So many possibilities!

[feliciakw]

Watched the SPN season premiere again. And SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Here's my speculation at this point.

1. Regarding what Dean said about Cas--"Cas didn't make it. Something happened to him down there. Things got pretty hairy toward the end, and he just let go." Here's what I think:

Dean and Benny found Cas. Since Dean is a vessel, Dean's intent was to carry Cas and Benny both out of Purgatory. As Benny said, though, three's a crowd, and it didn't work. Carrying two extra souls somehow prevented him from going through the portal, or it started killing Dean, and in the end, to allow Dean the opportunity to cross back over, Castiel let go. (Either that, or Benny forced Cas out.) Just as Dean was crossing back into the real world, he looked back and saw Castiel being overwhelmed by nasties. But it was too late.

2. As for Dean and Benny's conversation at the end of the ep: Dean doesn't regret whatever it is they had to do to get back. Benny is overwhelmed by the choices. "So many choices." The way he's eyeing the people at the funeral, and the fact that he's a vampire, I can only assume he's talking about all the human blood that's now available to him. Dean understands this, and tells Benny, "One day at at time" and "You got an emergency, you call me. You understand?" It sounds like an AA sponsor, yeah? Like Benny's on the wagon, being faced with a planetary population of hemoglobin. It could also be Dean's promise to come to Benny's aid should he run into hunters.

Benny then tells Dean to keep his nose clean, too. So Dean's fighting some sort of something of his own. Maybe he promised Benny he wouldn't hunt vampires? o.O Or wouldn't run the risk of letting Dick out by trying to free Cas? Whatever it is, this season, so far, looks pretty darn intriguing.