Dead or Alive
He did it. Kripke did it. Dean died and went to Hell.
I suppose there was no other way--they've been building the "Dean's going to Hell" storyline all season, to have him saved would almost be cheating. But still, I would've rather had him, you know, not die and be tortured for all eternity.
And he died alone. Sam was fighting Lillith at the same time that Dean was being torn by the hell-hounds. No goodbyes. And when Sam (looking like he's about to burst into tears and cry like a child) cradles his still, blank-eyed brother in his arms, it broke my heart. Then we see Dean in Hell. No fire and brimstone here: it's a massive desolate place like a stormy sky, with Dean suspended from chains, totally isolated, and calling desperately for his brother. The blank eyes of Dean's body and him alone and pained in Hell are the scariest things I've ever seen on this show.
(Lillith's tirade as that little girl was also very scary, because she was so childlike while doing it.)
We didn't get the teary-eyed, hugs & "love you's" goodbye that I wanted. I should've known, it's not Winchester style. Instead, we got two brothers barreling down the road in their car, singing together at the top of their lungs to Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive". That's just as good. It was a perfect scene, I was smiling and crying at the same time. Now I have to explain to people why I get all emotional when I hear that song.
The previouslies had Carry On My Wayward Son playing, of course.
To change things up on the brothers, Lillith transferred from the little girl to Ruby. Well, the body Ruby was using. I suppose her spirit is still out there, somewhere, looking for another body to inhabit. And Lillith escaped the body before Sam got it with the demon-killing knife, so she's still out there too.
Dean's impending doom gave him the ability to see demons' true faces--as Bobby explains it: "You're almost Hell's bitch, now you can see Hell's other bitches." For a moment, he saw Sam with one of these demon faces. Was he seeing Sam's demon blood coming out? Or was Dean just hallucinating?
And Lillith turned her white blast on Sam, but it didn't kill him. It was like there was this protective bubble around him. Are his powers returning?
And now that Dean's in Hell, what's Sam going to do? Pull a Michael Scofield and get sent to Hell himself? And even if Sam does save Dean's soul, his body is ruined. There's probably a spell to preserve the body, though.
I can't wait until next season, to see how Sam will save Dean, how the two will survive without each other, what happened to Ruby and Lillith, whether Sam's powers are returning, and whatever happened to Ellen. We haven't seen her since last season's finale, I'm concerned. Oh, and I'm dying to hear more about why Mary knew the YED.
It's going to be a long summer.