SUPERNATURAL: Family Matters

If you read last week’s recap, you will recall that I was a little miffed that the preview for this week’s SUPERNATURAL spilled the beans about Sam’s soul problem; it seemed like the kind of reveal you save for the actual episode. However, after all of the answers we got last night – to most of the questions we’ve had since the premiere – I’m kind of okay with it in hindsight. We now know the major arcs for the season, and who would have guessed that the big bad of season six would be the charming and dashing Crowley? A character that was once the pushover bad ass with a heart of gold is now the new Lucifer.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, I have to backtrack a bit to discuss Cas and his diagnosis of Sam. I don’t know if it’s intentional or just my own twisted mind, but the “Cas detects if you have a soul” scenes are becoming more rapey every time. I mean, he told Sam to bite down on a belt and retreat to his safe place before shoving his fist into the poor guy’s abdomen. Kinky.

With the knowledge that Sam had no soul, the trio head over to the Campbell compound to see if Samuel is in the same predicament. After another quick and painful angel cavity search, as Dean called it, Cas tells them that Samuel’s soul is intact. At this point, I was 100% convinced that Samuel was evil, or possessed. This was followed by a tense and unfriendly conversation between Christian and Dean – and as soon as the “slut girlfriend” comment came out of his mouth, I began Christian’s deathwatch. Speak that way to a Winchester and karma will get you every time.

One thing this season, but particularly this episode, has done so well is to confuse the viewer with respect to everyone’s allegiances. I’ve gone back and forth on Sam and Samuel and whether they’re good or bad so many times since the first episode of the season I’ve lost count. After the first five minutes lat night, I was convinced that Sam was good, just soul-free. Then they showed him helping the family usher the Alpha vamp into the van, and I’m immediately questioning him again.

As much as I hate wondering if I should Sam, it’s certainly more interesting when the show keeps you guessing. One thing I do know for sure is that Sam’s hair is problematic – has it been like this for a while and I’ve failed to notice, or is the mushroom cap effect recent? He really needs to either cut it or grow it (could he pull off a Tim Riggins do?), but the way it is now…that just ain’t right.

I guess in the end even the Alpha-napping didn’t make me turn completely on Sam, because I didn’t believe for a second that he’d actually ditched Dean to work with Samuel. It was great seeing the brothers back on each other side’s one hundred percent and teaming up to figure out the deal with the Campbells, which led them to the facility where the Alpha was being tortured. I loved this character – more of him, please. He had such a Hannibal Lecter vibe; so creepy and yet, I liked the guy.

He’s also one of those extra-helpful villains who likes to tell the good guys everything, like the fact that Samuel was on a quest to locate purgatory. Also, that purgatory is where monsters go when they die, instead of heaven or hell – who knew? But Samuel wasn’t looking for his own kicks; he was working for someone with a much higher paygrade. But who?

When Crowley first appeared with one of my favorite pop-culture devices – the slow clap – I couldn’t believe it. Did ANYONE think we’d see him as the big bad? Hats off if you did, because I would never have predicted it. To sum up, here’s what we learned in the final few minutes:

• Crowley got a big promotion when Lucifer got locked up – he’s now the king of hell (I bet he’s got an awesome business card)
• Crowley pulled Sam out of hell and Samuel out of heaven
• Sam’s soul is still in the cage, but retrievable; Crowley needed a bargaining chip to keep Sam (and Dean) compliant
• Crowley is controlling Samuel with something else, but we don’t know what (yet)
• Sam and Dean have to work for Crowley in his purgatory-hunt in order to get Sam’s soul back

So now most of the questions from the premiere have been answered, but of course more have popped up in their place. For example, do we believe Crowley’s reasons for wanting access to purgatory? Or even that he’s looking for purgatory at all? A collection of Alpha monsters seems like Crowley could be amassing a pretty big, scary A-Team for himself. Some other questions, big and small, that came to mind in those last five minutes:

• Is Christian-the-demon dead? I was a little unclear.
• What did the Alpha vamp mean by “we all have our mothers”? Something tells me that this will come up again.
• Why did Crowley need Sam and Samuel for this project? Not that I’m complaining, but is this something only the Campbell/Winchester clan can accomplish?
• How much do we bet that Crowley’s search for purgatory will dovetail at some point with the celestial civil war up in heaven? I’m guessing odds are good.
• What will the episode where Sam’s soul is reinstated be called? We know they love pulling titles from pop culture, so a few suggestions popped into my head (feel free to share yours in the comments – it’s fun!):
• Who Will Save Your Soul?
• Soul Man
• How Sam Got His Soul Back

Some favorite lines from “Family Matters”:

• “What, you think there’s a clinic out there for people that just pop out of hell wrong?”
• “Hello, Newman.” (Dean quoted Seinfeld! Dean quoted Seinfeld!)
• “This is a vessel; my true form is actually the size of your Chrysler Building.” “Okay, quit bragging.”
• “Are you trying to tell me you’re a bigger knob than you’ve been lettin’ on?”
• “Trust me. He thinks Velcro is big news.”
• “Ouch. Stop. That hurts.” (True Blood fans – how much did this remind you of Pam when she pretended Sookie was strong-arming her into the basement so they could walk in on Eric…training the new waitress?)
• “Well, if the old man’s Kermit, whose hand’s up his ass?”
• “Purgatory is vast, underutilized and hell-adjacent, and I want it.”
• “So, we clear? Me Charlie, you angels.”
• “What’d he offer you; girls, money…hair?”

Well, that’s it for me – what did you guys think of the overload of information handed to us in this episode? Are you happy with the arc that’s been set up for the rest of the season? Personally, anything that gets Crowley on the show as much as possible is good with me. Do you think the season will be spent trying to get Sam’s soul, or will that happen sooner and they’ll spend the rest of the time hunting Crowley/stopping his plans? How would you like to see them handle it?

Share your thoughts in the comments, and in the meantime, the check out the promo for next week’s episode – it looks pretty bad ass:

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