(As I mentioned in my post announcing this rewatch project,Β there will be spoilers!)
Season 4, Episode 1: Lazarus Rising
Here we go, season four! In case you forgot (but how could you), at the end of season three, the boys failed to get Dean out of his deal that saw him trade his soul to bring Sam back from the dead. Dean got one year before his contract was up, and as hard as they tried, they could not save him.
So season three ended with Sam seemingly immune to the demon Lilithβs powers, Lilith on the run, and poor Dean in Hell.
Oh no, Dean is in hell!! It looks terrible.
But suddenlyβ¦he isnβt. He uses his lighter and finds himself in a box. He tries to call for help but his voice is so hoarse. He pushes on the lid and dirt falls in. Then we see β his hand reaching out of the ground. He breaks through the earth β Dean just crawled out of his own grave!! The camera pulls back and we see that all of the trees in the area have been felled. What happened here? How is Dean back?
What a cool shot.
Dean slowly turns, not understanding whatβs happening.
New title card for season four!
Dean is walking down the road in the sun, and approaches an old gas station. He knocks on the door and calls out β his voice is still hoarse – but the place is closed so he breaks in. He chugs some water and looks at the date on a newspaper (September 2008). He washes his face in the back sink and looks at himself in the mirror.
He pulls up his shirt and we see a flashback of the hellhound mauling him β but Dean doesnβt seem to have any scars. Then he pulls up his left sleeve, and he has a handprint burned into this shoulder. Whaaatttt??
He definitely doesnβt seem to know how that got there or whatβs going on.
He grabs some food and more water from the gas station, putting it in a plastic bag. He goes over to the register and helps himself to the money inside.
Suddenly the old TV on the counter turns on, and itβs all static. Dean turns it off. Then the radio turns itself on. And the TV turns on again. Dean grabs some salt and lines the windows and door. But a high-pitched frequency starts up and gets louder and louder, breaking the windows in the gas station and throwing Dean to the ground.
Then it stops.
Dean gets up and sees the damage. Then heβs at the payphone, and whatever number heβs trying to call has been disconnected (presumably Samβs).
Then he calls Bobby, who answers!
βBobby?β
βYeah.β
βItβs me.β
βWhoβs me?β
βDeanβ.
Then Bobby hangs up! Haha.
Dean calls back. Bobby says this isnβt funny and if he calls again, heβll kill him. Then he hangs up.
Dean hotwires a car and drives off.
At Bobbyβs, thereβs a knock on the door. Bobby opens and itβs Dean! Dean seems relieved to see him but Bobby is shocked. Dean enters, saying here he is. Bobby comes at him with a knife but Dean swears itβs him. He tells Bobby about their relationship, trying to prove that it’s really him.
Bobby reaches out and touches him, and tries to cut him again with the silver knife. Dean says he isnβt a shifter or a revenant, and cuts himself with the knife to prove it.
βDean?β Bobby asks, disbelieving.
They hug. Awww!!!!!!
Bobby says itβs good to see him and asks how he got out. Dean says he doesnβt know. He just woke up in a pine box. Midsentence, Bobby throws holy water in his face.
Dean says heβs not a demon either. βSorry. Canβt be too careful,β Bobby says.
Bobby says Dean was ripped apart and had been buried for four months. What is happening?
Bobby asks Dean what he remembers and Dean says not much. He remembers the hellhound and then thatβs it, until he woke up.
Dean says Samβs number isnβt working. Bobby says Sam is fine, as far as he knows. Bobby hasnβt talked to him for months β says Sam was dead-set on going off on his own.
Dean says Bobby should have been looking after Sam, and Bobby says he tried but these last few months havenβt been easy on them. Dean asked why they buried him (rather than the usual hunter funeral, where you salt and burn the bones).
Bobby says he wanted to salt and burn Deanβs body, but Sam wouldnβt let him. He said Dean would need a body when he got him back home β Bobby didnβt know what he meant by that. Sam took off and wouldnβt return Bobbyβs calls.
