This episode gets a hearty HEE! and a little Phew! for letting the boys win in the end. For a second there, I thought it was gonna be another Fail for those pretty, pretty boys, and I was gonna be so annoyed.

We start the show in Grandpa Winchester’s super secret basement of exposition where we get a new cache of witchy books (Giles & Willow would sooooo be drooling over this discovery) and the awesome diary of one Samuel Colt. Seems as though the latest beastie, Eve, can supposedly be taken down by the ashes of a Phoenix, and it is a little disconcerting that my immediate thought is ‘Harry Potter can get you one of those!’. I am such a dork.

Anyhoo, the boys call upon their new bestie, Castiel, only to encounter another exposition fairy/Angel, who is only around long enough to make some worrisome comments about what Cas is up to in his Heavenly War. After making me concerned that my sweet little angel may be doing terrible, terrible things, he agrees to pop those beautiful brothers back to the Olde West to get those ashes. After an attempted ganking of Cas by our new angel (whose name I didn’t bother to remember, because she barely lasted half an episode), Cas takes her out with his big sword… not only am I a dork, but I my mind is gutter-bound as well. Hee.

Dean is back to his old self in this episode, and really, so is Sammy, and it is pure joy to watch the Wonderful Winchesters tromp around the old time-y of it all. Whores are gross and the whiskey is like gasoline and people get hanged in the square and it’s all dirtier than in Dean’s excited mind, but he recovers quickly and brings the HOT in that duster he busts out half-way though the episode.

Sammy introduces us to the infamous Samuel Colt, and he is awesome. Jaded and whiskey soaked, he barely blinks at the sight of Sammy’s Blackberry. Sammy easily proves he is indeed from the future, and Samuel hands over The Colt to kill the Phoenix, who happens to be kind of a sad, heart-broken beastie. I feel kinda bad when Dean kills him, High Noon style in the square, but not bad enough to keep me from making the screen shot of Dean in that hat my new computer wallpaper. TeeHee.

Meanwhile, back at Bobby’s, Castiel shows up all wounded and sexy (sorry, I just can’t help myself!!), and we get some very hilarious and racy dialogue regarding souls and touching, and I have no idea how Jim Beaver kept a straight face though it all. A little nail-biting ensues, and Cas drags those pretty, pretty boys out of Olde Tyme Wyoming  just before they get their hands on the now ashy Phoenix. D’oh!!

This is where I almost get really, really angry, having enjoyed the dickens out of this episode, and thinking that we went through all this brouhaha for nothing. Then the the doorbell rings with a package for our Sammy, and we are Back To The Future 2‘d, and the boys get their ashes after all. PHEW!

I loved how geeked out Dean was in this episode. Not only is he a western fan, but also a Star Trek fan, and he gets to be funny and smart, and I have missed this Dean terribly this season. Great BTTF references, DS9 references, and Bobby even got to shout out Deadwood. Great episode all around!! Now, can we pretty please get at least a peek at this awesome sounding war in Heaven? The season is almost over and we have gotten zilch on that. Just like last season, when we really never saw that damned apocalypse.

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HEE!

Always love a good dose of META on this show. The hilariousity was brought to us by none other than Ben Edlund, which is awesome, because he gets to write a  particularly pompous character close to his heart, “Eric Kripke”, who gets shot multiple times soon after his snotty, self-centered self shows up on set. The whole episode was a laugh riot.

screencaps courtesy of homeofthenutty.com

But first! The two previous episodes, “Unforgiven” and “Mannequin 3: The Reckoning”, which were okay story wise, were important to me mostly because of the continuing healing of the relationship between Sammy and his big brother Dean. Creepy mannequins and Slutty Sammy just weren’t all that compelling to me, but those two boys working together and trusting each other more and more? That warms this gal’s heart.

