15.11 The Gamblers
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| |
| Title | The Gamblers |
| Episode # | Season 15, Episode 11 |
| First aired | January 30, 2020 |
| Directed by | Charles Beeson |
| Written by | Meredith Glynn Davy Perez |
| On IMDB | The Gamblers |
| Outline | As Sam and Dean attempt to restore their luck, Castiel investigates a series of angel murders committed by a resurrected Jack. |
| Monster | Fortuna Grigori |
| Timeline | |
| Location(s) | Alaska Lebanon, Kansas Cushing, Oklahoma |
| « Previous Episode | Next Episode » | |
Contents
Synopsis
Characters
Definitions
- Alcohol
- Aliases
- Angel Blade
- Angel Lore
- Angel Radio
- Angel Sword
- Cameras
- Deities
- Demigods
- The Empty
- Grigori
- Hugs
- Food
- Impala
- Law Enforcement Officers
- Magical Coins
- Men of Letters Bunker
- Nephilim
- Pie
- Rabbit's Foot
- Resurrection
- Sammy
- Season 15 Callbacks
- Son of a Bitch
- Table of Death
Music
- "North to Alaska" by Johnny Horton
- (playing in Lurlene's as Leonard loses the pool game)
- "Just Enough Blues" by Elijah Honey (Black Toast Music)
- (playing in the diner Sam and Dean stop at for pie and coffee)
- "Passing Glance" by Marian McPartland (APM Music)
- (playing in Lurlene's as Evie describes the various players to Sam)
Quotes
Sam: I mean, how long have we been on the road looking for some place Garth says will supercharge our luck, maybe? And I mean, luck? Is that really even gonna fix our whole "problem"?
Dean: Well, it couldn't hurt. And I don't know how much more of this "normal life" crap I can take, between the credit cards, the car trouble, the constant freaking heartburn.
Sam: A-A pool hall that makes you lucky or might kill you? I mean, it sounds like a demon or a witch or --
Dean: Or it could be awesome.
It's pool. The-the-the game of champions, kings. My game. Hell, our game. How many honest-to-goodness great memories do we have hustling pool?
Dean: Man, I've been slinging pool cues since before you were born.
Sam: What? When you were 4? Really? What, between nap time and snack?
Joey Six: What did you say your name was again?
Dean: Well, my name's Dean Winchester. And I'm gonna kick your ass.
Dean: Well, my name's Dean Winchester. And I'm gonna kick your ass.
Jack: The last one I killed was pretending to be a doctor. Feeding on the souls of humans he was supposed to heal. You do it, too. Only you like children.
Kabaiel: Who told you that?
Fortuna: So, why do you need this luck so bad? Girlfriend problems? Liver failure?
Sam: Accursed by God.
Fortuna: Life's a bitch, then you die.
Dean: The God literally cursed us.
Fortuna: You've met?
Dean: Yeah. Little guy, squirrelly as hell.
Fortuna: You little minx - you got me talking. You're good.
Sam: I learned from my brother.
Sam: I learned from my brother.
Fortuna: What is it with you and these losers? They're nothing they don't matter!
Sam: They matter to me.
Evie: She -- she shut it down.
Dean: Why?
Evie: Because of you. She said she thought your kind had gone extinct.
Sam: Our kind?
Dean: Ohh! We're back, baby!
Jack: Hello.
Sam: Jack?
Jack: Every day I wanted to come home, but I couldn't.
Dean: Why not?
Jack: Because if I don't stay hidden, if I use my powers, my grandfather He'll know I'm back, and He'll try and kill me again.
He's afraid of me. And that's why we had to wait.
Castiel: Billie kept him hidden in the Empty until Chuck went off-world.
Jack: She let me out when it was safe.
Dean: Safe to what? Eat a bunch of angel hearts?
Trivia & References
When Dean opened a case file in the previous spring on Jack, he used the FBI alias "C. Watts". Charlie Watts has been the drummer for the Rolling Stones since 1963. Castiel uses the alias "Agent Lizzo", Lizzo is an American singer-songwriter and rapper. Castiel's use of her name continues his trend of using modern popstars as aliases.
