Supernatural: S08E12 - As Time Goes By.

Since so many fan theories preceded this episode, I wanted to make sure I watched this as fast as I could so I could review it without too much fanwank in mind, however it was the anniversary of my Mum's death on Thursday, so I'm fairly late to the party. Hope you enjoy anyway!

As Time Goes By has the brothers Grandfather using magic to time travel into motel closets, while on the run from a demon....not any old demon mind you, she's a Knight of Hell, the purest kind of demon. As it turns out, this Knight is after yet another magic doodad that Supernatural loves piling onto itself and Granddad Winchester's time trek is the reason John Winchester has such abandonment issues. This is all largely an excuse for Supernatural to jiggle its mythology and have some fun in pencilling in the past, rather than layering an extra pile of shit onto the already considerable pile of shit.

It could be argued that all As Time Goes By is, is backpedaling, which it is but honestly, pencilling in the backstory we never knew we cared about turns out to be a lot more interesting than anything happening in Supernatural's present. There are a lot of things that have been introduced or dropped since season 4, that were left opened ended and since most of the new mysteries they are creating are so poor, I'm grateful for them to go back and answer some of our older questions, especially if they keep expanding their mythos like this as well. Really this episode reminds me so much of when Supernatural wasn't a jumbled mess of mythology, when the show still seemed to hold limitless potential. I'm grateful for that, for being reminded why I once loved this show so much.

And for all of Dean's grunts at time travel, As Time Goes By manages to really keep itself in check. Although it is no literary masterpiece, unlike many time travel narratives this episode doesn't spend its entire runtime tripping on plotholes and paradoxes, it uses the device then largely moves on with the story, bar a few jokes, which is for the best because the longer you spend on the device the less everything starts to make sense.

In many ways, As Time Goes By actually manages to actually be quite refreshing in terms of time travel. Usually the traveller is the protagonist, when they change something and create a shitty future, they just go back and fix it and the audience accepts it because they are the protagonist. Here our traveller is a side character and so when he realises his time jump actually changes and shapes the future he is currently standing in, possibly for the worst, certainly in John's case, he doesn't get to fix it the same way he would if he was the protagonist. It provides a question for an interesting discussion to think about, "What would Supernatural be like if Henry was allowed to go back and fix his mistake?" and perhaps a much more interesting thought is what would change, if anything, if it was Sam who had to choose between Dean or letting Henry go back and see what changes would happen. Because I'm not sure he'd be as quick to pick Dean as Dean was to pick him, if he even picks Dean at all.

That isn't to say there aren't problems storywise, 'a mechanic from a family of mechanics?'. Yeah, no, there is nothing working man about Henry in the slightest. If he dies in 2013, then lines in the flashbacks to the Campbell's in previous seasons make a lot less sense and I don't even remember John's abandonment issues ever being quite as huge as they are presented here in this episode. And yes I know they wanted to use Henry as an embodiment of his side of the Supernatural fight so they could play it off the brothers and shout SYMBOLISM! But they shouldn't do that at the expense of continuity. Not that this is a new crime for this show... The Men of Letters kind of annoys me too, they are assumed dead, that is fine but it really didn't take Sam and Dean much to find the last living member. Sure they had help but I do find it a little hard to swallow that they never bumped into these once. Then again they did the same with the Angels, so whatever. Also isn't Supernatural supposed to be running a few years in the future with the time jumps and skips? Whatever.

I'm also left somewhat perplexed as to what exactly Supernatural plans to do with this. In many ways this jiggles the mythology so much, it feels like the show is rebooting itself. The show has needed a firm kick for about three or four seasons now, but in season 8 this feeling of new direction just seems much too late, a revelation and redirection like this may well have worked in season five or six, season seven at a push, but half way through season eight? Where the hell did this even come from?

Hey look, it would seem Supernatural remembered the time when demons weren't just generic thugs who would queue up to be ganked by Sam and Dean! Sadly they didn't remember when demons could be badass...for being demons and had to make up a whole new kind of demon, just to explain why she didn't just stand there and wait to be killed by flashy special effects. It isn't all complaints though, at least the writers bothered to add in a reason for not seeing this kind of demon before meaning the continuity doesn't take another crippling beating from Supernatural's writers, who haven't really shown to care very much for about four seasons...until this episode.

Thankfully this new 'Knight of Hell' at least gets a satisfying takedown. I often find Supernatural's villains get taken down in rushed anti-climaxes where the brothers win...because they have to, otherwise there'd be no show. Here the brothers, with the help of their grandfather, don't so much win as outsmart the enemy. You could argue that the devil trap bullet thing feels pulled out of the writers arse, and I'd agree to some extent, but I was satisfied with Abaddon's takedown much more than say...the God's, who were insanely powerful until the brothers learnt the weapon that could kill them, then the God would just stand there and wait for the brothers to attack them with it. Abaddon felt like she could provide threat, it felt like without getting caught by the devil trap bullet, she would have kept fighting and probably won. I don't remember the last time I had a sense of that in a Supernatural villain. Plus, I guess there is something to be said that one of Supernatural's best villains in a long time is gorgeous redhead, good on you Supernatural. I know you normally hate all the women who appear on your show but you made Abaddon awesome.

All this being said, I was a little surprised that both Abaddon and Henry were dead by the end of the episode. Sure they can't kill Abaddon fully but unless Crowley somehow finds her and pulls that bullet out, I don't see her returning any time soon and considering Henry's importance to the shows lore, I was surprised he died at the end of the episode. I mean I know he had to die but I just assumed they would have done more with him before chucking him in the bin. Well, whatever.

One other thing I enjoyed, was no angels. Wait...wait, don't press that x yet. Look, I love Castiel as much as the next person...well maybe not quite as much as some but I do really enjoy him as a character. That being said, it has annoyed me a lot in the past that Castiel is basically a plot device, rather than a character, as the story and stakes got so huge the only way the brothers could remain relevant was through contrivances. Here it is all about the brothers, their legacy and family tree, they were right at the heart and right at the forefront in a way that they haven't in quite a few seasons.

One of the most positive things a cynic like me can say about anything is that the review was so short by the end of the episode, I was forced to pad and nitpick. As Time Goes By is one of the best Supernatural episodes in a long, long time and probably the best episode of this whole season so far. Probably one of the best in quite a few seasons, actually. Just awesome.

Pros;

• Ironically Supernatural is much more interesting moving backwards than it is forwards.
• Remarkably well written time travel.
• Leaves a lot of interesting discussion for fans. 
• Abaddon. 
• Satisfying conclusion. 
• All about the brothers.

Cons;

• This is Supernatural, so there are continuity issues, especially if you're a fan of the show, this thing can unravel pretty quickly, as most episodes can.
• Why has this episode come now?
• Did Abaddon really need to be a 'Knight of Hell'?
• I'm surprised they killed Henry already. 

Think About It!

-Locke

What would you rate, 'As Time Goes By'?