Every other character; Dad, Sam ad even Bobby have been dragged in the dirt dirt to make Dean look better. It wasn't necessary and I am done with Kripke. S5 will be an interly new show, one that will fit CW better.

Show is now so predictable and boring story-wise that only the acting of the leads save it. And with JP in the background for a third season in a row, I am gone.

Watching Cas and Dean discuss and make eyes at each other (I also suspect kripke will go the triangle-route, Sam and Cas fight over Dean) is too soapy for me to digest.

You and the others above have pretty much said everything for me, but I have to say one thing. The ending. Another Kripke-Cliffhanger. Lucifer indeed Rising, and the Winchesters clutching each other like kids in a panic. As well they might. They are at Ground freaking-Zero of the most toxic of paranormal bombs, and I am in dread of what that might do to them. If Castiel, a mere[!] angel!grunt, can burn out Pam's eyes, what will the rising of a fallen Archangel do to the human bystanders?

Is it September yet?

I liked how Show ended it this season. It was a bit of a cliff-hanger (and I hate cliff-hangers) but wrapped up enough of the story line of this season to satisfy me and I was happy to see that I called Ruby's loyalties right I literally cheered when Dean stabbed her… I just KNEW she was up to something, even from the beginning.

Season 5 is going to be great, I'll see you there at the start line

thank you again for providing me with so much Show-goodness; you are ridiculously awesome,
jenn

on another note, i don't mean to spam or wax on forever in this comment, but i really want to share these two trailers of Show my younger sister made. now as her older sister, i am proud of pretty much everything she has done in life, but i’m probably proudest (probably; i'm not sure, she's accomplished many things in life so far) of her being responsible for getting me to fall in love with Show, and her spending hours and days and weeks editing and combing through season 2 of Show to make these trailers. she also loves your reviews but hasn't been able to comment due to the fact that she in the midst of finishing her second year of law school. hehe but as her proud older sister, i must share and brag about her talent in film editing and capturing the wonderful essence of Show in less than 2 minutes.

regarding this episode- wow, i didn't exactly see it coming, but i am SO HOT for soap angel now. seriously. all that care and love he has for dean…i thought there were literally FIREWORKS between the two, what with the echanged intense looks and sexual tension. sigh. it would be so awesome if soap angel and dean realized they were in love with each other. i wonder if show would ever go there for the fans (like the writers for xena did with xena and gabrielle!), but either way…i am loving soap angel. i felt like my heart was literally jumping out of its chest when he took out the knife and cut himself for dean.

dear sylvia,
i've dropped in a few times but never formally introduced myself- hello, i'm jenn kim and i also contribute to pinkraygun (though my chuck reviews are nowhere near as thorough or fun as your ones of Show!).

first off, i really have to thank you for igniting a love for sam that i did not know existed in me. prior to your reviews, (and this is going to sound quite blasphemous), i was unequivocally a dean/jensen girl, to the point of getting annoyed when sam would take up my special dean time. i'm not sure how you did it (actually, yes i am- it was the beautiful poetry you wrote regarding samhair and sam expressions and sam eyes), but now i love both sam and dean, and treasure every sam and dean moment on screen, thus making my Show time TWICE as enjoyable as it was before. i have been re-watching season 2 (which i think was Show's best season EVER), and am astounded to see how much more i love and enjoy each episode exponentially more than prior.

The episode itself underwhelmed me. I liked that Bobby verbally smacked Dean out of his moping. Though I found it interesting that just a few episodes Dean was telling, nearly accusing, Sam of being like John in a clear insult, but now all of a sudden John is something to be defended? I have to agree with Bobby on his final point, Dean is a better man than John. He's still far from perfect, but he's better than his father. I liked Dean's irreverent behaviour in the angel's room. Others have pointed out, and I agree with them, that the food may have been more than just a distraction for Dean. The way that Castiel yanked it away from him the one time Dean was going to give in and eat some makes it seem as though there was more to the story, a little Persephone trap perhaps? I wouldn't put anything past these angels.

Short of having Sam develop an appetite for babies, is there anything more they can do to utterly trash the character? I wish they'd left him dead back in Cold Oak, if this is all he was ever going to come to. The only good part has been watching Jared hone his skills, which has been a joy to watch. Other than that, why is Sam even there? Oh, right, as a plot device and a handy way to highlight Dean's overwhelming awesomeness. Got it. At least this season finally ending bears out my pessimism that's been simmering ever since In the Beginning. "Just wait, Kripke will even it all out." "They'll fix it, there's so much of the season left yet, they'll show us more about Sam." "Trust Kripke, he knows what he's doing." That's all you would hear if you complained early on. Well now the season is said and done and just as I predicted, they did exactly nothing to fix any balance issues, or show us enough of Sam's perspective to make his actions work. Talk about reconning, they totally retconned Sam's entire character, and threw him to the wolves while they were at it. And the most frustrating thing is that they could have accomplished the exact same goals, had Sam do the exact same end actions without destroying the character in the process if they'd just put a little effort into it. And, you know, torn their eyes away from Dean's oh so sparkly awesomeness and the glowing fabulousness that is the Soap Angel. But instead they chose to screw the character, and his fans, over.

I've seen others put it this way, and I feel the same. Betrayed. We put just as much heart, soul, and money into this show as any other fans, but apparently we matter not at all. This season was like a big fat middle finger from Kripke to anyone who dared to not worship at Dean's feet. And as far as next season goes, why should we even bother? If they can't be troubled to include Sam in things when he actually still had a part to play, why would they do so now that he's shot his "payload" and is a literal footnote to the story? Never say never, but if the new season started tomorrow, I don't know that I'd bother to tune in for the continuing story of Dean "The most awesome person who ever lived" Winchester, his bff Castiel "Heaven's dreamiest angel" and, oh yeah, Dean's loser brother, old whatshisname.

I was wondering if you'd touch on my favorite moment from this episode–and you did. That moment when Sam listens to the altered voice mail really hit me. It was acutely painful and at the same time, amazing to watch. The show is great in so many ways, but I love terrific acting, and this the show delivers like no other.

Have a wonderful summer, and I'll be looking forward to your reviews–oh, yeah, and that show!–in the fall.