Our neighbors are having their porch rebuilt, and the workpeople arrive in a beat-up white van with ladder racks and toolboxes. It has screechy dinosaur brakes and steering, and when it arrives every morning it sounds like "The Benders Are Here!" I'm always...a little alarmed.

I was in the cafeteria at work today and saw that the woman next to me had tattoos on both of her lower forearms. My staid 200 year old insurance company is not a place where people are generally "alternative" in any way, so I noticed it. It took me a second to realize that she had the protection sigil on her left arm and the angel banishing sigil on her right arm.

I was tempted to tell her that you shouldn't put the tattoo on an extremity, it's too easy to cut off, but the moment passed.

It's true, though.

So true.

Also: finally we get a two hour mega finale!!!

And wow, it delivers the OMGWTFPOLARBEAR x a zillion.

Yeah.

OMG.

Okay, I just mainlined the finale. I was sitting here talking to the TV ("if anything happens to Jody I'll never forgive them," "hey, Dean finally got to use his grenade launcher," "T-shirts!", "the Nephilim is almost here and Lucifer is on his way -- Cas, is this really the time to be going on a field trip?", "isn't it time for Mary to not be a better fighter than everyone else she comes across?") when Things Happened.

I just keep coming back to how ita would feel about Cas dying. (I know she would be pretty gleeful about Crowley.) Although with this show, who knows. They've all died dozens of times already.

It was pretty cool to see Walt and Roy again, just for the laugh. There are so few callbacks to really early stuff anymore.

Castiel is undeniably a likable character, but I have to count myself among those who think he reached the end of his narrative usefulness long ago. He was introduced as such an awesome figure and then got twisted through so many permutations depending on the storyline (especially when he spent so much time being the butt of the joke) that it seemed like the writers ran out of ideas for him. Not to mention, as others have said, it really decreases the drama level when the guys have an angel they can call to ride to the rescue. Now with both Castiel and Crowley gone (assuming they stay dead) they'll be back to relying on human methods.

Oh, I think it will make the new season incredibly interesting to see them really on their own again, like the very early seasons, but I can't say I won't miss Cas.