Supernatural recap: Whose side is Apocalypse Kevin really on?
Supernatural Season 13, Episode 20 saw Gabriel take down a set of demigods (with the Winchesters’ help). In the Apocalypse World, Mary and Jack met Apocalypse Kevin.
I’ll be honest; I didn’t enjoy Supernatural Season 13, Episode 20. It’s not an episode I’ll rush to watch again for all types of reasons. Mainly, it’s the writing that just felt sloppy.
Part of the problem is I’m not a Gabriel fan. This is an archangel who turned his back on the world until the very last minute. He tortured Sam for months with the death of Dean and continually put the two in annoying situations under the guise of teaching them lessons. When he had another chance to help, he ran away. Yet he wanted sympathy for everything he’d been through. I didn’t have it.
Knowing I wasn’t going to enjoy that part of the storyline, I held out hope for the Apocalypse Storyline in “Unfinished Business.” This is a storyline that’s been totally underused this whole season. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark, but at least pushed Jack and Mary’s storyline forward.
In the end, though, I was left deflated and a little bored. Part of me felt like I’d wasted an hour last night and I haven’t felt like that about Supernatural for a long time.
But enough about my thoughts. This is a Supernatural recap and not a review! Like a few previous recaps, I’m going to do this in two parts. I’ll focus on the Winchester’s storyline and then I’ll cover the Apocalypse World storyline. Strap in and get ready for the twists and turns from the night.
The Winchesters and Gabriel take down the Bieber demigod
In a very Tarantino-style storyline, we opened with Gabriel taking down a werewolf-like creature. I got the feeling of Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Kill Bill throughout the opening scene, but it felt forced for a character like Gabriel. After he’s done killing the creature (by stabbing himself through the stomach to get the creature with a special sword) he crosses the first name off his list.
Now that he’s injured, he has to turn to the Winchesters for help. He knew they were there because he sensed Rowena’s tracking spell on him. Apparently, it tastes like haggis.
Just as he’s trying to explain what’s going on, two men crash down the door to the motel room and start fighting with the Winchesters. Gabriel is able to stab and kill one of them, but the Bieber lookalike runs away. It turns out they’re demigods; Norse demigods to be exact. Gabriel admits to killing their brother, which is why they’re after him.
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This is bigger though. We finally get the full story of how Gabriel became Loki. After helping to save Loki from Odin’s imprisonment, Gabriel turned to him for help to get off the grid. Loki allowed Gabriel to become him but when Gabriel then went to him for help after Lucifer “killed” him. Loki chose that time to sell Gabriel to Asmodeus.
Why? Well, Loki later explains that the one thing Loki asked Gabriel to do was stay out of his family’s battle. When Lucifer killed Odin, Loki partially blamed Gabriel and decided to get his revenge.
Of course, the Winchesters don’t initially want to help. Dean is adamant that revenge doesn’t help feelings afterward, but Sam decides that they should possibly help out. Maybe revenge can help this time. Gabriel’s sob story about being tortured for seven years does the trick on Sam, but not Dean. Honestly, it shouldn’t have done the trick on either of them. Both have been tortured in Hell for more than seven years, but it looks like the Supernatural writers forgot that.
It doesn’t take long for Gabriel to kill Beiber demigod so that just leaves Loki. We do come to an excellent moment in the episode: Richard Speight Jr. against Richard Speight Jr. And if that wasn’t enough, the episode was directed by Richard Speight Jr. But this was the only part of this storyline that I enjoyed and it was really for the talent behind the episode instead of the actual episode.
Anyway, Gabriel gets his revenge against Loki and Sam has the chance to see if revenge was worth it. Of course, it wasn’t, but Gabriel does decide to join Team Free Will 2.0 in return for the favor.
Mary and Jack meet Apocalypse Kevin
Meanwhile, in the Apocalypse World, we learn what Mary and Jack have been up to. They’ve been saving humans from the angels–one group of angels recently was led by Balthazar, who has now been killed. Well, a mention of the name is enough right now with the number of characters returning in Supernatural Season 13.
The two come across a guy, who tells them that Michael’s fortress is empty. Sure enough, Jack takes a walk across with his powers and realizes that it is. So, a team moves in to figure out what’s going on and find a map of Michael’s armies and where they are now.
Apocalypse Kevin is found in a dungeon and everyone except Mary and Jack want to kill him for being a traitor. At first Apocalypse Kevin gives a sob story of how he didn’t have a choice as a prophet and prisoner, but it soon turns out that Michael has promised him to go to Heaven so he can be with his mom again. All he has to do is take everyone out as a suicide bomber.
There are a few problems with this:
- Kevin was only brought back in Episode 7 and hasn’t been seen since and he’s already been killed off again!
- We’re using the Asian character to be a suicide bomber for the angels. While it’s not quite a Muslim character, which would have been a seriously questionable decision, it still made me cringe as I thought about it.
- There was an attempt to feel sorry for this character that’s not the same as the Kevin we know, purely because of the memory of the Kevin we once knew.
All-in-all, the only benefit this death had was to push Jack’s storyline forward and that’s questionable within itself. Everyone except Mary and Jack died. Jack pulled Mary towards him and wrapped her with his wings to shield her from Kevin’s blast. This was sweet, but there was this emptiness with it being Kevin they were up against.
In the end, Jack starts to question his abilities and this war against Michael. It’s a dip in confidence that every hero gets because moving on to fight the big battle.
Honestly, I wanted to be excited about this episode, especially the Apocalypse World storyline, but I left deflated and disappointed. It’s been a long time I’ve felt this way about Supernatural. Even the episodes I haven’t liked that much I’ve respected for the risks they’ve taken. This episode was just…meh!
Next: Supernatural recap: Castiel meets an unexpected face in Heaven
What did you think about the episode? Was it one that you enjoyed or did you feel like things were missing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Supernatural Season 13 continues on Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.