| recap added by journalbookbinder
(The opening sequence is really visually arresting. Director Jensen Ackles commented that he had the John Wick movies in mind for the look he was going for and he nailed it. It's an extended action sequence and was the first thing they filmed when they returned to shoot season 15...Jensen still has his hiatus beard in what we soon find out is a dream sequence. It's obvious how seriously dedicated Jensen is to a good action sequence both as a director and and actor.)
The bunker is bathed in red "emergency" light and all hell is breaking loose. Dean has a beard and wears a scarf, looking like a future version of Dean, perhaps. He fights a variety of demons who attack him mercilessly, killing one after another. Bodies lie strewn on the floor and demons go flying as Dean takes them out one by one. Gunfire is heard elsewhere in the bunker, leading us to think that the battle is going on throughout the place with other hunters. This is confirmed when Dean rounds a corner, ready to fight, but is surprised by another man, but it must be another Hunter because Dean lets him go and doesn't fight him.
Dean enters a room and finds many dead bodies along with Benny his (rather long-ago) vampire friend dying on the floor. He tells Dean he'll see him on the other side, "Brother" before he dies.
Dean asks a dying demon in the room "Where is he?" and it told "he's closer than you think".
Dean stalks through the bunker and comes face to face with Sam. He's a demon. In this reality, Sam never stopped taking the demon blood. He has "demon Sam" sideburns and everything. Dean insinuates that, in this reality, demon Sam killed Bobby and Jody. Sam says he can't stop. Dean asks Sam to fight the demon blood. Sam wonders why he'd ever try to fight it?
Another Hunter tries to ambush Sam, but Sam senses him coming and snaps the hunter's neck by only closing his eyes. Dean pleads with Sam, but Sam only cocks his head to the side and snaps Dean's neck as well, killing his brother.
Sam wakes up in the bunker, bolting out of bed, startled, and seems to glance to the side to see if he's alone.
Later...in the bunker kitchen, Dean is eating bacon and observes that Sam looks like he's had a rough night. Dean offers Sam bacon. Sam says he doesn't eat bacon. Dean tells him it's veggie bacon.
Sam says Dean has never gotten veggie bacon. He says Dean won't allow it in the "meat man's" kitchen. Sam tells him that he really shouldn't use that term because it doesn't mean what he thinks it means. Dean doesn't believe him. He tells Sam to try the bacon.
Dean knows Sam's not okay. He hasn't been out of his room in days. Dean understands that with everything that happened with Jack and Rowena...things have been difficult, but Dean says that Rowena knew what she was doing. Sam says that doesn't make it any easier. Dean agrees. Dean shows Sam a possible case online in Beaverdale, Iowa. A dead girl ripped to pieces. Dean wants to go check it out. Sam wants Dean to go alone. Dean insists that they need this. That Sam needs it.
Sam tries the bacon and spits it out exclaiming that it's real bacon.
Dean says, "Damn right it is!" and refers to himself as the Meat Man again.
In Beaverdale, Iowa, Sam questions the vice principal at the victim's school. The victim was a high school cheerleader. Very popular. The vice principal points out the girl who was the victim's best friend.
Two parents walk up, upset that the game on Friday has been cancelled in lieu of the memorial service for the dead girl. They wanted their son scouted by a Yale lacrosse scout who had planned to come to that game.
They want the game to go ahead with a prayer at halftime instead, but the administrator turns them down. Sam is disgusted that the parents would have so little regard for the girl who died and would treat their son's college lacrosse prospects as if it is the most important thing in the world.
Sam walks over to Dean who is eating, leaning against the Impala, and asks if he found anything at the morgue. He holds up a vial containing a vampire fang. Sam observes that vampires don't usually rip victims apart.
Dean gets a kick out of the school's mascot beaver riding by on a razor scooter.
Later that night, a girl wearing a cheerleading uniform is walking to her car while talking on her phone, sad over the loss of her co-cheerleader. She is attacked by something unseen before she can get into her car. She screams.
Sam and Dean check out the original crime scene out in the country where the first girl was killed. Dean says the local authorities have no idea what they're dealing with. Sam seems upset that only he and Dean get to know the truth about all the horrible things out there. Everyone else gets to happily live in the dark about it all. Dean's taking hits from his flask while they talk. Dean says that ever since Sam was a kid he wanted to live in a normal town like this. Sam says they don't do normal. He marvels that every little thing is the end of the world in a town like this; people get worked up over so many minor issues, and they have no idea
whats' really out there.
Sam's phone rings. it's the vice principal. There's another girl missing.
Elsewhere...
