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caranfindelLet me point out, right off the bat, that I don't expect a lot out of this episode. After last week's great MotW ep, this one is bound to be a pile of boring mytharc. But let us gird our loins and get through it - the only way out is through, after all - and see what awaits us on the other side.
:D
Why is this bonus cap here? I'll tell you in a minute.
THEN: Rowena tells Sam about the Black Grimoire, and oh, I'm already feeling nostalgic. Because (1) Rowena, and (b) this is from "Regarding Dean," which was such a good episode. (And because Sam is so cute in the THEN with his red and black shirt and his hair tucked behind his ears.) Also included in the THEN: Dean loves Scooby Doo, Lucifer brutally killed Rowena, AU!Michael has some of Lucifer's grace, and Cas and Lucifer are being held captive by Colonel Asmodeus. See? Mytharc.
NOW: A liquor store just north of Wichita, Kansas. A guy named Dale walks in and encounters two young women. One of them puts a small red package in his pocket and mutters some Latin at him. Oh, it's a hex bag. His eyes flash gold and purple and then he falls in love with the other woman. She introduces herself as Jamie, and she and her sister Jenny are on their way to a little town called Lebanon, which Dale hasn't ever heard of but OH YES WE HAVE, HAVEN'T WE. Jamie asks Dale to meet her outside, with some good vodka and all the money in the cash register, and he does. At which point Jamie shares a lesson from her mama - make the death look non-magical so you don't attract hunters - and then gives him a pretty muggle-looking death via sledgehammer.
Title card!
Bunker. Sam's reading in the library, and Dean comes in bearing a pile of books. He reads off the titles as he puts them on the table, bungling one title because it's in French, but that's okay because Sam pronounces it for him and I may need to rewind and see that a couple more times and I also may need to spend some time thinking about Sam speaking French. Yep, I need to do that. Dean's sure that one of these books must say something about AU World, but Sam's kind of surly and depressed and not hopeful at all. He doesn't see how they'll be able to get there with Jack gone, and Dean's convinced they'll find Jack, since they found him once before, and Sam's all, "he is LITERALLY in an alternate reality." Dean remains stubbornly optimistic that they'll find a Plan B.
You said it yourself; we'll just keep our heads down and do the work.
YOU said that.
...
And I was right.
Ha!
Dean instructs Sam to "do your Sam thing" and that he's going on a beer run, which I guess is his Dean thing. He also reveals that he's been reading my complaints about not calling Cas, and suggests they "loop him in." Sam says they'll do that when Cas makes his daily phone call, you know, the one he's been making every day, and oh. Okay. I'll accept that. I mean, it could have happened. The day they found Jack was also the day they lost him, right, so by the time they talked to Casmodeus, it probably would have been to say "hey we found Jack but then he got zapped to AU World and also we were in Jurassic Park for three days, which I'm sure no one told you about, even though you might have been able to help," so it's not like Colonel Asmodeus would have had any reason to actually blow his cover and come to Lebanon. Dean comments that Casmodeus's daily call is "a bunch of questions and no leads," so he's playing a long game. Bottom line, I'm okay with this.
I'm thrilled that Sam is still in the mood we left him in last week. I really didn't have high hopes that we'd get to explore more of this outburst of despair. I covered the guest star credits, as I generally do, to avoid spoilers, but I did see that the episode was directed by our friend Amanda "Naomi" Tapping, and I really like what she's doing so far. The guys look awesome.
Bad angel management, good directing.
Unfortunately, the talk about Cas is a segue to the little holy tax accountant himself, sitting calmly in a cell. In the next cell, less calmly, Lucifer tries and fails to move a small stick with his mind. A demon called Dipper shows up to taunt him, and I hope his twin sister Mabel will show up, but she does not. There aredstick jokes that I do not care about, we are reminded that Lucifer's bars are warded, Lucifer whines about Cas not being willing to share some of his grace, and Cas snarks at him. Cas is actually a little too chill about everything happening right now.
Cut to Dean, who has accomplished his Dean Thing and is carrying a six-pack to the car. Dean doesn't seem to be a guy who would buy his beer six bottles at a time. I think he'd buy a case, if not a whole keg. Anyway. As he gets to the parking lot, a woman screams for help, saying there's something wrong with her sister. Dean, of course, runs to the rescue, and sees Jamie lying "unconscious" on the ground, with a hysterical Jenny in ugly mom jeans saying she collapsed. As Dean kneels next to Jamie, Jenny slips a familiar red hex bag into his pocket and mutters Latin at him. As with poor dead Dale, Dean's eyes flash gold and purple, and he's immediately smitten. We hear romantic saxophone music and Jenny suggests that a kiss will wake his true love. Dean gently kisses Jamie (daaaaaaaawwwww), who wakes with a gasp and thanks him for saving her. She knows exactly who he is, and she and Jenny exchange significant looks.
Good genes, awful jeans.
Back at the bunker, Sam's still buried in research. When Dean shows up, I assume he'll have Jamie with him, but all he has is beer. However, he's in an excellent mood, which of course makes Sam ask if he's all right. He announces he's in love, and Sam's all, heh, yeah, expecting him to say the new cashier at the supermarket has a great body or something along those lines, but this is obviously not the case, he obviously really thinks he's in love, and Sam goes from amused to confused. Dean enthuses about Jamie's wonderful qualities and says "I think I'm gonna ask her to move in with me here," and if I were Sam, I'd be all, wait, move in with "me?" Don't you mean us, since I live here too? But while this is happening, Dean pulls something big out of a drawer and unwraps it, and oh, it's the Black Grimoire. Sam transitions from confused to concerned and asks what he's going, and Dean says he's going to give it to Jamie. His soulmate.
But... I thought I was your soulmate?
