Men of Letters Bunker

Name	The Men of Letters Bunker
Manufacturer	The Men of Letters
Powers	The Supernatural Mother-Lode
Location/Owners	Lebanon, Kansas
Episodes	First Appearance: 8.13 Everybody Hates Hitler Last Appearance: 11.23 Alpha and Omega

It is warded against any evil ever created. It is the supernatural mother lode. If knowledge is power, then this is the most powerful place on Earth. – Larry Ganem, 8.12 As Time Goes By

History

The Men of Letters' Bunker is located in Lebanon, Kansas. Here, they stored their collected knowledge of "every object, scroll, spell ever collected for thousands of years under one roof... the safest place on earth, warded against any evil ever created.". The key to this place is in the Box.

Lebanon Kansas, where the Bunker is located, is the geographic center of the contiguous lower 48 states of the United States.

The Bunker took three years to build and was completed in 1935. The style of architecture and decoration in the Bunker is Art Deco and WPA style. The Men of Letter's crest, the Aquarian Star appears as a motif, such as in the floor tiles and on the telephones.

It is built between a WPA power plant that sits along a river and which supplies its power and water (Source).

In 1935, Peter Jenkins and James Haggerty are the first of the Men of Letters to be based there. The disappearance of Dorothy Baum and the Wicked Witch of the West is the first case dealt with in the Bunker.

When the Men of Letters were destroyed by Abaddon, the Bunker was abandoned. However, after learning of its existence, Sam and Dean moved in and made the Bunker their headquarters.

Olivette revealed to Rowena that there is not just one bunker but several scattered around the world.

Inside the Bunker

The power plant built over the Bunker.

The door to the Bunker opens onto a balcony surrounding a large circular room containing a ham radio, telegraph, and switchboard. There is also a chess board. Leading of this room is a large library, full of books, weapons, and an extensive card file. At the far end is a large telescope.

When they first arrive, Dean refers to the Bunker as the Batcave, referring to the secret lair where Batman did his research and kept his weapons. Sam and Dean discover that the facility has power, running water (with excellent shower pressure), and sleeping quarters.

General Layout

• Bunker Floorplan - Actual production plans for the Bunker

• The main space consists of the "warroom", which centres around a table with an illuminated map of the world. There is also a bank of computers and communication devices.

• There is a large library with shelves of books, a card file index, and many files. A variety of weapons are also on display. At the rear of the library is a very large telescope.

• The bunker has a fully equipped kitchen in which Dean shows off his culinary skills. There is also a small table and chairs.

• Dean and Castiel both report that the shower has very good water pressure.

• There is a firing range in the Bunker.

• Room 7B contains archived material. Two of the shelves push back to reveal a dungeon with a large devil's trap and manacles engraved with spellwork. This is where Crowley is held.

• Room 11 is Dean's bedroom.

• Room 28, level 2 - A laboratory where Dorothy mixes up the spell to bind her soul to that of the the Wicked Witch of the West to keep her captive. It also houses a large computer which was installed in 1951.

• There is a garage where many vintage vehicles, including several motorcycles - one of which is Dorothy Baum's - are still stored. After its discovery, Dean stores the Impala here.

• There are a number of bedrooms.

Detail of the floor.

Dean's Bedroom

The features of Dean's bedroom.

I haven't had my own room. Ever. I'm making this awesome. I've got my kickass vinyl. I've got this killer mattress. Memory foam -- it remembers me! And it's clean, too. There's no funky smell. There are no creepy motel stains. – Dean Winchester, 8.14 Trial and Error

Dean takes great delight in decorating his bedroom in the bunker. He buys a copy of Led Zeppelin's first self-titled record to add to the collection presumably left by the Men of Letters, which includes Howard McGhee, Vol. 2, and "Nat King Cole Sings for Two in Love". Dean has also bought a memory foam mattress for the bed. Dean mounts his weapons on the wall, including the axe he found in Purgatory, and places a photo of his mother and him, which he always carried in his wallet, on the desk.

After Dean and Sam's falling out, and after he takes on the Mark of Cain, Dean's bedroom appears cleared of these homelike touches.

Trivia: The photo of young Dean and Mary was made by graphic designer Mary-Ann Liu. It was fabricated by composing a photo of Samantha Smith as Mary with an actual photo of Jensen as a child.

Sam's Bedroom

Sam initially feels that the Bunker is a place of work, and not a home. He explains to Dean that he never had what Dean had with their parents "I don't have any memories of home. And whenever I've tried to make a home of my own it really hasn't ended well."

