Supernatural - The Movement

I believe the magic of Supernatural is much more than a show. It is a movement.

I have been thinking a lot about this lately. The Episode 6 of the SPN Fan Movie just furthered my musings. Obviously, the actual 45 minute episode, 23 times a year is not what keeps all of this running. We use the word family but that doesn't really explain it either. It is a movement that revolves around Supernatural because the people in and around the show are true lightening rods. They are humble, caring, generous people who don't care about money or impressing people or climbing career ladders. When you have a group of people like that, they attract others like them. People looking for a place to belong and a place to be loved for who they are not what they can do. When you are loved like that, you have courage to show your true self. And when more people are comfortable in their own skin, not having to apologize or try to fit in a cultural or social mold then they blossom. That is how a movement starts. Now we as a whole are speaking out for mental illness and 3rd world countries and causes like diabetes, stroke awareness, inmate rehabilitation and the list goes on and on. Our show and our conventions have become more like rallies where we find encouragement, support and new tools and relationships to fight.

The story about Jensen and the girl from JaxCon really brought this home. I loved what he did for her but the part that brought tears to my eyes was the part where other fans literally chased out of the photo op room to catch her and introduce themselves and say "We are here, we know what this struggle is like. Let us be here with you." That is POWERFUL stuff. The same thing happened in front of me at DenverCon. A girl (who had been sitting right in front of me all weekend) asked Misha how he got over his stage fright because she so desperately wanted to get over hers. He gave a sweet answer but after the panel I was waiting in my seat and I counted at least 4 different fans coming up to her and saying "Hey this helped me overcome stage fright." or "Here is my number/handle. Call me if you ever need encouragement or someone to cheer you on." That is where the magic of Supernatural comes from.

The example of Sam and Dean to keep grinding and fighting and finding the good in their everyday life spurs us on. Because nobody benefits when people view themselves as victims. But when people who could claim victim look outside themselves and help those around them. Watch out. Those people will move mountains.

Supernatural and the Public Library

“I ransack public libraries, and find them full of sunk treasure.”

–Virginia Woolf, English writer and literary modernist

Bobby breaks into the Sioux Falls Public Library [6.04 Weekend At Bobby’s]

I love Supernatural for many, many reasons. It is one of the best television shows ever made. From the plot, to the production, to the quality of performance, you would be hard pressed to name a show that has ever done it better. I also believe part of the beauty of the show is the fact that so many people find their world in it. It is a commentary on everyday, hard pressed, down and dirty, good old fashioned LIFE. Yes, it is told through fictional storylines of angels and demons, ghosts and vampires, hunters and monsters but its themes are found in life in New Zealand or Germany or bustling Las Vegas or small town Wyoming, USA. The small piece of my world that is so beautiful represented in Supernatural is that of public libraries. Libraries rarely are treated with such love and respect on the screen as they are in Supernatural.

I have worked in public libraries for 13 years. It is a job which most people don’t realize still exists or one that is steeped in antiquated stereotypes of old women in hair buns and bifocals, “shushing” anything that breathes inside the walls. See this exchange for example:

Dean: What'd she look like?

Sam: Kinda like a librarian.

Dean: Your kind of librarian, or my kind of librarian?

Sam: Well, she was wearing clothes, if that's what you mean.

[6.17 My Heart Will Go On]

While those perceptions and stereotypes still exist in small form, most 21st century libraries are bustling hubs of modern, innovative thought and community. Instead of marble halls and hushed conversations, they have become open, fresh, bright buildings with energetic staff who not only perform traditional library duties but are also highly trained in modern technology and current culture. (Side note: one of my favorite blog posts is this one from the Huffington Post about tattooed librarians). But public libraries have evolved in a way that still acknowledges the traditional and at the same time celebrates the new. You will see microfilm machines next to 3D printers and archive collections sometimes dating back 400 years right next to Anime & Graphic Novel collections. It is that kind of diversity that I love to see Supernatural revel in.

“Before we came over here we stopped by the library and did a little homework ourselves.”

