Stream of Consciousness, Epi 9.17
Color me in impressed.
So, if this was the first time Misha Collins directed anything -- and knowing he did so with his two leads not exactly making life easy, or pie-free -- then I'd say he's a natural. It was one of the first times I got lost in the story in quite awhile. In retrospect, it was a bit of a slow-moving episode, but it never felt slow. I didn't look at the clock and think, omg, we're only 20 mins in?? So, kudos to you, you sarcastic, sly philanthropist, you. The only thing I wish, to be honest, is that we would have seen Castiel in this episode. In both of the episodes Jensen directed, Dean still played a pretty decent role. Can't be easy to direct yourself. I would have liked to have seen Cas under Misha's direction.
Actually, having Cas in this episode would have been nice on a couple of counts, but I'll get there in a second. First, I have to say I got caught by the title of this episode: Mother's Little Helper. I mean, on one hand it could apply to Abaddon as she was 'wearing' Mother Superior and conscripting Agnes to be her soul-catcher. But it could also mean Julia in a way. Her big shame was that she said nothing about what she'd witnessed in 1958. I couldn't help but think of the lives she might've saved had her fear not overcome her. If Henry had known about Josie sacrificing herself for him, about Abaddon possessing Josie...he might have been able to prevent the MoL massacre. Abaddon could have been drawn and quartered as the boys did before right there. How much did she 'help' Abaddon with her silence?
Of course, he could have also died a bit earlier than he was destined to, too. I mean, who knows. Still, I couldn't help but think of what might have happened had Henry known. Not that I blame Julia -- her emotion when she said that she became a nun to make the world a better place but was never taught what to do when faced with true evil was really compelling. And I've always loved that actress. As soon as I saw her I was like one of my Aunts with their handkerchiefs: "Oh, would you look who it is; isn't she a dear? I just adore her."
And were you guys as surprised as me to learn that Josie hadn't always been Abaddon? Not only that, but she loved Henry to the point of sacrificing her life for his? I mean, sure, he's a Winchester. Others have made similar sacrifices for Henry's grandsons. But still, that was a pretty big reveal in a very "full circle" way. And saving Henry, ultimately, meant the death of all of the MoLs. It's the ever-returning theme of sacrifice that always hooks me when it comes to this show and our boys.
Speaking of the boys, typically I'm not a proponent for the boys to be separated, but this season, each time it's happened I've found it was for a purpose and I felt it valuable. This time, not only does Dean get the opportunity to spiral (and boy do I have thoughts about that), but Sam gets to be an actual hunter again. Not that he hasn't been with Dean, but he had a different energy knowing he was on his own. He was smart and savvy and prepared and it was good to see that Sam again. I liked that he asked for Dean's help, but sucked it up and moved forward when Dean was basically like, sorry, man, I got my own crap to deal with.
I half expected Sam to get pissy or at least pull a decent bitch-face when Dean didn't boost the nearest car and high-tail it over to Illinois to help him on the hunt. But I was pleasantly surprised when Sam was like, "Okay, be safe," and did what he had to do. However, I will say that while it showed Sam that he could do this on his own, it also showed how lost Dean is -- and Sam doesn't see it...yet.
After all, it was Sam who dictated this type of a relationship between them. He was the one to declare they weren't -- or couldn't be -- brothers. He was the one to insist they keep it "just business." Until he calls a take-back, that's how Dean's going to behave. And not only that, the longer Sam goes with that mind-set, the further Dean's going to fall away from him until it's going to be really freaking hard for Sam to haul him up out of the hole he's tumbling into.
SO, about that nose-dive...Dean is really struggling. While I was pleased that Sam didn't get angry with his brother for expecting Sam to stand on his own in the hunt he'd gone on, I did get frustrated with him for not seeing what was going on with Dean. Of anyone, Sam should recognize the effects of supernatural power on a natural being. He should recognize the power-craving and the reasons for sleeplessness. He should remember the sullen reactions and obsessive behavior. When he asked, "What's going on with you?" I wanted to Gibbs-smack the back of his silky-haired head. What to you think is going on with him?
Sam's no dummy. He was reading up on Cain and Able. There's no way he hasn't read something about the Mark of Cain. He saw what holding the 1st Blade did to Dean. How -- or maybe I should say why -- is he not more worried about this? Why does he not see what we clearly see? I mean, whenever Dean says "I'm fine" -- especially with that rough-assed tone like he's been chewing gravel all day -- it's code for I'm falling apart inside and I don't know how to stop it but I can't figure out how to tell you and I really need you to see it and help put me back together.
That's how it's always been. But...I guess for the most part, Dean's usually found his own internal duct tape, or whatever was broken just healed slightly mis-aligned on its own as he turned his attention to something going on with Sam. I hope that Sam sees what's going on with his brother before Dean gets so far gone that getting him back will take more than a promise and a strong hand. Now...that said? I'm okay with watching how Dean copes with this struggle for awhile longer. Because this is a compelling story, ya'll.
The one thing I wished watching Dean try to figure out where to put what he was feeling, was that he would have called Cas. He couldn't talk to Sam, not about this, not with the whole "not brothers" edict hanging over his head. But he needed a friend. I know why he called Crowley (and then hung up) -- not only does Crowley have the 1st Blade (which is the conscious reason I believe Dean called him), but right now, Dean's feeling like Crowley is the only one in his life who not only gets what he's dealing with (because he was there when he got the Mark) but won't judge him for not being noble and righteous. Right now? From Dean's PoV, Crowley's the only one in his life who doesn't care that he screwed up and was tricked into allowing Gadreel into his brother.
Crowley doesn't care that Dean's "poison" (or thinks he is) -- in fact he embraces that aspect of Dean's personality. He's thriving off of it. Dean couldn't think less of himself right now if he tried and Crowley -- with all his darkness -- is the only one Dean can stand to be around because he thinks less of Crowley than he does of himself. Around everyone else -- especially Sam, right now -- Dean is a screw-up, not worthy. But not around Crowley. Unfortunately, the things that make him 'worthy' in Crowley's eyes are not the things that will save Dean.
That's why I wished Dean would have called Cas when he was shaking from the memory of the Blade's effect on him. He needed someone who would remind him that he is good and kind and brave and selfless and worthy of an angel's friendship. Of a brother's love. He needs his friend Cas to say to him what Cas was so ready to say to Sam: that nothing is worth losing him. I know Cas is dealing with his own drama with the whole angel war and now having angelic minions and whatnot, but I just wish Dean had felt he could reach out to a friend. A real friend.
