3.16 No Rest for the Wicked

Title	No Rest for the Wicked
Episode #	Season 3, Episode 16
First aired	May 15, 2008
Directed by	Kim Manners
Written by	Eric Kripke
On IMDB	No Rest for the Wicked
Outline	There are only 30 hours left before Dean's deal is up. Can the boys find a way out of it?
Monster	Demons Hellhound
Timeline	May 1st - 2nd, 2008
Location(s)	New Harmony, Indiana
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Synopsis

Dean is running from something in the woods, but the growling creature catches up with him and he falls down, yelling and screaming as his blood spurts on his face. He wakes up, his head resting on a page he was reading about hellhounds. Sam comes in with a smile and reveals that Bobby has found a way to find Lilith. Dean isn't convinced that the plan is going to work with only thirty hours to go and wants to live it up in a Mexican way. Sam jokes they should never do that, and sits down to reassure Dean that he won't let him go to Hell, but Dean isn’t comforted when he hallucinates Sam as a ghoulish figure.

Bobby pulls out a device and, after reciting some Latin, finds that Lilith is in New Harmony, Indiana. Dean doesn’t like the idea of taking on Lilith unprepared. Sam wants to summon Ruby, but Dean refuses to let him and tells Bobby and Sam to find something else. Sam summons Ruby anyway, and she tells him he can defeat Lilith using his psychic powers and other abilities instead of her knife. Lilith is on "shore leave" and has her guard down. She didn't tell Sam this before because he would have never considered the idea unless he was desperate. Sam takes in what she says but Dean arrives, refusing to let her help Sam tap into his abilities. He fights her and after taking a beating steals her knife while trapping her under a devil’s trap.

Sam tries to get Dean to listen to Ruby, but Dean tells him they need to stop making the same mistakes all over again and stop allowing themselves to be martyrs for each other. They should go after Lilith their way and if they fail they will go down swinging. Dean asks, "What the hell does a demon do for fun?" We find out that Lilith has taken over the body of the young daughter of the Fremont family and is terrorizing them. She is holding dad, mom, and grandpa hostage and has killed grandma (or the sitter) and the family pet.

Sam and Dean try to leave, but the Impala won't start. Bobby shows up with the distributor cap in his hand and says he's going with them because "family don't end with blood." He also gets Dean to admit he’s having hallucinations. On the car ride there, Sam wants to have a talk, but Dean puts on "Wanted Dead or Alive" instead, creating one last brotherly bonding moment by both yelling the song obnoxiously out of tune. Dean turns sad at the end, realizing how bittersweet the moment is.

They get pulled over by a cop because the Impala has a busted tail light. Dean attacks the officer and stabs him with Ruby's knife, revealing that the cop was really a demon. Dean confesses he saw his real face under the human face. While hiding the cop car, Bobby says that what Dean is seeing is normal for someone facing Hell soon, and that it will come in handy during their attack on Lilith. Sure enough, they arrive and Dean points out that the little girl is Lilith and the neighborhood is loaded with demons.

They take out a couple of the demons with Ruby's knife, while Bobby blesses a well with a rosary. Ruby catches up with them, and Dean is disgusted by her "real" face. They are surrounded by demons and run for the house just in time for Bobby to turn on the sprinklers, which spray out holy water, stopping the demons at the edge of the lawn. They enter the house and Dean takes the father to safety (grandpa was killed earlier for asking help from the neighbor), while Ruby and Sam go after Lilith. Ruby goes into one room, while Sam finds the girl and her mother in the bedroom. The mom begs Sam to kill the girl but he hesitates. Just before he tries to stab her, Dean stops him and tells him Lilith isn't in her anymore.

Dean sends the family off to safety in the basement, while Sam tells Ruby he's ready to try it her way. She tells him it's too late, and Dean stops him, telling Sam that he will let Dean go to Hell. Sam tearfully asks what he's supposed to do, and Dean tells him to "keep fighting, take care of my wheels, remember what Dad taught you, and remember what I taught you." The clock strikes midnight and Dean awaits his fate while tears run from Sam's eyes. Dean hears the hellhounds, and the three of them run into the office. Sam and Ruby barricade the doors while Dean puts down goofer dust along the doorway and windows.

Dean trapped in Hell.

Ruby demands the knife from Sam, and Dean realizes it isn't Ruby. She pins Sam against the wall and Dean against the desk, and her white eyes show she's really Lilith. Sam asks where Ruby is, and Lilith says she sent her far away. She goes over to Sam and kisses him, while he tries to give himself up for Dean. Lilith won't agree since Sam can't offer her anything she wants. Dean asks her if her plan is to drag him to Hell, kill Sam, and become "Queen Bitch," but she won't answer to "puppy chow" and opens the door, letting the hellhound in. Dean is dragged from the table and mauled to death in horrific fashion, while Sam watches in horror, screaming at Lilith to stop it. After Dean dies, Lilith with delight, sends her white light of doom in Sam's direction, ready to kill him next.

