I LOOOOVED this episode you guys. So, so much. How could you not? Unless you’re not a Cas fan, in which case, I don’t understand how your brain works. But to each his or her own! I am definitely a fan of the weirdo fallen angel and always have been, so Reading is Fundamental was right up my alley. Plus, it finally gave the brothers a plan for battling Dick Roman and even dredged up some old angel business that we haven’t heard about for a while. All that, and it was FUNNY AS SHIT while still managing to kick you in the heart a couple of times, which for my money is always the best kind of SPN episode.

Before I go into full-on gush mode, there was one thing that irked me that I need to address so I’m going to get it out of the way first.

Here’s the thing: I want to like Meg. I really do. But why in the name of sweet fancy Jesus do they write her dialogue like she’s a sassy bombshell in a 1940’s detective novel? She’s so goddamn quippy and disingenuous all the time, and then Rachel Miner drawls every line out of the side of her mouth and totally lays the snark on thick which just makes it extra irritating. I hate bagging on women characters on this show (because there are so few), but shit, girl. Give me something to work with. And yes, she did redeem herself a touch later in the ep when she faked out the demons and then killed them in order to protect Cas, Sam and Dean, but it still can’t make me enjoy listening to her speak.

Okay, back to the fangirling. This was my favorite kind of SPN episode, the kind that makes you laugh your ass off throughout and then unexpectedly feel all kinds of FEELINGS out of nowhere. It’s kind of become their trademark at this point because they do it so well. This week both the laughs and the feelings came courtesy of Cas, who awoke from his coma thanks to the brothers cracking open Dick Roman’s intercepted package, which contained a little thing called the Word of God. Their actions also led to the introduction of a new prophet: Kevin Tran, Teen Genius.

I really liked the addition of Kevin, even though he will never be the OP: Original Prophet, Chuck. I miss Chuck a lot (which might possibly be related to my love of Richard on Felicity, but that’s neither here nor there). But Kevin is pretty cool too. I especially loved his ‘normal person’ reactions to all of the crazy shit happening around him, because we would all be hyperventilating into paper bags if we ever had to deal with this stuff IRL. Kevin’s a good addition and I like that he’s sort of already become a bit of a little brother to Sam and especially Dean who is very comfortable with the bossy, gruff older brother persona.

In other news, CAS. Like I said, he woke up from his coma and he remembered EVERYTHING, but his brain wasn’t working at full power (maybe). Now, here’s the thing: I’m not sure if this is because his brain is still kind of broken, or if he’s deliberately choosing to avoid reality. He almost had a Rainman quality at times in the ep, while other times he seemed completely with it and aware. I’m chalking this up to a great performance by Mischa Collins because it was really layered and I’m still not entirely sure what’s going on. What I do know is that Denial!Cas or Broken!Cas (whichever it is) is HILARIOUS.

Upon first meeting back up with the brothers, Cas engaged Dean in the longest ‘Pull My Finger’ gag ever, and I loved how PROUD of himself he was, and how confused he seemed when nobody else found it funny. Let’s break it down:

I mean, who doesn’t love a good ‘pull the angel’s finger’ joke, right?

So the whole time Cas is being funny and weird (usual Cas), while steadily avoiding the elephants in the room (leviathans, trying to become God, what have you). When he and Dean eventually spoke alone, I died you guys. It was such a great scene. Dean  pushing Cas to admit that he remembered everything and holding him to task for it, and Cas’ simple, strange apology (see header pic). Ugh. I just wanted to pet Cas’ hair and whisper to him in soothing tones that it would all be okay. And this is a guy who, a few months ago, was trying to rule the world and screwing everyone else over in the process.

He had another scene later with Sam that was equally gut-punching. When Sam told him that they would do whatever it took to ‘fix’ Cas, and Cas seemed to have no idea what he was talking about, AAAGGGGHHHH. This show can just completely break your heart and I find that moments like these have all the more impact when you’ve been laughing your ass off and they totally take you by surprise.

