Supernatural, Season 4

4:1 LAZARUS RISING

Synopsis: Dean wakes up in his own coffin. How did he return from the dead? What caused the hand-shaped welt on his shoulder? And what happened in the four months he spent in Hell, time he can't remember?

Review: A shitty resolution for last season's finale, but on the other hand an interesting new character is introduced that puts a huge new twist on the show. I hope this person sticks around for a while.

4:2 ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT'S ME, DEAN WINCHESTER

Synopsis: After Dean's encounter with Castiel, Dean, Sam and Bobby brush up on their biblical lore when they're attacked by the vengeful spirits of people from the Winchesters' past. They're warned it's a sign that someone is trying to break seals which will bring on the apocalypse.

Review: A lot of familiar faces from seasons past show up to haunt the Winchesters. Yeah, I don't really have anything to say about this one.

4:3 IN THE BEGINNING

Synopsis: Back to the future, Castiel sends Dean to 1973 Lawrence, Kansas, where he meets a nice young couple named John and Mary Winchester. Dean's parents. And Mary has a secret.

Review: Dean goes back in time and meets his parents. His mom is hot.

4:4 METAMORPHOSIS

Synopsis: Dark powers. Dean fears Sam is using his paranormal gifts in conflict with God's plan. An an ordinary guy in an ordinary town gets a major case of the munchies. It starts with steak - and moves to human flesh.

Review: A somewhat edgy episode with an interesting and unique Monster of the Week. Not recommend if the sound of people eating and breathing heavily while doing so makes you nauseous.

4:5 MONSTER MOVIE

Synopsis: In a black-and-white world reminiscent of classic horror flicks, the brothers tangle with a vampire, a werewolf and a mummy who are thinning the crowds at a quaint Oktoberfest.

Review: Worst... episode... ever.

4:6 YELLOW FEVER

Synopsis: Hell beckons again when Dean is stricken with a mysterious illness that frightens its sufferers to death. Sam and Dean scramble to find the cause of the disease in time to save Dean from sure death.

Review: Unfortunately this isn't a Giallo episode, which would have been amazing, but instead Dean turns into a total pussy after succumbing to a "ghost sickness", leaving Sam to battle a tortured ghost and save the day. Meanwhile, Dean has premonitions about what appears to be Sam's dark destiny and is visited by one of the show's most powerful villains thus far. Overall, a forgettable episode, unless you count a really disgusting moment involving an open wound and a steel brush pad.

4:7 IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, SAM WINCHESTER

Synopsis: Chomping candy, bobbing for apples. Halloween is such fun. Until gruesome deaths signify another seal is being broken. To stop it, Castiel and another angel plan a mass annihilation of the town.

Review: Sam and Dean investigate some Halloween-related deaths. Their hunt leads them to a powerful witch, and some heavenly visitors threaten to decimate the entire town. A great episode with some impressive camera work, including a POV shot from the inside of someone's mouth as they chomp on a razorblade.

4:8 WISHFUL THINKING

Synopsis: Want to score a hot girlfriend, win the lottery or have your favorite teddy bear come to life? Then plunk a coin in a small town's wishing well and stand back. One problem: The wishes come true with a twist.

Review: Fucking hilarious. What starts out as what appears to be a random ghost episode turns into the brothers encountering an invisible pervert and a talking teddy bear with a drinking problem. In my opinion, a good example of the series' comedic episodes. Ted Raimi guest stars!

4:9 I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

Synopsis: What happened to Sam during the months Dean was dead? During the search for a girl named Anna Milton, who has a mysterious connection to the angels, Sam reveals the astonishing events of the summer.

Review: Not a teen slasher episode, but the first of a two-parter involving an escaped mental patient who seems to be tapped into the supernatural world. For some reason a recurring character from up above wants her dead. Most of this episode consists of flashbacks that explain Sam's newfound partnership with a certain rogue demon.

4:10 HEAVEN AND HELL

Synopsis: "I'll kill her gentle." The angels want Anna dead, so Sam and Dean go on the run with the frightened girl, determined to discover the secret that has set the furies of Heaven on her.

Review: Like the title says, representatives of Heaven and Hell clash as the Winchesters and the mystery mental patient from the last episode are stuck in the middle. Dean also opens up about his time spent in Hell. The new characters that have been introduced this season are a godsend.

4:11 FAMILY REMAINS

Synopsis: Dad, Mom, two kids and a dog. An all-American family doesn't stand a ghost of a chance against the bloodthirsty force that turns their new home-sweet-home into a haunted house.

Review: A cool PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS homage, but not a very important episode. A good follow-up to the epic mid-season two-parter, and a well-placed filler episode to get the second half of the season rolling on a somewhat strong note.

4:12 CRISS ANGEL IS A DOUCHEBAG

Synopsis: Aging magician The Incredible Jay performs the dangerous Table of Death trick and emerges unscathed. Jay cheated the Grim Reaper, but one of his rivals didn't. He checked out while Jay was doing his act.

