12.09 First Blood

Title	First Blood
Episode #	Season 12, Episode 9
First aired	January 26, 2017
Directed by	Robert Singer
Written by	Andrew Dabb
On IMDB	First Blood
Outline	After being captured by the Secret Service, Sam and Dean must figure out a way to escape. Meanwhile, Mary and Castiel seek help in trying find Sam and Dean.
Monster	Vampires Billie
Timeline	Immediately following & six weeks after 12.08 LOTUS
Location(s)	Indianapolis, Indiana Lawrence, Kansas Lebanon, Kansas Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado (Site 94)
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Synopsis

Castiel places a call to Mary, telling her he needs to meet her at the Men of Letters Bunker. Meanwhile, Rick Sanchez briefs anti-terrorism agent Camp on Sam and Dean Winchester's history and their attempted assassination of President Jefferson Rooney. He tells Camp that they are keeping the arrest quiet -- only the agents who made the arrest and the president know about the Winchesters. Sanchez suggests they simply take Sam and Dean out back and shoot them, that that's what they deserve given their rap sheet. However, Camp questions if the Winchesters are alone or working with some other terrorist organization. Camp pays a visit to Dean, who sits silently in his cell as Camp talks. Camp asks Dean why they went after the president. When he gets no answer he assures Dean he won't be using torture, believing it doesn't actually work. Instead he tells Dean he and Sam will be locked away, alone. He says that the extreme isolation will eventually cause them to crack and tell him everything, before he leaves the cell.

Mick Davies sits at a desk with a typewriter and begins reporting his attempts to get hunters to join with Men of Letters. In flashback Mick meets with a hunter named Wally, telling him of a world without monsters or demon or any supernatural deaths, offering up any and all resources that the Men of Letters have at their disposal, under the agreement that Wally and other hunters would answer to the British Men of Letters. Wally is singularly uninterested. Mick relays in his report that "American hunters can be... difficult."

At the Bunker Mary Winchester blows up at Castiel for leaving Sam and Dean behind. As Castiel tries to explain what happened, Mary tells him she doesn't want to hear any excuses. Eventually she calms down, and questions why, if they needed help, Sam and Dean didn't come to her. At the government facility, time passes for Dean and Sam in solitary. Meanwhile Castiel meets with Crowley to seek his aid in finding Sam and Dean. Crowley glibly tells Castiel he can't help him -- while he does have spies in the government, where Dean and Sam were taken is above their pay grade. He tells Castiel he isn't worried about the Winchesters since they always come back, leaving a trail of bodies behind them.

Back at the Bunker, Mary is looking through John's Journal when she hears one of Dean's cell phones ringing in his room. She answers, thinking it could be Dean, but finds it is Alicia Banes, who is seeking Dean and Sam's help in dealing with a werewolf pack. As she looks at a photo of herself and a young Dean, Mary asks Alicia where she is. Sometime later, Mary meets with Castiel at a bar. Together they lament not being able to find Sam and Dean, but Mary assures Castiel they will find them in time; until they do, they have to do their best. Castiel questions if they are, telling Mary about vampire murders in Missouri that he attempted to investigate; he never found the monster, and three more women died before he gave up and left. When Mary suggests they work together, he simply tells her he would only get in her way.

In the facility, Sam and Dean are being fed. When the guard notices Dean not responding, and sees him on the floor, he opens the cell to find that he is dead. At the facility's morgue, Sanchez blames Camp for Sam and Dean's death, and the fact that they can not be punished any longer. Soon, Sam and Dean rise from the dead. As the coroner enters the morgue, Sam and Dean surprise him and question where they are. The coroner tells them he doesn't know, as he is taken to the facility while blindfolded each day. Sam and Dean sneak out of the building and use the coroner's phone to call Castiel. A shocked Castiel questions what happened. Sam pinpoints that they are located in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and they formulate a plan to meet up. Sam and Dean are soon found missing, and troops are sent into the woods to find them.

Castiel is picked up by Mary. He believes they may need backup, and suggests Crowley and Rowena, which Mary scoffs at. Castiel takes Mary to meet with Mick Davies and Mr. Ketch. She is skeptical of the Brits, remarking how they almost killed Sam and Dean. Castiel assures her they can be trusted as they helped them with Lucifer. Ketch and Davies are surprised and impressed to find out they'd been fighting the Devil himself. They agree to help get Sam and Dean back. Mary continues to be skeptical until Mick pleads his case that the British Men of Letters only want to help. When Mary and Cas report that the boys may be in Rocky Mountain National Forest, Mr. Ketch quickly surmises that they were at Site 94 -- a government black-ops site that does not officially exist. Mick tells them he will get their techs to move a satellite over the area in hopes of finding the Winchesters.

