Really, it only makes sense to keep count of every female victim of non-sexualized violence (as Cass put it) if we're also going to keep a running count of every male victim as well. Of course sexualized violence (such as Dean using the demon-killing knife to repeatedly stab the witch/demon last season) is something else entirely. But I don't remember any "bitch," "whore," or "skank" references tonight, so that makes me happy. (I just checked, and this episode was written by Kripke. Somehow I had missed that at the beginning.)

I'm going to be thinking about this episode for quite a while. My brain, she is all a-spinny over everything from gender issues to theology.

One thing I liked is the implication that angelic possession is possible, but that the person who is possessed has to invite the angel in. Also, did anyone else get the impression that being possessed by an angel is very likely a fatal proposition?

Another thing that I'm wondering about is how much of the encounter Dean is going to relate to Bobby and/or Sam. I'm leaning towards 'not much' at the moment. In fact, one twist I'd like to see is that Dean can't tell Sam about Castiel (e.g., every time he tries, he finds himself changing the subject against his will, or outside events distract the boys right at the moment of revelation).

I'd prefer the outside events option if it happens. The White Hats are supposed to be pretty big on free will.

Also, did anyone else get the impression that being possessed by an angel is very likely a fatal proposition?

Oh, Hot Host Body Guy is so very toast when Castiel's work is done, if just looking at his true essence blinds people. Hopefully dude will be caught in the updraft for his troubles.

"caught in the updraft"--niiiice phrasing, Matt. I'll be stealing it at some point, I'm sure.

I crashed last night and haven't had a chance to rewatch, so I'm running on just the one viewing, and a general overview of opinion. The grin is still in place this morning. Overall, I'm really happy about this ep. If the season adheres to this level --well, I'll be surprised, because this bar is pretty high--but I'll be a very happy viewer.

My assumption with the slap was that he was verifying in a reasonably non-destructive way that the scared demons were merely bluffing, and wouldn't touch him.

It was so much lower-key in terms of violence than S3, that it was more a minor irritation for me than anything else. The bar, it was lowered

::nodding:: In total agreement. And, as I said upstream, the fact that the "woman" in question got to whale on Sammy later, sort of evened that score. Not that I think there *is* a scoreboard, or should be, with tallies of slap for punch. But I thought these two slaps were justified within the scene, and did not signal more than Dean testing the demons' willingness to jump.

Man, that rocked. I've seen it 4 times already. (Up 'til 3 am watching it last night and watched again this morning.)

And Castiel was a Drazen on 24 - he played evil Eurotrash!

Okay, must go. More later.

I think Dean will tell Sam about the angel - in fact I thought that some events in "scenes from next week" indicated as such. It is possible I misunderstood what I was seeing.

I agree that Dean will tell Sam. Bobby's already seen him, after all, and they all know the name Castiel, if Dean tries to just let it drop Sam would push the issue.

I think it's going to take longer for Sam's new powers to out themselves.

(Sam! Powers! I still haven't processed it yet!!)

I do love the look on Sam's face when he used his powers. He seemed...almost serene. Certainly convinced of the rightness of his actions. There was no evidence of the gloating, the "so there!" that I've seen when he's made a righteous kill, say. It was just...focus power, without vindictiveness.

I can see how that wouldn't feel "wrong" to him.

I was fascinated by the way the demon smoke left the body under Sam's powers. So different than past exocisms. Need to rewatch.

(Sam! Powers! I still haven't processed it yet!!)

DEMON FORCE GRIP.

I was fascinated by the way the demon smoke left the body under Sam's powers. So different than past exocisms.

It looked fucking slow and painful, as opposed to the usual screaming exit we get.

Someone somewhere made the observation that in the beginning, Dean drove a white car, whereas Sam was driving a black car.