Sam, bless him, catches on pretty quickly and asks if she requested that book by name. And she did! Isn't that some kind of cosmic fate, that she asked for it and they actually have it! Oh, Dean. He's so sweet. His enthusiasm reminds me of Regarding Dean, and not just because they planted that seed in the THEN. Sam adorably tries to explain to Dean that he's under a spell, just like Becky did to Sam in Vegas, which Dean doesn't remember at all. It's okay, Dean, we all try to forget that one. Dean is not at all amused that Sam thinks his new love is a witch or demon, and insists that he be nice, because she has a sister and the "less attractive siblings" might fall in love, and I'm just not going to comment on that. Sam grabs the keys so Dean can't meet Jamie and deliver the Black Grimoire, but he cheerfully declares he'll walk, and he's so sweet and positive and full of joy. Sam grabs his arm to stop him, and Dean joyfully slugs him in the jaw, leaving him unconscious on the floor. He doesn't get his keys, though, so I guess he's still walking.
And hair-in-his-face Sam brings ME joy, so we're all happy.
Back at the parking lot, Jamie asks Jenny if she's going to "make the call" once they get the book, but we don't find out who she would have called, because Dean walks up. I wonder how long it took to walk there from the bunker, which we've all accepted is out in the middle of nowhere? Jenny is disappointed, because she wanted the car. If she had any sense, she'd have been hoping for the "less attractive sibling." Just saying. But Jamie is satisfied with the book, and tells Dean to close his eyes for a kiss. She picks up the sledgehammer, but before she can kiss him upside the head with it, Sam pulls into the parking lot. He pulls a gun and tells her to get away from Dean, but Dean angrily charges at him for pointing a gun at his beloved and throws him onto the hood of the Impala. And I swear, it bends. Dean doesn't carry what he does to Baby, he's furious. Sam, of course, is trying to stop Dean without hurting him, which isn't going to work. Jenny says they should get out of here "in case the one with the hair actually wins," and the sisters drive off with the Grimoire.
This was an awesome fight, wasn't it?
This is my first good look at the Black Grimoire, and I've got to say, it's actually kind of cheesy. Usually I love the prop department's work, but this book, with its like-new, gold-stamped, fake leather cover, its graphics, the word GRIMOIRE emblazoned on the spine... it honestly looks like it's from the Time-Life Series: Great Grimoires of the 10th Century.
Cancel your subscription at any time, but keep the Black Grimoire as our gift.
Sam finds the hex bag in Dean's pocket and throws it on the ground, but it doesn't release him from the spell. Dean apologizes to Sam as he chokes him, but before he loses consciousness, there's a lightning flash of power and the spell is lifted and the guys look up to see a pair of red high-heeled boots being worn by... Rowena!
See, this is why I try to stay unspoiled. Because this reveal was fantastic. I assumed the THEN was simply reminding us about the Grimoire, and not about Rowena too. (Although on rewatch, I see they spoiled her return in the credits, which is disappointing. But that's why I cover them up.) I was deeply annoyed that her character didn't get a better send-off and a good onscreen death, so this. Also, there's no Crowley around so that means all she's here to do is spar with the Winchester boys. This is good.
The guys are surprised but not SURPRISED, because you're watching Supernatural.
Ugh. Back to Cas and Lucifer. Lucifer is still trying and failing to get his stick to rise (insert your own joke here; I don't have the will). Dipper wanders by to threaten Cas with Colonel Asmodeus's "big plans" for him. Lucifer is more worried about AU!Michael showing up in this world, because every version of his brother is obsessed and will get done what he wants to get done. He goads Cas with the knowledge that AU!Michael is torturing Mary, claiming it was worse than anything he'd ever seen in Hell, which I'm sure is a big fat lie. Cas is, too. He changes the subject by telling him how awesome Jack is, and that he won't want to have anything to do with Lucifer, and that he doesn't even look like him. Lucifer is furious, but that gives him the power to move his stick, so I guess that's promising.
Back to the bunker, thank god. Rowena pours three drinks and says "ask me," and Dean says "how are you alive," but the way he asks is just really low and sexy, and I'm just. Dang. Rowena and the boys, together again. I missed this. She explains that Lucifer did kill her, but she "takes precautions," although even with her resurrection spell, it took a long time to heal, and she doesn't particularly want to die again. Can't blame her. And that's why she wants the Black Grimoire. Dean comments that it's a coincidence that she shows up right when it's stolen, just like Sam remarked on the "coincidence" in the THEN, and she says she put a tracking spell on the Grimoire earlier so she "felt it moving." Sounds reasonable. She wants the Grimoire because it has a page that may help her remove a binding spell the Grand Coven put on her that limits "aspects of my magic." Important aspects, I'm sure. Dean's not interested in helping her become more powerful, but she says it's to help protect herself. And now she's worried about those silly girls damaging it, and the boys must be worried about the awful things they can do with it, so shouldn't they help each other! Ha ha ha no, they say. Rowena insists she has changed, and since they can't find the book without her tracking spell, they need her. She finishes her drink with a toast that I can't quite interpret, and then says "oh, one more thing, where's my son?" Awkward!
She does bring out the best in them, doesn't she?
Cut to Jenny and Jamie shopping for supplies in some kind of big variety store. It doesn't look like the kind of store that would have eye of newt or a virgin's blood, so the spell they're using must require pretty simple ingredients. Or maybe they just have no idea what they're doing, since Jenny says she can't read a lot of it. "Some of these symbols are things Mom never even mentioned." So Mom was a witch, but maybe not much of a teacher. The cashier asks if they're actually going to pay for their purchases today, since last time they apparently didn't. I guess they're regulars here, because Jenny says "shut up, Brenda." I like Brenda. Jenny determines they need a soul to sacrifice, and they find one on aisle 10.
We return to the bunker, where we skipped the boys giving Rowena the bad news about Crowley. She's shocked, and while they explain he did it to save them and that she'd be proud, she says she'd rather have "a living son, even one that hated me, than a dead hero." They tell her that Crowley succeeded in trapping Lucifer in an alternate reality, which she does not accept.
Don't be stupid! He's never gone!
Okay, listen. I know what Lucifer is capable -
Okay, can we not? It's like reminiscing about an abusive relationship. Why do that?
Oooh. Rowena is clearly very upset about anything Lucifer-related. Can't blame her. But she's also very quick to shut down any discussion of it. Dean asks what the sisters might be doing with the book, and she's kind of cagey. I mean, so many things you could do with a book like that, you know? And they outfoxed the Winchesters, so you've got to give them credit for having some smarts.
