I don't Sam's going back in time would have been very effective, in terms of the long-term story. If he went back, it would have been a very dark version of It's a Wonderful Life. "The angel showed me the error of my ways! I shall be good!" In this case, they have Dean watching for ways to keep Sam from being part of the apocalypse.

I had a thought yesterday -- if Azazel and Castiel and Lilith and all of them need a body to be earth-bound, maybe Lucifer does, too.

I think Castiel only need the vessel to avoid blinding and deafening humans.

prior commitments or not, I think the writers have the right to make that kind of call

Absofreakin'lutely.

I, too, am anticipating some Sam-heavy/Dean-lite eps. Unspoiled spec.

And the Castiel thread at TWOP is loaded with screencaps of Castiel . . . you know, as an aid to understanding his character.

Well, of course. What possible other reason could there be...?

Exactly - that is why I reposted the links here.

I have been mildly amused at the groundswell growth in the audience of this little CW spooky show in its fourth season. Due, I believe, largely to vociferous fandom, SPN managed to cling on and squeak out S2, to be rewarded by S3 cut short by the writers' strike, and then the ratings picked up so S4 & 5 seemed like a gimme, even though the budget for S3 & 4 was slashed. And then there were rumblings of "no S5."

Made no sense. Until I was just made aware that it's not the show in jeopardy, but the *network.* The CW may be tanking, which is why it's cutting shows on the cusp and slashing budgets for the ones it's keeping. And if the network goes down, SPN has no home, thus no S5.

At least that's how it was explained to me. Edited because I can too count to five.

I have a camera, but ya'll have to raise the money for salaries. We'll put it on the internet.

Signed, Bad Horse.

That makes a lot of sense, Bev. I'd love to see SciFi or another cable channel pick it up, if that does happen, but I don't know how realistic that is.

I think USA would be a great spot for Supernatural. Kind of a weird fit, but I think the show would do fine there.

Maybe F/X? Though they'd probably need to make the show a little more R rated.

Or TNT. I know they run reruns of Angel, that kind of fits thematically.

I really don't hold out a lot of hope. I know Jensen and Jared were sort of taken aback when Kripke first made his "end by S5" wishes known, but they've both taken that on for a while now, at least in public. Kripke has a development deal, but if the CW tanks, so does that deal. He might be willing to jump networks, and the actors probably would, too. But I don't really see it happening. As much as the audience has grown, I doubt it's a large enough share to make the pickup worthwhile to another network.

But it does explain why they're throwing all the mythology up at us this season, and tying up as many loose ends as they can. I'm just in it as long as it lasts. I am glad they seem to have (at least partially) resolved some of the issues that plagued S3. And looking back, I can see how those might have been intended to show Dean in his hellbound mental state. Not that that excuses them, but I can see how the concept started, if that was indeed the case.