So Gadreel punched Dean into a nap while he went to carry out Metatron’s request to kill Kevin.
Kevin’s death scene was as hard to watch as you’d imagine. Not only were the poor kid’s eyes burned out, but watching Dean’s reaction was just wrenching.
The hour finished up with Gadreel fleeing in Sam’s body, Dean distraught over Kevin’s death, and all of us counting the days until January.
Questions: Were you sad to see Kevin go? Do you think Castiel’s stolen grace will have side effects? I mean, the dude he stole it from didn’t seem like a very kind angel. Did this whole Gadreel thing surprise you as much as it surprised me? And can someone please hold me?
QUOTEABLES (There aren’t many. I was too busy sobbing to chuckle.):
“I’m a part of this — like it or not.” — Castiel
Dean: She was hot.
Castiel: So hot. And very nice…up to the point she started torturing me.
Dean: Yeah, well, not every hookup is perfect.
