10.03 Soul Survivor

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SPN1003.jpg
Title Soul Survivor
Episode # Season 10, Episode 3
First aired October 21, 2014
Directed by Jensen Ackles
Written by Brad Buckner
Eugenie Ross-Leming
On IMDB Soul Survivor
Outline As Sam is giving Dean the demon cure, Castiel and Hannah continue on their journey to the bunker. Meanwhile, Crowley resumes his duties as King of Hell.
Monster Dean Winchester
Adina
Timeline Immediately after 10.02 Reichenbach
Location(s) Lebanon, Kansas
Fall River, Massachusetts
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Synopsis

A priest blesses some blood, as Sam—dressed as a doctor—watches. Sam then dumps the blood in a cooler and takes it back to the bunker, where demon Dean is cuffed to a chair inside a devil's trap in the dungeon. Dean tells Sam that he doesn't want to be fixed, but Sam professes to hate demons and sticks Dean with a syringe full of blood. Dean has a painful reaction to the purified blood.

Castiel and Hannah are driving towards the bunker as Cas tries to explain to Hannah how humans work and that he wants to help Sam and Dean. Hannah concludes that Sam doesn't know about Castiel's fading grace, and she is worried.

Sam continues the demon cure while Dean tries to get inside Sam's head. Dean belittles the lore, the Men of Letters, and Sam. Sam says he has to do what he can to help, but Dean accuses Sam of being the monster. Crowley told Dean all about the lengths that Sam went to in his search for Dean. Sam remembers what he did. In flashbacks, Sam uses Lester Morris to summon a crossroads demon in the hopes of trapping her and, in the process, Lester sells his soul. Sam proceeds to torture the demon Dar to get information on Crowley and Dean. Dean continues to taunt Sam by saying that Sam crossed the line and that Sam is worse than Dean. A distressed Sam responds with another dose of purified blood. Dean then asks Sam if he is prepared to do what needs to be done if the cure doesn't work.

Meanwhile, Crowley is back to running Hell. He is advised that Castiel's grace is fading, and Crowley wants to be kept advised of Cas' condition. Crowley then reminisces about his time with Dean, and then he kills a demon who presumes he can become Crowley's new wing man. Hannah and Cas are lost due to Hannah's inability to read a map. She confronts Cas and she wants him to find a solution to his fading grace. However, Cas refuses to deal with Metatron or steal another angel's grace. Sam calls, interrupting the conversation. Sam is dejected and he has doubts about the demon cure. He is afraid that he is killing Dean. Cas says there is no other cure, and Sam realizes that he may have to kill his brother.

When Sam returns to the dungeon, Dean is passed out. A concerned Sam wakes him and says they can't stop the cure. Dean continues to mocks Sam. “Lean, Mean Dean” wanted to get away from Sam. Dean is tired of babysitting Sam and saving Sam's ass. He blames Sam for the death of their mother, and how Sam's very existence destroyed Dean's life. Dean says that he quits. Sam responds, saying that this family doesn't get to quit. Dean continues to taunt Sam by denigrating John and he wants to know if Sam is “manning up.” Sam counters by saying this is him pulling Dean's ass out of the fire. Sam plunges in another syringe full of blood and turns and walks away.

Crowley has gone back to ruling Hell, including sentencing those demons that were loyal to Abaddon. A demon questions Crowley's ability and competence in light of the circumstances, and then the demon self-immolates himself in front of Crowley with holy oil. Cas and Hannah stop for gas and Cas tries to warn Hannah about their priorities. When Hannah and Cas enter the gas station, they are attacked by Adina who is angry about Daniel's death. Adina is about to kill Hannah, when Crowley arrives and kills Adina instead. He then gives Cas her grace which allows Cas to power up again. Crowley helped Cas because he wants Cas to fix a problem: Dean.

Meanwhile, a heartsick Sam goes to Dean's room where he sees pictures of the two of them, along with Mary, John, and Bobby. He returns to the dungeon to find that Dean has escaped. A terrifying game of cat and mouse begins between Dean and Sam. Dean goes in search of Sam, with hammer in hand, and Sam attempts to set a trap for Dean by shutting down the electrical system. When Dean goes to turn the power back on, Sam locks him in the electrical room. Dean bashes his way out of the room and continues to stalk Sam. When he attacks Sam with the hammer, Sam counters with the demon-killing knife to Dean's throat. When Dean goads Sam to kill him, Sam backs off, only to have Cas subdue Dean from behind.

They return an unconscious Dean to the dungeon, where Sam administers another dose of purified blood. Sam again worries about what this is doing to Dean. When Dean awakens, the demon is gone and human Dean has returned. Cas is perusing a book in the library when Sam comes in. He tells Cas that Dean is a little out of it, but he seems better. Cas points out that Dean still has the Mark of Cain, but Sam says one battle at a time. Sam leaves to get Dean some food, and Cas checks on Dean. Dean asks about Cas and he worries that Sam will leave. Cas encourages Dean and stresses to him that the brotherly bond is strong between Sam and Dean. He also encourages Dean take some time off to heal. In a hotel room, in Tulsa Oklahoma, a woman sits reading in front of a fireplace, as the camera pulls back we see two hotel workers nailed to the ceiling.

