 Ah, the man that would be X-position. Ooh, that's a hot mug, guys! Hey guys, this is my review for episode 20 of Supernatural Season 6, the man that would be king. Now, this episode does come after the very sort of lackluster finale that was Eve, so they have immediately jumped from one storyline, which they just ended, to the other storyline being the Battle of the Souls and the Battle for Heaven, which they desperately need to get on track with something because this season is about to end on a completely different foot than it started with. Now, this is, in fact, a very heavy X-position episode, but it is also thankfully written and directed by Ben Edlin, so despite the amount of absolute waterfalls of X-position that you get piled on you in this episode, it is still directed and written in a way that Ben is known for, so it comes across quite well. This episode reveals everything that Castiel has been up to ever since basically the end of the apocalypse. Right from when he blew up, which, by the way, that actually was a really cool visual effect, to his dealings with Crowley, to finding out that Raphael wants to restart the apocalypse, to being in a complete state of unknown of what to do to try and prevent that, to finding out that Crowley has a plan working with him, finding out that his new version of Hell is an endless line, which I actually did find quite funny and I still think it's quite funny, to then making that deal and starting the whole process of finding the animals, finding all the creatures in hopes to find Purgatory, all the while lying to Sam and Dean, also explaining that Castiel brought Sam up, except that bit is slightly out of order in my opinion. I think that that bit comes a bit early, considering you wonder why he brings up Sam. It's just like I brought Sam up because I kind of got the opinion that he brought him up because, you know, he had to do so for Crowley, and then they don't even actually explain how they brought Samuel back. You're expected to believe that it's Castiel, but they don't actually mention it at all, leading to Cass eventually being found out by Sam and Dean, and Dean especially being incredibly hurt and betrayed by everything that Castiel has done. And their friendship is officially broken. As we have come to see with Supernatural, the idea of Dean and Castiel always being at odds with each other or Dean just whining on Castiel. This is a solid reason, and this is why shit like this, either between Dean and Castiel or Dean and Sam, got so fucking arduous and repetitive for myself and a lot of the other fanbase later on because all of it was so regurgitated. Thankfully here it is new, technically speaking, and it actually makes sense in terms of each other's motivations. Castiel is trying to do the right thing. He's just going about it, not in the right way. He's also still trying to respect, or at least he was trying to respect, Dean's choice to be out of the life. This doesn't handle it well. Really it's kind of a mirror to that of Season 4 with Sam trying to do what he believes is the right thing in terms of killing Lilith, little does he know the actual ramifications of it. Castiel is trying to do the right thing, but he is souring relations and he is putting himself into a corner. This whole episode goes about with Castiel's expository dialogue to you, the audience, but really he's talking to God at the end, which you know is not going to lead to any kind of answer, but they have to give some kind of reason as to why Castiel is just verbally vomiting all of this story information. It does kind of bring some sadness to you though that this is the person he's been having the conversation with. I always thought it would be someone else. I thought it would be the garden guy and obviously the garden. I thought it would maybe be a character that they would introduce into Season 7 as one of Castiel's followers. Hell, I even thought it would be Crowley, but I do understand why it's God. It's just kind of, I feel like a weak reason for Castiel to just talk throughout an entire episode. This episode is purely here to explain why the plot is the way it is at this current point. It's a very important story episode because of how much is given to you to the point where it is so much that it's hard to take. Even then there are some discrepancies as I mentioned earlier in terms of why he brings back Sam at the point that he does, but the main point of this episode is to justify why Castiel has done what he has done leading to this point and even with the few little stumbles here and there, I think the episode brings about the very reason as to why Castiel has found himself in this predicament and it really does help justify the distrust between Dean and Cass. I know this is going to continue on for a few more seasons and it's going to be even worse once they get to the end of the season. So while it is a bit overloaded, I feel that the man that should be King is a very pivotal episode in the overall character arc that is Castiel post season 5. It's one of the best episodes about the guy. I feel that we're going to get post the show because Castiel still has relevance. He still has importance to the story. You know that eventually after a while he's going to become fucking useless and nothing more than a coat rack. I still really do like this episode despite its