News Monday...on TUESDAY!

Been a while since we did a full news post. Here's what's been coming through my inbox!



Geekgasm Alert: Most of you probably know that JJ Abrams and Eric Kripke got together for Revolution, a network TV drama with a lot of secrecy over the storyline. NBC hesitated, but finally green-lit the pilot. So cross your fingers that the pilot does well! Here's the story description (we'll ignore the flaws inherent in the way it's described...):

"The project is described as a high-octane action drama that follows a group of characters struggling to survive and reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist."

Jared Padalecki did another interview with TVLine about Misha and Jim being off the show, what's coming, and what he'd want in season 8.

Zap2It did a set visit with a video interview. I love the details, like the Super Bowl pool and the wardrobe from a recent episode.

I won't post a link for this, because it's everywhere, but Rachel Miner will be returning. She most recently housed Meg-the-Demon in season 6.

In this Friday's episode, Dean swears off booze and chicks. (Click link for clip from the episode posted at BuddyTV.)

There've been spoilers running around about Castiel's return in episode 17. I keep getting glimpses, but don't follow the links, so all I see is "Castiel's missing something" with all kinds of "oh noes!" connotations. But... Isn't that one pretty easy? He won't be wearing the infamous trench coat, because when he went all esplody in the water, Dean pulled the coat out. Anyone have another suggestion?

Guest star news!

People who actually read spoilers probably knew this already, but it was new to me :-) (No plot spoilers, btw.)



Go here to see who has a multi-episode arc coming up!

The New Boss

Welcome back to a new season of Supernatural and weekly recaps here at Supernatural Sisters!

We got off to a good start with tonight's episode ("The New Boss") with some Dean-appropriate music -- "Slow Ride" by Foghat. And we picked up right where last season left off, with Castiel proclaiming himself the new God and telling Dean, Sam and Bobby to bow down before him. Bobby goes down to his knees, and Dean starts to before Cas says to not bother because they're doing it out of fear, not out of love.

Poof, Cas is gone and we see him walking outside, talking to someone, telling them that he thought free will was the answer but now realizes now that it's a firm hand. When the camera pans back, we see a field of dead angels. Disturbing image, that.

I could almost hear MJ keening in agony when they showed the horrible state of the Impala. Once again, Dean was having to bring her back from the dead. While he and Bobby are talking about looking for Cas, Bobby delivered what I think was the best line of the episode: "What am I looking for? Miracles? Mass visions? Trenchcoat on a tortilla?" LOL!!!

Poor Sam, his noggin isn't what she used to be. He keeps hearing things and having hallucinations, part of his memories from Hell making it past the wall. Of course, he tells Dean he's fine. Dude, these guys need to stop keeping secrets.

Cas shows up at a church where a preachers is preaching against homosexuality. Cas says he's indifferent to sexual orientation and what he can't abide by is hypocrites. And then he kills the minister where he stands, one of only many killings of religious leaders. One of the members of the first preacher's congregation is giving a TV interview when she says that God didn't have a beard and wasn't old. "He was young...and sexy." Snort.

Okay, how many of you thought it was hilarious that Crowley was hiding out in an old RV in Tennessee? Cas shows up, tells Crowley (who gave some really funny expressions of surprise) that he's sending him back to be the king of Hell but that Cas will be the gatekeeper deciding where souls go from now on.

Next time we see Crowley, he's been called by Sam, Dean and Bobby. They want info that will help them bind Death in hopes he can kill the off-the-deep-end Cas before he royally screws up the world. Of course, they don't have one of the main ingredients for the spell to bind Death, so they have to go steal it (a spear-like thing of crystallized sand that was hit by lightning). When the security guard tries to stop them, Dean taps him on the shoulder and asks, "Do you have any Grey Poupon?" before punching the guy out. Giggle. I'm guessing some viewers of Supernatural are too young to remember that Grey Poupon commercial.

When Death shows up, Cas isn't far behind. Death tells Cas that there were things older than the souls that resided in Purgatory, Leviathans, beasts that God created before man. They were so powerful that God locked them away, but Cas swallowed them up and now they're fighting to get out. Thus, the gross way Castiel's skin seems to be melting off and that whole Alien-esque thing in his stomach. Death takes a seat and eats the pickle chips and milkshake Dean brought him. (Just for the record, I love Julian Richings' portrayal of Death.)

Cas goes poof again and heads for a senator's campaign headquarters, set on punishing her because she's doing immoral things in his name. But he collapses and later wakes up with a bunch of dead, really bloody people around him. Methinks the Leviathans inside him are winning.

Sam, still believing the old Cas is in there somewhere, calls him, and Cas comes. He says he needs help and agrees to go back to the lap where the door to Purgatory will be opened by Death. The spell works, the souls return to Purgatory, and after a momentary scare that Cas was dead, he wakes up and seems to be the old Cas. Yay!

Cas: "I'm embarrassed. I really overreached."
Dean: "You think?"

I wasn't looking forward to a whole season of Cas playing God. But, wait, that was too easy. Yep, the souls went back to Purgatory, but the Leviathans are still there, and they make their presence known, saying they've killed Cas. I will steadfastly believe Cas is still alive in there until it's proven otherwise.

What did you think of the season premiere? Do you think the old Cas is still in there somewhere? Will we not see him until the end of the season?

Teaser for Season 7 Premiere

What's Up in the Supernatural World?

Just some random links to keep us all going as we near the end of summer. Obsessives will probably have already seen many of these. Got some new stuff just last night, though, so read on! (Saved the best for last!!!)

A new nonfiction book related to the show came out this week, "The Mythology of Supernatural." The link goes to a review of the book.

Set images featuring Castiel/Misha.

If you're in the UK, you'll be able to get Season 6, Volume 1, on DVD on August 29. This volume has the first 11 episodes.

Lots of interviews from Comic-Con:
Mark Sheppard
Ben Edlund
Sera Gamble
Jensen Ackles
Jared Padalecki

Some Comic-Con Photo Galleries
Jenson
Jared
Misha
Mark Sheppard
Sera and Ben

And now, the best for last! A new Ghostfacers video!!!! ETA: Apparently, this video has been leaked or something, as it got removed by Vimeo and YouTube. We'll post again if it ever shows up officially! ETA2: New upload below. As they disappear and reappear, I'll keep updating. :)

Bringing Back God...or Chuck

In a recent article, Rob Benedict talked about the difficulty of bringing his character back. "It’s so self-conscious…" he says. "It’s kind of hard to just have him walk through the door and be like ‘Hey, how’s it going'?"