–Dean Winchester, 2.04 Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things

Supernatural, without any obvious spotlight, honors public libraries. They are woven in the fabric of the show. They are mentioned in normal conversations. They are used CONSTANTLY in the series, in almost every episode. When after 8 years, the show built it’s massive home base for its main characters, the main hall featured a monumental library. Ironically, the very first scene that Jared and Jensen ever shot together in “The Pilot” [1.01] took place in a library. That is the beauty of local, public libraries. They are pillars in communities without people even realizing it. People of every race, creed, color, religion, sexual orientation or economic standing are welcomed with open arms. Diversity is celebrated. No question is too strange or unworthy. Librarians make it their mission to answer every inquiry posed to them in a way that goes above and beyond. One of my favorite library moments in the series is after Demon!Dean terribly beats up Cole in “Reichenbach” [10.02], Cole stumbles into a nonfiction section of a local library, bleeding all over the books and asking for “everything you have on demons.” The librarian’s face looks like this:

While the scene ends there, I know for a fact, that librarian got right up and spent hours helping Cole find all the lore and legends of demons. Because when we next see Cole in “Girls, Girls, Girls” [10.07] he is very knowledgeable about demons and the ways to fight them.

“A great library is one nobody notices because it is always there, and always has what people need.”

–Vicki Myron, American author and librarian

People ask me all the time if I think libraries are becoming a thing of the past with the dawning of the digital age. Instant knowledge is always at our fingertips. Google provides us with thousands of answers for any question you might ask. Apps will read text to you. Unlimited numbers of digital books can fit on a tablet that takes up less space than one printed book. While these are all well and good, I believe there 3 huge reasons libraries have lasted for thousands of years and will continue to have a major presence in society for thousands of years to come. All of those reasons are candidly and plainly woven into the world of Supernatural. Let’s explore them.

AUTHORITATIVE RESOURCES

“Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.”

–Neil Gaiman, English author and screenwriter

The problem with today’s user-generated knowledge is that it gives the illusion that everyone’s opinion is of equal authority, and that’s not true. Our digital culture has given us all a stage where we can voice our opinions to the world, but that doesn’t always mean we should listen. When everyone is an expert, nobody is. Libraries combat that trend. Their shelves are full of materials from authorities in all subjects. Their databases are teaming with accredited information.

In “Hook Man” [1.07], the Winchester brothers are researching the urban legend of the Hook Man. I guarantee if they would have gone to Google to research it they would still be in Ankeny, Iowa trying to gank that dang monster. Just for the fun of it, I googled “the legend of hookman” and got over 61,000 results. But instead the Winchesters went to the local Ankeny library to do some research.

They are in the library twice in this episode. Once to see if the urban legend of the Hook Man really had any roots in this small town and again to see what happened to the hook that Jacob Karns’ spirit is attached too. Hearsay and lore wasn’t enough to go on this time so they dug deeeeep into the library’s records. Arrest records for the county dating back to 1851 and the log book for the Iowa State Penitentiary (although I am not sure why that would be in the Ankeny Library considering the Penitentiary is over 3 hours away in Fort Madison, IA but no matter, maybe they interlibrary loaned it...hee hee). Because of the authoritative records in the library they ganked the monster in short order.

Another scene from “The Great Escapist [8.21], this one in the Bunker library not a public library, is when Sam is trying to make heads or tails from Kevin’s research. He recognizes a reoccurring symbol in the notes and because of the extensive Bunker library collection is able to name it as a petroglyph from Native American culture meaning Messenger of God.

ARCHIVES

It's a death certificate. From the '30s. We got it at the library.

–Sam Winchester, 1.17 Hell House

In working for a library myself, I can attest to all the donations a public library receives DAILY. Boxes and boxes of books and records are constantly being donated from the public or from archives of other business and organizations in town. When one of the local funeral homes closed down after decades of service in our community they donated all their records to us. Now we have close to 40 years of cause of death and obituary records in our collection. It is valuable, necessary archives and what other place would be as suited to keep these records as a public library?

