Stuck in the Middle With You Recap

Minutes pass and we return to the opening scene where Mary and Cas arrive at the barn. Mary asks Cas if he can heal himself, and he says he has tried but he can’t. He is bleeding badly. As they’re talking, Sam calls to see where they are. Mary tells Sam how to get to the barn, and when Sam asks if they’re okay, she says “no”. it is 9:05 PM

9:05 PM:
Dean and Sam arrive at the barn and find Mary and Castiel. The Boys tell Mary that Wally is dead. Before Mary can say anything, Castiel groans loudly in pain and Dean rushes to him. While Dean is with Castiel, Sam asks Mary where the demons all came from. Mary says she doesn’t know, but that when she saw the demon’s eyes, they were yellow. Sam asks Mary what she has gotten them into.

FLASHBACK to 11 hours ago (10:07 AM that same day): The demon is at home and Mary and Wally are in a truck using binoculars to watch the house. Wally thinks the demon doesn’t look all that dangerous, but admits he doesn’t know much about demons. He asks Mary why she called him. She tells him that if Dean and Sam think they’re helping him and not her, they won’t ask a lot of questions. She tells him it’s safer that way. Wally notices that Mary is looking through a file that she got from the British Men of Letters (BMOLs). He asks if she trusts them, and says he thinks they sound too good to be true. Mary brags about the monsters she’s killed since working with them, but won’t say whether she trusts them or not.

FLASHBACK to 8:23 pm that same night. Dean, Sam, Cas, Mary and Wally arrive at the demon’s house. He seems not to be there and Cas notices that the house isn’t warded. They enter and begin the setup. While everyone else is setting up, Mary sneaks down to the basement. The basement is full of old weapons, expensive-looking sculptures and art. Mary goes over to a specific painting on the wall (the Archangel Michael killing Lucifer). She removes the painting and finds a safe behind it. She uses a device to crack the safe (likely a gadget she got from the BMOLs) , and removes a shoe box-sized box from the safe. When she opens the box, something glows from inside.

We see her remove something from the box, wrapped in a piece of fabric. She tucks the item into the back of her jeans, replaces the box and painting, and returns upstairs. When she arrives upstairs, she runs into Castiel, who asks where she was. We realize this is the scene we already saw when Mary tells Cas she was in the bathroom. Now we know that she was lying and she was actually in the basement stealing something.

9:03 PM:
Back at the barn, Mary and Cas have arrived, but Dean and Sam haven’t yet (they don’t arrive until 9:05). While she’s waiting for them, she texts someone (we know it’s the BMOLs) and tells them that the demon had yellow eyes. The reply she receives says they had bad information, and she’d better leave because the demon will find her. Soon after this happens, Dean and Sam rush in and we return to the events that happened at 9:05.
While Mary is talking to Sam, Dean rushes over to Cas. He looks at the wound and tries to reassure Cas that it isn’t that bad, but they both know he’s lying. Cas tells Dean that he can’t heal himself, he thinks the demon’s spear was poisoned, and he thinks he’s dying. Dean tries to reassure him, but neither of them is convinced. Dean calls Sam over, and they realize Cas is in trouble.

As the Winchesters look on, Crowley arrives. He tells them they’re idiots and they are all going to die. Since Crowley has suddenly arrived, the Winchesters surmise that the demons that attacked them worked for him. He admits that they did, and tells them that they have no idea what they’ve done.

Crowley tells them that the demon in the house is Ramiel, a prince of hell. The princes of hell were the first demons created by Lucifer after Lilith. They were originally trained to be generals in the war against heaven. The demons spread a rumor that all the princes were dead, to make everyone leave them alone. But three of them are still alive – Ramiel, his brother Asmodeus, and his sister Dagon. Crowley verifies that Azazel was also a prince of hell.

FLASH BACK TO SIX YEARS AGO: It is after the derailed apocalypse, and Lucifer and Michael are in the cage (After Swan Song, Season 5). Crowley (who was king of the crossroads at the time) was sent by hell to go to Ramiel’s house and try to convince him to rule hell, telling him that with Lilith and Azazel both dead, and Lucifer locked in the cage, he’s next in line because he’s a prince of hell. As gifts, Crowley brings Ramiel the lance of Michael (a gift from all demon kind) and the Colt (a gift from him personally). During their discussion, we learn that the lance of Michael kills demons instantly, but kills angels slowly, by causing them to rot to death. Michael apparently created the weapon specifically for Lucifer, hoping to make his brother suffer before he died. Ramiel admires the weapon’s craftsmanship, noting that its magic is all in the rune work along the staff.

We also learn that Crowley presumably picked up the Colt after Dean dropped it in his failed attempt to kill Lucifer in Carthage Missouri (Abandon All Hope, Season 5).

