Previously: A creepy doctor made out of patchwork people parts offered Dean a chance at immortality. Also, Bela died.
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No Rest For the Wicked
Kirsti: CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON! That’s right, friends. It’s the season finale.
Marines: My first one! High fives all around!
K: WOO! Only a million to go!! *cries*
After a ton of previouslies, we open with Dean running furiously through the woods, being chased by Hellhounds. He comes face to face with one, which growls, and he freezes for a second before running back the way we came. The camera is from the Hellhound’s perspective, and we follow at Dean’s heels.
He trips and falls, and we see him scream as blood splatters across his face.
In a cabin somewhere, Dean wakes from his nightmare, his face stuck to a book about Hellhounds. Sam walks in and asks if he’s found anything. Dean shakes his head. Sam says that Bobby’s found a way to find Lilith. Dean looks at his watch and suggests that they use his last 30 hours on a trip to Tijuana. I’m on board with that because they’d inevitably run into Dick Casablancas, who Dean would probably get along with quite well.
Mari: Also, Marissa might be passed out in an alley. Not as fun as Dick, but you know.
K: True.
Sam sits down next to Dean and says that they’re going to fix it and that he’s definitely not going to Hell. Dean suddenly looks scared, and when the camera pans around, we see it’s because to him, Sam’s face has gone all freaky and demonic. Then it switches back to regular Sam. Dean’s hallucinations have started. “Yeah, okay…” Dean says unconvincingly.
For the final time, SATAN’S SCREENSAVER!
After the Not Credits, Bobby’s setting up a massive scrying device over a map of the continental US. He tells the boys that when he’s done, they’ll know where Lilith is. He sets the pendulum swinging and chants in Latin. It stops suddenly, and Bobby tells the boys that they’re heading to New Harmony, Indiana. Sam wants to leave immediately, but Dean’s not so sure. They don’t know that Lilith holds his death, and they have no way of killing her. He doesn’t want Sam to die too. “We either go in smart or we don’t go in at all,” he says.
Sam says he has a way to make sure they’re right, but Dean snaps and walks away. Sam insists that he’s going to summon Ruby, and Dean says all she’s done is lie to them from the get go, and that even if she has a demon killing knife, she might be working for Lilith. Bobby says that Sam’s right, and Dean yells “NO! DAMMIT!“. Bobby looks at him in surprise. Dean calms down and tells them to find another way. He walks back to the table where he woke up and starts flipping through books again. Bobby grabs his coat and heads out to look for another solution.
Sam, meanwhile, goes down to the Basement of Don’t Go In There (WHY DOES NO ONE EVER LISTEN TO US??) and summons Ruby. (M: Because of course. Dean should just save all his screaming.) Latin chant, blah blah, set fire to mystery powder, HEY PRESTO there’s a demon. Sam asks Ruby if she knew that Lilith holds Dean’s contract, and she admits that she did. But she didn’t say anything because the boys would have rushed in unprepared and gotten themselves killed. Sam says they’re ready now and that they want the knife.
Ruby stalks towards him, and says that he’s right. They ARE ready. And it’s the perfect time to strike because Lilith is on shore leave. “The hell’s that mean?” Sam asks. Ruby says he doesn’t want to know, and asks if they still have the hex bags she gave them. Sam says they do, and she says that means Lilith won’t know they’re coming. But she’s not going to give them the knife. It won’t do any good to charge in with a weapon that small.
Sam wants to know how they’re meant to stop Lilith without the knife, and Ruby says that Sam can save his brother. All he has to do is use his weirdo psychic demon powers. Sam calls bullshit because he hasn’t had any powers since they killed the Yellow Eyed Demon. Ruby says that his powers are just dormant, and that’s why Lilith is so scared of him. Sam doesn’t believe her, but she insists it’s true. She didn’t mention it earlier because she knew Sam wouldn’t consider it until he was suitably desperate.
