Quick Reaction: 14x19 Jack in the Box
Apr. 18th, 2019 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hells_half_acreHello!!
Do I have a preamble tonight? I don't think so... I hope you have all had a good week! Next week it the finale - amazing! And then I'll get the timeline uploaded, and then MAYBE I'll finally get S13's clothes done.
No drinking tonight, because I had to drive. Hopefully you all forgive me. :)
Let's get into it....
So, the THEN gives us a weird call back to the Empty overtaking Heaven, and I wasn't sure how that was going to play in.
The NOW puts us in the middle of Mary's Wake... or actually, since she's already buried, I suppose it's a Memorial. Dean gives a eulogy. We find out that at least some of the hunters from the AU are still alive (good job guys!) Then Bobby kills a dude with an axe. Wait, what?
Apparently one of the "hunters" in attendance was actually a wraith. Uh... so, I get this is like... a fun entrance or whatever, I'm just going to criticize it for a hot second - do you REALLY think it's a good idea to kill someone that people don't know is an impostor in a room full of people who are TRAINED TO KILL THINGS THAT KILL PEOPLE. Like... did someone check Bobby to make sure HE wasn't the wraith? I'm just saying. Now, I'm going to criticize my critique - it MIGHT have given time for the wraith to run away, I get that, so fair. But it still seems absolutely ridiculous to me.
Bobby checks in to see how Sam is doing, and then asks about "the other one" - Sam thinks Dean is doing okay. But Dean is quite obviously doing his usual "I will avoid talking about this for as long as humanly possible."
Sam shows Bobby some old pictures of Mary, and Bobby asks how she died - mentions that he heard rumours it was the kid. Dean comes into the kitchen then and everyone is like "try to pretend we didn't all just awkwardly fall silent at the sight of him" but they fail - so Sam goes for broke and suggests that they need to talk about Jack. Dean decides that he's going out for a drink.
Bobby then gets it confirmed that it was Jack, and insists that there's only one way "this ends" - and Cas is like "yes, we must find Jack and help him!" and Bobby is like *double-take* "wait what?" Bobby's opinion is that if Jack doesn't have a human side left, then he's ONLY Lucifer... which, uh, isn't how inherited traits work, but whatever. Bobby DOES have a good point that they're usual strategy when there is an unstoppable powerful monster who doesn't know right from wrong is to figure out a way to stop them permanently - with force - and enforced mortality.
Meanwhile, Jack is sad in a warehouse, having flashbacks about it all. He tries to pray to his mom to ask her what to do - and I gotta admit, I completely forgot about Kelly for a moment and when he said "Mom..." I was like "oh shit - is he talking to Mary?!" but then I clued in right away. Anyway, unfortunately for me, and everyone, it's not Kelly that shows up but Jack's hallucination of Lucifer.... which lives up to the Lucifer name by telling him only lies, doing a whole lot of gaslighting, and insisting that the Winchesters will hate him now and that he's on his own. (I gotta admit that I'm worried he's a third right with that last one.)
Just in case we were wondering how Dean is REALLY doing - he's crying by himself on a log in the woods where Mary died. So... you know, that's healthy grieving behaviour.
Cas goes to Heaven to try to speak with Naomi again. Instead he finds Duma, who basically tells him that she blamed Naomi for the Empty getting into Heaven and imprisoned Naomi as a result and took over leadership of Heaven herself. Yeah... that's not good. To further make this not good, Cas basically tells her everything - that Jack is missing, that he doesn't have a soul, that he needs guidance. Duma has a good line about how Jack "lost his capacity for good through an act of goodness" but other than that, she's just like "missing, you say... in need of guidance, you say..." and you KNOW she's gonna use this info for evil.
Back at the Bunker, Sam is trying to find Jack before the hunters do. Dean comes home, and Sam once again tries to talk to Dean about Mary. He talks about how they KNOW that heaven and God are real, so they've got it a little better than people who have to believe platitudes - but then Dean is like "but both those things suck!" And basically it boils down to the fact that Dean is REALLY bitter about what happened... and I mean, fair enough, his mom is dead AGAIN. But, ouch.
