Heaven Can’t Wait Recap

In a small house/cabin, a depressed man contemplates suicide. He has apparently phoned a suicide hotline, but he has stopped talking and has walked away from the phone. The hotline counselor tries to get him to come back and talk, but he ignores her before eventually hanging up on her.

Once the man is alone, he takes a revolver and holds it to his temple. He prepares to pull the trigger, but when he looks at a photograph of a woman and young boy (presumably his wife and son) he can’t do it. He cries and puts the gun away. Suddenly, he turns around and realizes there’s a man in the room with him. At first, the man thinks the suicide hotline called someone, but the stranger says no. The stranger tells the man that HE sent for him. The stranger places his hand on the man’s forehead and a pink light fills the room. The man screams and the scene fades to black.

EPISODE:

CASTIEL
As the episode opens, we see that Castiel (wearing a name badge that says “Steve”) is working as a clerk/sales associate at a gas-n-sip. It is morning, so he’s making coffee, checking the cash register, and tidying the store. Castiel is still awkward around humans, but still keeps trying to imitate them and blend in.

The store’s general manager (Nora) rushes in apologetically. She is apparently late because there was a problem at her child’s day care center, but when she arrives she sees that the store is open and running smoothly. She praises Castiel/Steve for being such a good worker and tells him that he’s special.

As Nora walks away, Castiel sees a newspaper headline about the man who died. The newspaper article says the man has disappeared and is presumed dead. It also says his disappearance is the fourth one in a few weeks.

DEAN AND SAM
Back at the bunker, Dean and Sam discover that Kevin has hit a roadblock trying to decipher the angel tablet. He has managed to translate the tablet into an ancient language (Elamite, whose characters look like doodles), but the language is extinct, so he must now find a translation so the content can be understood. However, Kevin was able to translate one phrase – “falling angels” -- from Metatron’s foot notes, so he thinks he’s on the right track. The group decides that if they can translate the rest of Metatron’s footnotes, they may find a way to reverse the spell that expelled all the angels.

As the Winchesters prepare to search the bunker’s library for a way to translate Elamite, Dean’s gets a phone call from Castiel. Castiel tells Dean about the case of four missing people in Rexford, Idaho. There were also reports of a strange substance at the crime scene. Against Sam’s urging, Dean leaves the bunker to see if the case is something he can help with. Dean lies to Sam, telling him that he’s not planning to see Cas, and that Cas is keeping his distance because he knows the angels are still looking for him.

CASTIEL
At the gas-n-sip, Nora confront's Castiel. Apparently, she found a sleeping bag and a toothbrush kit in a storage area, so she suspects Cas is sleeping at the store. Cas admits that he did spend the night earlier in the week, but it was because he’d worked late and needed to do inventory, so he thought it would be more efficient to stay. He assures Nora that he does have a home and isn’t living at the store. Nora again praises Cas for being so responsible. Before Nora walks away, she asks Cas if he’s free the next night. She says she’s off from work and knows that Cas is also off that night, so at the risk of endangering their working relationship, she invites him over to her house. Cas seems surprised by the invitation, but accepts. Nora kisses Cas on the cheek and walks away, very happy.

DEAN
Dean, dressed as a fed, arrives at the scene of the last disappearance and talks to the sheriff about the case. The sheriff confirms that all four missing people have been confirmed dead. When Dean asks if there is any connection between the victims, the sheriff reports that the last man to die was known to be suicidal, and the woman who died before him was on anti-depressant medications. The first two victims were a married couple known to have marital problems. They conclude that all four victims were unhappy in some way. When Dean asks if they died by suicide, the sheriff says that’s not possible. When Dean looks at the sheriff quizzically, he gives Dean a pair of gloves and rubber foot coverings so they can enter the house. Once inside, Dean realizes that the entire interior of the house seems to be coated in a pink liquid material. When Dean asks what the material is, the sheriff says that – if this scene is like the others – it’s all the victim’s body parts in liquid form, including all the bones, skin, organs, body fluids, and clothing. The sheriff implies that the victims seem to have been vaporized or liquefied somehow, but nobody can tell how. When questioned, witnesses reported a pink flash, but there’s no other information about what happened to the victims.

Later, Dean calls Sam to update him on the case and find out if Sam and Kevin have made any progress. When Sam reports that they haven’t gotten very far, Dean suggests that he ask Crowley, who may know something about ancient languages. When Dean tells Sam about the vaporized bodies, Sam suggests that he join Dean to help with the case; but Dean declines, insisting that he can handle the job. Dean hangs up before Sam can protest. When we see where Dean is calling from, we realize that he’s outside the gas-n-sip where Castiel is working.

