This episode made me realize how invested I am in the Winchesters, both their relationship with each other, and my relationship with this damn show.  An emotional episode for me and for Sam and Dean, methinks! Also, my favorite screencap site, Home Of The Nutty, is setting up on another server or something, so I am scrounging again for pics. I hope they are back up and running soon!

We open with poor ProphetKevin, trapped in his crap-ola house boat, living on coffee and hot dogs while deciphering the Word of God. He looks terrible. He looks Word of God awful, really. But all his hard work finally pays off, and he calls Sam and Dean to tell them about his discovery.

Dean is seen lovingly decorating his first room to himself. So cute! (and sweet) The sweetness of this scene, and Sam’s appreciation of Dean’s new found nesting is a nice precursor to what happens later. Seems as though Dean is an excellent cook. Which only makes him more awesome to those of us who already appreciate him, ifyouknowwhatimean.

So, it turns out that to close the gates of hell, there are three trials to do, like the SATs, or an obstacle course. First task: kill a hell hound and bathe in its blood, then say a spell in Enochian. Easy! Then we get a glimpse into the hyper brain of ProphetKevin, and his motivation to get this done. Poor Kevin and his bloody nose and maybe stroke. That kid got a raw.deal.

Sammy finds a family, the Cassidy’s, that look to have an impending hell hound visit, and the Winchesters head out to Shoshone, Idaho, and become laborers for the family farm. After a few hours, it seems as though this farm is full of potential Crossroad Demon deal makers. Once the first one goes down via hell hound in the first act! the boys figure out that the ‘trophy husband’ isn’t the only one who made a deal with a Crossroads Demon, a wily bastard known to us all as Crowley. Seems as though ten years ago, Crowley made a visit to the family, and made deals with a slew of people on the farm, including the beautiful property manager, Ellie.

Of course the Cassidy’s are RIDICULOUS. The father is on on his fifth wife, one daughter a washed up country singer, one running the farm, and one who ran off to Paris. And they all like to drink. A lot. Eesh. Nightmare.

ProphetKevin calls with a fancy new trick to see the invisible hell hounds, which leads us to one of my favorite visuals so far, Dean in glasses! Maybe someone was trying to make him look dorky in those specs, but they failed. Miserably. *swoon* Sam looked cute in his too, BTW. And it seems Ellie agrees with me, because she comes on to Dean in a most straightforward way. You can see the pain on Dean’s face when he has t o turn her down. Aww, poor Dean. But you see, poor Ellie too, because she is the unexpected hell hound mark in the story (after one gets poor Paris-livin’ Margie).

Monologue break, part one: Dean takes a moment to basically tell Sammy how much he loves him. How he wants him to have a life, get out, and have kids and grandkids. It is one of the sweetest things Dean has said to Sammy in a looooong while, while also being hearbreaking, because Dean tells his brother that he is willing to die for him. That that is how he sees it all ending. How Dean knows he will go down fighting, and he wants Sammy to get to the light at the end of the tunnel that Sammy sees. I loved the whole thing.

Sammy is tasked with keeping the remaining family members safe with goofer dust, and it is like herding cats! That goofer dust might keep the hounds out for a bit, but Sammy has a hell of a time keeping the family members in. While Sammy tries (and fails) to keep everyone handcuffed in the living room, Ellie tells Dean that she knows exactly what’s coming for her. After stealing a drunken kiss, of course.

So Sam and Dean use their x-ray specs to see the hell hound, and after Dean’s speech about how he is the one who’s going to do all the wet work, Sammy is the one who ends up killing the hound and saving Dean, ending up totally covered in the hounds blood. Ew. Which means, he’s the one who must say the spell.

Monologue break, part two (aka Sammy’s turn): After Dean insists that they track down another hell hound, Sammy pleads his case. After the hard sell on the light at the end of the tunnel, Sammy calls his brother a genius, that he’s a better hunter than their Dad, and to please believe in Sam, because Sam believes in Dean. And the angst of two and a half seasons melts away. This is the closest we may ever get to those beautiful boys telling each other they love one another, and I am all gooey over it.

And the first trial of the next suicide mission for the Winchesters has been completed. Now I have been watching this show long enough to know that the brotherly angst is probably not totally over, but this episode was a huge step in repairing the awful rift between Sam and Dean that has been festering for so long. Such a relief.

Favorite quotes:

Dean: “Memory foam. It remembers me.”

Dean: “Crap. She literally meant crap.” <to horse> “I hate you.”

Sam: “I want to kill a hell hound and not die. How about you?”

Dean: “Impressed?”  Ellie: “I do like a man who can handle his meat.”

Sam: “It’s gonna feel like you took the brown acid, and it’s trying to kill you.”

Ellie: “I did it for my mom, Dean. What would you do for your Mom?”

The Monologues (because they are important!)

Dean: “I want you to have a life — become a Men of Letters, whatever. You, with a wife and kids and grandkids, living until you’re fat and bald and chugging Viagra. That is my perfect ending and that’s the only one I’m going to get. So I’m going to do these trials, and I’m going to do them alone. End of story.”

Sam:  “I see light at the end of this tunnel and I’m sorry you don’t. I am. But it’s there. And if you come with me, I can take you to it.”
Dean: “Sam, be smart.”
Sam: “I am smart, Dean, and so are you. You’re not a grunt, Dean; you’re a genius — when it comes to lore, to– You’re the best damn hunter I’ve ever seen — better than me, better than Dad. I believe in you, Dean. So please, please believe in me, too.”

See???? *weeps* Love it. God bless Jeremy Carver.