by Sarah James WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for previous episodes of Supernatural
“You cross me, I cross you. You hit me, I hit you back twice as hard. You make me your dog, I make you my slave.” -CrowleyThis past week on Supernatural, the creatures of Hell made a significant comeback. First, hellhounds return to the show for the first time this season, giving Sam and Dean a case to follow while also allowing other characters to develop and the overarching season plot to thicken. While Sam and Dean are busy tackling a vicious hellhound, Crowley is busy dealing with Lucifer, who is sticking around for the rest of the season. As of this episode, Mark Pellegrino has been promoted to a series regular, so we’re sure to see a whole lot more of the original fallen angel for the remainder of Season Twelve.
This makes sense since his offspring is due at any second. Kelly Kline may not make an appearance in this episode, but she is mentioned multiple times as Castiel attempts to track her down. In doing so he meets Kelvin, a fellow angel who tries to persuade Cas to join the ranks of Heaven to destroy Lucifer’s unborn child. Kelvin brings up a notion that hasn’t been mentioned for the past few seasons of Supernatural; Cas may miss Heaven. At this point in the series, it’s been assumed that his loyalty to Sam and Dean outranks his loyalty to Heaven, especially after the angels fell at the end of Season Eight. However, the rest of this season may test Cas’s love of Earth, adding another level of complexity to his relationship with Sam and Dean.
Speaking of Sam and Dean, the brothers are keeping secrets from each other again. After last week’s episode, Sam started working with the British Men of Letters, which is actually how he was informed of the hellhound case. However, this secret between the brothers is handled in a much better way than in previous seasons. In the past, secrets have been a primary conflict for whole seasons, whereas now we see Sam and Dean communicate more effectively than they have in years. It’s a wonderful development for these characters, since the best moments of the whole series are when Sam and Dean work in harmony, always on the same page.
Amidst the character development and building of the season’s plot, this episode was also full of some awesome fan service. We got some reassurance of Dean’s love for his 1967 Chevy Impala, affectionately called “Baby” by both the fans and Dean. There was also an incredible nod to Supernatural alum and actor on The Walking Dead, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. These moments didn’t do a whole lot for the plot, but they were enjoyable to watch and fit perfectly into the world that Supernatural has built for the past twelve years.
All Images From: Pixels Talk and Den of Geek!
