The beginning of the episode was a great way to continue the reflection on the meaning of faith. Often I find that people think that faith is blind devotion; however, is that truly the case? Sam thought he was helping out the good side, but he was blinded by his own desire to help – and look what happened to him.

War: Good intentions. Quick slide to hell, buddy boy.

Dean — well, we all know I love Dean, but he doesn’t have any faith in God. He’s the leader of the crowd arguing that because of the terrible things happening in the world, either there is no God, or God doesn’t care (and therefore, by definition, He isn’t ‘God’). Neither does Zachariah have any faith in God, since he has taken it upon himself to fulfill prophecies and take care of the Apocalypse. I won’t go into that again, since I have made my feelings about Zachariah very clear.

Which begs the question: does anyone in this show have faith?

Surprisingly, yes — the confused angel-boy with the remarkably clean off-white trench coat does. Despite his level of uncertainty in what is right and what is wrong, despite with his continuous questioning of what he should or shouldn’t do, and despite his rebellion against the other angels, it seems that Castiel might be the one character on Supernatural who has the most faith. After all, isn’t he the only one who, now that everything has gone really wrong, decides to find God?

Dean: God.
Castiel: Yes.
Dean: God.
Castiel: Yes. He isn’t in heaven. He has to be somewhere.
Dean [wryly]: Try New Mexico. I hear He’s on a tortilla.
Cas [after a moment’s thought and the most hilarious expression on his face]: No, He’s not on any flatbread.

Dean’s opinion about God is all the more ironic in that in all these years, had Dean wanted to find God, he could have done it himself with the amulet he had been wearing most of his life – i.e. since Sam gave it to him on Christmas a long time ago, an amulet that means so much to him that he barely if ever takes it off.

Dean [giving the amulet to Castiel]: Don’t lose it. [Rolls his shoulders uncomfortably.] Great. Now I feel naked.

It’s interesting that the amulet went from Bobby to John Winchester to Sam to Dean. If this amulet was meant to help find God, is there a reason why John gave it to Sam, considering the warning he had given Dean?

Speaking of the amulet, I have to mention yet again that this cast is absolutely brilliant. Jensen Ackles’ facial expression when he looks down at the amulet? Priceless.

It was nice to see Rufus, Jo, and Ellen again. Especially Rufus, since just hearing Steven Williams’ voice takes me back about 10 years, to when he portrayed X on The X-Files (no, not the X of the title, but… just go watch the series, okay?). As a die-hard X-Files fan, it is understandable that this was one of my favourite exchanges from this episode:

Soldier boy: So… You think that all of this is coming from out of space?
Dean: This isn’t The X-Files, pal.

Speaking of The X-files, I think Mulder would have had quite a fit at this line:

Roger [still in shock]: My wife’s eyes turned black. Came at me with a brick. Kind of makes you embrace the paranormal.

Which brings me to a couple of interesting points I’d like to mention, honed through years of watching people make fun of Mulder and once again brought to light while watching people disbelieve Sam and Dean.

First of all, most people see the world in black and white. Something exists or doesn’t.

Second, most people feel the urge to make a decision about things they have no way of being able to decide on. They oftentimes refuse to believe in anything they can’t explain, dismissing it out of hand, unable to admit that perhaps they don’t see it or don’t understand it because of the limitations of their own minds rather than the existence of said thing. So much for the advances in the scientific process.

Third, people tend to make these decisions based on their own experience only, limiting the world and its vast array of experiences and opinions to their own. Again, so much for the advances in the scientific process.

And fourth, not many seem to be able to accept that perhaps they can’t understand something, and that all they can hope is to understand it better and better through years of research, reading, and experience.

How can any person who hasn’t spent hours upon hours, if not their entire lives, studying the universe and various theories describing it, mathematical and other, decide if aliens exist or not? And why can’t people accept that they don’t have the knowledge to answer that question and keep looking?