Not only will finding the First Blade be tough, but it looks like Sam and Dean still have a lot of personal drama to deal with.

In light of events on Supernatural Season 9 Episode 16, I recently spoke over the phone with ​Supernatural showrunner Jeremy Carver about Dean's journey with the Mark of Cain, casting Snooki and whether or not the Winchesters can possibly repair the rift in their relationship.

Read on to find out what's in store for the rest of Supernatural Season 9...

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Congrats on getting Supernatural Season 10. Did you always think about Supernatural Season 9 playing into Supernatural Season 10 or were you going at it on a season by season basis?

I certainly never thought Season 9 would be the end, so, yes, we had one eye on the future also.

What do you think makes the Sam and Dean drama so different this season than previous seasons?

They’ve had arguments, they’ve had secrets, and it’s really the types of arguments and secrets. In terms of the secret Dean was keeping from Sam earlier in the season that he was being possessed by an angel, that’s pretty enormous.

And it feels like the things that were said recently in [Supernatural Season 9 Episode 13 and Supernatural Season 9 Episode 14] cut a little deeper than we have in the past. Sam said some brutally honest things to his brother, and there’s not such an obvious way to turn this plane up as it were. They’re going to have to do some real soul searching to figure out how to repair this rift.

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What can we expect to see from Dean the longer he has the Mark of Cain?

Well, I think that’s a storyline that’s really going to jump off starting this week, when for the first time, he’s going to be in the same vicinity as the First Blade.

Was it always going to be Dean, rather than Sam, who received the Mark of Cain?

It felt very appropriate in this circumstance that it would be Dean.

Will we see Cain again?

Well, Cain is out there, and this is Supernatural…

So how did casting Snooki on Supernatural come about?

When you see it you’ll understand. She was really pretty perfect for it and a wonderful sport about playing a sort-of version of herself. She allowed us to have some fun, and she had some fun too. It was great and turned out really well.

Will the character of God ever appear on the show or do you prefer leaving him as something other characters just talk about?

I think the show has had success so far in not casting anyone to play the role of God. It can be a bit tricky, but I think for the time being, he’s better spoken of than seen.

Was there anything that surprised you about working on this season?

Yeah, I think the fans joke about it and we sometimes joke about it, in terms of how many times can the boys get into a fight with each other. But the fact of the matter is there’s so many good secrets to hold. And in all seriousness, it surprised even us in how much scar tissue there is between these guys. And when they’re really letting it fly from the hip, how much is left to be said in terms of possible resentments.

No one more than myself and the rest of the staff here cares more about how much these guys love each other, but it is pretty remarkable the ways that they can find to hurt each other. And we’ve surprised ourselves with the depths of that.

Castiel’s gained a new group of followers. How much are going to delve into his new role?

We are in the sense that once Cas decided to become an angel again, he wasn’t quite prepared for what putting both feet back into the fire meant. And he’s a guy who sees himself as a soldier first rather than a leader. He’s taken a turn at the helm and it hasn’t gone very well, so this idea that folks want to follow him is incredibly daunting to him. It’s going to take a lot more than a couple of people showing up in front of him asking him to lead for him to actually take on that mantle.

What can you tease about what's in store for the rest of Supernatural Season 9?

In the next couple of episodes, we’re going to see some cool different aspects of digging into the past with the Men of Letters. It’s a piece of mythology that keeps on providing rich veins [of story] as it were. We’re going to see some familiar faces such as Henry Winchester.

We’re going to see Jodi Mills again. And we got to find a way for these two brothers to repair this relationship, and I think that will intertwine with a bunch of crazy stuff.

Sean McKenna was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. He retired in May of 2017. Follow him on Twitter.