Review: Supernatural Episode 1517, “Unity”

The latest Supernatural episode is stressful, intense and messy. The Winchester brothers brought us to tears even as we went “Huh?” over parts of the plot.

Chuck returns in all his narcissistic glory, Jack undergoes the final ritual and tensions between Sam and Dean reach a breaking point in “Unity”, an intensely stressful, heart-stopping installment on Supernatural. It was exactly the energy injection we needed to make us sit up and say, “Oh s-word, the end is nigh!” Also, to be frank, Dean’s giving me major anxiety.

It looks as though Dean’s plan A to kill God has backfired — for quite a ridiculous reason — and Billie has been added to the board as a potential villain. At the very least, her ulterior motives have been revealed. Additionally, Rachel Miner reprises her role as The Empty and we meet Chuck’s frisky first human creation, Adam.

The episode was “divided” into three chapters entitled “Amara”, “Dean” and “Sam” which, in hindsight were used to signify that they’re merely chapters in Chuck’s story. That becomes clear in the final scenes when we see Chuck’s cunning. (Or was it everyone else’s oversight?)

Amara luxuriates in one of my top bucket-list destinations — Reykjavik, Iceland — when she’s watching a glorious display of shooting stars against the backdrop of a majestic aurora borealis. My wanderlust kicks in while Amara’s alarm bell sounds. “Welcome home, brother,” she says.

Back at the bunker, Sam talks with Castiel over the phone — so far, Cas’s world-scouring attempts to find another way to defeat Chuck have produced diddly with a side of squat. When Dean asks Sam if that was Castiel on the phone, he’s deservedly met with Sam’s cold silence. “So this (is) how it’s gonna be, you give me the silent treatment?” Dean asks testily. I watched their entire interaction through slitted eyes, wondering what in the name of Chuck he actually thought would happen.

Supernatural — “Unity” — Image Number: SN1517A_0297r.jpg — Pictured: Emily Swallow as Amara — Photo: Jeff Weddell/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Amara appears in the bunker and delivers the news that her brother is back. She raises the question of how they intend to cage Chuck when it previously took four archangels to do so. Dean the Deceiver quickly replies that they only need one Jack, he’ll get the job done. Poor oblivious Amara, who’s still in the dark (irony, wondrous irony), says she wishes she could’ve gotten to know Jack better and maybe when it’s all over, she can. Awkward!

Before she leaves, Dean the Betrayer thanks Amara for saving their rear ends, and when he asks if they can count on her when the time comes, she reminds him of what she told him when they first met: “You and I will always help each other.” Should I tell her?

Sam talks to Jack, saying he wishes Jack had been upfront with them, but that sacrificing your life for a cause is an incredibly courageous act. For me, this short conversation highlights everything that’s wrong with Dean’s approach. Sam will do what’s in his power to find another way, even if there isn’t one. Dean’s not even entertaining the idea. His cold unattached demeanor may be the only way he’s able to maintain his focus, but it feels wrong and incongruous with his core character. When Dean first lied to Amara two episodes ago, I presumed he was hiding his true feelings of guilt. Now, I just think his moral compass has been skewed by rage.

For Jack’s final ritual, they must head to Santa Fe. Sam refuses to join, electing to stay behind and continue his research for an alternate way to stop Chuck. “Sam, you and me, we have to do this, it’s in the book.” Shut the front door! What was that?! Dean has repeatedly relied on “we don’t have a choice” as a validation for his actions. He wants Chuck destroyed, no matter the cost, but for a man who’s fighting so frantically to be free from the hamster wheel, he seems determined to stay on it.

Tempers flare and words fly. Dean patronizes Sam, telling him to stay behind; he’ll go because someone needs to be the grown-up. “Yeah, well someone has to keep fighting for Jack,” Sam retorts. “He knows what he signed up for,” says Dean, but Sam counters that they don’t give up on family. “Jack’s not family!” Dean fires back.

