Warning: This review contains spoilers. Do not read this unless you have seen the episode.
One of the best things about Supernatural is that it does things that many other TV shows would never dream of doing. In last week’s episode, the brothers were sent back to the Wild West.
The episode begins there, but just before we see a duel go down between Dean and some guy, it flashes back 48 hours, which also happens to be 150 years in the future.
Sam, Dean, and Bobby are in a room that contains a lot of Samuel Colt’s hunting material. They try to search it for some clues about the Mother and in some book, they see a clue that tells them that they need ashes from a phoenix.
After more searching, they come across Samuel’s journal and in it, he mentions that he defeats a phoenix. Dean tries calling for Castiel so that he can send them back, but they get a different angel instead.
Her name is Rachel and she is a lieutenant that is mad about them calling Castiel all the time. However, Castiel shows up and decides to help. Dean is very excited to visit the Wild West and we find out he is a big Clint Eastwood fan.
The only issue is that they have only one day to acquire the ashes. Castiel tells them that the farther they are sent back, the harder it is to get them back. So, he sends them back to 1861 in search of the precious ashes.
When they get there, they start interacting with the people. It was great seeing Dean really happy about being in this time period, but not everything was fun. They saw a man get hanged, Dean has some terrible whiskey, and the saloon girls had cold sores.
Plus, they had to figure out what the phoenix was. It was actually the same person who was hanged and he was getting revenge on his killers. Dean tries to take care of him, while Sam went to get Samuel.
He ended up getting the colt, but Samuel would not go with him. In the end, Dean defeated the man with the colt and reduced him to ashes. Samuel was great and I was happy that we finally got to meet the man who created the powerful gun that has been such a major component to the entire series.
However, while all this was going on, a major issue was happening in the present. Rachel met with Castiel in a warehouse and told him that she did not approve of his methods during the war and that she knows his secret.
They got into a fight, and Castiel ended up killing her. However, he was injured and he went to Bobby. The only way he could be healed in the short time was to touch Bobby’s soul.
Of course, this was a major risk, as Bobby could explode if it was done incorrectly. But, they do it right and Castiel was healed just in time. He goes back to get the brothers, but he gets them just before they could get the ashes.
Dean tries to get Castiel to send them back, but he wouldn’t do it. However, at that moment, the mailman comes to the door with a very special package.
Samuel sent them the ashes and all was well. So, that was the Wild West episode. This was one of the most entertaining episodes of the season and it moved the story along as well.
It had tons of great comedy and the originality of Supernatural continues to amaze me. There were great references to Back to the Future and Bonanza as well as that interesting secret that Castiel is hiding.
We have no idea what it could be, but I hope that it is a satisfying twist . Anyway, this was a highly entertaining episode that did not disappoint.
College Couch Potato Grade: A-
Yes, that was great when they got the package in the mail. Quite original.