Tell me. Did they get to fifth base?
There's no such thing as fifth base.
Oh, you poor, sheltered boy.
The way Dean says that, a little quiet and not 100% sure of himself, gives me life.
All right, people, I need some fic where Rowena shows Dean what fifth base is, and I need it STAT.
Moving on. If Rowena helps the boys, she thinks maybe they'll change their minds about helping her. Their lips say no, but their eyes say... well, their eyes also say no.
Actually, I think Sam's eyes say "make me." And I would, dear boy. I would make you and then make you all over again. We might find SIXTH base.
Back to Jenny and Jamie, reading the Grimoire over a not-very-well-preserved corpse. Oh, this must be Mom. You mean we've got two siblings trying to save their mom? Crap. I love this. I love when the MotW reflects the Winchesters' situation. Jenny's concerned about messing up, but when Jamie suggests making a phone call (again), she says no, she's not asking for help. Jamie gives her a pep talk says "I'm the big sister, and I'm supposed to be the strong one, or whatever... I just really miss her." Jenny, the younger sister who's apparently better at research and spellwork (ha ha so subtle) says "I do too. I just want her back so bad." Jamie insists they will get Mom back, no matter how many people they have to sacrifice. Oh, if only I hadn't given up on looking for foreshadowing. A voice pipes up to tell Jenny that he believes in her too, because he loves her. It's the poor soul from the store. Jenny harvests his soul. Let the spellwork begin!
Impala time! Seems like the girls didn't go too far - Rowena has tracked them across the border into Oklahoma. Sadly, her spell doesn't pinpoint its location, and they'll have to talk to the "yokels." There is some delicious snarking, and then Sam stays in the car to keep an eye on Rowena while Dean heads out to talk to the yokels. Ladies first, Rowena suggests. She doesn't think those girls are very popular with them.
Cas and Lucifer again? {sigh} Thanks to his rage, Lucifer now has the ability to subdue Dipper, stick him in the neck (literally), and get out of his cell. Cas kills Dipper, angel-style, and they make their escape. (Or do they? Some more demons show up. I don't care.)
In the car, Rowena declares her boredom and asks for music, so Sam offers to find Dean's Led Zeppelin tape. Moby Dick, with an 8-minute drum solo. (Is Moby Dick a reference to Mary? Discuss.) And quite honestly, right now I want to transcribe Sam and Rowena's entire discussion, because it's so great.
Are you very sure I can't enslave some townsfolk and make them take us to the girls?
I'm very sure you can, but I'm also very sure you shouldn't.
Bless your precious heart, you just described my entire life.
But then things get serious. Sam turns around to face her and tells her that getting the book won't change anything.
You're still gonna feel helpless. Look, what Lucifer did to you -
I told you, I don't - Before he crushed my skull, Lucifer showed me his face. His true face. I'm scared, Sam. All the time.
I've seen it too. What he really looks like, behind, behind whatever vessel. And it still keeps me up at night.
How do you deal with it?
I guess I don't deal with it, not really. I mean, I pushed it down, and the world kept almost ending, so I keep pushing down, and. I don't know. I don't really talk about it. Not even with Dean. I mean, I could, you know, he'd listen. But it's not something I really know how to share.
This scene, you guys. It's Sam talking about Lucifer, about how that affected him, which is something we've wanted for 7.5 seasons. It's Sam reaching out to help (and then opening himself up to) Rowena, of all people, bonding over their shared trauma. It's emotional, it's intimate, it's visually beautiful - Amanda Tapping gets right up in their faces, bless her everloving soul.
Saaaaaammmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!
While this is happening, Dean enters the store the sisters were in earlier. Brenda the delightful cashier isn't surprised to see a man looking for "the Plum sisters," but she is surprised that they stole a book, not his heart. When she finds out he doesn't plan on being nice to them, she's thrilled to give him their address. And she checks him out as he leaves. Brenda, you dear girl, you've joined Mickey the Gas N Sip Guy as one of my favorite one-shot, barely-seen characters.
Out in the Impala, Sam and Rowena's conversation continues.
Even if you do get the book, and even if you get your power back, it won't matter. You won't ever be able to change what happened. You won't be able to change how helpless you felt, or how helpless you feel. You're still gonna get scared. And that feeling, that feeling never goes away.
Never?
Never.
Having heard enough, Rowena jumps out of the car, claiming she just needs a minute. Dean shows up with the address, but tells Rowena that her part is done. She thought he would do exactly that, so she tosses a hex bag on the ground and casts a spell that prevents the guys from picking their feet up off the ground.
She slips into the Plum house and hears the sisters arguing about why the spell didn't work. "You were supposed to get the book and wait for me," she says. Duh duh duuuuhhhhh!!! I guess we know who they decided not to call. "I told you about the book, where to find the boys; we had a deal. Now I've had to use them to find you!" She's still willing to help them, as long as they give her the book, but they're offended when she refers to "witches of your level." And they don't need her help, because they already did the spell, and it was mostly successful! In this case, "mostly" means Mom is a magic-proof zombie, which isn't what I'd call even remotely successful but I'm a layperson. I wouldn't know.
As Zombie!Mom goes for Rowena's tasty brains, Sam struggles to reach the hex bag holding them down. Dean is annoyed, and Sam points out that Rowena is scared. Which doesn't change the fact that she played them pretty good. Sam finally reaches the bag and hands it to Dean, who burns it. Freedom!
Cut to Cas and Lucifer again, outside Crowley's old topside headquarters. Which I guess is where they've been all this time. (Did I care? Nah.) Lucifer still wants to siphon off some of Cas's grace, and promises he'll leave him some, but Cas insists he can't trust him. Cas stabs Lucifer in the gut and says "this is me, learning from my mistakes." Well! That was actually worth watching. I'm still not enthused about these two, but if Cas had fallen for Lucifer's promise of assistance once again, I would have been super annoyed. Now I'm only slightly annoyed that they're on my screen. Lucifer's eyes flash red and then fade out, but I assume he's not dead.
