What I liked about this episode:

1) SELF-RESCUING CASTIEL! No one had to jump in and save his bacon and make him feel less than he should because someone had to bail him out. He worked the plan, executed it, and then… well, executed Lucifer. Ish. That ain’t the end of him, of course, but Castiel kicked ass every second.

2) Basically, BAMF Castiel being allowed to happen at all. Yeah, yeah, I know with the way Misha prefers his schedule and contract, Castiel is going to fall by the wayside sometimes. However, instead of that, he often gets shafted. Not this season so far, my friends. He’s unruly, back-talking, tough, manipulative, and trusting himself instead of being so easily led by others. Even when he was a leader, he didn’t have faith in himself. But now? After literally annoying his way out of The Empty? Castiel is the angel we should have fucking kept from Season 4.

3) Sam talking about his trauma! Admitting his fear to Rowena about seeing Lucifer’s true face, and how he’s not dealing with it as much as possible. Admitting, out loud, that he has poor coping mechanisms. Granted, it’s also probably going to bite him in the ass giving Rowena that page from the grimoire, but saying anything at all about his trauma is a Big Deal.

4) You know what, just Sam Winchester in general this whole season! He’s had a strong presence of his own; outside the shadow of Dean. What we learn about Sam isn’t always directly related to Dean, nor is it because of Dean. And that’s… kinda never happened. His entire story arcs up until this point have been because of/related to/in order to save, Dean. Aside from his demon blood addiction, Sam’s never really been able to reach his full potential as his own character the way that Dean has. Dean can be untethered from Sam quite a bit in his story arcs, but Sam’s had nothing that revolves around him, which (yes, in my opinion) has weakened him as a character. 

But Sam fucking Winchester is shining a light of his own this season.

5) Brenda. The way she watched Dean walk out of the store, leaning over the cash register to check out his ass. I love you, Brenda. I’m glad you survived the episode.

6) THE FUCKING FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY! Holy shit on a stick, our new choreographers are blowing it out of the water so high, I can’t even begin to tell y’all how impressed I am. One thing this show has never quite completely been able to master is a perfect mixture of action with the horror. But the two witch sisters hacking up each other to end the fight sequence? It was brilliant. Also, a lot more tables that usual are getting broken in fights. I like that.

7) Rowena. I love her so much, and I’m glad she’s back, and I hope she goes the magical version of the Hulk all over Lucifer. I hope it takes her to the brink. Her character deserves all the badassery, and I hope she gets it.

8) Dean’s face when Rowena mentioned 5th base. He knows what it is, and he’s done it. That was golden acting right there.

9) GIRLS! This is sort of a blanket statement for the whole season, but girls being given the respect they’ve rarely gotten on this show! I know the Wayward Sisters backdoor pilot helped, but it doesn’t matter. All the way down to Sam’s, “girls beat us up all the time,” statement like, “eh. Girls kick ass as much as anyone else” is a GLARING turnaround to how women have been treated on this show in the past. I am thrilled with the effort being taken there. Here’s to more!

Also, you know what it is that’s so amazing about these fight choreographers? They know how to mix the action with the horror to incredible effect. Case in point: those witch sisters with knives.

Even though Castiel is trash talking just to piss Lucifer off to juice him up, I want him to keep doing it forever.

Hoooooooooooooooly shiiiiiiiiiiiit, Castiel “Jack would rather kill you than hug you,” Angel of the LORD! Took him 13 seasons to get rid of his last fuck, but there it went right out those cage doors!