Brother’s Keeper

• Was Dean correct? Was luring Charlie into a situation that got her killed an act of evil? Have the Winchesters done other evil things in their efforts to battle monsters?
• Was Dean truly going to kill Sam? If so, when did he change his mind?
• Will Castiel kill Crowley? Can he fight the effects of Rowena’s attack dog spell?
• What will Rowena do now that she has the Book of the Damned and the codex?
• Is Death really dead? Can Death truly be killed? What happens to the reapers and dead people who depend on them if Death is gone?
• Is Dean truly cured from the Mark of Cain, or will there be more repercussions for him?
• What will releasing the Darkness mean for the Winchesters and for the world?

• Using the codex and the Book of the Damned, Rowena was able to locate a spell to remove any curse. The ingredients are the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden (which, according to Crowley is a quince), the golden calf worshiped by the Israelites after Moses helped them escape slavery in Egypt, and the blood of someone Rowena loves (Oscar, a man she met hundreds of years ago as a young boy)
• 300 years ago, when Rowena had fallen on hard times, Oscar’s family took her in. She grew to love Oscar as a child, and used her witchcraft to make him immortal.
• According to Death, the Mark of Cain is the first curse and makes the bearer immortal. The Mark is also a lock and key, containing “The Darkness” inside the one who bears it. The Darkness existed before god and is a destructive force that god and his archangels locked away behind the Mark. God originally entrusted the Mark to Lucifer, but the Mark corrupted him, which made Lucifer turn against humanity, causing god to banish him. Lucifer gave the Mark to Cain, who passed it on to Dean
• Death offered to relocate Dean elsewhere in the universe, where he couldn’t harm anyone else, but Death knew that Sam would never stop looking for his brother, so as part of the deal, Death insisted that Dean kill Sam
• Crowley told Oscar that “a hamster” told him about his history with Rowena, referring to Olivette, a witch from the Grand Coven who was turned into a hamster by Rowena in "Paint it Black"

• The line when Dean tells Sam to close his eyes was ad-libbed by Jensen
• Roger Haskett, the actor who plays Rose’s father in this episode, also played a dentist in "You Can’t Handle the Truth" (season 6)
• Fortunately for Sam, Superior, Nebraska (where Dean and Rudy were working the vampire job) is less than an hour away by car from Lebanon, Kansas

• Dean apparently disabled the LoJack security system in the Impala so Sam wouldn't be able to find him. LoJack (founded 1986) is a vehicle recovery system that allows a receiver inside the vehicle to be tracked
• The sheriff in Superior, Nebraska said even if a murder victim is the "Wh**e of Babylon", she would still be treated with respect. In Christian theology, the Wh**e of Babylon is mentioned in the bibles's book of Revelation as an evil abomination who has a role in bringing about the apocalypse
• When Sam threatens Rowena with a gun, she taunts him, saying “Your NRA will be beside themselves with pride”. Founded in 1871, the NRA (National Rifle Association) is an American political organization that advocates for gun ownership and tends to lobby against efforts to limit rights to own firearms
• The "forbidden fruit" is mentioned in the book of Genesis in the Judeo-Christian bible. According to scripture, the Garden of Eden has a special tree (the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil); Adam and Eve were forbidden by god to eat of the fruit of that tree
• According to Crowley, the forbidden fruit was a quince, and not an apple, as it is often described
• The "golden calf" is mentioned in the book of Exodus in the bible. After Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into the desert, he went up a mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from god. While he was away, the people became dismayed and created a golden calf to worship. When Moses returned with the tablets containing the Ten Commandments, he was furious to see the people worshiping an idol, so he destroyed the tablets and the golden calf
• When Dean asked Death to kill him, Death commented that "Dean Winchesterhas tipped over his king”. This is a surrender move in the game of chess, when an opponent has a player in checkmate and the player has no other moves left
• The idiom "finger in the dike" refers to a tale about a young Dutch boy who used his finger to plug a hole in a dam that was cracked. Performing this act saved his town. The idiom has many meanings, including describing how one, small person can perform an act that prevents a disaster

• "Carry on, wayward Son" - by Kansas (plays during the recap)
• "My Aching Heart" - by Eric Vasquez and Corby Gallegos (plays in the diner when Crowley arrives to talk to Oscar)

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EPISODE 11x01: OUT OF THE DARKNESS, INTO THE FIRE