I'm also loving this season. It keeps surprising me.

I agree about the gore, though. Tonight was a little OTT.

Oh, my fucking god.

I absolutely adored that. I might need a few more watches to be cogent but as much as I'd liked episodes so far (and been on board with season gr8 in general), this was the first one that made me clutch myself as I watched, and get scared again, and horrified and yanked in multiple directions by my heartstrings.

I don't think it was specifically that I needed Team Free Will back to feel like we were on a roll, but there was some sort of emotion I needed to see from Dean (and acceptance from Sam) and Castiel was the catalyst (well, not strictly--he hardly came out unchanged--AMANDA MOTHERFUCKING TAPPING) and I have a happy pants show dance I need to fully choreograph right now.

I have bullet points dancing around in my brain:

• Alcohol: We see Dean coming in with two different six packs (one bottles, one cans). He pops a can off the set for Sam without asking
• Boys: They say hey. They are the boys that say hey. I don't know when the last time I said hello to my sister was, but I really liked that they said hey after what must have been a short separation.
• Fessing up: Dean holding back on one vision of Castiel and coming clean on the second--I figure that's way healthy for Dean--you're doubting yourself at first, and you're trying not to show hints of vulnerability, but in the end, you do talk about it. Good on you!
• Sam's "Okay, say that's true" tone of voice. I love the way he pragmatically accepts things. Like, he doesn't need to believe it in order to work out a plan. I hadn't really formally recognised that tone/behaviour before, and now that I do, hat tip to writers for the character note.
• Mrs. Tran: Yeah, sure--Delta was the reason her son's finger got cut off. She made rookie mistakes. But you know what? She was fierce, determined, not backing down, thinking at as many angles as she could, and trying to do everything to save her son. But she's been exposed to this life for ten minutes. Yeah, she's totally going to fuck up, and the price is going to be high--she seems like a brave woman who's not been up against situations that are life and death and she has choices to make, but now I think she gets the personal and the large scael
• Crowley: He was just as evil as I need him to be. In my head, this isn't queueing Crowley any more. I don't mind the gore, because I want him to not be charming rakish British crossroads demon. He might not call himself the devil, but King of Hell has a ring to it.
• Kevin: Oh, hells yeah. Bastard cut off your finger and killed the last person you had in the world. Who's going to be mad at you for just giving up? You're a pretty exceptional regular guy, but come on.
• Dean and Sam: They talked. As noted, Dean fessed up to feelings, and Sam tried to be helpful, They're not at each other's throats, and Sam was looking for a job that might not necessarily have been tablet-related. Maybe the misdirected (IMO) yelling match last week and the example of Garth really did help.
• CASS (also Dean/Cas, Dean+Cas, Dean v. Cas, Dean and Cas): Friends and comrades. That was just perfect. Dean does not even remotely get what any of that means, but apparently Cass has been paying attention to people, and he'll explain stuff to Dean as they go along. He had some shit to work through, and he tried--not getting yet that Dean couldn't take away anything other than inadequacy from the situation. Yeah, it was messed up, but not that long ago, angel time, he was apologising via Milton Bradley ®.
• Naomi: I am *so* glad Castiel is not knowingly implicated. I couldn't have dealt right now. And I want him to fight back out of loyalty that other angels can't comprehend. Enh--so we're back upstairs again, and the Winchesters are special. We're gonna need something to get us to season 10.

That's five minutes after first viewing. No doubt I'll be reminded of much more.

I'm not sure what photo shoot this is from, but it looks legit to me: [link]

This? As much as I like the idea of him breaking with the triple-layer clothing trend that doesn't look like his torso would have been at the age of his face. Like, that's a Supernatural face with a Dark Angel at best (typed beast) body, no?

I don't think it was specifically that I needed Team Free Will back to feel like we were on a roll, but there was some sort of emotion I needed to see from Dean (and acceptance from Sam) and Castiel was the catalyst (well, not strictly--he hardly came out unchanged--AMANDA MOTHERFUCKING TAPPING) and I have a happy pants show dance I need to fully choreograph right now.