Duma finds Jack and tells him everything he wants to hear - that it's not his fault; that he has a glorious destiny; that if he comes and serves Heaven, he can make it like it was in 'The Good Old Days(TM)"; and most crucially, that that he'll be making the Winchester's happy by doing so. Jack eats it up, because apparently he is an idiot.
Jack and Duma's first stop is to kill an evangelical atheist named Tate. Jack turns him into a pillar of salt.
Back at the Bunker, Cas returns and is like "Heaven promised to help find him" and Dean is like "yeah... that doesn't sound sketchy at all" ... and then Sam finds the Tate death and another rather biblical death. And for some reason *cough*writers*cough* Dean completely forgets about 6x03 The Third Man, where they already were walked through the story of Lot and his wife. Not to mention that by THIS point, Dean and Sam have got to have read the bible MULTIPLE TIMES - hell, Sam recognized lines from it in ANCIENT HEBREW just two episodes ago - Lot and the Pillar of Salt thing KIND OF MAKE AN IMPRESSION. Anyway... whatever.
They figure it's Jack, since no one else has that sort of power.
Duma brings Jack to Heaven (I know Jack is a Nephilim, so maybe it doesn't count - but I was PRETTY sure that no mortal can enter heaven without being instantly killed? Maybe I'm making that up and I've been watching too much of The Good Place.) Anyway, she tells him that his next task is going to be to make new angels. She figures that he can make them out of humans - then she takes him to the throne room and tells him to listen to prayers until he finds some good candidates.
He finds a church group - which derailed my watching for a bit, as me and my friend had to have a long discussion about what section of the church they were using to meeting in, as it wasn't the alter, but instead off to the side by the emergency doors - and that led into a discussion about at what point in our lives we discovered the fact that most large christian churches are shaped like a cross - and since I grew up in a city with a cathedral in it, I won for being youngest when I was actually IN one of those churches, but we both tied for 'had to go to Europe to realize it.'"
Jack sells the Church group on this weird idea of fulfilling their dream of going to heaven and becoming angels - seemingly by putting them into some weird trance - because I'm pretty sure those people meant WHEN THEY DIE and not - you now, immediately. Hopefully none of those people were single parents, because congrats, Jack, you just created orphans. No one likes creating orphans.
The local pastor/priest walks in to give a talk on the reading they did only to discover Jack and entranced people - and when he calls Jack out on his bullshit, Jack makes worms eat him, and it is gross.
Back at the Bunker, Dean has come up with a plan. In my notes, I have the plan noted as "Ze Box" - basically, Dean still has the Malak Box that he built, and his plan is to lie to Jack that they have a spell to restore his soul, but he has to wait in the Box while they finish it - and then Jack will get in the box of his own free will, and then be locked away forever. In order to accomplish this plan, Dean just needs Sam to go along with the lie, because Jack trusts Sam more than anyone. OUCH.
Cas goes back to Heaven to ask what gives and finds Arameil outside. Arameil tells Cas that Heaven is closed to him, and draws a blade. Meanwhile, inside, Jack is making the humans into angels. Luckily for everyone, Cas is actually heavens best fighter as it turns out, because he defeats Arameil without stabbing him and marches him into Heaven and demands to speak to Duma privately.
Dean has Sam pray to Jack in order to get in touch with him.
Cas realizes what Duma is doing - stripping Heaven of it's mercy. Duma insists that she's saving Heaven and the world. Then Duma tries to blackmail Cas by threatening John and Mary Winchester's resting souls. Cas stabs her... so you know, that blackmail doesn't work.
Jack arrives in the Bunker to answer Sam's prayer. He tries to explain what happened with Mary, but does it rather coldly, and thus only increases Dean's anger towards him (or maybe his anger towards the situation - as we know Dean cared for Jack once upon a time, and I want to be charitable and at least say that Dean is also mourning the Jack he knew along with Mary.) Jack says he regrets what happens, but it's obvious from his town that there's not much emotion behind it.
