The Official Supernatural: “King of the Damned” (9.21) Retro Recap and Review

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According to recent reports from Vancouver, the cast returned to work the first week of August (about two weeks late). Jensen Ackles also explained in a recent virtual “fan experience” through Creation Con that the writing for the last two episodes has been tweaked to reflect recent events (i.e., the Coronavirus pandemic). With these writers, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. He also said that 15.19 will be a season finale, while 15.20 is more like a series finale (and expressed sadness on Instagram when he got the final script, which said “The End” instead of the usual “To Be Continued”). In an already truncated final season, that likely means we’ll get stuck with some filler clips episode as the last one. Yay.

The show is returning tonight and the series finale will be November 19. This will be my last retro recap and review of season 9 until after season 15 (and the show) ends on November 19. As I’ll be posting reviews of season 15 the following Thursday, that means I’ll post my recap and review of the series finale on Thanksgiving and get back to retro recaps/reviews (assuming y’all still care after the show ends) in early December.

There are some new trailers out for the last episodes. Finally. Also, there are a sneak peek and photos up for tonight and you can join a Zoom watch party with some of the cast at 7:30 PST (that’s 10:30 pm EST).

If you’re enjoying these articles and reviews, any contributions are welcome. Even in a pandemic, the kitties still gotta eat and I’ve got a house full of snarfly foster kittens with seasonal eye gunk right now. My kitty Goose is doing much better, thank you (she’s acting as if nothing happened now), but I’ve still got that bill, so every little bit helps.

Scroll down to find links to all of my recaps and reviews of all seasons up to this point.

Recap: Pretty long (about two minutes) recap of the story so far, with mini-recaps of Metatron and Gadriel, Abaddon, the Mark of Cain, Castiel becoming a Judas Goat for the angels, and so on.

Cut to Scotland in 1723. A young man is getting ready for a voyage when there’s a huge flash of light and sound outside his hut. The door bursts open and in walks Abaddon. Predictably, the young man wants nothing to do with her, but she won’t be deterred. In fact, when his randy friend walks in and somehow thinks an orgy is about to begin, she TK’s him into a wall onto a hook, killing him. As the first young man crosses himself, she turns back to him, grabs his head, and starts chanting a spell (sounds like Urdu or something like it). There’s another flash of bright, white light.

Cue title cards.

Cut to a bar where a bunch of nerdy angels are sitting around, chatting over beers (yes, it’s come to this). One angel (played by Gordon Michael Woolvett, whose brother showed up in “Frontierland” in season six, of Andromeda fame) clumsily tries to ingratiate himself into a conversation at a table by claiming he’s been personally chosen for a mission by Metatron. When one of the angels (who had previously been leading the conversation) calls him out for being such a blabbermouth, he refuses to back down. But eventually, he gets no traction out of the conversation and wanders out into the alleyway, where he is accosted by two angels (after a suspicious-looking guy in a long jacket wanders by).

He ends up in a bare room, chained to a chair. The same angel from the bar comes in and starts interrogating him and he gives up the same story, rather defiantly. But he’s shocked and impressed when Castiel walks in.

Cut to a daytime scene. Sam and Dean are pulling up to a warehouse (Dean is wearing new jeans and a brand-new jacket, as if he’s dressing in his finest for a battle he doesn’t expect to win). They’re rather skeptical about the drab surroundings, but “he” told them to meet him there. When they knock on a side door, the same angel who was doing the interrogation in the previous scene opens it and says that “he” is expecting them. So, they come inside.

They’re impressed (though they try not to show it) by the way the angels have set up their war room. It’s almost like a police station, with one angel bringing another angel under guard past them as they come in. Benjamin escorts them up to an office overlooking the ready room, where Castiel is overlooking plans about finding Metatron (all this looks great, but we already know it’s just a cover for Castiel to sell out his brethren to Metatron). Castiel greets both brothers with warm hugs and gently dismisses their angel guard, whom he calls Benjamin.

As Benjamin stiffly leaves, Castiel tells them he’s just a bit formal (or he just plain doesn’t like Sam and Dean, more likely). Castiel fills them in on Bartholomew’s death and Malachi’s (offscreen) murder by Gadriel. Remember when Malachi was going to be a major antagonist? Yeah, not so much.

Castiel insists that he doesn’t want to be the angels’ “commander,” but their other leaders have died and they insisted on following him. He does not mention that Metatron is setting him up to lead his new flock to their destruction, though he does say he hopes to avoid another angel war by finding a “diplomatic” way of getting rid of Metatron. I’m sure he does hope for that, but he’s still currently acting as Metatron’s Judas Goat.

He tells them about the geek angel from before. He says the guy is from Metatron’s inner circle, but won’t talk. Castiel wonders if the Brothers (and by that, he means Dean) might … uh … persuade the prisoner to talk. He is, of course, referring to season four’s “On the Head of a Pin,” where Castiel basically bullied Dean into torturing his former torturer in Hell, Alastair, to devastating physical and psychological effect for Dean.

This time, though, after a hooded look, Dean says he has no problem whatsoever with a little bit of angel torturing. Sam is disconcerted.

