From MadCap's Couch - Supernatural: "Sin City"

"She asked me if I wanted a copy of the Watchtower. How could I say no, am I right?"

Alright, new series time.

Spin City was a sitcom that starred Michael J. Fox as Michael Flaherty, the Deputy Mayor of New York City. In working as a spin doctor for the bumbling mayor, played by Barry Bostwick, Flaherty often neglects his personal life and that leads to unexpected and wild consequences...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry, folks. He did it again. We got him his actual notes.

... well, now I just feel silly. I knew I didn't write anything for that.

We begin Sin City with - what else? - a recap. The Devil's Gate opening, Yellow Eyes taunting Dean over the possibility that Sam might not be 100% Sam anymore, Ruby and her offer to help Sam, and... the Colt.

After said recap, a nun and a priest - Father Gil - speak briefly before a man named Andy makes himself known, claiming that God is no longer with them and that he won't help them. Then he proceeds to blow his own brains out.

"Blue and yellow make green, that's how I know it's closed!"

Elsewhere, Dean and Bobby are working on taking the Colt apart to figure out how it works. Sam has found the lead about the suicide and, after patronizing Bobby warmly over his efforts to restore the Colt, head out. They come to the church, speaking to the Priest as insurance investigators. Father Gil talks about how the town used to be a place people could be proud of, but everything changed. Andy in particular seems to have changed entirely... as if someone had just flipped a switch. The same goes for another murder in a hobby shop. Gil narrows it down to about two months ago when the changes began... the same time the Devil's Gate was opened.

Sam and Dean find themselves at a rat trap motel and find a hunter named Richie, who is paying his "sister" Cheryl. Richie apparently worked with Dean on a previous job taking down a succubus, a supernatural creature that never really comes up again all that much... weirdly enough. Richie has been following the same leads on Sam and Dean and thinking that the demons are possessing people, but being unable to prove it. Richie is able to point them in the direction of Trotter, a man who was the Head of the local Rotary Club and brought a bunch of gambling and other vices to town for profit.

Dean is enamored with their surroundings, of course, and Sam cockblocks as necessary to keep his mind on the job. At a bar, the bartender - Casey - catches Dean's eye, although Richie says he's got her locked down for later. They find the Father at the bar, apparently going to where his flock can be found. At a pool table, a man shoots another man and nearly blows his own brains out only to be stopped by Dean and Sam, Sam sprinkling some holy water and getting no reaction... although Trotter looks on menacingly and Sam takes notice.

Oh and as an aside, Trotter is the late, great Don S. Davis, who you might remember as Major General George S. Hammond from Stargate SG-1. Sadly, Davis passed away back in 2008, which makes this one of the last productions he was involved in while still alive.

In the chaos after the issue, they find that Richie is gone... to Casey's, where she's lured him into the basement and reveals that she knows he's a hunter and that she's a demon. She snaps his neck and brings an end to his sleazy reign of terror.

At the bar, Dean is getting more worried about Richie not answering his calls. Sam, meanwhile, decides to go after Trotter.

Ruby wished she'd worn a different shirt today.

Elsewhere, Bobby is testing the Colt and finds that it works quite well as a gun. Ruby arrives and offers a target - namely herself - and they find it doesn't come up to snuff when killing demons. Ruby offers Bobby help in getting the gun working again...

At the bar, Dean gets approached by a prostitute and sends her off, much to the amusement of Casey and she picks him up rather than the other way around. Sam breaks into Trotter's office to try and find some evidence of demonic activity, getting into a tousle with the man's muscle and then sprinkling him with holy water... which does nothing but confuse Trotter. Sam, being an awkward bean, quickly GTFO's after the necessary amount of levity is given.

In the basement, where it looks like Dean and Casey are about to get hot and heavy, Dean pulls the rug out from under her...literally, as he's come ahead of time, given Richie a proper burial, and set up a Devil's Trap in the center of the room. Dean pulls out an exorcism book and Casey manages to conjure a wind to cast the book and the pages from his hands and trap him in the basement with her by collapsing the only way in or out. Dean lights a few candles and tries to make the best of the situation, trying to do the exorcism from memory... but not quite being able to come out with the correct incantation.

The two get to talking, Casey telling Dean that he and Sam are famous among the demons. Also, she has someone coming to get her.

The prostitute from earlier gets the brush off from Sam and after an exchange with another bartender learns that Dean left with Casey and he even gives Sam the address for the extra money.

