Supernatural's "Party on, Garth" and SQUEE Surprise!!!

THEN

Wow, I feel stupid. I never connected DJ Quall's awesome Garth with the "how are you still alive" hunter from "Weekend at Bobby's." Man, I love seeing Bobby, even in flashback.

NOW

This campfire thing reminds me a little of "Wendigo" even though they didn't do campfire ghost stories. (Coincidentally, That Haley Girl from "Wendigo" was on tonight's episode of Fringe!)

Anyone who saw the previews knows what's coming. Wasted Trevor sees/hears something in the woods. He runs off, and when his brother goes after him, he finds a gruesome scene. Nice touch with the down from his vest floating around.

Oh, yeah, Garth appears to Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison," which somehow fits him very well. He approaches two of the women from the campfire, who dis him until he throws his badge and gets amusingly sudden respect. I love when dorks rule! They tell Garth about the real Jenny Greentree. He salts and burns her: "You've been Garthed." Bell Biv Devoe come back, while Garth hits himself in the face with his jacket when he tosses it over his shoulder, and the small grave fire gets bigger and bigger. Love it!

Trevor's brother is getting drunk in the woods now. You don't have to have seen the preview to know something bad is going to happen. Do you think he has salt rounds in his shotgun? Oh, wait, I think that's a rifle. He's "hunting" his brother's killer, but he gets hunted.

Garth "hearts you more"--Number One (my oldest daughter) thinks he was talking to Becky. What do you think? Garth hears about Trevor's brother and is angry. "I Garthed her!"

Finally, we get to Sam and Dean. Dean's getting an update from the bitch Meg. Apparently, Cas is still catatonic or something close. Dean asks Sam how his custard is. Sam says it's getting better, but he feels guilty for passing on the crazy. Dean's phone interrupts him, and it's Garth. How did I know Dean wouldn't remember him right away?

Fed Dean and Fed Sam show up at the morgue, and Corporal Brown--James Brown, ha!--is there to pay respects to his cousin, but clearly doesn't know the victims were brothers. An exasperated Sam takes over, checking the files and doing quick research. Dean asks if he's allergic to a suit, but Garth just looks good in a uniform. Doesn't everyone?

Dean gets EMF when Garth hadn't, but the details point to monster chow rather than ghost. A witness says it was invisible, so Dean goes with invisible ghost werewolf. Sam finds Thighslapper Ale (beverage for douchebags), and the owner is the father to the dead brothers. Dean assures Sam that Garth grows on ya. (He does, Sam! Give him a chance!)

The manager of the brewery is the sister. The place is run by two guys, with a third partner recently dead. I'm going to quickly encapsulate the storyline here so I can get to the good stuff. Sam, Dean, and Garth trace clues and family intricacies to learn that:

Three partners in the business, two want to sell to a giant distributor, one doesn't, he committed suicide a couple of months ago. But he gave them a gift "that would show them I forgive them," a saki bottle from Japan containing an alcohol spirit that was programmed to go after the kids of the ousting partners. I don't know why it kills the wife/mother instead of the little girl who accidentally drank from her mother's screwdriver, but probably they had the girl witness the trauma instead of dying herself because they know my husband's rule about quitting shows that do harm to kids.

I love that Sam and Dean consult, what, a sushi chef? He reads the curse on the box (and Dean very nicely pays him for his time) and later helps Dean bless a samurai sword with spring water poured from a plastic bottle. Dirty, but it works! Garth, who's not as hapless as he seems, figures out that Ray's son is the company janitor. He also saves Sam and Dean by tazing Ray when he discovers Sam and Dean drunk in the office, watching security footage of the spirit being set free.

Garth goes to the company (drunk on mini bar bottles) and sees the spirit stalking the unrecognized son. Sam, who's been getting drunk while watching out for the older sister, has to take a cab to the company. Dean meets them there with the sword, but he's the only one sober enough to fight the thing, but too sober to see it. (Sam to Dean when they got drunk in the office: "Can you even get drunk anymore? It's kind of like drinking a vitamin." Another good line: Drunk Sam saying the spirit followed the kid to the place with all the thingies. Dean thought that was smart. I love drunk Dean!)

Garth gets drunk on one bottle of beer. "Party on Garth." He doesn't usually drink beer because it messes with his depth perception, especially when he skinny dips. LOL He gets the young daughter's story out of her with a sock puppet, Mr. Fizzles. He also figures out that Bobby's old flask set off the EMF meter.

And that's the stuff that's REALLY good. Garth thinks Bobby might be haunting them. Sam admits that after the beer disappeared, he used a talking board to try to contact Bobby. It didn't work, or he'd have told Dean. But during the battle, the spirit throws Garth through a wall (again) and Sam against a wall (knocking him out) and knocks the sword from Dean's hand. Dean's a bit desperate, with Sam knocked out, the kid useless, and the sword five feet away...until it slides across the floor, right into his hand.

Dean's convinced now. He thinks he's alone and begs Bobby to do something. God, Jenson does tortured well. Sam, however, still needs a haircut. I mean, Sam hears Dean, but nothing happens. Later, after they say goodbye to Garth (I love the hugs...and the music!), we have this huge buildup of anticipation as Sam confronts Dean about the Bobby thing. Dean tries to blow it off, calling it his imagination, but Sam pushes. Dean catalogs the sword, the beer, the page, the book. But Sam thinks regular people see people they've lost all the time, too. They're actually close to normal.

I'm dying here!

Dean says "who knows more about being a ghost than Bobby?" Of course Bobby would let them know. They leave the motel room...come on come on come on...the camera pans over...

BOBBBYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Dean goes back inside, and kills us by glancing around, landing his eyes on something, and saying "there you are." Bobby thinks he sees him, but Dean just came back for the flask.

"I'm right here, ya idjit!" A gray-looking, heartbroken Bobby ends with "Balls!"

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

But OMG, that preview! I can't believe we have to wait three more friggin' weeks!

I love being unspoiled. I don't know if there were hints in any of the interviews I avoided, but I had no clue he'd actually show up and prove right those of us who called "he chose to stay" from the last fadeout on "Death's Door."

As a classic episode, I liked this one. I like Garth (which means we'll get three episodes with him next season and then he'll die) and the new spirit and the down-and-dirty blessing ritual and even the way figuring out what was happening was kind of like an episode of Castle or something, with all the family intrigues and unseen connections.

But as a Bobby reveal, it was even better. I made some strangled screaming noises when it happened. I think my family was ready to perform CPR on me (or make me Cas's roommate).

After this next hiatus, we should get the last five episodes all in a row. Which is nice, but it makes me sad that it's almost over when it feels like it just started.

What did you think?

The Born-Again Identity

So, Sam’s hallucinating again, bad. He’s been up 5 days straight and runs into a junkie who offers to knock him out, while Satan taunts him. I bet Jared is really going to look like that now that he has a newborn. I do think Mark P is having fun with this role. Sam is running away from Satan and gets hit by a car.

He’s admitted for broken ribs and lacerations, but he’s been admitted to the psych ward. The doctor believes he’s having a psychotic episode. They’ve pumped him full of sedatives and he still won’t sleep. (Oh, hey, Misha’s going to be in this episode! Interested to see how THAT will come out.)

Lucifer is keeping him company when Dean walks in and suggests a faith healer. Also, what kind of creepy hospital is this? The headboard is all rusty and scraped up. Sam sends him on his way, but Dean uses Bobby’s list of contacts (would Bobby have a list of contacts?) to look for help for Sam.

(While Lucifer reads a diagnostic textbooks and comments about having narcissistic personality disorder...) Sam takes his meds, and Dean gives up making calls. He tosses the address book on the table, but when he looks again it’s on the floor, and there’s a business card beneath. Dean calls and leaves a message.

Sam’s hallucinating that the doctor is Lucifer, that there are maggots in his sandwich, etc. Some redheaded chick appears in his open doorway, and he’s probably hallucinating again. Dean gets a call back. The hunter said he set every trap for a faith healer but he passed every one. He tells Dean this guy is the real deal.

The redhead is back and brings Sam a candy, and why is his door open? Dean goes to find Emmanuel the faith healer and catches sight of a bound and gagged woman through the window. The man claiming to be Emmanuel flashes black eyes and tells Dean whoever Emmanuel is, Crowley’s going to want him. Dean stabs him and he rolls down the stairs to land at Castiel’s feet.

Dean is freaked as Emmanuel/Castiel unties the girl. Emmanuel introduces himself to Dean and introduces the woman as his wife. Emmanuel doesn’t know about demons on the earth. Dean is still freaked but not hesitant about asking for help.

On the way to Sam, Emmanuel tells about how he wandered into his wife Daphne’s path drenched and confused and naked, and she took care of him.

“Who named you Emmanuel?” Dean asked.

“Bouncingbabynames.com.”

Dean comments it must be hard to not know who you are, if you’re a bad person or not. Emmanuel says he doesn’t feel like a bad person.

Sam makes friends with the redhead who is depressed and wants to die. She asks why he’s there, if it’s because voices in his head. She admits to Sam that her dead brother is the voice in her head, telling her to kill herself or he’d do it for her.

Dean leaves Cass in the car while he goes into the convenience store, and a demon follows him--wait, 2 more. Dean kills the first with the magic knife, and another demon is killed by a knife through the back. Meg’s back! Though, seriously, I miss that little blonde. They team up.

The little redhead tells Sam he needs sleep or his hair and nails will fall out. This cracks up Lucifer. She tells Sam she feels cold when she feels her brother coming. Her brother set the room on fire and she barely got out. Sam tells her that her brother is a ghost, but he’s been cremated. She has a bracelet he made that he bled on, and Sam asks for a lighter.

Okay, shouldn’t an episode with Cass and Meg being back be a little more exciting? Maybe I’m just underwhelmed after seeing Hunger Games, but.....yawn. I don't like this actress, I guess, and Dean is so INTENSE and Cass is old-humorless Cass, which was fine when Dean had humor.