Back at the old Plum place, Rowena attempts to barricade herself in the kitchen as Zombie!Mom breaks down the door. The guys show up with guns drawn and the sisters are all, guns, ha ha, we're not afraid of your silly guns. And then Dean says "witch-killing bullets" which is (1) a nice shout-out to "Regarding Dean" again, but (b) a really stupid thing to say, since he could have just shot the girls while they were standing there not being afraid of the guns. So instead, the girls fling them against the wall, and a fight enuses. "Sammy," Dean says, "they're really weirdly strong!" Which is true, and hilarious, and maybe the writers thought we'd wonder how these ordinary women could beat up the Winchesters, as if we didn't know about witches and spells and powers and whatnot. (And why didn't anyone think to explain weirdly strong Not!Kaia, since that was one that I actually thought called for an explanation.)
Rowena yells out that magic won't work on Zombie!Mom, and Dean tells her to shoot her in the head, which would be good advice if she had a gun. But she does find one on the floor, somehow - it must have been dropped by one of the guys. She takes out Zombie!Mom and then casts a spell that causes the girls to attack each other instead of the Winchesters. And so, with a hammer and a knife, the Plum sisters kill each other. If one were inclined to examine the similarities between these sisters and the Winchester brothers, one might point out that Dean tried to kill Sam with a hammer, and does that mean now it's time for a knife to come between them? But one would be dreaming, so one needs to forget this kind of thing. One needs to forget about two siblings whose attempt to rescue their mother ends in them literally killing each other. Yep, one really, really does.
Perhaps one can be satisfied with startled Winchesters and Sam's post-fight huff.
Aftermath! "You really thought, after all that, I was going to try to kill you," Rowena tells Sam as she examines the Grimoire. (Which is nicely aged inside, it's just the outside that looks ridiculous.) "Yeah, because you double-crossed us," he says. She corrects him - it was a triple-cross, and she ended up on his side, just as planned. He's not convinced.
Can I have more of Sam sternly looming over Rowena? Can I have just a little bit of this in every episode?
Dean says they're taking the Grimoire from her one way or another, which seems a little naive considering her powers. Sam goes to take the book, and she quietly pleads with him. "You know what I've seen, what it's like. Lucifer may be locked away, but he'll be back. He always comes back, and when he does, I can't be helpless again. I need the spell."
Okay, can I also have Sam sympathetically looming over Rowena, knowing she's afraid of the same thing he is, knowing she's experienced a little bit of what still keeps him up at night? Can I have this on a regular basis as well?
We hear the book close, and Rowena walks away, and the Grimoire is in Sam's hands, but friends, we know what happened the last time Dean told Sam what to do with a book, don't we? And the time before that. So. Just saying.
Back at the bunker, Sam opens a couple of beers while Dean complains that he actually succumbed to a love spell. Like, Dean Winchester wants love? Ha ha. Who would have thought he'd be vulnerable to anything like that. Then this happens.
Hey, you know that Rowena is not our friend, right?
Yeah, I know that.
Hmm. Then what's that? (Dean opens the Grimoire to expose a torn-out page.) You gave her the page. She got in your head, man.
She didn't get in my head.
Look, what happened to Rowena was messed up, okay? But you just let the deadliest witch in the world walk away with a page from this book!
Yeah. And if Rowena breaks bad, I will hunt her down myself, and put a bullet in her. I will, Dean. But if she's right, and if she does see Lucifer again, then... I hope she makes him suffer. (Sam exhales with a shudder, smiles and nods sadly, then looks down and away as if he doesn't even have the right to want this, or he needs to not think about what he's thinking about.)
You gotta get out of this dark place, you know, whatever's going on in your head.
Dean.
What?
You know what, honestly?
Yeah, how about honestly?
I know what Rowena is dealing with. She's not the only one who feels helpless.
What do you mean?
Means, I had a plan, you know? Help Jack bring Mom back. It wasn't much, but it was something. It kept me from spinning off the rails. And now, Jack is gone, Mom is still in Hell, basically, and I just...
We'll figure it out.
Dean, we don't have a plan! We don't know what to do! So, so... how?
I don't know. But we will. You and me.
Yeah. 'Night.
Oh god, you guys, this scene. This scene. Sam's breaking and Dean's got no answers, all he can do is say "we'll fix it" and he has no idea how, but he has to say that because that's what he does, he fixes things, he rides in on his white horse and slays the dragon and he just needs Sam to believe in him and them, and Sam just doesn't see how it can be fixed, and probably has a better idea of how messed up it is than Dean does, because who knows Lucifer better than Sam, and he just can't do it any more, can't keep pushing it down, he can't talk about it and he can't pretend it's gonna be okay and he just leaves because he's done, and it's emotionally wrenching and disturbingly pretty and I'm just... ugh. On the floor, flailing wildly. Steve Yockey, Amanda Tapping, you are my heroes.
(Oh, and Jared and Jensen, obviously.)
Let me point out here that the last time we saw two siblings trying to save Mom, and one of them trying to convince the other they could do it even without a plan... it didn't end well. It involved a hammer and a knife and it did not end well.
But we're not even done, because now we cut to Rowena, kneeling in a pentagram, surrounded by candles, reciting a spell. She draws a knife down her throat and light spills out, as if she were an angel or demon, and we see glowing purple clouds flow out of her. Bands of sigils come into view surrounding her, and we watch this binding disintegrate. She is free. And then her eyes glow violet. Now, is unbound Rowena going to be the Winchesters' ally, or their worst enemy?
Well! How often do we have a mytharc episode that's actually full of good stuff! The return of Rowena, Cas standing up to Lucifer, and good lord, all of this emotional Sam and concerned Dean and Rowena vs. the Winchesters and Rowena plus the Winchesters and fifth base and loopy lovestruck Dean and SAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM. I love it when low expectations are thwarted. Though I'll admit, there's one little thing I was unhappy with. Rowena never called Sam "Samuel." Not once. But hey, we've got half a season left!