A family is getting ready to go fishing for the day; the husband and children. The wife comes out with motion sickness pills and it's Becky Rosen. She now has a husband and children and they are going fishing on Lake Michigan, but she's staying behind. She's glad to have some quiet time alone.
The car pulls away, and Chuck waves at her from across the road. She tries to run into the house, but he runs after her. He says he needs to see her and he's sorry that they're not together now, but he wanted to talk and catch up. He says he's had a rough couple of weeks. Becky says that's not her problem, but Chuck says he has nowhere else to turn.
In Iowa:
The vice principal tells Sam and Dean that another cheerleader has gone missing. Dean muses that someone must have a fetish, which horrifies the vice principal and earns him a harsh look from Sam. Dean tries to play the comment off. He says they'll look into it.
At Becky's house...
Chuck is looking at miniatures ("maquettes") of various Supernatural locations (Bobby's junkyard, Harvelle's Roadhous, and others) on display in Becky's house and asks what he's looking at. Becky explains she has the most successful Etsy site for Supernatural miniatures in the world. Chuck says she must still be obsessed with his work then. Becky explains that she because extremely obsessed to the point of drugging Sam. She realized she had gone too far, so she went to counseling. She realized she loved the character of Sam, not the real Sam. Instead of reading Chuck's stories, she started writing her own. More emotional; not all about hunting. Chuck insists that people like the monsters the Winchester's hunt. Becky says no they don't; they like Sam and Dean sitting around talking and doing laundry. But Becky's writing wasn't paying the bills, so she started making miniatures. (BTW, they used actual items fans sent to the studio to help furnish Becky's house with all the memorabilia) The miniatures started turning a profit.
Chuck still insists that people love the monsters in the stories he wrote; like the Levaiathans.
Becky says that with the house to herself, she has work to do and orders to fill, so if Chuck wants to talk, he needs to talk now.
Chuck says he had a falling out with the Winchesters. Now he's low on resources. He tried to get his sister to help him, but she rejected him and now he's just stuck, so he thought he'd come see his #1 fan and see if she could help make him feel big again.
Becky is annoyed that Chuck wants her to pump up his ego. She says she's not that person anymore. She loves her family and she likes herself and she doesn't need him. Chuck says he knows. No one needs him. He says he's happy for her. He says he hates himself right now. Becky looks sympathetic. Chuck says he feels lost and doesn't know what he's doing. Becky seems to decide to help. She asks what makes him happy. He says "writing" and "creating".
In Iowa, Dean is simultaneous eating again and talking to the high school mascot dressed like a Beaver. Sam thinks it's odd that he's questioning the mascot. Dean says don't underestimate the mascot, he has a full ride to IU. The mascot has access and knows a lot about cheerleaders. With the first victim dead and second missing, that means there is a new girl who would become captain of the squad. They wonder if that girl is the perpetrator.
The next girl in line for cheerleading captain is talking to Billy (the lacrosse player) about the girl who died. She's trying to prepare a speech for the memorial.
Billy is called away by his mother.
The girl stands in front of a room of empty chairs and practices her speech. She calls the victim her best friend. Says she was a part of her. Her speech is bad; over-the-top cheesy. Sam and Dean walk in on her, clapping sarcastically. They think she may have killed Suzi. Sam prepares to inject the girl with Dead Man's Blood, but he sees that this girl has braces. She can't vamp out, apparently, with braces.
Now they don't have a suspect.
Sam spies a security camera.
Elsewhere, Billy is home with his parents. They're arguing. The father is washing blood off of his hands in the kitchen sink.
We see that the second victim is tied up and blindfolded somewhere in Billy's house; perhaps in the basement.
At Becky's house, Chuck wants liquor, but Becky doesn't have any. Chuck is using Becky like a therapist. He says he used to be able to easily visualize Sam and Dean stories, but he can't now. Becky asks if that is because he lost his prophet powers? Chuck says yes. Becky tells him to write about something else, but he says he can't. Becky says that when a writer doesn't write, it makes them sad and lost, but when a writer doesn't write, that's all just procrastination and distraction. She encourages him to start writing again. Chuck doesn't know if he can.
He wonders how she knows all this. She says she's a writer too. He says fan fic isn't really the same; she disagrees, saying that writing is writing.
She says she writes every spare minute. Chuck sits down at her computer and she protests that she didn't mean he should do it right now. He starts to write.
In Iowa, Sam and Dean watch the security footage of the night the girl was taken. The perpetrator is wearing a mask, but they can see his license plate. It's Billy's father's car.
Elsewhere, Billy's parents are arguing with him about missing the game with the scout. Billy thinks they are taking it too seriously. He says he didn't want this pressure.
