Oh, and ghost Bobby drank the beer. There was a sound effect as Dean peered down at the bottle. Bobby will be a benevolent spirit - there's plenty of canon supporting the idea of helpful ghosts, not the least of which was Mary in "Home".

Of course, I don't know this for sure, but it was too obvious a set-up from "Death's Door".

A sound effect? Now I have to rewatch!

Have we ever had ghosts do stuff like consume mortal food? And do you think it's unrelated to the two other time slippage mentions--Dean's 36 hour nap, and Frank thinking it was only 4 days since Dean had asked him to start work?

Also, why is it not ghost Cas stopping him from being a drunk? IT COULD TOTALLY BE THAT.

Okay, maybe I don't believe that. But I do feel like he either won't be a drunk at the end of the season, or he'll be such a drunk that it's part of the point. Neither of which I'm interested in so much, so I hope I'm making shit up.

eta: Annalee on IO9 sure got that final scene wrong. She thought it was Dean schmooping over Sam, and all Wincesty. She hasn't commented, I don't think, on everyone who pointed out it was more likely to be about Frank's advice, including someone who's read the script.

How . . . it was unequivocally Dean heeding Frank's advice. There's no room for doubt on that, no ambiguity whatsoever.

I'm a glutton for pain, and read a page or two over at TWoP, and one poster remarked "that episode was so anticlimatic. Dean was smiling at the end!" Aargh.

Some people are so oblivious.

That 'smile' at the end was gutting. I roll my eyes forever at Annalee and that TWoP poster.

I replied to the first comment on io9, agreeing that Annalee got it completely wrong, before I read down and realized almost every comment said the same thing. She really missed the boat there.

And it's not so much us all getting it one way (although we're so damned right), but one of the poster writes SPN books, and he had the script, and WE'RE SO DAMNED RIGHT.

How does Dean now open his beers, with the ring gone (miss that stupid ring, dammit)? Maybe like this?

You can also use a counter or a drawer pull. It's not that hard to do.

I do miss his ring, though. Almost as much as the Samulet.

I guess sometime this morning Annalee posted this:

UPDATE: As people have pointed out repeatedly in comments, this scene should probably be interpreted as Dean trying to take Frank's advice to keep smiling and be professional. But there was also something genuine to that smile too - I didn't feel the fakery. It really looked like Dean having an "I love my bro" moment.

I'm also wondering about the theories of a ghost!Bobby. Wouldn't Sam and Dean have given him a hunter's burial, aka burning?