Supernatural, 4x02, “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester”

Episode Title: Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester
Writer: Sera Gamble
Director: Philip Sgriccia
Originally Aired: 09/25/2008
Grade: A

I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would. It initially looked like an excuse for lazy writing, like, “Hey, let’s just find a way to bring back a bunch of old characters, so then we can play up the nostalgia factor and not have to write a new monster of the week!” But then they actually tied it to the seasonal plot arc, and Meg gave Sam a much-deserved talking-to, and we got another kickass scene between Dean and Castiel. There was actual momentum here!

I was never a fan of Meg, partly because I thought Nicki Aycox looked strangely older than she really was, but she was very pretty with the longer, darker hair, and it was nice to see the writers acknowledge, through Meg, that sleeping with Ruby is absolutely NOT okay. I also genuinely felt for her, although the story about her little sister committing suicide was a bit much.

I thought Dean’s skepticism about God and angels was handled fairly well. His reservations made perfect sense even before the “catching up with dead people we didn’t save” began. Castiel’s demand that Dean treat him with more respect was chilling. I like that the angels here are not all sweetness and light (though I assume they would never be on the show in that context in the first place). How much darkness is there on the “good” side? Does Castiel have a hidden agenda?

Finally, it’s interesting that they chose to reveal Lilith’s endgame—releasing Lucifer—so early in the season. And the 66 seals element gives them a structure for the season, an excuse to come back to the seasonal plot arc every few episodes.

Other Thoughts

-I’m curious as to whether the angels are asexual or not. The demon’s in the Supernatural universe used to be human, so them preferring a particular gender makes sense, but is it the same for angels? Would Castiel be just as comfortable in a woman’s body? Not that I want this to happen any time soon, because I love Misha Collins in the role, but I can’t help but wonder…