Last season, Sam (Jared Padalecki) sacrificed himself by throwing him, Michael and Lucifer into a Hell-based cage. The last thing he told his brother, Dean (Jensen Ackles), was to get out of the hunting life and be happy. Jump ahead one year and Dean is living with Lisa (Cindy Sampson) and her son Ben (Nicholas Elia) and he seems to be doing well in Suburbia, even if he does still keep an eye out for the creepy crawlies that exist in the world.
So imagine his surprise when Sam shows back up and claims to have been back for almost the entire year. Needless to say, Dean is set a bit aback by the whole thing, especially when the brothers' grandfather, Samuel Campbell (Mitch Pileggi), is also back from beyond the grave.
This is just the beginning of the season's many mysteries. The group quickly realize that Sam isn't quite the same person he was when he died a year ago, and after some investigation by Bobby (Jim Beaver) and Castiel (Misha Collins), they soon realize that Sam came back without a soul, and his new attitude towards hunting because of that missing piece might make him an effective monster-killer, but he also doesn't seem to have a conscience.
To make matters worse, the crossroads demon, Crowley (Mark Sheppard), has risen in the ranks, and with Lucifer out of the picture, he has claimed the mantle of King of Hell. Since the demon has a bit of a grudge against the Winchester brothers, this could mean bad things for them. Of course, that's not all that's going on. It seems the fact that the Apocalypse was averted did more than just keep the big story from ending, but it has also left the angels struggling to fill the power void left by Michael's absence. On one side is Castiel who feels the free will for angels is a good thing, and on the other is Raphael (Demore Barnes) who wants to restart the Apocalypse.
This season has some great episodes like "The French Mistake" where Sam and Dean are shoved into a universe, ours to be exact, where their lives are just a TV show. Now Sam and Dean have to play themselves off as Ackles and Padalecki until they figure out how to go back to their world. In the meantime, a lot of fun ensues.
Another fun episode has the boys going back to the Old West in order to gain a necessary ingredient to fight one of the big baddies this season has to offer. Besides a couple of Back to the Future references, this episode also features the character Samuel Colt and we once again see the gun that has been a prominent tool in the series.
One early episode, "Weekend at Bobby's," is interesting for a few reasons. Not only does it mostly focus on Bobby so we see how his typical day goes, but it is also Ackles' directorial debut. There is a special feature devoted to this fact, and it is an interesting one.
Other special features include commentary, pop-up trivia and alternate/deleted scenes of "The French Mistake." There is also a gag reel and a guide to the overall season as if you were flipping through a journal where you can learn a lot of information about each episode and creature. The season also includes two episode from the recently released Supernatural: The Anime Series and a featurette about the soul, how it is handled in the show, what philosophers have said about it over the years and what different academic experts think about it now.
Overall, Supernatural: The Complete Sixth Season does a pretty good job of keeping the series going. It definitely ends on a cliffhanger that makes me want to know what happens next. The Blu-ray quality is always nice, and the high definition really gives the show's dark visual style the quality it needs. I wouldn't recommend jumping right into the series this late in the game, but if you have a good, cursory knowledge of the show, then this isn't a horrible place to join in. You will get filled in on the details you absolutely need, but it would be nice to have everything going in.
