1) No more secrets!
We were prepared for a long wait until Dean found out Sam was using his mind-mojo to expell demons. Nope: Dean found out before the first commercial break. Plus, Dean is upfront about what he learned from Castiel -- if I don't stop you, they will. Finally, Sam slips up and reveals what he knows about being fed demon blood as a baby. Right there, all the cards are on the table (we hope.) While we do love watching the boys look tortured, we weren't prepared to sit through another ocean of angst. Now the brothers can see what they're up against, deal with it, and move on.

2) Sam gets called on his decision -- and he's got a rational answer!
Dean wasn't the only one to question Sam about what he thought he was doing using demon-granted powers and consorting with Ruby. The demon he originally questioned sneered that Sam was supposed to be some big hero, "and yet here you are, sluttin' around with some demon!" We have to admit, the Sam/Ruby relationship has bugged us, too, especially after ghost Meg asked how he could get it on with Ruby, who was controlling a helpless human meat suit. It's a valid question!

But we finally hear Sam's answer -- not about any Ruby nookie, but about why he's using his powers. He's saving people! Yeah, but why don't you just use the knife, Dean asks. "The knife kills the victim!" Sam replies. "What I do, most of them survive! I've saved more people in the last five months than we've saved in a year!" We even see that he makes Ruby take the former meat suit to the hospital. It's hard to argue with that logic.

That's because Jack is a rougarou. ("Is that made up?" Dean asks. "It sounds made up.") This nasty character starts out craving anything meaty, then develops a specialized taste for human flesh. He stays human until he takes his first bite of man-meat. After that, he's all monster. There's no going back.

Jack wigs out and flees when his wife, Michelle, cuts her hand. He comes back later to apologize, but his sexual appetite is just as uncontrollable -- he comes close to raping her before she shoves him off. So when the Winchester boys show up in his back yard telling him about his condition, he's almost ready to listen -- that is, until they mention that his dad suffered from the same thing, and that someone killed him for it. He's not that interested in listening after that.

Jack runs away from Michelle to protect her, but he starts getting really, really hungry. He spots a comely lass in a window, and it looks like he's about to give in to his hunger. That's sure what the boys think -- they burst into her apartment with flamethrowers at the ready. But Jack sees what he's about to become, and he turns back. He doesn't give in to his impulses. He just might beat this.

4) We see where Hunters can go wrong
Early in the episode, Dean tells Sam "If I didn't know you, I would want to hunt you. And so would other hunters." We meet one of those Hunters -- Travis, an old friend of their dad's, who know the boys way back when Sam was a Mathlete (Hee!). Travis has encountered rougarou before -- he's the one who killed Jack's dad, after he'd gone on a particularly gruesome killing spree. Sam does some research and figures out that if the rougarou never takes the first bite, he stays human. Jack can fight it! Travis thinks Sam is an idiot -- no one can fight it there whole life. Jack's going to slip. He's not going to wait for Jack to become a killing machine -- if he could, he'd have killed Jack in his mom's womb.

And that's where Travis goes really, really wrong. While the boys are tracking Jack, Travis breaks into Jack's house. Michelle says exactly the wrong thing-- don't hurt me, I'm pregnant! Now she has to die, too. Jack comes back to find Michelle tied up. Travis jumps him and handcuffs him to a column, but Jack's rougarou strength kicks in when he sees Travis is about to burn his pregnant wife alive. He breaks free and jumps Travis. Then... it becomes too much. He takes that first bite out of Travis's neck. Travis is so, so very dead. Jack stays in control long enough to tell Michelle to run. then he waits.

The guys come back to the house and see Travis' bloody remains. Jack jumps them -- but doesn't kill them. He locks Sam in a closet and contemplates Dean's unconscious form (which we can't really blame him for.) When Sam comes to, he tries to reason with Jack -- who, by the way, is still very much in his right mind. He's despairing, he's got the outward appearance of a monster, but he's not a mindless killing machine. Sam tells him that it doesn't matter what he is, it matters what he does. Jack seems to be considering it, but when Sam breaks out of the closet, he's standing too close to Dean for comfort. He fires up his flamethrower and burns jack alive. But he looks really, really sad about it.

