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Supernatural 11.14: The Vessel
I'm not going to be able to pick a favourite moment of Supernatural - there were too many that made me grin, gasp, howl, splutter, laugh, choke, swear, or sniffle. One or two that forced me to hit pause and leave the room. Too many performances that blew me away. Not to mention that it kept me thinking for fifteen seasons straight. I couldn't even pick one fave/best per season.
But Lucifer-wearing-Cas, mimicking the puppydog blue-eyed Cas reproachful sincerity, pausing in the middle of murdering Sam to get the voice just right, may be my favourite Misha Collins performance of his career so far.
These scenes were hilarious (and tragic of course - Cas just lost his faith in God, his father, and is clearly not dealing well) but I wound up with so many questions.
Like, how much did Cas actually have to drink to get that wasted, stay that way for hours at the very least, and get the resulting hangover? Did he at some point stop putting the booze into his face and just magic the stuff into his bloodstream instead until he couldn't remember how to words? Or is this more of a self-flagellation sort of thing and he's deliberately holding onto drunkenness and the unpleasant after-effects so he can play out the full human-style melodrama aspect and avoid actually dealing with the problem?
Not a side of Cas we saw much, self pity and self destruction, or even physical expression of his emotional state until the final seasons, but I was intrigued by the practicalities of how Cas went about letting it rip in this instance!
Misha Collins just owned every scene he was in while Cas was in this state - against some stiff performance competition in this actually-very-dark episode. Even when he's just in the background with no lines, Cas is slumped against something or looking like he regrets his entire existence, looking unwell, wearing his defeat and done-ness like armour. Awesome performance.
"Wow, Cas, tell us what you really think." ↳ 5.17 - 99 PROBLEMS
That one time Crowley slipped on Castiel's lost marbles. OMG.
One Castiel Quote per Episode 42/136 → 7.23 “SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST”
That landed like a nuke, first when Nick hit Cas right in the soft spot, then again when he pulled himself together enough to reply. Ow, ow, ow.
They had to cover this at some point but I never expected it to be a scene with an antagonist - something provoked out of him in reaction rather than freely confessed to someone he trusts with it. This was penance.
Other than his final scene, I don't think we ever saw Cas more vulnerable.
One Castiel Quote per Episode 110/136 → 14.02 “GODS AND MONSTERS"
I can't believe Supernatural did this. I love that Supernatural did this. Family therapy for Lucifer and God with Sam and Dean Winchester as facilitators. And with Lucifer wearing their best friend. Could this get any more messed up, or any more beautiful?
All that epic story arc about the angels and their civil wars, about the absentee God and his writer issues and the mess he left behind, and they bring it down to Earth with this intimate, real, honest conversation between an estranged father and a once-favourite son.
Stackednatural- 318/327
We Happy Few (11x22) May 18th, 2016
Cas being a sarcastic and/or ruthless li'l shit when he's done with people is a thing I shall treasure for the rest of my life.
Cas being sarcastic - Supernatural (S15E08)
Lost-marbles!Cas vs how-the-hell-do-I-handle-this?Dean turned out to be one of my favourite stretches of Supernatural storyline. It sits atop their recent conflict to prevent them really getting into the recriminations, though Dean tries, but still leaves them dealing with the consequences.
Dean can't adapt to this soft, fragile, artlessly charming, completely unsteerable version of Cas who doesn't even turn the other cheek when Dean lashes out verbally but shuts down when he plain lashes out and spills the game board - Cas who just makes himself invisible and lets the shots of anger pass right through because it's the only way he can survive being himself right now.
Dean needs immediate answers and angel backup; Dean needs his friend back because he can't bear this; Dean needs to argue things out, all the recriminations about how Cas betrayed them last season, hurt Sam first unintentionally then intentionally, then hurt himself saving Sam... Anger is how Dean processes and moves on, but Cas just watches the bees now. The total disconnect between them is so jarring and real.
Gut-wrenching stuff, and beautifully performed by both actors.
"I'm sorry. I think you have to go back to start." ↳ 7.21 - READING IS FUNDAMENTAL
This was the moment where my ears really pricked up as a first time watcher of Supernatural. I loved this whole episode, but this reveal from Cas twigged me to the whole concept that the characters were living a written narrative in-universe rather than, for want of a better phrase, a normal life. I went from enjoying the characters and watching along gamely to being fully invested in the overall story arc in the few seconds filled by this exchange of dialogue.
Watching the show with my mum, she kept complaining during the early seasons that the boys shook off too many serious injuries, too many no-win scenarios, too many fights where they were outgunned, not to mention death itself. And I was like... "I think that's maybe the whole point...maybe?" I was confident by the end of season 2 that there was a concrete reason for Sam and Dean's ever-escalating battle, a purpose to the impossible odds and narrow scrapes that went beyond the bog-standard, handwaved Plot Armour of the average TV protagonists. Castiel showing up at the start of S4 to reveal that God wanted Dean saved from Hell seemed to answer the question - then quickly didn't, as it became apparent that the angels are not only dicks to each other and humanity, but don't really know what's what either - they just believe they do.
Supernatural ended up taking this storyline - the meta story about stories, cycles, free will, and the monster at the end of this book - so much further than I could've hoped, and I loved every second of it.
"He's a mouthpiece, a conduit for the inspired word." ↳ 4.18 - THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK
One of my favourite moments from all of Supernatural. Everyone is so done with everything, but nobody's more done with anything than Castiel. That angel is DONE WITH THIS SHIT.
What happened to Dean?
"ME."
Bobby and Sam don't even question this statement, they're so done.
"I rebelled for this? So that you could surrender to them?" ↳ 5.18 - POINT OF NO RETURN
one gifset per episode: 5.17 99 problems