Castiel is initially surprised to see Dean. Dean teases Cas a little bit about working at a gas-n-sip, but Cas defends his decision, reminding Dean that when he fell and lost his grace, he had nothing and had to start over. Cas is proud of himself for finding his way and having a job that gives him important responsibilities. Dean tells Cas that his current job is beneath him – that he went from commanding heaven’s armies to working at a menial job. Cas insists that he failed at being an angel, but his current job allows him a chance to get things right, and that there’s dignity in his work.

As Dean and Cas are talking, Nora comes out and reminds Cas to be at her house at 7:00 that evening. Dean witnesses the conversation and thinks that the woman is the real reason Cas likes his job. Cas assures him that Nora is a nice woman and although they do have a date, Dean is misinterpreting their relationship.

Elsewhere in Rexford, a teenage girl is outside her high school talking to her friend on her cell phone. The girl is upset and crying because her boyfriend has just broken up with her. As she’s talking, a man appears and approaches her. We recognize him as the same man who killed the depressed man at the start of the episode. The man tells the girl that he’s here to help her. Then he places his hand on her head. The girl screams and explodes into a cloud of pink mist.

Back at the gas-n-sip, Dean and Cas are talking when Dean gets a phone call from the sheriff about the latest murder. Since Cas’ shift is almost over, Dean convinces him to go to the murder scene with him to see if he can help.

SAM
Back at the bunker, Sam is in the dungeon talking to Crowley. Sam has asked Crowley to translate a sheet of paper with some Elamite characters written on it. Crowley says he can read Elamite, but won’t translate anything unless he gets something for it. Sam threatens Crowley, telling him that the only reason he’s alive is that Dean thinks he could be useful, but so far Crowley hasn’t done anything helpful. When Sam threatens to hand Crowley over to Abaddon, Crowley becomes furious, insisting that he’s not afraid of Abaddon. When Sam adds that Abaddon is scarier than Crowley has been in years, Crowley balls up the paper and throws it into Sam’s face, folding his arms in defiance. Sam leaves Crowley alone in the darkened dungeon to think about his options.

DEAN
At the crime scene where the teenage girl died, Dean approaches the sheriff while he’s interviewing the student who was talking to the victim. The girl reports that her friend was upset and ended the call abruptly, but doesn’t offer much other useful information. Meanwhile, Castiel looks at the area where the girl died and recognizes the pink vapor.

When Cas and Dean are alone, Cas tells Dean that their case is very serious. He says that he has seen the vapor before and the murders were committed by an angel. Cas reveals that on heaven’s battlefields, there was a special class of angels called the “Riet Zien”, which is Enochian for “hands of mercy”. Their job was to tend to wounded angels. They healed angels who could be healed, but for those who were mortally wounded and beyond saving, their job was to kill them quickly and mercifully by vaporizing them. Cas says that the Riet Zien are drawn to suffering; when this angel got kicked out of heaven with all the other angels, he continued the work he was doing in heaven. He is drawn to human suffering, but can’t tell the difference between day-to-day sadness (like the teenage girl) and true suffering, like the suicidal man. When Dean says that the angel must be stopped, Cas admits that he’s reluctant to join him. Cas says that without his powers, things are different. Dean agrees to hunt the angel alone, and agrees to drop Cas off for his date.

SAM
Back at the bunker, Crowley eventually agrees to translate the page for Sam, but in return he demands to make a phone call – to Abaddon. Kevin tries to talk Sam out of letting Crowley make the call, insisting that Crowley will find a way to betray them. Sam admits that he doesn’t trust Crowley, but with him being bound, there’s limited harm he can do. And since he doesn’t know where the bunker is, he can’t tell Abaddon or anyone else where to find them. Kevin insists that they get proof that Crowley can truly read Elamite, so Sam gives Crowley a different sheet of paper with just a few characters on it. Crowley looks at the paper and says it’s ingredients for a spell – heart of a nephilim, cupid’s bow, and the grace of an angel. Convinced that Crowley is telling the truth, Kevin gives him the other paper, but Crowley again refuses to do anything unless he gets his phone call.

Sam and Kevin reluctantly provide blood (drawn from Kevin's arm using a syringe) and a bowl so Crowley can make his demonic phone call. Crowley calls Abaddon and they have a terse, hostile discussion. Apparently, Abaddon has been taking souls before their contracts are up in order to increase profits. Crowley is appalled by this and berates Abaddon, who calls him a bureaucrat whose reign is over. She also says the Winchesters have him imprisoned, so he no longer has any authority. They fling insults and threats at each other before Abaddon hangs up on him.

