 I know it's corny that Crowley's number is 666, but still, it was pretty well delivered by Mark Shepard. Hey guys, this is my review for Episode 22 Clip Show. This is a Andrewdab related episode, and I say that because it has the highs of good Andrewdab episodes, as well as the idiocies. The episode starts with our boy Tommy from the Wendigo episode. Number 2 All of a sudden in a cab and having some PTSD then his head explodes. We then go to the brothers who are finding out about how to cure a demon. There's still some strife between Dean and Castiel, and admittedly the more they talk about it, the more this whole Castiel keeping the tablet away from humans kind of is stupid because it sounded cool at the time, but the more and more you think about it, why did he do it? It felt like it was a storyline that they had, but they never actually did anything with it. But the brothers start to go on this little treasure hunt because they find out about a priest, two priests who were able to figure out how to kind of cure a demon. One's dead, but the other one's still alive and through a film reel that shot like a handheld, but also somehow has sound which would not have worked back then. And then with an audio recording, which I will admit how the brothers listened to the audio, that was good camera work. Slow pull in as the drama of the scene got more and more interesting, the implications of what the father was doing, more and more interesting. I love that. I actually really like how the episode starts and how it keeps going until they come up with the plan of how to cure the demon. Why don't we just summon one? Well, actually we've got one in a box in concrete. You got dad's old sewing kit? There are a truckload of reasons why this is a dumb fucking idea, but let's start with the obvious one. Why would you put one of the most powerful demons, one that you found out that you cannot kill back together again? Sure, you still have the bullet in there, but there are so many other ways this could have been handled. And you still could have done the Abaddon thing, but made it far less stupid. For instance, the whole idea is that Crowley is killing off people who the brothers have saved, putting them in a bind, making them feel like everything they've done has been pointless, and killing off people higher and higher in regard of people that they liked and that they worked with. Instead of them digging up Abaddon and then having the dumbest fucking phone call of all time, leaving the room of the most powerful demon, aside from Crowley and Lucifer that they've ever encountered, to their own whims, which this obviously leads to Abaddon escaping. What they could have had is that they were trying to summon demons, but they couldn't do it, and then Crowley would call them saying, hey, we're killing off people. Then they would go to a few of the people whose houses that they've seen die, and then they'd be like, okay, we are in a bind. Let's get Abaddon out. That's a bad idea. It's the only one we've got. And then they'd go, and then you'd have to unfortunately figure out another way to make this happen. And I think the best thing they could have done is she's going to go get killed, the one from the Bloody Mary episode. Great character, by the way. That would have put them in a bind. Maybe then they could have put Castiel in the room with her, but then he gets called in by Abaddon, which that's also a thing in itself. I like how Abaddon coerces Castiel into helping him with the gates. However, you get two giant fucking leaps of logic with him right when the trial or the whole thing starts. Hey, there's a Nephilim. There's only one of them on the planet. Got to cut her heart out. What? I get that Metatron is using Castiel at a point where he is desperately trying to amend the wrongs he's made. He's made a fuck ton in the last two seasons. However, it is a lot to believe. And unfortunately, I don't buy it because it is such a giant leap of logic. The only way it works somewhat is that the Nephilim tries to kill them. And that's kind of the thing. Also, Metatron said Nephilim in a really weird way too. And then there's another bit where Abaddon even talks about how she tore apart the priest who came up with the thing. But I had to kind of think about it and be like, okay, maybe this is Abaddon when she was in a different body. Not the one that's right in front of them, because if I'm correct, she followed the grandfather through the timehole immediately. So there's no way she had time to go and kill priests. But again, correct me if I'm wrong on that part. As I said, I like some of the elements of this episode. The story that I haven't even really talked about is the idea of Crowley killing off these people that Sam and Dean have saved. And the hits from the deaths go up and up and up until we get Sarah Blake from Providence. Like fucking episode 19 from Supernatural Season 1. A great relationship for Sam that only lasted a very short time and this character has never been brought back since. But that death hits so hard. And I love how they're on the phone with Crowley because I did like the awe of it that it was the phone that had it. This is a very much a dated part of this episode too, because there's no way you could do that now because of just just because of how