Byzantium

• Why didn't the shaman's spell work?
• Will Dean, Sam, and Castiel figure a way to save Jack before it's too late?
• A demon (or possibly a demi-god) named Abraxas possessed a police officer (Frank Kellogg) and used the man’s body to murder Nick’s family. Why? Who put him up to it? Was it Lucifer himself, to get Nick to say “yes”?
• Dean's illness likely has something to do with his recent possession, but what’s going on and how bad is this going to get?
• Angels and their vessels remain "connected" after the angel leaves the vessel, so Dean and Michael are still connected. Is Michael listening in on Dean’s conversations? Or are Dean's dizzy spells somehow connected to what Michael himself is doing? The show’s producers have told us that Dean is no longer possessed, so what’s happening? Where IS Michael now? In heaven?
• Has Nick successfully awakened Lucifer in the Empty? If so, will Lucifer be able to leave? And what will happen if he does?

• Dean told the emergency room admitting nurse that Jack was born in 1999 or 2000, which would make him approximately 18 years old
• Nick was out at an Elks Lodge getting drunk the night his family was murdered
• Jack’s organs are shutting down because he has lost his grace. According to Rowena, because a nephilim is neither human nor angel, his grace is what holds his vessel in balance. Jack's body’s cells are now destroying each other.
• Sergei is a shaman that Mr. Ketch and the British Men of Letters have used before to help them with difficult/unsolvable problems. He works for barter, and apparently had a vial of Gabriel’s grace. Gabriel gave him the grace in exchange for helping him go into hiding after Gabriel faked his death in "Hammer of the Gods”
• A demon (or possibly a demi-god) named Abraxas possessed a police officer (Frank Kellogg) and used the man’s body to murder Nick’s family. Why? Who put him up to it? Was it Lucifer himself, to get Nick to say “yes”? According to Kellogg's story, Abraxas appeared to him as a man – not as black demon smoke. So if Abraxas already had a vessel, why did he possess a cop to commit the murders?
• Nick initially seemed conflicted about his evil deeds and thoughts. But by the end of the episode he admitted that he enjoys doing evil and prefers to not feel guilty later about it, so he wants Lucifer in his life again. His prayer to Lucifer seemed to awaken the archangel in the Empty. Is Lucifer going to be resurrected?

• • Diane Fargo (a reporter) was working for a newspaper called the Delaware Tribune when Nick's family was killed. This was an actual newspaper in Delaware, but it ceased publication during the 1800s
  • Nick and Diane met at the Ovaltime Cafe
  • We were initially told that using the Book of the Damned to perform spells creates negative consequences, but Rowena has used it more than once (including in this episode) and nothing catastrophic seems to happen. Also, with the Book being in Rowena’s possession and not in a curse box, if there are any Stynes still alive, they might come looking for it
  • Frank Kellogg's house in this episode is the same house where a blind preacher (Roy LaGrange) and his wife lived in "Faith" (season 1).
    This screencap is from the current episode:

...and these screencaps are from "Faith":

• While filming the fishing scene with Alex Calvert, Jensen took some time to enjoy the day:
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• Nick killed a priest because he wouldn’t reveal the contents of a parishoner’s confession (in this case, Nick’s neighbor, Artie). Priests are forbidden by their vows to reveal such information
• Nick said that he was at an Elks Lodge getting drunk the night his family was killed. The Elks (the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks) are a civic organization founded in 1868. Initially, the organization required all members to be Caucasian men. That provision was revoked in 1976, but the organization's membership is still largely as it was before
• According to mythology, Abraxas is a Greek (or in some texts, Persian) demon or demi-god. He has been referred to as "the Terrible One", but was also worshipedby cults that believed he represented good and evil

• "I'm Blue This Morning" -- by Keith Nichols (plays in the Ovaltime Cafe when Nick and Diane Fargo meet)

• "Let it Ride" - by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (plays when Dean is teaching Jack to drive)

Click HERE to see the discussion thread for this episode.

Episode  9:  The Spear