Supernatural S05E19 - Hammer of the Gods (2010)

Review

The Bros are forced by a storm to pull in for the night in an out of the way Hotel outside of Muncie, Indiana. The Hotel proves to be rated five stars much to Dean's delight though Sam is suspicious about why a Hotel of this quality would be off the beaten trap. Sam's suspicions are correct as the Winchesters discover the Hotel guests include Odin, Mercury, Kali, Baldur, Ganesha and other pagan Gods, the only humans at the Hotel are there to be on the menu!

The pagan Gods have gathered to reach agreement about what to do about the impending apocalypse, the general opinion being they can't just kill the Winchesters as the angels will simply resurrect the boys and put everything into repeat. Strangely the only silver lining the Boys discover is the Trickster, who used to have a scene with Kali - "all hands". In a surprise twist we discover the Trickster is angel on the run Gabriel, who also has a way for the Winchesters to perhaps defeat Lucifer. But first the Winchesters will need to survive pagan hour and a certain late visitor to the Hotel.

I really dug director Rick Bota's opening scene this episode, the dude might be breaking his Supernatural cherry here but he freaking nails things like he has been pumping out episodes since the show's inception. We get an old dilapidated Hotel, the Elysian Fields - dial in your Greek mythology citizen, and a local law enforcement officer checking out the cobweb infested dump. Without the officer noticing a jar of desiccated flowers slowly comes back to life, the officer does notice a mirror which is gradually losing the cracks that have ruined the surface through the last few decades. Unfortunately for the officer Mercury arrived previously and is in the process of an extreme make over, this is apparently tough work and Mercury is hungry. Director Bota knocks this scene through the barn door; it's gritty, grungy, and laden with atmosphere. Bota might be making his first Supernatural episode, but based on this scene he could have been knocking them out since season one. Finally someone that gets the freaky deaky requirements of the franchise, and the director doesn't let up from this opening scene.

Director Bota swings for the fence and puts it out of the stadium!

This was the obvious episode to throw on the table this season but naturally no one around the bunker thought of it, the Judeo-Christian heaven is locked in battle with the legions of hell with the Earth likely to be the major casualty, naturally other Gods are not going to be happy with their various paradises being wiped out. Supernatural has previously introduced Pagan gods so why not go the full Monty and have a hotel full of them.

I know there are going to be a bunch of people who are not best pleased with the death of a certain Angel in this episode, and no we are not talking Castiel. Avoiding some spoilers here folks, he has appeared in a number of episodes previously and for sure is a fan favourite, but dry those tears he has been presumed dead a couple of times, though the whole wing thing tends to indicate a member of the heavenly host has given up the ghost. Rest in peace fun knight you will be missed, fingers crossed the resurrection thing goes down.

The big plot mover in this episode was of course the disclosure that there is a way to defeat the big evil one, unfortunately this does involve the Bros having to put him back in the cage which isn't going to be exactly easy. Basically our Boys are going to have to deal with the final two riders of the apocalypse Death and Pestilence. On the bright side there is a way to avoid the final showdown between Michael and Lucifer, and with three episodes remaining we pretty much have the rest of the season plotted out.

Perhaps the only issue I had with this episode was some of the casting choices, for example shouldn't Ganesha be Indian? Yes I know he is a Hindu deity and that religion is spread well outside the borders of India, but primarily the god is associated with that single country. Also troubling is the depiction of the god as an elephant and something less than intellectual. According to Hindu belief the god did have an elephant head but that's where the similarity between the deity and the large mammal ends. Equally Ganesha is considered the god of intellect and wisdom, which makes you wonder exactly how much research the writers, all three of them, actually did before penning the episode. I was okay with the rest of the Parthenon on display, but guess besides Kali we are talking pretty bulk standard Western gods. Hey not getting all PC over here, just pointing out an inconsistency.

Guess the first cab off the rank in the Winchester versus surviving Horseman battle will be Pestilence; we sort of get a preview of the dude late in the episode. And brother is this one creepy bastard, phlegm being the least of the body discharges the Pest spews forth; Pest being our name for the Horseman from here on in. I reckon the Bros will have to be wearing hazmat outfits to take the Pest on. So hey settle in, grab the popcorn, it's going to get real groovy from here till the end of the season.

Three tunes to get you pumping your mullet too, lead off by Women's Wear by Daniel May. The Bachelors notch a couple of tracks with You Know You Know (I Love You) and After. That's a pretty solid set of numbers and guess we'll go with one of the Bachelor tracks for this review.

Just when you think this show is starting to show the cracks an episode pops up that has you humming to the beat once again. Hammer of the Gods had me rocking out to what Supernatural should be, send in the monster of the week y'all. Again an episode that you really are going to have to be up to play with the Supernatural universe to understand, but worth a look if you haven't already joined the legions of fans, show regulars will of course be right across this one already. Full recommendation, one of the best episodes in season five, get your Supernatural on kids.

Nope not listing a track from this episode, sorry folks.