Supernatural (TV Series) Nihilism (2019) User Reviews

Now we're talking

[Kingslaay · 8/10 · 20 January 2019]

I think a team of different writers wrote this episode because SPN hit it out of the park. This was one hell of an episode. It felt longer but then I realised why, it hit the ground running from the start. No punches were pulled. It really delivered. The showrunners built Michael into a good and dark villain. The cast gave some great performances, especially Jensen Ackles. Some good lines and moments in the show such as Dean now saying He is the cage. This was almost like a season finale where the villain has been locked up, so it will be interesting to see what follows but I have faith. To top it off, a mysterious ending is delivered with Dean given a chapter or version of his life from the reaper. Who knows what was in it?

8.5/10

A GAME CHANGER

[keekanleavy · 10/10 · 18 January 2019]

I'm not much of a man for reviews but this episode deserves it if Michael is telling the truth about Chuck then I'm team Michael I wanna see him kill god not destroy our world but I really beleive he could be the smartest character on the show

I'm the cage!

[alirezamatrian · 10/10 · 19 January 2019]

After a boring part of a potential season, this episode actually was a big relief, and something even more than that : A great mid-season premiere after a long time.

The episode starts right after the ending moments of the last episode. In a room with a Dean possessed by Alt!Michael, a sad Sam turned to his knees, a miserable castiel with blood on his face and a jack without his special nephilim powers. everything after this sequence is brilliantly directed to achieve the main goal of this action packed episode : knowing Alt!Michael better than before.

There are even some dream sequences inside the mind of Dean, for a moment you would think he is in heaven. He have everything he wanted ever, his brother and his friend out there but well, he has a nice little bar, Pamela (played by Traci Dinwiddie after nine years) is chatting with him, and amidst the blissful peace he also has some action, monsters he easily kill.

You even realize that there is a high quality unity of artistic elements in this story as billie the former reaper shows up with a file, and some flashbacks from the last season. or when they mention chuck and his failed attempts at making a perfect world, or when they go through the bad memories of dean with dialogues from the old episodes...

last but not least, they build up the foundations of arcs early on and gradually build up over several seasons instead of finishing them within just one (i.e., Jack and Ketch have been here since season 12, the death of billie happened two seasons ago, and well, even the apocalypse world started at the tail end of season 12 and we're still dealing with its implications now). They also pick up a lot of subplots from previous seasons and continue them (i.e., the Empty was introduced in season 11, Rowena became more fleshed out, the Princes of Hell was rooted from both Kripke seasons and also the civil war brewing just before Gamble started, Lucifer's arc with Jack was rooted from both Kripke and Carver era interactions with Chuck/God, etc.)

This is what Eric Kripke did for his era: everything was a gradual build up and every season is a direct consequence of the next. The formula got lost a bit somewhere around the early seasons of Jeremy Carver, but since Dabb-Singer took over, we went back to arcs spanning multiple seasons.

All in all, the episode was forty one minutes but it felt so much longer than that with all the information we got which is what made this episode a real highlight. God's failed drafts, Michael burning down the world, Michael caged inside of Dean, Jack using the power of his soul, How Dean will die and i really enjoyed all the Michael-Dean scenes, Jensen Ackles can really smooth-talk, enjoyed every moment of Alt-Michael on screen.

This episode will be one to remember for me that's for sure...

This what we want from Supernatural

[nirodha-anuradha · 10/10 · 23 January 2019]

This episode brought me to old Supernatural. Fantastic acting by Jenssen. Loved this episode.

Heck yeah! Woot Woot! Jensen: I hope you read this...

[inknquill · 10/10 · 30 January 2019]

What I wanted from the previous seasons (and I think the show's wizards-behind-the-curtain are recognizing this themselves): Reference the character histories to help move them along. It was slow at first but getting waaaaaaay better.

I think the wizards behind the curtain are starting to honor their characters' histories more with each episode. So thank you. I feel like the characters are jumping back into themselves after being on a random identity detour (Same disclaimer as in previous posts: I don't see this as an actor flaw.).

Though, my personal and selfish hope is that they don't revert too far back without continued consideration towards all the reconciliation and maturity they have made since. Self-reflection changes with the tools people get in real life, so I hope the real people developing the characters consider this too.

And I definitely wanted to see the characters back in their own skins this season... So thank you-to whoever is responsible- for bringing them closer to home.

Next:

Jensen: Fudging Buckets!

I really hope you are feeling good because woa... Seriously... whatever you did to compartmentalize Dean from Michael is working. Sending massive amounts of respect your way. In my personal opinion, when you play Michael, Dean has left the building.... Not easy to separate from something that comes so second nature (or at least you make Dean seem like second nature...) So, HUUUUGE round of applause. You got this and I am totally hooked and (barely) balancing on the edge of my seat.

