Review

*** Major Spoilers Below - Read at Your Own Risk ***

Neither Ruby or the Winchester Bros are a match for Castiel and Uriel but Anna pulls out a mystical symbol that sends the Angels "far away". Shaken but still defiant Team Winchester head to Bobby's place and his basement "safe room" to hide Anna away while they try and figure out what's going down. Ruby is able to provide hex bags, that will shield them from Angels, Demons, and anything else coming after them. Dean enlists the aid of Pamela Barnes, the psychic who was blinded when she gazed on the true form of Castiel, and Pamela hypnotists Anna with unexpected consequences. Seems Anna is an Angel who decided to fall by discarding her grace, a force that gives Angels their power.

Now with full memory of her true identity Anna decides to find her grace, which fell to earth as well, and reclaim her powers. Ruby warns that without Anna getting graced up they are all going too died at the hands of either the Angels or Demons. The only problem is someone has taken Anna's grace from where it fell. With things looking bleak the Winchesters, Ruby, and Anna find themselves in the midst of a major confrontation between Alastair and Castiel, with Anna the prize for the winner.

For one of the few times this season we get an intense dramatic episode that explores something deeper in the characters than we normally get. Anna discusses the whole Angel and falling thing, though this is less paradise lost and more another paradise gained. Dean finally opens up about what happened in the pit, filling Sam in on some details that the younger Winchester might not have been particularly happy to hear. And finally Castiel is perhaps starting to question his role in God's plan, which is increasingly looking like a re-interpretation of said plan by individual Angels with some sort of agenda.

Something of a surprise to learn that Anna was a member of the Angelic horde, and even more surprising to learn why she is earth bound. Seems her human mother couldn't conceive, ergo Anna isn't inhabiting a vessel like Castiel but is to some extent a part of the humanity that Angels are supposed to be protecting. She spent centuries hidden from view observing human development and despaired of the Angel's inability to experience human emotions and striving. She decided to rip out her grace, the part of her that gives her angelic power, and fall to earth. Any similarities to Lucifer's fall "from grace" were not apparent in this episode. Her decision to adopt humanity was perhaps more to do with the non-appearance of God, only four Angels have ever seen the supreme being, and less to do with any sort of betrayal. She has been hunted by the Angels ever since but had remained well hidden till Ruby, through means unknown, discovered her ability to listen in on "Angel radio".

An episode that spends it's time developing characters, that's got to be a positive

While Anna is doing her level best to reclaim her grace Uriel, the death Angel, is doing his best to take down both Anna and Dean Winchester. Anna would seem to embody all that is pure and good in Angels while Uriel is mean spirited, to say the least, and in his own devious fashion is sabotaging God's plans. Castiel however, while still being dedicated to the program is showing signs of questioning his orders, or at least questioning the morality of them. Misha Collins brings across the required emotions via facial expressions, the dude is rocking out the role. Whether or not this will lead to Castiel doing something contrary to Angel requirements remains to be seen, I'm expecting it will but at this stage am unsure what form this will take.

Meanwhile Dean is finally breaking down, the least of which involves helping Ruby! At the end of the episode he explains to Sam what went down in the pit, and particularly that it might have been four months on Earth but down below it was more like forty years. He held out for thirty of those years but eventually was broken. The trick moving forward is for Dean to forgive himself, and for this episode guide to avoid any more chick moments. But at least we are getting movement at the station in terms of character development.

Of course while the various characters are going through their various developments, and thus keeping the female viewership watching, we do get some movement at the station in terms of overall plot development. Dean as expected is important to whatever game the Angels are playing, with Uriel not taking him up on his option of being thrown back into the pit. Ruby doesn't miss an opportunity to remind Sam that he has powers, clearly an indication of what she wants to achieve for purpose(s) we may not as yet be aware of. To a certain degree Heaven and Hell is a microcosm of the entire season, which sees the Winchesters caught in the machinations of both the forces of Heaven and the forces of Hell.

Only one entry on the mullet rock hit parade this episode, Bad Company's "Ready For Love", which unfortunately ushers in a Rob Zombie moment of face palming. Dean and Anna get it on to the track, add in your own Angels Food Cake gag, which reminded me of the horrendous moment Nazareth's Love Hurts is used on the soundtrack of the remake of Halloween.

A dramatic episode of Supernatural that had more to do with character development and less to do with plot arcs. The season needed some advancement with this aspect, and definitely gave us pause from the more heavy handed themes going down during season four. Not an episode for those who haven't been following the show through the seasons but definitely worth a look for fans.