Review: Supernatural Season Seven Finale -- 7.23 Survival of the Fittest

Time flies when the Leviathans have fun. But time stops when Supernatural goes into a hiatus.

First of all, I'd like to congratulate Sera Gamble for her contribution in the past seven seasons of Supernatural. Sera is one of the brightest and most creative minds who's ever worked on the show. She is one of the most vocal writers when Eric Kripke was around, and her work is always impressive. There is no doubt in my mind she was the best candidate to run the show after Kripke decided to take the back seat. From the bottom of my heart, thank you once again for being so awesome Sera. I'll miss your passion and your voice. I look forward to seeing your future projects.

Moving on to my immediately reactions and thoughts after watching the season finale.

7.23 Survival of the Fittest was written by Sera Gamble and directed by Robert Singer. The episode wrapped up all the loose ends brilliantly and set the direction for season eight. With an ending like that, it's gotta be a winner! I think Survival of the Fittest was forward-thinking. It was more than wrapping things up, killing Dick, bringing Baby back, mending a broken friendship, sending Dean and Cas to Purgatory, leaving Sam all by himself… it's almost the perfect box of toys for Jeremy Carver to play with.

The cliff-hanger was definitely THE highlight of the episode and it's the kind of epic ending I was expecting. I wholeheartedly believe season eight is going to be brilliant. I think this cliff-hanger was a winner, because it was a Winchester cliff-hanger. Survival of the Fittest and its ending definitely reminded me of season three/four/ five -- when Dean went to hell for selling his soul to save Sam; and when Sam went to Hell for sacrificing himself to take down Lucifer. There is no supernatural dimension the Winchesters have not been before. With Dean in Purgatory, he is now the only known human being who'd ever traveled to Heaven, Hell and Purgatory and back! I am worried, I am scared, but you know what? Dean is a survivor, and he is one half of the show. Of course he will be back. Damn right he will be back in style! He should be on the GQ cover of October.

On one hand, I hope Dean's trip to the Purgatory will be a short one. The brothers can't be apart for too long, right? On the other hand, rather than not being able to see Dean's journey and all the action in Purgatory, I'd love to see a good portion of an episode or two to take place in Purgatory. Rather than having Dean telling us about Purgatory, I think it will be refreshing to actually SEE some actions to take place in this supernatural landscape. Dean's tale in hell was told throughout season four/ five, and for whatever reasons (it could be budget) we never get to SEE Dean in hell. Sam's tale in hell with Lucifer and Michael was also told in a smiliar fashion, we never get to see Sam in the cage with Lucifer and Michael. So, I think for a change, I'd like to see Dean in action in Purgatory.

Each time when the brothers were pulled apart, it presented a challenge or created an obstacle in their relationship. Keeping secrets from each other have always been a bit of a recurring them for the brothers. But I think the show has moved forward, we've gone way past the keeping secret theme. I think their relationship is so mature, they can do synchronise swimming. Time After Time is a perfect example, Dean knows Sam, and Sam knows Dean. They know what each other is thinking, they know what each other would do. I think Dean and Sam in season seven have been working together as a team brilliantly. For however long the brothers are going to be separated, I think Dean's 'WWSD' and Sam's 'WWDD' may play a role in getting Dean and Cas out from Purgatory. Wouldn't it be awesome if they brothers can pull this off all by themselves without any supernatural assistance?

And you know what this mean right? THERE WILL BE ANOTHER WINCHESTER HUG!

I am so losing sleep over Dean -- How will he survive? How will he escape from Purgatory? It's been awhile since I went nuts about theories. Contrary to what I've just said about supernatural assistance, Death could come to the rescue. He does have a soft spot for Dean. I still think about that conversation between Dean and Death about souls in Appointment in Samarra. I still think restoring balance will become a theme moving forward. It's been a mess -- the apocalypse didn't happen according to plan; the Leviathans were let loose; there are still people out there who are too stoned to do anything because they can't stop eating Turducken sandwiches; and who knows how many leftover Levis are out there? The nature order has turned up-side down. Death has been giving Dean the opportunity to clean it up the mess. I think Dean's soul is the one soul Death would love to collect personally when his time's up in the most non-supernatural kind of way. Just saying..

The next highlight from was the clash of kings. Crowley is the real winner here, he is the fittest. The Leviathans are one of the smartest evils the Winchesters have ever encountered. But Crowley has outsmarted everyone including Dick. Crowley has always been an opportunist. He always executed his plan with so little effort. Crowley appeared to be taken the step back in the fight against the Leviathans in season seven. But he knew everyone so well -- everything from their personality, their approach, their game -- he let everyone to play their part, and when the right moment arrived, he made his move. One stone, three birds plus a prophet. Well played!