Cut to the Humboldt Hotel in Cleveland, OH. Crowley is holding a conference of black-suited demons at night. He admits that yes, he left Hell in chaos for some time while he was away on vacation, but he’s back now and they’re going to help him whip things back into shape (i.e., beat Abaddon). But when he asks for a round of ayes of loyalty, there’s a deathly silence. In that silence, Abaddon walks into the room.

Crowley is, of course, terrified and covers it up by being furious. He snarls at his former minions, while they just cringe. Abaddon, meanwhile, mocks him.

Crowley [in a stage whisper to his minions]: You betrayed me! No one in the history of torture’s been tortured like the torture you’ll be tortured with!

Abaddon, in a black leather jacket and blue jeans, and carrying a nice 1950s cocktail with an olive, has a seat on a couch while she informs him that she’s been hearing rumors. For example, that he’s been working with the Winchesters, that he helped them get hold of the First Blade, and that one of them even has the Mark of Cain. At this point, Crowley notes that a bearer of the Mark can kill her with the First Blade.

Abaddon’s demeanor turns cold. While she admits this is true, she also notes that it’s also true of Crowley and that the Brothers will surely be targeting him next after her. Why not join up to destroy the Winchesters and the First Blade, then they can deal with each other?

Crowley, wisely, isn’t interested (since his only real play to get rid of Abaddon once and for all is the First Blade). He tells her the only event he’s going to be joining is singing at her death. And since she has “no hold” on him, he turns to leave.

At this moment, Abaddon snaps her fingers and shows her joker card. She the surviving young man from the teaser into the room. He is Crowley’s son, Gavin (whom we first met as a ghost in season six’s “Weekend at Bobby’s”). At first, Crowley insists that he and Gavin “loathe” each other and that he cares nothing for his son. But Abaddon calls Crowley’s bluff by making Gavin bleed from the eyes. When Gavin starts screaming and begging, Crowley blusters, but eventually, he caves.

Cut to Metatron’s spy, named Ezra, claiming he won’t crack, while Dean paces around him with an angel blade, just dying to slice him open and see the light pour out. Just as Dean is going in to get rough, Sam, shocked by his aggression, pulls him back and says that Ezra can’t tell them anything if he’s dead.

Sam then gets an idea and starts talking about how Ezra was probably too low in the organization, and too stupid, to get any responsibility. Watching Sam closely, Dean quickly realizes Sam is running a con on Ezra and plays along. They both insult Ezra until he gets mad and insists that he is very important to Metatron. The Brothers cleverly say that he probably hasn’t even been back to Heaven. Ezra then drops a huge truth bomb – not only has he been to Heaven, but, with all the gates closed, it’s through a portal. The angels here can’t sense it because Metatron makes it move around as he wills it.

After mocking Ezra for being a “fan” who knows all about Metatron, but has never met him, the Brothers get out of him that he auditioned for a “key post,” was rejected and sent back down to earth to serve in the “ground forces,” and that “hardly anyone” was chosen to be in The Squad. But Ezra doesn’t actually know what the job entailed since he never made it past the interview. Back out in the hallway, the Brothers go over their info and roll their eyes a bit at how dumb Ezra is.

Unfortunately, Ezra doesn’t have much longer to live, since an angel guard discovers him dead in his cell, having been stabbed to death by an angel blade.

Cut back to the hotel, where Gavin (looking a lot better and wiping residual blood off with a towel) insists in front of Abaddon that Crowley can’t be his father. His father was Fergus Macleod (“a simple tailor, a drunk, a monster”). And, of course, since Crowley is inside a host from this century, he doesn’t look the way he did in life. Crowley just says that much can change in 291 years.

Gavin is blown away by this casual admission that he’s in the future (though you’d think he’d have figured out something was up at some point). Crowley shows him a light bulb and Gavin’s first thought is whether or not you can “cook a pigeon on it.” Commenting on Gavin’s slowness to understand what’s going on, Abaddon TK’s open the balcony doors. Even more shocked, Gavin thinks they are “among the stars.” He asks if they’re in Heaven, and if Crowley and Abaddon are angels.

Crowley and Abaddon

[simultaneously]

: Wow.

Gavin then has to digest that his father sold his soul to a Crossroad Demon and went to Hell. He doesn’t take it well, saying he “can’t be consorting with demons.” Not even Crowley pointing out that he’s the King of Hell seems to get through.

Back at Castiel’s compound, the Brothers are insisting that Ezra was fine when they left him. Sam says he highly doubts Ezra could have killed himself without a weapon. Castiel agrees, saying that it was an angel kill.” Dean points out that Castiel may have (another) spy in his camp.

When Castiel ruefully admits he’d hoped this one cause would finally unite the surviving angels, Dean says, “See, that’s the problem. You want to believe everyone’s telling the truth. I believe everyone’s lying.” Off Castiel’s skeptical look, Dean adds, “It’s a gift.”

Dean gets up to go investigate the angel compound a bit more, to see who else is lying. As he heads out the door of the office, Castiel stops Sam to ask him a question – and it’s not about Dean having the Mark of Cain, which you’d think would be an obvious one. Castiel asks Sam what it was like to be possessed by Gadriel (which is insensitive, but, well, Castiel is an angel and he’s also always been socially obtuse, even for an angel, especially for one who was human at the beginning of this season). Sam is uneasy with the question, of course, since Gadriel used his body to murder Kevin about ten episodes earlier, something he lampshades to Castiel.

