15.09 The Trap
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| Title | The Trap |
| Episode # | Season 15, Episode 9 |
| First aired | January 16, 2020 |
| Directed by | Robert Singer |
| Written by | Robert Berens |
| On IMDB | The Trap |
| Outline | Chuck attempts to sever his connection to Sam. Meanwhile, Dean and Castiel journey to Purgatory to find the final ingredient needed to trap God. |
| Monster | God Leviathans |
| Timeline | |
| Location(s) | Milford, Nebraska Lebanon, Kansas Purgatory |
| « Previous Episode | Next Episode » | |
Contents
Synopsis
In the casino, Sam is tied to a chair. Eileen, not tied but immobilized, apologizes to Sam. When Eileen asks Chuck what He is doing to her, He explains that He has been manipulating her, even making sure Sam found the spell to bring her back to life, and was using her to spy on the Winchesters because He couldn’t see them and decided to investigate the source; their bullet wounds from the Equalizer.
As they prepare to go to Purgatory, Dean checks in on Sam before he leaves when he gets a call from Eileen. Chuck tells Sam their wounds are connecting them, and prepares to cut into Sam’s wound but stops when He senses that someone's listening in. After a terse exchange with Dean, Chuck destroys the phone and focuses on Sam’s shoulder again. Dean tracks Sam’s cellphone to a casino in Milford, Nebraska and is about to go after him when Castiel intervenes. Arguing that Chuck might torture Sam, Dean starts to head off despite Castiel's reasoning, but the angel loses his patience with this longstanding cold-shoulder treatment from the elder Winchester and yells at him for being stupid on purpose. He angrily points out that they don't have anything that can hurt Chuck, insisting that the only way to save Sam is to go to Purgatory and get the Leviathan Blossom needed to complete the spell to trap Chuck. Reluctantly, Dean agrees and the two enter the portal to Purgatory.
Chuck hesitates to cut into Sam, and when Sam challenges Him on it, Chuck controls Eileen and has her be the one to cut into Sam. Dean and Castiel make their way into Purgatory and begin searching for what the Leviathan Blossom should look like, the angel believing that it's likely the only flower in Purgatory after recounting the past year and a half he spent there. Dean suggests they split up and search for the blossom in a subtle attempt to get away from the angel, but Castiel gets annoyed and points out that it'll raise their odds of getting lost or killed before ordering Dean to follow him. Despite Eileen cutting into Sam's shoulder, it still does not sever their connection and Sam laughs at Him, knowing He doesn't know what else to do. Chuck gets frustrated at Sam's defiance until He realizes he still has hope that Dean and Castiel will save him, and that same hope at stopping Him is what’s stopping Chuck and Sam from healing.
After navigating the forest, Dean and Castiel capture a Leviathan and interrogates him. He tells them that Leviathan Blossoms rise from the corpses of dead Leviathans, so they force him to lead them to a Leviathan burial ground. When Dean asks about Benny, the leviathan says he heard about him, saying he was ripped apart by his own kind years ago. Chuck offers to show Sam what the future will look like if they succeed in stopping Him, through the use of a pocket watch. The first glimpse starts happily, with Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Eileen in the Bunker until Jody calls and says there were more vampires than expected on a recent hunt, revealing that Claire is dead.
As Dean and Castiel are walking the Leviathan to the graveyard, Dean is mourning Benny, acknowledging he sacrificed his life to get Sam and Bobby out of Purgatory. Castiel points out that Purgatory is a place of conflict that brings out those feelings of guilt overtime, reminiscing about how he let the leviathans out and how he and Dean ended up in Purgatory, both of which are things he carries with him every day. Knowing that the angel is hinting that he feels guilty over what happened between them recently, Dean says he knows he's sorry about killing Belphegor and Mary's death, but Castiel clarifies that he was talking about Jack, as Dean was unwilling to forgive him for not telling the Winchesters about the young nephilim's soullessness and how it lead to everything else. Dean brings up how Castiel left, but the angel angrily reminds him that he had no choice because Dean was too angry to care about what his friend was going through, admitting that he departed believing he had nobody left, but also points out how Dean did nothing to stop him.
