GodDAMNit, Kripke, you're an asshole!!!
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SAM, HUG YOUR BROTHER!
For Fuck's sake, Kripke, GIVE a little! Dean's been through Hell, literally, he FINALLY voices that trauma to Sam, who by the way very much wanted to help just two episodes ago, AND this one was a two parter! -and all Sam can do is sit next to Dean on the Impala's hood and swallow wordlessly, HE COULD BARELY TURN TO FACE HIS BROTHER'S BACK, MUCH LESS MEET HIS EYES OR PUT A REASSURING HAND ON HIS SHOULDER OR HUG HIM OR SOMETHING?!?!???
Jesus Fucking Christ.
And okay, yes, I'm ranting here, but that's just here...I'm also waiting for the wankery to start, about how Sam is so selfish and only hugs Dean for his own reassurance, after Dean's been dead and whatnot.
Honestly, Show, can the brothers not share physical affection even in the depths of emotional duress to show a little freakin' support for one another? I mean, Christ, I know I'm more tactile than the average guy, but when someone is hurting that much, don't you want to help them? Somehow? Support them? And sure, there's nothing you can really do to actually help, but a little human contact says "Hey, you're not alone. You have my support." Y'know, like Anna was freaking telling Dean when he closed up on her. Like Sam was trying to tell Dean at the end of Wishful Thinking.
I know the Krip has a thing about not letting the Winchester boys hug, but Bad Form, Show, Bad Form. Sam should have SAID something, put a comforting hand on Dean's back, something.
It's like, Dean is this poor effed up woobie, and he's all the worse because he never gets an ounce of comfort. 2.4, 2.22, hell, pretty much all of his countdown in season 3...I'm sorry, they just hit my snapping point. It's RIDICULOUS. This just tells you how otherwise awesome this episode mostly was, when it's the denouement that has me frothing at the mouth.
Actually, it WAS slightly cheesy. Anna's being a fallen angel caught me by surprise, but I liked it. And I thought they ran with it well, really. The fact that her Grace would have been recovered, rather than just left lying around? Makes perfect sense. Uriel wears it around his vessel's neck? Not so much. I suppose if it had actually been sitting under the roots of a Kentucky oak since 1985 or whatever, maybe Uriel had to teleport his vessel there and retrieve it. I mean, it's basically sort of a piece of Heaven, I can believe that no demon would want to come anywhere near it, nor any supernatural critter, and any spirit that got close would probably instantly move on. I bet that oak's environs pretty much count as hallowed ground, as far as that's concerned. And I guess if Uriel had to go retrieve it, he would probably consider it safer on his person than kept somewhere on Earth, if he couldn't return it to Heaven. But it's kept in a small glass phial? Really? I hope it was some kind of special glass, at least, but I suppose they didn't really need to spend a scene discussing that or whatever. Still, I think it would've been cooler if Anna cut Uriel, and/then her own hand...and slapped it to his wound, pulling her Grace out of him. It would be extra, after all; I doubt a human body naturally wants to have one Grace plus its angel inside it, much less a second Grace on top. Also makes me wonder if Sam could have tried to make Uriel's or Castiel's hosts expel them, but probably not. And they'd probably be too likely to smite him if he tried it. Still, the mind wonders.
And we STILL don't know what the heck the deal is with Ruby's knife! Alistair implied she found it (And why was HE immune to it?!? LILITH fears that thing!!), not created it, but still, we don't know. That's the one thing I really want explained, second only to WHY does Ruby remember being human in the first place? What makes her "special"? I mean, she sold her soul to "Tami" toward the end of the Middle Ages in exchange for magical power, traditional witchcraft...so I'd say she was a condemned soul, bound for Hell. I guess technically Dean was too, since he sold his soul to restore Sam's life, but at least he sold his soul for a noble purpose. The act itself wasn't evil or condemning, just its result quite specifically was condemning. So, when Dean's beating himself up, condemning himself for torturing souls on the rack...well, there's every likelihood those souls "deserved" to be there. Now, I'm not opening the can of worms on what is or isn't a condemning sin, but obviously some sort of judgmental sorting DOES exist in the SPNverse, because there is quite obviously a Heaven and a Hell. So I think Dean needs to remember that maybe the souls he was carving up perhaps deserved at least a smidgen of their punishment, at least more so than he himself did.
Makes me wonder how long John was there, and what he went through. See, I still think Hell is different for everyone. There may be similar themes, but when you boil it down, Dean is a hero. He saves people. Sam first and foremost, but saving people is what Dean does, it's his purpose in life, it's Why He Hunts. John hunted for vengeance and to learn how to keep his boys safe and teach them to protect themselves, Sam hunted Azazel for vengeance and now out of a sense of obligation and responsibility because he has the skills and training and perhaps even power to do so, but Dean just did it because he could and it's the right thing to do. So for him, torturing people instead of saving them is a pretty big deal. And the way they did it, taking Dean to the breaking point so that he snapped and chose to start torturing people instead of saving them by taking another day of torture himself...well, that's a specific torment to Dean all its own. Somebody needs to remind Dean that those souls were going to be tortured whether he had them take his place or not.
Okay, I think that was the extent of my thoughts. I'm still VERY un-thrilled by the prospect that Kripke was only going to give us four seasons, so he's apparently drawing this season out to make it take two and filling in the gaps with more filler episodes. I don't mind filler episodes if they're worthy contributions to the setting, and I can understand the idea that Stopping Lucifer is sort of the be-all and end-all of the Supernatural setting...I mean, really, after you've dealt with that, where the heck would you go next? Robots, as Kripke kiddingly said? Aliens? Obviously not, but what is left that IS in-genre? So yeah, I can see the two-season story arc, but I don't like it. Admittedly, the first two seasons were arguably one Azazel story arc, but it's not quite the same. Season One was "Find Dad", and they did, and it turned out Dad was on Azazel's trail, and that set up Season Two, which was really dealing with the good ol' YED. Which set up Season Three, Dean's Deal. Season Four is Wait, Heaven Has Plans For Dean And Negated His Deal...but apparently that's going to run all the way through Season Five? I'm less happy with that, but I suppose it's still going to be a lovely ride. I just would've preferred two more seasons, instead of one 44 episode season with a summer break in the middle. I kinda liked what In The Beginning set up, the possibility that Azazel's plans aren't undone with his death...I feel like THAT could be a season, but would that be lesser in comparison with Defeating Lucifer, if the YED's Endgame is Season Five? Because it seems to me they've spent too much time setting up Lucifer's Seals as the point of Season Four to switch now. One more ep, and we're halfway through the season.
Then again, "Meg" is still out there, as is Lilith, and what about Beelzebub and Astaroth, or whichever other Lords or Princes of Hell the SPNverse might have?
So yeah, I'm curious to see where it goes. And I wouldn't mind if it went on for SEVERAL seasons more, instead of just one (didn't we hear Kripke talking about a five-year plan BEFORE this season?)
But I do wish Dean could get a supportive hug or two along the way, particularly from Sam.