WARNING! If you haven't seen "Hunteri Heroici," read no further! There will be discussion and spoilers and all that, and you really want to watch this episode for yourself to get the full effect of the hilarity! Come back when you've watched!
So, was that fun or was that fun? Because for me, it was pretty damn awesome. I liked that episode a lot. So, yes, this review is probably gonna be a love fest. BUT! Never fear, for I have some Questions (with a capital Q) that need answering! And some other things to discuss. But first off, the thing that's on my mind right now is...
The CIAngels
They don't want Cass in heaven, unless Naomi calls him up there to report. But why? Why don't they want him being seen in heaven? It's obvious that some angels know Castiel is out of Purgatory because they went and got him. I think that the CIAngels are the ones who rescued Cass, and that the other angels left in heaven don't know about the CIAngels. Castiel was in charge of heaven for a time and didn't know about them. The CIAngels don't want it known that Castiel is out because the rest of the angels in heaven will be pissed about it, and it will blow the CIAngel cover.
The only other angel we've seen this season has been Samandriel, and he was asking about Castiel. The next time we see him, he's been captured and is being tortured by Crowley. Did the CIAngels catch wind of Samandriel's questions and hand him over to Crowley? Naomi does seem to find it imperative that she's the only angel who speaks to Castiel right now. She needs to control him.
My Sam Theory
As many of you probably know, since I posted a link in the news section on Monday, Clarissa from TVOvermind.com and I wrote a theories and speculation article about what we think is going on this season. If you haven't read it and want to, you can find it here. That was before the episode aired, but I think my theory about Sam still holds true, and I'll explain why. For those of you who didn't read that article, I'll cover my theory now. For those of you that did, you can skip the next paragraph, if you want.
I think that after Dean and everyone else disappeared, Sam had a mental breakdown of some sort. He ran, just like he said he did. He reached his breaking point and just couldn't handle it anymore. His mind shut down, and he ran. Then he hit a dog and met Amelia. I think those two did bond for a bit, and that they slept together. But I think that when she kicked Sam out the next morning, that the real-life relationship ended there. They had one night, and that's it. But Sam needed something to hold onto, so he created a relationship with Amelia. Everything that happened after their one night is fake, created by Sam as a coping mechanism. And I think tonight's episode fits with this theory.
Amelia's dad is a manifestation of Sam's self-doubt, spewing all the things Sam feels about himself: that he's a mess, that he's not worthy of Amelia, that he's not good enough in so many ways. But then a begrudging acceptance of himself, flaws and all. And then he opens up and is actually honest with himself, lets himself admit that he ran after Dean died to someone other than sypathetic Amelia construct. He starts to forgive himself for it, to accept it. Which is why his brain immediately sabotages the situation by creating Don's fake return. Like he said in his speech to Fred, he was trying so hard to hold on to that dream world that it ended up falling apart on him. And I believe that for Sam, the dream world was a LITERAL dream, not a figurative one where it's like, "oh, in my dream world, the sun shines all the time and ice cream doesn't go straight to my hips and kitty cats and rainbows and every inch of the world has free high-speed WiFi." Dean coming back was the punch in the gut to wake Sam from his dream world, the one his brain made up to help him cope, much like Fred Jones made up his cartoon world to help him cope.
Okay, it's time to bullet point the rest of the episode. Shall we?
- Cass as a hunter was just precious. He was trying so hard, bless him. He got some of the best lines of the episode, too.
- TALKING CAT!!!!!!!
- The cartoon physics and rules were just great. It was just enough to be awesome but not too much.
- There was a great balance of humor and tragedy in this episode. I mean, Fred's story was so sad. And Castiel being suicidal...man, that was heartbreaking.
- It was great to see Castiel find some peace at the end of the episode, though. He realized that helping people didn't have to mean hunting. It could just be sitting quietly with them, even if they didn't really know you were there. It reminded me a lot of Cass' heaven, actually, watching the autistic man fly a kite.
- "There was a pastry mishap. The frosting reached near supersonic speed." Anyone else think the cake wasn't the only thing that exploded at first?
- Sam's facial expression "bemused reaction to Cass and Dean antics" is getting quite the workout lately.
- The fight between Dean and the creepy doctor was epic!
- "What's up, Doc?" "That's all, folks."
- How great were the VFX tonight, especially in Fred's head? That was cool.
- CASS TRIED TO CRACK THE TALKING CAT!!!!!!
- Aw, Cass was gonna get to ride shotgun because he "done good." That's so adorable. Also hilarious was Sam totally hipchecking him out of the way.
- Don's alive! Didn't see that one coming. How do you think this is going to play out?