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I am someone who loves all things Salem and Puritan witch trials. Based upon good reviews and internet buzz, I had high hopes for this film. Things I did like were the costuming, the setting and the period-specific language. However, I was distinctly unimpressed overall. Many people rave about this as a horror film, but while there were certainly bloody, gory scenes, I would categorize that more as "disgusting" rather than "scary." As for the story itself, I guess it was meant to be a psychological thriller, but that only works if your audience can actually follow the story. I was appreciated the period-specific speech but due to the fact that the sound quality was bad, I found myself resorting to subtitles to attempt to follow what was going on. Unfortunately, it seemed like the entire film was just multiple vignettes of increasingly chaotic happenings on an isolated farm strung together, and what TRULY disappointed me was the end. The fact that there actually ARE witches and a devil/demon causing all the mayhem in the end is a much worse plot twist than if we discovered that the supernatural aspect was all imaginary and that the family slaughtered each other over something that only existed in their minds. Now THAT would've been a truly scary ending!!

While watching "A Million Little Things," I often wonder if this show's creators/writers are people like me: a 90's child who grew up watching "Friends," hoping that someday when I and my friends were adults, we'd have fun, almost glamorous lives like the group shown on that show, but now that I've matured past the age of the characters on the original sitcom, my real middle-aged life has actually been much more like the lives of the characters in this drama, with serious issues like suicide, alcoholism, cancer, money issues, etc. and unfortunately much less goofiness. However, the main concept of both these shows is still the same: adults getting by in this world by leaning on their friend groups.

To carry the comparison further, the characters in these two shows can also be paired up: -There's the respected professional with a successful white collar career on the one hand whose family situation at home is messy on the other hand (Ross/Katherine) -There's another professional who seems to be doing well financially at a poorly-defined office career who's also a goofy man child who is convinced he's the funniest member of the group (Chandler/Gary) -There's one in the entertainment industry who isn't quite where they want to be yet, but keeps trying (Joey/Rome) -There's the woman who thought she'd get to be a pampered housewife for the rest of her life, but then her marriage didn't go according to plan, so now she needs to become a career woman to support herself (Rachel/Delilah) -There's the artsy musician who isn't quite making a living off of their music (Phoebe/Eddie) -And finally the chef trying to make it in the restaurant business, whom the rest of the group rely on whenever they want feeding (Monica/Regina)

In addition, some of the story lines are similar, but obviously done much more seriously on the drama than the sitcom: -Two of the friends sleep together, resulting in an unplanned pregnancy

• A pair of the friends are married and pursuing an adoption

Overall, a quite good show that speaks to both a generation's issues and the affect a solid group of friends can have on each other's lives.

During the scene where Poe is writing the first of his stories for the kidnapper, he says to Detective Fields "I feel as if I've gone from author to character in one of my many tales," and in a way, he HAS. Most literary historians agree that Poe was the creator of the modern detective story when he wrote "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (the story acted out in this film's opening scene). Poe's hero C. August Dupin was THE original detective, and it was hard to tell whether it was Fields or Poe playing the Dupin role in this film. I find it interesting that many other reviewers drew a comparison between this film and "Sherlock Holmes," because even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said "Where was the detective story until Poe breathed life into it?" Thus, it was a treat to watch the creator of the detective story BECOME a detective in this film, as well as watch his other creations be acted out.

