Supernatural recap: It's go time
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Things. Are. Happening. This episode was the first that really kicked off what feels like the final string of events on Supernatural, and "kicked off" is an understatement. By the end of the hour, Jack's seconds away from exploding, but before we get to that, let's start at the beginning.
The hour begins in Iceland, where Amara is enjoying all the things this world has to offer: A good book, a heated pool, a glass of red wine. But when she looks up and sees a shooting star, and then another, and then a million more, combined with the Northern Lights, she says, "Welcome home, brother." (He does love an entrance.)
Back in Kansas, Sam is on the phone with Castiel, who's found nothing to save Jack. So Sam tells him to get home and they'll keep looking together. Dean, however, is still firmly in the camp of "this is the only way." And that's when Amara shows up in their kitchen. She informs them of Chuck's return which means Jack needs to be ready ... now. And that means he has to complete his final ritual, which involves a drive to Santa Fe.
After Sam tells Jack that he still thinks it's wrong for him to die, Jack goes to get his stuff, at which point Sam and Dean get into it. Sam doesn't want to come to Santa Fe. He's not into blindly following Billie's orders. (Flashback to Dean blindly following John's orders, anyone?) He's also not into lying to Amara and sending her to her death. He claims it doesn't feel right. And when it comes to Jack, Sam reminds Dean, "We don't give up on family." But Dean is quick to respond that "Jack's not family." Yes, Dean cares for him, but as he puts it, Jack isn't like Sam or Cas. And of course, Jack hears all of it.
So while Dean and Jack enjoy a very silent car ride, Cas and Sam stay in the bunker determined to find another way, and we switch gears to follow the "Amara" chapter of the episode.
Chuck returns to pitch his idea to his sister: He needs her so he can pull off a hard reset, a reboot of the world. But he knows the Winchesters have gotten to her because of her "weird thing" with Dean (which apparently he didn't write, so that could come back). But she informs her brother that she's not picking sides. She simply wants to defend this world.
But every time Amara points out something beautiful about the world, Chuck has a rebuttal. My favorite? "Humans are the worst ... they ruin everything they touch and they're just so boring. I'm over them." Honestly, can you blame him?
So, Amara tries a different approach. She brings him to heaven and welcomes in a handful of angels to praise him. She's hoping his "fans" will snap him out of his funk. Instead, he snaps them away, annoyed. Amara tells him she wants to try something new: True balance, the two of them together, the way it was always meant to be. But he only cares about his story. "I guess that makes you the villain," she says, to which he responds, "Villains get all the best lines."
Out of options, she snaps them to the bunker, and when Chuck tries to snap them out of it, he can't. He's trapped. She informs him that the Winchesters have found a way to bind him, and for now, she's strong enough to hold him here.
That takes us to the "Dean" chapter of the episode. On the drive, after a painful amount of silence, Jack tells Dean that he doesn't have to be sorry. He understands that he's not like Sam or Cas. Then, they pull up to Jim's Gems in Santa Fe where two people are very eager to greet them. Those people? Oh, just Adam, a.k.a. the first man, and his girlfriend, an angel named Serafina.
Jack goes with Adam to identify the spark of the divine, his final test, and Adam reveals that this entire thing is his plan. He's been plotting against Chuck for 300,000 years, but they've been waiting on Jack, the main ingredient. Now, Jack just has to look at a bunch of crystals and identify which one has been touched by God himself and he will pass his final test. Jack chooses all of them because God is in everything. And that is the correct answer!
To celebrate, Sera stabs Adam — calm down, it's a good thing — and reaches in and pulls out one of Adam's ribs before healing him. They give the rib to Jack, explaining that it packs enough of a punch to create life or destroy God. When Jack uses it, it will start an elemental chain reaction that fuses his soul and grace into a metaphysical supernova. He'll then collapse into a living black hole for divine energy, one nothing can escape, not even Amara or Chuck. But once it starts, you can't stop it, so they advise him to hold onto the rib until it's game time.