Dean says that he forgives him for "the accident" though - and weaves the lie about needing to keep him safe until they can make it better. Jack, as Dean suggested he would, goes willingly into the box. Sam is obviously super reluctant and regretful for ever saying he'd go along with this plan - but he's basically being forced to choose between Jack and Dean here.... so he's really between a rock and a hard place.
Jack doesn't last long before he starts questioning why they left him alone in a dark box and don't seem to even be outside of it anymore.
In the Bunker kitchen, away from Jack's cries for them, Sam tells Dean that he doesn't think he can do it. Dean changes the subject. Sam makes his *I am disappointed in you* face, but it doesn't work. He tries to remind Dean that they're supposed to go for long-shots, but Dean isn't having it.
Meanwhile, in the Box, Jack starts hallucinating Lucifer again - who walks him through how he was just lied to and how the Winchesters intend to imprison him in the box forever.
Cas arrives to tell Sam and Dean how the biblical deaths were a manipulation by Heaven and that they shouldn't blame Jack for them. Dean then tells him what they've just done - Cas is NOT impressed.
Lucifer continues to goad Jack, and really, Sam and Dean should have remembered that Jack is STRONGER than an archangel... because yeah, that box isn't going to hold him.
Cas continues to be super angry - but is interrupted by an earthquake - which turns out to be Jack breaking out of the box. So, now not only is he soulless, he's also ANGRY.
And thus ends the episode....
So... yeah, I really didn't want them to turn Jack into the big bad. But I had a feeling, as soon as they started burning Jack's soul "just a little" that that's what was going to happen... I'm not sure what's going to happen next week. I assume nothing good, as it's the season finale. But I DO hope that they're able to save Jack in the end somehow. Though, perhaps they won't. :( :(
I'm definitely interested in what the set-up to S15 is going to be!
Let me know what you thought in comments! :)
Do I have a preamble tonight? I don't think so... I hope you have all had a good week! Next week it the finale - amazing! And then I'll get the timeline uploaded, and then MAYBE I'll finally get S13's clothes done.
No drinking tonight, because I had to drive. Hopefully you all forgive me. :)
Let's get into it....
So, the THEN gives us a weird call back to the Empty overtaking Heaven, and I wasn't sure how that was going to play in.
The NOW puts us in the middle of Mary's Wake... or actually, since she's already buried, I suppose it's a Memorial. Dean gives a eulogy. We find out that at least some of the hunters from the AU are still alive (good job guys!) Then Bobby kills a dude with an axe. Wait, what?
Apparently one of the "hunters" in attendance was actually a wraith. Uh... so, I get this is like... a fun entrance or whatever, I'm just going to criticize it for a hot second - do you REALLY think it's a good idea to kill someone that people don't know is an impostor in a room full of people who are TRAINED TO KILL THINGS THAT KILL PEOPLE. Like... did someone check Bobby to make sure HE wasn't the wraith? I'm just saying. Now, I'm going to criticize my critique - it MIGHT have given time for the wraith to run away, I get that, so fair. But it still seems absolutely ridiculous to me.
Bobby checks in to see how Sam is doing, and then asks about "the other one" - Sam thinks Dean is doing okay. But Dean is quite obviously doing his usual "I will avoid talking about this for as long as humanly possible."
Sam shows Bobby some old pictures of Mary, and Bobby asks how she died - mentions that he heard rumours it was the kid. Dean comes into the kitchen then and everyone is like "try to pretend we didn't all just awkwardly fall silent at the sight of him" but they fail - so Sam goes for broke and suggests that they need to talk about Jack. Dean decides that he's going out for a drink.