Sam's room has no decorations, and the shelves are lined with files and books for research. He has, however, installed a large TV and DVD player.

Visitors

People aside from Sam and Dean who have visited the bunker:

• Prometheus
• Hayley
• Oliver
• Charlie Bradbury
• Castiel
• Kevin Tran
• Crowley
• Gadreel
• Dorothy Baum
• The Wicked Witch of the West
• Linda Tran
• Eldon Styne
• Roscoe Styne
• Cyrus Styne
• Rowena
• Lucifer
• God
• Donatello Redfield
• Metatron
• Amara

Episodes

8.12 As Time Goes By

In 1958, Abaddon, one of the Knights of Hell, was sent by party or parties unknown to kill the members of the group who were gathered in Normal, Illinois. They were gathered for the initiations of Henry Winchester and Josie Sands. Abaddon killed David Ackers and Ted Bowen, and blinded Larry Ganem. After Henry bursts through to find out what was happening, Larry crawls to Henry and entrusts him with the Box which contains the key to the Bunker. Abaddon then burns down their quarters and follows Henry through the portal created by his blood spell. Sam visits Larry Ganem, the other survivor of the incident, who tells Sam about the Bunker, and gives him coordinates to it. He tells Sam to lock it forever to keep it out of the hands of the demons.

Abaddon, possessing Larry's wife, kills Larry and captures Sam. Abaddon then calls Dean for a trade: Sam and Henry for the Box. During the trade, Henry shoots Abaddon in the head with a bullet that had a Devil's Trap carved onto it. This immobilizes Abaddon which allows Dean to decapitate and cut her into pieces. After Henry's death, Sam and Dean decide to find out if the bunker is still intact.

Sam and Dean doing research in the library.

8.13 Everybody Hates Hitler

Sam and Dean follow the coordinates provided by Larry, and find the underground Bunker, which they are able to enter using the key inside the box. The boys are stunned at what they find, with everything perfectly preserved. Sam is thrilled at the rich store of information contained in the bunker, although Dean is initially dismissive of its worth. While Dean is visiting Kevin, Sam researches the Men of Letters and their networks. During this he discovers the Judah Initiative, and finds out that a member, Rabbi Bass, recently died in what is reported as a case of spontaneous combustion. The boys leave to investigate.

After the case the boys return to the bunker, and Sam immediately starts entering information from the Thule Society's red ledger on the index cards. As Dean pours them each a scotch, he asks whether Sam is becoming a Man of Letters. Sam considers but doesn't reply. "Good," says Dean. And silently they toast each other.

8.14 Trial and Error

Sam and Dean have completely moved into the Bunker as their new home and Dean sets up his own room, excited as he hasn't had a room of his own for most of his life. As Sam researches in the library, Kevin Tran calls saying he has something important and Sam and Dean leave to meet with Kevin.

8.16 Remember the Titans

Sam and Dean stay at the bunker while waiting for word from Kevin on cracking the next trial. During that time, Sam hides the fact that he is coughing up blood as a side effect of doing the trials. After reading in a magazine about an apparent zombie in Great Falls, Montana, Sam and Dean leave to investigate.

After finding out that it is actually Prometheus, Sam and Dean bring him and his ex-girlfriend Hayley and their son Oliver back to the bunker for protection. While there, they search through the Bunker's books for information on Zeus and find the journal of an ancient Greek hunter named Dracopolis who trapped Zeus and learned how to kill him. After learning how to trap and summon Zeus, the group leaves the bunker to get the ingredients and break the curse.

After everything is over, Sam and Dean return to the bunker and Dean prays to Castiel to look after Sam who he knows is not doing as well as he is trying to pretend. Castiel does not respond or appear.

8.17 Goodbye Stranger

While looking through the Bunker's artifacts, Dean finds the Spear of Destiny, a porn magazine and, unknown to him, the Key to Oz. Sam finds a case where people who die across the Midwest have burns on their hands and feet along with their organs being liquefied causing Sam and Dean to leave and investigate.

8.20 Pac-Man Fever

After the second trial takes a major toll on Sam, he and Dean return to The Bunker to rest. While Sam wants to go hunting for the missing Kevin Tran, Dean doesn't believe he is ready and proves it by having Sam shoot at a target on the Bunker's shooting range and miss the target completely. Charlie Bradbury contacts them with a case and they learn that The Bunker blocks a cell phone from being able to be tracked despite the fact that they can make and receive calls inside it. Charlie comes and introduces them to a case where the victim's insides have been turned to "jelly." After Charlie proves herself on the shooting range, she and Dean leave without Sam who eventually heads out to work on the case himself.

