Supernatural 'King of the Damned' Review: One down, one to go

Supernatural began its sprint to the Season 9 finish line with "King of the Damned," an episode that, as one might guess, focused on Crowley and Abaddon. The installment managed to tie up one dangling plot thread while setting up the final two episodes, and possibly beyond.

Abaddon trapped Crowley and gave him an ultimatum: join her or get crushed to dust. Crowley ordinarily wouldn't go for this sort of thing, but the Knight of Hell took out some insurance and went back in time to retrieve his son, Gavin, and then torture the poor kid's eyes out until the latent spark of humanity inside Crowley caught fire and he relented.

Of course, this is Crowley we're talking about, so he played the demon queen and tipped off Dean to his situation using the Winchesters' secret code word "Poughkeepsie." Dean, all hopped up on the Mark of Cain and the First Blade's mojo, snuck in without Sam and stabbed Abaddon more times than was necessary even to kill a Knight of Hell.

The boys left Crowley alive and tried to explain to him that Gavin had to go back to his own time (even though he was destined to get on a ship bound for America that would sink) or else the present could be drastically changed, but Crowley said "bugger that" and whisked his son away to live here in the 21^st century.

This plot wrapped up the Abaddon storyline almost too neatly. In some ways, it felt as though the writers had two parallel tracks (Metatron and Abaddon) running side by side and decided to end one before they both hit the station. On the other hand, Abaddon's death is actually a steppingstone to something potentially much more worrisome.

Dean used the First Blade for its intended purpose, but the Mark of Cain is still affecting him. He refused Sam's advice to store the blade somewhere else, and his bloodlust (or "calm" as he called it) doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon. Knowing Supernatural, this is a problem that will last well into Season 10.

Dean's deception in going it alone to kill Abaddon once again brought up the simmering tension between the brothers, as Sam wasn't too pleased with Dean's solo act because he felt it was just another case of Dean's feeling like he had to protect Sam no matter the cost. Hopefully this conflict will see a proper resolution either by season's end or early next season.

Castiel also called in Sam and Dean to interrogate one of Metatron's angels, but they managed to trick the poor sap without harming a hair on his head. But it turns out Castiel has a mole in his camp, and the angel wound up dead. So Cass went to meet with Gadreel and seemingly convinced him to work as a double agent after he made Metatron's duplicity clear.

The focus should now shift to the angel war for the final two episodes, but the lingering effects of demon storyline from this season should carry into the finale and beyond. After a few weeks of filler, Supernatural is back on track.

Notes from Dad's Journal:

-       So there's a portal to Heaven that Metatron keeps moving. Methinks Castiel will be making use of that before the season ends.

-       I didn't count how many times Dean stabbed Abaddon, but I think he could have cut a tree down in fewer strokes.

-       Did Abaddon go out too quickly, or did the writers need to get her off the show now?

-       How will the Mark of Cain affect Dean for the rest of the season?

-       Can Gadreel really be trusted?

What did you think of tonight's episode? Let us know in the comments below.