I don't think it's hard at all! You just have to love Chuck and Rob Benedict enough to be motivated to find the solution. :)

I think Chuck was not meant to be God from the beginning of his story thread. I just can't buy that God would sit alone in a ratty bathrobe and dial up porn while drinking bad whiskey. Yes, he took on a role to hide his true identity from the boys, but when they weren't around, who was he playing for?

Therefore, I think Kripke came up with that very fitting closure to his tenure as showrunner well into the season. It made "early Chuck as God" a little unbelievable, but now it makes bringing Chuck back super easy.

I don't think they have to bring Chuck back as God, or bring the "real" God onto the show at all. So far, God's presence—except for that one episode in the final moments of the Big Battle—has been off screen. He's done incredible things, like bringing Cas back (twice, really, and geez, this is how Cas repays him?!), but all from afar. Gentle nudging of events, not direct interference. Cas isn't the first being to declare himself lord and master, so God really doesn't have to change his behavior. If he wasn't going to jump in to prevent the apocalypse, he's not likely to show up for this poser.

Sam and Dean don't know that Chuck was "God." As far as we've seen, they haven't tried to find or contact him since Sam went into the pit. They can do a quick explainer, of course. Dean saying, "Dude, I tried to call you like fifty times." Or they can just admit to having been so wrapped up in their own issues they didn't think about him.

But what do Sam and Dean think happened to Chuck? (Rhetorical question.) If God only took Chuck's role for a short time, where did Chuck go during that? Maybe he was sleeping some real, awesome, dreamless sleep while God took over his prophet duties. Maybe, when he woke up, he realized he could have his life back. Or actually have a life. He wrote a new book, all his own ideas, and sold it and became a bestseller. In the meantime, he worked in a toilet paper factory (because it takes a long time to get from Page One to NY Times Bestseller list).

Okay, that established, what kind of storyline could draw Chuck back to the screen for us? Throw out some ideas!

Supernatural Conference: Misha

At the Salute to Supernatural conference Tanya and I attended in early June, it seemed that Misha Collins (Castiel) just might have been as big a hit as Jared and Jensen. He really has won the hearts of fans, not something particularly easy to do when you're a new character introduced into the Supernatural world.

The line to get pictures taken with him was fairly lengthy, so much so that when he walked up the stairs next to me with his handlers, he made a face like, "Wow, where did all these people come from?" Something that was different from the day before when we'd gone to get photos with Jared and Jensen was increased security. There was a Metro Nashville police officer at the door, another next to Misha and a TBI agent in the middle of the room. Turns out somebody had threatened Misha online, perhaps because they were upset that he was playing God. I mean, come on people! Sure, the religious stuff on Supernatural makes me squirm sometimes, but it's fiction. The actors don't actually believe this stuff.

Threats aside, Misha was very friendly as were Jared and Jensen the day before. We exchanged "nice to meet yous", the picture was snapped, and off I went to the rest of my day. Tanya showed me a video tweet Misha had posted that morning. Evidently he'd gone for a run and one of the cicadas that were then in swarm mode (thank goodness they're all gone now for another 13 years) attached itself to the front of his shorts. Misha, being Misha, said something about the cicada "going for the gold." Hee hee.

Later, when Misha took the stage, the roar from the crowd was quite impressive. And unlike some of the other panelists from previous sessions, he understandably stayed on the stage, except for when a girl dressed in a pretty good Castiel costume came to the microphone to ask a question. It was funny to watch her get a little flustered as he deliberately moved closer and closer into her personal space.

I really should have written this post right after the conference so I could remember the specifics of the question-and-answer session. I remember him talking about Random Acts and how he was getting ready to head to Haiti to help build an orphanage. He does a lot of really good charity work like that. And that's something that always endears a star to me much more than anything else, a friendly and giving nature. When they don't let stardom go to their heads and make them jerks.

I'm not sure what will happen to Castiel this year, but I wish Misha Collins much continued success in his career, wherever that takes him.

Goodbye Season 6

Since there's no new episode to recap today, I thought I'd focus on wrapping up season 6 and get a head start on season 7 info.

Articles reference an interview with Sera that addresses, in oblique fashion, what Castiel has become and how that affects the tone of season 7.

All the boys have is each other? I'm on board with that! (Unless that means no Bobby, of course, but I haven't seen a hint of that.)

A new tie-in novel by Rebecca Dessertine fills in the missing year when Dean was domesticated and Sam had no soul.

The Internet is abuzz with the news that Misha Collins will no longer be a series regular. They've been cagey on what this means for how many episodes he'll be in, and whether or not he'll be a season-long "big bad."

An answer to an After Elton reader question talks about the appeal of shows like Supernatural to the gay community.

Speaking of After Elton, AE readers voted on the World's Hottest 100 Men. Our guys made a respectable showing, with Jensen moving from #14 last year to #8, Jared going from 37 to 16, and Misha climbing a little from 44 to 40.

Supernatural won't be the only supernatural-y series come fall. Besides the other returning shows (like Fringe and Vampire Diaries), the networks are bringing in a plethora of new ones. Grimm appears closest to SPN, with a guy who finds out he's the end of a long line of hunters.

The Man Who Would Be King

Then

We see clips from Sam going into the cage, Castiel telling Dean that Sam's soul is missing, the revelation about Cas creating more souls for the war in Heaven through negating the sinking of the Titanic, Eve telling the boys she wants Crowley, and Crowley referring to having to clean up Cas's messes.

Now

Cas is sitting outside saying he's been around a long time and seen many things -- when the first fish crawled out of the ooze, the Tower of Babel ("all 37 feet of it, which I guess was impressive at the time. But come on, dry dung can only be stacked so high."), Cain and Abel, David and Goliath, Sodom and Gomorrah. And he also remembers the most remarkable things, remarkable because they never came to pass, prevented by "two boys, an old drunk and one fallen angel." Of that latter grand story, "We ripped up the ending, and the rules, and destiny, leaving nothing but freedom and choice, which is all well and good except what if I made the wrong choice? How am I supposed to know? But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you my story. Let me tell you everything."

Next we see Dean driving down the road, and Castiel pops into the passenger seat to "check in." Both tell the other they haven't seen anything of "Satan Jr.", aka Crowley. It's painfully obvious that Cas is lying, and it's bothering Dean. But Dean's lying too. Poof, and Cas disappears. He shows up at some gruesome lab where Crowley is doing an autopsy on Eve with a side of torture to another monstery schmuck. Cas refers to Crowley saying Eve could open the door to Purgatory, and Crowley says that he believes she could have if she was still alive.

Crowley: "Your best change to get over the rainbow and the Winchesters killed her."