Castiel is more interested in what sense Sam got of Gadriel. Sam says that Gadriel didn’t so much possess him as that they were sharing the same body (um, okay). After some prodding, he admits that Gadriel didn’t come off as evil or malicious, but that he felt misunderstood. He says that obviously, this impression must have been wrong, since Gadriel then killed Kevin. As Sam leaves, Castiel looks sketchy. I see he’s about to do something stupid. Must be Thursday.

In the hotel, Gavin is pointing out that Crowley was a monstrous father: always drunk, beating his son, not allowing him to learn how to read, and that it’s ridiculous Crowley sold his own soul for three extra inches of dick. Crowley allows all of these things, but points out that he’s been dead and in Hell a long time, so he’s changed (the dialogue indicates Gavin took off on his doomed voyage immediately after burying his father, so “Fergus” died in 1723). He then uses his powers to give Gavin the ability to read.

At first, Gavin doesn’t clue in what’s going on, just picks up a newspaper and explains over the “Pirates” and the “Buccaneers” (two sports teams, obviously) having a fight. Then he gets it. He can now read. Crowley reiterates that this is one of the perks of having a father who is the King of Hell and we begin to see Gavin soften toward the idea.

He asks, if Crowley is the King of Hell, does that make him a prince (oh, honey, no, that’s a later and quite terrible storyline)? But a fly lands in the ointment when he starts talking about how much he’s finally going to get done when he goes back to his time and gets on board that ship. Crowley starts to tell him why that’s a problem, but instead decides it’s time to go back to dealing with Abaddon.

In a garden, Castiel is waiting for someone. Golly, I wonder who that could be? Could it be Gadriel? Got it in one. Gadriel shows up with the same angel who found Ezra dead (she’s actually with Castiel). Castiel thanks him for coming alone. Gadriel says that he’s seen Castiel “through Sam Winchester’s eyes” and that “he trusts you.” He says Castiel has “a reputation for honor.” Castiel is smart enough not to laugh at that one and just says that his reputation varies, depending on whom you ask.

He says that he says he understands that Gadriel feels “misunderstood.” Gadriel hotly retorts that he’s not the one responsible for what happened in The Garden. There is some back-and-forth, as Castiel tries to get Gadriel to see that he is backing the wrong horse and not finding his redemption with Metatron. Gadriel is stubborn about changing his allegiances again, even though Castiel admits that his own trust in Metatron is what led to the angels falling in the first place (Gadriel saw that as his chance for freedom and redemption, you see).

Suddenly, Gadriel calls out a warning as two angels run into the clearing to attack Castiel and his guard. Castiel kills his attacker. His guard gets killed and then he kills her killer (girlfriend didn’t even get any lines, jeez). When he looks around, Gadriel has disappeared. Was it a trap?

Back at the compound, Dean is sitting, staring blankly into space. He’s having more flashbacks to the first time Sinclair shoved the First Blade into his hands, then of killing Sinclair when he attacked Sam. As he stares at the Mark, he remembers Sam calling his name, telling him to drop the Blade. Then a phone rings and it turns into Sam clapping his hands, bringing him out of his trance and telling him to answer his cell phone. When he picks up, it’s Crowley. Dean tells him, “It’s about time!” as if he hadn’t just been in a fugue state.

Crowley tells him he’s found Abaddon (she, of course, is sitting right beside him, since it’s a trap). But before he leads the Brothers to her, he’s going to tell Dean where he can find the First Blade.

Cut to the Impala driving at night to a cemetery, where the Brothers dig up a coffin, only to find it contains a fresh(ish) corpse. Sam complains loudly about the smell, though Dean allows it’s a pretty good place to hide the Blade. But just as Dean is kneeling down to deep-dive in the guy’s guts for it, Sam hears a growl. It’s a Hell Hound. I love how Dean (who got dragged off to Hell at the end of season 3 by a Hell Hound and is still deathly afraid of them) is just like, “Run!” and bails first. Sam, a little slower on the count, runs after him as Dean makes a beeline for a nearby crypt with an iron gate. Dean busts through it and when Sam comes in after him, they quickly bar the gate. As the Hell Hound starts smacking against the iron, Dean calls Crowley.

Crowley is sitting in front of a fireplace across from Gavin (who is reading the newspaper, now that he can), while Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca” (Turkish March) is playing in the background. Crowley is bemused that the Hell Hound is still on duty, since she was supposed to be out “collecting” (boy, I’ll bet that one word sent a chill through Dean’s blood). Dean just says he’s putting Crowley “on speakerphone.” Crowley then calls to the Hell Hound (whose name is “Juliette”) in dulcet tones and tells her to “stand down.” She does with a whine. After hanging up the phone, Crowley and Gavin go back to reading the newspaper.