So Sam sets the bracelet on fire and the girl’s brother disappears and the men in white coats tie him down. They’re talking about a surgical solution to Sam’s problem so he doesn’t overdose. Lucifer asks hopefully if they’re considering a lobotomy but...no.

Maybe it’s that it’s so choppy--a bit of Sam, a bit of Dean...

Meg spills the beans about Cass being an angel and that he can smite every demon, but he doesn’t remember how. Still, he walks down to the demons outside the hospital where Sam is kept and smites them. As he does, he remembers more and more about who he is. He remembers everything and is pissed at Dean for not telling him who he is and what he’s done.

Oh, hey, shock treatment for Sam from a demon-nurse, while Dean tries to convince Cass to come help. Cass is suffering from guilt over what he did. He deserved to die, so why did he walk out of the water? Dean says to fix it, and pulls Cass’s bloody trench coat out of the trunk. He touches Sam, saying he’s here to make it right, but Sam can’t believe Cass is real.

Whatever Cass did, didn’t work. Sam is listening to Lucifer read him The Three Little Pigs. There’s nothing left of the wall--it’s completely crumbled. He can’t fix it, but maybe he can shift it. He places a hand on Sam’s head and both start glowing red. Now CASS is hallucinating Lucifer and staying in the psych ward. They can’t protect him so they’re leaving him there.

Sam doesn’t like making a deal with Meg, but Dean says it’s not making a deal, it’s mutually assured destruction. Besides, they don’t have any friends, all their friends are dead.

So please tell me you found this episode more compelling than I did. At least Sam’s not hallucinating anymore.

What I Loved About "Out with the Old" (and the little bit I didn't)

I've had a long, tiring day and my laptop battery only gives me about half an hour now, so instead of a long, detail-by-detail recap of this week's episode, I'm going to give you my thoughts as I watch it a second time. Spoiler alert: I was completely delighted.

During the opening sequence with the ballerina literally dancing her feet off, I wondered if the shoes were cursed or if the janitor was responsible (yes, despite the curse boxes in the "THEN" section). Nice parallelism with the mop, though.

Delight number one: Sam and Dean talking openly. Sam's not trying to hide his Lucifer hallucinations from his brother!!! Dean's not trying to father Sam about it!!! This is (one of) what we've been craving for six years!

Oh, backing up a little, I love Frank and Dean's banter. Frank is hilarious. We're getting a nice, quick overview of just how big Dick's reach is, even if nothing makes much sense.

Opposite of delight number one: Isn't this girl a little old to be completely unaware of the absolute creepiness of shoes showing up where they're not supposed to be and then adjusting themselves to her size? Okay, they cast her well--she has the build and moves of a dancer. BUT IT'S CREEPY.

My husband would not watch this episode if they didn't save the girl. I kept expecting someone to walk in and think they were attacking her. Phew that they just saved her, after poor Dean getting kicked in the face a few times. I thought the actress probably had a lot of fun with that scene, but I might have been projecting.

OMG, when they wanted to put the shoes on! "Do they...look like they're your...size?" "Shut up." "Are you..." "Getting the urge to French Siegfried myself into oblivion?"

I thought Joyce and George were awesome. A little cliche with the door thing, but as awful as the Leviathans are, they're FUN.

Oh, oops, we're not supposed to know they're Leviathans yet.

Hey, Scott Freeman is my husband's cousin! Sam and Dean are seeming a bit impatient with the whole flashing-the-FBI-badge routine. Like they think they shouldn't have to bother, that everyone should just see them as feds and do their bidding.

OMG, the scene with the knives was a total throwback to the scary first season. I expected, of course, knives chopping up fingers. Instead, I channeled Tanya and hid my face while the woman boiled herself to death with the cool ornate teapot.

I kept feeling like Scott's mom had to be more important. She had this safe full of curse boxes full of cursed objects. But she's the Macguffin? I don't actually understand what that is, so maybe not.

Sam. Dude. Get a haircut. Please.

They don't even show a hint of dismay at the dead body. I mean, why would they, after seven years? But usually there's some emotion at not getting there in time to save a life. When Sam called it in, I was a little eye-rolly that he wasn't prepared with a response when they asked his name. How many times have you done this, Sam? But I guess I should give him a pass for not having slept in, oh, six weeks. And "Bruce Hornsby" was funny.

So who's next on the list? A gramophone sold to Brenda Gluck and a vintage gentleman's magazine sold to Peter Yanket. Okay, immature and ridiculous, but also very funny.

Uh, oh, another kid thing. He's totally gonna kill his mom. Yet another threat to my husband watching this with me tomorrow. They brought it right down to the wire. Good thing Sam didn't knock! "Kid. This would be a really good time for a lesson in gratitude. Lucky for you, I'm too tired." Interesting that these two aren't more upset about Sam coming in here. Why do they seem to understand exactly what happened and aren't all freaked out?

Wow, I can't believe we're only 20 minutes into the episode. It took Sam WAY too long to get across town. I expected something to have happened to him with the gramophone. In the meantime, Dean's getting clues and is actually pretty into this, more than just "avenge Bobby" and stuff. I guess he listened to Elliot Ness.

I was a little shocked when Joyce turned into the hardware guy. I thought she was killing him with the handshake but then she went all Leviathan. I wasn't sure if George just worked for Mr. Roman and was human or if Leviathans actually have weaklings. I guess they actually have weaklings. Though George had a lot more to him in the long run.

This episode was no "Mystery Spot," but I liked the way all the threads drew together. HATED Sam falling asleep at the wheel (inevitable) and almost doing a head-on with an eighteen wheeler. (Deliberate connection to the end of season 1, or laziness? Given the song they play at the end of the episode, I'm going with deliberate connection. What it means, if anything, I don't know.)

Sam's progression of extreme fatigue brought him logically to the late-night barrista, as did George being sent there by his dictator of a boss ("How about you eat me?" "Don't tempt me." I guess he is a Leviathan!) I loved how George recognized Sam by his voice and seemed simultaneously excited and scared.

"I don't mean to double-dip in your crazy sauce." Ha! I have to remember that one!

"We have a chain of command here, George. You see a Winchester, you don't eat him! You tell me, and *I* eat him!" She's so over-the-top and yet so natural at it.

Frank's sarcasm is awesomeness. That Dean, the King of Sarcasm, never seems to get it is funny.

So Leviathans are Walmarting mom and pop stores in Portland and Lucifer is on a constant "Stairway to Heaven" loop, 50 times and counting. Poor Sam!

I watch Nikita before Supernatural, and Nikita and Michael and Birkhoff and (to a lesser extent) Alex and Sean are almost always one step ahead of their enemies. So it bothered me that Sam and Dean rushed in to save Scott with no preparation and no suspicions, even though they just figured out that Leviathans are operating here and most likely killed Scott's mother.

George doesn't seem thrilled about the idea of being Scott for 30 years. But I was nicely surprised when Joyce was kicking Dean's ass and George seemed about to do the same to Sam but had somehow prepared a bucket of borax and sacrificed himself to it so Sam had time to get the sword and cut off Joyce's head.

"Thank you, I guess." I think everyone Sam and Dean have helped in the last few years could have said it the exact same way. Bye, Scott. Good luck.

Despite the vast history of alliances-with-the-enemy falling apart, I still like the idea of having a Leviathan on their side. Luckily, Sam and Dean aren't so ready to take George at face value. But it's weird, after all the evil stuff we've seen them do, he's so corporate, even talking about the size of the plan.

"Listen to me, you gooey son of a bitch. You're gonna tell us what you're building here, or I'm gonna wash your mouth out with soap." Hee.

Okay, raise your hand if you saw this coming: "It's going to be a research center. This, gentlemen, is where we are going to cure cancer. We're only here to help." What a smug look on his face!

So, wait. That's where they leave it? Sam and Dean believe George? And there's no punchline about not being able to eat you if you're diseased?

And here we are, the very ominous return of "Bad Moon Rising" that transitions them from Oregon to wherever Frank's trailer is, I don't remember. Noooo! Don't kill Frank! He's so awesome! Not Bobby awesome, but awesome.

Well, crap. It looks like they killed Frank.

Guess who's back next week! And he's not the only one!

So what did you think of this episode? My appreciation average tends to be way above that of my fellow Supernatural Sisters here, but am I alone in liking this one a lot? Please share your thoughts!

PLUCKY PENNYWHISTLE’S MAGICAL MENAGERIE

You know from the moment we see poor Sam getting cornered in a garage between two maniacal, green-haired clowns that this is going to be an amusing episode and it didn’t disappoint. I especially loved the opening splash page exploding into a garish splatter of glitter and paint.

The episode toggles back and forth between Sam’s battle in the garage and the events that led to the clown showdown. For now we’ll rewind 60 hours

Dean’s talking to Frank on a clap-infested pay phone, trying to see if he’s learned anything about Bobby’s murderer. Unfortunately, the answer is he’s got dick on Dick. So the boys head to Wichita, Kansas. (I’ve got relatives there. I’ve always known that place is ev-il!) Dean is happy for the diversion because he’s sworn off bars, booze, babies and hot chicks of any kind. (Dear Lord those Amazons really did a number on him!) The latest strange involves a man with suction marks all over his body from a giant Pacific octopus and a bite mark on his neck that bled him out. It’s Octo-vamp, not to be confused with Octo-mom, but equally scary. The next casualty is a man who was impaled in the chest by a unicorn who appears to have rainbow farts.

The boys soon discover a commonality between the victims. They’d recently taken their kids to Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie, a scarier version of Chuck E. Cheese. It seems Sam’s Coulrophobia stems from the fact that his big brother would dump him off at the kiddie pizzeria while Dean trolled for chicks. Sam doesn’t want to investigate Plucky’s but Dean tells him 99.99% of all clowns can’t hurt you and if it bleeds, it can die.

At Plucky’s, “Where All Your Dreams Are Good” ( I think not!) the walls are decorated with children’s drawings. In an effort to aide childhood development the kids are encouraged to draw their worst nightmares so Plucky can make their fear disappear. A janitor overhears Sam’s discussion with the manager and tells him to come back after closing so he can tell him something in private. The poor guy never gets the chance. After some kid pukes in the ball pit the custodian climbs in to sanitize the balls and—in a clever homage to Jaws’ opening scene—is quickly dispatched by a land shark.

