Supernatural: S08E23 - Sacrifice.

So after an overstuffed lead up episode, will the finale also be a rushed mess or a epic send off to a largely, pretty weak, season? Let's find out...

Crowley has now become the third trial. Cas is about to start his second trial, this time he has to retrieve Cupid's bow. However all is not as it seems with either trial and surprisingly, that is really all there is to Sacrifice.

Perhaps one of the most impressive things about Sacrifice is its ability to feel rushed, even when not a whole lot is happening. I mean a lot is happening, Sam is curing Crowley while Metatron is revealing his hand and there is all this other stuff packed around and between these two main points but the problem is is each scene feels like it goes on much longer than necessary, with each moment feeling painfully drawn out and slow which gives the feeling as if nothing is happening.

The other reason it feels like nothing really is well...it isn't, not on screen anyway. Big emotional moments are given all the space and time they need to play out but most of the key action sequences however happen off-camera. I've seen very few season finales more static and less explosive than this, finales don't need to be an all out action sequence but my God this was practically like a stage play.

Hats off to Mark Sheppard in this episode, it takes a damn while for it to get there but once Crowley's humanity starts slipping through he really acts his chops off. Sadly however I was a tad frustrated with this whole aspect, I know they need to cure a demon to complete the trails and then all demons go away blahblah but nothing has been going to plan at this point and they had the perfect opportunity to at least finish off Crowley once and for all, so they at least had that even if everything else went pear shaped, which of course it eventually did. The way Supernatural clings to fan favourites like Sheppard and Collins actually ends up undermining their own mythos and story, all the damage Crowley has done really is on the brothers because they have had ample opportunities to kill him off by this point but the writers always give him a chance to escape. Although I did like that it gives an excuse for Abaddon to turn up and be badarse, with hints that she might be the big bad next season, squee! 

Do you want me to go on about vessels again? Because I will. The big twist ending (spoiler alert) is that Metatron was actually trying to get vengeance on Heaven and the trials Cas was doing actually gets all the angels in Heaven kicked out. Do you know how they capture this visually? Basically men with wings fall out of the sky. This would be fine, if these were conventional angels, but in season four we were told angels were skyscraper big dudes with animal heads with their true forms burning the eyes of any human who looks upon it. So what the fuck gives? Honestly, I have no fucking idea as it does seem since about season six that for whatever reason the angels just wander around peoples personal Heaven's in their vessels, why? I also have no idea either. I just feel really sorry for every vessel, they never get a break, will they ever get their lives back? Either way this weird practice undermines and confuses many of the most key aspects of the finale, including the death of a seemingly significant character and most of the lead up to Metatron's evil reveal.

However really the biggest problem perhaps with Sacrifice is that Season Eight wasted so much time on stuff that ultimately doesn't matter, the stuff that does matter actually has no evidence to prove that it well...does. Like for example why does closing the gates of Hell mean Sam and Dean will win? And for that matter, win what? Demons make up just one of many threats out there and although Demons have been perhaps the most regular threat, they are easily replaced, so is it really worth dying to remove just one type of monster out of millions? Maybe it is but the episode, or the season as a whole, does nothing to convince as to why it would be worth it despite spending so much time on the trials which ultimately went nowhere. 

Also, was I the only person not blown away by Sam and Dean at the end of the episode? Sure the acting was spot on but it basically amounted to Sam throwing a jealous tantrum like some weird possessive girlfriend and Dean acting like a total douchebag. 

Sacrifice was more an emotion packed finale, than really an action packed one. The biggest problem with this however is how little new the ground they are treading is. It certainly wasn't bad but I think Sacrifice manages to embody pretty much every problem Supernatural has since around season five and onwards. Disappointing but not surprisingly so.

Pros;

• The acting. 
• Abaddon. 
• Big emotions. 

Cons;

• The pacing.
• Important stuff happens off screen, a frankly consistent problem with this show.
• You chuck away Abaddon's gorgeous vessel but are happy to bend your show to breaking point to keep Sheppard and Collins in it, what the fuck?
• Continually muddled mythology. 
• So why was shutting the Gates of Hell a big deal again? 
• A bit possessive there Sam...
• A bit of a dick there Dean...

 Think About It!

-Locke

What would you rate, 'Sacrifice'?