'Supernatural': Dean's deal with Death, Sam's soul spell

If it seems like the strained relationship between the Winchester brothers on "Supernatural" is improving, don't get too comfortable. Despite the old-school "beers on the hood of the Impala" scene in the most recent episode, all is not well between Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles).

Read no further if you don't want to know the details!

In the upcoming episode "Caged Heat," Sam, Dean, and Castiel (Misha Collins) team up with Meg (Rachel Miner) to try to get Sam's soul back from Crowley. Spoiler alert: it doesn't work.

Dean doesn't want to give up, though -- and he's about to make a deal with someone much more powerful, and more dangerous, than Meg. In "Appointment in Samarra," Dean goes looking for one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse: Death himself, who met Dean at a pizza joint last season to help him conquer Lucifer. Death (returning guest star Julian Richings) offers to help, but he's looking for a day off. He tells Dean that he'll help return Sam's soul if Dean spends a day working as Death.

Where's Sam while all of this is going down? Unsurprisingly, Sam has been lying to Dean about wanting his soul back at all. He decides he's not interested in what having a soul entails - namely, human suffering, empathy, and heartbreak - and while Dean is making an extraordinary sacrifice, Sam seeks out Balthazar (Sebastian Roche).

Balthazar knows a spell to keep Sam's soul permanently out of his body, but it requires the blood of Sam's father. Since John Winchester is long dead -- and his body was burned on a pyre -- Sam decides that Bobby (Jim Beaver) is the next best option.

The title of the episode references an old folktale, in which a merchant in Baghdad tells his servant to go to the market and pick up supplies. When the servant returns, he's shaken, and tells the merchant that in the marketplace, Death bumped into him and made a threatening gesture. Terrified, the servant decides to flee Baghdad, and he borrows the merchant's horse to rush to Samarra, where he believes Death won't find him.

Meanwhile, the merchant goes to the marketplace to speak to Death and asks why she threatened the servant. She tells him, "I wasn't threatened. I was simply surprised to see him in Baghdad, as I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."

What do you think, "Supernatural" fans? Is Dean making a bad call with this Deal? Will he be able to handle playing Death for a day, if he's doing it for Sam? Meanwhile, just how much of Bobby's blood is needed for this shady spell of Sam's -- will Bobby survive the drain? Can Sam trust Balthazar's instructions?

And, perhaps most importantly, what will happen when Dean finds out what Sam's been up to, and vice-versa?







Follow Zap2it and @cadlymack on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

Photo: CW