SUPERNATURAL: ‘Like a Virgin’

Can you believe it’s been almost two whole months since we last saw the Winchesters?  The wait has been cruel and unusual punishment for fans, no thanks in part to The CW pushing the episode an extra week.  I was so disappointed to come home and find my DVR openly mocking me with it’s emptiness last Friday. But we can move past all that now because the show is back and so is Sam’s soul.  Let’s discuss how it went down, shall we?

When things picked back up, Sam was still asleep and nobody knew how he’d be when he woke, unless of course they watched the promo for this episode in which case they knew he’d be pretty much fine.  While I was really enjoying soulless Sam, I have to admit it was pretty great seeing him back to his old self again.  This show has done the family reunion scene so many times at this point but it never does get old.

Thanks to Death’s brain wall, Sam doesn’t remember anything that’s happened since he jumped into the pit with Adam/Michael (I still keep waiting for them to bring up their half brother who is still stuck down in the pit, but nothing so far). Dean doesn’t want to tell him, but Bobby doesn’t think it’s a great idea to keep him in the dark. Plus, he’s having a hard time looking at Sam after their last encounter when Sam tried to kill him, so there’s that too.

We’ve been down the road of Sam or Dean keeping secrets from each other many times before, so I was a little apprehensive of spending the next several weeks in the same situation. Luckily we avoided that scenario because Sam had the good sense to notice something wasn’t right and called Cas. Our favorite angel, unaware of Operation Keep Sam in the Dark, spilled the beans and told him everything he knew. This came after the world’s most awkward aborted hug.

So far Sam seems to be handling the information relatively well, but he’s hell-bent on righting the things he did wrong while he wasn’t himself. I expect that we’ll see those walls come down at some point and it won’t be pretty, and I’m curious to see what will eventually be the catalyst.

As for the monster of the week, after a victim is left alive, the brothers determine that dragons are to blame for the recent rash of missing, nearly identical brunette virgins. Having no idea how to kill dragons, Bobby points them to an old friend of his (more than a friend once upon a time) who happens to be a dragon expert. She also owned one of the few swords in the world that could kill one, but like the legend goes for swords like this, it was encased in a giant rock. Dean, fancying himself a hero on a quest, proceeded to engage in a hilarious attempt to free it. Jensen Ackles does the comedy thing so well — I really hope he does more with that in his side projects or when the show eventually ends. When you’ve been blessed with the Jon Hamm Dichotomy (exceeding good looks combined with excellent comedic timing), you don’t just let that go to waste, you know?

The brothers discover that the dragons were collecting female virgins to sacrifice as vessels after opening the door to Purgatory. But their endgame was different that Crowley’s plan for expansion; this time the idea is to let something out. Suddenly we have our new big bad for the rest of the season and it’s a mother. The Mother of All Things is now walking earth and looking to cause trouble. What kind of trouble that is remains to be seen but I’m looking forward to finding out.

Some additional questions/observations and memorable quotes from “Like a Virgin”:

• So much on this show is said without dialogue, like Dean’s face when he watches Sam empathize with and charm the sister of one of the missing girls. Soulless Sam never could play well with others.
• Dean’s takeout of choice? Big Az burgers – what else?
• Why exactly did the dragons need so many virgins when one seemed to do the trick in serving as a vessel for Mother?
• “What was that?”  “One part age, three parts liquor.”
• “I’ve decided I’m going to give Stan my most precious gift.”  “Whoa, that sounded really creepy coming out of your mouth.”  “I think I delivered it.”
• “Well Matt Barn didn’t count!”
• “What kind of thing likes virgins and gold?”  “P. Diddy?”
• “They’re not like the Loch Ness Monster Dean; dragons aren’t real.”
• “Where’d you get that?” “Comic-Con.”

Below is the trailer for next week’s episode, titled “Unforgiven.” For those of you like me who found themselves enjoying Soulless Sam, it looks like we may get to see a little more of what he was up to during that year before he met up with Dean, flashback-style. In the meantime, hit the comments and tell me — how excited are you to have SUPERNATURAL back on your TV? Thoughts on tonight’s episode? Theories as to Mother? Any chance Mary Winchester will play a role in this story arc? Do you want to know more about Bobby and the Dragon Lady’s past? Let’s discuss!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCJPqW9qDhw[/youtube]

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