"We have a pile of questions and no shovel."

A little Bible study. The Book of John tells the story of Lazarus, a friend of Jesus Christ, who lived in a town called Bethany. One day, John tells us, Lazarus became seriously ill, and his sisters Mary and Martha immediately sent word to Jesus, believing he could heal their brother. However, Jesus delayed setting out for Bethany for two full days, and when at last he reached the home of his friend, Lazarus was already dead and buried. "If you had been here, my brother would not have died," Mary chided, and Jesus wept. Deeply moved, he ordered the stone be rolled away from the tomb and then called to the dead man to come out. And Lazarus walked out of the tomb alive, still wearing his burial shroud.

So, this episode is called 'Lazarus Rising', for fairly obvious reasons. The parallels between the story of Lazarus and Dean's experience are striking. Lazarus had sisters who loved him and wanted him to live, but were instead left to mourn his death. Dean had a brother who loved him and wanted him to live, but was instead left to mourn his death. Lazarus, having had his life restored, walked out of his tomb unaided. Dean, having had his life restored, climbed out of his grave unaided. Each had his life restored by an outside agent: Jesus brought Lazarus back to life as a demonstration of his Godhood, and Dean…? Well, if we take this episode at face value, it seems that Dean was brought back to life by an angel because God has a job for him to do. A modern day miracle.

But is everything quite what it seems? Well, that remains to be seen, and the process of finding out looks set to be one hell of a thrill ride!

The Road So Far

Dean sold his soul to save Sam's life, and was given just one year to live. Sam was befriended by a demon named Ruby, but Dean didn't trust her as far as he could spit. A new demonic leader by the name of Lilith became a force to be reckoned with. And, while all this was going on, the brothers Winchester encountered, battled and destroyed a hell of a lot of supernatural foes.

Sam swore that he would save Dean from going to hell, but when Lilith – wearing Ruby's meat suit – came to claim her prize, he found that there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Dean was torn to pieces by Lilith's hellhound while Sam could only watch in despair. Lilith then turned her attention to Sam…only for her supersonic death-ray to bounce right off him. Lilith fled in haste, leaving Ruby's host body dead and Sam to grieve for his brother, whose soul had been dragged down to hell.

Now



Flash. Bloodshot eyes. Choking. Screaming.

Black.

Flash. Bloodshot eyes. Choking. Screaming.

Black.

And again. And again. Again, again, again. Flash, flash, flash. Faster and faster. Flash, flash, flash. Hinting at horrors without ever showing them. It is tremendously effective. Faster, faster – a kaleidoscope of obscure impressions with jagged edges, feeding the imagination far more effectively than any more graphic low-budget depiction of hell ever could. Flash, flash, flash….

Dean gasps awake, his breathing raspy, rapid and shallow, finds a lighter in a hand or pocket, and clicks it on. He finds himself lying in a rather cheap-looking coffin – confined space and very little air. The flame of the lighter, of course, will deplete that air supply pretty rapidly, but I daresay that when you find yourself unexpectedly buried alive, you have to cling to whatever source of comfort you can find, and the ability to see would be one of them! The obvious question, of course, is why was he buried with a lighter? But a lot of people like to bury their loved ones with a few of their possessions, and in life Dean always had a lighter somewhere about his person.

So, having been ripped apart by Lilith's hellhound and his soul dragged to hell, Dean rather unexpectedly finds himself alive once more – alive, and in his grave. His first instinct, understandably enough, is to panic and shout for help. This is easier said than done, however, as it turns out his voice is completely thrashed and he can only manage a hoarse croak. Could be because he's been dead for four months, voice disused for all that time…or it could be because he's been in hell screaming in agony for four months, voice over-used throughout that time. It's a really nice touch. He coughs and wheezes and tries again, but still can't manage to raise much in the way of volume, and the flame is flickering, oxygen levels falling. He has to get out of there, and he has to do it by himself, because there's nobody to help.

Still just barely containing his panic, Dean drops the lighter and starts to shove against the surface of the coffin. He's still wearing his ring, we see, and his watch and bracelet. These were clearly buried with him along with the lighter. He manages to lift the coffin lid a few inches only to get a face full of soil for his trouble. But he has no choice but to keep going, since there isn't much air in the coffin, so he keeps shoving and shoving until the coffin lid finally gives way and the soil above comes pouring in on him, bringing with it just the tiniest glimpses of daylight. No way is this grave six feet deep, but I daresay covert illicit burials don't have to follow official regulations.

Above ground. Day. A simple, hand-made wooden cross is the only sign of the grave beneath, and enough time has passed since it was dug for grass atop the grave to first grow long and then wilt and die in the heat of the summer.



First one hand then another thrusts up from beneath the withered grass. It is a familiar motif, the resurrected individual having to struggle out of their grave alone, but that doesn't make it any the less effective here.

It is probably lucky for Dean that his grave is in such a sunny spot and that the soil is clearly extremely dry and powdery. Also that it is so illegally shallow. There is no way he'd be able to survive the suffocating weight of all the soil collapsing on him and dig his way out otherwise.

Slowly but surely, Dean hauls himself out of his grave and into the brilliant sunlight above, gasping for much-needed air as he emerges and rolling onto his back to recover from the effort. It is a beautiful, sunny day. But he is completely alone, not a soul to be seen. No welcoming committee. No explanation as to how and why he is here when he should still be so very dead.



Face streaked with dirt, he stands and surveys his surroundings. The grave is – or was – in a clearing in the woods, private and out of the way. No public burial possible for Dean Winchester. The site is a little less concealed now, however, as a ring of trees all around it has been completely flattened and uprooted, as if a bomb had gone off there. Visually, it is an extremely impressive sight, and is, we know, a Very Bad Sign indeed. Clearly, something earth shatteringly monumental happened here to bring about Dean's return from the dead, and we know from episodes past just how well Dean recognises such omens of extreme supernatural badness.



So, Dean is alive once more, the explanation for this unexpected vitality unknown. He is alone, which from Dean's point of view is never a good thing. He is confused, he is disoriented, and he is completely and utterly freaked out. What a way to start a new season!

Awesome scene.

Titles

Yowza! New titles! Blood red, and with the fluttery wings! Eeee!



Dean ambles his way along a deserted little road in blistering heat, in search of, well, anything. Signs of life. Some clue as to his location, or, better still, what has happened. Something, someone – anything or anyone. In deference to the heat, he has tied his over-shirt around his waist, and, it has to be said, for someone who should be a months-old corpse, he looks good. ♥

Ring, watch and bracelet were all buried with him. This has already been established. But he is not wearing his amulet.

Dean eventually finds a tiny little gas station in the middle of nowhere. He tries knocking on the door and manages a hoarse croak of "hello!" but gets no reply. The place is deserted. So, he wraps his shirt around a fist and breaks a windowpane to gain entry.

Inside, Dean heads straight for the chiller cabinet and chugs back a bottle of water. He's been walking in the hot sun for some time; he's been rotting in the ground for some months; he's been burning in hell for some months: whichever way you look at it, the man needs water!



Dehydration taken care of, he then turns his attention to exploration of his location. A rack of newspapers, the Pontiac Daily Gazette, not only gives his approximate location but also provides both Dean and viewers with the date: Thursday 18 September 2008. Dean has been dead for a little over four months, and is perturbed in the extreme to realise that this much time has passed.

Next up, Dean locates a sink to rinse the worst of the grave grime off his face and hands, and then makes use of the mirror to explore his body. The last thing he remembers is being torn apart by Lilith's hellhounds, but when he lifts his t-shirt there is not so much as a trace of a scar from this attack.



That makes this resurrection markedly different from those that preceded it. When John traded his life for Dean's in In My Time Of Dying, the scar left by Dean's fatal head wound was still visible in the following episode, fading only slowly after the initial healing. And when Dean traded his soul for Sam in All Hell Breaks Loose, Sam was healed and his life restored, but the scar of his fatal stab wound was still clearly visible when he examined his back. This time, however, there is no scarring whatsoever.

Dean does, however, still have his anti-possession tattoo intact upon his breast. That's good to see. Excellent continuity. And it is another really nice detail that, having dug his way out of his grave with his bare hands, Dean's knuckles are raw and his nails torn and bleeding; they remain in much this condition for the remainder of the episode.

Having established this much, a new source of discomfort brings itself to Dean's attention, and he gingerly pulls back the sleeve of his t-shirt…revealing a rather painful-looking handprint burned into the flesh of his upper arm! Ouch! Already freaking out, Dean's alarm levels rise.



But Dean is a practical man, and is not going to let a small matter like not having the first clue what is going on hold him back. So, he sets about organising himself, finding a bag to stuff with supplies from the little store. Chocolate. Bottles of water. And a porn magazine that he finds on a shelf, because he might have died and spent months in hell but he is still Dean. And because Busty Asian Beauties has become an in-joke on the show. He then ransacks the till for whatever cash has been left on the premises, which isn't much, since literally all he has are the clothes he stands up in, and, whatever has happened, he is going to need funds to start seeking some answers.

As Dean pilfers the petty cash, a television set alongside the cash register clicks on to loud static. Very eerie. Dean regards it with caution for a moment, and then turns it off.

The radio promptly turns itself on, and, as Dean steps toward it, the television sparks back to life once more. Eerier and eerier. Dean has been a hunter of the supernatural most of his life and this is season four of the show – both he and viewers only too readily recognise the signs of a supernatural presence nearby.

Alarmed, Dean takes rapid defensive measures, grabbing a carton of salt off a shelf and starting to pour it along the nearest windowsill. As he pours, however, the static starts to increase in both volume and pitch, becoming an ever shriller squeal that has him clutching at his abused ears in pain. Dropping the salt, he doubles over, hands clamped over his ears in a futile attempt at defence against the incessant high-pitched sound.



The piercing squeal hits a note that shatters the windows, and Dean flings himself to the ground as glass shards shower all around him. Finally, blessedly, the noise stops, and he is able to rather dazedly pick himself up and try to collect his wits once more.

So. First an unexpected and unexplained resurrection from hell, and now this mysterious and seemingly malevolent supernatural force focused around Dean. The central mystery at the heart of this episode is awesomely set up.

Outside the store, Dean finds a payphone, inserts one of his purloined coins and dials. Sam's number, of course. Disconnected. Dean must fear the worst at this point – he doesn't even know whether or not his brother made it out of the fight with Lilith in one piece.

Another coin and another number. Bobby this time. Bobby is a fixed point. Sam could be anywhere, but Bobby is constant. If Dean can re-establish contact with him, he can then move forward from there to re-establish contact with Sam.

"Bobby?"
"Yeah?"
"It's me."
"Who's me?"
"Dean."

Dial tone. Dean has been dead for four months. Of course Bobby isn't going to believe it is him calling. Getting frantic now, Dean tries again.

"Who is this?"
"Bobby, listen to me –"
"This ain't funny. Call again and I'll kill you."

Whoa. And Bobby's delivery is so flat, grated out through gritted teeth. Dean has been dead for four months. Having someone call out of the blue claiming to be him must feel like the sickest prank call ever.

Dismayed, Dean turns around and sees a car sitting on the forecourt. That'll do. It's even a classic – a 1962 Mercury Monterey hard top, apparently. Hotwiring it is the work of but a moment, and then he is away.

