It has been quite the hellatus, and as I rewatched this episode, I see how important it is that Jack is back in the mix. I mean, I knew he’d be back, but the weight of it landed as I watched that last scene as Team Freewill 2.0 sat around the map table.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Sam and Dean finally make it to Alaska, despite all their normal-person luck. Driving blind, they stop at a diner for help, and get confirmation from the waitress that there is indeed a legend about a place to find some luck, but the only person she knows who left in search of the place never returned.

Sam and Dean are undeterred!

Finally, they come across a pool hall, full of sad sacks who need Just One More Game to make their dreams come true. Sam is dubious about the place, wondering if it’s witches or demons that make the luck, but Dean is thrilled that they get to play pool. The game they have been playing since they were kids. Playing pool is like Winchester Life Blood, at least until Charlie hacked those credit cards for them back in the day. Dean is rip roaring to go, even when they get the particulars of how the luck is meted out from Pax, the go-to guy for all players.

Dean begins playing, beating challenger after challenger, while Sammy keeps the wheels in his head turning, trying to suss out just what is going on in the place. And no doubt probably worried what kind of price they’ll have to pay is it is some kind of magic.

It’s all fun for Dean until he beats a man who has literally been playing for his life. Joey Six congratulates Dean on his win, and Sam follows him out to the porch to question the man. Joey Six says was able to keep his lung cancer from killing him for a whole year, until Dean came along and kicked his ass.

(According to several reports, both Jensen and Jared did their own pool stunts, which is just *chef’s kiss*)

Dean comes out to the porch in time to hear about Joey Six’s lung cancer, and has the proper response of feeling bad about winning, but Dean is sure he now has enough luck to carry the Winchesters. Sam is still scratching his head about how it all actually works. While Dean heads out to give Baby a test run, Sam presses the bartender for details.

Dean returns defeated, as Baby died before he even made it out of the parking lot. Sam grabs the magical coin, and finally voices his working theory as he spies the image of Fortuna – the Roman Goddess of Fortune – on the coin.

Sam is sure the actual goddess of fortune is somehow involved, and he assumes that she is skimming luck off of everyone’s wins, keeping them all in an everlasting quest for more luck.

Dean threatens Pax – as Dean does – and when Fortuna, Pax’s mother, makes her appearance, she is pleased they figured it all out, and isn’t all that concerned with their threats, as she can make more kids.

The boys challenge Fortuna to a game, and while she’s up for it, she rebuffs Dean (too shallow) in favor of Sam. Of course Sam accepts, but he wants to to up the stakes: release everyone trapped in the pool hall, and return their luck. Fortuna appreciates his gumption, but refuses to play for anything but luck.

While Sam kicks some Fortuna ass, she reveals the reason that Chuck created the ancient Gods in the first place. Seems as though when mankind began, they invented all kinds of Gods to worship, and while that irked Chuck at first – narcissists hate others getting the credit – he decided that it was actually to his benefit to have the people blaming a host of Gods instead of him for the bad things that happen. So, Chuck created the Gods from Ra to Hera to Anu, and so on, and so on.

That is so on brand for Chuck, I love it.

Fortuna is still mad about Chuck not taking credit for all the misery that was heaped upon her and the other gods. When our boys reveal that they are cursed by the actual Chuck – “Little guy, kinda squirrelly” – Fortuna agrees to play another game for the luck of heroes, like Hercules. Sam smugly bites, and goes down in flames.

HUSTLED!

Fortuna hustled the hustlers, and she sends them off, their only luck left being that she chose to let them go instead of killing them.

But wait!

As Sam and Dean try to figure out what to do next, the people start filing out of the pool hall, and the bartender stops to give the boys a message. Fortuna shut the place down, because of Sam and Dean. She thought that heroes didn’t exist anymore, but they proved her wrong. So she gave them all the luck they need, and left them with excellent words of advice: “Don’t play his game. Make him play yours.”

The boys, now full of luck, jump in Baby and head back home.

MEANWHILE

Cas returns to the bunker and finds Sam’s note about the trip to Alaska. When he hears the ring of phone, he tracks it to Dean’s phone, and answers the call without hesitation. Turns out Dean had opened a “FBI” file looking for Jack a year ago, and this Sheriff has spotted him, and sends Cas a video of Jack eating the heart of a doctor as proof.

RUH-ROH

Cas heads out on the search for Jack, and does a pretty good job of picking up the trail the sheriff had started. That heart Jack ate? It was the heart of a Grigori, a species of angel we were introduced to ages ago (season 10s “Angel Heart”), and one I assumed would show up again, although I never guessed it would take quite this long. The doctor Grigori was feeding on the souls of the sick, and the last Grigori Jack tracks down does the same thing, only to children.

Anyhoo! It doesn’t matter now, because Castiel kills the last one, rescuing Jack without hugs or anything! Boooooooooooooo.

Oh wait, there is hugs, it just takes a minute.

When Sam and Dean return to the bunker, happy that their credit cards are working again, and Dean can eat cheeseburgers in peace, they are greeted by a quietly jubilant Castiel. Cas steps aside, and Jack appears from the shadows, “Hello.”

Sam hustles over and gives the kid a big Sammy bear hug, and then Dean steps up, cupping the kids face and staring into his eyes, emotions careening across his face, as if he can’t quite believe it.

They all assemble at a table, and Jack tells them what he’s been up to. Death kept him hidden in The Empty until Chuck went off world. Once the coast was clear, Death sent Jack back to Earth with instructions to eat Grigori hearts to get back his strength (and other things that he doesn’t reveal in this scene, but may be things that have to be addressed before the big finale), because it is his job to kill Chuck.

And that, my friends, is where the episode ends. Team Free Will 2.0 reassembled, and a heart-eating nephilim ready to kill his grandfather.

Here is some awesome fan generated gifs I found over on FanPop.

SO GOOD! I am excited for what’s next.

NEXT!

CW, in their infinite wisdom, has moved the final episodes of forever to Monday nights. Which is very inconvenient to me, but whatever. All I can tell from the promo is that Jodi is in trouble, so fingers crossed they don’t kill her off, or give her another broken bone.