The Brothers return to the coffin. Pulling out a big knife, Dean cuts the sutures from the autopsy or embalming or whatever. But Sam, who is already having trouble not throwing up, insists on reaching in to grab it (it’s covered with grue when it comes back out) because he’s concerned Dean will Hulk out if he touches it. Or something. It’s pretty condescending and even Dean points that out.

Back at the hotel, Crowley is trying to persuade Gavin not to go back and board the ship. Gavin is indignant, but Crowley can’t tell him the truth, so Gavin slams a door in his face.

Crowley is distracted from his unexpected drama by a call from Dean, who’s driving the Impala, Sam riding shotgun. Calling Dean “Squirrel,” he says, “Hope you were nice to your father.” Dean is confused and quickly changes the subject (yeah, that one’s … fraught for Dean). Dean tells him he has the Blade. Crowley tells him he’s in Cleveland in the Humboldt Hotel (“Penthouse Suite, of course”). He says that when Dean arrives, “I’ll take you to Abaddon.”

Crowley: I’ll draw her out and then you can skewer the ignorant hag. [in a stage whisper to Abaddon off her look of discomfort] Selling it.

Crowley then tells him he’s going to “need to leave Poughkeepsie right away.” He uses the word twice, knowing full well (from when Dean sent him inside Sam’s head to roust Gadriel) that it’s Sam and Dean’s current word for “trouble.” Confused at first, Dean rolls with it and ends the call, but when Sam asks him if everything’s good, Dean just says, “Yeah.”

Though Abaddon doesn’t know about the safe word, she does shoot Crowley with a devil’s trap bullet (noting she learned it from Henry Winchester) to render him powerless. She claims that she likes “stiff odds” just fine, but Crowley with powers, the Brothers, and the First Blade all in the same place with her are a bit much. So, she’s leveling the playing field a bit (please, as if Abaddon ever played fair). Crowley falls back on a fainting couch with a bullet in his shoulder, realizing he now can’t do anything to stop her.

In an open alleyway, still on an overcast day, Gadriel is insisting to Castiel he had nothing to do with the ambush in the woods. He believes in prosecuting even war on honorable terms (this seems weird in light of some of the treacherous things Metatron had him do, like killing Kevin in the Bunker, but okay).

Castiel points out that Metatron is anything but honorable, hence why he used Gadriel’s negotiation to set up a double-cross. Gadriel protests that Castiel is asking him to turn on Metatron. Castiel disagrees. He knows he has a Metatron spy inside his own camp. He just wants Gadriel to act as one inside Metatron’s camp for him. As he leaves, he says, “Consider my offer.” Gadriel looks conflicted.

The Impala arrives outside the Humboldt Hotel in broad (though overcast) daylight. The Brothers get out, Sam holding the First Blade, wrapped in a leather wrap. Sam wants to just go inside and is confused when Dean suggests they do a reconnaissance first. Dean says Crowley told him “he saw some demons going down into the basement.” That might mean Abaddon knew Crowley was there.

We know this is a lie and Sam questions when Crowley said all that, but still, a little reconnaissance is actually a standard good idea. Dean tells him that Crowley told him about the demons on the phone. He “suggests” Sam look around the basement, while he reconnoiters the main floor. Sam looks uncomfortable as Dean grabs the First Blade from him, but doesn’t quite object as Dean stalks away.

Warily, Dean enters the Penthouse Suite, First Blade out and in hand. He sees Crowley sprawled on the couch, clutching his host’s wounded shoulder.

Crowley: Hallo, Dean. Love the crazed bloodlust in your eyes.

I’m not sure if this is sarcasm or misdirection aimed at Abaddon, or what. Dean doesn’t look especially crazy in this moment. In fact, he silently taps his shoulder where Crowley’s wound would be with the First Blade, mutely questioning what’s going on with that. Instead of answering directly, Crowley says, “Let’s not waste time. I’ll take you to Abaddon. It’s not far.” Then he cuts his eyes to Dean’s right. Dean turns into a demon’s attack and immediately stabs him with the Blade. The demon dies in a storm of red light.

Dean is clearly affected by the high of the kill, but he has no more than a second to enjoy it. He’s suddenly TK’d into a nearby painting on a wall. Abaddon comes in, gloating.

Abaddon: A boy and his Blade. And still, no match for the new Queen.

Meanwhile, Sam is down in the basement, finding it empty and quiet, and realizing he got played.

Upstairs, Abaddon chuckles malevolently as she tortures Dean.

Abaddon: So, first, you’ll die. Painfully. And then Crowley will watch his son die. Ditto. And then the King himself. And Blade destroyed. Well, it’s quite a To Do list!

But meanwhile, the Blade is calling its siren song to Dean. He starts to peel himself away from the wall, the Mark visibly glowing even through a layer of flannel and his leather jacket. We also see the same snarl as when he beheaded Sinclair. Then he actually slides back down from the wall.

Abaddon is not standing idle while he does. She lashes him again and again with TK, but he takes one stubborn step toward her and then another. And another. Abaddon’s TK is so powerful that it kicks up a big wind that actually rolls a lamp across Crowley, who’s a wide-eyed, but helpless, spectator to these events.

