Like Crowley would have been back this year? Maybe for once it will stick.
It will stick because of the actor himself, who confirmed numerous times that he doesn't want to come back (and thank God for him) ; if the writers would have their way they'd bring him back too for sure. But they're not getting Crowley back.
Season 13 has been absolute garbage as far as I'm concerned, happily veering into self-parody and cheesy fanfiction every couple of episodes.
Pacing was horrendous, the bad guys were
extremely underwhelming, the plot was messy and unfocused, and the only new good thing they were able to create, Jack, was grossly underused. They also still don't know what the fuck to do with Mary. As for Sam and Dean, their character arcs started decently then completely disappeared after the midseason finale. The number of useless character returns has gone through the fucking roof, the worst of them all being Gabriel, who was brought back for no reason at all and got offed in the lamest way possible.
There was a shocking lack of consistency in the writing, with story bits being introduced then either killed very shortly after or never mentioned again, jarring tonal shifts within a single scene, numerous failed attempts at comedy bits, and the usual plot contrivances and shitting all over canon.
Also the directing was terrible on several occasions, including the finale (that awkward wired fight scene and the freeze-frame cliffhanger... yikes).
I'm still finding reasons to be optimistic about season 14, though. Killing Lucifer is a huge step in the right direction. as the character was a fucking cancer on the show, a bad sitcom reject constantly hogging screen time while never brining anything new to the table.
Ending the alternate universe storyline is also a good call, as they did nothing interesting with it in season 13. It actually felt like a shitty 90s SF show more often than not.
Keeping Jack for another season is great too.
Having 20 episodes instead of 23 might help thighten up the narrative a bit.
Lastly, having one of the brothers be the center of the story. While the story in question isn't exactly groundbreaking or original, having Sam and Dean truly involved in it is the only way to make in interesting.