The writers initially intended that Sam would save Dean from Hell, possibly even before "No Rest for the Wicked", by giving in to his demonic powers and becoming "this fully operational dark force" who would then want to go after Lilith. The battle would have been "much more climactic", with the Winchesters "going to war to save Dean's life". By the middle of the season, however, the writers realized the costs associated with depicting such an engagement and scaled it down. To make matters worse, the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike prevented them from fleshing out Sam's evolving abilities throughout the season, and his entire story arc was pushed back into the fourth season. With Sam's storyline no longer dovetailing with Dean's, the writers "[never had] any doubt in [their] minds" to send Dean to Hell. Kripke disliked that the second-season finale "just ended", and he felt that this episode provided a cliffhanger ending that had people "biting their nails". Although the viewers' expectations that Dean would be saved was "reason enough", his imprisonment in Hell also served as a "turning point" for both the character and the series. Kripke commented, "You need huge moves to happen that can cause radical shifts in the characters, that set them off in a new direction. So what happens to Dean in Hell and how Dean gets out become primary concerns of season four."