Having watched and had the opportunity to sit with Supernatural's season six opener, "Exile on Main St.," I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Exit Eric Kripke, exit his five year plan, exit the show's lifeblood. Entre Sera Gamble, a writer/story editor/producer who's been with the show from the start, to bring it through its sixth and final season. It's a tough row to hoe, no doubt about it. But where is she going with it?

Something or someone pulled Sam up and Grandpa Samuel down (and I have my issues with this), and they've been hunting for a year while Dean plays house with Lisa and Ben. He's good at it, too, having a few beers with the doomed neighbour and not drinking quite so much malt liquor at home. But then there are the weird slashes he keeps seeing around town, the sulfur at the base of a garden shed. Suddenly Yellow Eyes is there, a terrifying vision that Dean will never shake. Or at least not until Not At All Dead Sammy comes up and plunges a hypodermic needle into his chest.

There's a monster of the week, a family of Djinn who wants revenge for "What Is and What Should Never Be." Family's a big thing this season. Seems there were plenty of distant Campbells ready to take up hunting after Mary's line seemingly petered out (nice of you to reach out to John when he took up the job, assholes). They beat the Djinn, secretly (from Darling Revenant Sammy) taking one hostage for torture or whatever other nefarious purpose (one cousin did have a handsome set of chains set up in his truck), and Dean opts to stick it out with Lisa and Ben now that he's found something new to feel guilty about to protect them from the danger he invited into their lives. He does offer Sam the Metallicar (poor baby's hidden away under a tarp), but Sam's sticking to his Mustang (?). He's got it set up just the way he likes it. I have a feeling it smells a little nicer, too. Unless he's been eating burritos.

It's good to see the focus move away from the mytharc, as number of mytharc episodes in a given season is directly proportional to number of ANGST episodes in a given season. Seeds have been sown for enough drama to last us through November sweeps and perhaps right on to the finale. Monsters of the week should be enough for us for now. Hell, it should be a welcome respite. But how do we go from the Apocalypse (lame as it was) to a boring ass Djinn out for revenge? Was there even any good violence and gore in this episode? Flip, Supernatural, this is not the time to take it slow! We've been together for five years. Now is the time to do something big. Tell us what kind of show you are going to be. You gotta kick off with a killer to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules. 

Just . . . give us a reason to hang in there another 21 episodes. Nostalgia's not going to cut it on Friday nights.

In other news:

• There weren't a lot of good photos to choose from, so I went with the one that cracked me up. Dean's like, "What are hugs, Grandpa?" and Sammy's all, "My work here is done."
• Sweet fancy Moses, were Dean's pants always so tight? I guess I just never noticed before with the shirts untucked. Whoa, Ackles. 
• Exploding glass? Guess the exploding corpse couldn't be beat.
• I suppose it goes without saying that Padalecki's hair looks terrible. Still, it hurts.
• I'm fascinated by shows that have clear distinctions for Heaven and Hell, God and the Devil, but no distinct moral laws. Entry clearly isn't faith based, so it's part of the sticky morass known as "being a good person." Was Grandpa Samuel a good person? 'Cause he sure doesn't seem to be any more. 
• I feel like season four's not-dead-any-more Winchester brother reunion was more touching. Anyone else?
• I would agree with Dean in being mad at Bobby for keeping Sam's alive again status a secret, but I still think Dean needs to apologize for yelling at Bobby that he is not his dad last season. That shit's not cool with me. 
• This has been the best year of Lisa's life? I mean, I wouldn't kick Dean off my doorstep either, but it's essentially like saying "nursing this wounded animal I found on the side of the road back to health has been the greatest experience of my life." Actually, when you put it like that, it does sound pretty cool. Plus, Dean's just been dying for this kind of opportunity. 
• No Castiel (not answering Sammy's prayers), but I have a feeling we'll be seeing those baby blues again soon.
• What are all these amazingly hilarious sexed-up images of the boys the CW is using for their interstitial advertising? More tight jeans for Dean! Fitted leather jacket on Sam! Everything's . . . green?
• UPDATE: What is up with bitchy lady cousin? She calls Dean's features too delicate for an hunter (okay, heh), then she makes a crack about how he isn't a professional because he retired? Shut up, bitch lady cousin.
• UPDATE: Whoa, meant to point out how deeply fucked up Darling Revenant Sammy already seems. Couldn't figure out who brought him and moved on? Shrugs off Hell because, hey, topside is better? Wants Dean to rejoin the hunt because Dean cares? What happened to your super special puppy dog eyes of empathy, Sammy? What happened to you?

Next time: Sammy calls Dean out of retirement to deal with an evil baby. That's . . . kind of awesome.