The Winchester Family Business

Here's Alice's report of the panel that took place Sunday at San Diego Comic Con.  BTS stories and pictures.  

The CW has published the official synopsis for 9.22 Stairway to Heaven. It sounds like a goodie!

Here's the official synopsis for the season finale "Do You Believe in Miracles

by Karen

So back again to my Tupperware container and I have pulled four new episodes titles and have put my thoughts to them.

What are your thoughts on the following episodes?

Is it a scene, a moment, a line or song?

Is it just your favourite or is it the emotional impact it has on you?

Maybe it simply makes you laugh or hide under the covers.

All Hell Breaks Loose Part II

Wow! What scene doesn’t come to mind with this episode?

It was one tug at the heartstrings right after the other. I’m going to limit myself with the first four. Number one we open up with Dean staring, grieve stricken over his deceased brother. Then Bobby arrives with food trying to get Dean to eat and trying to convince him it’s time to bury Sam. Of course Dean wants nothing to do with this. Bobby then tries to get Dean to leave with him as he doesn’t want to leave Dean alone and needs his help. Dean’s reaction is heart breaking.

Bobby: I just don’t think you should be alone, that’s all. I gotta admit I could use your help. Something big is going down. End of the world big Dean: Well then let it end!! Bobby: You don’t mean that? Dean: You don’t think so? You don’t think I’ve given enough? You don’t think I’ve paid enough? I’m done with it, all of it. If you know what’s good for you, turn around and get the hell out of here! (pushes Bobby) Go! (Stares at Bobby and realizes the hurt on his face.) I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please just go. Bobby: You know where I’ll be.

The second one we have Dean’s heartfelt confession to Sam.

You know when we were little and you couldn’t have been more than five, you just started asking questions. How come we didn’t have a mom? Why do we always have to move around? Where did dad go? He’d take off for days at a time. I remember I begged you ‘Quit asking Sammy, man you don’t want to know’ I just wanted you to be a kid just for a little while longer. I always tried to protect you. Keep you safe. Dad didn’t even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It’s like I had one job. That one job and I screwed it up. I blew it. And for that I’m sorry. I guess that’s what I do. I let down the people I love. I let dad down and now I guess I’m just supposed to let you down too? How can I? How am I supposed to live with that? What am I supposed to do? (Dean stands up and yells) What am I suppose to do?

The third is after Dean sells his soul and returns to Sam to find him up and about. He immediately goes to him and hugs him. Our first hug!

The fourth is when Dean and Sam arrive at Bobby’s. Bobby keeps his cool at seeing Sam alive but Sam does notice a sense of awkwardness. Bobby then makes some excuse for Sam to look over his findings while he and Dean go to his car to get more material to look at. Bobby takes Dean to the yard and gives him what for.

Bobby: You stupid ass! What did you do? (grabs Dean by the coat collar). What did you do? You made a deal, for Sam, didn’t you? How long did they give ya?” Dean: Bobby... Bobby: How long?! Dean: One year. Bobby: Damn it Dean. Dean: Which is why we gotta find this yellow eyed son of a bitch! That’s why I’m gonna kill him myself. I mean I got nothing to lose now, right? Bobby: I could throttle you! Dean: And send me down stairs ahead of schedule? Bobby: What is it with you Winchesters, huh? You, your dad, you’re both just itching to throw yourselves down the pit! Dean: That’s my point. Dad brought me back Bobby. I’m not even supposed to be here. At least this way something good can come out of it. You know, like my life can mean something. Bobby: What and it didn’t before? Have you got that low of an opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head? Dean: I couldn’t let him die Bobby. I couldn’t. He’s my brother. Bobby: How is your brother gonna feel when he knows you’re going to hell? How’d you feel when you knew your dad went for you? Dean: You can’t tell him. You take a shot at me. Whatever you gotta do, but please don’t tell him. (Bobby places his hand on Dean’s face They then hear a noise in the yard and go to investigate. It’s Ellen. Dean and Ellen embrace each other while Bobby looks around for any danger).

Dark Side of the Moon

This was another episode with many powerful moments. The shooting of Sam and Dean, the fireworks with Dean and a young Sam, a ‘I WUV Hugs’ t-shirt and Mary making sandwiches and cutting off the crust. Seeing Ash, Pamela and the Roadhouse again. And Joshua relaying God’s message telling them to ‘Back off’, that He knows what the Angels are doing, but "He just doesn’t think it’s his problem."