He points out that while he cares about Jack, he’s not like Sam or Cas. “He’s just not.” If I’d have been standing, I would’ve fallen down. You’re breaking my heart, kid. Sam’s too, and probably Jack’s as well, who overhears the exchange. When Castiel returns to the bunker, he tells Sam he too would’ve stayed behind to find another way.

“Amara”

Sitting on a park bench, Amara soaks up the soothing sounds of nature when Chuck appears. He explains that he has an idea for what he’d like to do with all his spare time once he’s, ya know, destroyed the last world. He says he will need her help but she refuses him.

He assumes the Winchester’s have gotten to her, probably because she and Dean had “that whole weird thing.” Turns out Chuck didn’t write that part of the story and that the idea of her and Dean thoroughly grosses him out.

She explains that her only desire is to defend the world and tries to appeal to Chuck’s benevolent side. Only problem is he doesn’t have one. After showing him the beauty of his creation, which seems to bore him, he confesses he wants to destroy everything because it all reminds him of his failures.

Unable to sway him, Amara then transports them both to Heaven where she tugs on his self-obsession strings. A horde of God-loving fans enters the room, showing their love and perfect(ly annoying) angelic devotion. “Oh my God, I mean, oh my you,” says one particularly enthusiastic lady, who’s exuberance eventually irritates Chuck, who snaps them away.

Finally, Amara tells Chuck that all she wants is balance, which is something they’ve never tried. “Brother and sister united again, but on behalf of one world. This world. True balance, the way it was always meant to be.” Essentially, Chuck’s demeanor tells her he hasn’t been moved in any regard and the smiting will take place as planned.

Left with no other option, Amara snaps them to the bunker and uses her power to prevent him from leaving. Chuck is incensed when she tells him that the Winchesters have found a way to bind him. He warns that she can’t hold him there forever. “I can hold you long enough,” she says.

“Dean”

Along the drive, Dean tries to bring up what Jack overheard him say, but Jack says he understands why Dean said it. The conversation lasts less than a minute. That must’ve been one tensely silent journey.

They reach their destination in Sante Fe — Jim’s Gems — and are met by a new-age looking couple. We learn it’s the Adam (Alessandro Juliani) from the Garden of Eden, and his (new) old lady, Serafina (Carmen Moore).

Supernatural — “Unity” — Image Number: SN1517B_0207r.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jensen Ackles as Dean and Alexander Calvert as Jack — Photo: Michael Courtney/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

After Adam and his missus engage in an uncomfortable public display of affection, he leads Jack to another room for his last test, explaining that he can’t simply hand out “the spark of the divine” to just anybody. We learn the entire plan is, in fact, his and Serafina’s, and Billie is assisting them. He explains he was okay with God throwing him and Eve out of the Garden, but then he moved onto their sons. He’s wanted God dead for millennia, which is also how long it took him to discover how it could be achieved. All they’ve been waiting for is Jack, “the main ingredient.”

Jack passes the test, in which he correctly guesses that not one, but all the crystals set before him contain the spark of the divine, because God is in everything. “Right on. At least, he should be,” says Adam. They re-enter the room where Serafina picks up a knife and plunges it into Adam’s torso, much to everyone’s horror, and extracts a bloodied rib.

According to Adam, it contains the power Jack will need to destroy God by starting an “elemental chain reaction that fuses your soul and your grace” into a “living black hole for divine energy” that not even God can escape. However, once the process begins, it can’t be stopped, and he warns them to use it only at the crucial moment.

On the drive home, Dean pulls over, adamant that Jack deserves an explanation. He says that Jack shouldn’t have heard what he said to Sam, especially considering the substantial weight he was already carrying on his shoulders on behalf of them and the world. He goes on to express his sincere thanks to Jack for giving him and Sam the chance to really be free and live a normal life. I empathize wholeheartedly with his crushing need for freedom and normalcy; it’s what I’ve always yearned for the Winchesters. But I don’t think I’ll ever accept Dean’s acquiescence.

