Lucifer Will Show His Face After All

The thrilling season finale for Supernatural, in which Sam and Dean were maneuvered into raising Lucifer, definitely upped the ante for a show that's been driving its characters harder with every year of slogging against evil. It's easier to maintain the menace with the culminating evil in the shadows, and minions like Christopher Heyerdahl doing the dirty work and making things look desperate for the boys. And at first creator Eric Kripke was saying Lucifer would be a "presence" rather than a person in season 5.

But Lucifer will be made manifest at some point next year, and the man cast for the recurring role is seasoned bad guy Mark Pellegrino. Pellegrino has probably made the biggest impact as Paul, the wife-beating ex of Dexter's girlfriend on several episodes of Dexter in late season 1 and early season 2, and he showed real promise there – on the one hand, you hated the guy because of what he did to Rita (Julie Benz), but it was fascinating to watch him fight Dexter's hastily set-up frame. Pellegrino has also done Lost (where he turned out to be the leader of the Others) and a bunch of other movies and TV.

Also up for next season is a one-off return of always welcome Adrienne Palicki (Friday Night Lights), apparently reprising her role as Sam's long-dead girlfriend Jess. Since Jess's death, way back in the pilot, had a lot to do with setting Sam on the path that eventually led to demon-blood-drinking and being totally duped by Ruby, that actually sounds perfect. Chuck, the prophet played by Rob Benedict, may also return, though that has yet to be confirmed.

As usual, I can't wait. I'm already reprising my season 1 DVDs. Sept. 10 – the season 5 premiere for Supernatural seems a long ways off.