Reappearing after a long lurk to say I loved the opener. It left me with lots to think about.

As for Lucifer, I wonder if he didn't ride out of Hell with Sam. Could he be Sam's dark passenger? I'm intrigued by the idea and handled well it could be really interesting (or even fun in a dark twisted way).

Also, right on to everything said about the over-investment by fandom. I'm avoiding reading anything anywhere else because the bitterness is all too much. It's the writer's story to tell. I'm along for the ride. When it stops being fun, I'll get off the SPN bus. Meanwhile, I'm intrigued.

I could see Lucifer riding along in Sam's head, but there's no way the writers would pull a "it was all a dream". They know the fandom too well for that.

As for Lucifer, I wonder if he didn't ride out of Hell with Sam. Could he be Sam's dark passenger?

This is one of those things that has me running a comparison of Castiel's arc to Sam's. Cas seemed to be okay at the end, but had an unexpected passenger. The same might be true of Sam. Similarly, both of them teamed up with a demon because he saw it as the only way. There's other things I'm seeing as parallels, but I'm still looking them over to see how much weight my theory holds.

As for Lucifer, I wonder if he didn't ride out of Hell with Sam. Could he be Sam's dark passenger?

I don't think so. Death flat-out stated that Lucifer was in the Cage tormenting Sam's soul in 6.11, and I don't buy that Lucifer would be able to hitch a ride out with it without him noticing.

What Matt said.

For me, the episode was full of so many delightful and telling Winchester moments, as well as the bonus of Crowley in a trailer park, totally down at heel, and DEATH, who is fantastic in every way, every time he appears. There was Impala rebuilding, and Bobby there for the boys no matter what. Dean drinking his pain away, with porn sauce on top, and denying every horrible feeling just to keep on keeping on. Sam trying to be strong, Sam wanting one thing to seem okay for Dean, even if it wasn't, and Sam trying so hard to fix everything in the whole world while Dean concentrates on the car.

I KNOW, RIGHT?

I thought it was awesome. I thought Sera hit it out of the park with this one, and the acting was great, and it was just FUN! Heartbreaking, but fun!

So, you know, fuck 'em. I liked it.

I don't think so. Death flat-out stated that Lucifer was in the Cage tormenting Sam's soul in 6.11, and I don't buy that Lucifer would be able to hitch a ride out with it without him noticing.

Maybe Death did notice.

I keep seeing crazy fen people talking about how OOC Dean was in this episode, and I can't even read the reasons. Dean was DEAN, stubborn, in denial, practical, afraid of the depth of his feelings, liberally liquored, and hurting. How is that not Dean?

Amy, from what I've seen, I think some people feel that Dean should have been more balls-out trying to save Cas. Upthread, Julie said that her ship is not rocked by canon, but I think for some people, it has been, and badly. I think the accusations of OOC are out of disappointment and entitlement more than anything else.

As for the Lucifer-in-Sam's-head thing, I'm wondering if it's some middle ground between passenger and figment of Sam's (literally) tortured imagination. Maybe it's more along the lines of a post-hypnotic suggestion that makes Sam into Lucifer's Manchurian Candidate or some such. I just hope they don't resolve things too quickly or neatly. I'd love it if they could draw out the mystery for a bit.

The way Dean was treating Cas and reacting to him here in 7x01 is almost the same way he was acting at the end of season 6: so unbelievably betrayed that he shut down. The *depth* of what he felt for Cas was so, for lack of a better word, profound, that Cas' actions hit him in a devastating way. So he shuts down, pulls back, hides how much it hurts, to the point that he was unwilling to call Cas to save Lisa and Ben. Sam doesn't have that much at stake, so isn't as hurt, and is able then to call out for Cas, and is able now to call out for Cas. To me, it all just speaks of how much Dean had invested in Cas, and the more removed he got was telling of how much he cared, and was hurt.