However, I had to subtract two stars for a few reasons: 1) The fictional character of Emily Hopkins. In real life, there were ACTUAL women whom Poe pursued after his wife Virginia's death. This movie could've featured Sarah Elmira (nee Royster) Shelton, his love interest from before he went to college and the woman whom he actually WAS engaged to at the time of his death, as the heroine. Or Frances Sargent Osgood, to whom he wrote the riddle poem "A Valentine," with her name hidden within, and whose youngest daughter may or may not have been Poe's illegitimate love-child. Why make up a fictional character when there were real, and MUCH more interesting options with better TRUE backstories, to use? 2) The goatee. When I first heard that John Cusack was taking the role of Poe, I thought he was an excellent choice due to having a similar forehead and eyes. However, this movie had to go and wreck the look by adding a goatee. The real Poe was famous for his MOUSTACHE!!! 3) The (mis)use of "Annabel Lee" and Virginia Poe. In this film, one of Poe's most famous poems, "Annabel Lee" is misconstrued as a love poem being used to woo his new girlfriend. In reality, most literary historians agree that the poem was actually an elegy to his dead wife Virginia. In addition, this film woefully overlooks the role of Virginia in Poe's life, devoting exactly one mention of her from Poe. In reality, most biographers agree that it was the loss of Virginia that caused Poe's downward spiral during the last two years of his life.

Some of the "1" ratings seemed to complain we didn't get enough "backstory" and at first I agreed that a lot of info seemed to be missing. It took me a second viewing of this film to realize that everything we needed to know was stated about 5 minutes in. Brandon is at school in science class and the teacher is doing a lesson comparing bees to wasps. When she says they look the same but asks the students to explain the difference, Brandon says " One species, the Polistes sulcifer, is what's called a brood parasite, they've lost the ability to make nests, so they use brute force to make other wasp species to raise their young." In a movie this short, the viewer has to realize that almost every piece of info is important, just like this seemingly irrelevant snippet from a classroom. Basically, this one sentence sums up what Brandon is: he looks like a bee, but is actually a wasp, specifically a brood parasite wasp, one whose people tricked the bees into raising. Kyle comes to this realization too late, when he says to Tori "He may look like us. But... He's not like us! He's some *THING* We found in the forest!" Brandon may look like a human and may have been raised by humans, but his one purpose is "Take the world." Its a "nature vs. nurture" argument.

Being a precocious child, I actually READ "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" before seeing any of the movie versions, and it quickly became my favorite Halloween story. The very first film adaptation I saw was the 1949 Bing Crosby version, which, being Disney, is perfect for children and even stays closer to the original than most Disney films tend to do, surprisingly. The 1980 Jeff Goldblum version is NOWHERE near to the original, either in its casting or setting, and of course the Johnny Depp version is Tim Burton's story, not Washington Irving's. THIS version, however, is close to spot-on! Some of the lines are even directly from Irving! Brent Carver is a perfect Ichabod, a protagonist who is our "hero" but also conceited and slightly deluded; and Rachelle Lefevre is a charming Katrina, the picture of a young Dutch heiress. Their love triangle is completed by Paul Lemelin playing Brom, the foil to Ichabod: young and athletic while Crane is middle-aged and bookish, the hunk while Crane looks like an actual crane! The only aspect in which this version deviates from the source is that this Katrina seems legitimately interested in Ichabod, whereas the original story makes it quite clear she is only using him to make the carefree Brom jealous and encourage him to settle down with her. I was pleased to see this version included Ichabod daydreaming about becoming master of Van Tassel farm (which reveals his true interest in Katrina) and even the classic ambivalent ending which leaves the dual possibilities of there actually being a ghost or just Brom playing yet another prank. These two possibilities are both presented in the book, yet most film versions ignore that. As someone who teaches "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" to middle schoolers and used to follow it up with the Bing Crosby version, this is now my preferred version!

