John and Mary are in the Impala, by the river, and John sweetly tries to propose. Bad timing dude. The moment is ruined when not!Grandpa shows up and yanks Mary out of the car. Careful John, this is the big bad, don't intervene or¦oops, he gets his neck broken! John Winchester dies??? Holy crap. Mary cradles his body in her arms and Yellow Eyes tells her he killed her parents too. John can live (but only John) and Mary can have her picket fence life if she gives him permission to come back in ten years for a little something. As long as I'm not interrupted, nobody gets hurt.    

 

Mary didn't remember that? Come on, she was warned twice. No, I get it, I'm a mom too. If there's an intruder in my baby's room, I'll ignore warnings to ignore it. As for the deal, what choice did she have? If she didn't take the deal, there would be no Dean and Sam, so she loses either way. Still, whose heart isn't crushed right now by the fact that she unknowingly doomed her youngest son?  

Dean arrives just in time to see Yellow Eyes and Mary kiss (no daddy kissing daughter comments please for this follows continuity). Dean was late because he had to gun a Pinto. If only he had the Impala. By the way, was anyone else thrilled that the Impala was there for all this drama? She's been there for all the family heartaches. I'm even feeling sorry for the car.

Mary looks back.  Dean is gone, but the Pinto was left behind. Castiel forgot to send it back to 1979. How's he going to explain that one to the man upstairs? John and Mary hug in distress over Samuel's body and I need this commercial break. I have to pull myself together to get through the rest of this. 

Dean wakes up in horror and sees Castiel. I couldn't stop any of it. Castiel reveals the real reason behind the time travel. Don't be too hard on yourself. You couldn't have stopped it. Destiny can't be changed Dean. All roads lead to the same destination. Dean was sent back to see the truth and now he knows what the angels know. Dean is angry, confused, and frustrated all in one distressed glare. I love it when Jensen does that. Castiel's head slowly turns toward Sam's empty bed. A trip back in time to witness the tragic family history is a pretty elaborate way to break the news to someone his brother has been lying to him. Those angels do have their quirks.     

Where's Sam? Dean is worried. We know what Azazel did to your brother, we don't know why. Dean doesn't care and asks again, Where's Sam? This time, Castiel actually tells him. The straight answer comes with a big tag though.  -          Was Dean yanked out of Hell to solely to stop Sam? It makes sense since he's the only one that can do it. The possibilities now are huge. What's Dean going to have to do to stop Sam? Will Dean have to kill Sam like John told him?

-          Now we know why Mary said I'm sorry to Sam in Home. I'm dying to see if Dean tells him, or if Sam will be too far gone by the time he does. I know, trust in Kripke.

-          The Winchester chain went back farther than we thought. Follow the bouncing ball. Mary made a deal for John, John made a deal for Dean, Dean made a deal for Sam. Frightening what the Winchesters will do for each other. I wonder why no one would deal with Sam. Maybe because of that end game thing?

-          Samuel involved his young daughter in the family business. That's what John ended up doing to Sam and Dean. That's so tragic. 

-          Maybe Sam Winchester is the Antichrist. I'm convinced Ruby is evil. That argument will be explored further in another article.

-          It was great to see John as the wide-eyed innocent in this one. Boy did he change. Think about it though. He became a cold obsessed bastard without Mary as the stabilizing force in his life. Isn't that how Sam ended up without Dean?  

-          I loved when Mary looked through the albums. For those of us pushing middle age and beyond, who remembers doing that as a kid? Go ahead, raise your hand. It's okay. I still have albums and turntable in the basement. It's our little secret.

Grade, A+. The greatest episodes list is likely going to be drastically revised when this season is done. The damned Pinto was the only flaw in this one, but not enough to mark it down. I think someone put it there for my amusement. Next week, Dean confronts Sam. Ah the warm glow of brotherhood.