This is going to sound sadistic and wrong, but I liked that they showed Dean turning to alcohol to quiet the voices in his head. It harkens back to when he returned from Hell. That whole non-coping coping mechanism was just shoved aside when the angel vessel storyline came to the forefront. There was an Apocalypse to worry about; Dean having post-Hell PTSD and becoming an insomniac alcoholic was the least of their worries. But it's his manner of "dealing" with internal battles and overwhelming situations that he has no guidance on how to handle. And I liked the consistency there.
His behavior was very true to character, I thought, from the way he hid it from Sam, to the way you see him feel the liquor go all the way down with that first swallow, helping to muffle the voices and stop the sensation of his skin being stretched too tight across his bones. Even the way he acted basically sober -- if exhausted -- after finishing the whole bottle of whiskey. And his go-to spot was a hole-in-the-wall bar. It was Dean hiding and calling out for help at the same time. And he wouldn't let himself do that when Sam was there, either. Which is another tell.
You're going to think I'm crazy, but it gives me a strange sort of hope. If Dean copes the way he always has, that means he'll try to stop it the way he always has: sacrificing himself. Like the crossroads deal to save Sam. Or showing up at Stull to nearly get beaten to death to save Sam. And if Sam recognizes this, then there's a chance that when it all comes to a head and Abaddon is dead, Sam will be able to save his brother from yet another sacrifice...this time, perhaps, one that could be way worse than "just" his life.
Yeesh -- can you tell I'm digging this storyline's potential? Sorry. Got a little carried away there. Lists!
LOVED:
THEN was basically for all those who haven't tuned in for, well, this entire season. NOW we're in Milton, IL, and some balding dude is watching a golf club infomercial (shoot me now) while snacking on chips or popcorn or something. There are pictures on the wall to Mrs. Young drawn by her first graders. Mrs. Young herself -- Karen, actually, and the crazy thing is, I have an aunt by that name...first and last -- comes home. Her husband demands to know what's for dinner (prompting me to mutter at the TV, are your legs broken? how about you go into the kitchen and figure it out yourself...) and she replies, "Meatloaf."
When he complains, she very calmly and brutally beats him to death. Annnnnd scene.
In the bunker, Dean is searching through a book with the air of someone who has been looking through books for a very, very long time. Sam bounces in all fresh faced and new-hunt jazzed and asks Dean if he's slept, to which Dean replies no. Sam says he guesses he's driving, then. Dean gives him a completely baffled look like he missed a few pages of their script and asks where. Sam tells him about a case he found online where a 1st grade teacher beat her husband to death.
Dean: Maybe she just snapped. Ankle-biters can do that to you.
Sam thinks it's possession, so Dean tells him he should go, and turns back to the papers. Sam, with a very I know I'm playing with fire here but I don't care because I'm freaking bored sigh says, "I want to find Abaddon, too. But we've been combing through this stuff for days."
Dean (moving to a stack of files and going through them, his back to Sam): Maybe we missed something.
Sam: Maybe there are better ways to spend our time.
Dean: Maybe we don't have time.
His voice breaks a bit compelling Sam to cut the crap and actually check on his brother.
Sam: What's up with you?
Dean (his back to Sam, his voice sullen): Nothin'.
Sam: Yeah? Because ever since you killed Magnus you've been acting sort of obsessed.
*biffs him* Hello, Sam! This is your wake-up call. Act now, before it's too late!
Dean (turning to face Sam, looking kind of like, "uh, no duh, Sam"): Maybe because I want an end to this. Maybe because if we find Abaddon and Crowley ponies up the 1st Blade, we kill her and him, both. What you call being obsessed, I call doing my job.
He sounds worn. out.
Sam (giving in/giving up): I get it, Dean. I'm just...checking in.
Dean (sitting back down at the table): I'm fine.
Sam: All right. Hit me up if you find anything.
He leaves and as we hear the big metal door shut, Dean pulls out a bottle of whiskey from a bag on the chair beside him, twists off the cap and flings it across the room on a spin, then takes a long pull and sighs like he can feel this liquor hit every sore spot inside of him. I have to wonder how many "torturer" memories holding that blade triggered for him. He said he was good -- Alistair's star pupil. He hated himself for it. Didn't want to feel a thing. And so he drowned his feelings as long as he could until his job wouldn't let him. But it didn't mean those feelings, those memories went away. And holding the weapon that gave him a rush of power he'd never felt -- made it so easy to kill that bad guy, like he was air -- had to have brought up those memories.
We get a well-meant shot of the Impala on the road, and Sam's in his FBI persona talking to the local cop about the murder. He's getting the low-down on how "straight arrow" the Young's were as he follows the sheriff to the holding cell and finds Karen dead. She'd hung herself with the bedsheets after managing to cut herself and write words in blood all over the walls. Now, the only thing I'd say about that is...it's a police station. All that blood writing took some time. As did the rigging of her sheet noose. And NO ONE saw it?? Tsk Tsk.
Sam digs around some more, finds out only how normal the Young's were according to everyone he talks to, so he calls Dean. He catches him up, says no sulfur, no EMF, etc.
Dean (still at the table, looking like he's pulled another all-niter): What are you still doing there? Sounds like a case of the crazies to me.
Sam: Yeah, if nothing kicks up by morning, I'm outta here. How's research going?
Dean (looks around at the piles of papers a little helplessly): It's...going. (pause) Well, g'luck. (hangs up)
Sam looks part annoyed, part worried when he hangs up, too. This was where I was basically like, "Well, you asked for this, dude. You said no brothers, 'just business' and you got it."
Back at the bunker, though, Dean is in pretty desperate need of his brother. He's staring through the empty whiskey bottle, remembering Cain's warning about the Mark carrying a burden, remembering the rush of power holding the 1st Blade gave him. He grips the table so hard his hand shakes. Forcing himself to release the table, he stares at his hand a moment, then picks up his cell, dials a number and hangs up after the first ring. Suddenly unable to sit there any longer, he grabs his coat and leaves.
Elsewhere (in IL), a kid in his late teens -- Billy, we later learn -- is walking along the side of the road, talking to his girlfriend on the phone about how he got into it with his mom and so he's trying to hitch a ride over to see her. A van pulls up and Billy climbs in, thanking Shady Van Guy for stopping. That's never good. Just then, we hear screaming, see a bright light from inside the van. Oopsie. This has been your anti-hitchhiking public service message, kids. There are people out there who will steal your soul. Literally.
