Thanks, Amy and ita.

The show's mythology is some odd cut and paste and, "oooh, I think I might have read this on Wikipedia once." I am mostly looking at it as a whole new version of heaven and hell that is using some familiar names.

I think it's more "Oooh! I might have read this in a comic book once!" but yes, pretty much.

(I look up comic book lore in Wikipedia.) ((That shit is convoluted.))

Calli, you might want to FF through much of S3. There are some high spots of brotherly devotion to be sure, but for my money and to my knowlege, S3 was persistently the worst for race and gender issues. It was a shortened season due to the strike, and the first half of it was stylistically jarring, thanks to a failed attempt by the network to bring the look of SPN into line with the rest of its ruthlessly bright-and-shiny-colored shows. The second half was allowed to subside to the more subdued palette. There are classic eps like Mystery Spot, Jus in Belo, A Very SPN Christmas, and The Kids are Alright that pay off in later seasons, though the finale is difficult to get through. You might want to cue up the S4 premiere immediately after, the way I always follow Devil's Trap with IMToD.

If I had to cherry-pick S3, I'd probably watch:

• The Kids Are Alright
• Bad Day At Black Rock
• Fresh Blood
• Dream A Little Dream Of Me
• Mystery Spot
• Jus In Bello
• No Rest For The Wicked

But as a non-committal completist, I'll probably watch the whole thing when I get back there in my rewatch cycle, although I haven't decided if I'm buying that season on DVD yet.

That first coda? I'm hearing Richard in Robert Preston's voice as Toddie in Victor/Victoria: There's nothing worse than an old queen with a head cold. It's a great callback, for me anyway. I love Toddie nearly to the point of sainthood.

Victor/Victoria has been so far in the past that I can hardly remember. But I do love Robert Preston. Was that a sad movie regarding his character? With hardly any memory of it, I do get an overall sadness when thinking about it and him.

S3 is such a tragedy. You guys are right that the jewels are there, but you have to search through the muck to get at them. You know how some people hate BtVS S6 and S7? Those aren't true torture. I now know true torture. SPN S3 is to me what the sound of a key sliding along the body of a car is for Dean.

Best and most comprehensive translation of the letter I've seen so far. The motel address at the bottom is Cicero.

~Hand!~ { } { } { }, I’LL BE SURPRISED IF
~Hand!~ { } { } YOU. BUT IF IT DOES
~Hand!~ (I) {know} THAT WHAT I’M DOING ISN’T
~Hand!~ { } {dad} TAUGHT US BETTER THAN THAT
~Hand!~ { } WE’VE RUN OUT OF IT.

~Hand!~ CICERO. WHERE I’M GOING, WE DON’T
{ } { } { } KNOW YOU’LL LOOK AFTER HER FOR
{ } { } YOU’VE TAKEN MORE FOR THE TEAM
{than } {anyone} COULD EVEN ASK. THAT MAKES YOU AN
{honorar}Y WINCHESTER IN MY BOOK.

SAM. YOU TOLD ME ONCE THAT YOU PRAY E{VERY} (day. I’m)
NOT SURE IF THAT’S STILL TRUE PRAY ~Hand!~
BUT IF IT IS, GIVE IT ONE LAST TRY ~Hand!~
SAMMY-ONE WINCHESTER { } ~Hand!~
ENOUGH. WHEN IT’S OVER ~Hand!~

More decipherage:

you've taken more for the team than anyone could ever ask. That makes you an honorary Winchester in my book.

The motel address at the bottom is Cicero.

That is the only thing that I could read for sure. And I did a little happy dance although I know he didn't see Lisa again. I know it only means that Sam probably found him that night and we continued from there, but I'll take what I can get.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting that Bev.

This further supports that Ben is not Dean's bio child because Lisa is obvs "HER" and there is no "AND HIM" which would have been first priority for Dean in asking someone to look out for them. I got that too with Sam asking about Lisa but not Ben. Uncle Sam (heh) would have asked about any of his nephews.

There is speculation that since that paragraph is almost certainly addressed to Bobby, he meant the Impala by "her."

The first paragraph seems addressed to Cas, the third to Sam.