The weird thing is what a strange group of deities they chose (aside from the whole having them kill human sacrifices, which was ludicrous).

Mercury isn't really one of the powerful gods in Roman mythology -- he's the messenger, and kind of a flunkie, which worked for the plot, but an odd choice. Where was Apollo?

But then no one worships those gods anymore, or if they do, they're part of a teeny tiny group of folks somewhere. And then if you're including those, why not a Celtic deity? And as someone (ita?) pointed out, Baron Samedi isn't even a deity, he's a loa.

The episode didn't offend me the way it did most people, I think because on first watch I loved the idea of a sort of theological UN discussing the Judeo-Christians' pesky apocalypse. Even now, I don't know if they were going for metaphor -- maybe like the Christian god, the others don't really care about their followers so much as consider them inferior beings suitable for whatever use is necessary.

I still enjoyed the episode for the Gabriel/Lucifer showdown, and for Sam and Dean being such a team again!, and for a lot of the pop culture references and humor, and because it surprised me in that completely unexpected twist way. And I feel like it could have been so much better if they had thought it through more carefully and actually taken the characters and the setup to a more developed conclusion, but based on the previews for next week, I think we're done with extra-deity intervention.

I'm still really sad about Gabriel, too. ::sniffle::

Kali doesn't occupy a central role in her pantheon, does she? My understanding of Hinduism is that Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are regarded as the supreme deities of that religion.

Correct.

Inspired by the pantheon we were presented, and arching my eyebrow at Baldur's description of the Apocalypse being Judeo-Christian, I read a very interesting website about how different religions view the end of all things.

Sneak peek webclip. Return of Crowley! I hope that helps.

I really have to stop calling him Badger in my head all the time.

Oops! I meant to spoiler-font that.

He was in the promo, so not a big spoiler. No worries.

Oh, cool.

::dances with Crowley across the thread::

Another "fanon, really?" question--has Dean categorically stated he's claustrophobic? In Family Remains, maybe?

He bitches a lot in tight spots, but I don't remember him ever saying he's claustrophobic.

The only things I remember as canon are hating rats and being afraid to fly.

I've also seen authors have him bitch about heights. But like you, Amy, I've only seen onscreen a problem with rats and planes. And the rats thing seemed more like a hate of rats--i.e. he can deal and doesn't want to. Planes are completely different. That's a phobia.