The episode was an interesting way to portray the Osiris myth. I was confused at first, since the victims were being chased by hallucinatory elements and then we find out they had actually turned their lives around, so Osiris was judging them for the guilt that still weighed in their hearts. Of course Dean would be #1 on that list. His two biggest guilts being the way he ruined (in his mind) Jo and Sam's lives were very true to his character. And the threat to Amy being the third witness pushed him over the edge. He'd rather die than tell Sam the truth about her. This is not going to bode well for them in the long-term. Secrets between the Winchesters usually end in death and pain.
As for Sam, seeing him being the most well-adjusted between the two of them was a bit weird. This is the guy with the Hell hallucinations and the constant need to use pain to ground himself in reality and he's the better of the two? But he's also learned to let go of his guilt. He's done some bad things in his life, but he served his time in Hell and now he sees the scales as more balanced. Dean hasn't learned that yet and it's going to kill him if he doesn't learn it soon. He can't carry around that much guilt and pain without it cracking his already fragile psyche. He's already withdrawn into the safety of his former view of the world being clearly monsters = bad. I wonder when Sam will learn the truth about Amy and when Dean's going to go tumbling down.
It was wonderful to see Jo back tonight. We got a chance to see Ellen brought back from the dead in the AU Titanic world, so it was only fitting that Jo get to come back at least once. It was interesting that she didn't want to bring vengeance upon Dean, but she was pushed to do so by Osiris. And Dean was so forgiving the entire time, because he knew that she didn't want to do it either. I wondered how she would kill him, apparently blocking out that "oh, yeah, he's going to die like she did" so when she started turning on the gas it was gut-wrenching. They were all put into a bad situation, but thankfully Sam managed to save them in time.
Despite the weighed-down nature of tonight's ep, there were some lighter/old-school moments:
- Brotherly bickering when they went through the first victim's crime scene.
- Getting to trample through the graveyard. They haven't done that in a while.
- Sam laying a salt circle (and Dean laying one later). Always nice to go back to basics.
- Dean trying to psyche himself up to get with the bartender. He's been out of the game for far too long.
- Lawyer!Sam! He's a bit rusty, but it was nice to see him attempt to put some of that old knowledge to good use.
- Sam stealing the ram's horn from the synagogue. I don't know what he told the guy to be able to get it out of there (or maybe he took it by force), but I love that he had no qualms about going into a holy building and stealing an item because it needed to be done.
I'm looking forward to next week and I'm also looking forward to seeing how Dean's issues work out. He's got a lot weighing on him and sooner or later something's got to give.
