Supernatural 6.12 “Like a Virgin” Review

Do you hear that sound, boys and girls? That’s the sound of millions of Supernatural fans sighing in relief about the return of Sam’s soul.

Some other stuff happened in this episode too, but let’s start with the important stuff.

Sammy’s Back, Baby!

We open with Dean obviously concerned about the fact that Sam wasn’t waking up after Death jammed his soul back into his body, but Castiel popped by to confirm that it was, in fact, returned. Except Cas isn’t all that pleased about what Dean did, because he delivers the horrifying news that Sam’s soul has basically been ravaged (no, not like that, people!) and Dean should never have put it back in his body. Dean (and I) remain convinced that it was the right thing to do. When Dean goes upstairs to talk to Bobby about a potential new case (which we’ll get to shortly), Sam does wake up.

And we get the brotherly reunion that should have happened in episode 6.01. Sam was so happy to see Dean. There is genuine hugging. Even with Bobby! When questioned, Sam is astonished to learn that he was gone for a year and a half and admits he doesn’t remember anything about his time in Hell.

Dean, of course, is relieved, but Bobby is cautious. He’s still upset that Sam tried to kill him a little while ago, and begrudgingly agrees to keep everything secret from Sam, as per Dean’s wishes. After agreeing, Dean decides to leave to pursue the case of the week. Sam wants to go with him, despite Dean’s protests that he should rest. Of course, Sam rightly points out that Dean didn’t bother with silly things like resting when he got back from Hell, so off the brothers go!

To solve a case. WHILE SAM HAS A SOUL! EEEEE!!!!!

Virgins, Virgins Everywhere

The case of the week concerns the disappearance of some virgins. We saw one disappear from inside a plane, along with seeing a mysterious figure flying through the air. The boys go to interview the sister of one of the victims and Sam breaks out the puppy dog eyes and the earnest ‘I understand your pain’voice, which thrills Dean to no end. After another girl gets attacked (by something that looks like a ‘giant bat’), but isn’t taken, the boys quickly realize that she wasn’t a real virgin, but that whatever is taking the girls also steals their gold jewelry. This leads the to World of Warcraft fansites and dragons.

When called, Bobby insists that dragons (unlike the loch ness monster, natch) don’t exist. But Dean prompts him to do more research. When eventually leads Dean to separate from Sam to go visit an old friend of Bobby’s in San Francisco.

Ivy Crane from Passions is on Supernatural!

Dr. Visyak is officially the awesomest Supernatural guest star ever. It turns out this lovely professor and Bobby used to have a ‘˜thing’, but it clearly didn’t end well. She’s an expert on all things dragon, but can’t believe one has returned, since they haven’t been seen in 700 years. When Dean insists, she tells him he needs a special sword.

Oh, and she just so happens to have one of these super-duper dragon-killing swords in the basement.

Except it’s encased in stone (like Excalibur). When she tells Dean he can pull it from the stone if he proves to be a brave hero who wants to slay a dragon, Dean attempts (cue majestic, heroic music) to pull the sword from the stone.

I can’t do the following scene justice. Jensen Ackles has always been hilarious with the physical comedy and this is no exception. He struggles to pull out the sword, but it doesn’t budge, which causes him to fall to the ground while Dr. Visyak looks on with a smirk.

It’s just seriously, seriously, honest to God funny.

So Dean decides to go another route. He convinces the good professor to let him blow up the rock. Of course, this has the added effect of blowing up the sword too, effectively cleaving it in half.

Dr. Visyak is not impressed.

Cracks in the Wall

Before we go any further, we should probably discuss the fact that while Sam doesn’t remember his time in Hell, he obviously knows something is wrong. He experiences some deja vu and notices that Bobby’s acting weird towards him. Dean also flat out lies to his face – not telling him about the time he was walking around without a soul, or that his reappearance caused Dean to leave Lisa and Ben.

So Sam calls Castiel, who hasn’t been filled in on the whole ‘keeping Sam in the dark’plan. Sam plays coy about what he knows, and Castiel spills the beans on Sam not having a soul for a year, as well as a lot of what he did previously.

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