Ruby goes on to say that she knows Sam doesn’t like feeling like a freak, doesn’t like how Dean looks at him strangely sometimes. But if he’s willing to put in the work, she can help him save Dean. “So that’s you, huh? Our slutty little Yoda,” says Dean from behind her. (M: Shut up, Dean.) (K: Seriously. I’m not sure this warrants misogyny shots, but it’s getting there.) Ruby glares at him. Dean smirks as he walks towards her, saying he knew Sam wouldn’t listen. Sam looks away, embarrassed. Dean demands that Ruby give him the knife and leave. She refuses, saying that they’d be crazy not to use Sam’s powers.
Sam intervenes, siding with Ruby. Dean snaps and yells that it’s just a trick. “…she probably wants you to become her little Anti-Christ superstar!” he says. Okay, but like does this mean that Dean’s seen Jesus Christ Superstar? Because he had no knowledge of Mary Poppins a few episodes ago.
Ruby insists that all she wants is Lilith dead. When he scoffs, Ruby announces that he can save his own damned life because she’s sick of proving herself to him. Dean goes to leave, then turns around and punches her in the face. Sam backs away in surprise. Dean and Ruby fight until she kicks him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
From the floor, Dean grins because he used the fight to pick her pocket and steal the knife. Ruby rushes towards him, but suddenly stops dead. She looks up to see that she’s trapped in a devil’s trap that’s painted on the ceiling. He smirks that he knew she’d come. He walks towards the stairs, telling Sam that they’re leaving. Sam apologetically walks over to his brother and they head upstairs. Ruby screams that she wishes she could be there to see Dean die. He has no fucks to give.
K: She’s a demon, so…
Upstairs, the boys do a weapons check. Sam wonders if Ruby’s right and he really can defeat Lilith. Dean glares at him. Sam suggests they talk to Ruby because going in with just the knife doesn’t count as going in smart. Dean says that working with demons isn’t smart. Sam insists that they only have one chance at this, and they can’t screw it up. Dean says they can’t make the same mistakes again. Every time a Winchester is in danger, another Winchester sacrifices themselves to save their relative.
Sam insists he can handle it, and if it’ll save Dean… He trails off. “Why even risk it?” Dean asks sadly. Because he’s Sam’s brother, that’s why. Things get feelsy as Dean says Sam can’t do it. They’re each other’s weak spots and the bad guys know that. They both get choked up and teary, and Dean says they have to stop being martyrs. He picks up the knife, and says they should do things their way, the way Papa Winchester taught them. “And if we go down, then, uh… We go down swinging,” he finishes.
Sam stares down at the floor, then looks at Dean with a smirk. He says that Dean should have been jamming out to Eye of the Tiger during that speech. Dean complains that he practiced the speech and everything, and they agree to head to Indiana where Lilith’s on shore leave.
Cut to Indiana. An old man goes to check his mailbox, and meets his neighbour there. They make small talk, one telling the other that his granddaughter is home sick. He shakes his neighbour’s hand as he goes to leave, and the neighbour looks confused. After the old man’s gone, the neighbour looks down at the piece of paper the old man pressed into his hand. When it’s unfolded, it reads “HELP US“. The neighbour looks confused.
Mari: It’s like a hidden message! What could ‘help us’ even mean?
K: WHO KNOWS. It must be written in code.
The old man walks back into his house and steps over the fly covered body of an old woman, presumably his wife, which is lying in the hall. He walks into the kitchen to find a younger couple there. The woman is icing a cake, and they all look terrified. The old man asks Cake Lady where “she” is, and she replies “She’s upstairs, playing with Freckles“. The old man says they should do something, and the younger man hisses that “she” will hear them. Cake Lady says that it’s her baby girl, and the old man says “Not any more. There’s something inside her…”
They hear footsteps approaching, and a little girl walks in, her frilly dress covered in blood. Cake Lady asks what happened to her dress, and the little girl says that Freckles was mean to her.
Cake Lady looks at the old man in horror. He hangs his head. Lilith asks the younger man, father of the little girl she’s possessing, to push her on the swing. He suggests she change her dress first so that the neighbours don’t see all the blood. She grins and hugs him. He looks terrified, but asks if maybe she’d consider letting them go.
Lilith pulls back and glares at him, demanding to know if they want to leave because they don’t love her. They all assure her that they do love her, and she snaps “Don’t be mean to me, Daddy!”. He hyperventilates in fear, and apologises. After a few beats, she smiles hugely and says “That’s okay, silly. Now let’s go play.”
