Supernatural 'Blade Runners' Review: Crowley's back in business

Crowley has become one of the most interesting characters during Season 9 of Supernatural thanks to the effects of his injecting himself with human blood and his turf war with Abaddon. Both of those conflicts took center stage in "Blade Runners," an episode that pushed the season arc forward in a big way.

The nuts and bolts of the episode had Dean, Sam and Crowley hunting for the First Blade, the only weapon capable of killing Abaddon. Crowley had been on the case, but his addiction to human blood turned him into a junkie who locked himself in his hotel room. (Of course, in typical Crowley style, he had high-class women and the nicest hotel room in the history of junkies.)

Sam and Dean tracked him down, cleaned him up and got him back in the game. When they finally located Magnus, the exiled Man of Letters who had the First Blade, Crowley was the one to save Sam and Dean and prove himself useful to the team.

But the Winchesters' work had a side effect. They turned Crowley back into Crowley, which unfortunately meant that they turned Crowley back into Crowley. He knew they would use the First Blade on him almost immediately, so he stole it from them until they are ready to take out Abaddon. This entire episode was a study of Crowley's character, and he went from degenerate addict to Team Winchester member to The King of Hell in a matter of an hour. He seems to be back to his former glory, but hopefully the writers don't stop exploring these aspects of his personality.

Another fascinating development in this episode was the First Blade's effect on Dean. He's the only one who can wield it as he is the only one with the Mark of Cain, and every time he touched the weapon, he seemed to go into some sort of rage trance. Sam's voice eventually snapped him out of it, but Magnus' comment that "the more he uses the blade, the more he'll get used to the feelings" does not bode well for the elder Winchester.

After a few standalone installments, Supernatural got back to the main plot and moved plenty of pieces around the chessboard. Crowley has the First Blade, Dean is on the path to something dire and Sam is doing his best to keep everything from falling apart. Next week's episode will focus on the Men of Letters, as well, so that should provide more forward momentum.

Notes from Dad's Journal:

-       Crowley was looking at Dean like he knew what was happening to him when he held the First Blade. What am I saying? It's Crowley. Of course he knows more than he's letting on.

-       What specifically do you think the First Blade will do to Dean? My guess is he turns into the Terminator: an unfeeling killing machine that can't stop himself.

-       I'm assuming that Misha Collins' absence in this episode was because he was preparing to direct next week's installment. But couldn't the boys have used Castiel for this mission instead of Crowley?

-       How creepy was Magnus?

-       It wasn't a direct parallel, but I thoroughly enjoyed how Crowley's addiction to human blood mirrored Sam's demon blood addiction. The latter was far more damaging, but Crowley's addiction was an interesting reversal.

-       I've said it before, but it bears repeating. Mark Sheppard is SO GOOD at playing Crowley.

What did you think of tonight's episode? Let us know in the comments below.