I'm currently so mad at everything right now. I don't understand the line that got Sam from the end of S7 from here, and I hope they don't feel they've completed it, or that showing how he falls in love with the tough vet with a soft spot for GORGEOUS men who save animals (really deep that) will clear things up.

And what the fuck is the "pure purgatory" thing? Did Dean actually find his place? Is his like coming back from Hell a pure demon? Coming back from Hell with his own monster to whom he's addicted? Coming back from the cage without a soul?

What I had read about was not properly helped by context. I wanted them to be okay by the end of the episode, but I'm still not seeing the tradeoff between a hit dog and a lost highschooler who just helped you save the world. You don't have to take either of them home with you, but no one's going to be able to take Kevin out of the pound and keep him safe. That's a Sam-only job. WTF am I supposed to think about him fucking that up? Not even looking? Then again...Adam. But still. This was right there and he could have checked a fucking phone.

But I don't want to see the "You're right, Dean" speech. I've hated it every time they've written Sam as admitting he's wrong--even if he is wrong.

Ugh. Sorry. That didn't go down well.

I'm hoping angel soon, and that will soothe me a bit, even if it's only flashbacks (to threesomes).

Great--IO9 is going to expect me to have opinions, and I don't want to read or write much more about this episode unless it's some sort of light being cast on it that makes everything okay--but I suspect that's up to episodes 2-22. I can't imagine the read on ep 1 that could fix my dissatisfaction.

I didn't hate everything. Just Sam's arc, and where it puts him relative to Dean.

Pure speculation: Sam did not quit right away after taking the dog. "There was a girl, and then there wasn't." Maybe Aimee got killed by a monster and blamed it on Sam's heroics before she died. Or whether she blamed Sam or not, Sam blamed Sam and quit hunting and retreated into solitude. Still does not totally fit Sam's character as I see it, but closer.

Can you tell us whet you were tense about, ita !

"There's a demon in you... and you're going to your safety school."

I suck because I've been away for a couple thousand posts and now popped back but that was funny. I assumed she was a dead woman walking so it could still made me laugh. Her death never shocked me.

And what the fuck is the "pure purgatory" thing? Did Dean actually find his place? Is his like coming back from Hell a pure demon? Coming back from Hell with his own monster to whom he's addicted? Coming back from the cage without a soul?

Dean is a hunter. Like, capital H. It's what defines him. And that phone call with toothy dude was sketchy as hell. It felt like a clandestine relationship. I can't help but feel like it was intentional. Dean lost his brother but gained a brother in arms. I don't know.

I'm possibly conflicted about the show (or not conflicted but I've drifted at times) but I watched and I'll watch the next ep.

I know that first shot of Dean was pretty as hell.

BOWLEGS

iTunes came through for me!

I'm having a hard time with all of Sam so far. WTF dude? WTF writers?

Also, Jimmy's wife was Amelia, did you forget that? Was that so insignificant? I'm bothered by the repetition.

I'm having a hard time with all of Sam so far. WTF dude? WTF writers?

Oh, I've been walking around all night going WFT writers? (According to imdb, Eric Kripke and Jeremy Carver themselves are credited for this episode. I am trying to convince myself that this doesn't bode ill for the course of the season.)

Seriously, everytime Sam opens his mouth, I feel like he's making excuses or apologies for the writer's lack of imagination or intelligence. "Well, I guess now that Dean's called me on my shenanigans, I'll do the right thing now, and gosh, I realize the errors of my ways, let me help now. BTW, I totes read about people dying weird deaths, which counts as my due diligence".

It's not his retirement and getting out of the hunting life that bothers me, it's the reasons they (the writers) gave for it. "Oh, well, Dean's gone, guess I'll just move on". How about "Dean, I had no leads, I had no idea where to even start. You and Cas were just gone and eventually, amongst all this fruitless searching, life happened and I bumped into a girl, and eventually realized that I had to move on or else I'd become an obsessed psychopath like that time the Trickster killed you a hundred times".

Also, the phone thing. Sam ditched his phones, they were out of service, but Sam still had them stashed away for Dean to charge and listen to the voicemails? There shouldn't be this many hoops to jump through to get the story you want at the outset of a season.

OK, done bitching and moaning.

Hi Show! So happy you're back!

(but, seriously, is it because I'm a Dean girl that I have absolutely nothing to complain about with Dean? He hit all the right notes for me.)

But wait! There's more to loathe! Just met the vet. And she guilts a man she doesn't know into adopting an animal. Without knowing if he's abusive or neglectful or has family with allergies or lives in an apartment that doesn't take pets and already knowing that he's on the road a lot. Excellent candidate to be a pet owner: a total, unvetted stranger. It's easy, everyone should do it and the animal should thank them when the get stuck in a crate all day. Hi PSA written by someone who doesn't own dogs.

I'm dying over the accent Dean develops everytime he talks to Benny. (Also, he' makes a sneaky phone call to him to say that maybe they shouldn't speak to each other anymore?).

Just met the vet. And she guilts a man she doesn't know into adopting an animal. Without knowing if he's abusive or neglectful or has family with allergies or lives in an apartment that doesn't take pets and already knowing that he's on the road a lot.

I was going to let it go here but that's a terrible set up. It's not why you should want a pet. Or keep an injured stray. It's going to be neglect.

I'm going to pretend that Sam thought this out even a little before agreeing. And then he wasn't a hunter.

Yes, shaming Sam to take the dog was stupid... and un-vet like, I imagine.

Maybe Sam just feels too crappy right now to mount a serious defense (about why he ditched everything, and didn't look for them). It didn't feel to me like the show was going to drop it, though, so that's fine.