First up, some camouflaged praise: I feel so spoiled this week from all the bonus episodes you have released. It was a LOT of fun!
I am listening to the Destiel edition episode now, and I just got to the point where you mentioned the Then and now podcast. I am listening to it. I started because I was curious and I stayed for the humour. Also Rob is the cutest middle-aged man I know of, haha.
They haven't brought up Destiel specifically, and the way they cover the actual story in the episodes is far from as detailed as you and the other Pod Squad people's method. So if they mention lines it is because it caught their attention. They also personally know the main cast, so I assume that they will see an actor/friend acting instead of being immersed in the story. After all it is a job for them -- though they claim to be on their way to become fans.
While they haven't explicitly discussed Destiel, sometimes they make some mistakes which are very interesting to me (who has a moderate to severe case of spn/destiel brainrot). Rob did refer to Castiel as Castiel Winchester at one point, for example. It was during their usual credits listing at the end of the episode (they included the blooper at the end of the episode).
There are probably other stuff they talk about which is interesting in terms of how much the fandom has influenced their perspectives. But the "Castiel Winchester" one is something I will not forget about. I'll follow up with an episode link (spotify) and a timestamp if I find the will and time to listen through the tail ends of the 11 possible episodes...
I found the episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kXmoqgZstbCdQyDrQBySq?si=de6b8989c40b438a
The credits listing is at 52:31 and you can hear that they cut right after Rob says "Castiel". In the blooper starting at 53:53 he reminds himself that "It's just Castiel. He doesn't have the last name Winchester. Castiel Johnson." I remembered wrong though: Rob doesn't actually say Castiel Winchester, but Rich does (after the static thing which separates bloopers)
Ok so first up, hello! thank you SO much for your message! super glad to know you enjoyed the bonus content, we've been beyond excited to release it :)
Good to know the Then & Now pod is a fun time! I was going to say I was surprised that they don't go into as much depth as the fan run casts but honestly I think that makes a lot of sense when you think about it, at the end of the day we're out to create a different product than they are (I assume their focus probably falls more in the camp of behind the scenes and production discussion rather than more of an analysis on the characters, themes, and plots?). Plus, I think you make a great point about them seeing their friends and co-workers rather than characters, they have an entirely different perspective on the entire process than we do (which is the appeal of getting their thoughts on things like podcasts and panels I guess haha).
When it comes to Destiel, I suppose it's really a waiting game to see if / how they'll address it, lucky we've got plenty of fic & fan run casts to get us through regardless! Tbh I always thought the CW missed out on some really obvious marketing opportunities by not cashing in on Castiel Winchester (CW) being a thing haha
Thank you for taking the time to go back through and find the right episodes and time stamps! you've really put in the hard yards on that one! <3