Eight and a half minutes into the episode, and Dean is the only character we have seen so far. Man, that's a heavy workload for Jensen Ackles! Little more than a dozen words of dialogue, and yet so much has been so clearly conveyed and established. Fantastic work.

Singer's Auto Salvage.

There's a knock at the door, and Bobby opens it to find the four-months-dead Dean Winchester standing there, looking a little grimy and dishevelled, but on his feet and on the doorstep rather than in his grave where he should be.



Dean stares at Bobby for a moment, unsure of his welcome but oh-so relieved to finally see a familiar face, to feel solid ground beneath his feet once more. Bobby stares back, shocked into silence.



"Surprise," Dean gruffly offers, voice still not fully recovered.

Bobby stares a little more. "I don't…." he breathes, backing away.

"Yeah, me neither," Dean admits, stepping across the threshold into the house. "But here I am."

Bobby continues to stare in utter disbelief, fingers closing around a silver knife handily left lying around on a counter just behind him. Then he lunges. Dean dodges the swipe and deflects, grabbing the older man's arm to prevent him inflicting any damage with that knife. Bobby promptly lashes out with his other arm, sending Dean reeling. "Bobby, it's me!" Dean protests, stumbling into another room.

"My ass," Bobby growls, advancing once more. Dean was like a son to him, but he has been dead and buried for four months. So to have something turn up on the doorstep wearing his face, claiming to be him…it must hurt like hell. Like the ultimate violation.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Dean takes refuge behind a chair. "Your name is Robert Steven Singer. You became a hunter after your wife got possessed. You're about the closest thing I have to a father," he babbles at speed, reeling off whatever fact comes to mind in a desperate effort to convince. Of course, most supernatural creatures are perfectly capable of extracting such details straight out of the minds of the people they attack, so it's maybe not the most effective means of reassuring Bobby, but it's all Dean's got right now. "Bobby. It's me," he insists, warily straightening up but maintaining his defensive stance in case of another attack.

Bobby stares a little more, stumbling forward and pushing the chair aside. Then he reaches out to touch, resting a tremulous hand on Dean's shoulder and squinting incredulously at him. Dean allows himself to relax just a little, relieved to be making progress…and Bobby promptly swings at him with the knife once more. Ah, but Bobby's deeply paranoid scepticism is a wonderfully consistent character trait.

"I am not a shapeshifter," Dean grunts, wrestling the knife out of Bobby's hand and backing away at speed.

"Then you're a revenant," Bobby fumes. Now, revenants are something we haven't really seen on the show so far, unless you count the vampires or zombie Angela. Not quite the same thing, though.

"All right," Dean offers. "If I was either, would I do this? With a silver knife?" Seeing nothing else for it, he pulls back a sleeve and draws the blade across his arm, slicing deep enough to draw blood.

Bobby – yep, you guessed it – stares in disbelief. It's like his ground state of being in this scene. Dean waits, and hopes, not knowing how else he can possibly convince.



"Dean?" Bobby breathes at length, still scarcely able to comprehend the reality of the situation.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Dean huskily nods, risking a few steps toward his old friend now.

And Bobby just crumples, throws his arms around Dean and pulls him tight, blinking back tears. Bless his heart: you need look no further than this moment to see how very hard recent events have hit him, how very much he cares. We haven't seen Bobby this emotional since he first confronted Dean about making that deal in the first place. And Dean hugs just as tightly, both of them needing the comfort of the embrace.

A two-sided hug! A hug returned by these gruff manly men rather than just given! Wow, we haven't seen that since Shadow, in season one! There have been way too many one-sided hugs on this show.



The two men finally break apart, and Bobby searches for something to say. "It's – it's good to see you, boy," he eventually understates, and Dean returns the sentiment with absolute sincerity, all choked up with emotion. "How did you bust out?" Bobby wants to know, face alight with amazement at this miraculous turn of events.

"I don't know," Dean admits. And still he sounds husky. "I just, uh. I just woke up in a pine bo–" Heh. Bobby splashes a bottle of holy water in his face, just when he thought it was safe to relax. Dean's long-suffering yet indulgent expression is perfect. He spits out a mouthful of water. "I'm not a demon, either, you know," he mildly points out.



Bobby shrugs. "Sorry. Can't be too careful." Hee.

Man, this scene is absolutely perfect. It is everything it should be, everything it needed to be, and then some.

A few moments later. "That don't make a lick of sense," Bobby grumbles as he leads the way through to the lounge, which is littered with empty whisky bottles.

"Yeah, you're preaching to the choir," Dean sighs, patting his face dry.

"Dean. Your chest was ribbons. Your insides were slop. And you've been buried four months." Bobby lays it on the line, no holds barred. He is not a man who believes in mincing his words. And, damn – when you hear it stated like that, damn but it hurts to think of Sam and Bobby in the immediate aftermath of Dean's death, with the state he was in, having to clean him up for burial. "Even if you could slip out of hell and back into your meat suit…"

"I know," Dean agrees. "I should look like a Thriller video reject." Bobby asks what he remembers. "Not much," is the answer. "I remember I was a hellhound's chew toy. And then, light's out. Then I come to six feet under. That was it."

Well, not quite six feet – there is no way that grave was six feet deep. But that's beside the point. The point is that Dean has no memory – yet – of the months he spent in hell. In terms of the narrative, this gives the show's writers the freedom to fully establish the season's plotlines and themes before delving into the impact of those traumatic memories, as well as creating a degree of mystery and suspense: will Dean eventually regain those harrowing memories, and, if so, when? Just how bad will those memories be, and how will that affect both him and the people around him?

If, on the other hand, he had returned from hell with his memory intact, however emotionally satisfying it might have been to watch, the inevitable trauma and necessity of immediately dealing with the fallout would have greatly restricted the storytelling possibilities of these first few episodes.

"Sam's number's not working." Dean gets to the question he must have been longing to ask since he got here. "He's not…?"

Still very clearly struggling to come to terms with this remarkable turn of events, Bobby assures Dean that his brother is fine, at least as far as he knows, and Dean takes a beat to bask in his relief, which is all the more profound for being so understated. Then he sharply questions Bobby on his use of the phrase 'as far as I know'.



Bobby admits that he hasn't talked to Sam for months, and Dean is alarmed, all the pent-up anxiety that's been building inside him since he woke up in his coffin coming out in a rush of accusation. "You're kidding – you just let him go off by himself?" Bobby wearily shrugs that Sam was dead set on it, but Dean does not consider this to be good enough. "Bobby, you should have been looking after him."

Bobby is indignant. "I tried," he defends, and it is worth remembering that Dean didn't let Bobby look after him either, when Sam died. It can't be easy to be in Bobby's shoes, to be so close to these boys, to care about them as if they were his own, and yet always be on the outside of their familial bond, to be allowed so close but no further. "These last months haven't been exactly easy, you know. For him or me. We had to bury you."

Dean frowns. "Why did you bury me, anyway?" he wants to know.

"I wanted you salted and burned, usual drill," Bobby admits. "But Sam wouldn't have it."

Dean observes that he's glad Sam won that one, but honestly – whatever brought him back clearly possesses immense power, enough power to drag him out of hell and fully repair his body when it put him back in. I think it is safe to say that it would have also been able to completely reconstitute that body even if it had been burned to ash. The crossroads demon, we remember, offered in all seriousness to bring John back 'just as he was' months after he had been cremated.

"He said you'd need a body when he got you back home somehow," Bobby adds. That doesn't exactly make sense, since, as previously noted, a shredded and decomposing corpse isn't exactly the most user-friendly of vessels for a returning soul, and again, if the force that returns the soul is able to repair that damage and decomposition surely it could also completely reconstitute the body from scratch. But it is safe to say that Sam wasn't thinking all that clearly in the wake of his brother's death. It is fairly typical of the freshly bereaved to not want the corpse of their loved one to be further damaged or defiled in any way.

"That's about all he said," Bobby continues, and Dean doesn't like the sound of that. "He was quiet. Real quiet," Bobby explains. "Then…he just took off. Wouldn't return my calls. I tried to find him…but he don't want to be found."

That's the Winchester way, all right. John also severed all contact with those closest to him when he took off in season one, having decided on a course of action. He claimed that this was in their best interest, to protect them – but it is safe to say that wanting the freedom of not having to listen to anyone else's point of view or counter-argument also played a large part in the equation. And Sam is very much his father's son: single-minded, vengeful, increasingly inclined toward social and emotional isolation, and always convinced as to the justice of his own decisions and actions.

"Oh, damn it, Sammy." Dean is dismayed, and Bobby wonders what he means. "Oh, he got me home okay," Dean assumes. "But whatever he did, it is bad mojo." Bobby wonders what makes him so sure, so Dean explains while Bobby eyes him appraisingly. "You should have seen the grave site. It was like a nuke went off! Then there was this force, this presence, this…I don't know, but it blew past me at a fill-up joint. Then there's this."



Dean shrugs off his shirt and pulls back a sleeve of his t-shirt to show Bobby the handprint branded into his shoulder, and Bobby's eyes go as wide as dinner plates as he jumps up and hurries over for a closer look, astounded and concerned.

"Looks like a demon just yanked me out," Dean suggests. "Or rode me out."

"But why?" Bobby breathes.



Dean shrugs. "To hold up their end of the bargain?"

"You think Sam made a deal," Bobby realises, sounding a little more surprised by the theory than he really should, given how well he knows the Winchesters, and given what he himself has just said about Sam's behaviour in recent months.

Dean looks him in the eye. "It's what I would have done."

Um, no, Dean – actually, it's what you did do. That's how you got yourself into this situation in the first place.

Later. Bobby has apparently lent Dean some clothes to change into, since his burial outfit was a little on the grubby side after crawling out of his grave. He gets straight on the phone to have the GPS in Sam's cell phone activated…despite the fact that he doesn't know Sam's new number. He knows his brother well enough to get around that little detail, is able to predict with ease the name Sam would have used for his new account: Wedge Antilles. Oh, Sam. And Sam's social security number is 2474, apparently.



Bobby, who has been unable to track Sam down for months now, is perplexed at the ease with which Dean is able to pick up the trail, wondering how he knew Sam would be using that name.

"Are you kidding me? What don't I know about that kid," Dean gruffs, sitting down at Bobby's computer to trace the now activated GPS in Sam's phone. "Hey, Bobby," he then pointedly asides as he accesses Arc Mobile's website, holding up an empty whisky bottle as Exhibit A. "What's the deal with the liquor store? Your parents out of town or something?"

Bobby looks bleak, and offers no apologies. "Like I said. Last few months ain't been all that easy."

Dean holds his eyes for a moment as he absorbs the implications of that mild statement, the impact of his death, and finds that there is nothing he can say in response. What happened happened, and nothing can ever change that. Dean could never in his wildest dreams have imagined, in that moment of absolute grief and despair when he made his deal, with the state of mind he was in at that time, just how devastating an impact his death would have on those closest to him. It's got to be pretty humbling.

