Osiris did not impress.

This. To draw out Dean's profound sense of guilt using Osiris as judge and jury, and Jo as first witness, was too anvil-ish to me. And although I found the scene with Dean and Jo sweet, I didn't need this story to tell me Dean is damaged and over-flowing with self-loathing and guilt. Plus, who didn't know Sam was going to show up in the nick of time and impale Osiris with a shofar?

Some elements were nice, but overall... meh.

It was a very workmanlike episode. I didn't feel it really brought much new to the mix, except maybe that Sam feels he's healing faster than Dean does. But it was still enjoyable. It gave us the boys working together, Sam saving Dean, a nice peek at Jo. It's kind of like a comfort food episode, nothing you'd write home about, but there are times you're going to keep going back for it because it sticks to the ribs.

I didn't dislike it.

I mean, I think gods should be treated with a little more respect and be a little harder to kill, even only for a few centuries. Sharpened ram's horns aren't exactly rare and the skill needed could be found in your basic street thug. And I miss where there were things that really frightened the Winchesters. Actual demons, angels and gods should scare you.

And Dean's guilt is always a funny thing. He's massively guilty for things like Sam about which I don't think he needs to feel ~all~ of the guilt. So I am glad to see he's feeling some guilt about Amy. Though the wrongness, for me, wasn't just the lying to Sam. Still, he's not just shoving the guilt all aside, so that's a good thing for me.

Things I really liked were getting back to MotW eps while really remembering the past. And Dean saying that when ghosts come to go after him, they've got a valid case for revenge. Sam's hair. The guy just looked good. And, wow, Dean is attractive. No wonder the bartender went from therapist with unlimited alcohol to, hmm, he'd be fun tonight.

So emotionally-stunted brothers, trying to save people, having a case that is wrapped up but evokes their past and the Impala is okay? I liked the ep overall.

Sam's hair. The guy just looked good.

Oh, ha! I'm glad you said that. I thought I was weirdly obsessing over hair again (see: W13), but it did look good, didn't it?

Yeah, I thought it was a perfectly cromulent episode. Nothing out of the park, but so much of what I like. The funny, the hot, the MotW, dealing with "stuff." Oh, and how glad was I to hear Sam say he wasn't holding on to every damn thing and wallowing. You go, Sam. With your fabulous hair and your healing and shit. Smooches.

Dean. Oh, honey. I wish for you to get there, too.

Sam not having any guilt pinged for two reasons: 1) Lots of people feel guilty but Osiris wasn't targeting them all, just the ones he ran into at the bar, so it seems to me that it was an awkward and invalid segue into Sam's guilt or lackthereof and

2) Does it do away with the theory that maybe some part of Sam wants to die, hence Harvey trying to get him to kill himself? Is Harvey gone now? So that issue is gone? Or the issue is gone so Harvey is therefore gone?

I thought the Dean/Jo scene was great, but the whole premise surrounding it was too hamfisted to me, too ASS.

I think I would be more OK with pagan Gods being not so awesome, if they did not make God, and angels and demons so fucking powerful and migh-unstopabble. Pagan gods seem lower on the food change than demons a lot of the time, let alone angels. Not consistent. Kali was powerful enough it took Lucifer to take her down. But mostly - pagan gods are just MOTW. Angels and even demons a lot of the time are far more.

You go, Sam. With your fabulous hair and your healing and shit. Smooches.

That part was pretty keen. I mean, he spanked his inner moppet and is getting over some of it. Atone, amends, change how you'll do things from now on or whatever but you can't change the past. You can change your hair. And heal. Um, and see Lucifer. But no one is perfect in this 'verse.

Maybe Dean has had good hair for so long that he never realized.

Hee, hee, hee. ♥ Cass.

I thought the Dean/Jo scene was great, but the whole premise surrounding it was too hamfisted to me, too ASS.

Juliebird, what's ASS an acronym for? (And I agree, I was dreading a bit the Return of Jo as some sort of avenging figure, but I thought the scenes with her were actually pretty awesome. But the anvils were dropping fast and heavy throughout this episode. It was definitely a disappointment after the meatiness of the previous 3.)

After School Special. I'm sure I added an S, but it made me laugh.

I'd say I'd rewatch to see if I felt differently about it, but I'm not coughing up the money on a bad experience.