Meanwhile, Sam sees into the future where he's with Dean, discussing a hunt gone bad in the Impala. Sam mentions that if Castiel had been there, he could have saved them, but Dean points out that he's not and admits the monsters are winning. Dean and Castiel make it to the burial ground only to find Castiel couldn't move forward, the area overlaid with an angel trap, set up by Eve, who wants revenge on the duo for killing the alphas and absorbing the leviathans. When Dean shoots the hostage with a borax shell, he gets knocked out by a second leviathan, and later, the hunter wakes up alone, surrounded by burnt out Leviathan blossoms.
Sam looks further into the future and watches the point when Dean has given up, despairing that there are too many monsters, pointing out that Sam's doing this because Eileen is dead. Dean reminded him that he had to lock a crazed Castiel in the Ma'lak Box, Jody ended up getting a death wish after Donna and the girls ended up dead as well, and Bobby's still fighting the monsters. Sam tells Chuck that he refuses to believe that Dean would ever give up, believing it was a trick, but Chuck passes himself off as the messenger for what's to come.
As Dean makes his way to the rift, time is running out. He stops to kneel and tearfully pray to Castiel, admitting he should've stopped his friend from leaving, but he was too angry to admit he was wrong and that letting him leave was easier for him than accepting that at the time. He explains that he doesn't know why he gets so angry, but he knew it was always there, and when it comes out whenever things go wrong, it reaches the point where he can't control it no matter how much he wants it to stop. He clarifies that he does forgive Castiel for Jack, apologizing for taking so long to admit it and hoping Castiel is still alive and that he could hear him.
In the same time in the future, we see Sam go off to fight the monsters with Dean dutifully but half-heartedly joining, which Chuck playfully says was a mistake. Sam discovers there is an end to when the watch will take him: December 9, 2022. Dean almost reaches the rift when he finds Castiel hiding by a tree. Dean hugs him, thankful he’s alive. Castiel explains Eve was only interested in him, and he followed along with the Leviathans, making his escape when he saw an opening and overpowered his captors, and all the while, waiting until he located and secured a blossom in the forest. Dean tries to apologize in person, but Castiel reassures his friend that he heard his prayer.
In the last scene from the future, Sam and Dean become vampires that die in a fight with Jody and Bobby. Despite his visible worries, Sam is unmoved, believing whatever future he and Dean could make for themselves was better than whatever Chuck has in store, but He questions whether Sam likes the ending where he and Dean are killed off by his friends better as though it were set in stone. Back in the Bunker, Dean and Castiel complete the spell to give Castiel the Mark since Dean cannot bear it again, and the spell is transferred into an orb, which someone else has to smash; either Sam or Dean.
While Dean and Castiel are en route to Nebraska, Sam becomes scared after a while, trying to make himself believe he can make the future better with what he knows. Chuck explains to Sam that the point of showing him the future was to clarify what would happen as a result of His imprisonment; the forces of darkness -- the monsters -- will overtake the Earth, leaving everyone they love to die. Dean and Castiel arrive and as Dean starts freeing Sam, a controlled Eileen attacks, but Castiel tackles her to the ground. Dean and Chuck face off with Dean hitting Chuck to no avail while Chuck knocks him down with a single punch. While He was distracted, Castiel rolls the orb to Sam, but despite Dean’s urging, Sam slowly succumbs to the inevitability of the future he saw and falls to his knees, unable to complete the spell. The orb rolls to Chuck’s feet, and their wounds heal as a result of Sam's loss of hope. Chuck takes and destroys the orb in front of Dean, and during their subsequent exchange, Chuck explains that the visions Sam had received since they were shot by the Equalizer were His memories of alternate universes, where different versions of Sam and Dean succeeded in killing each other. Dean states his conviction that it won’t happen with them, telling Chuck to run along to his alternate universes and do whatever He wants for all he cares, clarifying that they will never give Him the ending He wants. Chuck says "we'll see" and vanishes.
