postmodernmulticoloredcloak:

Have you noticed how during the conversation with Sam at the beginning of the episode Dean is framed with the dark silhouette of a head (an empty soldier’s helm, in fact) with a halo-like light above, and the scene is intertwined with the first shots of Cas in his cell, the only figure in light over a dark background?

There’s literally the absence of Cas behind Dean, and the absence of a “location” around Cas. It’s almost like you’re supposed to take Cas (who’s “nowhere”) and insert him in the bunker.