Recap-Supernatural S4.E1 “Lazarus Rising” (September 18, 2008)

Dean experiences unbearable torture in hell then winds up back in his coffin. He has to dig himself out of the grave then he walks until he finds an abandoned gas station. It’s already September so he has been gone for several months. He notices a large hand print on his right shoulder. After grabbing some supplies (and of course an adult magazine), he robs the place. However, the TV and radio go on by themselves and the windows blow out. He gets out of there and calls Bobby but he doesn’t believe it is really Dean. Dean hot wires a car and drives to Bobby’s. Bobby still doesn’t believe it is actually Dean and tries to stab him with a knife. Dean rattles off information about him that a demon would know but Bobby still doesn’t believe. Dean then cuts himself with a silver knife to prove he isn’t a demon. Bobby tries holy water on him and when that doesn’t work he finally accepts that it is really Dean.

Neither Dean or Bobby has any idea what happened. Dean doesn’t remember much from his experience in hell. Bobby hasn’t talked to Sam for a few months since Sam wanted to go alone. Sam also didn’t want Dean burned and he made a comment that Dean would need it for when he returned from the grave. This obviously makes Dean think that Sam made a deal with a demon. He tracks Sam’s cellphone and finds out that he is in the same city that he returned in. Dean and Bobby go to his location and find a girl in his room. Sam does look genuinely surprised and like Bobby, first suspects that he is a demon. Dean demands to know what his return cost Sam but Sam tells him he didn’t make a deal. He tried everything to get him out of hell but nobody would do a deal with him.

While Dean was gone, Sam was hunting Lilith for some payback. He had tracked a group of demons to the hotel he is in now. Dean thinks there has to be a connection between those demons and his return. Bobby suggests a psychic that could help them figure out what happened. On the drive over there, Dean asks Sam how he got away from Lilith. Sam tells him that she tried to kill him but for some reason couldn’t. Ruby is dead though.

The psychic sets up a seance and finds out that a demon named Casstiel was behind it. She tries to get a look at him but he warns her to stop. When she refuses, here eyes start to bleed and she can no longer see. After all this, Dean still wants a face-to-face with Casstiel. Sam wants to just find the demons he was tailing. Those demons find him since they are in the diner they are in. These demons want to know how Dean got out. Dean realizes they are spooked and want answers just like him but he can’t provide them. Sam and Dean just leave with no incident. Sam wants to return and kill them later but Dean doesn’t think they are a priority.

At night, Sam sneaks out to go kill the demons. Dean is alone and stuff starts turning on around him again. A high-pitched noise is heard and glass is destroyed. Bobby comes in and gets him out of there. The two drive away but Dean still wants to summon the thing. Bobby thinks it is a bad idea but goes along with it. Sam finds the demons in the diner dead with their eyes all bloody like the psychic. One is still alive and Sam has to fight back. The demon thinks it’s the end of the world and that they are all dead. Sam uses his crazy psychic skills to suck her into hell. The girl in Sam’s room before is revealed to be Ruby. Sam has been working with her, using his psychic powers to help people and send demons to hell.

Dean and Bobby prep an area to summon Casstiel. After a long wait, he finally shows up. All the lights are blown out and Casstiel takes multiple bullets without even flinching. He tells Dean that he is the one who brought him out. Dean tries the silver knife on him but it doesn’t work. Casstiel makes Bobby fain because he needs to talk to Dean alone. He reveals that he is an angel of the Lord. Dean doesn’t believe him so Casstiel shows off his wings. Dean asks about the psychic and Casstiel tells him that he warned her not to look at his truce face. Casstiel correctly picks up that Dean has no faith and he doesn’t think he deserves to be saved. He tells Dean that God demanded he be returned to Earth since he has work for him to do.