Supernatural 5.21 – It’s the Beginning of the End!

5.21 – TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
Miss the episode or want to watch it again?
Download it now on
Supernatural - Supernatural, Season 5 or

So it’s the beginning of the end for this chapter in Supernatural history.

The bros are back at Bobby’s and Dean absolutely hates Sam’s plan to jump into the pit. Castiel calls them from a hospital and tells them he ended up on some fishing boat after he flashed himself away.

“You are not the burnt and broken shell of a man that I believed you to be,” Castiel admits to Dean on his saying no to Michael.

Sam and Dean go to find Pestilence who’s touching little old ladies with disease, causing them to barf up green Nickelodeon slime before they die. Apparently Pestilence isn’t too happy with his “brothers” being taken care of by the bros and instead of running away, faces them.

Pesti turns on the yucky diseases in the bros and gets ready to off them until Castiel arrives just in time to save the day and conveniently cut the ring off Pesti’s finger. “It’s too late,” Pesti tells them before disappearing.

Back at Bobby’s, the bros worry about Pesti’s warning, but Bobby tells them Chicago is about to be wiped off the map by a bevy of natural disasters. Good news is Death will be there.


Crowley arrives and lets the bros and Castiel know about the purchase pawning of Bobby’s soul complete with awkward photo evidence of them kissing (with tongue!). The demon just wants some insurance that he won’t get offed until this is all over.


Outside, the bros have a heart to heart. Sam says he knows he’s weaker than all of them, but he’s their only shot. They’ve got no other choice.

Crowley interrupts them with the news that Niveus Pharmaceuticals, the company Brady was working for, is set to distribute the swine flu vaccine. Turns out, that was just part one. The real plan is for the Croatoan-infused vaccine to be injected into every single person in the country for even more fun.

After wishing they only hunted wendigos instead, they get their stuff together, Crowley gives Bobby the use of his legs back, and they split up to take care of two things: Kill Death and stop the vaccine.

Dean and Crowley head to Chicago while Sam, Bobby, and Castiel go to the distribution plant. On the way, Castiel’s got a couple of things he wants to say.

First, Castiel: “You and Dean have a habit of exceeding my expectations.”

He’s also found out that Adam has agreed to be Michael’s vessel. He warns that if Sam fails, then the big battle will happen and the price high. Also, Sam saying yes to Luci will be the most blood he’s ever drunk.
Still want to go through with it Sammy?

The three of them get to the plant, stop the first truck from going out and then get into the warehouse after letting most of the non-demon workers out. Sam and Bobby head in and finish off some of the infected. Bobby waits by the door while Sam goes in to save the rest of the humans. Bobby is wowed.
They nuke the plant.

Meanwhile in Chicago, Dean and Crowley try to find Death and eventually learn he’s enjoying some pizza. Dean goes in as the weather turns biblical.

Death asks Dean to sit with him for a slice of the deep dish. He says he’s very old. Like very, very old. Ancient.

He puts a slice on Dean’s plate and he takes a bite before asking just how old is he?

Death answers that he’s as old as God, maybe older. It’s a chicken and egg kind of deal. God will die too, Death says. But what’s important right now is that Dean is there. Death hates being Lucifer’s weapon, his toy. He’s controlled by some spell, otherwise he would’ve gone to Dean first. As powerful as Death can be, giving life and taking it away as he please, he’s completely enslaved by a “bratty child having a tantrum.”

While Dean can’t unbind Death, he can help unloading the “weapon” that is him. He wants to give Dean the ring. He takes it off but he has one condition, Dean must do everything in his power to get Luci into the cell, including letting Sam jump right into the pit. Sam is the only one who can stop Luci.

Dean reluctantly says yes and Death hands him the ring. “You know you can’t cheat Death,” he warns and then offers the instruction manual to the rings.

The guys are back together and Dean finds the four rings get drawn together like magnets. Neat trick.

Dean worries about promising to let Sam jump, but Bobby says maybe they’ve been too hard on Sam. He relates Sam being a hero back at Niveus. While Sam’s got a lot of darkness in him, he’s got a helluva lot of goodness too. And Sam will do all he can to beat the devil or he’ll die trying.

“So Dean, what are you afraid of. Losing? Or losing your brother?”

Episode Thoughts
Well this is it. They’ve got all they need now to supposedly trap Luci in his cage. They’re all back together and Bobby can walk again. (Which was great to see by the way.)

The episode wasn’t so much rushed in that it wasn’t dragged out. They got Pesti’s ring. Okay, go. It might’ve been more interesting to have an episode with Death because he seems like a more interesting guy.

This episode was a great example of how seamless they weave genuine humor in such dark material. Of course, this episode was far from being dark, let alone the darkest episode the show has done. But it definitely felt like the first hour of a two-hour finale. If only it screened that way, yes?

Supernatural has a knack for either dragging things out too long in an episode or squeezing too much in. It will definitely be interesting to see which way they go next week.

I fully expect for this five year journey to come to an end next week, a satisfying conclusion to a mostly intricate mythology while also planting the seeds for season six. My thinking is we are not going to drag this apocalypse out any longer than next week. And season six will almost be like a fresh season, but of course with the incredible events of the last five years now in the back of everyone’s minds.

Will they go back to just hunting wendigos? I doubt it. But just because Luci gets trapped back in his cage (which I’ll put at a 60/40 shot right now), doesn’t mean there aren’t still monsters out there.

I think God will definitely play a big part next week and in setting up for season six.

Either way, it should be interesting to see how things get wrapped up and how the Winchesters go forward from here.

Share your thoughts!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top