However I think for me the scene that I would have to go with is when Sam and Dean are sent back to the living and conveys God’s message to Cas.

Cas: Maybe, maybe Joshua was lying Sam: I don’t think he was. Cas, I’m sorry. Cas: (Looks up to God) You son of a bitch! I believed in … (Cas reaches into his pocket and pulls out the amulet and looks at it for moment) I don’t need this anymore (tosses it to Dean) It’s worthless. Sam: Cas wait (hear a fluttering of wings and Cas is gone). We’ll find another way. We can still stop all of this, Dean. Dean: How? Sam: I don’t know, but we’ll find it. You and me, we’ll find it.

(Dean grabs his duffle bag and walks to the door, he stops and after a second drops the amulet in the garbage can and walks out, leaving Sam standing watching feeling helpless).

Appointment In Samarra

The scene that stands out the most for me is the last scenes with the talk between Death and Dean. I just love the chemistry between Death and Dean and how their conversations are always so intense.

Death: Today you got a hard look behind the curtain. Wrecking the natural order is not quite fun when you have to mop up the mess. Is it? This is hard for you Dean. You throw away your life because you’ve come to assume that it’ll bounce back into your lap. The human soul is not a rubber ball. It’s vulnerable, impermanent, but stronger than you know and more valuable than you can imagine. So I think you’ve learned something today. Dean: Wanna know what I think? I think you know that I wouldn’t last a day. Death: I have no idea what you’re talking about. Dean: I lost fine, but at least I have the ball to admit that it was rigged from the jump. Death: Most people speak to me with more respect. Dean: I didn’t mean.. Death: We’re done here. It’s been lovely but now I’m going to go to hell to get your brother’s soul. Dean: Why would you do that for me? Death: I wouldn’t do it for you. You and your brother keep coming back. You’re an affront to the balance of the universe and you cause disruption on a global scale. Dean: Apologies for that.

And when Death restores Sam’s soul. Seeing Sam begging Dean not to let Death do this as Death nonchalantly tells Sam that it might be a bit itchy and not to scratch as he restores his soul.

Survival of the Fittest

With this episode I have two moments that stand out the most. The first is Sam and Dean burning Bobby’s flask upon his request. Bobby is ‘Jonesing’ to take over another body to kill Dick.

Bobby: Look, I’m done. Go get Dick. But don’t do it because you think it will scratch that itch. Do it because it’s the job. And when it’s your time, Go! (We’re shown burning ambers). Here’s to running into you guys on the other side, only not too soon alright?

Dean places the flask into the hot coals. We see Sam and Dean facing towards Bobby and then a bright light reflects on their heartbroken faces.

The second is the end scenes showing us the horrible situation that both Sam and Dean have been left in.

With Sam left standing devastated and alone as Dean and Castiel have vanished and Crowley has taken away Kevin leaving with the haunting words:

"Sorry Moose, wish I could help, you certainly have a lot on your plate right now. It looks like you are well and truly on your own."

And then there is Dean being left alone, when Castiel vanishes with growling and glowing red eyes surrounding him in his new home, Purgatory.

“Alex Annie Alexis Ann” — (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, DLV) (HDTV) SHERIFF MILLS TRIES TO SAVE A YOUNG GIRL FROM A VAMPIRE NEST — Sheriff Mills (guest star Kim Rhodes) calls Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) after she kills a vampire who attacked a prisoner named Annie (guest star Katherine Ramdeen). They discover Annie was kidnapped by a family of vampires who use her as bait to lure in humans they can then feed on. Sheriff Mills tries to rescue Annie from her captors, but finds out the hard way that family always comes first. Stefan Pleszczynski directed the episode written by Robert Berens (#919).   

What an episode! Talk about some serious plot movement. This is my favorite part of the season because it’s the time when everything gets turned on its head. I love watching plot threads come together into a perfect storm of awesome which is exactly how I would describe this episode. Awesome.

This episode managed to hit on all my favorite elements of this season so far. The first of which is the knight of Hell herself. It’s been a long time since we’ve actually seen Abaddon, but the writers are certainly keeping her fresh in our minds. It was really interesting to learn more about Abaddon’s backstory and how she came to possess Josie. Really, I’ll take anything that gives me more information on the Men of Letters. I’m really not ready to be done with the Men of Letters storyline yet. But perhaps the most interesting thing about Abaddon’s backstory is the insight it gives into her current plans.   

