Can I just say YESYESYES to all of you points? I was so incredibly appalled by the torture scene. (And I got the impression we were supposed to... cheer on, because Bobby is so hard-boiled? Or something.) Demons still use vessels, right? And I just ranted far too long to my sister about Bobby's Speeches *laughes*. I wanted to hug Sam for his "You just have to ask", wtf Bobby wtf. Giving Dean some answers is the least he could do after that year, I'm surprised Dean is still on speaking terms at all.
And yes, I loved that little shared look between Sam and Dean. I hope they'll build on that.
I also enjoyed the continuity with the flight but yeah, it would be too much of a hurdle (wouldn't their mugshots and fingerprints still be in some databases, too?).
I'm also not a fan of suprise!lore, I get the impression they are telling us a lot of tragedy could have been averted if evereyone just did their research properly. Uh?

Stop trying to make sense of this show, brain.