“Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, LV) (HDTV)

GOD BLESSES HIM WHO HELPS HIS BROTHER – Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Castiel’s (Misha Collins) continued search for a way to defeat Chuck (guest star Rob Benedict) leads them to unexpected places and toward unlikely allies. Richard Speight, Jr. directed the episode written by Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner (#1508). Original Airdate
12/12/2019.

TVLINE | Belphagor told Dean that every door in Hell burst open, including the cage holding Michael. How will that play into this season?
Obviously, Michael and the guys’ brother is a big hanging chad. [It] has been for a long time, and it’s something we’ve talked about for many, many seasons, that if we were to bring these characters back, how would we do it? We’ve found a way this season to not only make it happen and get the cage open, which is no easy feat, but also bring Michael back in a way that I think will be unexpected to the audience, but also involves some emotional closure for our guys that they’ve been sorely wanting.

TVLINE | There was this really cool image of two Jakes sitting opposite each other in the trailer for this season. Is there anything you can tease about the circumstances of his return?
[Adam and Michael] have been in a cell together for a long time, and even if, at first, they had a real hostile relationship, after the equivalent of a couple of decades down there — or centuries, depending on how Hell math works — they kind of have reached a detente, a kind of peace. So when they’re coming into the world, they’re both kind of feeling it out. They’ve both been gone for 10 years. The world’s very different. It’s different to Adam just because it’s different. Think how much has changed in 10 years. And it’s different to Michael because his plan failed. God never came back. His entire reason for existing kind of went away. How does he deal with that and the fallout of that, especially knowing that his God did come back, but not for him, and not for Lucifer? It was for Sam and Dean.

TVLINE | Are there a lot of hurt feelings on Adam’s part? He’s been down there for a very long time, and Dean and Sam haven’t exactly been very proactive about getting him out.
There are hurt feelings on Adam’s side to an extent. At the same time, he’s someone who’s had a lot of time to think about his choices, and the choices he made himself kind of led him to that point. So it’s not like he’s coming back thirsting for revenge or anything, though he’s also not coming back expecting hugs and a family reunion.

TVLINE | How do Sam and Dean feel about seeing him again?
For Sam and Dean, in some ways, he represents a real failure on their part… what it says about their father and things like that. [It’s] kind of a wound they might otherwise not want to scratch at, but they’re going to have to. They’re going to have to finally deal with some things that they’ve been putting off for a long, long time.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did this come about? Had your return been in the works for a while?
JAKE ABEL: It’s one of those thing where, over the past couple years I’d done a couple conventions and I would talk to Jared [Padalecki] and Jensen [Ackles] and Misha [Collins], and they would all be like, “We want Adam to come back!” And I was like, “Me too!” And I had heard in the past that some writers had pitched episodes to bring Adam back and they ultimately didn’t go through, and what that told me was that if they were going to go do it, they wanted to do it right, and I held that belief too. It was such a fun event to bring this third brother in all those years ago; if we’re going to bring him back, make it spectacular and do something crazy. In that way, I think it’s fitting that they did “Jump the Shark” early on in the series and then they’re jumping the shark again in a way at the end. I’m okay with those bookends. I think that’s kind of cool.

After all that build-up, was Adam’s return what you expected? Was it spectacular?
I don’t think it’s over. I think it’s leading to something spectacular, or at least I hope so. When I was on set with Jared and Jensen and they’d ask me, “Do you have any more episodes?” I was like, “I don’t know, I’m just here right now enjoying this.” They both said, “I’d be surprised if you didn’t have more because what you’re doing in this episode is setting up everything.” What Adam and Michael are doing in this episode is setting up all the stuff that’s about to happen. So that’s my hope. There’s been some talk about what might happen in the future, so I think it could be going somewhere and I do hope it is explosive. But for now it definitely feels like a setup.

Co-showrunner Andrew Dabb has mentioned Michael’s return, and we saw two of you in the trailer. So you are playing both characters?
That was the hope that Richard Speight, who directed the episode, and I discussed early on when the script came through, was yeah, I play both, and our hope was to create two distinct characters. There are things that happen that I don’t want to give away that there was an importance for me to create two different characters and be able to transition between them fluently, which was an awesome challenge. There’s some stuff in the scene that surprised Sam and Dean, so I have a feeling it will surprise audiences as well.

