Sacrifice Recap

This episode opens in a restaurant. Sheriff Jody Mills is sitting at a table and the waitress brings her a drink ‘on the house’. A man approaches her and sits down – she’s obviously expecting him as she asks if he is Roderick – but it is Crowley! He starts complimenting her and then later, after dinner, he tells her that they have something in common – they’ve both lost someone. He’s thinking about his hell-hound, which Sam killed, while she’s thinking of her murdered husband and son. She cries a little and holds his hand and they ‘share a moment’. Later Jody’s in the restroom, putting on make-up and thinking about him; meanwhile, back at the table, he’s casting a spell on her. She finds a hex bag in her purse as he finishes saying the words and she starts to cough up blood. Then she collapses to the floor…

Crowley’s phone rings. It’s Dean, calling to say they want to make a deal, to stop him killing the people they’ve saved. Crowley says he has a minute before a dear friend of theirs dies. Dean says they will stop the trials and Crowley says he wants the whole demon tablet. Dean counters by saying they want the angel tablet then, and when a surprised Crowley asks why, Dean says because he, Crowley is a douchebag and no douchebag should have that much power! Crowley is still doing a countdown while Jody is dying on the floor. Dean asks him if they have a deal. Crowley’s holding his fingers next to the candle he’s used for the spell, ready to extinguish the flame and break the spell which is killing Jody but he tells Dean he wants to hear the words, ‘I surrender’ first…

The scene switches to The Boys parking on the side of the road behind another car. Kevin’s there, digging a hole under a sign for ‘Dave and Paul’s Chili Pot Restaurant’, which has a large picture of the Devil on it! He pulls a bag out as Dean and Sam walk over. It has one half of the demon tablet in it and he connects it to the other piece he’s brought with him, making it whole again. He gives it to them and says they’re doing the right thing…

…The scene switches to Houston, Texas. Cas is sitting with Metatron in a bus shelter. He asks Metatron what God is like and Metatron says, he is larger than life, gruff and a bit of a sexist – but fair, eminently fair! He sees Cas is disturbed and tells him the nephilim, whom Cas killed as the first trial, was a monster. Cas asks about the second trial and Metatron tells him it’s just over the road and he points to a cocktail bar. He says he’s been listening in on angel radio to the cupids and the next person on their list is Dwight Charles, who’s sweeping the outside steps of the bar at the moment. Cas asks what ‘on their list’ mean and Metatron starts talking about ‘the horizontal mambo’ and ‘slap bellies’, which Cas doesn’t understand, so he explains it means ‘to find love’! He goes on to tell Cas the second trial is to retrieve a cupid’s bow. Cas says, ‘no killing?’ and Metatron says no…

Meanwhile, The Boys have just driven into Bobby’s salvage yard. It’s still full of old cars (I think I even saw the car Dean drove back to Bobby’s when he’d just been resurrected at the start of Season four!). It’s a sad time for them both, revisiting the old place, especially it seems for Dean as he looks at the old cars while he walks through (they pause to look at Bobby's car overgrown with weeds)… Then they hear Crowley greeting them. He wants to see the demon tablet and after some banter with Dean, Sam shows Crowley the tablet which is inside his jacket. Crowley shows them the angel tablet inside his coat and Dean asks him about the contract. Crowley rolls it out on the floor; it is very long! Dean objects, saying he’s ‘sure there’s no hidden agendas in there’ and Crowley says the highlights are that they exchange tablets and they have to stand down from the trials forever. Sam adds that he, Crowley, has to stop killing everyone they’ve ever saved, and he says, ‘agreed!’ Dean looks at Sam and then gets a pen out from his jacket, ready to sign, but Crowley pulls the contract away and says, ‘ahhh, nice try, Squirrel. Moose is doing these trials, Moose signs!’ Dean says Sam’s not signing the contract until he’s read the fine print but Sam says he can read it and he takes the pen away from Dean, who’s seems to be angry. He tells Sam he’s come because Sam wanted him to but he doesn’t want to be screwed over by Crowley again. Crowley asks if them if there’s ‘trouble in Paradise’…

