Season 10 Episode 17 – “Inside Man”

Supernatural sees the return of an old friend as Sam and Castiel enlist help to break Metatron out of prison in an effort to rid Dean of the Mark of Cain.

All I can say is, finally Sam gets around to actually doing something. He has been talking about needing to do things for week so it’s good that he’s finally getting on that. What really sucks about it is that he’s lying to Dean about what he’s up to again. How many times does he need to learn that lying to Dean is a really bad idea? The reverse is also true but it applies to Sam in this instance.

Sam decides to go to Castiel to enlist his help in finding more information. His own research turns up dead end after dead end so he doesn’t really have much in the way of options left to explore. The plan he hatches with Castiel isn’t ideal because it involves enlisting the help of Metatron, someone who lives to be duplicitous and revels in having all the information. With it being their only option they need a way to get him out since the way to heaven is guarded with explicit instructions not to let Castiel in.

Castiel and Sam need the help of someone who is already in heaven and it needs to be someone they can trust so that brings them to none other than Bobby. Despite this being an obvious plot point just to facilitate his return it’s always great to see Bobby and he’s on top form here. The look on his face after Sam has brought him up to speed on the latest developments is hilarious. He was always good at pointing out just how ridiculous a situation had gotten. He also managed to put across to Castiel that lying to Dean is a terrible idea.

If there’s one criticism I have of the Bobby plot is that it just wasn’t long enough but maybe that’s because I like the character so much. The caper within heaven seemed a little too easy and made the angels out to be more idiotic than they usually are. Given how large heaven clearly is I feel like it should have taken a lot longer to sort it all out.

Dean’s part of the story was fine but not all that great. I get that he wanted to have some fun on his down time but antagonising people in a bar definitely isn’t the best idea for him. We do get a hint that Dean’s demon status might be returning so I’m interesting to see where that goes. The resulting conversation with Crowley is a really interesting one. Supernatural has always placed a lot of emphasis on the importance of family and Dean’s dialogue reinforces that. It’s a very impassioned speech about how family isn’t all about blood and how they look out for one another. It’s well worn ground on this show but it takes on new meaning for Crowley who is having his own family issues right now.

Speaking of that it’s good to finally see Crowley take some ownership in that situation. I like that he finally realises that Rowena is a self serving liar and doesn’t have his best interests at heart. There has been a real danger of Crowley becoming toothless over the past few episodes given how he seems to believe everything she says and lets her get away with whatever she wants. Seeing Crowley acting like the king of hell with all the authority that brings is refreshing. I did find it interesting that Rowena identifies the Mark of Cain as merely a curse. She doesn’t know how to get rid of it but it gives them a new angle to pursue. Just a brief side note, are Microsoft the official sponsors of hell? One of the demons was using a surface tablet so I can only imagine how that deal went down.