How has his time in hell changed Adam?
I had the great experience of reading the script when it was ready and experiencing it in real time, and I definitely want the fans to experience that. That’s been the big question. When I’m at conventions, people always come up and ask, “What would Adam be like if he got out?” That’s what everybody wants to know! I speculated, which is the fun part, so I want people to keep speculating and be surprised. I think what’s going to be interesting as well is the relationship between Adam and Michael, having all that time together, what their bond is like and how they interact and help each other.

That’s true, Adam has spent more time with Michael than he has with either of his brothers.
Than anybody, yeah! So it sets up some surprises, and expectations might be upset in a good way. Everyone has their own idea of where Adam’s going to be mentally, and I want everybody to continue to hold onto that up until the moment that he comes on screen and you start to see it.

Did you go back and watch old episodes to refresh your memory on who this guy was?
I kept thinking, “Should I go back and watch the old episodes?” I ultimately didn’t because I relied on everybody else as far as what happened up until now. So if I had scenes with a character that I didn’t know, I’d just be like, “Okay what’s happened here? What do I know? What don’t I know?” Luckily I didn’t do any crazy accent or anything, so that helps. [Laughs] It’s a funny thing when you put on the outfit. You can see in the trailer it’s the exact same thing I wore 10 years ago, and there’s something funny about putting on the outfit of your character’s past that brings it rushing back to you. There’s this weird thing where, I was taking pictures with Jared and Jensen, and I felt like I was 17 again. I was like, “Why do you guys make me feel like a kid?” I feel like their actual little brother sometimes, and it’s this strange phenomenon that I’m kind of not okay with because I look like a child, but because I’m not supposed to age in the cage it was really fitting, so sometimes you get lucky.

What was the experience of returning to set like? Did it feel like the same place?
One hundred percent the same. They’re just as rowdy, and what’s really special is that this is a show that’s pretty much had the exact same crew for 15 years. The people that are there now were there when I did the show all those years ago, and that speaks a lot to the family they’ve created there. That’s a big reason I think why they’re in 15 seasons, because everyone likes going to work with each other, and that’s not an easy feat to accomplish. So going back there was like being back with people that I knew. When you’re a person that comes onto a set where people know each other, that have inside jokes and are friends, it’s hard, it can be difficult to be the new guy who has to find his place. I didn’t feel that way on this set. It felt like I was coming back to a place I had already been and already had friends and bonds established. It was two weeks of play and having fun with old friends.

The Mary Sue: So, before we get into season 15, let’s talk a bit about the past: In your first episode in season 4, Chuck says, “I’m definitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god.” And in season 14, this is proven to be true. How did you feel about the reveal that you were the ultimate big bad?

Rob Benedict: Yeah, my first reaction when I read the last episode of fourteen was that I thought, ‘Oh man, people are going to hate me!’ But … then I was kind of excited just because, as an actor, it’s a fun thing to play, you know? And certainly, after doing so many conventions all these years, it’s really cool to be a part of the show … to be so relevant in the final season as we come to a close.

So I’m happy to be a part of it, even if I’m a cruel and capricious god. I think it’s kind of genius what the writers are doing … they’re ultimately saying that god, a.k.a. the writers of the show, the creators, are the ones that ultimately are going to, you know, make it go away.

TMS: It’s always been about Sam and Dean versus fate, and God is the ultimate author of that fate.

Benedict: Exactly … It calls all that into question, and I think right now where we’re at we’re kind of gearing up for this final push, which is gonna reveal a lot … and it’s just gonna be epic. It doesn’t get more epic than Sam and Dean versus god.

TMS: There’s always been a bit of darkness and danger to Chuck as God—but did you have to adjust your performance at all to inhabit this more sinister place in the story?

Benedict: Yeah … In season eleven, when it was revealed that I was God, there were certainly moments in there, even with Metatron, you know, in “Don’t Call Me Shurley,” when we were talking—there were elements that were written in there that were like, “God gets kind of scary here.” There was always an element to Chuck as God that was like a strict father.

