Mother's Little Helper Review

This episode explains what Abaddon has been up to since we last saw her, which was all the way back in Road Trip. For the season villain, she sure doesn't get much screen time. She's been mentioned in more episodes than she's actually been in. Not many demons would be ruthless enough to manufacture their own armies. Crowley, Azazel, and Lilith were all happy with the share of souls that hell got. Abaddon has been doing everything in her power to increase that number. We've already seen that she's been calling in contracts early and now she's stealing souls from still-living people. If the boys don't stop her soon, she's going to have quite the army on her hands. It's actually a wonder none of the angels have gotten involved. Now that they're stuck on Earth, you'd think they'd be paying closer attention to cleaning it up.

Finally, after nine seasons, the Winchesters have gotten some sense knocked into them. They actually went out and recorded an exorcism on their phones. Another group of hunters did that all the way back in season 5, and this is the first we've seen the Winchesters do it. If I were them, I'd have it ready to go on my phone, in the tape deck in the Impala, and on boom boxes stationed throughout the bunker. I might it even set it as my ringtone in the hopes of catching demons off-guard when I receive a phone call.

I'm rather concerned about the fact that Crowley "tested" Dean in this episode. I'm not sure what the test was in preparation for, but it seems to be whether he'd be willing to protect Crowley. It's possible Crowley is experimenting with some sort of mind control to get Dean to do his bidding. Or maybe it's something to do with the mark of Cain. Maybe it's slowly turning him into a demon. I have the feeling Crowley knows more about the mark and the blade than he's letting on.