As Season 11 begins, it’s goodbye, light…
Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.
How screwed is the world? That was the question the Season 10 finale of Supernatural left the audience with, and they started to address it with the Season 11 premiere. “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” established the seriousness of the Darkness, and if you haven’t heard all the pre-season buzz, the episode spelled it all out subtly and well, not so subtly. The zombie like way the infection spread showed the brothers are going to have a hard time containing it, and Castiel’s and Crowley’s reactions spoke volumes about the mythical aspects. This entity goes so far back that both an angel and demon have a hard time believing it’s been unleashed.
We want to hear it.
A nebulous, cloud threat is intimidating but giving the Darkness a face makes communication easier and makes the situation seem a little less hopeless. A person can be defeated. A black swirling storm? That’s harder. Of course, making Amara a baby adds a whole other layer.
They cleverly laid down hints about the Darkness and Dean being bound together. This big of a threat has the potential to loom over the brothers, Cas, and Crowley for a while, and I could be wrong, but I’m betting the zombie-like humans are only the beginning. Quickly: It’s weird to me they made the call to have the Darkness’ mark look so much like the Leviathans.
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photo Gallery:
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
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Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
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Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
Supernatural: “Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire” Photos
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The best part about the appearance of the Darkness is how it shook Sam up. The Winchesters have been killing first and asking questions later (or not at all) for too long. They don’t even try to save possessed humans anymore, they just kill them. Sam’s passionate statement was long overdue and so necessary. Jared Padalecki poured so much conviction into the delivery, and it was lovely to see some of the classic Sam Winchester earnestness. His line about saving all people? Perfection. Give me more of that all season.
We want to hear it.
On the other side of the coin, the brothers are already hiding things from each other. Dean might be remembering his conversation with Amara in bits and pieces, but Sam definitely knows he’s been infected. He’s really not going to tell Dean? Winchesters keeping secrets from each other is a boring way to create drama, and it’s insanely frustrating. Fingers crossed this changes in the next episode because come on.
Outside of the Winchester problems, Castiel and Crowley both have interesting issues. Castiel’s concern for Dean even when he’s in serious trouble is never not endearing. But Crowley’s story trumped Cas getting kidnapped because of a mention of the cage. Since the Darkness does go way back, it makes sense for Lucifer and Michael to recognize its presence and maybe be some of the only people who know what to do. The possibilities are intriguing.
We want to hear it.
The stakes seem to get bigger with every season of Supernatural, and they’ve effectively raised them with The Darkness. The Winchesters need to get back to their core mission of saving people, and this is already set up as the big bad that could unite them – but they ruined some of what they set up by having Sam hide something from Dean. The episode didn’t pack quite the punch it could have, but it did a fine job of setting the stage and showing us that the Winchesters might be going back to their roots.