My favorite library scene in Supernatural is so brief you might actually miss it, but it features the greatest  archival achievement libraries have done. That is microfilm/microfiche (the difference being microfilm is in reels and microfiche is in sheets) collections of local newspapers. In my library we have film/fiche records of nearly 98% of the newspapers ever published in the entire 100 year history of the county. That is an impressive and frequently used collection. I have helped people from all over the nation who have called looking for articles and/or obituaries published in our county decades ago. Here, in this Supernatural scene, these records break the case open for Sam and Dean.

In “Something Wicked” [1.18], the Winchesters are completely stumped as to who the monster is that they are fighting. They know that it is a Shtriga but as Shtrigas take on a human form when not hunting it could literally be ANYONE in Fitchburg, WI. The old lady at the hospital was a dead end and now another small child has fallen ill. They are out of time and out of leads.

While Dean is at the hospital with the distraught mother of the latest victim, Sam takes it upon himself to head to the library and try to find out more about this Shtriga. He knows to look for articles about Ft. Douglas, WI from 16 or 17 years ago but then he keeps going. He finds articles from Ogdenville, then before that North Haverbrook, and even further back from Brockway. The furthest articles he finds is in Black River Falls in the 1890s. Every 15 to 20 years there have been a string of child deaths from an unknown illness. Then, with a satisfied look, Sam finds what he is looking for. The doctor treating the children in Fitchburg, Dr. Hydeker, is also in a picture of children being treated in 1893. GOTCHA.

Without the archived articles they might have never connected the dots to the doctor.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Librarian:  You do know there is a good reason he's called the unknown soldier, right?

Sam:  Right. We were just hoping maybe a theory or two had been a floated around over the years – something local, maybe?

Librarian:  There is one.

[8.06 Southern Comfort]

This reason alone could cement the library’s place in the future forever. Nothing, I repeat, nothing beats the first hand knowledge of a local.

This librarian is young but you know that she has lived in this town her whole life, and if I had to guess her parents and grandparents did too. When Sam asks for the local story she turns right to it. There is the official story and then there is the legend the locals tell. A good librarian knows both. She tells the story of two brothers who fought on opposites sides of the civil war. One killed the other and with his dying breath he swore vengeance on his brother. Many years later the living brother dug up his sibling and brought him home to be buried there. That is the theory of who the unknown soldier is. The librarian also points them in the direction of what the object was that was taken from the tomb and that the spirit is attached too. It is was a custom in the mid-1800’s to give a soldier leaving for war a penny on a string for good luck and some extra cash if needed. As it turns out, that theory is true and it leads Sam and Garth right to source of the spirit.

“I like libraries. It makes me feel comfortable and secure to have walls of words, beautiful and wise, all around me. I always feel better when I can see that there is something to hold back the shadows.”

― Roger Zelazny, Nine Princes in Amber

There are a few other great mentions of libraries in Supernatural. Twice in the series, something very important was hidden in a library. In “Everybody Hates Hitler” [8.13] Rabbi Bass hides the red ledger in the university library. Also Sam uses a bookcart as a weapon in this library and let me tell you, from personal experience, those things can definitely be deadly. In “Book of the Damned” [10.18] Metatron hides Cas’ grace and the demon tablet in a book in a library.Then, of course my favorite quote about librarians is...

“These guys may have been sexist, but like all librarians, they were wicked smart, too.”

―Charlie Bradbury, 9.04 Slumber Party

In conclusion, I laud Supernatural for being true to the everyday person who still works in and uses public libraries. I have many friends in the fandom who are librarians and we all love to find the wonderful nuggets about libraries that are woven into almost every episode of Supernatural.

What is your favorite library memory or your favorite mention of them in Supernatural?

My Story

This week has challenged me to share my story of dealing with depression. I blame and thank Jared Padalecki for this. I am not shutting it in anymore. I refuse to be ashamed of it or think it is my fault. I am going to own my battle and continue to fight it with all I have but I won't do it alone anymore.

