300th supernatural episode: "Lebanon"

By Laura Prudom

This review contains revelations for the 300th episode of Supernatural, "Lebanon".

The 200th episode of Supernatural was a letter of love to fans – a zany musical journey backstage in memory, loaded with more Easter eggs and paper jokes that you can not shudder. But for the 300th episode of the series, showrunner Andrew Dabb and co-writer of the episode, Meredith Glynn, wrote an episode that is much less meta, but no less significant, by finally bringing back Papa Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), 12 years after the show first killed him. In "Lebanon", we revisit the emotional legacy of the series rather than its twists, and it's a surprisingly effective curve, since Supernatural has given us many episodes that satisfy his self-referential desires over years.

The episode is an acting stunt for the four Winchesters; Jensen Ackles perfectly reflects Dean's childish optimism and his desperate desire to revisit the safety he felt in his youth – a welcome break from the mental turmoil he was facing this season thanks to Michael – and Jared Padalecki skillfully directs Sam's conflicting feelings towards him. father, of his frustrations over John's lack of understanding when he was younger, on the emptiness that he visibly felt never to have had the opportunity to say goodbye before John got up. sacrifice for the old yellow eyes. John's reunion with Sam and Dean is undeniably powerful, but it's his scenes with Mary – both their salvation and their farewell – that prove most devastating, delivered with heartbreaking intensity by Morgan and Samantha Smith .

John's return method is pure MacGuffin – facilitated by a magical pearl meant to offer everything the owner's heart desires. While Dean is apparently obsessed with the idea of ​​getting rid of the despotic archangel Michael, it is not surprising that his deepest desire is a chance for his family to be gathered together. for the first time since the age of four.

But in a typical supernatural way, the wish comes with conditions, and because John has been transported since 2003 (apparently as a means of generating maximum anxiety and catharsis, since this version of John has not seen Sam since the explosive fight she had known before, Sam left for Stanford, he also did not have the closure to see the defeated yellow-eyed demon), his presence in the future soon begins to change the timeline. In this new world, Sam becomes a TED-talk-emitting lawyer who dresses up like Steve Jobs and has no life outside of work, while Dean remains on the list of the most wanted people in the world. FBI thanks to its hunting activities. Since the brothers never met and Dean never went to hell, Castiel was never sent to hug him and pull him out of perdition, and Chief Zachariah (Kurt Fuller) is still there, behaving like a donkey. But more than that, if all their previous adventures cease to exist, it will mean that Mary will never be resurrected, leaving the brothers facing the prospect of losing yet one more parent, even if they succeed. to keep each other.

John must return to his time without memories of his sincere reunion with his sons and his wife, who had just died – but not before the Winchesters share a touching family dinner, in a scene that may make even the most stoic. Supernatural fan. It is in these quiet moments between the Winchesters that "Lebanon" really excels, since the agonizing awareness of Mary that she must say goodbye to her husband. again, to John's gentle moments of paternal reflection with his two sons, realizing how much time he had been missing – both since his death and probably also during the years he had been consumed by his search for the yellow-eyed demon, who had stolen them from their childhood.

In this way, "Lebanon" recalls one of the most powerful episodes of the series, "What should never be and", which also expressed one of the most vivid wishes Dean's depths (without however benefiting from a free space in that of Jeffrey Dean Morgan program). Fortunately, the episode stands out by making John's visit a reality and not just a hallucination or a dream, allowing Dean, Sam and Mary to carry those memories with them, even if John revokes them like a dream strange when he will return to his own. time.

For longtime genre fans, "Lebanon" also echoes from a clbadic Angel episode, "I Will Remember You," in which our vampire hero has the chance to be at new human and pursue a romance with his soulmate, Buffy, before. to be forced to sacrifice his newfound peace and humanity in order to protect the world. Our heroes can never pause, like on television, but in this case, it seems that Sam and Dean really enjoy the opportunity to have an honest conversation with their father and to take care of old wounds that would otherwise have persisted. , while "I will remember you" felt like a bittersweet punch in the heart. You have to ask yourself if this is also true for Mary – we have seen an incipient link between her and Bobby's version of Apocalypse World, but her feelings for John have not gone away, even though she had not never imagined that she would have done it. a chance to act on them again. It would certainly not be surprising that John's brief visit has more lasting effects on Mary than on the boys who are advancing.

The episode is not completely autonomous, however; Plot B of "Lebanon" adds some of the inhabitants of the titular city, located near the bunker Men of Letters that Sam and Dean call home since season 8. One of the most subtle rattles in the world. inheritance of the series. comes from the fact that a group of teenagers in the city became fascinated by Sam and Dean and by their presence on the outskirts of their community – the Winchesters have been around for quite a long time already to become the subject of urban legends they themselves, rather than just chasing them. And now that teens have seen Sam and Dean take care of their "family business", they will no doubt be drawn farther into the world of Winchesters.

Although "Lebanon" does not represent half the number of previous episodes compared to "Fan Fiction", there are still enough marks from the past to satisfy longtime fans, Sam's well-established fear for the clowns (shown by the ghost of John Wayne Gacy, no less!) Dean's favorite film franchise, All Saints, is shouting at Lebanese cinema. These are the little things.