There are a lot of big questions in the Supernatural world right now. Among those … is this whole thing about to go all Gilmore Girls on us? You know what I mean, right? When the powers that be in Stars Hollow decided to split up Rory and Lorelai, it all went to hell pretty fast. And not the fun kind of hell, with Christopher Heyerdahl chewing up the scenery. No, it was the bad kind of hell where viewers just couldn’t be bothered to watch. And here we are, with the gang down at Supernatrual HQ sending Sam and Dean their separate ways. Is it going to go all Gilmore Girls? Judging by this first episode, the answer is no. Not by a long shot.
And yeah, that first paragraph was mostly so I could get to the jump and say, “OMG! Sam is Lucifer’s vessel!” Because really, as good as so much of this episode was, that little pow-wow back at the motel was the biggie. Even better than a shadowy figure at a Tiger’s game, if you know what I mean. While it makes perfect sense, and we really should have seen it coming, it still caught me off guard. My inner Rockford had already chalked up the visions of Jessica (Adrianne Palicki) to a side effect from the demon blood. But now … now we have something to really look forward to.
The prospect of Dean ducking Michael was interesting, but even that gets trumped by Sam trying to deal with Lucifer. And, I suppose, it also offers up the possibility of an epic showdown between Michael and Lucifer, in their Winchester finest, which has all kinds of possibilities. The fact that both of them now find themselves in such similar predicaments also sends the signal that their separate vacations are going to be rather short lived. That’s not to say I’m in a hurry to get them back together. The break worked out nicely for both of them.
I liked Sam/Keith in his interactions with Lindsey (Emma Bell), and as he learned that he really can’t run away from this when the other hunters came calling. It balanced so very nicely against the lighter comedy of the Dean/Castiel team-up. The FBI scene, and the side trip to the den of inequity, were both outstanding. Misha Collins is just terrific. Castiel looked absolutely terrified when Chastity approached.
It wasn’t all a big gag though. The interrogation of Raphael brought back just how serious the situation is, and set up Castiel with his own personal menace to avoid. The dominoes are being set up very well early in the season. It was also nice to see Dean actually happy, or pretending to be. His little speech about being happy being alone seemed more designed to convince himself than Castiel, or anyone else.
Overall, episode three was a home run. We’ve now got Dean vs. Michael, Castiel vs. Raphael, and Sam vs. Lucifer. That’s a pretty nice start. Finally, two big Canadian thumbs up for getting CBC’s Michelle Simick as the news reporter. That’s the kind of realism you need when you do a show about demons, angels, and the apocalypse!
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Sep 25, 2009 @ 02:00 EST5EDT
Loved the episode. Dean and Castiel’s team-up was great, with the usual classic Dean lines. I think Misha Collins is doing an excellent job distancing Castiel week by week from the colder persona he used to have as fully-connected angel. Them getting booted from the strip club was awesome, by the way.
While it looked like Sam’s story in this episode looked like it was going to be overly mopey, throwing in the other hunters really helped bridge the gap to when Lucifer showed himself.
The Lucifer character isn’t doing it for me, but Dean and Cas are a blast.
Another excellent episode. Can’t wait for the zombies next week!!!!