Last time we glanced into this world, Dean Winchester had been torn apart by Hell Hounds. Unlike in the Prime Timeline, however, Dean's vampiric nature means that he was not taken to Hell after the fact. Heaven and Hell conspired on what to do next, Raphael decided that Heaven would take the lead on getting Dean Winchester to Hell so he can shed blood there and open the first seal. It seems that the Winchesters have, for now, won the day... but for how long?
Let's find out!
The Winchesters and their allies return to Bobby's from New Harmony. Everyone enjoys a brew while Dean also takes the time to recuperate from his injuries with some cow blood. Lenore expresses concern for him, though is impressed by the durability he showcased against the Hell Hounds. Usually, that's a trait only showcased by older vampires. The two chat for a bit, discussing their backgrounds and finding more mutual kinship than just their shared condition of being a vampire. In particular, Lenore showcases to Dean an ability that older vampires have. By letting him drink some of her blood, she shows him why she became a vampire in the first place: to save her younger sister from her future sire.
Obviously, the saving of a younger sibling resonates with Dean. As the others celebrate above (or recover from celebrating in some cases), the two have sex in the panic room.
Set it to... Feels like the First Time. Also, fun fact, both Jensen Ackles and Scott Bakula have had sex scenes set to Foreigner songs.
...I'll get back to Quantum Leap eventually. Pay attention.
Sam, in the meantime, receives a phone call from someone he definitely did not expect to hear from: Ruby. Or, rather, Ruby's former host. Going by the name of Jane Doe, she has completely lost her entire sense of identity and memory from before she was possessed. However, she does remember most of what Ruby knew and even some of what Lilith knew as they possessed her likening it to peeking through a crack in the door when they were inside her meat suit. Jane asks Sam to come and get her, saying that she wants to help him and gives him a very direct warning: do not trust Ruby under any circumstances, she is not his friend. Sam leaves Bobby's to go get her.
Meanwhile, the forces of Heaven have recruited one of their own to achieve their goal. Raphael gives Castiel his orders: Dean Winchester is to be sent to Hell. Castiel, so early in his career, expresses no qualms about doing what Heaven commands and gets to work, heading to Bobby Singer's home. He is shot multiple times by both Bobby and Ellen to no avail, putting them both to sleep with a touch before heading down into the basement.
Dean and Lenore are still in a state of post-coital bliss when Castiel arrives. The funk of it wears off very quickly and they attempt to fight the Angel. Lenore actually manages to drink down some of Castiel's blood before he tosses her aside and is about to burn her from the inside out when he hears the hammer of a gun clicking. A shirtless Dean (you're welcome, fangirls) has the Colt, and he warns Castiel that he's a very good shot with it. Castiel tells Dean that he must be purified and sent to Hell, as God has commanded it.
DEAN: So, God's telling me to go to Hell?
CASTIEL: Yes.
DEAN: Lot of people have told me to do that. He can wait in line.
When it becomes clear that Castiel is not going to back down, Dean pulls the trigger. The Angel has disappeared and reappears behind Dean, pressing a hand to his forehead. As soon as he touches him, Castiel screams and vanishes in a burst of fire and light. Sam and Jane have returned and Jane has used Ruby's knowledge to create an Enochian sigil, some of her blood sending Castiel away.
Getting Bobby and Ellen awake, Jane gives the exposition that she knows as they work to brand the place in Enochian sigils. Ruby and Lilith are and have been working together, and Lilith has contacts in Heaven itself. The angels want to start the Apocalypse, and that means getting Dean into Hell to shed righteous blood. When asked why, Jane says that she does not know, just that it has to be Dean because the original choice... was John. Azazel had some part in everything, which Ruby knew of but Jane was unable to access the memory of just what. Sam and Dean feel the stirring of that old wedge between them, both trying to avoid it. However, the knowledge is there - despite everything, Sam shooting John with the Colt averted the Apocalypse.
Lenore also expresses some strange qualities after biting Castiel and drinking his blood. In particular, she seems to be "tuned in to Angel radio", and can hear the things that angels speak to one another. They are talking about Castiel's failure, and they are not happy. With a little help from Jane, they are able to cut off Lenore's connection to angel communications.
The next order of business comes up when Ruby finds her way back to the team. Specifically, finds her way back to the team and into a Devil's Trap. In her new, brunette body, she gets everything laid out for her. Her connections with Lilith, knowing much more than she has let on and so on. When she attempts to appeal to Sam and insist that she has no idea what he's talking about, Jane reveals herself. This leads to a confrontation between Ruby and Jane, where Ruby provides no apologies whatsoever for what she did, insisting that it was all for the greater good. She also promises Jane that, when she gets out, she will peel Jane's skin off layer by layer down to the bone.
Bobby finds his home under siege for the second time in so many days, this time by the forces of Hell rather than Heaven. Demons serving Lilith are gunning after Ruby, wanting to kill her as a traitor to the cause. Needing the information she has, the hunters toss Ruby into Bobby's Panic Room and prepare for a lengthy fight. As Sam and Jane continue the interrogation of Ruby, the rest of the team prepares for a fight once Bobby's protections get blasted through by the sheer mass of demons led by a white-eyed demon - Alastair.