…The scene changes to Heaven, Naomi’s office. An angel, Nathaniel, walks in. He tells her that one of their ‘freelancers’ has found Cas at a bar in Houston, Texas, and he’s not alone. From the description, Nathaniel thinks it’s the Scribe…

…Back at Bobby’s yard, Dean is reading the contract and Crowley is insulting him, as usual. He carries on, telling Dean he always defeats him because of his humanity, that he puts emotion ahead of commonsense. He asks Dean to let ‘the big galoot’ sign it now. Dean looks back at Sam who comes forward. He nods slightly at Dean, who grabs Crowley’s wrist and handcuffs him to his own wrist! Crowley can’t believe it. He asks if this is a joke and says all he has to do is to snap his fingers, but Dean says he can’t – they are demonic handcuffs and we see they have a devil’s trap pentagram engraved on them. He tells Crowley that he can’t flick out or teleport or smoke out and there’s no deal and that means he’s their b*tch! Crowley punches Dean hard, but Dean punches him back harder and then takes the angel tablet from him and gives it to Sam. He tells Crowley he could do this all day because ‘damn, it feels good!’ He tells Crowley that he’s theirs and pretty soon he’s going to be mortal. Crowley asks Sam what Dean means and he tells Crowley that he’s the third trial!

…The scene changes back to Cas and Metatron who are inside the bar now. There’s a very funny scene here: Cas is looking through the personal ads. He tells Metatron that the faster this man finds love, the faster the cupid will come. Dwight comes over and when he asks if he can get them anything, Cas asks with a straight face if Dwight is looking for a ‘partner in crime’ or if he’s interested in someone who likes ‘nurse role-play and light domination’? Dwight doesn’t answer straightaway, then he tells Cas it’s ten am on a Tuesday morning. Metatron is embarrassed and orders two beers…

Then someone grabs Metatron! Naomi has arrived with some angels. She tells them to kill Castiel but Dwight shoots one of them. That angel then throws Dwight into a mirror and he’s knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Naomi has Metatron with an angel blade close to his neck. Cas has drawn his angel blade and he tells her to leave Metatron alone but Metatron asks Cas not to do anything and Naomi, Metatron and the others disappear…

Back with The Boys now and Sam stops the Impala outside an old, abandoned building – a church from the look of it. They all go inside, Dean holding Crowley; he chains Crowley up on a chair and draws a devil’s trap around him. Then he goes outside to Sam who’s taking things out of the Impala’s trunk and he asks Sam how he is. Sam says he thinks they’re finally going to win and he feels good but Dean tells him it’s not over yet and asks him what happens next. Sam tells Dean that now they have the consecrated ground, he needs to give Crowley blood every hour for eight hours and then ‘seal the deal with a bloody fist sandwich.’ Dean says his blood needs to be purified and he asks Sam if he knows how to make confession. Sam tells him he did it once as a kid but he doesn’t know what to do now and Dean says he can give Sam some suggestions, which Sam is happy to accept but then Dean starts saying he should mention Ruby, killing Lilith and letting Lucifer out, then losing his soul and not looking for him in Purgatory, at which point Sam says thanks and turns away! As Sam goes off to the church, Dean gives a parting shot of ‘how about what you did to Penny Markel in the sixth grade – why don’t you lead off with that?’

But Sam turns around and says, ‘that was you!’ Dean tells him to ‘carry on!’ but his expressions as he thinks about that and realizes what he did all those years ago are priceless! Sam goes into the church and enters the confessional, ready to confess all his sins to purify his blood…

Meanwhile, Dean is busy sorting out ammunition in the trunk when Cas appears, startling him. He tells Dean he needs help but Dean isn’t really interested until Cas says that Naomi has Metatron. Dean asks Cas how he knows him and Cas tells him he’s been helping Metatron with the angel trials – something else Dean didn’t know about. Cas tells Dean that he’s going to do the same to Heaven as he and Sam are doing to Hell – shutting it all down…

…Up in Heaven, Metatron is secured to a chair. He regains consciousness and sees Naomi. He hasn’t met her before but he sees the instruments she uses on angels to interrogate them and / or to make them obey her and he recognizes who she must be. She says the archangels wanted her to ‘debrief’ him after God left. He expresses contempt for that term and she replies that he wouldn’t know because he ran before she could do anything to him. She’s curious to know why he’s ‘come in from the shadows’ now because she says he must know they want to find out all God’s secrets which are in his head and also what is he doing with Cas? She lifts one of her drills. Metatron recites something from a book and laughs at her for not knowing what it means and then she brings the drill forward to his face…