Something or someone didn’t want him to blow the whistle, but the remainder of the victims are all less than stellar parents. The next one on the hit list looks to be a Plucky employee. The harried mom actually gives her son, who looks to be about seven, money so he can take the bus home on his own. Eek! Instead he settles into a table and draws a picture of a robot with laser eyes.


Federal Agent Sam returns to Plucky’s to “lean on” the employees. Dean will then follow them post-interview to see if they reveal their guilt. (But really he’s all about earning the super-sized Slinky by winning double-tickets on Skeeball.) Using every bad cop cliché maneuver Sam hilariously questions the manager, the prize guy (who’s so chipper you want to punch him) and the Lion mascot who takes off running. Only he’s not guilty of Mary Poppinsing the kids pictures into reality. He thought he was being busted for his Breaking Bad bro’s meth connections. However, he does reveal that the basement is uber-scary.

Sam seeks out the kid and his mom before she gets blasted by a robot, while Dean checks out the boiler room (always a bad idea). Wow, it turns out perky prize guy has been taking the kids drawings and a personal item he’s lifted off their parents and thrown them into a fire pit set into the middle of a pentagram. Dean finds the boy’s robot pic and tears it up. Mom might be safe, but prize guy had already thrown Sam’s business card and a clown picture into the fire. That brings us to Sam’s clown chase. The poor boy is getting his butt beaten. Apparently, these juggalos are in the rare minority of clowns who CAN hurt you.

A desperate Dean tries to figure out how to save Sam. It seems prize guy went all berserk because he was passed up for management. But the real reason for his revenge goes back to his childhood. His brother was drowning and when he tried to get his parents attention in order to save him, they ignored him. Dean quickly makes the connection between the story and a picture prize guy had drawn. He takes the artwork and a clown figurine and throws them into the fire. Prize guy’s brother then shows up and causes Plucky’s perky employee to drown. Fortunately for Sam, his clown duo then explodes in a cloud of glitter. When Dean sees him again he laughingly tells his little brother he looks like he’s been attacked by some PCP crazed stripper. (It’s SO good to see Dean genuinely laugh and smile!) He then apologizes for psychologically scarring Sam.

You know, I had a boyfriend in high school who was terrified of clowns. He literally shuddered at the mere mention of them, which of course meant I had to tease him unmercifully. Sorta the same way Dean teases Sam. As the boys get ready to leave Wichita behind, Sam gifts Dean with a giant slinky. Dean says he has a present for Sam too. Unlike the slinky, the clown doll is left on the asphalt as they drive off.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. There were tons of great one-liners, Jared did an awesome job acting skittish and his bad cop routine had me in stitches. It was also wonderful seeing Dean in a lighter—i.e. not self-destructive—frame of mind and the phobias were fun. That’s all over now. The previews for next week show things are about to take a very dark turn.

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE MONSTERS

The episode starts with something running through Wharton State Forest in New Jersey. A couple of glampers are “roughing it” in a tent with their cherry wood, four poster bed and widescreen TV. (Do people really do this kind of glamorous camping? I’m appalled! I thought we were living it up when we bought blow-up mattresses to sleep on in our tent and our entertainment involves playing Skip-bo by lantern light while we eat Smores cooked over the fire.) Before you know it, a snoozing Mr. Glamper is hung upside down in a tree, wrapped tight like a burrito in his sleeping bag, while a mystery monster munches on him.

The Winchesters and Bobby find themselves another hell hole to hide in. The lack of amenities and being forced to stay so far off the grid they don’t even have the luxury of hot food or showers is really getting to Dean. After stopping the world’s end, twice, he wonders if they shouldn’t just let it finally bite the dust.

“Stop wrestling with the big picture, son, you’re going to hurt your head. “ – Bobby to Dean

The Jersey Devil is making headlines in the area due to a rash of strange deaths. It is Jersey, after all. Anything inexplicable has often been attributed to the urban creature which is described as human-like with bat wings and sometimes a tail or horse head.

“I took a look at the cadaver, what’s left of it, not a happy camper.” – Bobby

The boys interview Ranger Rick at Biggersons, a local restaurant. The warden seems stoned and completely unconcerned that his assistant might be missing. After being no help whatsoever, Rick leaves and Bobby joins the boys for dinner. A testy waiter named Brandon delivers food to “Big Bird, Ken Doll and Creepy Uncle” before mouthing off to his boss and storming out. An unperturbed Dean gleefully inhales a Pepperjack Turdunken Slammer.

“You don’t shoot Bambi, jackass. You shoot Bambi’s mother.” – Bobby

The trio of hunters head out into the woods where the brothers are impressed with Bobby’s survivalist skills. They find what remains of Rick’s assistant and call the ranger in. The dude’s unfazed that his partner’s dead. Just as Rick’s radioing in the crime, Bobby hears a noise. Quicker than you could scream “watch out!” an unseen force yanks Rick off his feet and hauls him up into the trees. All three guys train their rifles upward, but the night lamps don’t show a thing. Bobby instructs them to go dark. He closes his eyes, carefully listens, then takes a blind shot and—blam!—knocks it out of the tree. It appears to be a man with glaucoma fogged eyes and a cannibal’s appetite, not a Jersey Devil. (I'm intrigued, but kinda bummed.) The boys haul the corpse back to their cabin where he suddenly springs up in a rage. They riddle him with bullets and he finally dies. A crude, not to mention grody, autopsy by Bobby and Sam reveals a lot of gelatinous goo, a mongo adrenal gland (which explains his brute strength), bit and pieces of Rick, a pine cone and a—hork!—cat’s head. (Poor kitty.) While the two surgeons look green around the gills, Dean seems strangely uninterested and even more ravenous than usual. Not good, methinks.

“I think you pissed off my sandwhich.” – Dean

They go back to Biggersons because Dean is craving another Slammer. As he moans in ecstasy over his sandwich, Bobby and Sam start to look around the diner and notice the other patrons are equally enamored with their turducken. Much to Dean’s horror, they take away his meal. At home it erupts into purple snot. Yack! It’s the same goo that was in the dead body.

“If I wasn’t so chilled out right now, I’d puke.” – Dean

The guys stalk a Biggersons’ meat delivery truck. Dean’s passed out in a tryptophan coma in the back seat so Sam asks Bobby if he’s concerned about him. Bobby says the boys spend so much time worrying about each other that neither one of them is living.

Meanwhile, Biggersons bitchy Brandon (say that ten times fast) attacks a girl, but someone stops him before he’s able to chow down. Turns out it’s Edgar the Leviathan. What better way to create widespread chaos then through food?

“The world’s a suicide case, we save it, it just steals more pills.” – Bobby

Sleep and coffee have cleared Dean’s head. (But he’s so cute and goofy when he’s stoned) While Sam scouts the area, Bobby takes Dean to task for his shitty attitude. He says Dean’s talking like a hunter who’s about to die. Dean says he’s talking like someone who’s had it and can’t figure out why he once thought any of this mattered. Point blank, Bobby says he needs to find a reason to get his head back in the game because if Dean dies first Bobby will kill him. (Awww.)

THE RISE OF DICK (best TV news subtitle ev-er)

Dick shows up at the warehouse and everyone’s atwitter waiting for his arrival. The boys do some research and find he’s one of the Top 35 businessmen in America. A corporate shark billionaire Leviathan. Awesome.

He asks our trusty doc Leviathan about the failed subjects in their experiment. You know, the one’s with hyper-adrenalized cannibalism. Dick is pissed that these failed test subjects have made the news. His number 1, golden rule, is that “there are no monsters.” To punish doctor demented, and to set an example for his other employees, Dick “bibs” him, which means he’s got to open that razor-sharp maw and consume himself, leaving all the black goo on a bib. Niiice!

More spying gets Bobby nabbed. He figures his chance of being rescued is slim since Sam and Dean don’t have back-up and don’t know how to kill these big bads. Fortunately for Mr. Singer, a cleaning truck pulls up to the warehouse. The Winchesters hijack their cleaning supplies and bust through the front door spraying Leviathans as they go. The toothy monsters burn up, which at least slows them down. Dick goes to see what the commotion is. Bobby reads the files on his desk and blanches at something he see there, then he nabs a second gun Dick left behind. He shoots Dick’s assistant and heads into the fray. Between soap and shots the brothers manage to escape with Bobby slowly pulling up the rear. Why’s he hesitating? Bobby never hesitates.

Finally he runs out the door and heads for the side van door. Dick chases after him and shoots. Shit, shit, shit. Is Bobby hit? The boys are talking to him as they speed off, but he’s not answering. Sam starts to pass him back his ball cap, but notices a bullet hole in it. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The preview for Death's Door, the winter finale next week, shows Bobby in the hospital and things do NOT look good.

Okay, this has been my worst fear. If Sera kills Bobby I may have to hunt her down. I love that old coot and he better make it through this. It’s bad enough we lost Cass, but I understand it with us going back to the type of Season 1 stories we’ve been doing. But DO NOT kill Bobby. He has to continue being their surrogate father and he has to get together with Sheriff Jodi. Period. Other than my general freakedoutness over the ending of this episode I enjoyed it. Bobby had some of the best lines and stoned Dean was a hoot. What did you think and do you think Bobby will pull through or is this just one more thing the writers are going to take away from the boys to make them ill at ease and defenseless against the Leviathans?

"Season 7, Time for a Wedding!"

I love when the writers get all cheeky and poke fun at industry conventions! I wonder what else they'll decide is supposed to be included in season 7.

We start with "Then" and with so much focus on Becky, I'm guessing she's the one who will marry Sam. Yeah, despite my attempts to remain unspoiled, I knew Sam was the one getting married. :(

We're in Las Vegas, with Dean talking up a hot waitress. He's actually pretty relaxed and into the flirtation, which is nice to see. But this opening talk confuses the heck out of me. Since when do they have a sacred annual pilgrimage to Vegas? It took me a long time to get into the flow of the story after that.