I think there are things we still don't know about Crowley. I have mentioned this before, we have never seen Crowley's eyes turned black or red. May be it's just me thinking too much? I am not saying he is not a demon, but I won't be surprised. Hehe.. I think what he is after is more than survival or being the King of Hell or marking territory. Taking the prophet just made me wonder more!! Unlike Chuck, Kevin doesn't seem to have the power to see the future, he isn't suffering from headache which 'helped' him to write the Gospel. He can only read existing text. At least for now anyway. May be he is too young? I don't know. But even if and when he eventually has the power to see the future, what good will this do to Crowley? Crowley is a bit of a know-it-all (PS: I think he just pretended that he didn't know Cas was alive. He wanted to focus on the bigger game plan, the Winchesters and Meg can have Cas for now.) So, anyway, back to the prophet, why didn't Crowley grab Chuck instead (may be because he is indeed God and he is nowhere to be found?) or may be Crowley possess more Metatron's stuff and require Kevin to translate? I am sure we will see this Crowley/ Kevin story developed further in season eight.

Castiel is next on my list to talk about. I am so glad the reason behind Cas's random craziness was finally revealed. Thank you! And it all made sense. He was more powerful than we know, but he didn't want to get involved or fight because he would destroy things. He'd rather play, cook, wash and watch bees, gardens and flowers than fight, which I find adorable. I think Misha's range is really good.

I think the Dean and Cas relationship had been well paced this season, considering Cas only just returned to the show a few episodes ago. Cas really reminded me of Sheldon Cooper sometimes. Dean was like Leonard, he was the only one who knew how to talk and deal with Cas. And I like how everything looked to Dean when they had a little Cas problem, including Crowley!

I think Don McLean's Vincent is a great song to illustrate Cas' state of mind. Cas' people and communication skills were never good, so for him to express how he felt was difficult. I think he was hoping Dean to understand. But Cas finally told them he didn't want to fight because he was scared he would destroy things again. And if they lost, Dean and Sam would die heroically, only Cas would be brought back. I like Cas' struggle, and all he needed was Dean's forgiveness. Dean might not realised, but he had just saved a friend from his own darkness. And this is one of Dean's quality as a human being and it's a big theme in Supernatural.

This is one of Jensen's best performances in season seven. Seeing Dean yelling at Cas in this episode really reminded me of the season four finale when Dean told Cas what was important, and he just wanted Cas to see it and fight with them. This was the turning point of their friendship and I think the garage scene in Survival of the Fittest was a very nice call-back to season four.

Speaking of relationship, is it weird for me to admit I finally care about Meg? Meg and Cas are developing this really strange relationship. OK so, the argument is Meg could be doing a Ruby. But I kinda don't see it. I think Cas thought about why he was brought back from death on more than one occasion. Apart from fixing the mess he created and to continue to help others, I think perhaps the idea of changing Meg from bad to good comforted him. It's like he is helping humanity by changing one demon from bad to good.

Next up, Bobby. I am glad Bobby got the ending we all wanted. I am sad to see Bobby go, but he had to go. And I am really glad the whole angry ghost Bobby thing was resolved. It broke my heart to see angry ghost Bobby attacking Sam. While he ghost Bobby story arc was working to a certain degree but once he started to loose it and possessed a body, that's when it had to end. Whenever I saw Bobby seeing the reflection of himself, I was like NO BOBBY NO. Don't do it. Don't do it because you hate something. Do it for your loved ones. And for them, he decided to leave this place.

And BABY!!! BABY IS BACK! But I think she was on way too short! And she was smashed after a minute air time! WTF!? She was really shinny!!! I wish I get to see the look on Dean's face when he was behind the wheels. I hope Sam remembered to pick her up and fix her! Working on the Impala would give Sam because he always knew his brother would come back and he would be happy to see Sam and Baby. No doubt, Sam will keep looking for Dean and find a way to save him. I think it's interesting to send Dean and Cas to Purgatory together because we could potentially have Team Sam/Meg working together, providing she escapes from Crowley. Meg's motivation is clear, he wants Cas as insurance, and Crowley fears Cas (to a certain degree). Sam of course will do anything to find and save Dean, just don't drink demon blood or make another demon deal, ok? And no singing All By Myself… no singing at all!

The pace of the Leviathans story arc has been a bit slow. But it was still good. I like how arrogant they were, they were powerful enough to destroy everything including the angels. That was why God locked them away. So now, the angels are close to extinction. What would God say about that? Angels are all dead or hiding because of the Leviathan, which explains no archangel showed when the Leviathans took Kevin. I still think God/ Chuck may appear on the show. 


So.. looks like Purgatory will continue to play a role in season eight. This certainly keeps the boys very busy.. Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. Well.. Dean and Sam are the best hunters in the business, that's why they have their own show!

Oh wait… I didn't really mention Dick Roman. Oh well… R.I.P.

What's on your wish list for season eight after watching the season seven finale? Do share it with the rest of the class. Here…have a Turducken sandwich.

Jeremy Carver... dude... welcome back! May the force be with you.