(So, why did I put that bonus cap at the beginning? Because LOOK AT IT. Because when you read an earlier recap, and you scroll to the bottom and it shows three related posts, the first graphic on each post is the one that shows up in that list, and I wanted it to be this one. For obvious reasons.)
Remember, no spoilers in the comments, please!
:D
Why is this bonus cap here? I'll tell you in a minute.
THEN: Rowena tells Sam about the Black Grimoire, and oh, I'm already feeling nostalgic. Because (1) Rowena, and (b) this is from "Regarding Dean," which was such a good episode. (And because Sam is so cute in the THEN with his red and black shirt and his hair tucked behind his ears.) Also included in the THEN: Dean loves Scooby Doo, Lucifer brutally killed Rowena, AU!Michael has some of Lucifer's grace, and Cas and Lucifer are being held captive by Colonel Asmodeus. See? Mytharc.
NOW: A liquor store just north of Wichita, Kansas. A guy named Dale walks in and encounters two young women. One of them puts a small red package in his pocket and mutters some Latin at him. Oh, it's a hex bag. His eyes flash gold and purple and then he falls in love with the other woman. She introduces herself as Jamie, and she and her sister Jenny are on their way to a little town called Lebanon, which Dale hasn't ever heard of but OH YES WE HAVE, HAVEN'T WE. Jamie asks Dale to meet her outside, with some good vodka and all the money in the cash register, and he does. At which point Jamie shares a lesson from her mama - make the death look non-magical so you don't attract hunters - and then gives him a pretty muggle-looking death via sledgehammer.
Title card!
Bunker. Sam's reading in the library, and Dean comes in bearing a pile of books. He reads off the titles as he puts them on the table, bungling one title because it's in French, but that's okay because Sam pronounces it for him and I may need to rewind and see that a couple more times and I also may need to spend some time thinking about Sam speaking French. Yep, I need to do that. Dean's sure that one of these books must say something about AU World, but Sam's kind of surly and depressed and not hopeful at all. He doesn't see how they'll be able to get there with Jack gone, and Dean's convinced they'll find Jack, since they found him once before, and Sam's all, "he is LITERALLY in an alternate reality." Dean remains stubbornly optimistic that they'll find a Plan B.
You said it yourself; we'll just keep our heads down and do the work.
YOU said that.
...
And I was right.
Ha!
Dean instructs Sam to "do your Sam thing" and that he's going on a beer run, which I guess is his Dean thing. He also reveals that he's been reading my complaints about not calling Cas, and suggests they "loop him in." Sam says they'll do that when Cas makes his daily phone call, you know, the one he's been making every day, and oh. Okay. I'll accept that. I mean, it could have happened. The day they found Jack was also the day they lost him, right, so by the time they talked to Casmodeus, it probably would have been to say "hey we found Jack but then he got zapped to AU World and also we were in Jurassic Park for three days, which I'm sure no one told you about, even though you might have been able to help," so it's not like Colonel Asmodeus would have had any reason to actually blow his cover and come to Lebanon. Dean comments that Casmodeus's daily call is "a bunch of questions and no leads," so he's playing a long game. Bottom line, I'm okay with this.
I'm thrilled that Sam is still in the mood we left him in last week. I really didn't have high hopes that we'd get to explore more of this outburst of despair. I covered the guest star credits, as I generally do, to avoid spoilers, but I did see that the episode was directed by our friend Amanda "Naomi" Tapping, and I really like what she's doing so far. The guys look awesome.
Bad angel management, good directing.
Unfortunately, the talk about Cas is a segue to the little holy tax accountant himself, sitting calmly in a cell. In the next cell, less calmly, Lucifer tries and fails to move a small stick with his mind. A demon called Dipper shows up to taunt him, and I hope his twin sister Mabel will show up, but she does not. There are
Cut to Dean, who has accomplished his Dean Thing and is carrying a six-pack to the car. Dean doesn't seem to be a guy who would buy his beer six bottles at a time. I think he'd buy a case, if not a whole keg. Anyway. As he gets to the parking lot, a woman screams for help, saying there's something wrong with her sister. Dean, of course, runs to the rescue, and sees Jamie lying "unconscious" on the ground, with a hysterical Jenny in ugly mom jeans saying she collapsed. As Dean kneels next to Jamie, Jenny slips a familiar red hex bag into his pocket and mutters Latin at him. As with poor dead Dale, Dean's eyes flash gold and purple, and he's immediately smitten. We hear romantic saxophone music and Jenny suggests that a kiss will wake his true love. Dean gently kisses Jamie (daaaaaaaawwwww), who wakes with a gasp and thanks him for saving her. She knows exactly who he is, and she and Jenny exchange significant looks.
Good genes, awful jeans.
Back at the bunker, Sam's still buried in research. When Dean shows up, I assume he'll have Jamie with him, but all he has is beer. However, he's in an excellent mood, which of course makes Sam ask if he's all right. He announces he's in love, and Sam's all, heh, yeah, expecting him to say the new cashier at the supermarket has a great body or something along those lines, but this is obviously not the case, he obviously really thinks he's in love, and Sam goes from amused to confused. Dean enthuses about Jamie's wonderful qualities and says "I think I'm gonna ask her to move in with me here," and if I were Sam, I'd be all, wait, move in with "me?" Don't you mean us, since I live here too? But while this is happening, Dean pulls something big out of a drawer and unwraps it, and oh, it's the Black Grimoire. Sam transitions from confused to concerned and asks what he's going, and Dean says he's going to give it to Jamie. His soulmate.
But... I thought I was your soulmate?
Sam, bless him, catches on pretty quickly and asks if she requested that book by name. And she did! Isn't that some kind of cosmic fate, that she asked for it and they actually have it! Oh, Dean. He's so sweet. His enthusiasm reminds me of Regarding Dean, and not just because they planted that seed in the THEN. Sam adorably tries to explain to Dean that he's under a spell, just like Becky did to Sam in Vegas, which Dean doesn't remember at all. It's okay, Dean, we all try to forget that one. Dean is not at all amused that Sam thinks his new love is a witch or demon, and insists that he be nice, because she has a sister and the "less attractive siblings" might fall in love, and I'm just not going to comment on that. Sam grabs the keys so Dean can't meet Jamie and deliver the Black Grimoire, but he cheerfully declares he'll walk, and he's so sweet and positive and full of joy. Sam grabs his arm to stop him, and Dean joyfully slugs him in the jaw, leaving him unconscious on the floor. He doesn't get his keys, though, so I guess he's still walking.
