It’s been a tough season for Supernatural fans. On top of losing one fan-favorite character in the season premiere (Castiel, played by Misha Collins), viewers also had to watch as the series’ proverbial patriarch, Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver), was given a choice of either dying peacefully or sticking around to become a ghost.

Thankfully, whatever Bobby’s decision turned out to be (we still have to find out), executive producer Robert Singer revealed that “he’ll be back in one form or another.” What does that mean? Well, when it comes to Supernatural, anything is possible (and probable).

Of course, if Singer’s ambiguity isn't enough to have you excited about Bobby’s return “in one form or another, showrunner Sera Gamble details what would happen, based on the decision Bobby made:

So one of the questions we are left with is, ‘Did Bobby move on or didn’t he?’ The great thing about the show is none of these options preclude seeing Jim Beaver again at some point down the line. We can always flash back to an earlier time in their lives, we can send them to Heaven at some point, or we can say that he made the morally ambiguous decision and became a ghost and we can explore those consequences.

And what about the angel-turned-God-turned-Leviathan-vessel, Castiel? When will we next hear the dulcet tones of an (hopefully no longer crazed) angel? The CW has already confirmed that Castiel will be making his return this March, in episode 17 of the season – and that he’ll be stick around for two additional episodes.

Supernatural - Castiel

While recently speaking with Zap2It, Jared Padalecki revealed that the episode in which Castiel will return is also the episode in which Sam (Padalecki) goes crazy, and that it will be Dean (Jensen Ackles) who has to handle the return of their monotone friend:

We've seen Sam wrestle with visions of Lucifer, and now it's Dean's turn to have that kind of a story. We'll see Dean struggle to wrap his head around the Castiel issue. He's like, 'How do we forgive this guy? How do we trust him? That's how we got hurt; that's how we got burned.' Dean's once bitten, twice shy. We'll see him wrestle with some of his own demons.

While not much else is known about Castiel’s return, Singer did explain that when Sam and Dean reunite with their angelic partner, that "it happens by a sure twist of fate and the Cas that they find is not exactly the Cas that left them.” Considering the Cas that left them did so by melting away into a pool of black goo, I think it’s fair to say that any type of human-form will be welcomed with open arms. Well, open-ish – there needs to be a reasonable explanation. Well... at least reasonable–ish.

That being said, the question many may be asking is why Supernatural would temporarily remove Bobby and Castiel from the series in the first place. While jokingly providing an answer, Singer said that “we try to kill all the characters that are loved.

Supernatural - Bobby Singer

Continuing, Singer explained even further what their intentions are for this season:

This whole idea this year for the arc for the boys is that they would slowly become more isolated losing Cas, losing Bobby, and they didn't have these backstops and they're alone and hunted. And we just wanted to see what that would do to their characters. And we love Jim, but that just seemed like a logical extension of where we're taking the guys. But there are some surprises in the last few episodes that I think people will be happy with.

After 7 years on the air, let’s hope that Singer knows the Supernatural audience enough to know what they will be happy with towards the end of this season. That being said, it’s fair to assume a lack of Bobby and/or Castiel as the series continues is not something that will leave fans happy.

With The CW strongly hinting that Supernatural Season 8 is likely to occur, one begins to wonder what the future holds… and who exactly will be involved. Already two years past Eric Kripke’s original plan for the series, it would be difficult to envision the show without all of the familiar supporting characters. Even though the intention this season was to isolate Sam and Dean, one could argue that one of the elements about the series that fans love is how Sam and Dean are almost always isolated - and yet, they are still part of this ever-expanding world of supernatural frights, which includes all of the additional characters fans have grown to love.

Taking into account the fact that most of Supernatural's additional characters are now dead, are you for Bobby and Castiel sticking around for a bit?

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Supernatural airs Friday @9pm on The CW

Follow Anthony on Twitter @anthonyocasio

Source: E! Online, Zap2It, Entertainment Weekly