The GPS in Sam's phone gives his location as 263 Adams Road, Pontiac, Illinois. "Right near where you were planted," Bobby remembers, and Dean adds that it is also right where he popped up – the newspaper he found was the Pontiac Daily Gazette, we remember. It is one hell of a coincidence, he grimly notes.

Dean died in New Harmony, Indiana. So why was he taken all the way to Pontiac, Illinois for burial? It seems rather random, and no explanation is forthcoming.

Astoria Hotel, Pontiac, Illinois

Dean and Bobby make their way to Sam's room and knock on the door. Heh – the room number is in a red heart. That should be a clue…

A girl opens the door: brunette, clad only in camisole and knickers. Since Dean and Bobby were expecting Sam and the girl was expecting pizza, everyone is confused. Dean has just come to the conclusion that they have got the wrong room when Sam wanders out of the bathroom, fresh from the shower, to see what's going on. He takes one look at Dean and freezes in his tracks, his expression the most perfect blend of shock and devastation. Dean has been dead and buried for four months. If it was painful for Bobby to have a suspected impostor turn up on the doorstep wearing his face, how much worse for Sam?



Sam flicks a little frown at Bobby, confused by his presence, but quickly turns his eyes back to Dean, still just looking so hurt, so devastated, falling apart from the inside out. Dean offers a gentle "heya, Sammy," by way of breaking the ice, and Sam shudders and gasps a little, eyes glued to his brother's face.



Dean takes a few steps forward, into the room, past the girl…and Sam's grief-stricken expression hardens into fury. He whips out a knife from somewhere about his person, and moves like a flash, hurling himself at the supposed impostor. As the girl shrieks in shock, Dean reacts in time to grab his brother's knife arm and hold him off as he is shoved against the wall, while Bobby grabs Sam from behind and hauls him away – easier said than done, Sam being the size, weight and strength that he is.

"Who are you?" Sam furiously demands.

"Like you didn't do this!" Dean yells back.

"Do what?" Sam snarls.

"It's him, Sam." Bobby is just barely managing to hold onto Sam. "I've been through this already. It's really him."



Sam's eyes are still glued to Dean as his rage trickles away, leaving behind shock, grief – and a sudden burst of hope. Dean risks a few steps forward once more, and a trademark lightening-a-sombre-moment quip. "I know. I look fantastic, huh?"

That's all it takes to convince. Sam shrugs Bobby off and throws his arms around his brother, and they both cling tightly to one another, as if they can just hug away the four months of grief and hell and separation if they only hold on tight enough. That's twice in this episode a hug has been returned! Wow, Show is on a roll.





And Bobby, bless him, stands there with tears in his eyes, looking on as if all his prayers have been answered. He must have felt as if he'd lost them both when Sam took off and broke contact, and that would have hit him hard, for all that he is closer to Dean than to Sam. We've seen how hard it hit him. He would have wanted to take care of Sam, both for Dean's sake and Sam's own, would have wanted the comfort of being able to at least grieve together, but Sam instead completely shut him out. He'd lost them both. And now here they both are – here they all are.

But what happened happened. Nothing can ever change that. And the full scale of the fallout won't be fully felt for some time, I suspect.

The brothers finally break apart and step back and take a good look at each other, and this is the point at which Sam should start to ask questions – how did this happen? How is it possible? Are you all right? But he is completely speechless, utterly lost for words.

And then Brunette, the girl who opened the door, breaks into the moment, casting sceptical eyes back and fore between the brothers. "So, are you two…like…together?"



Such an old, tired joke. It does, however, reinforce the impression of Brunette as a casual conquest, just some girl Sam picked up in a bar someplace, who knows nothing about him or his life and his sorrows.

Still completely overwhelmed by the sheer fact of Dean being there, it takes Sam a moment to work out what the girl is talking about, while Dean had completely forgotten that she was there at all and, reminded, takes a moment to be amazed at the notion of Sammy having a girl in his room. It's not exactly classic, old school Sam behaviour, that's for sure. 'What don't I know about that kid?' Dean remarked earlier, and sure – he was able to track his brother down with ease. But while Dean has been dead for four months, Sam had to live every day of those four months, and the experience has changed him. This is no longer the same little brother that Dean left behind, and the presence of this girl is merely the first sign of that.

"No. No. He's my brother." Sam just barely manages to get the words out, all choked up with emotion, bless him. Bemused, Brunette shrugs that she should probably go, and Sam readily agrees that this is probably a good idea, while Dean offers her a knowing smirk.

A few minutes later, a flustered Sam ushers the now dressed Brunette out of the room and hurriedly agrees to call her, addressing her as Kelly. Disappointed, Brunette corrects him that her name is Kristy, and Sam is flustered, can't get rid of her quickly enough. Brunette Kristy leaves, and Sam turns to face the music, squirming like a teenager whose parents have sprung him with a girl in his room, and it is hilarious because you can see him trying to convince himself that he is an adult and has nothing to be embarrassed about, but it isn't working.



Let us consider Brunette Kristy for a moment. If we take this scene at face value, she is nothing more than some random girl Sam has picked up, whose name he doesn't even remember, now utterly surplus to requirement. Completely meaningless except as a sign of just how much Sam has changed since Dean's death. But later in this episode the same girl shows up again…and she is Ruby. And Sam knows her as Ruby. And that changes everything. So how, then, is the interpretation of this scene altered by that knowledge? Well, potentially, a hell of a lot.

It could be, of course, that at this stage of the episode the girl is exactly what she seems: a casual conquest, a consenting adult, and not possessed. It could be that Ruby possesses her later, maybe knowing that Sam has already met the girl, and that Sam is simply able to recognise Ruby at once now, no matter what body she is wearing. That Ruby is skipping from body to body these days, rather than picking one to stick with long-term after what happened to the last one. That is probably the best-case scenario.

But if that isn't the case, if the girl is already possessed, already Ruby, wandering scantily clad around Sam's hotel room…well, that changes everything. The worst-case scenario and most obvious implication is that she and Sam are sleeping together. Worst-case because Ruby is a demon. She might be only too willing, all the better to maintain and strengthen her position in Sam's life, but the girl whose body she is inhabiting is unable to give her consent – or her denial. And that is just dark. Wrong. Would Sam really do that? Has he really changed that much?

Or, it could be that Ruby is simply rooming with Sam, travelling and living together along the road just as Sam and Dean have always travelled and lived together along the road. More convenient for them both, perhaps, although still disturbing to think of Sam allowing this demon to so easily slide into Dean's place in his life.

Whichever way you look at it, Ruby's presence in this episode implies very clearly just how comfortable Sam has become with her. Dean left a gaping hole in his life, and Ruby, it seems, was well placed to slide in and fill it, no doubt whispering seductive comfort in his ear, maybe encouraging him to cut off all contact with Bobby. And it is troubling to think of Sam turning for comfort in his grief to a demon rather to Bobby, who shared his grief and was the closest thing he had left to family.

It is also troubling because, if this girl is already possessed, is already Ruby, then Sam is lying outright to Dean's face from the very moment his brother is back in his life: Ruby acting dumb to reinforce the impression that she is a casual conquest and Sam playing along without so much as blinking. It is a very unsettling possibility, but the jury remains out until further evidence is forthcoming.

With Brunette Kristy gone, Sam turns his attention back to Dean and Bobby, both of whom are watching him closely, wearing identical grim expressions. Dean gets straight to the point. "So tell me: what did it cost?"

"The girl?" Sam grins, determinedly not acknowledging his brother's mood. "I don't pay, Dean."

"Not funny, Sam." Dean isn't in the mood for humour. "To bring me back," he clarifies. "What did it cost? Was it just your soul, or was it something worse?"



"You think I made a deal?" Sam realises, and Bobby confirms that yes, that's exactly what they think. It is a reasonable assumption, based on available circumstantial evidence. People don't just come back from the dead; someone else has to do something to bring them back, and Sam is the most obvious suspect.

Sam denies all knowledge, his tone still noticeably light in comparison to Dean and Bobby's deadly seriousness. He's still riding the high of Dean being back at all, untroubled as yet by the kind of suspicions the other two are harbouring, plus, of course, he has been caught very much on the hop and has yet to catch up to speed.

Dean glowers at his brother not to lie to him, and Sam sobers up to firmly insist that he isn't lying. Dean is not convinced. "So, what – now I'm off the hook and you're on, is that it? You're some demon's bitch-boy? I didn't want to be saved like this!"

All trace of Sam's light-heartedness has now evaporated. "Look, Dean, I wish I had done it. All right?" he begins.



Dean fists his brother's shirt by way of emphasising his anger and distress at the thought of Sam going to such lengths and potentially selling his soul for his sake. "There's no other way that this could have gone down," he rages. "Now tell the truth!"

"I tried everything, that's the truth," Sam snarls back, shoving his brother's hands away. "I tried opening the devil's gate. Hell, I tried to bargain, Dean, but no demon would deal. All right? You were rotting in hell. For months. For months. And I couldn't stop it. So I'm sorry it wasn't me, all right? Dean, I'm sorry."

The distress of those months of anguish and despair shows plainly now. Sam promised so solemnly last season that he would save Dean, that he would not let his brother go to hell, but in the end he was completely unable to follow through on that promise. The crushing weight of that guilt must have been overwhelming these last few months.



Dean has never been able to resist Sam in distress. "It's okay, Sammy," he murmurs, looking a little shaken. "You don't have to apologise. I believe you."

"Don't get me wrong, I am glad that Sam's soul remains intact," Bobby concludes. "But it does raise a sticky question."

It does indeed – if it wasn't Sam who pulled Dean out…then what the hell did? Troubled expressions abound, as all three of them know so very, very well that what's dead should stay dead, and when it doesn't there is always a devastatingly high price to be paid.

Later. Sam hands out beers all round, while Dean raises another excellent question – what is Sam doing in Pontiac if he wasn't digging Dean out of his grave?

"Well," Sam explains, again shooting for a casual tone to mask the intensity of emotions being stirred up and the implications of what he is saying. "Once I figured out I couldn't save you, um. I started hunting down Lilith. Trying to get some payback."

"All by yourself," Bobby flatly notes. Sam's rejection of him in the wake of Dean's death hit him hard. "Who d'you think you are, your old man?"

Touché! Sam is so very much his father's son, sharing both John's vengeful temper and his stubborn propensity for striking out on his own, turning his back on those who would so willingly lend their support rather than share his self-appointed mission in any way. He had lost his last remaining family member to yet another demon, and he reacted exactly as his father before him would have done: he severed all social and emotional ties that might have helped soothe his grief and rebuild his life in a healthy manner, instead allowed himself to wallow in it, allowed his despair and rage to fester and consume him. And it is that grief and rage that has informed his decision-making process ever since, with all moderating influences cast off.

Sad to say, it is the exact same reaction that we saw to Dean's many deaths in Mystery Spot last season, that episode foreshadowing this turn of events precisely. It would be nice to have been able to believe that Sam might have learned from that experience, but it was very clear from the episode in question that he had not learned a thing – and such bull-headedness is very, very in character for him.

Sam has the grace to look abashed as he apologises and admits that he should have called. "I was pretty messed up," he massively understates, still somehow managing to brush it off as if it was nothing, and it seems clear that he isn't really sorry at all, that he'd do it again without a second thought, should similar circumstances arise. He broke contact because he wanted to, because it suited him, and shows no sign of recognising that he wasn't the only one hurting.