And so now I’m kind of taking that all the way to the tenth degree of Chuck as strict strict dad, that never kind of comes down from that. So yeah, it was a huge adjustment at first, but it’s been kind of a gradual change to this now. That’s what’s been cool about playing Chuck … Back in season four, I’m kind of a likable, lovable loser, and now, he’s … kind of all-powerful and angry.

But it’s been a slow process … Where I go to is just that idea of him as a strict father, because he doesn’t hate [Sam and Dean]. He actually has lots of love for them. He’s just very strict, and he’s a little bit pissed.

TMS: That leads me into my next question: How is Chuck feeling about things now? Obviously he doesn’t see himself as a villain. Is he just a frustrated creator?

Benedict: I think he loves all of his creations, but they are that to him. So, to him, he can manipulate and pull the strings a little and it’s not a big deal, whereas what happened at the end of season fourteen was Sam and Dean going, ‘These are our lives that you’re messing with,’ and he doesn’t always look at it like that. He doesn’t have a lot of like … bedside manner.

He loves them; he doesn’t see himself as a bad guy. He’s frustrated with this situation and with this specific creation, with this world that we’re dealing with … and I think that are other things going on with God. In this episode tomorrow, the midseason finale, we’re starting to find out that he is a little bit limited right now—that this wound that he has, that Sam also has, is limiting him in some way, and I think we’re going to find out more about that.

TMS: Can you talk more about how him and Sam have this connection? It’s very Voldemort and Harry Potter.

Benedict: Yes, exactly. That’s totally what it is. At this point, we know that there’s some sort of connection there—that they’re feeling the wound at the same time—and I think Chuck is a little bit stuck, and he’s limited by that wound … and then we’ll find out a bit more in this episode. It actually sets up for the beginning of the second half of the season. The next episode is really going to reveal a lot more and kind of starts off with a big bang. For this episode … we start to see a little bit more that … Sam is the one he has to deal with.

TMS: We know Adam is back, and Castiel is around, so will he be dealing with some very unhappy kids?

Benedict: Without saying too much, yeah, definitely, that relationship plays out a lot; the relationship that he has with those characters is relevant for sure—and so fun to have Jake Abel … he does an amazing job in this episode. He’s awesome—a lot of great stuff for him.

TMS: Earlier this season, you got to do some work with two of my favorite women from the past: Emily Perkins as Becky and Emily Swallow as Amara. What was it like revisiting those characters?

Benedict: It was awesome. They’re two of my favorite people, as people. They’re just, like, really fantastic, and I have bonds with both of those ladies. They’re just great friends. It was awesome. People are always asking about Becky, and so it was fun to see that play out, even though it didn’t end well for Becky. It was fun to play that out with her.

And of course always fun to work with Emily Swallow, who’s such a pro, and again, even though we’re not getting along onscreen, we have a ball. We really have a blast working together. That’s what’s been great about this last season: bringing back some of the favorites and seeing how it plays out this final season.

TMS: Emily Swallow plays the Armorer on The Mandalorian; did she give you any spoilers?

Benedict: No! And I was asking. She didn’t give me any spoilers, but she told me everything that she could. I’m obsessed with that show. I love it. I’m such a Star Wars geek … it just blows my mind that I know a couple of people in those series and in the movies. It’s just wild to me. I’m so proud of her.

TMS: We’ve heard music from Jensen Ackles’ band on the show recently. Jensen sang in the last episode, and we know you’ve sung on the show before. Will we hear any songs from your band, Louden Swain, on the soundtrack, or will you be singing at all?

Benedict: No plans that I know of having a Louden Swain song on the show, but I can say that Chuck will pick up the guitar again at some point.

First of all, welcome back to Supernatural! It's been a decade. What was it like returning to the set and getting back into character?

Jake Abel: What's really unique about this show in particular is so much of the crew has been there since day one, so going back 10 years later was like going home again and seeing all these familiar faces. While I might not have remembered everyone's names, I would see someone's face and be like, "oh my God, I know you, I remember you, you were in the sound department." If there was any anxiety about returning, it was washed away the first day I showed up to do wardrobe and all of that.

