Supernatural “We Happy Few” was written by Robert Berens and was directed by John Badham. The episode finally brings all the regulars together in one episode – something we rarely see. Having recently glanced at Eric Kripke’s original pitch for the series, I was struck with how far from that vision we’ve come. He specifically stated that he wanted the tone to be specifically grounded in the real world and yet here we are giving Dr Phil advice to God and Lucifer. And for the record, I don’t consider Dr Phil to be the real world either… There were moments that I liked in this episode, but overall, it left me a little flat. I suppose it’s a surprise that God isn’t an all powerful deus ex machina – never thought I’d write that! – but I’m also not entirely satisfied with that either. It simply isn’t logical for me for everything to be less powerful than nothing. Maybe that’s just me.
The episode starts off with family problems. Lucifer (Misha Collins) is not happy with his dad – God/Chuck (Rob Benedict). Somehow having the Prince of Darkness act like a petulant teenager – complete with locking himself in Dean’s (Jensen Ackles) room and blaring loud classic rock – while funny, is neither scary nor satisfying. Plans are at a standstill while Lucifer waits for an apology. He’s also angry that God came back from wherever he was the moment the “apes” called for him. And then he’s angry when he tries to zap Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean only to discover that God has protected them – “you’re controlling me now?”
Meanwhile, Crowley (Mark Sheppard) isn’t faring much better with his “family.” He’s trying to rally the demons to his cause, but they simply consider him a joke now. They refuse to follow him again – he keeps making promises about restoring Hell to its former glory only to fail to keep them.
Rowena (Ruth Connell) is looking for an escape route. She goes to see another witch – Clea (Barbara Eve Harris) – in Louisiana. Rowena has a spell from the Book of the Damned that will let the two of them escape the world’s present destruction by going back into the past. Rowena wants to go to the Middle Ages, but Clea, a fan of the classics, insists it’s Ancient Greece or nothing.
In the bunker, Sam and Dean finally get Lucifer and Chuck to sit down and talk. It’s a little amusing to watch Dean ‘Dr Phil’ them, but it also interrupts what should be the build up to the season ending climax. Collins and Benedict manage to bring some intensity to the scene – particularly once Colling drops the smart ass Lucifer schtick – which is also grating after umpteen episodes. I refer back to Kripke’s initial pitch again when he said that the humor should arise naturally from the characters in the moment but overall the show should maintain the scare level of something like The Ring. When was the last time this show scared you that much?
Regardless, I did like Lucifer finally admitting why he was angry and hurt. He feels God betrayed him. He put the mark on him and when it inevitably changed him, God locked him away. But Chuck explains that Lucifer has got it all wrong. Anybody else feel like this conversation could have taken place a long time ago and saved a lot of lives? Chuck tells him that the mark just made him more of what he always was – and interesting remark when we consider what the mark did to Dean.
Lucifer is still hurt by God’s betrayal – he was His son! Chuck insists that he couldn’t love him above all else. I did love the aside here as Lucifer turns to the brothers and asks “Do you have any idea what it’s like to argue with your father, when your father is God?” Of course, John was God to Dean, so yes. Dean also assures Lucifer that every father (and parent for that matter!) uses tautology to win their arguments.
Interestingly, Sam sides with Lucifer and tells Chuck that all he wants is an apology and Chuck is simply too focused on being right. Dean, of course, has to chime in with the great thing about apologies is that you don’t have to mean them! He says he lies and tells Sam that he’s sorry all the time! Ah Dean. The source of sorrynotsorry… Is anyone surprised that Dean doesn’t get it? Of course, on the other hand, he’s so guilt ridden for everything, he’s actually truly sorry about everything anyway… However, God has finally had enough of their interference and zaps Sam and Dean out of the conversation.
Chuck asks Lucifer what he would have done in his place. But Lucifer insists that’s not the point. God is his father and He forsook him. Chuck finally admits it. “I did. I was supposed to love all creation equally. I wasn’t supposed to have favorites, but you were mine. I gave you the mark because I loved you the most. I thought you could bear it. When I saw that I was wrong, when I watched my choice devour my most cherished son, I hated myself and so I punished you. And I am so sorry.” Benedict and Collins really do nail this exchange, and it’s these moments that keep me coming back to the show.
And they’re good. Now all they have to do is figure out their plan – but of course, God has one. Chuck tells them that he will trap Amara (Emily Swallow) – he won’t sacrifice himself, but he won’t kill her either. They can’t get Michael to help – Chuck tells us he’s in no shape to help – too bad! I was hoping we might get a little Jake Abel, but no doubt, their guest budget is already maxed out. Gabriel and Raphiel are also gone and it takes too long to make more archangels. A Hand of God would be just more of the same… and so all our characters are brought back into play.
Dean goes to recruit Crowley. He basically tells him to man up and get back to being a King through being a soldier first.
Lucifer goes to heaven and we see Castiel speak to win the angels over. Naturally, they aren’t too happy to see Lucifer, but they aren’t too happy to see Cas either. I did love Lucifer calling Cas his own “Jiminy Cricket.” I wonder – was Cas acting like a sort of conscience for Lucifer? Alarmingly, Cas tells the other angels that having Lucifer use him has been a torment every moment, but even more alarming is that Lucifer is burning through his vessel. But Cas says he’s fighting God’s fight and he’d do it all again if he had to.
