When you are at war, maintaining secure lines of communication is critical. You are at a decided disadvantage if your enemy is able to tap into your field conversations. Not only do you forgo the element of surprise, offensively, but you also decidedly weaken your defensive posture. When the war is Armageddon itself, and the very fate of the world hangs in the balance, you take every advantage you can. It is no wonder, then, that when the powers of Hell discover that meek Anna Milton is a clairaudient able to hear the plotting of Angels, they want her captured but kept alive for interrogation. While it’s perhaps a bit jarring that the Angels do not want to protect her – rather, they want her dead – their motivation is at least understandable. After all, Angels in Supernatural are not of the fluffy white-wing, halo, and toga variety: they are trench-coat wearing, body-stealing badasses. Castiel and Uriel have consistently demonstrated a win-at-all-costs take-no-prisoners attitude on par with the demons with which they are feuding. They actually adhere to the classical view of angels as holy warriors rather well. They see Anna’s survival and evesdropping as a direct threat – a threat best stopped by her death.

Despite this, Anna survives the hour. Presumably, she’ll have some role to play in episodes yet to come. Her character seems interesting enough to merit the attention. Hopefully, she won’t continuously be relegated to closets and back rooms during the action, as happened to her this time out. 

Anna’s surname – Milton – is almost certainly an allusion to the 17th Century English poet John Milton, whose free verse poem Paradise Lost concerns the fall of Man. The purpose of Paradise Lost, according to Milton, is to “justify the ways of God to men” and to explore the conflict between free will and fate. Certainly these themes are being explored in this season in Supernatural, as well as in the series overall. Paradise Lost is told in two main arcs. One arc concerns Satan and the battle over Heaven. The other, parallel arc, concerns Adam and Eve. In Supernatural we’ve got the battle arc and, upon some reflection, it may be that we’ve got the Adam and Eve arc as well: I believe that there may be a fair comparison to be drawn between the couples of Adam and Eve and Sam and Dean. Sam, thanks to his baptism by Azazel and the demonic powers it has granted him, has tasted of the forbidden fruit. He is Supernatural’s Eve. Adam, in Paradise Lost, has frequent discourses with the Angel Raphael (much like Dean and Castiel). Adam ultimately embarks on a vision quest, accompanied by the angel, where he witnesses all of the errors and sins of man. I wonder what Dean saw while on his own vision quest in Hell? I wouldn’t be surprised to learn it had something to do with the errors and sins of man. As for the way the two couples interact with each other, there are some similarities there, as well. Before Eve succumbs to temptation, Adam and Eve get along pretty well, in Paradise Lost. The two are described as near-equals and have great respect for each other. After Eve falls (and Adam then intentionally does, as well, to be with her), their relationship becomes more strained and they increasingly lay blame upon each other and find fault with each other. The same could be said for the relationship between Sam and Dean. Sam’s fall and Dean’s time in Hell have definitely strained their relationship. Eve eats the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge because she is tempted to do so. Adam eats the fruit because he cannot bear to be without Eve. Sam uses his powers because he is tempted to do so. Just like Adam for Eve, Dean takes a fall for Sam – in his case making the deal at the Crossroads and condemning himself to Hell in order to save Sam.

One other quick bit on Adam and Eve, and naming conventions in Supernatural. In some circles, it is believed that Adam had a wife prior to Eve. Descriptions vary, but she’s often described as approaching demonic in nature. Her name: Lillith. Sound familiar?

One thing this episode did particularly well was it further explained the scope of Sam and Dean’s involvement in the goings-on, and that the battle is much bigger than we are shown from week to week. Sam and Dean are involved, but only peripherally. As important as they are to us, the viewer, from week to week it is being shown that they are just a small part of a much larger whole. This, to me, makes for a more compelling story as it paints Armageddon as being a truly massive occurrence, the scale of which dwarfs the brothers. It is also explained that there are more than 600 seals, and Lillith only has to break 66 of them. (Number of the Beast, anyone?) Sam and Dean can’t be everywhere, all the time, and this means that their task of preventing Lillith and averting Armageddon (if, indeed, that even is possible) is not by any stretch going to be an easy one.

The world of Supernatural is slowly but surely being populated with recurring characters. Back in Season One, it was very rare for a day player to survive the episode they were in. Bobby was among the first to make it through to become a semi-regular. Now there’s Ruby, and more recently Castiel. Over the last few episodes Uriel appears to have joined the crew, and now Anna Milton and the Demon Alastair look like they will be making returns, as well. Who knows how long they’ll be a part of the show, but their characters are at least interesting. New Ruby is a pale shadow of Old Ruby, but she’s the exception to the rule. Castiel is a great fit for the show, and if Alastair sticks around for a few episodes before turning to smoke he looks like he’ll be a good foil. He’s evidently pretty tough, as he was able to shrug off both Ruby’s knife and Sam’s exorcism mojo – something even Samhain couldn’t do – and he has a history with Dean in Hell that will no doubt be explored as the season progresses. 

Names in fiction, and especially in Supernatural, are not often chosen lightly. Alastair’s name may be a reference to the British occultist Aleister Crowley, though considering the Angels in Supernatural are as trigger-happy as the Demons it is perhaps interesting to note that the name Alastair means “protector of men.” Are the Angels in Supernatural really Good? Are the Demons necessarily Evil? The demons we’ve seen certainly seem evil, but the Angels thus far haven’t seemed much better.

One question: Hell wants to use Anna to their best advantage. Why wouldn’t the Angels want to use Ruby to similar ends? Why hold her in such disdain, despite her regular assistance? Is it because Anna is human, and therefore relatively neutral, while Ruby is full-on Demon and therefore can’t ever be trusted? 

This season of Supernatural is perhaps its best yet. With the exception of the “Monster Movie” black and white episode, there have been few if any weak episodes. The story arc episodes are strong. The monster-of-the-week episodes are gripping. The humor hits more than it misses. Even after four seasons, the show shows no signs of slacking. If anything, it has come fully into its own. Each episode flies by, and the next can’t come fast enough. Part of this is attributable to the plotting, and part to the facility of the cast. Jensen Ackles and Jared Padelecki are very engaging individually and they play off of each other wonderfully. 

4.5 out of 5 Metallicars.