Last time, we took another look into the world where Sam Winchester had shot the demon Azazel dead when the latter had possessed John Winchester during the events of Devil's Trap. On the latest part, Dean once more made the deal that would see Sam resurrected after being killed and the brothers teamed up with Bobby, Jo, and Ellen to stop Lilith and Ansem from opening the Devil's Gate.
As in the OT... they failed.
Also, it seems there's already some interplay between Heaven and Hell, as Lilith met with a grumpy Raphael to tell him that things were indeed back on schedule.
So... what happens next? Let's take a look!
We pick up with the boys and company in this universe's The Magnificent Seven, which will play out pretty much the same way as it did in the OT - up to and including the introduction of Ruby.
This will continue into The Kids Are Alright, but stops at A Bad Day at Black Rock, where we see the first of a few changes to events. If you recall, Dean blew Gordon's head off back in Part 2, meaning that he is not alive to tell Kubrick, Cready, or any other hunters that Sam Winchester is the anti-Christ, which will save the boys a fair bit of trouble moving forward.
What it doesn't do, however, is spare them from running into Bela. However, besides the lack of Gordon, the episode would otherwise play out largely the same, up to and including the boys being left caught with the bag when Bela steals the lotto tickets from Dean's jacket.
Yep. Dean Winchester is a real, live vampire.
...well, undead vampire, but you get my meaning.
As you can expect, this goes a ways of changing where things are going. Rather than having to deal with a souped up vampire Gordon, Sam fights and ends up tranquilizing a souped up vampire Dean. Hauling ass back to Bobby's in the hopes of finding a cure, we miss out on the events of A Very Supernatural Christmas due to Sam and Bobby holing up and trying to find a cure for Dean's condition - all the while keeping Dean under heavy tranquilizers in Bobby's panic room so that he doesn't get the chance to kill again.
This leads to Ruby being summoned by Sam as - after a month - they are running out of options and all their leads have led to dead ends. Ruby agrees to help, but when she learns that Dean has already drank human blood, she gives him and Bobby the bad news - it's too late. Unlike the werewolf myth of killing the werewolf that bit you severing the bloodline, once a vampire has drank their first drop of human blood, the only known cure is death.
Instead, she decides to bring up the next best alternative - a vampire who has mastered her hunger and is known for trying to teach other vampires to do the same thing.
That's right... it's Lenore, the same vampire whose nest that Dean and Gordon destroyed the previous year. She is, at first, terrified at what she is dealing with. However, with the compassion with which she has brought other vampires to her line of thinking, she agrees to help Dean.
Dean is woken up and - after a brief fight that ends with him taking a bag full of cattle blood right to the mouth - Lenore begins his training.
This leads to a discussion between Sam and Bobby where they debate whether or not they made the right choice, allowing Dean to live on as a monster. In the end, Sam decides that they did, but Bobby is not convinced. There's also the question as to whether or not Dean's deal is still on under the circumstances, but they have no proof one way or another.
Ruby returns, pointing Sam in the direction of a new job without fully realizing what's going on with it. Sam, assured by Lenore that she is capable of handling Dean, goes and begins to investigate solo (or so he thinks - Ruby is not far behind).
While this is happening, Dean begins training under Lenore to get better control over his hunger. The opening steps are frustrating and he fails not a few times as he seems determined to just give in. Despite what he's done to her family, however, Lenore refuses to give up on him which - Dean being Dean - frustrates him even more. However, we start to see the first hints of a sort of bond develop between the two. Friendship? Romantic? Otherwise? Time will tell...
Back at the plot, Ruby tries to convince Sam to get the hell out of dodge when she realizes what they're up against, and Sam ignores her and gets himself into trouble again. As in the OT, however, the witch book club gets broken up and the demon is killed off - this time by Sam.
We miss out on Ruby giving the "I remember what it was like to be human" speech, but Sam already seems convinced that Ruby is... mostly... on their side, so it isn't as necessary.
Also, as we know from Season 4 in the OT, we know that that is an outright stinking lie... something I'll get into when we get to Lucifer Rising in my reviews.
Dream a Little Dream of Me plays out a wee bit differently. For one, Dean is still in Bobby's lockup with Lenore, so it's Sam and Ruby that come to check up on the comatose Bobby. Because Ruby is more in tune with magic than the brothers Winchester, Bela doesn't have to be called to get the Dreamroot and thus the Colt and its new bullets are not taken by Bela to give to Lilith. Other than that, the same beats play out just with Sam getting the focus rather than Dean.
Dean, meanwhile, reveals to Lenore a secret that he's been keeping - he's having nightmares of Hell.
Mystery Spot sees Dean back in action for the first time since being turned. He manages well enough, at least until the killing starts. Rather like in another what if scenario that we'll be getting back to at another time, Dean gets killed on a loop by the Trickster... and gets back up due to his vampiric nature. After the first loop, however, the Trickster has caught onto the little problem and cures Dean of his vampirism!
In short, Gabriel's a dick!
Jus in Bello doesn't happen in this timeline due to Bela not having the Colt, and thus not being able to trick Sam and Dean into being captured by the FBI. So, Henrikson and the people at that police station remain among the living! ...also, Sam and Dean remain wanted by the FBI. We'll be getting back to this in due time. Of note, Sam and Dean do not learn the name of the demon gunning for Sam - Lilith.
Ghostfacers likewise is completely different, in that the Ghostfacers are now very, very dead at the hands of Freemon Daggett. Sir, we salute your commitment to getting rid of very, very annoying side characters! God bless!
