It says something when a show, even after ten years, can surprise you. After two fun weeks of episodes whose plotlines, save for a bit of Sam and Dean interaction, were not germane to this season’s story arch, ‘

Things start off simple enough with a hooker wanting to get out of the life but runs into her pimp, Raul. She tries sweet talking him but when that doesn’t work, puts her broken heel through his eye. It doesn’t stop him though and he ends her life with a quick snap of the neck. And then we have the brothers, more specifically Dean, searching for a bit of action from a dating site and Sam discovers they’ve taken an eight hour detour just so Dean’s able to get in a bit of the slap and tickle. He doesn’t realize how accurate Sam’s “too good to be true” statement is until Shaylene brings up the transaction fee. Dismissing any monetary exchange, Dean only needs to sign away his soul to get cracking with a night of debauchery. He has her call in the ‘broker’ and suspicions are confirmed that the guy’s a demon. They catch him in a devil’s trap but Shaylene skewers him with the angel sword before they’re able to get answers. Still, they do find a card to ‘Raul’s Girls’ in his pocket.

This takes us to the brothel in question where Raul okays the discipline of a brunette working girl. He and his demonic cohort are interrupted, however, when the demure red head from the end of ‘Soul Survivor’ strolls in. She tosses a hex back at the demon and his life ends violently and not at all kindly. His partner in crime (Gerald) smokes out—later reporting the incident to Crowley—and it leaves the brunette and her blonde friend in the hands of the red head Scot. She suggests they come with her, she has so many things to discuss.

The Winchesters arrive to take down Rowena

While Sam and Dean investigate the demon-y ichor and research a bit on the means of the kill, we find out the red head’s Rowena, a powerful natural witch excommunicated by the Grand Coven. She gives the two hookers a Witches 101 course, offering an example when she hexes the head waiter. When the poor guy burns up from the inside, we realize what the Grand Coven meant when they deemed her magic “too extreme.” Still, the two girls decide to follow her, unawares that the Winchesters are on their tail. After getting some intel on similar instances of death and bodies nailed to the ceiling at many a posh hotels (remember the Tulsa, Oklahoma scene from ‘Soul Survivor’?) they track down Rowena and the girls and just in time for the trio as a pair of demons have the witch bound and gagged and on their way to Crowley, so he can put the red head to the question. They kill the demons but Rowena hexes blondie, turning her into an attack dog, allowing her and the brunette to escape. It’s divide and conquer for the Winchesters as Sam takes on the transformed hooker while Dean follows Rowena. He gets the drop on her and readies to end things when he gets his own little blast from the past.

Last seen in ‘Reichenbach’, the man with a grudge against Dean has been doing his homework on demons and, with the help from a tortured demon, tracked down the elder Winchester. Gun to Dean’s head, Cole allows Rowena to escape, more focused on his father’s killer. Dean tries talking to the young man but it does no good and, pretty soon, the two are duking it out. While this fight is not nearly as one-sided as it was during the time of Deanmon, the latter (sans demon) still comes up aces and regains his gun. He points it at Cole and demands that he listen to Dean for five minutes and, if after that time, he still wants to 86 Dean, the longtime hunter is okay with that, even handing Cole his gun.

Hannah decides to return to Heaven

Let’s take a quick detour to the angel side of things where Castiel and Hannah are still on the trail of any rogue angels out there, to bring them back into the fold. Cas is pointing towards another possible rogue when Hannah gets naked, wanting to enjoy a shower. Castiel’s response is epic and quite pleasing to the woman, which verifies that no matter what, angel or human, a woman likes being appreciated (author’s note: as well they should be!). It gets a bit complicated when, as they are set to hit the road, Hannah runs into Joe, her host Caroline’s hubby. She gets rid of Joe by convincing him that she’s with Cas now, even putting a big wet one on the angel of Thursday’s face. Later they talk about it and Hannah doesn’t feel right about it. Cas can relate and tells her about his vessel’s (Jimmy Novak) family. “It was difficult but necessary,” he tells her. “The mission comes first…always.” But it’s not enough for her and she gives up the ghost, so to speak, leaving Caroline to re-establish her life with Joe.

Back to the action between Cole and Dean, the hunter tells his adversary that his father was a monster, how, as a hunter, Dean had to kill him. But it goes deeper and Cole nearly breaks at the thought of spending his life believing one thing and finding out it was a lie. Dean can relate and gives one of the most poignant speeches in Supernatural’s long and storied history.

“I get it; that was your story. Look man, I got one of those, too. Okay, but those stories we tell to keep us going, sometimes blind us. They take us to dark places, a place where I might beat the crap out of a good man just for the fun of it. The people who love me, they pulled me back from that edge. Cole, once you touch that darkness, it never goes away. Now the truth is I’m past saving. I know how my story ends. It’s at the edge of a blade or the barrel of a gun. So the question is, is that gonna be today?”

Something in his words hit home and Cole backs down. As they watch him leave, Sam, who had arrived prior to Dean’s speech, asks his brother about the words. “I was telling the guy what he needed to hear,” Dean responds and makes his way back to the Impala. Sam watches his brother walk away, knowing the only person Dean told what he wanted to hear was Sam.

And then there’s the fact that Rowena just so happens to be Crowley’s mum.

Yeah, you heard me.

Facing Your Past

  • It has been said that those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Oftentimes, we are able to take the mistakes others have made in our situation to avoid the pain of learning the hard way. Though he’s done quite a bit of good in his time on the road—saving people, hunting things—Dean has made his fair share of mistakes. He’s touched the dark part of himself, done things he’s not proud of and he sees the same in Cole. It must be agonizing to come face to face with the monster from your past and realize that monster was there to protect you from the real threat. Despite Dean’s words, Cole could still have allowed the pain to overtake him but Dean was able to reach him before it was too late. It’s not over for Cole though as he still has to resolve a decade worth of anger and rage, to find an outlet to channel it. In that regard, I believe this won’t be the last time we meet Cole.
  • With a little more than a hundred words, Dean perfectly summarized his life as a hunter. Live by the sword, die by the sword, right? He is committed to his life and understands that one day, he may not be quick enough, smart enough, or strong enough to get out of a scrape. Though Sam may see it as giving up, it’s just the opposite. Dean understands the dangers and, no matter what, will stay the course, even if it ultimately costs him his life.
  • Last year Crowley was introduced to his son when Abaddon brought the lad into the present via a bit of witchery time-hopping. While his reunion with dear old mum isn’t messing with the space/time continuum, it’ll offer another peek into our favorite demon’s human life. More to the point, how will her presence affect him, as the King of Hell and the remnants of the human conscience he still has floating inside him?