#or it ends with proper deconstruction where he tries to implement what should be the best vision and finds more flaws

[ladyluscinia]

I think part of what I'm looking for in man-behind-the-man Crowley betraying the current King of Hell over and over is how compelling the first betrayal would be each time. Because the Winchesters...? They don't really think about it. They figure Crowley has chronic backstabbing disorder and also is against overly destructive evil and just assume of course he'd be against the Big Bad (which makes it thrilling to set up a twist where Crowley has clearly done the math and they lose).

But for Crowley?

One of the pros / requirements to putting Crowley in this role would be the show spending more screentime on hell politics, introducing or expanding on a powerful demon to be his boss and a major antagonist every season or two. And ideally each of these rulers would have different characterizations, priorities, and ruling styles that they'd establish, alongside how Crowley fits into Hell's leadership structure under each regime.

We would get shown hints at the start of each season for what Crowley is going to find objectionable about this ruler. Some would be obvious. From her first second on screen Abaddon would be dismissive of Crowley and maybe kill someone important to Hell's bureaucracy and shrug it off. His jaw would be clenched all interaction and you'd just know he was ready to take any opportunity to move against her.

A different ruler could seem super chummy with him - gives him a high status position, they scheme together over fancy dinners - and it seems like Crowley wouldn't have anything against this one at all, but then you start noticing he doesn't take Crowley's advice and makes stupid decisions instead. You watch as Crowley gets silently fed up, and you know it's inevitable what choice he'll make when one of the idiot's decisions paints a Winchester target on his back.

The big thing, though, in each villain arc, is that the first time Crowley decides this leader doesn't serve his interests and betrays them to the Winchesters, he ensures he'll have to get them killed eventually. He knows that starts the countdown. Loose ends mean it can't end another way. Which makes this a serious and potentially exciting decision for Crowley every time, especially if he's deliberately not aiming for Kingship himself (either due to turnover rate or job satisfaction or extreme caution from a past attempt).

And if he did take the throne eventually? The build up and fake outs leading to that "my turn" moment would be huge.

(And it would set up a very interesting potential deconstruction of Hell arc)