Inside a diner, Sam's just getting his food when Billy walks in looking all broody. The waitress greets him by name, but Billy sits down and proceeds to pick up a handful of left over mashed potatoes from a plate next to him. The waitress calls him on it, but Billy doesn't like that very much.
Billy: DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT.
Sam's all, whoa, dude, dial it down a notch, but the kid is having none of it. He purposely pushes a glass off the counter. The waitress wants to know what's eating him.
Billy: You. My mom. Him.
Sam: Bud. Give it a rest.
The waitress leans over, thinking all she's dealing with is a troubled teen, and tells him she's going to call his mom. Billy's like, no you're not, and proceeds to STAB A KNIFE INTO HER HAND pinning it to the counter. I literally gasped out loud, that took me by such surprise. Billy goes after Sam, but Sam lays the beat-down on the kid, knocking him out with one hard right.
Now, with Billy at the jail, the holding cell is filled with four "straight and narrows" who went buckets of crazy. One is beating his head against the bars until it bleeds, another is cutting himself and writing bloody words on the wall, a third is sitting on the bunk rocking and humming, and then there's Billy. When the Sheriff leaves, Sam tests Billy with holy water and sees he's not possessed. Billy says he's "clear of everything" and is doing what he's doing because he can and wants to. Okay, psycho much?
Sam calls Dean (and it rings a looooong time...making me worried Dean wasn't going to answer). He's looking through files and security cam pics as he talks. Dean, however, is sitting along at a table in a bar, a shot and a beer in front of him. Sam catches him up and says that it's not so much steroids, it's more...basic instinct. The littlest things can set them off. The light bulb goes on then.
Sam: Kinda like me
*cue memories of Soulless!Sam*
Dean: You?
Sam: Uh...soulless me. You remember that?
Dean (humorless huff of a laugh): How could I forget? But...you weren't out of control like these people.
Sam: Maybe everyone has different reactions to losing their soul.
*wonders if that's at all foreshadowing*
Dean guesses maybe a cross-roads demon, but no one is winning the lottery around there. Dean says that was his best guess.
Sam: I hope not, Dean. I could really use your help down here. (silence) Dean?
Dean: Yeah...uh. I, uh...just...I'm getting close, Sam. I can't drop the ball on Abaddon right now.
Sam: All right. Be safe.
They hang up and suddenly Crowley's voice is heard from behind Dean, just over his shoulder like the little devil he is (too bad the angel wasn't on the other side to balance him out), saying, "You're lying to Sam like he's your wife. Which...kind of makes me a mistress." Dean rolls his eyes, already hating himself for that brief moment of weakness where he called Crowley before thinking better of it.
Back in the IL police station, Sam overhears a woman telling the front desk cop that the demons are back. Of course, the cop talks to her like she's a harmless loon, but Sam steps up, shows her his FBI badge and takes her away to talk. After realizing that he wasn't looking at her like she was "nuts on toast" when she mentioned demons, she quickly deduces that he's one of the MoL's -- which sets Sam back on his heels a bit, the fact that she knows what the MoL's are.
Her name is Julia Wilkerson and she's a former nun. She tells Sam that in 1958, two of the MoLs came to the convent where she lived -- Henry...and Josie. You could see the words son of a bitch floating around Sam's head when she said Josie's name. For the sake of time (mine) I'm going to summarize a couple of scenes here in a group, but just know if you're reading this without having first seen the epi that as per usual, the episode shifted between what was going on with Sam and what was going on with Dean.
Basically, back in '58, a nun name Sister Mary Katherine killed two people and then jumped from the bell tower. Two people -- a priest and a nun (Henry and Josie) -- showed up claiming to be from the Office of Inquisition. Julia took them to Mother Superior and Sister Agnes for "approval" and then showed them Mary Katherine's bedroom -- the walls still smeared with blood and the symbol of the Knights of Hell carved into the wall. Henry assumes demonic possession, but both he and Josie look a bit afraid.
That night, Julia hears a noise and goes to investigate even though she's forbidden by the Mother Superior to leave her room after 10. She sees Mother Superior with demon-black eyes, gets knocked out, wakes up in the basement of the convent tied to a chair with a bunch of other people and sees Mother Superior and Agnes drag one of the people back to another room. She can't see what they're doing, but she's terrified. Henry and Josie burst in to save them and begin to exorcise all of the demons from the nuns. However, Mother Superior's demon is, well...superior and not only does the exorcism not work, Henry gets himself thrown against a wall and knocked out. Whoopsie.
The demon in Mother Superior wants to trade up with Henry, but Josie begs the demon to take her instead and spare Henry. She loves him, despite knowing he has a wife and a son and only loves her like a sister. Her sacrifice is noted and the demon says, "Abaddon takes what she wants and right now she wants everything." She black smokes into Josie, tells Agnes to keep doing what she's doing, says she'll destroy the MoL's after she's learned what she can from them, wakes Henry with a believable waver of nervous triumph in her voice, and the rest, as they say, is history.
When Henry and Josie leave, Josie admonishes the nuns to keep what happened quiet -- which is why the poor terrified young nun never said a word and what she's been punishing herself for ever since.
Meanwhile, back in KS, Dean is trying his best to stay buzzed and ignore Crowley, but the demon won't be ignored. He haunts Dean's pool game (and I've already told you how watching Dean play pool...did things to me), endlessly talking about why Dean called and hung up, why he's in this bar and not looking for Abs, etc. He finally lands on the fact that Dean is scared.
Crowley: Cain gave you his Mark for a reason. Rather than embracing it as the gift that it is, you're sulking like you lost your Knuffle Bunny.
Ha! Mo Chuisle loved the Knuffle Bunny books! Still does, truth be told. Even at seven.
Crowley: Why are you fighting what you really are?
Dean (finally looking at Crowley, his eyes dangerous): I'm a hunter.
Crowley: Who's a chip off the old Mark of Cain!
Dean (looking like Crowley was giving him a pretty good reason): When I kill, I kill for a reason.
Crowley: Who are you talking to? I know you're not talking to me. I saw you. I saw the two of you together. Nothing like Ca--What's in that bottle? Delusion? I'm really starting to worry about you, Dean.
Dean: Worry about yourself.
Crowley: Like it or not, we're in this together.
He then tells Dean that he's off to "water the lilies" and before I can get indignant about demons not having that particular human need, Dean is distracted by a young, nervous looking guy holding a rosary at the bar. The guy turned and pulls what's clearly a hunting knife from a sheath beneath his coat and heads after Crowley. Dean stops the hunter before he goes into the bathroom.