Characters

Definitions

Music

  • "Shot Full of Heartache" by Peter Malick & Amyl Justin
(playing in the bar as Sam is talking to Lester)
  • Sonata No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1027: IV. Allegro moderato by Peter Seidenberg & Elaine Comparone
(playing in Rowena's hotel room)

Quotes

Dean: The lore. Hunters. Men of Letters. What a load of crap it all is.
Sam: You want me to debate you? This isn't even the real you I'm talking to.

Dean: Oh it's the real me alright, the new real me, the me that sees things for what they really are. Winchesters. Do-gooders fighting the natural order. Let me tell you something. Guys like me, we are the natural order. It's the way it was set up.
Sam: Guys like me still gotta do what we can.
Dean: Don't be so full of yourself Sammy. See from where I'm sitting there ain't much difference from what I turned into and what you already are.
Sam: And what exactly is that supposed to mean?

Dean: I know what you did when you went looking for me. And I know how far you went. Crowley told me all about it. So let me ask you... which one of us is really the monster, hmm? Starting to come back to you now.
Dean: Oh and so you know, I killed Lester myself, and that wife of his, married the tattooed guy.

Sam: I never meant—

Dean: Who cares what you meant. That line that we thought was so clear between us and the things that we hunted, ain't so clear is it? Wow, you might actually be worse than me. I mean you took a guy at his lowest, used him and it cost him his life and his soul. Nice work.
Guthrie: Majesty, supplicants await without.

Crowley: Without what?
Guthrie: Outside.
Crowley: Let them wait.
Guthrie: They've waited a long time.

Crowley: It's Hell. You wait. It's what you do.
Demon: If you'll forgive my boldness, I could now be your wing man.

Crowley: Could you?

Demon: I too love to party, and I do love the ladies, and the classic rock and roll. Most importantly I can debauch by your side without being a personal embarrassment. You'll see what I'm worth!
Dean: There's no point in trying to bring your brother back now.

Sam: Oh, I will bring him back.

Dean: In fact, your, uh, guilt-ridden, weight-of-the-world bro has been M.I.A. for quite some time now. But I'm loving the new model -- lean, mean Dean.
Dean: You notice I tried to get as far away from you possible? Away from your whining, your complaining. I chose the King of Hell over you. Maybe I was just... tired of babysitting you. Or always having to yank your lame ass out of the fire, since... forever. Or maybe -- maybe it was the fact that my mother would still be alive if it wasn't for you. That your very existence sucked the life out of my life.

Sam: This isn't my brother talking.
Dean: You never had a brother. Just an excuse for not manning up. But guess what. I quit.
Sam: No. No you don't. You don't get to quit. We don't get to quit in this family. This family is all we've ever had!

Dean: Well then we got nothin'.
Crowley: Why can't you people just sit on clouds and play harps like you're supposed to?
Dean: You act like I want to be cured. Personally, I like the disease.
Castiel: You realize one problem is solved, but one still remains. Dean is no longer a demon, that's true. But the Mark of Cain -- that he still has, and sooner or later that is gonna be an issue.
Sam: You know what, Cas. I'm beat, man. One battle at a time, you know? So I'm just gonna grab my brother some cholesterol. And then I'm gonna get drunk.

Trivia & References

"Soul Survivor" is the final track on the Rolling Stones double album, Exile on Main St.
The demon killing himself with holy fire in protest of Crowley's rule may have been a reference to the self-immolation protests by Tibetans in China.
The scene of Dean breaking down the door to the bunker's electrical room was an homage to the famous scene in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

Minutiae

This was Jensen's fourth stint at directing an episode of Supernatural. The previous 3 episode he directed were: 6.04 Weekend at Bobby's, 7.03 The Girl Next Door, and 8.03 Heartache.
Sam gets the sanctified human blood needed for the demon cure from St. Agatha's hospital.
Dean has a demonic/animalistic scream, the only other demon to show this attribute was the Knight of Hell, Abaddon.
Max Sheppard, the son of Mark Sheppard, makes an uncredited appearance as a demon handing Crowley documents. Danneel Ackles' brother Gino and niece Valerie also appear as demons.
 
Gino & Valerie Graul (left) and Max Sheppard (right)

Guthrie: They've waited a long time.

Crowley: It's Hell. You wait. It's what you do.

Crowley is referencing the fact that when he first took over Hell, typical torture was replaced by never-ending queuing.
The name of the gas station where Castiel and Hannah stop—Lil' Levi's—is a shout-out to Jensen Ackles' nephew. The sign for the gas station ended up in Levi's bedroom.
In Dean's bedroom, one of the vinyl records in his vinyl collection is Somewhere Back in Time - The Best of: 1980-1989 by Iron Maiden.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

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