Directors: Phil Sgriccia, Robert Singer, John Showalter, and more
Writers: Sera Gamble, Ben Edlund, Robert Singer, Brett Matthews, Nicole Snyder, and more
Starring: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Jim Beaver, Mark A. Sheppard, Mitch Pileggi, Cindy Sampson, Sebastian Roché
Episodes: 22
Release Date: 09/2010 – 05/2011
Network: The CW

To be honest, it was not easy to begin writing this review for the sixth season of Supernatural. I watched the finale of it two months ago, sorted my notes three weeks ago, and struggled with starting this review since then. Those notes even came with me on a short vacation and on a quick business trip. I thought I might go crazy. But I set the goal to write at least once a month about my rewatch-experience, and today I finally sat down and forced myself to start. Sometimes, one has to push things and keep writing until it gets better. So, let’s talk about Supernatural’s sixth season.

After the almost perfect ending of season five, which wrapped up pretty much everything that happened, it took me a while to get back on track. What bothered me most was the fact that Sam was back for almost a year and did not tell Dean about it. Then grandpa walked back into his life, gathered some troops, and began hunting. Recklessly, I might add. Dean, in the meantime, enjoyed his time with Lisa and Ben – all three of them seemed happy. However, something appeared off — something still feels off with this season. But if nothing else, a training sequence with shirtless Sam convinced me to continue watching.

One reason that something feels off with this season comes from the many, many things that happen in it. Take a deep breath, and go:

Sam lost his soul, struggles with a loose morality, tortures children, abandons Dean, they make up–finally, Sam fights himself in a dreamlike state to fix his split personality, which is kind of Death’s fault, but also not really.
Their grandpa reappears from the dead, also struggles with a loose morality, but doesn’t have the excuse of a missing soul, don’t worry though, he dies a bizarre death again later (Rufus also dies, which is sad).
Crowley, whose real name is Ferguson, dies a fake death, makes Sam and Dean work for him, pretends (?) to know where Sam’s soul is, and comes back to life to be cheated by an Angel named Castiel.
Sam and Dean fly to Scotland and back to the US again within 15 minutes, just to find said Crowley’s bones to kill him.
Castiel fights an angelic civil war, works with Crowley, throws the brothers through the fourth wall, and declares himself the new god at the end of the season, after killing his brother Rafael.
Dean has a healthy, normal life with Lisa and Ben, but has to leave them behind. He comes back later, because of reasons and danger. Dean, of course, heroically saves them, feels terrible, and then forces Castiel to change their memories, so they forget Dean and everything supernatural.
Purgatory is a real place where monsters go after they die. Not all monsters, though, which still means there is a lot of potential in it (gentrification, souls to be harvested, etc.) and a rich resource for whoever controls it, which is basically the main plotline of this season, but also not really.
We meet the real Colt, the one who made the colt of colts, which can kill anybody, but not really, and mails it through time – which obviously works, because of reasons. Oh, and there is a Phoenix, but not the one from X-Men 3 or X-Men: Dark Phoenix – thank God (or Castiel, whatever).
Dean has to wear Death’s ring for one day, and for one day, we follow Bobby and his hardships (he also gets his soul back, but somehow does not act like an asshole and nobody seems to care about it).
Balthazar un-sinks the Titanic, which makes Fate angry (or at least one of the three Fates), they argue, struggle, threatening to kill each other and put everything back to normal at the end.

I think that’s it. Those are the most important plots and subplots. Everything on this very confusing list sounds exciting and even epic, but they all form an incohesive overall story. The main plotline surrounds Sam and his missing soul, which sounds cool. And even though he makes some hard, questionable decisions, some of which are just cruel, the solution to it all comes down to scenes we have seen before. Writing about it now, it reminds me of Sam and his demon-blood-addiction, which was a better, more focused storyline. This time, it feels disturbed and unfocused, because of all the other things that happen. Half of the stuff on the list could be cut, and no one would miss it.

However, there still remain some very impressive episodes and scenes — Season 6 is not as big a debacle as Season 3 was. I love the Bobby-centered adventure, or Death’s bet with Dean. The supernatural meta-episode is funny, and Dean’s love for Lisa and Ben feels true. Tortured, struggling Sam can be entertaining, but at some point, it gets too much and repetitive.

From a technical standpoint, I have nothing to complain about. Something I admired or noticed was the editing — for example, the transitions when Cas or Crowley beam-up are flawless. The soundtrack and sound design are creepy as always and on point throughout the season.

The sixth season of Supernatural may leave you with mixed feelings. Kind of like the fact that angels, in their pure form, are as tall as the Chrysler building. Taken for itself, it sounds interesting. Still, I have no idea what to do with that information or if I need to have an opinion on it.

See you next month. Hopefully.