Bobby then gets it confirmed that it was Jack, and insists that there's only one way "this ends" - and Cas is like "yes, we must find Jack and help him!" and Bobby is like *double-take* "wait what?" Bobby's opinion is that if Jack doesn't have a human side left, then he's ONLY Lucifer... which, uh, isn't how inherited traits work, but whatever. Bobby DOES have a good point that they're usual strategy when there is an unstoppable powerful monster who doesn't know right from wrong is to figure out a way to stop them permanently - with force - and enforced mortality.
Meanwhile, Jack is sad in a warehouse, having flashbacks about it all. He tries to pray to his mom to ask her what to do - and I gotta admit, I completely forgot about Kelly for a moment and when he said "Mom..." I was like "oh shit - is he talking to Mary?!" but then I clued in right away. Anyway, unfortunately for me, and everyone, it's not Kelly that shows up but Jack's hallucination of Lucifer.... which lives up to the Lucifer name by telling him only lies, doing a whole lot of gaslighting, and insisting that the Winchesters will hate him now and that he's on his own. (I gotta admit that I'm worried he's a third right with that last one.)
Just in case we were wondering how Dean is REALLY doing - he's crying by himself on a log in the woods where Mary died. So... you know, that's healthy grieving behaviour.
Cas goes to Heaven to try to speak with Naomi again. Instead he finds Duma, who basically tells him that she blamed Naomi for the Empty getting into Heaven and imprisoned Naomi as a result and took over leadership of Heaven herself. Yeah... that's not good. To further make this not good, Cas basically tells her everything - that Jack is missing, that he doesn't have a soul, that he needs guidance. Duma has a good line about how Jack "lost his capacity for good through an act of goodness" but other than that, she's just like "missing, you say... in need of guidance, you say..." and you KNOW she's gonna use this info for evil.
Back at the Bunker, Sam is trying to find Jack before the hunters do. Dean comes home, and Sam once again tries to talk to Dean about Mary. He talks about how they KNOW that heaven and God are real, so they've got it a little better than people who have to believe platitudes - but then Dean is like "but both those things suck!" And basically it boils down to the fact that Dean is REALLY bitter about what happened... and I mean, fair enough, his mom is dead AGAIN. But, ouch.
Duma finds Jack and tells him everything he wants to hear - that it's not his fault; that he has a glorious destiny; that if he comes and serves Heaven, he can make it like it was in 'The Good Old Days(TM)"; and most crucially, that that he'll be making the Winchester's happy by doing so. Jack eats it up, because apparently he is an idiot.
Jack and Duma's first stop is to kill an evangelical atheist named Tate. Jack turns him into a pillar of salt.
Back at the Bunker, Cas returns and is like "Heaven promised to help find him" and Dean is like "yeah... that doesn't sound sketchy at all" ... and then Sam finds the Tate death and another rather biblical death. And for some reason *cough*writers*cough* Dean completely forgets about 6x03 The Third Man, where they already were walked through the story of Lot and his wife. Not to mention that by THIS point, Dean and Sam have got to have read the bible MULTIPLE TIMES - hell, Sam recognized lines from it in ANCIENT HEBREW just two episodes ago - Lot and the Pillar of Salt thing KIND OF MAKE AN IMPRESSION. Anyway... whatever.
They figure it's Jack, since no one else has that sort of power.
Duma brings Jack to Heaven (I know Jack is a Nephilim, so maybe it doesn't count - but I was PRETTY sure that no mortal can enter heaven without being instantly killed? Maybe I'm making that up and I've been watching too much of The Good Place.) Anyway, she tells him that his next task is going to be to make new angels. She figures that he can make them out of humans - then she takes him to the throne room and tells him to listen to prayers until he finds some good candidates.
He finds a church group - which derailed my watching for a bit, as me and my friend had to have a long discussion about what section of the church they were using to meeting in, as it wasn't the alter, but instead off to the side by the emergency doors - and that led into a discussion about at what point in our lives we discovered the fact that most large christian churches are shaped like a cross - and since I grew up in a city with a cathedral in it, I won for being youngest when I was actually IN one of those churches, but we both tied for 'had to go to Europe to realize it.'"