Cut to Sam and Dean in the Bromobile. Dean tries to start the car, but nothing happens. Bobby appears waving the distributor cap, and demands to know where they’re going. Dean says they’ve got the knife. Bobby says they’re not going to use it without him: “Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you??“. Bobby’s the best. Dean says that it’s not Bobby’s fight, it’s his and Sam’s. Bobby gets up in his face, and says that Dean’s wrong. “Family don’t end with blood, boy!” he yells.
Mari: I’ve never had Bobby feels before but this did it.
K: Aaaaaaaaaanywho. Bobby asks Dean how many hallucinations he’s had so far. Sam looks confused. Dean asks how he knew, and Bobby says that’s what happens when you’ve got Hellhounds closing in on you. He hands Dean the distributor cap and says he’ll follow them to Indiana. Cut to the boys speeding across the country in the Bromobile that night. Sam tries to make some kind of goodbye speech in case they can’t save Dean, and Dean says he doesn’t want his last day to be socially awkward. “You know what I do want?” he says. He reaches down and switches on the radio. Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive starts playing.
Sam looks judgey. “Bon Jovi rocks…on occasion,” Dean says. He starts singing along with the music, and nudges Sam to join in. Eventually he does, and I wish he hadn’t because homeboy cannot sing. As they reach the “Dead or alive” line of the chorus, Dean’s smile fades and he stares out at the road, clearly joining the dots between the lyrics and his forthcoming fate.
Cut to sometime later. The Bromobile drives past and a police car spots the broken tail light and swings out after them, sirens blaring. Dean reluctantly pulls over and winds down his window. He hands over his licence and registration without looking at the cop. The cop mentions the broken tail light, and Dean looks up at him. He blanches, and says that he’s been meaning to take care of that. When the cop looks away, Dean opens his door and slams it into the cop’s stomach.
Dean leaps out of the car and punches the cop in the face three times. Sam runs around the car to stop him. But Dean’s pulled the knife from his belt, and slams it into the cop’s neck just as Bobby pulls up. There’s the usual flash of orange that comes with a demon dying. The cop falls to the ground, dead. Bobby and Sam look at Dean in shock. Sam asks how Dean knew it was a demon. “I could see its face. Its real face under that one,” Dean replies.
Later, they cover the cop car in branches to hide it.
M: Seeing people trying to hide stuff in branches always makes me laugh because:
Sam wants to know how Dean can be seeing demons. Bobby says it’s because he’s got five hours left, and that means he’s almost Hell’s property, so he can see other hell beasties. Sam says it could come in handy. Dean sasses that he’s glad he’s still useful. Bobby says Lilith probably has demons all over town, and now they can identify them before they can sound the alarm. Dean’s all “Cool story, let’s get on with it”.
Lilith’s Rec Leave House of Fun. The table is set for dinner, but it’s all candy and cake. Lilith says that she loves having her birthday every day. She claps her hands and blows out the candles on the cake that Cake Lady was making earlier. Lilith turns to the old man and demands to know why he asked the neighbour for help. He claims to not know what she’s talking about. When she calls him a liar, he admits that it was a mistake. She turns to her “parents” and asks if they knew about this. They both plead ignorance. The old man looks shocked that they’re not backing him up. Lilith calls him “a mean old man“, and gestures with her hand. His neck snaps and he falls face first into his food.
Cake Lady cries out in shock and her husband looks horrified. Lilith tells them not to scream because screaming makes her mad. Cake Lady tearfully cuts the cake, and Lilith cheerfully asks if she can have ice cream with hers.
Mari: I’m not really sure if it sank in while I was watching, but this is terrifying. This demon seems to like possessing children and then using their body to be evil. WHAT EVEN IS THIS?
K: SERIOUSLY. And this is her version of shore leave…
Cut to a house across the street with a for sale sign out the front. The boys and Bobby are holed up inside watching the house through binoculars. Dean says that the little girl is Lilith and that her face is horrifying. Sam starts to head out, and Dean stops him because there are a ton of security demons around, including the neighbour. Sam says they can sneak past the demons, and Dean baulks at the idea of killing a 10 year old girl. Sam says it’s not just about saving him. It’s about saving everyone. Bobby agrees. Dean looks thoughtful.
