'Supernatural' recap: Three's Company

Oh, me of little faith. I enjoyed the first two episodes of the Supernatural season just fine. The premiere was okay; I watched it three times. As for the second episode, I was so overtaken by Dean's swoon-worthy display of paternal nature, I lost my marbles and watched it four times -- and certain adorable portions much more than that. You'll have to torture an exact figure out of me. Still, I -- like some of you -- felt a little like the episodes were missing something, the little bow that goes on top of any particularly exceptional Supernatural episode. I tried not to over-analyze.

Now I'm starting to think Castiel was that final forgotten element. Seasons ago, I would have told you that a third person in this Supernatural universe wouldn't work. Dean + Sam 4 Ever. Now, it's almost as though we need that power of three. We need Castiel. It wasn't until his absence in the beginning of this season that I realized how important he is to the new dynamic of the show. A little comic relief mixed in with this uncanny ability to bring emotion out of our tortured heroes. So thanks for dropping by, Castiel. Do it more. Of course, Dean and Sam practically had to beg him to get his winged butt down to Earth to help with a very serious (and very disgusting) problem. On to the episode.

Cold open: Police station. An officer stood by the mirror getting ready for his shift when he noticed a bit of blood on the towel he was drying his face with. He wiped it away. Then another bit of blood, from another point on his face. Except he didn't just wipe this one away; he wiped off a large portion of his cheek. (Next to the lady who lost her teeth in "Malleus Maleficarum" in season 3, this was one of the more traumatizing opening scenes the show has featured.) As the man hemorrhaged, we saw his partner's eyes widened in horror. Then we heard a big splat as the bloody man fell forward. Cue screams: Please, don’t show the liquefied body. Dear God, Chuck and Cas, please don't show the liquefied body.

(Gulp.) They showed the liquefied body.

Cut to Dean, who was in bed with Lisa. He was shirtless and woke up wanting to make out. The whole thing blew my mind, particularly because it had just been a while since we were reminded that Dean enjoys workin' his mojo. He used to have a different lady in every town -- and bragged about it. And last season, besides that one-off trip to the strip joint and his hairy hand incident, he was pretty tame. (Although, I imagine when you're dealing with the Apocalypse, sex sort of falls down the list of priorities.) When I saw this scene unravel, I immediately went slack-jawed, 'Long time no see, biceps.' But it turned out that it was all Dean's dream (…and ours?). He woke up by the side of the road, needing a good stretch.

NEXT: Hey now, what's that X-Men character doing in our favorite CW series?

Page 1 2 3 4 NEXT