Dean keeps coming, but Abaddon is able to knock him off his feet with a particularly strong burst, and he ends up pinned back to the wall, with the Blade out of his hand, lying on the floor. Abaddon then starts Force-choking Dean, but Dean, through the pain, focuses on the First Blade. As he concentrates on it, it stirs and then suddenly flies into his hand (the fan wank in some quarters when this episode first came out, trying to discount how this was Dean showing an actual superpower – TK – was hilarious).

Suddenly, it’s as if Abaddon’s powers no longer have any effect on Dean. Remember in the coda to season three when Lilith tried to TK Sam after unsuccessfully white-lighting him and it no longer worked? It’s like that. Abaddon seems unable to believe it, or maybe it’s sheer desperation that keeps her going with the TK, but it gives Dean a clear shot to just walk up to her and stab her, even as she’s still trying to jazz-hand him.

Sam enters the room (blasted by wind) right as Dean starts that walk.

When Dean stabs Abaddon, she rises above him, howling in agony, as white light (not red) bursts out of her, through her eyes and mouth, even her skin, and the sound of lightning and thunder rolls continuously. Sam and Crowley have to look away, it’s so bright, but Dean stares straight up into it, silently echoing her howls, looking completely mad. There’s a reason “King of the Damned” is a fan favorite and this scene is one of the most screencapped and giffed of the entire show.

Then the light fades and she collapses to the ground. Dean then kneels down on top of her and begins beating on her dead body (Josie’s dead body) with the Blade in a frenzy of rage and hate. Shocked, Sam has to call several times to get Dean to stop. Breathing heavily, Dean looks up at him in a daze and then tosses the Blade away. Nearby, Crowley is looking pretty thrilled to have survived all this.

Afterward, while his son looks on from another room, Crowley gets a knife to dig the devil’s trap out of his shoulder himself and whining about it. Sam is nearby, wrapping the Blade back up. Sam tells Crowley he’s damned lucky they didn’t kill him, so shut up.

As Dean is walking back into the room from the washroom, having cleaned up with a blood towel in an echo of Gavin doing it earlier, Crowley “reminds” Sam that he tried to warn them it was a trap by using their safe word. This is, of course, the first time Sam’s heard of it. Crowley notices Sam’s confusion and Dean’s sketchy look, and chuckles: “I sense drama!”

Dean changes the subject to Gavin. He’s surprised Crowley even had a son. He asks how Gavin is doing, just as the bullet comes out. Crowley hedges.

Dean points out that Gavin needs to go back and Sam says they can bring him to the Bunker and try to reverse engineer the spell. Crowley protests that if he does go back, Gavin will die on that ship. The Brothers are not sympathetic and say the potential ripple effect is too great (apparently, they’re unaware that Bobby summoned Gavin’s ghost in season six). Crowley grumps that Gavin’s disappearance from history doesn’t affect anyone, since he went down with the ship, as it were, shortly afterward. We will, of course, find out otherwise a few seasons later and then there’s the whole plothole involving how Bobby was able to get out of his deal using Gavin, if Gavin is now in the future. Time travel. Such a headache.

Crowley asks to say goodbye to his son, even as he declares that he’ll be thrilled with the day he no longer has to feel human emotions. But when he goes into the bedroom with Gavin, he TK’s the doors closed and whisks Gavin away. Dean’s pissed.

In a field somewhere else, Gavin is finding out what happens to him in the past. He bitterly figures it’s par for the course with the way the rest of his life has gone. He’s not too sure if he can even make it in the 21st century, but Crowley tells him he’ll do fine as long as he avoids “cheap whiskey and cheap hookers.” He also warns him not to smoke. He tells his son that they won’t be seeing each other again and turns down a hug, but he does act “all fatherly” before he vanishes, leaving Gavin out standing in a field by himself.

Cut to an Impala chat at night (as Crowley said, “drama”). Dean tells Sam he didn’t tell him about Crowley’s warning because he knew that Sam would want to go in beside him and that wouldn’t have worked out too well (for Sam’s survival, though Dean doesn’t say that outright). Dean says that when he first touched the First Blade, he felt a “calm” and knew that he would take down Abaddon and anyone else who got in his way, that he would not be stopped.

Now Sam could respond a whole bunch of different constructive ways. Instead, he falls back on his usual default – jealous pissiness. Sam complains that Dean was trying to “protect” him (yes, it’s an actual complaint). Dean points out that they “couldn’t afford to screw this up.” If Abaddon had been able to get hold of Sam, she might have been able to negotiate an escape. Dean is pretty clearly referencing Sam getting himself caught by the vampire brothers two episodes ago and Sam doesn’t like it one bit.

Sam says that it’s great that Dean is deriving “calm” or whatever from the Blade, but he feels that it’s also doing something to Dean, changing him. Sam “suggests” that they take the Blade out somewhere and keep it safe, far away from Dean, until they need it again.

Dean just stares at the road and quietly (but firmly) says, “No.”

Credits

Ratings dropped again to 0.8/2 in the A18-49 demo and 1.59 million. This was probably thanks to the hangover from backdoor pilot “Bloodlines” and being dragged down a bit by The Originals’ pitiful lead-in.

