The Memory Remains

• Where is Castiel, and is he okay?
• Does Sam truly believe Cas is okay, or does he just say that for Dean's benefit? Sam doesn't seem to be calling Cas as often as Dean does, so maybe he isn't as concerned.
• How long will it take the Winchesters to realize that Mick is dead?
• Why couldn't Mr. Ketch see anything in the telescope at the bunker? Is it magical?
• Why did Mr. Ketch steal Mary's picture? Is it because he sincerely has feelings for her? Is it because he's obsessed with her and simply wanted the photo? Or is there another reason?
• How long will it take Dean to realize Mary's picture is missing, and what will he do when he does?
• How long will it take the Winchesters to realize the bunker is bugged, and how much damage will be done in the meantime?
• Shouldn't a pagan god have the power to get out of a cage and a locked basement?

• Sam gets knocked out a lot less often this season compared with season 11, and he seems to be killing a lot more bad guys. Coincidence?
• Dean and Sam seem to think that nobody will remember them after they're gone, but the Winchester Gospels are still in existence and available on the internet. They must have forgotten about those books.
• Dean has a drawer full of black tee shirts.
• The Winchesters have a holster for the Colt hidden under the table in the bunker's war room.

• The murders in this episode took place in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. Tomahawk is an actual place, and would have taken approximately 12 1/2 hours to reach by car from the bunker in Lebanon, Kansas.
• The name of the meat packing plant was Billhook Meat Company.
• The name of the diner was Gus' Buckshot Cafe
• As the British Men of Letters are preparing to search the bunker, Mr. Ketch makes a comment about wanting to know how Sam gets his hair so shiny. Jared is well known for having attractive hair.
• The brown plaid shirt Dean was wearing at the diner is the same one he wore in "The Hunter Games" (Season 10) when he interrogates and almost kills Metatron.
• We see very little of Moloch (so it's hard to tell), but the part was played by John deSantis, who also played Freeman Dagett in "Ghostfacers" (season 3), and the golem in "Everybody Hates Hitler" (season 8).

• The episode's title refers to a Metallica song by the same name.
• Dean mentions that Castiel is still "AWOL".This is a military acronym that means "absent without leave" and refers to a someone who deserts his/her post.
• Dean makes a comment about Sam's research being a version of "Reading Rainbow". Reading Rainbow was a children's television show that aired from 1983 through 2006. It now exists as a mobile phone app.
• As of this writing, there are 29 states in America that have legalized marijuana for medicinal use. Wisconsin is not one of them, so Darren should have been suspicious when Dean didn't confiscate his marijuana.
• Black Bill (or Black William) is not a real urban legend. Supernatural may have based this legend on Black Philip, a goat creature that terrorizes early-American settlers in the 2015 horror film "The Witch".
• The Jersey Devil is an urban legend about a supernatural creature that has supposedly haunted the New Jersey Pine Barrens since colonial times.
• Dean and Sam use FBI aliases Agents Stark and Martel. This likely refers to two dynastic families from the "Game of Thrones" television series and the book series "A Song of Fire and Ice" by George R. R. Martin, which is the basis for the television series.
• In Greek mythology, a satyr is a lecherous woodland god with a man's appearance, but the ears and tail of a horse. In Roman mythology, the creature has male features, but the ears, tail, horns and legs of a goat.
• Pan is the mythological god of the woodlands and nature.
• Dean jokes that "soylent green is people". Soylent Green was a 1973 science fiction film about a desperate future in which an overpopulated world has run out of food, and humanity is forced to secretly resort to cannibalism in order to survive.
• Dean jokes about the Bishop's estate looking like the "Adams Family" house. "The Adams Family" was a 1960s era comedy series about an eccentric family living in a creepy mansion. A 1991 film was based on the television series.
• Traditionally, "Moloch" is referenced in the bible as a pagan Canaanite.god. Devotees sacrificed children to appease and worship him.
• Dean says that the Bishop's family history sounds like a bad episode of "Dynasty", referring to the popular 1980s television series about a wealthy family that is plagued by deceit and corruption.
• Christian Bale is a British actor.
• At the end of the episode, as Mr. Ketch is spying on the Winchesters, Dean comments that Ketch rides the "oldest, worst, most unreliable" motorcycle. Ketch rides a Norton Commando motorcycle, manufactured in England.

• "Prohibition (4th Amendment)" -- by Bongozilla (pays in the woods at the camp fire)
• "Music to watch girls by" -- by Tony Hatch (plays in the diner as Dean and Sam are talking about Black Bill)
• "Burgers and Fries" -- by Charlie Pride (plays in the diner as Dean and Sam discuss the Bishop family and the meat packing plant)

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More Season 12 Discussions

EPISODE # 19: The Future