Back at the motel, Castiel appears to Sam. Castiel is so drunk he can barely stand straight. Sam brings Castiel up to speed on the situation in Blue Haven, and Castiel shocks Sam by revealing that Leah is not a prophet.
Dean comes back to the motel the next morning, covered in Paul’s blood, surprised to see Castiel (“Where the hell have you been?” “On a bender.”). He sets matters straight: Leah is the Whore of Babylon, who rises when Lucifer walks the earth: “And she shall come, bearing false prophecy. This creature has the power to take a human form and read minds.” The real Leah has probably been dead for months; the demons are under her control and the exorcisms fake. And the reason why Leah is doing this is to lure the people into performing acts – like Jane killing Paul – that will send them to hell. The way to kill Leah is to drive a stake made of a cypress tree from Babylon into her. But this has to be done by a true warrior of God, and what with Castiel rebelling against Heaven, Sam going demon-blood crazy (“Sam, of course, is an abomination”) and Dean losing hope, the only true warrior at hand is Reverend Gideon.
At the church, Jane is seeking comfort from Leah, and her father is deeply troubled by what she is telling Jane. He is even more troubled when, at church, Leah tells the congregation that there are a couple more sinners left in the community that need to be taken care of, i.e. burned alive. When the Reverend tries to stop her, Leah threatens to expose him as a sinner too.
A bewildered Reverend Gideon has his world spun on its axis when, after Castiel brings him to the motel room using his power (thus convincing him he’s an angel), he is told who Leah really is. As the small band prepares to go face Leah, Dean gives Castiel aspirin to help him with his hangover; Castiel admits that he doesn’t know how Dean handles having a deadbeat Dad.
Under Leah’s supervision, the ‘good’ townsfolk are herding the ‘bad’ ones into a basement closet, including kids. But when Leah tells them to burn them alive, Jane and Rob realise that something is wrong. Leah heads over to Gideon’s office and is ambushed by the foursome. But Gideon wavers as ‘Leah’ begs her father not to hurt her, which gives her enough time to overcome Castiel, Gideon, and the Winchesters. Leah runs back to the basement where she turns the townspeople against Gideon by claiming he’s a demon. A fight ensues and Leah straddles Dean. As she is choking the life out of him, he reaches for the stake and runs it through her. To everyone’s surprise, including Leah’s, it kills her; Dean somehow still qualifies as God’s warrior.
Article comments
1 - Jaim
Great review! I thought it was interesting how Sam has become the brother with a renewed sense of hope or at least determination whereas Dean seems lost. However, even though Dean is lost he still seems to have enough faith to kill Leah, unbeknownst to himself. This moment in the show reminded me of a scene in the mini-series of Stephen Kings' "The Stand"(if you haven't seen it you would probably enjoy it). Mother Abigail is talking to Rob Lowe's character about the role each of them will play to defeat Satan and what God expects of them. Then Rob Lowe's character writes(his character is deaf) that he doesn't believe in God, wherein she replies with a laugh, "It doesn't matter if you don't believe in God because God believes in you." I think that this sentiment is being subtly displayed within Supernatural right now. Dean and Castiel are feeling abandoned by God and also unsure what they are fighting to save, but even with that crisis of faith, they still have an urge to fight. Dean, most of all, still is able to defeat evil and be that God warrior.
I wonder that if Sam's renewed sense of determination to do the right thing will again lead him astray(i.e. becoming Lucifer's vessel)and he will make a choice that seems like it's for the greater good but actually will only fuel the apocalypse even more. He is a man who is easily swayed by a sense of self-righteousness. He believes he's right and that's enough for him to take action whereas Dean can see the shades of gray. Ironically, in the beginning of the series I would have characterized the two in the opposite manner. However, Dean seems to have more of an intuitiveness about this rough fight between good and evil than Sam. I think some of this has to do with Dean being on the road most of his life, never getting off time like Sam was able to do.
2 - Sahar
Thank you Jaim! I'm really happy you liked the review. I haven't yet watch "The Stand", but the scene you mention is quite reminiscent of the current situation in Supernatural. And your reflection about Sam's sense of determination to do the right thing could lead him astray is an excellent one. Fans seem to think that because he made that mistake before, he can't make it again. However, Supernatural has proven to us time and again that it's a pretty 'real' show - barring the supernatural occurrences, lol - real enough that the characters are not typical two dimensional ones that only go forward. That's not who irl people are; we take two steps forward, one step back, we spin around, we do somersaults... Which is what Sam and Dean have been doing. In short... It's an excellent question and you never know ;)
3 - Jaim
I too like the realistic aspects of the Supernatural universe. The creators don't want characters to become completely saved or completely beyond redemption or how else would we as an audience relate. I think fans think that Sam wouldn't be careless enough to make the same mistake, but I wonder how much of his decisions are fueled, unbeknownst to him, by the demonic blood that is flowing within his being. He was forever tainted by that blood as an infant and even more so by ingesting it during the previous season. How do we know that this isn't having a subtle power over his decision-making? Consciously, he thinks he's looking to end the apocalypse yet all of is actions may still lead to him becoming the vessel. I almost wonder if this has to happen, which is why God isn't interfering, because this eventual confrontation between Michael and Lucifer leads to a new beginning of sorts. I remember reading Paradise Lost, and the narrator making a point to show that Lucifer, even in hell, couldn't use his wings to fly over the fire lake until God deemed it so. Although Lucifer tried to thwart God and failed he was still a creation of God, a creation God knew would become a force to fuel doubt within humanity. I have a feeling that God knows what Lucifer will do not only because God is omniscient but because Lucifer is still a creation of God. God knows what role Lucifer must play because he created him to play that role.
Ultimately, the way the confrontation comes together depends on the choices that Dean makes, because he is still a pure vessel(untainted like Sam) and truly has free will. Sahar, do you think that this apocalypse may be necessary for something else to occur? I get this feeling that the end conflict needs to happen for something else to come in to fruition. No one ever thinks about what comes after the apocalypse. We always assume that nothing is left but maybe that isn't truth.
4 - Dundus
The exact phrase for what would be required to kill the Whore of Babylon was "servant of heaven," not "a true warrior of God." I think the semantics are important, since Michael and Zachariah seem to be in charge of heaven now, and all of Team Free Will is endorsed by God.
Also, the episode was set in Blue Earth, Minnesota, not Blue Haven. It's come up before, as the home of Pastor Jim, which is weird since they didn't refer to him at all in the episode. Perhaps that's lying on the cutting room floor somewhere.