So now we get to what is usually a favorite every season, the wild shenanigans of a Edlund episode! This week starts out with the beautiful boys at Bobby’s when Balthazar, of the angel contingent, shows up all ranty and ripping apart Bobby’s den for ingredients for a spell of some immediately needed magical-ness. I am momentarily confused as I thought Balthazar was left dead or was a ‘bad’ angel of some sort the last time we saw him but I soldier on, because sometimes the angels confuse me and I have a hard time keeping straight who is with whom. Balthazar spouts on about how the boys need to help hide the key to the room of angel weapons from Raphael, who has recouped from his salting and is pretty pissed about gettin’ played. Amidst the chaos of his sudden appearance and urgent task for the brothers, Balthazar is preparing a sigil on the window to send the wonderful Winchesters on a little journey…

…to the set of a little, low-rated television show called ‘Supernatural’ that is filmed, in all places, Canada! Hee! Our boys have been on a movie set before, back in season two’s “Hollywood Babylon”, so they aren’t completely out of their element, until they are confronted with a make-up woman and an entertainment reporter who call them ‘Jared’ and ‘Jensen’, much to their mutual confusion.

My favorite thing about episodes like this is the joy of knowing almost exactly what is going on, while our beloved characters become more and more befuddled trying to comprehend what-the-hay is going on. We as fans of the show are treated to a myriad of inside jokes regarding the uneven state of season 6, the trappings of wealth and fame, and the vanity that runs wild in Hollywood (“What kind of douchebag names a character after himself??”). I found every joke about as brilliant and cunning as you can get.

So our lovely boys stumble around the world of the pampered TV stars, only to figure out that this is a world with no magic, no demons, no angels. No supernatural at all, which leads them in quite a pickle as to how to get back to their unfamous, thankless lives of Saving the Damn World!

After several amusing encounters with “Misha”, the tweeting, fawning co-star of the show (and enjoying the sound of his actual, non-Castiel voice), poor, poor, screams-like-a-girl, innocent “Misha” gets killed by one of Raphael’s thugs who has also been sent over, in pursuit of the boys and their precious key cargo. He too doesn’t have access to his angelic magic, so he goes on a Terminator-style rampage of this alternate universe looking for Sam and Dean and then a way out of there.

It all culminates in Raphael’s thug, Sam and Dean ending up in the right place at the right time as Raphael pulls our beautiful brothers back to their world instead of his thug, and we are faced with a new-faced Raphael. His new meatsuit is a woman, and she is fierce! Balthazar and Castiel flutter in on their manly wings to save the boys from her wrath, and let them in on the fact that being sent to the alt. world was just a ploy to keep Raphael busy while they stashed all the weapons of Heaven somewhere safe.

Soooo, most of that episode didn’t take us anywhere except for the hilarity of it. Basically a time filler, with a little more information regarding the war in Heaven, and where we seem to be headed on that front. Fine with me. This show sometimes gets so mired in its own dreariness, especially in the last couple of seasons, I am happy to have some hi-jinks with my boys. Plus, as in the previous two episodes, they were working together and being all brotherly and stuff. Even Sammy said the worst thing about the alt. universe was that they weren’t real brothers there. Aww!! Love that guy.

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I have spent most of this season enjoying the honesty and straight forwardness of SoullessSammy, even if he was kinda mean. Some really great scenes resulted from that empty vessel, in my opinion. But you know what? The second our darling Sammy showed up on screen, I felt my heart grow three sizes larger. Seems as though I missed the guy and his sweet earnestness greatly.

The show started with the now familiar angst of Dean and Bobby, and I was dreading what was next. Then suddenly, Sammy, our darling, sweet little Sammy shows up and brightens my whole freakin’ day! And miracle of miracles, our two lovely brothers of the House of Winchester, give each other the sweetest, most awesome hug ever given by two brothers. Dean loves his little brother so damn much!

There was a terrible moment during this episode when I was sure that we were setting up another angst-palooza of Dean hiding things from Sammy, and fighting with Bobby over it, but lo and behold, not only is our darling Sammy re-ensouled, he is a smarty. He knows something is up, so he tricks that pretty little angel Castiel into telling him what’s what. Right after Castiel engages in the most awkward attempted hug ever seen by an angel. Hee!

Meanwhile, we seem to have some virgin needing dragons on our hands, which leads Dean to an old flame of Bobby’s, and a very funny scene where Dean attempts to remove a sword from a stone, Excalibur style. Attempts, over and over, until the rock that ‘thinks it’s so smart’ finally caves to Dean and his C4.

The dragons kinda suck, and turn out to be just another demon-y incarnation in my opinion, but it served nicely as the backdrop to having Sam and Dean work together, mostly drama free, and for a moment there if felt just like old times. There is nothing more satisfying for most of us than to see those beautiful boys working together, fighting those nasties that go bump in the night.