…Dean is sitting on the Impala, still talking to Cas. He’s surprised to say the least that Cas believes Metatron wants to save Heaven – Dean tells Cas that Metatron is crazy – but Cas says Metatron does want to save Heaven but he, Cas, is the only one who can and he needs Dean’s help to do it. Dean says he can’t leave Sam with Crowley, that he needs help more than Cas does but then Sam appears and tells Dean he should go. Dean is reluctant but Sam says he’s got this and it would be a good day if they can lock the angels up. Dean says he’d like to imprison them as they’re dicks but he says finishing the demon trials is on him and Sam; however he agrees to go with Cas but he tells Sam to keep on with the injections and to finish it if he’s not back in eight hours. Cas takes Dean away with him, leaving Sam standing alone next to the Impala…

…Sam draws blood from his arm and brings it over to Crowley. He taunts Sam, asking if he got the idea of curing him with human blood from a cereal box but Sam ignores him and injects his blood into Crowley’s neck. He looks for a reaction but Crowley’s the same as usual and he tells Sam he’ll see him in an hour. Sam turns away and his arms flash with fire, like they did when he completed the previous trials and said the incantation.

…Dean and Cas are with Kevin now in the ‘Men of Letters’ base. Kevin is looking at the angel tablet. Dean asks him to translate it but Kevin says it took him six months and a dead Mom to translate part of the demon tablet and he pours scorn on them wanting a translation in six hours. He pours himself some whisky and says Dean told him he was out that morning and when Dean starts to say something in denial of this, Kevin tells him he can save the ‘guys like us are never out speech’. Cas comes up and grabs Kevin and lifts him up against the wall. Dean isn’t happy and says Cas’ name but Cas isn’t listening to him. He tells Kevin he isn’t out and he’ll be a prophet of the Lord all his life. He brings him over to the tablet and pushes him down next to it and asks him if he knows what the task in hand is. Kevin nods and Cas tells him to get on with it and he leaves with Dean.

…Back in the church, Sam injects Crowley with blood again. Crowley grabs Sam’s arm and bites him, drawing blood. Sam punches him and goes off to tend to it but when he’s left the room, Crowley spits the blood out onto his hand and says a spell. He calls on any demon who hears him to come and help him…

The scene changes to Dean, drinking beer in a bar – the same bar where the angels snatched Metatron from. Cas walks in and Dean asks him if he’s found anything as he’s been gone a long time and Cas said he found a woman, but he didn’t think she really was a woman. Dean says there’s nothing here but they do have free drinks because the bartender, Dwight, thinks Cas saved his life (this conversation refers to their search for a partner for Dwight so they can find the cupid to complete the second angel trial). There’s a funny moment here: Cas asks Dean if he should be drinking on the job, to which he replies, ‘what show have you been watching?’

Dean asks Cas if he’s sure about closing Heaven. He says to Cas that he did a lot of damage up there and asks if he thinks they’ll let that slide. Cas agrees they might kill him but he’s going to see it through and Dean realizes it might be the last time he sees his friend. He says, ‘this is it then – E.T. goes home’. A woman comes in then, delivering beer, and they think she’ll be the love interest for Dwight so the cupid must be around somewhere, but after Dwight has taken the beer, she claps him and Rod, a customer at the bar, on the shoulder and leaves. Dean is surprised but then there’s an image on the TV of someone drawing a bow and Dwight and Rod both say, ‘damn, that’s sweet!’ and then they look at each other and Dwight offers Rod a beer… Meanwhile Cas leaves the bar, following the woman… Dean’s face as he works things out is a picture…