Later, Eileen leaves because, after Chuck's manipulations, she doesn’t know what’s real anymore. Sam kisses her goodbye, reminding her that what they have is real, which cheers her up before leaving. In the kitchen, Sam apologizes and explains that when he saw what would happen if they trapped him, he believed what Chuck showed him and still does. Having learned his lesson after mending his friendship with Castiel, Dean tells Sam that if he believed it to be true, then it's good enough for him. Castiel points out that Chuck will be back someday, and even though they can't trap or kill Chuck, Dean assures Sam they will find a way to stop Him.
In the Empty, Billie meets with Jack, saying “It’s time.”
Characters
- Sam Winchester
- Dean Winchester
- Castiel
- Jack Kline
- Chuck Shurley / God
- Sheriff Jody Mills
- Eileen Leahy
- Billie / Death
- Bobby Singer (Apocalypse World)
Definitions
- Alcohol
- Alternate Universe
- Angel Trap
- Angel Blade
- Borax
- Chuck's Endings
- Dead Man's Blood
- The Empty
- The Equalizer
- God's Pocket Watch
- Healing
- Hugs
- Hunters
- Impala
- Leviathan
- Leviathan Blossom
- Ma'lak Box
- Men of Letters Bunker
- Monsters
- Prayer
- Purgatory
- Resurrection
- Rowena's Apartment
- Rowena's Spellbooks
- Sam/Eileen
- Sammy
- Season 15 Callbacks
- Son of a Bitch
- Specialty Bullets
- Spells
- Table of Death
- Telekinesis
- Unconscious
- Vampires
Music
- "Hard Times in the Land of Plenty" by Omar & the Howlers
- (plays during "The Road So Far" recap of events)
Quotes
Dean: Chuck, you dick.
Dean: What?
Dean: Well, it's a little embarrassing saying it out loud, but we're looking for a flower.
Dean: I know you're sorry, Cas. About Bel, about Mom.
Castiel: I was talking about Jack. I already apologized to you. You just refused to hear it.
Dean: Sorry I brought it up. Maybe if you didn't just up and leave us.
Dean: Ever since what? We lost pretty much everyone we've ever cared about? Ever since the Mark made Cas go crazy? Ever since I had to bury him in a Ma'lak box? Ever since then? Yeah. You know why? 'Cause the monsters -- they're everywhere. Everywhere! What we do -- it's not even Hunting anymore. It's whack-a-mole. We don't even save people. Every friend we've ever had is either dead, or they got wise and they packed it in.
Sam: Jody's still fighting, and Bobby --
Dean: You know I had to.
Chuck: Oh, yeah? Why not?
Dean: Because you're holding out. For your big finish. Yeah, we know about your galaxy-brained idea, how you think this story is gonna go. Sam got a little look into your draft folder.
Chuck: Sam's visions -- they weren't drafts. They were memories. My memories. Other Sams and other Deans in other worlds. But guess what. Just like you, they didn't think they'd do it, either. But they did. And you will, too.
Dean: No. Not this Sam. And not this Dean. So you go back to Earth 2 and play with your other toys. Because we will never give you the ending that you want.
Eileen: I wish I could. After what happened, I don't know what's real anymore.
Dean: Well, that's good enough for me.
Sam: Okay, uh, so, what now?
Castiel: Well, Chuck's gone, but...
Dean: He'll be back.
Sam: If we can't kill Him or trap Him...
Trivia & References
- Chuck is referring to when He opened Hell at the end of 14.20 Moriah. A piñata is a decorated container filled with small gifts or candy that is smashed as part of celebrations in Mexico.
- "Come On Eileen" was a #1 single in 1983 by the English group Dexys Midnight Runners.
- "Boom stick" is the nickname of Ash William's shotgun in the Evil Dead horror franchise.
Dean: We lost, brother. We lost. I'm done.
