Supernatural Season 13 Episode 20 review: Unfinished Business

This week’s Supernatural returned us to the Apocalypse World where we caught up with Jack and Mary. We also joined Sam, Dean and Gabriel for some revenge.

You can tell that this season of Supernatural  is winding down, because we are not wasting any time at all.  It was just two weeks ago that Gabriel ditched the boys after getting his groove back. And with the help of Rowena’s tracking spell, The Winchesters are able to find him. In addition to finding Gabriel, we return to The Apocalypse World to catch back up with Mary and Jack. Let’s take a closer look at what happened this week.

“Runaway dumb-ass archangel.”

Gabriel is facing off a giant of a man. The man has weird beast like powers, and then Gabriel kills the man with a wooden sword, injuring himself in the process. He then crosses off a name on a list. It appears that Gabriel is on some kind of revenge mission.

Fast forward to The Winchesters unpacking in a motel. Rowena put a tracking spell on Gabriel, and it shows that he is either where they are in Colorado, or in Texas, where they have sent Castiel. They have been looking for Gabriel for two weeks. And just as they mutter some quip about trying to find him, there’s a knock at the door, and it’s Gabriel.

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Gabriel is bleeding, and he asks Sam and Dean for more of his grace. When they tell him they don’t have anymore, he’s disappointed but takes a nap anyway.  When he wakes up, Gabriel is still against helping the brothers out. He doesn’t want to save the world, he has better things to do. Cue the door being kicked open by the brothers of the man Gabriel killed at the beginning of the episode. They’re Norse Demigods. They fight with The Winchesters and Gabriel comes in with the kill.

“Uma, what’s the plan?”

So, we get a little more backstory about what happened to Gabriel after Lucifer “killed” him. He didn’t just go to Monte Carlo, he sought help from Loki. Turns out, he had met Loki when he was trapped in a cage, and that’s when Loki gave him the role of “trickster” as a thank you. Loki and his demigod sons sold Gabriel to Asmodeus. Now Gabriel wants revenge on these Norse gods for all the torture he had to endure because of them. Lots of Kill Bill jokes follow. It’s really nice to fill in the gaps of where Gabriel has been, and how he became a slave to Asmodeus.

Sam and Dean agree to help Gabriel if he agrees to help them. Gabriel agrees and shows the brothers his kill list. Which Dean immediately makes fun of.

“Mess with a real trickster, get real tricks.”

Following the trend from recent weeks, there is an amazingly lit gun battle in the hallway between the remaining demigod’s bodyguards and Sam, Dean, and Gabriel. Midway through the fight, Dean sneaks out and heads up to the penthouse to take out Loki on his own. Unfortunately, it’s just a hologram of the trickster. The real trickster is a few floors below, waiting for Gabriel.

Loki is angry at Gabriel because he was supposed to not have anything to do with his family after adopting the trickster’s persona. However, all that mess with Lucifer not only caused Odin to get killed, but Gabriel broke his promise. The real Loki and Gabriel face off in the hallway. Sam and Dean come in at the last minute, and Gabriel is able to kill Loki.

As they leave the hotel, Gabriel agrees to help with Lucifer. He made a deal, he’s going to stick with it. Sam asks if he feels better now that he’s had revenge, if all his problems have gone away. Gabriel agrees, but you can tell by his face that revenge did not fix all the trauma from being tortured.

“Apocalypse isn’t looking for us.”

Back at the bunker, Sam and Dean reveal they have a full house. Rowena, Gabriel, and Cas are all staying there. Sam finally confronts Dean on why he keeps sidelining him. Dean confesses that with Lucifer back in the mix, he’s scared. Last time, Sam ended up in Hell. He says that for once they have the advantage. They are the ones seeking out the apocalypse, not the other way around.

Sam acknowledges Dean’s concerns. However, he says that they are in this together. Whatever happens, it’ll be better if they face it together. If they die, they die together. And I left this episode hoping that’s not some sort of ominous prediction on how the season is going to end. Because between this and Death last week saying she would see Dean soon, I’m worried about my boys’ mortality.

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“Angels are leaving.”

This week, we finally catch back up with Jack and Mary in Apocalypse World. Jack has been off fighting and killing angels. Bobby has been bringing back survivors into the camp. Jack is proud of his accomplishments and is feeling pretty indestructible right now.  Mary is concerned, however, that Jack is taking a lot of unnecessary risks.

When a scout comes back to camp with news that Michael has abandoned his headquarters, Jack is ready to go investigate. Mary tries to caution him to wait, because it might be a trap, but he’s not hearing it.  He convinces everyone to go, because it looks empty.

“Can’t lose another boy.”

They get to the angel headquarters, and it is empty. They find a war table and it has mapped out where Michael’s armies are, however they don’t know why he would just leave those out. During the search they uncovered Kevin Tran in the dungeon. Kevin reveals that he perfected the spell,  and that’s why the angels moved out. They went south where the veil between worlds is thinner and they’re going to open the rift.

Jack wants to go after Michael on his own. Mary doesn’t want him to go. She wants him to wait one day for Bobby to get back. She doesn’t want to lose another boy. She’s worried that if he goes in without a plan, it’s not going to end badly. As Jack comes to the decision to just go after Michael by himself, there is a commotion from another room.

“If I can’t save them, what’s the point?”

Kevin Tran has been placed by Michael as a trap for the rebels. He has a sigil carved into his chest. Michael has done a number on him. He’s prepared to die.  Jack scoffs that the spell won’t kill him. That’s when Kevin says, “Michael wants to break you. Even if you win, you lose.” And with that, he presses the sigil and ignites an explosion. Jack is able to save Mary, but that’s about it. And I guess we won’t be reuniting the Winchesters with Other Kevin.

In the aftermath of the explosion, Jack is down. He has just realized that he’s not all-powerful. His high from the beginning of the episode is down. Mary tries to comfort him, but it’s not helping. Jack has been hit where it hurts. His optimism is gone.

Performer of the week.

I had a hard time choosing this week. I had to text my sister and get her opinion. And we finally came to the same conclusion. We’re going to pick Richard Speight, Jr. He gets the nod not only for his amazing performance but also because he directed this episode as well. That was his edge over my other contender (Jack).

The whole revenge arc was pretty powerful. Then in Gabriel’s voice as he recounts the seven years he was held by Asmodeus was heart-wrenching. And that look in his eyes after he lied about being better after his revenge? Gold. Also, the episode was beautifully directed.

Next: Supernatural recap: Whose side is Apocalypse Kevin really on?

What did you think of last night’s episode? Are you disappointed in Kevin’s betrayal? With just a handful of episodes left, what do you hope will happen? Are we setting up for Michael to use Dean as a vessel? Let us know in the comments below.

Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW