Sneak peeks 2 and 3.

Dean is very feminist in that last one.

Hee.

They were fun. DEAN. I loved "Are we fighting? Is this a fight?" Goof.

Here's a question: Why didn't we ever learn Anna's angel name? Anna Milton was the name of her human host. But even after she remembered who she was, she was still Anna, and even the other angels call her that.

Maybe they just like to keep up with the times, what with her mimicking Dean in calling Castiel "Cas" and all?

Loved those clips.

Really liked last ep for the Sam & John and Dean & Mary scenes of heartbreak. Kinda hated watching Sam die. Thought Michael was a little glib overall. I mean, I contrast that with how Castiel was with Dean when they first met.

Loved that they actually talked about their respective vesseldom. And, yes, the angel watching over Sam has to be Castiel, otherwise... shudder. Creepy.

Didn't quite feel the change in Anna. It wasn't fleshed out enough for me.

So Michael doesn't give a fig about the Apocalypse or Lucifer being unleashed on the earth. He's letting Lucifer have his chance at his true vessel so he can work out his personal shit? Ick. I just hope that's a character trait we see again, and not a way to justify killing Sam ded and bringing him back (again) from a meta standpoint.

As a data point, my BF and I were talking about the episode, and his opening comment was that he found Anna's arc unsatisfying.

I think the whole "torture changed her viewpoint" thing may be a good excuse but not good storytelling. The writers may have not earned the transformation, even if they have explained it. To clarify this, imagine Bobby had been kidnapped by angels, and come back to kill Sam without caring about collateral damage....

More interesting: so the tortures of hell are just imitations of the tortures heaven uses as standard discipline against angels. From memory (so the quote is probably not exact) "All the pain and twice the self-righteousness." I'd say this is good reinforcement for the "Angels are dicks" meme. Not that the show actually needs to reinforce that at this point.

It actually contradicts the idea of the angels needing Dean to torture Alastair because they don't know how to do it effectively. (Presumably they were supposed to be capable with the smiting, but not so much with the cruel stuff.) It's as if the writer of this episode didn't watch last season.

Right? Wild. I could see an explanation that the angels methods and character changed due to the absence of God and the opening of the Hellmouth, but we did need more minutes of explanation with regard to this.