Any comments from the peanut gallery watching the action on the same side of the screen as me?

Best ep

[nedazec-53145 · 10/10 · 20 January 2019]

Best episode of the season, and one of the best in the whole series. Absolutely fantastic

Awesome!

[StorieLuver · 10/10 · 9 March 2019]

Between how great a character Michael is and seeing what would actually give Dean "contentment," I don't even know where to start praising this episode! I'm loving the Michael storyline and how Jensen plays him so much, it's the best thing on "Supernatural" since the Mark of Cain!!! Speaking about the past: this episode made me think of "Born Under a Bad Sign" back in Season 2, when Jo Harvelle asked Dean "I know demons lie, but do they ever tell the truth?" and Dean replied that they would if it helped them. That made me wonder: Do angels tell the truth but twist it? Some of the best lines were what Michael said to Jack and Sam. First he says to Jack that Dean wasn't actually sad when Jack died because deep down he doesn't care about Jack because he's not Sam or Cas, which I can absolutely see as a twisting of the truth. Dean wanted to straight-up kill Jack himself only about a year ago. Is Jack really family to Dean now? And then Michael says to Sam that Dean knows Sam will abandon him again and again. Dean's abandonment issues with Sam have been a thing since Season 1 and were emphasized with a vengeance in Season 5 in "Dark Side of the Moon." And then, the finale of this episode? DEAN. AS. THE. CAGE???!!! I. CAN'T. EVEN!!

Probably the high point in season 14

[CubsandCulture · 10/10 · 25 October 2021]

This is most compelling mythos episode in quite awhile because of two things. First, Ackles really cuts loose as Michael and turns in a great turn as a villian. The writing around Michael's disappointment with Chuck is also tight. Second, this episode is in a handful of effective psychological episodes the series ever did. Indeed Dean deal with his trauma made manifest through having to keep Michael locked up is different tone the show usually does and they manage to stick the landing.

This is exciting and it keeps moving.

Awesome

[mahmudkhan · 9/10 · 10 April 2020]

Awesome episode. Excellent performance by Jensen. Super story telling. remided me of old ones....

Jensen Ackles Hour. And Thank you.

[jamericanbeauty · 9/10 · 11 February 2024]

Jensen Ackles was brilliant in balancing between Dean and Archangel Michael. Attire aside, his facial expressions alone differentiate between whom is whom. He captured every mannerism and reactions to actions. It's Ackles finest hour since a season or two ago when he told his Mom, who was locked in or stuck in a dream, that he hates her (and loves her) because he was forced to be both Mom and Dad to baby Sam because of decisions she made.

The loop (lucid dream?) was incredible and reminded me of one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes where Dennis Weaver relives the same day of being found guilty and sentenced to death, but each day has different variations, minimal but noticeable. Here, Dean is trapped in a loop and Sam's realization that contentment is what will break Dean, not trauma because Dean thrives on trauma is some of the most profound and intelligent writing in this series.

The ending is perfect and reflective acting from Jensen Ackles. The final scene is unpredictable and leaves the door open to sinister and mysterious possibilities for an otherwise weak Season 14.

Side note: Jack's grace/powers are restored. Finally. Welcome Back Jack. What an exciting addition to the episode.

Has some really good moments

[shwetafabm · 7/10 · 9 August 2020]

I liked a lot of things in the ep, mainly Michael's view of God. I have had trouble caring for the villain setup. It's been just let's get a big bad from another reality for me, no real Connection to anything but i feel that bit of dialogue went a long way. I really can't care about Maggie or the hunters, not sure why this show would use people we don't care about for high stake scenes when we literally have now Charlie, Bobby, Mary and the wayward sisters people... Seriously though i can't wrap my head around why we are stuck with people we don't know, why the ones we do know are back but not used to give us stakes in the plot... As for Pamela i quite enjoyed her scenes but i also don't know why she is there... And i'm stuck with they just have a really bad case of bringing back old characters and that is just annoying me.

The writters really messed it up this time.

[viva_la_verve · 3/10 · 27 March 2022]

Sam and Dean keep reminding us episode after episode just how extremely desperate they are to find a way to stop Michael the archangel before he gets to destroy the world. In this episode, Sam, Jack and Castiel somehow find a way to take him prisoner and turn his powers off for at least several hours while he's inside his perfect vessel.

I mean, it's interesting that non of the characters realized that this was the perfect opportunity to simply take Michael's grace away and remove the threat of Michael once and for all. Instead, they figure their only move is a complicated trip inside Dean's mind so he can find a way to take back control of his body over the all might archangel.

Who do you think is being an idiot here, the characters or the writers? Or perhaps it's us the audience...