Angel Heart was one of those episodes of Supernatural that makes you reach for the tissue box and swear because you emptied it already. The story of Castiel and the Novak family is uncomfortable to say the least, but this episode made it an out and out tragedy.
Claire Novak is injured in the search for her mother. She has no one left, and all she wants to do is have a family that sees her through another day. Her reality is the harshness of being alone.
We meet a Gogorian Angel, one who feeds on the souls of humans. He has abducted Claire’s mother and is slowly taking the life from her body. Seems to me he is more of a demon than an angel, but who am I and what do I know? There has always been a blurring of the Enochians true mission and purpose on Earth.
I am not certain how others view the storyline of the angels on Supernatural but it is the one that I have the hardest time embracing. Angels are fierce. Angels are protectors. Angels are God’s army. Angels are charged by God with the protection of humanity. For Angels to harm humans goes directly against God’s commands. So when the writers of Supernatural pursue the idea that angels go against God and act in the manner of jealous Greek demi-gods and gods it both confuses and angers me. Evil is evil and good is good and yet….
The story of Claire is almost trite, a heroine built on tragedy of witnessing her family destroyed in the name of God. It seems to be a running pattern within Supernatural and it is getting old. Not every story has to be one of such misery to show growth and triumph. The physical loss of family for many people would be a blessing as not all families get along. There is part of me that thinks God should have intervened and given Claire back her family but it would be impossible for the writer’s to do that because they do not have the faith that God exists, or more importantly that he cares. That makes me sad.
The strange side story is the one of Sam and Castiel keeping an eye on Dean and the Mark. Dean has always been brusque and straight forward in his dealings with thugs, demons and ne’erdowells. So the sudden concern emanating from Cas and Sam every time Dean so much as looks crosswise at anyone makes me want to smack Sam and Cas. Helicopter friends… I think Dean can take care of himself.
At the end of the episode the guys send Claire to live with Jodie which means we will see her again and we hope she has learned to kick some serious ass. Dean has given her a book of Enochian lore and ferreted out that Claire kept the sword that she used to kill the angel who killed her mother. Perhaps we will have a female hunter again after so many years of being without one.