Back in the house, Cake Lady is reading a bedtime story to Lilith. Lilith has her head on Cake Lady’s shoulder. Lilith tells her to read the story again. Cake Lady tearfully says that she’s already read it 26 times. She starts the story again and Lilith nuzzles in closer.
A possessed mailman is on security duty when he hears a noise. He looks around and sees Dean, looking like a deer in the headlights. Dean rushes away, and the mailman gives chase. When the mailman runs around a corner, Sam stabs him in the chest with Ruby’s knife. They drop his corpse to the ground. Elsewhere, Bobby is holding a rosary and muttering in Latin. He drops the rosary into a water pipe and it’s carried away in the flow.
The boys kill Neighbour Demon and hide his body. Dean takes off while Sam looks around. Dean runs through some trees towards a fence, and comes face to face with Ruby, who slams him up against the fence and demands her knife back. Sam comes up behind her and puts the knife to her throat. She releases Dean, who asks how she got free. Then he looks at her face and starts back. He glances away in disgust, having seen her true face.
Ruby again demands her knife back. Sam refuses, saying he’ll give it back when it’s over. Ruby says it’s already over. She gave him a solution, and he shot her down. Dean’s as good as dead, and she’s not going to let Sam go the same way. Sam snaps that if she tries to stop him, he’ll kill her. And he calls her a bitch so that we can get in our usual misogyny shots. WHEE BOOZE. (M: Not the first time she’s been called a bitch this episode so we’re probably already drunk!) (K: TRUE.)
Dean snaps that they should bicker later because they’re being watched by demons. Sam gets “OH SHIT” face, and they all start running towards Lilith’s Rec Leave House of Fun. Demons run after them. They reach the door and Sam starts picking the lock as the demons close in around them. As the demons reach the front lawn, the sprinkler system turns on, spraying the demons with holy water. Dean smiles, then bursts out laughing as the demons are forced backwards. Sam gets the door open and they head inside.
Sam and Ruby step over the dead body of the old woman as Dean walks in and closes the door behind them. He asks if Lilith knows they’re there, and Ruby replies “Probably“. Sam walks through the house, knife first. Someone bursts out of a cupboard and attacks Dean. It’s the younger man. Dean grabs him and pins him, shushing him. He says that they’re there to help, and Sam asks where his daughter is. He replies that it’s not his daughter any more and that she’s upstairs in her room.
Dean tells him to go hide in the basement with a line of salt across the door. He refuses to go without Cake Lady. Dean knocks him out and carries him off. Sam and Ruby head upstairs, Sam leading the way with the knife out. He slowly opens the door to the little girl’s bedroom and creeps inside. Lilith’s asleep on Cake Lady’s shoulder. Cake Lady’s awake and teary with fear. She mouths “DO IT!” at Sam when she sees him standing there with the knife.
Sam can’t bring himself to do it. Cake Lady repeats herself and Lilith starts to stir. As she wakes, Cake Lady says “Do it! Do it!“. Sam goes to strike as Lilith screams. Dean grabs Sam’s knife hand, and yells “It’s not her!“. Lilith is gone.
Mari: We all just realize that while he hesitated, Sam was totally going to kill a little girl, right?
K: Yup.
Cake Lady hugs her crying daughter, and I can’t help but think that you’d never be able to be around your kid ever again after she murdered her grandparents and the family pet…
Mari: At the very least, every time they started to throw a tantrum you’d be all like, “Satan? Is that you?”
K: Or, you know, running away forever.
Outside, the demons stand on the street, held back by the sprinklers. Bobby watches them, then checks his watch. Dean tells Cake Lady to take her daughter down to the basement where her husband is. Ruby mutters “I hate to say I told you so…” and Sam demands to know where Lilith is. Ruby says she has no idea, and Dean asks if she could have gotten past the sprinklers. Yup.