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is my all-time favorite Halloween story, and I was eager to see this version since I believed Jeff Goldblum would be an excellent Ichabod Crane. In that one respect, and that one part ONLY, I was not disappointed. Everything ELSE, however, was just plain WRONG, starting right from the opening shot. "Sleepy Hollow" is a HALLOWEEN story, and as such is supposed to be set during the peak of autumn, late October. However, this version opens on a snowy, wintery scene, and we later learn that the Van Tassels' party preceding the chase scene is a "winter ball," not the harvest festival it is supposed to be. Speaking of the Van Tassels...the casting of Katrina is absolutely wrong as well. She is supposed to be just 18 and a blonde beauty, not some dark, late-middle aged hag whose hair is already greying. Brom is also played wrong as well, since he is supposed to also be young & the extremely popular town jock, not some pudgy middle-aged loser. Also, the story is supposed to be strictly a love triangle between these three; this version adds in another woman with no basis in the original story. The ending, too, is completely wrong, as Ichabod is NOT supposed to get the girl...in fact, he is supposed to vanish from Sleepy Hollow entirely! I wanted to rate this a 1, but Goldblum earned it the two additional stars. If you are looking for an ACCURATE retelling of Washington Irving's classic, I recommend you watch the 1999 Hallmark version starring Brent Carver instead.

This remake of the 1980 Carpenter classic is serviceable, and definitely has better special effects (a benefit of newer technology). The new plot also has one improvement over the original story, but that improvement can't make up for another MASSIVE flaw.

First, the improvement: all of the major characters in this version were rewritten as descendants of the murderers. Therefore, the vengeful ghosts have a reason to go after these particular people. That was one of the few things that always irked me about the original; the ghosts in that version were killing random townsfolk, not anyone tied to the original crime.

Now, the HUGE mistake: this film is called "The FOG," and in the original, FOG played a major role in the murders: on a foggy night, the town fathers built a fire on the wrong section of beach (like a fake lighthouse), and tricked the unfortunate ship into sailing into a rocky area, thus sinking it and drowning those onboard. That is why the murdered sailors return in a fog in the original. In this rewrite, however, the town fathers sneak out to the anchored ship in a little boat at night while everyone on board sleeps and burn the ship down. Why would those ghosts then return in a fog? Ghosts murdered by fire would return in a fire! By changing that one plot point, they have completely changed the premise behind the title and the whole point of the original.

Final verdict: Watch this version if you want better special effects and (IMO) a more attractive cast. Watch the original if you want a more logical story that makes the title make sense.

I see many reviewers here comparing this film to Carpenter's more-famous "Halloween" and as a result, downvoting this classic. The problem is, they're comparing two movies that, while related, are not quite in the same genre. "Halloween" is undoubtedly a horror/slasher flick, while "The Fog" is a ghost story. In a traditional ghost story, there is of course the ghost(s) returning to the land of the living due to unfinished business or a tragic demise and then the living, who are being haunted by the aforementioned ghost(s) and must figure out why and how to stop it. And that is exactly what happens here. We get a detailed backstory of the ghosts via a convenient journal, it makes sense they'd come in a fog, and we ultimately a reasonable way of dispatching them. This was one of the first ghost stories I watched as a small child, and aside from being the first movie to actual give me nightmares, it spawned a life-long love of ghost stories. "Halloween" is a seasonal favorite to watch in October, but I would gladly watch this gem any month of the year.

Drove home from work tonight with "Carry On Wayward Son" and the rest of my "Supernatural" playlist blasting on the car stereo (not a '67 Impala or a cassette tape, sigh!), put my Winchester Surprise in the oven, popped open a beer, prepped my cherry pie and got ready for tonight's finale. And sweet merciful awesome, what a finale it was!

1) You've got to wonder whether this episode's script was written before or after the decision to make next year the final season was made. If it was AFTER, then oh the meaning behind some of the lines during the boys' argument with Chuck in the graveyard:

• "Our entire lives..Mom, Dad, everything. This is all you...because what? Because we're your favorite show? Because we're part of your story?" Doesn't that sound like it could be directed toward the fans in a semi-accusatory way, like "How can you crazy people actually enjoy watching the characters you love so much endure so much suffering?"
• And then (in reference to the first apocalypse back in the Season 5 finale, when the show was *supposed* to end) it continues: "Where were you, just sitting back and watching us suffer? So we can do this over and over and over again-fighting, losing people we love? When does it end?" Doesn't that sound like actors who are burnt out in their roles? Jensen and Jared did say it was a group decision to end next year...