"Oh yeah, I really feel your pain," Dean snarks, waving a pink lacy bra left lying around the room and managing in typical fashion to ease the tension of the moment – it must be decidedly unsettling, after all, to have to hear all about the impact of your own death on your nearest and dearest.



And as for the bra…well, it's evidence that Kristy/Ruby has made herself very much at home in the hotel room, but still inconclusive.

"Anyways," Sam continues, ignoring the jibe completely, as he always tries to ignore Dean's sex jokes. "I was checking these demons out in Tennessee, and out of nowhere they took a hard left, booked up here."

There is absolutely no way of telling, from Sam's attitude, how he felt about chasing these demons back to the town where he had buried his brother just a few months earlier. It seems that he hadn't yet taken the opportunity to visit Dean's grave, because if he had he would have found it disturbed, and the distress of that would have shown in his behaviour. He'd have mentioned it by now. Makes me wonder if he would have taken the time to visit the grave, later, once he'd taken care of the demons, or if he couldn't yet bring himself to go near.

Dean wants to know when this demon-chase happened. Yesterday morning, Sam tells him. Right when Dean busted out of his grave, Dean realises. Bobby asks if he thinks the demons are here because of him. Dean shrugs, not knowing what to think, and Sam asks why.

"I don't know," Dean grumbles. "Some bad-ass demon drags me out, and now this? It's got to be connected somehow."

Bobby eyes Dean speculatively, much as he did back at his own place, when Dean first showed up, and asks how Dean is feeling. Dean admits to feeling a little hungry, but that isn't what Bobby means. Does he feel like himself? Anything strange or different?

"Or demonic?" Dean realises, not liking what his friend is implying. "Bobby, how many times do I have to prove I'm me?"

"Yeah, well listen." Bobby is not going to apologise for his caution. "No demon is going to let you loose out of the goodness of their hearts. They've got to have something nasty planned."

Dean defensively insists again that he feels fine, and Sam neatly summarises the situation. "Hey, look, we don't know what the plan is, but we've got a pile of questions and no shovel. We need help."

It is worth wondering just what kind of help Sam might have suggested there – summoning Ruby, maybe – if Bobby didn't instantly come up with a suggestion. He knows a psychic, he says, a few hours from here. "Something this big – maybe she's heard the other side talking."

Bobby wanders off to make the call, leaving the brothers alone for the first time. And, oh, bless his heart, Sam immediately takes the opportunity afforded by this privacy to pull Dean's amulet out from under his t-shirt and lift it over his head. "You probably want this back," he quietly notes, handing it over. Touched, Dean murmurs his thanks, and the brothers share a quiet moment. And I've wanted a scene like this all summer so am delighted now. It is a very understated moment, but nonetheless meaningful for all that.



There is still an undercurrent of awkwardness between the brothers, however. Their reunion was public rather than private and they still have only a few moments alone together before Bobby gets back. They have been apart for months, and Sam, at least, has changed a lot during that time, in ways he may or may not be keen for his brother to find out about. This should be the best day of both their lives…but the circumstances inevitably mean that it simply cannot be that clean or simple. Dean is alive again, and that is a miracle, a wonderful gift that is more than either could have dreamed of…but what happened happened, and nothing can ever change that. And nothing can ever be quite the same again. This is the price that must be paid for the restoration of both their lives.

"Hey, Dean, what was it like?" Sam can no longer resist asking, struggling to meet his brother's eyes. He has already admitted how guilty he feels about his inability to get Dean back out, about the months of torture Dean must have endured down there for his sake.

But Dean is, at least, able to set Sam's mind at rest on one point. "What, hell? I don't know," he quietly admits. "I, uh, I must have blacked it out. I don't remember a damn thing."

Sam's relief is solemn, heartfelt and sincere. "Thank God for that." And Dean can only agree.

Later. Dean wanders into the bathroom and flicks on the light. He has changed his clothes, again, this time borrowing an outfit from his brother, and Sam's clothes hang off him, the sleeves too long for his arms. Because Sam is a giant and Dean, although tall, is not. It is worth wondering just what Sam did with the rest of Dean's effects, his clothes and personal possessions. He might have stored them someplace, such as John's old storage lockup, or he might have disposed of them. One thing is certain: he doesn't have them with him, and there is no reason why he should. Dean was dead. He'd been dead for four months. Sam was not expecting him back.

At the mirror, Dean leans forward to study his own face, taking stock and absorbing the astounding events of the last day or two.



Flash! Bloodshot eyes!

Flash! Bloodshot eyes! Screaming!

Flash! Bloodshot eyes! Screaming!



Dean looks shaken as the flashes of memory subside. He has no clear memory of hell, and that is a blessing indeed. But, if these tiny flashes are anything to go by, those awful memories do exist, locked away deep inside his mind, and once they start to emerge, even a fraction …well, it seems safe to say that future episodes hold the potential for angst and trauma a-plenty!

Parking lot

Bobby, Dean and Sam head for their cars as Bobby explains that his psychic friend is about four hours away down the interstate. "Try to keep up," he dryly quips, heading for his Chevelle.

Dean, meanwhile, follows Sam to the Impala. "I assume you'll want to drive," Sam observes, tossing the keys to his brother, not hesitating for so much as a second to return to Dean what was his.



Dean laughs out loud in delight. "I almost forgot!" he crows, running a delighted hand along the side of the car. "Hey, sweetheart. You miss me?" Aww. Dean has always had such a powerful love affair with that car! He gets into the driver's seat, still basking in the joy of having his baby back…but then pulls up short in shock as his eyes immediately fall on something alien hooked up to the dashboard.

Dean immediately rounds on Sam as he slings himself into the passenger seat. "What the hell is that?" he demands.

Sam looks amused. "That's an iPod jack," he nonchalantly explains, as if he thinks acting casual is going to make Dean handle the affront any better. Heh.



Dean has never been a fan of change, has never upgraded his beloved car in the slightest, not even when he rebuilt her almost from scratch. And finding this new technology installed in her now serves only as a reminder of just how much time he has lost, how long he has been gone, how much he has missed. A reminder that for four long months life has been going on without him. "You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up!" he indignantly protests.

Sam laughs and offers no apologies. "Dean, I thought it was my car," he points out, reasonably enough. The car and the amulet were all he kept for himself that had been Dean's, and now both have been returned, but they belonged to Sam for those four months.

Dean rolls his eyes and starts the engine. The iPod immediately bursts into life, and Dean's affronted expression flips to outright horror when he hears what his brother has been listening to: a doleful, countrified ballad of some kind. Hee, and that's another in-joke for the show, as I believe that is the music of Jensen Ackles' friend Jason Manns.



Dean turns scandalised eyes upon his brother. "Really?" Sam just shrugs and acts innocent: he likes what he likes! Without another word, Dean rips the iPod out and tosses it into the backseat, preferring silence. And off they drive.

As with Dean's clothes, I wonder if Sam has kept his brother's cassette collection someplace, safely stored away, or if he disposed of them completely, having accepted that Dean was not coming back.

The whole scene serves as a perfect example of the best kind of humour in this show. It's a simple, light-hearted scene that pokes fun at both Dean's attitude toward the car and Sam's taste in music. But beneath the surface of that humour, the scene also has a major point to make. Sam hasn't kept the car a shrine to his brother, just waiting for the day he could hand it back, head buried in denial. He had accepted that Dean was dead and gone and he had moved on, made the car his own. The last thing in the world he was expecting was for Dean to return, that he would have to justify the changes that he has made in his life.

Road

Four hours along the interstate to Bobby's friend the psychic, the longest the brothers have been alone together since Dean's return. That's a lot of time to talk, to catch up on four months apart – although only one of the two actually has four months' worth of experience to report. It is also a lot of time alone together in which to not talk, to have to conceal anything considered best left unshared.



"There's still one thing that's bothering me," Dean remarks as he drives through the night. "The night that I bit it…or got bit. How'd you make it out? I thought Lilith was going to kill you."

"Well, she tried. She couldn't." Sam kind of mumbles his answer, evidently still shooting for nonchalant. Dean immediately wants to know what he means by that. "She fired this, like, burning light at me. And…didn't leave a scratch. Like I was immune, or something," Sam reluctantly explains – this is not a story he enjoys telling. He knows how Dean is likely to react to the information, and that makes the telling all the harder. "I don't know who was more surprised," he admits. "Her or me. She left pretty fast after that."

It isn't the first time Sam has proved immune to something demonic. Croatoan was a bad experience for them both. Understandably, Dean is a little perturbed. He absorbs this information, and then asks about Ruby.

"Dead. For now," Sam shrugs. And that, right there, that is an out and out lie. The scene earlier, with the girl in the hotel room, that may or may not have been a lie of omission depending on whether or not the girl was already possessed by Ruby at the time, and there is no solid evidence there either for or against. But it is clear from events later in the episode that Sam and Ruby have been working together closely for months now. Her previous host body is very dead, but it is the demon Dean is asking about, not the host, and Sam lies to his face about it. And Dean can't tell that he is lying. That is very troubling.

This scene is filmed in almost total darkness as the Impala drives along a deserted and unlit back road, making it difficult for the brothers to see one another's faces – or us, for that matter. Although it is a little frustrating, this shadowy murkiness makes a terrific narrative tool for the scene.

Dean thinks for a moment, and keeps his eyes on the road as he broaches another difficult question. "So. Have you been using your freaky ESP stuff?" Sam turns to look him in the eye as he firmly denies it. Dean asks if he is sure, wanting the reassurance of absolute clarification. Four months at such a crucial juncture is a long time in his brother's life to have missed. "I mean, now that you've got immunity, or whatever the hell that is," he presses. "Just wondering what other kind of weirdo crap you've got going on."



Yeah, not the most sensitive way he could have worded the query, but Dean has never been what you'd call articulate, and he's also never really been one for beating around the bush.

"Nothing, Dean," Sam insists, sounding indignant at the very suggestion. "Look, you didn't want me to go down that road, so I didn't go down that road. It was practically your dying wish."

Oh, man. We will learn later in the episode that this is another outright lie. Sam has been using his powers, practicing and honing them, using them as weapons. This is something that is never going to be easy for him to admit to Dean, given how concerned Dean has always been about those powers, how dead-set he was against Sam unlocking them, even to save him. But for Sam to lie about it when asked outright is only storing up greater trouble for himself later on, as that one lie will inevitably beget a whole forest of bigger lies, to protect it. And to use Dean's dying request as a defence, to claim obedience to that promise as a deflection to hide his rejection of it is just low, unspeakably disrespectful, even if Dean is no longer dead.

That's two enormous lies inside about 30 seconds. Sammy is in a very, very bad place right now, and I'm not sure he even realises it. It only remains to be seen just how bad – and how long it will take Dean to realise.

Pamela Barnes' House

Morning. Either the four-hour journey took all night (or maybe they just set out that late) or the trio have stopped for breakfast someplace, waiting for a more civilised hour to come calling.