Dean: I'm Dean Winchester. And I know a hunter when I see one. You don't want to do what you're about to do.
Hunter: Why's that?
Dean: You're packing a knife to a demon fight and you don't stand a chance.
Hunter: I'll go down swinging.
Dean: Any other day I'd be right there with you, but you gotta trust me on this one.
Hunter: Or...you could grow a pair and come with.
Dean: When he's done with you, he's gonna go after your family, friends, hell, he'll go after your prom date. If you want to damn anyone you've ever loved on the slightest chance you could win, then go right ahead.
The kid relents, saying he has a kid sister who doesn't deserve that, shakes Dean's hand and introduces himself as Jake (I couldn't help but interject mentally "from State Farm") and Dean says he'll see him around. When Jake leaves, Dean pounds on the door and tells Crowley they had to go. Outside, Dean is waiting for Crowley with an impressive scowl folding his mouth into a frown.
Dean: Demons don't take leaks. Next time you want to shoot up, find a better excuse. Thought you were cleaning up your act.
Crowley: I was going to, but after very little soul searching I decided to embrace my addiction. What about you? Takes a junkie to know a junkie. You just want to touch that precious again, don't you?
Dean (shoving the instant, very real need from his expression, his eyes dangerous once more, and his jaw so tight I thought he was going to break teeth): I want to kill Abaddon. That's what I want. Whatever happens with the Blade, I can't worry about that.
Crowley: Whatever helps you sleep at night.
Dean: What I want...what I fear, none of that means squat because this is the one chance that we have to kill Abaddon. I'm all in, no matter the consequences.
Crowley: So the plan remains the same.
Dean says yes, then walks off, curling in against the cold of night and the chill of his apparent new destiny. Any wavering he might have had after feeling the effects of the blade were gone now that Crowley backed his pride into a corner and taunted it with a stick until it came out barking and snapping and daring anyone to call him scared again. Damn if he wasn't going to use the blade to take out Abaddon even if it burned him up from the inside out...even if it destroyed his humanity, at least he will have done what he said he was going to do when he got the Mark in the first place: kill the bitch.
Yeah, Crowley played him once again and this time there was no reveal for Dean to kick himself later. He fought from the ropes and managed to get himself back in the center ring in a fight that could kill him and it's exactly what Crowley wanted. *grits teeth* Man, that demon is a clever bastard. I hope he meets the wrong end of someone's blade before this is all over.
Jake (from State Farm) walks up to Crowley saying that he was afraid Dean had 'made' him, but Crowley rightly says Dean had other things on his mind. And of course Dean saved him, he says. "We're besties. And now, he's ready."
Back in IL, Sam goes to the old convent. At night. Alone. In the dark. With only a flashlight. That's not dangerous at all.
Making his way to the back part of the basement, he sees a shelf with a bunch of glass jars filled with some glowing materials -- souls. He's jumped by Shady Van Guy, but stabs him with the Demon Killing knife (good thing the dude was a demon) and kills him. Just then, a demon nun clocks him good, sending him sprawling and he loses his knife. She picks it up and we see it's Sister Agnes, still doing Abaddon's bidding. She's been mining souls for Abs to turn into demons and create a demon army.
Yeah, that's really not good. Apparently, there are factories all over doing this. Sam gets hit again, but manages to get to his feet and starts to recite an exorcism, but Agnes chokes him until he can't breathe let alone talk. He manages to get his phone from his pocket and plays a recording of the exorcism. Brilliant! She releases him, trying to get to the phone and stop it before it reaches the end, which she does, but Sam manages to get his Demon Killing knife and buh-bye Agnes. Then, he releases the souls from the jars and we see Billy get his groove back and watch the others in the holding cells become themselves again as well.
Now they just have to cope with the fact that they did whatever they did...including writing bloody words on the wall of their cell. Years. Of. Therapy.
Sam says a sweet goodbye to Julia, absolving her of guilt of not telling Henry about Abaddon by saying that what she shared with him saved lives and he couldn't have done it without her. She watches him drive away, remembering how elated Henry had been about saving lives and making a difference with their noble work while Josie looked downright evil with her parting, cold smile.
Back at the bunker, Dean is once more at his table, looking through files and papers when Sam returns. Without much preamble, Sam grabs a beer and a stack of files and takes them to the other table, sitting down to start digging in.
Sam: You were right.
Dean (glancing over): About what?
Sam: Finding Abaddon ASAP. She's mining souls.
Dean (gaping with a W.T.F. expression): Why?
Sam (grimly): To create an army.
Dean looks a bit shell shocked, his shoulders sinking a bit as he looks down at his stack of paper. It's really on them now -- even if Crowley mentally manipulated him into being totally and completely sure that he was going to do this, damn the consequences to himself, now with the soul mining and demon army news from his brother, Dean really is all in.
I just hope they find a way to do it without losing him in the process. And I mean him him. Not just his Dean-shell. But everything that makes him Dean from the childlike sense of humor to the co-dependency issues to his selflessness. His humanity. *pleaseohpleaseohplease*
So, there you go! We have a two week break and the previews I saw had me wishing the time away. Two words: shower. scene.
See ya'll on April 15th!
Slainte!
So, if this was the first time Misha Collins directed anything -- and knowing he did so with his two leads not exactly making life easy, or pie-free -- then I'd say he's a natural. It was one of the first times I got lost in the story in quite awhile. In retrospect, it was a bit of a slow-moving episode, but it never felt slow. I didn't look at the clock and think, omg, we're only 20 mins in?? So, kudos to you, you sarcastic, sly philanthropist, you. The only thing I wish, to be honest, is that we would have seen Castiel in this episode. In both of the episodes Jensen directed, Dean still played a pretty decent role. Can't be easy to direct yourself. I would have liked to have seen Cas under Misha's direction.
Actually, having Cas in this episode would have been nice on a couple of counts, but I'll get there in a second. First, I have to say I got caught by the title of this episode: Mother's Little Helper. I mean, on one hand it could apply to Abaddon as she was 'wearing' Mother Superior and conscripting Agnes to be her soul-catcher. But it could also mean Julia in a way. Her big shame was that she said nothing about what she'd witnessed in 1958. I couldn't help but think of the lives she might've saved had her fear not overcome her. If Henry had known about Josie sacrificing herself for him, about Abaddon possessing Josie...he might have been able to prevent the MoL massacre. Abaddon could have been drawn and quartered as the boys did before right there. How much did she 'help' Abaddon with her silence?