What ita said. Especially AMANDA MOTHERFUCKING TAPPING.

This? As much as I like the idea of him breaking with the triple-layer clothing trend that doesn't look like his torso would have been at the age of his face. Like, that's a Supernatural face with a Dark Angel at best (typed beast) body, no?

Yeah, it wasn't obvious in the cropped version I found, but that waistline in the more complete picture definitely doesn't look right. Ah well, too bad.

But Cas is not really playing on Team Free Will right now. There were a lot of moments I liked in this ep but to figure out what the hell is going on I would need to rewatch and I don't know that I'm loving this enough to NEED to rewatch just for comprehension. Rewatch should be about subtlety and just giddy enjoyment for me.

(Mrs Tran rocked even though she made mistakes. She was proactive and self-directed.)

CASS

I want this show to stop doing that. I won't care if they never pander to fandom ever again if they just stop confusing me. Fandom decreed it shall be Cas. So sayeth we all. Or we should sayth that at least.

I forgot to mention how much I inexplicably liked the "Well I was going to say, 'You look like you've seen a ghost' but you'd probably be stoked." line. I must have clicked back to watch it three times the first time through. Hey, I recognize those brothers in that moment. I like them.

There were a lot of moments I liked in this ep but to figure out what the hell is going on I would need to rewatch and I don't know that I'm loving this enough to NEED to rewatch just for comprehension.

I think it may be the mix of antibiotics and decongestants and painkillers but I'm not enthralled at the moment, although I did love Mama Tran being all kickass mama bear protective. And I always love Kevin. I'll need to watch when my head clears out because right now the reintroduction of any kind of angel plot line just wearies me. And I'm ready to wrap up the Purgatory flashbacks, as pretty as Dean looks in them. Mostly it feels like we're still treading water waiting for the meaty stuff to happen (that is, honest to God discussions and explanations) between our two lead characters.

Why isn't Cas really back? The "If you'll have me" really struck home for me--this is the first time they haven't been wedged onto the same mission for the season, or not working on the same mission and just getting time or help when Cas has a break in his goings on.

This is Cas saying "Hey, guys--can I hunt with you? Can we be on the same team?" To me it was the follow up from the "I'd rather be hear with you" during the season of great betrayal--and I'll never believe (since it conveniently can't be proven) that he would have done that without Naomi's urging--no lie that I wouldn't prefer if she'd grabbed him after he'd ask that, but still. Sam asked him to work with them and he is.

That's pretty Free Will to me--or do you think he would have left them without Naomi's command? Aside from reporting in--what is he doing that you don't think he'd be doing otherwise? Coming straight back to the boys and following them wherever they were going, and seeing that it was part of his mess and helping them get Kevin away and giving Dean enough information to reach a little bit more of emotional peace (how much did them pulling aside to talk about Feelings and then Sam showing up in the middle of the talk feel like a million fic setups?).

I'm not sure why we'd need any more purgatory flashbacks--what are you expecting they'll show them for? They underscored (in a way that I guess Dean couldn't be honest about earlier?) how absolutely soul-ravaging the whole thing was, and now that Cas has pointed out that Dean lied to himself about Cas' decision. I'd only think we'd see it again for a) evidence of the angels springing him (which we don't need, since we've been told, but maybe clues to how to fight them?), or b) some revelation about Benny that challenges what we've been told.

So, for me--the revelation (NPI) that we're dealing with a matched set of tablets (all the teams get one), that Metatron just bounced from secretary to being who ,made decisions (and therefore might be a character, or someone whose story is further researched) and that Cas is back and being manipulated and they're working together on what is finally the A plot for the season strikes me as finally having set the game pieces up, not treading water. You can't get to the A plot without defining what it is.

But I'm not looking at the A plot as emotional honesty or explanations for the past year. I expect that to come at us in drips and drabs (as we find out why Sam could leave like that, who was watching, did he really make the call to give it up?) as they fulfill the action quest of the season--and the information (if they do it well) may tie in, but it's not the main event, so this isn't treading water--this is the assembly of the Fellowship at Rivendell.

Grab your lembas, guys! We've got some researching to do!