But then, we’re left with the question of ‘is there anything wrong with Cas’? Is he broken, or is he simply choosing to avoid? When push came to shove and his old angel buddies showed up, he was on top of things. In many of the discussions with the brothers, he was totally able to focus and make sense. I don’t really feel like his oddness is a result of a physical problem – I feel like it’s a coping mechanism. Which means we could have our old Cas back at some point. Which would be AMAZING.

I mean, look at this adorableness:

Reunited and it feels so good...

Oh, and let’s not forget about this:

I mean, come on. If Cas can somehow find his way back to his old self while retaining some of this newfangled loosey-goosey, chilled out dude? Perfection. Just please, don’t hook him up with Meg. I got a few weird vibes in that direction and I do not want. Mostly because it would mean more Meg screentime which, as you know, I prefer that she’s be more of a background character (as in, DEEP background – like maybe a phone call every couple of months and I’d be good).

Oh, I should mention that season 8 is official – the CW has picked it up for next season (which, I’m happy about, don’t get me wrong, but I’m also really hoping that it’s a final season and that they know this early on so that they can really tie things up in a way that’s satisfactory to the fans and the cast/crew. I don’t want to see SPN stay too late at the party, you know?).

In addition to being a great hour of tv, damn, this episode was filled with hilarious quotables. Here are some of my favorites, but I’m sure I left some out:

(Voice of meteorologist on radio): Baffled? No I’m not baffled. Frankly I’m offended. This is not the way that weather behaves.

This one goes out to all the ladies.

Cas: I saw the route of flowers. It’s all there, there’s nothing to add.
Sam: You might want to add a little Thorazine.

Did you know that a cat’s penis is sharply barbed along its shaft? I know for a fact that the females were not consulted about that.

Castiel to Sam: You seem troubled. Of course, that’s a primary aspect of your personality, so I sometimes ignore it.

Sam: Metatron? Are you saying a Transformer wrote that?
Dean: No, that’s Megatron.
Sam: What?
Dean: The Transformer. That’s Megatron.
Sam: What?

What are you two jackasses doing with the word of God?

In the end, it was you, the Homo Sapien Sapiens. You guys ate the apple, invented pants…

Dean: What’s that?
Sam: It’s uh, Kevin Tran? He’s in advanced placement.

(Cas on the phone with Meg): I’m surrounded by large, unhappy dogs.

Those racing dogs were absolutely miserable. They can only think in ovals.

Crowley ain’t the problem this year.

So, that’s it for me. I know I didn’t really get into that ending, but let’s just say that the leviathans now have Kevin Tran, Teen Genius in their possession (Kevin’s poor mother! I kept thinking about her throughout the entire ep and then she finally gets him back and BAM! Gone again). The brothers have the translation of the tablet meaning they know how to take Dick down. All of the pieces for the final battle are being put into place and I’m really excited to see it play out.Oh, and do we think that there’s any significance to all of the bee talk from Cas? I can’t decide if it was just a weird quirk that the writers decided to give him to show his new philosophical viewpoint on life or if there’s something more to it. What do you guys think?

Oh, and this is not directly related to the show but it made me laugh so I HAVE to mention it: Canada’s Wonderland, which is the Disney World/Land of Ontario, opened their newest roller coaster this weekend and it’s apparently crazy awesome (some of my friends were there and rode it). Why am I telling you this, you ask? Because the name of it is LEVIATHAN!!!! I was at a bbq yesterday with some friends and I kept hearing the word in conversations and was so confused because I know that none of them watch this show. Anyway, it was funny and none of my friends appreciated it, so I thought I’d share with you guys, who GET ME.

Here is the promo for next week’s penultimate episode of the season and one of our favorites is back! Yay! So check it out (or don’t), and then hit the comments with all of your Cas thoughts! What did you think of Kevin Tran, Teen Genius? Where do you think the season is heading in the finale? Comment, comment, comment!!!