Bobby's psychic friend, Pamela Barnes, turns out to be a pretty, flirtatious 30-something, who teasingly lifts Bobby right off his feet as she hugs him in greeting. Heh. I like her already. She then turns appreciative eyes toward the two handsome young men he has brought with him. Dean, of course, takes centre stage as Exhibit A in the mystery they are hoping she can help resolve. "Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan, huh? That makes you a rare individual."



As the group heads inside, Bobby asks if Pamela has heard anything. She shrugs that she has ouija'd her way through a dozen spirits while they were en route, but no one seems to know who broke Dean out or why. It's much the same methodology that Bela used to employ, we remember from season three, although she never claimed to be any kind of psychic. Bobby asks what's next, and Pam suggests a séance. "See if we can see who did the deed."

Bobby is alarmed at the thought of summoning the thing to the house, but Pamela confidently assures him that she just wants to get a sneak peak at it. "Like a crystal ball without the crystal."

For all that she is only in a couple of scenes in this episode, Pamela makes an instant and highly positive impact, the kind of character that the show could and perhaps should be expanding upon – allowing the brothers to build up a network of trusted contacts they could turn to for advice or support in time of need. It wouldn't even require many recurrences of each one; the over-use of the Roadhouse in season two was its downfall, but the complete rejection of those characters ever since has done them a great disservice. A loose network of contacts scattered here and there, each one maybe seen or even just referred to only a couple of times each season – in much the way that various of John's old contacts were referred to throughout season one, only to then either die or be forgotten about – that is something that could and maybe should have been developed by now.

It is also worth wondering just how many varieties of psychic exist out there in the Supernatural world. There is Sam, of course, and his now-dead fellow 'special children', all of them possessing the potential for great variety of psychic abilities, although whether or not this power was born in them or created by the demon blood they ingested as infants remains unknown. Plus, of course, there are also unknown other generations of similar 'special children', whose abilities may or may not have ever actively manifested. Gordon Walker considered these 'special children' tainted, although he presumably had no way of knowing about the demon blood. The mere fact of their being psychic was enough for him to consider them no longer fully human and therefore legitimate targets.

So how might an extremist like Gordon have felt about psychics such as Pamela, here, or Missouri Mosely from season one? There is no demonic connection of any kind here, the psychic ability something they were presumably born with.

Pam starts to get her sitting room set up for the séance. As she crouches to get candles out of a cupboard, Dean notices a tattoo on the small of her back – Jesse Forever – and is quick to draw Sam's attention to it before asking who Jesse is. Pamela just laughs that it wasn't forever.



His loss," Dean flirts, never one to miss an opportunity like that.

"Might be your gain," Pam teasingly purrs, getting right up in his face.

Oh yeah, Dean has definitely met his match. He congratulates himself that he is well in there, and Sam laughs at him in delight. "Yeah, she's going to eat you alive."

Dean cheerfully shrugs that he just got out of jail. "Bring it!" And Sam can only laugh again.

Then Pam swings back past them once more to toss a casual "you're invited too, Grumpy," at Sam. Heh.

Sam's jaw drops, and Dean immediately rounds on him with a furious "you are not invited!" Hee. Well, now we know how Dean feels about threesomes that include his little brother – that's a definite no! Sam just laughs, again, absolutely loving this: all guilt and deception and awkwardness pushed aside for the moment by the sheer delight of having his brother back and so very Dean.

Man, the blend of humour and emotion and drama in this episode is fantastic.

Once the table is set up, the group seat themselves around it, and prepare for the séance. First, they must take one another's hands. And Pam needs to touch something their mystery monster touched, she declares, hand disappearing beneath the table. There is a bang as Dean's leg jerks and hits the table. "Whoa! Well, he didn't touch me there," he protests. Hee. Definitely met his match here. Pam chuckles.

Dean flicks a quick little glance at Sam, and then shrugs off his shirt and pulls back the sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal the handprint burned into his shoulder. Sam's jaw drops and he looks horrified; clearly, no one thought to show him this earlier, or to warn him that it exists. Dean showed Bobby almost straight away, in contrast. Bobby is perceived as a mentor, a father figure, someone to whom he can take his problems, whereas Sam remains always the little brother, to be sheltered wherever possible.

I can't help wondering if the brand will heal and fade, or if the makeup department are going to have to recreate it every time we see Dean's bare shoulder from now on. Not that this happens all that often, of course.



Pam places her hand on the brand, and begins the séance. "I invoke, conjure and command you. Appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure and command you. Appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure and command you. Appear unto me before this circle."

As she continues to repeat the invocation, the television turns itself on to static, just as happened at the gas station, and the table starts to shake. Dean is perturbed, recognising this as a very bad sign.

"Castiel?" Pam says. "No. Sorry, Castiel. I don't scare easy." Dean questions her use of the name 'Castiel' and she asides that that's the creature's name. "It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face."

The rattling is growing louder and louder, the table shaking as if in an earthquake, but still Pam persists. "I conjure and command you, show me your face."

Alarmed, Bobby suggests that maybe they should stop, but Pam won't hear of it, insisting that she almost has it. Her over-confidence is her downfall. "I command you, show me your face – show me your face now!"

The candle flames suddenly shoot upward in a burst of flame…and Pam screams in agony as her eyes burn right out of their sockets from within! Eeek!



Well, that's the end of the séance. Sam rushes to call 911 while Bobby hurries to pick Pamela up and take a look at her injuries, and Dean can only hover helplessly as she sobs that she can't see. Bobby and Dean gape at one another in shock.

Johnny Mac's Diner

A waitress finishes taking Dean's order, as Sam hangs up his cell phone and reports back that Bobby says Pam is stable and out of ICU.

"And blind, 'cause of us," Dean grimly adds. And it is true: Pamela would not have been blinded if they had not gone to her for help. But she also would not have been blinded if she had stopped when she was warned to, if she hadn't been over-confident of her own ability to control the séance. Either way, it is very typical of Dean that he is the first to so willingly take the blame onto his own shoulders.

And they still have no clue what they are dealing with, Sam sighs, but Dean points out that this is not entirely true. They now have a name: Castiel. "With the right mumbo-jumbo we could summon it, bring it right to us."

Um…what happened to 'find out what we're walking into before we walk into it', Dean? I'd recommend a little research, first.

Sam makes much this point. "You're crazy. Absolutely not." Dean likes his idea, though, enthusing that they should work him over, after what he did. Sam is having none of it. "Pam took a peek at him and her eyes burned out of her skull, and you want to have a face-to-face?" Dean asks if he has a better idea, and Sam declares that yes, he does. "I followed some demons to town, right? […] So, we go find them. Someone's gotta know something about something."

Sam has the grace to look wary and lower his voice a little as the waitress brings their pie to the table, the first acknowledgement from either that they are having this very loud conversation about demons in a very public place.

The waitress promptly sits herself down at the table alongside the brothers, and they are disconcerted, wondering what she wants. "I'm sorry," she smiles. "I thought you were looking for us."



Her eyes fill over with oily black. Demon. There are two other people in the café, also demons. One of them quietly moves to lock the door, and Dean and Sam are alarmed. They came here for lunch, and are completely unprepared for demonic battle. Three against two in these circumstances are pretty poor odds.

Demon Waitress turns to Dean and smiles a humourless smile. "Dean. To hell and back. Aren't you a lucky duck? […] So you get to just stroll out of the Pit, huh? Tell me: what makes you so special?"

Remember way back in season one, when Roy le Grange chose Dean, out of a whole tent full of needy people, to be healed. Layla Rourke's mother asked much the same question. So did Dean himself. And this is the third time now that his life has been saved by miraculous means.

"I like to think it's because of my perky nipples," Dean quips. Hee. Demon Waitress just looks at him, and his expression hardens. "I don't know. It wasn't my doing. I don't know who pulled me out."

Demon Waitress doesn't believe him. "Lying is a sin, you know."

Dean firmly tells her that he isn't lying. "But I'd like to find out. So, if you wouldn't mind enlightening me, Flo…"

Demon Waitress does not take kindly to this tone. "Mind your tongue with me, boy," she snaps. "I'll drag you back to hell myself."

Oh, and that has Sam all but flying out of his seat, ready to launch himself bodily at the demon. He saw Dean torn apart right in front of him and lived for months with the knowledge that his brother was suffering in hell for his sake. He just got Dean back last night. Hardly surprising that the merest whisper of a threat against his brother's life has him bristling. Sam learned over-protectiveness at the feet of the Master, Dean himself.



What might Sam have done if the demon did attack Dean, I wonder? If he has the demon-killing knife on him he could use that against her, but there are two other demons in the room. It might have provoked a spontaneous demonstration of the psychic powers he so solemnly promised Dean he has not been exploring, and then the cat really would be out of the bag.

As it is, however, Dean simply holds up a hand, not taking his eyes off the demon for a moment, and Sam subsides, allows his brother to continue handling this one himself.



"No, you won't," Dean realises. "Because if you were, you'd have done it already. Fact is, you don't know who cut me loose. And you're just as spooked as we are. And you're looking for answers. Maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit…or Godzilla." Heh. "Or some Big Bad Boss Demon. But I'm guessing that at your pay-grade they don't tell you squat. 'Cause, whoever it was, they want me out. And they're a lot stronger than you. So, go ahead. Send me back. Don't come crawling to me when they show up on your front doorstep with some Vaseline and a fire hose."

Oh, such a Dean speech. It never ceases to amaze me that he can be both so eloquent and so inarticulate at one and the same moment.



"I'm going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs," Demon Waitress furiously grits.

Dean remains unimpressed by the empty threat. He leans toward her as if daring her to go ahead…then slaps her in the face. Once. Twice. Yeah, it's kind of shocking, and there are plenty of other ways he could have tried to provoke her to violence. But this is the most direct, like playing chicken on a railway line, daring her to do her worst. He's kept a pretty tight rein on his panic throughout the episode, but he's got to be freaking the hell out about everything that's happening. Something unknown and massively powerful pulled him out of hell, he has no idea why, and now even these demons that have him pretty much at their mercy are too afraid to so much as touch him. I think he'd almost feel better if they did attack him.

But no. Nothing. Despite the provocation, the demon does not so much as lift a finger against him.

How long can this last, I wonder – surely Dean can't possibly get through the entire season with the demon population of the world too scared to touch him! It'll be interesting to see how this develops.

And I wonder: is Lilith going to be pissed that her prize has been stolen, or does she maybe have rather more pressing matters on her mind and has long since ceased to care about the fact that Dean Winchester sold his soul to her fair and square? One thing's for sure: there are a hell of a lot of conflicting forces in play now. The writing team have certainly got their hands full pulling all those miscellaneous plot strands together.

As the brothers stand to leave, their pie untouched, Dean pulls a handful of notes out of his pocket and peels one off to drop on the table, for the pie. Hey, and this is, I think, the first time we've seen Dean use money supplied by Sam, rather than the other way around, since there's more there than he found in the till at that gas station.

Bless him, though. He'd look more successfully intimidating if Sam's too-long sleeves weren't hanging over his hands. Maybe next episode he'll have a whole new wardrobe!

Street

"Holy crap, that was close." Dean's relief at surviving such a close encounter is palpable. It's a really nice little reminder of the fact that he is very good at appearing a lot more confident than he really feels.

