Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire

Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire is the season premiere of Season 11. It aired on October 7th, 2015.

Summary
THE WINCHESTERS FACE THEIR BIGGEST THREAT EVER — Picking up where the finale left off, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) must deal with the Darkness that has been unleashed. Castiel (Misha Collins) deals with the effects of Rowena’s (Ruth Connell) spell and recalls his brutal battle with Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard).

Characters
Main Cast
 * Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
 * Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
 * Misha Collins as Castiel
 * Mark Sheppard as Crowley

Recurring Cast

 * Emily Swallow as Amara
 * Lacy J. Mailey as Jenna Nickerson
 * Dylan Archambault as Efram
 * Albert Nicholas as Jonah

Guest Cast

 * Lee Shorten as Minion
 * Aaron Hill as Mike Schneider
 * Kristen Robek as Marnie/Crowley
 * Jillian Fargey as Deb

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * The Darkness
 * Rabids
 * Demons
 * Angels

Continuity

 * This episode continues from where Brother's Keeper ended.
 * With the episode picking up from where the Season 10 finale ended, this will mean that Brother's Keeper, Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire, and Form and Void will make up a 3 part episode.
 * Castiel is still under the effects of Rowena's attack dog spell.

Trivia

 * With this episode (the 219th episode overall of the series) Supernatural becomes The CW's longest running series.
 * This episode is named after the song "Out of the Darkness" performed by Moxy.
 * The episode title is a play on the phrase, Out of the pan, into the fire, denoting a situation going from bad to worse.
 * The Darkness has been locked away for so long, she did not even know who, or even what, Death was and as such did not even bat an eye at Dean's threat to kill her.
 * Sam's heartfelt speech to Dean in the hospital invokes the sentiment of a quote Dean himself once told Sam, the iconic "Saving people, hunting things" from Season 1.
 * It is ironic that the Darkness claimed to have not felt this "peaceful" in a long time given that it is the original personification of primordial chaos and madness.
 * This episode marks the first time since their imprisonment that both Lucifer and Michael have actively sought to communicate with the world from within their cage.
 * The Darkness itself bears the Mark of Cain.
 * This is the first episode Dean doesn't have the Mark of Cain on his arm since Road Trip.
 * The conversation between Dean and the Darkness officially confirms that the Darkness is in fact not immortal, rather it is amortal, that is something that cannot be killed because it was never alive.

Music

 * Run Through the Jungle by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
 * It's Not Unusual by Tom Jones.