Crowley tells Cas that he's distracted and that makes Crowley nervous. Cas responds by saying he's holding up his end of their deal, but Crowley isn't happy Cas is still hanging with the Winchester boys.

"The stench of that Impala is all over your overcoat, angel."

Next we're back with Cas, telling his story. "We'd stopped Armageddon, but at a terrible cost." He reveals he's the one who brought Sam back from Hell and says he should have recognized the fact that he hadn't brought all of Sam back as a warning.

Crowley asks Cas to kill Sam and Dean or he'll do it. Cas tells him no and not to worry about them. Crowley begins listing all the people who didn't worry about the boys and died because of it -- Lucifer, Michael, Lilith, Alastair, Azazel.

Castiel: "Just find Purgatory. If you don't, we will both die again and again until the end of time. The Winchesters won't get to you."

When Dean reaches Bobby's, Sam and Bobby are questioning a monster named Red who's been hunting things for Crowley. They want to know where Crowley is, and Red isn't being cooperative. Dean tells Bobby and Sam about Cas popping in and how he fed him a line about being on some "crap monster hunt." They all hate the idea of Cas being in with Crowley, but they're being careful in case he is. Unknown to them, Castiel is in the room listening to their conversation about the fact that maybe he's gone dark side. Red finally reveals that he's never met Crowley, that he deals with The Dispatcher, a demon named Ellwsorth. Cas says that if there's a demon counterpart to Bobby Singer, Ellsworth would be it.

Knowing that Ellsworth and his demons would lead the Winchesters to Crowley, who'd tear their hearts out, Cas takes out Ellsworth and two other demons.

Cas: "I did it to protect the boys, or myself. I don't know anymore."

The boys and Bobby arrive at Ellsworth's place to find it empty. Cas laments the lies, the hiding and the sweeping away of evidence. "My motives used to be so pure." After supposedly saving Sam, Cas returned to Heaven. He says that there isn't one Heaven, that each soul creates its own paradise. He tells the angels they are free to choose what they want to do now. But he says those first weeks back were difficult. "Explaining freedom to angels is a lot like teaching poetry to fish." When he went to see Raphael, he asks whose Heaven he's in and Raphael says it's Ken Lay's and he's borrowing it. Raphael says that Castiel and all the angels will have to kneel to him, that he's going to free Lucifer and Michael and get the apocalypse back on the road.

Sam, Dean and Bobby try to call Cas for help, but he doesn't go to them because they have questions he doesn't want to answer. Then some demons show up and say, "Crowley says, 'Hi'." Cas shows up and smites the demons because the Winchesters and Bobby "are my friends. For a brief moment, I was me again." As they're talking, he slips up and reveals he's lying when he refers to going to the dark side, something the other three had mentioned when they didn't know he was there.

Castiel says that Raphael is stronger than him and he'd never stand a chance in a straight fight, so he went to Dean for help. Only when he thought about all Dean had sacrificed, he couldn't do it. That's when Crowley showed up wanting to make a deal.

"I'm an angel, you ass. I don't have a soul to sell."

Crowley shows Cas how he's redone hell. Everyone there is having to stand in an endless line, and when they get to the front they just come back to the end again. Crowley proposes an alliance in which each of them will get half the souls in Purgatory for his own use -- Cas for a civil war in Heaven, and Crowley to shore up his position as the king of Hell. He offers to float Cas a loan of 50,000 souls from the pit. Prideful, Cas accepts the deal and declares war on Raphael so he can avoid the apocalypse.

Back to the present, Bobby and the boys call Cas and when he arrives they trap him in the ring of fire and force him to tell the truth. Honestly, at this point I feel sorry for Cas because he seems like an angel who was in between a rock and a hard place. He might have made the wrong choices, but he had good intentions. But we all know what road is paved with good intentions. Dean tells him that he should have come to them for help.

Crowley shows up, and Cas tells Sam, Dean and Bobby to run, which they do. Crowley asks Cas what he's willing to do. Cas goes to Dean to try to explain, and Dean tells Cas that he's like a brother to him and asks him to stop this quest for Purgatory with Crowley. And if he doesn't, Dean says he'll do whatever he has to in order to stop him. Cas says he's sorry and disappears. Then we're back to Cas praying to God for a sign that he's on the right path. "Because if you don't, I'm going to do whatever I must." When no sign his offered, he drops his head.

The End Approaches

Is it me, or did this season just fly by? I mean, I don't feel like I ever stopped longing for the show to come back, and now we're about to say goodbye again. But I also can't wait to see how it ends.

Back in January, I was talking about season 6 with some friends. A couple of them expressed some of the same disappointment a lot of you have, and said the season has felt sloppier or more haphazard, with too much going on.

At the time, I agreed but said I had hopes that it wasn't going to end up that way overall. I thought that once we got to the end of the season, we'd look back or rewatch and find it extremely well done. And it's shaping up to be that way.

It's DIFFERENT, for sure. In all the past seasons, we knew what the goal was, and every detail fed that goal. We had the framework of a puzzle already put together, and every piece of information filled it in and gave us a better picture.

This season, we started with a jumble of pieces and no picture of what we were making. As we got pieces and started to fit things together, we got different parts of the whole put together. Instead of filling in from, say, top to bottom, we got two pieces in the top left corner, and then a chunk in the middle, and a bit from the right side.

Now we only have a few key pieces missing, and everything fits together. I really can't wait to see the end and then watch again from the beginning.

Going back to last week's episode...

I loved that they kept Mark Sheppard's name out of the opening credits. When he was killed, I felt let down because it seemed so easy and final. I always had a tiny seed of hope that it wasn't the end of him. And then the big reveal came, and it would have been totally ruined if we knew he was going to be there. (I'm good at avoiding spoilers during the week, but despite hating to know ahead of time, I can't stop myself from reading the guest star list!)

I also liked that once they came up against the "big bad," they vanquished her in the clever, determined way they used to do. They could have dragged it out longer, but making the Mother more powerful than Lucifer would have been a mistake, in my opinion.

So now we have three episodes left, and we finally can see a glimmer of everything tying together. I'm thinking it all comes down to the war in heaven. Purgatory, the Mother, the souls, bringing back the Campbells, maybe even leaving Sam's soul in the pit all connect to whatever stakes Cas is fighting for (or against).

I'm betting next week's Cas-centric episode will give us a lot of the answers, and then the last two episodes will be the big fight and the setup for season 7.

You know what? I might just go start watching season 6 from the beginning right now...

The French Mistake

Let me just say I'm glad I got a funny episode. It's been awhile since I had so many laugh-out-loud moments during a Supernatural episode.