And hair-in-his-face Sam brings ME joy, so we're all happy.
Back at the parking lot, Jamie asks Jenny if she's going to "make the call" once they get the book, but we don't find out who she would have called, because Dean walks up. I wonder how long it took to walk there from the bunker, which we've all accepted is out in the middle of nowhere? Jenny is disappointed, because she wanted the car. If she had any sense, she'd have been hoping for the "less attractive sibling." Just saying. But Jamie is satisfied with the book, and tells Dean to close his eyes for a kiss. She picks up the sledgehammer, but before she can kiss him upside the head with it, Sam pulls into the parking lot. He pulls a gun and tells her to get away from Dean, but Dean angrily charges at him for pointing a gun at his beloved and throws him onto the hood of the Impala. And I swear, it bends. Dean doesn't carry what he does to Baby, he's furious. Sam, of course, is trying to stop Dean without hurting him, which isn't going to work. Jenny says they should get out of here "in case the one with the hair actually wins," and the sisters drive off with the Grimoire.
This was an awesome fight, wasn't it?
This is my first good look at the Black Grimoire, and I've got to say, it's actually kind of cheesy. Usually I love the prop department's work, but this book, with its like-new, gold-stamped, fake leather cover, its graphics, the word GRIMOIRE emblazoned on the spine... it honestly looks like it's from the Time-Life Series: Great Grimoires of the 10th Century.
Cancel your subscription at any time, but keep the Black Grimoire as our gift.
Sam finds the hex bag in Dean's pocket and throws it on the ground, but it doesn't release him from the spell. Dean apologizes to Sam as he chokes him, but before he loses consciousness, there's a lightning flash of power and the spell is lifted and the guys look up to see a pair of red high-heeled boots being worn by... Rowena!
See, this is why I try to stay unspoiled. Because this reveal was fantastic. I assumed the THEN was simply reminding us about the Grimoire, and not about Rowena too. (Although on rewatch, I see they spoiled her return in the credits, which is disappointing. But that's why I cover them up.) I was deeply annoyed that her character didn't get a better send-off and a good onscreen death, so this. Also, there's no Crowley around so that means all she's here to do is spar with the Winchester boys. This is good.
The guys are surprised but not SURPRISED, because you're watching Supernatural.
Ugh. Back to Cas and Lucifer. Lucifer is still trying and failing to get his stick to rise (insert your own joke here; I don't have the will). Dipper wanders by to threaten Cas with Colonel Asmodeus's "big plans" for him. Lucifer is more worried about AU!Michael showing up in this world, because every version of his brother is obsessed and will get done what he wants to get done. He goads Cas with the knowledge that AU!Michael is torturing Mary, claiming it was worse than anything he'd ever seen in Hell, which I'm sure is a big fat lie. Cas is, too. He changes the subject by telling him how awesome Jack is, and that he won't want to have anything to do with Lucifer, and that he doesn't even look like him. Lucifer is furious, but that gives him the power to move his stick, so I guess that's promising.
Back to the bunker, thank god. Rowena pours three drinks and says "ask me," and Dean says "how are you alive," but the way he asks is just really low and sexy, and I'm just. Dang. Rowena and the boys, together again. I missed this. She explains that Lucifer did kill her, but she "takes precautions," although even with her resurrection spell, it took a long time to heal, and she doesn't particularly want to die again. Can't blame her. And that's why she wants the Black Grimoire. Dean comments that it's a coincidence that she shows up right when it's stolen, just like Sam remarked on the "coincidence" in the THEN, and she says she put a tracking spell on the Grimoire earlier so she "felt it moving." Sounds reasonable. She wants the Grimoire because it has a page that may help her remove a binding spell the Grand Coven put on her that limits "aspects of my magic." Important aspects, I'm sure. Dean's not interested in helping her become more powerful, but she says it's to help protect herself. And now she's worried about those silly girls damaging it, and the boys must be worried about the awful things they can do with it, so shouldn't they help each other! Ha ha ha no, they say. Rowena insists she has changed, and since they can't find the book without her tracking spell, they need her. She finishes her drink with a toast that I can't quite interpret, and then says "oh, one more thing, where's my son?" Awkward!
She does bring out the best in them, doesn't she?
Cut to Jenny and Jamie shopping for supplies in some kind of big variety store. It doesn't look like the kind of store that would have eye of newt or a virgin's blood, so the spell they're using must require pretty simple ingredients. Or maybe they just have no idea what they're doing, since Jenny says she can't read a lot of it. "Some of these symbols are things Mom never even mentioned." So Mom was a witch, but maybe not much of a teacher. The cashier asks if they're actually going to pay for their purchases today, since last time they apparently didn't. I guess they're regulars here, because Jenny says "shut up, Brenda." I like Brenda. Jenny determines they need a soul to sacrifice, and they find one on aisle 10.
We return to the bunker, where we skipped the boys giving Rowena the bad news about Crowley. She's shocked, and while they explain he did it to save them and that she'd be proud, she says she'd rather have "a living son, even one that hated me, than a dead hero." They tell her that Crowley succeeded in trapping Lucifer in an alternate reality, which she does not accept.
Don't be stupid! He's never gone!
Okay, listen. I know what Lucifer is capable -
Okay, can we not? It's like reminiscing about an abusive relationship. Why do that?
Oooh. Rowena is clearly very upset about anything Lucifer-related. Can't blame her. But she's also very quick to shut down any discussion of it. Dean asks what the sisters might be doing with the book, and she's kind of cagey. I mean, so many things you could do with a book like that, you know? And they outfoxed the Winchesters, so you've got to give them credit for having some smarts.
Tell me. Did they get to fifth base?
There's no such thing as fifth base.
