Supernatural: Hammer of the Gods/That's More Like It |
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| Written by April Yorke |
| Friday, 23 April 2010 08:30 |
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Dean and Sam roll up to the Elysian Fields Motel, a suspiciously nice place off some deserted highway near Muncie, Indiana (I think. I usually miss the location, but I think I got it this time). Dim Dean's ready to sit back and enjoy, but Sam's immediately suspicious, more so when the newlyweds next door suddenly disappear but leave the engagement ring behind. Sure enough, there's a walk-in fridge full of people waiting to be devoured by the cross-cultural gods who descended and dressed the place up to lure the Winchesters. If they can come to terms with each other, they'll use the Winchesters as bargaining chips in the "Judeo-Christian Apocalypse" (more on this in a minute). Gabriel, who is still Loki to the assembled, shows up to spring our heroes from this surely stupid plan, but it backfires when his former lover Kali (an awesome Rekha Sharma) figures out that he's an angel and uses his own sword (guess archangels just call them swords) to gank him. Dean pulls out some of that false braggadocio I love so well and comes up with a new plan on the spot: they'll use Sam as bait to lure Lucifer (right after the gods somehow scrub the Enochian from his ribs, and the look on Sam's face at the prospect really sold that scene). Once there, the gods can use Gabriel's sword to smite Lucifer, putting an end to all this end-of-the-world nonsense. Finally, a sentiment I can get behind (well, two including the no world-ending stuff): without any specific play, the brothers will try anything to forestall Lucifer. This throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach is true to the show and true to the characters. I can understand why 22 episodes of it might not have worked, but, with three more to go, it feels just right. Of course, Gabriel being Gabriel, Kali never had the real sword, so his death was just for show. Dean gives him a nice little talk about not sitting on the sidelines, while Mercury calls up Lucifer (seriously, like, on the phone). Lucifer shows up and slaughters the assembled save Kali because Gabriel decides to jump right in at that exact moment. He has Sam and Dean hustle her out of there (can't she teleport or something? Also, you'd think Lucifer would do a little more to stop them) and settles in for a heart-to-heart with his big brother. Turns out, like the rest of the audience, Gabriel thinks Lucifer should stuff his Daddy-issues: humans are pretty cool, so deal with it. Lucifer does not, opting instead to deal with the business end of Gabriel's sword. Yup, one archangel down, although Mark Pellegrino shows Lucifer's disappointment and remorse in killing a brother. CALLED IT! Gabriel recorded himself into Casa Erotica to explain something even Lucifer doesn't know: with the four keys, the brothers can re-open Lucifier's cage. What's that? Sending Lucifer back to Hell is the big plan? THAT's what I'm talking about. The keys are the four rings, and, what do you know, they already have two. Pestilence rolls up to be gross in the last few minutes, and we all breath a collective sigh of relief knowing that the show will make it (story-wise, not in terms of renewal or whatnot) 'til the end of the season. All in all, "Hammer of the Gods" is a solid Supernatural entry: decent plot, good gore, nice continuity, and a little dash of myth. Or it would be if the writers would just do little research. Throwing ancient Norse and Roman gods in there probably wouldn't have caused too much consternation because they aren't actively worshiped today. I'm not sure enough about current voodoo or Chinese religious practices to comment on Baron Samedi (not that he got any lines, but points for remembering that he is always nattily attired) or Zao Shen (the Chinese Kitchen god). There was also some blonde lady, but your guess is as good as mine who she was supposed to be. It would be silly enough to give Odin two eyes and to have us believe that neither Odin nor Baldr knew that Loki was an imposter, but, man, was it a mistake to throw Kali and Ganesha in there. They are actively worshipped by millions, which means that million know all about their characters and aspects. And you know what? Portraying them as devourers of human flesh, even if it keeps with the show's mythos, is offensive. What's more, it is shortly thereafter directly contradicted by Lucifer, who claims that the angels stole the Earth from these low-order gods, and Gabriel, who makes it clear that God created humanity. If the gods preceded humanity, what did they eat before we came along? And where the hell did they come from? If they had hold just subbed out Kali and Ganesha for Isis and Quetzalcoatl or something, I may not have noticed the rest. Also, "Judeo-Christian Apocalypse"? No. Judeo-Christian refers to beliefs held in common by Jews and Christians, and let me tell you something. If you are using Revelation as your blue print (and you are), Jews have nothing to do with this. This story is far divorced from their own story of the end times. And if saying that was meant to unite monotheism with one root under the same term, it's Judeo-Christian-Islamic. In summary, good story, good gore, watch yourself with world religions. Next time (or at least at some point in the future): Crowley's back! Yay!
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Comments (2)
Racism!
For reals, big mistake throwing the Hindu gods in there. Kali made a nice speech about Westerners not owning the earth (or the heavens), but having Lucifer waltz in and kill everyone without breaking a sweat (and he's not even God, just a damn angel) might as well have been accompanied by chants of U!S!A!
Note
This entire show is pretty much blasphemous, so...do you think it really matters? Please, I know much about this show, and it really does offend many people. It does nothing but make a mockery of the Judeo-Christian God and the deities of other religions and cultures. I mean, most Christians don't even believe that other gods exist. Funny how most of the people on the show are actually non-Christian... |
Last night's episode of Supernatural, "Hammer of the Gods," was a mixed bag but not for the usual reasons. Dean, saints be praised, already has more pep in his step, and even pulled out some of the false braggadocio I longed for last week. Plus: CALLED IT!
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