Supernatural S05E04 - The End

Sex :    Violence :     Scary Movie Rating:  

Director Steve Boyum
Writers Ben Edlund
Starring Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Kurt Fuller, Rob Benedict
Genre Demon
Tagline Lucifer Unbound
Country
Supernatural The End

Review

"You ever get back there, you hoard toilet paper. You understand me? Hoard it. Hoard it like it's made of gold." - Chuck Shurley

Zachariah bounces Dean five years into the future while he sleeps in order to teach Dean that there are consequences to his negativity on the whole becoming Michael's vessel thing. It's 2014 and the demonic croatoan virus has been unleashed bringing about the apocalypse. With most of humanity either dead or infected small bands are left to battle not only the zombie hordes but Satan and his legions.

Dean wakes in Kansas City and finds in 2014 it's been locked down as an infected zone. Narrowly escaping a zombie herd and the military Dean seeks Bobby's help, only to find the old redneck has succumbed at some stage to the violence. Eventually he teams up with his future self, Castiel, and Chuck who are about to embark on one last suicide mission to stop Lucifer, Dean is in for one hell of a surprise as the mission goes pear shaped. Dean certainly learns a lesson, but it's not the one Zachariah had hoped he would pick up on.

Director Steve Boyum goes all out with his 28 Days Later kinetic infected shenanigans after Dean wakes up in 2014 Kansas. Unfortunately that's about it for outstanding camera work as the rest of the episode resolves to typical television direction, i.e. per functionary rather than in any way artistic. But for those 10 or so minutes I was rocking out to the infected roll out and was in the midst of giving the episode a standing ovation on the strength of it. Also noteworthy was the little infected girl which for mine was reprised in the first episode of The Walking Dead in 2010. It's definitely the right way to get the show out of the harbour, what went wrong from there is anyone's guess; the promise was definitely not delivered on.

If anything The End serves as a Dean episode, with the older Winchester Bro learning his family leanings are something he is going to need to bank on with the big evil looming. At the start of the episode he declines Sam's request to get the band back together, but after his three night sojourn in one alternative future, he sees why the Bros are stronger as a single unit than going solo on supernatural projects. It's the natural progression of the character and notably backs up his belief system that has been evident right from the first episode. He might no longer be responsible for Sam, a John Winchester construct brought about by the necessities of the "life style", but he is stronger with Sam on board the groove train.

I was also more than pleased with a couple of minor characters getting some screen time in future Kansas. Chuck Shurley, prophet of the Lord, appears to have thrown the word processor in for a role as quarter master for Dean's irregular troops. And Castiel of all people, if that term is applicable, has become a stoner love guru. Nice character arcs that worked in a sort of you can believe the characters would evolve in that direction given the World has hit the fan.

Enough of the Winchester chick moments, lets get rocking with some horror

I guess the other major development in the episode is that Castiel has information that the colt, the gun that can kill anything living or dead, is still floating around demonic circles. Dean is sceptical, why keep the one thing that can kill you, but at least the firearm does put a candle at the end of a particularly long dark tunnel. One assumes the colt will become important down the line and will lead the Winchesters into some heavy duty engagements with the forces of darkness. Anyone else think a few too many plot lines are being drawn this early in the season? I'm after a few "monster of the week" episodes to lighten the demonic load, and if the colt provides the deus ex machina then I'm whopping it up over here.

There is something of a white elephant in the room, which Dean appears to cotton onto though I have to say scribe Ben Edlund alludes to it then lets it drop like that empty bottle of beer on a hot Friday arvo. Is what Dean experiences real? We all know by now that Angels aren't exactly the most truthful creatures in the Universe, hey my Catholic schooling lied on this one, so is the world Zachariah bounces Dean into real or not? I honestly don't know and am left wondering if it makes any difference to the overall season, ergo is the sole purpose of the episode Dean's epiphany about Sam? I would like to think there's something more going down but guess if the croatoan virus isn't already in mass production then we're talking so much fuller. Will keep an eye on this through the rest of the season friends and neighbours, are the cracks starting to appear in this franchise in season five or not?

Surprisingly for a half decent episode, once again all about Kansas City, there's not a lot more to say. Our Editor is no doubt cheering. On the bright side characters have changed from the "present", on the dark half the changes are only mildly interesting. Dean is on a road to disaster; evidently he needs Sam to moderate himself, and is going to take everyone with him in one final roll of the dice. Was that enough to justify an episode of "Back to the Future"?

We also get taken for a ride with the regulatory mullet rock quota this week, we're talking one song, that's it there isn't anything more. While I was going to go on a rant of Biblical proportions, or at least the same running time as a Peter Jackson flick, I was mollified to a certain extent by Do You Love Me curtesy of The Contours blaring out of a military vehicle as the local militia went ballistic on come croats, as the infected are affectionately named in the future. Yeah, nay but, whatever, we want more music dudes, are the Producers reading this?

Some humour in the episode provided by Castiel, Misha Collins can deadpan with the best of them.

I can't fault an episode of Supernatural that has cool infected type action going down, well at least I can't fault the ten or so minutes that the Director takes out of his schedule to show that action, the rest of the episode is fair game to be honest. Okay The End got where it intended, yet another reunion of the Winchester Bros, and moved the overall season plot arc along, but it promised a whole lot more out of the blocks. Randomly disappointing, which still makes the episode better than 90% of the horror flicks being released currently, check it out would be my advice if hankering after some Winchester shenanigans.

ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ...

Five points for the first half, two for the second half.