Preview and Episode Discussion: “My Heart Will Go On” (6.17)
Make a date with Fate, the goddess that is, and tune in April 15th for the long awaited return of our beloved boys as they arrange to meet their destiny compliments of our favorite new trouble-making angel, Balthazar.
So what happens? Dean and Sam wake up in a world in which the Titanic never sank. Seems Balthazar doesn’t like the ending of the movie “Titanic”, and goes back in time to un-sink the liner, giving life to hundreds of people who should have died. That does not sit well with the Greek goddess Fate (or more appropriately Atropos). The lives of so many who should have died reeks havoc on the timeline forcing Fate to intervene,and she does, organizing a series of ‘accidents’ that are cunning clever and strike with no warning. However, she has not only sets her sights on the survivors and others who were affected by the ‘ripple in time’, but also has her eye on the Winchester boys themselves.
Why Fate has it in for the boys isn’t known, but according to Cass, she will not stop until the boys are dead. They realize they are essentially on her hit list and will never know when she will arrange an ‘accident’ for them. The only way to survive is to kill Fate, and that maybe a risky proposition.
She doesn’t look like she will make an easy target. Definitely an uptight goddess!
This leads to an amusing clip of Dean and Sam very precarious walking down a crowded street expecting Fate to hit at any moment. At least now we know why the boys were in such a shocked state on the steps in the BTS photos from Susan Gittins. They were literally expecting death at any time, around any corner, and here they spy jugglers juggling knives, hatchets and eventually blazing torches,..
,”Final Destination” Supernatural style,.and, from the dialogue in the clip; they seem to be trying to
get killed,or maybe trying to get Fate to show her hand? (Will just have to wait until Friday to find out.)
In the clip, we see a near encounter with a skateboarder, a cyclist, a couple of very hyper dogs, the jugglers (which were excellent BTW) and, last but not least, a very unruly nail gun. Dean and Sam brave it all, determined to meet Fate head on, and that really gives us a lot of humorous moments.
(Love the dogs! Just HAD to put this screencap in)
And Fate does not disappoint…as we all know. Just when the boys thought they couldn’t their plan wouldn’t work, they hear, “Look out!”
The boys almost end up pancaked under a huge piece of equipment. (Reminds me of Dean under the piano in “Mystery Spot”.) But Cass is there to save the day.
That is not the only time Fate attempts to settle with the boys either. She also tries to blow the siblings up in a commercial kitchen.
In the same clip we also get glimpses of some of the deaths of the other poor souls Fate has it in for,.a bus accident (which the boys are front and center to see) and a skateboard fall in which the victim ends up under a very heavy door.
So who is Atropos? In Greek mythology, Atropos was the oldest of the Three Fates, or more correctly, the Three Moirae, who were the goddesses’ of destiny. She worked with her two sisters, Clotho and Lachesis. She was known as the “inflexible” or “inevitable”, and decided who died through the act of cutting the thread that symbolized their life. In other words, when she chooses your death, your fate is sealed. The boys have good reason to worry.
Hopefully we will find out why Balthazar chose to undo the disaster, but the spoilers do allow us to know how it can occur,it seems history can now be changed. One more result of the defunct apocalypse. “There are no more rules, boys” claims Balthazar, which has to lead one to wonder what else the pesky little angel has up his sleeve.
The altered timeline has other effects as well. Seems Baby is now a black mustang (Thanks again to Susan Gittins) and Ellen and Bobby are married, hence the different name of Bobby’s salvage business, now B & E Scrap Yard, in honour of their union.
And we also get too see some sweet tender moments between the two.
So how will the episode be resolved? Seems the boys have to kill fate to survive and assuming they do, does that reset the timeline or not? It’s not like the brothers haven’t done away with gods and goddesses before, but is that all they need to do here? How much of history was changed? How much damage did Balthazar do? Seems the best choice for all is to reset the timeline, make sure the Titanic sinks and put Fate to rest, before she does away with the boys.
And they can’t expect any help from Balthazar either. A spoiler has Balthazar replying to the brothers, “Sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know the one in the dirty trench coat who’s in love with you?”
Of course resetting the time will have dire consequences for the more positive changes,.like Bobby and Ellen. More sadness for the fans as they once again have to say good bye to her. We are also told that Bobby deals with the death of Rufus in the episode, so expect to shed a tear or two this Friday.
