Stranger in a Strange Land Recap

The scene opens with Sam driving the Impala at night. He is alone and looks tired, like he’s been driving for a long time.

Suddenly the scene cuts to a Middle-Eastern man (Jamil Hamed) sleeping on a cot in a very simple room that might be a budget motel or cheap apartment. His phone alarm wakes him up, and he wearily gets up to pray. As he’s praying Dean/Michael suddenly appears to him. Jamil is understandably terrified and asks Dean/Michael who he is and what he wants. Dean/Michael engages Jamil in uncomfortable conversation, during which the archangel admits he has been traveling all over the world talking to world leaders, murderers, and a variety to other people to ask a simple question – what do they want. He asks Jamil the same question. Jamil seems confused by the question, and initially says he wants peace and love. But then Dean/Michael recounts how Jamil did some bad things, including abandoning his friends in Syria to die, and having an affair that caused his wife to leave him. Dean/Michael alleges that if Jamil truly wanted peace and love, he wouldn’t have done those things.

Dissatisfied with the Jamil's answer, Dean/Michael uses telekinesis to hurl him around the room. He tells Jamil that he is not worth saving, and that he wants a better world.

EPISODE:

SAM:
Sam arrives back at the bunker, which is teeming with people and activity. Mary and the other hunters are assembling weapons for various battles, including silver bullets, bullets filled with holy oil, and bullets dipped in dead man’s blood. As this is happening, Maggie is stitching up another hunter who was recently wounded in a fight with a monster.

Sam greets Mary. As they’re talking, we learn that Sam was in Atlanta, Georgia investigating a lead on Dean that ended up being a bust. Mr. Ketch and Castiel are both working on leads in different places. Sam is exhausted and demoralized, but Mary tries to convince him that something will break and they’ll find Dean. Mary tries to get Sam to eat something and get some rest. But as they’re talking another hunter reports a job; a group of vampires are working their way along an interstate. Instead of eating and resting, Sam begins organizing teams of hunters to intercept and kill the vampires.

Elsewhere in the bunker, AU Bobby and Jack are in an exercise room. They are both wearing boxing gloves, and Bobby is trying to teach Jack how to fight. It doesn’t seem to be going well, partially because Jack has never had to fight before and seems unwilling to accept life without his grace.

CASTIEL:
The scene cuts to a run-down bar in an undisclosed location. Castiel is sitting alone at a table near the back of the bar. There are several other patrons in the bar, and Castiel has apparently arranged a meeting with a demon (Kipling). When Kipling arrives, Castiel asks him if any of his kind know where Dean Winchester is. Kipling seems amused that Castiel has “lost” Dean Winchester, and a bit surprised that an angel is coming to a demon for help. Kipling doesn’t answer the question, and instead asks what’s in it for him. Castiel threatens to destroy Kipling if he withholds information, but as the tense confrontation proceeds, Castiel is made aware that the entire bar is full of demons, who begin closing in on the pair.

Castiel draws his angel blade and tries to fight, but he is outnumbered and quickly overpowered by demons. They beat him to the ground and encircle him as the scene fades to black.

DEAN:
Duluth, Minnesota
Night has fallen, and Sister Jo is leaving a church. She has been healing people for money again, and is walking down a nearby alley counting a wad of cash when Dean/Michael appears to her. At first, she doesn’t recognize him, but then she does and they begin talking. Dean/Michael asks Jo the same question he's been asking everyone else -- what does she want. At first, she lists designer clothes, but Dean/Michael accuses her of lying. He says that she’s just using those things for cover and that in her heart she wants something else. He says what she truly wants is love – a family and a place to belong. Dean/Michael also says he can sense that there aren’t many angels left in this world. He offers to help with that situation, but says that if all the surviving angels are sad, lost, and fallen – like Sister Jo – that they’re not worth the effort. The camera cuts away before we see or hear Jo’s reply.

SAM:
Time has passed, and Jack is alone in his room at the bunker. Sam enters to talk to him. Jack is still wearing his workout clothes and is feeling self pity because he doesn’t have his powers anymore. Sam tells Jack that he has faith in him and he understands how Jack feels. As they’re talking, Mary enters and tells Sam that “He’s awake.”

Sam and Mary walk together through the corridor and talk. As they’re talking, we learn that the person they’re talking about hasn’t spoken; but Mary admits that she’s having difficulty even looking at him, so she hasn’t tried talking to him. Sam enters a small room and we see LUCIFER sitting on the side of a cot, surrounded by a modified devil’s trap.

