Interesting… we start this week’s episode off with a montage of all the people the Winchesters couldn’t save. This is usually overlooked by the show, so I really liked that this episode took the time to go back and look at the consequences of certain deaths the Winchesters couldn’t prevent. Also interesting to note this week -- we see a female hunter, and we haven’t seen many of those in the show’s history. Too bad she ends up as ghost chow.

Even after being visited in the flesh by an angel last week, Dean’s not buying his story, though Bobby points to evidence that there wasn’t really anything else that could’ve raised him from hell. Sam asks him why it’s so hard to believe that there might be forces of good in the world. This is pretty much a rehash of what we saw in season two’s Houses of the Holy, but it’s still fascinating to see how Dean rationalizes that there can’t be good or that God doesn’t exist, and to see Sam struggle to wrap his head around his brother’s stubbornness. "Because why me? If there was a God out there, then why would he give a crap about me?" I don’t know, Dean, but maybe it has something to do with the task that Castiel was talking about last week? As Sam points out to his brother.

As always, Bobby puts an end to the theological discussion with a huge stack of books.

While Dean’s reading about angels, Sam sneaks off to see Ruby, letting her know that there are angels involved now in bringing Dean back from hell. Ruby, being a demon, is understandably spooked, and she hightails it out of there but not before warning him about the angels. "Watch yourself, Sam."

Olivia Lowery is the female hunter we saw in the preview and Bobby’s getting worried when his calls to her about angel lore go unanswered for three days. He and the boys head off to her house where they find … not a pleasant situation. A couple of quick calls reveals that Olivia wasn’t the only target -- other hunters in the local area are all found ripped to shreds by an unknown monster as well. The brothers are driving back to Bobby’s when they start to experience a similar situation. Sam is paid a visit to by Special Agent Victor Henrickson (Charles Malik Whitfield), who was killed last season by Lilith at the end of Jus In Bello … or was he? While he’s remarkably corporeal for a ghost (being able to throw Sam around), Henrickson didn’t survive and he lets us in on how he and the others in the police station lived their last few minutes and it’s fairly horrifying. He asks Sam why he and Dean didn’t stay to protect them. Sam of course, doesn’t have any answer, and he only avoids Olivia’s fate when Dean comes looking for him and shoots Henrickson with rock salt.

Back at his place, Bobby’s having troubles of his own, when two little girls (why is it always creepy little girls?) from his past appear, out for blood.

Sam and Dean race back to Bobby’s place, finally realizing that what happened to all the other hunters is happening to them. They split once they get to the house, with Sam going outside to look for Bobby and Dean going inside. It’s Dean’s turn now for a blast from his past, and it’s one from a while back—the demon Meg (Nicki Aycox) from season one.

Or rather, the girl who the demon was possessing. Like Henrickson before her, she makes the case that the Winchesters didn’t care about what happened to her -- that they never thought about the girl inside the body, just about attacking the demon, and everything else was collateral. Watching Nicki Aycox in this season made me nostalgic for season one, and definitely had me missing Meg and her sarcastic manner. While Katie Cassidy’s Ruby came close last year, there hasn’t been any demon as evilly fun and snarky as Meg. There’s some nice, but not terribly subtle connections tied between the Winchesters and Meg and her sister.

Dean manages to get away from Meg and he meets up with Bobby and Sam and together they escape from the ghosts into -- not kidding, a completely iron, spirit-proofed panic room. I love Bobby’s response when he saw the reaction from Dean and Sam. "What? I had a weekend off." The three of them do some digging inside the panic room and finally determine that the angry spirits have the 'Mark of the Witness' branded on them, which is fulfilling an ancient prophecy from the Book of Revelations. Yep, basically these spirits are omens of the upcoming apocalypse. Cheery stuff, huh?

But Bobby and the Winchesters can’t focus too much on this at the moment, as they first need to survive the encounter. They figure out the best way is a ritual which will lay the spirits back to rest, and so Sam and Dean provide cover for Bobby as he performs it. Along the way, they also run into another former victim, Ronald Reznick (Chris Gauthier), from season two’s Nightshifter. There’s also an ominous note when Sam has an encounter with Meg and she calls him out for his continued interactions with Ruby. Despite tense moments, (Dean nearly gets his heart ripped out by Henrickson at one point), the ritual is performed and the ghosts are sent back to wherever they came from.

To end the episode on a rather ominous note, Dean is paid a visit by Castiel, who lets him know it was Lilith who sicced the ‘Witnesses’ on hunters. She’s set on breaking 66 Seals to unleash the apocalypse on earth and let Lucifer walk free. Castiel explains that this is why angels are on earth for the first time in 2000 years -- he and other soldier angels are fighting against Lilith and her allies but it’s not been going well for them. Dean gets sarcastic for a moment, congratulating them on their ‘bang-up job’ on stopping Lilith, but Castiel, who is fairly bad-ass, I might mention, sets him straight right away. "You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of hell. I can throw you back in."

Right. I’m just taking a moment to let this sink in. Wow, so as I said last week, this season is setting up to be epic. Good vs. evil with a side of the apocalypse. What do you guys think of this development? Sure is a far cry from season one when it was a roadtrip to find a missing father… but I think the build-up has been adequate enough and the plot points set up so far have me hooked and eagerly wanting the next episode now. Bring on the end of the world, and let’s see if the Winchesters can stop it.

Supernatural 4x02, "Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester"
Writer: Eric Kripke, Sera Gamble
Director: Phil Sgriccia

Guest Stars: Misha Collins, Charles Malik Whitfield, Genevieve Cortese, Jim Beaver, Nicki Aycox, Chris Gauthier