2) Aw, that bro-ment scene in Dean's room when he tells Sam what he's planning and Sam insists he can't lose anyone else? ALL THE FEELZ!!!

3) Motörhead's "God Was Never On Your Side" was quite the on-the-nose choice for the closing montage, wasn't it? And if Chuck Almighty is indeed the Big Bad for next year, then the boys definitely have their work cut out for them.

AND THE GIGANTIC CHERRY ON TOP: 4) Those Season 1 call-backs at the end!!!! Constance the Woman in White from the VERY FIRST pilot episode and Bloody Mary too!! We are clearly set up for the "go big or go home" season Jensen promised for next year! If anything and everything that the boys have killed over the last 14 years is back, then ANYTHING can happen next year! Imagine who we could see: Crowley? Madison? Jo? Original Bobby? Lenore? Benny? Adam? Kevin Tran? Uriel? Zachariah? Dick Roman? Eve? Lilith? Yellow Eyes? We could be seeing ANYONE next year! It's going to be SO bittersweet!!

Dean's increased drinking has been a concern of Sam's throughout this season. This particular episode features an alcohol spirit which a person has to be drunk to see. It would therefore be expected that Dean would be the one sloshed and watching the Shojo. Ironically, at the end of the episode, Drinker Dean is the only sober hunter while Sam and Garth are incapacitated...the one time it would actually benefit Dean to be drunk, he isn't! Other random notes:

• Garth is an awesome addition, it's always interesting to see other hunters and how their styles and attitudes compare and contrast with the Winchesters'
• The final scene with the big Bobby reveal. All the feelz!

Basically your average monster-of-the-week episode, very reminiscent of the early seasons. Since the overall plot of this particular episode was nothing major, it allowed me to focus on the little details, particularly where the boys' heads are at in this episode: Dean- Dean is back in the game! After Season 7, with Sam and Bobby both worried that Dean had lost his edge and that he was going to end up killed as a result, Dean acknowledges that his time in Purgatory has shown him that killing monsters is what he does best. Sam- We're now back to the same Sam we had in Season 1, the one who was desperate to give up hunting and live a normal life. It's frustrating to hear him rant about how his past year without Dean gave him "something he's never had before" though...isn't that EXACTLY what he had at Stamford for SEVERAL years with Jessica? Has he forgotten all about her? It was disheartening to listen to him try to convince Dean that he didn't need him around and that Dean should start preparing to continue hunting on his own.

I know a lot of people were extremely annoyed with Sam in this episode and his failure to search for/rescue Dean. However, if you binge watch the second half of Season 7 and then watch this episode immediately after, his actions make perfect sense. First, we had Ghost Bobby losing his dead-guy marbles due to his failure to move on; his final words to the Winchesters were "When it's your time to go, GO!" In other words, he was telling the boys that they need to stop trying to bring their departed loved ones back and let the natural order do its thing (which is basically what Death himself had also told Dean in Season 6). Which leads to the second thing: for all Sam knew, Dean WAS indeed dead. Remember, as Crowley told Sam in the last minutes of the Season 7 finale: "You are well and truly on your own." Sam didn't have Cas to check if Dean was in Heaven, he didn't have Bobby to turn to for lore, and Crowley certainly wasn't going to help. So what could anyone legitimately expect Sam to do, other than move on with his life in whatever way he could? Best scenes of this episode:

• Dean's montage in the beginning to "Man in the Wilderness" (it's a perfect theme song for him), leading to the reveal that he's now buddies with a vampire.
• Dean's interactions with food. When he refuses Sam's offer of dinner and then doesn't choose something from the motel vending machine, Sam knows something is seriously wrong with his brother...so he orders him a burger as a peace offering.
• the hotel "bro-ment" where they try to reconnect and catch each other up on what they each did for the past year.

