Crowley must be smelling that teen spirit.

Supernatural Season 11 Episode 3 moved things right along for the Darkness storyline, as Crowley put on his best daddy dearest and tried to raise the ancient being for his own purposes.

But if he thought dealing with a child was tough, he’s in for a wild ride when the Darkness asks for a sweet sixteen birthday party. Souls for everyone!

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It’s such a positive that Supernatural Season 11 chose to keep aging the Darkness rather than stick to having a little girl for a bunch of episodes.

Don’t get me wrong, the little girl version of the Darkness was creepy, and we got an entire episode to watch her watch Hitler speeches or brush up on her Dante’s Inferno… in Italian.

The way she consumed souls and information was actually fascinating. And her perspective on the world was a bit different than perhaps I or even Crowley assumed it would be.

She really didn’t like things as just black or white and good or evil. She also seemed truly adamant that she could do a far better job than God with things.

That’s certainly an interesting twist considering Crowley was probably grooming her simply for an evil team-up.

Of course, it’s all going to backfire on him, and the Darkness is going to no longer require his services. And controlling a teenage version of the Darkness is going to be a far trickier task than Crowley may have prepared for.

But the mirror conversation had me a bit confused. Is Amara and the Darkness one and the same? Or is the Darkness inside Amara? And at what point does she reach full power? Is that when she becomes the older version in the mirror? Just what will be the Darkness’ end game?

I’ve been intrigued so far by this new villain for the series, and I’m curious to see where that storyline goes as the season progresses. She's certainly not looking to slow down any time.

Clearly, the show has continued to try and reiterate just how crazy and scary the Darkness is, especially with that really odd scene of an angel and a demon hanging out in a bar together. It just felt weird and out of place, though the two chatting certainly tried to emphasize that the Darkness must be a big threat to get these enemies to share a drink together and discuss perhaps trying to do something.

I guess I get the point, but it felt like a jarring scene when mixed in with everything else.

Because the other part of the hour was focused on trying to fix Castiel.

Unfortunately, that meant finding Rowena, and I’m still having a hard time enjoying her presence when she gets involved.

The Mega Coven bit wasn’t very funny, and neither were the witches reactions to it. Rowena just winds up feeling too campy for me.

That said, even when other witches choose to dismiss her, she’s clearly a powerful witch, who also has the Book of the Damned. So she’s still a big player when it comes to the game.

She definitely has a rapport with Sam and Dean, and it was fun seeing Dean and Sam first capture her or see her call out Sam’s secret about his deal with her to help Dean. I was glad that Dean brought up the whole secrets thing and was upset, but I’m hoping that since that’s out in the open, the brother’s can just move forward.

What’s more, the Castiel as some dangerous red-eyed monster was finally finished. The whole thing never really went anywhere, so I’m glad that it didn’t take long for it to get fixed. If anything, it allows him to finally get on a path for a far more meaningful and engaging storyline.

And really, it’s as if the reset button has been played for the characters, giving them a chance to get back to normal – if you can call it that – before they must face that bigger and more dangerous threat that seems to be the Darkness.

Dean no longer has the Mark of Cain, Sam’s managed to cure himself of the infection, and now Castiel has been freed from the rabid dog spell.

And sure, Dean has his weird bond with the Darkness and Sam has got those crazy visions, so there’s still some issues to be dealt with, but this looks like a far better starting point for the brothers to move forward.

This was a decent episode, with some solid directing from Jensen Ackles. And while things did feel like they moved along with respect to the Darkness and fixing Castiel, the hour felt more like a transition to get the core characters back together and ready for what’s next.

But I'm definitely ready for what's next and to see things now really get going on Supernatural Season 11.

Were you glad to see Rowena back? Should Crowley be worried about the Darkness? Sound off below, and don't miss out on all the fun. Watch Supernatural online right now!