Hey, Mrs. Tran was Ross's girlfriend Julie on Friends. I knew she looked familiar.

I could see that Cas could have found a safe place to hunker down. It just seems sketchy that it could be known to other denizens of purgatory, which could then lead to the leviathans finding him.

I didn't get that impression. I thought he was just trying to stay two steps ahead of Dean, to draw the leviathans off Dean's trail. It didn't seem more complicated than that -- clearly other creatures in purgatory knew he was there. I'm not sure there would have been a way for him to hide without ever being seen.

As I said, I'm just quibbling over the use of the word "prayer" which is something that caught my attention in a show that has a hazy relationship with religion at best.

I think it's less bad writing than Dean's shorthand for "I was calling you, Cas," really. He's not praying for Cas to save him or to show him the way or any of that, he's just trying to get in touch. But Show does play fast and loose with religious traditions.

And I think Sam did believe in angels before he met Cas. Or maybe not believed in the strictest sense, but he certainly wanted to. If he was praying every night, then he had a kind of faith in the whole institution (God, angels, saints, etc.) .

Remember that some Leviathans have been eaten by other Leviathans, or apparently forced to eat themselves. Presumably that's fatal and results in their spirits returning to Purgatory like the one imitating Dick Roman.

Also, now I don't know what this means, but Dean calling Kevin's mom Tiger Mom? made me do a double take.

Sam is actually the first one to say this, in the car when they're outside her house.

I did not know We Need To Talk About Kevin was a thing until I was trying to find some details about the episode. Whoa, could we have more hits not actually related to Show? And now I want to see that (horrifying) film. And, shit--the title that cannot stick in my fucking head, even though the episode itself is lasered in, frame by frame: What Is and What Should Never Be--right, can't google half-assedly to find that title ever. I severely underestimated the number of titles that are references. Like, close enough to 100% by now, that I should just assume.

(Parenthetically, I also often place that episode way earlier in the season than it was--maybe 12 or 15, instead of 20--it's massively more painful right up against All Hell Breaks Loose I & II)

((Double bracketically, I hope Mrs. Tran is okay sooner rather than better--any guesses on when they'll be back? This can't be a Jesse thing))

Ah, fuck the brackets--more things--do you figure they kept Mjolnir? They must have kept Mjolnir. There's a hysterical gifset which compares Sam to Thor and Dean to Loki...I wonder if I can find it...shit, you have no idea how long that took to find: [link] -- yeah I hope they didn't toss it or something stupid and forgetful of the writers...oh, right.

So--Sam quit hunting. Sam wants to quit hunting. Whenever they're done with "this", Sam's out. And Dean's talking over him, as is the due, nay, the RESPONSIBILITY of an older sibling. In episode 1, they had a "this". It was finding Kevin. Episode 2's "this" was getting the tablet to close the doors to hell.

Do you figure they have a "this" right now? Is Sam going to stick around being miserable while Dean leads the charge to get the tablet and Kevin back in the same room (I'm assuming there's some reason Crowley can't destroy it, nor tuck it between two chunks of ice on K1) and close hell off forever.

Or is episode 3, extrapolating from the non-blurry parts of the preview, the bit where Sam says "There's no is now, Dean. I want to go home to the dog and woman I abandoned without notice." (Figure he had a standing 'One day I'll get a call, sweetie, and I'll go, and I can't guarantee when or even if I'll be back. Rover really likes a good tummy rub, and the no-name dog food is fine--it's not like he can read.' clause to the relationship? And Dean says "FUCK YOU I INSTALLED CENTRAL LOCKING ON BABY AND YOU'RE NOT OUT UNTIL I SAY YOU'RE OUT!" Or he might quote from Godfather 3. Either way. And then they either find another "this" or Sam concedes, or takes Dean home to meet the lovely lady (Eiffel tower!) or...or anything?

Does Crowley know specifically what the tablet says, or does he just know it's Word of God and therefore valuable? Or possibly demon related but not necessarily closing the gates of hell?

Eta: I had the immediate expectation when Crowley was holding the tablet that he'd crush it or something right there, but I would not be surprised if those things were indestructible. And that SamThorDeanLoki gif is kind of great.

I did think he wanted it so that he had the keys, but I'm not sure. I could stand to rewatch.

I'm kinda glad that his ex died, and it didn't make him Rambo, it just made him sad and extra protective of his mother and wanting to get away from Dean. I don't feel like she was fridged, more that her death was reacted to, if you see the (admittedly vague) distinction.

I love love that Dean was about to kill Mrs. Tran to get at Crowley. He was a bit pragmatic before, but Purgatory has done to him what Hell didn't--and why is that? Because he was freer, relatively? He made himself into this weapon, instead of someone trying to wield him?

He wouldn't save bullets and risk Sam's life. Sam wouldn't kill his father to kill Azazel. John turned himself over to Azazel to save Dean.

I'm assuming the boys would still make those decisions--right? So it's just that Mrs. Badass Tran isn't valuable to Dean in any way. And Sam plain wouldn't have.

I need to rewatch, because Sam suddenly reciting an incantation backwards intrigues me. Judging by Dean's reaction he had never done that when the two of them were hunting together, so it's something Sam picked up in the past year. Why? When? And why hasn't Dean realized that it means that Sam obviously has been doing something hunter-like during their time apart?

I don't think this is a spoiler--it's a character trait they said they were going to play up this season-- genius Sam. You take the backwards incantation and the quick calculation, and they both point to that, but what;s weird about it is that it's not just a shift of focus, it's something that's surprising Dean. I am curious about how that's going to play out.

And I really hope they don't make any sort of brains and brawn separation, where Sam is the thinker and Dean's the uber-Purgatory-honed lethal weapon. Share the wealth, people.

Regarding the quick calculation -- I've seen people bring it up in other threads that in an early episode (I think it was one with a rugaru, maybe?), the guys meet another hunter who had known them when they were younger and who asks Sam if he's still a mathlete. So at least there's a bit of a (forgotten) background for that bit.

That was the rugaru episode, I think. Good call.

The backwards incantation -- or at least Dean's reaction to it -- didn't strike me weird until I read the discussion here. Also a good call!

I do think that a lot of the issues that are unsettling are going to be resolved, just ... not right away.