For those Supernatural fans who are always wanting more Castiel, we’ve got good news. Season 12 is going to give you a bit more about Castiel’s (Misha Collins) past. After all, he’s an angel, so there’s a lot of history to work with.

When talking about his approach to season 12, new showrunner — but longtime writer — Andrew Dabb tells EW that coming off a story as big as God and his sister in season 11, this year is a bit more personal. “It’s about telling smaller stories that impact more of our characters,” Dabb says. “For example, this year, especially toward the middle of the season, we’re using Castiel in stand-alone episodes in a way that he hasn’t been used in a long time.”

While Tarantino is an influence on the script/episode this isn’t really a “meta” ep.
Not really a spoilers, but Jensen’s twins were born during filming of this episode.
This episode will focus heavily on Castiel and his past and contain flashbacks (x) - this now refers to episode 10, however this is a very Castiel heavy episode as well!
Filming was done at a location on a farm location, mostly indoors, with j2m and Sam Smith.
Misha posted a picture of him injured with black veins on his face - could be a Leviathan flashback?
Davy Perez revealed the episode will be very heavily influence by the style of a particular director but did not say which one. - however the title of the episode is a reference to a song used in Reservoir Dogs, so I am assuming it’s Tarantino inspired. We can expect non-linear storytelling.
Jared noted at BurCon that this was one of his favorite scripts of the season.

SUPERNATURAL 12.12 “Stuck in the Middle (With You)”: Mary (guest star Samantha Smith) asks Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Castiel (Misha Collins) for help on a case she’s working but neglects to mention the British Men of Letters are involved. When Mary is double crossed, everything is revealed. Richard Speight Jr directed the episode written by Davy Perez.

How much of the episode was ad lib? (I’ve heard that Cas’s smelling of the waitress was off the cuff, but that’s it.)

There were some great ad-lib moments early on, mostly the moment when the conversation ramps up and the guys start talking over each other in the diner. The actors we have all breath a lot of life into what’s on the page. Beyond that, there wasn’t a lot of ad lib on this one because of the way it was structured and certain things needed to track. But the non-verbal nuance and emotionality that our actors bring, that’s something you can’t ever write down and are always happy to see come to life.

There is a lot of canon in this episode – how much maneuverability did you have with the script? (Like how much was concrete, this had to happen, and how much was flexible?)

To be honest, this started out as a strictly stand-alone episode. I swear… I’m not making that up! What had to happen was our boys get into a dire situation that looks like they really might not get themselves out of this time. I was also asked to keep the British Men of Letters storyline alive somehow. The part that was a real gift was when Andrew told me we needed to introduce the notion that Crowley was keeping Lucifer a secret. When I heard that… I was like, “Oh yeah, I’m gonna have him sing a jingle!” The rest of the canon in this episode was born out of finding the story and raising the stakes on the circumstances for each character. Having flashbacks gave me the idea to reach back six years and give us a fun look at a Crowley from a different time.

What was your favorite line in the episode?

It’s a tie between: “That’s the password. Extra Cheese.” & “Are you really still working for the Dukes of Haphazard?”

Do you have a cheat sheet somewhere as to how the timeline actually went? (Inquiring minds want to know.)

Absolutely. It went all the way back to The Fall of Lucifer and included when the Princes were actually created. In order to make this story pitch air tight, I had to know it backwards, forwards, in order, and in whatever jumble jigsaw I was gonna tell it in. Reading the timeline in order was satisfying, but a bit dry at times, which meant that I was right in choosing to tell it out of sequence. The out of order nature informed scenes before and created a dramatic climax. It wasn’t just a gimmick; the story benefited from the timeline jumps. That’s what made it satisfying.

JT:
Richard was one of the best directors I’ve had the pleasure of working with, he’s an actor’s dream director. Probably because he’s an actor as well and a fantastic one at that. He was so helpful and pivotal in helping me to create the character of Ramiel, Prince of Hell. There were times when I was going too dark and hard, and then Richard pulls me aside and says, dude, back off and BAM Ramiel comes alive. Richard was collaborative in the coolest way. Some directors I work with are too into their comfort zone and just want to pump it out. They settle for less than the best, whereas Richard had an idea, I had an idea, we meshed them together and as you saw from the episode, it was magic. Loved working with him.



On set with Jared, Jensen and Mark (Tweet Jerry Trimble)

JT:
With my background in martial arts, which is pretty extensive, I am able to do most of my own stunts, it’s like second nature to me. Besides being a World Champion in kickboxing, and a 6th degree black belt, it allows me the opportunity to bring something extra to the table. I will always do that and thoroughly enjoy anything that involves fighting, that’s my thing, but they had a terrific stunt double for me just in case I needed him, Yves Langlois. He was fantastic to work with and did an awesome job getting nailed by the truck. But when it comes to fighting, it’s my time to shine. Richard came up to me a couple of times and said, hey brother, if you need a double we got you one, but what you’re doing is awesome. I’m like, it’ll be a cold day in hell when I have someone else fight my battles for me on screen (laughing). Acting and fighting on film is my dream job.