5) Sam and Dean talk -- for a while
Not keeping secrets is one thing. Actually talking about what's going on is another. Sam finally breaks down and tells Dean what he's been feeling -- knowing he's infected with something evil, knowing it's something he can never get rid of or clean away. But that doesn't mean he doesn't know the difference between right and wrong, and he needs Dean to acknowledge that.

Then, in the end, after Jack is dead and all seems lost, Sam tells Dean he's done with his mind mojo (and hopefully with Ruby.) "These powers, it's playing with fire. I'm done with them. I'm done with everything," he says. Dean thanks him, but Sam won't have it: "Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you, for the angels or anyone. This is my choice." Because right now, that's all he has left.

But Maxima? She must have felt like her cosmic Match.com profile finally got a wink when Tess' tame scientist accidentally sent off a Kryptonian beacon when they were trying to unlock the secret of the crystal found at the site of Lex's disappearance. See, Maxima is the queen of a race of superpowered, superstrong women, and the men on her planet just aren't cutting it (like we said, we can relate!) When she sees the beacon, she comes a-running -- and the bodies start piling up. Unfortunately, Maxima's kiss is so hot it gives mortal men a fatal coronary (Again, we can.. oh, who are we kidding.) So she leaves a bunch of studly corpses in her wake as she searches for Mr. Kryptonian Right.

So of course, when she gets to the club, she's immediately drawn to Jimmy Olsen. Because who else screams Kryptonian studmuffin? Jimmy is there because, in the process of moving in with Chloe, he found an old love letter she'd written to Clark (way back in season one!) Chloe says there's a statute of limitations on first loves, but Jimmy gets all depressed and decides to drink his troubles away. Then Maxima swoops in. Jimmy tries to resist, but eventually he kisses her... and that's not good. Fortunately, Clark swings in just in time to whisk Jimmy to the hospital and fend off the incipient fatal heart attack. Unfortunately, Maxima sees Clark superspeed through the club. Now she knows who she's stalking!

Maxima tracks Clark to the Daily Planet, and let the bom-chicka-wow begin! Cue up the Aerosmith -- you know the song we're talking about (No, not "Dude looks Like a Lady"!) The two alien hotties get busy in the elevator, but are interrupted by Lois... who is more than a little nonplussed. Apparently locking eyes with Lois was enough to help Clark shake off Maxima's hormonal mojo, because he shoves her aside to run after Ms. Lane. But Lois isn't interested in sticking around to hear Clark's explanations -- not that she cares! Clark means nothing to her! Nothing! Really!

We think she's protesting too much -- and so does Maxima. Maxima goes on about the deep and abiding connection Lois and Clark have, and then tosses Lois' car. Lois is ready to throw down, not realizing it would be like a house cat taking on a Siberian tiger. Fortunately, the cops get there before they can rumble. Well, fortunately for Lois. The cops? They're toast.

Clark superspeeds in to save Lois, then uses Maxima's teleportation bracelet to send her on her way. But he fears this isn't the last he'll see of her.

In non alien-nookie news, Chloe tells Clark that yes, she had a thing for him, but that's so done -- her crush on Clark just made her see how fabulous real love could be when it came along. She asks Clark to give her away at her wedding. When she's not contemplating true love, Chloe is using her Brainiac-provided mind powers to help Clark. Tess also wants to put Chloe's powers to use -- to decipher the crystal, which is an alien supercomputer. Chloe declines. Later, Clark tells her that crystal contains the Jor El program, and could probably help her get rid of Brainiac's mind taint. Chloe goes back to Tess -- but it's too late. Someone has stolen the crystal. That someone sends Tess an e-mail, telling her she's just not ready yet.

Lois starts looking for another place, since she's not real fond of bunking with both Chloe and Jimmy. Clark offers her a room at the farmhouse, but she declines. She also neglects to mention Maxima's predication that Lois and Clark is a love for the ages. But we see in her eyes that Lois hasn't forgotten. She's looking at Clark in a whole new light.

