They're the step in between casual viewer and fandom

Really? I like to think of them as on the opposite, far end of fandom. They're the same people who want Sam and Dean's personalities to go back to how they were in season [early], or for Dean to stop crying (he REALLY doesn't do it often--we just fetishise it because it's so pretty), and just in general don't want things to change or characters to react to what's happening around them in any lasting way.

Whichever, but I just had the bullshit revelation that they can't possibly be fandom. They post, does that make them fandom? Because there is a huge disconnect in how they view the show. I'm probably being a snob about this. I just cannot comprehend the vitriol, or the concept of watching a show for the crystalized non-existence of a canon relationship. We were fucking blessed that Cas came back TWICE after death.

edit I'm tired (it's almost 2!) and finally parsed your "opposite". More fundamentalist/crazy fandom.

I will give the behind-the-scenes folks kudos. Based on everything I heard before the premiere, I thought Season 7 was going to suck bigtime. And instead I've really enjoyed these two episodes and am getting excited about what they mean for the season arc as a whole.

What did you hear before the season started?

The Butch and Sundance comparisons, descriptions of Dean's character arc seeming sketchy (in the not-much-there sense of the word) and repetitive of last season's, and of course the news about Misha's truncated role. So far everything is shaping up much better than those hints seemed to predict.

It seems to me that both brothers are actually dealing with what they've got. Sam's really not lying out of deception, more out of "You guys had enough to deal with, and couldn't do anything about this anyway. But if it's affecting us, you need to know."

Oh, my heart, Sam. Jared is just knocking the desperate uncertainty out of the park, and it really makes me ache to see him look to Dean for every decision, walk a half-step bahind him, at his shoulder. He's just not at fighting weight, and he's acknowledging that. But it has to be humbling to take that step back into dependence.

I tremble for Bobby, I do, especially after that undisguised affectionate "idjit." for Dean. You give somebody a mushy scene or a line, and you pretty much guarantee they're toast soon after.

I'm liking the season so far. I feel like I know these characters. And I've missed them. I don't doubt we'll see Misha again--like ita said, no ashy wings. They have to retrieve Cas from purgatory. They just have to.

Next week, Jensen's ep?

So, how much S&M Wincest is going to come out of this episode?

Sam/Dean wincest comes out of every episode. But since we saw Lucifer specifically mention that Sam was his 'prison bitch in every way' and then keep on taking Dean's form to torment Sam, I can guarantee that there will be an uptick of Sam/Lucifer-in-Dean's-form fics coming up.

I'm also expecting a rise in stories about Sam becoming a cutter, or starting some other form of self-harm, to help him differentiate between the hallucinations and reality.

Well, at least we now know the lesson of Sam's bandage.

Early on, Castiel told us our bible gets a lot more things wrong than right, so canonically leviathans are open to interpretation.

I think you're right, Morgana. Unless this head injury does something to partially 'lobotomize' Sam (which some war veterans have had done to quell the intense PTSD), I see Sam working to ground himself in physical pain.

Excellent episode. I am totally jazzed about this season and this new Big Bad(s). And I WANT IT TO BE FRIDAY NOW.

There's been a slight uptick (well, incidence, really) of Dean/Casthulhu, and I really just couldn't get anywhere near that. Godstiel to me was still Cas. I'm not interested in the Leviathans diddling Dean, no matter what they look like.

I didn't even catch for a second the idea that S&M would come out of this. I'm such a bad fan. Or maybe I was just caught up imagining all the Dean/Cas's coat that should pop up any time soon.

serial:

Okay, I just read my first coat-centric fic, and I'm utterly disappointed. Jollysnidge ignored the fact that Bobby's house burnt down, and that Dean broke his leg and perhaps also Sam's seizures. It's like s/he got a Destiel summary of the episode, or only watched the bits directly around Misha.

It just seems weird to write a fic that goes so AR after the cold open, you know?