Crowley shows up with his usual “Hello boys” and in a very Crowley-like way, manages to just walk around like the Winchesters aren’t there. An angel appears by the name of Samadriel and asks Dean of the whereabouts of Castiel, which triggers another flashblack. He, along with Benny, find Cas near a stream as Dean immediately embraces the angel with a whole lot of bromance. Cas reveals he has been one step ahead of the monsters in order to keep Dean safe who has been praying to him every day. Dean tells Cas he’s not leaving Purgatory without him and Cas looks on with his naive expression as always.
I’m a huge fan of Cas and loved seeing him back, especially in a state that wasn’t so blatantly insane. I do have to admit I miss the days where Cas would just nuke everything he saw and end with a one-liner that would take the internet by storm, but this torn down version does have a little charm. With Benny and his amazing accent in the picture, the flashbacks are still proving to be the best part of the new season. I’m very curious to see where the three of these guys go in order to escape Purgatory, but something tells me, this is going to drag on. Fortunately, Sam’s flashbacks were missing in this episode. Also, I love how Crowley pops in in the most random moments because you know something important is damn well about to happen.
Once the auction starts, it’s apparent that the Winchesters will need some sort of miracle to get the tablet back. Kevin is put up to auction along with the tablet as he is the only one who could read it – makes sense to me. Unfortunately, Kevin’s mother sees this another way and bets her soul, the only thing she has. According to Plutus, it isn’t about the quantity of the bid, but the sacrifice. Kevin’s mother wins the auction. She’s comforted by Dean and Sam and is also asked by Samadriel if they could take care of Kevin. She denies and says she’d rather him stay with the Winchesters.
As she is about to give away her soul, she is revealed to have been possessed by Crowley after an agreement with Plutus’ assistant. Crowley runs away with the tablet as Sam makes quick work of his surroundings with Mjölnir. Most notably, he kills the creepy old man this episode started with as a way to avenge the 5/8ths of the virgin banker the old man killed earlier. Great way to tie things together. Crowley leaves Kevin’s mother’s body and takes the word of God with him as Kevin’s mother is left in a state of shock. Unsurprisingly, Kevin and his mother run off without the Winchesters as the episode ends with Cas screaming Dean’s name.
This whole sequence of events is very typical of Supernatural and I don’t mean typical in the bad way. The brothers think they have won only to find someone has been possessed and Crowley wins at the end of the day. Nothing much has changed here except for the fact that it once again feels more like Supernatural than the previous seasons did. Not only are we showered with the king of Hell, we get Ruby’s knife, angels, possessions, gods, and a little bit of everything. Not too shabby.
One of my curiosities of this episode is how much Kevin’s mother will be put in play. I thought she was just going to be either a one episode kill-off or a person who will need to get saved continuously. However, when you really think about it, Kevin’s mother is the only one who had Crowley possess her. When a demon possesses you in the Supernatural universe, you learn things about them and in this case Sam and Dean can use her to learn things about Crowley. Just an interesting thought.
And we end with Cas, who remains the biggest mystery of the season so far. Dean, I hope you really didn’t leave him. You guys have one of the most popular bromances for a reason. That aside, this was a great episode and a triumphant step into the right direction.