On the subject of confidence, it is great to see how very much on form Dean is in this episode – he was so badly beaten down by the events of seasons two and three, but seems to have come out the other side stronger than ever. However worried he is about what happened, and however traumatic his returning memories might be, he seems to believe in himself now in a way we haven't really seen since the early days of season one. I just hope that this self-belief will continue to grow rather than withering away once more.



Fuming, Sam can't believe they are just going to leave the demons. Dean points out that there are three demons in there, probably more, and they only have one knife between them.

"I've been killing a lot more demons than that, lately," Sam says, looking furious at the thought of leaving them alive. As if killing each and every demon he encounters has become his reason for being, end of story. He always has had an obsessive personality.

"Not any more," Dean insists. "The smarter brother's back in town."

Sam is indignant at the jibe, but rather than arguing that particular point sticks to the issue at hand: his belief that they should take these demons out, now, because they are dangerous.

It's kinda striking that Dean is quite prepared to let the three demons go on the basis that that they are outnumbered, while Sam wants to just charge back in and take them all out, odds be damned – man, they really have reversed roles since season one!

"They're scared," Dean firmly reminds his brother. "Scared of whatever had the juice to yank me out. We're dealing with a bad mofo here. One job at a time."

Sam still looks furious – and, boy is that stone-cold expression scary on him – but can't argue the point without incriminating himself, so he lets it drop.

Astoria Hotel

Dean has fallen asleep while reading on the sofa. And damn, when I first saw him snoozing there, looking so peaceful, I really hoped we were going to get a quiet little scene of Sam sitting staring at him, just soaking in the fact that his brother really is back, really is alive, that the nightmare really is over.



Nothing is quite so simple, however, in the world of the Winchesters. Rather than taking a quiet moment to enjoy having his brother back, Sam instead takes the opportunity to sneak out of the hotel and away from him. Why would he do this? Because Sam, as so many past occasions have made clear, likes to have his own way once he has set his mind on a particular course of action. And if he can't achieve this openly, either because he doesn't want to argue or knows he can't win the dispute, he has always been only too willing to go behind his brother's back instead. It is one of his less attractive character traits.

Taking the Impala, Sam drives away. He doesn't usually take his brother's car when he sneaks off like this, but the Impala has been his for the last four months and that clearly gives him a sense of entitlement. Things have changed, and Dean has yet to find out just how much. He also has yet to find out how much of the status quo Sam will or won't be willing to return to, as time goes by and the gloss wears off and things begin to settle down once more.



Dean is left alone, sleeping on the sofa bed in the hotel room. Completely alone, for the first time since he reached Bobby's. Almost immediately, as if something was just waiting for the opportunity, the television clicks on to static and the radio also switches itself on. The noise wakes Dean pretty quickly, and he glances around the room in confusion, recognising the paranormal signs from the gas station and Pamela's house and puzzled by Sam's absence. He doesn't have time to worry about why Sam's bed is empty, however, hastily grabbing a shotgun that was tucked under a cushion and keeping the door covered as the only means of defence currently available to him against this unknown supernatural force.

The shrill static squealing whistle from the gas station starts to fill the air, getting louder and louder. The mirror on the ceiling cracks, and Dean glances up at it in alarm. He is forced to drop the shotgun and falls to his knees, hands clamped against his ears in a futile attempt to block the sound, which is still getting louder and louder and shriller and shriller. Every window in the room shatters, and Dean hurls himself to the floor as the mirror above his head likewise shatters, showering him with glass. The noise continues, and Dean's ears are now bleeding from the sound.



Bobby busts into the room, and the noise cuts out.

Road.

Bobby drives his Chevelle, while Dean sits in the passenger seat mopping up his bloody ears and cops to having "church bells ringing inside [his] head" when Bobby asks how he's doing.

Dean pulls out his cell phone and dials Sam, who appears to be sitting around in the Impala doing precisely nothing when he answers. He's on stakeout – outside the demon-infested Johnny Mac's Diner. But when Dean asks what he's doing, Sam casually lies that he couldn't sleep and went to get a burger.

"In my car?" Dean sternly snips.

"Force of habit," Sam unrepentantly shrugs.

Yeah. Sam has had four months to get used to doing things his own way, and, since he broke off all contact with Bobby, has not had to explain himself or justify his decisions to anyone throughout that time. He was no longer one half of a partnership, making joint decisions via the cut and thrust of debate – or backing down when Dean pulled rank. He was in complete control of his own life, for better or for worse. He is not going to surrender that control easily. Even without the various supernatural issues woven throughout this episode, it is easy to see clashes a-plenty lying ahead for the brothers.



In turn, Sam asks what Dean is doing up, and Dean also lies, although rather less smoothly than Sam has several times now in this episode. He hems and haws that Bobby is back and they are going to grab a beer. Bobby looks startled to hear the falsehood, but Dean holds up a hand to request his silence on the matter a little longer. Sam just says to spill some for him, and Dean agrees, and that's that. Conversation over, and not a word of truth exchanged.

As soon as Dean hangs up the phone, Bobby asks why the hell he didn't tell Sam what happened. Looking pensive, Dean notes that Sam would just try to stop them, and Bobby, not unreasonably, wonders just what Sam would try to stop them doing.

"Summoning this thing," Dean declares. "It's time we face it head on." Yikes. Bobby can't believe he is serious, but he is. "As a heart attack." Which Dean, of course, knows all about. "It's high noon, baby."

Ever the voice of reason, Bobby points out that they don't know what it is – could be a demon, could be anything. Dean is way past the point of caring – whatever this thing is, it dragged him out of hell, it is personal, and he is not going to feel even the tiniest bit comfortable about or in control of his restored life until he has a few answers. So he just shrugs that they had better be prepared for anything, in that case, points out that Bobby has an arsenal in the trunk, and pulls out Ruby's demon-killing blade by way of starters.

And that would be why he so readily believed Sam's claim to have gone out for a burger, because that knife had been left behind. He would never for a moment suspect that Sam might go up against three demons alone without even taking that knife with him – it would be suicide. But a hell of a lot can change in four months.

"This is a bad idea," Bobby groans. But he doesn't refuse to go through with it. If he can't talk Dean out of this, Bobby will be right at his side throughout, no question.

"I couldn't agree more," Dean admits. "But what other choice do we have?" Well, they could try researching Castiel for longer than a few hours, for starters.

"We could choose life," Bobby snorts. But still he doesn't refuse his help. Bobby, too, would rather go down swinging – he'd certainly rather go down swinging than turn his back on Dean now, having just so miraculously got him back.

Dean looks tired. "Bobby, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after me. That much we know, right? I've got no place to hide. I can either get caught with my pants down again, or we can make our stand."

And Bobby stops trying to talk him out of it, recognises that Dean needs to do this, and simply observes that they could use Sam's help. But Dean shakes his head. "No, he's better off where he is."

Oh, if only he knew.

Johnny Mac's Diner

Sam picks the lock and lets himself in. The place is in darkness, quiet. Sam takes a moment to look around, casing the joint…and practically the first thing he sees is the cook, face down on the floor. Suspicious, he stealthily eases his way over for a closer look, turning the man over to reveal that his eyes have been burned out of his head, just like Pamela's were. Ick.

Three seasons of this show – or perhaps more specifically having to witness his brother's gruesome murder – has hardened Sam to the sight of bloody death. Where once he would have grimaced his disgust, he now doesn't so much as blink at the grisly sight. He straightens back up, pondering possible meanings of this turn of events…and someone ploughs into his side, hurling him to the ground.

It is Waitress Demon. She gets in a few hefty punches before Sam regains enough of his wits to fight back, managing to throw her off long enough to clamber back to his feet. They exchange a few more blows before retreating into respective corners and facing off warily…which is when Sam realises that this demon, too, has had the eyes burned right out of her head.

"I can still smell your soul a mile away," Waitress Demon defensively snarls, trying to act tough. You've got to wonder why the demon hasn't just abandoned the damaged body already, unless the demon inside is likewise damaged. Or maybe she's just that freaked out that it hasn't occurred to her to flee.

Sam realises, what with the overwhelming circumstantial evidence and all, that Dean's mysterious rescuer was here and this demon saw it. He demands to know what it was, and Waitress Demon can only sob. "It's the end. We're dead. We're all dead."

But who is she talking about – who does she believe is now doomed? Everyone: human and demon alike? Or just her own kind? It'll be interesting to maybe find out over the course of the season!

Sam wants to know more, wants to know exactly what she saw, but she rallies and tells him to go to hell. No more information forthcoming from this one.

Sam's expression hardens. "Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you."

And Sam stretches a hand out toward the demon, and closes his eyes and concentrates…and damn, but he seems to almost crush the demon right out of the body! Just with the power of his mind! Sam's powers are well and truly unlocked, no question, and for the very first time we are seeing him consciously, deliberately making use of them. This is a new one, as well, one we haven't seen before, although a variation on Ava's ability to control demons. It figures that Sam would dig around the magic box in his head until he found something useful to him in his quest for vengeance upon all things demonic.



The demon is expelled from the waitress, and the process is no less unpleasant than a full-blown exorcism, just faster. At length, the choking waitress crumples in a heap in the middle of the thick, black demon smoke clouding around her feet, and then the smoke vanishes into the ground in a flash of fire and is gone.

Yikes. That's some impressive new power Sam is wielding there. He steps over to check on the waitress, but she is dead, whether from the injuries caused by whatever brought Dean back or from the trauma of having the demon extracted, or maybe a combination of the two. Sam curses his dismay that she hasn't survived, but doesn't seem all that surprised.

However, it has always been – or rather, seems increasingly to be – 50/50 whether or not a possessed person survived the exorcism process, so there is no way of telling from this one incident whether or not a victim is more or less likely to survive Sam's method of demon-extraction than a standard exorcism.



Sam's head snaps up as he hears the kitchen door open. A young woman comes through. And…it is Kristy, his Brunette companion from earlier in the episode. "Getting pretty slick there, Sam. Better all the time," she perks, and it is instantly apparent that this is no random, casual girl that Sam picked up at a bar someplace.

Sam straightens up. "What the hell is going on around here, Ruby?" he wants to know.

And so the other shoe drops. But it is still not clear whether this girl was already possessed in the scene earlier or not. Is Ruby that good of an actress? She could not have been expecting Dean to turn up on the doorstep any more than Sam would have been, and therefore would have had no reaction prepared, should have been too shocked to role play that impressively so instantly…or would she? If those other demons knew enough about what had happened to come all the way here to find out more, why wouldn't she? But why wouldn't she then tell Sam what she knew at the time? So if it wasn't Ruby earlier, and she chose this body to inhabit later, maybe knowing that Sam had already met the girl and taken her home with him, where has she been all this time? It is already clear from this brief exchange that she and Sam have been spending a lot of time together, that she has been closely following his progress as he develops his powers.

So much that we don't yet know – a pile of questions and no shovel, as Sam put it earlier. This episode sets up the remainder of the season in fantastic fashion.



"I wish I knew," Ruby says in response to Sam's question. Sam tells her that they are thinking some higher-level demon pulled Dean out. So he clearly expects her to know that Dean is back, which suggests that it was already Ruby in the hotel scene, that they really did play dumb that effectively. That they really have become that in tune with each other that they could follow one another's lead instinctively, even in such an unprecedented and unexpected situation.