Dean's main problem, coaxed out of him by the waitress (stripper?), is actually pretty great. His brother is batshit nuts, but the shit's not hitting the fan. He's all reasonable and stuff, though he's worried about Sam being out camping by himself. She says "we all need to face ourselves sometime," not referring to Sam, and when we get to the end of the episode, that idea is revisited. Nice circle there. But I'll come back to that.

So Sam texts Dean to come down the street, and wear his Fed suit. Hey, I recognize this church! It was the one where Sam defeated Samhain in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester." Pretty sure it was also the entry to the tombs in "Houses of the Holy," too. You know you're obsessed when you recognize repurposed locations. :)

So Dean comes in packing, but Sam assures him he doesn't need the pistol. Dean asks what their pretext is (I love when they use the lingo, though I'm not sure we've heard this one since "Tall Tales"). What are they hunting, a siren?

No. Sam's in love, and he's getting married.

Enter the creepy bride, with the thickest veil this side of the Boar's Head (<---Harry Potter reference). Dean's reaction, to both Sam's announcement and to his bride, is priceless. I LOVE when Jensen gets to do comedy! Beautiful black-and-white wedding cake that explodes into the title shot. That was AWESOME. Dean's still trying to figure this out. Sam's explanation? "We met, we ate..." Ah-HA. She had to do something to him, right? A spell or potion, maybe? But despite Sam being a bit mild and oddly unquestioning, he seems fine. Very natural with Becky, who of course is thrilled beyond belief. She doesn't care about the average life span of his hookups—eyes wide open—and is even paying for the wedding. "Really?! SuperFan99?!"

Sam and Becky leave for her home in Delaware. Dean calls Bobby but has to leave a message, as Bobby's got his hands full with a nest in Oregon. I love that Bobby's presence is so strong, even when he's not on screen.

Sam and Becky pull into a restaurant parking lot. Sam says they just ate, and for a moment I think Becky must be a monster of some sort who needs lots of calories, but no, it all becomes clear when she walks in to the site of her high school reunion, with the requisite mean girl handling the planning. Becky shows off Sam, then introduces him to her friend Guy, who has an interesting reaction to Sam. I assumed on first watch that he was part of Becky's plan, and he is, but his surprise is not just that it worked, as we later find out.

"Guy's a really good friend. We met in the erotic horror section at the Novel Hovel..."

Guy's an event planner, and reunion season is very busy for him, but Becky runs after him to get some silver-clad glass bottle and makes reference to him being Wiccan. Dean drives up as they drive away. He doesn't follow, but goes inside and pulls out Dad's journal, presumably to do research (though I'd think he has that thing memorized by now) or take notes (maybe it's his own journal now). He's immediately distracted by a newspaper story about some guy's good fortune and immediate tragedy.

Sam's sitting at a lovely dinner (rotisserie chicken from the grocery store) and Becky comes out in sexy lingerie. Anyone else reminded of "Wishful Thinking" at this point? Or, like, for the full 11 minutes up to this point? But Sam gets vision-like headaches and comes painfully to reality, with no clue how he got there, and I can't help wondering why I thought he seemed so normal. Now he's really Sam, for a few crucial seconds. Becky gives him the potion, and he's back to being in "love" with her. Poor Sam.

Cut to a guy hitting balls on a baseball field, and another guy using mojo of some sort (his hand movements remind me of Castiel, but I'm thinking more like demon or witch). Baseball to the face, requisite blood splatter, ewwwww.

Dean, being supportive, brings Sam a waffle iron. Sam's a little standoffish but displays no animosity. He's just...I don't know, kind of empty? Dean brings up the job in town. Baseball guy just got called up to the majors. Becky says their first thought was crossroads demon, but there's the 10-year time frame. Dean's totally flummoxed that Sam and Becky are working the case together. He's pissed at Becky, but even when Sam says "that's my wife you're talking about," there's no heat. He's talking the talk, but there's no real emotion behind it.

Dean says people who get their dreams come true bite it pretty quick. Sam says maybe what's bothering Dean is that Sam doesn't need him anymore. Ouch. Dean leaves, and tells Bobby he doesn't want another hunter, but since Bobby's all the way across the country (sorry, Dean, he's not close to his magic South Dakota wormhole), he's going to hook Dean up with someone local.

Sam catches Becky writing in her journal (swirly "Sam loves Becky" crap) and sniffing the presumably scented ink. When he licks his thumb and rubs the ink off her nose, there is nothing romantic about it. Except to her. He's found another dream-achiever...and Becky's journal. But despite her hilarious panic, he thinks it's beautiful and hugs the book. He's so adorable!

Dean goes back to the restaurant to meet the hunter, but the burly guy he approaches first isn't who he's looking for. It's the scrawny guy in the corner (DJ Qualls!), who says, "I thought you'd be taller." Bobby told him Dean would be all surly and premenstrual working with him, but he's cool with it. So do you think he'll go the way of Tamara, a hunter never seen again, or Rufus, recurring until he dies?

Dean (in a sweater vest?!) and his new partner cross paths with Sam and Becky at the CEO's office. Dean plays hard-hitting journalist very well, while Garth cuts right to the chase and hits the guy with "nefarious means" questions about black magic and hoodoo. Between the two of them, they get that the guy didn't want the job. But his bitchy wife obviously did want it. Dean tries to get the story from her, but she blows them off.

"Why do people keep thinking I'm threatening them?"
"Because it sounded exactly like a threat, dude."

Sam's trying to work the case while Becky tweets about going on a romantic getaway. The elixir wears off again, but it leaked in Becky's purse, and she can't stop Sam from reverting.

Dean saves the CEO's wife, whose story makes it sound like a demon deal. But the timeline is whack. Garth shows his hunter chops and lays out the plan. They'll stow the wife with his cousin, a tri-racial paraplegic sniper, while they go after the demon.

Becky makes a desperation call to Guy, Sam is in pain and asks Becky what's going on, and when he says he's calling Dean, she knocks him out with a waffle iron.

Sam wakes up tied to a bed in a nice cabin.

Tied. To a bed.

...

...

Okay, I'm back. Sam's fully himself, and what a friggin' relief! Becky tests him for concussion symptoms, says he's pantsless because they're very constricting, but don't worry, she didn't do anything weird. Guy calls her back on her computer, and she wants the elixir. She says the stuff is wearing off faster and faster and whines that they haven't even consummated their marriage. Guy says to meet him in an hour, and Sam heard everything. He's pissed, while Becky is full of justification. Sam knows right away that Guy is the one killing everyone, and says Becky is on his list. Crazy woman. She refuses to untie him, stuffs a rag in his mouth, and calls "love you too!" as she runs off for more love potion.

I know she's pathetic and doing something awful here, but I really like Becky!

But it turns out Sam was right. Guy wants payment now, and reveals his red eyes. Reunions give him tons of clients, and he admits (kind of) that he's responsible for the deaths. He says he wasn't thrilled to see her new hubby was Sam Freakin' Winchester, but he'll give her a special deal. Twenty-five years—unprecedented—with Sam for her soul and her promise not to tell the Winchesters any of it.

The timeline gets a little murky for me from this point. She wants a drink, but Guy hands over the potion, then she goes back to the house and talks to Sam, then she's drinking at the end of the reunion. I think the editing could have been tidied up a little.

Dean and Garth go to Becky's apartment and find enough clues to send them to the lake house (Loon Lake, nice pun :) ). Becky is there lamenting that her plan to show off Sam—he's tall and nice, and they'd think she was happy—isn't going according to plan. She does a short rundown of her life and fondles the bottle of elixir. Sam tells her she's better than this, she says she's not so sure, and now we're back at the restaurant after the reunion. She tells Guy she's in.

Wow. I can't believe we still have 20 minutes to go. This episode was actually shorter than normal, but seemed to go on for a long time.

Becky gets close enough to the demon to seal the deal, but instead drops a lighter on a devil's trap made from blueberry vodka. Sam, Dean, and Garth show up, so apparently they made it to the lake house. Guy asks for Dean's autograph, Dean pulls out the demon-killing knife. Guy claims to be an innovator instead of a cheater, using an "intern" to arrange accidents and collect early on the souls. Intern flings all three hunters across the room. He's pretty powerful. Fights ensue, Garth gets knocked out, Sam and Dean are getting throttled, season 1 style. Becky saves Sam with a knife through the intern's torso (that knife isn't that long!) and Sam tosses it to Dean, who turns it on Guy.

Guy says "oh crap" and Dean thinks it's because of him, but then Crowley appears. Oh, crap. But Crowley isn't too happy with Guy's stupidity. The "intern" ratted him out. Crowley's pissed at the damage to their credibility.

"There's a reason we don't call our chits in early. Consumer confidence. This isn't Wall Street, this is Hell! We have a little something called integrity."

Crowley makes a deal to cancel all Guy's deals (15 of them) and take Guy from Dean. Sam's suspicious, and Crowley points out that demons have left Sam and Dean alone while they're dealing with the Leviathans.

"You met that dick, yeah? Smuggest tub of goo since Mussolini. I hate the bastards. Squash them all. Please. I'll stay clear."

His "done. and done." when he cancels the deals reminds me of Ash. *sniff*

Man, I love Crowley.

Sam, with absolutely no sympathy for Becky, gets an annulment and says she'll probably never see him again. But he does take pity and tells her she's not a loser, to just do her thing, whatever that is, and the right guy will find her. Then Garth gets all crushy on her, but Dean squashes that pretty quick.

We have the goodbye scene, when Dean tells Garth he doesn't suck. "Thank you, man. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." I like Garth. I hope we see him again.

Sam says he does need Dean watching his back, but Dean admits Sam's a grown up and doesn't need him any more.

"It's still a Denver scramble up here, I just know my way around the plate now."