But first it was time for the obligatory model trash-talk. The models discussed AnaLeigh, and came to the conclusion that she was pretty, but didn't really look like a model. No one thought she'd be competition. Then there's Lauren Brie -- a vocal minority (ahem, Sheena) thought that her gorgeous looks didn't make up for her lack of individuality. "Her personality is like her hair," Sheena says. " It's translucent." Again, ouch.

Speaking of ouch... the girls meet up with Tyra to try to work on a signature pose. All the models have one, Tyra says. With Giselle, it's her back, while Tyra herself is all about the eyes. Now its the models turn to figure out why they'll be known for. Some of them apparently think they should be known for looking like they just got mangled in some kind of industrial accident. We understand not wanting to look catalog-y, but do they really have to twist and turn their limbs so horribly?

We thought that Sam had the hardest time of it -- she wanted her signature to be her hands, but she was way too thinky about it. Initially, we were horrified with Marjorie's decision to channel the Hunchback of Notre Dame (if only because it meant the producers would bring on the damn accordion music again), and her initial shots looked truly horrifying -- like she actually did have a deformed spine. But we have to admit that, with Tyra's coaching, Marjorie made the awkward, splayed and twisted poses work for her. How does she do that?

Then we came to the photo shoot, which portrayed the girls in different horrible or embarrassing situations at the Sourcies Feircees. Is it just us, or did they deliberately give some girls situations that really played to their strengths, while others got stuck in scenarios that deliberately put them at a disadvantage? Come on -- Marjorie had just worked on how to pose like a contortionist without looking grotesque, which served her well in the starlet-desperate-to-pee shot. Elina, on the other hand, was cast as the over-emotional crier, and she's always had problems expressing vulnerability. But AnaLeigh faced the same sort of problem -- everyone kept saying she was too nice and pretty, but she managed to convey bored and bitchy, while still looking model-y, in her interviewed-with-attitude shot. Maybe Elina just didn't step up to the challenge.

In the end, we agreed with the judges that Marjorie and AnaLeigh had great shots, and we were glad they came in at one and two. We thought McKey's also-ran shot was gorgeous, but lacking the clenched-jaw element of holding back a scream -- or tears -- that we would have expected. Elina looked gorgeous but not teary-eyed, and we can't help but think that's because of the shot they chose --- there MUST have been a shot of her crying real tears! We liked Joslyn's picture better than the judges did, and Sam just doesn't do it for us anymore -- her accent bugged, and her picture was more about the lighting than the girl.

Sheena and Lauren Brie were in the bottom two, and Tyra decides that Lauren Brie really is colorless, like her hair. Lauren Brie tries to defend herself -- I have friends! They like me! -- but the judges have spoken. Goodbye, Lauren Brie. We can't imagine you'd have much trouble breaking into the modeling world on your own. Good luck!

Let's get the Annie and Ethan storyline out of the way since right now they aren't incredibly interesting (or is that just us?). Fate throws the two of them together for a parenting assignment where the two need to take care of a robot baby and make sure all of its needs are met. This forces them to spend more time together and by the end of the episode they almost share a kiss only to be disrupted by the horror movie playing in front of them. We say: just get it over with. Their eventual hookup is predictable and neither of them seem too interested in sparing Naomi's feelings so hop to it!

We knew Silver would have Dixon over while Kelly was gone but, like Dixon, we weren't expecting her to bombard him with a horror flick fest. We're happy that they are taking things slowly and not jumping to sexy time right away. It's kind of like the Donna/David relationship from the original series. What impressed us the most was the way Dixon listened to Silver and actively sought out ways to learn more about the things she loves.

On to the juice...The new "girl" at school seems to be taking an interest in Mr. Matthews. She appears to be overtly sexual with him - which makes the discovery of her being an undercover cop a bit more screwed up. We can only imagine that her constant pursuits of Ryan will lead to bad places but since she really is of age - it's her own fault. Can he get in trouble for being involved with someone he thinks is a student who is actually of age? If she's really there to bust kids for drugs why is she paying so much attention to Ryan? We can't wait to see where this all goes.