After finding a second victim and learning that the bodies have been burned, the three return to the Bunker to research what could be doing this. Eventually, Dean discovers in John's Journal that it is a "bastard off-shoot" of a djinn. Charlie heads out to supposedly get food, but when she doesn't return, Sam and Dean follow her using the GPS in her cell phone. They later briefly return to try to figure out who the Djinn responsible is and leave after figuring out that it is Jennifer O'Brien and where she is keeping Charlie.

After Jennifer and her son are killed and Charlie is rescued, the three return to the Bunker and Charlie leaves the next morning. Charlie is invited back to go through the archives anytime she wants and Dean embraces Sam and finally agrees to go looking for Kevin with him.

8.21 The Great Escapist

While at the Bunker, Sam and Dean receive an email from Kevin Tran containing a video message stating that he's probably dead or will be and that he's sending them his notes and translations on the demon tablet. Sam and Dean go through the notes, trying to figure out the third trial, but are unable to. However, Sam finds a symbol appearing repeatedly in the notes that belongs to Metatron, the angel who wrote the tablets. After remembering seeing it in one of his Stanford classes, Sam looks through one of the Bunker's books on Native American lore and finds that the symbol belongs to a tribe in Colorado that has managed to hold onto their land through everything and is supposed to be gifted by God's Messenger. Realizing that this could lead them to Metatron himself, Sam and Dean set off to follow the lead.

8.22 Clip Show

Sam and Dean look through the Bunker's files on demonic possessions for any clues on how to cure a demon. Their supplies of food are also running low and Castiel is staying with them as he recovers from the wound Crowley gave him. Sam and Dean find that there are files on every possession for 300 years up until the time the Men were destroyed. Sam finds a file numbered 1138 that has a note saying to look in Room 7B and that it's "weird!!!" In the room, along with a film, they find the Bunker's dungeon. The film was taken by Josie Sands and is of a new type of exorcism performed by two priests, Father Max Thompson and Father Simon. The exorcism fails and interested, Sam and Dean track down Father Simon to ask about it while Castiel later leaves to get supplies in an attempt to get back in Dean's favor.

After getting Father Thompson's records, they return to the Bunker and listen to the tape of his last attempt at curing a demon two days before he died. The attempt succeeded and now knowing how to do it from the tape and Father Thompson's notes, Sam and Dean leave to put back together Abaddon to cure her.

After everything is over, Sam and Dean return to the Bunker and Sam suggests they accept Crowley's deal to turn over the tablet and give up the Trials as innocent people are dying and they have no demon to cure though they now have the method. Dean, however, is determined to finish the job.

8.23 Sacrifice

At the Bunker, Sam and Dean get a call from Crowley who is killing Jody Mills and demanding their surrender in exchange for sparing her life. After they make a deal, the two leave the Bunker.

Sam and Dean send Kevin Tran to the Bunker for safety, and Dean and Castiel return to the Bunker to try to get the third Trial to close the gates of Heaven using the angel tablet. Dean later calls Kevin, who reveals that he can't find anything within the tablet that specifies the "Trials" they are currently completing, and he tries to leave the Bunker. Before he can leave, however, the Bunker's world map becomes fully lit and alarms go off as, all around the world, angels begin to fall from Heaven.

9.02 Devil May Care

Returning to the Bunker with Crowley, Dean is shot at by a panicking Kevin. Kevin explains that after the angels fell, the Bunker locked down, which included blocking cell phone signals. Opening the Bunker from the outside seems to break the lockdown and Crowley is locked in the dungeon, left in the darkness to consider helping them hunt down the demons on Earth. After finding massive demonic omens, Sam and Dean leave to check them out while Kevin remains behind.

As Kevin goes over the angel tablet in the Bunker, he gets a call from Dean to get him to cover for his and Sam's FBI cover with a military sergeant which he does through blackmail. Looking through the file room attached to the dungeon, Kevin is taunted by Crowley and beats him up in revenge for being tortured by Crowley. Crowley tempts Kevin to set him free and flee the Bunker together by promising the location of his mother and claiming that the Winchesters will just use Kevin and discard him.

Returning to the Bunker, Sam and Dean find Crowley still locked in the dungeon and he offers a deal in exchange for helping them with the demons on Earth. Finding Kevin getting ready to leave, Dean convinces him to stay by telling him that he is family now and the Winchesters would do anything to protect him. Sam and Dean later sit in the main room discussing the current situation.

