Supernatural New Episode Review: 'The Things They Carried' Brings Back Cole

Season 10 of the CW's Supernatural returned from its short hiatus with a new episode Wednesday night entitled "The Things They Carried" that slowed the pace after an episode heavy on mythology.

"The Things They Carried" was one of those weird Supernatural episodes that floated in limbo somewhere between "filler" and "important episode." It leaned more toward the former because it really didn't push the overall season plot forward that much. But the episode did bring back Cole, a recurring character who would ordinarily at least make us perk our ears up and pay attention.

It was a bit disappointing, however, that the first episode after the hiatus was a glorified Monster of the Week installment. We got some passing references to the Mark of Cain and all the problems that occurred in the last episode, but the bulk of this week focused on Cole, his army buddies, and the cousin of the Khan Worm that invaded their bodies.

I'll admit, I took notice and got a little excited when the Winchesters came out of that house and Cole was leaning up against the Impala. At the very least, he's an interesting character because he went from ignorant and angry and wanting to kill Dean to knowledgeable about the world of hunters and monsters and the like. He's by no means a hunter; in fact, he doesn't even seem to like hunters or the idea of hunting all that much. But he has evolved and continues to be an interesting ally for Sam and Dean.

Naturally, Cole wanted to save his friend rather than kill him, while the Winchesters defaulted to their usual "we're probably going to have to kill him" mode. Cole tried to intervene anyway, and he ate a Khan Worm for his trouble. When electrocution didn't work as it had in the past, Dean came up with the idea to dehydrate Cole to get rid of the worm, which caused extremely aggressive thirst in its victims. Luckily, the plan worked, and Cole survives another day. Sam, unfortunately, could not save Kit.

The whole episode was fine, but it wasn't anything special. The message at the end was that Sam has to accept that he can't save Dean, but it all just felt like familiar territory.

Notes from Dad's Journal:

- Dean, when Cole says he's feeling the Khan Worm getting stronger and asks you to tie him up, maybe have a bit of a sense of urgency.

- "And you bought him dinner!" - Dean

- Here's hoping next week gets back to the Mark of Cain stuff.

- Does the military really have video records of missions like that?

What did you think of "The Things They Carried"? Let us know in the comments section.