While Nia is continuing to cover the earlier seasons and episodes I thought I’d start a little ways in so that we can get all caught up as quickly as possible as this show is one that you don’t want to just provide a one season recap on if you can at all avoid it. In the first episode of this season they certainly don’t let up on the surprises and challenges that we’ve seen the brothers Winchester go through that’s for sure and if you’ve followed this show and the reviews posted here you know that’s saying a lot!
Last seasons cliff hanger saw Dean die at the hands of Lilith as his one year deal to save Sam’s life was called due… however to prove the adage true that you can’t keep a good man down he awakens this season in a wooden casket buried in some random location in the woods.
He seems to be in perfect condition however with no signs of the hellhound attack or in fact any scars from his previous history… except for a red handprint that seems branded into his left shoulder. The location where he manages to drag himself out of the ground though … well that’s another story as it looks like a bomb has gone off with trees blown every which way and his grave smack dab in the center.
Eventually making his way to an abandoned gas station he starts to resupply himself but hears a very strange noise gradually getting louder and louder, in addition to which all of the electronic devices in the station randomly come on by themselves. As the noise gets louder and louder, all of the windows of the gas station blowout in a massive explosion.
Dusting himself off he makes his way out of the station to a nearby telephone and tries to reach Sam however the phone number is disconnected. He next calls Bobby who as you recall is another hunter like Dean and Sam and has helped them over the course of the years since the death of John Winchester (the boys’ father) but Bobby does not believe that it actually is Sam and just thinks that someone is making a terrible, horrible joke. Eventually Dean drive’s to Bobby’s home and despite Bobby trying to kill him thinking that he is a demon he is eventually able to persuade him of the truth and the fact that he has really returned from the dead and from hell.
Dean and Bobby both speculate that the only reason he is back is because Sam has sold his soul or made a deal with a demon in a similar arrangement to the one Dean initially made in an attempt to recover or Dean back from the dead. They track Sam down where they find him in a rundown motel close to where Dean came back to life.
Sam also immediately attempts to kill Dean thinking that he must be a demon but this time Bobby is able to hold him back persuading him that Dean has actually returned. When they have a discussion together Sam vehemently denies making any deal and actually states that no demon would even talk to him about it. He is as confused as Dean is and Bobby implies that he knows someone that might be able to help … a local psychic that lives nearby.
Bobby takes the boys to a local psychic and they have a seance to try and find how Dean returned.
Now I[‘m not looking to cover the whole episode as I think that would ruin it for you, suffice it to say that another new character is introduced and he is somebody that is going to change what is happening on Supernatural for the foreseeable future. One thing I will leave you with though? When the psychic tries to find out who returned Dean from the dead – she gets one warning to stop looking and then her eyes are literally burned out of her head!
Review
Supernatural started out with two brothers fighting demons and while the initial early episodes seem to have no underlying mission or rationale aside from searching for their father the later episodes grew to have many conspiracies and story arcs that were very engaging and compelling and you really wanted to watch the next episode to find out what would happen.
Dean’s death at the end of season 3 was somewhat surprising as you always expected them to find a way out, a way to save him from certain death and damnation so it was quite jarring when he actually did die. His return this season, while obviously expected is also just as surprising as they’ve not done it in the way you’d expect.
Over the course of 3 seasons the interaction between the brothers would become tighter and you could actually see a real bond develop between both of them – something that transcended a simple TV show, so while they’ve introduced a very real twist in this episode and in the series as a whole, I guess the key question is will he fit in? It won’t be easy.