But then again, Ruby has always been good at keeping her finger on the pulse, so he could just be presuming that she has her own ways of getting up to speed having followed him to town. Ah, so ambiguous. Nice one, Show.

"No way," Ruby immediately denies. "Sam, human souls don't just walk out of hell and back into their bodies easy. The sky bleeds; the ground quakes. It's cosmic! No demon can swing that. Not Lilith. Not anybody."

That ties in with what the Yellow-Eyed Demon told Dean, back in All Hell Breaks Loose Part II – that demons cannot restore human life unless a deal has been made. There are limits to their powers.

Sam wants to know what is capable of bringing Dean back like that, in that case.

"Nothing I've ever seen before," Ruby sombrely tells him. She is a lot more subdued here than we ever saw her last season. But then again, she has good reason to be. She was bested fairly comprehensively by Lilith in No Rest For The Wicked. Sam has developed this wicked demon-extracting power, and could send her packing back to hell in seconds if he wanted to – and he's hardened up a hell of a lot since he first pointed the Colt at her last year; then it was little more than an empty threat, but now he is truly dangerous. And she's got to be every bit as afraid of whatever pulled Dean out of hell as those other demons were. Whatever it is, it is wielding some impressively terrifying power.

Barn

Bobby and Dean, meanwhile, have found themselves some kind of disused barn out in the middle of nowhere in which to summon the creature they know only as Castiel. While Dean sets out the weapons, Bobby makes liberal use of a can of spray paint, covering just about every square inch of wall and floor with symbols of every description. Funny, though – there is no sign of a ladder anywhere, and yet those symbols go all the way up to the ceiling…



"Hell of an art project you've got going there," Dean observes.

"Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe," Bobby explains, asking in turn how Dean is doing.

Dean through the arsenal he has prepared: stakes, silver, iron, salt, magic knife. "We're pretty much set to catch and kill anything I've ever heard of."

"This is still a bad idea," Bobby groans, but Dean is tired of hearing that now, and suggests they just get on with it already and ring the dinner bell. Rolling his eyes, Bobby does just that, getting started on the summoning ritual.

Johnny Mac's Diner

Ignoring the corpses littering the floor, Sam and Ruby have found a table at which to sit together and de-brief. "So, million dollar question," Ruby begins. "Are you going to tell Dean about what we're doing?"



What we're doing. That phrasing is very telling, as is every detail of their interaction. There is an air of familiarity about this de-briefing session, as if it is something they have done many times before, with no trace of the awkwardness and tension that have marked Sam's interactions with Dean since his return. As if it is now more normal, and easier, even, for Sam to discuss the events of the day with Ruby than with his brother. And that hurts, to think of Sam allowing Ruby to take that place in his life. To think that, after everything, he now has a more open and trusting relationship with a demon he knows to be manipulative and untrustworthy than with the brother who sacrificed everything for him.

We don't know yet how it all went down, whether Sam summoned her or she first approached him. We also don't know how long it was before Sam started to explore and develop his now unlocked powers, despite having promised Dean that he wouldn't, whether it was a decision he made on his own as his guilt and anger ate away at him, eroding his resistance, or one that Ruby guided him toward, in much the same way that she tried to guide him toward it for the whole of season three.

But what is clear is that they have been very much working together on the 'project'. Sam has not been exploring his psychic powers alone; Ruby has been at his side every step of the way – and that was what she wanted all along. It has to be a large part of the reason he broke contact with Bobby, knowing that his old friend would not support him in this, would argue as vehemently as Dean against Sam risking his soul in any way.

"Yeah, I've just got to figure out the right way to say it," Sam nods, but he's not what you'd call convincing. Ruby just looks at him, and he sighs. "Look, I just need time. That's all."

But there is never going to be a right time, and he knows it. Dean already asked him, straight out, and he lied. He can't take back that lie now, and whatever he does next can only compound it. If and when he tells Dean the truth he must also admit that he lied about it, and if he decides instead to conceal the truth he must continue to lie. Caught between a rock and a hard place, both pretty much of his own making.

"Sam, he's going to find out, and if it's not from you he's going to be pissed," Ruby points out, sounding so much like the voice of reason, the good and supportive friend. She worked hard last season to persuade Sam to trust her, and this is the latest stage of that process, but we still don't know what her ultimate ambitions might be.

Sam snorts. "He's going to be pissed anyway. He's so hard-headed about this psychic stuff, he'll just try and stop me." And therein lies the crux of his problem: whether or not Sam is willing to stop – whether or not Sam wants to stop, for better or for worse. Whose judgement does he trust most, and is he even interested in weighing up the rights and wrongs of his actions?

However it came about, Sam has followed this path probably without questioning himself too deeply. He knew that it was not what Dean wanted for him – the fact that he reminded his brother of it earlier proves just how well he remembers that final conversation. But it felt right and it provided comfort in his anger and grief, and no doubt that was all he asked of it.

But now the mere fact of Dean being back, even without Dean knowing anything of what Sam has been doing, means that Sam's decisions are being called into question. No longer isolated from human contact, from his brother's moderating influence, he is suddenly being forced toward self-examination, forced to confront his own actions, and is beginning to see that the justifications he provided for himself are not likely to stand up in the harsh light of day. However, rather than being ready to admit this, Sam's comment here throws the blame back at Dean – easier to pretend this is Dean's issue than to acknowledge that maybe he has followed the wrong path.

So then Ruby suggests that maybe Sam should just step back for a while. "I'm not exactly in your brother's fan club," she massively understates. "But he is your brother. And I'm not going to come between you."



Oh, that's a clever move. It sounds so reasonable, so conciliatory. Ruby has never cared about Sam's relationship with his brother in the past, except insofar as it was useful to her to use Dean's situation last season as leverage against Sam. We still don't know what her ultimate aims and objectives are. But what is clear from her actions in season three is that she is playing a very clever long game that revolves around Sam and his powers, and, although she dislikes Dean intensely and finds his influence over Sam incredibly inconvenient, she has always been more than willing to manipulate the brothers' relationship to strengthen her own influence over Sam.

And now? If Ruby's plan all along revolved around unlocking Sam's powers and, most important of all, being instrumental in his development of them, convincing him that he needs her…well, she seems to have finally got what she wanted all along. Not only is Sam developing his powers, he seems to have allowed Ruby to take Dean's place in his life: mentor, friend, confidante – possibly even travelling companion and de facto housemate. But at the same time, with Sam's powers growing ever stronger, she has to be extremely careful – if she were to lose his trust, he could send her back to hell in an instant and she no longer has the power to prevent it. Where last season Ruby was able to keep Sam on the hook indefinitely simply by suggesting she could help save Dean, so that he was too afraid to risk pushing her away and therefore losing that chance, all the power in the relationship belongs to him now. And that, no doubt, is where her carefully established influence over him is so important. It is a very delicate balancing act.

So, from Ruby's point of view, having Dean so unexpectedly return from the dead must be the most inconvenient turn of events ever. It endangers everything she has achieved so far. But she can't tell Sam that, can't risk damaging her influence over him in any way. It is in her interest, therefore, to take a step back from her growing partnership with Sam and encourage him to keep their alliance secret. She can't risk alienating Sam by saying anything against Dean, so instead she opts for conciliation. Reverse psychology: making what sound like strong, positive suggestions to Sam about rebuilding his relationship with his brother, making herself look so very much the good guy. It is a solid, manipulative position on which she can build.

Maybe. There is still so much we don't know.

"I don't know if what I'm doing is right," Sam admits. "Hell, I don't even know if I trust you. ["Thanks!" Ruby indignantly interjects.] But what I do know is I'm saving people. Stopping demons. And that feels good. I wanna keep going."

Man, he's conflicted. This should be the single best experience of Sam's life, receiving such a miracle…but nothing is ever that simple. Sam loves his brother more than anything. He wanted him back desperately, wanted him out of hell and out of pain. But he never expected it to actually happen. Sam had conceded defeat. He'd accepted that Dean was gone for good and he'd moved on. He'd moved on in ways that he knew Dean wouldn't approve of, but that didn't matter because he was never going to have to justify himself to his brother – or to anyone, for that matter.

Except that now he does, and therein lies the conflict. Now that the prospect of being judged and found wanting is looming large, he must re-examine every decision he has made for the last four months.



In a way it makes it worse that Sam has admitted he isn't sure he is doing the right thing by trusting Ruby and developing his powers, because he has also admitted that he enjoys it too much to give up. It feels good, and that is more important to him than weighing up his doubts. Sam has always had an obsessive personality, has always been very blinkered when he set his heart on something he wants, and that fact has rarely been more dangerous than it is now. He can offer justifications for what he is doing, and make all the right noises about saving people…but that doesn't mean he is doing it for the right reasons, and it doesn't make it any less dangerous.

The Yellow-Eyed Demon intended Sam to lead an army of demons. Released from the YED's tyranny, many of those demons are now opposed to Sam. But just as many, as demonstrated in Sin City, may be still prepared to follow him if he wanted them to. He has the power to control and crush those that won't. Ruby admitted in her very first conversation with Sam that it was his powers and the YED's plans she was interested in. No question, Sam is in a very, very dangerous place right now, and he can't even see it. He doesn't want to see it.

As a result of all this, having Dean back in his life can't be clean and simple. There is relief and there is delight and there is joy, but there is also guilt and deception and awkwardness and tension…maybe even a hint of resentment might start to creep in, as time goes by and the pressure on him grows. It must be so strange for Sam, to be so overjoyed that his brother is alive at the same time as finding it rather inconvenient.

But although it is unsettling to see such a gulf between the brothers, in a sense that's how it should be – for Dean's death to have its full meaning, there has to be payoff. On this show, life does not come cheap – there is always a price to be paid. Right now, the price being paid by the Winchesters for Dean's resurrection is the fracture of the intensely close bond he and his brother had shared.

Barn.

Bobby is perched on the edge of a workbench, feet dangling, weapon in hand, whistling idly to himself, waiting. Dean sits opposite, equally idly messing about with a knife. Clearly, nothing has shown up in response to their summons. It's been a bit pre-occupied putting the frighteners on the local demons, of course, but they don't know that.

It is very noteworthy that Sam isn't the only one to turn to someone other than his brother for support in this episode. Dean found it much easier to ask Bobby to come with him on this than Sam. Maybe in part because Dean likes the reassurance of having a father figure in his life, and in part because he is reluctant to risk Sam against something so unknown. But no doubt also because beneath the surface of the brothers' joyful reunion is an underlying tension he can't ignore. Because Sam shut him down out of hand when he suggested this earlier, whereas Bobby's support has been unreserved and unconditional from the moment he realised it was really Dean, and, like Sam, Dean would rather just follow his chosen course of action than argue with his brother about it. Because they can't go back to how things were, and it will take time to work out how things now are before they can begin to rebuild.

"You sure you did the ritual right?" Dean sighs at length, sounding for all the world like a bored six-year-old asking are we there yet? Bobby just looks at him, and Dean backs right the hell back down. "Sorry. Touchy, touchy, huh?"

