I doubt they'll use Castiel much more than they used him last season. I don't fear overuse, I fear shoehorning, which is kinda different. Spike was all over everything. Castiel *could* have been around more--they just remembered him every so often and tossed him in but only well half the time.

Acting as though he could just ignore them if he tried hard enough seems like an overly simplistic way to view it.

Er. That is also an overly simplistic way to view addiction in general.

That said, I can't say the demon blood addiction as written was particularly convincing and Kripke's explanation of the Dumbo line doesn't make much sense to me.

Kripke's explanation of the Dumbo line doesn't make much sense to me.

I wish I'd done it justice. Here's a [link] to the actual bit (the question starts around 2:13). Careful, there be spoilers.

Basically, Ruby was the feather. It was her contention that Sam didn't need her to do what he'd done; with his anger and self-righteousness, he would have made the same decisions with the same outcome without her pushing him.

Kripke's explanation of the Dumbo line doesn't make much sense to me.

It's pretty poor writing, if they didn't think about any other interpretations of that line.

I seem to recall everyone was worried it would be all Bobby all the time after S2, also, but I think his character has been an excellent addition to the storylines and Sam and Dean's lives. I feel the same way about Castiel. I can't imagine it's going to become the Castiel Show.

Basically, Ruby was the feather. It was her contention that Sam didn't need her to do what he'd done; with his anger and self-righteousness, he would have made the same decisions with the same outcome without her pushing him.

But making the same decisions to pull demons with his mind is not the same as drinking Ruby's blood as appetizer beforehand. The line always referred to the blood drinking to me, not just to his powers.

Also, I would guess in the beginning of S4 Sam wasn't drinking it yet, because we saw that he couldn't pull the demons very successfully at that point. Then there's the whole "you have to drink gallons of demon blood to contain Lucifer."

I don't think the writers ever reached a consensus about what it meant or if he needed it.

I figured he was drinking it at the beginning of S4, because I think that it would have been an even larger fail to not show that start if it had begun during the scope of the episodes. I figured, like having sex with Ruby, it was a done deal. He was just getting better with what it meant.

I said that badly: the explanation makes sense - and I actually like that interpretation of Sam's character arc - but that I was supposed to understand that from the line does not. Even knowing what they meant, I can't make it click with what Ruby said.

Sounds like writer ret-con to me. But maybe I'm not being fair. What me being rash and judgmental? What a surprise that would be...

I never liked that Dumbo line.

I can't imagine a scenario when I would get tired of Cas or Bobby. To me they're as much a part of the show (now) as the boys.

I can't imagine it's going to become the Castiel Show.

They'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they created that, from a storytelling perspective. If Sam & Dean have an all-powerful angel at their beck and call, who can transport them anywhere they want, or find out anything with a flick of his eyelash, or smite the monster of the week by waving his hand at it, what's the point of having the Winchesters around?