13.21 Beat the Devil
Title | Beat the Devil |
Episode # | Season 13, Episode 21 |
First aired | May 3, 2018 |
Directed by | Phil Sgriccia |
Written by | Robert Berens |
On IMDB | Beat the Devil |
Outline | With the help of Rowena and Gabriel, the Winchesters and Castiel finally get to Apocalypse World, but not everything goes according to plan. |
Monster | Lucifer Vampires |
Timeline | |
Location(s) | Lebanon, Kansas Apocalypse World Northeastern Kentucky Dayton, Ohio |
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Contents
Synopsis
Dean, Mary, Cas and Jack are all sat around the map table eating pizza. Dean is being teased about being on his seventh piece and Mary states that she and John used to refer to him as their ‘piglet’. Between them, Sam and Mary clear the table and head towards the kitchen. Once in the corridor, Sam pauses to ask Mary how she is feeling after the trauma she suffered in Apocalypse World. Mary confesses that she always knew Sam and Dean would save her and Jack. The happy reunion is interrupted however, as Sam’s alarm goes off and we learn that the family gathering was just Sam’s dream.
Later, in the bunker library, Sam and Dean are packing whilst Rowena builds the spell to open the door to the Apocalypse World. Gabriel - who we learn from Cas, has been in Dean’s room - arrives with the pitiful amount of archangel grace he’s managed to extract. Despite everyone’s doubts, the grace does open the rift but all too quickly the doorway wilts over and closes again, leaving Gabriel emasculated and the team out of all non-Lucifer options.
Whilst Team Free Will discusses Lucifer in the kitchen, Rowena and Gabriel pass the time first by discussing the rift failure as a thinly veiled impotency talk, then by shamelessly flirting as Gabriel feels the need to prove himself. This leads to them being disturbed in the middle of doing ‘something’ behind the a bookshelf when The Winchesters and Cas return to the library. Awkward glances are shared and Dean quickly stutters that Sam has a plan.
In an unknown bar, Lucifer is moaning to a barman about his failed domination plans and lack of a relationship with his son. When the barman slips up and uses Jack’s name during the conversation, Lucifer becomes suspicious, so Gabriel gives up on his disguise and morphs back into himself. This freaks Luci out and he tries to run out the front door, only to find himself running back through the exit door. Puzzled, Lucifer looks up and finds himself confronted not only by the brother he killed but also Rowena.
After explaining their plan to keep Lucifer on tap to keep the door open, Cas slashes Lucifer’s throat and he is left slowly leaking grace into Rowena’s spell bowl as Sam, Dean, Cas and Gabriel head through to Apocalypse World.
Stuck in his humiliating situation, Lucifer decides to try and bait Rowena first by attempting to make her believe the others are being sexist by leaving her behind. When that fails, he sings off tune to grate her.
In the Apocalypse World, Cas suggests Gabriel takes over Heaven when they return as it needs a new leader. Dean comments on Sam’s obviously lighter spirits, which Sam puts down to the fact that they are so close to finally getting Jack and Mary back. But as usual, The Winchesters’ brief moment of joy is shattered by a scream of someone in peril. They rush to the aid of Maggie and Floyd who are being attacked by what turns out to be a starved vampire. Maggie and Floyd tell them of the tunnel shortcut and the dangerous vampire colony within. Knowing their time is limited, the Winchesters agree the tunnel is their only real choice to get to Jack and Mary and back to the rift in time.
Meanwhile, Rowena is still stubbornly not rising to Lucifer’s goading so he mocks her for the disappointing fight she put up against him when he ‘killed’ her. Her anger gets the better of her and she tells Lucifer about how Jack is about to see his fathers – Sam, Dean and Cas – and how Lucifer is nothing to him. This infuriates Lucifer enough to make his power return. He attacks Rowena who blasts him away from her… straight through the rift. Despite her immediate inclination to run, Rowena can’t bring herself to abandon everyone and stays to work on a way to keep the rift open.
The Winchesters, Cas, Gabe, Floyd and Maggie head into the tunnel and face a couple of vampires – nothing they haven’t dealt with before. The tunnel opens up into a central chamber and they find their exit blocked by fallen rocks. Cas and Gabe set to clearing the exit when their party is attacked by a swarm of vampires. Everything is under control until Sam is overwhelmed and knocked to his knees. As he cries out for Dean, one of the vampires holding him bites into his carotid artery, fatally wounding him. Dean cries out but it is too late and Sam’s lifeless body is dragged off by the vampires who slaughtered him. Cas races after him but returns sharply, and stops Dean venturing further down the tunnel as Cas has seen that there is nothing to be done.
Despite his better judgement, Dean continues on to the camp to find his mother and Jack. Maggie, who also lost Floyd to the vampire attack, tries to comfort Dean but all he sees is flashbacks of Sam dying and we see a glimpse of Sam’s lifeless body and unseeing eyes.
