Heh. There was a pregnant pause at one point where Castiel might as well have said, "Because I love you, Dean!"

Dang, Castiel wore me out with his despair.

Also Evolution as Canon FTW!

Also Also, Misha has dreamy eyes.

So, they are mad at Cas because Cas is dealing with Crowley even though not dealing with Crowley means they have to go through Armagedon again and probably the whole vesseldom thing? Are they saying if Cas had tried this before Armagedon had been averted the first time, they would still have been against it? Wouldn't Dean have done anything in Stull cemetery to keep his brother if he could? Isn't that what Cas is doing?

I'm so confused. Is it dealing with a demon or opening purgatory that is the deal breaker for the Winchesters? Opening purgatory would be bad but surely less bad than Satan walking the earth?

I am feeling pretty morally corrupt here because I don't understand what Cas is doing wrong. He asked God for a sign or permission. He's still on the side of "good" and trying to save the Earth.

He made a deal with a demon. only Winchesters get to do that That never ends well

Maybe the reason he is wrong is because he lied. Dean certainly complained about his lying and, after all, Winchesters never lie.

I am feeling pretty morally corrupt here because I don't understand what Cas is doing wrong. He asked God for a sign or permission. He's still on the side of "good" and trying to save the Earth.

He made a deal with a demon.

Maybe the reason he is wrong is because he lied. Dean certainly complained about his lying

This is all a repetition of the "Sam, you betrayed me for a demon!" outrage we had in season ... 4, I think? (the episode where Dean walked away from Sam outside of Bobby's hospital).

I had the same problems with a lot of Sam's actions Theresa mentions -- he was trying to use his abiilities (up until he killed the nurse, because I can't defend that) for good. He was trying to save the earth. And everyone was telling him to stop, just like the Winchesters and Bobby are now telling Castiel that he shouldn't be following his plan of action. That he shouldn't have made a deal with Crowley (Sam, you chose that demon bitch over your brother and I just can't forgive that), and that he's been spying on them and lying (and God knows we saw endless arguments and accusations about lying and sneaking around.

Maybe this means that when Dean said that Castiel is part of the family it really is true. He's a Winchester now. Same behavior patterns, same arguments, same strengths.

That certainly fits with the "I'm not going to logic you. I'm telling you/asking you to stop." Cause I guess "like family" equals "follow Dean's orders".

Did Cas actually tell Team Free Will that if Raphael wins, it's Armageddon 2.0?

Why, oh, why can the good guys never seem to communicate properly?

I would have loved Cas's next line to have been something like, "If you can tell me any other way, I will"

Did Cas actually tell Team Free Will that if Raphael wins, it's Armageddon 2.0?

Yes. I'm pretty sure it's been made clear that Raphael wants to restart everything. Either he said so, or Cas did.

I get why Dean is so gutted, but I'm unsure about everyone else. Dean has betrayal/abandonment issues up the wazoo, and one of the three people (I note he didn't call Ben and Lisa family, which is incredibly sad) in his orbit is majorly lying to him.

Bobby? Maybe because Crowley decided to gallivant off with his soul?

Maybe Sam gets that Crowley can't be on the up and up?

But mostly, I think Dean is operating out of deep hurt right now, and that's pretty typical.

If Cas had gotten Sam all the way out of the cage, would he have copped to it (he should have gripped him tight too, dammit, not just raised him from perdition)? How was Samuel resurrected?

I guess that's also it--Cas didn't only lie, he manipulated them. Maybe if they'd been collecting monsters for him, it wouldn't have been such a miserable part of Dean's life.

Crowley referred to having Samuel ready to put back in play when pitching the monster hunt to Cas, so apparently I was right about him not being pulled down to earth at the same time Sam was pulled up.

Then I need to know why he went to Hell. There needs to be more explanation there.

I've been reading a lot of D/C fans who were going to picket Sera's house because she obviously doesn't understand the show and was going to ruin Cas and are ruining our beautiful beautiful ship.

I haven't seen any of them take it back today, but I'm sure this episode was entirely Edlund's doing, and had nothing to do with the larger creative team, especially the showrunner, and Gamble still doesn't get it, and is maybe only on probation.

But by and large, D/C and Casfandom seems happy with the ep.

I'm also reading a number of people of more uncertain provenance who think it was the worst thing ever and the show is ruined forever now because an unimportant side character got focus for an episode (note, I wasn't looking in the same places for Bobby's episode, but I doubt they reached these heights of frenzy) and Edlund is a crazy D/C shipper and shouldn't be let anywhere near a keyboard and OMG they're boycotting the show.

I like Supernatural. A lot. It takes up more of my brainspace than it should. It makes me happy and sad. But some of the more vocal contingents of the fandom continue to scare me, and not just the everlasting "canon supports brotherfucking" arguments. Seriously, people? Is this rewarding for you? Look at your life, look at your choices. This froth can't be good.

eta: Now I can't wait to read Sylvia Bond (pinkraygun)'s response to this. She despises Castiel and D/C. She must have been livid.

Then I need to know why he went to Hell. There needs to be more explanation there.

I wonder if dying while demon-possessed (didn't Samuel keel the instant Azazel left his body?) would have something to do with that.

some of the more vocal contingents of the fandom continue to scare me

Oh, yes. This. I was lurking in one place I would normally never go (to see reactions to the BB summaries and claims) and... yeesh. I have a similar feeling towards large parts of my other main fandom. There are people there who become so invested in one particular aspect of a show, be it a character or a pairing, that they feel they own it more that the creators do. I just don't get it.

ETA: ita, did you ever hear from your BB author?