To recap last season just a bit, the show essentially restarted, almost another season one. Purgatory turned out to be the place that heaven and hell were battling for; a place as it turns out where the souls of all the monsters they have killed over the seasons end up. We find that Sam returns along with their grandfather Samuel from hell and heaven. One with a soul and the other without. We find it is Sam without the soul and it causes him to act recklessly, which causes lots to be killed and even finds his brother Dean a vampire at one point.  Through It all, Castiel and Crowley are working together to find purgatory for the souls. Castiel ends up with the souls and proclaims himself the new God. Fast forward to the first episode of the season…

This first episode picks up directly where the last one left off. Castiel has asked Sam, Dean & Bobby to bow at his feet and proclaim him the new God. He backs off, knowing them to be insincere and allows them to live, for now. Cas also decides not to help Sam, whose wall within his brain, keeping his memories of hell at bay, has been taken down by Castiel (last season).

From the gait, you see a new Dean, a Dean that has given up hope. There is a scene with Dean and Bobby, as Dean is fixing the Impala which was damaged by demons last season. Dean has prepared the car for painting and in the exchange with Bobby, they get to the subject of Same and whether they really think he is alright. Dean’s not buying it, saying that they never catch a break, and boy they really don’t. The Impala will become a great importance to Dean, acting as the only thing in his life that he can actually control.

Meanwhile, Castiel is “playing God” as it were, smiting those who do bad deeds in the name of God and performing miracles to those who deserve it. Castiel is trying to fill his role, better than his Father, which means playing a more hands on role in setting the world the way it should. This includes killing over 200 religious leaders, having the Klu Klux Klan disbanded, healing a leper colony, and many other acts. Castiel even goes to Crowley, striking  new deal over souls, and Crowley as king of Hell again. We also begin to see that Cas is starting to lose control over the souls and they want out!

Sam is struggling with the wall being taken down. This includes having hallucinations or what seem to be hallucinations of images of hell. Chains and blood and even Lucifer, who claims that Sam is still really in the pit and the torture is the hallucination that he is really on the surface.

To deal with the Castiel problem, the Boys and Bobby look to Crowley for the answer; a spell that will bind Death. Asking Death to kill God brings Cas around for a macho showdown between him and Death. Death reveals that there are things older than Angels & Demons for which purgatory was created. They introduce what will be the main nemesis for the show, Leviathan. Leviathan, in myth, is described as a large sea monster. The creature is described heavily in the book of Job and has other roots in Canaanite myths as well as Babylonian ones. Leviathan is also described as the mouth of hell.

Death tells the boys that the only way to save Castiel is to convince him to put the souls back into purgatory. After Castiel destroys the headquarters of a Senator running for office, he realizes that he must give up the souls. He goes to Sam, Dean & Bobby for help. They open the door to purgatory and the souls seemingly go back into purgatory, but a few have actually held on inside Castiel and take him over, Leviathan. Along the way, while Sam was having his hallucination of Lucifer, he disappears.

The season is off to a great start, but I have a few reservations about it. While Leviathan may be the main nemesis of the series, Misha Collins’ character is only a guest start. How much will they really be able to flesh out the character? Of that I’m not sure, but am indeed nervous about. The show has taken a hit in the ratings as well, It’s down .4 from last seasons premiere to .8 according to Nielsen’s ratings. The only show that has done worse is Nikita which premiered at .6. I have been a proponent for a long time that the show should have ended with the fifth season, I don’t want to say that last season was all terrible, because it wasn’t. Sera Gamble has done the best she can with it, but the show will always end at the fifth season for me.