I grew up in a very close family. My parents were strict but loving people. We had a healthy, secure childhood and never wanted for anything. My mother had had some bad experiences with people who dealt with depression.  I remember hearing that "depression was just an out for people who want a pity party" mentioned on more than one occasion. I don't blame my mom. She was busy raising 6 kids and fortunately had never dealt with mental illness. But that 'definition' stuck with me for at least 20 years.

My paternal grandmother was my best friend all of my growing up years. She and I would talk weekly about anything and everything. I sought her for any advice. She and I would spend any possible time together. She taught me how to crochet and play the guitar. I truly knew what unconditional love felt like because of her. She was the first person who told me I was beautiful. She was faithful, loyal, courageous and the most loving person I had ever met. She was my best friend. My grandmother fought a terrible 6 month battle with cancer and passed away two weeks after I turned 16. (It's been 13 years and I still am crying typing this). I felt like the bottom had fallen out of my world. I remember sitting at her funeral trying to desperately hard not to cry because I figured there were other people there hurting worse than me. That was the first day that I remember putting on a mask. For years I thought it was grief that haunted me. But I couldn't shake it. I tried all the methods to deal with grief but I couldn't make any progress. This dark, lonely black cloud filled my heart and mind every day. I found it hard to study in high school or college. I became scared to make friends because I didn't want to lose them.

I constantly felt guilty for feeling down and discouraged. If you stood from the outside looking in, my life was really good! I was healthy. I had a loving family and a great job.  So I hid it all. I perfected my smile and happiness. I was very convincing. People asked me all the time if I was ever sad. "I never see you doing anything but smile" they would say. They had no idea that I cried myself to sleep every night. That I would lay in bed every morning thinking if I just didn't get up would anyone really care? I was scared of my own thoughts. They would assault me out of nowhere. Taunting me and telling me horrible things. It just got worse as I grew older.

Four years ago I lost three good friends to suicide in the space of 8 months. In my most private, truthful moments, I admitted to myself that I was jealous of them. Why did they get to give up when that was all I wanted to do. I had fought for so long, could I find relief too? Those thoughts scared me so much. I didn't know what to do with them. On one particular bad day, I had a co-worker pull me aside and say "Honey, have you ever thought that you might struggle with depression?" I fervently  denied that notion. I knew what would happen if I admitted to that with my family history. I would be labeled as a needy, pity-partier. I already hated myself enough. I didn't need that too.

One day, not long after, I came across an episode of a show I didn't know playing on TNT. There were these two young guys leaning on a classic car with beautiful mountains behind them. One was trying not to cry and telling the other one " I don't know how the whole thing went down exactly. But Dad's dead because of me. And that much I do know... So tell me. What could you possibly say to make that all right?" I knew right away that whatever was going on was not that boy's fault. But his tortured face matched my heart. I had to know if he figured out how to live with what had happened. That night I checked out Supernatural season 1 from my library. In 4 weeks, I binged 6 seasons of Supernatural. The plots were interesting to me but I was sucked in so fast because of one thing. These brothers had the worst life ev.er! Every person they cared about was taken from them. But they kept fighting. Every day in and day out they fought for people who needed help. They NEVER GAVE UP. Never. I hung on to that truth. I knew that these brothers were just fiction but their story breathed life into my shredded mental state and gave me something to grab on to in the swirling black hole. I started to look outside myself. I realized that as I started to pour myself into making other people's lives happy that it would lift small corners of my darkness.

That doesn't mean that in past 3 1/2 years I haven't had some pretty dark days. It doesn't mean that I don't have some days where I barely hold on. But this show and the fandom surrounding it have become my family. I have met people who don't consider my depression to define me. They are willing to slog through the muck with me. They don't want to "fix me" or ignore me. They listen without judgment or advice. They even gave me the courage to tell my mother about my struggles. I met my best friend through this fandom.