Thank you show for not dragging out the whole will Sammy find out or not drama and dispatching with it in one episode. It takes Bobby and Dean off the hook, and gives us a good firm spot to jump off of. The final scene of Sam and Dean actually talking about it was so refreshing after episode after episode of those boys having yet another ‘talk’.

So now, those dragons brought the latest Big Bad up out of Purgatory, a virgin encased ‘Mother’, who I am guessing is the origin of All Things Evil, or something like that. Whatever. Although, it does help tie in the war up in Heaven to something, a plot line that seemed to be dangling around simply to keep Castiel in play. I think it is all starting to make sense. Sorta. You know, in that Supernatural kinda way.

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First off, let me gripe about the promo monkeys over at The CW who spoiled next weeks episode by revealing what is actually up with our darling Sammy. I will not say what it is here as I know some of you avoid promos like the plague, and some of you watch online where you don’t get the promos, but SERIOUSLY The CW? Gah!

There have been many shows through the years that employ the truth-tellin’ scenario we see in this weeks episode, and it almost always results in hilarity. I must admit that I laughed right out loud at Bobby’s confessions about pedicures and his TV watching habits. Was it a convenience, seeing as our Handsome Hero Dean needed some truthiness? You bet it was, but let me tell you, if they were to drag this whole What’s-Up-With-Sammy scenario out for the entire season, I may have had to jump out my window, so I am glad for any trick that will get us to the bottom of Sam’s UN-Sammyness as quickly as possible.

Once again, we get to see a great range from Dean. Sorrow over his Lisa break-up, impishness when he figures out the truth curse is now on him, and all the pain he has tangled up with his lovely brother. I am sure there are plenty of SamGirls who were really pissed that Dean beat the ever lovin’ snot out of his little brother. It was pretty brutal, but I totally understood all the anger and fear and confusion taking over and coming out all over darling Sammy. Veritas was right, those two boys have got allllll kinds of issues.

Next week, more Castiel (Yay!!), more Bobby (woohoo!), and hopefully a good explanation of what is going on with Sammy (which The CW already spoiled for me… arg!).

PS – I am participating in the National Novel Writing Month this November, so please excuse me if my posts are late and/or brief. There’s a 50,000 word piece of awesomeness I am working on this month!!

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We all knew it was coming. There is something up with our Darling Sammy, and this episode we saw a most disturbing sight: Sammy looking on while Dean was turned into a vamp. I haven’t yelled that much at the TV during this show is a very long time!

But the honest truth is, Sam is much more interesting like this (OMG, I was so done with him whining about Dean all the time), and it gives our lovely brothers some juicy conflict, which is needed in a show with only two main characters. Many may disagree with me, but if done right, conflict between these two helps propel the story.

Being a fan of the Twilight books (hey, don’t look at me like that!!), I was greatly amused by the opening sequence. There must be legions of young’uns out there setting themselves up for similar encounters. Only this time, we get some really, really bloody vampires. This show is doing the monster thing up right this season, and it’s nice to be reminded that vampires are supposed to be hella scary, not broody and sparkly.

So, Dean turns into the hottest vampire this side of I don’t know where, and after much angst, we find out, quite matter-of-factly, that there is a cure for vampirism, as long as you haven’t fed. I am willing to buy that, although watching VampireDean feed would have been… well, let me stop myself right there.

The casual way Grandpa Winchester offered the cure, and the dismissive air of Sammy was interesting, and made me trust Gramps a little more. Of course the Smirk of Eeee-vil from Sammy while his one and only brother was turned… well, that was pretty chilling. Hopefully next week, with the addition of Castiel, we will get some more dirt on what is up with SammyFromTheDead.

A word about this season so far: I am really digging it! I have no idea what the rest of the fandom is feeling, but I feel like this show has been saved by some great new energy, and by a showrunner who clearly loves these characters. The episodes have had a lot of that old crackle from early seasons, and even though we have conflicted Winchesters, it doesn’t feel as rotten and dreary as the last couple of Kripke! seasons. Hooray!!

