"The Song Remains the Same"

The "Then" clips at the beginning of this episode gave us a look back at the episode where Castiel sends Dean back to see his parents when they were young, where he finds out his mother and her family were hunters and that she made a deal with the Yellow-Eyed Demon to save John. We also see some angel scenes with Castiel and Anna.

The "Now" section starts with Warrant's "Cherry Pie" playing and Dean saying, "I take it all back. I love the devil." Of course, the devil he's talking about is an exotic dancer dressed like a she-devil. But then she's joined by another dancer dressed like an angel. When the two girls step apart, there stands Anna. She's in his dream and tells Dean she can't find him. He mentions the thing Cas did so that he and Sam are invisible to angels. Anna responds, "Cas. There's a friend you can count on." She reveals that she's been in prison "upstairs" where there's "All the torture, twice the self-righteousness." She's not happy with Cas, who turned her in, saying he was always the "good little soldier." She tells Dean that she's broken out and to meet her at 225 Industrial, and to hurry. At that, Dean wakes.

Next we see Anna in an old building, and Cas shows up. He tells her that he wouldn't let Sam and Dean meet her and that if she's out of prison, it's because she was let out to do the angels' dirty work. Cas admits that it was a mistake to turn Anna in but he doesn't trust her sudden reappearance. When he questions her, she says that Sam has to die because he's Lucifer's vessel. Cas says they'll find another way, to which Anna points out that that plan isn't going so well. He tells Anna that he'll kill her if she comes near Sam.

Next, we see Anna fall on top of a sports car where a young couple is sitting. When they jump out to help her, we see a large Grease poster on the side of a building. Oh crap, I think she's just time traveled and I see where this is going.

Cas, back in the always-present crappy motel room with Sam and Dean, tells them of Anna's plan. When he performs a ritual to find her, he discovers she's in 1978. Cas figures out that Anna is going to kill John and Mary so that Sam can never be born. There's a bit of a funny moment when Dean makes a Back to the Future reference and Cas gives him a look and says, "I don't understand that reference." Against his better judgment, Cas takes Sam and Dean back in time with him. When they arrive, Sam and Dean are okay but Cas is coughing up blood. Dean checks Cas into the 1978 version of a crappy motel. When Sam asks if he'll be okay, Dean responds that Cas is "tough for a little nerdy dude with wings."

Sam is a bit freaked out at meeting his parents, especially his mom. But Mary is not thrilled to see them because she's left the hunter life behind. While she tries to convince them to leave, John gets a call from his boss, only it's Anna trying to lure him to work so she can kill him. When John gets to work, he finds his boss dead and Anna waiting for him. When the others arrive, big fight ensues. While Anna is distracted, Sam does that blood symbol on the wall thing to banish Anna. When John and Mary make eye contact, she knows her past has caught up with her. They all flee and go to an old house that has been in Mary's family for years and make preparations in case Anna shows up again.

It's odd, and so un-John-like, when young John expresses his disgust that anyone would raise their kids in the hunting life. Sam tells him that he used to be mad at his dad, but now he understands that he was doing the best he could in an impossible situation, that his dad might have gone crazy after Sam's mom's death if he didn't do something. Sam has a catharsis moment by telling this young version of his father that he understands and that he forgives him, that he loves him.

Anna calls Uriel and tells him that she needs him to kill some humans, humans who will kill him in the future.

When Mary asks Dean what is going on, he reveals that he's her son and starts telling her some of the future. He tells her what day she dies and tells her to take Sam and run that morning. Sam comes in during this conversation and says it won't work, that the demon will find her and baby Sam wherever she goes. He tells his mother that she has to leave John so that Sam and Dean are never born. Mary says she can't because she's already pregnant. John walks in and says that the symbols he drew are gone, and Mary discovered the holy oil is gone as well. Next comes the angel scream and the blowing out of windows. Another big fight ensues, in which Anna stabs Sam. A light appears on John, who has been tossed outside, and when he comes back in, the archangel Michael is inhabiting his body. He touches Anna and she goes up in flames.

Michael reveals to Dean that his being Michael's true vessel is in the bloodline, one that stretches back to Cain and Abel. In a true Dean moment, he says, "Awesome. Seven degrees of Heaven Bacon." Michael tells Dean that free will is an illusion, that every choice Dean makes brings him closer to his destiny, the plan that is playing itself out perfectly. He tells Dean that he is going to scrub John and Mary's minds, and the look on Dean's face is heartbreaking when he realizes his mom will still walk into Sam's nursery and still be killed by the Yellow-Eyed Demon. I did think that Michael's "You can't fight city hall" was a bit of an odd response. And then he heals Sam and sends him back to 2010, followed by Dean, who has an incredible look of "It's all for nothing" on his face.

Sam and Dean are back in the hotel when Castiel shows back up, looking worse for wear, surprised that he made it. Dean says he needs a drink, and Sam agrees. Dean looks at the three of them and dubs them Team Free Will -- "one ex blood junkie, one dropout with six bucks to his name, and Mr. Comatose over there. Awesome." Sam worries that the two of them will eventually say yes to being Lucifer's and Michael's vessels.

Next we see Mary, very pregnant, and John in the nursery, and Mary is happy about a 25-cent cherub she got at a garage sale and placed next to the crib. She tells the baby she's carrying that "angels are watching over you."

I was curious about the title of the episode, so I looked it up. It's the name of a concert film done by Led Zepplin in 1976 which includes each band member's personal fantasies (ties in with Dean's dream of exotic dancers and Sam getting to see his mother, and both of them wishing they could save their parents).