Without the connection that Dean has with him in the prime timeline, Alastair is still nonetheless menacing and definitely throws his weight around. He tosses Bobby and Ellen around like ragdolls and beats Dean - even in full on vampire mode - into near-unconsciousness. He ends up getting jumped by Lenore, who puts up a good fight as Alastair is clearly expecting another human and isn't ready for her attack as she sinks her fangs into him and drains a considerable amount of blood, noting how it feels ridiculously powerful.
Alastair, of course, applauds her for "a good start" before he tosses her aside. Then, with Dean watching, he rips her head clean off of her shoulders.
Lenore is dead... and Dean takes it well, charging the demon and beating Alastair so intensely that the demon's black smoke form has to leave his host due to the sheer damage as Dean essentially punches the body until the bones start to
shatter. Bobby manages to get a full exorcism going, apparently having peeked into
the prime timeline to steal a trick from Sam and rig the entire house with loud speakers playing the exorcism. Ellen manages to tranquilize an outraged Dean, bringing an end to his rampage.
Once he recovers, Lenore is given a hunter's funeral with her body being cremated. Silent for all of it, Dean storms off and Sam - realizing where his brother is going - follows him to the Panic Room. Dean beats him there and locks himself in with Ruby, who remains trapped and powerless within it.
DEAN: Somebody died tonight because of you.
RUBY: [a pause] ...who?
DEAN: Doesn't matter. You won't care.
RUBY: Then why-?
DEAN: Because I care. So, if you're not gonna talk about what you know... I'll make you.
RUBY: [scoffs] Oh, please! Like you'd even know where to-?
The inhuman scream that is heard from within comes just before the door opens and Dean walks out with his face covered in blood... Ruby's blood.
Ruby is dead, every last drop of her host's blood being drained by Dean.
Jane, needless to say, is livid that her revenge against Ruby was taken from her. However, she is convinced out of a fight between her weakened state and how souped up Dean is now on demon blood.
Wiping his mouth, Dean explains the technique that Lenore taught him to use and that he learned everything that Ruby knew. Specifically, the plan to raise Lucifer and start the Apocalypse - Heaven and Hell are both in cahoots and neither is to be trusted. Also, Sam cannot be allowed near any demons because of the power of the demon blood. Dean attempts to play this off as the reason he drained Ruby of all of hers, but it's very clear that rage was a key component of the attack. Plus, like Lenore said when drinking Alastair's blood, demon blood is one hell of a drug.
A hunt in
Stratton, Nebraska shows just how blurred the line has become for Dean. While he is sticking to cow blood after what happened with Ruby, he shows a cold disregard for the people affected by the feral children within the house that does nothing to put Sam's mind at ease.
A later hunt
a friend called them for is a large breaking point. Unlike its counterpart in the prime timeline, Dean ultimately busts in to kill the Rugaru at the last second and saves Sam. Like its counterpart in the prime timeline, however, Dean opts to not use his vampiric abilities anymore. He continues to take the cow blood to stay alive... at least until they finish dealing with Heaven and Hell.
Then... who knows?
I'm actually going to break away from the format even further here and pencil in a
good episode from Season 7 (Yes! That's right! The worst one! More on that...
if I ever review it!),
Time After Time. The episode can go pretty much as broadcast. The time jumping, Eliot Ness, just replacing Jody with Bobby and/or Ellen and it goes pretty much exactly the same. As Chronos is killed, as in the prime timeline, he gives the boys a warning of what is to come.
CHRONOS: You want to know your future? I know your future. It's covered in blood... and in the brightest light you've ever seen. Enjoy the fire.
With that, like at the end of Season 2, we have a two-part finale. We'll title the first part "In a Bind, Way Behind".
"In A Bind, Way Behind" begins with Bobby getting calls from various hunter contacts. Hunters everywhere are being hunted down by both demons and angels and they are gunning for two specific individuals: Sam and Dean. Thanks to the Enochian sigils that Jane learned from her time being possessed by Ruby, the boys have been able to hide, but the hunter community is turning against them and fast... at least those that are still around
to turn on them.
That's right. Chuck has entered the game.
Sam and Dean take the time to go and investigate Chuck, who has begun work on the 'finale' for the 'Supernatural' series that he's entitled it the same title as the episode - "In A Bind, Way Behind". With some future details, Sam and Dean hope to prevent the calamities to come. Unfortunately, Heaven comes calling and Raphael meets the Winchesters in the flesh for the first time. We get the reveal that Chuck is a prophet of God and Raphael reveasls his deceit - having altered Ruby's memories to trick the boys and bring them to Chuck. Despite their attempts to escape, Dean is snatched up by the angels.
Lilith, too, arrives and steals Sam away - leaving a seemingly confused and terrified Chuck all alone.
...yes, we know the truth about Chuck, but different universe and all.