Dean receives a text message and Jack instinctually knows it’s time. He holds the horrifying-looking rib in his hand, and as it collapses into an even more horrific bloodied pile, he absorbs its power. Was this the right timing, guys?

“Sam”

A very frustrated Sam and Castiel begin to wonder if maybe Dean was right.  However, Sam believes it feels wrong (amen!), even if Billie has Dean convinced, and wishes he could talk to her to better gauge the situation. Summoning Death is not an option, but they remember that Sergei was looking for a key in the bunker, which opens the doorway to Death’s library. Admittedly, I remembered no such instance and chalked it up to one of the show’s few plots that I’ve repressed.

After locating the key and reading the Latin inscription on the box, a door appears in the wall. Before Sam opens it, he asks Castiel to buy him time if Dean gets back before he does. “Sam, for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re crazy. I think your internal compass is functioning perfectly,” are Castiel’s reaffirming words.

Death’s library is immaculate, apart from the occasional dead body strewn here and there. Sam follows the sound of terrified begging followed by subsequent murder. He sees who he thinks is Meg (it’s The Empty) seated behind a desk while someone else begs, insisting she (Death) won’t come. When his prayers fail to summon Billie, his life comes to an abrupt end. Sam, thinking better of his plan, attempts to sneak away but The Empty snaps her fingers and he appears in front of her.

He quickly learns who she really is. She tells Sam she needs to talk to Billie due to her trust issues, which started when Castiel woke her up and then managed to escape. You see, The Empty has an agreement with Billie: Billie intends to fill the role of God once Amara and Chuck are gone, and is hell-bent on restoring order. Therefore, everyone will go back to the reality or dimension they belong to and The Empty can finally get back to her eternal nap.

Sam is visibly shaken by these revelations, even though he’s never trusted Billie. He notices Chuck’s death book on the desk and asks if The Empty has read it. She hasn’t/can’t but recalls Billie saying that Sam should be dead and the only reason he isn’t is because she still needs him. Guessing Sam must therefore be important to Billie, The Empty proceeds to torture Sam in an attempt to summon her, but to no avail.

Using his wits, Sam spins a clever yarn about Billie sending him to fetch the book because she’s unable to leave Earth for some hazy reason, and that she will honor her promise. While The Empty’s not entirely convinced, Sam reminds her that if she gives him the book, there’s a chance they can win. If she kills him, it’s guaranteed they’ll lose and she’ll never be able to go back to sleep. And so young Samuel leaves the library with what he came for and then some.

Supernatural — “Unity” — Image Number: SN1517A_0033r.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jared Padalecki as Sam and Jensen Ackles as Dean — Photo: Jeff Weddell/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

All the stories converge at the bunker. Sam returns to learn that Amara and Chuck are there, but because of his newly-acquired information, he says they can’t proceed with the plan.

Amara makes one final attempt to convince Chuck that he doesn’t have to destroy the world. “Amara, shut up!” orders Chuck, and an alarming look of pleasure dances across his face.

Things then move forward at a panic-inducing pace while we shift between scenes of the Winchesters and Chuck, who assumes a type of narrator role.

Sam is busy relaying the situation to Castiel when Dean rushes in dragging a visibly struggling Jack. Sam frantically tries to explain that if Chuck and Amara die, it will create a power vacuum that Billie intends to fill. “Wait, Death wants to become God?” Castiel asks. But Dean’s resolve doesn’t falter. “As long as Chuck dies, I’m good,” he declares, helping Jack to the room where Amara’s holding Chuck.

Sam tries to stop him by blocking his path, while Jack the time bomb ticks closer to his end. “Jack already lit the fuse, we gotta go!” Dean yells. When Sam continues to block his way, Dean pulls a gun on him. That’s right. Dean pulls a gun…on Sam. There was even a moment when I thought he might pull the trigger. Sam lunges for the gun, Dean punches him and continues on. Another scuffle later and Sam finally manages to explain that if Billie becomes God, everyone goes back to where they came from. Bobby and Charlie, for example, will get sent back to a world that no longer exists. Everyone they saved will die again.

