Supernatural asked a pertinent question on the second episode of Season 8: "What's Up, Tiger Mommy?"

And now it's time for our Round Table team of TV Fanatic staffers Sean McKenna, Carla Day and Carissa Pavlica, along with Alice Jester from The Winchester Family Business, to respond to that inquiry and many others.

Read on and jump in to the debate now...

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What was your favorite scene of the episode?
Carissa: It was so simple, but I loved when they opened the door at Kevin's mom's house and as she was squealing her surprise at seeing him Sam and Dean threw holy water on her. It was such a brilliant buzz kill moment and perfectly timed.

Carla: The auction was pretty cool. To see what people were and were not willing to pay for the tablet. As well as to see all those people in one room and not kill each other was impressive.

Alice: Hands down, it was the back and forth between Dean interrogating the man at the jail versus the flashback in Purgatory of Dean getting information from the monster. That scene was shot so well, and editing the two together made it very shocking. I loved the distorted angles focused on Dean’s face in Purgatory, then the cut back to the same angry look present time. I have this feeling if Sam hadn’t been there, Dean would have done the same thing to the prisoner that he ruthlessly did to that monster. Something is very, very wrong with Dean.

Sean: I loved Kevin's mom smacking Crowley in the face. She's a boss.

How great was Kevin's mom?
Carissa: She's perfect! I kinda wish she was the profit instead of Kevin. Would be a cool twist. They did a great job with the Tran family. Fun fact: she was in The Facts of Life almost 30 years ago. What a resume!! I hope we get to see more of her.

Carla: Awesome! She brought a different tone to the episode that was refreshing. I'd love to see her again.

Alice: That’s the strength of Supernatural. They manage to write great guest characters. Lauren Tom was inspired casting. I loved how she punched Crowley.  That’s a feisty momma. Plus, what momma can’t take pain better than her boy?  It’s a job requirement.

Sean: Like I said, I thought she was fantastic. I was expecting her character to be overdone and annoying, but she had so many great lines, she put the boys in their place, and she was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for Kevin. I'm glad they brought her onto the show.

Do you think Crowley's mention of Kevin's "real" dad is important? Who might it be?
Carissa: He's a prophet, so perhaps a fallen angel? One we've already met, Leviathan or Lucifer or maybe one we haven't yet come across?

Carla: Absolutely. Crowley doesn't say things just for fun. And, given his abilities it would make sense for his father to have talents of his own. No clue who it could be.

Alice: I don’t know, I’ve been fooled before. I think they threw that out there just in case the opportunity comes along to introduce Kevin’s Dad. If not, they’ll forget about it like so many other things that never materialized.

Sean: I don't know. He's always throwing stuff out there but it would be interesting if it was someone we knew or something.

Dean's clearly changed from Purgatory, but is he actually willing to let those die that he doesn't need?
Carissa: Not just let them die, but kill them himself. Yes he is.

Carla: Agreed, Carissa. Yes. 

Alice: Yes. At this point, everything is kill or be killed to him. He’s still stuck in survival mode.   He’s even rationalizing it all with “What’s one more nightmare?” I truly wonder if he even needs Sam at this point, but I’m sure part of him is telling him he does. 

This is the parallel of soulless Sam. Warrior Dean, missing the moral compass. It’s very interesting to speculate how Dean is going to find that compass again. One would think it would have to involve Sam, since Dean is the one that went all out to get rid of soulless Sam. I’m just wondering what sort of low he has to hit before finding his way back. He’s a time bomb. 

Sean: Yes, Purgatory's really changed him. It's understandable though living in that war zone. It's going to be hard to come back from that especially now that he's in the real world.

What did you think of the Castiel reunion?
Carissa: Sad. It would be easy to question Castiel's motives after their last few years together (and apart), but I think Castiel was really trying to keep Dean safe this time and Benny being there to rub salt in the wound didn't help at all.

Carla: Castiel has been through so much over the years, some of his own doing, but it was depressing to see him in that state.

Alice: The reunion ties into the words Samandriel said, Castiel cared too much. Was avoiding Dean an act of him caring too much, or him finally realizing he cared too much and couldn’t to survive?  That’s the part of the story that’s yet to play out. I loved that Dean gave Castiel the benefit of the doubt and showed loyalty toward his friend. There even was a hug, despite it being a one sided one.  Castiel definitely isn’t telling the whole story. He had all those monsters inside of him once. He has to know the secrets of the place. The question now is, what motivation is there to lie to Dean?

Sean: I was happy and then sad. Dean just wanted his buddy and Cas seemed like he had given up. Except at the same time he just wanted to help his friend from the Leviathan. I'm excited to learn more.

What did you think of that final flashback of Castiel calling out to Dean?
Carissa: I'm not sure, but if I try to suss it out the odds are pretty good I'll guess wrong. It's likely to be one of those sneaky scenes that when played in full is nothing like what you'd expect (i.e., Dean letting Castiel die a horrible double death by sliding down a hill unaided).

Carla: Misleading. No clue what will happen, but that seemed like a tragic event. I expect that Castiel will be around for a while.

Alice: You’ve got to admit, it’s quite a tease showing that scene right after Kevin told Dean those that are no longer useful to him die. That leaves us to wonder, is Dean just remembering leaving Cas out of guilt or did he truly abandon Castiel for some awful reason? Perhaps he left Castiel behind because he did lie to him? He seemed guilty when talking about Castiel to Samandriel.

Sean: I'm sure in context, it'll play out differently, but it was obviously a reference to Dean letting his friends die. But I think there's more to it and it was a great cliffhanger.