Official synopsis: After Balthazar changes history and keeps the Titanic from sinking, Fate intervenes and begins killing those that would have died on the ship. Castiel tells Sam and Dean that Fate is very upset with the two of them and the only way they can stay alive is to kill her. Written by CW Publicity
Guest cast (IMDb) includes: Misha Collins (Castiel), Jim Beaver (Bobby Singer), Samantha Ferris (Ellen), Sebastian Roché (Balthazar), Katie Walder (Fate)
Phil Sgriccia directed this episode. A very seasoned director for Supernatural, he has worked with the series since the first year, and is now not only a director but also an executive producer. He directed the 100th episode “Point Of No Return”, and also “Nightmare”, “Provenance”, and one of my favorites “Hollywood Babylon”. He is also responsible for leaving the cameras rolling and capturing Jensen’s rendition of ‘Eye Of The Tiger’.
Young writers Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder, new to the series, penned the episode. They were also paired to write 6.14 “Mannequin 3: The Reckoning”, and the story and teleplay for 6.06 “You Can’t Handle the Truth”.
To see the photo stills released by CW, check out our Photo Gallery.
The CW promo videos for the episode are below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72eDXfYjowc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY5u-tKgge0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVFQ02AmNjY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDWsJnD7XuE
For some fun speculation on the episode, check out my article Episode 6.17 Speculation – And Death Shall Have No Dominion. It has more screencaps and some fun ideas in the comments from guests.
The episode was originally listed to air on April 22nd, but was move up a week to coincided with the actual date of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The luxury liner sank at 2:20 the morning of April 15th resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. In Winchester time, it’s exactly 100 yrs since the event occurred. An ironic coincidence, if it has no bearing on the episode or its solution.
While the show reminds me a lot of “Mystery Spot”, there is no Trickster here, unless we place Balthazar into that category and he is certainly wiry, crafty and tricky enough. Never know what he is up to and I have to think the outcome of all this will have some bearing on the remaining episodes. At least I hope so.
This episode seems to be more light than dark, but Supernatural has a talent for always been able to balance comedy and tragedy, so no reason not to expect some very dire moments here. And the loss of Ellen again is a very sad happening indeed, especially as the wife of Bobby. I always felt they belonged together and like believing that in some alternate timeline they do have a good life. Even if it isn’t one we get to see periodically.
On a positive note, the show is supposed to have a great many bromantic moments between Dean, Sam, and the “dirty-trenchcoat-wearing angel who’s in love” with them.
Hopefully the explanation and solution to this latest alternate universe episode, and Winchester predicament, will have a rational and fun conclusion and move the story along for the remaining episodes.
Happy viewing all! Come back and tell us what you think!
Awesome, thx for putting this together 🙂
I hate to be a downer here, but I’m going to watch this episode just to see the boys. Absolutely love Phil S., but these writers haven’t proven to be real skilled in the SPN verse yet (for me anyway). Their humor has been too juvenile and forced for my tastes. But, then again, I’ve given up on all the story plots this season, so count me in the shallow end of the pool where I will enjoy looking at the eye candy that’s been missing for six weeks.
I loved this episode. It had its comedy (and a handful of Sam Bitchfaces finally) plus its angst (Bobby knowing that both Ellen and Jo are supposed to be dead although he’s married to Ellen in this time line) plus the questions about souls coming up again.
What I can’t put together is what the soul business is just yet. Death told Dean to keep digging into the matter. He told Dean that it’s all about the souls. We KNOW that souls can be used as a currency. You can sell it in a demon deal as Dean did to bring back Sam and the way Bobby did to discern the location of Death. We know that Angels are capable of doing the same now that the book has been burned, the way Balthazar bought that little boy’s soul in exchange for a piece of the Staff of Moses. What I want to know is if they’re just the currency of the realm or if they’re actually capable of being used as a weapon. We also know what someone looks like WITHOUT one—not pretty. So we had this whole issue raised yet again about the souls.
And then there’s the other undercurrent: Freedom. Cas values it and until recently (well in Angel terms) he didn’t even know what it WAS. So he’s reminding the boys that he values it and why and how important it is to continue the fight for it.
This whole message contradicts the message of Appointment in Samara in some ways. It does, and it doesn’t. Dean resists the Natural Order by not killing the little girl in the first place in his day as Death. He then realizes he must right it by going back and reaping her after all. Here, we’re being told that Fate can and should be avoided. IF that’s the case, what about the Natural Order? But then again, we end up where we started with a sunk Titanic anyways.
Then, to make matters even worse, we have the Mother of All, who doesn’t seem to be the Mother of the Goddesses of Fate. She DID say she went to Heaven to ask for directions on what to do now—you know, since Team Free Will torched the book and all. So, she’s a servant of God but not an Angel, apparently. So how does this factor into the coming show down with the Mother of All and how do souls intertwine with it? That’s the question.
I rather liked the actress they chose for Fate. She was just snarky enough, just bitchy enough, and had that pinched look down pat.
