It was interesting to me, and Ryan almost touched on it, that Dean is in the position that Adam was in when he was resurrected, to a large extent, in the "you may be blood, but you're not my family" attitude that Dean seems to be taking with the Campbells.

Noir as an ethos for the season is interesting to me, as is the tagline, of which I was not aware. It is, at the very least, a different spin on parents and children than we've been getting from Show. It's usually "John's boys." Apparently, nsm this year.

Dean is in the position that Adam was in when he was resurrected, to a large extent, in the "you may be blood, but you're not my family" attitude that Dean seems to be taking with the Campbells

I was struck by how alien it had to feel for him when Samuel expected him to self-identify as a Campbell ("that's what Campbells do") rather than as a Winchester.

Yeah, that must have been weird. I mean - Dean didn't have his mother for all that long and didn't grow up knowing his grandfather.

I also thought that the way the Campbells were going through the stuff at Dean's house and making fun of it was a bit OTT. And it makes sense if we aren't supposed to like them or think that Dean should trust them or Sam.

(That blond cousin is the young sharpshooter from Flashpoint.)

I don't think we're supposed to trust anyone at this point, except for Ben and Lisa... which makes sense if we're getting the story from Dean's point of view.

I also thought that the way the Campbells were going through the stuff at Dean's house and making fun of it was a bit OTT.

I saw that as another callback to how Dean used to be. He was less verbal about it though.

Re: Dean's drinking... I don't think we were supposed to see the hard liquor after the beer at the bar as a habit. I think it was supposed to indicate Dean being freaked out by the hallucinations that he thought were real.

I'm sitting back and letting the season play out a bit before I solidify an opinion. As a devotee of nitpicky detail and composition, editing, etc., did anyone notice that when Ben turned around to see Sam standing in his house the camera on Sam shot up from Ben's eye level? Giant! Giant Winchester in my house! Giant supposedly dead Winchester in my house.

I thought it was interesting that Mo wondered if Sam's behaviour and attitude was because of hell, or because of the Campbells.

Nice catch Beverly. I just rewatched and you're so right.

Juliebird do you have a link to Mo's review? Interesting.

ehab, you skimmer!

Amy linked it upthread: [link]

I don't think we were supposed to see the hard liquor after the beer at the bar as a habit.

Didn't he drink hard liquor closing up the house before the jaunt out with Sid too? I thought it was a normal thing. And his description of the time with Lisa didn't make it seem like he was all ironed out.