I am pissed that they blatantly had Bobby say Dean was his favorite while under the influence of the truth spell.

This didn't bother me, other than thinking "ouchie" and poor Sammy. Sam has Dean. He always has Dean, for better or worse.

The rest of Bobby's truthiness was hysterical.

Banana & a late brunch:

These boys are so fucked up. Someone just posted on LJ about how devastated they were by Dean's beat down of Sam. I started thinking about my own reaction and I realized something, Dean was expressing his love through his fists. See, fucked up.

If Sam had become something Dean couldn't love he would have killed him or simply walked away. Dean can't do that. Dean may not like Sam much right now, but Jesus, he loves him to death.

I think it took me longer to see that part, ehab, although I agree. He was also just so angry, and so alone! That moment when he says "It's been a really bad day" and passes his hand over his face? Completely desolation.

But I agree -- he could have walked away or killed Sam, and he didn't. Still, so hard to watch!

I'm still digesting and in need of a rewatch. I have half-formed thoughts about Sam and his role throughout the seasons. On one hand, yes, there's been a lot of "Something's wrong with him" from the second season onward, and even in the first he was angry and vengeful. But it's also flowed and rippled outward from a definite single source*. It's not like every season it's been "in what new way can we make Sam twisted and dark that is totally different and unrelated to how he was dark and twisted before".

On the other hand, that storyline has been playing out for a very long time now, and it feels played out and should be resolved and set aside.

On the first hand, ignoring all that has come before except for the very basic set-up that Sam had been in Hell with Lucifer in a very special cage, the idea that him being freed without consequences is ludicrous. That he's come back wrong is necessary for believability - for me.

aesc had an interesting question about the subjectivity/objectivity of the truths spoken [link]

*Azazel feeding his demon blood to 6 month old Sammy, Sam's fear that there was something dark inside him in season 2 because of that, Azazel's games leading to his death, to Dean's deal, to Dean's death, to Sam's inability to deal with that and drinking of demon blood, his trying to take control, do something good with something dark and overcome the monster he thinks he is/has inside him, which he does when he takes in Lucifer and jumps into the pit. And now the consequences of him being out of it, and how and why that happened. archie rants rather nicely about the sloppy execution of all this here [link]

God, I loved that and it broke my heart into a million pieces.

More later.

Heartbreaking was pretty much the takeaway for me, too.

And next week looks like more of the same! BOYS.

DCBB: The Emporium is utter crap, but Bodies From The Tracks is promising so far.

That moment when he says "It's been a really bad day" and passes his hand over his face? Completely desolation.

He just lost the longest and most important romantic relationship of his life. He's lost Ben to whom he has been a father figure for the last year. He's afraid of losing his brother. Yeah, he's had a bad day.

If the arc for the season is to get Sam's soul back, one has to wonder what Sam will be like with his soul returned, feeling everything that happened to him in hell. Talk about hurty.

I kind of hope that Sam getting his soul back is not the culmination of the season, but happens at least halfway through, or at the most three quarters of the way through, and the last half/quarter can be Sam&Dean back together fighting against the heavenly civil war/whatever --just together.

This D/C artwork is exquisite: [link]

It's undeniably them, although Dean's chin is too weak, and his profile is more convex, and Cas's is more swept back.