I'm not sure about the name of the episode. Is it a reference to the movie The French Connection? I've never seen that, so I have no idea. Or I could have just missed something.

We open with the Then recap, which shows Ruby, Meg, some other stuff I can't remember, and Castiel talking to the boys about the civil war in Heaven. Then in the Now we see Sam and Dean at Bobby's, who has run out for some alcohol (aka Hunter's Helper). Then, poof, Balthazar strolls in and starts looking for supplies for a spell, talking about The Godfather (which I also have not seen, don't like gangster movies) and how Don Corleone is now being played by Raphael. Ol' Raphie evidently has put out a hit list for anyone who ever helped Castiel, including Balthazar and, you guessed, Sam and Dean. Next thing you know, Balthazar gives them a key which leads to the weapons of Heaven and sends them crashing through the window. When they come out on the other side, they're in an alternate universe where they are actors in a show called Supernatural. Their names? Jensen Ackles and Jarad Padalecki. :)

Dean: "Why would anyone want to watch our lives?"
Sam: "According to the interview, not that many people do."

When they are able to leave the set, they're confused about what the heck is going on.

Sam: "I'm something called a Jared Padalecki."
Dean: "So what, you're Polish now?"

That's when Dean sees what he thinks is the Impala and thinks his baby made it through. But as he walks forward, he notices several Impalas, in various states of repair or disrepair.

Dean: "I feel sick. I'm gonna be sick. I wanna go home. I feel like this whole place is bad touching me."

Then they see Castiel and head for him. You know what's coming, right? For a moment, Misha plays it well, like he's really Castiel, but then the boys realize he's just another actor. The look and tone in Dean's voice when he finds out the actor's name was hilarious.

"Misha?" Hee hee.

Misha: "I'm totally going to Tweet this one." And more funny, in the alternate universe, Misha's followers aren't minions, they're the MishAmigos! LOL!

Next, Sam and Dean find Jensen's trailer and go inside where they find a remote-controlled helicopter and a nice built-in fish tank. Dean finds a copy of Supernatural magazine and has to make fun of Sam's/Jared's expression on the cover.

Dean: "That's Blue Steel, Sam."

Even better, Sam gets on a laptop and finds a clip of when Jensen was on Days of Our Lives.

Sam: "You were on a soap opera."

Another classic look of disbelief and disgust on Dean's face. :)

As Cliff drives them to Jared's place, Dean sees the sign for Vancouver and says to Sam: "Dude, we're not even in America." When they arrive at Jared's place, it's rather swank and they see a tanning bed.

Sam: "What am I, Dracula?"
Dean: "George Hamilton Dracula."

That might have been the part that made me laugh the most.

Then Ruby/Genevieve comes in, and Dean calls her Ruby. She looks exasperated as she tells him, yeah, that never gets old. Then Dean sees Jared and Genevieve's wedding photo. I love when this show makes fun of itself and is self-aware. She, like the people on the show's set, are surprised that Jared and Jensen are talking because, evidently, they don't like each other much in this alternate world.

More hilarity ensues when Sam and Dean go back to the set, thinking they can use Balthazar's spell to get themselves back to their universe, only to be forced to try to act out a scene for the show. OMG, the horribleness of it. Dean's too-intense look, and Sam looking "anywhere but the camera." Dude, I'm laughing now just typing this.

Virgil, Raphael's angel hitman, makes it to the Jared/Jensen universe and tries to take out the boys. But his angel powers don't work here, in what Dean calls the "mojo free zone." They try to take out the angel, but the rest of the show's crew thinks they're high and beating an extra to death. In the melee, Virgil takes the key and flees. He carjacks Misha and kills him in an alley. After hearing the news from Genevieve, the guys head to the scene and talk to the homeless man who witnessed the murder.

Homeless man: "The scary man stabbed the attractive crying man." LOL! Misha was a bit of a wienie in this universe. :)

Virgil, now armed with many guns, shoots "Eric Kripke" and a lot of members of the crew on his way back to the set where Raphael is supposed to pull him and the key back through the portal to the other universe. But Sam and Dean take him out and they are pulled through instead. Raphael, now a woman, is closing in on Sam and Dean when Balthazar shows up and says Sam and Dean were just decoys and the key a fake to give Raphael time to get rid of the weapons of Heaven. Then Castiel shows up, now in possession of said weapons. And I had a squee moment when they did the lightning and the shadows of outspread wings thing that they did the first time we ever met Cas. I love that effect, makes him look particularly badass. Raphael skedaddles, and Dean is predictably not happy about the whole decoys-without-his-knowledge thing Balthazar and Castiel had going. To which Castiel reminds boy the Winchester boys that he'd do it again because he'll do whatever is necessary to make sure Raphael does not win the war.

When they're left alone again...

Dean: "We're broke again."
Sam: "At least we're talking."

What did you think of the episode? While there's still a bigger story going on, I've enjoyed the past couple of episodes that felt a bit more like throwbacks to earlier seasons, the ones that made me fall in love with the show in the first place.

SPNews

News is super, super scarce. But voting ends today in the Castle vs Supernatural battle on E! online that MJ mentioned. So try to get in a few final clicks, if you can.

Buddy TV is running their Fan Favorite contest for 2010. Lucifer is up for Best Villian and Castiel is up for Best Non-Human.

Sheesh! January 28th can’t get here soon enough.

"The Third Man" episode recap

Okay, I have one word for the first scene in this week's episode -- Gross! Cop #1 starts bleeding, starts shedding skin, and then explodes into puddle of blood. Dude, I'm glad I wasn't eating dinner while watching this episode. May I just say again, gross!

Next scene -- we've got some hot Dean/Lisa action. Only I knew from the fuzzy light that it wasn't real. Dean wakes up in the Impala.

Then we have what may be one of the most rewound, re-watched scenes ever in Supernatural history -- Sam working out shirtless. I think MJ's reaction was, "Please never make Sam wear a shirt again!" And we get more evidence that post-Hell Sam is not the same as Sam pre-Hell. Mysterious girl he obviously spent the night with (and from her comments, he pleasured well) emerges from bedroom, and he pays her. No, Sammy! Not a prostitute! She gives him her number, but he tosses it in the garbage as soon as she leaves. Part of me thinks something is really wonky with Sam, and part of me thinks this isn't Sam at all, that the real Sam is still in the Cage. And that makes me sad.

I was happy to see the return of snarky Dean. When he gets off the phone with Sam, he looks at the phone and says, "Who died and made you boss?" There's something about that line that makes me wonder about the identity of "Sam."

