Speaking of Cas being forgiven--if his reluctance to restore Sam's soul has anything to do with the game he's been playing--I think that's the biggest obstacle to Dean getting over it.

I agree, although I can't make myself go there quite yet.

I feel like I need to rewatch the whole season to track Cas's actions and reactions now.

Zap2it has a gallery of Season 6 Questions that Need Answers.

All good questions.

But this one confuses me:

If Sam picked [the amulet] up as has been hinted a few times, then what happened to it when he was in Hell?

When did they hint at that?

Edited to clarify what was hinted at.

I'm not sure. I thought it was wishful thinking on the part of the fans.

My assumption is that it's either in a city dump or the jewelry box of whatever maid cleaned that motel room the next day.

It was absolutely not hinted at. Fanon != canon, and people need to get a hold on that. It was never mentioned again, in the show, and in meta, the writers said they were moving on from that part of the boys' relationship. Which they can absolutely undo, but it just makes it less likely that they've been dropping hints of its return this whole time.

That's what I thought! Thank you for the reassurance that I'm not crazy (on this point).

It think it would be very in character for Sam to pick it up, so I won't quibble if we find out he did so. But there's been nothing on screen to suggest it one way or another.

Chilling webclip for next week. Eeps. Squeak. I wonder where it's set in time.

Wow.