The white light dissipates, and slowly terror washes over Lilith. Sam is crouched down in the corner unharmed and realizes that she no longer has a hold on him. He grabs the knife and goes to stab her, but she exits Ruby's body in a cloud of black smoke. Sam looks down to see the bodies of Ruby and Dean, and begins weeping. He kneels down and cradles Dean's head in his hand, crying inconsolably over his dead brother.

The camera pans through Dean's eye to show dark clouds, lightning, cables strung everywhere, and in the middle of it, Dean hanging from chains with meat hooks through his shoulders and side. He's screaming for Sam as the scene fades to black...

Characters

• Sam Winchester
• Dean Winchester
• Ruby
• Bobby Singer
• Lilith

Definitions

• Acting in Unison
• Bobby's Car
• Bobby's Hats
• Carry On Wayward Son
• Crossroads
• Deals and Pacts
• Dean's Amulet
• Dean's Bracelet
• Dean's Movie & TV references
• Demon Smoke
• Demon-Killing Knife
• Demonology
• Devil's Trap
• Gank
• Goofer Dust
• Hell
• Hellhound
• Holy Water
• Impala
• Possession
• Rosary
• Sammy
• Singer Salvage Yard
• Spells
• Star Wars
• Table of Death
• Telekinesis
• The Veil

Music

• "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas

(plays during "The Road So Far" recap of events; also played in 1.21 Salvation and 2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two)

• "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi

(Dean and Sam sing along to Bon Jovi in the car before Dean's deal comes due)

Quotes

Sam: What's the problem?
Dean: What's the problem? Come on, where do I begin? I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith holds my deal. We're going off of Bela's intel? Now when that bitch breathes, the air comes out crooked. Okay. Second, even if we could get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her. And third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants your giant head on a pike? Should I continue?

Ruby: If I told you, you two yahoos would have just charged after her half-cocked and Lilith would have peeled the meat from your pretty, pretty faces.

Ruby: Sam, you've got some God-given talent. Well, not 'God'-given but you get the gist.
Sam: All that psychic crap? That's gone ever since Yellow-Eyes died.

Ruby: I want Lilith dead. That's all.

Dean: Why?
Ruby: I've told you why!
Dean: Oh, right, yeah. Because you were human once and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach.

Ruby: You know, I am so sick of proving myself to you. You wanna save yourself, this is how. You dumb, spineless dick.

Dean: Don't you see a pattern here? Dad's deal, my deal, now this? I mean every time one of us is – is – is up the creek the other is begging to sell their soul. That's all this is, man. Ruby's just jerking your chain down the road. You know what it's paved with and you know where it's going.

Dean: All I'm saying... Sammy, all I'm saying is that you're my weak spot. You are. And I'm yours.

Sam: You don't mean that. We're... we're family.

Dean: I know. And those evil sons of bitches know it too. I mean, what we'll do for each other, you know, how far we'll go? They're using it against us.

Bobby: Family don't end with blood, boy. Besides, you need me.

Bobby: Well you've got, just over five hours to go? You're piercing the veil, Dean. You're glimpsing the B side.

Dean: A little less new age-y please.

Bobby: You're almost Hell's bitch. So, you can see Hell's other bitches.

Sam: Try and stop me, and I'll kill you. Bitch.

Ruby: Hit me with your best shot, baby.

Dean: Guys, guys! Hey. Have your little catfight later.

Lilith: Silly goose. You wanna bargain, you have to have something that I want. You don't.

Dean: So, is this your big plan, huh? Drag me to hell. Kill Sam. And then what? Become queen bitch?

Lilith: I don't have to answer to puppy chow. Sic 'em, boy.

Trivia & References

The episode title, "No Rest for the Wicked", is a popular idiom derived from the Bible verse Isaiah 48:22, "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." It is also the title of a 1988 Ozzy Osbourne album.

The illustration of the hellhound in the book Dean fell asleep reading is 'Cerberus' by Todd Lockwood who is famous for his art in Dungeons and Dragons books and on Magic the Gathering cards.

Dean: Hey, why don't we just make a TJ-run, yeah? You know... some señoritas, cervezas, uh, we could... What's Spanish for 'donkey show'?

"TJ" stands for Tijuana, Mexico. "Cervezas" is Spanish for "beers". A donkey show is an alleged type of sexual performance most often associated with Tijuana, in which a woman engages in zoophilia with a donkey.

Sam: A sure-fire way to confirm it's Lilith, and a way to get us a bona fide, demon-killing ginsu.

Ginsu is a brand of kitchen knives.