The doorbell rings. It's Sam and Dean. They want to talk to Billy's father. The girls tied up can hear their voices and tries to scream. The father sends Billy from the room. Sam accuses the father of taking the missing girls. Sam hears a crash in the basement and goes to check it out. The father says they should take him, but leave his family out of it. They should arrest him.
Dean pulls out a machete, saying they aren't FBI. They aren't here to arrest him.
Sam finds the girl in the basement and sees that someone is collecting her blood. He takes out the IV and tries to rescue her but is stopped by Billy's mom pointing a handgun at him.
Dean calls for Sam and Sam carries out the girl, followed by Billy's mom who is keeping him at gunpoint. She says she's saving their family. The father tells her to take Billy and leave.
At Becky's...
Becky reads what Chuck has written. He asks what she thinks. She says it's "so good", that he really he did it. She says she loves the story. She says she feels so inspired she'd like to start writing herself. Chuck asks for her real criticism, maybe one thing she didn't like about the story. She says that it's kind of low stakes. The villains aren't very dangerous. No classic rock. No Cas. It's a bit stale. It's not one of his best. Not original enough. She glances at Chuck and he looks furious. Chuck says that if she wants jeopardy and danger, he'll give it to her. He shoves her aside and starts writing, ignoring her calling to him.
In Iowa, Billy comes in and asks what's going on. Dean tells him that his father is a vampire. He lays out his theory about how he was turned, but Sam figures out it's not the dad, it's Billy. Billy says he's right. He was with Suzi, kissing her, and he couldn't resist her heart beating. He ripped into her. He had obviously been turned shortly before. He told his mom and
dad about it. They helped him hide Suzi's body and obtain the next victim. The dad says that Billy is the victim here. They had to help him.
Dean can't believe the father would just let Dean cut off his head even if he was innocent. He said he'd die for his child (and Billy's mother adds that she'd kill for him). Billy tells them to
stop. He makes her lower her gun. His mom just wanted them to have a normal life. Billy says he can't have a normal life; he killed someone he loved and he knows he'll do it again because he can't control this and he's a monster. He tells his parents to take Tori (the second victim from the basement) to the hospital and say he's the one who took her. Then tell the police that he (Billy) ran away. Instead, he'll go with Sam and Dean and they can kill him because that's how it has to work.
Billy's parents cry. Billy apologizes to them and says this is the best and only way. He hugs his mom goodbye.
Out in the woods, Dean prepares to behead Billy who kneels in front of him as Sam watches. Elsewhere, Tori is taken to the hospital.
At Becky's:
Becky reads Chucks' re-write. She's devastated. She says he can't do this. She says he's only written an ending. Chuck says he doesn't know how he'll get there, but he knows where he's going. Becky protests that it's so dark. Chuck says he can see it all now. The book will be "Supernatural; The End" and the cover will have a Winchester tombstone on it. Becky looks sick. She says it's horrible. It's hopeless. She says he can't do this to the fans. What he did to Dean and Sam, it sounds like what Chuck wrote is too horrible for words...Chuck says that her intense emotion is good, right? Becky says it's not.
Becky hears her family returning from their day trip and tells Chuck to leave. He says he likes it there and refuses to go. Her husband walks in and asks who Chuck is. He snaps his fingers and her husband disintegrates. He does the same to the children. Chuck says they're not dead; they're just "away". He tells her he's God.
She's disbelieving. She demands he bring her family back. She begs him. She says he can't do this. He says he can do anything because he's a writer. He snaps his fingers and Becky disappears.
Chuck smiles.
In the Impala, Dean says that one (the case they just finished) was interesting. Sam says he would have offered to sacrifice himself for Jack like Billy's dad had done for his son. Dean agrees that "we" would have if they'd had the chance.
Dean says he gets it. They've lost way too much and it's hard not to feel like giving up. He says he felt like that after Chuck back in the crypt, but Sam brought him back; saying that what they do still matters. That's why he wanted them to work a case; to save lives. It's a crap job; they do the ugly things so people can live happily. Sam sarcastically says "lucky them". Dean agrees, but says they still have to do the job. They don't do it for themselves, they do it for Jack and Mom and Rowena; they owe it to anyone who loved them to keep going. No matter what. Dean says that now that Chuck's gone; they're finally free to move on.
Sam says he doesn't know if he can move on. He can't forget any of those who died; he still thinks about Jessica; he can't let it go. Dean says he doesn't mean that Sam should forget them. Sam says he does not feel free. What they've lost, that's all he feels. Sometimes it's like he can't even breathe. Sam says maybe he'll "feel better in the morning" (unlikely). Dean asks what if he doesn't? Sam says he doesn't know. They drive on in silence.
At Becky's, Chuck's still writing. He's really into it. He says to himself, "This is gonna be good." |