Dean is mad about whatever Sam did to bring him back, telling Bobby about the destruction at the grave site and gas station, and then he shows him the handprint. Dean thinks a demon yanked him out and that Sam must have made a deal. βItβs what I would have done,β Dean tells Bobby.
Dean tries to track down Sam via his phoneβs GPS (in the name of Wedge Antilles, haha).
Dean notices Bobby has been drinking a lot β like Bobby said, the last few months havenβt been easy. I love that Bobby is like a father to Sam and Dean.
Dean locates Samβs phone: Samβs in Pontiac, Illinois β right where Dean popped up.
We see Dean and Bobby approach a motel room and knock on the door. A girl opens, thinking theyβre pizza delivery guys (without the pizza).
(Sidenote β this girl is of course played by Genevieve Cortese (now Padalecki) β she and Jared met on the show and fell in love and got married!!)
Behind her, they see Sam walk by. He sees Dean and Bobby and stops. Dean smiles at him, saying βHey Sammyβ. Dean walks in and Sam goes after him, just like Bobby did, asking who he is. βLike you didnβt do this,β Dean yells back while Bobby restrains Sam.
Bobby reassures Sam itβs really Dean, and Sam hugs Dean. AWWW!!!!! Bobby looks on with tears.
βSo are you two together?β the girl asks.
Sam says no, itβs his brother. The girl says she should go, and Sam agrees. She leaves, telling Sam to call her.
Back inside, Dean asks Sam what it cost. βI donβt pay, Deanβ. Dean means to bring him back.
Sam tells Dean and Bobby that he didnβt make a deal for Dean. Dean doesnβt believe him and Sam says he wishes he had done it, but Sam says he tried everything. He tried opening the devilβs gate (remember that from the season two finale?) and he tried to make a deal, but no demon would deal with him. He didnβt bring Dean back. He couldnβt. He says heβs sorry it wasnβt him.
Dean tells him itβs okay.
Bobby says heβs glad that Samβs soul is intact, but he says it raises the question: if Sam didnβt pull Dean out of Hell, then what did?
Dean asks Sam what he was doing here. Sam says that once he figured out he couldnβt save Dean, he started hunting down Lilith to try and get some payback.
All by himself? βWho do you think you are, your old man?β Good burn, Bobby!
Sam says he was checking out demons in Tennessee who suddenly came up here. Maybe because of Dean? Dean thinks his getting dragged out of hell by a demon has to be connected to those other demons showing up at the same time.
Bobby asks Dean how heβs feeling β does he feel like himself? Dean insists that heβs himself. But Bobby says demons arenβt letting him out of hell out of the goodness of their hearts.
Sam says they need help. Bobby says he knows a psychic nearby who might be able to help them.
Awww Sam giving Dean the samulet back! I forgot about that! Then Sam asks Dean what Hell was like. Dean says he must have blacked it out and doesnβt remember anything. βThank God for that,β Sam says.
In the bathroom, Dean looks at himself in the mirror β and we see that he does remember what Hell was like. πΒ πΒ π
Bobby and the boys get ready to drive to the psychicβs. Sam tosses Dean his car keys. Baby! He gets in the driverβs side and is appalled at Samβs ipod jack. βYou were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up,β Dean says.
He is also not impressed with Samβs music taste.
On the road, Dean tells Sam that he thought Lilith was going to kill him. Sam tells him she tried, but her power had no effect on him and she ran away. Dean asks where Ruby is and Sam tells him, βDead, for nowβ.
Dean asks Sam if heβs been using his abilities β using negative terms like βweirdo crapβ. Sam swears he hasnβt been, but this has created some tension between the boys. Dean just got back from hell! Canβt you get along??
We met the psychic β Pamela Barnes. She tells Bobby sheβs ouijaβd through a dozen spirits and no one knows who broke Dean out or why. She says a sΓ©ance is the next step β like a crystal ball without the crystal.