Sam says it's about time Dean gets to just look out for himself, but Dean doesn't look too thrilled about that. This is where we're supposed to reflect back on the waitress (stripper?) saying he needed to face himself. Come on, Dean, you can do it. You're a helluva guy, you know.

Final verdict: This wasn't my favorite episode, but I really liked the tone and the characters, and I have a feeling this will be one of my favorites to rewatch. It's always nice to have a light episode among all the heavy, dark ones.

What did you think?

Defending Your Life

I’m currently recovering from having my appendix and gallbladder out on Tuesday, so this will not be a full recap. Instead I’m just going to share my thoughts on Defending Your Life. However, I’m doing so under the influence of pain killers.

Between the killer car (and I called Christine before Dean did) and the killer dog my first thought was that Stephen King was responsible for killing these people. Frankly, I kinda liked the idea of an author’s fantasies materializing. I wanted to see ole Stevie with a cameo. But it wasn’t long before I realized their demise was caused by the method of their guilt. When the old dude was being haunted by the couple he killed in a robbery I actually felt saddened to lose the King connection. (Maybe there still is one and I don’t know it.)

What really struck me in this episode was how old and tired Dean acted. From stretching out his aching back to bitching about just wanting a simple day job for once, he’s showing a wear and tear we haven’t seen before. Did anyone else think he seemed more than a little resigned to his death sentence? Has the fight gone out of him?

I actually enjoyed the character of Osiris and particularly enjoyed the trial…until the end. The whole time I was thinking, “Oh, no, here it is, Sam’s going to find out Dean killed Amy.” Dean positively squirmed with guilt and the viewer knew it was that deadly deed and lying to his brother about it that would ultimately cost Dean his life. But he wouldn’t allow Osiris to call her to the stand. I was concerned for nothing.

While Dean was waiting for Sam and Bobby to figure something out I just knew Amy would show up then…but no, it’s Jo. Okay, I get that. It’s a lot meaner for Osiris to send Jo to snuff Dean out. It’s more personal. Cruel. Reciprocal, even. But still…

Overall, I wasn’t real keen on this episode. I like that we learned Dean never wanted to be a lone hunter. I liked seeing Jo again. But the false threat of Dean’s betrayal hanging over the episode like a black cloud and then amounting to a whole lot of nada made me feel cheated. At the very least wouldn’t Sam press him harder to find out who that secret witness was? What did you think? Maybe I’ll rewatch the episode one day and see if I feel different post-recovery. In the meantime, I’m just looking forward to seeing Cordy and Spike next week!

The Man Who Would Be King

Then

We see clips from Sam going into the cage, Castiel telling Dean that Sam's soul is missing, the revelation about Cas creating more souls for the war in Heaven through negating the sinking of the Titanic, Eve telling the boys she wants Crowley, and Crowley referring to having to clean up Cas's messes.

Now

Cas is sitting outside saying he's been around a long time and seen many things -- when the first fish crawled out of the ooze, the Tower of Babel ("all 37 feet of it, which I guess was impressive at the time. But come on, dry dung can only be stacked so high."), Cain and Abel, David and Goliath, Sodom and Gomorrah. And he also remembers the most remarkable things, remarkable because they never came to pass, prevented by "two boys, an old drunk and one fallen angel." Of that latter grand story, "We ripped up the ending, and the rules, and destiny, leaving nothing but freedom and choice, which is all well and good except what if I made the wrong choice? How am I supposed to know? But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you my story. Let me tell you everything."

Next we see Dean driving down the road, and Castiel pops into the passenger seat to "check in." Both tell the other they haven't seen anything of "Satan Jr.", aka Crowley. It's painfully obvious that Cas is lying, and it's bothering Dean. But Dean's lying too. Poof, and Cas disappears. He shows up at some gruesome lab where Crowley is doing an autopsy on Eve with a side of torture to another monstery schmuck. Cas refers to Crowley saying Eve could open the door to Purgatory, and Crowley says that he believes she could have if she was still alive.

Crowley: "Your best change to get over the rainbow and the Winchesters killed her."

Crowley tells Cas that he's distracted and that makes Crowley nervous. Cas responds by saying he's holding up his end of their deal, but Crowley isn't happy Cas is still hanging with the Winchester boys.

"The stench of that Impala is all over your overcoat, angel."

Next we're back with Cas, telling his story. "We'd stopped Armageddon, but at a terrible cost." He reveals he's the one who brought Sam back from Hell and says he should have recognized the fact that he hadn't brought all of Sam back as a warning.

Crowley asks Cas to kill Sam and Dean or he'll do it. Cas tells him no and not to worry about them. Crowley begins listing all the people who didn't worry about the boys and died because of it -- Lucifer, Michael, Lilith, Alastair, Azazel.

Castiel: "Just find Purgatory. If you don't, we will both die again and again until the end of time. The Winchesters won't get to you."

When Dean reaches Bobby's, Sam and Bobby are questioning a monster named Red who's been hunting things for Crowley. They want to know where Crowley is, and Red isn't being cooperative. Dean tells Bobby and Sam about Cas popping in and how he fed him a line about being on some "crap monster hunt." They all hate the idea of Cas being in with Crowley, but they're being careful in case he is. Unknown to them, Castiel is in the room listening to their conversation about the fact that maybe he's gone dark side. Red finally reveals that he's never met Crowley, that he deals with The Dispatcher, a demon named Ellwsorth. Cas says that if there's a demon counterpart to Bobby Singer, Ellsworth would be it.

Knowing that Ellsworth and his demons would lead the Winchesters to Crowley, who'd tear their hearts out, Cas takes out Ellsworth and two other demons.

Cas: "I did it to protect the boys, or myself. I don't know anymore."

The boys and Bobby arrive at Ellsworth's place to find it empty. Cas laments the lies, the hiding and the sweeping away of evidence. "My motives used to be so pure." After supposedly saving Sam, Cas returned to Heaven. He says that there isn't one Heaven, that each soul creates its own paradise. He tells the angels they are free to choose what they want to do now. But he says those first weeks back were difficult. "Explaining freedom to angels is a lot like teaching poetry to fish." When he went to see Raphael, he asks whose Heaven he's in and Raphael says it's Ken Lay's and he's borrowing it. Raphael says that Castiel and all the angels will have to kneel to him, that he's going to free Lucifer and Michael and get the apocalypse back on the road.

Sam, Dean and Bobby try to call Cas for help, but he doesn't go to them because they have questions he doesn't want to answer. Then some demons show up and say, "Crowley says, 'Hi'." Cas shows up and smites the demons because the Winchesters and Bobby "are my friends. For a brief moment, I was me again." As they're talking, he slips up and reveals he's lying when he refers to going to the dark side, something the other three had mentioned when they didn't know he was there.

Castiel says that Raphael is stronger than him and he'd never stand a chance in a straight fight, so he went to Dean for help. Only when he thought about all Dean had sacrificed, he couldn't do it. That's when Crowley showed up wanting to make a deal.

"I'm an angel, you ass. I don't have a soul to sell."

Crowley shows Cas how he's redone hell. Everyone there is having to stand in an endless line, and when they get to the front they just come back to the end again. Crowley proposes an alliance in which each of them will get half the souls in Purgatory for his own use -- Cas for a civil war in Heaven, and Crowley to shore up his position as the king of Hell. He offers to float Cas a loan of 50,000 souls from the pit. Prideful, Cas accepts the deal and declares war on Raphael so he can avoid the apocalypse.

Back to the present, Bobby and the boys call Cas and when he arrives they trap him in the ring of fire and force him to tell the truth. Honestly, at this point I feel sorry for Cas because he seems like an angel who was in between a rock and a hard place. He might have made the wrong choices, but he had good intentions. But we all know what road is paved with good intentions. Dean tells him that he should have come to them for help.

Crowley shows up, and Cas tells Sam, Dean and Bobby to run, which they do. Crowley asks Cas what he's willing to do. Cas goes to Dean to try to explain, and Dean tells Cas that he's like a brother to him and asks him to stop this quest for Purgatory with Crowley. And if he doesn't, Dean says he'll do whatever he has to in order to stop him. Cas says he's sorry and disappears. Then we're back to Cas praying to God for a sign that he's on the right path. "Because if you don't, I'm going to do whatever I must." When no sign his offered, he drops his head.

"Frontierland" Review

Warning: I did not do a cool "as I watched" recap like the others do, so this is a fairly random stream of my thoughts on tonight's episode.

I'll start with the things I didn't like, because they are few.

No, wait. I'll start with OMG, Dean in a hat.

Also?

Sam in a hat.

Yum. Mee.

Best Line of the Episode:
"I didn't get a soulonoscopy for nothin'."

Oh, wait, I was doing the things I didn't like. Okay, first, why didn't we get to see Sam racing across the plain on horseback? You know, that photo over his desk in "The French Mistake"? I wanted to see that galloping live. *sigh*

While Number One swooned repeatedly over all the Back to the Future homages, I found it a little hard to buy that Sam would have had Bobby's address in his phone. It was a plausible explanation for how Samuel Colt found him, but these guys have spent half their lives trying not to be found.

Okay, that's it. That's all I didn't like. Unless you count the saloon girl's mouth, and the authenticity was so fantastic, I can't not like it, disgusting as it was. :)

So, what did I like?

Soooooo much. I have to admit, I've had this fantasy where Castiel gets wounded with an angel sword, with his grace all exposed, and he comes to me to heal him, because I'm the only one who can. My heart beat a little faster at that scene. :)

Poor, beaten-down Cas. I'm kind of hoping they get The Mother taken care of tout suite and address this war in heaven in the last episodes, because man, I'm dying 1) to know what Castiel has been doing, and 2) for the boys to finally step up and HELP him. I want major sacrifices, guys, no holding back. After everything Cas has done for you, the least you can do it throw yourselves into his war and save him.

Speaking of which, I loved how Bobby didn't hesitate when it came to letting Cas touch his soul. Granted, that was actually minor compared to other things he's faced, but still.

Let me backtrack a little. There were a few threads to follow in this episode. (I love it when they do that!)

