I think we've seen them both drink a lot more as the past 5 years have gone on, too.

This is definitely true. They both are consuming extraordinary quantities of alcohol. I fear for their livers, you know, should they survive the apocalypse.

Our first view of grownup Sam was at a bar too. The "two beers and he's doing karaoke" line is what Dean says but it's what he says to a cop when Sam is missing. So take your unreliable narration times a million. I don't think when your cousin (brother) is missing (and you think something spooky took him) is the time for a frank discussion of how much drinking is happening. It's a cute line but sometimes misused in fic, in my very judgey judgment.

I mean not totally impossible for someone of Sam's size. I have a lot of body mass, and I can get drunk on one glass of wine. But I don't drink much and Sammy does. I would think that if I took up even serious social drinking, I would get hardened pretty quickly and build up a tolerance. And Sam shows a big tolerance on the show. I seem to remember him helping a woman polish off a bottle of some sort. Bourbon? Scotch? Some other type of whiskey? The woman he fucked who turned out not to be the siren...

I think it varies from person to person. In Madison I was surprised that my tolerance hadn't gone down much despite several years of almost no alcohol (didn't manage more than a buzz despite our 11th hour scramble to drink our way up to the open bar minimum).

I watched After School Special today and I realized it was more of a Sam centric episode and showing where the idea for leaving hunting came from but to me it felt like there should have been a bit more of Dean in the episode.

Or maybe it was supposed to be subtle, but I kept thinking -- Dean pay attention! But I was really tired when I watched it so maybe there was some clue that he was paying attention. I was also thinking about my own experiences in middle school when I was cruel to a few other kids because it felt good (in a bad way) not to be the victim and to be putting that pain on someone else.

Oh my gosh. I saw three preview pics on facebook that weren't anything other than what we've seen in the previews. Yet just the idea of it being so close to the finale, turns my stomach. I may need some Tums or Zantac to get me through the next couple weeks.

Numb. Can't think about it, Theresa. I'm willfully numb.

I think Afterschool Special sort of brought back middle school memories for most people, askye, one way or the other. Maybe both.

Should upcoming episode names be white fonted? I just discovered the name of the next episode and I'll just say it is the same as a favorite Iron Maiden song. Though it is doubtful they will use the song in the show, right? If they did, it would make me as happy as I was when Leverage had Eliot on a baseball team.

If it was affordable and fit, they might, Suzi. They've used Stones and AC/DC. I know Kripke said Zeppelin was too expensive, though.

I took a look at the lyrics and I can't see them playing some of it, but some could fit. We will see. I'd be happy to hear a bit of it on a jukebox in the background.