“When she comes back into our story, which she’ll come back most strongly in episode 9, it’s going to be someone with a lot more of a sense of purpose,” Dabb continues. “She’s got the lay of the land. She understands the world a little bit more. She understands her sons a little bit more. Starting in episode 9, she becomes a much more proactive character in our world. She’s not going to be necessarily living in the bunker with Sam and Dean but she’s going to be more of a player in our show.”

Showrunner Robert Singer adds: “She has some big stuff to do. You’ll see her quite a bit in the back half [of the season]. What [Samantha Smith’s] done this year is just great. She has knocked it out of the park; we’re just so happy to have her back and the work she’s doing is terrific.”

Will we see more of Mr. Ketch when Supernatural returns? — David
Not only will fans be seeing more of Mr. Ketch, but they’ll be seeing more from the British Men of Letters in general. “The British Men of Letters are very big in the second half [of the season],” showrunner Robert Singer says. “They’re certainly helpful in episode 9, and then we play them out in a really interesting way. I think the first half of the season with the British Men of Letters was a little bit of a tease letting the audience know what their capabilities were and what their goals were, and they’re quite heavy in the second half.” Maybe they can help with that whole spawn of Satan situation?

“We’re going to be building in about a six-week time jump,” executive producer Andrew Dabb reveals. “We’ll see how Sam and Dean act in that period of isolation, but also how the rest of the world reacts, as well — specifically Cas and Mary and some other players.”

No strangers to outrunning the authorities or getting arrested, the Winchesters’ latest run-in with the law is “a different kind of predicament than they’ve ever had before,” Dabb says. “The people that have them” — the government, not the British of Men of Letters — “think they’re real, legitimate criminals, albeit kind of terrorists more than your common thief or anything like that. Sam and Dean [are] facing something where it’s not like they can do what they normally do.”

That means not being able to say, “‘The monster’s real. And by the way, the monster’s going to come and get you, and you have to be on our side,’ which is something they pulled with law enforcement in the past,” the EP notes.

The location in the woods included a very creepy looking house by a pond.
There may be flashbacks.
At some point (towards the end of the episode?) Dean and Sam are separated from Cas, they look at a map on the hood of a car and Dean calls Cas, who seems surprised to heard from Dean. - Now we know that they are separated at the beginning and get out of prison somehow (Billie maybe).
The Brits of Letters will return
For the first time on the show,the production schedule was adjusted due to severe storms and out door shooting was switched to in studio shooting.
Some shooting was done on location at night in a wooded location, Sam and Dean, no Cas.
This will be the 250th episode!