'Supernatural' recap, 'A Little Slice of Kevin': Cas is back!

ALERT: If you haven’t watched tonight’s Supernatural, we recommend you avert your eyes. All the rest of you may proceed…

I have so much to say about tonight’s episode of Supernatural, but I’m pretty much obligated to start with the episode’s most important moment: CAS IS BACK! CAS IS BACK! CAS IS BACK!

Yes, we knew it was coming. (Thanks, promo department!) However, Dean did not, so when he started seeing Cas all over the place — alongside the road, outside their window — the poor boy thought he was losing it. And Sam quickly caught on that something was off about Dean, too. Surprisingly, Dean ‘fessed up about his Cas sightings fairly quickly — and, by the way, I loved that. These two would bring home gold if avoiding problems was ever an Olympic sport, so it was incredibly refreshing to see Dean and Sam actually communicating about an issue. It only took 8 seasons!

Not long after, they learned that Dean’s vision of Cas were not visions at all — because the angel was back. For real. And he had a beard. (Movember?)

The boys probably could have grilled Cas forever, but there were definitely bigger fish to fry. Not only were they tracking a case involving several people who went missing under strange circumstances (weird weather patterns, no immediate connections among the missing), but soon Kevin’s mom called asking for help.

Crowley had caught up with the Tran duo after Momma Tran enlisted the help of a traitor witch via Craigslist. (Note kiddies: Nothing good ever comes from Craigslist. It’s nothing but crazies, free stuff with bedbugs, and people who work for the King of Hell.) So Crowley took Kevin and left a minion to kill Mrs. Tran. Though, Mrs. Tran ended up kidnapping the not-so-tough bad guy, who eventually gave up Crowley’s location. Wimp.

Once Dean, Sam, Cas, and Momma Tran arrived, they split up to find Kevin and all the missing people they had originally been tracking. Crowley had kidnapped them all because he was hoping one of them could read the tablet. You see, these people were prophets. Well, sort of…

If I may speak in Buffy, prophets are like slayers — there can only be one at a time. But since Crowley hadn’t been able to find Kevin, he kidnapped future prophets, hoping one of them would be able to read the tablet. They couldn’t.

Kevin could, though, but he tried to resist doing so at first. Ultimately, Crowley convinced him to do so — by cutting off one of his fingers! Yes, folks, things got bloody and brutal. If I were less of a gore fan, I would have said this was a bit much for Supernatural. (I mean, doing this stuff to demons, vampires — it’s all okay. But to a human?! Hmm…) But if I’m being honest, it had the same shock value that I appreciate when watching other shows, and I’m glad Supernatural was bold enough to do that. I felt bad for Kevin, of course, but holy cow what a great jaw-dropper. (Also, am I evil for wishing Cas couldn’t heal him? I love a good battle scar!)

The rest unfolded how you might imagine: The kidnapped folks were saved, Kevin was rescued from Crowley’s grip, Crowley got away (with half of the tablet!), and Cas proved that even though he’s not feeling 100 percent since returning from Purgatory, he’s still a badass.

The real twist came toward the end, when we learned more about how Castiel got out. Apparently it has something to do with Heaven wanting info on Sam and Dean. Why? We don’t know. And the other kicker: Castiel is going to report back to them periodically but won’t remember doing so. Sketchy? You bet!

Meanwhile, there was another bombshell: Castiel had told Dean earlier that he didn’t remember much about what happened after Dean left Purgatory and that he didn’t know how he escaped. That was only partially true. Even though Dean remembered one version of the events that went down in Purgatory (he thought he failed at rescuing Cas), that was untrue. Castiel didn’t get left behind; he chose to stay there. “It’s where I deserved to be….I planned to stay all along, I just didn’t know how to tell you,” Cas told Dean, who looked sad and hurt. Cas continued: “You can’t save everyone, my friend, though you try.”

If they were trading advice, Dean should have pointed out that Cas should stop trying to change the past. He can’t punish himself forever. Though, he may try.

Burning questions: That ending! What are your theories on what heaven wants with Cas/his information on the boys? Why does Heaven look like an advertising agency? Also, were you pleased with Castiel’s return/his post-Purgatory makeover skills? Do you think we’re done with Purgatory flashbacks? (I have a feeling we are, and I’m okay with that. They’ve sort of run their course.) Are you hoping for more or less Tran action in the future? What did you think of the finger slicing scene? Too much or just right? And are you as impressed as I am with the of good episodes we’ve had this season? After eight seasons, you’d think this show would run out of surprises, but week after week, I find myself genuinely excited about what it’s going to deliver.

QUOTEABLES:

“You look like you’ve seen…well, I was going to say, ‘you look like you’ve seen a ghost,’ but you’d probably be stoked.” — Sam

Cas: I’m dirty

Dean: Well, Purgatory will do that to you.

“I lie, I don’t get lied to.” — Benny

“I missed television.” — Castiel

Sam: How is Kevin a prophet if Chuck is a prophet?

Cas: I’m not sure what happened to Chuck, but, um, he must be dead.

(Note: If I’m being honest, I giggled a little after Cas said this line. The mention of Chuck’s name had brought a big smile to my face, and Castiel’s response removed it so quickly, it was almost funny. Sort of like, “Here’s a picture of a puppy. Do you like this puppy? Do you want this puppy? TOO BAD! It’s DEAD!” EDIT: Lots of good “Chuck is God” talk going on in comments. Obviously this was implied at the end of season 5 and various comments from writers/producers/creators have been made about this over the years. But because it’s never been said on the show/we’re setting up some sort of reveal, I’ll try to keep things neutral-ish. But love the convo going on.)

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