4.01 Lazarus Rising
Title | Lazarus Rising |
Episode # | Season 4, Episode 1 |
First aired | September 18, 2008 |
Directed by | Kim Manners |
Written by | Eric Kripke |
On IMDB | Lazarus Rising |
Outline | Dean returns from Hell. The question is how - and why? |
Monster | Castiel |
Timeline | September 18th-20th, 2008 |
Location(s) | Pontiac, Illinois |
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Contents
Synopsis
Dean comes to consciousness - buried in his own grave. He digs himself out, and emerges in a field. All the trees have been felled, radiating out from his grave. He walks until he finds an empty gas station, where he eagerly drinks some water, and then examines himself to find no sign of the hellhound attack. However, there is a large handprint burnt into the skin of his left deltoid.
Dean grabs some more water, candy and a copy of Busty Asian Beauties. As he prepares to leave, a TV and radio switch on. Thinking it is a demon, Dean pours salt along the window, but he is soon crippled by a piercing sound that shatters all the glass in the area. As quickly as it started, whatever it was stops.
Dean phones Sam, but gets no answer, and Bobby hangs up on him, not believing that it is him. He steals a car from the gas station and takes off.
When Bobby finds Dean on his doorstep, he assumes it is a supernatural being and tries to kill him. Dean tries to prove his identity by cutting himself with a silver knife, and they embrace. Bobby then checks whether Dean is possessed by dousing him in holy water. After that, he believes that it is Dean, resurrected from Hell.
Bobby tells Dean that he hasn't seen Sam in months, but Dean tracks Sam using the GPS in his phone and finds him in a town near the place Dean was buried.
When Bobby and Dean arrive at Sam's hotel room, the door is answered by a scantily-clad woman. Sam also attacks Dean thinking he must be a monster, but when he realizes it's Dean, there is a tearful hug. The girl asks whether the boys "are together," but Sam says they're brothers. The girl takes her leave of them.
Sam promises Dean he didn't make a deal to get Dean out of Hell, or use his powers. In fact, he is upset that he was unable to save Dean. He tells them he was following some demons who lead him here. Bobby suggests they visit a psychic to see if they can find out how Dean got out of Hell.
Bobby and the boys travel to meet Pamela Barnes, an old friend of Bobby's. She starts a seance to reveal who saved Dean, and contacts someone called Castiel. But when she sees him in her mind, her eyes are burned out, rendering her blind.
Later at a diner, Dean and Sam discuss what to do, when the waitress reveals herself and the other people in the diner to be demons Sam is looking for. She threatens Dean, but doesn't take any action, and doesn't seem to know anything about his escape from Hell. The boys leave, although Sam wants to exorcise the demons.
Later that night, Sam sneaks out while Dean is asleep and heads back to the diner. When Dean wakes up, he again hears the piercing sound that he heard in the gas station. Bobby returns as it stops, and Dean convinces him that they need to summon Castiel. He calls Sam, who lies about being at the diner, and tells him he and Bobby are getting a beer.
Sam goes into the diner and finds one of the people who was possessed dead with eyes burnt out. The possessed waitress, although also blinded, attacks Sam, and warns him that everyone is going to die. Sam lifts a hand and using only his mind exorcises the demon. As he finishes, the woman who was in his hotel room earlier enters. It is Ruby and Sam has been working with her to develop his powers. He tells her he will tell Dean what he has been doing, when the time is right.
Meanwhile, Dean and Bobby perform a summoning ritual and a man appears. He is unharmed when Bobby and Dean shoot him with rock salt, and when Dean stabs him with Ruby's knife. The man renders Bobby unconscious, and reveals to Dean that he is Castiel, an angel. He tells Dean that he saved him from Hell on God's command, and that God has work for Dean to do.
Characters
Definitions
- Alcohol
- Title Card
- Hellhound
- Hell
- Ruby's Knife
- Demonic Possession
- Demonology
- Porn
- Busty Asian Beauties
- Angel Lore
- Revenant
- Singer Salvage Yard
- Holy Water
- Silver
- Castiel's Handprint
- Star Wars
Music
- "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC
- (plays during "The Road So Far" recap of events)
- "In the Shadow of the Valley" by Lost Weekend Western Swing Band
- (plays in the gas station that Dean first visits)
- "Fight Song" by The Republic Tigers
- (playing when Dean and Bobby find Sam)
- "Vision" by Jason Manns
- (playing on Sam’s iPod as Dean rips it out of the Impala)
- "Wrapped Around Your Finger" by Martyn Laight (CPM - Carlin Production Music)
- (plays when Sam and Dean are eating in the diner full of demons; also played in 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One)
- "I'm So Blue" by Katie Thompson and Martyn Laight (CPM - Carlin Production Music)
- (plays when Sam goes back to the diner)
Quotes
Dean: I'd like to think it's because of my perky nipples.
Castiel: Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you.
Trivia & References
- Sam’s alias, Wedge Antilles, is the name of a character from Star Wars.
Dean: I know. I should look like a Thriller video reject.
- Dean is referring to the zombie dancers from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.
- Choose Life was a slogan worn on a t-shirt by '80s glam pop group Wham in the video for "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go." However, the phrase has been used in a variety of ways, including a slogan for the pro-life/anti-abortion movement. See here for more information on the different uses of the phrase.
Minutiae
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
Promotion
- New Season Promo
- There are new opening credits for Season Four featuring images of black wings intercut with a new Title Card with "supernatural' in red.
- The first five minutes of this episode were screened at Comic Con 2008
- Kripke introduces 4.01
- Casting spoiler for Season Four at Buddy TV
- Spoilers from Comic Con reported by BuddyTV (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS BEYOND 4.01)
- Promo pics for the episode
- Episode summary Includes spoilers for upcoming episodes below the info for 4x01.
- Promotional goodies sent to TV reviewers
- Director's Cut #1 and #2
- Interview with Kim Manners on the Season Premiere from zapit2
- Interview with Jensen on the Season premier by IGN
- High ratings for season premiere from Buddy TV
- iPod product placement in Supernatural is most successful