This is what io9 said:

I love the bit where we learn this, and Dean actually says, "Brother fought brother in the Civil War?!" And you realize that while you were watching the Hitler Channel your whole life Dean was watching only anime so it makes sense that he doesn't know anything about Missouri.

Annalee is getting pretty sloppy with the recaps, but she clearly doesn't like the show much anymore.

When Dean says "we won" before dropping the match--I wonder where he feels like he's from. Is that Kansas talking? South Dakota?

Maybe ... anyone living the U.S. now "won" because otherwise the country would be a very different place?

I don't think Dean and Sam are at all wrong to mourn Bobby so intensely, or to feel that they lost a father figure. But it doesn't mean other people who knew Bobby aren't going to grieve for him, too. It's okay for them to be reminded that they're not the only ones who lost him, even if in their hearts they know their relationship was a lot more special than whatever Bobby had with Garth, or whoever.

I do have to say, by the way, that Dean vs. Sam fight scenes are the funnest the show has to offer.

Oh, ITA!! Love.

When Dean says "we won" before dropping the match--I wonder where he feels like he's from. Is that Kansas talking? South Dakota?

Yeah, obviously because I live in the area of the ep, and lived in Lawrence for 2 years, I have irks that are the picking of the nits. Kansas was called "Bleeding Kansas" because, although it was technically pro-Union, it was a hotbed, literally, of guerilla warfare on both sides: [link]

So if Dean obvs felt pro-Union because of his KS roots, and that I'm OK with that, factually.

I'm from St. Joseph, MO, and an ancestor had a barn that Quantrill's raiders used as a secret depot.

Also, FWIW, re: my irritation at the whole "Kearney is a redneck city in the south," Kearney is about 65 miles from Lawrence. @@, writers. Nits, picked.

I watched the episode again from where the librarian talks about the brothers to Sam and Garth, and no one tells Dean the precise deal from there on in--in fact, he doesn't know it's the penny either.

I can watch the front half of the ep again (oh, WOE is me...) but I'm pretty sure they didn't do the brothers thing twice. They like their anvils, but they're not that bad.

It's okay for them to be reminded that they're not the only ones who lost him, even if in their hearts they know their relationship was a lot more special than whatever Bobby had with Garth, or whoever.

Well, put it this way--if someone was "being Bobby" as opposed to filling a (vital) niche in the hunter community that Bobby left vacant, while doing their own bit of mourning, fine--Dean'd be OTT, But as well as doing the job that needs doing, Garth is aping Bobby, and poorly, and that shit is creepy. And I would totally yell and grab the hat and say if you're trying to BE BOBBY, Bobby wasn't like that, so stick it. They might know that's not a good Bobby imitation because they were close, or maybe they know because they have eyes and ears.

Oh, sure, Dean's "that's not how you say balls/wear that hat" objections were right on. That's why I like that little conflict, they were both right in some way and that's my favorite for drama.

I had the same reaction, because 1)I missed seeing the lovely torso my ownself, 2)Sam's never been shy about showing his skin, and 3)it led me to wonder if he's picked up some new scarring over the past year.

I think that they didn't want to bother doing the tattoo for a 10 second scene. Although they could have had him shirtless and her laying on his other side, thereby covering the tattoo. But, they probably know that there would be fans doing a frame by frame view and going apeshit if the tattoo wasn't there.

Maybe Sam didn't want to explain his tattoo yet. I know if I were in bed with him, I'd be curious about a it.

But as well as doing the job that needs doing, Garth is aping Bobby, and poorly, and that shit is creepy.

I'm going on vague memory here so I might be wrong but wasn't Garth introduced and then he started modeling himself as a hunter after Dean after their interactions? He doesn't seem to have a strong personality on his own. I see it as a creepy sign of respect. Someone should be doing the job that Bobby did for the community. Garth is trying. Unfortunately his version of trying is a little SWF but that doesn't feel new to me.

I know if I were in bed with him, I'd be curious about a it.

It's not all that different from things you see all around. It's a tattoo in a common tattoo location on men. Unless it's ringed in Latin or something I am not recalling.

Apparently today is the day I wish to post but not go back and check my facts first.

wasn't Garth introduced and then he started modeling himself as a hunter after Dean after their interactions?

Nope. This episode was the most we've found out about how he got into the game. Dean just called him a hunter he'd worked with.

And if a creepy thing is a sign of respect, I'd still yell about the creepy, because we're all grownups here, and we should know how to act like our own people. It kind of undercuts his whole "I have no manpain!" thing if he also has no personality to call his own.

Asking one night stands about tattoos--I can totally see that not happening.

Okay--apparently Big Bang Theory did this: [link] ? I still don't like the show though.

And apparently we need to know this [link] about next week (no spoiler).

I'm trying to work out my response to Misha repeatedly saying that S8 is when we find out Dean's a bottom.

Nope. This episode was the most we've found out about how he got into the game. Dean just called him a hunter he'd worked with.

After the one-off mention from Bobby about Garth, we really meet him in Season Seven Time for a Wedding and since I hated that ep, I don't remember a lot of it but wikis helped remind me. But I sort of thought he had baby duckling imprinted on Dean when we meet him again in Party On, Garth. I mean not well since his car isn't as cool, music isn't as cool, EMF detector doesn't work and he gets hammered off half of a beer but I thought he was aspiring to be like Dean. It was a little creepy when I thought he transferred that into being like Bobby but he was more a blank slate to me than actual canon actually implies. Like noodles, you can flavor them with most anything.