The triangular sigil Sam draws on the ground to summon Ruby is known as the magical triangle of Solomon. It can be found in The Lesser Key of Solomon - a grimoire on demonology, compiled in the mid-17th century. At the points of the triangle, around the inner circle, is written 'Michael'. The evocation of Archangel Michael and the three points of the triangle representing the Holy Trinity is supposed to contain the conjured demon and protect the conjurer.

Sam: How do you get around so fast?

Ruby: I got the Super Bowl jetpack.

Reference to the Super Bowl Halftime Shows which involved men flying around in jetpacks.

Ruby: You wanna charge in with one little pigsticker? It's a waste of a true-blue window. Like getting Hitler with that exploding briefcase. Forget it.

This is a reference to the famous assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler by Nazi officials in which a briefcase containing a bomb was left under a table before a meeting at which Hitler would be present. This plot is the basis for the Tom Cruise film Valkyrie.

Dean: So that's you, huh? Our slutty little Yoda.

Yoda taught Luke Skywalker the ways of the Force in The Empire Strikes Back.

Dean: She wants you to give into this whole demonic psychic whatever, okay. I mean hell, she probably wants you to become her little Antichrist Superstar.

A reference to the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as a reference to the Marilyn Manson album Antichrist Superstar.

Dean: What, are you gonna give her the Carrie-stare and Lilith goes poof?

A reference to the character Carrie from the Stephen King novel of the same name and film directed by Brian De Palma.

The family Lilith terrorizes is called Fremont, the same name of a family which underwent a similar experience in the The Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life," in which a little boy has become a monster with terrifying powers over his domain and loved ones. This was also parodied in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror II," another show to which Supernatural has given shout-outs. Also, the grandfather trying to give a note to the neighbor asking for help references the 1983 film version of The Twilight Zone, in which one of the girls living with the monster boy tries to write a note for help and is sent to cartoon land and killed.

Sam and Dean singing "Wanted Dead or Alive" in this episode calls back to 2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign, when the possessed Sam listens to Bon Jovi. The album from which the song is taken is titled Cross Road, another possible nod towards Dean's deal with the crossroads demon. Jared Padalecki also starred in the movie Cry_Wolf alongside Jon Bon Jovi.

On the boys' trip to Indiana, they are seen passing through a crossroads (right before Sam begins to try to talk to Dean about "what if things don't go the way they want them to" and the brothers' aforementioned Bon Jovi duet). This is another possible nod to Dean's crossroad deal.

The police car that pulled the boys over was car 54, a reference to the '60s comedy series Car 54, Where Are You?

The name on Dean's driver's license is "Hagar". Sammy Hagar was a vocalist in the band Van Halen.

Dean: Well, this is a terrific plan. I'm excited to be a part of it. Can we go, please?

This line is almost a direct quote from the movie Ghostbusters. Bill Murray uses this line right before the Ghostbusters take out Gozer by crossing the streams.

Sam: Ok, fine. We – we – we – we, we ninja past those guys, sneak in.

Dean: Then what? Give a Colombian necktie to a ten year old girl, come on!

A Colombian necktie is an act in which a victim's neck is slashed with a knife, and their tongue is pulled through the wound.

Sam: Try and stop me, and I'll kill you, bitch.

Ruby: Hit me with your best shot, baby.

"Hit Me with Your Best Shot" was a hit single for Pat Benatar in 1980.

In 3.09 Malleus Maleficarum when Ruby is describing Hell, Dean says:

Dean: I saw Hellraiser, I get the gist.

Ruby: Actually, they got it pretty right, except for all the custom leather.

The final scene in this episode of Dean in Hell is very reminiscent of the images used in Hellraiser - particularly the chains and meat hooks.

Minutiae

Filming Locations: Map of known filming locations.

The original title for this episode was "No Quarter," a Led Zeppelin song title, before being changed to "No Rest for the Wicked."

This episode is the last appearance of Katie Cassidy as Ruby.

The promo trailer for this episode spoiled the fact that Dean wasn't saved in the end by showing a clip of the scene where Sam is sobbing over his dead body.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

• 3.16 No Rest for the Wicked (transcript)
• Casting Sides for Grandpa McCormick (renamed Fremont in the episode)
• Casting Sides for Jimmy McCormick (renamed Fremont in the episode)
• Casting Sides for Zoey/Lilith

Promotion

• Promo

Episode Meta

• 3.16 No Rest For the Wicked: We Are Not Gonna Make the Same Mistakes All Over Again by bardicvoice (May 2008); archive link, spn-heavymeta
• Bond, Silvia. 2008. Yes, Sometimes Bon Jovi Rocks: "No Rest For The Wicked" Season 3, Episode 16. Pink Raygun, May 20; archive link