Supernatural Season 5 in Review

             At the start of season five of Supernatural, Sam has just let Lucifer out of the Cage. Lucifer quickly begins to unleash the Apocalypse on Earth, throwing everything into chaos. He unleashes the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.

Sam and Dean soon learn that they are the vessels for Lucifer and the Archangel Michael, and learn that saying no to them could lead to disastrous consequences. However, saying yes is not an option either. The angels send Dean five years into the future where learns that saying yes to Sam could lead to an outbreak of the Croatoan virus and speed up Lucifer’s apocalyptic plans.

Meanwhile, Castiel is trying to find God to see if He will help them stop Heaven and Hell from destroying the Earth. After failing to find Him, Castiel and the Winchester brothers track down the Colt to go after Lucifer. Unfortunately, Lucifer evades the brothers and this leads to the deaths of Ellen and Jo.

Sam and Dean then run into Gabriel, who tells them that the rings of the Four Horsemen are actually the keys to Lucifer’s Cage. Once the brothers and Castiel retrieve all four rings, Sam decides the best way to trap Lucifer would be for him to say yes and then jump into the Cage himself. Dean obviously fights against this idea, but in the end Sam wins the argument.

                The Horsemen were an interesting and added another element to the story. Now not only do the Winchesters have to worry about Lucifer and the rest of the angels that want to bring about the apocalypse, but they have to deal with the Four Horsemen as well. However, they took away from how threatening Lucifer is supposed to be, especially since they were just doing his dirty work. It also took away some of their own terrifying power, as Lucifer was mainly using them as attack dogs.

            Becky was an odd character to the series, as she didn’t really add to the story. Instead she simply took the role as rabid fangirl and occasional messenger between Chuck and the Winchesters. She was also one of the only female characters this season, and she was a flat character and didn’t really evolve past her initial introduction of a rabid fan obsessed with Sam.

            Ellen and Jo were also in this season, but in the tenth episode, “Abandon All Hope,” they sacrifice themselves to help Sam and Dean kill Lucifer, which ends unsuccessfully. While this episode showed Lucifer’s power by proving the Colt can’t kill him and that he has the power to unleash Death, the loss of such strong female characters will be missed throughout later seasons.

                This season was fairly even in its myth versus monster of the week episodes. However, I’m not sure all of them were necessary. Clearly the ones in the beginning, like “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Good God Y’All,” and “Free to Be You and Me” are required to set up the story arc of the season, but others, like “Fallen Idols,” “I Believe the Children Are Our Future,” and “Real Ghostbusters” don’t add too much to the season. The Monster of the Week episodes tend to take place in the middle of season, making it seem like writers were trying to stretch out the season to make it fit the full twenty two episodes. “I Believe the Children Are Our Future” was an episode that really does not have much to do with the overall season. The Winchesters are in the middle of an apocalypse and find an Antichrist kid, and yet somehow he does not affect the results of the Apocalypse. Instead, he runs away to Australia and is never heard from again.

There were a few main plot points throughout this season. First, Lucifer is set free and begins the apocalypse by using the Four Horsemen. The Horsemen’s rings turn out to be the keys to Lucifer’s Cage, and the Winchesters collect them. They manage to retrieve War’s ring in “Good God, Y’All,” Famine’s ring in “My Bloody Valentine,” and Pestilence and Death’s rings in “Two Minutes to Midnight.”  However, having the keys is just the beginning, and the Winchesters must find a way to trick Lucifer into the Cage. In “Two Minutes to Midnight,” Dean learns from Death that the best way to trap Lucifer is for Sam to let Lucifer possess him, and then jump into the Cage himself. This is a turning point in the brothers’ relationship, as Dean acknowledges that Sam is no longer a kid and that Sam must make his own choices.

Another major plotline is the evolution brothers’ relationship throughout season five. In “Good God Y’All,” the second episode, Sam and Dean decide to go separate ways for a while. Neither one is convinced that Sam is ready to fight after everything with Ruby, and Dean mentions that he’s not sure he can trust Sam on a hunt. Sam agrees, and decides to be “normal” for a while and take a break from hunting. However, the angels show Dean what happens in a few years when Sam says yes to Lucifer, and they finally reunite at the end if “The End.” Throughout the rest of the season, Sam and Dean work on trusting each other and finding a way to stop Lucifer. In “Abandon All Hope,” the Winchesters, Castiel, Ellen, and Jo try to kill Lucifer with the Colt, but not only does Lucifer get away and free Death, they lose Ellen and Jo in the process.

                Season five merges pretty seamlessly from season four, however there is a slight disconnect from season five to season six. I believe this is due to the uncertainty of whether or not a new season would be possible, so the story was meant to end in “Swan Song”. For the first five seasons, the story line is primarily focused on Sam, though the majority of the story is seen through Dean’s perspective. We see Sam struggle through Jessica’s death, Azazel, Dean’s deal and inevitable death, and Ruby and her manipulation; not to mention his internal struggle over whether he is more monstrous or demonic than human.

Sam’s evolution is explored in this season. In “Good God Y’All,” Sam and Dean part ways due to Sam’s shaky judgement on a hunt. In "Free to Be You and Me," Sam shows his determination to end his demon blood addiction when Tim and his friends force demon blood into his mouth and Sam spits it out, and in “My Bloody Valentine” he uses the demon blood he drank because of Famine to stop Famine and get the ring. By “Two Minutes to Midnight,” Sam is fully convinced that the best way to trick Lucifer is to let Lucifer possess him and jump into the Cage himself. He plans of being trapped there forever, and Dean can’t save him this time. There will be no more Big Brother to the Rescue, especially once Lucifer takes over Sam. By the time season five ends, Sam is no longer seen as just Dean’s little brother who wants to be normal. Instead, Dean sees him as a grown man who has to save the world and face his own mistakes.