Supernatural star Jensen Ackles has turned his TV success into real estate gold by buying a super-size posh property in Malibu, Calif. for $4.8 million.

Now that Ackles, 35, who’s expecting his first child with wife, former One Tree Hill actress Daneel Harris, is expanding the family he needs a bigger pad — and the 5-bedroom, 6-bath Mediterranean in the beachside celeb enclave fit the steep bill, according to RealEstalker.

The private 4,698 square foot manse is set back far enough from the prying eyes of the paparazzi, and comes with a formal living room and dining room, stone and wood flooring, two fireplaces, large kitchen, and access to the swimming pool and terrace.

And that’s only the first floor.

The piece de resistance is the master suite takes over the entire second floor, complete with a fireplace, vaulted ceiling, private balcony, built-in hair and make-up vanity, steam shower, and soaking tub.

And outside, the parents-to-be will take in the gorgeous scenery of The ‘Bu from their lush green grounds, BBQ station and bar, or the shallow and deeps ends of their new L-shaped swimming pool and spa.

But don’t let his ridiculously good looks fool you. Ackles has actually been at this real estate game for a while, having unloaded his MUCH more modest Studio City, Calif. starter home for $700,000 in February, and sold a second home in the swanky L.A. neighborhood of Brentwood for a much more substantial sum of $3 million.

Supernatural hunk Jensen Ackles has made a super real estate move.

The paranormal crime fighter and wife Danneel Harris purchased the abode back in 2009 for $2.43 million only a few months after they got engaged. Now property records show that the luxurious 3,554 square foot home has been sold for a whopping $3 million.

So, what kind of mansion can that price tag get you?

The dazzling space boasts three bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms and has been elegantly updated with the finest touches. A soaring ceiling overlooks a custom library loft, a professional chef’s kitchen, formal living room and hardwood flooring.

And let’s not forget the breathtaking outdoor courtyard!

The gorgeous oasis comes equipped with an outdoor stainless kitchen, grassy yard with a garden and an array of assorted fruit trees. The pool and spa make for quite the view as the elegant compound and holds a two-story guesthouse with a separate gated entrance.

This isn’t the only real estate move that Ackles has made. Back in February, he sold his Studio City starter home he purchased in 2003 for $700,000.

Now go and take a look at this exquisite mansion in the gallery above.

(No, really go look at it! I seriously can’t get over the interior decorating!)

The CW’s Supernatural knows how to play with different filming styles to create very special episodes. The show has gone black and white; it’s put a new spin on westerns; it’s even flitted back-and-forth between sitcom, cheesy commercial, game show, and melodrama — all on the same episode. But now, Supernatural is diving into Looney Tunes with “Hunteri Heroici.”

On the episode, Castiel (Misha Collins) tells Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) that he’s decided to become a hunter like them. Even though they don’t know what the audience does about the reason Castiel wants to stay so close to them, Sam and Dean aren’t sold on the idea. Still, they agree to investigate a case Cas found where a man’s heart literally burst through his chest. In doing so, they encounter an old hunter friend of their father’s (guest star Mike Farrell) and discover there has been more than one odd murder in the small town — all of which resemble cartoon deaths.

“It’s going to be a bit different,” Ackles told Celebuzz when we were on the Warner Bros. set for the eighth episode of Season 8.

“The great thing with our show is we really haven’t really found where our parameters are yet,” Ackles continued. “You take episodes like ‘Changing Channels’ or you take episodes like ‘The French Mistake’ and you go outside the box. And, yet, we always somehow find a way to bring it back, to make it make sense. This is kind of one of those off-the-wall episodes. It’s not something we’ve done before. When I heard the concept, I was like ‘Really!?’ But, I’ve had that reaction several times on this show, and it’s always worked out.”

For this particular episode, Supernatural taps into the animation world. Rather than create cartoon characters of its stars, though, it creates an animated world aroundthem.