Also having Richard Speight, Jr. as the director for this episode was hugely helpful because he and I have gotten to know each other pretty well at conventions, so there was really no anxiety once I got there and saw how good the script was for this episode.

What can you say about the big Winchester family reunion? Clearly there are a lot of issues there.

Yeah, there are. We want to do right by the fans so much and also give these characters closure. What's interesting is we're not going to necessarily have that wrapped up in a bow quite yet with this episode. It leaves room for more things to happen. There's a lot of bad blood to go through, and that's what's going to be interesting about watching this great return of this long-lost brother.

No matter who's in control of Adam’s body — Adam or Michael — I can't imagine either is ready to jump in and help the Winchesters, right? Like you said, there's bad blood, for both characters.

Yeah, Adam and Michael have had a lot of time to sit and think. I'm curious to see what the ultimate outcome will be: Will he help them or will he hurt them?

How much of Adam is left after all those years in the cage with Michael? What can you say about what to expect from both characters after all this time together? They only had each other, which is depressing.

Depressing or bonding, who knows? That's something [that will] be a surprise for the audience, what's going on inside this person's head.

What do you think life would've been like for Adam if, say, the Winchesters had gotten him out of the cage around the same time as Sam's soul? Would he have become a hunter after everything that happened or tried to get as far from that life as possible?

I don't know. I feel like he could have gone either way. With the loss of his dad and his mom, he would've had nothing — maybe that would've been up to Sam and Dean. Maybe they wouldn't have wanted that life for him. They might have pushed him out for his own good, which would have brought us back to where we are now anyway, resentment and potential hatred. Maybe there was no other outcome besides all of this coming to a head at the very end.

Adam Milligan (Jake Abel) will make his long-awaited return to Supernatural in Thursday's midseason finale in what promises to be a very complicated family reunion with Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles). As the Winchesters continue their efforts to take down Chuck (Rob Benedict) once and for all, their quest leads them right to their long-lost half brother Adam, who's been locked away in Lucifer's Cage since the end of Season 5.

Being stuck in hell with the archangel Michael for a decade probably hasn't been a picnic for the youngest of John Winchester's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) sons, so don't expect him to welcome his brothers with open arms. According to Rob Benedict, Adam's potentially strained relationship with Sam and Dean presents the perfect opportunity for Chuck to try and sway Adam to his side.

"I wouldn't put it past Chuck to try to get to Adam and try to use that [to his advantage]," Benedict teased to TV Guide. "He's looking for allies right now."

It really wouldn't be surprising if Adam were to turn against his brothers given that Sam and Dean have had ample opportunity to rescue him but apparently never got around to pulling him from the underworld. But while that seems pretty neglectful on their part — they're all about family, after all — there could be another, more reasonable explanation for the Winchesters forgetting about their younger bro: Chuck.

"He's like the showrunner, he's ultimately writing every chapter, so I think you can blame Chuck for [the Adam situation]," Benedict explained. "You could also say that Chuck's responsible for Adam coming back."

Chuck's ascension as this season's ultimate big bad is something no one expected, including Benedict, who admitted that he's enjoying this diabolical twist to the divisive character. "It's so fun to be a part of the final season, and there's nothing more epic than Sam and Dean going up against God," he said. "I never expected it but it's certainly been gratifying to play that kind of character."

We might not know exactly what Chuck has planned for all three Winchesters ahead of his proposed grand finale, but as the author of their story, it's clear he holds all of the cards right now.

As the final season of “Supernatural” inches toward the series’ end, it does so with one quintessential question looming over the show: Will the Winchesters have to kill God — aka Chuck (Rob Benedict) — and if they succeed, does that mean all of existence or simply Sam (Jared Padalecki) will cease to, well, exist?

“It’s Season 15 and it’s as epic as it gets: It’s Sam and Dean versus God. The finish is not going to be, ‘Oh they had a really nice talk and everything’s OK.’ It’s leaning towards a bigger faceoff, a standoff. It doesn’t feel like Chuck can be reasoned with,” Benedict tells Variety.

