Supernatural's fifth season is rushing to an end, but rather than picking up speed, it feels like it's cramming in last-minute details.
Supernatural episode 521 - Two Minutes to Midnight starring Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles
Bobby has loaned his soul to the demon Crowley in exchange for Death's location, Sam thinks he can let Lucifer possess him and keep control of his body, and Castiel seems to have become all but mortal (except for the fact that he's obviously still possessing someone).
Sam and Dean track down Pestilence, and fight their way through a few hard-hitting diseases to get to him and slice off the finger holding his horseman's ring, taking them one step closer to having the key to unlocking the cage that held Lucifer in hell. Pestilence smiles and tells them it doesn't matter and they're too late. The brothers learn that Pestilence has created a swine flu vaccine that actually carries the Croatoan virus, which basically turns people into raging zombies (think 28 Days Later, but with demonic origins).
Crowley gives Dean the means to kill Death: Death's own scythe. Per his deal with Bobby, he also gives up Death's location: he's about to bring a terrible storm down upon Chicago, which will cause a chain reaction of storms that will cause millions of deaths. Crowley has one more gift: in addition to Death's whereabouts, Bobby once again gains the use of his legs. As Dean and Crowley head for Chicago, Sam and Bobby try to stop the pharmaceutical trucks from delivering the Croatoan-laced vaccine.
As Bobby watches amazed, Sam travels again and again into the zombie-infested warehouse to save innocent people, making Bobby believe that Sam might actually be their best hope at defeated Lucifer. Meanwhile, Dean has a face-to-face with Death and learns that the horseman is as old as God, and can't be stopped. He can, however, simply hand his ring to Dean, so long as Dean promises to release Death from Lucifer's control by doing whatever it takes to lock him away. Dean get's the key to Lucifer's cage in hell so long as he lets Sam go ahead with his plan. Dean says yes immediately, and only wonders when he gets back to Bobby's what he might actually have to do.
The Last Word on "Two Hours to Midnight" on The CW Network
Supernatural has come a long way. Less emotional "we're brothers and I love you 'cause we're brothers!" talk, and more great writing that flows perfectly from the cast, especially Jim Beaver (a personal favorite). Seeing Bobby walk again is nice, and the moment was done well, but the show's writers should be careful about trying to re-establish the status quo on the show. Bobby in a wheelchair worked well, even if it was tough to write something for him when he could never leave the house.
Though the episode set the stage for the finale, it also felt quite rushed. After so many episodes of discussing tactics and plans, the horsemen's rings seemed like a magic bullet saving the day rather than an idea that would play out across the season. In one episode, they gained two out of the four rings without doing much of anything, were simply given the location of Death, Bobby was able to start walking, and their last hope to save the world from the Apocalypse was agreed upon. That's a lot to cram into one episode, and it definitely puts a different spin when looking back at some of the slower episodes that could have been used for fleshing out these last few episodes.
Taking that into consideration, the writing was still solid, and it's still wonderfully surprising to see how they seem to get away with the gory head-shots. Time to gear up for the finale!
Robert Becka - In 2008, Robert Becka graduated from Saint Cloud State University with Bachelor's degrees in Film Studies and Journalism. His senior paper ...
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