So she is attempting to harvest souls and twist them into demons that are only loyal to her. I mean, it’s not a bad plan. At this point there is no way of knowing how many demons are actually on her side. And of the ones that are, how many of them would abandon ship as soon as Crowley resurfaces? Let’s face it, her odds aren’t looking great. But I do have to agree with Sam that this seems like a pretty lofty goal. Even if there are other demons helping harvest souls, how long would it take to build an army equal to the countless souls already residing in Hell? How about forever?

Regardless of how long it would actually take Abaddon to build an army, her actions are still a threat. Look what just one of her followers managed to do to a small town. That was a whole lot of crazy. Can you imagine soulless people roaming the streets all over the country? Soulless Sam was bad enough on his own and he was sensible compared to some of these people. At least he had some self control. These people were definitely out of control. So much so that I was kind of surprised how easily Sam made the correlation between their behavior and being soulless. It felt like a bit of a stretch to me. In fact, I don’t think that he even needed to be the one to suggest it in the first place. We would have gotten around to it once Julia’s character made her appearance. I think I might have even liked it better not knowing we were dealing with souls until later in the episode. It would have felt like more of a big reveal. What do you think?

This episode also gave us some interesting movement on the Mark of Cain. Last week’s awesome episode hinted at what the First Blade would do to Dean, but this week we got to go inside his head a bit more. It’s looking pretty grim in there. We knew that the more contact Dean had with the blade, the more he would come to welcome the feelings it gave him. But I didn’t fully realize just how much Dean would crave a fix. It’s really troubling to see him drinking again. He’s in denial about what seems inevitable and I wish he would talk to his brother. Even though Sam made it clear where their relationship stood earlier this season, in recent weeks it has seemed that he’s coming around a bit. And it’s obvious that he’s really worried about Dean. He even tried to get Dean to open up a bit about what he’s been feeling but no dice. Dean’s not ready to talk about it yet. He’s got at least another week or two of bottling up his emotions. But if Sam is ready and willing, I think it would do a lot of good for him to have a talk with Dean about their relationship. I know that he will be there for Dean through this whole ordeal but I don’t think Dean knows that. It might be good for him to hear it right now. Again, that’s if Sam is ready and willing to have that conversation. It’s his right to make that decision for himself. But personally, I think he’s ready.

Because Dean is unwilling to confide in Sam at this point, his only confidant is Crowley. That’s really not a good thing. Not only is Crowley as hell-bent on killing Abaddon as Dean is, but he also understands what Dean is going through with his growing addiction. And Crowley is more than ready to use this knowledge to his advantage. He has already tested Dean’s loyalty by planting a fake hunter and he’s confirmed the lengths that Dean is willing to go to kill Abaddon. Or get his hands on the blade. I’m not totally sure which is the bigger motivator at this point. Either way, all Crowley wants is for Abaddon to die.

Like I said, good episode! It really hit on all my favorite storylines this season and it set us up for what I think will be a very interesting final stretch. It would be remiss of me not to take a moment to give props to Misha on his directorial debut. I thought he did a great job with an episode as chock full of story as this one was. I look forward to him directing again in the future.

It looks like the next episode will be focusing heavily on Metatron and Gadreel. This is the storyline I’ve been the least interested in this season. To be fair, that could be because we really haven’t had any movement on it for a long time. I’m hoping the next episode cranks it up a gear because I do think there’s a lot of good potential there.

So what did you guys think of the episode? Are you worried about Abaddon’s plan for the souls? What do you think about Dean’s addiction to the First Blade? Do you have any predictions for the last part of the season?  

As usual, I have some stray comments and quotes to include.

“Meatloaf. Really? Again?” Anyone who has ever cooked for an ungrateful person can relate to Mrs. Young. Am I right?

Crowley: “You’re lying to Sam like he’s your wife. Which kind of makes me your mistress.”

I really liked Julia Wilkinson’s character. It’s not often that we get to see flashbacks through someone else’s eyes like that.

Dean Winchester can make anything look hot. Even racking up pool balls.

Crowley: “Unless Abaddon likes ten cent wings, stale beer and the clap, I doubt she’s here.”

Dean: “Go to Hell.”

Crowley: “Oh, if only.”

Crowley: “Just between us girls, how did you feel when you sunk the first blade into Magnus’ head?”

