It's been a busy few months for Supernatural . The series recently celebrated its 200th episode and last week, it was renewed for Season 11 . The road so far has brought us monsters, demons, angels, and fairy tales. Just this season we've seen Dean and Sam wrestle with Demon Dean and the Mark of Cain, watched Castiel reunite with his human vessel's daughter, and been surprised by the appearance of Crowley's mother. All of those events have had repercussions, particularly the Mark of Cain. The midseason finale of Supernatural brought the Mark into focus as it pushed Dean closer to becoming a monster like the ones the brothers have been fighting for years.

Jensen Ackles in Supernatural

Misha Collins in Supernatural

Jared Padalecki in Supernatural

Mark Sheppard in Supernatural

With new episodes resuming Tuesday night, we spoke to Supernatural's executive producer/showrunner Jeremy Carver about what's next for the characters, the Mark of Cain, and Season 11.Thank you![Laughs] Just towards the end of the season, we'll slip a couple in. [Pauses] That's a joke.We do have an idea where it's going in Season 11. To be perfectly honest, once we realized we were going even further along in the seasons, we stretched out certain things about that arc. We've left some things boiling on the stove which we'll come back to, and we've introduced other storylines. So, in my mind, we've sort of accordioned that arc out a little bit to fill it in with much more story. And it's actually taken us to some really exciting places, so it's been fun.What begins to overtake both Dean and Sam, and Castiel to a certain extent, is how do we keep what happened in episode nine from happening again. How do we keep Dean from getting even worse and keep the Mark from overtaking him once again? That's going to lead both brothers -- together and separately -- going down a lot of roads, associating with a lot of people that they might rather not be associating with, and, to be very frank, taking a lot of risks and chances and maybe doing some unsavory things all in the pursuit of getting rid of this mark.Well, I would say her story is not finished. There was actually a lot hanging in the air so I don't know that we'll see her on a regular basis, but you definitely see her again because her and Castiel's story is far from over.I think, for the most part, heaven is a bit in the same shape that we left at the beginning of the season in that things are largely under control. We do have interactions with heaven. Heaven is a part of the story, but the policies of heaven do not play as heavily into the end of the season as they have recently.Probably in a way that he didn't expect. How do I say this? Castiel's search for his grace will consume part of his efforts for the second part of the season, yes.Yeah, I think when you've got a good friend like this, you're always going to find those spaces to try and carve out some normalcy. I can't deny that there's a lot happening, and there's probably a lot more secrets in terms of who's doing what going into the second half of the season. But yes, in terms of the good, old Dean and Castiel being buds, yes. Those moments are there as well.Yes. The coy answer would be yes, but not in the way you're asking. Sam will have to deal with someone from his past but not necessarily like everyone else. That's the best answer I can give you.He's in a tricky spot here. He's got his mother, who's come into his life. He's not certain that he can trust her. He's not entirely certain what she wants, but she is his mother. And despite the fact that she abandoned him several years ago, or several hundred years ago, there is this pull of family that he can't deny and it leads to a wonderfully complex relationship between these two as they're trying to feel each other out after all these years. And for Rowena, it's certainly getting to the heart of trying to get her son to be this thing he's supposed to be. We all know over the last couple of seasons ever since he took that human blood, he's been, I would say, a not quite as ruthless King of Hell that we've known and she just wants him to be who he is. And watching Crowley struggle with all that is, for my money, one of the great things about the second half of the season.He will absolutely be intertwined in many different ways with what's going on with the boys, no question about it. Yes. It's going to be a very twisty road he and the boys are on the second part of the season.We will. And it's a wonderful episode, and it's very emotional. What transpires between him and Cain will absolutely have a major, major impact on Dean.

Supernatural returns Tuesday, January 20th, at 9:00pm ET/PT on The CW.Amy Ratcliffe is a writer for IGN TV. You can follow her on on Twitter at @Amy_Geek and IGN at alratcliffe