He was hanging around Frank enough to pick up hacking tricks from him and such. I don't think it was a bum-around-and-have-beers-together kind of thing, but by that point his social circle was Sam's crazy ass, so I read it as an urge for companionship.

He was hanging around Frank enough to pick up hacking tricks from him and such

I'm not going to assume proximity to another hunter implies friendship, because it hasn't before, and "long enough to pick up hacking tricks" could just be one of the million things Frank was schooling him in.

I guess I'm looking for differences in either behaviour, motivation, or last on the list--actually admitting it.

by that point his social circle was Sam's crazy ass, so I read it as an urge for companionship

I read it as getting the tools he needs to be a badassed hunter, especially when Sam might be out of the game for his normal subject matter expertise.

My sister and I gush adjacently to each other, and in the depths of our sororal filing systems, we keep track of how much we've indulged each other in the things we don't actually share. Like, I watched Arrested Development as a birthday present to her, so she didn't hesitate to watch Community, but we do kinda have an impasse where she is in gay soap fandom, and I've got my Show.

She now feels she owes me some, in the give and take of things, and we have a longstanding conention when I say there are a lot of relationships out there where it's fun to read in subtext, but she insists that if they aren't making out onscreen, the male-male relationship isn't worth shipping. I've gushed White Collar a lot on this front, but she has decided she wants to have a look at the Destiel subtext.

WHAT DO I SHOW HER? This is like she's asked my ship out on a date, and I don't what perfume the ship should wear, or what kinds of conversation it should make.

What is D/C's (or D+C, either way) best ROI? If she's willing to watch one ep, which ep?

Free to Be You and Me? That at least has heavy Cas-presence. Otherwise I think you'd be gleaning maybe a minute or four of D/C moments out of a single ep.

I think "My Heart Will Go On" and "Mommy Dearest" would be pretty high on my list. Not sure how well the overall plots would play to a non-watcher, but the D/C is golden.

Hmm. Now I see she's trying to trade me one scene after having suckered me into an entire Dexter episode (okay..not exactly the worst thing I've done, but I need to set her up similarly).

I was wondering if I could just toss The Man Who Would Be King in her direction and letting her appreciate the betrayal and desperation that's coming off them in waves, or is it asking for too much context?

But, damn, *I'm* gonna go back and watch all the eps you recommend.

Bwah! I was searching for pictures of Cress Williams for provocateuse, which is only related to this thread by a link to a SPN review on the page in question. Two ways to tell it's a TV review and not a fandom review: usage of the "Cass" spelling, and this:

It’s good to have Castiel back, if simply to provide an alternative sounding board for the Winchesters. However, the emotional tension between Dean and Cass, at least on Dean’s side, is so intense that it seems a bit much for the situation. people tune in to see either Dean or Sam feel guilty, so Dean is going to beat himself up, whether it makes sense or not. In this instance, grief might be appropriate, but not this kind of self-castigation.

[....]

It’s just ever so slightly questionable that Dean has been flipping out this much about Castiel getting left behind while Sam seems absolutely at peace with not searching for Dean. Then again, the sentiments between Dean and Castiel have ratcheted up to a level where it’s no wonder SUPERNATURAL ranks high on AfterElton.com’s list of shows with male/male romantic subtext.

So clearly I can also send this to my sister.

However, the emotional tension between Dean and Cass, at least on Dean’s side, is so intense that it seems a bit much for the situation.

We've been through a lot together, okay?

I think that it might have been smoother if I'd gotten the extra horrible impression of Purgatory for Dean in the first 6 episodes, or the sensation that he was either building up to this, or that a dam of honesty broke.

I did feel a bit "did I already know all of that?" at the information--I thought it was convincingly shared here, but maybe not consistent, or that I'd understood why it wasn't consistent.

WHO AM I KIDDING? Give me all the interpersonal angst you can muster, please.

Now that I think about it, I think someone compiled a video of all season 4 D/C moments.