Review: “King of the Damned” is an evocative title. It could apply to Crowley, Abaddon, or even Castiel. There’s certainly enough hubris to go round for everyone, including Sam and Dean and Gadriel. The road to Hell, as they say, is paved with lost teddy bea – sorry, I mean good intentions.

I’ve seen complaints, especially when this episode first came out, that Abaddon never got enough storyline, that she was introduced and then simply ditched (and that this is linked in some way to the show’s allegedly egregious misogyny that some Tumblrites love to harp on whenever they’re mad that their favorite fictional gay male ship hasn’t kissed, yet). I disagree. Sure, she could have stayed around a bit longer, but we’ve seen a lot of what happens when a villain overstays their welcome (Lucifer, anyone?). In order to keep her around much more, they’d have had to introduce some more dimensions than the straight-up queenly, dominatrix evil that made Abaddon so pure. It would have weakened her as a character and I can’t say I’d have wanted to see that. Abaddon stayed just long enough to make a huge impression and then flamed out in epic style.

The thing is that Abaddon was on the show for nearly a season and a half, had more episodes than Azazel, and was a major Big Bad since the end of last season. She had a complete arc where she was introduced as a fearsome enemy, scored some major points on the Brothers (killing their paternal grandfather), had some setbacks and wins, embarked on a campaign to oust Crowley and become Queen of Hell, and very nearly accomplished it in an audacious plan this week (involving time travel, no less) before being brought down by Dean, the Mark and the First Blade.

We also got two episodes that explained why she was the only surviving Knight of Hell (besides her leader and “creator” Cain), what she was doing for Lucifer in the 1950s, and how she came to possess her current host, Josie Sands (which explained a bit more about how she destroyed the American chapter of the Men of Letters). We even saw her interact with and possess female characters.

Could they have stretched out her arc a bit more with more personal backstory? Here and there. The big question remaining after this episode (never answered, unfortunately) was whether or not she was actually an ordinary demon (ex-human) pre-Knighthood or if she was some kind of converted fallen angel (an ex-Grigori, perhaps). If she’d never been human at all, that would explain why she died like an angel, blasting out white light, and not a demon (red lightning).

It would also explain her contempt for human emotion in this episode. Yes, demons often express contempt for living humans and the more positive human emotions (anger, hate, fear, jealousy, envy, malice? Those are okay), but there is always an undertone of shame and self-loathing. We see this from Crowley when Abaddon comments on Crowley’s emotional connection to his son (which she regards as a weakness), but not from Abaddon herself. There is no residue of humanity in her. The closest we get to it in this episode is her little moue of discomfort when Crowley refers to her as a “hag” in his phone call to Dean.

The closest we get to it ever is in “First Born” when she’s possessing the woman Cain loves and where she demonstrates what could be seen as jealousy about that relationship. But that could all be an act and her submissiveness (completely the opposite of the dominant way she acts in every other episode) is not at all explained (let alone poorly). That’s a flaw in an otherwise-classic episode (“First Born” not “King of the Damned”).

Now, Abaddon’s death is obviously sexual. From the way Dean stabs her in the belly, to the orgasmic tandem screaming, to the way she rubs her hands down his arms, even to the frenzied way he beats on her dead body afterward, this is clearly a sadomasochistic scene. But for those who complain about the rape-y aspects of it, HEL-lo, this was foreshadowed in the second episode of the season. Remember when Abaddon had Dean on his knees and was talking about demon-raping him? Well, she still has the apparent upper hand in “King of the Damned,” right up until the moment she doesn’t and can’t adjust or make a new plan in time. This was never going to end any other way.

The funny thing is that from what we know now, the very worst mistake Abaddon could have made was actually to kill Dean (as she intended) because he simply would have come back as a demon and far stronger than before. It indicates that while she knew a lot about the Mark and the Blade (which, it seems, she couldn’t wield despite being a Knight, since she wanted to destroy it), Cain hadn’t shared everything about the Mark with her.

But it’s still pretty badass to watch Dean fight back, find his inner strength (as he did a couple of episodes ago with that redneck vampire), and overcome her shiny superpowers. Not gonna lie, either, that one of the sweetest schadenfreude meta moments from when the episode first came out was when some fans of a certain persuasion were in deep, deep denial that Dean actually TK’d the Blade and was now, finally, indisputably “magical.”

Sam, it must be said, doesn’t respond at all well to this. He affects deep concern, but the raging envy and jealousy underneath poison and flatten it into an insincere mask. I do believe that Sam loves and is worried about Dean, but his own selfishness, his fear of becoming a fifth wheel (as he thought Dean was becoming in season 4), his negative emotions, and his inability (unwillingness?) to control them long enough to help his brother, obscure that love and concern, and make them ineffective in persuading Dean.

I’m not arguing that Dean is in his right mind, here. I think one of the biggest red flags is how Dean says that the First Blade makes him “calm,” when what we see on the outside is the complete opposite. Dean may feel calm, but all objective signs point to the First Blade infusing him with a sort of divine madness, a holy rage, that is terrifying to behold. It’s bit like the legendary Celtic hero Cú Chulainn. Or the Incredible Hulk. But whenever Dean starts to Hulk out, Sam (and Castiel) seems scared and determined to control Dean, even though Dean has never threatened Sam or done him harm during these rages.

