Supernatural is back, baby! Just a quick recap, when last we saw the Winchester Boys Crowley was in chains. Ezekiel was newly returned to angelic status. Kevin The Prophet had been murdered, Sam was possessed by a hitman angel (target number one being Kevin The Prophet), and Dean was crazy with rage. Also in the background there was an angel on angel war brewing, and Abbadon was preparing to make some moves as the new boss of Hell. After “Road Trip” the Supernatural universe has retreated from that madness and is pretty close to where the season started, with one pretty huge difference. We’ll get there. I promise.
The new episode begins with some Justin Bieber wannabe walking to his dressing room. He arrives to see none other than Gadreel/Sam (now known as Sadreel) sitting there looking murderous. Words are exchanged. Threats are made. It turns out this pop star is actually the vessel for the angel that tortured Gadreel in angel jail. We know how this goes. Heavenly icepick to the sternum, and thousands of screaming fans are robbed of their mediocre evening.
Back at basecamp, Dean is freaking out over the loss of his brother. Castiel shows up, and they talk for a while, but eventually the next step becomes clear. They need Crowley to “hack the angel” (I know, right!) for them. They take the demon out to Castiel’s new car, a champagne Buick. Misha Collins stays ballin’. The first stop is a front for an NSA listening post. There’s some pretty behind the times remarks about privacy, and then Crowley speaks to Cecily, a demon whose whole job seems to be just sitting in an office and knowing stuff. Demon of the future, I guess. She lets him know all about Castiel’s recent bout of humanity, and his return to angeldom, and she also alerts him to Sadreel’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, there’s some other stuff happening. Some lady who is actually a demon kills her dog and alerts Abbadon to the fact that Crowley is on the move. Roughly at the same time, Metatron gives Sadreel his new target. Of course, it turns out to be Sadreel’s best friend from back when he was Gadreel the angel. Also of course, Sadreel puts some angel steel in this dude.
Lo and behold! Sadreel hasn’t even finished washing his hands when Dean shows up and is promptly hurled across the room. Luckily, the newly angelic Castiel is there to punch Sadreel in the face, and the good guys take him back to the bunker for some brain experiments. Before we return to the bunker though, we see Abbadon and Cecily talking. The future demon lady gives up the goods on Crowley, but Abbadon promptly kills her anyway because she’s interesting (just kidding, it’s because she helped Crowley, I guess).
Back at the bunker, Crowley is sticking needles in Sadreel’s head, and twisting them. He’s doing angel/demon phrenology. After some more twisting, we get the mandatory melodrama scene where Dean has a breakdown about watching Crowley stick stuff into his brother’s head, which ends quickly when Crowley announces a breakthrough. An unconscious Sadreel reveals his true identity, and Castiel freaks out. He literally screams, “you ruined the universe.” Those are hefty accusations, my friend.
Eventually it becomes clear that this holistic medicine approach to angel exorcism just isn’t going to cut it, and they’re going to have to send someone in. Castiel, unfortunately, is an angel, so he needs permission. That leaves only Crowley. After considering his options for a remarkably short time, given that Sadreel is tied down, so he really had time to think about it. Dean sends Crowley in. They manage to get the angel out, and Sam regains his body. Gadreel’s soul, essence, grace, whatever, flies through the air and promptly repossesses the body he was in before. We’re basically at a reset. Then Abbadon shows up. She and Crowley discuss political differences, then everyone’s favorite British demon disappears and Abbadon frowns.
The final scene contains the big twist! Out on some sad looking bridge, Sam and Dean discuss just how terrible at making plans Dean is. Dean seems to have finally realized this and declares that he will continue fighting evil with his terrible plans, but he will do it alone. Sam takes that pretty well (I would too because Dean is not great at this whole not getting other people hurt thing), and Dean saunters off to the Impala and drives away. He leaves Castiel, Sam, and the Buick behind. Credits.
I’m sure that the Winchesters will get back together as the factions in this war for heaven/hell start to get cleared up, but for now I’m earnestly hoping for a spinoff that’s just a sitcom starring Castiel and Sam. They just hang out, have a few beers, just two single dudes on the road and one is an angel. Then the regular show can just be Dean getting his friends killed, and always being shocked about it. I dunno how I feel about this show going forward. I do know that I’m feeling let down after how good the last episode was. Hopefully the bounce back will be quick.