Adrianna tries to do the right thing and tell her mother about the drug use but falls short. Her mom burdens her with the information that without Adrianna getting this job, they were going to lose the house. We're not sure how a part in a B-movie would save the house, but maybe this one in particular is high-budget. Either way, the pressure was too high for Adrianna and she couldn't tell her mom about the drugs and the possibility of losing the part in the movie.

Naomi waits for Adrianna to meet at her father's lawyer's office and turn herself in. When she doesn't show, Naomi calls and leaves a message telling her that their friendship is over and Adrianna is "dead to (her)". Little did she know, Adrianna overdosed and now Naomi will probably feel as though her friend's death was her fault.

What did you think of this week's episode? Next week will probably be "a very special episode," but we're hoping to get more dirt on the undercover officer and her intentions for Mr. Matthews.

We’ve always felt torn between the two Smith sisters. However, this week Will was definitely right on when he told Megan, “This one’s on you.” OMG Megan was so mean to Lily! To hear that something is missing and automatically accuse her sister of stealing is a sad look into their relationship.

Sadder still, Megan - unbeknownst to her - is right! Still, to just accuse your sister of theft without proof is heartbreaking. But we must confess -- perhaps it’s not a bad thing that Megan told Lily she did not want her in her life anymore.

The real question is when will Will finally see the real Lily? Will he feel foolish for believing her even when Megan and Charlie made it clear she was not to be trusted? Will he ever even find out?

The best revelation to come from the party: Charlie finally realized he is in the friend zone. What this means for his and Megan’s future is unclear, but he definitely seemed less apprehensive to her whims by the end of the night.

Opposite these two guys is Jacob, whose relationship with Megan seems to be progressing fantastically, despite the couple’s need to cancel their spa weekend for Megan’s job (a.k.a. Sage and Rose’s pool party). And how romantic was it that he sent a masseuse at the end of the night!

While all this mayhem is taking place, Sage is busy being drugged by her “friends.” We say friends carefully because, like Megan, we don’t think these girls could qualify for anyone’s friends. Megan tries to convince the girls they are missing out on true friendship because they can’t totally trust and rely on them. However, Rose and Sage don’t want to hear it because they have each other. Kind of cute, but what will happen when these two go off into the real world?

It’s interesting that Megan relies on friends for the kind of unconditional love and respect most people, including Sage and Rose, expect from family. Not that there's anything wrong with either choice -- we like to think we have friends who would do anything for us. But perhaps these opposing viewpoints are what give this group of women the ability to learn so much from each other.

Will the girls ever realize they might need more than each other one day? And will Megan and Lily realize thy need each other and be able to get over their past? Can Lily eventually change into a better person? Will Megan ever find out Lily really did steal from Rose? If she does, will she ever be able to forgive her wayward sister?

• Chace talks about all the smack talk that's come out about him: "Model turned actor, dime a dozen, eye candy, doesn't know what he's doing ... and Perez Hilton says I have 'gayface.' So on top of everything else, I have to overcome gayface."
  
• Chace on his high-school experience: "I'm pretty sure I wasn't having sex with any cougars."
  
• Penn, on Chace: "It's like he was genetically bred to be a teen star."
  
• Penn on his demeanor: "People who don't know me that well often think I'm a bit of an asshole and take myself too seriously. I don't take anything seriously. [J]ust because I'm not smiling doesn't mean I'm not happy. Chace is one of the most positive guys I've ever met, and you can see that in the way he walks around. I'm also like that—but you can't see it."
  
• Ed on his vocal model for Chuck Bass: "I don't know, man, there's a slight thing in Carlton Banks [of The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire], that kind of über-preppy, that I did pick up on."
  
• Ed on Chuck's "evil" ways: "It's not like Chuck is stickin' a knife to a granny's throat. He's just mischievous."

Even more intriguing is this news: Wallace Shawn, who we will always know and love from the movie Princess Bride, will be playing the new guy’s dad – and according to TV Guide, HE’LL be a potential love monkey for Eleanor Waldorf! Poing!