phones are constructed now. I do like half of this episode. I like the stakes that Crowley is doing. I love the lore behind Curing a Demon. I just don't like how stupid they are with Abaddon. I do not like how Castiel is so willing to do the most awful thing. I get it. I get that he's trying to atone for what he's done. But it's such a leap for you as an audience member to just believe this. They are trying to do this so quickly. He literally met Abaddon 15 minutes ago. I think that maybe if Maveritron and Castiel had a little bit more, maybe like an episode, one or two more episodes. This would have been more believable, but I can't. I love how the episode ends. I love the stakes that have been laid. But I just hate the giant leaps of idiocy that happened to get there. So in the end, I'm going to give Clip Show a 4 out of 7. I feel that's pretty fair. Like I said, I love the stakes, but I hate how stupid the events that happen to make those stakes happen are. Also, yeah, the Clip Show actually, it was a lot of clips from moments throughout the show. That was kind of interesting. It's not like a stupid MacGuffin thing. It actually made sense as to why they were doing it. But anyways, that's my long-winded praise slash rant of this episode. What did you guys have to say? I am doing well. Thank you, souvenir. I enjoyed Abaddon's presence in season nine as a reoccurring threat, but how she returned to the show was a stretch, at least for me. Thank you. Would Sam and Dean really leave her unguarded for even a second once she had become conscious? Yes, would her demonic hands be able to simply pull out a bullet that had carved out, especially deep in her skull in a matter of seconds? In what scenario would she not immediately kill them or carry out some sort of gruesome revenge before they had to trap her again? Why wasn't she in a devil's trap as an added precaution? This is not overkill while dealing with a knight of hell. Exactly. That was kind of my thoughts. Like, you were dealing with something you know you cannot kill. Why are you being so brazen? I like how this episode built up Crowley as a villain after already getting us to despise him earlier in the season. The personal vicious attacks against the Winchester's past saves added to the stakes of the season and added an intensity that made Crowley a very worthy opponent for the finale, which I believe was possibly meant to be the series finale. As I've mentioned before, as the show was going along after season six, they basically out-operated that every season was the last season they were going to do. They didn't know until I think like three episodes, until they had to film the last three episodes when the show was going to be renewed or not. Crowley couldn't match the power of a villain like Lucifer, the menace of as the Yellow-eyed Hazel, but he was still one of the better antagonists that the show gave us. Yeah, you see how I enjoyed and did not enjoy this episode. I enjoyed the episode. I like seeing the brothers struggle in this episode. Crowley going after past saves to make a point was a neat idea. Yeah, it was. And I kind of wish it had been a little bit of an earlier thing, maybe. Like, that could have dealt with a lot of the emptiness that the season had. Clip show, in my opinion, is the most underrated second to last episode of the season. Well, my friend, I unfortunately don't agree with you entirely on that one. That's weird, is every time I watch it, I forget it is a second to last episode. That I can agree with. To me, this is the feel of a mid-season finale when Castiel hastily agrees to undergo the trials, which would supposedly seal the pearly gates of heaven. It honestly reminds me of the pace and the quickness of when Sam and Dean got the two horsemen rings from the second to last episode of season 5. It also is an interesting quirk, a quick lore dump that angels in heaven are divided in factions trying to figure out how to fix the hierarchy that maintain the heaven's order of governing the universe. I would have loved to see that explored in the season earlier, but it still makes sense that the Judeo-Christian apocalypse and how helpless they felt after the Leviathans were on earth and that civil war between them got worse. It's a very strategic genius and manipulative idea for Metatron to convince Castiel to seal heaven. Yeah, it does. It's so much of a reach to have it happen so quickly, so the angels wouldn't let the civil war happen on earth. I also love how the spell that involves sealing heaven, again supposedly, involves killing our first on-screen appearance of a Nephilim. Of course, it would be very easy to kill her once we learned that the show's Nephilim's are stronger. See, that's what I mean. Like, it just was such a thrown-in thing. I thought it was so weird. Also, Joe, you went long here, buddy. Like, I like these for the finale. Like, keep it, well, mind you, the next episode is, no, wait, we still have two more. I really enjoy an episode of Lore involved in the Restoring of Demon's Humanity. This I do agree with, after being damned. I love that the brothers think that they can do it to Abaddon. No, I don't. I think this is so stupid. And then sewing her head back on, it's just a lifeline sadistic villain, and I really glad they had her on the show. Her escaping, and