Once the phone call is over, Crowley agrees to translate the Elamite. As he reads, he tells Sam and Kevin that there’s no way to reverse the spell that cast the angels out of heaven.

DEAN AND CASTIEL
Dean arrives at Nora’s house and coaches Cas to help him prep for his date before driving off. As Dean is leaving, a Ford truck pulls in front of Nora’s house and parks there.

Nora invites Castiel inside. She is wearing a fancy dress and is excited about her “date”, but as the conversation progresses, we learn that she has a date with someone else and wants Cas to babysit her infant, Tanya. Cas is initially taken aback, but doesn’t let on that he misinterpreted Nora’s invitation. Nora leaves in a flurry, leaving Cas alone with the baby.

As soon as Nora leaves, Tanya starts crying. Castiel picks her up and tries to comfort her, but he soon realizes she has a fever. He keeps trying unsuccessfully to quiet her, but soon becomes concerned that he may have to take her to a hospital. He leaves a message for Nora, but when he doesn’t hear from her, he prepares to take Tanya to a hospital. As soon as he stands up to leave, the Riet Zien shows up at the house...

Elsewhere, Dean is driving away when he gets a phone call from the sheriff, who reports that the analysis from the first victims – the married couple – only contained DNA from the wife, so the husband is still missing. Dean rushes to the sheriff’s office to meet with him. During their discussion, we learn that the husband was a religious fanatic who was a follower of Reverend Buddy Boyle. Dean suspects that the Riet Zien is probably using the husband’s body for his vessel. When Dean sees a photograph of the couple standing in front of their truck, he recognizes the Ford truck that pulled up to Nora’s house as he was leaving. He rushes back to Nora’s house.

Back at the house, the Riet Zien, whose name is Ephraim, confronts Castiel. Castiel believes Ephraim is there to kill the baby, and tells the angel that the child just has a fever. Ephraim is surprised that Castiel remembers him – since Castiel was such a military leader and Ephraim was just a field medic. Ephraim admits being confused by humanity and its emotions, but he wants to cleanse the planet of all suffering. During their discussion, we learn that Ephraim came for Castiel and not for the baby.

Ephraim reveals that he could “hear” Castiel’s suffering from miles away. Cas tries to convince Ephraim that humanity doesn’t need his services, but Ephraim retorts that Castiel is pathetic and deserves to die. Ephraim says that he used to admire Cas, but doesn’t anymore; and that Cas is hiding away when the angels need him most. Cas tells Ephraim that he wants to live, even if he doesn’t have his powers. Ephraim insists that if Castiel is willing to live as a human, he has already given up. They fight briefly, but Ephraim overpowers Castiel and prepares to kill him. Suddenly, Dean bursts in, but Ephraim flings him into a wall. Fortunately, Dean brought his angel blade. He slides the blade to Cas, who uses it to kill Ephraim.

EPILOGUE:
Later that night, Dean waits outside Nora’s house for Castiel. While he’s waiting, Dean and Sam talk on the phone, and Sam tells Dean that Crowley says there’s no way to reverse Metatron’s spell. Sam asks if Dean plans to tell Cas, but Dean doesn’t answer.

Before Cas leaves, Nora thanks him for taking such good care of Tanya. Apparently, Nora’s date was a bust, and Tanya’s fever resolved with acetaminophen. Cas apologizes for momentarily over-reacting when Tanya was sick, but Nora reminds him that the part of him that cares enough to over-react is what indeed makes him special.

Castiel gets into Dean’s car and Dean presumably drives him home.

Back at the bunker, Sam notices that one of the syringes they used to extract Kevin’s blood is missing. Sam realizes Crowley must have taken it, and he rushes back to the dungeon. As Sam peers into the room, he sees Crowley using the missing syringe to inject some of Kevin's leftover blood into his arm. He doesn’t confront Crowley about the syringe.

The next morning, Dean returns Cas to the gas-n-sip to drop him off for work. Before Dean leaves, he apologizes for asking Cas to leave the bunker (without telling him the real reason why he asked him to leave), and tells Cas that he’s proud of how well he’s done for himself. Cas thanks Dean for his words, but says that maybe Ephraim was right – that now isn’t the time for him to desert the angels. Dean assures Cas that he and Sam will figure a way to help the angels, and it’s best for Cas to stay clear.

As Dean dries off, Castiel opens the store to begin his work day.