“Our Little World”

Supernatural continues to impress as the 11th season really keeps a fast pace going without feeling like it’s rushing to revelations.

In the middle of this entire episode is Amara who is proving to be a problem for everyone that comes in contact with her. It is well established that Crowley is one of the most powerful beings around and even he is powerless against her. The way that she effortlessly defies him and hurts him physically shows just how much of a threat she is. The reveal that she is the sibling of God suggests that she is pretty much all powerful and as such will be nearly impossible to stop.

The interesting thing about Crowley as he relates to Amara is that he seems to have a genuine fatherly concern for her. He has always had a problem with acceptance dating back to his messed up friendship with Dean so this is very consistent for him. Of course he has the desire to have Amara on side and have all that power at his disposal but it’s obvious that he wants to have a meaningful relationship with her and that he is frustrated when that potential slips through his fingers.

Escalation as a concept has been both a blessing and a curse for Supernatural over its extensive run. What I mean by that is having a more powerful villain every season that is supposed to make the last one look easy. There have been some breaks to the formula of course but generally that is how this show has done things.

It can be a good thing as it dials up the threat level for the Winchesters in different ways and gives each threat some unique quirks that need to be dealt with. The bad comes when the power of the threat is so ridiculous that two humans shouldn’t really be able to tackle it and win. Amara is such a threat as now we know she is basically God but without the perceived morality.

Supernatural has often managed to bring different angles to the villains beyond how powerful they are. Crowley has a compulsive need to be accepted by Dean for some reason, Metatron is so arrogant and narcissistic that his own vanity can be his undoing. The Leviathans were similarly overconfident and Lucifer didn’t really see the Winchesters as a threat. I could go on but human failings seem to be a common theme with the powerful enemies on Supernatural so that provides some hope for the Winchesters.

Amara’s human failing so far seems to be curiosity. She has formed some sort of bond with Dean since he was the first thing she saw after being freed. As far as she is concerned he represents all of humanity but more specifically he represents God’s creation. This is something that causes her to take notice for at least as long as it will take her to resolve that curiosity. She feels compelled to protect Dean for now. There’s clearly something on Dean’s side as well so I wonder where their connection will lead. Since it’s Dean I’m sure there will be some kind of dark romantic edge to it once she is a physical age that matches his. Time will tell.

I’m also not hugely convinced that Amara is necessarily a villain. Of course she consumes the souls of innocent people but that could be down to a lack of understanding of the concepts of morality. She eats souls because she is hungry but there seems to be no real malice attached to it. It could be that she is simply unaware of the full extent of the devastation that she leaves in her wake. It’s pretty much all to play for as far as Amara is concerned.

Sam and Dean are a lot more brotherly than they have been in previous seasons. Their dialogue is very natural and they are supporting each other in ways that they haven’t previously. There isn’t total honesty between them but they aren’t being as secretive as had become common. I love that “saving people” is still a theme for this season when Sam suggests performing an exorcism. It proves impossible in that case but it’s good that it is something that is important for them again. There’s a very classic Supernatural vibe to this season and I absolutely love it.

After a couple of episodes where he sat on the sidelines Castiel gets things moving in a big way when he goes after Metatron. He questions him, gets the demon tablet and gets some information about the Darkness out of him. Not bad for a single episode. This is something that would probably have several episodes of Metatron being chained up and tortured in previous seasons so it’s good to get these things out of the way early. It implies that there is lots more story to tell later in the season and that time is off the essence. Filler doesn’t seem to be something that is a concern in season 11. As an aside I love that Metatron mentions the band called “The Darkness”. It’s a reference that has been overlooked before now.

Metatron is the most vulnerable he has ever been. Castiel points out that he is to be pitied and Curtis Armstrong puts that across very well. He is desperate to find some sort of purpose in his life and hides the pain that he feels over being what he considers to be worthless. It’s a good direction for the character.

I also like that he is incredibly insightful by noticing that Castiel isn’t quite firing on all cylinders. The Winchesters are quite to accept his word that he’s fine probably because they don’t need another problem to deal with so ignore it to a degree. Cas has a mountain to climb in his personal healing and so far it is being handled really well.

Despite all the strong elements to it I found the pacing of the episode to be a little off. It seemed that Sam and Dean were meandering too much in the earlier scenes which distracted from the high levels of urgency going on in the other scenes. The imbalance is obvious and prevents the episode from taking off as quickly as it could have.

Sam’s vision where he sees Lucifer’s cage is a great touch to end on. Here’s hoping that Mark Pellegrino comes back to play the character as it would be a sin if he didn’t.