Sam greets Nick, who turns around and says hello. Nick seems very subdued and fatigued. When Sam asks how he’s been sleeping, Nick says he is still having nightmares, but they’re getting better. Sam asks to see Nick’s wound, and when Nick raises his shirt, we see the stab wound on his chest where Dean/Michael stabbed him (“Let the Good Times Roll”). Sam cleans the wound and the two talk further. Nick still seems confused about how he is still alive. But Sam explains that the archangel blade was intended to kill the archangel and not the vessel, so Lucifer died, but Nick survived. When Nick acknowledges that it must be difficult for Sam to look at him, Sam admits that it is, but he’s glad it’s Nick and that Lucifer is dead. Nick agrees. When Sam asks Nick if Lucifer revealed anything about Michael or his plans, Nick replies that Michael said he “wanted to do it right this time.", but he doesn't offer any other details.

As Sam is leaving Nick’s room, his phone rings. It’s Kipling. He tells Sam that he has Castiel, and reveals where to meet with him if he wants to see Castiel alive.

In the bunker's war room, Sam prepares weapons and briefs the other hunters. They know it’s a trap, but they also realize that it’s the only way to get Castiel back. Jack says he wants to come too, so against Bobby’s recommendations, Sam allows him to join the group.

CASTIEL:
At the demon bar, we see Castiel with a bloody face, chained to a chair. He asks Kipling why he’s doing this, and Kipling taunts him, saying that he needs something from Sam Winchester. Kipling presumes Sam will be willing to make a deal to get Castiel back. The demon also reveals that recently, someone asked him what he wants. [Note: The audience realizes that Kipling was visited by Dean/Michael, but Castiel doesn’t yet know that]. Kipling goes on to explain that he initially didn’t know what he wanted. But he's thought about it and now he realizes that he wants everything.

SAM:
As Sam and Mary are driving through the night in the Impala on their way to save Castiel, Mary looks over and sees how defeated and worried Sam looks. Mary tries to reassure Sam, and he asks her to stop. He admonishes her for continually saying that everything will be fine – that they’ll find Dean and save Castiel and be alright. He says there are so many ways things could go badly and they could lose Dean. He isn’t even sure Dean is still alive. Mary tells Sam that she isn’t sure she believes things will be okay, either, but she has to focus on the good to stop herself from drowning in the bad. So, for Dean’s sake, she will continue focusing on the good.

Meanwhile, in a second car in the convoy, Bobby assures Jack that whatever happens, he has his back.

It is the next day when the two cars arrive at the demon bar. Sam goes in alone and unarmed, and orders the other hunters to stay outside and stick to the plan.

When Sam enters the bar, a demon frisks him, as expected. Sam begins talking to Kipling, and demands to know what he wants. Kipling reminds Sam that he was ordered to come alone, but didn’t. Then, his demons bring in Jack and Maggie, who have been captured outside. Kipling goes on to list his demands. He reminds Sam that hell is without a king, and that isn’t right. He tells Sam that he wants the same deal Crowley had and that he wants to be the new Crowley. He says he’ll give the Winchesters information and assistance from time to time in exchange for looking the other way when demons work demon deals or do other evil.

Sam refuses Kipling’s offer, and a fight breaks out. Mary and Bobby burst into the bar with guns blazing. The hunters all take a beating; but in the end, Sam kills Kipling and tells the rest of the demons that there will be no new king of hell, and anyone who tries to rule hell will have to go through him. The surviving demons all smoke out, leaving the hunters to gather their wounded and return to the bunker.

Back at the bunker, the hunters are icing and nursing their wounds. Sam and Castiel talk briefly in the bunker’s library. Sam has heard back from Ketch, who is in London and has not been able to locate the British Men of Letters’ Newton-D-hyperbolic magnetic pulse generator --- the device they‘d used to extract Lucifer from his vessel (the President) in season 12 ("LOTUS"). Sam is disappointed because his plan was to use the device to save Dean once they find him. Castiel apologizes for walking into the demon’s trap, but Sam reassures him, asserting that he would have done the same thing...and more...if he thought it might save Dean.

Later, Castiel stops by Jack's room to talk to him. Jack feels worthless because he doesn’t have his powers, is demoralized because he got beat up and was ineffective, and feels like he has nothing. Castiel tells Jack that his grace will regenerate in time, but in the meantime he has his family – the Winchesters and himself. And together they will find Michael and save Dean.

Meanwhile, in the bunker’s kitchen, Bobby and Mary talk over beers. They look at each other affectionately as they talk.

Later, Sam is alone in his room when he gets a cell phone call from Sister Jo. She tells him that they have a problem.

EPILOGUE:

In what looks like an abandoned warehouse, Dean/Michael is talking to a creature. He praises the creature for having wants that are pure, clean, and simple – food. He tells the creature that because his wants are so pure, he is worth saving, and they will work well together. As the camera zooms in and the creature smiles, we see that it's a vampire.