By Sylvia Bond – The Glory of Love is Both Beautiful And Hellish – I only watch this ep when I’m in the mood for something dark, because watching this episode is yet another example of things that are hard but deliciously angsty at the same time. And it’s not just that Sam dies, there is that, and it’s not just that Dean sells his soul, because he does that, or that both of those things are Hard to Watch. But also it’s the idea that this episode itself marks the crossroads in the boys’ lives where they make first of the decisions that take them down the road less travelled, where they begin their journey away from the relatively breezy land of saving people, hunting things and towards the Slough of Despond, like in Pilgrim’s Progress. Or maybe a more apt comparison would be to Dante’s Inferno, because Sam and Dean are about to travel down into the various circles of hell from which no man returns unscathed.

“The Small Rain Down Can Rain” by Sylvia Bond – All True Fans know this episode as the One Where Sam Dies. No lie, he dies. In retrospect, we all know that he lives, but at the time, oh man. Watching Sam die at the end of this ep was like watching the semi run into the Impala at the end of Season 1. It went beyond impactful, proving that there are some episodes that, like the movie Schindler’s List, you only need to see once. Yeah, the episode was that good, and I’m of the staunch opinion that most TV out there is, in comparison and in the sage words of Wednesday Addams, puerile and lacking the Aristotelian Unities. Show, I’m glad to say, is not and does not.