Of course, he could have also died a bit earlier than he was destined to, too. I mean, who knows. Still, I couldn't help but think of what might have happened had Henry known. Not that I blame Julia -- her emotion when she said that she became a nun to make the world a better place but was never taught what to do when faced with true evil was really compelling. And I've always loved that actress. As soon as I saw her I was like one of my Aunts with their handkerchiefs: "Oh, would you look who it is; isn't she a dear? I just adore her."
And were you guys as surprised as me to learn that Josie hadn't always been Abaddon? Not only that, but she loved Henry to the point of sacrificing her life for his? I mean, sure, he's a Winchester. Others have made similar sacrifices for Henry's grandsons. But still, that was a pretty big reveal in a very "full circle" way. And saving Henry, ultimately, meant the death of all of the MoLs. It's the ever-returning theme of sacrifice that always hooks me when it comes to this show and our boys.
Speaking of the boys, typically I'm not a proponent for the boys to be separated, but this season, each time it's happened I've found it was for a purpose and I felt it valuable. This time, not only does Dean get the opportunity to spiral (and boy do I have thoughts about that), but Sam gets to be an actual hunter again. Not that he hasn't been with Dean, but he had a different energy knowing he was on his own. He was smart and savvy and prepared and it was good to see that Sam again. I liked that he asked for Dean's help, but sucked it up and moved forward when Dean was basically like, sorry, man, I got my own crap to deal with.
I half expected Sam to get pissy or at least pull a decent bitch-face when Dean didn't boost the nearest car and high-tail it over to Illinois to help him on the hunt. But I was pleasantly surprised when Sam was like, "Okay, be safe," and did what he had to do. However, I will say that while it showed Sam that he could do this on his own, it also showed how lost Dean is -- and Sam doesn't see it...yet.
After all, it was Sam who dictated this type of a relationship between them. He was the one to declare they weren't -- or couldn't be -- brothers. He was the one to insist they keep it "just business." Until he calls a take-back, that's how Dean's going to behave. And not only that, the longer Sam goes with that mind-set, the further Dean's going to fall away from him until it's going to be really freaking hard for Sam to haul him up out of the hole he's tumbling into.
SO, about that nose-dive...Dean is really struggling. While I was pleased that Sam didn't get angry with his brother for expecting Sam to stand on his own in the hunt he'd gone on, I did get frustrated with him for not seeing what was going on with Dean. Of anyone, Sam should recognize the effects of supernatural power on a natural being. He should recognize the power-craving and the reasons for sleeplessness. He should remember the sullen reactions and obsessive behavior. When he asked, "What's going on with you?" I wanted to Gibbs-smack the back of his silky-haired head. What to you think is going on with him?
Sam's no dummy. He was reading up on Cain and Able. There's no way he hasn't read something about the Mark of Cain. He saw what holding the 1st Blade did to Dean. How -- or maybe I should say why -- is he not more worried about this? Why does he not see what we clearly see? I mean, whenever Dean says "I'm fine" -- especially with that rough-assed tone like he's been chewing gravel all day -- it's code for I'm falling apart inside and I don't know how to stop it but I can't figure out how to tell you and I really need you to see it and help put me back together.
That's how it's always been. But...I guess for the most part, Dean's usually found his own internal duct tape, or whatever was broken just healed slightly mis-aligned on its own as he turned his attention to something going on with Sam. I hope that Sam sees what's going on with his brother before Dean gets so far gone that getting him back will take more than a promise and a strong hand. Now...that said? I'm okay with watching how Dean copes with this struggle for awhile longer. Because this is a compelling story, ya'll.
The one thing I wished watching Dean try to figure out where to put what he was feeling, was that he would have called Cas. He couldn't talk to Sam, not about this, not with the whole "not brothers" edict hanging over his head. But he needed a friend. I know why he called Crowley (and then hung up) -- not only does Crowley have the 1st Blade (which is the conscious reason I believe Dean called him), but right now, Dean's feeling like Crowley is the only one in his life who not only gets what he's dealing with (because he was there when he got the Mark) but won't judge him for not being noble and righteous. Right now? From Dean's PoV, Crowley's the only one in his life who doesn't care that he screwed up and was tricked into allowing Gadreel into his brother.
Crowley doesn't care that Dean's "poison" (or thinks he is) -- in fact he embraces that aspect of Dean's personality. He's thriving off of it. Dean couldn't think less of himself right now if he tried and Crowley -- with all his darkness -- is the only one Dean can stand to be around because he thinks less of Crowley than he does of himself. Around everyone else -- especially Sam, right now -- Dean is a screw-up, not worthy. But not around Crowley. Unfortunately, the things that make him 'worthy' in Crowley's eyes are not the things that will save Dean.
That's why I wished Dean would have called Cas when he was shaking from the memory of the Blade's effect on him. He needed someone who would remind him that he is good and kind and brave and selfless and worthy of an angel's friendship. Of a brother's love. He needs his friend Cas to say to him what Cas was so ready to say to Sam: that nothing is worth losing him. I know Cas is dealing with his own drama with the whole angel war and now having angelic minions and whatnot, but I just wish Dean had felt he could reach out to a friend. A real friend.
This is going to sound sadistic and wrong, but I liked that they showed Dean turning to alcohol to quiet the voices in his head. It harkens back to when he returned from Hell. That whole non-coping coping mechanism was just shoved aside when the angel vessel storyline came to the forefront. There was an Apocalypse to worry about; Dean having post-Hell PTSD and becoming an insomniac alcoholic was the least of their worries. But it's his manner of "dealing" with internal battles and overwhelming situations that he has no guidance on how to handle. And I liked the consistency there.
His behavior was very true to character, I thought, from the way he hid it from Sam, to the way you see him feel the liquor go all the way down with that first swallow, helping to muffle the voices and stop the sensation of his skin being stretched too tight across his bones. Even the way he acted basically sober -- if exhausted -- after finishing the whole bottle of whiskey. And his go-to spot was a hole-in-the-wall bar. It was Dean hiding and calling out for help at the same time. And he wouldn't let himself do that when Sam was there, either. Which is another tell.
You're going to think I'm crazy, but it gives me a strange sort of hope. If Dean copes the way he always has, that means he'll try to stop it the way he always has: sacrificing himself. Like the crossroads deal to save Sam. Or showing up at Stull to nearly get beaten to death to save Sam. And if Sam recognizes this, then there's a chance that when it all comes to a head and Abaddon is dead, Sam will be able to save his brother from yet another sacrifice...this time, perhaps, one that could be way worse than "just" his life.