Long-Distance Call plays out much like it does in the OT. Lenore is along for the ride, trying to keep a level head on Dean and eventually assisting in taking down the crocotta - able to figure out that it's Clark by his scent and saving us the trouble of having Sam captured and needing to Glenn his way into killing the monster of the week. The end of episode stinger has Dean wondering if the real John would have helped him, knowing what he is now. Sam tells him that John would have done so, but Dean is... unconvinced. Either way, just to hedge their bets, they're going to find the demon that holds Dean's deal and end it once and for all.
Again, Time Is On My Side goes roughly the same, save for us not getting an introduction to Rufus and no backstory given on Bela. She manages to get the drop on Sam and Dean in their motel room, injuring Dean's right shoulder with a gunshot before Sam disarms her of her gun. With her tied to a chair, the pair interrogate her as to who put her up to killing them given that they've had less interaction in this universe and even saved her from an incredibly violent and unpleasant death. Bela explains her situation, having made a deal with the demon Lilith - the demon who holds all the deals. What for? She doesn't say, though we see some of the same flashbacks from the actual episode.
The boys attempt to get her to safety, using goofer dust and salt to try and keep the hellhounds at bay. Eventually, however, worse comes to worse. Bela dies screaming, in agony, as her body is torn apart by the hellhounds - Sam and Dean driving away as they watch it happen in the mirror, and they know what's coming for Dean...
No Rest for the Wicked sees them hunting down Lilith with extra help. Lenore agrees to come and assist where she can, both as a friend and as a mentor to Dean given his vampiric nature. Plus, it's never a bad idea to have an experienced badass in your corner. Sam and Dean pull the same trick with Ruby to get her knife, although Sam seems a bit too eager to pick up on Ruby's plan of using... whatever he is... to fight Lilith. Speaking of experienced badasses, they also call up Ellen for a little extra backup and we get the first mention of Jo being in Michigan... and from what Ellen says, we can infer that she isn't hunting anymore.
After what she's been through in this timeline, I can't say I blame her.
They get to New Harmony and, as in the OT, shit goes down in the biggest way. The demons swarm, Lilith possesses the little girl and then later Ruby. Dean, as in the OT, gets torn apart by Hell Hounds while a tearful Sam and Lenore watch. Lilith escapes, leaving Ruby's host body seemingly dead. Lenore, however, recognizes something... because Dean's head was not cut off, he begins to regenerate. His vampiric nature, it seems, has rendered him unable to be killed by the Hell Hounds. And thus, the day is saved!
...or so it seems.
Elsewhere, as they did at the end of the previous season, the chief forces of Heaven and Hell meet once more.
In a formerly very ritzy hotel ballroom, a brunette little girl is found wandering around by the lone security guard. She insists that she's waiting for "The bestest friend of all [her] friends!" and she can't leave until he gets here. The guard plans to call in assistance... and the girl's eyes roll back to reveal their milky white hues and we hear a wet, crunchy sound as he's torn apart off-screen in a way that splatters blood all over the little girl's dress.
Sometime later, a familiar archangel arrives - Raphael. Lilith gleefully licks the security guard's blood off of her fingers as she greets him.
RAPHAEL: You had a task to perform, Lilith. Why is Dean Winchester still alive?
LILITH: One of her children got their fangs into his neck. I can't claim his soul.
RAPHAEL: ...how?!
LILITH: The boys are hunters. They hunt things. This one just happened to hunt them.
RAPHAEL: We must have Dean Winchester in Hell or this entire plan is ruined. 'And it is written, the first seal shall be broken-'
LILITH: '-when a righteous man sheds blood in Hell.' Blah, blah, blah! I've heard it, you winged rat! And I know the part I have to play in it! If his little brother hadn't tried to bleed me like a stuck pig, I would have had him!
RAPHAEL: Your failures in this regard are disappointing, to say the least, Lilith. Perhaps I should ask Michael to come and speak to you?
LILITH: [visibly afraid] ...I can fix this.
RAPHAEL: No. I think you have done enough. It's our turn, now. And I have just the angel in mind to finish the job. You should focus on your end of things.
LILITH: I will... if you and the boys upstairs are sure you're ready for this.
RAPHAEL: We have been ready for millennia, Lilith.
And with the fluttering of wings, Raphael is gone and Lilith is left sitting alone in that dilapidated hotel ballroom.
But we aren't quite finished yet. Given that in the OT, we never actually saw Ruby's original host body's actual death (though she is presumed dead), I decided to throw a little bit of a wild card in here. In a hospital room in Indiana, the young blonde woman is comatose after the ordeal her body was put through. When she awakens with a start, she has no memory of who she is... but knows that she has to find Sam Winchester and has to save him, before she does what she plans to do to him...
...and that's where we're ending off with Part 5! Season 3 is in the can in both the reviews and in this new universe. Things are going off the rails for Heaven and Hell thanks to the actions of Dixon during Fresh Blood and it seems they're scrambling to get their plan back on track. With the addition of Lenore as an ally to Team Winchester, Ruby being MIA, and Heaven finally deciding to get the ball rolling on correcting a mistake.
Also, who is the she that Ruby's former host is worried about? Who is the she that Lilith was talking about?You'll have to wait for Part 6, likely to come during Horror Month 2024!
Next time, we'll be glancing back into the world where Freddy Krueger fought Pinhead instead of Jason Voorhees. Last we left it, Maggie Burnham aka Kathyrn Krueger had managed to defeat both Pinhead and Freddy through the use of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and tossing the Lament Configuration into the portal it was created by. With Pinhead having the book in his possession, Freddy searching through the bowels of Hell to recruit his own team of murderers and maniacs, and Maggie finding herself teaming up with Ashley J. "The King" Williams, it seems we have all the ingredients for a good old fashioned horror smackdown!
Next time, we take a third glance into that world and we ask the question once more...
What If Freddy Krueger had never resurrected Jason Voorhees?
Be there!
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