Supernatural Review: Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven (Season 15 Episode 8)
As Supernatural winds down for the year, many of the major players in the battle of good versus evil are making encore appearances.
Supernatural Season 15 Episode 8, “Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven,” puts many of those chess pieces on the board (or BACK on the board) and goes in some unexpected directions. It’s filled with unexpected twists and turns, and a few character returns (both expected and unexpected).
But the real highlight for many is seeing Adam (Jake Abel) return after many years trapped in Lucifer’s cage in Hell. Abel plays both Adam and the archangel Michael, and is able to masterfully maneuver between the two characters, as both re-acclimate to the real world after years in the cage.
As far as “Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven” is concerned, Michael and Adam are the main characters. They’re working through their long absence from the world, Sam and Dean’s regrets, and the fact that God has turned his back on the world. Michael having been “God’s favorite” for so long, this may be the toughest part.
Their reunion with Sam, Dean, and Castiel is the most compelling piece of the episode, though. This trio locked them inside the cage and two of them are Adam’s half-brothers. That’s gotta sting.
Adam/Michael handle the eventual apology particularly well, and the episode explores it as a multi-faceted issue that it really is. The episode highlights that while Sam and Dean have rescued each other many times, they didn’t know Adam well and even discouraged him from becoming Michael’s vessel.
Also, Adam and Michael’s scenes together are really fun.
Adam: Since when do we get what we deserve?
Furthermore, Michael helps them in their quest to stop God. This is a pleasant surprise, but also makes sense as Castiel gives him some missing information. Michael finding out he isn’t the only Michael tipped the scales in favor of Team Free Will.
Every interaction with Michael and Adam is compelling, which makes “Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven” an excellent way to cap off Supernatural‘s 2019 run.
While the return of Adam and Michael is certainly the most anticipated, there are a few others that deserve talking points, too. Donatello, for one, plays an more important role than ever now that God is around.
But one of the best of these revelations is Rowena’s extremely quick ascent to become Queen of Hell. Her return may have been the most surprising of the episode, and also provided Dean and Castiel with some much needed guidance in their fractured relationship.
A few stray thoughts:
- This episode definitely seems like half of a chess board for the final confrontation – Sam, Dean, Eileen, Castiel, Rowena, Lilith, Michael/Adam, Donatello, and God all appear. Surely the likes of Bobby, Jody, etc. will make up the rest.
- Dean and Castiel’s impending trip to purgatory will be another opportunity for returning guest stars, yes?
- I’m most intrigued by God’s cliff-hanger with Sam and Eileen.
What did you think of this episode of Supernatural? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on The CW.
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Nick Hogan
Nick Hogan is an experienced podcaster and writer (particularly on media topics), who loves discussion and analysis of TV and is always looking for new shows to watch. He is also a parent who loves buffalo wings, blowing raspberries, and his beloved Cincinnati Reds.
One thought on “Supernatural Review: Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven (Season 15 Episode 8)”
I thought Jake Abel did a superb job playing both Adam and Michael. Looks like he played Michael like one of those old veteran Western gun slingers, like Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven.” That character archetype fits the Main Universe’s Michael. Could we be seeing a “Magnificent 7” type of story line for the end of Supernatural? I hope Jake and his characters return in this series. I liked the symbiotic relationship that seems to have developed between Adam and Michael. I think Adam made Michael a better angel. Would like to see it explored more. Also Michael should at least have the opportunity to give his dear old Dad some choice words about how he was mistreated and taken for granted by his Old Man.
Like you, I loved Donatello in this episode. Loved how he grabbed the bucket of chicken and his coat after Dean suggested he go home. “Get me away from these guys [Sam, Dean and Castiel]” is what I read in his body language. I also laughed when the prophet said, “Excuse me. I need a Bourbon” after following Michael’s erratic flight pattern. And he only did that for Dean after Dean bullied him into checking for Michael.
The 3 amigos [Sam, Dean and Castiel] do a passive aggressive version of bullying Donatello. They thought that they could bully Michael too, but they could not “take it [the info on how to cage the Darkness]” from the archangel. It took an act of desperation, the angelic mind meld or memory sharing with Michael, from Castiel to save his life after making a near fatal mistake [dangling a loose tie in front of a martial arts expert] in order to provide information from his memories that Michael apparently found trustworthy. That’s all Michael wanted. Information he could trust, and he indirectly told that to the 3 amigos at the beginning of their meeting in the bunker. But of course the 3 amigos apparently attended the 3 Stooges School of Negotiations. Michael was pissed at the start, but that should have been anticipated as he felt humiliated at being trapped again by Castiel and the Winchesters. Instead of deescalating tensions, alpha male Dean ratcheted them up with his sarcastic response to Michael, who called their act of capturing him stupid. Dean’s response signaled to Michael that the negotiations were going to be hostile, and that only made Michael raise his defenses higher, thus making it harder to win his cooperation, which is what Team Free Will really needed.
Michael the Warrior, who apparently is the angelic equivalent of a Navy Seal or a Special Forces soldier, is not the type to be bullied. The way Jake played Michael when Castiel was telling the archangel how he really felt about him reminded me of the stoic warrior, who never loses his temper when being called names, but always keeps an eye open for an opportunity to take advantage of his opponent’s mistake. “Sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me.”
All bullying did was strengthen Michael’s hatred and mistrust of the Winchesters and Castiel and that quickly led to the collapse of negotiations after Dean lorded it over Michael that God was using all of them, including the archangel, as puppets for his stories. The 3 amigos should have contacted ex-FBI agent Ali Soufan, who helped extract actionable intelligence from terrorists and Iraqi rebels, using a “building rapport” system of approach to hostile captives. But that would not have made for an exciting end. Hope Castiel did not need his windpipe after it was nearly crushed in Michael’s choke hold. But at least Michael got a bit of revenge against Castiel, who fire bombed him in the Season 5 finale, by slamming the seraph’s face against the table, tossing him onto the ground like a limp doll and finally into a choke hold. Michael is a formidable warrior even when bound by magic handcuffs. Point taken! He is also quite powerful as he could open a door to Purgatory while bound by the same handcuffs. Just how powerful is this Michael? Could that be a reason why God-Chuck did not want his help to fight his sister and why He chose not to meet with Michael directly after being freed from the cage? Those are questions I hope the series will answer in future episodes.
I don’t think Adam forgave Dean and Sam for abandoning him in Hell at the end of this episode, but Dean HAD to apologize to Adam. He made the decision to save Sam and not Adam, and of course, both abandoned Adam. Time will tell if Adam decides to forgive the Winchester brothers.
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