I am SO GLAD that this happened sooner in the arc than later. Go Castiel with the smacking back at Dean!

Even so, it was an empty threat. God commanded Castiel to rescue Dean from Hell... does anyone really think he'd go against that on his own initiative?

Interesting that some angels are being overcome in the conflict. Based on how mighty a power Castiel seems to be, I wouldn't have inferred that demons could win direct confrontations. Or that angels are actually capable of dying.

It was interesting to me that Meg was throwing arguments very similar to fan objections I've heard at Dean. What I can't tell is if Kripke was trying to make a point by having her be the effective villain of that scene, or if Dean's acknowledgment of guilt was supposed to set the tone.

Man, I liked Olivia SO MUCH BETTER than Wildfire girl. Plus - with Meg and Olivia in this episode it just shows HOW MUCH whatserface sucks.

Also - I was "You can't kill Bobby!" through the whole show. Damn them!

I'm also v. pleased that Dean told Sam right away. My guess is that as soon as Bobby came to - he told Bobby because he didn't believe what Castiel told him.

Also - notice how Castiel used "we" alot - as in plural angels on the loose?

I loved this episode. Loved Castiel putting Dean in his place. And I loved, loved, loved Bobby - his panic room! "I had a weekend free"! (Jilli, perhaps the iron panic room could be a place to keep the pretty, pretty people in their gilded cages.)

and, from sumi's "wincest" link:

Supernatural (2005–present) appears to be a testosterone-charged romp about two excessively good-looking brothers who, armed with phallic weaponry, roam the country in a '67 Chevy Impala hunting monsters from American folklore.

Or that angels are actually capable of dying.

I wonder if it's more like sending the angel back to Heaven. If exorcising a demon gets it out of the host body and back to Hell, then it seems to me the reverse is probably true of the angels. Castiel is highjacking a body, so why not the others?

Also - notice how Castiel used "we" alot - as in plural angels on the loose?

I kept expecting Dean to pull a "what you mean we" during that exchange.

Oh, and I am glad from the preview that it appears that Castiel won't just be in the epilogue. Although I wonder if we are going to continue to have bookended scenes - Dean with Castiel, Sam with Ruby for most of the season.

Even so, it was an empty threat. God commanded Castiel to rescue Dean from Hell... does anyone really think he'd go against that on his own initiative?

I bet he could torture the heck out of Dean though and not get in trouble.

Interesting that some angels are being overcome in the conflict. Based on how mighty a power Castiel seems to be, I wouldn't have inferred that demons could win direct confrontations. Or that angels are actually capable of dying.

I was thinking because Ruby was afraid of angels, that she must not be a high enough level demon to have much power against angels. Also, Dean was guessing the demon in the diner wasn't at a "high enough pay grade" which made me think again of hierarchies among demons. So perhaps we have never met, except for YED, a demon powerful enough to confront an angel. If there is a war going on and there are demons capable of killing 6 brothers of Castiel, then I can't wait to meet them.

I wonder if it's more like sending the angel back to Heaven. If exorcising a demon gets it out of the host body and back to Hell, then it seems to me the reverse is probably true of the angels. Castiel is highjacking a body, so why not the others?

I was thinking Castiel meant something more permanent because he was stressing that "our numbers are not unlimited." I don't think he would have even mentioned losing six of his brothers if they could just pop into another body. I could be completely wrong, but I took from his tone that he had experienced an emotional loss too.

Yay SHOW!! Love you, love you, love you.

Great episode. Consuela's comment from last week about Sam and Ruby had been on mind...

One thing I'll point out about Sam shacking up with Ruby (if that's what is going on); is that it's basically rape. That body who's sleeping with Sam doesn't belong to Ruby, and the girl who owns the body didn't consent to the sex.

... not that I expect the show to acknowledge that. At all. Ever.

I think the show came close to acknowledging that last night with Meg's comments to Sam about how many bodies Ruby's burned through. She got her new body from someone, and after she'd supposedly joined the good side too. Castiel's body was provided willingly, but Ruby's? We also know the mind is awake and trapped inside the demon's body - unless that was a demon/ghost trick when Meg told Sam that part - hmm, I'm actually not sure, if we know that or not. But either way, if the body is unharmed, it can be returned intact, so yeah, there's definitely an element of nonconsensual sex/rape here, and Sam should have to deal with that. Unless Ruby's body is dead or, in some twisted way, a willing provider as well.

I was thinking because Ruby was afraid of angels, that she must not be a high enough level demon to have much power against angels. Also, Dean was guessing the demon in the diner wasn't at a "high enough pay grade" which made me think again of hierarchies among demons.

It's just throwing me a bit that Lilith is apparently the biggest demonic player on the field (raising people from the dead wasn't supposed to be within Azrael's power, but she can manage it), and yet she wasn't able to overwhelm Sam for whatever reason. I kind of wish that moment had been revealed as Castiel's doing rather than something inherent in Sam—like Castiel showed up as Dean was dying, Lilith got caught in the backwash, and it just took 4 months in earth time for them to make the bungie jump into Hell and back.

Also confusing is that Ruby was talking about the power that saved Dean being "cosmic" despite never having met an angel before and Lucifer's apparent status as an unconfirmed religious belief among demons. If there haven't been angels interacting on the lower planes since 1500 years before she died, and no one's seen the Devil in forever either, what else is out there that would fit the "cosmic" label?

I was thinking Castiel meant something more permanent because he was stressing that "our numbers are not unlimited." I don't think he would have even mentioned losing six of his brothers if they could just pop into another body. I could be completely wrong, but I took from his tone that he had experienced an emotional loss too.

I took this the same way. Our Boys have a knife that can kill a demon outright, and I'm sure it's not the only weapon of its kind. If there are ways to destroy a demon, I'm sure there's ways to destroy an angel too.

It's just throwing me a bit that Lilith is apparently the biggest demonic player on the field (raising people from the dead wasn't supposed to be within Azrael's power, but she can manage it), and yet she wasn't able to overwhelm Sam for whatever reason.

I know that there's a lot of brother-against-brother speculation, and I'm not opposed to it. But I don't think I would be surprised that it's Sam who has a larger purpose, and that Dean's presence back on the mortal coil is to influence Sam to prevent him from going darkside.

ION, I've said it before, but other than an errant bra and some casual levels of dress, I still don't seen any evidence that Sam and Ruby are doing the deed, and I don't really count that as evidence.