Theoria

Other than the usual problems caused by time travel – for instance, in seasons one and two, Azazel didn’t seem to know any of the information he learnt from Dean in S04E03 such that Dean would kill him with the Colt and that Dean would be touched by an angel – the previous two episodes were fairly good. Here are some reasons why:

1. Ruby’s new meatsuit is speaking increasingly less, which makes Ruby more tolerable – now they just need to find a way for Ruby to reanimate her previous meatsuit and get rid of the current one. I can only imagine that this decision derives from poor fan response to the new Ruby.
2. Dean’s developing crush on Castiel, now affectionately referred to as “Cas.” [Note: I prefer "Cass," but superfans - and Blythe - seem to be using it with one s. Unfortunately I don't have the power to change that.] One can only imagine Dean saying, “Grip me tight, Cas, tighter than when you pulled me from perdition.”
3. Giving the former Crown Attorney from Street Legal (Ron Lea) employment, even if only as a character who dies halfway through the episdoe – there is nothing sadder than a working television actor from Canada who only works on shows filmed in Toronto or Vancouver. (If not for Blythe, I never would have made the connection. IMDB has yet to make the connection.)

Obviously, now that Sam has renounced his powers, he will have no option but to use them in an upcoming plot-episode (as opposed to stand-alone) to save Dean’s life. This will lead to a series of teary scenes between Sam and Dean that will feed the fantasies of the slash culture (“Wincest”). However, ultimately Dean will realize that Sam should not have used his powers to save him. Cas will then try to kill Sam, but Dean will interfere in some way – or, alternatively, another angel will join the show and save Sam from Cas’s wrath.

Since S04E04 aired where Sam and Dean kill a rigaru, I’ve taken to calling Hugo a “roo-roo” on account of his extreme love of treats.