First, there's the Mother thing. Bobby and the Idjits break into the Campbell's hidden stash of research materials, looking for something about how to kill The Mother. They find reference to the ashes of a phoenix doing the trick, but come on, how do you kill something that is reborn immediately every time it dies? Dean geeks out when he finds Samuel Colt's original journal, which contains a note that "the gun killed a phoenix today." (As a word geek, I love how that's written!)

Which brings me to thread 2, the return of Samuel Colt and The Colt. Everything looped so awesomely here. Colt was building the railroads around the Devil's Gate. Elkins was the bartender in the town where Dean dropped the Very Special Gun, which explains how the later Elkins had it in 1973 and 2006. I wonder if he knew how special it was—like, he was watching from the saloon and saw this unkillable thing die—and kept it safe. I loved the portrayal of Colt himself. A tired, unflinching, seen-it-all tough guy is exactly what I would have expected.

Castiel's war is another thread. I got the impression, when reading about Rachel's casting, that she was a bigger character, but she didn't last long. When we first see her, she's vociferously protective of Cas, and I agreed wholeheartedly with her assessment of the boys' expectations of Cas. Later, she's a disillusioned lieutenant who turns on her leader when she learns he's doing...something despicable. Whoa, Cas, what are you UP to, anyway?

Plenty of humor in this episode. I love, love, love the easiness the brothers have with each other. I know we've said this before, but they have a comfort level that harks back to the early days, but it's tenfold because there's finally no tension between them. (Oh, yikes, I just remembered that wall in Sam's head that's destined to come down...) I can't wait to watch the season all the way through again, with no breaks. I know I'll be marveling at the acting, at the difference in hardness and coldness versus charm and ease.

Dean was such a nerd about the Westerns. Okay, this is the first we've ever heard of his obsession, but it does fit in with his late-night movie watching habit. He was pretty adorable. And hot in his "authentic" clothing, once he got rid of the ill-fitting, silly stuff.

Then there was the monster-of-the-week element. We have undertones of the typical "is he a monster, or is he just living his life and humanity is the monster?" The phoenix's wife was nearly raped and then murdered by the deputy, and the phoenix himself (Elias, I think) hanged for her murder. Now, when he told the story to Sheriff Dean, it sounded like the previous sheriff and judge had misinterpreted the situation, or took the deputy at his lying word, but when the sheriff apologized to Elias before being smoked, that seemed to imply they railroaded him to protect their guy. Elias murdered three people, and after what he'd been through, what would stop him from murdering others? An interesting question is if Dean would have had more compunction about killing Elias if he hadn't needed his ashes. Oh, and if Elias wasn't shooting at him. That was good incentive. :)

I was a little shocked and dismayed when they got flashed back to the present without the ashes. All that effort, Cas and Bobby risking themselves, for naught! And then Colt getting them the ashes anyway. He had to be curious about whether the gun worked on the phoenix and followed Sam back to town. I wonder how he felt about his revolver going missing, especially when the demons were still after him. Hey, how about a few webisodes featuring Colt? I'd love to find out some of his story!

So...your turn! What did I forget? What did you like or not like about the episode?

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning

We open with a distraught Dean trying to wake Sam after his seizure. Things don’t look good and then Sam gasps awake.

We switch to a Chemistry classroom with a creepy, full-size human body model. I keep expecting the bug eyes to follow the janitor as he’s mopping. Eek! I’m right! Uh oh, the model has escaped from his supporting chain. Ack, Sylar from Heroes has attacked the custodian. Blood streaks across his forehead. Cold breath. The lights go out. A tray of dissection instruments drops to the floor. The man cries out, “Who’s there?” Then he takes off running and comes face to face with what I can only assume is the mannequin this episode is named for. Stab, the custodian is dead.

“You got a big, fat face full of Hell.” -- Dean

Sam feels like crap. Dean tries to doctor him up with coffee, grub and some “effective” but unnamed drug. When Dean asks Sam what happened, he stays pretty mum, other than to say he’s fine. An upset Dean wants him to completely ignore the past and do what he does to cope. “You shove it down and you let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism.” Dean tries to convey to Sammy how his life is on the line. Dean’s got his real brother back and not that soulless dipbag. He wants to keep it that way. To distract Sam they take a job in New Jersey.

“Hey, maybe we’ll have a Snooki sighting.” -- Dean
“What’s a Snooki?” -- Sam
“That’s a good question.” – Dean

The guys get to the university Chemistry lab and Dean immediately starts manhandling the model’s internal organs. He yanks the heart out and starts cracking jokes, which I find especially funny considering he starred in My Bloody Valentine which had to do with eviscerated hearts. Dean’s lighthearted mood shifts when Lisa calls. He ignores her despite Sam’s encouragement to talk. Refocused, they find the EMF goes bonkers near the human body model. They dismiss the plastic dude, but are happy to see the lab has a video camera. Unfortunately, the tape reveals a blank spot in the footage. The boys ask around about the custodian, but come up empty.

Later that night a security guard at a garment factory is murdered by a pack of faceless mannequins. Interesting. Guess maybe it’s all mannequins. Not just the uber-creepy Body Worlds model. Our boy detectives show up and after the EMF goes wild near a cart of severed mannequin limbs Sam makes the connection, but Dean is slow to believe.

“So, what, we’ve got a bunch of killer dolls? Like Chucky? That’s just… friggin’ creepy.” -- Dean

This victim has a squeaky clean background like the last, so the boys don’t know what to do. Then Sam finds a news article about a seamstress from the factory who disappeared and is survived by her sister. Dean thinks maybe they’re dealing with a vengeful spirit.

Lisa calls again and Sam tells Dean to answer, which is exactly what I wanted to yell at the TV. Turns out it’s Ben. He says his mom won’t get out of bed, that things are bad and Dean needs to come. Sam sends him on his way, saying he can handle the case alone for 24 hours. He also says he had to handle his past and now Dean has to handle his.

Sam goes to interview the seamstress’ sister, Isabel. There he learns Rose was a shy, awkward girl who was often given a hard time. Isabel feels like she defended her sister her whole life, but it went two ways. Hmm, I wonder if Rose is defending Isabel from the grave. Flipping through a photo album, Sam discovers Isabel worked at the same factory as Rose and so did the college janitor.

Sam conducts interviews at the factory. One dude, Johnny, seems especially twitchy when asked about Rose.

Dean shows up on Lisa’s doorstep to find her dressed for a date. Seems they’ve been “parent trapped” by a meddling Ben. The green-eyed monster takes over Dean when he learns his girlfriend is getting ready to go out with Dr. Matt. She’s pissed Dean never returned her calls. He tries to placate her and prove he cares by saying he dropped everything and ran when Ben called. Speak of the not-so-little devil (growth spurt much?), he peeks his head around the corner and both “parents” bark at him to go to his room. In their heated exchange Dean asks Lisa what she wants from him. She says she’s not asking him for anything and he tells her to. She says she can’t ask for anything because she knows what she wants and he can’t give it to her. She says she’s trying to get over him, but he keeps showing up on her doorstep. She turns his question around and asks what he wants from them.

It’s these quiet moments when Jensen’s acting is so powerful and I get lost in the exquisite beauty of his face. LOL

A freaked out Johnny is talking on his cell to someone, saying he’s losing his cool because his friends are dead. And, yet, he’s stupid enough to go to the factory. Alone. At night. The deadly dummies waste no time in trying to dispatch him, but Sam arrives in the nick of time. He and Johnny take refuge in the lunch room, behind salted lines of security. Sam presses Johnny into confessing what he and his friends did to Rose. They pretended to be her secret admirer and invited her to an apartment where they had a candle lit dinner set up. When she reached out to touch her “date” she discovered it was a mannequin. Her cruel co-workers then came out of hiding to make fun of her. When she tried to get away one of the guys tried to stop her. She tugged out of his grip and tripped, falling and hitting her head on the coffee table. The cut that’s been showing up on the victims foreheads matches the lethal one she received from the blow. Sam plans to put a stop to Rose by burning her remains. He tells Johnny to stay inside the salt lines. (Wouldn’t he be safe going with Sammy though? There are no mannequins in a clearing.)

“Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you should stick around and screw up their life.” -- Dean

Ben tells Dean he considered this an emergency situation because it was Lisa’s third date with the doctor. He watches TV and knows how that number is significant. Ben wants Dean to come home. Like a kid caught between two divorcing parents he wants to know if Dean hates Lisa or him. (And I’m distracted by Jensen’s left eyebrow. Half of it seems to be gone.)

Dean explains to his surrogate son that he isn’t afraid that something would follow him home, but that his job turns him into somebody that shouldn’t sit at their dinner table and that if he stuck around Ben would turn out like him. The boy thinks he should get a vote in the matter, but Dean says it’s non-negotiable. By leaving he’s insuring that Ben can have any life he wants, Dean has only had the one option. The boy calls Dean a liar because he always talks about the importance of family, but he’s walking out on his. You can see how Ben’s words, the revelation that the boys speaks the truth, clobber poor Dean. (Sniff. Sniff.) As Dean’s driving away he flashes back on all his moments with Lisa and Ben.

“What do you call people who care for you, who love you even when you’re a dick?” -- Ben

Salt and burn. Sam calls Johnny and tells him he’s safe and should take advantage of his second chance. He wastes no time scurrying home, an apartment above McOwen’s pub, where we see Rose’s sister hanging out. Johnny tells his unseen girlfriend, Jenny, to pack up, they’re leaving tonight and she should only take the essentials. All he wants for them to do is move on with their lives. The camera shifts to the girlfriend and--WTF?—she’s a mannequin! Ew, is he into dolls? Then she turns her head and startles the hell outta him. I heart how Love Hurts plays in the background. Guess maybe it wasn’t Rose after all. I’m betting on the sister.

