Supernatural 10×2: Reichenbach

Reichenbach is a reference to the episode of Sherlock Holmes where he returns after his death at the hands of Moriarty. Sam finally meeting up with Dean after he’d though him dead at the hands of Crowley is pretty much the only resemblance between these two episodes.

A young boy hears a struggle going on in his house. He goes downstairs to find that Dean Winchester has murdered his father. Cole.

Sam is still Cole’s prisoner and trying to stress to him that Dean is not Dean. He tries to tell him about the existence of monsters. The supernatural kind. But Cole just thinks Sam is crazy and prepares to torture him.

Dean is spending some time at the Strip Club and beating up a bouncer while Sam feels Coles wrath. But Sam is defiant and it’s kind of nice seeing this level of spirit from Sam. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him express anything much stronger than fear or exhaustion. Okay, I’m not happy about the torture though.
Cole is about to get serious when his phone rings. It’s his wife. While he’s having family phone time, Sam manages to free himself. Of course he does because that’s one of Sam’s superpowers, I think.

Dean and Crowley confront at the bar. Crowley is concerned about Dean’s anger issues.

Castiel and Hanna are still hanging out and it’s becoming very obvious to him he has no more juice. Cas tells her that her willingness to help him is very human. She’s puzzled by the compliment. Hanna has no experience being human or being around humans. She’s pretty much where Cas was when we first met him, only cuter and less intimidating.

Sam calls Cas and tells him that Dean is a demon. Cas is incredulous and they plan to meet up at Crowley and Dean’s (which sounds like the name of a 70’s rock band) last known location. Hanna comes along for the ride even though Cas says she doesn’t have to.
She tries to tell Cas that the Winchesters are bad for him but he don’t wanna hear that and defends his relationship with them. He then passes out at the wheel of their vehicle and nearly hits a semi-truck and crashes off the road. I totally didn’t see that coming and I’ve been pretty good about predicting all kinds of things in my favorite shows this week. (Apparently I’m awesomely psychic. Or maybe the writers are just lazy.)

Crowley and Dean discuss the Mark and The First Blade. Crowley talks to him about addiction and he of all people should know. But he’s not scheduling an intervention. If Dean is going to keep killing he wants Dean to kill for him. He gives Dean an assignment named Mindy. Dean says this one time only. And once again I thought I knew how this scene was going to go and got it wrong.

I guess Cas and Hanna ain’t gonna make it to the meet up. They’re now stuck in the cabin of the tow truck driver, in the middle of no and where, as their car is taken away. Hanna really does care for Cas and I’m very much liking the dynamic I see developing between the two. I think she loves him, but having never been human, she has no idea that’s what she’s feeling. She tenderly covers him with a blanket after he falls into an exhausted asleep.

Dean goes to find the woman Crowley has assigned him to kill and finds the husband, who hired him, watching outside. He goes to talk to the man and when the guy starts spouting some evo-psych bullshit about how husbands cheating on their wives is in the natural order, Dean kills him instead of the wife. Now that is classic Dean. The only difference is that in the past, the old Dean would’ve settled for just punching the guy and calling him a douche. This Dean is compelled by the First Blade to kill anybody who gets on his nerves.

Sam is still on the hunt. The bouncer Dean beat up earlier identifies him to Sam and promises to contact him if he sees him again but Cole has been following Sam. He knows Sam will lead him to his prey. This is,interestingly, Cole’s first Hunt and he’s about to regret it.

Cas wakes up in the cabin to find a little girl watching cartoons. She is the tow truck driver’s daughter. She is darling and seems completely unafraid of Cas. They have a mo. The two truck driver thinks Cas and Hanna are a couple. Hanna is flustered and puzzled by the assumption. Hanna spends a lot of time being puzzled.

