Another season has come and gone – how the time does fly! And it’s time to update my Road So Far Seasons. If you’re new and haven’t read them and are dying for some fabulous insights, sparkling writing, witty and pithy thoughts – yeah, you guessed it, don’t read my stuff. However, if you’re looking to pass Hellatus with as much reading as you can, feel free to see how I worked through Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 during 2009’s Hellatus. 

 

Those can be found in the archives, and it also appears that on the episode guide pages Alice is listing general articles, so you’ll find links to them there as those pages become active.

 

So here we go, my thoughts on the 22 episodes that comprised Season 5:

 

 

Sympathy for the Devil:

 

In typical Kripke fashion there is a lot packed into this episode. Lucifer finds a vessel, Dean is Michael’s vessel, Castiel mysteriously returns from wherever he was ‘smote’ to, Bobby is possessed, Meg slithers out from under whatever rock she’s been hiding under for the last several years and the brothers are further apart than ever, oh, and did I mention we get douche, dick and ass-hat all before the nine-minute mark.

 

Mark Pellegrino is excellent as Lucifer although here we only see him as Nick. Lucifer is first introduced to us as Sarah, Nick’s recently murdered wife. It’s a credit to Pellegrino that he picks up and carries with him some of the mannerisms first displayed by Bellamy Young. Throughout the season we’ll see the soft sincerity first displayed here, but be not fooled, there’s a devil behind that gentleness.

 

Kripke carries on his fun with the fandom as well as poking jokes at Supernatural itself for we got not only super[annoying]fan Becky but we also get another moment where the brothers speak aloud the insanity of what they do.

 

 

 

 

As a good season opener should do we get lots of new packages to unwrap and enjoy for the rest of the season, so I’m on to Episode Number 2.

 

Good, God, Y’All:
 

Rufus and Ellen and Jo, oh my! Castiel embarks on a journey to find God and Bobby is wheel-chair bound for Cas has lost the ability to heal. Dean gives away the amulet and Sam wants to drink what he thinks is demon blood and a horseman (War) arrives on the scene; the brothers part ways but more amicably than before.

 

Whew, tired yet? Sera Gamble clearly has been paying attention to Eric for she packs so much into this episode that frankly it is too much. Ellen and Jo could have been any hunters helping out, aside from the reunion between Ellen and the Winchesters there really isn’t a lot about their return. Thank goodness they come back for another (although much more fatal) episode later in the season.

 

This second episode continues the trend of all the seasons’ second episodes, further reveal the storylines for the season as well as incorporate a bit of a closed-ended story in itself. Wendigo did it, with the brothers thinking dad would be in Colorado; Everybody Loves a Clown reveals John knew other hunters, a whole network of them; The Kids Are All Right revealed Ruby as a demon who knows things about Sam while Dean learns that perhaps he’d like to have a kid and a home – but he knows it’s not his life; Are You There God, It’s Me, Dean Winchester reveals that seals are being broken and Lucifer can rise…here the first of the four horsemen is revealed, and dealt with, and Sam and Dean part ways as Sam realizes he’s not safe to be hunting.

 

So that means the third episode will be no comedy ride, it’s a ride of discovery and separation…

 
Free to be You and Me:

 

Apart yet in sync in what they do…and another musical montage to enjoy. Sam gets a breather from the hunting life but it’s short. Lindsey is determined to find out his secrets and more importantly helps Sam realize that no matter how bad someone has been or what bad things they’ve done they can be forgiven. She’s right. Part of the step is to admit your wrongs which Sam has done in Lucifer Rising, Sympathy for the Devil and Good God, Y’All and now it’s time to get back in and make it right as best you can. It’s a long journey for Sam but so was his descent; it’s worth it.

 

Jessica brings out the softer side of Sam again, something that’s been missing as he’s mired himself in revenge and the relentless pursuit for answers…too bad it’s just Lucifer messing with Sam and thus begins a season-long dance of Sam loudly decrying he’ll never say yes and Lucifer opining that yes, in fact, he will. Lucifer was right in the end but I don’t believe he knew what he was getting…truer words never spoken, ‘be careful what you wish for.’

 

Dean gets a reprieve from being the big brother and while he pretends with a brave face that all is well it clearly is not. Sure he takes Cas out to a brothel and buys him some beer and ultimately they make a mad dash to safety leaving Dean rolling in laughter that we haven’t seen in a long time but give him a moment to digest and he quickly shows what he’s trying to keep hidden; Sam is missed.

 

Another angel makes a brief appearance, Rafael, and there is the all-too easy joke about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which is fine except Rafael seemed to have no purpose other than to taunt Castiel for the futility of his search. On the other hand, the jug of holy oil is used to great purpose in future episodes so all is not completely lost.

 

Most important lesson learned here but shown in the next episode; Sam doesn’t try to hide things anymore…he’s just learned that Lucifer intends to ‘wear him to the prom.’ Sam of past seasons would have hidden that but not anymore. Episode 4 opens up with Sam giving Dean a call…he wants back in.

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