Overall, "Supernatural" can usually be counted on for strong season premiere and finale episodes, and this one stayed true to form.

If I wanted to watch "The Blair Witch Project," I would've watched "The Blair Witch Project." When I turn on "Supernatural," I expect to watch "Supernatural." That means I expect to see Sam and Dean front and center, killing monsters like they were intended to, while listening to classic rock. Instead, in this episode we get some random college-AV-club-kids-turned-monsters who listen to the same one indie pop song throughout the entire episode. As someone who watched every episode of every season since this show first aired, I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Supernatural" episodes that do NOT feature Sam and Dean as the main focus are usually the WORST episodes. "Weekend at Bobby's" was a rare exception; this episode was not. Of all the 300+ episodes to date, this one is in the bottom 10.

"Cousin Oliver Syndrome" is the TV term for when a new, young character with an implausible backstory is haphazardly added to a long-running, successful show whose beloved leads *may be* starting to show signs of their age (like there's something wrong with that). The theory behind this forced addition is that this new, younger character should attract a new, younger audience and reinvigorate the show, but that doesn't happen often. Instead, historically the introduction of this new, ill-fitting character has signaled the show's demise (in other words, "Cousin Oliver Syndrome" is a specific form of jumping the shark). It is named for the character who was introduced in the final six episodes of "The Brady Bunch," but it definitely applies to what has happened to our beloved "Supernatural" over the last two seasons with the introduction of the Winchesters' pseudo little brother/foster son Bambi Boy Jack. With this episode, it has been made abundantly clear that Bambi (and to a lesser extent, the Lebanon-townie groupies as well) are SPN's "Cousin Oliver." Apparently, the show runners have sadly lost faith in Jensen and Jared to carry the show themselves and/or run out of ideas. Ironically, way back in Season 4, we had an actual episode titled "Jump the Shark," where the Winchester brothers met their REAL younger brother, Adam. With that very title choice, the show runners flat-out admitted that they knew adding a third, younger Winchester would "jump the shark." Too bad they didn't remember that during the two most recent seasons. And, on the topic of the old seasons...here's an interesting experiment: watch one of the new episodes, and then watch an old (Season 1-5) episode immediately after. Guaranteed, you will not feel like you are watching the same show. Even the lighting and music are different!

Bambi Boy has been nothing but a naive fool since his introduction and a convenient deus-ex-machina for the writers. As Dean said it in the previous episode, he's simply the boys' "Get Out of Jail Free" card. To see Jack get played so easily by EVERYONE in this episode (angels, Lucifer, even the Winchesters themselves) just underscores how much of a tool he is and always has been. Unfortunately, he is also an extremely powerful tool, which makes for an incredibly dangerous combination. A lot of people were upset when Mary berated him at the end of "Game Night," saying it wasn't fair for her to blame him when she and her family are also killers. However, one major difference was skipped over: Jack killed Nick with a THOUGHT, while regular folk like the Winchesters use weapons. Mary wasn't scolding Jack for the kill, but the WAY he killed. She didn't explain it well, but her real problem was Bambi's inability to control his powers (which we had already seen in "Don't Go Into the Woods," where he accidentally stabbed his new friend). The bottom line is Jack is doubly dangerous to everyone, himself included, because of both his powers and his cluelessness, and if he gets put down next episode, I will be fine with that.

Bambi Boy has been nothing but a naive fool since his introduction and a convenient deus-ex-machina for the writers. As Dean said it in the previous episode, he's simply the boys' "Get Out of Jail Free" card. To see Jack get played so easily by EVERYONE in this episode (angels, Lucifer, even the Winchesters themselves) just underscores how much of a tool he is and always has been. Unfortunately, he is also an extremely powerful tool, which makes for an incredibly dangerous combination. A lot of people were upset when Mary berated him at the end of "Game Night," saying it wasn't fair for her to blame him when she and her family are also killers. However, one major difference was skipped over: Jack killed Nick with a THOUGHT, while regular folk like the Winchesters use weapons. Mary wasn't scolding Jack for the kill, but the WAY he killed. She didn't explain it well, but her real problem was Bambi's inability to control his powers (which we had already seen in "Don't Go Into the Woods," where he accidentally stabbed his new friend). The bottom line is Jack is doubly dangerous to everyone, himself included, because of both his powers and his cluelessness, and if he gets put down next episode, I will be fine with that.

