In an new interview, showrunner Sera Gamble discusses the latest developments in Supernatural and why she’s made controversial decisions about the characters, and also looks ahead to the rest of the season: will there be romance? How is Misha Collins returning? What’s with the clowns and unicorns?

It was made clear in last week’s episode that Bobby is indeed gone from the show, the way of every single other major player aside from the Winchester brothers. When asked why this had to happen, Sera Gamble tells Zap2It:

One of the big themes this season and challenges for Sam and Dean has been about taking away the tools that they’ve come to rely on and the support system that they’ve come to rely on. We didn’t have that big of a pool to draw on to begin with. This show is pretty famous for killing people off. It’s a precedent that was set pretty early on.

But now there’s no one left for them to care about! Don’t worry, says Sera, they’ll be bringing back Frank (aka. Bobby 2.0) and Garth, as well as introducing a new potentially recurring character:

You’ll meet a woman who is sort of a helper to hunters. Her name is Nora Havelock, who Sam and Dean knew many years ago. She’s introduced in an episode that’s about revisiting a case they worked a few years ago. Our philosophy hasn’t changed in that if we write a character and we like them, we’ll continue to explore them.

As for romance, it’s not looking bright for the boys either:

There’s no lasting love interests for them in season 7. They don’t have time, they’re busy, and they are in no emotional state for any kind of conventional love interest.

But hey! At least Misha Collins is returning as Castiel right? Well, not quite. “I can tell you that you will see Misha Collins again soon,” Sera says cryptically, insinuating that he will in fact not be playing Cas. The fact that Misha is returning, not Castiel, is already confusing enough considering that the vessel was destroyed in the season premiere – but this is Supernatural, so who knows.

We’ll see Sam dealing with his memories of hell soon too. And finally, the show is planning an episode exploring your worst fears. But in a fun way:

An upcoming episode takes place at a Chuck-E-Cheese type place. One of those birthday party pizza place, slash stop-bugging-your-parents-for-ten-minutes places. They pick up a case that takes place at Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie, and Sam has terrible childhood memories of this place. It’s just full of clown imagery.

Sounds like a bundle of laughs all around! Read the full interview here at Zap2It.