Back to Sam and Crowley: Sam looks bad. He’s sweating and as he’s getting the next injection ready for Crowley his arms start glowing again and he suffers intense pain. Crowley can’t see this as Sam is turned away from him but he starts taunting him again, singing ‘Changes’ (David Bowie). Then the building starts to shake violently and a fissure appears in the floor. It snakes along and breaks the devil’s trap around Crowley. Sam turns around. Crowley’s triumphant – he thinks he’s about to be saved and he shouts at Sam, saying did he think he could kidnap him and no-one would notice? Then Abaddon opens the doors and comes in saying, ‘hello boys.’ Crowley said he thought she was dead and asks where the rest of the cavalry are. She says she’s on her own and then Sam tries to shoot her but she waves the gun away and sends him crashing into a wall. As Sam’s getting up she waves her hand again and throws him through a window and he falls unconscious to the floor outside. Crowley tells her to release him so he can kill Sam himself but she asks him if it is an order, and he looks at her, carefully, and says he is her king. She says, ‘about that…’ and then she punches him on the jaw…

…The woman from the bar enters a beer store but Dean and Cas are waiting for her. She says ‘hello, brother,’ to Cas but he says, ‘give us your bow’ and he draws his angel blade. Dean restrains him and says, ‘talk first, stab later.’ (– hilarious!)

…Abaddon is punching Crowley while he’s still tied up. She tells him the worst part of time-traveling through a closet into 2013 is that someone decided to make him King of Hell! She knocks the chair over and Crowley sees Sam’s gun on the floor. He tells her Sam is trying to close the Gates of Hell as a distraction so he can get hold of the gun but she sees it and waves it away. She tells him they’re going to talk about a regime change. She knocks him out and then stands up and turns around but Sam is there, waiting. He throws some liquid over her – probably holy oil because when he throws lit matches onto her she blazes up. She screams and has to smoke out of her burning meat suit and she leaves the church...

Meanwhile, the cupid is talking to Dean and Cas. She says she’s been frightened to return home for a while now. She says she used to get orders daily but now everything’s breaking down into chaos. She asks Cas if he can fix that and he says yes, with time. She holds out her hand and the image of a bow appears on her palm. She tells Cas he can take it and he holds up his blade (presumably to cut it out)…

… Back in Heaven, Naomi is with Metatron. He’s still tied up and his left eye is leaking blood. She asks him why he’s doing this. He answers with another question. He asks her if she knows what it’s like to be plucked from obscurity and then sit at God’s feet, taking down his Word. He talks about the ache he felt when He was gone, that he told himself that God had left them Paradise… But then she and the archangels couldn’t leave well enough alone, that they ran him out of his home. He asks her if she didn’t think there would be any payback for that. She disappears and we see Metatron looking at the bloody drill and he’s smiling…

…Back with Sam and Crowley: Sam sets him back in his chair again and Crowley says Sam ‘did good’ and he thanks him. Sam repaints the broken devil’s trap and Crowley says, ‘are you joking? I just saved your life!’ Sam laughs and says, ‘seriously?’ and Crowley talks about them having just shared a foxhole together but Sam ignores him and injects him with the next dose of his blood. Crowley starts talking about HBO series, ‘Band of Brothers’ and ‘The Pacific’ – presumably meaning he and Sam should stick together – but Sam ignores him. But then Crowley starts rambling on about his girls, saying they deserve to be loved, so does Sam and so does he. Sam turns around and Crowley says he just wants to be loved. The injections of blood appear to be having an effect. Sam says, ‘what?’ and Crowley acts as if he’s not sure what he’s just said…
Sam is drawing some more of his blood to give to Crowley. He asks Sam if he could ask a favor of him. Sam walks over and Crowley asks him what he said when he was confessing earlier. Crowley is crying as he says, given his history, where does he start to look for forgiveness? Sam says, ‘how about we start with this?’ and he holds the syringe up. Crowley turns his head to the side, unasked, to let Sam inject him again with the blood…

