Finally saw it! **kicks DVR; gives thanks to online streaming**
Can I just say I literally cried out "YAY!!!" when Gabriel appeared? I was pretty sure it would turn out as it did, but even so, YAY!!!
And Metatron as Anti-Chuck? Fantastic!
I'm also not quite sure what the endpoint is supposed to be here; Metatron's got the angel tablet and the key to Heaven, with no other angels there to bother him. So...now what? Is Metatron just bored, like any writer would be after finishing a story? Is all of this just because he has to tell a story, and he's picked up the Winchesters because it's what Chuck had done? (Pulp stuff, indeed; loved the "God published His first draft" comment -- if that's not a nod to Chuck, I don't know what is.)
So, recap:
Abbadon and Crowley are fighting over the keys to Hell.
Cas is gathering an army to fight for the keys to Heaven.
The Winchesters are going to help Crowley and Cas because A) Abbadon is capital-e Evil and Metatron has a God complex that's leaving angels and humans slaughtered in his wake.
Okay, got it.
I'm still hopeful that this season will end with Dean/Cain -- insane from wielding the First Blade -- killing Sam, and Sam waking up back in the Cage. Fingers, toes, and halos crossed...