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Y’all know I watch this show first and foremost for The Pretty, so I was a little miffed at the beginning of this episode when I realized it was gonna be a Bobby episode. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bobby, but a whole episode? Turns out it was one of the best episodes of this show is a very, very long time.

Those pretty, pretty Winchester brothers are relegated to the background this week as we get to see a couple days in the life of Bobby Singer. Bobby, you see, sold his soul to Crowley (played once again by the ever awesome Mark Sheppard) back in the wheelchair days of last season. Now that Bobby and the boys put the kibosh on The Apocalypse by shutting Lucifer up in a box in hell, Crowley has taken over as the Big Bad down there. Bobby decides to take matters into his own hands to get his soul back, and we get an episode that veers swimmingly from frustration to potential romance to straight-up slapstick and back to frustration. There is just enough of all the supporting players to keep Bobby on his toes for the entire thing, and by god, by the end of the episode all I wanted was Bobby to get a bite of that damn cobbler! Poor guy.

I also enjoyed: Bobby putting the smack-down on Sam and Dean’s whiny ways; the Crowley/Fergus twisty-ness; Marcy – the sweet new neighbor; the freakin’ woodchipper gag; and an assist from that kook Rufus (honestly, I forgot he was still alive).

Haven’t had that much fun watching Supernatural in a long time. Here’s to hoping we get more solid, but free flowing episodes like that.

Extra added bonus: This episode was directed by the lovely Jensen Ackles!! Well done, sir.

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Now that was a lot of goodness! Naked!Dean, Naked!Sam, the boys in suits, disgustingly gross deaths, shiny black cars, hilarity and Castiel. I am a happy woman.

While the past season or so of Supernatural was pretty good, one of my gripes was all that angst between the beautiful brothers. I watch this show for the camaraderie between Sam and Dean (and yes, for the pretty), so watching all those episodes where they were so far from each other was tough. I am guessing that Sera was feeling the same way, because she didn’t take long to get that slap happy vibe back between our lovely Winchesters. Yes, there is some trepidation on the part of Dean, which is totally fair considering his experience in the pit, but the scenes in the motel room and at the morgue were peppy and those two seemed to be having more fun together than they had had in ages. It made me all gooey inside.

So. The Angels up in heaven, and down here on Earth. I am glad to see the repercussions of Castiel helping to end the Apocalypse, and I am always up for a civil war among the angels. We had some good smiting and some fun twisty turns with Raphael and Balthazar. Loved the pillar of salt gag. Nice how Sam and Dean’s knowledge can let them contribute to the fight. This struggle makes me wonder if we will be encountering many demons this season. I am kinda demon-ed out, and the warring angels give us a whole new host of tricks and treats. Plus, any reason to have more Castiel on my TV!

Speaking of our fair Cas, I like how he has become more solemn. By the end of last season, the fish-out-of-water trope was veering awfully close to camp. I adore that side of Cas, but he is a warrior, he needs to have that strength and resolve to set him apart from the humans. I hope this balance continues. I also enjoy being introduced to new angels, and look forward to seeing who else is on their way.

So far, it looks like we are gonna have a pretty good balance of monster episodes and what’s-up-with-heaven episodes, which is fine with me. My favorite SPN eps. are the ones that are both funny and scary, something I think the writers have been pretty adept at through the years. I am also a sucker for myth arcs and continuing stories in my shows, so I am hoping Ms. Gamble can get those parts of the show back in balance after the myth heavy season five. I am happy with most everything so far. Next week is monsters (and Bobby!), and I am excited.

Lastly, while Sam’s car sure was pretty, I loved it being crushed by a couple of falling angels, because Metallicar just ain’t the same without both of those beautiful boys riding inside.

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I was nervous about the newly run-by-Sera-Gamble Supernatural. Not because I don’t have confidence in her, I surely do, but because after five years of Kripke!, who knew if anyone else could do it? So far, I think she has done a fine job.

Episode one: No one is surprized (except for Dean, I suppose), that Sammy is back and out killing him some monsters. The real surprize is the resurrection of Grandpa Winchester, the lovely and buff Mitch Pileggi. So, we have two reanimated Winchesters, and a slew of cousins off fighting monsters, as a good family should, when the genie from season two(?) offspring decide to come after Dean.

Whatever. The episode is all set-up for the season, so I wasn’t expecting anything too awesome. New season, new show runner, new season arc, blah blah blah. At least we got a glamor shot of Metallicar, the savior of the world!

