Loving the Grindhouse previews.

Oh hell. Samuel again next week. And in flashbacks, apparently, so we can't even see Dean go whumping righteously on his ass.

He did it knowing it was going to split the fans in two, and he did that deliberately, and the ugliness has been epic. I hold him responsible for it and as a storyteller I don't think I can forgive him for it. Some conflict is necessary for drama of course, but he deliberately set out to cause this level of, well, the word ugliness comes up again.

Do you honestly believe he set out to create ugliness between fans? Really? To actively make fans so angry they might stop watching? I have a really hard time believing that. What purpose does that serve?

all i could think of when Dean was trying to pull the sword out(twss!!) was "someone wasn't worthy".

great ep. loved the brother interaction. it's good to have souled Sammy back.

Do you honestly believe he set out to create ugliness between fans? Really? To actively make fans so angry they might stop watching?

No, of course not. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! But setting out to create extra buzz? Yeah, I think that was a definite plus. I don't think all that many people quit watching, but I do think a great many of them became polarized. I know I read interviews with the creative people behind the scenes but I can't go back and look for cites tonight, or probably even this weekend (I took some time off to watch Show, but I have to get a report completed before Monday). I'll see if I can dig them up next week, depending on how the report (and my MRI -- 3 doctors' appointments today, count 'em, three!) goes.

I think it's weird to say that Kripke would want to polarise fans. Make people fans of Sam and/or Dean, sure. But set them against each other? That's a really weird thing fandom does, and it seems so counter to the inherent "we love each other but keep fucking it up" message of the show.

I don't get Samgirls that hate Dean and Deangirls that hate Sam. Either brother wouldn't approve. Even S4, with them at odds, Sam wanted to protect Dean, and Dean wanted to save Sam, even as he took the betrayal more personally than misguided Sam intended.

Prefer a brother, sure. But their love SAVED THE WORLD. It seems pretty simple and clear to me that them acknowledging and leaning upon together has been the core of the show.

As for tonight...first off, let me say it was very pretty. And I missed Sam! I love his earnestness and his ability to empathise, and I love that Dean missed that. I loved the hug. And the almost hug! Cas is getting the hang of what people do. Even if they don't do it then (I'm sure Sassiteers can see it as awkward breakup behaviour).

I love that Sam's smart enough to work it out quickly, and to manipulate Cas into spilling whatever he knew. Sad that the field of brunet virgins didn't include Cas.

I get Bobby's reluctance, even as I support Dean 95% (the lying was very late S2, and doomed to early or late failure). He was terrorised in his own home by someone everyone but Dean think shares some culpability. Even Sam feels responsible. I can see that his visceral reaction would be negative.

I like that Dean couldn't pull the sword from the stone. He's a sinner that tortured in hell. Just because he's pretty...though I'm going to assume severe shaped charges in that scenario, because WTF? Did you see the paintings? But I was surprised it was damaged too. I'd imagine it would be magically something.

I like that Sam got the kill first visit back. Shame they couldn't clear out the nest.

Odd that Dean would leave Sam behind. Unsupervised just speeds up how fast he's gonna work things out.

great ep. loved the brother interaction. it's good to have souled Sammy back.

What Tiggy said.

I'm also really glad they didn't keep the lying up for long.

I guess we know who the big bad is going to be, too! I'm a little wary that they made her out of a pretty young virgin, but I'll have faith! (ita told me to)

I'd imagine it would be magically something.

Magically bonded to the stone. Break the stone, break the sword.

Did Dean really call Cas a child at the end?

Bobby: actually, I thought his reaction to Sam would be a helll of a lot stronger, more negative and violent, than it was. I thought he got a bit too grumpy and downer and whiny in season five, but I'm on board with him here. And I think he's being generous in his behaviour.

Frigging child, if memory serves.

Promo that aired after the ep.

Yeah, I think it's fair for Bobby to react viscerally negatively to Sam, and to express more doubts about the extent of the soul/unsoul dichotomy. It was his life on the line.