In fact, Dean has Hulked out in response to Sam being threatened and when Dean says this week that he sent Sam down into the basement to get him out of harm’s way, he’s actually got a good point. It’s not just that Sam got himself captured (and the both of them nearly killed) two episodes ago by vampires. It’s also that they found out later Crowley was being blackmailed by Abaddon holding his son hostage, so of course this is a tactic she would use.

Dean may have been able to hold his own (mostly) in the seasons when Sam was gaining superpowers, but Sam is not in the same league now the shoe’s on the other foot. And Dean had a hard-enough time fighting Abaddon without Sam (and Sam’s safety) there as a distraction. So, yeah, the Crazy-on-Supernatural-Steroids brother actually has the better point here.

It also doesn’t help that every time Sam grabs the First Blade from Dean, he comes off far more like Gollum than Samwise. Sam wants that damned Mark for himself. It’s not that he thinks it’s bad. He just thinks it’s bad on Dean. When Dean shut Sam down at the end of the episode, frankly, I was like, “You go, Dean!”

As I’ve said before, this storyline may be leading Dean down a dark path, but it’s fun to watch. One of the best parts is seeing Dean stand up for himself and push back on all those head games his loved ones have played on him over the years. If I have one objection, it’s that this is tied (at least at this point in the story) to the idea that Dean is being corrupted. While the Mark is certainly driving him mad(der), he needs to keep going to get out the other side, not power down and go back to being everyone else’s doormat. This is probably why Season 9 is one of the grayest seasons in terms of morality. Everyone’s got some kind of corruption or penitence angle going on.

That, of course, is in play with Crowley. Crowley asserts up front that he hates having (positive) feelings toward his son. And yet, he leans into them pretty hard, to the point where he’s even able to sell to Gavin the idea of playing a demonic better version of the father he couldn’t be in life. One could argue that the show pushes the idea of Gavin being an ignorant hayseed too hard early in the episode (when Abaddon and Crowley are actually in agreement over something – that his son is an idiot – that’s pretty hard).

That said, Gavin really is an ignorant hayseed, not that this is his fault. Even if Crowley/Fergus hadn’t been a terrible father, as Crowley points out, most people in the world at that time were illiterate. This unquestionably was true of early 18th century Scotland, which was already experiencing a decline in economic and political fortunes after a century of their king also being England’s king (formalized by the Acts of Union in 1706 and 1707). Grab someone like that and throw him or her into the 21st century (I guess he made it to America, after all) and it makes sense he’d be all at sixes and sevens, and blithering like an idiot.

If anything, I think it was reckless of Abaddon to bring him to the 21st century. I assume she knew about the shipwreck and figured he (like the friend she killed) wouldn’t be missed by history. But we already know that’s not true and that it could have affected Abaddon’s chances in the present. It doesn’t pay to mess with time travel.

Then there’s Castiel. Castiel makes similar mistakes with Gadriel as Sam does with Dean, thus nearly shipwrecking his plan before it’s properly launched. Castiel wants to be conciliatory, but he just can’t stop poking at those sore spots about Gadriel’s failures in the Garden and his murder of their fellow angels. You’d think Castiel would at least be more understanding, considering the thousands of angels he’s slaughtered, not always with the best of intentions.

Instead, he keeps coming at Gadriel sideways and riling him up. If it weren’t for Metatron’s misstep in sending the other angel assassins, Gadriel might never have come back for the second meeting. Castiel got lucky with that. I don’t even like Gadriel and I get why he was pissed off at Castiel.

And what about Castiel’s attitude toward Dean? He’s so wrapped up in his new army (while failing to tell even the Brothers it’s all a sham) and his responsibilities that not only does he show no concern at all about Dean having the Mark, but he actively recruits Dean to torture his fellow angels. Is it bad? Is it good? Is it conditionally good for Dean to Hulk out and become a torturer? Does Castiel even remember what it was like for Dean the last time he asked this? Make up your mind, Cas.

Next week: Last Holiday: The show returns for its final 7 episodes of season 15 with … an MOTW involving a wood nymph inhabiting the Bunker. Okay.

The Kripke Years

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

The Gamble Years

Season 6 (with Kripke)

Season 7

The Carver Years

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

The Dabb Years

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14

Season 15


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11 thoughts on “The Official Supernatural: “King of the Damned” (9.21) Retro Recap and Review”

  1. One more quick comment on this episode, it’s always deeply concerned me about the use of and the impact
    of torture in this show, yes it’s a tough world but it shouldn’t be an option and it has profoundly affected both the Winchesters. Its something that doesn’t sit easy with me. Excorcism is a necessity in this world, torture doesn’t have to be

  2. I liked Abbadon the way she was and that they successfully brought her story to a close without ruining her. Plus she got her just deserts, murdering Dean’s Grandfather Henry in front of him , kidnapping his brother? Did she not get the memo? Abbadon was always going down. You don’t mess with Dean’s family.

    Poor Dean has had a tough time, his mental health has fluctuated and it’s often exacerbated by those who are closest to him, pressuring him or just plain trying to force him to conform to what they want or need without understanding ( or sometimes caring?)what they are doing to him. The Mark gave him strength and calm because in the midst of his undoubted madness he finally learned to say no. That ability to stand up for himself was what scared them the most, that they could no longer control Dean.

