Season 5, Episode 10: Abandon All Hope . . .

"I was a son.  A brother, like you, a younger brother, and I had an older brother who I loved.  Idolized, in fact.  And one day I went to him and I begged him to stand with me, and Michael - Michael turned on me.  Called me a freak.  A monster.  And then he beat me down.  All because I was different.  Because I had a mind of my own.  Tell me something, Sam.  Any of this sound familiar?

Then:

"I forgot you two, at best, are functioning morons."  "YOU'RE functioning morons!"  Haha . . . that's a me response.  #Supernatural #Season5"
- Twitter, September 5, 2013

Now:

• As far as mid-season finales go, this one must have been a big one.  Not as shocking as Season 9, and not as gut-wrenching as Season 7, the worst one, but this one was rough, and it must have been rough for those watching it when it first aired and having to wait a month for the second half of the season.
• CROWLEY.  From his very first scene I loved him.  Didn't think after that first episode that we'd see him more than just that episode, but so glad that five seasons later he's a regular.
• I love Cas spying on Crowley.  "It's going down."  (I'm yelling timber!)
• I think I love this episode because EVERYONE is in it.  Dean, Sam, Cas, Crowley, Bobby, Jo, Ellen, Meg . . . it's pretty much the full magilla of the cast to that point
• Alona Tal looks seriously skeletal in that opening scene
• Love that Crowley's opening line to the Winchesters is "So.  The Hardy Boys finally found me.  Took you long enough."
• I still love Dean and Crowley's exchange: "I forgot you two at best are functioning moron--"  "You're functioning morons!"
• Crowley's so awesome.  Seriously, could I possibly love him more?  "How about you don't miss, okay?!  Morons!"

loved him from the start

• I love Cas drinking with Ellen.  "I think I'm starting to feel something."
• Good on Jo.  "I'm going to spend it with a little I call self-respect."
• The poor family picture.

they all look so miserable.  Thanks for that "This is our last night on earth", Cas.

• Was Tessa the only female reaper?  At least until April, all the others seemed to be men.
• "I'm told you came here in an automobile.  What was that like?"  "Slow.  Confining"  Aww, Cas.  If only you knew that you'd be driving your own pimpmobile around in a couple years.
• "Almost all of heaven wants to see me dead, and if they succeed, guess what?  You're their new public enemy number one."  Well Lucifer was right about that.  It took some time but it happened.
• Jo's organs hanging out - pretty horrible
• And Ellen!  So calm!
• When Bobby says "angel of death, big daddy reaper" . . . at least it's some sort of acknowledgment that a reaper is an angel? (Still trying to explain April...)
• How did they know how to build a bomb so quickly and easily?
• The first time I watched this, I thought it was really sweet that Dean just kissed Jo's head before they left - I wish that they'd left it with that, as a big brotherly thing, instead of the kiss on the lips too.
• Poor Ellen and Jo =(
• I love Lucifer's "Owwwwwww" after he was shot with the Colt
• So if there's only five things in all of creation that the Colt can't kill . . . what are the other four?
• I think this is the first episode where Meg calls Cas "Clarence."
• Never really understood why Bobby burned the picture - was it his way of giving Ellen and Jo a hunters funeral?
• "Son of a bitch" count - 1