In other news, Vanity Fair uncovered a tragic error in the Fashion Week episode. If you look at the seating chart for Eleanor’s show, legendary (and somewhat terrifying) fashion editor Anna Wintour is placed in the second row, on the wrong side of the runway. No way would Eleanor be getting a good review after that move!

However, maybe she’s sucking up to a different constituency – New York magazine revealed that the Fug Girls, Jessica and Heather, got fabulous seats for the show. Nice!

Finally, remember that spectacular, multi-colored portrait Lily installed over the staircase in her spiffy new apartment? That’s a scaled-down version of Richard Phillips’s 1998 painting “Spectrum,” and the artist himself will get a walk-on part when the painting is formally unveiled in a future episode. We love it when high art and pop culture meet!

First up, our own Jason C. talks to Pooch Hall, the man who brings us Derwin Davis. See what he has to say about becoming one with his alter-ego, Derwin's priorities for the new season, and what happens when fans see him on the street:

After that, Jason catches up with Hosea Chanchez, the actor behind Malik Wright. Hosea promises that this is the most controversial season ever, talks about his favorite scenes (they involve Robin Givens in the bedroom -- surprise surprise!), and makes a surprising confession.

Finally, we get Pooch and Hosea together, and they reveal what Pooch did to break the bro code -- and what Coby and Hosea did in retaliation!

Remember to catch the season premiere of The Game tonight!

Sam went sneaking off into the night with Ruby while Dean slept -- and that, unfortunately, was the last we saw of him. But Kripke and Co. made it up to use by introducing several other family members -- John Winchester (who was contemplating buying a VW van!), Mary Campbell (she's a Hunter!), and her Hunter parents Samuel and Deanna. Yes, you read the right --- her parents names were Sam and Dean... ish. Whatever, we'll take it.

Castiel sent Dean back in time with the admonition that he has to "stop it." What it? Apparently, angels aren't so great at clarifying the meaning of their objective personal pronouns, so Dean's on his own. At first, he doesn't even realize he's back in the 1970s, but he gradually catches on -- and figures out that the handsome, good-natured, dark-haired stranger he's talking is John Winchester. And the sweet, pretty blond John's wooing? That would be Mary. Oh, and Mary? She's a Hunter. And she's perfectly capable of kicking serious ass. Whoo-hoo!

Dean uses the journal to track down the Yellow-Eyed Demon, but Samuel and Mary got there first. This is where Mary first met Old Yellow Eyes, and he decides he likes her. Uh-oh. He escapes before Dean can shoot him with the Colt (which he stole from Daniel Elkins), and Dean tells Samuel the truth -- that he's from the future, that Mary will be his mom, and that if they don't find the demon, she'll die. Unfortunately, the demon found them -- he's possessed Samuel! Yellow-Eyes makes Samuel stab himself through the heart, then snaps Deanna's neck. Then he goes after Mary. He drags John out of the car (just after he proposed!) and snaps his neck, too. Then he offers Mary a deal -- he can bring John back, but in return, he'll want something in 10 years. That something? To infect Sam. But Mary doesn't know that part. She agrees. Now we know why Mary's spirit apologized to Sam. She made the deal that started this whole mess, adn she gave him up to the demon.

Castiel brings Dean back to the present... and when Dean mourns that he couldn't stop anything from happening, the angel tells him that it was impossible. They can't change the past, but they wanted him to see what had happened, to know everything they knew. He had to understand exactly what he's up against. Here's what gets us about that: Old Yellow Eyes took Sam back to see the past in part to show him what happened, and in pat to torture him -- but he told Sam up front that he couldn't change things. Castiel sent Dean back into the past to educate him -- but he ended up torturing Dean more than the demon ever could, because he let Dean believe he could change the past and save his parents' lives. We know angels are supposed to be the good guys, but we seriously wonder about their methods.

But at least we finally find out the "it" Dean has to stop: Sam, and whatever he's doing. If Dean doesn't stop Sam, Castiel says, he and his heavenly brethren will.

And then Kripke hit us with "To be continued...." We still don't know what Sam is doing, or what Yellow-Eyes' endgame really was. What do you think is happening? And what did you think of the episode? Talk about it in in the comments!