Review: Unfortunately the "Mindfreak" is nowhere to be found, and instead we're treated to a look-alike who's obviously a mockery of Criss Angel. A series of mysterious deaths are traced to a magician. The brothers investigate and you know the rest. I really liked the atmosphere of this one, as well as the uncertainty of what direction the story was going. The comedic moments are fine, and the supporting cast is great.

4:13 AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL

Synopsis: Fast times at Truman High. Murder brings Sam and Dean back to one of their old high schools, where they investigate possible demonic possession and take a few trips down memory lane.

Review: Kind of a touching episode about the effects that bullying in school can have on people, but with a supernatural, demonic twist of course. Not a bad episode by any means, but not outstanding either.

4:14 SEX AND VIOLENCE

Synopsis: In a small town in Iowa, three loving husbands kill their wives. Turns out these guys believe in spreading their love around: Each is spending plenty of the family income on strippers at a nearby nudie bar.

Review: Another filler episode without any of the recurring characters showing up, except for Bobby who's been sparingly used throughout the season. The brothers hunt a Siren, Sam hooks up with a hot doctor chick, and Dean spends lots of time in a strip club. Lots of hot, fake-boobed stripper extras in this one. The reveal at the end was kinda weird... and gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

4:15 DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY

Synopsis: Reapers take a break from work, and that means no one can die. But the escorts to the next world aren't off getting some R&R, unless you call being held hostage by a demon restful and relaxing.

Review: One of the recurring themes this season revolves around earthbound demons accomplishing various assignments in order to break "seals". Once a certain amount of them are broken, everyone on earth (and in heaven) will be pretty much powerless against them. This theme is somehow tied into this episode's seemingly random mission for the brothers, thus making it... uh, not so random, I guess. This episode deals with astral projection and the brothers setting foot in the spirit world to investigate the disappearances of a couple of reapers - one of whom is played by Lindsey McKeon, who appeared in the first episode of the second season.

4:16 ON THE HEAD OF A PIN

Synopsis: Can torture be God's work? After seven angels are mysteriously murdered, Castiel and Uriel demand that Dean use the agony-inducing skills he learned in Hell to extract information from Alastair.

Review: Angels are being killed, and Dean is recruited to interrogate the Marlon Brando demon. The gradual metamorphosis of Sam's character is starting to get really interesting. Whispers of Lucifer and the apocalypse. Shit's about to go down.

4:17 IT'S A TERRIBLE LIFE

Synopsis: At Sandover Bride & Iron Inc., Dean is Dean Smith, the buttoned-down director of Sales & Marketing. Sam is Sam Wesson, a cubicle-dwelling tech support guy. What the heck is going on? Or is it what the Hell?

Review: It's a terrible episode. Episodes like this make me want to just skip straight to the season finales.

4:18 THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK

Synopsis: Familiar plot. Familiar characters. Sam and Dean come across a series of graphic novels called Supernatural featuring two demon-hunting brothers named Sam and Dean.

Review: A "meta" episode, where the brothers meet someone who apparently wrote their entire lives in a series of books. He mentions the Ghost Ship episode and BUGS and apologizes for the bad writing. It takes a weird turn that ties into the whole religious angle.

4:19 JUMP THE SHARK

Synopsis: Meet the Winchester boys: Sam, Dean and... Adam. The Winchesters discover they have a younger half-brother, whose mother vanishes just as a long-dormant grave robber renews his ghoulish career.

Review: I'm not sure why they called this one JUMP THE SHARK. It's your basic standalone Monster of the Week episode that wouldn't feel out of place in any of the other seasons.

4:20 THE RAPTURE

Synopsis: The body Castiel walks around in isn't his. Instead, it belongs to a regular guy named Jimmy who wants his body - and his life - back. He gets the body. But the life may be a different story.

Review: Yeah, so this episode was kind of bad-ass.

4:21 WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS

Synopsis: Dean and Bobby have something frightening locked in Bobby's panic room: Sam, contaminated by demon blood. But as the apocalypse draws nearer, Bobby wants to free Sam to battle on their side.

Review: More like "When the Exposition Machine Starts". Action takes a back seat to story as a way to build up to the finale. Sam's descent into a dark place plays a big part in this episode.

4:22 LUCIFER RISING

Synopsis: The brothers prepare to fight the forces of the apocalypse in different camps. While Sam and Ruby hunt down Lilith, Dean joins Castiel and Zachariah to take on Lucifer.

Review: While the three season finales preceding this have been nothing short of spectacular, I found this one to be pretty underwhelming. On one hand there's closure in regards to a couple of characters, but on the other hand this episode is more of a tease for the next season that marks the start of something huge. In the context of it being a weekly television show, it's a smart move and I can totally understand their reasoning for ending the season in such a manner.