pulling the devil's trap, but it was fun to watch, too. But see, it's so, there's so much stupid that happens to get to that, though. I like how she does it, though. It's really smart, also, for Crowley and his desperation to start killing off people. The Sam and Dean have saved throughout the show. It was a bargaining chip to stop the trials to seal off Hell. I'm really glad the Voiders used cameos sparingly of who Sam saved. I will agree with that. I was happy it wasn't a lot of them. This is also probably some of them that could only, you know, not really appear. This is also the episode where we learned that Crowley was a child, as his mother happened to be a witch, and that they would see that later on in the show. Oh, yeah. Giving his monologue was there, Big Dying was one of the best parts of the episode. I'll agree with that, especially when you realize it was an avalanche. The end of the episode where Dean gives a great call back to Kim Manners as he tells Sam that we're going to kick it in the ass. Absolutely. Very good. Very good notice on there, Joe. The clip show was an okay episode. Having Crowley take the time to kill the people that Sam and Dean saved. I know they did something similar last season with the Leviathans, but Crowley is a bit more gory using witch magic instead of relying on his powers. I like that too. The one thing for this episode was the son of a witch actually was that mommy taught me a few tricks. I'm amazed that they had this line in well before a character would appear, but also poor Sarah. She had a good life going after she and Sam had saved her, and then she dies. So is the fate of returning characters of the show? Yeah, typical of the writers this episode, there's too many stories to follow. Metatron manipulating cast was a good one, and it was fun seeing the introduction of the Nephilim, poor Jane, though thought she would be a great character. The season finale is one of the better ones of the season I have fun watching. The clip show is interesting seeing how some of the people that Sam and Dean rescued, but sad to see what happened to them, especially Sarah Blake in this episode classic move on Crowley due to his desperation. A new Metatron was manipulating Castiel for other reasons other than closing the gates. I feel really bad for Jane as she didn't deserve what happened to her once Castiel was blinded. That's what I mean. It's so quick. If it had been just a little bit more, you know, padded towards it, I would have believed it, but it was just so much. Clip show pissed me off because they killed off some classics of the OG that the boys had saved. That didn't bother me so much. It was the logic of it all that bothered me. For reasons why I find this episode so frustrating, Dean had every right to feel angry and hurt by Castiel. Now obviously Dean would have forgiven him for some time past, but Castiel's brilliant idea to make things right with Dean was to ditch him, not tell him where he was going in or all his calls. So all he could do was work with this creepy hermit and kill an old woman. Great plan, Cast. I get bringing Abaddon back, but did they really need to make it the brothers fault? Exactly. I hate that trope. We already had Metatron being their faults for this season. Did we really need another villain rise to power unintentionally to the brothers fault? Crowley's plan and then using Sarah Blake as a fan favorite girl to toy with the fans was diabolically genius. I was never a Sam fanboy, but I acknowledge their chemistry. She had a really good one there. But if fails on rewatch, the whole point of Sarah and others death was to get the brothers, specifically Sam, to have a personal reason to kill Crowley. But we all know that doesn't happen. Hell, after this season, he's basically redeemed. And this was something I was thinking about. Actually, I'm happy you're bringing this up. And the brothers work alongside him and Sarah is just never mentioned. Unlike with Jess, Sarah's death is truly meaningless. And just here for the shock valley. But the worst thing is they repeated what Sarah, what happened to Sarah in season 12. They take place at almost the same time and near at the end of the season to another fan favorite, Sam girl, Eileen. And they redeem her killer to what the hell writers. This is why I couldn't take Sam's breakup feeling seriously. He should have revived, they should have revived the relationship didn't end in death. I only know the two of other surviving Sam girls, one from that hippie in season six, and then Velma from Scooby-Doo. Dear God. Well, that's some bad statistics. All right, guys, that's it. We are now heading into sacrifice. One of the best episodes of the post-Crippy era. As far as I remember it, are you sure about that? Give me your guys's thoughts about that in the comments below and I'll read those off in the next review. For my Patreon supporters, you guys will be seeing the review early, a few days early. Thank you for that. I apologize. Again, I've been meaning to do a follow-up on the Patreon thing. I'm going to do that very, very soon. Thank you again for watching the review. I hope you liked it. If you did, leave a like. And if you're interested in more subscribe, and I will see you guys next week for the last episode review of Supernatural Season 8.