Next we have a shot of not exactly the world's best cop, some yokel who is sitting in the woods drinking alcohol from a pseudo-Big Gulp cup and not making the effort to catch a speeder because he's only blowing by at 70 mph. "You can do better than that." Within moments, he has bit it from another Egyptian plague, boils. More eew!

When Dean arrives in Easter, Pennsylvania, where Sam is waiting and the cops are being offed in icky ways, Dean is on the phone being all dad-like with Ben, telling him to "be a man" and tell his mom he broke something. I really am liking how we're seeing this "normal" side of Dean, but it really makes the changes in Sam stand out that much more. Sam: "Wow, you, molding the minds of tomorrow. Who knew?"

Anyone remember when Sam got nervous posing as federal agents with fake names? Yeah, those days are gone.

More of the old Dean comes out when he calls the killed cops "Skidmark" and "Bubblewrap." Eew, but funny.

Just when I think Sam isn't Sam, something funny and very brother-like happens, like the "car wars". I laughed when Dean raced Sam because he wants to prove the Impala is better, and laughed again when they got out of their cars and shut the doors at the same time.

They've arrived at the home of Officer Colfax (aka "Skidmark's" partner, who witnessed his really gross demise). He's acting odd, scratching out the faces on all the photos in his home and scratching his head a lot. He reveals that he and the two dead cops were the responding officers on a traffic stop where they shot and killed a young African-American man, Christopher Birch, for no reason other than maybe they were bigots. Ready for another plague? Yep, good ol' Officer Colfax keels over and Sam removes the guy's uniform cap to reveal...locusts crawling out of a hole in his head. I'm wondering if Tanya is watching with her fingers over her eyes at this point. I'm in danger of doing the same.

Despite the fact that Sam has been trying to get in touch with Castiel for a year, Dean gives it a shot in typical Dean fashion: "Now I lay be down to sleep. I pray to Castiel to get his feathery ass down here." Just when Sam starts to say, "I told you so," Cas shows up. Yay, Cas!!! He reveals neither he, nor any of his angel buddies, know who sprung Sam from Hell. (Did the Winchester brothers play a lot of supernatural Monopoly and been holding onto some Get Out of Hell Free cards?)

Okay, so they've all been through the Apocalypse (they and Buffy should compare notes), so what Big Bad come compare? A civil war in Heaven, you say? Ding, ding, ding. You're a winner! Evidently, chaos is all the rage in Heaven post-Apocalypse, and several powerful weapons were stolen, among them the Staff of Moses, which is evidently what's causing all the icky cop demises.

Dean: "What is Chuck Heston's disco stick doing down here anyway?" (Wouldn't you love to be in the writers' room when they come up with this stuff?)

Cas asks for the boys' help and then utters one of my favorite Cas lines ever, complete with air quotes: "Sam, Dean, my 'people skills' are a little 'rusty'. Pardon me, but I've spent the last 'year' as a multi-dimensional wavelength of celestial intent." Misha's delivery is awesome.

They go to the home of Christopher Birch's father, thinking he killed the cops, but then Chris's little brother, Aaron, points a sawed-off part of Moses' staff at them and tells them he did it, that he bought the staff from an angel for the price of his soul. Huh? Angels acting like crossroads demons? Things really are frakked up. Cas can find out who the angel is by searching for a mark inside the boy, though it will be excruciating for Aaron. Dean isn't happy with Cas, but he's more bothered by Sam's seeming lack of caring about what Aaron is experiencing, his "the ends justifies the means" attitude.

Castiel identifies the angel as Balthazar. Some other angel shows up, who I thought for a moment was Balthazar, then later realized was one of Raphael's minions. I admit I got a little confused. He and Cas fight and go out the window and crush a car. I didn't realize it was Sam's car until this interchange:

Sam: My car!
Dean: Okay, silver lining.

The look that Sam gives Dean is so pre-Hell Sam that I'm back to thinking it's really him. Man, I want to know what's going on here.

Cas reveals that the civil war in Heaven is pitting Raphael and his followers (who want to put the Apocalypse back on) against Castiel and his friends (who don't).

Cas, looking for ingredients to do some spell to find Balthazar: "I need myrrh." Simple line, awesome delivery by Misha. He finds Balthazar, and he and boys go to his house. Balthazar, who has a new vessel, is digging living a hedonistic life hiding out from Raphael. He's the one who stole the weapons from Heaven. When Raphael and two buddies show up, Balthazar says, "That's my cue. Tell Raphael to bite me."

Some angel toasting ensues, Cas and Raphael fight until Balthazar returns and uses a piece of the pillar of salt that killed Lot's wife to turn Raphael to salt. Of course, he'll have a new vessel soon, but this gives the rest of them a head start. Cas lets Balthazar go, saying his debt to him is paid.

We get one of those "brothers by the car" moments at the end of the episode. Dean asks if Sam is okay, Sam assures him he is despite his trip to Hell. Dean says, "I feel like I'm not getting the whole scoop." You and me both, buddy.

We also get a glimpse at some future episodes -- Bobby talking to Rufus about the weird way the monsters are acting, more tense moments between the brothers, and a bit of a Twilight dig when the boys are in what appears to be a teenager's room with movie vampires styled like Edward Cullen on posters. Dean: "These aren't vampires. These are douchebags." Even though I'm a Twilight fan, I thought that was funny.

One last thought -- I was glad to have a Campbell-free episode. I really don't like that bunch.

Thoughts?

Supernatural News

Drinking video for Misha's birthday. Some talk about Castiel.

Want to see what other Supernatural fans are hoping for in Season 6? Click here.

Some tidbits about what Sam and Dean have been up to in the time between the end of Season 5 and the beginning of Season 6.

Thomas Kincaid's Christmas Cottage, starring Jared Padalecki, will be out on Blu-ray in November.

Lingering Questions

So it's the first week of a long summer without any new Supernatural episodes. Thursday night feels...odd. But while I was reading a recent Entertainment Weekly special section on LOST and its upcoming series finale, when they mentioned the lingering questions everyone has about the show it made me start thinking about the same thing for Supernatural. So here are some of my lingering questions:

1. Of course, the first one is what Natalie explored on Wednesday: Who is Sam now? I'm not sure I have a theory yet. I was just so surprised to see him at the end of the episode.

2. Doesn't Crowley still have Bobby's soul? If Crowley's around next season, will he still be on the boys' side or start making trouble for them like demons do?

3. What will Castiel do in heaven if he goes back there? Will we see him? If so, how often? I hate to say it, but I'm not sure the show with just the boys will be as satisfying anymore. I like what these great secondary characters like Castiel, Bobby and Crowley bring to the show and bring out in the brothers.