“When Cas comes out of Purgatory, he’s a bit diminished but then seems to regain his powers and can do things that we didn’t previously know he could do, like transport other people into other people’s heads,” Collins previewed for us.

When Sam needs to talk to an old hunter friend of his father’s who has gone a bit off the reservation, Castiel transports them both to the man… by putting them inside the man’s kind of messed up mind. It’s a new kind of adventure for a duo that has never really seen eye-to-eye and now has a little something extra working against them.

As we saw last week, and as Collins put it: “There’s something going on with Cas that neither Cas, nor the brothers know about. Cas is kind of being manipulated behind the scenes, but he’s not aware of it… There are people trying to align themselves with him, but they’re not necessarily genuine allies.”

Supernatural airs on Wednesday nights at 9 PM on The CW.

With Supernatural now bending genres to try animation, what do you want to see them take on next? Let us know your ideas in the comments below

– Danielle Turchiano

Stewing on individual personal strife for weeks before ultimately being forced to confront issues with your brother, that’s the Winchester way, right? At least, it has been every time something major has separated Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) on The CW’s Supernatural — like one of them going to hell, or in Season 8’s case, Purgatory.

For the first portion of the season, Dean kept mum about Benny (Ty Olsson) and Sam about Amelia (Liane Balaban), but recent events required them to put it all out on the table. And on “Southern Comfort,” that’s exactly what they did—while dealing with a double blast from the past.

Note: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen Wednesday’s episode, “Southern Comfort”.

“Southern Comfort” saw the Winchesters actually addressing many of the thoughts the fans were already rationalizing in their minds — from how or why Benny is different from Amy, to why Dean pulled Benny out, even if they were brothers in arms down in Purgatory.

Wanting to avoid the whole “touchy, feely emotions discussion” (because he’s a man, man, man, man, manly man!), Dean was eager to jump onto a new case, and he found just the one — a bunch of bizarre deaths that all seemed to be revenge-based. It wasn’t something the show hadn’t tackled before (avenging spirits have always been all the rage, after all), but the parallels between the case of the week and the boys’ internal turmoil matched up almost a bit too perfectly.

Here the boys met up with Garth (DJ Qualls) who in Bobby’s absence, stepped up to the plate and became the hub of communication for the hunter community. Unlike those who were killing people they held grudges against, though, Garth was not merely possessed by Bobby’s spirit (though he was wearing the guy’s hat). He was just trying to step up and do right by a man who meant as much to him as he did to Sam and Dean (even if we never saw that side to the story).

Their history was important, and it was a theme that rang true in a broader sense for the episode, because of where the killings were happening: In Missouri, which during Civil War times was split over whether or not the Confederacy should stay.

In some parts, that antiquated flag still hung. And when it came to the case, it turned out a soldier from that war’s spirit was sent loose after his grave was recently vandalized. A memento he left behind (a penny — apparently, they’re not always lucky) had been passed between the killers (you know, as change), allowing the spirit to take them over for a short time and enact revenge over those they felt wronged them.

Naturally, Dean got his hands on it and this took him down a rabbit hole that provided for a perfectly uncomfortable scene in which he pulled his gun on his brother, finally spewing all of the things he is mad at Sam for (even those that were semi-irrational and he should have gotten over years ago — you know, if he had the tools to properly move on from anything). Again, it’s not a sentiment we haven’t seen before from these two, but this time it may have made the most sense of them all.

This new hardened Dean can’t possibly imagine talking about his time “over there” in his day-to-day, which was a notion made even more heartbreaking when we learned Amelia confided in Sam about her own soldier husband’s death. Dean is resigned to believe Sam couldn’t possibly understand what he’s been through — and maybe he can’t firsthand — but he’s sensitive enough to at least give it a shot. After all, hearing Amelia’s story allowed him to understand her behavior, even if it did make him look at her with the sad puppy eyes Dean would reject.

