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In the aftermath of the battle between the scribe of God, Metatron (Curtis Armstrong), and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), Dean is once again raised from the dead—this time by the King of Hell, Crowley (Mark Sheppard). Only now he’s a demon bearing the Mark of Cain. This delights Crowley to no end until he realizes that he cannot control Dean—no one can.
Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) finds himself adrift from his brother and desperately seeking a cure—a spell to remove the Mark of Cain from Dean’s arm before he goes full-on dark side. But first he must remove the demon from Dean without killing his brother or resorting to evil methods.
Metatron failed to overthrow Heaven, but he left the angel Castiel (Misha Collins) a mess to clean up on Earth—and he has to do it without his grace, which Metatron stole and hid. Castiel is on the brink of death as he deals with one disaster after another—usually involving Sam and Dean—and his own personal demons.
As always, one evil gets put down by Sam and Dean only for another to rise in its place. This time, it’s an ancient and powerful witch named Rowena (Ruth Connell). Since the Grand Coven sent her into exile, Rowena is loyal to no one, and this makes her a very dangerous enemy to the King of Hell and the Winchester brothers.
Supernatural has basically turned into a drama, with each season a race to save either Sam or Dean from the evil within him. Meanwhile, rogue angels and nasty demons run amok in the human population, spreading pain and destruction wherever they land. Sam and Dean are now too busy solving their own personal problems to care very much about the original mission: hunting evil, saving people.
Though I find demon and angel mythology fascinating, I still prefer the earlier seasons, where Sam and Dean hunted the “monster of the week,” and there was just enough drama to keep the characters engaging. In season ten, very little monster hunting goes on. And, if it does, it’s usually an aside to the drama—like Dean going on a vampire killing spree (during which we get to know nothing about the vampires) or the suicide house, where the brothers need to recover a book that will help with the Mark of Cain.
My favorite episodes include “Ask Jeeves” and “Paint it Black.” “Ask Jeeves” takes Sam and Dean to the mansion of a late heiress. Hoping for an inheritance, they instead get tangled up in the departed’s family and a murder mystery that could involve a shapeshifter. With a Clue game-like feel and everyone running around grabbing lead pipes and candlestick holders, this episode added humor to a season that’s often steeped in darkness. “Paint it Black,” meanwhile, involves a church, a rash of suicide victims, and a mentally unstable ghost. Sam and Dean meet a hot nun, prompting Sam to remind Dean that she was married to Jesus. A ghost in a church returns viewers to the creepiness of the show’s earlier seasons.
Supernatural: The Complete Tenth Season blows the lid off of paranormal drama, hitting fans with a few surprises while introducing bizarre new characters enmeshed in one twisted plot twist after another. But you can still expect to find Dean’s sarcastic humor and Sam’s never-ending loyalty and good guy code as they delve deeper into folklore, urban legends, and the dark mythology of angels and demons.
Supernatural takes a giant step across the boundaries of things that go bump in the night, which makes this hit TV show a must watch for anyone who loves the paranormal. The show may have changed a lot since its beginning, but it still has Sam and Dean—two brothers with an unbreakable bond hunting down the boogeyman (occasionally), so we can all sleep safe and sound at night.
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