SPN 6x12
Well...hm. I think overall, I'm...unsure of what I think of this ep. Maybe it's just that I need more. More souled!Sam, more moments where Dean isn't wary, more of the brothers being brotherly. Less of Bobby being afraid Sam's going to revert and take a flaying knife to him at the drop of a hat.
There were lots of good things, tho! Two, count 'em, TWO classic rock songs! :D And Sam and Dean were drinking a beer together. THAT IS THE SIGN ALL WILL BE WELL! Also, in the fine tradition of Winchesters only hugging when somebody comes back from the dead (or averts death narrowly in an emo situation [Home] or is found alive after a long absence [Shadow]) - a hug! The hug was very nice, even if it was not quite what I had hoped for. I talked about the weird hug in 6x01 in my reaction post for that episode; it was very off. I just didn't get why, at the time. This one was off, too, because Dean hadn't adjusted yet to this actually being Sam. And why would he have? All his experiences with Sam the last year and a half are unpleasant and difficult. Actually, come to think of it, I have the same problem, functionally, which might explain why I am feeling wary. But back to Dean and Sam hugging, because that's a nice place to dwell: the cautiousness with which Dean is approaching everything related to Sam makes me sad, because that's what their relationship (if you can call it that) devolved into while Sam's soul was in the pit.
This is why I'm glad Castiel showed up for the most awkward reunion OF ALL TIME, ahahaha, oh his little aborted hug was FTW!, and gave it to Sam straight. THANK YOU CASTIEL. It remains to be seen how *much* Castiel told Sam - and oh, wow, I want that story RIGHT NOW, why has no one written it yet???? *stares in dotfic's general direction* -- but obviously, enough for Sam to have a good grasp on how much went down.
HOWEVER. I frowned a lot at the last conversation between Sam and Dean. Memo to Sam: YOU SAVED THE WORLD. If your meatsuit spent a little while topside hunting things and killing things and screwing hookers, I'm okay with that. I think the list of things Sam needs to atone for and make right is pretty short - well, that we know about so far, anyway. Obviously he did some things that probably would make a person's skin crawl if they have a conscience, and I was not down with the whole killing Bobby and letting Dean get vamped thing, but. I don't know. I don't think he burned the world down, either. So I hope he doesn't spend months beating himself up and getting beat up for it.
Also, I would like this trend of the two of them putting things out on the table to continue, because I'm really, really sick of the 'let's just not talk about it/lie to each others' faces/pretend that didn't happen' thing. I think they should be past it. I'm glad Dean told Sam he tried it with Lisa; I'm sorry he didn't say "It didn't work out because you came back, and you're my brother and I'd do anything for you." I'm also sorry he didn't say "DUDE YOU SAVED THE WORLD." But we can't have everything. It is nice to have empathetic, kind, observant Sam back, and I LOVED THE TWO OF THEM BICKERING. Just the tiniest bit. :D
There were some great lines in this. The Hogwarts line, and the reference to getting the sword at ComicCon (ahaha), and OMG Dean working on his first hernia trying to get the sword out of the stone. NEWSFLASH: so much hotter than Merlin. *g* Bobby, as usual, was awesome, with his continued assistance and his cold stew. And I liked his professor ladyfriend. She was amazing. Can she have her own show??
As for the mytharc - they've been foreshadowing the whole purgatory thing for a while, and I continue to insist that Ma and Pa Winchester are in/down there. That would be the best thing ever to be on my TV, so I'll just pretend that's where they're going with it. But I'll tell you, I had a serious Buffy moment when the chick drifted up from the abyss. (Anyone remember Glory?) I was like, maybe Sam isn't real! HE IS THE MYSTICAL KEY! But then I got over it. It's not like Dean was brought back from the dead and crawled out of his grave or anything...oh, wait.
Dragons. Huh. Okay. That would have been cooler if they were, you know. Dragons.
I think I need to seek out other opinions on this. I'm...not quite sure how I feel! Need input!