Episode two: Muuuuch better!! With all the exposition out of the way, I think I see where we are headed this season. Sera Gamble had said that they were gonna go back to hunting, and monsters, and so far we have gotten souped up versions of old monsters we thought we knew. I am hoping this trend continues. The Alpha shape-shifter freaked me right out, and that is how I like my Supernatural. A nice dash of silly Dean/Sammy & baby shape-shifter riding shotgun made me giggle. Plus, as much as I was annoyed that Lisa and kiddo seemed to be kind of shoe-horned into Deans conscience, I have really enjoyed her character these first two episodes. Could a strong, loving and understanding woman for Dean be the influence of our new show runner? Very possible.

And, of course, Grandpa Winchester ain’t necessarily what he seems to be, and I predict we will lose at least one Winchester cousin an episode until we are back down to our lovely duo. Fine with me, because next week? Castiel!!

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I have no idea what other SPN fans thought, because I have been out of town and have spent the week playing catch-up. I was lucky I got to see the finale on Saturday. You know what? Kripke brought it!

A few shocking, horrible, awful deaths; some brotherly love; a hot car that saves the world; and an Angel gets his mojo back. Nice.

I was sure Samifer was a terrible idea, and I was sure the whole Sam/Lucifer talking in the mirror thing was gonna suck, but they didn’t dwell and Jared pulled off the two characters quite well. Seeing Lucifer swallow our darling Sammy up was hard to see, and I can’t believe I was rooting for a damn car to pull him out of it. A car!!

I am also a sucker for this style of storytelling, and it helped that I am a big fan of Chuck the Prophet. The one thing I do know, is that a lot of people are supposing that Chuck is GOD. I am back and forth on this, and may need to watch again to get a more solid opinion. He was wearing white… but would Kripke be that obvious? Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past him.

So, the ending. If this was the verylastSupernaturalever, I would have been satisfied. It would have sucked to think that Dean wouldn’t have his brother, but it would have made sense to me. It would have felt final and tied up and bittersweet and gratifying. But we all know there is another season to come, and Samifer standing under the street lamp, glaring at Dean and Lisa was not only clique, but kinda cheap. And let me tell you, if we have to endure another season of those stunning boys at odds, I am gonna be pissed. I watch this show for the the pretty, the gore and the brotherly love. A few episodes of Sam trying to get back to the world is fine, but not a whole season! Plus, I am not sure how much more of Dean’s suffering I can take.

And who are we gonna blame when things go awry next season? I am so used to “Damn you, Kripke!”, but will it now have to be “Damn you, Sera!”. Just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

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I love Mark Sheppard. He has shown up on every single one of the shows I love, starting with The X-Files way back in the way back, and including shows like 24, BSG, Dollhouse, Firefly, White Collar, Chuck, and on and on. I think the only one he has missed is Lost. I suppose the island was just to much for him, eh?

Regardless of my love for the man, and his character of Crowley here in Supernatural is fun, I found this last episode a little… unnecessary? I mean, we are going back to Sam’s college life, and flogging that dead girlfriend Jessica yet again? Really show? We get it, Sam has been in the pipeline for a while.

I am sick of the show giving us a reason to worry about Sam and Dean’s relationship. I was very happy to have those delicious boys back in each others good graces, and that look Dean gave Sam after he killed Brady (or whatever his stupid name was), made me worry for those boys all over again.

Plus, after that wondrous introduction to Pestilence the week before, we get nothing of him. A totally Matt Frewer free episode! How unfair…

So, it took a whole episode for us to get to anything worthwhile and relevant to the coming apocalypse. Crowley talks Bobby into selling his soul (Oh boy, I DO NOT want Bobby to die, Kripke!!), and that nasty Croatoan virus may be the death of us all. Two episodes to wrap up the apocalypse? We shall see how that goes (do you sense a little bitterness this week? Sorry about that).

Also, if you saw the promo for the penultimate episode, you now know that you don’t want to be walking down the street and brush up against Death. Because that would be bad.

eta: I forgot to mention that Misha Collins will be tweeting during this week’s episode of Supernatural. He will be tweeting like mad from 9-10pm EST. Thanks to Lisi for the heads up!

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