Did I hear somewhere that this episode has all kinds of Shining references, too? Or maybe I dreamed that.

It's in CO; I said "Jesus, it's the Overlook" as Sam was reeling down the hall.

Are host bodies just...purely juiced by angel power? How human can they be, if Cas can use one as a walking, talking storage unit.

I don't think you can use Cas' host body as an example for anything, given the number of times he's died. But if a demon can animate a body that would normally be dead, I'd imagine an angel could operate one whose insides had been replaced by rock.

I know it's in the interest of dramatic tension, but it kind of bugs me that Cas (and now Naomi) never use any of their big ticket angelic powers like stopping time or zapping from a distance when facing down Crowley. Having an angel blade (or bullets forged from same) should not make him their equal in all respects.

I don't like what the angel bullets do to the power dynamic. I like that Crowley's all thinky and stuff, but since the blades seem to be an infinite resource, I don't like the tilt.

Yeah. Though I'd have happily bought him tracking down the Colt again and using that in the same manner, as it was supposed to be effective against anything except archangels (and presumably Death himself).

Yeah--if angel bullets in the Colt killed archangels, or if you had to intricately bespell the angel bullets, or if they disappeared when the angel holding them died...but I don't think Crowley even picked up the one from Ion's pal.

I haven't finished watching yet, but I just want to say that I want Charlie's comment about the Supernatural books going online be the key to win over Metatron, that that ends up being their offering of stories.

It would be interesting to see if histories interest him as much as things that never/can't/didn't happen.

Charlie Jane has a renewed love for the show, so they didn't tell me they didn't need my review until after I'd written mine. Pfft.

In The Real Ghostbusters Chuck talks about starting up publishing again, so the next book would feature Cas, right? The original run ended at No Rest for the Wicked, if I'm remembering correctly.

I'll have to rewatch this ep and the one with the last time we saw Kevin, because I'm a bit confused on timelines and emotional states.

Also, shapeshifting demons? Since when? How does that hold water?

I did like the insight into the angel politicking from when God retired. I'm guessing Gabriel left before all that went down. I'm just wondering where in the heirarchy Naomi falls, since she's not an archangel (I assume), and from whence she got her power to control angels and wipe memories. Not a grunt, not an archangel, maybe higher up than Zachariah? Where was she in the Lucifer/Michael showdown apocalypse mess? Waiting to see which side won and swoop in with her plan Z?

Grand Canyon: I can't remember if that was a fanon thing or actually mentioned in canon, regarding wanting to one day see it.