Supernatural: In the Beginning (2008)
Season 4, Episode 3
Review for In The Beginning
17 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
In The Beginning Dean goes to the past and meets his father, a soldier who has just returned home from the war, his mother a drop dead babe, but don't worry Dean you're not going to hell…again. Dean also meets both his maternal grandparents who, low and behold, turn out to be hunters. Guess the family business is closer to home then any of us thought.

We start with Sam leaving his brother in the dead of night, anyone else noticing a pattern here, to drive off with Ruby, to God knows where. Well maybe God doesn't know where. Sorry all you Jared fans but I timed it and Jared is on screen for a total of 43.7 seconds in this one and has one line.

Dean gets sent back to 1973 with a simple mission, "You have to stop it from happening." Making the natural assumption that 'it' must involve his dad, he follows young John played by a very sweet looking, Matt Cohen. We are even lucky enough to see the 'young' Impala. Even back then his baby was a babe.

Dean follows John to his girlfriend's house and is pretty much speechless when he realizes the beautiful blonde is in fact his mother. He gets another shocker when Mary, portrayed wonderfully by Amy Gumenick, jumps him in the ally and kicks the crap out of him, talk about a beat down from your mamma. You have to give props to Amy Gumenick because lets face it, coming in to play a much-loved character but as a younger version it's not easy. But damn it if she didn't nail it, she was Mary and she proved it.

Dean gets to meet his grandparents and who else wasn't laughing when we learned where Dean and Sam got their names. Dean points to Samuel, "Sam? Points to Deanna, "Dean?" Mary just nods. It was funny. Dean and his grandfather were so much alike it was kind of scary. Props go to a guest star, Mitch Pileggi. That man was a wonderful Yellow-Eyes, aka Azazel. Mitch Pileggi captured him so well. From that slight curl of his lip to that swagger he has whenever he advances on his pray. It was beautiful.

The Scene Between Amy and Jensen scene could have easily gone an entirely different direction. It could have seemed a little weird, but it didn't. It was simple a boy missing his mother and trying to show her how much he missed and loved her without being obvious about it. Few people could have pulled off a scene like that and it's nice to know that Jensen and Amy are a few of them.

There was a question Sam asked Dean back in episode one, "You think Mom would have wanted us to be raised like this?" We got our answer. Mary was trying to get out of the hunting life and she saw John as a true way out. If you weren't about to bawl after hearing Mary's speech about that then you have a heart of stone. I was tearing up. Her son, whom she doesn't know is standing there and she is all but telling him she would be disappointed in the life he's leading. It was sad. And Dean so wanted her to be proud of him that he was willing to risk all those lives he saved for her to be just that.

After telling Samuel about the demon Dean runs off to get the Colt to kill Azazel. Along the way Castiel shows up and tells him that if he changes the future all those people he saved will die. Now here is the best part, Dean doesn't say he doesn't care about those people, just tells him he can't let his parents die again.

Samuel lets it slip that Dean thinks the demon is going to go after Mary's friend Liddy Walsh. Mary is a little mad that he didn't tell her before and runs out of the room to go help her friend. "She wants to hunt, she doesn't want to hunt. It this some female 'time of the month'? Here is something I don't get and it goes back to the Wiltshire farm. If Azazel has to kiss to seal a deal, did he have to kiss Charlie? I know kind of gross but it makes you think. Not sure if much thought was put into that. Samuel rushes and shoots Azazel before he could seal the deal with Liddy, Azazel knocks the gun away and pins Samuel to the wall. Mary attacks and again we see how good of a hunter she really is.

Not sure how soon the rest of you realized that Samuel was possessed but for me it was the moment he complimented Dean. My first thought was 'Sounds kind of like John when he was possessed.' And we now come to the real reason Dean was sent back, even if he doesn't know it yet. It seems to me that Castiel really sent Dean back to try and get Azazel's endgame.

A lot of people are probable think that Dean causes the whole Azazel becoming fixated on Mary. Castiel says it was meant to happen and there was nothing Dean could have done to change it. We all know Dean might not see it like that, but well see.

There was only that I just about screamed at the TV for regarding this episode. 'To be Continued…' three words that should never have been invented for the use on television. Never have those little words made me want to grab the TV set and shack it till the story continued. It is however nice to know that those evils, devil spawn words have only been used twice in Supernatural history, but I will bet my life (or soul) that we have not seen the last of those dreaded words.
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