Last summer, I was able to meet Jensen and Jared for the first time. Their honesty and candidness about real life opened my eyes. I knew that I had scars but that meant I had fought hard. I believe my personal experience has softened me to the battles people are fighting around me. I want to never give up. Never. So I will,

Always Keep Fighting.

One day at a time.

Supernatural 10.02 - Reichenbach -- Up Close and Personal

HOLY. CRAP.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED????

I am fairly certain I didn't breath the entire hour. Wow. I have watched this show for years and I am still blown away when our show brings it week after week. Good gracious! I have much love and admiration for our fantastic production, writers, crew and cast. 

Talking about bringing it...mad props to the VFX crew for making Jensen look like pre-season-1-Dean in the Cole flashback!

Complete with Samulet and John's leather jacket!!! *FEELS*

I actually felt rather sorry for Cole in this episode. Of course, I was NOT a fan of the torturing Sam part but I really felt for him otherwise. He was 13 years old when his father was killed on the floor of their house by a stranger. Cole is not aware of monsters and the supernatural world apparently (which if he was tracking Dean for 11 years I wonder about that...) so he just fuels his life with revenge and the want to kill Dean. Yellow Eyed Demon/Winchester men parallels anyone??

Side-note: if Cole wants us to take him seriously as a badass Marine he might want to consider changing his cell phone ringer...rather girly, if you ask me.

I am looking forward to watching this story unfold. I am VERY curious as to WHY Dean killed his father. What was going on in 2003? Was Dean hunting alone or with John? Does Dean remember this boy and the situation? AHH! Okay, patience.

Side-side-note: I am pretty sure, being a public librarian myself, that this would be the exact look I would have if someone came in, bleeding all over the nonfiction collection and asking about demons. 

Anywho...

AGAIN Jensen Ackles stole the show with his award winning performance as Demon Dean! Hot damn. I have sworn for years his acting couldn't get any better but I am always proven wrong. HOW IS THIS MAN EVEN REAL?! Good gracious!!

In all seriousness, though, Demon Dean is a masterpiece of acting. We have watched Dean Winchester for 10 years and I have met Jensen in real life and Demon Dean's body language and mannerisms reflect neither. Demon Dean is more open in his stance and posture. He also only smiles and laughs from his face rather then his body. That is character depth right there. Also, because Jensen hasn't acted right up next to Jared for two episodes we also get to see the camera play with his height. He towers over Mark Sheppard in the standoff scene between Dean and Crowley. He is also much taller than Cole in the fight scene. I liked this dynamic. It adds power behind the acting. Good directing, guys!

I said in last week's review that the real side of Dean bleeds through the Demon Dean performance. The more I think about that analogy the more I like it. Bleeding wounds are covered up, protected and hidden as soon as possible. People who have them don't count them as a good thing! I think the same is true for the real nature of Dean. The demon side of him is aware that there is this bleeding of another nature and doesn't like it. He chooses the demon side. As the preview for next week suggests, Demon Dean "likes the disease."  But yet we, as the audience, get to see these bleedings of real Dean; i.e. letting the wife live, being concerned about Anne-Marie's feelings, not seeing his brother as a challenge but giving him a chance to run. Brilliant, BRILLIANT acting.

Demon Dean is a riddle. He is a shocking character because he looks like our favorite elder Winchester brother but he is a bully, jerk, less-than-gentlemanly, arrogant, sleazy bastard. I am ready for the fallout of this character. I have a feeling it is coming soon, maybe even next week. Can Sam save him?

Red shirt alert AND Dean Winchester made a Princess Bride reference! A PRINCESS BRIDE REFERENCE!!!! (I might never recover from the shockingly appropriate timing of that pop culture reference) Now if we can get Crowley to say something along the lines of "Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it; I'm simply swamped." I could die happy.

The horror of this torture scene was gut-wrenching. This was helped by two things; 1) it was filmed up close and very personal. Look how close and raw these actors are. The camera is IN. THEIR. FACE. And 2) most of the fandom is well aware of Jared's real shoulder injury (Osric was just a "hunting accident" this week instead of a demon LOL) and so the torture felt even more real and searingly painful. I found myself yelling at the TV at one point "COLE, YOU BASTARD, BE CAREFUL OF JARED'S SHOULDER!!!!" (yes, I confuse reality and fiction. I'm cool with it.)

