I have magical powers! Last SPN post I asked for the return of Lucifer, and guess who showed up this week? So, I wish for a miiiiiiiiiiiiillion dollars…

The CW promo’d this one as a stand alone, and if it was gonna be one at this late date, I would have been so mad. But, as the episode opened, and those beautiful brothers Winchester showed up at a swanky hotel outside of Muncie, IN of all places, I had a feeling something was up. The boys were no doubt too weary and beaten to be suspicious of all that grooviness at first, but they soon got in touch with their instincts, and we got an awesome revelation that this place was a trap by a host of Pagan gods, all disgruntled at the dominance of the Judeo-Christian gods (angels and demons) running the show. Hee.

We got some good ones too! Odin, Ganesh, Mercury, Zao Shen and Kali (played by Tori from BSG – why is she always playing characters I can’t stand?). Then. Then!! Our old friend the Trickster/Loki/Gabriel shows up, who is all in with the Pagans at first because he still loves Kali, but Dean convinces him to help the Winchesters instead in a most amusing way out in Metallicar. Lucifer shows up and there is much gore and killing. I am guessing the Judeo-Christian ‘gods’ are more powerful that the old Pagan ones, because of the sheer number of believers, right? That’s how I saw it anyway.

I am not a religious person, but I have a real interest in religious lore, so stories like this are tons of fun for me. The idea of a bunch of bitter gods getting together to fight the all powerful ones is not that different than thousands of David and Goliath stories told over the ages. You know we all like a good underdog story, right?

Last post I complained about the sadness and weariness of Dean and Sam for a good chunk of this season. It has been a depressing (and sometimes trying) bunch of drama, but this episode was a bit of a return to classic Sam and Dean. As annoyed as they were about having their one night off interrupted, we got Dean with the silly quips and Sam being all smart and research-y. I liked having that old rapport back between them. Finally!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part! We finally, FINALLY have a plan to get Lucifer, brought to us by poor now dead Gabriel, smited by his own sword and brother. A quest for the four rings of the Horseman will bring us on to Pestilence (played by Matt Frewer, which is a brilliant piece of casting), and Death. Excellent.