Spoilers.

Supernatural Official Site

The Time: Thursdays, 9:00 PM, The CW

The Show:

Sam
and Dean Winchester are two brothers who roam the back roads of America
in a 1967 Chevy Impala hunting evil.  At first they fought all
of the usual: vampires, ghosts, werewolves and the like, but in recent
yeas they’ve found themselves more and more dealing with the literal
forces
of Hell as a demon war has been brewing for centuries, with the
Winchesters playing pivotal roles.  Now, through the
machinations of both demons and angels alike, Lucifer has been set free
to walk the Earth.  Sam and Dean find themselves caught
between the angels and demons, but they may be the only two people who
stand between humanity and the Apocalypse.

The Stars:

– Jared Padalecki – Sam Winchester
– Jensen Ackles – Dean Winchester
– Jim Beaver – Bobby
– Misha Collins – Castiel
– Kurt Fuller – Zachariah
– Rob Benedict – Chuck Surley
– Rachel Miner – Meg

The Episode: “Free To Be You And Me”

Sam and Dean have parted ways for the foreseeable future, and both are handling the pending Apocalypse in their own way.  Dean is hunting solo and introduces a vampire to his knife; meanwhile, Sam is taking a break from the family business and working as a busboy in a roadside diner in Oklahoma.  But Castiel soon shows up and asks Dean for his help in locating an archangel, Raphael, to get answers on the whereabouts of God.  Raphael happens to be the badass who vaporized Castiel once before, which means asking him for information probably portends hazardous duty for Cas, so Dean plans a night out of debauchery with his favorite angel.  As this is happening, Sam has a run in with some hunters and a disturbing vision of a past love.

The Lowdown:

I learned something this episode that I had already deduced, as I’m sure a lot of fans had, but that I then swept aside once things didn’t pan out at the end of last season, even though now they actually have ended up that way.  This something is the fact that Sam had been prepared all along by Yellow Eyes to be Lucifer’s true vessel once he was released from his prison.  And now that we know that Dean is to be Michael’s vessel, this likely means that the show might wrap up with the two brothers going to war for the fate of mankind.  As a regular viewer of the show, I’m a little perturbed at myself that I was put off of that notion so easily, only to have it essentially solidified now.  It might take all season for things to go down that way, but that’s what it seems to be, at least right now. 

That’s all big picture stuff.  As it stands for this episode, the buddy-picture action with Dean and Cas was a hoot, the Sam stuff not quite as much.  To touch upon Sam first, the guilt thing is wearing a bit thin and I don’t blame Dean for needing to get away from Sam for awhile.  This adds a new dimension to the show, at least for a while, and Dean says it himself that he’s been shackled to his family for too long.  When Lucifer appears to Sam and lays out how things are going to be, vessel-wise, he belies himself when he says he’ll never lie to Sam, but that he will have him.  Wasn’t the very act of appearing to him as Jess lying to him?  As for the hunters going all prison yard on Sam, good to see that little brother can still handle himself, but would have been good to see some demon / hunter smackdown rather than having it all occur offscreen.  Not sure if the demon blood addiction has any bearing anymore since Sam fulfilled his role in bringing about the Apocalypse. 

The real fun of this episode – as it has been for at least the last couple of seasons – lies with Dean.  Having him break in a new “partner” in Cas was priceless, especially when trying to pass him off as an FBI agent, upside down fake ID and everything.  Then having to play Dr. Evil in shushing him up when speaking with the deputy and Cas wanting to mention demons was great.  Of course, taking an angel out to a brothel presents its own delights, and Dean admits that he hasn’t laughed as he did in years.  Also liked the “last time you zapped me somewhere, I didn’t poop for a week” line.   And having Cas call the archangel that zapped him once before his “little bitch” was a head turner as well.

Finding out that the angels believe that God is in fact dead is giving me a decided Dogma vibe.  Wonder if the big guy is on a respirator somewhere.  I hope that things change for Bobby and that he’s not permanently sidelined in the wheelchair.  Having him be able to take part in the Winchesters’ adventures was always a highlight of the show.  And for Pete’s sake, get John back on the show some kind of way before it’s too late. Anyway, episode was another solid entry. 

 7.9 out of 10