    I have a lot of feelings about Castiel and his actions making Dean torture, all negative, it was wrong and abuse if the worst possible kind the first time he asked it of Dean , to ask him to revisit that was in my book unforgivable, regardless if the Mark, there is no defence for his actions. It was cruel.
    Sam should have put a stop to it or at least spoken up to defend Dean’s wellbeing if he was as concerned as he made out. Just my opinion but that was not the way to take care if someone you know isn’t well, again , regardless of the Mark, where was the compassion knowing Dean’s history and how badly that hurt him?
    Crowley was the only character showing true compassion and care this episode, which is saying something.

    1. Middle paragraph. Spot on. Last sentence? Bravo.

      Poor Dean.

      And Sam’s jealousy and pissiness so not a good look but oh, so true. And no one ever called him on this. Ever.

      Love when Dean became a demon he chatted with Crowley about it ala Crowley’s snark about them wondering if he’d hit another dog. 😉

      1. Ah yes fun with Crowley and the dog comment. I miss Crowley’s humour and joy for mischief. Dean can just relax and stop being so performative around people like Crowley because he knows he can best them and doesn’t give two shakes of a rat’s ass what they think.

        Sam does enjoy the spotlight so very very much. Dean doesn’t call him on it because he’s so gosh darn, parentally proud of him. Maybe Dean’s also a little too much in awe of Sam because he never got to go to college. But let’s get real, Dean reads Homer , Vonnegut and got a GED under his own steam in between hunting and raising his own Dad’s family for him, he could totally match Sam in pretty much anything if he believed in himself more.

        Poor Dean indeed. I repeat, poor Dean.

  3. I liked Abbadon the way she was and that they successfully brought her story to a close without ruining her. Plus she got her just deserts, murdering Dean’s Grandfather Henry in front of him , kidnapping his brother? Did she not get the memo? Abbadon was always going down. You don’t mess with Dean’s family.

    Poor Dean has had a tough time, his mental health has fluctuated and it’s often exacerbated by those who are closest to him, pressuring him or just plain trying to force him to conform to what they want or need without understanding ( or sometimes caring?)what they are doing to him. The Mark gave him strength and calm because in the midst of his undoubted madness he finally learned to say no. That ability to stand up for himself was what scared them the most, that they could no longer control Dean.

    I have a lot of feelings about Castiel and his actions making Dean torture, all negative, it was wrong and abuse if the worst possible kind the first time he asked it of Dean , to ask him to revisit that was in my book unforgivable, regardless if the Mark, there is no defence for his actions. It was cruel.
    Sam should have put a stop to it or at least spoken up to defend Dean’s wellbeing if he was as concerned as he made out. Just my opinion but that was not the way to take care if someone you know isn’t well, again , regardless of the Mark, where was the compassion knowotng Dean’s history and how badly that hurt him?
    Crowley was the only character showing true compassion and care this episode, which is saying something.

    1. I had some really major problems with Castiel’s actions in this, especially since we know now they were a set-up for Dean being cast as a scapegoat by the angels for their own screw-ups in the next two episodes. I get that Castiel is an angel, who processes emotions very differently from humans. But he was human a hot minute ago and he claims to care about Dean a lot. Plus, he knows perfectly well how disastrous the situation got the last time he asked Dean to torture someone.

      The show has an iffy record on torture, largely because we see it often being successful and it’s not clarified that those times are usually when someone is broken by it, not forced to confess information. Dean himself was a victim of 40 years of incessant torture (I’d argue that breaking him and turning him into a torturer was just a new phase in his torment). It makes sense from his character’s standpoint to just go with a skill he now excels at, but the judgmental, hypocritical attitude around him of those who alternately point figures and use him to do dark things for them is really a bit much. If you don’t like torture, don’t put your friend who survived 40 years of both enduring and doing it to others back into that role. Especially when he begged you not to do that the last time you did.

      1. Absolutely agree on everything you said. Family cares for you, not what you can do for them. If it’s wrong, don’t even ask, if there’s any doubt, back off

      2. The only time torture ever squicked me out in this show was the time they beat the Holy Hell out of Jeffery(?). Trying to get info on Lilith. (I think that was why’). They even had him sign off on his temple. Dropped his ass off at a hospital and drove off. Harsh.

        1. Yeah , Jeffrey was harsh. It always makes me cringe though when they go to torture, especially after what it did to Dean.

  4. I also felt sorry for Gavin, being a pawn to all these powerful beings. AND he never got to really meet Sam and Dean!

    Unlike you, I am not sure Sam was ‘purely’ jealous of Dean being ‘speshul’ but you make a good argument.

    Glad to see Abbadon hit the dust. And Poughkeepsie is just a funny word (from the French Connection; did you ever pick your toes in Poughkeepsie? I am sure they got it from that movie.) whenever I hear it.

    Will you be doing a review of tonight’s NEW episode later this week?

    1. Hi Eva. Yes, I’ll be switching back to reviewing Season 15 until it’s done, as of this coming week. I’m watching the episode now.

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