Lazarus Rising
Original Air Date: 09/18/2008

Notes

Review

Season 4 is such a sweet, sweet sight after such a short third season! And to start with Dean digging himself out of his own coffin is so rewarding, knowing that millions of people around the world will be dreaming of being buried alive tonight! Life doesn't get much better than this.

Ah, but I digress. First things first, I have to say I'm ever so slightly disappointed that my prediction for how Dean would escape hell and why Lillith couldn't kill Sam didn't pan out. I was so sure that it was because Lillith reneged on her deal for Dean's soul by immediately turning on Sam to try to kill him. Nevertheless, I can't complain since the real reason for Dean's miraculous recovery brings so many new angles to the story and will surely create many, many interesting challenges in the future.

To start the fourth season with a bang we're treated to Dean's escape from hell, looking much like a bad acid trip. Flashing between darkness and dazzling white light, the crazed look in his tortured eyes turns, understandably, to confusion as he awakens inside his own coffin. Good thing Sam thought to bury him with his trusty lighter. There's also a very nice contrast here of the brilliant daylight casting midnight black shadows of both Dean and his grave-marker cross. Is this meant to be a hint, or a portent of things to come? Only time will tell. Personally, I find it reminds me of the age-old battle of good vs. evil. The cross standing strong as a symbol of all that is good and holy, against the stooped and staggering shadow of the ever fallible and imperfect man. I also find it interesting that although he breaks into the gas station and steals food and water, as soon as he turns to the register to steal the cash he is stopped by a high-pitched whine and smashing of all the windows. Am I reading too much into that? Probably. Still, I can't help but wonder if John Winchester has made it up to heaven and bargained for Dean's soul, and now he's warning Dean to be good. Then again, he had no problem stealing a copy of the latest "Busty Asian Beauties" porn magazine, so maybe I'm off the mark.

I am both pleased and heartbroken by Bobby's response to Dean's return. On the one hand, his disbelief is perfect. His many tests and challenges are exactly what any good hunter would do, and the mid-sentence holy water dousing is beyond priceless! However, his voice on the phone when Dean calls the second time just breaks my heart; the months of pain and sorrow clearly shine through his angry response. Sometimes I think the hunter's life must be so much harder on Bobby. At least Dean and Sam have each other, Bobby has been relying on nobody but himself ever since he killed his beloved wife. The pain this man has had to bear throughout his life must be a heavy burden indeed.

Sam, on the other hand, seems to be just fine without Dean. At least he got a girl, some small proof that he's probably not gay. (Although the mirrored hotel room with the tiger print wallpaper leaves the question hanging.) No doubt Dean won't be convinced for long though. Oh, and I should say that I'm offended on the behalf of all children of the 70's for the Star Wars slam, gentle though it may have been. As for the response from Sam; I would have expected more shock, more tears, even anger. Instead, Sam just stares as if he's secretly calculating all the freedom he has just lost and how he will have to make room for Dean in his life again. Maybe I'm just being insensitive, but Sam is usually so overwhelmed by his emotions, I can't believe he has learned to bypass them in only four short months. I hope someday we'll get to see a little of Sam's suffering after Dean's death, although I suppose the Mystery Spot episode covered that fairly well. It's sweet that the one memento Sam chose to keep is Dean's amulet. Too bad they didn't take a second or two to let Dean say a little something about how glad he is to have it back because. (insert reason for always wearing the amulet here.)

Okay. Dean's car.
Seriously.
Where did "I almost forgot" come from?!? A second ago Dean explains that he has no memory of the past four months; that he remembers the hellhound, then straight to digging himself out of his grave. When was there time to forget his baby? His One True Love? That car should have been the one thing keeping him sane while suffering in the bowels of hell itself! Sam's welfare would likely have come a sad second to Metallicar's safety. However, that little oversight can be forgiven by his ire at the newly installed iPod jack. Sure, I'm glad to see Sam taking charge of his own life and choosing not to keep Metallicar unchanged as a shrine to Dean. And sure, I'm glad to see the potential for more emo music oozing from Sam's iPod sometime in the near future, but this, THIS is the moment when all doubts of Dean's true identity are put to rest! THIS is the proof that DEAN WINCHESTER IS BACK! Why? Because no-one, not one other creature on the face of the earth would understand as thoroughly and deeply as Dean Winchester does, why crap-tacular emo music coming from a crApple iPod will NEVER under ANY circumstances EVER belong in the interior of a finely tuned American-made steel-bodied gloss black bucket of COOL rumbling down the highway at 90mph. Got it, Sammy?

