Season 5 Episode 21: Two Minutes to Midnight

            In “Two Minutes to Midnight,” season five episode twenty one of Supernatural, Sam and Dean have to collect the rest of the rings used to open Lucifer’s Cage. They find Pestilence, who they attempt to fight while suffering from various diseases, before Castiel shows up and retrieves the ring by cutting it off of Pestilence’s finger. Bobby sells his soul to Crowley in order to find out where Death is, and reveals that he is in Chicago. Sam, Dean, Bobby, Castiel, and Crowley all go to confront Death and keep the Croatoan virus from being distributed all over the country. Death reveals that Sam is the only one who can get Lucifer back in his Cage.

            A lot goes on in this episode, and there are some moments that are now cliché to the story. First there is the idea that Sam is not good enough, Bobby selling his soul, and Dean wanting to protect Sam. All of these have been done in some form another throughout the series, and in “Two Minutes to Midnight” they all combine to further the plot.

            Throughout “Two Minutes to Midnight” and the series itself, is the idea that Sam is not good enough; that he is a monster and not entirely human. This is highlighted in seasons four and five by Sam’s blood addiction and somewhat questionable choices. Sam himself does not think he is worthy to save the world, but despite that, he still wants to try. He proposes the idea of him saying “yes” to Lucifer, then taking control and jumping into the pit himself. In “Two Minutes to Midnight” he proves that even though he has made mistakes, he is still capable of being a hero. He helps Dean find Pestilence, and while he and Dean cannot get the ring on their own, they manage to retrieve it with Castiel’s help. Later in the episode, Sam helps Bobby save at least ten civilians from the Niveus Pharmaceuticals distribution center. He goes after them one after another and saves them from other people infected by the Croatoan virus. Bobby, Sam, and Castiel, destroy the rest of the vaccines and save the rest of the country. However, Sam still views himself as the weakest in their little “save the world” group, and believes Dean, Bobby, and Castiel view him that way as well. No matter what he does, Sam still cannot view himself as a hero, and since he is the one who let Lucifer out of the Cage in the first place, he seems to feel it is his job to put Lucifer back into it.

            However, before Sam can even attempt his plan of jumping into the pit with Lucifer, they need the four rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. By halfway through the episode, they have the rings from War, Famine, and Pestilence. All that is left is Death’s ring, and they have to find him first. How else would they do that than by making a crossroads deal? Bobby sells his soul and gets Death’s location from Crowley. While this exact deal has not been done in the series before, selling one’s soul is fairly common in Supernatural. John Winchester sold his soul to save Dean, Dean sold his soul to save Sam, Sam tried to sell his soul to save Dean, and now Bobby has sold his soul to save the world. It is a continuous cycle with the Winchesters. Sam and Dean have the usual “how could you be so stupid” argument with Bobby, and then the moment becomes humorous when Sam asks if Bobby kissed Crowley and Crowley shows them the picture. Sam and Dean then learn that Crowley plans to give Bobby his soul back, but he is keeping it for insurance purposes. While there have been many crossroad deals in the series, never has a soul been promised back to the original owner. Crowley even throws Bobby’s ability to walk into the deal. This paints Crowley as a “good guy,” and makes Lucifer look even worse by comparison.

            The last theme that has been seen since the first episode of Supernatural is Dean’s desire to protect Sam. While Sam may be ready to jump into Lucifer’s Cage to save the world, Dean is not ready to let him. The episode starts off with Dean telling Sam that jumping into the Cage is a stupid idea, and that Sam cannot go through with it. When Death tells Dean himself that Sam is the only person who can get Lucifer back into his Cage, Dean still believes there is another way. Bobby disagrees and tells Dean as much, saying that for all his faults Sam is a god kid and will beat Lucifer, asking Dean if he is more afraid of losing or losing his brother. Based on past seasons, the answer is pretty obvious.