It's been 12 long years since Dean stated those words after John brought him back in Season 2 as the show's first major resurrection. The Winchester brothers have actually known this basic truth even longer if you consider the Season 1 episode "Faith" where there was fallout after Sam messed with their first reaper to heal a mortally injured Dean. Death himself reiterated this to the Winchesters in the Season 6 episode "Appointment in Samarra": the boys need to stop messing with the natural order. When Bambi Boy was resurrected in the first half of this season, I had a feeling it wasn't going to end well, and this episode was proof of that. It's too bad the brothers didn't just leave well enough alone back in "Byzantium." Of all the new characters the writers have added in the last few seasons, Mary brought more to the show than Bambi Boy, and given the choice between them, I'd have rather kept her around than Jack. As Dean pointed out at the beginning of this episode, the nephilm has basically become their "Get Out of Jail Free Card," an easy way to solve all of their (and the writers') problems, and Sam notes that Dean is disappointed in that (rightfully so, the "nephilim-ex-machina" makes things far too easy). Given that the title for next week's episode is "Jack in the Box," I'm guessing that the Malik Box that Dean built in "Damaged Goods" is going to come back into play, but this time to hold Jack instead of Dean, which is NOT a direction I would've predicted after "Prophet and Loss," so good on the writers for keeping that ace up their sleeves. Final thoughts on the best scenes in this episode: 1) After all of the flashbacks throughout the episode showing what Mary has meant to Jack, Cas and Sam, the best one was the final, wordless one with Dean, where nothing needed to be spoken, the smile on Dean's face with his mom was at his side says it all. 2) During Mary's funeral at the end, Cas looks over at Dean, and seeing the turmoil on his suffering friend's face, starts walking toward him, presumably to attempt to offer comfort. And Sam holds him back and shakes his head "no" at the angel, knowing that his brother is in no fit state to talk to the friend he feels has let them down so badly. (I'm actually a little worried for Sam, I think he's going to be so busy dealing with his brother's grief that his own will get overlooked, the same thing happened in Season 2 when they lost their father, it took several episodes before Dean even acknowledged "He was your dad, too"...)

So clearly in the last few seasons, the writers have decided "Hey, we want to expand this show, what should we do? Let's give our main characters some unnecessary extended family, we'll bring back Mama Mary and throw in a little brother/son figure for good measure!"

*Side note: if the writers wanted to add a little/brother son character so badly, why didn't they just resurrect Adam?*

Admittedly, having additional characters has provided opportunities for new story arcs, but the writers (like me), must've gone back and rewatched the earliest seasons and realized what makes this show what it is: the focus on the relationship between Sam and Dean. Probably the best episode this season was "Prophet and Loss," and that is because that episode is all about the brothers. Mama and Bambi Boy don't appear at all, and Cas is literally phoning it in. When the writers (rightfully) relegate those extra characters to background/nonexistent roles, we get awesome episodes. When the Winchester AREN'T the center of the stories, we get episodes like "Bloodlines" (I'm still pretending that one never happened). Hopefully now the writers are trying to fix their mistake by eliminating the unnecessary characters: Mary is potentially back to the afterlife, where she should've remained, and Bambi Boy is being revealed as the real big bad of the season, whom the Winchesters will then deal with, Dean finally keeping the promise he made when Bambi first appeared, that he would be the one to kill him. I think their realizations about Nick in this episode, the recognition that some people just can't be saved, is foreshadowing what they will soon recognize about Bambi Boy. Final thoughts: Best scenes of this episode were Dean trying to build a mousetrap and a dying Sam whispering to Dean that he's always put him first.