Sam asks Ruby what he has to do to save Dean, and Ruby says it’s way too late for that. Sam tearfully says there has to be something he can do. Dean comes up and grabs him. Sam insists that he’s not going to let Dean go to Hell. “Yes, you are!” Dean yells. He says it’s all his fault, and Sam using his powers won’t save Dean. It’ll just kill Sam. Sam asks what he’s supposed to do. “Keep fighting. Take care of my wheels. Sam, remember what Dad taught you… okay? And remember what I taught you.”
Sam nods tearfully. The clock strikes midnight, and Dean looks around at it. Sam’s tears spill over. Dean gives his brother a tearful little smile. Ruby says that she’s sorry and she wouldn’t wish what’s about to happen on anyone. There’s a growl, and Dean turns towards the sound. He says there’s a Hellhound standing there. We cut to the Hellhound’s viewpoint. They starts running, and the Hellhound gives chase. Dean locks them in a room and pours goofer dust along the door and window.
Ruby turns to Sam and asks for the knife, saying that maybe she can slow it down. Sam takes out the knife and goes to hand it to her. Suddenly, Dean yells “STOP!“. The zoomy cameraman zooms in on Ruby, and Dean yells that it’s not Ruby any more. She flings out an arm and Sam flies across the room and slams into a wall. She pins Dean on top of a table. Ruby’s now possessed by Lilith. Her facial expression becomes childlike, and when Dean asks how long she’s been possessing that body, Lilith replies “Not long. But I like it. It’s all grown up and pretty.”
Her eyes turn white. Sam asks where Ruby is, and Lilith sing-songs that Ruby was bad and she sent her far away.
Dean asks if this is her big plan, and she says she doesn’t have to talk to puppy chow. “Sic em, boy” she says to the Hellhound. Sam snaps around to look at Dean. Lilith opens the door and the goofer dust blows away. We switch to Hellhound Cam as it rushes in and attacks Dean. It gores his leg and tears into him as he screams. Sam freaks, but he’s still pinned against the wall. Sam yells at Lilith to stop as Dean fights to get away from the Hellhound. Blood pours from Dean’s chest, and he can’t even scream any more.
“NO!” Sam screams. “Yes,” Lilith replies with a smile. She holds out a hand towards Sam and white light bursts from it. Sam closes his eyes in resignation. But the light fades just as quickly. Lilith stares at her hand in surprise. Sam slowly stands. Lilith looks terrified and tells him to stay away. Sam picks up Ruby’s knife and steps towards her. Lilith panics, and bails. Black smoke pours from Ruby’s mouth and out the roof. Ruby’s body collapses on the floor next to Dean.
Sam slowly walks over to his brother, and cradles Dean’s body in his arms as he cries.
Welp. That was a thing. This seems kind of rushed, which isn’t surprising given that the writers’ strike interfered. It feels like it would have worked better as a two part episode maybe?? I don’t even know. It’s a decent episode, yes. But it really does feel rushed.
Mari: I was really curious to see how they would eventually escape the death thing because for some reason I believed this season would end with Dean alive, but just barely? Clearly, I wasn’t thinking straight. Of course they didn’t save him. Not yet, at least. And now I’m super curious how they will get him out.
It did feel rather dense and yet I wasn’t a fan of the bit at the end where Sam instantly and magically stops Lillith. It felt like such a cop out after a packed episode and it wasn’t even cool. He just closed his eyes and when they were open again, it was over. BOOOO.
One other thing bothered me in addition to that and it was just all the gendered insults directed at Ruby. What about her behavior would make Dean call her a skank or slut? That’s just gross and we’re not even touching the fact that both dudes call her ‘bitch’ over and over. It sucks that it comes in an episode where I realized how much I really like Ruby and the actress who plays her. I’m not sure if we’ll see her again, but her story seems super unresolved. She at least wasn’t lying about Sam’s powers!
Good points include Bobby helping out the boys, Lilith being truly disturbing, along with that whole Stepfordian suburb of demons, Sam’s refusal to give up and Dean’s palpable fear. I think it’s really swell that they kind of even addressed the fact that they shouldn’t keep sacrificing themselves for each other, only to have the next guy sacrifice even more. I mean, probably they’ll still keep doing this, but good on the show for discussing it as an issue.
Next time: We rank things! Find out our overall thoughts on season 3 in our Supernatural Season 3 Wrap Up.
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