shortcomings. So in the end I'm going to give this episode a 5 out of 7. I like it. I think it has great purpose. It does bring about a real cool devil's advocate, literally. Better to work with the devil you know than the devil you don't. And again, it's a very good character study for Castiel. But those are my thoughts about this episode. Let's see what you guys have to say. This one aged well. It's interesting watching the development of Cass's relationship with the boys in the shows earlier years back when Dean was very trusting of him to the point of nightivity compared to later seasons. This is the only season where Cass will ever portray them to this particular level and this episode is unique as the only one that Cass ever gets to narrate and lend his inner thoughts to. I understand the sense of betrayal because of the lies and keeping secrets, but at the same time I think Cass's hands are tied that he can't afford to fight Raphael without Crowley's help, that the boys are not very understanding of his position. Oh, 100% that was what it becomes an issue of trying to do the right thing but going about it in the wrong way. He knew that the brothers would not get on board with this, but he tries to work around it. It's kind of like, again, like Sam's quest in the fourth season. Also, what do you think of the new twist that Cass is revealed to have raised Sam from hell? Is this a retcon or do you prefer the version of the story to the idea that Crowley resurrected Sam? I feel that it makes more sense than Crowley doing it, but it probably not decided on until later in the season. It's not clear if Cass knew something was up with Sam when he raised him. There's something, there's some conflicting singles on in this season in this episode. I did notice that the show never brings it up again. With all the guilt from his actions, the season that will follow him into future seasons, his part in raising Solar Sam and his culpability for all the bad that happened as a result of that is never mentioned ever again. Yes, this season is a strange thing considering how they never bring it up again and you thought that they would when Sam gets taken over by the angel? I feel they both did it. They both had to have some hand in it in terms of getting into it, but I think Castiel is the one who decided on the no soul because he's just like, holy shit, like Sam's probably like, he's Jello in there. The man who would be king is one of my favorite episodes of season six. I love the way it starts off with Castiel telling the story and you see what's been going on throughout season six. When Cass is saying, I remember the first fish crawling on all and I remember Kane and Abel, Rathael was badass and he beats up Cass. The bits with Crowley are fantastic, especially the bit where he has all of the people waiting in line. No one likes waiting in line. What happens when they reach the front of the line is to go right back to the beginning, to the end again, always makes me laugh. When Dean finds out because of the Superman reference, that's a very sad, very good episode. No, I like the, the line bit. It's always, it always makes me chuckle. The man who would be king is an amazing episode. It's also my sixth favorite episode of the show. Ooh, high praise. The opening scene in which Cass sitting on a bench telling us a story while simultaneously showing flashbacks of his early memories are really well done. Another aspect I really enjoyed was the dynamic between Cass and Crowley. I thought Crowley was very persuasive in suggesting that Cass provoked a civil war, recruiting all the angels that he could. That didn't want to see Rathael as a new ruler in heaven. We also look at another of my favorite moments of this episode is when Cass gets trapped inside Holy Fire where we find out he's been in cahoots with Crowley and he was also the one who raised Sam from hell, which has me wondering why death didn't seem to be privy at all to that in episode 11. I always think about that. No, that's a good point too. Like, again, I think death just doesn't give a shit. Deferring from that, there was one thing that I didn't like and this is something I wish this show had never continued after season three and that was that they kept showing what hell looks like. More specifically, having the brothers go to hell on purpose. To me, it felt like a slap in the face to that one scene in season four where Dean was crying as he was opening up to Sam about his time in hell. But then the latter seasons are willingly just go to hell. You know that the funny thing is that the most of the episodes that incorporate that concept, at least three of them, are buckling on episodes in three different seasons. Okay, I actually will give you that considering how season three ended and yes, all the memories that Dean goes through. I kind of have this thought that he was in a specific part of hell. But yes, I can understand where you're coming from in terms of demitigating the pain and torture and everything that he went through. They made hell sound like something awful like they didn't even want to show it. And then they show it as a queue line. Yeah, I could understand you're not liking of it. The way I feel about the man who would be king is the same way you feel Jeremy about. It's a great pumpkin Sam Winchester. This episode is great. It has one of the lamest ways