To be "cavalier" is, according to the dictionary to be "Carefree and nonchalant; jaunty." That describes this show perfectly, just silly goofiness that is meant to entertain and not be taken seriously. Since Wednesday night is currently seriously lacking in TV options, this fills that void nicely. Pluses: LOVE that the intro sequence is clearly a spoof on James Bond intros (wasn't shown in the pilot, you have to watch Ep. 2 to see it) Minuses: 1) The gender-swapping is too PC. The guy is overly emotional/too much of a "beta male" and the woman is almost too tough. It clearly takes the old James Bond formula and flips it. 2) Standish (the NSA agent). The team continually goes to Europe, but he only speaks English, and what kind of agent has NO firearms training? He is a VERY weak link, especially since the CIA support guy can apparently cover the technology aspects.

This episode reminded me of the Season 12 episode "Regarding Dean," in which we saw Dean actually pretty happy, but only at the cost of not being himself. In this episode, we saw Sam (or rather, "Justin") take his turn at the same scenario. Speaking of being happy or not: This is NOT the fallout I was expecting from last week's episode. Sure, it's understandable that Bambi Boy is somewhat "off" after his change in status, but Sam seems to be taking things REALLY hard. And the really strange part is that Dean actually seems to be fine, when last week he was literally screaming that it was his fault Michael was loose. Shouldn't we be seeing a bit more angst on Dean's part over all those deaths last week? And did Dean somehow lose part of his brain when Micheal left? Feed a snake bacon? Test whether someone has a soul or not based on their snack food choices? C'mon, Dean can be comical, but he's not stupid! Originally, I was planning on giving this episode a solid "7," because it was a little too goofy for my tastes, but then I saw the final minute. That conclusion reminded me about something I read back in the fall, where one of the show runners teased that Michael actually WASN'T this season's Big Bad. Did we finally get the big reveal of who that actual is at the end of this episode? Here's hoping! Final thoughts: What is with the Clark Kent glasses this season? Once on Dean in "Mint Condition" and twice now on Sam in this episode and "Lebanon." The last time we saw our boys in eyewear, it was because the glasses we enchanted to see hellhounds. This is just silly. But oh that ponytail!!

Between how great a character Michael is and seeing what would actually give Dean "contentment," I don't even know where to start praising this episode! I'm loving the Michael storyline and how Jensen plays him so much, it's the best thing on "Supernatural" since the Mark of Cain!!! Speaking about the past: this episode made me think of "Born Under a Bad Sign" back in Season 2, when Jo Harvelle asked Dean "I know demons lie, but do they ever tell the truth?" and Dean replied that they would if it helped them. That made me wonder: Do angels tell the truth but twist it? Some of the best lines were what Michael said to Jack and Sam. First he says to Jack that Dean wasn't actually sad when Jack died because deep down he doesn't care about Jack because he's not Sam or Cas, which I can absolutely see as a twisting of the truth. Dean wanted to straight-up kill Jack himself only about a year ago. Is Jack really family to Dean now? And then Michael says to Sam that Dean knows Sam will abandon him again and again. Dean's abandonment issues with Sam have been a thing since Season 1 and were emphasized with a vengeance in Season 5 in "Dark Side of the Moon." And then, the finale of this episode? DEAN. AS. THE. CAGE???!!! I. CAN'T. EVEN!!