Thereβs some flirty banter between Pamela and Dean β and LOL when Pamela tells Sam heβs invited too!
Theyβre all set up for the sΓ©ance and Pamela begins. She tells them she needs to touch something the mystery monster touched, and Dean rolls up his sleeve, showing the hand print β which clearly Sam has not seen before.
Pamela puts her hand on Deanβs shoulder and the rest of them hold hands. She beings the sΓ©ance, and just like at the gas station, the TV turns on to static. And the high pitched noise is back.
Pamela says a name β Castiel. She tells Dean thatβs itβs name β itβs whispering to her, warning her to turn back. But Pamela commands it to show her its face. The table rumbles and Bobby says maybe they should stop, but Pamela says sheβs almost got it. Then the flames on the candles get huge and Pamela screams and her eyes burn out!! Holy frick!
Bobby tells them to call 911 while he runs over to Pamela β oh boy, she cannot see. This is not good. Her eyes are gone!
Later at a diner, Sam gets off the phone with Bobby and tells Dean that Pamela is stable and out of the ICU. But blind. And they donβt know what theyβre dealing with β but Dean says they have a name (Castiel) and can figure out a way to summon it.
Sam says no way β Pamela took a peek and lost her eyes. Sam says he followed some demons to town and they should find them β someone must know something.
Their waitress brings their food and then sits down. She reveals herself to be a demon! And so does everyone else in the diner. One of them goes to lock the dinerβs door.
Their waitress comments on Deanβs journey out of Hell, asking what makes him so special that he can just stroll out of the pit. He says he doesnβt know β he didnβt do it and he doesnβt know who pulled him out.
Dean tells the demon she doesnβt know who cut Dean loose and is just as spooked as Dean and Sam, and is looking for answers. He says whoever it was, they want Dean out β and they are a lot stronger than this demon. Dean dares her to send him back to hell, calling her bluff.
He slaps her! Twice! He knows that these demons donβt know why heβs free and they wonβt send him back.
When Sam and Dean get outside, Sam says they arenβt just going to leave those demons in there, are they? Dean says yeah they are β there are three demons back there and the boys only have one knife between them.
Sam says they have to take them out β theyβre dangerous. But Dean says the demons are scared and they are dealing with something else right now. One thing at a time.
That night, while Dean sleeps, Sam sneaks out! He gets in the car and drives off.
In the hotel room, the TV and radio turn on. Dean wakes up and grabs a weapon. He sees that Sam is gone. He moves towards the door, but the high-pitched sound comes back and the mirror above the bed and the windows break. Dean is in a shower of glass and Bobby runs into the room.
In the car, Bobby is driving and asks Dean how he is. Dean calls Sam β who says he went to get a burger. Dean tells Sam Bobby is back and theyβre going to grab a beer β and judging by the look on Bobbyβs face, thatβs a lie.
We see that Sam is back outside the diner from earlier. And Bobby asks Dean why he lied to Sam.
Dean says Sam would try to stop them β it turns out Dean and Bobby are going to try and summon this thing, whatever it is. Bobby says they donβt know what it is! But Dean says they need to be ready for anything. And what choice do they have?
Dean says he has no place to hide β whatever this thing is, itβs coming after him. Bobby says they could use Sam for this, but Dean says heβs better off where he is.
Sam enters the diner, and sees a dead body on the ground. The lights are out but there is music playing. Sam approaches the body and rolls it over. The manβs eyes were burned out β just like Pamelaβs.
Then heβs attacked by someone β the (demon) waitress from before. They fight and then Sam sees her eyes have been burned out too.
Sam says she saw it and asks what she saw. She wonβt tell him but says itβs the end.Then Sam puts out his hand and magically exorcises the demon with his mind! Itβs slow but he does it. Woah.
Sam goes to check the pulse of the demonβs vessel, who collapsed after he got the demon out, but she is dead. βDamnit,β he says.