4. Does the entire road to the apocalypse just start over? Someone said (Was it Zachariah?) that this apocalypse wasn't the first one, that the earth had been wiped clean before. Does that mean we could go back to the type of monster-of-the-week episodes we had in Season 1? I'm not sure we could do that without it maybe feeling like a letdown after the past couple of seasons, but I could totally be wrong.

5. Will we see Papa Winchester again?

6. Do we ever get a definitive answer about whether Chuck is God? I'm not sure I like the whole portrayal of God as a figure who sits back and just gets his amusement from moving humans, demons and angels around like cheese pieces. Plus, I really wanted Chuck to just be the goofball Prophet Chuck.

5. Are the spoilers right? Or are they just messing with us? The text is hidden on the rest of this item so those avoiding spoilers can continue to do so. I saw a spoiler that says next season starts several years in the future, with Dean living that apple pie life but perhaps being dissatisfied with it. If Sam is really Sam, is he living that kind of life too? What could they possibly be doing? Is Dean a car mechanic? Working at Bobby's junkyard? Is Sam an attorney? Do they have kids? Wives? And just how far into the first episode of the season is something light-flickeringly weird going to happen to launch them back into the hunting life? How will they feel about that? Resigned? Restored? Useful again?

What are your theories and thoughts about the above questions. What are your lingering questions about the series?

Recap for "Point of No Return"

The 100th episode began with Zachariah (aka the angel we love to hate) in a bar, drinking away his sorrows just like the businessman next to him who got a pink slip. He bemoans not sealing the deal. Next thing we know, things start shaking. And we all know nothing good happens when things start shaking. Stuart, the fired businessman, says, "Earthquake?" Zachariah responds, "Nah. My boss." Zachariah is offered some new deal and he calmly finishes his drink and leaves the bar -- and its deal occupants -- behind.

Next we see a heartbreaking, man at the end of his rope scene with Dean. He's filling a box with his leather jacket, his car keys, his gun, and addressing it to Bobby. But before he can go any further with his plan, Sam turns up with Cas and Cas zaps them back to Bobby's. One of the most heart-wrenching things Dean has ever said was when he looked at Bobby, after Bobby had called him "son", and said, "You're not my father, and you ain't in my shoes." The look on Bobby's face -- before he got mad -- showed such hurt because he does feel like the boys' father. They're the only family he has left. But Bobby gets his point across about not giving up when he pulls out a gun and a bullet and admits that he thinks about killing himself every day but that he doesn't because he promised Dean he wouldn't.

Cas gets a pain in his head and disappears from the room only to reappear in a forest. He sees a spot in the ground moving, but before he can examine it too closely, he has to fight off two angels. When he does get back to the strange spot, a hand emerges -- one belonging to the now-back-alive younger Winchester brother, Adam. Turns out Adam was in Heaven, making out with a girl at prom, when Zachariah came and told him he was Michael's vessel and he would help defeat the devil.

Sam pleads with Adam to give them time to come up with another plan, and he asks what they've got so far. Loved the following exchage:

Dean: "We're working on the power of love."
Adam: "How's that going?"
Dean: "Not good."

I think the casting of Adam is fantastic. He looks like he could be Sam and Dean's brother, and he even has some of the same snark and resentment toward John. And how Jake Abel portrayed the real Adam is so much more believable than the fake Adam we saw previously.

Sam has locked Dean in Bobby's panic room (hello, payback!) to keep him from going to do something "Michael stupid". When he goes to talk to Dean, big bro says that he won't have Adam taking a bullet for him and that he's tired of fighting who he's meant to be. Sam says he believes that Dean will do the right thing, but Dean admits that he doesn't have the same faith in Sam. Damn, how many more of these heart-wrenching moments can we stand?

Sam and Dean try to tell him that the angels are liars, but Adam has a dream in which he talks to Zachariah and tips the angels off to where he is and is taken by the angels. He ends up in that same beautiful room full of beer, stacks of cheeseburgers and paintings on the walls that Dean once did. And Zachariah tells him he was just bait to get Dean because everyone knows Sam and Dean will come for Adam. They're like that with family. Dean manages to banish Cas with that angel-banishing symbol and takes off. But after Cas finds him and beats the living daylights out of him before bringing him back to Bobby's, Dean has learned the following lesson:

"Word to the wise. Don't piss off the nerd angels." :)

Of course, as Zachariah predicted, Sam and Dean ride to Adam's rescue. They're surprised to find out the beautiful room is an abandoned muffler factory in Van Nuys, California, but I thought that was so hilariously perfect. But this time, it's not just Sam and Dean taking on the superior forces. They have Nerd Angel on their side! And Cas proceeds to kick some butt, killing one angel and banishing the other four as well as himself.

They find Adam, Zachariah reveals himself, nasty exchange ensues, Zach makes Adam and Sam hemorrhage from the mouth, and Dean says "yes." But he has conditions -- he has a list of people he wants to keep safe, and Michael has to kill Zachariah. Zach laughs at this, but not for long because Dean pulls out one of those angel blades and kills Zach. Then he rushes for the door with Sam, with Adam following, as Michael arrives. Adam gets stuck in the room, and we assume that he is either dead or is now Michael's vessel. Guess only time will tell.

We end with Dean and Sam driving down the road, and Dean begins to come out of the defeated funk he's been in the past few episodes.

Dean: "Screw destiny. I saw we take the fight to them. Do it out way."
Sam: "Sounds good."

Is it me or was there only the one song on the jukebox in the first bar scene? A little surprising that they didn't work in "Point of No Return" by Kansas.

"My Bloody Valentine" or ew, Ew, EW!

Okay, so y'all know how squeamish I am? I'm supposed to recap, yet I'm now too traumatized for words.

Where to start... Definitely not with that beginning. When two adorable lovebirds, as Dean later puts it "eat each other too death." With gusto. Um, the title of the episode is funny anyway.

Shortly after the, er, hungry couple, we meet a devoted Jim at the office and his tearful, needy girlfriend. Who--kind of hilariously--blows away the cyncial co-worker who makes the "whipped" sound (I've always hated that.) Jim and girlfriend, now worried that prison might keep them apart, perpetrate a suicide pact to stay together for eternity.

And now a morgue where Sam and Dean are investigating internal organs--MY EYES! Seriously, this ep made me nostaglic for the days of radio shows. But admid the organs, Sam finds suspcious marking (specifically Angelic Marks) that leads to Dean calling Cass. Funny interaction where Cass shows up about an inch from Dean and says awkwardly, into his phone, "I'm hanging up now." Cass explains they're looking for a rogue Cupid (that would be a cherub, third class). Dean: "Cupid?" Like the guy with arrows and a diaper? Cass gives one of his classically dry deliveries and explains that Cupid isn't incontinent. Have I mentioned how much I love Cass?

