TVSquad

(S03E16) Well, it's that time of the year again. Damned season finales everywhere you look. On the one hand, it's good, because a season finale usually means that you are going to get the good. On the other hand, it also means that we are now going to have to tuck our favorite characters away for the summer and occupy our time with something else, like books, or old beat up trucks. The goods were definitely in play for the Supernatural finale. For the last year we've all been wondering what would happen when time ran out on Dean's deal, and we finally found out.

Gallery: Supernatural

We'll get to the deal in a moment, but let's start with the new power that was rising, Lilith. To be honest, now that things have played out, I'm left a little disappointed in Lilith. I really enjoyed a lot of the story surrounding her. That new power rising line for instance, as well as her off screen dealing with Bela. She also served as the catalyst for some great Ruby bits. At the end of the day though, I have to hold up Lilith and compare her to Azazel. Lilith doesn't come out of that one looking so good.

I think the problem with Lilith boils down to two main things. First, the finale was episode 16 of the season. Along the way, we missed out on 6 episodes that could have gone a long way to building up Lilith's character. Probably more damaging though was the body shifting. We've known about demons jumping from body to body for a long time, but each jump takes away a little bit from the character. Especially if the demon in question keeps jumping into cute little girls. I was actually impressed with Sierra McCormick as young Lilith, but let's be honest here, when it comes to menacing and scary, she's no Fredric Lehne.

All that being said, the good bit about Lilith and her eagerness for a new skin is that it set up the big scene where she took over Ruby's body, and opened the door for season four where she'll no doubt return with an entirely different look. It was well constructed, with Dean's impending doom giving him the ability to see demon's true forms. That bit also leaves a question hanging out there though. Early in the episode, Dean looks at Sam and sees all manner of crazy. I'm still questioning that. Was that Dean having one of the hallucinations Bobby spoke about? Or was that Dean seeing a little bit of the demon goodness that is in Sam giving him his special abilities.

And speaking of the special abilities, we finally get a look at what Ruby has been after this entire time right at the end. Something has changed in Sam, or he has found something new within himself, and Lilith doesn't have any power over him. That will be an intriguing nugget going forward I'm sure. However, the better part of that story, for now, came much earlier in the episode.

As Sam and Dean started to argue over how to proceed, with just 30 hours remaining, I didn't immediately understand what Dean was getting at. Like Sam, when Dean said they weren't going to make the same mistakes all over again, I was wondering what does that mean. His reluctance to involve Ruby seemed like more of the same from Dean. He just really doesn't like her. It all became clear soon enough as he explained that he didn't want Sam to make the same mistake that he made, and that John did. And it all crystallized in that climactic final scene as Sam screams at Lilith that he'll do whatever she wants. In that desperate moment I'm sure that he, like his father and brother before him, would have gladly exchanged his soul for Dean's. And that was something that Dean couldn't let happen.

Which brings us to Dean's fate. Really didn't see that one coming. At all. I've been fully convinced all season that in the last minute a rabbit was coming out of the hat and Dean was going to be saved. I always thought it was going to be tough to pull off, because as we've heard so many times, you just don't break those deals. But I had every confidence that the writer's would be able to craft a workable story. I never really even considered that Dean just wouldn't get out of the deal and would be sent to hell. Even when they told us episodes back, and again in the opening, "There's no way of saving me from the pit, is there?" I still didn't buy it. Hats off to the writers for doing it. It was totally unexpected and has me curious as can be to see what happens next.

It was much more of a cliffhanger than I was expecting. So many things left up in the air. Dean has to be coming back from hell, right? So how does that work? And what of Ruby? Does the far away place that Lilith sent her come into play with getting Dean back out? And, assuming that the demon Ruby will be back, will it be in a new body? I hope not, because Katie Cassidy has grown on me and I would like to see her return.

And of course, what does this all mean for Sam? He's going to have to go out on his own, for a while anyway. How is this new found power going to play into it? If he lacked the focus to harness his power before, the loss of Dean should dial him in like a laser. I half expect to hear him utter a Riveresque, "I can kill demons with my brain."

I stop short of calling this an excellent finale. The payoff for the deal was fantastic. What it means for the beginning of season four was great. And there were a number of really good scenes between Sam, Dean, and Bobby. It's hampered just a bit though by Lilith not really working out as well as she could have. And by the lead up to the big showdown. There was nothing really wrong with munchkin Lilith terrorizing the family, and that would have served as the basis for a great regular episode, but for the finale, it seems like we needed something a little more epic. Still, looking at the big picture, season three goes down as a tremendous success. See you in season four.