Dean didn’t actually shoot his brother, though they did come to physical blows before Garth stepped in and broke them up — just like Bobby would have. Dean dropped the penny, and his possession was effectively over. But what was just beginning was a new chapter in his relationship with Sam, who Garth reminded Dean is the only real family he has left. Benny hasn’t betrayed him — yet — but if he ever did, Dean would put him down. His bond to Sam is much deeper than that.

As the brothers parted ways with Garth, it was Sam’s turn to unload on Dean, though he didn’t need the penny to do so. He made a strong point in that Dean had been holding so many things inside — so many more than Sam probably even realized — but he kind of ruined the power of his (this time metaphoric) punch when he boasted that some day he may “run into Benny and ice him.” That just made him sound like the jealous third child that he in no way should be.

It was understandable in the sense that after everything Dean unloaded on him while possessed, Sam would want to get a shot in, too, but it doesn’t change the fact that it certainly started the cycle of anger and resentment all over again, and that’s a darker place to leave these boys than Hell and Purgatory combined.

Buzz Moments

OMG!: Garth was actually good at Bobby’s job — who would’ve guessed?

Thank you, TV gods: Someone had to point out to Dean that Bobby belonged “to all of us”— and we believe that includes the fans!

Awk-ward: The people in this town held grudges over the most ridiculous things — taking someone else to prom more than three decades ago and a bad call in a pick-up softball game, really?!

Hotness: A little ectoplasm and a little blood go a long way for the Winchesters. It just means that even when they’re not perfect, they’re still pretty!

Fab-u-lous: OK, Garth can rock the cowboy hat!

Can. Not. Wait.: If the Winchesters aren’t willing to try to be ready… how and when can their relationship be repaired, even if not fully restored?

Celebuzz Meter (1-10): 8

What did you think of Dean airing his grievances to Sam in “Southern Comfort”? Sound off in the comments below!

– Danielle Turchiano

Supernatural series star Jensen Ackles directed the third episode of Season 8, entitled “Heartache,” which he called “a bit of a one-off.” Now that the episode is finally upon us, Celebuzz has a few tidbits from Ackles about what you need to know before seeing the episode.

For starters, it is a classic Supernatural episode in which “Dean talks Sam into going with him to help some people in need.”

More specifically, though, Dean has come back from Purgatory with a bit of clarity, per Ackles, and better than ever before (yes, even after Hell), he really understands his purpose. He’s a man on a mission, and that mission is to keep saving as many lives as he can.

What was the toughest part of directing again for Ackles?

On “Heartache,” the brothers investigate a string of unusual murders where the victims were all recipients of organs from the same donor. The killer is captured, but things become even more complicated when the brothers find their killer in a trance mumbling an ancient prayer.

“His life is not about smelling the roses. It’s about doing what he does best, cramped up in that car next to his brother, fighting the things that people don’t know about,” Ackles said.

This is the third time Ackles has sat down in the director’s chair for Supernatural, but he still finds it challenging — in the best possible way.

“The stuff with Jared, you know, the scenes in the motel room and things like that, I pretty much just block it out myself, picked my camera shots, and then he and I just go do it. So, I don’t have to worry too much about that,” Ackles admitted.

“It’s scenes with guest stars… who want that affirmation or need that affirmation of ‘Is this right? Am I playing this right?’ that became very difficult, because I’m in the scene with this person,” he continued. “I’m also trying to be Dean. I’m also trying to keep an eye out, so I can give them notes on the performance after they yell ‘Cut.’ ”

One very special guest star Ackles may have been extra nervous to direct this season? His dad! Alan Ackles guest stars on the episode as a detective Dean meets up with on the case.

Supernatural airs Wednesdays at 9 PM on The CW.

What part of “Heartache” has YOU most excited already? Let us know in the comments below!