Someone comes in β the girl from his motel room at the start of the episode!
Sam greets her β βWhat the hellβs going on around here, Ruby?β
ITβS RUBY! So they were pretending not to know each other when Dean and Bobby showed up before, AND he lied to Dean when he told him he didnβt know where Ruby was.
Ruby says she doesnβt know whatβs going on. But it isnβt a demon β human souls donβt just walk out of hell and back into their bodies. βItβs cosmic. No demon can swing that. Not Lilith, not anybody.β
She doesnβt know what is doing this.
Dean and Bobby are in an old barn or something, painting sigils and talismans all over. They have an assortment of weapons, trying to prepare for whatever this could possibly be, and get ready to summon whatever it is.
In the diner, Ruby asks Sam if he will tell Dean what theyβre doing. Sam says he needs time to figure it out. Ruby says Dean will find out and he will be pissed if it doesnβt come from Sam.
Sam says Dean will be pissed either way: heβs so hard-headed about this psychic stuff that whenever Sam tells him whatβs going on, Dean will just try and stop him.
Ruby says maybe sheβll take a step back for a while β she wonβt come between him and Dean. Sam says that the doesnβt know if what heβs doing is right or if he trusts Ruby, but he is saving people and stopping demons, and he wants to keep doing it.
Meanwhile, Bobby finishes the ritual but nothing happens. Then the building starts to shake.Β Dean says maybe itβs just the wind.
The lights go out. The doors open and someone walks in β a handsome man in a trenchcoat!
He slowly walks toward him as they shoot at him. But it has no effect.
Dean grabs a knife and as the man gets closer. βWho are you?β he asks.
βIβm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.β What a line! Thatβs a classic.
βThanks for that,β Dean says, and stabs him with Rubyβs knife β which has no effect. The man pulls out the knife and drops it. Bobby takes a swing but the man touches Bobbyβs forehead, and Bobby passes out.
He tells Dean they need to talk, alone. Dean checks on Bobby β heβs ok. The man tells Dean Bobbyβs alive.
Dean asks who he is. βCastiel,β he replies. Dean gets that, but who β what β is he?
βIβm an angel of the Lordβ. Oh snap! Angels?? The show has tried to deal with this before, and we saw that Dean does not believe in angels. But apparently thatβs what Castiel is.
Dean slowly gets up and says thereβs no such thing. But Castiel says this is Deanβs problem: he has no faith.
Then thereβs a flash of light and we see Castielβs wings. SO COOL!
Β
Dean tells Castiel he burned out Pamelaβs eyes. βSome angel you are.β
Castiel says he warned her not to spy on his true form. It can be overwhelming for humans, as can his real voice. All that at the gas station and the motel was Castiel trying to talk to Dean. He thought Dean would be able to perceive his true visage.
It turns out that angels have vessels β like demons. Castiel tells Dean that the vessel he inhabits is a devout man, who prayed for this.
Dean isnβt buying it and asks again who he really is. βI told you,β Castiel says.
βAnd why would an angel rescue me from Hell?β Dean asks.
Castiel tells him good things happen but Dean says not in his experience.
βYou donβt think you deserve to be saved?β Castiel asks.
Dean asks why he did it, and Castiel says because God commanded it. βBecause we have work for you.β OMG!
Lore:
-demons
-ANGELS?!?
Overall Thoughts:
WOW what a start to season four! I was so happy that Dean came back right away, and the first time I watched this, I had no idea how or why he came back if Sam and Bobby werenβt behind it, but it definitely never crossed my mind that it would be angels. This is going to really expand the showβs world.
I donβt love that Sam and Dean are keeping secrets from each other (Sam and whatever heβs doing with Ruby; Dean remembering his time in hell but saying he doesnβt), but I think the real takeaway from this episode is the introduction of a new character in the coolest way! I just love Castielβs intro. The lights, the wings, the conversation with Dean β Iβm so looking forward to continuing on with season four!