Dean plays the “we don’t have a choice” card one more time and makes a startling confession. He says he doesn’t care if Billie gets what she’s after, he’d trade everything and everyone for Chuck without hesitation. “What about me? Would you trade me?” asks a tearful Sam.

Dean’s momentum appears to derail slightly, but he maintains Chuck has to die because he can’t live like this. In an emotional plea, Sam implores him. “You gotta trust me,” he says. “My entire life you’ve protected me from dad, from Lucifer, from everything. I didn’t always like it, ya know but it’s the one thing in the whole world that I could always count on. It’s the only thing I’ve ever known that was true. So please, put the gun away. Put it away, we’ll figure it out, Dean, we’ll find another way. You and me. We always do.”

How many times will these brothers reduce me to embarrassing tears?

While the tensions were still escalating, before beautiful Sam defused his brother, Chuck made some staggering declarations of his own. Dean, who had been brought to the edge of doubt and who was consumed by rage, and Sam who always had to dig for information, everything that led to their current confrontation was all part of Chuck’s plan. “This is my ending, my real ending,” he declares, and Amara realizes he’s orchestrated all of the events. He really is a nasty little a-word.

However, who’s blunder is it? As Chuck points out, everyone seems to have forgotten that he’s omniscient, regardless of all their precautions. Perhaps he can’t read his own death book but he can control “space and time. Plant visions, goad Death a little, mess with a few outcomes. I mean, they think they can kill me?” Basically, the Winchesters and everyone around them failed to remember that God was God?

The ever unassuming Amara still believes the Winchesters simply intend to cage Chuck, but he sets her straight, explaining there was never a cage and that the plan was to kill the both of them. “No, Dean can’t hurt me,” she says, to which Chuck responds, “No, but he can lie to you.”

Her unconcealed devastation prompts Chuck to take the opportunity to badmouth humans and talk her into creating something new together. He holds out his hand, Amara takes it and is absorbed into him. He blasts through the door, completely astounded that the Winchesters have not killed each other. “Are you kidding me, after everything, all that? You did it again?” he exclaims.

Castiel notices Amara is missing and they learn that she’s become part of Chuck. Chuck throws a tantrum, claiming that he’s over them, he doesn’t care what they do anymore, they’re all just broken. His parting words are that they should enjoy watching Jack die, as Lucifer’s son looks to be on the brink of exploding.

Okay, so as it turns out, they’ve been unwittingly playing Chuck’s game all along. But now that they’ve thwarted his grand ending, will the Winchesters — looking primarily at you, Dean — be making decisions that are entirely their own? And what will the state of Dean’s relationship be like with Sam, Castiel and Jack? Presuming Jack lives long enough (and I presume he does).

The plan to use him to kill Chuck failed because the writers made it so. However, the mechanics of the failure are a bit more comical. It’s called reading the proverbial instructions. What possessed Jack to imbibe the power of the rib when they weren’t even at the bunker yet? How could Dean not warn against using it so precariously, even after Adam’s clear warning? I’m not saying I wanted Jack to successfully collapse into a black hole of cosmic who-knows-what, but for a plan so important to the fate of the world, it was poorly executed. Now they’ll have no choice but to find an alternative.

Then there’s Amara. The writers must’ve had an inkling that she would eventually be received as a sympathetic character. By Chuck absorbing her, her death won’t hit quite so hard if/when Chuck meets his end because now it’s simply a by-product of his death. It may seem like the cleanest solution, but it’s also the laziest.

Super highlights

• The Winchesters now have Chuck’s death book, which has to have some significance and may contain the “other way” that Sam and Castiel have been so desperately looking for. The only problem is that Billie’s the only one who can read it. Will she still be willing to assist them?

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