Oh, you poor, sheltered boy.
The way Dean says that, a little quiet and not 100% sure of himself, gives me life.
All right, people, I need some fic where Rowena shows Dean what fifth base is, and I need it STAT.
Moving on. If Rowena helps the boys, she thinks maybe they'll change their minds about helping her. Their lips say no, but their eyes say... well, their eyes also say no.
Actually, I think Sam's eyes say "make me." And I would, dear boy. I would make you and then make you all over again. We might find SIXTH base.
Back to Jenny and Jamie, reading the Grimoire over a not-very-well-preserved corpse. Oh, this must be Mom. You mean we've got two siblings trying to save their mom? Crap. I love this. I love when the MotW reflects the Winchesters' situation. Jenny's concerned about messing up, but when Jamie suggests making a phone call (again), she says no, she's not asking for help. Jamie gives her a pep talk says "I'm the big sister, and I'm supposed to be the strong one, or whatever... I just really miss her." Jenny, the younger sister who's apparently better at research and spellwork (ha ha so subtle) says "I do too. I just want her back so bad." Jamie insists they will get Mom back, no matter how many people they have to sacrifice. Oh, if only I hadn't given up on looking for foreshadowing. A voice pipes up to tell Jenny that he believes in her too, because he loves her. It's the poor soul from the store. Jenny harvests his soul. Let the spellwork begin!
Impala time! Seems like the girls didn't go too far - Rowena has tracked them across the border into Oklahoma. Sadly, her spell doesn't pinpoint its location, and they'll have to talk to the "yokels." There is some delicious snarking, and then Sam stays in the car to keep an eye on Rowena while Dean heads out to talk to the yokels. Ladies first, Rowena suggests. She doesn't think those girls are very popular with them.
Cas and Lucifer again? {sigh} Thanks to his rage, Lucifer now has the ability to subdue Dipper, stick him in the neck (literally), and get out of his cell. Cas kills Dipper, angel-style, and they make their escape. (Or do they? Some more demons show up. I don't care.)
In the car, Rowena declares her boredom and asks for music, so Sam offers to find Dean's Led Zeppelin tape. Moby Dick, with an 8-minute drum solo. (Is Moby Dick a reference to Mary? Discuss.) And quite honestly, right now I want to transcribe Sam and Rowena's entire discussion, because it's so great.
Are you very sure I can't enslave some townsfolk and make them take us to the girls?
I'm very sure you can, but I'm also very sure you shouldn't.
Bless your precious heart, you just described my entire life.
But then things get serious. Sam turns around to face her and tells her that getting the book won't change anything.
You're still gonna feel helpless. Look, what Lucifer did to you -
I told you, I don't - Before he crushed my skull, Lucifer showed me his face. His true face. I'm scared, Sam. All the time.
I've seen it too. What he really looks like, behind, behind whatever vessel. And it still keeps me up at night.
How do you deal with it?
I guess I don't deal with it, not really. I mean, I pushed it down, and the world kept almost ending, so I keep pushing down, and. I don't know. I don't really talk about it. Not even with Dean. I mean, I could, you know, he'd listen. But it's not something I really know how to share.
This scene, you guys. It's Sam talking about Lucifer, about how that affected him, which is something we've wanted for 7.5 seasons. It's Sam reaching out to help (and then opening himself up to) Rowena, of all people, bonding over their shared trauma. It's emotional, it's intimate, it's visually beautiful - Amanda Tapping gets right up in their faces, bless her everloving soul.
Saaaaaammmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!
While this is happening, Dean enters the store the sisters were in earlier. Brenda the delightful cashier isn't surprised to see a man looking for "the Plum sisters," but she is surprised that they stole a book, not his heart. When she finds out he doesn't plan on being nice to them, she's thrilled to give him their address. And she checks him out as he leaves. Brenda, you dear girl, you've joined Mickey the Gas N Sip Guy as one of my favorite one-shot, barely-seen characters.
Out in the Impala, Sam and Rowena's conversation continues.
Even if you do get the book, and even if you get your power back, it won't matter. You won't ever be able to change what happened. You won't be able to change how helpless you felt, or how helpless you feel. You're still gonna get scared. And that feeling, that feeling never goes away.
Never?
Never.
Having heard enough, Rowena jumps out of the car, claiming she just needs a minute. Dean shows up with the address, but tells Rowena that her part is done. She thought he would do exactly that, so she tosses a hex bag on the ground and casts a spell that prevents the guys from picking their feet up off the ground.
She slips into the Plum house and hears the sisters arguing about why the spell didn't work. "You were supposed to get the book and wait for me," she says. Duh duh duuuuhhhhh!!! I guess we know who they decided not to call. "I told you about the book, where to find the boys; we had a deal. Now I've had to use them to find you!" She's still willing to help them, as long as they give her the book, but they're offended when she refers to "witches of your level." And they don't need her help, because they already did the spell, and it was mostly successful! In this case, "mostly" means Mom is a magic-proof zombie, which isn't what I'd call even remotely successful but I'm a layperson. I wouldn't know.
As Zombie!Mom goes for Rowena's tasty brains, Sam struggles to reach the hex bag holding them down. Dean is annoyed, and Sam points out that Rowena is scared. Which doesn't change the fact that she played them pretty good. Sam finally reaches the bag and hands it to Dean, who burns it. Freedom!
Cut to Cas and Lucifer again, outside Crowley's old topside headquarters. Which I guess is where they've been all this time. (Did I care? Nah.) Lucifer still wants to siphon off some of Cas's grace, and promises he'll leave him some, but Cas insists he can't trust him. Cas stabs Lucifer in the gut and says "this is me, learning from my mistakes." Well! That was actually worth watching. I'm still not enthused about these two, but if Cas had fallen for Lucifer's promise of assistance once again, I would have been super annoyed. Now I'm only slightly annoyed that they're on my screen. Lucifer's eyes flash red and then fade out, but I assume he's not dead.