to explain one of the major plot points in the show though. I am, of course, talking about the reveal that it was Castiel all along who rescued Sam in hell. Ma'am, that was just so stupid. Are you seriously telling me that Castiel managed to do what essentially only death could do and all of that because he felt confident? That's such lazy writing. This clearly shows that they had no idea how the hell they were going to get Sam out of hell. I honestly feel so bad picking on this episode, because it's one of the best directed, thought-provoking and creative episodes Supernatural ever did. It's just the same that some of the really hard work from the director and terrific performance from Misha is bogged down by the writing department. Couldn't this dumb reveal be in a previous episode? Overall, the man who would be king is an amazing episode that, unfortunately, much like the great pumpkin Sam Winchester, has one major flaw that brings it down to just a good episode. I can see where people are coming from here and it is kind of a MacGuffin in terms of how Sam was brought back. Like I said, I think Castiel and Crowley helped bring Sam back. I don't think one of them could have done it by themselves. The man who would be king has a great episode to me. I really enjoyed this episode that is focused on Castiel. He literally thought, he's literally throughout the episode is explaining how he got to this point. I wasn't surprised that Dean refused to believe Castiel was working with Crowley. I really enjoyed the conversations between Crowley and Castiel in the episode. I get why Castiel decided to work with him because he needed souls to take down Raphael. Plus, he didn't want to bother Dean since he was out of the haunting life and was happy with Ben and Lisa. The only thing is this episode I didn't, the only thing about this episode I didn't like is that the way Hell looked, it was really great to see demons back as, oh, D'Amor barons back as Raphael for the last time. Sucks he didn't make an appearance in season 13. Unfortunately, Raphael is right about the other angels. They were taught to be soldiers and nothing else. Crowley is so right that the reason Castiel doesn't want Sam and Dean to know that he's working with him is because he doesn't want their feelings for him to change. It was hard watching Dean and Sam and Bobby confront Castiel about him working with Crowley. You can tell Dean was really hurt about that. He's right. Castiel is definitely a child who doesn't get all that, doesn't get all that because he's free to do whatever he wants. Doesn't mean that he can without consequences. And sadly, he's right. Misha totally brought his A-game in this episode saying goes from Mark Shepard. Sucks what happens to Castiel in the latter seasons because he was such a great character that has definitely wasted. Oh, good God, yes. After this season, woof. Castiel is gonna go down a real fucking rocky road. When I think of episodes that I'd hate to miss out on in the series ended after season 5, Man Who Would Be King would probably be number one. This is not only my favorite episode of the season, but is one of my favorites of the entire series. Seeing Castiel go over the beginning observing man throughout history was fascinating. I'd love to see a spin-off of that alone. Also seeing season 5's ending from his perspective, how he basically never got a moment of peace because his dick of a brother Raphael immediately wanted to start Apocalypse too. Cast wanted Dean to experience that peace. He earned it truly and it was good intentions that went horribly wrong. He didn't want Dean to get involved. Really feel for Cast, especially for the narration, is basically him reasoning with himself as he goes down this dark path stuck between two worlds. In the end, when he cries out to God for any sign of what to do next, just as a glance is all he wants only gets nothing. Truly heartbreaking. Good Cast episodes will be rare for a while, but at least we got a Man Who Would Be King. I very much agree. And the final last one here, the Man Who Would Be King is Ben Endland's first directed episode and to me, honestly knocks it out of the park, especially how he wrote it. This episode often feels longer than it really is, and it's a good use. It's arguably Castiel's best centric episode. I absolutely love the visual storytelling aspect behind it. It's an absolute tragedy that up behind all the mystery of the season is Castiel and you can really emphasize it with his choices. Crowley's lying towards Castiel is one of my absolute favorites. You know the difference between you and me? I know what I am. What are you Castiel? What exactly are you willing to do? And yeah, actually, I agree with you on the pacing bit actually. There is a lot in this episode and it feels like there's way more than there actually is for a normal time of 42 minutes. Now the next episode is Let It Bleed. This is, if I am correct, the end of Ben and Lisa. Oh no. But give me your guys' thoughts about that episode in the comments below and I'll read those off in the next review. Otherwise guys, two episodes left, hoping that it's not as much of a fucking train wreck as I imagine it's going to be, but I guess we'll see. Until then, if you guys liked the video, please leave a like and if you're interested in more, subscribe. Otherwise, see you guys next week.