Dean: "Being locked in that cell with nothing... I've been to Hell. This was worse..."

Wdym, WORSE THAN ACTUAL HELL??? Dean??!!

Dean spent 40 YEARS on the RACK. Was TORTURED BY ALISTAIR. HE had to TORTURE others HIMSELF... And Sam was in the FREAKING CAGE WITH LUCIFER?!?!?? An experience that was SO bad he apparently needed a f'n wall back in season 6, just to prevent him from going completely insane!!

I loved Cas's speech at the end of this, but I HATE how much the writers continue to nerf his abilities, most egregiously in this very episode...

They have Sam and Dean take out a whole ass organization of ANTI-FA soldiers IN TACTICAL GEAR... and yet Cas can't  locate and take out a VAMPIRE? HUH?!? (& even if it was a vampire nest... It wasn't a massive one.. 3-4 by the looks of it.) I just found that ridiculous. It's like every time the writers want to remind the audience of just how BADASS/AWESOME the brothers are.. they can only do so by nullifying everyone else... But here's the thing, I already KNOW that the brothers are awesome! That's why I watch this f'n show in the first place!? I don't need them to be the most inhumanly strong characters to prove that to me, (believe it or not, crazy!! 🙀)... All I "need" is decent writing!

And Dean would never make a deal that serious, without GOOD reason to.. And this was not a good enough reason. They never showed this prison to be the absolute 'SOUL-CRUSHING-SOMEHOW, "WORSE THAN HELL"' TORTURE it supposedly is...

They have a single montage.

And yes, it's a terrible situation, sure. No doubt about that. Normal people would probably be tearing their hair out and scratching at the walls. But it's manageable for someone who's... Idk...?... Been through Heaven, the Apocalypse, Purgatory, and Literal Hell??

"The deal" just seemed like such a convenient way for the writers to get Cas into trouble later... 

In "Red Meat" Dean's willingness to call Billie made sense. After all, he thought Sam was DEAD.

D-E-A-D. Dead.

But here, it just does not work... Also, for all he knows, Cas was still out there trying to find them! He couldn't hold out a little bit longer? Not even after going through the actual worst things a person can go through? Being torn apart and put back together? Over and over again? Really??

And you're trying to tell me that neither Alistair or Lucifer ever used solitary confinement as one of their 'methods' to torture both Sam and Dean in Hell? I don't buy it.

They show Bobby in that very situation way back in season 8 for crying out loud!

And I should mention that patience is a virtue for Dean—

Y'know, the man that somehow put off finding the exit to Purgatory, to go looking for Cas for an entire f'n YEAR. Despite the pushback from Benny and being hunted by leviathan? I'd assume that the temptation to just leave, was strong... Yet he held out anyways.

— And that's the other thing that bothers me about this episode, Cas hardly does jack shit to find them? He just wallows around blaming himself, but you would think that would make him all the more determined to FIND them!?

Anyways, long rant over.. I just felt like everyone was so out of character here. I did not like how everyone (else) in this episode is treated like they can't even go through the basic motions of something they've been doing for years at this point... Cas was investigating and hunting Lucifer all by his lonesome, before Crowley got into the picture. Even when Cas was human, he kept trying to get out there and hunt, I don't see why he would just give up and run away right in the middle of an active hunt going on... Especially when people are dying.

Cas has always been admirably adamant in protecting others even when at the cost to himself! (ie; 9x06 "Heaven Can't Wait")... Hence, why so many people fucking love him!

While I liked that little speech at the end, how the world needs them, and yada yada yada, I didn't enjoy how trite and OOC everything/everyone else was in this episode.

CHICAGO FIRE (2012 -)