I've been complaining all season that there isn't enough of the fire and brimstone stuff that would make the Apocalypse believable. There was substantial movement this week to indicate the situation has taken a turn for the worse, except we don't see see why. Maybe a body count or images of dead bodies piled up, something that would indicate the gravity of the situation not only for the Winchesters, but also for regular people. After all, Sam and Dead aren't just fighting for themselves; they're fighting for the billions of people in the world whose very existence may be extinguished. If we don't see how everyone else is doing, should we only care about what happens to Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Cas? On the personal level, Season 5 has been as brilliant as ever, but on the grand scale--the culmination of 4 seasons into the end of the world--it has been indistinguishable.
Sam and Dean find themselves saved by a "militia" and go to their town where everyone knows about the Apocalypse and is gearing up for battle. They know this, because of their resident prophet, Leah. She spins a tale of disaster and doom from the instructions of angels. With the world about to end, the angels impose strict rules if the citizens of the town want salvation. The fear and promise of being anointed pushes some of them over the edge.
Cas shows up and saves the day. He informs the Winchesters that she is actually the Whore of Babylon out to bring more souls to Hell. Again, the use of a prominent biblical figure to control a small town lessens the significance of the Apocalypse on the world. He brings a stake from a cypress tree in Babylon that, when wielded by a servant of God, can kill her. I have a few problems with this. One, there is no modern city of Babylon and two, Babylon in the name Whore of Babylon doesn't refer to the ancient city. Anyways, Leah is killed by Dean who isn't a servant of God from what Sam knows. Dean runs off to Lisa Braeden's house and tells her he wants to be with her and Ben. First, he has to let Michael use his body and defeat Lucifer.
The episode was fairly bland for the most part mostly because it was regular people attacking each other with Leah leading them on. Cas brought all the humor which kept my attention.
Score: 8.7/10