Pamela Barnes. Psychic with an attitude. Why is it that all the strong women in this show are killed off or irreparably damaged in only one episode? This woman is cool, smart, confident in her own skin. Blind or not, I would LOVE to see her return at some point. Perhaps the loss of her human sight will enable her to see deeper into the supernatural universe? One can hope, I guess. Her séance is one of the reasons I like this show so much. The result - burning the eyeballs out of her head - appears to be a vicious attack on the part of the spirit she's trying to conjure, but is it??? No, because everything in the land of Kripke has at least two possible explanations. At least they now have a name: Castiel.

I'm pleased to see Dean's new confidence while dealing with the demons in the diner. Sure, he has always shown confidence in the past, but it has always been a well-rehearsed act. Then as the end drew near in season three he began showing new insecurities, humbled by the thought of his own mortality. Now it seems that the very thought that someone or something reached into hell and dragged him out by his short hairs, regardless of whether it's for good or for evil, has given him a sense of his own importance. Perhaps he's worth saving after all, and not just as a caretaker for Sammy this time. The fact that he can stare down a demon and basically dare her to drag him back to hell attests to this confidence. It suits him and I hope we see a lot more of it in the future.

Sam has clearly been busy while Dean was absent. It seems that Ruby has found a new host and is back to teach him what he was unwilling to learn in the past. While it's still unclear whether his abilities are inherently evil or not, Sam chooses to use them for good, although I have no doubt that his intentions will be challenged to the point of breaking before the season is out. For now however, he has gained the ability to force a demon out and back to hell without damaging the human host. Not that it helped our waitress though, I guess her confrontation with Castiel damaged her too much. (Although I have to say I LOVE how she tried to catch her own demon smoke - very cool)

Dean, drunk on his newfound sense of invincibility, opts to summon Castiel himself and find out the truth. He and Bobby paint every symbol and sigil imaginable on the walls and use a summoning ritual on Castiel, but when he shows he's not what they expected. An ordinary accountant-type human-yet-not-quite-human appears; one who is invincible to salt rounds, devil's traps and the demon-killing knife. His intricate verbage coupled with earlier hints tell us what he is, and he confirms it in no uncertain terms: an angel of the Lord. One might be tempted to poke fun at this turn of events, dismissing the idea of angels existing in a world filled to overflowing with demons and all things evil. Fortunately, this revelation shows the touch of the artist, and is so compelling that it defies all temptations to heckle. I find myself awed by the appearance of a shadow of wings behind where no wings are visible. I find myself drawn deeply into his eyes; eyes which seem to look into Dean's very soul and see the pain within. Eyes that hold the wisdom of the ages yet choose not to judge, but to try to understand, to share in the pain they observe. This gives me the confidence to hope that finally, after years of watching Dean carry the burden his father placed on his shoulders, that here is someone who not only has the ability but also the desire to pick Dean up out of the muck and mire, shake the dirt from his soul, and stand him proudly on his feet with the knowledge that he is a person of value in our world, not just a layer of flesh to stand between Sam and all the evil hounding him.

While overall I found this episode to contain too much talking and not enough action, I am still left with a sense of excitement for the season to come. This hour presented so many possibilities and posed questions that digging the answers out of the upcoming episodes will be a real pleasure. I have no doubt that this will be a year of dramatic growth for both characters, and with the comment that this is the beginning of the end, the threat of Armageddon hangs heavy in the air. With only one more season to go (allegedly), season four promises to be a roller-coaster ride of action and emotion that will leave every fan breathless.