A Familiar Face Returned in the Supernatural Season 14 Premiere

[Warning: This post contains spoilers from the Season 14 premiere of Supernatural. Read at your own risk!]

There were plenty of monsters in Supernatural's Season 14 premiere, the scariest of which was Michael, who has taken control of Dean's (Jensen Ackles) body. The new season opened with the terrifying archangel visiting a praying man to practice his scare tactics while also determining whether or not the terrified man was worth saving. Michael deemed him unworthy while unveiling his major goal: creating a "better world." Something tells me this new world is not a place you'd want to live in.

Meanwhile, the Apocalypse World hunters seem to have adjusted to daily life in our world, taking on the daily duties of demon hunting. However, Sam (Jared Padalecki) hasn't been faring too well without his brother and has all but lost hope after returning from another lead that turned out to be a dead end. This season, Sam is broodier than ever, even rejecting Mary's (Samantha Smith) attempts to comfort him.

Every Season of Supernatural, Ranked

Equally moody is Jack (Alexander Calvert), who's practically human since Lucifer (Mark Pellegrino) stole his grace before dying in the Season 13 finale. Now without his powers, Jack trains with Bobby (Jim Beaver) to learn how to defend himself, but the lessons aren't clicking for him and he's taking a beating from the older man. His bruised ego was somewhat comforted by Sam who imparted some wise words to the young Nephilim before visiting a secret guest being hidden away in another room: Lucifer's vessel Nick!

Although Lucifer is very much still dead, the angel blade that killed him acted like a regular blade on Nick, and the human was left with a gnarly but healable stab wound. As a result, Nick is back to his old self but with memories of Lucifer's dirty deeds, unfortunately. However, he doesn't know what happened to Dean, leading Sam to another dead end. Judging by how things are going so far, Sam won't be reuniting with his brother anytime soon.

Elsewhere, Castiel (Misha Collins) is desperate to find Dean and resorts to meeting up with the demon Kip to find some answers which quickly backfires. He's ambushed by Kip's friends and beaten to a pulp because Team Free Will hasn't suffered enough already. Poor Cas!

When Sam realizes what has happened, he immediately jumps into action amid Mary's warnings that he's probably walking into a trap. This doesn't bother Sam--Cas is family, after all--and heads straight into danger. Desperate to help, Jack volunteers to come along and, against Bobby's protests, Sam agrees because Jack really needs this. And while Sam is functioning pretty well as a leader, it's clear that Dean's absence is taking its toll on him as he reveals to Mary that he's not even sure his brother is still alive. But there's no time to commiserate as they've still got to rescue Cas!

Before Sam can even utter a "Hello, I'm here for Cas," Kip captures Sam's backup, which includes Jack, who gets a swift punch to the gut for his efforts. Kip then offers Sam a special deal: a partnership. With both Crowley and Asmodeus dead, hell is leaderless, and Kip feels he's the right man for the job. He offers to work with Sam as the proposed new king of hell as long as Sam lets a few evil deeds slide. But Sam isn't a fool and turns him down, just as Bobby and Mary open fire on Kip's lackeys. Cue a major throwdown that finds Jack getting punched again after trying to help Bobby. Poor kid can't catch a break.

But in the end, Sam is able to kill Kip and declares there will be no new king of hell. "If anyone disagrees, they can come through me," he sternly says. Recognizing that bearded Sam is not messing around, the demons choose to flee. Smart move.

With the fight over, it's back to figuring out where Dean is and how to eject Michael from his body. But judging from Michael's new alliance, that will be easier said than done. As Jo (Danneel Ackles) aptly put it, we have a problem.

Supernatural airs Thursdays at 8/7c on the CW.

(Full disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS, one of The CW's parent companies.)