A possible dragon in the midst, the return of Sheriff Jodi Mills, and Sam and Dean taking the virgin pledge? If this doesn’t have ‘Supernatural’ Goodness written all over it, I don’t know what does.

Things start off ominously enough when a young woman walking to her car hears something in the night and, borrowing from the cliché of clichés, as she runs, falls to the ground and her keys slide under her car.  She retrieves the keys but then an unknown figure appears and lifts the car before enveloping the woman in blue fire then depositing her in a deep, dark hole underground.

Taking the the plunge and pledge for purity…

Dean wakes up a sleepy Sam at the bunker. Sam’s still feeling the effects of something, telling Dean that his “battery can’t recharge”. Their convo is interrupted when they get a call from Sheriff Mills. Four people have been taken from the town of Hartford, SD. During the talk with Mills, they discover that all four abductees were members of the Good Faith Church. The next stop for the brothers is the church where they speak with Bonnie, the church director who tells them about the Purity group all four victims were a part of. Unable to obtain any of the private knowledge shared in the group meetings, Sam volunteers both himself and Dean for new members of the purity group. They are now, for all intent and purposes, born again virgins.

Alone and in the dark, Honor searches her new confines, using her taser as a light source. She’s unable to find anything of use though as she goes deeper into the underground space—one built in case of nuclear fallout—she realizes that she’s not alone. Speaking of alone, the brothers take in their first APU meeting. Susie is the group leader and Dean takes an instant liking to her. After leading a prayer for their missing friends Susie puts Sam and Dean on the spot regarding their reasons for re-establishing their virginity. Sam’s is heartfelt, noting that relations has only complicated things in his relationships as they never end up well. Mr. ‘Busty Asians’ and all things porn, however, does a bit of oversharing. Dean channels his inner ‘Penthouse Letters’ and describes in details the tactile stimuli associated with the act. It puts the attending women in a tizzy. After the main group breaks, the brothers socialize with the other members in an attempt to glean any information into the disappearances as possible. Dean, of course, strikes up conversation with Susie who, after a bit, offers support to Dean, telling him she has some books that could help him in this trying time. Not to look an opportunity gift horse in the mouth, he takes Susie up on her offer and follows her to her apartment. Sam returns to the hotel and shares the new information re: Honor and the Pastor with Jodi. She has her own info on the soon-to-be newlyweds and it becomes clear that the creature is taking victims that have broken their chastity vow.

Speaking of some vow breaking, Dean is ready to turn things up on Susie. He lights a candle and goes in for the kill but her tears kill his mood and he’s left with joining her in prayer.

Lighting a candle for luck…and to get lucky

Sam and Jodi are sharing their own moment when the Sheriff reflects on why she joined the church. After everything with Bobby and Crowley “I needed something that made sense to me; comfort,” she tells him and Sam more than understands the need to make sense of things. Dean makes his own sense when he finds proof of where he knows Susie from; she was a favorite of his in the porn industry. Dean ignores another call from Sam and he confronts Susie on her past life. At first she’s ashamed about it but the Dean drops the hammer, showcasing his rico suave nature and she’s more than ready to have her way with “un chico malo”.

Honor finally finds a lantern and she meets her three compatriots from church. It’s not long though before Pastor Fred (her lover) is swept up by blue fire and his screams above echo back down into their underground prison.

Sam and Jodi rush to Susie’s apartment. Sam knows his brother and judging by how he won’t answer, he accurately surmises the two have participated in the beast with two backs action. Unfortunately, they’re too late as, by the time they arrive, Dean and Susie have already been taken and dumped off in the familiar hole. Heavy on the research train, Sam and Jodi draw the connection with Vesta, the Roman Goddess of the Hearth. She was to be attended by six virgins who had to take a vow of chastity for 30 years; if they broke said vows, they were buried alive. Dean interrupts the research with a quick call and, though Sam’s not able to hear much, he discerns a train in the background. Jodi tells him of the Wimmer farm a few miles outside of town but the two also confirm they need the blood of a virgin to rid themselves of the Roman goddess. While Dean is putting the cowardice Neil in his place for wanting to sacrifice Honor the next time their captor arrives at the gate, Sheriff Mills garners a bit of blood from Tammy, one of the APU participants. They arrive at the farm and find the door to the underground space. Before they’re able to get in, Vesta arrives.

It’s no surprise that goodie two shoes Bonnie is the goddess. She takes Sam out of the fight pretty quickly and slaps Jodi around a bit, all the while ranting about how she used to be top dog until that “hippie from Bethlehem” came along and screwed her legacy. She preps Jodi for sacrifice and the devouring of Jodi’s liver when the sheriff pulls out the stake dipped in virgin’s blood. Vesta catches Jodi’s strike and is ready to deliver the killing blow when Sam interferes. He redirects the strike and, though it catches Jodi in the arm, it doesn’t kill her. Vesta gains the upper hand on Sam and tries sucking out his liver. She’s at a loss on her power’s lack of effect on him and comments that he’s “all duct tape and safety pins inside; how are you alive?” Her momentary distraction is enough for Jodi to deliver the coup de grace. Dean, after doing some handy-dandy work on the door, plops his head up, curiously asking what he’d missed.

Back at the motel, the brothers bid adieu to Sheriff Mills an Sam collapses on the bed, dejected and troubled by Vesta’s words. “What if there’s something wrong with me?” he asks Dean. He feels as if something is very wrong with him. Dean can’t take any more lying and wants to tell Sam the truth. Ezekial hijacks Sam long enough to advice Dean against it. Despite his better joudgment, he acquiesces, only promising Sam that things will be better soon. Different. He can only watch Sam, the guilt of hiding things from his brother gnawing at his insides.

Pagans, Purity, and Purpose

  • This week was another good reminder of the other things out there that go bump in the night. Lucifer may have eliminated quite a few of the pagan gods and goddesses (season 5’s ‘Hammer of the Gods’) but there are still quite a few running around. This probably won’t be the last tussle the Winchesters will have with the old gods.
  • One had to know that things would get out of hand the moment Sam and Dean took the purity pledge. Running into Susie was a godsend for Dean as he was quite the fan of her past work. The APU meeting coupled with Dean’s heartfelt admiration of Susie’s role in the Spanish-themed porno was all the levity the episode needed.
  • In regards to the Sam/Ezekial thing, the *bleep* is about to hit the fan. Sam’s questioning himself more and more; how will finding out the truth affect he and Dean going forward. And what the hell is Zeke playing at? Something tells me the angel hasn’t been completely on the level about fixing Sam’s internal mess of a body.