Gunnin’ for the Devil

Episode Commentary: “Abandon All Hope”

It’s the end of the world in the aptly named episode “Abandon All Hope,” the Winchester boys find Lucifer and attempt to end him with the colt before he can inhabit Sam’s body. As the boys act on a tip from their number one fan, they learn that a demon named Crowley (“Battlestar Galactica” Mark Sheppard) has the colt. The show builds on last week’s theme as Crowley seals his deals with a kiss.

This charismatic demon adds a touch of wit and disproves the rule that all demons are stupid. It seems that Crowley has the same objective as “The Hardy Boys.” For a demon whose work is in buying souls, business has been bad. He wants things to go back to normal and hands over the colt to Sam and Dean. Perhaps they should take the advice of last week’s episode “cannon fodder” and find something to attach their weapons to. They always seem to be conveniently losing them and this is not a good time to lose the colt.

As Castiel bonds with Ellen, Dean attempts to get some other type of action with her daughter Jo, after all it might be the last night of their lives. Dean’s comedic air to the situation is tempered with Castiel’s realistic approach to what they are about to do. As the demon hunting crew take the traditional portrait, Castiel reminds everyone that: “Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on earth.”

“Gathering in times of great catastrophe” are an obscene amount of reapers. Apparently something of cataclysmic proportions is about to happen in the town where they track down Lucifer and it starts with the disappearance of Castiel. As Satan’s vessel deteriorates he attempts to lure Castiel to his side. It doesn’t work, but it still leaves the four remaining demon hunters unprotected.

It seems that Lucifer is about to unleash Death and the “Last time they hauled him up Noah was building a boat.” Things are about to get real ugly as the near impossible task of defeating the devil turns from bad to worse.

Phillip Sgriccia directs this well oiled machine of a cast by portraying a realistic vision of any intense role-playing game out there. How well do you think you would do with hell hounds, Death and the devil after you, as your comrades fell one by one and you have no health left? Add the writing of Ben Edlund and you have one action-packed, tear-jerker of an episode that will have you searching for a reset button. You’ll have to settle for the replay button as the many shocks in the episode will cause you to want to go back and review the several times over.

If the Winchester boys survive this onset of revelations, you can bet that there is even more adventure to come. Tune in next time to find out if they and Castiel can outrun the devil.