Sam's devastation jumps off the screen every time we see him. Broken and exhausted are the words that keep jumping to mind. (Jensen's acting might be more in our face because of Demon Dean but Jared is seriously stealing my heart with Sam Winchester.) Anyone who knows me, knows that Season 3 is my favorite season of Supernatural. It is because Sam is himself the whole season and has such a desperate love and want to save his brother. THIS is Sam Winchester of Season 10 as well. His tunnel vision to find his brother, to never give up on him, to make any deal to get him back...it is so rich with love. When Sam tells Cas about Dean being a demon you can sense his wave of grief. We are living every emotion with the younger Winchester and it is a hard, beautiful ride. I hope for Sam's sake that he cures Demon Dean soon. I am starting to worry about his health.

I said the angel storyline last week feel a little flat for me but that was NOT true for this week. I see what they are doing now. They are making the angel/heaven storyline personal and human. It is Hannah wondering what the surprise in the casserole was, it is Cas laughing with a child over snot, it is Metatron going for the 8th grade insult of "You're a liar."I loved the angel story line this week. I want to see where this journey takes our angels and what effect it has on heaven.

Of course the moment that instantly turned this episode into one of the top favorite of all time was the first meeting of the brothers since Dean died in his Sam's arms over 5 months ago. Recognize Sam's face? Allow me to remind you...

I can't! I am tearing up just writing this. Damn angels and demons and ghosts and leviathans and hunters and fathers and Men of Letters and urban legends and any other myth-arc this show has or ever will come up with! This show lives and dies on Sam and Dean Winchester and the men who portray them. 

I had to watch the scene where they talked in the bar about 5 or 6 times before I actually heard the dialogue. I just watched the silent conversation. Jensen once said, "You can say a lot without saying words." and that is what happened in this scene. I dare you to watch it with the sounds off. It is all there! Everything they are saying or wanting to say or not wanting to say but saying anyways. Watch it on mute. Tell me what you think.

We end with a classic Impala scene. This is familiar yet so uncomfortable as Dean doesn't care about Baby and is handcuffed in the backseat. Sam is trying to find that humanity in his brother that he so desperately wants to know is there. Dean is determined not to show any weakness. It is a Mexican stand off and that throws us into next week with a severely amazing case of whiplash. 

I. CAN'T. WAIT. 

Supernatural 10.01 - Black -- The eyes tell the real story

OUR SHOW IS BAAACK!

Hellatus is a over and we have SEASON 10! Every time I type that I get chills. I am so proud of our show! We have truly beaten (and continue to beat) the odds. But the thing that gives me greater chills is the fact that even after 10 years our show can air an episode that makes me so concerned and worried for our two brothers. You would think we'd have seen everything by now...but that is not the case.  Also, I worried for Cas and Crowley was awesome...but we'll get to that.

THE ROAD SO FAR: 

Dean loves his brother, got the Mark of Cain, became addicted to the Mark, got stabbed in the heart by Metatron, woke up a DEMON.

Sam was dying, got possessed by an angel, kicked said angel out (rather badass), was mad at Dean, then was worried about Dean, had Dean die in his arms. Sam loves his brother.

Cas lost his grace and became human, slept with a reaper, changed his name to Steve, worked at a Gas 'n Sip, got someone else's grace, formed a cult angel following, got captured, then got free and captured Metatron...but stolen grace is fading.

Crowley was almost cured, sat in the Bunker dungeon for 4 months, shot up human blood, had a hidden agenda, wants Dean to howl at the moon with him.

SEASON 10 (yes, chills. In case you were wondering...)

