Tonight, the Supernatural season four premiere finally arrived. As you probably remember, season three ended with some rather grim events. Grimmest of all was the final shot: Dean waking up in hell where he is destined to suffer for all eternity. So naturally the first shot of this season’s premiere was Dean waking up back on Earth. Wait, what?
It’s pretty unexpected that Dean made it out of hell so quickly. Of course, there was no way his trip to hell was going to be permanent but usually these kinds of problems take a few episodes to undo (particularly if the show has spent an entire season building up to the event). So it was pretty unexpected that the very first shot of season four was a reanimated Dean waking up in his own grave. It was inevitable that he would get out though, and this way they managed to make the story a mystery about the how instead of sending Sam on a quest with an inevitable success.
And, oh, what a build-up the mystery had. A presence that can make the TV go static-y? Really not all that creepy. But when you people’s eyeballs start burning out, then the creepy factor takes quite a jump. And then topping it off by having even the demons losing their eyes. By the time Dean and Bobby decided to summon the creature, its credibility was firmly established and Dean’s plan seemed like a terrible, terrible idea.
Other than Dean’s returning from hell, the biggest happenings had to do with new characters. Most importantly is the aforementioned creepy presence, Casteele (sp?). There’s no way this guy isn’t evil. I’m willing to buy that he’s an angel (if so, I have to say I feel bad for the demons, the scales seem rather unfairly tipped in favor of the angels). But there’s no way in hell (pardon the pun) that he’s a good guy or doing “God’s work.” Partly because he goes around burning people’s eyes out, but mostly because turning Supernatural into Touched By An Angel would be very, very lame.
The other new character wasn’t actually new, but she sure felt that way. I was hoping we would see Ruby again this season so I was glad to see her turn up. Ruby seemed to solidify her status as one of the good guys last season. This season’s Ruby is setting off alarm bells though. Katie Cassidy’s Ruby had a cold, aggressive edge to her. Even though she was apparently good, there was a definite darkness about her. Genevieve Cortese’s Ruby however seems a lot different. Not only did she seem mildly hurt by Sam saying he wasn’t sure he could trust her, she even offered (in a sincere tone) to leave for a while rather than risk coming between Sam and Dean. While every actor brings their own take to a character, the personality change is just too extreme to chalk it up to that. I figure this new portrayal means one of two things: Either the writers want to develop the possibility of a relationship between Sam and Ruby or else Ruby’s going to turn on the Winchesters, revealing she was playing them from the start. Only time will tell which one(s) it is.
The fact Dean and Sam both now have a secret ally is likely to play into at least the next few episodes. Sam will continue to work with Ruby towards one agenda, while Dean will be helping Casteele along with his own agenda. The big question is whether or not the agendas are one and the same. On the surface, of course, the two agendas will seem either utterly unrelated or in direct opposition with each other, but if Ruby is going to betray Sam, it would make sense for her to be working for/with an “angel.”
There was a lot to like about “Lazarus Rising:” The mystery was good, the reveal made sense, there was some genuinely creepy stuff, all kinds of groundwork for the rest of the season and some nice moments between the brothers and Bobby. You can’t ask for too much more out of a season premiere than that.
Trevor MacKay is the sci-fi/horror/fantasy/cheesy/random geeky stuff guy. If something is geeky and/or unbelievably cheesy, he’s there.
