Happy Birthday, Sam. <3
For Sam's birthday, finchandsparrow and I watched 2x12 "Nightshifter" and 4x13 "After School Special" in his honor, and I love. Sam and Dean. So, so, so, so, so, so, so much. Absolutely no one is doing it like them. We had a bunch of thoughts that I said we should save, but then I proceeded to not save them (Teleparty doesn't save its chats as far as I know).
But what a lot of it came down to was thinking about 2x12 in the context of the rest of the season. It's not something I've had nearly enough occasion to do, just because S1/2 are so episodic they lend themselves to thinking about the episodes in that way, rather than thinking about the fascia, whereas in the later seasons the fascia is usually the best and most interesting part.
Like, we were thinking about the ways that knowing they were wanted by the FBI and had Victor Henricksen on their tail would color 2x14 "Born Under a Bad Sign." Sam GOES MISSING while they are wanted by the FBI, and also his body is committing a bunch of crimes (and Meg doesn't care one iota about low profiles)--and how would it feel to know that not only is Sam gone, but that he is gone not only in the context of visions and special children and maybe having to kill him if he can't save him, but also with the FBI in the mix? And having that threat always breathing down your neck as you, too, are trying to track someone down.
I wasn't in the fandom while S2 was airing, and while I've written and read my fair share of S2 fic, I can't help but imagine, starry-eyed, the potential for all that tagfic in between episodes as they aired.