Yeesh -- can you tell I'm digging this storyline's potential? Sorry. Got a little carried away there. Lists!
LOVED:
- The weary, almost bowed way Dean carried himself -- every glance, every breath transmitting a distress call for anyone tuned to the right frequency. Even the sound of his voice had me wanting to wrap a blanket around him.
- The flashbacks -- Dean of receiving the Mark of Cain and the effect of the 1st Blade, Sam of being soulless. I like when they're quick, like true memories, and I liked the shift in coloring/tone so they even looked like memories
- The way Dean looked through the empty whiskey bottle, gripping the table until his hand shook.
- Dean. Playing. Pool. I mean, did you see the way he racked those balls? Yes, okay, I know. I heard it as soon as I said it. STILL! There was something about that whole scene with him and the pool table that just...*bites lip*. Plus also, brooding Dean playing pool reminded me a bit of brooding Alec (from Dark Angel) playing pool. *nice*
- The fact that Sam kept calling Dean throughout his initial part of the hunt and that Dean picked up each time. I was honestly worried he wouldn't.
- Smart Sam being smart and recording an exorcism on his phone -- for those inconvenient times when a demon is choking you and you can't speak. I love when he's clever like that.
- Dean saving fake!hunter Jake. I mean, even though we found out later that he was part of Crowley's Crew, and even though Dean also saved Crowley (I mean, he couldn't exactly let the only one who knows where the 1st Blade is get killed) with his actions, I liked seeing him step in and save who he thought was a young hunter from being squashed by the King of Hell. Especially when his primary concern seemed to be that when he killed, he killed for a reason.
- Ex-Sister Julia. She was a good character and it was good for Sam to be the one to encounter her.
- Sam releasing the souls. Plus also the cool, glowy effect of the souls themselves.
- Seeing Henry again. I liked having more of his MoL background.
- The fact that soulless!Billy's attack on the waitress made me literally gasp out loud.
- Guys, there are no mountains between Kansas and Illinois. I love the shots of the Impala roaring down the road, but seeing that gorgeous mountain vista had me cracking up. Rolling hills? Sure. Mountains? Not so much.
- So, I guess Dean got the Impala buffed out and repainted, huh? I didn't see any Enochian threats scratched into her side when Sam drove her to Milton.
- Is anyone else intrigued by what triggers them to think supernatural and not sociopath when they see reports online like a teacher killing her husband? Even if she did -- literally -- beat him to a pulp.
- I've actually lost track -- do you guys remember if Castiel knows about Dean having the Mark of Cain?
- In a universe where there are soul-stealing "factories" resulting in soulless!sociopath humans and where Heaven is closed to all souls...I would think the mayhem would be over the top. I wonder if that's something that will come into play in the last 6 episodes...or this spin-off...or in S10.
THEN was basically for all those who haven't tuned in for, well, this entire season. NOW we're in Milton, IL, and some balding dude is watching a golf club infomercial (shoot me now) while snacking on chips or popcorn or something. There are pictures on the wall to Mrs. Young drawn by her first graders. Mrs. Young herself -- Karen, actually, and the crazy thing is, I have an aunt by that name...first and last -- comes home. Her husband demands to know what's for dinner (prompting me to mutter at the TV, are your legs broken? how about you go into the kitchen and figure it out yourself...) and she replies, "Meatloaf."
When he complains, she very calmly and brutally beats him to death. Annnnnd scene.
In the bunker, Dean is searching through a book with the air of someone who has been looking through books for a very, very long time. Sam bounces in all fresh faced and new-hunt jazzed and asks Dean if he's slept, to which Dean replies no. Sam says he guesses he's driving, then. Dean gives him a completely baffled look like he missed a few pages of their script and asks where. Sam tells him about a case he found online where a 1st grade teacher beat her husband to death.
Dean: Maybe she just snapped. Ankle-biters can do that to you.
Sam thinks it's possession, so Dean tells him he should go, and turns back to the papers. Sam, with a very I know I'm playing with fire here but I don't care because I'm freaking bored sigh says, "I want to find Abaddon, too. But we've been combing through this stuff for days."
Dean (moving to a stack of files and going through them, his back to Sam): Maybe we missed something.
Sam: Maybe there are better ways to spend our time.
Dean: Maybe we don't have time.
His voice breaks a bit compelling Sam to cut the crap and actually check on his brother.
Sam: What's up with you?
Dean (his back to Sam, his voice sullen): Nothin'.
Sam: Yeah? Because ever since you killed Magnus you've been acting sort of obsessed.
*biffs him* Hello, Sam! This is your wake-up call. Act now, before it's too late!
Dean (turning to face Sam, looking kind of like, "uh, no duh, Sam"): Maybe because I want an end to this. Maybe because if we find Abaddon and Crowley ponies up the 1st Blade, we kill her and him, both. What you call being obsessed, I call doing my job.
He sounds worn. out.
Sam (giving in/giving up): I get it, Dean. I'm just...checking in.
Dean (sitting back down at the table): I'm fine.
Sam: All right. Hit me up if you find anything.
He leaves and as we hear the big metal door shut, Dean pulls out a bottle of whiskey from a bag on the chair beside him, twists off the cap and flings it across the room on a spin, then takes a long pull and sighs like he can feel this liquor hit every sore spot inside of him. I have to wonder how many "torturer" memories holding that blade triggered for him. He said he was good -- Alistair's star pupil. He hated himself for it. Didn't want to feel a thing. And so he drowned his feelings as long as he could until his job wouldn't let him. But it didn't mean those feelings, those memories went away. And holding the weapon that gave him a rush of power he'd never felt -- made it so easy to kill that bad guy, like he was air -- had to have brought up those memories.
We get a well-meant shot of the Impala on the road, and Sam's in his FBI persona talking to the local cop about the murder. He's getting the low-down on how "straight arrow" the Young's were as he follows the sheriff to the holding cell and finds Karen dead. She'd hung herself with the bedsheets after managing to cut herself and write words in blood all over the walls. Now, the only thing I'd say about that is...it's a police station. All that blood writing took some time. As did the rigging of her sheet noose. And NO ONE saw it?? Tsk Tsk.
Sam digs around some more, finds out only how normal the Young's were according to everyone he talks to, so he calls Dean. He catches him up, says no sulfur, no EMF, etc.
Dean (still at the table, looking like he's pulled another all-niter): What are you still doing there? Sounds like a case of the crazies to me.
