‘Supernatural’ season 9 spoilers: How Jensen Ackles’ Dean may rely on … Crowley?

Going into the second half of “Supernatural” season 9, it feels pretty clear that from the perspective of Jensen Ackles’ character of Dean, there is one thing that he must try to accomplish: Finding a way to save his brother Sam from everything that could befall him … that is, if Sam is still even in there. The last time we saw him in “Holy Terror,” he seemed to be fully possessed by Gadreel, and the man that was once in there was lost.

Is there still hope? That is what “Road Trip,” the show’s first episode back airing on January 14, is going to address. In the first synopsis for the episode (per Hypable), you can get an opportunity to really see just what is going to be coming up for the characters:

“Dean (Jensen Ackles) is devastated after Kevin’s death and vows to find the angel that killed him, not only to free Sam (Jared Padalecki), but to seek revenge. Castiel (Misha Collins) arrives at the bunker and suggests they try to separate Sam’s brain from the angel’s so they can talk to Sam and have him expel Gadreel. However, there’s one small problem: the only person who knows how to do that is Crowley (Mark Sheppard).”

So herein lies the all-familiar problem for our hero: He has to rely on the enemy to do something that he wants. Who thinks that Crowley is going to go along with that without asking for something in return? He’s a very particular man, and Crowley also happens at this point to be a man who there have been many favors asked of already. Sooner or later, he may run out and just decide to throw the Winchester brothers to the wolves. The only real motivation that we can think of is that it can’t be good for him to have anyone starting to create a new regime in Heaven; his best bet may be to help now, defect later, and try to ensure that chaos remains.

How do you think Crowley is going to react to a possible Dean request here, and how long are you willing to see Sam and Dean separated on the show? Sound off below.