In the season premiere last year "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" Sam is in a coma. We see some glimpses of his inner thoughts. He sees Dean as his fighting side and Bobby as his side that tells him he has fought well and can move on. I love the fact that Sam sees his big brother as his fighting side. Multiple times during the series Dean will look at Sam and say "Are you with me?" Dean does not give up. He fights until there is nothing left and then some. Sam has grown up with that. He has those same tendencies because he has been "studying Dean trying to be just like him."

That is what makes Sam so heartbreaking in this episode. Just like the end of Season 7, Sam has lost Dean and has no idea what happened to him. But this time he reacts completely different. He moves heaven and earth to find his brother. We see glimpses of him torturing a woman (who we believe to be a demon), we see him calling in favors from old friends and reading up on all the lore books in the bunker, he is monitoring weather maps and demon signs. The boy is completely exhausted and hurt (still laughing that the show called Osric a demon) but he is not giving up. 

When Sam is captured by Cole (excited about this storyline! Who is this guy?!?) he is forced to listen to his brother talk to his captor. When Dean wants proof of life, Cole holds out the phone and demands Sam to speak. Sam's eyes tell such a story of grief, worry and guilt (kudos to Jared, man). What do you say? How do you tell your brother to come home? Does he even care? 

Shew! *wipes tears* One of my top three favorite things (among the thousands of favorite things) about this series is the ability of the two lead actors to tell an entire story with their eyes. Brilliant.

Sam is fighting for his brother. We saw him do this in Season 3 and in the end not be able to save him. I really hope, for Sam's sake (and ours *meep*) that he is able to save Dean this time. 

Mr. Demon Dean is having the time of his life (or so he says) with his new best friend, Crowley. Between the karaoke, bar fights, drinking, sex and foosball...Dean seems to be enjoying his new guilt (and responsibility) free lifestyle. 

Which I might add is PRETTY. DANG. HOT. (did you see....what? I'm writing a review...fine. Moving on)

But his eyes tell a different story. The eyes that flicker when Sam is mentioned. The eyes that still register hurt when Anne-Marie calls him on his shit. There is what we can see on the surface and what is going on underneath. Demon Dean is a riddle and I am greatly looking forward to watching this riddle play out.   

Cas has a horrible cough. He should really get that looked at.

The Cas and Hannah story line I hope goes interesting places. I liked Hannah a lot last year but she kinda fell a little flat in Black. I felt like I had seen the Cas-in-a-car-with-a-female-angel-talking-about-saving-heaven storyline before.

I DO like that we see Cas easily sympathizing with humans. He has walked in our shoes and knows what it is like. I think that will play out in interesting ways. I am curious about his story.

Crowley is a riveting character, You can't help but 'Aww' as his need to have a best friend, but yet you know that he is playing a completely different hand under the table. Why does he need Dean Winchester to rule Hell with him? I seem to recall Crowley doing a fine job of it by himself back in Season 6 (never ending lines anyone?)

Crowley is feeding demons to Dean for him to kill to try and keep the Mark in check. Oh he knows so much more than he is telling...tricky bastard.

Questions:

Who the hell is Cole and what is his story? So. Damn. Curious. 

Why did Dar call Sam "one of us"? What did you do Sam???

Was Dean bluffing at the end say he wouldn't help his brother?

Summary:

That was a fanfriggintastic beginning to Season 10 (chills, again)!!! Our show has knocked it out of the park and the fans answered with the best ratings for a Supernatural season opener in 4 years!!! *high five fandom*

Can't wait to see the brother reunion next week in 10.02 "Reichenbach"

LET ME GO

As an avid Supernatural fan since 2010 and as a writer, I have always known I would eventually start writing about my favorite show. Words, thoughts, opinions and other comments I wanted to say have rolled around in my head for years but I could never figure out a way to start (I believe it is called blank page writer's block). I have told myself that there are so many good reviewers out there who's love and passion for our show just oozes off the page. Amy and Sheila are the two that spring to mind the quickest. I could get lost in their wonderful musings about Supernatural. What did I really have to add to them?

But all this changed on October 7th when I watched "Black." I refuse to let the blank page intimidate me any longer. Coming soon to wherever you are reading this blog...my first SPN review.