- "Butch and Sundance" refers to the Old West outlaws Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, who were killed after being cornered by the Bolivian army. In the past, Jared and Jensen had referred to their preferred ending for Sam and Dean as going out like Butch and Sundance.
- Promethean refers to being rebellious and is a reference to Prometheus a trickster god of the ancient Greeks, who was known as a champion of humanity and who defied the other gods to give fire to mortals. Prometheus himself previously appeared in 8.16 Remember the Titans.
- "Galaxy Brain" is a term from a meme that originated in 2017. The term is generally used an an insult to someone who believes they have an intelligent opinion on something, which others think is ridiculous.
- Earth-2 is an alternate version of Earth in the DC Universe. Sam also called Apocalypse World this in 13.13 Devil's Bargain while explaining the situation to Donatello Redfield. Dean also called the French Mistake World from 6.15 The French Mistake "Earth #2" just before running into Virgil. In this context, they were just making a DC reference rather than specifying any specific alternate universe. In fact, in 15.12 Galaxy Brain, Chuck actually visits an alternate universe called "Earth 2."
Minutiae
- April 17, 2020 11:42:00 PM
Sam, Eileen, Dean, and Castiel are having a relaxed evening in the Bunker, when Jody rings to tell them Claire was killed when they were hunting vampires and there turned out to be more than expected.
- January 6th, 2021 9:09:18 PM
Sam and Dean are in the Impala, having just fought a pack of werewolves and failing to save any of the victims. They mention that Cas is gone and Dean muses that the monsters are winning. The scenery that they drive by shows buildings on fire.
- November 3, 2021 11:42:36 AM
Sam and Dean have returned from a vampire hunt, and Sam is keen to head out again. Dean is feeling hopeless -- there are just too many monsters and they aren't even saving people anymore. They mention that after Cas took on the Mark as part of the plot to cage Chuck, he went crazy and had to be locked in a Ma'lak Box. The monsters are everywhere and all their friends are either dead or they've quit hunting, except for Jody and Bobby. Dean suspects that they all carry a death wish: Jody after Donna, Claire, and the other girls were killed; Bobby for unknown reasons; and Sam after Eileen was killed.
- November 3, 2021 12:36:38 PM
Sam tells Dean he is heading out on the hunt and Dean resignedly follows him. When they return at an unknown point later, something has gone wrong and Chuck comments that Dean should've followed his gut.
- December 9, 2022 3:11:38 AM
Sam and Dean prepare to take a last stand in a hotel room. Two hunters and Jody and Bobby approach. They storm the room -- to kill Sam and Dean who have been turned into vampires. They kill the hunters and Jody manages to shoot Sam with a dead man's blood bullet. Dean bites and kills Jody, and Bobby beheads Sam. The vision ends with Sam's death, leaving Dean and Bobby's ultimate fates unknown.
- This alternate timeline ceases to exist after Sam loses hope and Chuck destroys the binding spell once their wounds from the Equalizer are healed.
Cas: Eve.
Leviathan: Killing her alphas, swallowing her Leviathan. Bringing you to her should earn us a nice reward.
- Eve was the mother of all monsters, who rose from Purgatory when Castiel and Crowley were hunting down the Alphas to try and find a way to Purgatory in order to steal the souls and use their power for their own ends -- Castiel aiming to defeat Raphael and win the civil war, and Crowley hoping to solidify his rule over Hell. Dean killed her using phoenix ashes gathered in March 5, 1861 at Sunrise, Wyoming, after killing Elias Finch with the Colt. Eve's relation to the Leviathans was only vaguely hinted in 7.22 There Will Be Blood when the Alpha Vampire referred to his kind as coming from the Leviathans, being a Son of Eve himself, but Edgar says their relation is barely existent, passing off Eve as "a pathetic mutt. Hardly one of us." Having known Eve personally, Edgar calls her a "whore."
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
- 15.09 The Trap (transcript)
- The Trap script (Production Draft)
