SUPERNATURAL: Good God, Y’all

[NOTE: Before I hand this week’s review of SUPERNATURAL over to Nicole, I just wanted everyone to know that I’ve been making good progress on Project Supernatural. I’m half way through S4 and I’ll be caught up and talking S5 with you all in no time. Oh, and I got a super duper exclusive sneak peek at a scene from episode four of this season, and WOW…just WOW! — Kath]

So….two for two, right?? This season is killer so far! I know that we all ended last night’s episode with a major case of the sads, but before I get to the final scene, we first have to go through what led up to that moment. Let’s get right into it:

Bobby…
I was surprised to see that Bobby has such a serious injury that he may not recover from anytime soon. I don’t seek out spoilers, so maybe this was already known to some people, but I had assumed that when Cas demanded that Zach fix the boys last week, he would also be fixing Bobby. And Bobby’s not just hurt; he’s seemingly paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair. Bobby, being Bobby, is not in the mood to talk unless it’s to demand that Cas heal him as soon as the angel joins them at the hospital. Since Cas no longer has the powers he once had, he can’t heal Bobby, which doesn’t go over well with the older hunter. I wanted to cry seeing big, strong, Bobby sitting in his chair, just staring out the window. They can’t leave him like this, can they? Not when the Apolcalypse is coming! Those Winchester idjits are going to need his help.

Castiel…
Cas locates the boys at the hospital via cell phone, since his protection symbols hide them from his radar as well. Speaking of protection symbols, Cas was NOT joking when he said he carved them into the boys’ ribs – holy hell! No wonder the doctors were baffled when Dean got an x-ray to see what was what – his ribs looked like something you’d find in a really, REALLY ancient tomb (and it was pretty damn cool).

Our favourite angel was only in the episode briefly, but wow. I have always liked Cas, but I LOVE where they’re going with him this season. He’s getting funnier, and more importantly, ballsier. Hence his conversation with Dean about going to find God (incidentally, according to Cas, it was the almighty who brought him back and also put the boys on the plane last week). First, he comes up with the zinger of the night when Dean jokingly tells him he thinks God is appearing on a tortilla in New Mexico. Cas pauses, considers this possibility, and says, “No, he’s not on any flatbread”. I died. If I’m not mistaken, it was taking a lot for Misha and Jensen to hold it together during that little scene too – they both looked like they were trying not to smile.

After he brings the funny, he proceeds to rip Dean a new one when the elder Winchester questions God’s existence/concern for them. Going over the fact that Cas has given up everything to help Dean, only to have the brothers fail and open the door to hell, he hisses in Dean’s face “so keep your opinions to yourself”. I love that Cas is getting to show more of a range of emotion now; he’s always been great, but this is a whole new level of awesome. Cas has a purpose for showing up too, and apparently it’s to solve a little mystery that SPN fans have long wondered about. Dean’s necklace has long been a source of speculation, especially since the episode where we learned that Sam gave it to Dean for Christmas when they were kids and John didn’t show up in time to celebrate with them. Bobby had given the supposed protective amulet to Sam to pass on to his father, but in John’s absence Sammy gave it to his big brother instead. We’ve never known what the necklace is supposed to do, and now we might, although it’s not what I would have predicted. Apparently, the amulet is God EMF – it burns hot in his presence, and Cas needs it to find the big guy. Now, I wondered why Bobby didn’t have more of a reaction to that whole conversation, since he’s the one who gave it to Sam in the first place – any thoughts?

River Pass, Colorado…
After Cas leaves Dean feeling naked without his amulet, Bobby gets a call from fellow hunter Rufus in a small town in Colorado that is seemingly overrun with demons. Since Bobby’s not much for fighting at the moment, the brothers take off to help out. Here is where we got yet another great Supernatural Music Moment™ when the boys are walking into River Pass to the tune of “Spirit in the Sky”. The empty town, juxtaposed with the music was just so, so good, wasn’t it? I don’t know if it was just me, but I felt like last season there was less of the classic rock that SPN is known for, so I’m really, really psyched that they seem to be bringing it back in a big way.

Another thing I’m really psyched for? Ellen! And Jo! It was so good to have them back that I was even smiling despite the fact that Ellen was pointing a gun at Sam and Dean when she first appeared. I love how good ol’ Ellen gets right up in the boys’ faces and tells it like it is. She is pissed that they haven’t called, and she’s not going to let them forget it. But she quickly gets to why they’re all there and tells them that she and a bunch of locals are holed up in a church basement and that most of the town has turned demon. She’s out looking for Rufus and Jo because she hasn’t seen them in a while.

There’s a handful of locals hunkered down, so Sam and Dean leave Ellen with them to get supplies and guns. In another scene that shocked my un-spoiled self, Sam was alone getting salt when he was attacked by two demons. He killed them with his knife, and then stood there, apparently struggling to control his urge to drink the still-warm blood. I guess I naively thought that the angels, or God, or whomever, had cured Sam of his addiction when really they just cured him of the withdrawal symptoms. Poor Sam…

Sam and Ellen eventually go out looking for Jo and Rufus and they find them – success! Only not so much, because Jo and Rufus have black eyes and appear to be demonized. Oddly, they’re treating Sam and Ellen as though THEY’RE the demons. Lots of fighting, cussing and general confused chaos ensues, ending in Sam being captured.

