Supernatural Reaction: Abandon All Hope

I think I know the reason why we were given two weeks of fun Supernatural. When you have an episode called “Abandon All Hope” coming up, it is always good to have one last hurrah. As we found out last week, the demon Crowley, played by the always-fun-to-watch Mark Sheppard, is in possession of the Colt. We see that he has no problems meeting older gentlemen underneath the turn pass to have a little smooch.

As it turns out, Crowley has been sending out rumors to pull in the Winchester “morons” so he can hand the all powerful demon slaying gun over and give them the Devil’s location: Carthage, Missouri. He figures that after Lucifer lays waste to humanity, he is then going to commit a little demonicide.

Dean, Sam, the rogue angel Castiel, Bobby, Ellen, and Jo have all joined up for this attack on the Devil. They do a little drinking at the most depressing party ever, calling it their last night on Earth. They pose for a picture to mark the occasion: yes, one or more of these faces may bite the bullet tonight. I wonder if it’s going to be the regular characters or the two that are recurring? We will keep our eyes peeled.

When they get to Carthage, in a creepy effect reminiscent of the Buffy episode, “Hush” or the movie Dark City, they find the town full of reapers. Their most powerful ally, Castiel, gets angelnapped by Lucifer. It’s at this point that Meg shows up with her friends, the invisible hellhounds. I understand this show probably runs on a limited budget, but I think one of their worst choices was to make the hellhounds invisible. It’s supposed to be scary but I really find it uninteresting to watch. It is really just a suspenseful action scene with no action. Can’t they do what the Resident Evil movies did? Just hang some sides of beef off of them, dip them in corn syrup and we’re good to go!

But those see-through pups get one claw into Jo and before you can say Miles Dyson, Jo and Ellen blow themselves up to kill the hellhounds and give Sam and Dean a head start. I am sorry to say this about one of the good guys, but good riddance. The drama that those two brought to the show was not entertaining at all. If I had to deal with another “My daughter won’t have the life of a hunter” storyline, I might have had to blow myself up, too.

Bobby, relegated to Research Boy, tells the brothers that Carthage was the site of a Civil War battle (yes), which was nicknamed the Battle of Hellhole (no) and a lot of soldiers died there (about 25). Therefore, Lucifer is using the place to raise Death, the fourth horseman. Boy, he really likes to cut to the chase, doesn’t he? Shouldn’t we at least start with a little Pestilence first? I actually did a little research myself. We all know from our heavy metal albums and occult movies that Death rides a pale horse. Well, apparently, Pestilence rides a white horse. Is there a difference? Sorry. Tangent.

When they arrive to take down Lucifer, the brothers orchestrate a perfect Jurassic Park raptor attack as Sam distracts him and Dean puts a Colt bullet in his possessed brain from the side. Yeah, that was too easy. But, of course, Lucifer gets back up and reveals he is one of only five things the Colt can’t kill. Oh bother. So it looks like we lost Ellen and Jo for nothing. I think I’m still ok with it! Castiel breaks free of his trap and teleports the brothers out of there. Bobby burns their group shot and the sulkfest begins. Yes, it appears hope is most definitely abandoned.