Supernatural Season 9 Review

Supernatural Season 9

Although the finale premiered several months ago, I only recently got around to watching all of Supernatural’s ninth season. Supernatural is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, I have seen every episode, and intend to watch Season 10 as well. However, I feel conflicted about Supernatural. The first couple of seasons of the show were distinguishable and interesting. But after the fifth season, everything started to blur together. There were times when Supernatural tried to mix things up (like in Season 7 with those ridiculous Leviathans) but nothing never really stuck.

Thus, Supernatural stayed on the “Angels vs. Demons” conflict. Still, I am constantly encouraged to continue following the show. Maybe it’s because I don’t want the hours I’ve put into watching all 195 episodes to be for nothing. Maybe it’s because I still have hope that the show will revert back to the classic “saving people; hunting things” routine. Regardless, here are my thoughts on the latest season of Supernatural. If you haven’t seen up to this point, read at your own risk; there will almost certainly be SPOILERS ahead.

Plot

After the events of Season 8, all the angels have fallen out of heaven and have lost their wings. Also, Sam was put in a comatose state and is on the verge of death. Again. Dean is very upset about his brother’s state of life, despite the fact that both the Winchester boys have potentially died and been resurrected hundreds of times without even knowing it.

But I digress.

Dean asks a very firmly spoken angel named Ezekiel to heal Sam by merging with him and repair him for the inside. Except Ezekiel isn’t really Ezekiel because Ezekiel died in “the fall.” He is actually a criminal angel named Gadreel. Gadreel is supposedly the angel that let Sin into the garden and destroyed God’s plan for the human race forever. But whatevs.

I could probably fill an encyclopedia with the events that unfold after the premiere, but for your benefit and mine, I will just list the most important events.. In bullet format!

• Sam is healed
• Kevin finally dies (killed by Ezekiel/Sam)
• Crowley and Abaddon fight for control of hell
• Metatron starts to build an army
• Castiel is a hobo
• Dean turns into a dog
• Dean gets the mark of Cain
• Dean gets the “first blade,” the only thing that can kill Abaddon and, conveniently, Metatron
• Dean becomes bloodthirsty
• Castiel starts a cult
• Metatron becomes god
• Dean kills Abaddon
• Dean tries to kill Metatron but gets his ass kicked
• Metatron is no longer god and is locked up in jail
• Dean kind of dies
• Sam cries
• Dean is now a demon for some reason

Congratulations! You have just read the basic plot synopsis of Season 9 of Supernatural. I think I have included the most important events that happened, but I still feel like I’m forgetting something. That’s because Supernatural is a incredibly over-complex show. *Sigh* I suppose it can’t be helped. If you think I forgot something that deserves to be mentioned, let me know in the comments below.

As the last bullet mentions, Dean turned into a demon in the last 5 seconds of the season finale. This makes me happy. Dean’s transformation means that there will finally be a new villain next season. It’s about time.

Acting/Dialogue

The acting and dialogue in Season 9 follows the classic Supernatural pattern. That is to say: it’s bad. Call it whatever you want. Cheesy, unoriginal, forced; bad pretty much sums it up. Still, the awkwardness of the acting and language gives the show a sort of charming quality. Still bad, just not unbearably bad.

SFX/Action

Makeup and special effects in Supernatural are surprisingly high budget. Blood effects also look good but costumes occasionally stray into the cheaper side.

The fight scenes and gunfights are well choreographed and fun to watch.

Conclusion

Before we get to the score for this season, it’s award time.

Best Performance: Curtis Armstrong (Metatron)

Best Episode: Bloodlines

Nine seasons is a lot for any show. Even though Supernatural has run for what seems like an eternity, when Wayward Son by Kansas played during the season finale, I found myself being hit by a wave of nostalgia that I have for the series. I give Season 9 of Supernatural an 8/10 for an attempt to stray from the established pattern and for getting me excited for Season 10.  

The Winchester brothers have grown into quite the master hunters, and I am excited to see what happens next.