Ramiel is impressed with the gifts, but tells Crowley that he doesn’t want to rule hell, and that Crowley should do it himself, since he seems ambitious and devious enough for the task. Crowley asks whether the other surviving princes would object. Ramiel tells him that his siblings don’t want the throne, either, and they won’t try to stop Crowley from ruling hell. Ramiel tells Crowley that the only condition is that he wants all the remaining princes to be left alone forever. Crowley assures him that he can see to that, so he accepts the terms and agrees to become King of Hell.

BACK AT THE BARN
Crowley tells Dean and Sam that his demons attacked because their job was to make sure Ramiel was not disturbed. When Sam asks Crowley what happened to Cas, Crowley tells him that he’s been poisoned by the Lance of Michael. He tells them the lance kills demons in a puff of smoke, but angels rot away. The Winchesters demand to know the cure. But Crowley tells them there isn’t time to find one. The Boys tell Crowley they’ll trap Ramiel and force him to tell them the cure. When Crowley tells them their plan won’t work, Dean becomes angry and tells Crowley to help them or leave. Crowley disappears.

9:07 - 9:12
The Winchesters know Ramiel is on his way to kill them. Cas tries to convince them to leave, saying he loves them and doesn’t want his last moments of life to be spent watching them die. He tells them he’ll hold Ramiel off as long as he can, but he wants them to run. The Winchesters refuse, and decide to go ahead with their plan. As Dean dons the warded brass knuckles they got from the BMOLs, Sam pours a circle of holy oil, and they prepare to use all their available weapons to fight Ramiel (of course, Mary doesn’t tell the Boys that she has the Colt, which killed Azazel, so would likely kill Ramiel, too).

9:07: Outside the barn
As Ramiel approaches, Crowley appears and tries to convince him to let the Winchesters live. Ramiel reminds Crowley of their deal, and refuses to leave the situation alone. He knocks Crowley through the wall of the barn, and Crowley lands in an unconscious heap on the ground as the Winchesters look on in shock.

9:12:
Ramiel arrives, strolling through the same hole he tossed Crowley through. The Winchesters let him step into the circle of holy oil and light it. They demand to know the cure for the lance, but Ramiel tells them there isn’t one. He also tells them that they stole something from him and have 30 seconds to give it back. The Boys say they don’t know what he’s talking about, and Mary doesn’t say anything. He tells them that he doesn’t care who they are or what they want and, although his sister Dagon has taken an interest in the Nephilim, he doesn’t care about that, either. He just wanted to be left alone and he wants his property back.

Thirty seconds expire and Ramiel draws the lance. He strikes the ground with the lance and the fire goes out. He then attacks the Winchesters. In the melee, Sam gets the lance away from him and stabs him with it, killing him.

Ramiel dies, but as soon as that happens, Castiel screams in pain. Sam drops the lance and he, Dean, and Mary all rush over to Cas, who is now drooling black sludge from his mouth and clearly dying. As this is happening, Crowley regains consciousness. He gets up and walks over to the lance. He recalls his discussion from 6 years ago, when Ramiel said that the lance’s magic is all in the rune work. After a second of thought, Crowley snaps the staff, breaking the lance into two pieces. Instantly, the lance starts to glow blue, and so does Castiel. Instantly, Cas is healed. The Winchesters and Cas are all in shock as they realize that he’s okay.

The rest of the group looks at Crowley in awe. Everyone present realizes that Crowley has just saved Castiel's life. Crowley tells the group that the magic in the lance is in the craftsmanship.

He also says “you’re welcome” before he disappears. The Boys help Cas to his feet and they leave the barn. As they’re leaving, Cas asks Mary what Ramiel was talking about when he accused them of stealing, but Dean says the demon was crazy and dismisses the question. Dean picks up the pieces of the lance and everyone leaves the barn.

EPILOGUE:
Back at the diner, we see that Mr. Ketch was talking to Mary at the start of the episode. It is clear that the BMOLs sent her after the Colt, but Ketch says they didn’t know Ramiel was who he was. Mary is angry and threatens to tear down the whole operation if anything like that happens again. Ketch seems only mildly perturbed and simply says they made a mistake. He apologizes and asks to see the Colt. Mary opens the cloth and gives him the weapon.

ELSEWHERE:
In Crowley’s throne room, Crowley is on the phone, angrily ordering his demons to find the Colt. After hanging up, he pours a drink and seems very irritated. In the corner of the room, in a small cage, we hear a familiar voice taunting him. It is Lucifer. Lucifer tells Crowley that the Winchesters will eventually kill him, despite anything he does for them. Crowley tells Lucifer to shut up, and as the scene ends, we see Lucifer’s eyes glow red.