Sam goes for the witches. Rowena is almost as good at coming up with names for Sam as her son – she calls him Giant – which he totally is compared to diminutive little Connell! She calls him Big and Tall – after where he must have to shop! And finally she threatens to turn him into an actual moose! Love it! And yes, I’d love to see it too! But done much better than the talking dog episode… Rowena is reluctant to join in – she’s a pagan after all! But Clea steps up. She tells Rowena that the cards foretell a chance to win, and besides, she bats for both teams. Clea’s in and she offers to get more witches too.
They assemble back at the Bunker, and there’s a nice shout out to Richard Speight Jr (Gabriel/Trickster) when Sam refers to assembling our “Band of Brothers” as Speight starred in that miniseries. Dean is intent on lobbying for Amara to be killed outright, not just locked up again. Sam is curious as to why Dean is pushing so hard, so Lucifer fills him in – it’s because “it’s about his girlfriend…” Dean insists that he tried to kill her but it didn’t work. Chuck muses that maybe it didn’t work because Dean didn’t really want it to. And Dean finally admits that there’s a part of him that just can’t hurt her. You just know that this is going to be a problem going forward…
Sam is completely at peace with the whole thing. He tells Dean they always sweat every little decision, but in this instance they don’t have to. For once, they’ve got God on their side and Chuck has approved the plan. You can’t get a better stamp of approval than that, right?
While the entire team assembles in the Bunker’s garage, Amara visits Donatello (Keith Szarabajka), and she gets Chuck’s location by sucking up Donatello’s soul. Which? Bummer. I really liked Szarabajka. Of course, if they do kill Amara, or even lock her away, it is possible that the souls she ate will be released. She did say they were all there within her – rather like Hive on
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course, Donatello’s body will be decaying… but we’ll just hand wave at that for now.
Amara shows up in the Bunker and breaks God’s World’s Greatest Dad mug. Below her, Lucifer offers an insincere apology to Rowena, who tells him he’s not the first man to try to kill her. Rowena is clearly as happy as ever to see Ferrrr-gus. And then Chuck makes a dramatic, light-infused entrance to stand above the rest of them.
Rowena immediately goes into super-ingratiating mode, saying, “sorry for… everything I’ve done in my life. You can’t have been a fan…” Chuck also says hi to Crowley and then tells them both that he’s been quietly rooting against them both, but Rowena has been one of his guilty pleasures. Chuck is warded against Amara – hence her loitering upstairs. She’ll attack once he drops it. He tells them to prepare for shock and awe to win the battle.
As they go over the final plan, it’s finally revealed that Sam is to take the mark from Amara. Dean is not happy and Dean didn’t know. This was an agreement that Sam and God made without him. Dean can’t have the mark because he’s tainted. Sam tells Dean that they’ll deal with it together and when Sam can’t control it anymore, Dean will have to lock him away. Sam reminds Dean that they’d agreed that from here on, they had to do the smart thing. And finally, Dean is ok with it because it’s God’s plan. I guess that’s progress, though of course, part of you always wants the boys to choose each other over the world anyway.
Amara is in Dean’s room – funny how everyone gravitates to his room! She’s found the picture of him with Mary and it clearly has an effect on her. Rowena calls to her and lures her outside the garage. For a moment it seems like Rowena has once again betrayed the brothers, but it turns out she is sticking with the plan. She tries to zap Amara, but even with the combined strength of the other witches, she is zapped and the other witches appear to have been killed.
It’s time for the angels to try again and they come down in their pillar of lightening. Again, Amara is driven to the ground and a little more singed, but still far from dead. It’s the demons turn and their smoke carries her up and torments her. I did like Crowley smoking out and joining the fray, even if it seems to do nothing. I did think that she looked pretty silly in this effect and it made me think of the cow in the tornado in
The Wizard of Oz.
Amara finally stumbles into the bunker and she’s cut and burned. Dean’s instinct is to go to her, but Sam holds him back. She goes immediately to Chuck: “Brother. You cheated again” And then Lucifer sticks a spear through her middle. Chuck stops Lucifer from dealing the killing blow, however. Which he comes to regret – likely.
Amara is distraught. She’s spent millions of years alone and afraid and she wants to know what her crime is. Chuck tells her that the world needed to be born and she wouldn’t let it, wouldn’t let him. She tells him, “That’s your story, not mine. We were equals.” She accuses him of making lesser beings just to make himself big. For there to be something to worship him. Chuck admits that’s true, but there’s more to it. There is a glory in creation, a grace, it was there waiting to be born. Amara seems ready to accept her fate. Chuck has won again. She’s ready to die. What she’s not ready for is to be locked away again. As soon as the mark starts to transfer to Sam she freaks out and grabs God by the throat.
Things happen quickly. She zaps Lucifer, and at least one grace comes blasting out – is that just Lucifer’s grace? Or has Cas been killed as well? And if Cas hasn’t been killed – how did that work? Dean tries to help Cas and gets tossed for it and Sam goes flying for good measure. Amara then zaps God – who looks pretty dead.
Cut to morning. Rowena isn’t dead but she is looking at something on the horizon that she doesn’t seem too happy about.
Inside the Bunker, Sam is freaking out that God is dead, but Amara clarifies that he’s not dead… yet…. But he is dying. Amara tells them, “My brother will fade away into nothing, but not until he sees what’s next. He will see everything he loves turned to ash! She ominously tells them, “Welcome to the end” – it would have gravitas except for Swallow, who has two speeds. Either she’s mostly devoid of emotion or she is a shrieking harpy. It’s not entirely Swallow’s fault. This is just another example of a character that gets dragged out as a season long mystery – that ends up being not very mysterious and not very satisfying.
What did you think of the episode? Does anyone feel that Amara really will win? They killed Death last year, so why not God this year? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
