Fresh off its renewal for a 12th season, Supernatural season 11, episode 16, “Safe House,” flashes back to a case set during season 5.
The synopsis for Supernatural season 11, episode 16, “Safe House,” reads:
“JIM BEAVER RETURNS — A dangerous creature is accidentally released into an old house, attacking a mother and her child, leaving them both in a coma. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) learn that Bobby (guest star Jim Beaver) and Rufus (guest star Steven Williams) once tracked the same entity so the Winchesters look to the past to come up with a plan to catch the monster before any one dies. Stefan Pleszczynski directed the episode written by Robbie Thompson.”
“I’m so excited about [the episode],” Williams tells Examiner. “Just delighted that they found a way to create [Rufus and Bobby’s] presence again. And, we’ve still got many more possibilities.”
He adds, “This is done in a flashback fashion. It’s about a case that the boys run across that Bobby and I worked years ago. The boys are in the present working the case, accompanied by a journal of Rufus’. It’s a comparison about how they handle the case and how we handled it back then. Obviously we botched it up a bit because the case is still alive.”
The Rufus-Bobby dynamic is “supposed to be two grumpy old men,” Williams tells EW. “It’s like a love-hate relationship. It’s like a bromance with a fist fight in the middle of it,” he laughs.
“Rufus was kind of a mentor [to Bobby],” Williams explains. “I like to think Rufus is a little bit lighter because Jim [Beaver] was doing grumpy old man so well that I’m not going to try and match this cat doing grumpy old man, I’m just going to be a person who annoys the hell out of him. I think that’s what it is, like hunter and pest,” he jokes.
Rufus died in season 6’s “And Then There Were None” while Bobby was last seen being confronted by angels in his heaven after helping break Metatron out to help the Winchesters.
Finally, we also have a clip from the episode: