'Supernatural's' Littlest Archangel – Gabriel Appreciation Post

With the advent of episode 20, it looks like fans have finally got some evidence to cling to in terms of our favorite mischievous archangel returning to the show. After all, he’s died how many times before? Maybe he’s just gotten good at faking it! Right? Right?

In any case, what better time to recognize our four-episode wonder? That’s right, he managed to rile up a decent-sized fanbase using only 3% of the show! How does he do it?

Let’s find out–

The joke is that he’s short.

Firstly; quick, who was the very first angel that showed up on Supernatural? If you said ‘Castiel’, then…well, one, really? You actually answer rhetorical article questions out loud? And two, you’re obviously not paying attention! Before we even knew that angels were a thing in Supernatural, Gabriel had his debut as a Trickster, disguised as a janitor, carrying out his own little form of natural selection on the few humans that managed to catch his eye in the episode “Tall Tales”. Which may be a little ironic.

He may have made a hobby out of killing people, but you can’t really stay mad at a guy whose chosen weapon is a congregation of sewer gators. Even Dean comes close to forgiving him when the “Trickster” presents a peace offering of a couple of willing ladies and a bed to occupy for however long he pleases. But somehow, Dean resists his charms, and does away with him Trickster-style.

Though it was too bad for the Winchesters (and awesome for us!) that Trickster-style doesn’t work all that well on an archangel, and he shows up almost 20 episodes later when we’re least expecting it–resulting in possibly the most quoted episode in all of Supernatural history; “Mystery Spot”. In it, the “Trickster” kills Dean around 100 times, and causes Sam to slowly fall apart at the seams, yet watchers still couldn’t help but giggle a bit.

You gotta love the little guy. After all, he did still bring Dean back in the end, despite the fact that he in no way had to. And he was only trying to help. In his own horrible, morbid way.

So after two episodes, fans were already fond of the Trickster, even with his fixation on killing a certain Winchester. But I think we can all agree that it was his next scheme that really sealed the deal–

Dr. Sexy turned Dr. Tiny

“Changing Channels” is probably the only Supernatural episode that doesn’t have an equal happiness-to-tears ratio, letting us split our sides laughing without even killing a beloved character!

Who could forget the Supernatural sitcom or Dean’s big, massive mancrush on Dr. Sexy? And I’m sure there are many of you who still remember your perplexity when Sam Winchester showed up in the middle of a “Herpexia” commercial or got turned into an Impala-shaped KITT.

“Over 300 channels, and there’s nothing on,” says the “Trickster”, but I think most of us would be willing to watch that cable package for days on end.

So, yeah, he’s a funny guy. But so are so many other characters in Supernatural, why’s Gabriel get a special mention?

Because, oh yeah, he’s an archangel. In a reveal that was a surprise to fans and actor alike, we discover that this fun-loving ladies’ man (creature?) with a sweet tooth is actually an almighty denizen of Heaven. And can I just step back for a moment and point out Richard Speight Jr.’s phenomenal performance as the Trickster-gone-archangel? The switch from slightly murderous goofball to holy warrior upset about his brothers fighting was such a stark contrast that it left me, at least, reeling–and it takes a special sort of talent to pull that off.

So sad even the devil teared up a bit.

Anyways, in his fourth and final (?) episode, he finally features as Gabriel instead of the Trickster, though of course he’s still keeping his act up for the sake of the other characters. And despite being exhibited as Heaven’s biggest coward, he finally decides to join the Winchesters in the fight to prevent the Apocalypse, finding the courage to stand up to his brother Lucifer. His heroism saves Sam and Dean and his girl Kali, but, sadly…he doesn’t survive the encounter.

Not that he gives us much time to mourn, having given the Winchesters his dying will and testament in the form of a cheap porno movie.

So, there’s your overview of The Littlest Archangel, who went from staging alien abductions for fun to standing up against his family to protect the ones he loves in the space of four episodes.

I think we can all agree that should he not ever return, the anguished cries of fans will be heard across the globe.

Tune in to a  new episode of ‘Supernatural’ on the CW at 9/8c on Friday, May 4th.

Author of this post: Amelia Merritt

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