Supernatural – Castiel is back!

Last week brought Sam and Dean back together. And this week, the third part of the team returned as well. Now we can get down to business. Castiel (Misha Collins) has had quite the run on Supernatural. He’s gone from an interesting guest, to a great recurring character, to (as the episode title puts it) the third man on the show. He’s the ultimate straight man, who also happens to open up a whole new world of stories to tell.

And boy howdy, did they drop some story on us this week. When we saw the first of the cops start to drop, I was sure that this was some sort of monster of the week episode. Week three, let the big picture stuff simmer for a bit. Bring back Castiel and have a few yucks. That really wasn’t the case. The civil war amongst the angels has the stuff to outshine the Winchester/Campbell feud.

The fun really begins when those two cross paths though, and I think we got our first hints at that tonight. Last week the  question was, “Who is collecting monsters?” This week, we can make a pretty good guess. The smart money is on one of the archangels. Which one? Take your pick. Balthazar (Sebastian Roché) has decided to collect holy weapons and souls to prepare for the fight. It stands to reason that someone else is building a demon army.

That’s also our best clue as to who it was that brought Samuel and Sam back. Although, not necessarily the same angel for both. It’s possible that Samuel knows exactly who brought him back, and believes he is doing the right thing by capturing and delivering the monsters. After all, an angel appeared and asked him to take on the task. Just as it’s possible that another angel brought Sam back because the Winchesters do have a reputation.  When all of this becomes known to all involved, it’s going to be explosive.

Of course, through it all, we also have the constantly shifting relationship between Sam and Dean. The brothers are back together, but their latest round of struggles has brought some issues. They’re not exactly new issues, but in some cases different. Did anyone else flash back to “Croatoan” (S02E09) when the discussion turned to Sam’s reaction to Castiel torturing Aaron Birch (Adom Osei)? The roles are completely reversed, but the discussion is very similar.

All the beating around the bush about how Sam is changed and what happened to him has me wondering if /when we’ll hear about his time away. I’m also curious to know just how long he was away for. We do know that the passing of time is much different there. But from what we’ve learned so far, Sam’s trip was much shorter than Dean’s.

At the end of the day, another very good episode. It’s great to have Castiel back, and he brings with him what could be a spectacular story for season six.

One last bit of random trivia: Remember Father Reynolds (Denis Arndt) from “Houses of the Holy” (S02E13)? Arndt is appearing in God Of Carnage at the Seattle Repertory Theatre right now. I saw it this week and it is a fantastic show. If you’re in the Seattle area, check it out.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Oct 09, 2010 @ 12:31 EST5EDT