Sam shows up at the crime scene to find that Johnny’s been strangled by the sash from his “girlfriend’s” robe. The buxom, and I do mean BUXOM, blonde looks on from the couch. Plastic bitch! Frustrated, Sam goes to the sister’s house in search of more answers. He gets them when he learns she’s a student at the University where the custodian was killed, she’d been to the factory the same week the security guard was stabbed and she was present at the bar when Johnny was strangled. She is the common denominator. Sam wants to know what she’s wearing of Rose’s—a ring, locket, bracelet, etc. Nope, not that simple. Turns out she’s got Rose’s freakin’ kidney!

“Is that the girl with the haunted kidney?” -- Dean

Sam meets up with Dean. They’re both stumped as what to do. They can’t exactly excise Isabel’s kidney. They decide on Hoo Doo as a band-aid to the problem. Then the Metallicar goes all Christine and tries to run them down. She chases Dean all over the parking lot until he forces her to drive into a storefront. Isabel is accidentally stabbed by flying glass. She collapses to the ground and her sister’s ghost shows up to apologize. Too little, too late.

Back at Singer Auto, Dean is working to fix his baby. But he wants to know what they accomplished on their last job. They saved a couple dicks, while an innocent lady lost her life. Plus he’s got a kid who’s heartbroken and a woman who is beyond pissed at him. He doesn’t know if he and Sammy are doing any good. His brother assures him they are. Dean says he’s tired of all the bad luck. Sam tries to look on the bright side—he’s got his soul back, right?— and thanks Dean for getting him back. He then advised that they keep their heads down and keep swinging. Sure they’ll lose some, but hopefully they’ll win more. And no matter what, he has Dean’s back. Dean says he knows and you can see the great pleasure that gives him. The end.

I can not say enough how much I loved this episode. It evoked the monster-of-the-week sensibility of seasons one and two, but progressed the current storyline of dealing with past demons. And it did so with rich emotion that demonstrated the deep love these two brothers have for each other. There was great humor, definite freakiness, raw emotion and tenderness. I guess the only qualm I had was how easily Sam got over his seizure and his flashback to Hell. To be honest, I didn’t let it bother me too much because I don’t want to go down that dark road again any time soon. This episode took me exactly where I’ve wanted to go and I just hope we hang onto this path for awhile. There’s only so much wrenching drama and separation you can drag us through. I know the Great Wall of Sammy is going to come down sometime, but I pray it stays solid for awhile. The brothers are back! And I couldn’t be happier. I also like that things weren’t tidied up with Lisa and Ben. I love what they bring out in Dean. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see him become Mr. Cleaver, but I don’t want that door permanently shut. Major kudos to Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder for penning a fantastic episode. This is only their second, their first being last year’s You Can’t Handle the Truth, with the Goddess Veritas. No question about it, I’ll be keeping an eye out for their name from now on. What did you think?

Recap and Thoughts on "Unforgiven"

The tension hits a high note right off the bat with that episode title. Yikes.

*Disclaimer* I had a really long work day today that made me weary from my eyelashes to my toenails. If I miss anything or seem off base, I'm counting on you to correct me in the comments! Thanks. :)

Okay, standard "Then" reminding us where Sam's been, what he's been doing, and how he got back. This is pretty much the only show where I consistently watch the previouslies.

We start with Bristol, Rhode Island, one year ago. Sam is cold-bloodedly shooting something(s) while Samuel cringes. Sam's been hurt, but blows it off. On their way out of town, a cop pulls them over and calls them agents (Roarke and Wynan?). Sheriff Dobbs is missing, and the deputy tries to take them in. Instead, Sam beats him unconscious and they head out of town. Why did Samuel stay with Sam so long when he was this sociopathic this long ago?

Present day, Sam's watching the news, trying to catch up. Though the news report is something serious (they're talking about prosecution), Sam brings up Mel Gibson. Dean thinks he's been possessed. That would explain a lot! :)

Bobby doesn't have anything on The Mother of All, and everything is too quiet. Which gives them permission to do an episode unrelated to The Mother.

Sam gets a text message with coordinates that point to Bristol. Uh-oh. Dean's a bit skeptical—"You got mysterious coordinates, from a mysterious Mr. X, leading to a mysterious town, and that doesn't throw up red flags for you?" But Sam can't ignore missing girls.

On the way into town, Sam has a flashback. The town billboard, and Samuel. Dean notices, but Sam just says, "Nothin'." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, Sam! No lies! >:(

Dean: "Freak's got a type." Pointed comment, since we later learn that Sam slept with all of the missing women. Sam actually grins at Dean's joke about the wildness in her eyes. While Dean's in the bathroom (I can't say Poop Deck, I'm sorry), another of Sam's conquests recognizes him. Sam has to try to pretend he remembers her and her husband. She's asking about his partner when Dean returns and says he's in sex rehab. When the woman puts her hand on Sam's shoulder, he remembers the hot skanky sex in the bathroom. Sam says he thinks he and Samuel worked a case here, and Dean shows him a Polaroid with Sam and Samuel in the background. My daughter said at first she thought it was going to be a picture of Sam celebrating winning the challenge, but that wouldn't have been in character (of either Sam). Dean, yes, Sam, no. :)

Sam and Dean argue about whether to stay or go. Dean wants to go. Apparently, they've never been to the same place twice on purpose. "Dad always said, never use the same crapper twice." Sam argues that he either didn't catch it last time, or only thought he did, and the missing women are on him. He has to make it right, and Dean would do the same thing. Persuasive argument—Dean says he'll check out the women, and sends Sam to the police station.

Uh, oh.

Dean finds Sam's FBI business card at a victim's home. He asks the roommate how their relationship was. What was the tone or nature of their conversation? Answer: "Well, loud. And...athletic?" *pause for fantasies*

Also of course, Sam gets arrested in the parking lot of the sheriff's department. He tries to get the deputy to listen to him, but has no luck, unsurprisingly. The deputy wants the bodies and Sheriff Dobbs and doesn't believe that Sam doesn't remember.

Eventually, a woman comes into the dark jail, demanding to know what happened to her husband. She knows his name and what he does, and triggers more memories. Sam and Samuel actually told the Sheriff and his wife the truth. THAT'S weird. Sam tries to convince Brenna, the sheriff's wife, that he doesn't remember anything. She believes either "that thing" got her husband, or Sam killed him. Uh, oh.

By this point, the tension I mentioned with regard to the episode title has been unrelenting. We suspect what Sam's done, and know the answers to our questions aren't going to be good ones.

The woman from the bar is drinking boxed wine (ew). She snaps at her husband, runs out of wine, and goes into the basement, apparently to get more. A bloody-looking hand reaches through and grabs her ankle, sending her tumbling down the stairs. A shadow falls over her, and she screams. I am SO glad I don't have stairs like that in my house!

Sam's back in the empty, rundown house they're squatting in. He pulls a gun when he hears a noise, but it's just Dean.

"How's it feel to be a fugitive again? Hate to say I told you so."
"You love to say I told you so."
"Actually, you're right. I love to say I told you so."

Dean relays the info he found out, that Sam slept with one of the victims, and is actually kind of impressed at how Sam got around. A report comes over the police scanner that there's another missing woman. Dean orders Sam to stay put and goes to check it out. Sam immediately leaves. Dean goes to the latest victim's house and determines that the connection between victims is definitely Sam. He leaves Sam a message that this is all a trap.

In the meantime, Sam goes to Brenna again, looking for the files from the previous case. Her home and the files themselves trigger more flashbacks. Discussion that shows again how cold Sam was—we knew it, but Sam didn't—photos and evidence revealing that the monster is an Arachne, not seen out of Crete for over 2000 years. Sam narrowed down the area, but it's too vast and difficult to search. He wants to make the Arachne come to them. Unsettled by his revelations, Sam take the evidence with him. Oddly, he doesn't get Dean's voice mail until he leaves the house, and at the same time, he sees spider webbing hanging off the porch. We see eight Sams through Spidervision. Then Dean puts his hand on Sam's shoulder and almost gets shot again. Sam's pretty jumpy, but he's also disturbingly unaware of his surroundings.

"So. We know that this is a monster with opposable thumbs and unlimited text messaging and we know that it wants to kill you specifically. Does that about cover it?"

Sam confesses to remembering and assures Dean it's nothing to do with Hell. Dean wants to turn the job over to Bobby and Rufus, but Sam's adamant. Dean tries to impress upon Sam the risk of letting these flashbacks occur, but Sam doesn't care if it's dangerous, "I've got to set things right. Because I've got a friggin' soul now, and it won't just let me walk away." Sam outright asks Dean to back him up. Dean doesn't argue anymore, just agrees, and Sam is clearly relieved.

"Okay, let's Memento this thing."

They put together what they know, and Sam's flashbacks keep occurring. He remembers setting up Dobbs as bait, because he and Samuel don't fit the demo. Of course, Dobbs gets jumped and they're too late. But it's okay, Sam enabled the GPS on Dobbs' phone. I love the consistency of detail here: Samuel has no idea what that means. :) "So, what, Roy's just some red shirt to you?" Love that, too. :) Anyway, Sam says they can track his location, Samuel says Sam is about as cold as they come. It makes me sad that Samuel never knew the real Sam. Seeing his discomfort with the cold, soulless Sam makes his betrayal of the boys back in "Caged Heat" a little more understandable. Not acceptable, but understandable.

They find the spider's lair and the cocooned missing men. Bullets have no effect on the woman when she attacks, but decapitation works. Kind of interesting that all these unusual creatures are humanoid, or have a human form. Saves on the budget, I bet. :) Sam says the spider's bites are poison, and all the victims are dead men walking. Dobbs begs Sam not to do it, but he shoots them all in the head and tells Samuel to get the gasoline.

Back at Brenna's, the monster shows up...and it's Dobbs. He's a MESS. But he loves Brenna. Sam calls her to check in, and she asks him to drop by. However she said it, he can tell she's in trouble. They go to her house and Dean sees a light on in the shed. They find her there, and she asks if it's true, what she did to Dobbs. Then Dobbs shows up to do the Bad Guy Soliloquy. With Sam and Dean enwebbed, Dobbs reveals that the Arachne wasn't feeding, she was breeding. He was already non-human when Sam shot him, so the gunshot and the fire didn't really do anything. He and the other guys, and now the women he's taken, are scattered. He killed one monster, but is responsible for several more.