Now things get really juicy – Sam is restrained and Jo and Rufus are trying to exorcise him, but it’s obviously not working because he isn’t possessed; Rufus and Jo are the ones with the black eyes….or are they? In some shots, they have the demon eyes, and in others it’s Sam. Something is clearly afoot. When Ellen gets back to the church basement, she tells them about Sam, and mentions that Jo and Rufus seemed to think she was possessed. Immediately, this triggers one of Dean’s rare but hilarious “I’ve figured out a hugely complex idea with a bare minimum of information to go on” situations. Hearing Ellen tell them what happened, he asks if anything weird has occurred in the town recently, and finds out that the river became polluted overnight. Anything else? Why yes, in fact, there was a really big shooting star the night before the river turned to sewage. With those two facts, he runs to a bible, immediately finds a passage in Revalations that predicts the coming of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and in particular, War.

War, or Roger the Accountant, depending on who he’s talking to, is currently taking the form of a dead local man (dead because War killed him) so that he can mess with people’s minds and make them turn on each other. There never WERE any demons! This is all actually really sad when you stop to think that all the people who have been killed were just people…no possession involved. And Sam killed a couple of kids in the supermarket and almost drank their blood for god’s sake. NOT cool, War. War the character, despite being despicable, is also actually highly entertaining – I loved the actor who played him (apparently he was also in the season finale of Lost, but I’m behind, so I haven’t seen that yet). He was smarmy, funny, evil…just how I like my bad guys. Oh, and did I mention yet about his “horse”? A vintage, mint-condition, cherry-red Mustang (that Dean noticed and whistled at on their way into town). Love. Also cool about War/Roger? He controls all this chaos with a simple twist of the ring on his finger.

Dean manages to find Sam, and all of the hunters eventually discover the tricks being played by War, so they are finally able to band together. While Ellen, Rufus and Jo round up the townsfolk, Sam and Dean do a little choppy-chop on War’s finger, releasing the ring and ending the spell on the town. I know there was a Lord of the Rings reference in there, something about Mount Doom(?), but I’ve never seen those movies (please don’t throw garbage at me!) so it was kind of lost on me and I hardly noticed it – sorry!

The Sads…
With the situation under control, Sam and Dean took a moment to talk to each other, away from everyone else. Last week we ended the premiere with Dean telling Sam that he couldn’t trust him anymore. Well, we ended episode two with Sam agreeing – he said he didn’t know if he could trust himself. He knew that the pull for him to drink the blood in the supermarket was strong, and he’s now scared that he won’t be able to resist if he’s put in those kinds of situations. He thinks it’s time that he and Dean go their separate ways until he’s got a better handle on his addiction.

Just when I think “oh, and here’s where Dean says that he was wrong about Sam, and that he knows how strong his brother his and they’re in this together, etc.”, Dean agrees with him. Broke my freaking heart to watch Sam get up and walk away and tell Dean to take care of himself. It was also really sweet that Dean offered his baby (the Impala) to Sam – he obviously still really loves his little brother, because not many people would get that offer from Dean Winchester. Not to ruin the melancholy mood I’ve just set, but how convenient was it that there was a random guy in a pick up truck just sitting there so that Sam could catch a ride with him?

Okay, so two episodes down, and I’ve loved them both. I suspect that even though the boys are now separated, it won’t last for a really long time. In the meantime, the separation is going to result in at least one amazing thing: the teaming up of Castiel and Dean! If you caught the (very brief) promo for next weeks episode “Free to Be You and Me”, you saw our favourite angel will be joining Dean on some sort of investigation. I guess Dean’s joining in the search for God. And Sam…well, it seems Sam might be about to come face to face with God’s exact opposite. Gulp. I can’t wait!

So, what did you think about “Good God, Y’all”? Were you as confused by the title as me? I mean, it’s a great title, but I didn’t really understand how it fit with the episode – anyone else have an opinion on that? Were you happy to see a reunion of sorts amongst some of the old hunters, and more importantly, would you like to see more of them over the season? I know how you feel SB, and I agree – bring back Ash!!! What of the Great Winchester Divide? Are you happy at this turn of events (I’m going to guess no)? Is your sadness quelled at all by the fact that we’re going to get Dean and Castiel teaming up in the Impala for at least an episode? Because to be honest, it kind of does for me. As long as they don’t stay separated for too long, I can handle it.

I’ve included the link for the promo of next week’s episode, “Free to be You and Me” (ha! If you were born after 1980 or so, you might have to look that reference up) since Kimber mentioned that she can’t watch them on her t.v., I figured others might be in the same boat. I’ll try to do this every week if I can find a video link.