Supernatural Episode 817
“Goodbye Stranger”
Written By: Robbie Thompson
Directed By: Thomas J. Wright
Original Airdate: 20 March 2013
In This Episode...
The Winchesters find a rash of killings across the midwest. All the victims had burns at the eyes, nose, hands and feet, and had their organs liquified. Their investigation shows that all the victims were acting weird just before their deaths. One woman, Ann, stopped eating and sleeping, and would sneak out at night, muttering about an orchard. Her husband followed her one night and saw she was digging dozens of narrow, deep holes in a playground. When Ann saw him, her eyes turned black.
Sam is interested to know who is killing demons; Dean is just glad to hear someone is killing demons. The last person to speak to Ann was a PhD candidate who was working on an original map of the town 100 years ago. The town - and all its records - were washed out in a flood. Ann’s assistant is on his way to pick up the maps. On cue, there is a knock at the door, but it is no “assistant;” it is a trio of demon thugs. The fighting breaks out immediately. One of the demons grabs the map and runs. The demon fighting Dean gives up, vacates its body, and takes residence in the PhD candidate. The demon fighting Sam is killed - by Castiel.
Castiel puts the PhD demon in a demon cell for interrogation. He says that he is here because he answered Dean’s prayer. Naomi is controlling/conversing with Cas at this time; she tells him to tell them the truth. But only some of the truth. Cas tells the boys that he is here looking for the other half of the demon tablet. Crowley’s men are here looking for the same tablet, plus a parchment that would decode the tablet. Crowley found out that Lucifer once had crypts on earth, and he assumes it is buried in one of these crypts. The PhD demon is interrogated and reveals that they have a hostage who has been feeding the demons information. Castiel, at Naomi’s urging, kills the demon before she can reveal what they are really looking for.
Castiel disappears and the boys race to meet him at the hotel where the hostage is being kept. They are worried because Cas is acting weird. They arrive and Cas has already dispatched the guard demons. They find the hostage: Meg. She knows where Lucifer’s crypt is; she has been leading the demons around to buy herself some time. At this point, Meg is going to spill what everyone is looking for, and Naomi needs Meg to lead them to it, so Cas can’t kill her. They are looking for an angel tablet.
Meg leads them to the site of the crypt. She and Sam stay outside, drawing protective symbols, while Dean and Castiel go inside for the tablet. They find it, but Cas can’t touch it because it is in an anti-angel case. Dean pulls it out, and this is where Naomi starts coaching Castiel to kill Dean. He doesn’t want to, he fights against it, but it is difficult. He beats the snot out of Dean, who drops the tablet (which breaks out of its protective shell) and dares Cas to kill him. Naomi tells Cas to choose between heaven or the Winchesters. Castiel’s head looks like it might explode. He pulls out his dagger... and drops it. He picks up the tablet, which releases a blinding light and zaps Cas out of heaven’s waiting room. He heals Dean, apologizes, and admits that Naomi has been controlling him since she yanked him out of purgatory. He doesn’t know what broke the connection, but he knows he has to protect the tablet from Naomi and Dean. With that, he is gone.
Outside, Crowley has shown up. He fights with Meg a bit, and Meg insists that Sam go get Dean and get out of there. He does, and they watch from the car as Meg and Crowley do battle. Crowley kills Meg and the Winchesters drive away. Naomi appears, still uncertain of what the hell went on. Crowley wants to make a deal with Naomi, but she wants nothing to do with it. One of her other lackeys must have gone looking for Cas, but she can’t find him. Cas is traveling by bus to places unknown.
Dig It or Bury It?
This was an unremarkable episode. It was good, but nothing special.
Sibling Rivalry
Dean knows that Sam has been coughing up blood, and Castiel mentioned that Sam is broken in a way that he cannot fix. Dean is upset that Sam lied to him, and Sam vows never to lie again. He just didn’t want to admit there was something wrong. Which led to....
Spooky Humor
Dean: “I can’t carry the burden of the trials, but I can carry you.” Sam: “Do you realize you just quoted Lord of the Rings?” Dean: “Yeah, but it was Rudy-hobbit. I get a pass on Rudy-hobbit!”
Prophecies?
A school for young hunters turns next week’s episode into a cross between X-Men and Battle Royale.