Finally, they reach camp and find Mary and Jack. When Mary asks Dean where Sam is, the only response he can give is to cry, which is all the information she needs.
Back in the cavern, Sam suddenly gasps back to life and discovers Lucifer next to him. Lucifer says Sam can either accept certain death by the vampires, again, or see his family again by helping Lucifer bond with Jack. Sam is left with little choice as Lucifer says he will find Jack either way.
At the camp, Jack is angrily pacing and raving at Cas and Gabe for failing to save Sam. Dean tells Mary that he has to rescue Sam’s body from the cave so that he can have dignity in death. Dean is about to set off when the angel warning alarm sounds, and Sam walks through the camp entrance. He smiles at his loved ones but when he sees their expressions change, his face betrays the shame he feels for bringing Lucifer to their doorstep. The episode ends with Lucifer smugly saying “Hello, son.”
Characters
- Sam Winchester
- Dean Winchester
- Mary Winchester
- Castiel
- Lucifer
- Jack Kline
- Gabriel
- Rowena
- Floyd
- Maggie (Apocalypse World)
Definitions
- Alcohol
- Alternate Universe
- Angel Blade
- Apocalypse World
- Archangel
- Archangel Blade
- Black Grimoire
- Food
- Grace
- Hugs
- Men of Letters Bunker
- Monsters
- Portal
- Sammy
- Single Perfect Tear
- Spells
- Table of Death
- Tree of Life
- Vampires
- Warding Sigils
- Witches
Music
- "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin
- (playing in the bar as Lucifer drinks his sorrows away)
- "Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races"
- (sung by Lucifer to annoy Rowena)
Quotes
Dean: We're not teaming up with him.
Castiel: We just need his grace.
Sam: Oh, 'just.'
Dean: We've trapped his ass before.
Sam: Yes, and every time, it ends up the same way, with the Devil being on the loose again.
Castiel: Good guess.
Lucifer: Okay, you could've done this back at the bar. Could've drained me, killed me. What's this really about? Humiliation? Revenge?
Sam: Ah, those are just bonuses. See, we got a lot of work to do back in Apocalypse World, but not a whole lot of time to do it. So I realized something. I realized we could use you. Use you not to just crack the door open, but to keep it open. So we're gonna drain you. We're gonna keep on draining you.
Dean: Like a stuck pig.
Gabriel: Grace on tap, sorry bro.
Castiel: Well, Heaven's been run into the ground by upstanding angels. Perhaps a screw up is just the change we need.
Sam: Really?
Dean: Yeah, like you're lighter, happier, more energetic.
Floyd: Starvation. When Michael's armies started to wipe out the humans, they didn't think about monsters or what happened to 'em when their food source dried up. Turns out, not eating makes them wild. Nothing but pure, stupid appetite.
Rowena: Shut your mouth! -- Oh! You want to get inside my head, twist the knife? Two can play that game. Do you know what your grace is making possible right now? The heartfelt family reunion of Sam, Dean, Cas, Mary, and your very own son Jack. That's right. Your wee boy's over there, and he'll be so glad to see his three fathers. Of course, as far as he's concerned, they are his father. And you? You're nothing to him. Or me. Or anyone now. Nothing.
Sam: I'm sure you have.
Lucifer: I have, Samuel. I want my son, and you're gonna help me.Trivia & References
Rowena: The Three Amigos? With their bro hugs, pep talks, and melodrama? Count on it.
- Three Amigos is a 1986 comedy starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short as three movie stars mistaken for real life heroes.
Lucifer: So how did I have the juice to pull off my little Lazarus trick? Uh, that's a long story, but I was basically tracking you here, and then I came across a handful of Michael's angels and I ate 'em. I guess it's not really a long story, is it?
- In the Christian New Testament, Lazarus of Bethany was a man who was raised from the dead by Jesus and whose story is recounted in the Gospel of John.
Lucifer: What do I want? I want what everyone wants. I want a personal apology from Pop. I want rerun-free, year-round episodes of Drag Race.
- "RuPaul's Drag Race" is a reality TV show hosted by the eponymous RuPaul in which drag queens compete for the title of America's Next Drag Superstar. At the time of this episode's airing, Drag Race ran in the same time slot on a different channel.
Minutiae
- 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One killed by Jake Talley and brought back to life when Dean makes a deal with a Crossroads Demon.
- Killed by a wish from Hope Lynn Casey in 4.08 Wishful Thinking and brought back when Wes Mondale removes the coin from the Wishing Well.
- Anna kills him in 5.13 The Song Remains the Same and he is resurrected by Michael.
- Hunters kill Sam and Dean in 5.16 Dark Side of the Moon and they are brought back to life by Joshua.
- When he is possessed by Lucifer in 5.22 Swan Song he dies and is trapped in Lucifer's Cage. He is bought back soulless by Castiel and later re-ensouled by Death.
- In 12.09 First Blood, Dean and Sam do a deal with Billie the reaper to kill them so they can escape prison. They are each dead for a short period.