Dean: What can we get for, uh, $4.60? Of course.
Waitress: Um, a slice of pie and a cup of coffee?
Dean: Two forks? Damn it, I was hoping for a cheeseburger.
Sam: You can't even digest cheese anymore.
Dean: Dude. Lactaid.
- Lactaid is a brand of pills containing the enzyme lactase. People who are lactose-intolerant (like poor powered-down Dean) can ingest lactase immediately before a meal containing dairy to avoid unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects.
The name given by the sheriff for the Grigori killed by Jack was Sariel. Sariel is a fallen watcher angel in lore, whose name translates to "Prince of God." While not named in the episode, closed captioning revealed that the final Grigori's name was Kabaiel, who is considered the fourth of the twenty leaders of the 200 fallen watcher angels, and whose name translates to "Star of God."
Waitress: Um, forget it. It sounds nuts.
Dean: Nuts is good. Yeah. A couple of Mr. Freakin' Peanuts here.
- Mr Peanut was the top hat- and monocle-wearing peanut that was the mascot of the Planters snack food company. Coincidentally, just before the episode aired, a teaser for an upcoming SuperBowl ad suggested that Mr Peanut may die.
Dean: Alright, so, we need to minimize our risk and maximize our profit, right? It's kind of like that action we took back in Tallahassee. Remember that? The-the-the "Fast Eddie"?
Sam: I don't remember.
Dean: It was Dad's favorite, from the movie. Paul Newman. "The Hustler."
Sam: Alright, fine. One more game. One.
Dean: Okay. Now we just gotta find our Jackie Gleason.
- The Hustler is a 1963 film about pool hustling starring Paul Newman as "Fast Eddie" Felson, a small-time hustler who seeks out legendary pool player "Minnesota Fats" (played by Jackie Gleason).
Fortuna: When I play someone, I get a read on them. And you -- you're just a beach read. Sexy, mm, but skimmable.
Dean: Beach read? Lady, I'm Tolstoy.
- A beach read is a fun, easy, light novel to read while on vacation. Leo Tolstoy was a 19th-century Russian novelist and philosopher, often cited as one of the greatest novelists of all time.
Fortuna: You're going to fight God, that's the stuff of heroes right? So you're going to need the luck of heroes - Hercules, Cú Chulainn, Gilgamesh. I helped them all, I can help you too.
- Hercules is a hero from Roman mythology; Cú Chulainn is a hero of Irish legends best known for defending Ulster from the armies of queen Medb of Connacht, and Gilgamesh was a king in ancient Sumeria whose exploits are documented in the "Epic of Gilgamesh".
Fortuna explains that when humans evolved, they first prayed to the "sun, the womb, the rain, and the stars". This made God mad that humans didn't worship Him, but then He decided to create the "gods" -- Fortuna cites "Ra, Hera, Anu, and Mixcoatl and all the rest," whom humans would blame when things went wrong. But God got jealous of the epic stories humans told about the gods so now He "hides behind" whichever religion is the most popular.
Minutiae
Rob Bruner, who played Leonard, previously played Mr. Witherspoon in 2.11 Playthings.
Jason Burkart, who played Vikings Fan, previously played Truck Driver in 8.16 Remember the Titans.
Jensen and Jared did all the pool shots in the episode. Jensen made the scoop jump shot to sink the 8-ball in a single take.
Fortuna's bar is called "Lurlene's".
It's revealed that at some point the previous spring, Dean used one of his FBI aliases to open up a file on Jack, making him wanted by the FBI. The file states that there are multiple charges pending and Jack is to be considered armed and dangerous. Jack is listed as being 5'10", 140 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes, no known aliases, and an unknown date of birth.
Continuity error: Castiel remembers Tamiel explaining about the angel swords and the Grigori. However, Tamiel told Sam this, not Castiel, who was not even on the property when this conversation occurred.
Sam: At first, I thought maybe these coins were were hexed or cursed.
Dean: Like the rabbit's foot?
Sam: When you win, you're you're taking luck from whoever you beat, right?
- A reference to the cursed rabbit's foot from 3.03 Bad Day at Black Rock.