Showrunner Andrew Dabb previously told Variety that God was the “uber-villain” of the final season. Although Sam shot him at the end of Season 14, which gave them matching shoulder wounds that seem to be refusing to heal, God/Chuck has gotten some of his mojo back. His former flame Becky (Emily Perkins) inspired him to write again, and his idea for the end of the Winchesters’ story includes a gravestone with their last name on it.

But as revealed in the Dec. 5 episode, “Last Call,” Chuck’s connection to Sam runs much deeper than a flesh wound. The Equalizer gun Sam used shot a piece of his soul into the all-mighty being. And, after Shaman Sergei (Dimitri Vantis) probed around in Sam’s wound, he began to see some of Chuck’s memories, implying they are more greatly tied together than it appeared at first glance.

“He’s still a little bit frantic, a little bit lost. He’s not in the best place because he’s still affected by the wound that Sam also has. It’s limiting him. He’s still not at full power — full capacity — but he’s plotting his next move,” Benedict says. “He’s got to fix this thing he has with Sam. He realizes at some point he’s going to have to confront one or both of the boys. That’s what this is leading to.”

Benedict shares that the psychic connection between Chuck and Sam “goes both ways” — beyond Chuck writing Sam and Dean’s (Jensen Ackles) story.

Benedict was first introduced to the “Supernatural” world in the fourth season episode, “The Monster at the End of This Book,” as “that lovable loser writer Chuck,” as Benedict puts it. As time went on, the Winchesters came to think Chuck was a prophet who could see their futures, but eventually learned he was God and actually manipulating their lives. At the end of Season 14, the brothers confronted Chuck about that manipulation, which set him off.

“You have to save the moments where you go super wrathful. There are other moments where you can be more quiet about it,” Benedict says.

In evolving the character, Benedict says he continuously “adds onto what I’ve done before,” but always consistently has thought of Chuck as a “strict father.” Benedict is a father himself, but although he knows what it is to say, “Hey, what I say goes,” he admits he relates “more to being a child of a strict father than the strict father myself.” In order to tap into what Chuck as God is feeling for the Winchesters, who he has called his “favorite story,” Benedict says it’s about love.

“The thing I keep going back to also is that I love them. I’ve created everything here, and I love all of them, but I can’t possibly love them in the way humans can love each other because I can manipulate them around,” he explains.

This makes it emotional for him that “no one really likes me right now,” he adds. And that won’t be changing any time soon.

“It feels to me like Chuck is losing all of his allies. It feels more like Sam and Dean are gathering all of their forces to see who they can use to defeat him,” Benedict says. “I’m looking forward to whatever the big showdown is. I’d like to be able to have a big physical fight with them because I’m like half their size, so it will be fun to do make-believe.”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your reaction to finding out God would be the series’ final villain?
ROB BENEDICT: When I read the script for the end of season 14, I was like, “Oh no, people are going to hate me!” [Laughs] Because when you cross the Winchesters, that’s bad news. But after that wore off, I was super-excited because, as an actor, it’s really fun to play this kind of role. It’s so juicy, and there’s so many nuances the way that they write the character, so it’s really been fun. And after this long run, it’s great to be such a big part of the final season. There’s nothing more epic than the big bad being God.

Did you have to rethink the character after you read that script?
It’s been sort of a slow burn ever since season 4, playing different roles — first just a writer, then the prophet, then possible God, but all through the process, I’ve been sort of putting in little nuggets of different versions and different personalities that Chuck has. And certainly with this one, even in season 11 I had moments where I had to be really wrathful with Metatron and sometimes with Dean, and I just go back to that and now I’m just playing that full tilt. The strict father is really where I’m at right now, the strict father who never comes down from that pedestal. Strict father or crazy showrunner, one of the two.

He’s a fairly subtle villain, for the most part. Obviously he ended the world, but in terms of temperament, Chuck so much as raised his voice in the season 14 finale and it made all of us sit up.
Yeah, and that’s what’s so great about it, and that’s what I’m finding this season too, is there are levels to it. You want to keep that idea that we actually have not seen God go off yet. We want to keep that idea that like, “Oh no, we don’t want to make him really angry, because if we make him really angry it could be super-bad.” It’s like keeping the top on the boiling water that’s about to burst.