Casey reveals the big twist of the episode - she had lunch with Trotter. The businesses built up and people came in droves to fulfill their vices. That's all. All the deaths have nothing to do with demonic activity at all, no demonic interference whatsoever. Human beings, she claims, are weak and that's why the demons are eventually going to win.

While Sam finds sulfur at Casey's place and goes back to the bar to enlist the help of Father Gil, Dean and Casey wax philosophic. Casey mentions the difference between demons and humans as far as their theologies go. Casey drops a very important part of Supernatural lore going forward - the (at least some) demons worship Lucifer, the fallen angel. However, it's not known whether or not Lucifer is real, but Casey maintains faith in the story and some of the others do as well.

As the conversation turns to it, Dean asks Casey about Hell and she lays it out straight to him: it's Hell. Why would demons want to come to Earth otherwise?

"Oh, hang on. I'm just putting my contacts in..."

As Sam and Gil leave the bar, we get an aside where Sam doesn't see his eyes turning demonic black for a fraction of a second.

In the darkness of the basement, the Dean and Casey discussion continues. Casey tells Dean that she thinks him making the deal to save Sam is pretty noble, but cuts to the quick of his issues with it as he denies that he has any issue with having a year to live. Some more banter and discussion, we learn that Yellow Eyes has a name - Azazel - and that Azazel's plan was for Sam to take the lead of a demonic army. When it didn't, everything fell into chaos. Casey was apparently one of the demons ready and willing to follow Sam, something that surprises Dean.

After a bit of discussion with Father Gil about his future that totally shouldn't tip Sam off to something being up, they arrive and find Dean trapped in the basement. When Sam mentions he's with Gil, Casey looks delighted and this alerts him and Dean both. Bobby arrives with the restored Colt and misses a shot on the Gil before giving it to Sam.

Gil tears through the debris barricade to get into the basement and it appears that the demons possessing him and Casey are, in fact, lovers and have been so throughout the centuries. He breaks the Devil's Trap and frees her. As Gil begins to choke Dean, Casey begging him to let him go and for them to leave, Sam busts in and shoots the man with the Colt. He turns on Casey, and Dean half a second too slow shouts for Sam to wait and Sam kills Casey as well.

For our wrap up, Dean and Bobby discuss the futility of their struggle. Even if they send demons back, people are still people and don't necessarily need the help to be corrupted to evil. Unfortunately, as Bobby puts it, humans aren't their job. Dean expresses some worry about Sam's condition, telling Bobby what Azazel said about Sam not being 100% Sam anymore. Bobby believes the demon is lying, but it's vague as to how much he believes of that and how much he's saying that to placate Dean.

Dean, himself, doesn't seem convinced.

Ruby pops into the hotel room to pep talk Sam, who is not at all happy with her and even threatens her with the Colt. Her dangling the promise of helping Dean avoid Hell, however, gets him to lower the gun. Ruby tells him that there's a lot of toil in his future, things that will go against his better nature, things that they'll need to do because they're in a war. However, she'll be there with him the whole time... that little fallen angel on his shoulder. As he turns away from her, the look on her face shifts to something dark... menacing, even...

If Sam had pulled the trigger, he would have saved himself a lot of trouble in the long run.
Alas...

Sin City is a great little episode. It furthers the season arc in some big ways as well as contributing to the overall lore of the series in even bigger ways. We get the name of Yellow Eyes, we get the first direct mention of Lucifer and his place within the demonic hierarchy as well as some mention of his origins as the most beautiful of God's angels. We also get the first signs outside of just Ruby that not all demons are necessarily evil. Apart from the bodies of the Father and Casey, the demons don't seem to have actually done anything apart from having a conversation with a prominent businessman in town.

Of course, these are demons and Casey could very easily be an unreliable narrator, but we have nothing to suggest that she is lying at least from the evidence we have on hand. The fact that people are willingly doing things like committing murder or suicide as well points to this being the case. All they needed was a push in the right direction. Is Casey right about humans? I don't know, this is a review show, not a philosophical discussion. Personally, I'm inclined to say no, but the people of the town are showing otherwise and making a very strong case for Casey's point.

As far as reviewing goes, I enjoyed Sin City for the reasons I've stated so far. It works well and enriches and adds a few more wrinkles into the canon of the show, in ways that aren't immediately apparent yet and won't be for a while. Next time, however, we'll be out of Horror Month and switching gears to something a little more... whimsical. It's time for some Bedtime Stories...