Since the revelation that Sam doesn't have a soul, Supernatural has backed off on the dark, ominous Sam in favor of letting him crack honest but otherwise rude jokes. Instead of feeling scared about what Sam will do, we more or less feel bad for him and chuckle at the jokes. With "Caged Heat," however, Sam is put in more unfavorable light, as he doesn't really want his soul back. There is a practical reason: Lucifer is undoubtedly hurting the soul and it could like Sam worse off. And with Sam without a soul, uncaring about what happens, the chance of getting worse isn't appealing.
"Caged Heat" is pretty significant as plot development goes. The Winchesters are on Meg's side for a change, and Crowley, seemingly the evil supervillain, is killed. That leaves Lucifer as the top dog, and he's doing who knows what to Sam's soul. Samuel shows up again helping Crowley in exchange for Mary's soul. It's a tough choice, but he decides to put his daughter before his grandchildren, one of whom he doesn't really know, and ostensibly, any humans who Crowley may terrorize. Now that Crowley's gone, however, what does Samuel do?
Score: 8.8/10
