*Dean’s return: When last season ended, we couldn’t believe they’d actually, seriously, bloodily killed the elder Winchester brother. Oh, sure, Sam had died the season before (and that was equally devastating) but they brought him back in the next episode. Kripke & Co. made us suffer almost as much as Dean did in Hell. So when he clawed his way out of the grave, and saw the circle of devastation that surrounded him, we were impressed. When we learned more details of what had happened — that Dean had held out for 30 years, but for the last 10, he’d participated in demonic torture — our hearts broke. This is something that’s going to haunt us all well beyond this season.

*The Comedy: Bad-ass angels, demonic torture, issues of life and death and life again… that’s all heavy stuff. Which is why we were so damn thrilled to get moments of laugh-out-loud hilarity from the show. From Monster Movie (seeing old-school Dracula ride off on a scooter, Sam’s reaction to Dean in Lederhosen, Dean proclaiming he’d been rehymenated), to Wishful Thinking (the guys trying to deal with an angsty living Teddy Bear), to Yellow Fever (that girly scream, plus the bonus Eye of the Tiger video!), this show knows how and when to leaven things with a laugh.

*The Backstories
Oh, how we loved In The Beginning. All of a sudden, so much made sense. Mary! John! The Metallicar! Yes, we were bummed that there was no Sam in the ep, but it made sense for the story. It may be one of our favorite episodes of the season. Likewise, we loved finally seeing how Sam ended up the way he did, allied with Ruby and using his mind mojo. It was a stellar performance from Jared, and a game-changing episode. But…

What we’re not sure about

*Ruby: This is a tough one. We actually like the direction the show is taking with Ruby, but we know a LOT of fans do not. We don’t know what Ruby’s game is: Is she in love with Sam? Is she using him to her own ends? Is she hoping to turn him into a general in the angels vs. demons war? What the heck is going on? We loved seeing the backstory about how Sam and Ruby came together (she even got a certified cruelty-free meat suit, although yes, we know some of you dispute that), but we can’t help but think that there’s a whole lot we have still to learn. Right now, we’re enjoying the ride. We just hope it doesn’t end up in a bad, bad place.*Secrets and Lies: We feared this would be another season where one of the brothers knows something the other doesn’t, and he keeps it to himself and stews about it. Look, we love watching the angst, but we’d hope that he boys would learn, you know? To an extent, they have — Dean found out relatively early on that Sam was using his mind mojo, and Sam owned up. Sam knew something was going on with Dean and Post Demonic Stress Syndrome, and Dean eventually started to unbend — although he told Sam that he wasn’t going to talk because he couldn’t. But still, the brothers have a bad habit of thinking they can or should or must protect the feelings/innocence/delicate mental state of the other, and after four seasons, we can’t help but think that they should KNOW better! It NEVER works out well! Just tell what you know, and get on with it!

What needs work

*Wait, WHAT?: There have been a few too many “HUH?” moments this year for our taste, where things have seemed out of character or completely out of left field. Dean hears one backstory about Ruby and Sam, and all of a sudden HE’S the one saving her? We thought he wanted her dead! Anna turns out to be a fallen angel who gave up her grace and decided to be human — and angelic essence can be bottled? Ghosts can be scared to death — and Sam is willing to do that be brutally dragging him behind a car (yes, we know, Bobby drove, but it was Sam’s plan)? There’s ANOTHER shapeshifter roaming the byways of America? Sometimes, it just seemed too much.*The Potential Problems: We’ve been trying to come up with things that disappoint us about this season, and we’ve got to admit, there’s not much. We find ourselves more anxious or disappointed by the way things COULD go than by the way they actually have. We fear this will turn into a scenario where Dean and Sam are leading opposing armies… but look, that hasn’t happened yet. There are plenty of ways it COULD go wrong, but unless it does, we really can’t complain about it. (As chronic nit-pickers and complainers, you have no idea how uneasy that makes us. Surely there should be SOMETHING else wrong with the show! But we’re just not seeing it right now.)

What about you? What are you loving and hating? We ruthlessly edited the “What we loved” section (no mention of Bobby or other guest stars, no listing of fabulous moments, no generalized squee), but were there any massive oversights? And has our recent holiday cookie binge raised our dopamine levels to the point that we missed some bad stuff? Do you agree with our points, or do you think we’re dead wrong? Talk about it in the comments!

Source: blogs.trb.com