The Executioner’s Song

• Now that Cain is dead, what does that mean for Dean's chances of removing the Mark? Was Cain telling the truth when he said there is no cure?
• Was Dean expecting to die during his fight with Cain? Or was he hoping he could talk Cain out of killing more people (or maybe both)?
• Was Cain right that Dean will end up killing (or perhaps trying to kill) Crowley, Castiel and even Sam because the Mark will force him to?
• Now that Crowley knows Rowena has been manipulating him, how much longer will he keep her around? Is he possibly starting to believe her? When she threatened to leave, he grabbed her arm to stop her, so clearly he doesn't want her to leave. How much longer will he tolerate her agenda?
• Who is Olivette and why does Rowena want revenge after 300 years of being in hiding?
• We learned in "About a Boy" that the Grand Coven has witches looking for Rowena. Is Olivette perhaps behind the search for Rowena?
• What are the odds that Crowley really was on Cain's death list?
• Have we seen the last of the First Blade? Now that Abaddon and Cain are both dead, there's no need for it -- unless someone tries to use it to kill Dean, since the Blade is now the only thing that can kill him. Will Dean be able to stay away from the Blade?
• Clearly, Sam sees a change in Dean as a result of using the Blade to kill Cain. What is he thinking will happen now? Has Dean truly been changed forever?
• What did that look from Dean mean as he was walking past Castiel on the stairs at the end of the episode? Clearly, Dean is putting up a front and pretending to be okay when he isn't. Is that what Sam saw? Or was it something worse?

• Sam is apparently a fan of true crime stories and has memorized serial killer statistics
• According to Rowena, Crowley was a chubby child who had a sweet tooth
• Castiel's current power is not enough to overpower a Knight of Hell
• If Cain was telling the truth, there is no cure for the Mark. What can Dean do now?
• Cain apparently blamed himself for bringing murder to humanity; although he admitted that not all his descendants are murderers and not all murderers are his descendants, he felt an obligation to rid humanity of some of its murderers.
• Rowena wants revenge against a witch named Olivette; she is apparently a high-ranking member of the Grand Coven
• Rowena admits that she has been manipulating Crowley, but she says it's "who they are", so Crowley should not be surprised
• Dean blames himself for bringing Cain out of hiding and re-igniting the influence of the Mark on him

• The prison unit where Tommy was being held was in West Livingston, Texas. West Livingston is a real location in Polk County, which is in Eastern Texas. The Allan B. Polunsky Unit, which houses Texas' death row, is located there.
• When the Winchesters arrive at the prison's security gate, the voice on the speaker is Phil Sgriccia's; Phil has been a long-time director and Executive Producer on the show.
• The prison shots (at least the outdoor ones) were filmed at a sewage treatment plant
• Tommy Tolliver, the fictional murderer in this episode, killed 9 people; if that were true, it would mean he'd killed more people than the Zodiac Killer, who is believed to have killed 7 people.
• Tommy's son, Austin Reynolds, was born in Mullin, Texas and lives in Ohio.
• The name "Tommy Tolliver" was a nod to a friend of Robert Berens'.
• The crossroads demon who complains to Crowley about not receiving fair credit for his work is Olympic.snowboarder and gold medalist Shaun White. White has had some other minor roles in television and animated films.
• When Castiel is interrogating a demon at an abandoned school, we briefly see a framed photograph hanging on the wall that says "Congratulations Mr. Riley, 4th Grade Teacher of the Year". The man shown in the photograph is Matt Riley -- Jared's long-time stand in, who died in 2015.
• The episode's writer and director knew that having Castiel kill the demon was unusual for Cas' character, but they agreed to do it anyway.
• Dean's caller ID name on Crowley's phone is "Not Moose".
• Dean had no way of knowing whether Crowley was on Cain's death list or not, so he may not actually have been lying to Crowley when he told him that he was
• The fight scene between Dean and Cain was filmed in an actual converted barn. Jensen and Timothy did their own stunts, except for the stunt where Cain throws Dean through a window.
• Cain is apparently not powerless inside a devil's trap, as most other demons would be.

• The episode's title, "The Executioner's Song" refers to a 1979 book my Norman Mailer and a 1982 film starring Tommy Lee Jones. In the story, the main character, Gary Gilmore, was a convicted murderer who was fighting the State of Utah for his right to be executed. Considering the reference to this episode, it seems likely that Cain wanted Dean to kill him, as he'd asked Dean to do when he first gave him the Mark.
• Sam is correct about the Zodiac Killer -- 7 murders are attributed to him, but he may also be responsible for at least 4 other murders.
• Sam is also correct about Jeffrey Dahmer, who was responsible for 17 murders.
• Dean and Sam use aliases "Moore and Ranaldo", referring to Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of the musical group "Sonic Youth".
• The demon Castiel interrogated told Cas that Cain had been seen in a place called Bogg's Marsh, adding that it was "one county over' somewhere in Illinois. This appears to be a fictional place.
• Rowena's suggestion to "split the baby" refers to a biblical story involving the wise Old Testament King Solomon. In the bible story, two women are fighting over a baby. Solomon suggests that they split the baby in two so each of them can take half; according to the story, Solomon knew that the child's true mother would rather lose her child than see it killed. As the tale goes, the true mother agreed to give up the child, so Solomon returned the child to her.
• Amaranth is a grain that has been used by civilizations as far back as the Aztecs. In addition to having nutritional value, the grain was used during Aztec religious/sacrificial rituals. Today it is known primarily by health food enthusiasts looking for a high-protein grain. It does not appear to have any supernatural capabilities.

• Diamond Side Down -- by Jamie Dunlap, Ryan Franks, and Scott Nickoley (plays when Austin is wearing headphones and playing basketball)

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EPISODE 1015: The Things They Carried