But just then, the roof starts to shake, loudly, and they both leap to their feet in alarm, shoulder to shoulder. "Wishful thinking, but maybe it's the wind," Dean hopefully suggests, knowing full well that it is not.

Every light bulb in the room explodes, and then the door, heavily barred as it is, slowly opens inward, the bar snapping like a twig. And a man walks into the barn. Just a man, wearing a suit and overcoat and looking for all the world like the most average businessman ever.

Bobby and Dean immediately raise their weapons and keep him covered, as he slowly, inexorably approaches them, the roof still shaking and sparks still flying from the lights above. They are hunters; they have the instincts of hunters. They open fire.



Nothing. The salt shells hit the man, and he doesn't so much as flinch. Just keeps walking toward them. Dean clutches the magic demon-killing knife like a talisman or shield, and demands to know who the man is.

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition," the man – Castiel – mildly announces. His dialogue is wonderfully stylised, a very nifty tool to help establish just who and what he is.

"Yeah. Thanks for that," Dean grits out, freaked, and then plunges the knife into the man's heart.

Castiel doesn't so much as blink. He also doesn't make any comment along the lines of ingratitude. He just pulls the knife out of his chest, eyes it quizzically, and lets it fall to the floor with a clatter.

Dean is beyond freaked now. And so is Bobby, who swipes at Castiel from behind with an iron bar – only to have the blow blocked and deflected with ease. Castiel rounds on him and presses a finger to his forehead, and Bobby crumples to the floor. And viewers start screaming at the Show not to dare kill Bobby!

Castiel turns back to Dean. "We need to talk, Dean. Alone."



Well, he's got Dean's attention, that's for sure. But first Dean anxiously checks on Bobby. Idly sifting through a book on the workbench, Castiel mildly assures him that his friend is alive. Dean asks again who he is. Castiel responds with his name. Dean had already figured that much out for himself, and changes his question to ask instead what he is.

Castiel looks Dean right in the eye. "I'm an angel of the Lord."

Whoa. Show has skirted around the issue of angels a few times now, without ever coming out and making any definitive statement for or against their existence. Even now, with this claim, there is no hard evidence other than Castiel's word – and how often, on this show, are things ever quite what they seem?

Dean, of course, is just never going to react well to a statement like that. Dean does not believe in angels and he doesn't want to believe in angels, because he has seen too much evil going unchecked in the world. It's a solid, consistent character point…one that has been reiterated often enough that hindsight says maybe it should have been obvious that such disbelief would be more seriously challenged at some point, whatever Kripke might have said about not delving into angelic mythology on the show! However this story unfolds, it makes a fascinating addition to the mytharc.

So, Dean just stares at the self-proclaimed angel for a long, long moment before voicing his denial, low and furious. "Get the hell out of here. There's no such thing."

"This is your problem, Dean," Castiel calmly responds. "You have no faith."

And so, Castiel clearly feels, a demonstration is called for. Thunder crashes and lightning flashes, causing Dean to almost jump out of his skin, and in those flashes of lightning the dark shadow of unfolding wings can be seen on the wall behind Castiel. Whoa! Wicked!



Dean watches and absorbs, works very hard at not wigging out completely, and prepares his next salvo. "Well, some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

Castiel sighs and lowers his eyes and has the grace to look sorrowful. "I warned her not to spy on my true form," he quietly says. "It can be…overwhelming to humans. So can my real voice – you already knew that."

"You mean the gas station and the motel," Dean clarifies, instantly recognising what he is talking about. "That was you talking? Buddy, next time, lower the volume."

Castiel nods and looks a little pensive. "That was my mistake," he admits. "Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."

Certain special people, huh. I daresay several characters from the Bible fall into that category, depending on how heavily Show is likely to lean on Judeo-Christian mythology. But the concept kinda makes me wonder if maybe Sam will turn out to be one of those special people able to look upon the angel's true visage. Because Sam's super specialness has always been such an issue, whereas Dean's selling point has always been that he isn't special. So will Sam's psychic mojo and/or demon blood be a plus or minus in this regard, I wonder?

I like the actor they've chosen to play Castiel, Misha Collins. Well, he looks good, for one thing, but I really like the way he plays the role, the air of peace and serenity he gives to Castiel even while he is so quizzical. He seems unflappable, utterly at peace with himself and his power, but is also quite clearly figuring things out as he goes along, unaccustomed to interacting directly with humans.



"And what 'visage' are you in now, huh? Holy tax accountant?" Dean growls. Jensen Ackles plays this scene beautifully. You can clearly see how much Dean is struggling to hold it together here, freaking the hell out and fighting so hard to maintain his composure and keep his defences in place, hold up his end of the conversation and keep this creature – angel or otherwise – talking. Find out as much as he can, and not take his eyes off it for a moment.

"This?" Castiel glances down at the body he is wearing. "This is a vessel."

Dean is outraged. "You're possessing some poor bastard?" Oh, I like that this angers him so much, that he calls the angel out on it – just as he called him out on what happened to Pamela.

"He's a devout man. He actually prayed for this," Castiel shrugs. And maybe that is true. But this supposed angel still allowed the man to suffer a mortal wound when Dean stabbed him – although the fact that he seems to unaccustomed to the mortal body he is wearing, as if this is all a very new experience for him, could explain why it didn't occur to him to avoid the blow. Or maybe he just needed Dean to see that he couldn't be killed that way. And it is worth remembering that Dean, for all his outrage at the notion of an angel possessing a man, did not hesitate to inflict that mortal wound in the first place, despite knowing, as he must have done, that the odds were good the body was merely possessed rather than the being's true form.

"Look, pal. I'm not buying what you're selling," Dean decides. "So who are you really?"

Castiel regards him quizzically, unable to comprehend such mistrust and disbelief. "I told you," he points out.



"Right." Dean still can't bring himself to believe, and gets right down to the crux of the matter. "And why would an angel rescue me from hell?"

He looks furious at the very thought of it, rather than grateful, as if the very idea of divine intervention on his behalf offends him on some fundamental level. And maybe it does, Dean being Dean. He has come a long way, over the course of the show, and has been in strong form throughout this episode; we haven't seen so much as a hint of the emotional fragility, exhaustion and despair that dogged him over the last two seasons. But believing that he did not deserve to go to hell in the first place is not the same as believing that he deserved for anyone, least of all any kind of higher power, to go to the trouble of rescuing him from there once he'd gone. Dean hasn't been that innocent for a very long time.

Castiel steps forward, staring intently, as if trying to figure Dean out. "Good things do happen, Dean," he mildly states.

"Not in my experience," Dean grits out, holding his ground against the angel's approach, but just barely.

Castiel frowns, still staring, still working so hard to understand what the problem is. "What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved," he realises, looking fascinated.



Dean isn't going to 'fess up to that one, but it is clear that, yes – that's what he was thinking. He sold his soul fair and square, after all: it was a conscious, deliberate decision, and he knew what he was getting himself into. He may not have thought he deserved his fate, but he accepted it as his due, the price that had to be paid for the deal that saved Sam's life. The very notion of divine intervention to save him from a fate he'd brought upon himself is completely and utterly alien to him. Like he said: he has little or no experience of that kind of good. All he has ever known is evil, and the never-ending slog against it.

So if Castiel is for real, Dean is going to take a hell of a lot of convincing that there is a good reason for that lack of divine intervention while evil rampages so freely, for leaving those few ill-equipped souls fighting the good fight to struggle on alone and unsupported for so long – and an even better reason for stepping in now.

"Why'd you do it?" he wants to know.

"Because God commanded it," Castiel solemnly proclaims, and Dean clenches his jaw. "Because we have work for you."



Whoa.

Okay.

Now, I must admit that I'm always rather uncomfortable whenever a TV show (or film) starts to play around with Christian theology. Or any other kind of religious theology, for that matter, just that Christianity is the one I know best. For one thing, it can be hard to figure out just how heavily they are relying on certain details of that mythology and how much they are taking off on various tangents of their own. But let's face it: Supernatural has been heading in this direction for quite some time now, so this development really shouldn't be that much of a surprise, when you stop and think about it. And yet it comes completely out of left field and leaves absolutely everyone gasping.

But is everything quite what it seems? Well, that remains to be seen. Is Castiel genuine, is he twisting the truth, or is he outright lying? On this show, it is never safe to take anything at face value, that much experience has taught us, so we shall have to share Dean's scepticism, at least until further evidence is forthcoming.

For the time being, however, we will assume that Castiel is telling the truth about his angelic identity, and analyse him from that standpoint. Let us start by looking back. In Faith, way back in season one when Dean had his very first miraculous healing, although the captive reaper was controlled by Sue Ann it was the genuinely devout Roy le Grange who chose Dean, out of all the needy people in his tent that day, to be healed. "A young man with an important purpose. A job to do. And it isn't finished," was how he described Dean, when called upon to explain his decision.

"Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you," is how Castiel explains Dean's resurrection in this episode. Same song, different verse – or is Castiel simply employing a line he thinks likely to convince Dean?

We could also look back to Houses of the Holy, in season two. "I like to think of them as more loving than wrathful," Father Reynolds rather hopefully said, before agreeing with Sam that Scripture in fact describes angels more as God's warriors. We need look no further than the Book of Revelation for confirmation of the warrior status of God's angels. And traditionally, we remember, the devil began life as an angel, cast out of heaven for refusing to bow to man – the demon Casey told Dean that story in Sin City last season. So far, the pieces are all fitting together. But whether the picture they make will ultimately resemble the story Castiel is telling…well, only time will tell.

Castiel is a very cool character; the actor does an excellent job, wonderfully ambiguous. There is certainly nothing benign or benevolent about him. If he really is an angel, he definitely seems more in line with the wrathful Old Testament variety than the loving and peaceful version seen singing praises (although still terrifying folk) in the Gospels! Certainly the fact of his being an angel does not pre-suppose that there is nothing sinister about him, nor even does it necessarily follow that he is not striking out on his own rather than doing the bidding of a higher power, per se.

Whatever he is, and whatever the truth of his mission, it is clear that Castiel is not in any way all-knowing. He seems puzzled by Dean, as if he was given a name and task but not much else to go on. It all adds to the impression of him as foot soldier rather than puppet-master. And, given the power this foot soldier has already demonstrated…whoa is that a scary thought!

Overall, for now, the jury remains out.

But if Castiel is for real, if Dean has been brought back from hell by divine intervention, because God has a job for him…then surely the reason why has to revolve around Sam. As nice as it might be to think that for once Dean had a purpose in life that was his own and had nothing to do with his family, the odds are high that it is all about Sam. It's always been all about Sam. Dean's whole life has revolved around his little brother, and so did his death, so why should his resurrection be any different?

It is clear from this episode is that Sammy is in a very bad place indeed right now, hardly surprising after everything he's been through, sliding down a very slippery slope toward possible damnation. And if it does turn out that Ruby is guiding him toward his intended role as 'anti-Christ', leader of a demon army, without him even realising it, the cosmic scales tilting a little too far in favour of evil…well, then, maybe that's a very good reason for a little divine intervention, bringing back the one person who stands any chance of redeeming him.

It's possible. But it is just one theory among many possible theories, and only time will tell.


September 2008

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