I also think Sam and Dean need to figure out what killing God would mean for the universe before they go after him…
Yeah, exactly, thank you! In fact they explore a little bit of that in the coming episode. What happens in this episode kind of sets us up for that final push, the last half of the season. God’s thinking, “I need to get in front of them and talk to them,” and we get to talk a little bit about that. But yeah, that’s what I’m thinking, like, “You can’t take me off the table, or you ain’t got no table!”

When we saw Chuck talk to Becky, he went from being pretty chill to getting pissed. What Chuck are we dealing with in the fall finale?
He still has a lot of power but he’s off his game, so it’s kind of scary when a figure like that is off his game but still all-powerful. We’re dealing with a Chuck that’s not at 100 percent, and I think what we’re going to explore is the connection between him and Sam. They both have this same wound, and that’s affected him and knocked him off a little bit, and he needs to fix that. That’s the first thing he needs to do. So step 1 is somehow getting in touch with Sam.

We’ve seen a lot of Chuck’s potential endings so far this season. At this point, has he decided on one ending?
I think he does have an ending. It’s not set in stone, but yeah, he has a vision of how he wants it to end. He’s feeling resistance from all the other parties, but he definitely has a vision of what he wants. I think he’s not going to be able to get that written until he fixes this wound with Sam, which is somehow holding him back. That’s first on the to-do list, and then he’ll be able to go ahead and write the ending that he wants if he’s able to. They of course don’t want to happen, so all of this is leading to something, some big confrontation.

Before the series ends, do you have anything on your bucket list? Any character you’d like to share a scene with?
I’ve been able to do so much. I’ve been able to sing on the show, and I’ve been able to work with so many amazing actors. Everything that’s happened on this show has been icing on the cake for me, just because it started off as a one-off guest star. But that being said, there are so many actors I do these conventions with that I’ve never had a chance to work with. I’ve never worked with Kim Rhodes, that’d be fun to finally have something with her. I love working with Alex Calvert. That reuniting grandfather and grandson thing didn’t go as I thought it might, so I feel like we have some unfinished business. I think Mark Pellegrino’s a[*] genius actor if he could come back.

TVLINE | It’s been almost a decade since you were last on the show. What was it like coming back after so much time away?
When I did the show so many years ago, I had no idea the things that it would bring me in my life — the people that I met working, traveling for both the show and conventions, and getting to meet all the fans. It’s just been really special and unique in a way that I haven’t really had with any other projects. So to come back, 10 years later, has been a real unexpected gift. And I hope that the fans get something out of it that they’ve wanted for a long time. It’s been a really special experience.

TVLINE | Tell me a little bit about your first day stepping back onto set and interacting with Jensen [Ackles] and Jared [Padalecki] again.
I’ve seen them off and on, but not a lot, on the convention circuit. But being back in that capacity and back in the jeans and jacket that are Sam, Dean and Adam, it was… You feel them walk onto set. It’s a funny thing. For a while, the first day, it was just me doing my scenes, and then you just feel the force, two six-foot-three forces, come onto set, and it’s just big hugs and smiles and catching up. They’re special guys. They’ve led an incredible show, a really fun set to be on. So it was like back playing with friends again. It was really special.

TVLINE | Fan have been asking about what happened to Adam, when the boys are going to rescue him, for years and years. Were you, similarly, wondering about him and his fate?
Oh yeah! I was hearing that they would bring so many people back from Hell, back from the dead, back from wherever they may be, but poor Adam was always forgotten. In some ways, I think maybe the delayed gratification will pay off. It’s fitting that Adam was introduced in the “Jump the Shark” episode [as] this long-lost third brother, and then to sort of do it again on the final season, it’s much more poetic than coming back at mid-series run. It’s much more dramatic to come back at the very end. So I think it was worth the wait.

