To the tune of a young cellist in Michigan, the countdown to the final battle begins on ‘Supernatural’.

Cas and his unlikely nurse after he wakes

As the brothers set up shop in Chicago, Kevin, the young cellist who’s quite OCD when it comes to academics, gets his schedule in order as the ACT approaches. When Dean starts pounding away at the relic retrieved from Dick Roman, a storm begins at each hammer blow against the stone until the lightning finds its target in our nerdy Kevin. Not only that, the storm jump starts the once comatose Castiel, who awakens to a bored Meg watching over him.

Waking up from the lightning strike, Kevin realizes he’s late for his exam but as he starts to rush out the door his eyes glow in what is no doubt a supernatural fashion; next time we see him, Kevin’s on the road, eyes flashing as he drives towards his “birth right”. Speaking of hitting the road, Sam and Dean make their way toIndiana after Meg calls to them know that Cas is alive and well—though  he may be a little different. When they arrive, Meg takes them to Cas who, despite remembering everything, is more than a bit off kilter. After some Rain Man moments, Cas identifies the tablet as the Word of God, written by Metatron (not the transformer, folks). He can’t read it, as it’s not meant for angels and leaves it broken when Dean and Meg argue over her involvement. Dean leaves to find Cas while Meg threatens to do the same; they leave the room long enough for Kevin to sneak in and steal the tablet. When Sam and Meg catch up to him, he’s terrified but cannot let go of the tablet.

Hester and her Garrison along with the not all there Cas

In the art room, Dean tries to reach Cas but the angel is broken in a way Dean can’t really comprehend. While Cas brings out the board game Sorry into play, Sam and Meg interrogate Kevin who not only reassembles the tablet but is able to read from it. It is about Leviathan, how they came to be and why God imprisoned them. Before he can say more, two angels (Hester and Anious) show up, ready to take Kevin–who’s now a prophet–and kill Meg and Sam before Cas interrupts. They are more than surprised to find him though soon realize he’s a shell of himself. Before they can do more damage, Dean banishes the angels (Cas included) by using the angelic “re-start” sigil.

The curious quartet hit the road to bide time and formulate an action plan. After calling Meg, Cas pops in and explains the Garrison (Hester and Anious) and their role in protecting the Word. Though he gives them all the information they can handle, the group, now a quintet, reach the cabin and proof it from angel eyes. Sam and Cas talk about the latter’s condition from taking on Sam’s damage from Lucifer and despite the enormity of what he took only, Cas, who now sees everything, truly believes he is okay. For his part, Dean has to give Kevin a pep talk as the teen nearly has a panic attack. “It sucks”, he tells Kevin in regards to being chosen, but it’s the cards he’s been dealt and he has to get used to it. Meg sneaks off for a bit to kill the two demons that saw them at the gas station and when she returns, is caught in a devil trap as the gang wasn’t quite sure of her intentions (she is a demon, after all) but she has gone all in for the cause. Her purpose was once to help Lucifer rise but now her sights are firmly locked on Crowley. It’s all good but one problem does arise; her filleting the demons ends up leading Hester and her Garrison to the cabin. The angel’s disappointment in Cas is strong and, after beating on him, Hester readies to deliver the killing blow. Anious tries to stop her but it takes Meg and an angel killing sword to end any dispute.

Kevin provides the Winchesters with hope against the Leviathan

“These are strange times,” Anious remarks to Cas, trying to get his former captain to rejoin the cause but Cas refuses. Kevin gives the Winchesters the notebook where he recorded everything of the Word before being taken away to his new hiding spot. The brothers read some of the script which lists the blood of a fallen angel as one of the ingredients needed to kill the Leviathan. Cas provides them with a vial of his blood and when Dean asks the angel what he will do, Cas’s content response is that he doesn’t know before disappearing.

Reappearing at his home, Kevin is greeted by his mom and the federal agent leading the investigation to find Kevin. But Mr. Agent man is Dick’s right hand Leviathan. He kills the angels and looks to be taking possession of the teen prophet.

As Jim Ross says, business is about to pick up. Through an admittedly up and down season, we are finally heading towards that season ending climax. The flight of a potential ally may be offset (to a point) by a new and unexpected one in Meg. The boys have in their possession a weapon Dick and his brood better fear, but with the Leviathan now having Kevin and the Word in their possession, they will not be going gentle into the good night.

If you missed the previous episode, be sure to read our ‘Supernatural: The Girl With The Dungeons and dragons’ recap to catch up.

The Good:

  • Anytime we get the reappearance of an old favorite, it’s a good thing. Having Cas return, albeit not all there, was definitely a notch in the plus column.
  • Rachel Miner is such a treat to watch as Meg. She has so much fun causing trouble but has been an uneasy ally to the Winchesters this season (and a bit of last season as well). Her speech on finding a purpose was heartfelt and more than a bit surprising, considering the source. She may finally provide the Winchesters something they’ve been missing since Bobby’s death; a dedicated ally.

The Bad:

  • This may be a bit nit-picky but the Word of God tablet seemed to be a bit of deus ex machina. Despite the tablet being the focus of Dick Roman’s search since the beginning, it still comes off as a bit too ‘nick of time-ish’.
  • I am a fan of Castiel’s unexpected humor at times but it seemed a bit more forced in this episode. That’s not to say it wasn’t funny but it didn’t carry the heart it usually does. Of course, that may be because of his fractured persona…

The Supernatural:

  • Looks like we’ve finally got the ingredients to make a Leviathan-killing weapon. We have one of the ingredients but there’s still a few more to collect before taking a run at Big Dick Roman.
  • I’m a big fan of the heavenly host and seeing them in action again after such a long hiatus was welcome. The mention of Metatron and inclusion of the Word of God brings back some good memories from seasons four and five when Heaven was at the forefront of the show.