FWIW, the writers say they don’t read the fanfiction, because it could potentially lead to intellectual property issues. Which is good since I have read fic that is startlingly similar to a few episodes.
But there have been enough bizarre interactions online between the cast and crew and the fans to know that they are definitely paying attention. It makes the fangirls paranoid.
Misha and his wife just had a baby, so that might have something to do with it. But I think it’s just Castiel’s character arc - he’s not playing as big a role as he has in the past. I know SDMB Supernatural fans tend to like Castiel well enough, but let me tell you what, there is a pretty large segment of fans who absolutely HATE Castiel and HATE the storyline with the angels.
As far as I know, Misha isn’t working on anything else at the moment. But who knows? Every once in awhile he pops up with new weird project like this. So I’m sure he’s keeping himself occupied.
I also liked, “Nice “Blue Steel,” Sammy.” I know I mentioned Dean looking very Blue Steel at some point, and I’m surely not the only one.
I also liked Dean paying the rummy in Canadian money (a 50, no less!), and looking at it and kind of shrugging and giving him whatever because it was only Canadian money, not real money, after all.
I think it is also necessary for the storyline. If Sam and Dean have a “fully charged” angel hanging around with them all the time, most of the plots/hunts could be resolved pretty quickly via his superpowers . He is too powerful, so they need to keep him occupied with other things, so Sam and Dean can do the actual hunting.
I loved this episode but figured there would be a lot of hate for it. The Blue Steel line, the “So you’re Polish now?” comment, and Misha’s tweets all made me laugh too hard to keep running (I was on the treadmill).