…The scene changes to Dean and Cas. Dean is talking to Kevin on the phone. He says he has found out something about the angel trials but there’s no mention of nephilim or a cupid’s bow or anything like that. Dean says they are on the one-yard line here and while Kevin is telling Dean he shouldn’t use sports metaphors to motivate him, he should be using gaming ones, Cas hears angel wings behind him. He looks around and sees Naomi, who’s alone and unarmed. She tells Cas she hasn’t come to fight him. Dean hears her and turns back, leaving Kevin saying, ‘Dean?’ to the phone. Cas walks towards Naomi and asks her where Metatron is and Dean walks back towards them. Kevin is still listening in on the conversation. Naomi tells Cas that Metatron told him he’s going to save Heaven – killing a nephilim, cutting off a cupid’s bow – but she says it’s all a lie. She tells him she’s been inside Metatron’s head. Cas says she’s been inside all their heads and that’s the problem, but Naomi says that Metatron doesn’t want to save Heaven, he wants to break it as an act of revenge for driving him away. Cas doesn’t believe her but Dean is starting to. He asks her how Metatron is going to break it. Cas looks back at Dean, warning him, but Naomi says Metatron wants to expel all angels, cast them out like God cast Lucifer out. Dean asks where they would be cast out to – Hell? She answers no, to Earth – thousands of angels walking the Earth. Cas says it’s all lies and he draws his blade and moves towards Naomi but Dean restrains him. Naomi is upset as she says their mission was to protect God’s creation; she says she doesn’t know where they forgot that… She looks sincere as she tells Dean she wants nothing more than to shut the Gates of Hell but she told him he can trust her, and she tells him now that if Sam completes the third trial he is going to die. Dean asks her what she’s talking about and she says she’s seen it in Metatron’s head. She is crying a little as she says it was always God’s intention – the ultimate sacrifice. Then she begs Cas not to continue on this path. She tells him Metatron has been neutralized and if he wants to come back home she will listen to him. Cas is thinking about all this as Naomi disappears. Dean talks to Kevin again. He asks him if Naomi is lying. Kevin says he doesn’t know and Dean shouts at him to find out. Cas tells Dean she is lying but Dean orders Cas to take him to Sam, now.

…Sam says an incantation, which sounds like some sort of exorcism and then he cuts the palm of his hand, which glows with the same bright light which shone through his arms…

Meanwhile, Cas has taken Dean to the church. Dean goes towards the entrance but Cas tells Dean he’s not wrong and he’s going to fix his home. Dean holds his hand out to tell him to wait but Cas disappears. Dean calls his name but he doesn’t answer…

… Sam is walking over towards Crowley to complete the ritual. He’s just about to do it when Dean bursts in and shouts, ‘Sammy, stop!’…

…Cas is back in Heaven. He sees Naomi is dead; the drill is lodged in her head. Metatron comes up behind him and says, ‘she told you I lied, didn’t she?’ He sticks an angel blade under Cas’ chin and says, ‘you should have listened to the b*tch!’ He smiles at Cas but it isn’t pleasant…

…Back at the church, Dean walks slowly towards Sam, holding his hands out. He tells Sam to take it easy, that there’s been a change of plan. Sam looks confused, wild even. He asks what’s going on and where Cas is. Dean tells him that Metatron lied; that if he finishes the trial he’s dead. Sam looks around and then says, ‘so?’ Dean is shocked…

…Metatron has manacled Cas in the chair he was in. Cas struggles and says, ‘you promised!’ but Metatron shushes him and says he wants Cas to forget all about master plans and Heaven and angels, that it doesn’t concern him anymore. He holds Cas’ head down and brings the angel blade up to his throat. He makes an incision in it and Cas’ grace is visible. Metatron tells Cas these were never trials, they are a spell and his grace is the last piece. He takes Cas’ grace out and stores it in a vial, then he heals the wound in Cas’ throat and tells him something wonderful is going to happen to both of them. He tells Cas to go and live his new life to the full, have a family and when he dies and his soul comes to Heaven, he should find him and tell him his story.
Then he sends Cas away…