This leads into our finale for this ad-hoc Season 4, "Heaven Can't Wait". Brought into the fancy room we saw in the episodes "Lucifer Rising" and later "The Point of No Return" in the prime timeline, Dean finds himself at the mercy of Raphael. The archangel explains that they have so much for Dean to do, but they cannot do it until he fulfills the obligation of his deal to resurrect Sam and goes to Hell. Dean tells him to stuff it and the archangel tries to burn the vampirism out of Dean... but can't. He privately tells Castiel that something is blocking his abilities to cleanse Dean of the vampiric taint.
Sam, meanwhile, is in Hell. Literally, in fact. Lilith is trying to get Sam to eat up on demon blood and get big and strong, something that Sam is fully resistant to. She claims that Azazel had great plans for his future, which Sam outright refuses to acknowledge. She reminds him of John, dead after Sam put a bullet in his own father's heart. It's clear the guilt is still haunting Sam as it often does with him. Eventually, Alastair gets involved and Lilith orders him to give Sam "the works". One of her minions comes to her side after Sam leaves, telling her that Raphael wishes to talk. Something had come up.
Back on Earth, Bobby, Ellen, and Jane are working with Chuck (who is trying to work subtly around the angels watching him - or so he claims) and the trio get some knowledge of God's "backdoors" into and out of other dimensions that are connected to Earth. Using the right doors, they could conceivably get into Heaven and Hell and rescue Sam and Dean. Chuck tells them that, in both places, they will need to find a guide... or, rather, the guide will find them. He also tells them that they don't have much time, Heaven and Hell have been stalled by a third party, but things are still in motion and they will eventually find a workaround.
Knowing that Dean is a more pressing concern given what they learned from Ruby, they decided to go knocking on Heaven's door. Of all places, they find the portal is done by walking backwards through the back door of a Mom and Pop Ice Cream Shop in Topeka, Kansas. Upon arrival, Jane finds her personal Heaven full of things she does not remember and thus has no context for. Her loved ones call her "Kristie", but she insists that she doesn't know who they are and has no connection to the name. Apart from that, she says, it's a distraction.
Bobby likewise is temporarily reunited with his wife and Ellen with Anthony, but are pulled out of it by Jane. They are not able to rest their weary heads just yet. The angels catch on that their perimeter has been breached, however, Castiel leading a group of mooks in hunting down the intruders. Ash, in his full luchador regalia, assists them as he does Sam and Dean in the prime timeline. They want to make it to where Dean is and he most definitely wants to help, since the angels are massive dicks. He also supplies them with an angel blade - not the height of weaponry but pretty effective against the winged bastards when the going gets tough.
They thank him for his help and are soon on their way.
Raphael returns to the Fancy Room and tells Dean that someone is coming who can finish what the archangel started. Raphael begins to call down Michael when Bobby, Jane, and Ellen bust in. A fight ensues, the room shaking apart all around them, and Dean manages to get the kill much as he does to Zachariah in the prime timeline with the blade going right through Raphael's head. They managed to escape just before Michael would descend, the three getting Dean up to speed on their efforts and the information that Chuck gave them.
Dean elects to go into Hell and save Sam.
Sam, meanwhile, has been horrendously tortured by Alastair for the equivalent of two months. Even so, he has refused to drink even a drop of demon blood. His resolve is weakening, and Alastair thinks he's very close to a breakthrough. The white-eyed demon's efforts are stopped by... Crowley. Yes, we're getting everyone involved today, it would seem. Crowley gets Sam freed, explaining his want to help being rooted in not wanting the world to end. Sam, of course, doesn't fully believe him but isn't going to lose an opportunity to escape.
Dean, Bobby, Ellen, and Jane bust into Hell and find the guide that Chuck mentioned - Crowley. With Lilith away to meet Raphael, Crowley has been left in charge and few question him... until they are back at the way out. Then, a swarm of demons fight them. They fight through, Bobby getting paralyzed with a stab to the neck and having to be carried out by Ellen and Jane. At the door, Dean puts to use the angel blade that Ash gave the others and kills a demon.
Its blood falls onto the floor of Hell as the doors seal up and the group escapes.
Once safely back on Earth, with Bobby recovering in a hospital bed, the boys take some comfort in the fact that they've put another halt to the Apocalypse. Now, with some help from Chuck, they aim to end Heaven and Hell once and for all. With Raphael dead, Michael will be running things in Hell for the foreseeable future, and Lilith will no doubt still have a firm grip on Hell. There is, however, one thing that Dean can't figure out: why couldn't Raphael cure him of his vampirism?
Our answer comes in the form of a cut to two rough-looking men coming to a fissure within the Earth. They speak to a "Mother", and the voice responds to tell them to prepare for her arrival.
The Eve of Heaven and Hell has come...
annnnnnnnnnnd that's where we're leaving off with Part 6! This universe's version of Season 4 comes to a harsh end as the Winchester Brothers have avoided disaster once again... but for how long? Some allies were lost and new ones found and it looks like some new party is coming forth to throw their hat into the ring. I wonder who it could beeeeee
...okay, we know who it is. Sue me. Part 7 comes next October! Maybe!
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