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TV Review: ‘Supernatural’–“Do You Believe In Miracles”

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Supernaturals ninth season finale features a resurrection with hellish consequences. “Do You Believe In Miracles,” written by Jeremy Carver and directed by Thomas J. Wright, is the culmination of a season driven largely by internal arcs instead of a centralizing “Big Bad.” It’s a memorable finale, one that I’ve appreciated more with each rewatch – from the way it brings together an unusual and uneven season narrative to its showcasing of the cast members’ prodigious talents.

Last week’s “Stairway to Heaven” is framed, in part, by Metatron’s insistence that “everyone play their parts.” It seems appropriate then that “Do You Believe In Miracles” continues the exploration of the parts the characters choose to play. The episode picks up immediately after Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) attacks Gadreel (Tahmoh Penikett). Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Castiel (Misha Collins) have to restrain Dean and pry the First Blade from his fingers.

In a scene reminiscent of both “When the Levee Breaks” (4×21) and “Devil May Care” (9×2), Dean is confined to the dungeon. After a season that finally developed Sam and Cas’s friendship, the two act as a unified front, moving in sync as they disregard Dean’s protests and wordlessly lock him inside. When they discover that Gadreel left the bunker while they were occupied with Dean, they set out to find him. Meanwhile, Dean’s vomiting in a corner of the dungeon, and when he turns, there’s blood on his mouth. The image of him looking at his bloodied reflection in the mirror is especially haunting.

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Post title card, we see Metatron, typing away in his office. He tells Neal, the angel who is setting up an angelic broadcast radio, that he’s writing “a marvelous story, full of love and heartbreak and love.” We don’t know who he’s writing about, only that he’s preparing to go forth “to tell the rest of the story.” Though this scene showcases all of Metatron’s annoying characteristics, it also foreshadows his ultimate failure: He insists on being called “God,” assuming the title and its associated power. He’s manipulative, and he lacks compassion; his desire to look “pathetic” so he’ll blend in with a homeless encampment reveals how he views an already marginalized and underprivileged group.

Metatron is playing a part, as we’re reminded by his response to Neal’s praise for reuniting the angels: “It’s like “winning a People’s Choice Award? Not quite the real deal…” Considering that a PCA is a voter-driven award, this jab tells me that Metatron has no respect for the angels under his command. They’re all pawns in his game. He shows his lack of care again when he uses the radio to inform his “flock” that he’s leaving. He promises that upon his return “all will be explained and it will be glorious,” but Neal’s response reminds that the angels have abandonment issues, thanks to God’s long-term disappearance. Metatron still leaves them.

On earth, Sam and Cas locate a severely injured Gadreel. Cas heals him, despite the injured angel’s protests that Cas will weaken his grace. Afterwards, Cas certainly looks ill for a moment. Gadreel then informs them that Metatron wants humanity.  Back at the bunker, Dean has moved quickly, breaking out of the dungeon and accessing supplies to summon Crowley (Mark Sheppard). Perhaps the Men of Letters should have rethought putting the dungeon inside a storeroom?

When summoned, the King of Hell is receiving a massage, a seemingly light-hearted scene in an otherwise dark episode. But a comment by the masseuse, about the demons wanting direction, importantly indicates that all is not well in Hell. Crowley answers Dean and tells him that the human body can’t handle the combined effects of the Mark and the First Image may be NSFW.
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Blade. If Dean doesn’t kill, he’s going to decline until he’s “the least less better.” Less than a day after telling Tessa he’d never considered suicide, Dean is told he’s dying. He looks shocked and asks what will happen if he gets rid of the Mark. Crowley asks if he wants to get rid of it. Ackles conveys Dean’s internal conflict, and the moment he decides is obvious: “I want Metatron.” Off-screen, Crowley helps him escape and retrieve the First Blade from its completely ineffectual hiding spot.

Sam, Cas, and Gadreel return in less than an hour to find that Dean is gone. When Gadreel learns that Dean has the Mark and the Blade, he says that Dean may be the only one who can kill Metatron, who’s harnessing the angel tablet’s power. At first, Sam resists the idea that “our best chance is arming the warhead and hoping it hits the mark” because “This is not a bomb we’re talking about. This is my brother.” It’s nice to hear Sam voice his protectiveness of Dean.


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