TVLINE | Last we saw, Michael was using Adam as his vessel, and he was trapped in the cage. But in the trailer for this season, we see two of you sitting opposite each other. So what can you say about how the Michael and Adam of it all is going to work in this episode, and how they both return?
There’s not much that I can say or really want to say, because when I read the script for the first time, it was a complete surprise for me as well. It’s an exciting prospect to not only have these two characters return, but have them in scenes together. It’s so fun to see. Richard Speight, who directed the episode, did a fantastic job at that… I just saw the footage at ADR the other day, and I was blown away by how good it looks. Like, I’m sitting there smiling, watching the scenes. I’m judging myself, so if I’m having fun watching this, I hope that fans will have the same reaction.

TVLINE | Was there a particular character between the two of them or an aspect of one of the characters that you were most excited to dig into?
I don’t know if there was one I was more excited [about] than the other. I think I was more excited about creating a visible difference between them. Before I went up to Vancouver, [Richard and I talked] on the phone a couple times about how we wanted it to feel like they were two different people. And there were some big challenges in that. I don’t want to give anything away. But there are things that are happening in real time between these two characters, and it was very important to me to have a physicality that shows that these are two completely different people, even if they may be sharing or not sharing the same vessel. We didn’t want to rely on special effects to show that. We wanted that to be in performance. The most exciting part of playing this was from a performance standpoint of creating two different characters and being fluid with them. That was pretty awesome, and I hope it came through.

TVLINE | When I talked to Andrew Dabb earlier, he mentioned that Michael and Adam have been trapped in the cage together for a very long time, so their relationship has reached a sort of a peace. How would you describe the dynamic between the two of them in this episode?
I would say it’s brotherly. I know that’s cliché for this show, but it’s also kind of on brand for this show. We’ve been following these two brothers, Sam and Dean, for all these years, and their relationship, which isn’t perfect. … In playing Adam and Michael, it felt sort of like this brotherly bond, where you know there’s an older brother and a younger brother, and what that means, and how they protect each other, and how they have opinions on the other person’s life and life choices. So that was really surprising, and it really fit the themes of the series.

Supernatural Spoilers AdamTVLINE | We have to talk about the other big brotherly relationship, the one between Dean and Sam and Adam. How would you characterize that reunion? And is there a healing that we see in this episode between the three of them?
Yeah, there’s stuff I definitely don’t want to give away, because there’s a certain amount of tension that should be there, and a certain amount of the unknown. Both parties, between Sam and Dean, and Adam and Michael, are kind of walking into a situation where they don’t know if they’re amongst friends or not. Adam’s, potentially, a scary individual because Michael is in him. He’s not just a boy, he’s not just their brother. He’s got this strong force in him. But I think some really important things that need to be said between the brothers, they’re given the chance to say those things. Whether they do or not, we’ll see on Thursday.

Though Chuck's friend list is alarmingly thin these days, portrayer Rob Benedict says he isn't really concerned about Chuck losing Michael's loyalty because he has an even bigger problem on his hands. "I think Chuck is worried about that, but he's also more focused on Sam [Winchester], who he has some sort of connection with [through] these wounds that they both have in their shoulders. That's where Chuck's main focus is right now," Benedict told TV Guide.

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And Chuck has every right to be concerned about that mystical connection to Sam (Jared Padalecki). Their shared gunshot wound, which resulted in a piece of Sam's soul being entrenched in Chuck, allows the floppy-haired Winchester to see all of Chuck's alternate endings to their story, giving the brothers the upper hand in their fight against God. The wound also means that Chuck is the weakest he's ever been, and that's not a position the creator of the universe would like to be in.

"He's really worried about it," Benedict said. "That's the one thing keeping him from being whole right now, so his main objective is to try to remedy that so that he has more power."

Rob Benedict, <em>Supernatural</em>
Rob Benedict, Supernatural

Toward the end of the episode, Chuck tricked Sam and Eileen (Shoshannah Stern) into showing up at an empty garage where they came face to face with the omnipotent being. Though it's unclear why Chuck lured them to the unknown location, Benedict noted the importance of that moment, as it sets up what he described as a "pretty epic" back half of the season, though he admitted he doesn't know how the show is poised to end.

