Well, we know we'll get Lisa, Ben, Crowley and Balthazar. Presumably Raphael. That's a lot to start out with. Will Death come back? Will the wall hold? Will Cas reconcile with the boys? Will he fall?

That's the thing -- there's so much to start with, and so many possible outcomes with so many players.

I had been most worried about Cas's fate, and Dean and Cas's relationship, until you reminded me about the wall. Yikes.

Somebody send Sam some spackle, quick.

Dude, Lisa and Ben could die. We have a lot of worrying to do in the next two weeks.

Gee, thanks, ita. I hadn't been worried about them.

Well, I forgot about them! Until the preview, and, um, you reminded me. Ben better not die, is all I can say. Or Lisa, because Two and a Half Supernatural Men is not really the show I want to see next season.

I think something has to happen with the wall, now that I consider it. They've left it mostly alone since Sam passed out and Dean recommended drink and drugs to medicate, but the exchange with Cas about the "piss-poor job" of getting him out of hell was a big reminder.

And since we never really saw any of the damage to his soul (although we did see the damage running around soulless caused), it seems like a smoking gun now.

My superpower is talking myself into catastrophe, I guess. Yay?

I think Dean would rather stop hunting and raise Ben than take him with them hunting, so I'm not worried about them raising him either way.

I click on a lot of fic I shouldn't, but I really have to uncross my eyes after reading stuff like this:

I’d been chosen long ago to look after Dean. I remember the day he was born and my older brother coming to me to tell me it had begun.

“You’re destiny is beginning, little brother.” Gabriel rubs my shoulder and smiles at me. I longed for his approval always.

Ignore the spelling for now. Gabriel did not tell Cas anything when Dean was born. Does anyone seriously think he wasn't off being Loki 30 years ago? And why is Cas longing for approval? Who is that?

Plus I despise the trope that Castiel had a special bond with Dean from before unless it's really sparely written. And usually it's not.

Mark Pellegrino is currently fucking people's shit up on The Breakout Kings.

I click on a lot of fic I shouldn't

Likewise. One of my questions about the portrayals I frequently see is that Castiel is presented as "the littlest brother." Is that canon? I'm not remembering it, but it might have come from a conversation that I just don't recall. Because it comes up all.the.time.

I don't mind if Cas is littler than the archangels--although I have no reason to imagine that they were created in order, hierarchy-wise, he's little brother.

But not to everyone! I especially hate the "God created him last, so he's his favourite" trope. Sera says he's multimillion years old, and I cheered when she said that. Now that we know he was around when the fish flopped out, I hope we get less "widdle Cas" fic.

When we met Cas, he was in a position of authority over Uriel. He's patently not at either end of the totem pole.

From the show I had the impression that Castiel was of the rank & file, and that most of the named angels we've seen were his elders and superiors, but Uriel was supposedly subordinate to him and he's clearly more capable (and possibly senior) than the disposable angelic mooks that kept getting killed.

From the show I had the impression that Castiel was of the rank & file, and that most of the named angels we've seen were his elders and superiors

Rank-wise, I think of him as some sort of NCO. Ranked highly enough and experienced enough to be given a critical mission (rescuing Dean), but not a key player when it came to setting overall strategy.