Actor Jared Padalecki says the upcoming season of Supernatural will be intense.

“What’s been wonderful and a real blessing from the character’s perspective over the last few years is that we’ve accumulated these friends and this angel [Castiel] who can get us out of tight spots,” Padalecki told Entertainment Weekly. “And now we’re gradually losing touch with all of these. Hunters are being killed off, we lost this angel on our shoulders. So now we see the boys in a position that they’ve been in before, but usually they’ve had more artillery at their disposal.”

Padalecki added that viewers will see Sam “losing it” as his memories of Hell return.

“He doesn’t know if he can trust himself and he has such self-doubt that it’s crippling,” said the actor. “It’s difficult on Dean [and] it’s difficult on Bobby (Jim Beaver) because he can’t be a help to them if he can’t be a help to himself.”

He also suggested that the Winchester brothers will have an “intense” confrontation with their former ally Castiel (Misha Collins), following his transformation into a vengeful god.

“One of the writers mentioned how power corrupts, and we see Castiel with absolute power,” he explained. “We don’t take it lightly what he can do. So we try to go full steam.”

Padelecki says that he knows the seventh year series faces some still time slot competition this year from Fringe and Grimm. However, he says both shows can “bring it on.”

“Maybe I should be worried about it, but I take it as a compliment,” he said. “A lot of these supernatural shows come and go. [Though] I do watch Fringe and Josh [Jackson] is a buddy.”