The next scene is the most emotional and well-acted of the whole episode – maybe even the whole season:
...Back at the church, Sam tells Dean to look how close they are. He says other people will die if he doesn’t finish this. Dean asks him to think about what they know: pulling souls from Hell, curing demons, even ganking a hellhound. He tells Sam they have enough knowledge on their side to turn the tide now. He says to Sam that he can’t do it without him. Sam says he can barely do it with him. Dean doesn’t understand. Sam says he, Dean, thinks he screws everything up, that he needs a chaperone. Dean says that’s not what he meant but Sam says that’s exactly what he meant. He asks Dean if he wants to know what he confessed, what his greatest sin was, and he tells Dean it was how many times he’s let Dean down. He says he can’t do that again. He asks Dean what happens next time when he decides Sam can’t be trusted again; who will he turn to next instead of him – another angel, a vampire? He asks Dean if he has any idea what it’s like to watch your brother… Dean interrupts and asks him to hold on. He asks Sam if he seriously thinks that. He says none of it is true. He tells Sam he knows they’ve had some disagreements, that he’s said some junk that’s set him back on his heels and he says, ‘but Sammy, c’mon. I killed Benny to save you. I’m willing to let this b*stard and all the other sonsob*tches who killed Mom walk to save you! Don’t you dare… think… that there is anything, past or present, that I’d put in front of you! … It’s never been like that, ever! I need you to see that! ... I’m begging you!’ Sam turns his head, trying to process what Dean’s said to him while blood leaks out from the cut on his hand, and his hand starts glowing again. He says to Dean, ‘how do I stop?’

Dean is so relieved. He tells Sam to just let it go. Sam says he can’t, that it’s in him, that Dean doesn’t know what it feels like, but Dean tells Sam to listen to him, that they will figure it out, like they always do, as he ties a cloth around Sam’s hand. He hugs Sam hard and Sam hugs him back. He says to Sam, ‘you let it go, let it go, Brother.’ Sam’s arms flash bright while he’s holding Dean and he pulls away but as they’re looking at his arms the glow fades and Sam appears to be OK. They smile at each other but then Sam groans and falls down. Dean takes him out of the church to the Impala, saying, ‘I got you, little brother, you hear me, you’ll be just fine!’ He calls for Cas; Sam’s having trouble breathing now and Dean calls, ‘Castiel!’ again. ‘Where the Hell are you?’ but Cas doesn’t show…

…The final scene is a series of cuts woven together:
First we see Cas, who is on the floor in the woods and just starting to wake up… Then it shifts to Kevin, who is just leaving the Base when everything switches on – all the alarms, all the equipment comes to life… Then it’s back to Cas, who’s walking through the woods; then back to Kevin again: all the lights on the equipment go off and then come back on again. We see Sam in distress, with Dean holding him; then there’s a shot of Crowley who may be coming out of the effects of the spell to cure him, which Sam never completed… Back at the Base, the alarms are now strident; then we see Cas running now through the trees and then back at the Base the large map lights up as well. The scene shifts back to Dean and Sam. Dean sees many, many glowing lights in the sky, which are the angels falling – he knows it because he says, ‘oh, Cas!’ and then it changes to Cas who sees the same thing. …Back to Dean and Sam and we see a close up of an angel falling, with its wings possibly burning… Then we see Cas again, briefly, looking in distress at the angels falling… Sam is able to speak a little now. He asks Dean what is happening and he tells him the angels are falling…

Editor’s note:

I thought this was a wonderful episode - a complete joy - extremely well written and so well-acted! Jared was very much in the lead here while Jensen was in more of a supporting role but I have to say that while Jared did an excellent job as Sam I think Jensen's performance as Dean, especially his scene with Sam when he's trying to stop him finishing the third trial, is at least as strong, if not more so, than Jared's, plus we had the deft comic touches which Jensen does so well! It was a fitting finale to a very strong Season Eight which has had more than a feel of earlier seasons. There was no much action and so much emotion packed into this one episode. Many things became clear but there is a lot of unfinished business to look forward to in Season Nine. Dean and Sam have cleared all their issues for now and are right back in synch again but Sam is badly hurt; Cas is no longer an angel; all the angels except Metatron have fallen and Crowley is still Crowley, or is he?

Photo editor's note:

Gut-wrenching and divine. Great great episode. As deep and dark as it got, there were still moments of humor. It was classic Supernatural. Perhaps the best episode since the end of season 5. I can't say enough how amazing and raw Jared's performance was and Jensen's was subtle and perfect as always. I cannot wait for season 9. Will Abaddon appear in a new meat suit? Is Metatron rattling around in heaven all alone? Will the fallen angels be angry and looking for revenge? Is Sam really okay? What happens to the balance when there are no angels AND no one has closed the gates of hell?