About halfway through the episode, Cas says that Jack dying is "losing a son." Ugh! Ok, maybe he's like a son to Cas, especially since Kelly picked Cas to "raise" him and Jack did refer to Cas as his father at the beginning of last season. But he is NOT a son to the Winchesters...more like an abnoxious, clueless little brother that no one really wants around. I am so hoping Jack is actually really dead now, he's not adding anything to the show. And while I understand what they were trying to do with the "Dean teaches Jack to drive" scene, how many episodes did it take Dean to allow a fully licensed Sam to drive Baby back in Season 1? Speaking of the old seasons: my DVR recorded some Season 2 episodes off TNT and I watched one of them, "Bloodlust," immediately after watching this new episode. While I love "Supernatural" and will be with it to the end, it was just so jarring watching a classic episode and comparing it to the show now. So much has changed, even the way it's filmed. I actually miss those old, dark episodes!

Ok, so it's apparently greasy, it can be made with extra cheese if requested, and young Dean and Sam thought they could cook it on a hot plate with sliced cheese and bologna. But what exactly is it?? Writers, you ABSOLUTELY MUST give us more details on this!! Food concerns aside, this episode was great, especially the awkward bro hug in the beginning and seeing Dean engage in "Arts and Crafts: Hunter Edition." Best part was the finale with the patented angsty Winchester bro-ment. HOWEVER, this episode is losing 2 stars for stupidity. Some MAJOR possibilities have been overlooked: 1) The season premiere established that Lucifer could be stabbed and killed with an archangel blade but his vessel Nick survived. Why aren't the guys spending their time looking for one of those? Find one, let Michael take control, and then stab away! Michael dies, Dean lives! Everybody else hoping to see this in the season finale? 2) After Sam was possessed by Gadreel, Cas used that special Men of Letters syringe to suck the angel's grace out of Sam. Why haven't they tried using that on Dean to remove Michael's grace? No grace = powerless archangel! 3) Dean wants to be dropped into the Pacific because being buried wouldn't be "safe enough." Has he forgotten back when he first got the Mark of Cain and Cain said he'd thrown the First Blade to the bottom of the ocean? Crowley said he was capable of searching for it! If demons can survive on the bottom of the ocean, how would dropping Dean there be safe?

Maybe it was because episode #299 immediately preceding this was SOOOO absolutely PERFECT (I even wrote in my review of "Prophet and Loss" that IT actually should have been the big #300, especially if getting JDM as a guest star for this episode didn't work out). Maybe it's the fact that we're only getting 20 episodes this season and it seems like a waste to spend even one of that precious limited number on an episode like this where nothing really happens (at least nothing that adds to the season's story arc). But whatever it was, as someone who's loyally watched this show since the beginning, I just feel that a milestone episode like this one should've been something...more. Especially after the cheesy, goofy farce that was the musical #200, we're owed something HUGE. Some critical plot twist or some life-changing event should've happened, like with #100. But just some closure that they didn't even really need? Sam literally said in the previous episode that he had put the past behind him! This episode, while emotional and sweet, just feels unnecessary. I wanted to give it 5 stars as a middle-of-the-road score, but I lowered it to 3 to try to counteract the 10s, because I do feel they overinflate the score for this episode. Final notes: 1) Jack will henceforth and forever be referred to as "Bambi Boy." Perfect description for this unnecessary and unlikeable character, why couldn't he just have stayed dead in "Byzantium"? 2) What exactly is "Winchester Surprise"? John calls it a casserole in this episode and we learned in "Damaged Goods" that it's apparently greasy, can be made with extra cheese, and that a young Sam thought it could be made with bologna, but what is it? Somebody out there has a recipe!

I wonder if this episode was actually meant to be #300 in the event that they couldn't get JDM to guest star in the next episode? After all, this was a PERFECT example of what makes "Supernatural" the show it is: the tight focus on the two brothers (notice how most of the secondary characters were either literally phoning it in like Cas or not in the episode at all, like Mary and Jack), their drive to save the world, even if it meant a sacrifice on their part, conflicting with the desire to protect each other? And then not one but THREE angsty bro-ments via the post-nightmare motel room scene, the "deathbed apology" in the car and then the finale, complete with a hug!!! And the cherry on top was the special musical score with the tubular bells that appears to have been produced just for this episode! Best episode of the season, IMO.