Jack sells the Church group on this weird idea of fulfilling their dream of going to heaven and becoming angels - seemingly by putting them into some weird trance - because I'm pretty sure those people meant WHEN THEY DIE and not - you now, immediately. Hopefully none of those people were single parents, because congrats, Jack, you just created orphans. No one likes creating orphans.
The local pastor/priest walks in to give a talk on the reading they did only to discover Jack and entranced people - and when he calls Jack out on his bullshit, Jack makes worms eat him, and it is gross.
Back at the Bunker, Dean has come up with a plan. In my notes, I have the plan noted as "Ze Box" - basically, Dean still has the Malak Box that he built, and his plan is to lie to Jack that they have a spell to restore his soul, but he has to wait in the Box while they finish it - and then Jack will get in the box of his own free will, and then be locked away forever. In order to accomplish this plan, Dean just needs Sam to go along with the lie, because Jack trusts Sam more than anyone. OUCH.
Cas goes back to Heaven to ask what gives and finds Arameil outside. Arameil tells Cas that Heaven is closed to him, and draws a blade. Meanwhile, inside, Jack is making the humans into angels. Luckily for everyone, Cas is actually heavens best fighter as it turns out, because he defeats Arameil without stabbing him and marches him into Heaven and demands to speak to Duma privately.
Dean has Sam pray to Jack in order to get in touch with him.
Cas realizes what Duma is doing - stripping Heaven of it's mercy. Duma insists that she's saving Heaven and the world. Then Duma tries to blackmail Cas by threatening John and Mary Winchester's resting souls. Cas stabs her... so you know, that blackmail doesn't work.
Jack arrives in the Bunker to answer Sam's prayer. He tries to explain what happened with Mary, but does it rather coldly, and thus only increases Dean's anger towards him (or maybe his anger towards the situation - as we know Dean cared for Jack once upon a time, and I want to be charitable and at least say that Dean is also mourning the Jack he knew along with Mary.) Jack says he regrets what happens, but it's obvious from his town that there's not much emotion behind it.
Dean says that he forgives him for "the accident" though - and weaves the lie about needing to keep him safe until they can make it better. Jack, as Dean suggested he would, goes willingly into the box. Sam is obviously super reluctant and regretful for ever saying he'd go along with this plan - but he's basically being forced to choose between Jack and Dean here.... so he's really between a rock and a hard place.
Jack doesn't last long before he starts questioning why they left him alone in a dark box and don't seem to even be outside of it anymore.
In the Bunker kitchen, away from Jack's cries for them, Sam tells Dean that he doesn't think he can do it. Dean changes the subject. Sam makes his *I am disappointed in you* face, but it doesn't work. He tries to remind Dean that they're supposed to go for long-shots, but Dean isn't having it.
Meanwhile, in the Box, Jack starts hallucinating Lucifer again - who walks him through how he was just lied to and how the Winchesters intend to imprison him in the box forever.
Cas arrives to tell Sam and Dean how the biblical deaths were a manipulation by Heaven and that they shouldn't blame Jack for them. Dean then tells him what they've just done - Cas is NOT impressed.
Lucifer continues to goad Jack, and really, Sam and Dean should have remembered that Jack is STRONGER than an archangel... because yeah, that box isn't going to hold him.
Cas continues to be super angry - but is interrupted by an earthquake - which turns out to be Jack breaking out of the box. So, now not only is he soulless, he's also ANGRY.
And thus ends the episode....
So... yeah, I really didn't want them to turn Jack into the big bad. But I had a feeling, as soon as they started burning Jack's soul "just a little" that that's what was going to happen... I'm not sure what's going to happen next week. I assume nothing good, as it's the season finale. But I DO hope that they're able to save Jack in the end somehow. Though, perhaps they won't. :( :(
I'm definitely interested in what the set-up to S15 is going to be!
Let me know what you thought in comments! :)