Dean gets hold of broken glass and gets out. He distracts Dobbs by letting him beat him up and try to kill him, Brenna cuts Sam out, and Sam takes Dobbs' head off. But it isn't the redemption he'd sought.

As Sam and Dean pack, Dean tries to make Sam feel better. He tells Sam all that crap last year, all of it—none of it was Sam. Sam says, crystal clear, it was him. Dean tries to be nice, Sam snaps back, Dean tells him not to be a bitch. But Sam lets us down by not calling Dean a jerk. Then, mid-sentence, Sam goes into a seizure and what we see behind his eyes—awfully reminiscent of the end of season 3 when Dean goes to hell—is Sam's body burning alive, and melting. OMG.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's probably too early to say The Show is Back. Two episodes aren't quite enough. But I really think it is. Everything from the first half of the season is now tying together with everything happening now. We continue the thread of supernatural evil trying to increase its numbers, which we now know relates to The Mother of All. We have Our Sam back, along with a Dean who is less of a dick. The brotherly bond is strong, and complete with banter and the original dynamics of Dean being the bossy protector and Sam earnestly trying to redeem himself.

I was a little shocked that we got to the Hell-peeking-through-the-wall already. But I think it's genius. Sam didn't have a basis for really knowing what that wall meant. What was right in front of him was more immediate and important. Now he has that basis, and he'll be more careful. We don't have to spend the whole second half of the season dealing with the year he had no soul. The promo for next week makes it look like the flash was momentary and without lasting effect. We know the wall will come down, and we'll probably have more flashes. There's no reason to think the rest of the season won't be like all the other seasons, where we touch on the major storyline a little bit in each episode, with stand-alone situations interspersed with mythology-focused episodes. So for me, the passion is definitely back.

How about you? Back on board? What did you love or dislike about "Unforgiven"?

Appointment in Samarra

The episode opens with the Impala pulling in front of a Chinese food market. Inside, Dean is directed to a back hallway where Freddy Kruger greets him by name! Okay, he’s actually Dr. Robert and he’s stitched up Dean’s daddy more times than he can count. Money changes hands and Dean is noticeably nervous. If something goes wrong he wants a letter mailed to Benjamin Braeden, not Sam. Okay, just what the heck is Dean there for? He looks perfectly fine. The doc’s assistant, Eva, who looks like someone out of Kat Von D’s tatt shop, unceremoniously shoves an IV into Dean’s arm. Biatch! Doc then administers an injection and tells Dean he’s got 3 minutes.______ Flatline_____. The doc freakin’ killed Dean! After peering at his lifeless body, Dean’s spirit walks down to the shop and calls out for Tessa, our favorite reaper. Dean wants to talk to her boss. Death promptly shows up. Hmm, he showed up awfully quick and willingly. Dean asks the creepy old dude to get both of his bros outta Hell. Death tells him to pick one. Naturally, Dean picks Sam. Death warns him Sammy’s soul will be “Flayed to the raw nerve.” Dean wants to know if Death can hack the hell part out. Back in Kruger’s clinic, paddles shock Dean’s heart. Death tells Dean he can’t erase Sam’s hell, but he can put it behind a wall in his memory. Tessa warns it’s not permanent. In exchange for retrieving Sam’s soul Death wants Dean to put his ring on and be him for one day. Take the ring off before the 24 hours is up and Dean won’t get back Sam’s soul. Why does Death want Dean to do take over for a spell? Because…GASP…Dean comes back to life and we don’t get the answer.

Dean tells Sam and Bobby his brilliant plan. Predictably, Sam isn’t happy and Bobby wants to know what the catch is. Sam says he doesn’t want to take the deal because it’s not a permanent solution and he could still end up as pudding. He takes off in a huff, presumably to wrap his head around things. Instead he goes looking for Death’s ring. Sneaky Sam. Dean catches him and swears he won’t let anything bad happen to him. Sam says fine, he’ll trust Dean. Big bro doesn’t buy it—neither do I— and tells Bobby to keep an eye on him.

Dean slips the ring on. Tessa pops in and lays out the rules for his new job. She’s got a list. Dean will touch those meant to die. She’ll reap them. Easy peasy. Don’t go getting any other ideas. Riiiight. This is Dean we’re talking about.

Elsewhere, Sam’s calling on Balthazar. Uh oh. This can’t be good. Sam wants to know what he can do to keep his soul out forever. Really, I can’t say I blame him. Who wants to cope with that kind of damage? But at the same time we all want our Sammy back. Balthazar says he’ll help Sam for free, just to screw with Dean and put Sam in his debt. To stay soulless Sam needs to scar his vessel by committing patricide. Since his dad is gone a father figure will do. Eep!

A punk robs a convenience store, threatening to kill the owner’s little boy. The father draws a gun from under the cash register and shoots the robber. Dean is all too happy to see the punk off to hell, even allowing for a little extra suffering. Next comes an overweight man chowing down on pizza. Heartattack hits. When he asks Dean “what it all means?” Dean responds with an unsatisfactory, but hilarious “everything is dust in the wind.” Next Dean faces down a 12-year-old girl with a heart condition. She’s in the hospital with her single father. Dean says there’s no way he’s killing her. Tessa argues with him, but he says he’s Death so it’s his choice. The girl’s heart then miraculously heals. How’s that going to backfire?

Meanwhile, Sam returns to Bobby’s. They play a poker game, but there’s some very tense subtext going on as they watch each other warily over the cards. Bobby offers Sam a beer and when he reaches into the fridge to get the bottle Sam grabs something out of a toolbox and tries to clobber Bobby who in turns grabs a pipe out of the fridge and clubs Sam. Ha! You gotta love that Bobby keeps a weapon in the fridge. Sam hits the floor. Bobby goes to get some rope and when he turns back Sam is gone. That’s not good. Shotgun loaded, Bobby searches for Sam, saying, “let’s not do anything hasty.” Then—WTH?—he locks himself in a closet. Sam starts to axe through the door like Jack Nicholson and—ROTFL—Bobby says, “Don’t say ‘here’s Johnny.’” Sam tells Bobby he’s got to do this and he shouldn’t have cornered himself. Bobby says he didn’t and pulls a trap door trigger that sends Sam dropping to the basement. Ah, that makes more sense. The surrogate father and his soulless son talk through a “reinforced steel core, titanium kick plates” door that Sam can’t break down no matter how hard he tries. Sam finally explains that he doesn’t want his thrashed soul back in him and a spell cast with Bobby’s blood will ensure that doesn’t happen. He believes Dean just wants his little brother Sammy back at all costs and he’ll kill “Sam” to get that other guy back. Bobby tries to reason with him, but it suddenly gets very quiet. Bobby bravely goes down to the basement to find that Sam’s escaped through a grate in the panic room. Why would there be an escape route like that?

Back at the hospital the butterfly effect kicks in. Because Dean let the young girl live her nurse was sent home early. She in turn got into a car accident being somewhere she wouldn’t have otherwise been and she needs the heart surgeon that’s no longer there. Dean takes the nurse so he won’t start another chain reaction, but she was meant to live for many more decades and have children and grandchildren. Tess then tells Dean he has to restore the natural order of things and also take the girl he spared, the girl who is now happily planning a vacation with her father. As Dean watches out a window he sees the dead nurse’s husband leaving a pub drunk and climbing behind the wheel.

Bobby goes searching for Sam in the junkyard. Geesh, psycho Sammy is making me jumpy. And thwack, the idjit knocks Bobby’s out.

Dean has hopped into the car with the grieving husband. The guy is clearly on a suicide mission, speeding up and trying to plow into a bus. Dean tries to shout warnings, but the guy can’t hear. Dean yanks off the ring and steers the guy clear of death, saving the guy’s life and costing Sam his chance at having a soul. Now Dean better hurry and help Bobby. But wait, he feels like he has to clear up unfinished business. He returns to the hospital with Tessa and kills the young girl. He figures no one really skates by and now agrees there’s a natural order to things, even if that is stupid.

Sam’s got Bobby bound to a chair in the basement. And even though Bobby pleads for his life, Sam is getting ready to stab him to death when Dean shows up and punches his lights out. Let me go on record now as saying that I officially hate soulless Sam.

An unconscious Sam’s now handcuffed to a cot in the panic room. As Dean looks at him through the peep hole he tells Bobby he can’t keep doing this anymore. What’s he going to do keep tying Sam up everytime he tries to kill someone? Poor guy doesn’t know what to do anymore. And neither does Bobby. So sad. Sam opens his eyes and I find myself hoping Death gave him back his soul because Dean went back and killed that young girl when he didn’t have to.

Nope. Dean goes back upstairs and Death’s waiting for him at the dining table. Guy really seems to like food. Dean confesses that he sucked at being Death. Death says Dean got a rare look behind the curtain. “The human soul is not irreparable. It’s vulnerable, impermanent, but stronger than you know. And more valuable than you can imagine.” Hmm, where are we going with this? Whoa! Death is going to retrieve Sam’s soul because, although he and Dean keep coming back and disrupting the natural order of things on a global scale, they’re on to something with their investigations…something having to do with souls. Dean asks him Death last question. Will the wall really work? About 75%, he answers.

Down in the panic room Death gets ready to reinstall Sam’s soul. He says he’s going to put a wall up and it’ll itch, but Sam shouldn’t scratch at it because he won’t like what happens if he does. As Dean and Bobby watch on, Sam begs not to have his soul replaced. It’s sad to watch, but the way he ignored Bobby’s pleas makes me less sympathetic. The episode ends with him screaming as we—fingers crossed—get our Sammy back.

Whew! I’m glad we’re going into the hellatus (Show returns Jan. 28) on a hopeful note. I thought this was a great episode, but missed the sharp one-liners. Weren’t too many of those. However, I won’t miss Soulless Sam. The moment he tried to kill Bobby he crossed an unforgiveable line. Are you glad to see Soulless Sam go and how long do you think it’ll be before Sammy scratches that itch?