Supernatural Season 15 Episode 5 Review

 

Welcome to my Supernatural reviews. I am catching up on the final season and have not seen beyond this episode at the time of writing. Please come along for the ride. I promise it’ll be fun.

‘Proverbs 17:3’ is one of the strangest episodes Supernatural has ever produced. Everything in it feels…off. Much of that is purposeful. The first two-thirds or so is Lilith putting on a show for Same and Dean. It is designed to feel off. But it goes beyond that. Sam and Lilith especially feel wrong and that is the biggest problem this episode has.

Sam is having dreams again. Each ends with one of the brothers killing the other. Many times over the past 14 seasons, the boys have agreed to stop lying to each other and keeping secrets. In recent times, they have managed to stay true to that. And yet, Sam does not tell Dean about his dreams until Lilith more or less forces him. There is no discernible reason as to why he would keep it a secret but the fact it only lasts through this episode makes the purpose of the subplot unclear.

To go in tandem with Sam’s dreams is a plot about two werewolf brothers. One of the brothers eventually decides he cannot handle what they are doing and commits a murder-suicide. Because Chuck is a hack writer, he set up this entire plot up as the most obvious foreshadowing of how he plans to end the Winchesters’ story. To help create this story, Chuck enlisted the help of Lilith.

From the beginning of the episode, something seemed strange about the lone survivor of the werewolf attack. Surprisingly, it was Lilith making her grand return after 11 years in the Empty. She clearly had no interest in being a pawn in God’s plan to screw with Sam and Dean but had no choice. Why would she? She was one of Lucifer’s most devout followers. That is what felt wrong with her characterization. Lilith had nothing to gain from working for Chuck so why would she? She does not have Crowley’s survive-no-matter-what mentality. She gave her afterlife to free Lucifer from the Cage.

This episode did serve two important functions. The Equalizer, the gun that could (theoretically) kill Chuck is gone so the boys will have to find another way to combat him. I still think they will talk him down and he will just leave to create another universe. The other important thing is that Sam and Dean are now aware that Chuck did not leave the universe. He is still here, still toying with their lives and Dean does not react to that well. He clearly is not up for another fight and just wants to be free.

Overall, this was a fine episode with large implications for the show going forward. Supernatural seasons are typically better in the back half, so it is not too concerning that the final season is having a slow build.

 

Unfortunately, there was not much in the way of memorable quotes so that section of the reviews will have to make its return next episode.

 

As always, feel free to give your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter at @alexraysnyder. And if you like what you read here, consider throwing a couple bucks my way on Patreon to help cover costs.