In the words of the great Richard Belding, “Hey, hey, hey, hey…What is going on here!?”

It’s the only reaction that I can appropriately articulate after watching Supernatural‘s winter premiere, “The Devil in the Details”.

Not only do we say farewell to a character we’ve grown to know and love, but we also are left scratching our heads by the sacrifice another character has made. Will that sacrifice pay off? Who is that sacrificial lamb? Let’s start at the beginning.

When we last see the Winchesters, Dean has just finished sucking face with the Darkness and Sam has found himself back in the cage with Lucifer.

Lucifer wants into Sam’s body again. The Devil is itching to take on the Darkness, insisting that he alone has the ability to stop her before she ruins the earth, essentially. However, he and Sam have been down this road before and we all remember how that turned out (RIP Adam Winchester, gone but NEVER forgotten.)

I must admit that Lucifer’s trip down memory lane with Sam creates an intriguing point of view. The question of Sam’s integrity is fascinating. Has Sam gone soft over the years? Is his and Dean’s bond so unbreakable that they are willing to sacrifice the world for the safety of one another?

In my opinion, Season 11, thus far, has been one of the strongest seasons for Sam in quite a few years. Jared Padalecki knocks it out of the park in terms of acting and in truly allowing the audience to feel Sam’s desperate desire for change in the Winchester routine.

To hear Lucifer tell Sam that he’s gone soft feels a little wrong, for me, though I know it has resonated deeply with other viewers who agree that, indeed, Sam and Dean are both willing to sacrifice anything and everything but the welfare of each other in these situations.

Sam is playing the role of Jiminy Cricket quite well thus far in Season 11, trying very hard to save as many lives as possible as he and Dean face their strongest foe to date. He’s nothing but an admirable hero.

Though it’s nice to see Amelia again and to be reminded of the happiness Sam once had with her, it also feels cheap for Lucifer to use that as evidence against Sam for giving up. Isn’t Sam’s romance with Amelia exactly the same as Dean’s with Lisa? Both Winchester brothers agreed to move on. It’s far too late in the game to tell them that moving on was the wrong decision.

This is Lucifer, however, and his words can never be trusted.

The fact remains that Lucifer is the only one who has successfully put the Darkness away. Sam knows, as well as the audience does, that Lucifer’s freedom is the only real chance of capturing Amara for the good of mankind.

Amara. It seems trite to imagine that the angels could stop her. She’s God’s sister, for crying out loud. Of COURSE they stood no chance of actually taking her down. Now that she’s back in action and ready for a fight, there’s absolutely no way that the Winchesters can take her down on their own. Between Dean’s odd attraction to her and his secrecy about her with Sam, there’s no way these brothers can match her.

And then comes the unexpected hero of the Supernatural story, the guy who has had somewhat of a meaningless place thus far. Castiel is the guy who makes the vessel sacrifice, just in the knick of time, and allows Lucifer to use him, knowing only that he alone CAN beat the Darkness.

It’s an admirable sacrifice for sure and we can only hope that Castiel has made the right choice in placing his bets on Lucifer to win this fight.

It seems crazy to put faith in Lucifer, but Castiel, who throughout this episode is beaten over the head with questions of self doubt and about his worth to the ultimate cause, is the only one thinking with true clarity. He understands what Sam and Dean haven’t figured out yet; sometimes you have to put faith in the lesser of two evils for the good of humanity.

I need to take just a moment to applaud the amazing skills of Mischa Collins. His rendition of Mark Pellegrino’s flawless Lucifer is something I wish I could hand an Emmy over to. For a supporting player who has seen very little action this season, Mischa Collins stepped up to bat and immediately hit a home run here.

So what is the next step for the Winchesters now that Castiel has handed himself over as Lucifer’s vessel? Is this a battle of Evil vs. Evil? It’s really unclear as of this point, and for that, I applaud the writing staff at Supernatural. The fact that they can STILL leave us guessing after 11 years is proof positive that this show still has life left in it.

How the Winchesters will fit into this battle remains unclear, but sadly, we say goodbye to another member of the Supernatural family when Rowena, who also puts her faith in the Devil, trusts the wrong ally. The very second she proudly proclaims that she is the only one who has access to the cage is the very second she finds herself with her neck snapped by Lucifer.

How will this affect Crowley’s stake in the battle? What will Sam and Dean do when they realize that Castiel has handed himself over for Lucifer? All of these are questions that will be answered as the weeks go on, and frankly, Supernatural has just restored my faith that this is a story that will have an interesting ending.

What did you think of “The Devil is in the Details”? Are you surprised by Castiel’s sacrifice? Will they be strong now enough to take on Amara? Sound off in the comments below!

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