The article implied it would be pretty much immediate. I doubt the separation will be more than one episode. That would break from SPN tradition anyway, since each time the series has ended with Sam and Dean separated, they were reunited right away.
Actually, each time Sam and Dean have been separated in general has ended with an almost immediate reunion. 4.21-4.22 was about a half episode in length, 5.02's departure was longer, lasting until 5.04, but 5.03 and 5.04 were back to back with no time past between them, so it wasn't that long of a break. Dean was immediately resurrected in S4 after his death in the S3 finale, RoboSam found a reason to go after Dean in the first S6 episode. I don't see any reason to doubt that they'll repeat that pattern this time either.
And even if they do, they could give us something about Dean. And yet there's been complete silence, save that he and Sam will be united soon.
Re: question about Sam and season 8.
The article implied it would be pretty much immediate. I doubt the separation will be more than one episode. That would break from SPN tradition anyway, since each time the series has ended with Sam and Dean separated, they were reunited right away.
Actually, each time Sam and Dean have been separated in general has ended with an almost immediate reunion. 4.21-4.22 was about a half episode in length, 5.02's departure was longer, lasting until 5.04, but 5.03 and 5.04 were back to back with no time past between them, so it wasn't that long of a break. Dean was immediately resurrected in S4 after his death in the S3 finale, RoboSam found a reason to go after Dean in the first S6 episode. I don't see any reason to doubt that they'll repeat that pattern this time either.
And even if they do, they could give us something about Dean. And yet there's been complete silence, save that he and Sam will be united soon.