Crowley is in the middle of what is, quite possibly, the most boring meeting of demonic entities in the universe when he receives a call from Dean, who says he killed the client. Crowley’s mad as Hell but Dean doesn’t care and pops the spit out of him. Crowley questions how demonic Dean really is. Dean challenges him and Crowley, because he’s the ultimate survivor, wisely backs down and says their partnership is over. There are still some disconcertingly human aspects of Dean in his body language and facial expressions. It may not be Dean but Dean isn’t far below the surface.

Crowley meets up with Sam. He says he’ll give him Dean because he can’t control him and that Sam is welcome to him. What’s his price, though?

Hanna goes back to Heaven to try to bargain with Metatron to save Castiel. She wants his grace back. But Metatron asks a high price. He says he has Castiel’s grace and promises to never be seen again if he is freed. Hanna smacks him around a bit because he’s disgusting and I’m fervently hoping she’ll smack him around a little more. Cas catches her and tries to warn her against making deals. He doesn’t want whatever bargain she would make on his behalf. Metatron then tries to make a deal with Cas because he really does have some of his grace left but the answer is still no. Metatron then vows to get free and kill everyone. Are we talking a new Lucifer somewhere down the road, maybe?

Crowley’s words about not being a demon are haunting Dean, when Sam finds him at a bar. It’s heartbreaking to watch this scene between them. I’ve never seen Dean display this particular attitude towards Sam. He claims he left because he didn’t want to be cured but I suspect it’s because he didn’t want to hurt Sam. He acts as if he doesn’t care about Sam but I’m not buying it. I know he cares and is still trying to protect Sam. You don’t just give up doing something that’s been the major impetus of your entire existence just like that. He warns Sam away which is something he doesn’t have to do but Sam is having as little of it as I am. He’s says he’s there to take Dean home and breaks out the demon cuffs. That’s when Cole makes his move. Tear gas knocks out Sam, and Dean and Cole have it out. Okay, my psychic powers are way off when it comes to this show. I should’ve seen this coming.

Cole tells Dean his story. He fights with Dean but has absolutely no chance against something like him. Dean is really enjoying himself, though. He quotes some Princess Bride (guess which lines) which is always a win. Dean shows Cole what he is but doesn’t kill him. Then Sam blindsides him with the demon cuffs and some holy water.

Dean is captured and Crowley has the First Blade. That was the deal, apparently. Cole has decided to research demons. Sam is driving Dean back to the Bunker. He says Dean was merciful to Cole but Dean says it wasn’t mercy at all. That beating up the man who’d spent half his life searching for his father’s killer was the worst thing he could’ve done to Cole and that Sammy is going to get it worse. I don’t believe that really. Without the Blade goading him on, I suspect Dean is going to be a lot less demonic than he has been. And this ties in perfectly with my belief that he really doesn’t want to hurt Sam. The worst thing in the world for Dean would be harming the one person he’s spent his life protecting. Is he really going to cause himself that much pain?

MY TWO CENTS

This weeks episode was a little better. Everything happened much as I expected it, except for some minor details, like Cas not making it to the meeting and Hanna’s meeting with Metatron. I knew Dean and Crowley would part ways but didn’t have a clue how that would come about. I’m still disappointed in Demon!Dean though. Sam was much more frightening when he was soulless. Dean really isn’t that dark. There’s a lot of human left in him. So it makes me wonder what Sam got up to in his search for Dean that makes his story arc darker than that.

And we know one more important thing, if Metatron is to be believed. Cas still has some grace left somewhere. If Cas is to be returned to his normal state, he needs to find it or make a deal with Metatron and, of course, he can’t possibly be trusted, can he?

If this keeps up I’m going to think the writers are being timid with these guys. Too scared to show the two of them being total d’bags.
Hey! It’s okay to make them unlikeable from time to time. Hell I didn’t like Dean for most of season one.

ETA: Dean does one significant thing during the episode, which should be noted. He kills a regular human being. As a general rule, Dean does not kill regular, non-possessed humans, except under the most extreme circumstances. Later though, he doesn’t kill Cole, which might lend some credence to the things he says to Sam later.

Here’s hoping that the beginning of this season is really just a slow burn leading up to some serious megashit at the finale.

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