Why he couldn't have been more direct originally, the world may never know.

I'm thankful he wasn't more clear if it was a means to show the events in this episode. I am still taking it in. It blows my mind to think of Mary as the hunter and John as the civilian.

a lone rangel

Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!. I love that.

Also I am wondering, if Mary wanted a "normal" life without hunting and created that life in Lawrence, and Ma and Pa Campbell are dead, then did she ever tell John she was a hunter? Is that something he never knew?

this is where i currently am. or is it kind of like The Mentalist and Mary kept a diary(that didn't get burned up in the fire)that talked about her life as a hunter and what she'd done.

this storyline is really well done. i'm kind of bowing to the master. never in a million years would i have thought Kripke would pull Mary being a hunter on us.

I mean, Azazel was impressed by Dean's connections. I don't think Sam has enough power -- or evil chutzpah -- to randomly kick Castiel's ass because he doesn't like what he has to say.

Oops. I only posted a half-thought, there. That's what I get for posting when I'm hungry. Anyhow, what I meant to go on and say is that perhaps the angel's "smite first, ask questions later" rep has less to do with their being by-the-rule types than it does about the simple natural consequences of what happens when an angel and a demon encounter one another. Perhaps what happened to the demons in the diner was simply a by-product of what happened when Castiel passed through.

Second watching impressions:

Funky line delivery one - "What were YOU dreaming about?" Misha really does put emphasis in unexpected places.

John is not only from Lawrence, but rooted there. The old man in the diner was welcoming John home from the war. He passed his regards to John's father. Later we find out John is a mechanic from a family of mechanics. Do the boys have relatives on John's side still living in Lawrence? They would have been civilians. Maybe that is who bought Mary's tombstone? John may have cut ties when he left with the boys, but there might be a grandma Winchester that would like to see the boys one time before she passes. Maybe there are uncles or aunts. Did John turn his back on his own siblings while raising Sam and Dean?

The Campanile is playing as John walks around the corner before Dean sees Castiel. I could hug someone for that.

Second strange line reading - First Dean asks if he can tell Mary something, then he says, "On November 2, 1983, don't get out of bed." Bed has the uplilt of a question. Like "Okay?" or "Please?" is there but unspoken. Can we get the boy an emmy? Yeah, I know, there was the one perfect tear, but he's still worthy.

As for the lack of Sam, I've been so caught up in the story, that I'm ashamed to say that I hadn't noticed. I love Sam. But I'm also loving the story that Show is telling. Sam is such a large part of the story, like John, that he is there, even when he is not on screen. I was amazed when I rewatched and saw how much he actually wasn't in the episode.

saw how much he actually wasn't in the episode.

I rewatched this evening, and I overstated earlier when I said that he only had one line. He actually only had one word. One. Word.

And yet, he was very much a part of the episode. Pretty awesome, especially when you consider that the actor wasn't available.

just watched. That was FUN. it was a ride.

My take on why Castiel isn't talking to Sam -- it isn't just Sam he wants to stop. He is going to use Dean and Sam to find out the end game. If Castiel goes to Sam- Sam might go good too fast and they won't find out the end game.

Which is part of how Sam is there even though we barely see his face.Well done.

He actually only had one word. One. Word.

Well, yeah - I mean, if an actor isn't available for an ep (which seems to be the case from a couple of posts here), he's not going to have a lot of lines in it. Not the writers' choice, right? More like working with what they've got. I have to say, given that, I'm pretty impressed what they did with it.

So, was JP getting married or on his honeymoon or something? I am curious. Some would say nosy.

I read somewhere that he was doing some re-shoots of scenes in his upcoming movie.