Winchester Family Business - the Supernatural guide to demon hunting (and fishing)

Contains spoilers for Supernatural Episode 5.01 “Sympathy for the Devil.”

The days of miracle and wonder start with Lucifer’s arriving white light. Sam and Dean Winchester were nearly thunderstruck by Lucifer’s arriving beam but Somebody put them on a Soul Plane to safety.

Our heroes searched for answers but Zachariah and Meg kept dogging Dean for his sword. Castiel was smited into chunky soup but Somebody brought him back to save Team Winchester. Meanwhile Lucifer’s beam circled Nick, his intended vessel. Nick’s grief and anger gave him too much sympathy with Lucifer’s daddy issues. But Dean had no sympathy for Sammy’s betrayal with that demon Ruby.

#1. Saving People - Hunting Things
The pacing in this episode was like a sprint, starting with the “Thunderstruck” recap. The people getting saved this time were Sam and Dean and Castiel. Poor Nick, the targeted meatsuit for Lucifer, could not resist the temptation of revenge. Nick was one sorry mess since someone (a demon perhaps?) killed his family in their beds. Lucifer woos Nick with haunting sounds of his baby crying and visions of his dead wife telling him he’s chosen. Lucifer’s whining that he’s just another kid betrayed by a Bad Daddy touches a nerve. How could God care if He let that intruder kill his wife and baby? Lucifer wins over Nick by claiming they are getting justice, not revenge. (Right, so was Sammy.) As usual, a human choice may lead to the evil consequences.

The angels and the demons are equally monstrous to Team Winchester. They couldn’t even start looking for Lucifer since Dean was hounded by Zachariah and hammered by Meg. Chuck gets a vision that lures Dean and Sam out of hiding to hunt for “the Michael sword”. Zachariah’s trick works and he corners Dean in John Winchester’s storage space. Zach tells chucklehead that he is the sword. (Oh, symbolism!) Dean, the intended vessel for the General is done being the angel’s chosen Rube.

Zachariah’s Guantanamo methods in persuasion include breaking Sam’s legs and paralyzing Bobby, even surpassing Uriel’s smitey ways. Smarter Stubborn Dean refuses to be Michael’s skin. Zachariah prepares to unload another round of torture when Castiel arrives and kicks angel butt.

Castiel’s return from the dead, and the Winchester’s seats on the Soul Plane introduce doubt about God’s whereabouts. Perhaps rumors of His death were greatly exaggerated and He has returned to the building.

#2. The Road So Far
The Apocalypse is Now! This episode drops more information about the Apocalypse, Lucifer and the angels. Possibly God too. The demons and angels are mobilizing. The urgent war is mostly invisible to humans since the signs of doom are covered by the media as climate change, terrorism and pandemic flu.

The angels’ plan for shock and awe can’t begin until their General, Michael, gets his skin. It’s a race to beat Lucifer from getting his meatsuit first. Zachariah claims Dean is “chosen” as Michael’s vessel. But Lucifer went directly to Nick to make the skin connection. Castiel went directly to Jimmy. So why hasn’t Michael contacted Dean directly?

Free Willy does not consent to Zachariah’s demand to donate his skin. Dean concludes there must be another way – a human way. Now that sounds like the leader of the human resistance talking! Perhaps his guilt at breaking the first seal, failing to stop Sam from killing Lilith and remembering actual hell are pushing Dean to fight to the last. Dean’s focusing on the Big Picture when he decides to go after the Sword instead of staying with wounded Bobby; and again when he does not cave to Zachariah’s arm twisting, although Bobby was left paralyzed due to his decision.

Our heroes have learned some new tricks. Sam’s mastered Ruby’s hexbag recipe to keep them cloaked from demons, so they can carry on hunting without a constant onslaught. Dean knows the bloodspell to send the angels to far far away. Castiel engraved Sam and Dean’s ribs to make them invisible to the angels. Is the resurrected Castiel different? Hopefully his new body got cloaking too from the angels since he must be on their hit list. Will we meet the Somebody who put the guys on the Soul Plane?

Chuck is on TeamWinchester too. He can feel when the angels are coming now. But if Zachariah can plant visions on Chuck, is Chuck help or more danger? Maybe Chuck can mobilize his Fangirl Army to use Twitter for something useful.

The new player in the Apocalypse is Lucifer. Lucifer’s chosen vessel Nick has similarities to John Winchester’s history. Both men lost their anchors to overwhelming grief and anger. John was a boozy mess before he focused on his obsessive quest to hunt what killed Mary, turning himself into a hunter, and losing sight of his job as a father. Nick didn’t search for the mysterious Somebody who killed his family. Instead he bought Lucifer’s story that God is to blame. Nick became Lucifer’s vessel to get paybacks on God, but the choice is not much different from John’s choice to get revenge on Azazel.