Back at the old Plum place, Rowena attempts to barricade herself in the kitchen as Zombie!Mom breaks down the door. The guys show up with guns drawn and the sisters are all, guns, ha ha, we're not afraid of your silly guns. And then Dean says "witch-killing bullets" which is (1) a nice shout-out to "Regarding Dean" again, but (b) a really stupid thing to say, since he could have just shot the girls while they were standing there not being afraid of the guns. So instead, the girls fling them against the wall, and a fight enuses. "Sammy," Dean says, "they're really weirdly strong!" Which is true, and hilarious, and maybe the writers thought we'd wonder how these ordinary women could beat up the Winchesters, as if we didn't know about witches and spells and powers and whatnot. (And why didn't anyone think to explain weirdly strong Not!Kaia, since that was one that I actually thought called for an explanation.)
Rowena yells out that magic won't work on Zombie!Mom, and Dean tells her to shoot her in the head, which would be good advice if she had a gun. But she does find one on the floor, somehow - it must have been dropped by one of the guys. She takes out Zombie!Mom and then casts a spell that causes the girls to attack each other instead of the Winchesters. And so, with a hammer and a knife, the Plum sisters kill each other. If one were inclined to examine the similarities between these sisters and the Winchester brothers, one might point out that Dean tried to kill Sam with a hammer, and does that mean now it's time for a knife to come between them? But one would be dreaming, so one needs to forget this kind of thing. One needs to forget about two siblings whose attempt to rescue their mother ends in them literally killing each other. Yep, one really, really does.
Perhaps one can be satisfied with startled Winchesters and Sam's post-fight huff.
Aftermath! "You really thought, after all that, I was going to try to kill you," Rowena tells Sam as she examines the Grimoire. (Which is nicely aged inside, it's just the outside that looks ridiculous.) "Yeah, because you double-crossed us," he says. She corrects him - it was a triple-cross, and she ended up on his side, just as planned. He's not convinced.
Can I have more of Sam sternly looming over Rowena? Can I have just a little bit of this in every episode?
Dean says they're taking the Grimoire from her one way or another, which seems a little naive considering her powers. Sam goes to take the book, and she quietly pleads with him. "You know what I've seen, what it's like. Lucifer may be locked away, but he'll be back. He always comes back, and when he does, I can't be helpless again. I need the spell."
Okay, can I also have Sam sympathetically looming over Rowena, knowing she's afraid of the same thing he is, knowing she's experienced a little bit of what still keeps him up at night? Can I have this on a regular basis as well?
We hear the book close, and Rowena walks away, and the Grimoire is in Sam's hands, but friends, we know what happened the last time Dean told Sam what to do with a book, don't we? And the time before that. So. Just saying.
Back at the bunker, Sam opens a couple of beers while Dean complains that he actually succumbed to a love spell. Like, Dean Winchester wants love? Ha ha. Who would have thought he'd be vulnerable to anything like that. Then this happens.
Hey, you know that Rowena is not our friend, right?
Yeah, I know that.
Hmm. Then what's that? (Dean opens the Grimoire to expose a torn-out page.) You gave her the page. She got in your head, man.
She didn't get in my head.
Look, what happened to Rowena was messed up, okay? But you just let the deadliest witch in the world walk away with a page from this book!
Yeah. And if Rowena breaks bad, I will hunt her down myself, and put a bullet in her. I will, Dean. But if she's right, and if she does see Lucifer again, then... I hope she makes him suffer. (Sam exhales with a shudder, smiles and nods sadly, then looks down and away as if he doesn't even have the right to want this, or he needs to not think about what he's thinking about.)
You gotta get out of this dark place, you know, whatever's going on in your head.
Dean.
What?
You know what, honestly?
Yeah, how about honestly?
I know what Rowena is dealing with. She's not the only one who feels helpless.
What do you mean?
Means, I had a plan, you know? Help Jack bring Mom back. It wasn't much, but it was something. It kept me from spinning off the rails. And now, Jack is gone, Mom is still in Hell, basically, and I just...
We'll figure it out.
Dean, we don't have a plan! We don't know what to do! So, so... how?
I don't know. But we will. You and me.
Yeah. 'Night.
Oh god, you guys, this scene. This scene. Sam's breaking and Dean's got no answers, all he can do is say "we'll fix it" and he has no idea how, but he has to say that because that's what he does, he fixes things, he rides in on his white horse and slays the dragon and he just needs Sam to believe in him and them, and Sam just doesn't see how it can be fixed, and probably has a better idea of how messed up it is than Dean does, because who knows Lucifer better than Sam, and he just can't do it any more, can't keep pushing it down, he can't talk about it and he can't pretend it's gonna be okay and he just leaves because he's done, and it's emotionally wrenching and disturbingly pretty and I'm just... ugh. On the floor, flailing wildly. Steve Yockey, Amanda Tapping, you are my heroes.
(Oh, and Jared and Jensen, obviously.)
Let me point out here that the last time we saw two siblings trying to save Mom, and one of them trying to convince the other they could do it even without a plan... it didn't end well. It involved a hammer and a knife and it did not end well.
But we're not even done, because now we cut to Rowena, kneeling in a pentagram, surrounded by candles, reciting a spell. She draws a knife down her throat and light spills out, as if she were an angel or demon, and we see glowing purple clouds flow out of her. Bands of sigils come into view surrounding her, and we watch this binding disintegrate. She is free. And then her eyes glow violet. Now, is unbound Rowena going to be the Winchesters' ally, or their worst enemy?
Well! How often do we have a mytharc episode that's actually full of good stuff! The return of Rowena, Cas standing up to Lucifer, and good lord, all of this emotional Sam and concerned Dean and Rowena vs. the Winchesters and Rowena plus the Winchesters and fifth base and loopy lovestruck Dean and SAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM. I love it when low expectations are thwarted. Though I'll admit, there's one little thing I was unhappy with. Rowena never called Sam "Samuel." Not once. But hey, we've got half a season left!
(So, why did I put that bonus cap at the beginning? Because LOOK AT IT. Because when you read an earlier recap, and you scroll to the bottom and it shows three related posts, the first graphic on each post is the one that shows up in that list, and I wanted it to be this one. For obvious reasons.)
Remember, no spoilers in the comments, please!