The most beautiful part of this episode for me? The boys. They were on the same page the WHOLE time. There wasn’t any tension, there wasn’t any angst on their parts. They are a united front—and even though Cas had to step in a few times to save them—I pity ANYONE who gets in their way. Look out Mother of All. These two this way are unstoppable and will prevail before the battle’s even begun. It was just amazing to see them in sync like that. We really haven’t seen that level of trust between the two of them since about season 2-ish. Damn is it ever good to see it back. Love Soulless Sam and all, but boy is it ever nice to have Soulful Sammy back and the Winchester Brothers as a singular unit again.
Now onto next week. Can we seriously just have Sam wear that black cowboy hat the rest of the season? Please? I just wonder if we’re going to have a true take on the old Westerns—like Gunsmoke—where the dude in the black hat is ALWAYS the bad guy and the dude in the white hat is the good guy.
Wow, this is such a great analysis! I agree, this show gets itself in such trouble when it takes on issues of Fate and Freewill at times. I’m going to have to really ponder that more, why was Dean so accepting before of the girl but couldn’t accept Ellen and Jo being dead? My theory it’s because it affected Bobby. To him, some people matter enough where the rule book can be thrown out. You know, like Sam. He did wreck the natural order by getting Sam’s soul back too.
Interesting, that seems to be true for Castiel too when it comes to Sam and Dean. Maybe because they’re the only friends he really has ever had? Wow, all this circular thinking is making my brain tired!
It is great to see the brothers on the same page! I’m wondering though how long it’ll last before something drives them apart. Like the wall!
Hmm, black hat. I’m dying to see how they tackle the Old West! Thanks for your comments.
That’s just my first impressions. I have a damn BA in Creative Writing and the circular thinking patterns on the meta fiction can drive everyone around me crazy. Give me time to ponder it all and I’ll probably find a way to tie it all the way back to the damn pilot.
And yes, I do think they tend to have a fluid feeling on both the Natural Order and Fate on this show. On one hand, you can’t avoid it and doing so only leads to heart ache, but on the other if you don’t try to use the Free Will God gave you you’re not really living. I think it’s a true war of dominance we see in real life–albeit on a much lesser scale.
I think we’ll be seeing the angst return, but I think they’re going to remain on this level of trust through out it. I’d like to think that they’ve learned their lessons about keeping secrets from one another.
Okay, my turn!
Aside from being some light filler, I don’t know, it was fine. Not bad, not great. I get the main purpose, to show how desperate Castiel has gotten. I loved the reveal over who’s idea it was. I also loved that Castiel gave up the entire scheme just to save Sam and Dean. I did love seeing a big Cass struggle for once.
Also, Castiel wants Sam and Dean to know how cruel Fate is. I wonder if he’s gearing them up for a major fight. What am I saying, of course he is! So, it’s plot progression. That’s something.
I’m sad about Ellen too, but luckily Bobby remembers none of that. Fate is indeed cruel.
The only thing I’m really broken up over is that Celine Dion doesn’t remain an unknown in Quebec. Bummer! That twist and the fact that Titanic was never made brought me some massive joy.
Definitely a filler episode…a fun one, but still a filler. Kind of disappointing to have a filler this late in the season, but at least the boys were better.
[quote] And since, it’s 3 sisters involved in the process of deciding and fixing everyone’s fate, it seems Fate might be overstepping her boundaries(or not) by trying to kill the 2 brothers. [/quote]
Just a “mythological” note: yes, there are 3 sisters deciding human destinies, but they are “specialised” and not all of the three decide deaths. One sister starts the thread of life, i.e. decides who has to be born, one sister spins the spindle, i.e. decides what the life will be like, which events will happen in every life, and one sister cuts the thread, i.e. decides who and when someone has to die. So Fate (i.e. Athropos, the third sister) has every right to decide deaths, even of the bros.
What I was wondering is: how Athropos/Fate can be distinguished from Death (the Rider) in this deciding who and when someone has to die?
I think Cas was telling them a bit of both. On one hand he’s telling Sam and Dean, “Look, Fate is bitch. You should know. You just met her. Now avoid her like the plague, please.” On the other he’s reminding them just why they fought so hard against that prize fight between Michael and Lucifer at the end of last season and that avoiding their “fate” is just as important now as it ever was and that freedom is what it’s always been about.
I think Fate, here, is overstepping a bit. She’s reeling from what happened in the scheme of destiny and now she doesn’t know about what’s coming so she’s taking it out on those that screwed that up (ie: Sam and Dean).
And yeah, the message from AIS is that everything comes with a price but Dean does concede that messing with the Natural Order after all wasn’t necessarily the right thing, either. It’s that double edged sword of damned if you do damned if you don’t almost.