– Danielle Turchiano

Watch Ackles talk about directing “Heartache” at Comic Con 2012 below:

The CW’s Supernatural is known for its cliffhangers, but Season 7 just may have been the biggest one yet. How could it be bigger than Dean (Jensen Ackles) being dragged to hell or Sam (Jared Padalecki) letting Lucifer take control of his body and then falling into the pit? Well, how about by splitting the brothers again, only this time Sam has no idea where his brother is and therefore is at a loss on how to even attempt to bring him home.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When Dean finds himself in Purgatory, he is suddenly in a “more concentrated version” of the kinds of evil he usually only sees in small, weekly doses. His buddy Castiel (Misha Collins) abandons him for reasons that will become known in the season premiere, and he is forced to team up with a character he would normally be hunting.

Naturally, when Dean finally gets out of Purgatory and tracks down his brother in the Season 8 premiere, “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” things look mighty different from how we last left them.

What did Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins have to say about Supernatural Season 8?

“It’s going to take a little bit of time to warm back up to the relationship that he and Sam had,” Ackles admitted during a recent Warner Brothers set visit for a select group of press.

“There’s also what Sam did for the past year, which kind of compacts the odd element that these two brothers have not only spent time apart, but also what they were doing,” he added. “Dean was in this concentrated war zone, and Sam was really the opposite. Now they have to come back together and pick up where they left off, and it poses kind of a problem.”

While Dean just wants to fall back into old patterns with his brother, Sam has another idea. He has been living the past year in a small town in Texas with a girl he has fallen in love with (Liane Balaban), and he even has a dog.

“Maybe I’ve become a fan girl of the show, but at first I was kind of like, ‘A girl!? For Sam!? What’s he doing!?’” Padalecki laughed.

“But as I learned about the relationship, I was so happy to explore that role and that character. And Sam from the get go has been hoping to kind of reinvent himself as the person he always thought he was.”

Padalecki described Amelia and Sam as a good match because they’re both “kind of misfits and they’ve both gone through loss.” He noted they are brought together by “a bizarre set of circumstances,” but they decide to just go with it, and it seems to be working.

Once Dean returns, though, Sam does follow his brother out the door and on the road again, albeit reluctantly. Most of the Sam and Amelia relationship, then, is witnessed in flashbacks to their life during the past year. The dichotomy between Dean in purgatory as a “hardened soldier” and Sam living a “normal, apple pie life” is bound to pull at fans’ emotions and reopen the question of if we can truly fight our destinies.

“He really commits to it,” Padalecki added about the relationship with Amelia, “and so when it all comes crashing back down, it’s kind of a brutal reminder again of who he has been and who he is possibly meant to be. He isn’t so happy about it.”

Though Sam is fulfilling his obligations, and Padalecki promised Sam would never half-ass a job, even if his heart wasn’t completely in it, Ackles pointed out that the brothers will not be squabbling or tense the entire time.

“At the end of the day, they’re still brothers; they still have each others’ backs. It’d take way too much to break that,” Ackles reassured us.

And then there is Castiel, who vanishes in purgatory, leaving Dean to fend for himself. Collins was cagey about Cas’ reasons, not wanting to spoil the reveal for fans. However, he did point out that Cas’ experiences in purgatory “are actually shaped by everything that has come before.”

“I think purgatory for him is actually kind of a penance, and that plays out a little bit as the season unfolds,” Collins explained.

“We’re seeing a Cas that’s actually kind of close to the Cas in Season 4 or 5. We’re seeing in paying that penance, he’s actually regained a little bit of his innocence and about all of his sanity. His screws are not nearly as loose as they were last year.”

Of course, if and when Castiel gets out of Purgatory, too, and rejoins the Winchesters, the dynamics are bound to shift again, creating even deeper layers for these characters as they struggle to find the true tablet and attempt to potentially close the gates of Hell forever.

Flip through images from the Season 8 premiere and Episode 2 above.

Supernatural returns to The CW on a new night on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 9 PM.

What are you most excited to see play out in Supernatural season eight? Sound off in the comments below!

– Danielle Turchiano

Watch Ackles, Padalecki and Collins talk Season 8 at Comic Con 2012 below.