In the forest, Sanchez and Camp are quickly closing in on Sam and Dean. Sam and Dean capture a soldier, and relieve him of his weapon and walkie. Upon Dean contacting Sanchez, the conversation soon devolves in each man threatening the other. As night falls, Sam and Dean find their way to a cabin and begin setting traps. As the soldiers arrive at the cabin, they are quickly ambushed one by one. Dean gets the jump on Sanchez, who steps on a bear trap Dean had hidden, and easily subdues him. Camp is able to sneak up behind Dean, but he is disarmed by Sam, who tells him the truth of the situation: The President was possessed by the Devil, and they saved him. Dean tells them they can believe them or not, but if they come after them, they can expect the same thing to happen again. They tell Camp that they are the guys that save the world, and walk away.

Sam and Dean are soon reunited with Mary and Castiel, and are surprised to find out Mr. Ketch and Mick Davies helped find them. When Sam suggests they leave, expecting backup to be coming any second, Mr. Ketch is surprised to hear that they left survivors. When Dean tells him they were only soldiers taking orders, Mr. Ketch tells him it was still unprofessional. Sam assures him they will handle it before taking their leave, but Mick signals Mr. Ketch to get in the car. As the Winchesters and Castiel are driving away, the car suddenly dies and they are greeted by Billie. Dean explains that they were truly trapped with no normal means of escape, so Dean summoned Billie to make a deal: Sam and Dean die and are resurrected one last time, and at midnight Billie can take one of them permanently. When Mary questions why they would agree to that, Dean tells that her being locked up alone was worse than Hell, and that it was the only option that would allow at least one of them to continue fighting. When Castiel tells them that they don't have to die, Billie tells him they are bound by blood, and to break that would come with consequences on a cosmic scale. When Billie asks who she is going to be reaping, Mary offers herself up, which Billie gladly accepts. As Mary is about to commit suicide, Castiel sneaks up behind Billie and stabs her with an angel blade, killing her. When Dean questions what Castiel has done, Cas tells him the world needs every last Winchester, and he won't let any of them die.

Back at Mick's motel room, he finishes up his report to his superiors, revealing that Mr. Ketch has taken care of the loose ends, having killed Sanchez, Camp, and everyone at Site 94 that knew about Sam and Dean. He stated that with their deaths, it would be as if the incident never happened because the last thing the British Men of Letters need is for the United States Government to get involved with something they do not truly understand. He finishes his report by saying he has made some inroads with American hunters, revealing Mary is interested in what the British Men of Letters are offering.

Characters

• Sam Winchester
• Dean Winchester
• Mary Winchester
• Castiel
• Crowley
• Billie
• Mick Davies
• Mr. Ketch
• Rick Sanchez
• Alicia Banes
• Wally

Definitions

• Alcohol
• Angel Blade
• British Men of Letters
• Castiel's Pickup Truck
• Deals and Pacts
• Dean's Bedroom
• Hugs
• Hunters
• John's Journal
• Law Enforcement Officers
• Men of Letters Bunker
• Monsters
• Moose
• Reapers
• Resurrection
• Sam & Dean's Arrests
• Table of Death
• Vampires

Music

• "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" by AC/DC

(plays during "The Road So Far" recap of events)

• "Ghost Town" by The Specials

(playing on the radio as Mick Davies types his report to the Men of Letters)

• "En el Cielo No Hay Cerveza" by Flaco Jimenez

(playing in the bar as Cas is speaking with Crowley)

• "Still Smokin'" by Blues Saraceno (Extreme Music)

(playing in the bar where Mary meets with Castiel)

Quotes

Mary: You left them.

Castiel: No, I... Dean told me to go, the woman-
Mary: The one you lost?
Castiel: I didn't. I... I thought that she-
Mary: Stop making excuses! Why... if they needed help, why didn't they call me?

Castiel: You were out.

Mary: I keep telling myself they're fine. They've only been gone-

Castiel: Six weeks, two days, and ten hours.

Mary: We'll find them Castiel. We will. Until then, we just... We're doin' our best.

Castiel: Did you hear about the murders in Lancaster, Missouri?

Mary: No.
Castiel: The women with their throats ripped out, the blood drained?
Mary: Vampires.

