*Originally published on 11/10/10
After getting his fists thoroughly acquainted with Sam's face, Dean ties his brother up and calls on Castiel to figure out just what is wrong with Sam. Sam wakes up and explains that he has no emotions and doesn't sleep any more.
Castiel performs what Dean refers to as a spiritual cavity search and the angel discovers that Sam's soul is gone. It's most likely still in the cage with Lucifer in Hell. They go to Samuel, the boys' grandfather, to perform the same test. His soul is intact.
Samuel tells them that he is about to go on a hunt for the alpha vampire, the original that launched the breed. While he is content to bring Sam, Dean is told to stay behind, which draws his suspicion.
They actually do manage to capture it and Samuel tries to interrogate him to no avail. Sam and Dean take a crack at it after their grandfather leaves and the alpha reveals that Samuel is looking for Purgatory for reasons he doesn't know.
The alpha manages to escape, you'd think they'd notice him clawing at the straps at some point, but apparently they don't know how to pay attention. OK, he was being a little subtle, but hunters should notice that sort of thing.
It's revealed that Samuel is working for Crowley, who wants to find Purgatory to expand his empire. He tells the boys that they are now working for him.
With the Alpha vampire being introduced, you'd think that he'd be far more powerful than the regulars, as was the case with the shapeshifter. That doesn't seem to be the case here. It would've been cool if the alpha vampire displayed powers similar to the ones Alucard displayed in the Hellsing anime. Some reference to Dracula at all would've been nice too, but it probably would've been too obvious.
This episode delivers great character moments and sets up the possible arc for the season. After a war between Heaven and Hell, a search for Purgatory makes sense and it does a nice job expanding the meta-physical mythos of the show.
We're also given a major shake up in the dynamic of the characters as Samuel is no longer as trust worthy as he seemed. Sam and his grandfather are likely to butt heads and Dean isn't exactly happy with either of them at this point. Considering how much this show loves family drama, this should provide that in spades.
Crowley's always fun to watch and it will be interesting to see how things go now that the boys are working for him.
The episode needed more Castiel, but you could say that about any episode. It's sad to see he's taking a smaller role this season, though I the focus is on the brothers so I can't really fault the writers for that.
The revelation that Sam's soul is gone would've been a great one, had the teaser from last week's episode not spoiled it. Had they kept that part quiet, it would've made for a great revelation. As it was, Castiel was telling us something we already knew. They had to put it in there, using trailers to move advance plot points is stupid, but it also took the surprise out of the declaration.
This was a solid episode and delivered what I've come to expect from Supernatural at this point. It is, in my opinion, one of the best things on television. I was unsure of how this sixth season was going to go since the creator only planned for five, and the last finale would've worked as a series wrap up, but I'm digging the episodes so far. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out.
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