Uriel is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Robert Wisdom on The CW Television Network's drama and horror television series Supernatural. An angel, he primarily appears in the fourth season following various orders from Heaven. His lack of regard for humanity often leads to conflict with series protagonists Sam and Dean Winchester. Wisdom felt honored to have been approached for the role, and was shocked at how his character differed from typical portrayals of angels in the media. The actor has been met with universal praise for his portrayal of the character.

Plot[edit]

In the fourth season premiere, the angel Castiel rescues series protagonist Dean Winchester from Hell and tasks him with stopping demons from breaking the 66 mystical seals imprisoning Lucifer in Hell.^[1] Uriel (Robert Wisdom) appears alongside Castiel in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester", in which Dean and his brother Sam investigate a series of attacks by a witch. The angels reveal that the witch is trying to break one of the seals by summoning the demon Samhain. Because the witch is hiding his exact location with magic, the "specialist" Uriel orders the brothers to leave so that he can destroy the town. Having a great disdain for humanity, Uriel protests to Castiel's decision to let the brother find the witch instead. The Winchesters ultimately fail in stopping the summoning and the breaking of the seal, but Sam exorcises Samhain back to Hell.^[2]

In "I Know What You Did Last Summer", the Winchesters find Anna Milton, a fallen angel who was reborn as a human. Uriel and Castiel are ordered to kill her because she can still hear Heaven's communications.^[3] Sam, Dean, and Anna are able to escape to safety in "Heaven and Hell". However, Uriel contacts Dean in a dream, threatening to send him back to Hell if he does not surrender Anna. He also reveals that he has Anna's angelic grace, which is capable of restoring her to her true form. Dean feigns agreement, tricking Uriel and Castiel into a confrontation with demons. Anna is able to steal her grace from a distracted Uriel, and she disappears in a flash of light. Castiel stops Uriel from retaliating against Dean.^[4]

Uriel returns in "On the Head of a Pin", forcing Dean to torture the demon Alastair for information about who has been killing angels. However, Uriel secretly frees Alastair. The demon attacks Dean, as Uriel had hoped, but Sam ultimately kills Alastair with his demonic abilities. A suspicious Castiel later questions Uriel, who reveals that he has been working to free Lucifer because he agrees that angels should not bow to humans as God had ordered. The recently-killed angels had refused Uriel's offer to join his cause. Uriel attacks Castiel when he rebukes him, but Anna appears and kills Uriel with an angel blade.^[5]

Lucifer is ultimately freed from his imprisonment.^[6] To avert the oncoming apocalypse, Anna travels back in time to 1978 in "The Song Remains the Same" to prevent Sam's birth, thereby removing Lucifer's one true human vessel from existence. She summons the Uriel from that time (Matt Ward) to help her kill Sam and Dean's parents, claiming that the Winchesters will eventually kill him in the future. However, the archangel Michael interrupts their attack and sends Uriel away.^[7]

Characterization[edit]

Actor Misha Collins noted that teaming Uriel and Castiel together allows the audience to see Castiel's "softer side",^[9] as Uriel is "much more militant and more dogmatic".^[10] He also felt that Uriel lacks both a conscience and emotions,^[11] and "kinda seems to hate humanity in general".^[12] Unlike Castiel, whom Wisdom deemed "a man of reason" that is "very controlled in an entirely different way",^[13] Uriel "basically uses power to get the job done" and "[doesn't] suffer fools".^[14][13] On this aspect, Collins found Uriel to be "more of the Revelations angel" because he "doesn't have any problem with smiting and destroying" and "just wants to kill everybody".^[15] Series creator Eric Kripke similarly described him as a "hitman for God".^[16] Although Collins referred to Uriel as "trigger-happy", Wisdom instead saw the character as "'eager' to carry out God's will".^[14]

Wisdom described the pairing of Uriel and Castiel as "kind of a mix between characters from the Addams Family realm and The Odd Couple". Although Wisdom thought that the two "like each other" but "aren't real close" in Wisdom's opinion,^[14] Collins believed that they do not get along well and are "sort of forced to work together".^[10] Conversely, in Wisdom's opinion, Uriel views the Winchesters as "accidents waiting to happen".^[13] Because he thinks Sam cannot handle his demonic powers and is "going to screw everything up", he wants to "take him out while they can".^[17] Uriel sees "no potential for being an ally" with Ruby, despite her apparent loyalty to the Winchesters, because he sees things in "black and white terms".^[8] On the other hand, he "gets Dean all too well and understands what he faced".^[17] Wisdom believes that the confrontation between Uriel and Dean in the latter's dream in "Heaven and Hell" causes a "[shift in] Uriel from brawn to understanding human nature".^[18]

Development[edit]

Helping to flesh out the angel mythology in the series' fourth season,^[19] Uriel is primarily portrayed by Robert Wisdom. The actor received an offer for the role without an audition.^[20] He envisioned the angelic character as "someone with wings, dressed in white, and wearing a gown", and it "really kind of flipped [his] pages" that Uriel ended up a "heavy-duty guy who wants to smite everybody". Finding the character "totally fleshed out", Wisdom felt honored that he was approached for the part.^[20] The actor prepared for the role by reading the Book of Enoch and other angel lore. He found the materials "pretty scary", noting, "There's some pretty powerful, visionary stuff, and you see a lot of angels we really don't associate with angelic life."^[13] However, Wisdom would have liked to see the compassion that Uriel portrays in other angel lore, feeling that it "would add something interesting".^[21]

When introduced in the episode "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester", Uriel is facing away from the Winchesters as he speaks to them. Noting that "No actor wants to have his back to [the main characters] during a scene", Wisdom chose to "just [have] trust" in production's decision. This choice paid off, in Wisdom's opinion, because "with every passing line, Uriel's gravity just grew".^[13] The actor elaborated, "I thought that was theatrically very powerful, because from that moment of meeting the two boys, it's very clear what our relationship is going to be and what my mission is."^[13] Uriel does not demonstrate his angelic power until the episode "Heaven and Hell", in which he effortlessly kills two demons. Wisdom enjoyed the "challenge as an actor" of conveying a power "bigger than [himself]".^[18]

Reception[edit]

Diana Steenbergen of IGN praised the "excellent" casting of Uriel, who is "immediately seen as powerful and ominous".^[22] Although Wisdom only briefly appeared in "I Know What You Did Last Summer", Steenbergen felt that he "did [his] usual job of commanding the screen during that time".^[23] Uriel's eventual betrayal made "perfect sense", with Steenbergen only being surprised because Wisdom "did such a good job portraying Uriel as the ultimate soldier".^[24] Tina Charles of TV Guide agreed that the show "nailed" Wisdom's casting. She felt he did a "great job" in his debut appearance,^[25] but was disappointed at his minor role in "I Know What You Did Last Summer".^[26] The character's loyalty to Lucifer, in her opinion, "wasn't a shocking revelation at all, but it was a good one".^[27] Likewise, Karla Peterson of The San Diego Union-Tribune loved the "bad-ass avenging angel" portrayed by "the mighty Robert Wisdom".^[28] Calling him "increasingly fabulous", she wrote, "Uriel is the bomb".^[29] Zack Handlen of A.V. Club deemed the character's return in the fifth season "a clever touch".^[30]

References[edit]