Okay, so who dies? Last two eps before a finale, chances are good someone dies, I reckon. And...do they come back?

I vote for Balthazar's death, I think. If not him, Crowley. Final for both.

I'm also braced for the fall of Castiel and him not being regular next year, which would break my little heart. I hate the idea of any of them getting independent lives.

For the requisite end of season death, based on the teaser clip, I'm kind of hoping that

Sam's loss of memory carries over into season 7 and acts as metaphorical death of Sam the hunter

I can see all kinds of story-telling possibilities with that

Ooh. I definitely hope that doesn't happen.

I think it would be fascinating, but in fic or graphic novel format. It's not really right for the show.

I think Castiel is the most obvious, sadly. They've come too close with Bobby already, and they just killed Rufus. I don't think they would kill Ben, both because that's kid death, which is really grim, and because Dean's guilt would probably destroy him. Lisa possibly, because no court would ever give Dean custody, although his relationship with Ben would likely be irreparable.

Who am I forgetting? For once, I'm not worried that either Sam or Dean will go.

My money's on one angsty scene too many between Sam and Dean in front of the impala being the final straw that prompts it to drive itself off a cliff like the ending of Thelma and Louise.

I think they can achieve enough by falling Cas that they don't have to kill him. He's the only one who can achieve a simple dramatic transformation that way. And how would they keep him around next year powered up?

Apparently Nikita is going to be paired with SPN. No news that I can see yet about which of the 9PM shows will come on at 8.

eta: Just read it's keeping the 9PM slot and Nikita moves to 8. Season summary I'll post in Lite.

I'm still wondering how the war in heaven will go.

• If Raphael wins, we're looking at Apocalypse 2.0, which seems ... stupid.

• But if Cas defeats Raphael, he's either going to be too busy running heaven to hang with the boys, or he's going to have to crash-course all the angels in free will so he can (in which case he might fall purposely, like Anna did, to live out his life as a human?).

• Or he's going to die defeating Raphael.

Or he has to make a huge sacrifice in order to either win or mitigate the deal he's made with Crowley or protect the boys and falls as a result.

I forgot sacrifice. That's very true.

I still think they have to wind up defeating Raphael somehow, because otherwise we're back to ... whatever square the apocalypse was.

I think having him human could work for S7 in a way the speculation about Sam couldn't. I also like the idea, because it's more fish out of water stuff for Misha to play, but I'm not sure if they would go there.

IT'S ALMOST FRIDAY. I'm a wee bit excited. And apprehensive.