The three guys track down a Cupid, who manifests as a chubby, jolly shirtless guy who lifts Dean off his feet. We cut to commercial and I try to summon up the nerve to watch more. (Meanwhile, an ad for Shutter Island grosses me out.)

Okay, continuing to watch totally pays off for me. After commercial, we see see that Cupid is not so much attacking Dean as hugging him (and Cupid also appears to be...pantsless). Then he hugs the heck out of Cass and advances on a horrified looking Sam. Dean asks, confused, "Is this a fight? Are we in a fight? I don't like it." Cass: "No one likes it." They accuse Cupid of murdering his targets (or causing them to murder each other) and the rest of this scene, OMG, you just have to see for yourself. Freaking hysterical. But they do hear the revelation that John and Mary Winchester were a heaven-ordered, Cupid precipitated match specifically so that Sam and Dean were born.


Annnnnnd we're back in the morgue and I am scared and watching through my fingers. I'll spare you the details except to say guy on the slab died for love of Twinkies.

After the morgue, Sam once again sees a suspicious guy in a black suit who brings to mind a Reaper. Sam attacks him in an alley with The Knife and is entirely too excited by the sight of the guy's blood. At this point, "ew" is just getting redundant. But the cut demon gets away, leaving behind a suitcase. Dean: "Let's crack it open. What's the worst that could happen?" Oh, DEAN, have you not seen your show?

An explosion of light follows. Cass, who has apparently developed a fondness for burgers, tells the boys that there was a soul in the suitcase and that the town is suffering from "Famine." Hunger for food, hunger for affection, hunger for... You name it. This horseman, btw, rides a black steed--a wheel chair, rather than a sports car. The horseman is a frail old man hungering for souls of his victims. Then follows a gross cafe scene that should help me lose weight. This entire episode is good for that; even Dean lost his appetite earlier.

Deprived of the human soul he was supposed to get, Famine just eats the demon Sam slashed in the alley. And I'm guessing Sam's hunger for demon blood will become a plot point again before the ep is over. Speaking of which...Sam is sweating in front of a mirror and becoming more agitated. Dean wants to know if Famine can be defeated by slicing off his ring, as they did with War. Meanwhile, Sam's having DTs in the corner. Where's the nearest weekly meeting of Demon Blood Anonymous when you need one? Dude, call your sponsor! (Which reminds me, where the heck has Bobby been?) Cass declares Sam infected and Dean prepares to go ring-hunting without his bro, after handcuffing Sam to the hotel plumbing (which I can easily imagine getting ripped out of the wall soon).

Yet another trip to the morgue, only this time the doc in charge of the lab is the one on the slab, after drinking himself to death. Cass says that the doctor's soul hasn't been harvested yet and could be their path to Famine. Meanwhile, Cass continues to scarf down burgers, reminding me a little of when I was pregnant in my eighth month and couldn't get enough avocado. Cass wants to know where Dean's hunger is, and Dean maintains he doesn't have repressed appetites because he eats when he wants, gets laid when he wants, etc. But little bro Sam? Seriously repressed appetite. The demons come in and free him. He stabs one in the neck and goes to town. Gross. But it does bring back his powerful mojo.

Dean and Burger Boy track down famine at the Cafe Del Grossness but the plan to cut the ring off goes awry when Cass gets sidetracked by red meat. Dean is caught and dragged to Famine who says that Dean is a void, completely broken and defeated with no hunger left for anything. "Inside, you're already dead." They're interupted by a bloody-faced, Dark Side Sam. Famine, wanting to bring Sam closer to Lucifer, happily invites him to chow down on all the demons in the room. Sam peforms a mass exorcism thingy that leaves Dean wide-eyed and freaked, then Sam tells Famine, "No." Yay! Sam may earn that sobriety token after all.

Famine then eats the demon spirit thingies, and Sam basically kills all the spirits he ate. (Okay, I took lots of writing and communications classes for my degree and have written lots of stuff in the last ten years of being published, yet never did I think I'd type a sentence like that last one.)

Unfortunately, Sam has to go through another painful detox that is hellish for Dean to hear (he copes by swigging straight from a whiskey bottle, then finally leaving to go hang out at the Impala). He cries, then prays for help. I cry along with him. And we go to black screen. Dude. Harsh.

Scenes for next episode. The good news? Bobby! The bad news? March freaking 25th.

And in closing, a little public service announcement. This Valentine's Day, it may be okay to do some harmless, playful nibbling. However, it is never okay to gnaw your valentine to death.

"The Song Remains the Same"

The "Then" clips at the beginning of this episode gave us a look back at the episode where Castiel sends Dean back to see his parents when they were young, where he finds out his mother and her family were hunters and that she made a deal with the Yellow-Eyed Demon to save John. We also see some angel scenes with Castiel and Anna.

The "Now" section starts with Warrant's "Cherry Pie" playing and Dean saying, "I take it all back. I love the devil." Of course, the devil he's talking about is an exotic dancer dressed like a she-devil. But then she's joined by another dancer dressed like an angel. When the two girls step apart, there stands Anna. She's in his dream and tells Dean she can't find him. He mentions the thing Cas did so that he and Sam are invisible to angels. Anna responds, "Cas. There's a friend you can count on." She reveals that she's been in prison "upstairs" where there's "All the torture, twice the self-righteousness." She's not happy with Cas, who turned her in, saying he was always the "good little soldier." She tells Dean that she's broken out and to meet her at 225 Industrial, and to hurry. At that, Dean wakes.

Next we see Anna in an old building, and Cas shows up. He tells her that he wouldn't let Sam and Dean meet her and that if she's out of prison, it's because she was let out to do the angels' dirty work. Cas admits that it was a mistake to turn Anna in but he doesn't trust her sudden reappearance. When he questions her, she says that Sam has to die because he's Lucifer's vessel. Cas says they'll find another way, to which Anna points out that that plan isn't going so well. He tells Anna that he'll kill her if she comes near Sam.

Next, we see Anna fall on top of a sports car where a young couple is sitting. When they jump out to help her, we see a large Grease poster on the side of a building. Oh crap, I think she's just time traveled and I see where this is going.

