laughingfish:

I just finished watching SPN episode “The Man Who Would Be King”(S06E19) and from the moment it started it hit me that it was eerily similar to Star Trek Deep Space Nine’s “In The Pale Moonlight”(S06E20). I mean c’mon! Even the episode numbers match almost to the T. I love both shows DEARLY so I’m going to take this as Supernatural doing a small homage to one of the greatest Star Trek episodes ever of the whole franchise(not just DS9).

  The episode JUST before this one, Dean mentions Star Trek IV and Bobby says “I only watched Deep Space Nine,” and then the next episode is EXACTLY like In The Pale Moonlight?
 A person with a previously unmarred moral compass & a high position of power(Captain Sisko/Castiel) starts the episode looking at the camera and telling whoever the audience seems to be(Computer Log/God) that he wants us to know the truth & seek comfort in his ‘good intentions’ despite the fact that his plan required the help of a person of dubious morality(Garak/Crowley) that convinces our character that what he is doing is “for the greater good.” [All while the friends he usually trusts(Dax/Dean) remain oblivious to this whole ‘deal with the devil’ situation.]

 In Sisko’s case, it was fooling the Romulans so they’d side with the Federation in the war against The Dominion, which would save the entire Alpha Quadrant.
 In Castiel’s case, its getting access to the Purgatory to get souls for some kind of machine that will help him beat Raphael and thus save all of Heaven (and Earth).

 So in my opinion, the references are there enough for me to squeal with joy at the fact that two awesome shows collided in a very awesome way.

 The only difference would be that, arguably, Captain Benjamin Sisko did the right thing and his actions led to the ultimate defeat of The Dominion. Because DS9 tried to portray EXACTLY these kinds of situations: “How far are men willing to go, how much will they bend their morals…for what they believe is right? And how many times do they manage to get away with it?”
 But I think that while Supernatural a lot of times tried to paint grays: Crowley & Death working with the Winchesters to defeat Lucifer, Zachariah being a complete douchebag, etc… In the end, the show can be very b&w sometimes(Ruby being the biggest wolf-in-sheeps-clothing in the history of EVER, for example) and so I think that Castiel’s decision of pairing up with Crowley will not be used as an example of how someone can occasionally “bend the rules for the greater good.”

 Sisko might’ve gotten away with the dead Romulan Senator & Chief O’Brien might’ve bent the rules when he set Tosk free in “Captive Pursuit”(S01E06) but I fear that Castiel won’t come out unscathed from his deal with Crowley… And I think he might lose sight of his “good intentions” and end up going ‘dark side’, as the Winchesters so kindly put it.
 Two episodes to go to finish season 6 and things don’t bode well for Castiel. :s