Religion and the Winchesters

For all the talk of hell and demons on the show, God hasn’t come into play in the lives of the Winchesters until Dean’s return from hell. Sure, they use the accoutrements of faith, particularly holy water and the rosary, but how much do they believe? I thought you couldn’t create holy water unless your faith was strong. I guess their faith is more geared toward it working against the demons, since they’re able to create holy water all the time.

(What is Kripke’s religious background? Anyone know?)

We don’t see much of John’s faith, and we know Dean doesn’t believe as early as “Faith,” one of my favorite episodes. Sam is the one who drags Dean to the preacher. Yes, Sam is desperate for anything to help his brother, but he also believes it will work.

When they discover the healing is supernatural, Dean’s faith is not strengthened. The one thing that DOES make Dean change his mind is seeing the Faith of…oh, man….Layla? Lola? Lila? He offers to pray for her. I wonder if he does. And if he does….what does that mean?

We learn in “Houses of the Holy” that Sam prays every day. Dean absolutely does not believe in angels because every night his mother told him angels were watching over him. Because she died so violently, he no longer believed angels were watching over him.

NOW I wonder if she knew what she was talking about. Have angels been watching over Dean all this time?

Dean felt justified at the end of “Houses of the Holy” and Sam’s belief was shaken. Dean didn’t like that, either. I love this show’s use of those shades of gray. Dean’s belief seems to be if God exists, why does all this bad happen? Why do demons wander the earth, destroying families, leaving children to be raised as he and Sam were raised?

Sam’s faith must extend from the opposite end of the spectrum. If there is evil, good must exist.

We see the faith, or lack of faith, in other characters, too. Tessa the Reaper tells Dean there is no happy place. Anna questioned her faith and lost her grace. Uriel turned his back on God to raise his brother Lucifer. Castiel is questioning his own heretofore unshakeable faith.

Now they have proof God exists, only no one knows his purpose. In the world of Kripke, God seems even more distant than He might in our world. Where is He while Lilith is trying to raise Lucifer? Is He so confident in his angels’ ability to defeat her? Is He testing humanity through the Winchesters? Why have only five angels seen Him?

The more I learn about the Supernatural God, the more I tend to take Dean’s side.

We know there is a hell. We know Reapers take souls, but where? Where did the boy from “Death Takes a Holiday” go when Tessa embraced him, if there is no happy place?

Here’s a question that occurred to me when I was writing this. Where did Sam’s soul go when he died? True, he wasn’t dead as long as Dean, but was he walking the earth? Why doesn’t he remember?

Angels in the Supernatural World

As likely as not, when someone mentions angels now, people immediately think of women with golden, flowing hair; long gowns; wings and harps in their hands. Sometimes little cherubs come to mind. You can find both versions in Hallmark stores, hospital gift shops and Christmas decor stores without fail. But for some reason, the angels that are actually portrayed in Revelations, fearsome warrior angels, aren't the image conjured by modern minds. So when Eric Kripke and friends brought angels into this season of Supernatural, and made them of the darker warrior breed, it startled some people. I didn't know how I would feel about this storyline at first, but so far I'm enjoying it. I'm intensely curious where it's going to go -- and how the angels Castiel and Uriel are going to react to whatever battle is coming.

From the moment Misha Collins appeared as the angel Castiel, I was intrigued. I love it when he appears in an episode. While he is undoubtedly powerful and not of the cherubic or "angelic" stripe, I do sense compassion in him. I think viewers can connect more with him because he's actually expressed doubt and he doesn't go around flounting his incredible power unless necessary or to get a point across. You get the sense that he believes what he is doing is for the greater good.

Uriel, on the other hand, just comes across as an arrogant jerk. From him, you get the sense that he views humanity as a bunch of bugs and perhaps he doesn't know why God bothers with us. To me, he's almost like an unthinking soldier who just does what he's told without too much self-inquiry. I also think he likes showcasing his power, like a bully.

No matter their differences, Castiel and Uriel are undoubtedly powerful, enough to scare demons like Ruby. Enough to blind someone who spies on them, and enough to nearly split eardrums when someone can hear their true voice. Enough to pull Dean right out of hell. The writers backed up this characterization of angels with dialogue such as when Dean asks Castiel who he is and Castiel replies, "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition." They also use imagery like the raised-welt handprints on Dean's arms as well as this shot (which is one of my favorites from this season) that revealed the truth of Castiel's words.

I have lots of questions regarding these guys:

1. Why did they pull Dean from hell? Did they think he was the only one who could convince Sam to stop doing whatever it is they want him to stop doing? That seems odd considering how incredibly powerful they are? Does that mean that Sam, and some of the higher-level demons, could put up a good fight against them? Is it only the lower-level demons they scare the bejeebers out of?

2. Will Castiel end up seeing things from the boys' point of view, that everything isn't black and white and sometimes you have to fight evil in unconventional ways? Will Castiel (and Dean, for that matter) realize that the way Sam intends to fight the baddies is actually the way to go? The only way to win? How wild would it be to see Castiel and Ruby fighting side by side!

3. Will Castiel and Uriel end up fighting each other? And does that mean Castiel will fall?

When this season is over and the DVDs come out, I really need to go back and watch all the episodes again, especially ones that deal with the angels. There's so much going on there that we've yet to see or understand.

And then there's Anna, the fallen angel. She was introduced as a girl who could hear the angels' conversations. It's only later that we find out it's because she's one of them. I like how Sam and Dean protect her from all the forces wanting to get their hands on her -- angels and demons alike. What I was kind of squiggy about was Dean and her hooking up. To me, it seemed forced. Perhaps too much of an effort to polarize the brothers by having Dean with an angel while Sam was with a demon.

What are your thoughts? Do you like how the writers are portraying angels? What are your views of Castiel and Uriel and where their character journeys might take them? What do you think of the Anna/Dean hook-up?