Sam: Yeah, if nothing kicks up by morning, I'm outta here. How's research going?
Dean (looks around at the piles of papers a little helplessly): It's...going. (pause) Well, g'luck. (hangs up)
Sam looks part annoyed, part worried when he hangs up, too. This was where I was basically like, "Well, you asked for this, dude. You said no brothers, 'just business' and you got it."
Back at the bunker, though, Dean is in pretty desperate need of his brother. He's staring through the empty whiskey bottle, remembering Cain's warning about the Mark carrying a burden, remembering the rush of power holding the 1st Blade gave him. He grips the table so hard his hand shakes. Forcing himself to release the table, he stares at his hand a moment, then picks up his cell, dials a number and hangs up after the first ring. Suddenly unable to sit there any longer, he grabs his coat and leaves.
Elsewhere (in IL), a kid in his late teens -- Billy, we later learn -- is walking along the side of the road, talking to his girlfriend on the phone about how he got into it with his mom and so he's trying to hitch a ride over to see her. A van pulls up and Billy climbs in, thanking Shady Van Guy for stopping. That's never good. Just then, we hear screaming, see a bright light from inside the van. Oopsie. This has been your anti-hitchhiking public service message, kids. There are people out there who will steal your soul. Literally.
Inside a diner, Sam's just getting his food when Billy walks in looking all broody. The waitress greets him by name, but Billy sits down and proceeds to pick up a handful of left over mashed potatoes from a plate next to him. The waitress calls him on it, but Billy doesn't like that very much.
Billy: DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT.
Sam's all, whoa, dude, dial it down a notch, but the kid is having none of it. He purposely pushes a glass off the counter. The waitress wants to know what's eating him.
Billy: You. My mom. Him.
Sam: Bud. Give it a rest.
The waitress leans over, thinking all she's dealing with is a troubled teen, and tells him she's going to call his mom. Billy's like, no you're not, and proceeds to STAB A KNIFE INTO HER HAND pinning it to the counter. I literally gasped out loud, that took me by such surprise. Billy goes after Sam, but Sam lays the beat-down on the kid, knocking him out with one hard right.
Now, with Billy at the jail, the holding cell is filled with four "straight and narrows" who went buckets of crazy. One is beating his head against the bars until it bleeds, another is cutting himself and writing bloody words on the wall, a third is sitting on the bunk rocking and humming, and then there's Billy. When the Sheriff leaves, Sam tests Billy with holy water and sees he's not possessed. Billy says he's "clear of everything" and is doing what he's doing because he can and wants to. Okay, psycho much?
Sam calls Dean (and it rings a looooong time...making me worried Dean wasn't going to answer). He's looking through files and security cam pics as he talks. Dean, however, is sitting along at a table in a bar, a shot and a beer in front of him. Sam catches him up and says that it's not so much steroids, it's more...basic instinct. The littlest things can set them off. The light bulb goes on then.
Sam: Kinda like me
*cue memories of Soulless!Sam*
Dean: You?
Sam: Uh...soulless me. You remember that?
Dean (humorless huff of a laugh): How could I forget? But...you weren't out of control like these people.
Sam: Maybe everyone has different reactions to losing their soul.
*wonders if that's at all foreshadowing*
Dean guesses maybe a cross-roads demon, but no one is winning the lottery around there. Dean says that was his best guess.
Sam: I hope not, Dean. I could really use your help down here. (silence) Dean?
Dean: Yeah...uh. I, uh...just...I'm getting close, Sam. I can't drop the ball on Abaddon right now.
Sam: All right. Be safe.
They hang up and suddenly Crowley's voice is heard from behind Dean, just over his shoulder like the little devil he is (too bad the angel wasn't on the other side to balance him out), saying, "You're lying to Sam like he's your wife. Which...kind of makes me a mistress." Dean rolls his eyes, already hating himself for that brief moment of weakness where he called Crowley before thinking better of it.
Back in the IL police station, Sam overhears a woman telling the front desk cop that the demons are back. Of course, the cop talks to her like she's a harmless loon, but Sam steps up, shows her his FBI badge and takes her away to talk. After realizing that he wasn't looking at her like she was "nuts on toast" when she mentioned demons, she quickly deduces that he's one of the MoL's -- which sets Sam back on his heels a bit, the fact that she knows what the MoL's are.
Her name is Julia Wilkerson and she's a former nun. She tells Sam that in 1958, two of the MoLs came to the convent where she lived -- Henry...and Josie. You could see the words son of a bitch floating around Sam's head when she said Josie's name. For the sake of time (mine) I'm going to summarize a couple of scenes here in a group, but just know if you're reading this without having first seen the epi that as per usual, the episode shifted between what was going on with Sam and what was going on with Dean.
Basically, back in '58, a nun name Sister Mary Katherine killed two people and then jumped from the bell tower. Two people -- a priest and a nun (Henry and Josie) -- showed up claiming to be from the Office of Inquisition. Julia took them to Mother Superior and Sister Agnes for "approval" and then showed them Mary Katherine's bedroom -- the walls still smeared with blood and the symbol of the Knights of Hell carved into the wall. Henry assumes demonic possession, but both he and Josie look a bit afraid.
That night, Julia hears a noise and goes to investigate even though she's forbidden by the Mother Superior to leave her room after 10. She sees Mother Superior with demon-black eyes, gets knocked out, wakes up in the basement of the convent tied to a chair with a bunch of other people and sees Mother Superior and Agnes drag one of the people back to another room. She can't see what they're doing, but she's terrified. Henry and Josie burst in to save them and begin to exorcise all of the demons from the nuns. However, Mother Superior's demon is, well...superior and not only does the exorcism not work, Henry gets himself thrown against a wall and knocked out. Whoopsie.
The demon in Mother Superior wants to trade up with Henry, but Josie begs the demon to take her instead and spare Henry. She loves him, despite knowing he has a wife and a son and only loves her like a sister. Her sacrifice is noted and the demon says, "Abaddon takes what she wants and right now she wants everything." She black smokes into Josie, tells Agnes to keep doing what she's doing, says she'll destroy the MoL's after she's learned what she can from them, wakes Henry with a believable waver of nervous triumph in her voice, and the rest, as they say, is history.
When Henry and Josie leave, Josie admonishes the nuns to keep what happened quiet -- which is why the poor terrified young nun never said a word and what she's been punishing herself for ever since.
