Lots to love about this episode, but it’s so obviously a lead in to the finale that I want to wait and see how it plays out before commenting too much. Certainly, a lot of the motifs and themes I watch for showed up.

There were sleep and dreams. Dean is napping during the video surveillance at the Serenity Valley Convalescent Home. (Firefly shoutouts are welcome during an episode with Badger Crowley.) Sam has to wake Dean a couple of different times if I recall. Later Bobby says to Dean that he feels like he’s dreaming to be back on his feet.

There was a reference to authorship when Dean explained coming up with ‘Eunice Kennedy’ for a grandmother as an improvisation surprise. More making it up as they go!

There’s more union/binding going on. It’s revealed that Bobby has ‘loaned’ his soul to Crowley. Sam comes up with the Dean-ish “Did you kiss him? Just curious,” question that leads to the photographic proof of the deal. Crowley oversteps the deal and unexpectedly includes Bobby getting out of the wheelchair. But he’s extends the hold over Bobby’s soul long enough to get clear of the Winchesters.

There’s also Death’s explanation that he is leashed by Lucifer and has been waiting for Dean to catch up. They meet at a Chicago restaurant and share pizza. Dean doesn’t argue with any of Death’s directions. I’d be totally nervous about that (since it seemed important that Dean didn’t eat the burgers offered in the Green Room), but the Supernatural Wiki’s entry for the episode says the place is named the Italian word for “rebirth.”  I want to go ahead and consider that enough reason to be hopeful for the time being.

In fact, I wonder if Crowley’s main objective wasn’t to get Dean to that restaurant? First he suggests stopping for pizza. When Dean turns him down, Crowley discovers Death isn’t in the warehouse after all. His next advice is for Dean to clear out of town which Dean can’t consider. Crowley calls Dean over to the pizzeria after mere moments scanning the surroundings for Death’s current whereabouts.

By the way, a lot of people have noticed ways that Crowley seems to be almost a Ruby-3. (“What do you expect dealing with a demon?”) I find I’m still pretty sold on the idea that Ruby had a lot of Dean in her.

I didn’t pick up on this next point before reading someone else notice that Pestilence lectures on the single purpose that drives bacteria. “Divide and conquer” could play into my Dissociated Dean speculations, couldn’t it? Later Death compares Dean to a bacterium in an extended analogy about Dean’s insignificance. Doesn’t seem to me that repetition could be accidental in any way.

I didn’t catch any significant stairs, but there were a couple of noteworthy doors. (Not as good as in 5.20 The Devil You Know when doors opened themselves for Dean.) Dean knocks to let Sam know the coast is clear for Sam to come inside the security room at the convalescent home.  There are “Keep Door Closed” signs in the croatoan virus distribution warehouse.  That appears after the closing and opening of gates/doors/side doors necessary for Sam, Bobby and Castiel to accomplish their mission.

I spotted two instances of the sparks. First, Castiel creates a showering as he bashes in the gate control in order to prevent the gate from fully opening to let out the “vaccine” delivery.

Soon after, there is another flash of sparks when Death isn’t where Crowley first expects him to be. A train crosses the elevated tracks above Dean (a bridge!) as he returns to the Impala.

I have thought about the sparks some more and was reminded of the several times in season four when the boys hotwired cars. Were we shown any actual sparks with the visuals of the boys touching the dashboard wires together? I had to go look – it’s caught in this screencap from 4.01 Lazarus Rising.

Now, to take my thinking a step (or two!) further than I should, what about the djinn’s blue current in 2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be

or Dean’s electrocution in 1.12 Faith?

Sparks enough? If the show ties everything back to these two episodes, it would be about perfect!

Oh! One other thing I noticed along these lines was the dead leaves (this time of year?) littering the Chicago streets. There was also a lot of dark confetti-like something blowing around when Death was walking by. I haven’t found a good screencap yet, but it was a bit like the dark material fluttering and rising from Gabriel’s death-spread wings. It’s feeling a bit like ashes stirred from a hearth to me?

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