Driving back, Dean stops the car. He tells Jack that he didn't need to hear what he said earlier, not with the weight he's carrying. "When I found out about Chuck, it's like I wasn't alive, not really, like my whole life I've never been free," Dean explains. And now, he and Sam have a shot at living a life without all this on their backs and that's because of Jack. So Dean thanks him. And then, he gets the text. It's time. Jack pulls out the rib and powers up as they head into the bunker.
Cut to the "Sam" chapter. Sam, frustrated that he can't find anything helpful in the lore, explains to Castiel that it all just feels wrong. He wishes he could talk to Billie, and that gives him an idea. When Sergei was last in the bunker, he mentioned the key to Death was in the bunker and that it opened the doorway to Death's library. If they can find it, Sam can talk to Billie.
After a bit of spring cleaning, they find the key, and Sam enters Death's library alone (he needs Cas to stall Dean if he returns). Only, he's greeted by a bunch of dead bodies. The culprit is Rachel Miner's Empty, who has taken over Death's library in search of Death herself. Apparently, Death has been ignoring her, and she's not too happy about it. As she tells Sam, Billie wants to become the new God, and when she does, everything will go back where it belongs. What should be dead will die, angels will leave the earth, demons back to hell, and the Empty just wants to go back to sleep.
Sam notices that the Empty is sitting next to Chuck's death book, so when the Empty starts to hurt Sam, he smartly claims that Billie sent him to get the book. He says Billie's on Earth — the one place the Empty can't go unless summoned — but will honor her promise to the Empty. God and Amara die, and the Empty can go back to sleep. So, the Empty gives Sam the book and he returns to the bunker. Only, he's too late. Amara's already there with Chuck.
And here's where all the chapters collide into some STRESSFUL chaos. Dean comes rushing in with Jack while Sam tries to stop him and explain that Billie is playing them and this is all one big power grab on her part. Dean claims he doesn't care so long as Chuck's dead. Then, just as Dean pulls a gun on Sam, we realize Chuck is happy. As he tells Amara, "This is my ending. My real ending." HE WROTE THIS! And, in the best line of the night and maybe my favorite Chuck line ever, he says, "What part of omniscient do you people not understand?"
Chuck then tells Amara the truth about the Winchesters' plan: They're going to kill her. "Humans, they'll break your heart every time," he says, reminding his sister that they're the only ones who will ever really understand each other. So he extends his hand and offers up his plan again, that the two of them create something new and peaceful, "no baggage, only balance." She takes his hand and dissolves into him. He then opens his eyes to reveal one is white and one is black.
In the hallway, Sam and Dean fight. Sam explains that if Billie takes over, everyone goes back where they belong, which means all their friends from Apocalypse World will be sent back to a place that doesn't exist anymore. Eileen will die again. But Dean doesn't budge. He says he'd trade them all for Chuck. So Sam pulls out the big guns, asking, "What about me, would you trade me?" But Dean can't get past the fact that Chuck HAS to die. He just has to. And cue the tearful Sam speech. "My entire life you've protected me, from dad, from Lucifer, from everything," Sam says. "I didn't always like it but it's the one thing in the whole world that I could always count on. It's the only thing I've ever known that was true. So please, put the gun away." He assures his older brother that they'll find another way like they always do.
Dean finally gives in, just in time for Chuck to break out of his room, annoyed that the Winchesters have once again ruined his ending. He updates them on the whole "consuming his sister" thing. "I tried and I tried and I tried," Chuck says. "But you're all just too stupid, too stubborn, too broken. I'm over it. I'm over you."
Chuck now sees them as broken toys, and you know what you do with broken toys? Throw them out. So Chuck tells them to kill each other or don't, he doesn't care. But, before he leaves, he points to Jack and says, "Have fun watching him die."
The episode then ends with Jack on the verge of exploding. This is NOT good.
Like I said, this episode really felt like the kick-off of the end, and the fact that we're already at this point with three episodes left makes me very scared/excited for the story to come. I mean, we already know next week is going to be monumental.
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