In Episode 3 of Supernatural’s fourth season, we finally get to see where Dean Winchester gets his coolness, when arch angel Castiel (Misha Collins) gives him the opportunity to go back in time to meet his parents (Matt Cohen and Amy Gumenick) just as they’re falling in love. So will Dean use the opportunity to save his mother, who is destined to die at the hands of the Yellow Eye Demon? And would doing so change everything — for the worst?

Two video clips from the first episode of Supernatural Season 4 (”Lazarus Rising”) finds Dean showing up at Bobby’s door, alive and well, much to the shock of Bobby (hey, wouldn’t you be?), who does the only logical thing and grabs a knife; the second clip has the Winchester boys and Bobby (apparently having gotten over his slack-jawed shock at seeing Dean alive) visiting hot-to-trot psychic Pamela Barnes, who looks like a potential recurring character and love interest for one of the boys. Check out promo images from the premiere episode over here.

You gotta love the title for the second episode of Supernatural’s fourth season: “Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester”. Whoever came up with that title needs a bonus, but I don’t expect anything less from the Supernatural boys. This is one of those shows that just keeps on churning, not really getting a whole lot of props from a whole lot of places, but if you’ve seen one episode, you’re most likely hooked on the show. That’s exactly what happened to me. I saw the pilot episode a while back, but forgot to follow up on it. Later, when the show was in its second season, I kept running across episodes and found myself really liking it. No surprise that I quickly got all the seasons on DVD and caught up.

You may or may not have heard by now, but Dean Winchester survives his recent trip to Hell, as seen in the final seconds of the third season’s cliffhanger episode. But how exactly did he return to the land of the living? Was it something Sam did? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll probably find out as the Supernatural Season 4 continues, and how Sam has changed as a result. In the meantime, here are the first promo images from the first episode of Season 4, titled “Lazarus Rising”.

Dean lives! Well, what did you expect? Did you really think Eric Kripke and the WB were going to kill off Dean Winchester in Season 4 of their TV show? Oh come on. Without Dean, there would be no Supernatural. As good as Sam is, Dean makes the show in my book. So in the sci-fi edition of an upcoming TV Guide issue, Supernatural creator Eric Kripke reveals how the Season 4 premiere episode will open: with Dean having escaped Hell, it’s now 4 months later, and Dean has no memories at all of the previous 4 months, or his time in Hell. Good news for him, since, well, we all saw what happened to him at the end of last season, right?

It looks like the WB’s Supernatural (aka the only show on that entire channel worth watching) is losing its two new babes. According to TV Guide, and confirmed by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke, both Katie Cassidy and Lauren Cohen, who were both introduced this year to add the babe factor to the show, have been exorcised. Cohen’s Bela character, of course, was dragged to hell (offscreen), and unlike Dean Winchester (also seen in Hell at the end of Season 3), she won’t be coming back. Meanwhile, Cassidy’s Ruby character was killed (also offscreen) by the evil Lilith demon, and a resurrection is not in the working, as Eric Kripke confirms. But don’t cry for her, Cassidy is already at work on a new Chris Carter (of “X-Files” fame) movie.

Okay, so I could probably do without an eighth season of Smallville. And in fact, everyone was expecting Season 7 to be the end. But seriously, how long can Clark Kent justify spending all this time on the farm, while there are wars and terrorists and what have you running around that his powers could sure be pretty decent against? But I digress. The CW has announced today that they have renewed Smallville for an eighth season, and at the same time, renewed Supernatural for a fourth season.