I thought this episode was incredibly good, focusing on, as you said, the breakdown of the brothers and the destruction of the world in a much less physical sense – demons are walking freely, the angels are getting impatient and more violent, etc – but the greatest parts of this episode were actually, I think, not what I would have expected.

For one thing, Meg's reappearance restored my faith in the show's casting department, since this new actress seems to have studied Meg from season 1 and captured her character perfectly (unlike a certain actress to whose terrible characterization of a fan favorite we were subjected all of fourth season who shall remain nameless). The actual words, the way she says them, and her actions are all exactly Meg, and I appreciate the work that went into that.

Newcomer Mark Pellegrino as Nick aka Lucifer's vessel gave me chills. Even though there were effects and things to make the setting creepy and awful, it's his mourning eyes and deeply wounded looks that really sold just how terrible the situation was. It speaks to Pellegrino's acting talent that I watched him in Dexter not a month ago (I'm a little late to the Dexter party) as Rita's evil-bastard ex and I was rooting for Dexter to hurry and kill him, and then he shows up in Supernatural, suppoedly readying himself to play Lucifer, and I'm holding back tears as we get a peek into his decimated life. Truly glorious – I can't wait to see the way his character is going to develop.

Jim Beaver also blew me away in this episode. Bobby has always been a beloved character, but he really got to speak up and act out – and the audience is left wondering just how much of his rant at Sam WAS the demon talking and how much was actually him. Bobby's valiance and strength speak toward his love of the boys and his dedication not only to them, but to his work. Jim's finest moment.

And now onto an obvious one: the ending. Dean telling Sam that he couldn't trust him anymore may have broken my and every other fangirl/boy's heart, but it was exactly what needed to be said. Anyone hoping/expecting Dean to just forgive Sam now that Ruby's dead and have them go back to normal is fooling themselves, and HAD it happened, it would have absolutely ruined everything. This is real, raw, and awesome.

10/5 stars (no, that's not a typo)

PS: The Wincest connection = AWESOME. Kripke is the ultimate fangirl! :)