I cannot believe how good this season of Supernatural has gotten. I've always thought it was a good show, but this season seems to find every episode reaching even greater heights than the one's before. It's been a while since there was a true two parter on this show. They have cliffhangers every once and a while, but these last two episodes "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Heaven and Hell" really felt like two parts to one whole. It's why I saved talking about "Last Summer" until I had seen both episodes, because both played off the other. While "Last Summer" was a Sam-centric episode dealing with what Sam went through while Dean was in hell, "Heaven and Hell" was very Dean-focused, where we finally learned about his time in hell and his connection to the new demon on the block, Alastair. There were a ton of parallels in both eps. Sam connected and slept with the demon, Ruby, while Dean hooked up with the angel, Anna, an interesting commentary on where both boys' stories are at at the moment.
"I Know What You Did Last Summer" was definitely the setup episode of the two. We got the intro for Anna the angel whisperer, Alastair, and Castiel and Uriel bringing the vengeance. But this episode also had some great payoff in the form of flashbacks to what Sam did while Dean was in hell. And it wasn't pretty. I loved this episode for the exploration into Sam's character, something which has been lacking so far this season. His hurt, hopelessness, and grief was painful to watch and Jared played those scenes wonderfully. I happen to be in the minority in that I love the character of Ruby, all the way from when she first appeared and was played by Katie Cassidy (who I still love better than the new girl, even though she's starting to grow on me). So I really liked seeing how she found Sam and helped him. I still don't know if we're supposed to fully trust Ruby or not yet, but I get the feeling from her that she really, genuinely is in love with Sam. That she really wants to be a "good" demon and that Sam is the only person who she feels connected with. I bought their sex scene because it was angry and wrong and hot, and Sam was so completely at rock bottom that he just wanted to feel something, anything to take away the pain over Dean (compared to Dean and Anna's sex scene which I felt was totally unbelievable and gratuitous. It just seemed to come out of nowhere). Not to say I want a permanent Sam/Ruby pairing, she is a demon after all, just that I bought the scene and thought it added to the evidence of just how messed up Sam was when he lost Dean.
As far as "Heaven and Hell" goes, there were a few things I had some trouble with. I'm not sure how much I bought Anna as a fallen angel who turned into a human or the stuff with her grace and the necklace. I was also a little disturbed at the implication that heaven and God? Not so great actually. What the episode did do extremely well however, was setting up tension throughout. The whole episode was filled with a sense of dread for both the angels and the demons coming for the Winchesters, so when both sides finally did meet, I was on the edge of my seat, heart pounding in my chest. It's been a while since an action show like this has made me really, truly excited (I'm looking at you Heroes), and to sound undignified for a moment, I was absolutely freaking out, holy crap! The showdown was particularly good because of all the characters involved. I admit to absolutely loving both Castiel and Uriel. They both bring so much to every scene they're in. Castiel's calm sadness mixed with Uriel's aggressive bravado is so fascinating to watch, and I absolutely loved their fight scenes, especially the first one where you can really see both their personalities come through, with Uriel physically attacking both Dean and Ruby while Castiel calmly puts his fingers to Sam's forehead and knocks him out. And then there's Alastair. I'm always for the show adding new demons, I think they do a really good job with that side of the supernatural, and this new guy was suitably creepy. That scene where he was torturing Ruby was really disturbing. That actor really sold it and I totally bought that this was the head punisher of the underworld. The big showdown ended with neither side really coming out the victor, and I liked that. I like that Alastair presumably got to live to see another day, and that Uriel is clearly not going to forget everything that went down this episode. And poor Castiel, he always has that conflicted, lost look on his face. I wonder if they're leading towards him becoming a fallen angel as well. There seems to be hints there.
Of course, the greatest scene of either episode was the last scene of "Heaven and Hell", the boys sitting on the Impala, drinking a beer, like they've done a million times. But this time, Dean, much like Sam in the previous episode, decided to stop keeping secrets and share what happened to him in hell. And for those people who wonder why we're fans of the show, this is a scene I would point them to. These emotional beats between the characters is what makes this show what it is. Dean divulging the pain he felt over what he did in hell brought me to tears. Much of that is due to Jensen Ackles' heartbreaking performance, but more is due to the connection we as viewers have made to Dean throughout these last 3 seasons. We've come to know Dean almost as much as Sam does, and to see him in pain and to see Sam in pain over Dean, absolutely shattered me. These are the moments that Supernatural does so well. Because after everything, after the demons and the angels and everything else, this show is about the characters. And when they cry, we cry, when they're happy, we're happy. And it's reasons like this that I will always care about the show. Because the show has crafted the characters in such a way that I will always, no matter what, care about Sam and Dean.
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