I Was Going To Say A Meta Thing But Jensen Ackles Broke My Brain With The Acting There.

I was going to say a meta thing but Jensen Ackles broke my brain with the acting there.

15.09 The Trap

Most purpose is more burden than glory. You just choose your burden. And trust me, you never wanna be the guy who avoids it ’cause you can’t live with the burden.

These scenes were hilarious (and tragic of course - Cas just lost his faith in God, his father, and is clearly not dealing well) but I wound up with so many questions.

Like, how much did Cas actually have to drink to get that wasted, stay that way for hours at the very least, and get the resulting hangover? Did he at some point stop putting the booze into his face and just magic the stuff into his bloodstream instead until he couldn't remember how to words? Or is this more of a self-flagellation sort of thing and he's deliberately holding onto drunkenness and the unpleasant after-effects so he can play out the full human-style melodrama aspect and avoid actually dealing with the problem?

Not a side of Cas we saw much, self pity and self destruction, or even physical expression of his emotional state until the final seasons, but I was intrigued by the practicalities of how Cas went about letting it rip in this instance!

Misha Collins just owned every scene he was in while Cas was in this state - against some stiff performance competition in this actually-very-dark episode. Even when he's just in the background with no lines, Cas is slumped against something or looking like he regrets his entire existence, looking unwell, wearing his defeat and done-ness like armour. Awesome performance.

"Wow, Cas, tell us what you really think." ↳ 5.17 - 99 PROBLEMS

That landed like a nuke, first when Nick hit Cas right in the soft spot, then again when he pulled himself together enough to reply. Ow, ow, ow.

They had to cover this at some point but I never expected it to be a scene with an antagonist - something provoked out of him in reaction rather than freely confessed to someone he trusts with it. This was penance.

Other than his final scene, I don't think we ever saw Cas more vulnerable.

One Castiel Quote per Episode 110/136 → 14.02 “GODS AND MONSTERS"

Gabriel got mega-whumped for years, then these two trying to help him mend. Hurt, yes. Plenty. Comfort... I think they missed.

13.18 - Bring ’em Back Alive

One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a secret never to be told

Eight for a wish Nine for a kiss Ten for a chance you must not miss Eleven for a wasp Twelve for a bee Thirteen for a coffee Fourteen for tea

Fifteen for a pencil Sixteen for a pen Seventeen to hear these options once again

Eighteen for pepper Nineteen for salt Twenty for an accident in which you were not at fault

Twenty one for Jerry Twenty two for Tom Twenty three - where are all these magpies coming from?

Twenty five no seriously Thirty this is weird Forty eight from where have all these magpies suddenly appeared?

Sixty two stop counting Seventy just run Ninety nine the revolution of the magpies has begun

Two hundred no more sorrow Five hundred no more fears One thousand for how long the empire of the magpies will last in years

(John Finnemore)