Castiel: I saw it on the news and I thought, that's the sort of thing Sam and Dean would investigate. They would roll into town, save the day, kill the monsters. But with them gone... I tried to work the case. I tried. But... I don't know what I did wrong. I... I asked questions, but maybe they were the wrong people or the wrong questions, and I just... I never found it. Never found the monster. Never even got close. And three more women died before I left town. Before I ran away.

Mary: What do you think we're walking into?

Castiel: I don't know. We may want back up. Crowley and Rowena?

Mary: The King of Hell and his mother, the witch? Hope we can do better than that.

Mary: Seat belt on. I drive fast.

Mick: Mrs. Winchester-- Mary... I came to this country to do one thing -- make friends. But you American hunters, you're-you're a different breed than our sort. You're surly, suspicious. You don't play well with others.

Castiel: Well, that is accurate.

Mick: You don't trust people you don't know, even when they come bearing gifts. Now I can't help that, but I can help you. And if word were to get out that we did our part to save Sam and Dean Winchester, well that's just good business, innit? And who knows. When all this is over, we might even be friends.

Sam: You want the truth? The President was possessed by the Devil. We saved his life. That's the truth.

Dean: Now you can take that and do what you want with it. But if you come after us, you know what'll happen.
Camp: Who are you?

Sam: We're the guys that save the world.

Mary: Why would you--

Dean: We were already dead. Being locked in that cell with nothing... I've been to Hell. This was worse.

Sam: At least this way, one of us gets to keep fighting.

Dean: Cas, what have you done?
Castiel: What had to be done. You know this world, this sad, doomed little world, it needs you. It needs every last Winchester it can get, and I will not let you die. I won't let any of you die. And I won't let you sacrifice yourselves. You mean too much to me. To everything. Yeah, you made a deal. You made a stupid deal, and I broke it. You're welcome.

Mick: Let me paint you a picture of a world without monsters or demons or any of those little buggers that go bump in the night. Of a world where no one has to die because of the supernatural. Of a new world, a better world.
Mary: I'm listening.

Trivia & References

"First Blood" is a reference to a song by AC/DC, as well as the 1982 film of the same name, where Vietnam veteran John Rambo is also pursued by the authorities through the woods.

The typewriter Mick Davies uses to communicate is similar to concept of the Selectric 251 Typewriter from the television show Fringe. It is also reminiscent of an Enigma Cipher Machine; a typewriter-like machine used during World War II to send fake coded messages to confuse German Spies. Enigma Machines were also used to communicate between diplomats and military soldiers.

Castiel: Come on, Crowley. The police took them. You have people in the government. You have spies.

Crowley: I do? But whatever's happened to Moose and Squirrel, apparently, it's above their pay grade.

The nicknames "Moose and Squirrel" used by Crowley for Sam and Dean throughout the series is a reference to the 1960's animated TV show, Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Castiel: Do you even care that they're gone?

Crowley: No. Do you know how many all-powerful beings have tried to kill them?
Castiel: Roughly. Yes.
Crowley: As do I. I was bloody one of them. And Sam and Dean? They're like herpes. Just when you think they're gone... Hello! The boys are back, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. So wherever they are, whoever has Sam and Dean. Well... In the immortal words of Lawrence Tureaud... 'I pity the fool.'

Lawrence Tureaud is the birth name of Mr. T, who is famous for his catch phrase, "I pity the fool."

Dean Winchester: Well, what we have here is a failure to communicate. 'Cause we're not trapped out here with you. You're trapped out here with us.

The first sentence is a reference to the movies Cool Hand Luke and Major Payne. The second sentence is a reference to this quote from Watchmen by the vigilante Rorschach after being sent to prison:

"I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!"

Minutiae

This was Supernatural's 250th episode.

When Mary is in Lawrence, she is at Mulroney's Diner where she and John had their first date, mentioned by Dean in 12.01 Keep Calm and Carry On.

Sanchez: They made the FBI's Most Wanted in 2011, then died in a shoot-out with police in Ankeny, Iowa, at least that's what their file said. But apparently not.

Reference to 7.06 Slash Fiction, where Sam and Dean's Leviathan doppelgängers were used to fake their deaths.

During the scenes to show the passage of time in prison for Sam and Dean, they are served plates of food. The same cut is used three times. Twice in a row at the beginning, then as the final scene.

The same mystery meat, corn, potatoes, and juice box are shown three times.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

• 12.09 First Blood (transcript)
• First Blood Script (Production Draft)

Promotion

• Synopsis
• Promo #1
• Promo #2
• Sneak Peek