If the humans want the world and history to continue, then killing Lucifer isn’t the endgame. Killing Lucifer wipes the slate clean. That means earth is smited and one big do-ever with no more mudmonkeys.

Remember when the angels were getting killed in On the Head of a Pin? Castiel stated that only an angel can kill another Angel. Assume Lucifer is way more powerful than the foot soldier angels in the garrison. Michael could only drive him to the Underworld. Could Castiel get juiced up by Somebody and take him back down?

Bobby’s lore books showed images of Michael wielding a sword. What if there is a real Sword? Ruby’s Knife and the Colt have powers that work on demons. Perhaps the Sword will work on any angels?

Sam seems to have lost his demonblood thirst and his mojo. But that may be temporary. Chuck said he was full-on Vadar when he killed Lilith, but Sam hasn’t been fitted for a black helmet yet. What if Sam can control his powers without drinking demonblood? Ruby told him Sam didn’t need the demonblood that it was all inside him all the time. Here’s crazy thinking… what if Sam’s powers are the “Michael Sword”? It sure would fit with the overall Supernatural theme that Dean and Sam together will save the world.

The Ties that Bind
Events start with both Sam and Dean still carrying all the emotions from Lucifer Rising. Sam heard the fake message and thinks Dean called him a monster. Sam never heard Dean’s real apology. Dean isn’t sure what Sam is anymore or if he can trust Sam. He just knows he failed to stop Sam from killing Lilith, and he’s deeply hurt that Sam chose to believe and work with Ruby.

Once Team Winchester gets a moment, Sam wants to apologize, but Dean isn’t ready to deal with Sam’s mistakes, or his own. Dean tells Sam to quit talking so they can clean up their mess. He’s still protective of Sam, not wanting him to tell Bobby the details on the seal breaking. Dean’s protection ends once Sam confesses to Bobby that he broke the last seal by killing Lilith because he didn’t listen to them.

When DemonBobby tells Sam that these things don’t get forgiven, Dean looks angry but doesn’t disagree. DemonBobby later told Dean he never would have thought John was right about having to kill Sam if they couldn’t save him. (Did Sam or Dean ever tell Bobby about that? Did John? Or was that the demon reading Dean’s mind and saying what he was thinking?) Later the real Bobby says he would not cut out Sam. Dean does accept that Sam is sorry. But he tells Sam maybe he can’t trust or depend upon the way he used to due to his betrayal. Dean leaves Sam standing alone because he can’t just forgive and forget how Sam let him down. Their relationship will not go back to what they were before. That could be a good thing for both Sam and Dean to fix their co-dependency issues.

#3 Arsenal in the Trunk
Kripke and director Robert Singer pulled out the shiny big guns to start the season, setting the tone with the fast cut montage for the Road So Far set to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” Then the Title Card hints at the explosions, blood and screamy gooey chaos in store this season.

The episode title is another shoutout to classic rock, and thematically the perfect title for the introduction of Lucifer. No sympathy for Lucifer, but many sniffles for sad sack Nick. Jimmy once said that being Castiel’s vessel is like ‘riding a comet’, so this does not bode well for Nick.

Great performances all around. Sam (Jared Padalecki) showed the appropriate levels of shame, guilt and self-pitying dejection when DemonBobby cast him out. Big brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) bit his tongue trying to focus on the job, but his deep hurt at Sam’s betrayal finally gets blurted out. Dean also showed hints at the germinating General he’ll have to become to lead the human insurgency that kicks the angels and demon off their planet.

Nick (Mark Pellegrino) was the right mixture of crazy with grief and despair so Lucifer’s explanations seemed plausible to a man who’s lost everything. Bobby, Castiel, Meg, Zachariah and Chuck were all delights to see again.
Bringing back Meg, and the return to John Winchester’s supernatural storage chest were thoughtful touches by the writers. Becky with the gropey hands and marzipan was a hilarious surprise. This IS the fun Apocalypse!

Nice visual effects for the Winchesters’ rescue from without by Somebody. Lucifer’s light seemed more powerful than the archangel’s blasts from season 4. The transition to the Looney Tune cartoon of Yosemite Sam in hell was inspired.

The Good Words
“You’re Sam Winchester! And (to Dean) you’re not what I expected.”

“This sucks a@@.”

“Can you quit touching me? No.”

“Let’s see, Yosemite Sam, ah I can use a guy like you.”

“It’s you chucklehead. You’re the Michael sword.”

“Let’s say it was all our faults and move on.”

“I just said all that crap for Bobby’s benefit.”

“I got a GED and a give ‘em hell attitude.”