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"What's hilarious is I know very little. I still haven't been told about how it all ends, but I can imagine that there'll be a big standoff. I think it's all leading towards something pretty big," Benedict said. "With all of this tension that's going on now, I hope that this will all lead to a big finish that involves Chuck versus the Winchesters and all of the Winchesters' allies. I think that would be cool and gratifying for the audience and for us to play that out."

Before Supernatural reaches that epic conclusion, though, Benedict said he hopes to see at least one familiar face return. Noting that he loves Mark Pellegrino, who plays Lucifer, he said he also hopes that the final season will allow Emily Swallow to return. "I like the Darkness," he said. "She's my sister. She's one of the only allies I have."

The Supernatural midseason finale finally brought Jake Abel back as Adam and Michael — the two came to an agreement that allows them to share the vessel — and it wasn't exactly a happy family reunion for anyone.

God (Rob Benedict) remains a serious problem for Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles). In fact, he disguises himself as a fellow hunter and lures in Eileen (Shoshannah Stern) and Sam.

But they may have a solution, thanks to Michael, after Castiel (Misha Collins) gives him a firsthand look at what God's been up to. "What was done to the darkness can be done to God," Michael reveals, handing over the spell to Dean and Castiel. Most of the ingredients are easy enough for them to get, but they also need to make a trip to purgatory for the nectar from a Leviathan blossom. Michael opens a door for them for 12 hours.

Before he leaves, he hands over control to Adam at Dean's request. "I want you to know we are sorry," Dean tells his brother. "What happened to you, you're a good man, you didn't deserve that." "Since when do we get what we deserve?" Adam asks before wishing him luck and walking out.

Here, Abel discusses if he'll be back, if we can trust Michael, and the Winchesters' relationship.

This isn't the last we'll see of you as Adam and/or Michael, is it?

Jake Abel: I would be surprised if this was the last we time see Adam and Michael. I know when I was on set, Jared and Jensen had asked me as well if I was going to be back, and I said, "I don't know," and they replied, "Well, we'd be surprised if you wouldn't because you're setting up everything."

What happened in this episode sets up the rest of the season for big things to come. My hope is they're keeping something really special towards the end, but I don't have a solid yes or no.

What are Adam and Michael up to next? Can they leave behind a life involving whatever’s going on with the Winchesters and God?

When I got to the end the first time I read that script, I was reading it on my iPad and I kept trying to flip the page over. I was like, "Certainly, this isn't the end." It felt so incomplete, and for me, that says that the story isn't complete yet. I don't know where they go or what they do, but if there's one thing we know about Supernatural, it's life tends to intervene in characters' lives, even if they want to get away from something. You might be done with the past, but the past is not done with you. While I don't know where they go, I have a distinct feeling that something will intervene in their plan and bring them back into the fold.

How is Michael feeling about God at the end of the episode after getting a firsthand look at what he's been up to? Is he ready to confront him?

I would think he's ready to go confront him, or in his own way, if it's not going straight on ahead. He's pretty smart, he's an angel, he's been around for millennia. I can't believe he wouldn't have some idea, a plan in his mind, to make things right. There's this big theme of atonement and dealing with your past and the sins of the father in the show that can't be avoided. The boys have it. Adam has it. Michael has it. It's going to meet at some point and I hope it's explosive, whatever it is.

How much can we trust what Michael told Dean and Castiel about that spell? After all, he was very loyal to his father seemingly up until that ending and he has his own issues with the Winchesters and angel.

It's like working with spies in a way. You can only have so much trust for each other. You don't know who has what agenda. Everyone's looking out for themselves and if two people have a similar agenda or motive, then they'll team up. You can't rely on trust in this world. You just have to keep moving forward and hope for the best. I have no idea if it's trustworthy or not. We'll see.

Adam got the apology he wanted and needed to hear after all this time, but that doesn't mean he'll forgive the Winchesters, right? What can that relationship realistically be like moving forward?

Anything's possible, family's family. It would take a long time and a lot of therapy to make things cordial between them because Adam seems to be... he's made up his mind. He's had a lot of time to think. But people change and events change people.