Meanwhile, back in KS, Dean is trying his best to stay buzzed and ignore Crowley, but the demon won't be ignored. He haunts Dean's pool game (and I've already told you how watching Dean play pool...did things to me), endlessly talking about why Dean called and hung up, why he's in this bar and not looking for Abs, etc. He finally lands on the fact that Dean is scared.
Crowley: Cain gave you his Mark for a reason. Rather than embracing it as the gift that it is, you're sulking like you lost your Knuffle Bunny.
Ha! Mo Chuisle loved the Knuffle Bunny books! Still does, truth be told. Even at seven.
Crowley: Why are you fighting what you really are?
Dean (finally looking at Crowley, his eyes dangerous): I'm a hunter.
Crowley: Who's a chip off the old Mark of Cain!
Dean (looking like Crowley was giving him a pretty good reason): When I kill, I kill for a reason.
Crowley: Who are you talking to? I know you're not talking to me. I saw you. I saw the two of you together. Nothing like Ca--What's in that bottle? Delusion? I'm really starting to worry about you, Dean.
Dean: Worry about yourself.
Crowley: Like it or not, we're in this together.
He then tells Dean that he's off to "water the lilies" and before I can get indignant about demons not having that particular human need, Dean is distracted by a young, nervous looking guy holding a rosary at the bar. The guy turned and pulls what's clearly a hunting knife from a sheath beneath his coat and heads after Crowley. Dean stops the hunter before he goes into the bathroom.
Dean: I'm Dean Winchester. And I know a hunter when I see one. You don't want to do what you're about to do.
Hunter: Why's that?
Dean: You're packing a knife to a demon fight and you don't stand a chance.
Hunter: I'll go down swinging.
Dean: Any other day I'd be right there with you, but you gotta trust me on this one.
Hunter: Or...you could grow a pair and come with.
Dean: When he's done with you, he's gonna go after your family, friends, hell, he'll go after your prom date. If you want to damn anyone you've ever loved on the slightest chance you could win, then go right ahead.
The kid relents, saying he has a kid sister who doesn't deserve that, shakes Dean's hand and introduces himself as Jake (I couldn't help but interject mentally "from State Farm") and Dean says he'll see him around. When Jake leaves, Dean pounds on the door and tells Crowley they had to go. Outside, Dean is waiting for Crowley with an impressive scowl folding his mouth into a frown.
Dean: Demons don't take leaks. Next time you want to shoot up, find a better excuse. Thought you were cleaning up your act.
Crowley: I was going to, but after very little soul searching I decided to embrace my addiction. What about you? Takes a junkie to know a junkie. You just want to touch that precious again, don't you?
Dean (shoving the instant, very real need from his expression, his eyes dangerous once more, and his jaw so tight I thought he was going to break teeth): I want to kill Abaddon. That's what I want. Whatever happens with the Blade, I can't worry about that.
Crowley: Whatever helps you sleep at night.
Dean: What I want...what I fear, none of that means squat because this is the one chance that we have to kill Abaddon. I'm all in, no matter the consequences.
Crowley: So the plan remains the same.
Dean says yes, then walks off, curling in against the cold of night and the chill of his apparent new destiny. Any wavering he might have had after feeling the effects of the blade were gone now that Crowley backed his pride into a corner and taunted it with a stick until it came out barking and snapping and daring anyone to call him scared again. Damn if he wasn't going to use the blade to take out Abaddon even if it burned him up from the inside out...even if it destroyed his humanity, at least he will have done what he said he was going to do when he got the Mark in the first place: kill the bitch.
Yeah, Crowley played him once again and this time there was no reveal for Dean to kick himself later. He fought from the ropes and managed to get himself back in the center ring in a fight that could kill him and it's exactly what Crowley wanted. *grits teeth* Man, that demon is a clever bastard. I hope he meets the wrong end of someone's blade before this is all over.
Jake (from State Farm) walks up to Crowley saying that he was afraid Dean had 'made' him, but Crowley rightly says Dean had other things on his mind. And of course Dean saved him, he says. "We're besties. And now, he's ready."
Back in IL, Sam goes to the old convent. At night. Alone. In the dark. With only a flashlight. That's not dangerous at all.
Making his way to the back part of the basement, he sees a shelf with a bunch of glass jars filled with some glowing materials -- souls. He's jumped by Shady Van Guy, but stabs him with the Demon Killing knife (good thing the dude was a demon) and kills him. Just then, a demon nun clocks him good, sending him sprawling and he loses his knife. She picks it up and we see it's Sister Agnes, still doing Abaddon's bidding. She's been mining souls for Abs to turn into demons and create a demon army.
Yeah, that's really not good. Apparently, there are factories all over doing this. Sam gets hit again, but manages to get to his feet and starts to recite an exorcism, but Agnes chokes him until he can't breathe let alone talk. He manages to get his phone from his pocket and plays a recording of the exorcism. Brilliant! She releases him, trying to get to the phone and stop it before it reaches the end, which she does, but Sam manages to get his Demon Killing knife and buh-bye Agnes. Then, he releases the souls from the jars and we see Billy get his groove back and watch the others in the holding cells become themselves again as well.
Now they just have to cope with the fact that they did whatever they did...including writing bloody words on the wall of their cell. Years. Of. Therapy.
Sam says a sweet goodbye to Julia, absolving her of guilt of not telling Henry about Abaddon by saying that what she shared with him saved lives and he couldn't have done it without her. She watches him drive away, remembering how elated Henry had been about saving lives and making a difference with their noble work while Josie looked downright evil with her parting, cold smile.
Back at the bunker, Dean is once more at his table, looking through files and papers when Sam returns. Without much preamble, Sam grabs a beer and a stack of files and takes them to the other table, sitting down to start digging in.
Sam: You were right.
Dean (glancing over): About what?
Sam: Finding Abaddon ASAP. She's mining souls.
Dean (gaping with a W.T.F. expression): Why?
Sam (grimly): To create an army.
Dean looks a bit shell shocked, his shoulders sinking a bit as he looks down at his stack of paper. It's really on them now -- even if Crowley mentally manipulated him into being totally and completely sure that he was going to do this, damn the consequences to himself, now with the soul mining and demon army news from his brother, Dean really is all in.
I just hope they find a way to do it without losing him in the process. And I mean him him. Not just his Dean-shell. But everything that makes him Dean from the childlike sense of humor to the co-dependency issues to his selflessness. His humanity. *pleaseohpleaseohplease*
So, there you go! We have a two week break and the previews I saw had me wishing the time away. Two words: shower. scene.
See ya'll on April 15th!
Slainte!