Cas, back in the always-present crappy motel room with Sam and Dean, tells them of Anna's plan. When he performs a ritual to find her, he discovers she's in 1978. Cas figures out that Anna is going to kill John and Mary so that Sam can never be born. There's a bit of a funny moment when Dean makes a Back to the Future reference and Cas gives him a look and says, "I don't understand that reference." Against his better judgment, Cas takes Sam and Dean back in time with him. When they arrive, Sam and Dean are okay but Cas is coughing up blood. Dean checks Cas into the 1978 version of a crappy motel. When Sam asks if he'll be okay, Dean responds that Cas is "tough for a little nerdy dude with wings."

Sam is a bit freaked out at meeting his parents, especially his mom. But Mary is not thrilled to see them because she's left the hunter life behind. While she tries to convince them to leave, John gets a call from his boss, only it's Anna trying to lure him to work so she can kill him. When John gets to work, he finds his boss dead and Anna waiting for him. When the others arrive, big fight ensues. While Anna is distracted, Sam does that blood symbol on the wall thing to banish Anna. When John and Mary make eye contact, she knows her past has caught up with her. They all flee and go to an old house that has been in Mary's family for years and make preparations in case Anna shows up again.

It's odd, and so un-John-like, when young John expresses his disgust that anyone would raise their kids in the hunting life. Sam tells him that he used to be mad at his dad, but now he understands that he was doing the best he could in an impossible situation, that his dad might have gone crazy after Sam's mom's death if he didn't do something. Sam has a catharsis moment by telling this young version of his father that he understands and that he forgives him, that he loves him.

Anna calls Uriel and tells him that she needs him to kill some humans, humans who will kill him in the future.

When Mary asks Dean what is going on, he reveals that he's her son and starts telling her some of the future. He tells her what day she dies and tells her to take Sam and run that morning. Sam comes in during this conversation and says it won't work, that the demon will find her and baby Sam wherever she goes. He tells his mother that she has to leave John so that Sam and Dean are never born. Mary says she can't because she's already pregnant. John walks in and says that the symbols he drew are gone, and Mary discovered the holy oil is gone as well. Next comes the angel scream and the blowing out of windows. Another big fight ensues, in which Anna stabs Sam. A light appears on John, who has been tossed outside, and when he comes back in, the archangel Michael is inhabiting his body. He touches Anna and she goes up in flames.

Michael reveals to Dean that his being Michael's true vessel is in the bloodline, one that stretches back to Cain and Abel. In a true Dean moment, he says, "Awesome. Seven degrees of Heaven Bacon." Michael tells Dean that free will is an illusion, that every choice Dean makes brings him closer to his destiny, the plan that is playing itself out perfectly. He tells Dean that he is going to scrub John and Mary's minds, and the look on Dean's face is heartbreaking when he realizes his mom will still walk into Sam's nursery and still be killed by the Yellow-Eyed Demon. I did think that Michael's "You can't fight city hall" was a bit of an odd response. And then he heals Sam and sends him back to 2010, followed by Dean, who has an incredible look of "It's all for nothing" on his face.

Sam and Dean are back in the hotel when Castiel shows back up, looking worse for wear, surprised that he made it. Dean says he needs a drink, and Sam agrees. Dean looks at the three of them and dubs them Team Free Will -- "one ex blood junkie, one dropout with six bucks to his name, and Mr. Comatose over there. Awesome." Sam worries that the two of them will eventually say yes to being Lucifer's and Michael's vessels.

Next we see Mary, very pregnant, and John in the nursery, and Mary is happy about a 25-cent cherub she got at a garage sale and placed next to the crib. She tells the baby she's carrying that "angels are watching over you."

I was curious about the title of the episode, so I looked it up. It's the name of a concert film done by Led Zepplin in 1976 which includes each band member's personal fantasies (ties in with Dean's dream of exotic dancers and Sam getting to see his mother, and both of them wishing they could save their parents).

Love Is in the Air (and so are Lycans, Druids, and the Apocalpyse)

Generally speaking, we here at Supernatural Sisters keep the focus on Supernatural (as it should be!) and don't talk too much about the fact that we sisters write books (when we're not staring at Jensen and Jared on screen). No fear, that's not about to change, but in addition to Terri's great post earlier this week on "angels being the new vampire," I wanted to talk about books, too. In honor of both the guys' alleged engagements, I thought I'd briefly mention romance! With the show on hiatus until Jan 21, you might be looking for alternate forms of escape. Plus, romance novels can be a great way to feed your paranormal addiction while you're waiting for certain brothers to return to the screen...

So what romance authors might appeal to you? Well, what are your favorite aspects of Supernatural?

If the dark apocalyptic episodes like "Good God Y'all" appeal to you, you might enjoy Jessica Andersen's novels of the Final Prophecy (the 2012 Mayan doomsday). Romance, strong writing and the end of the world!

If you like interconnected episodes that are heavy on mythology instead of the standalones, you might want to dip your toes into Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, which uses lots of world-building in what she calls The Lore, overlapping tales of vampires, Lycan, Valkyrie, demons and more... Her books remind me of Dean--sexy, irreverently funny and sometimes poignant when you were least expecting it.

If Castiel is secretly your favorite character, you should check out Meljean Brooks' Guardian series, whose backstory includes seraphim and fallen angels.

If your favorite episodes of Supernatural are the ones that make you laugh like Mystery Spot or Hollywood Babylon (Dean as the production assistant cracked me up) , Natale Stenzel writes some funny paranormal romances (including The Druid Made Me Do It).

Finally, if you are made of braver stuff than me and actually LIKE the episodes that scare the hell out of you, you might be up for Rita Herron's Demonborn series. After reading the first one, Insatiable Desire, I totally had to sleep with the light on!

So those are my recommendations of entertaining ways to get your paranormal fix while we await the boys' return. What about you guys? Read anything good lately fans of Sam and Dean might enjoy?

Angels Are The New Vampire

Unless you’ve been living on another planet you’re aware that vampires have sank their fangs into TV, movies and books. But rumor has it those bloodsuckers are running dry. The new big thing in books and movies is angels. Especially fallen angels. Instead of chaste vampires, we’ll be seeing naughty celestial beings.

We’ve already mentioned Legion for the silver screen. Now you can expect to see lots and lots of books. Becca Fitzgerald’s Hush, Hush and Lauren Kate’s Fallen (both YA) have garnered mega attention, even a Disney deal. In an article for The Independent, Cindy Hwang, executive editor at Berkley Books, said she believes the resurgence in angels has to do with the Mayan prophecy for 2012. "People are thinking about the apocalypse. That's why the angel craze this time is darker. The ambiguity reflects how we feel about the world."

Hmm, the apocalypse and rogue angels…sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Seems Supernatural was ahead of the trend. Hopefully this will mean an even greater increase in ratings.

For a list of more angel books (adult and YA) check out the excellent article by Susie Mesure.