I thought there were a couple of very important ideas being brought forward with this episode.

1) I saw it as an illustration of the past couple seasons – if not the entire series. This time Bobby is recklessly suicidal (reminiscent of the Incredible Jay from 4.12 Criss Angel is a Douchebag) and creates a mess in his desperation. That the current mess is ‘father’ instigated and made worse by Dean’s best intentions might be viewed as less than accidental. Getting to see Sam save the day without being demonized sure beats what his activities cost last season. Further, I took Bobby’s final sigh of relief as indicative (in part) of satisfaction that if Dean could take the position he did (a wounded soldier remains a vital part of the family) that Dean is past the crisis of suicide himself.

(Just to state it baldly, I think Dean’s been more or less suicidal since his return from hell. I think Sam has been more instrumental than we know in keeping Dean from slipping back there again. This involved such risk to himself that Sam became lost for a time.)

2) I saw the separation of the (unnamed?) girl companion witch from Patrick as picking up a major season five theme and likely foreshadowing what the boys have yet to experience.  Without providing details, the episode made it clear she was in the position she was because she accepted the gift Patrick offered. She consented to a binding situation. She needed Patrick’s consent to gain her release from that bond. The bond was sincere and love based but “not natural.” Gifts don’t forever provide their original benefit once the costs and consequences kick in. Regardless, for her to change her mind brought real pain for both. Patrick stated outright that he did not want to win the game.

(I wish we’d gotten a Tuck Everlasting reference. In that novel, older brother Miles was embittered about his immortality after having to bury his children. Pa Tuck saw himself as no more living than a rock is. The issue of immortality is absolutely ripe for exploration and I hope they aren’t done with it!)

3) Outside intervention played a huge role in the episode. The girl brought the spell for Bobby and Dean to reverse the effects of Patrick’s magic after they’ve been caught trying to steal the non-magical chips. It’s not clear if this is her first serious attempt at getting out of whatever deal she’s made. Perhaps she saw a potential for our guys being able to pull it off and thus benefiting from that. We don’t see Sam being part of the preparations to try cheating the game until he brings the false toothpick to Dean and Bobby. (I truly loved Dean imploring Sam to not lose.) When Patrick is punishing Sam for that deceit and has him in a psychic choke, she intervenes directly to reveal her own part and calms the situation enough for play to continue. When it appears Sam has lost, he makes a point of recognizing how unexpectedly nice she is.

(For that matter, Patrick was also designated as “nice” when he folded a winning hand in order to allow the old man to end his game thirteen years ahead. It didn’t seem as though Patrick needed to be stopped once and for all as a matter of principle. Rather, he’s left in the position, now alone, of continuing to collect years once the episode’s main players are satisfied at being made whole.)

We don’t get a lot of clues about her, but the woman is herself able to pull off witch moves such as a psychic restraint of the boys and sharing spells. She wears a locket that is referred to time after time. It is eventually shown to contain pictures of her daughter while very young and very old. The locket itself has engraving on its face. I want it to be a rose but haven’t found a good enough cap to be sure. (Amulet watch is a bust other than that. What? If Dean were a girl, his amulet could easily have been a locket!)

Also worth noting?

The bluff hand that Sam held when he first bet big (thus establishing he’s willing to bluff — which mattered at the end) was a 3 and a 5. That same 3 and 5 was what the girl used to ‘lose’ at the end and regain her freedom.  Were the two 4s Sam used for his winning four of a kind due to Fate or Luck?  Either way, it’s an example of using the bond between the boys to win instead of it being used against them. I got lucky is all he says as he forgoes taking credit for the method panic that convinced Patrick (and me!) that Sam was being reckless. I wish we’d gotten a clear answer to whether Sam actually did or didn’t flip that pair of fours with the deal.

“I can’t do this without you.” Dean says it to Bobby during their heart to heart when they’ve all been put back to where they were — making it clear Dean depends on that connection. Making this noteworthy is that Patrick says it to the girl as she is asking for her freedom. She assures him he’ll be able to go back to how he managed before they were joined together.

Multiple angel lamps lit the poker game. Has anyone compared the room to the warehouse from 4.16 On the Head of a Pin? I didn’t see any sleep references though stairs were recurring. I love seeing Dean on the way up under his own power though the poor guy was handicapped by age into a single flight requiring great effort. The episode made a point of the fact that Patrick operated by intuition gained through his longevity and experience and that he does not read minds. This is a marked departure from all the “I can see inside you” type of talk we often get — as recently as 4.05 Fallen Idol’s Paris Hilton Leshy-god.

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