Excuse me while I collect my thoughts about Castiel

"I am the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition." The famous words that turned my summer around. Not necessarily in a good way, because once I met that special angel of the lord, I didn't leave my house for a week. In fact, I--already socially inept--started absorbing this awkward celestial being's mannerisms. Oops. But what exactly is so appealing about the Supernatural character introduced in season four?

Better question: what isn't appealing about him?

 First, I'm just going to put it out there. He's cute. Yeah, cute vessel with dreamy blue eyes. But even his personality is just adorable. He's wise, old and powerful, yet he stumbles around social interaction like a chihuahua with a sock on its head.

Still, once you get past his dashing looks, he's an incredible character. His whole life, he has been told to follow orders. Obey without question. And he does (kind of...)--until he meets Dean Winchester. Castiel starts bonding with a human. (No, I won't spin off into the perilous waters of Destiel and shipping. Don't worry.) Dean teaches Cas that he can choose his own path, that he doesn't have to follow the other angels. He sticks firm to his faith in God even when it seems there is no hope.

Not only does Castiel hope, but he is constantly trying to do the right thing. Admittedly, he can go about it the wrong way. Let's come clean and say that absorbing thousands of souls from purgatory and naming yourself God isn't the best approach to things. But what other choice did he have? Raphael was looking to restart the apocalypse, undoing all the work Sam, Dean, Cas and Bobby had kind of died, nearly died, and really (briefly) died for.  All he was trying to do was save the world and his new family. He went about it the wrong way, but his intentions were good. And his end was heartbreaking.

Watching him spiral down into violent madness, then resurface and tumble into soft-crazy was painful. Him atoning for his sins by staying behind in purgatory was hell. Naomi using her dirty mind control tactics to make my favorite angel kill were infuriating. A lot of those feelings were due to the way Sam and especially Dean felt about it. (They do share a more profound bond, after all).

Like many other characters I love, Castiel is devoted to life. He wants to save people, but most of all those he loves. To me, that is a great trait in a character. Castiel is the kind of character that speaks to me because he embodies everything important to me in a socially-unsure package. Wanting to protect his friends, he is fiercely loyal. He values life and begins to see the importance of humanity by spending time with the Winchesters. He turns his back on his angel-family to help his friends and to make the decisions he sees as right. That takes courage few have.

Next season, I am excited to see more Cas-adapting-to-earth moments, especially now that he's human! What are you looking forward to next season, and anything you'd like to add about Castiel?