Dean: “Not half as good as I’m gonna feel when it’s yours.”

Crowley: “Love it when you talk dirty.”

It was interesting to hear Henry doubting becoming a Man of Letters. And it’s sad to think that the case that convinced him to take the plunge was all a lie.

Poor Josie, offering up her life to save Henry Winchester. I was starting to wonder if she was in love with him. It was interesting to have that confirmed.

Abaddon: “Abaddon takes what she wants. And right now, she wants everything.”

Crowley: “Why are you fighting what you really are?”

Dean: “I’m a hunter.”

Crowley: “Who’s a chip off the old block of Cain.”

Dean: “When I kill, I kill for a reason. I’m nothing like Cain.”

Crowley: “I’m going to go water the lilly, care to cross streams?”

Crowley: “What about you? It takes a junkie to know a junkie.”

Crowley: “Of course he saved me. We’re besties. And now he’s ready.”

Sam finally put that exorcism recording to good use. Talk about a time saver.

Sam: “Can I ask you something?”

Julia: “If it’s for a date, sorry. I never date anyone under 65. Too much drama.”

Sam: “After witnessing what you did, why didn’t you warn Henry about Abaddon?”

Julia: “I became a nun because I wanted to help people; make a difference. But they never prepare you. They never tell you how to act in the face of true evil.”

Here's the preview for Meta Fiction.

Metatron and Gadreel are back!

Sam finds Gadreel and traps him in a ring of blazing Holy Oil. Cas tells Sam and Dean that Metatron is trying to play God. Gadreel is captured by Sam and Dean. Metatron is writing on an old typewriter and says, "Sorry, no spoilers".

By Bookdal

Warning: If you have not seen tonight’s episode, “Mother’s Little Helper,” then beware spoilers ahead!

If you have not seen tonight’s episode, “Mother’s Little Helper,” then beware of spoilers.

Episode Summary: In Misha Collins’s directorial debut, he tackles an Adam Glass script that delves into the history of Abaddon and the Men of Letters. The episode begins with a rather domestic murder, which revolved around a frustrated wife killing her picky, tv-watching husband. This murder sets up the separate storylines for Sam and Dean. Dean appears to be in a super focused research mode, but we learn he’s really just on a bender, as Dean is wont to do. Dean tells Sam to investigate the case on his own while he hangs back and “researches,” i.e. drinks bottles of hard liquor and flirts with Crowley. Sam figures out that something is going on with the case and suspects souls are being hijacked or destroyed. There were several flashbacks during the episode to both the current Mark of Cain story and the former Soulless Sam story.

  During his investigation Sam comes across a former nun who knows about demons, Abaddon, and the Men of Letters. Her story shows how Abaddon was planning to take souls to build an army and featured Henry Winchester. The story reveals how and when Josie was possessed by Abaddon, as an act of sacrifice to save Henry because she loved him. While Sam is listening to the history lesson, Dean and Crowley are hanging out a bar. Crowley is doing some marriage/psychological counselling for Dean and when he leaves to go to the bathroom, a hunter appears to go after him with a knife. Dean, of course, stops the hunter. We learn in a later scene that the hunter is a demon and was there to prove that Dean would actually save Crowley – Crowley says he and Dean are besties but he also says that now Dean is “ready”. The episode ends with Sam telling Dean that Abaddon is collecting souls for an army and the brothers sit as separate tables as they continue to research how to find and take down Abaddon.

Speculations and Questions: 

1. We know that Crowley is really planning something not good, right? Also the soul thing? That was a Crowley/Castiel story, right? I’m telling you Crowley/Abaddon are not enemies.

2. Dean’s coldness – is it really his reaction to Sam’s words or are we in Mark of Cain territory now? Does the mark drastically change the emotional state of the bearer? Does it take the soul?

3. I think Abaddon saved Henry because he had a wife and kid. I think the love thing was a copout and cheap.

4. So now we see Sam is becoming increasingly affected by Dean’s coldness. That upset facial expression after their phone call was very telling.

5. Why the souls? Will this dovetail into the Metatron/Gadreel story? Didn’t Death state that it was all about the souls? Is this show actually admitting that seasons 6 and 7 existed?!

6. I have been saying since the beginning of season 8 that this season and last are master parallels of seasons 4 and 5. I am sticking to my theory.

Congratulations to Misha on his debut!

Share your thoughts with us!