Okay, okay, so Dean is no longer Michael.

I see the showrunners said that Sam and Dean can’t be apart for more than an episode or two, to which I say, BAH! One or two more episodes of Micheal in Dean would have been FINE. And maybe given us some deeper drama for everyone, but hey, I’m not running the show, so who cares what I think??

What they did in this episode, was a continuation of what happened at the end of the Wayward Sisters episode/backdoor pilot, written by would-be showrunner Robert Berens. I liked it! It is a little bittersweet, as to what might have been a Supernatural spin-off, but getting to work with the A-team is always good, right? (FYI: I was all in for Wayward Sisters. It would have been awesome. I’m trying to make light of the crappy decision The CW made. NO ONE ASKED FOR LEGACIES, GUYS!)

The episode begins with Dean and Sam walking the hallways of the bunker, and Dean making jokes about Sam’s grief beard. It is actually nice to have Dean back, okay?

Jack and Cass spot Dean, and hugs and happy words are exchanged. I am not even close to being a Destiel shipper, but I do love how Cass looks at Dean. BFFs forever!!

Dean ambles off for a shower, and as he sheds Micheal’s clothes – while dealing with a mess of emotions – he notices a big slash of scars on his deltoid. And one more time, Dean doesn’t take off his shirt, because everyone hates us forever and ever. 😉

Dean can’t remember how this scar arrived, so he insists that Cass do a mind thingy to shake loose his memories. Once the memories come flooding back (A hooded figure stabbed him. That figure sure does look a lot like the Kaia that killed our world Kaia. Yay. No thread dropped here!), Dean rallies the troops, and they start packing for a hunting trip, hoping to pick up the trail of Michael. Jack wanders into the scene, upset that they are all leaving so soon after Dean’s return, but brightens up to hear that there is a hunt.

Unfortunately, Dean nixes the idea of Jack coming with, which gives us the reappearance of MopeyJack, and I cannot watch him walk away sullenly without hearing the sad Charlie Brown music in my head.

Just as everyone feels bad, Jules – one of the new bunker hunters – drags in a sick victim of a witch that she killed, which peels Castiel off the hunting trip, as his angel powers can’t cure her, and he decides to stay and try to help her, sending Sam and Dean off in Baby for a rage filled hunting trip!!

Our beautiful boys have their first BM scene of the season, and okay, YES, I needed that. Andrew Dabb knows what he’s doing after all.

Sam and Dean meet Jody at the side of some road, and hugs all around. So far, everyone has gotten a Dean hug except Sammy. Boo. Okay, Cass didn’t get one, but he got an eye hug, and that’s just as good.

ANYWAY

Off they go into the woods, looking for Michael. Dean wants to split up, Sam and Jody vote for #TeamStayTogether, which sends Dean grumbling along. And when they find a shack, with three decapitated heads greeting them, they get the inkling that this may be the place.

Boom! Monster World Kaia shows up, fighting ensues, and everyone ends up in the shack, with Kaia tied to a chair, and the boys and Jody interrogating her.

Dean is pissed. In fact, Dean spends a good chunk of this episode full of rage, which is kind if heartening, because this is how Dean deals with trauma, and that’s how we know it really is our Dean. And then Kaia tells him he’s not nearly as strong a Michael, just in case we had any doubts that this is Dean Dean.

Long story short, the blade Kaia carries (stuck in a bone, no less), is a weapon that can at least injure Michael, and Dean wants it. He doesn’t get it this time, as Kaia is a bad-ass fighter, and after rescuing our friends from some suped-up werewolves, she takes off.

Oh hey, can you guys stop breaking Jody’s bones?

Jody heads off to deal with telling Claire about who they just encountered, and Sam and Dean head back home. We get a nice little confession from Dean, about how all he wanted was to jump to the end, and skip all the fighting and negotiating, and just kill Michael. And then he tells Sammy how awful it was, riding around with Michael in charge, and how the whole time he felt like he was drowning.

I am gonna say again, Jensen Ackles is an amazing actor, and I love it when he gets to play Dean with so much emotion. It is one of the reasons why, all these years later, I am still watching, and still doing these recaps. It is so much fun to be in this world.

Back in the bunker, Jack was packed up and ready to run away from home (A note to Sam, Dean and Castiel to top it all off), when he stumbles on Cass and Jules trying to heal the young woman enchanted by the witch. Jack us intrigued, and using his intellect and instinct, he is able to help them save her! Even after she is pull-the-sheet-over-the-face dead! These scenes are full of giant sledgehammers hitting us on the head, but the sincerity of Alex Calvert playing off Misha Collins works, and I don’t mind being hit over the head in this manner.

Once everyone is alive, and safe and sound back in the bunker, Cass does a quick check-in with Jack, promising a hunting trip after he talks to Dean about it.

This makes Jack NotMopey. But wait! That little cough he’s got, it’s not his first human cold, as he tells Castiel, because it looks like he has been coughing up blood for a while. Soooooooo, something is wrong with Jack!

When did the bunker get a cadaver fridge? Was it always there? Hmm.

NEXT!! Halloween episode! That might be funny. YAY