9.03 I'm No Angel

Sam goes on a run and to get food without Dean ever knowing he's gone, surprising him when he returns. While discussing Sam straining himself after being so badly affected by the Trials, Ezekiel takes control to tell Dean that Sam is feeling better and that he is slowly but successfully healing him. Ezekiel reveals that a faction of angels are after Castiel and after Ezekiel gives up control, Dean tells Sam this and they start searching for him.

After Castiel is rescued from a rogue reaper, he returns to the Bunker with the Winchesters, but Ezekiel warns that he must leave as he is too dangerous to have around with angels searching for him as even with the Bunker's protections, they won't survive a full angel incursion. As Ezekiel will leave Sam and flee if Castiel stays and this means a death sentence for Sam, Dean is forced to tell Castiel to leave the Bunker.

9.04 Slumber Party

The Bunker's motor pool.

In 1935, after the Bunker is finished, James Haggerty and Peter Jenkins settle in as the first two Men of Letters assigned there. Six months later, they have grown bored with nothing to do - until Dorothy Baum arrives with the Wicked Witch of the West, trying to find a way to kill her using the Bunker's files. The three are unable to find anything and soon the Wicked Witch escapes and possesses Jenkins, forcing Haggerty to kill him. Dorothy then casts a spell to bind herself and the Wicked Witch to stop her and her plans. Haggerty spends the rest of his career trying to find Dorothy and stop the Wicked Witch, recording his efforts in the Bunker's files.

In 2013, Sam discovers that the map table is connected to an antique computer, so he and Dean call in Charlie Bradbury to hack it and use it to try to find the location of all the angels in the world. Dean accidentally knocks over the bottle containing Dorothy and the Wicked Witch, freeing them. As Charlie downloads all of the information in the computer, the three soon discover Dorothy who explains what happened. Sam, Dean, Charlie and Dorothy team up to hunt down the Wicked Witch who is still in the Bunker trying to get the key to Oz which the Men of Letters had somehow gotten into their possession and was now in Dean's room after finding it while doing inventory. Using poppy seed extract bullets, the four are able to fight, but not defeat the near-invincible Witch. Eventually Charlie figures out that the Oz books were written by L. Frank Baum to leave clues for his daughter Dorothy, and the two find Dorothy's motorcycle still in the Bunker's garage even after over 75 years. In the motorcycle, they find the ruby slippers which Dorothy figures can be used to kill the Wicked Witch. While Dorothy distracts a possessed Sam and Dean, Charlie kills the Wicked Witch with the slippers and stops her from bringing her army of Flying Monkeys to Earth through the door to Oz, which she opened with one of the Bunker's doors. With the crisis over, Dean moves the Impala into the Bunker's newly-discovered garage and Dorothy and Charlie travel to Oz to free it from the forces of evil.

9.05 Dog Dean Afternoon

Dean brings Kevin back to the Bunker after he has a rest in Branson, Missouri which he is still recovering from as he got drunk and is still hungover. Sam, looking through the Internet, finds a case in Enid, Oklahoma of a man constricted to death and he and Dean leave to investigate it.

9.06 Heaven Can't Wait

Unable to translate the angel tablet into English, Kevin is able to use the Bunker's books to translate it into an obscure form of Cuneiform. As he, Sam and Dean set out to use the Bunker's 24 volume Cuneiform books to try to translate it, Dean gets a call from Castiel in Rexford, Idaho and leaves to investigate, using it as an excuse to get out of translating. Later, Kevin and Sam make a deal with Crowley to translate the bits referring to Metatron's spell in exchange for allowing him to call Abaddon. After the call, Crowley translates the text to learn that Metatron's spell is irreversible and Sam calls Dean to let him know. Alone in the dungeon, Crowley is later seen injecting himself with Kevin's blood.

9.09 Holy Terror

In the Bunker, Kevin Tran finds a section of the angel tablet that's so obscure that it's as if Metatron wanted to keep it hidden from a prophet. Dean asks Kevin for a spell that would hobble an angel, so that one could speak to the vessel's owner without the residing angel listening in. Kevin uses the angel tablet and an old Men of Letters book to find a angel suppressing sigil which Kevin and Dean paint in the storeroom. Kevin knows Dean is withholding information, but trusts him anyway.

Dean takes Sam to the storeroom, where he activates the sigil with his blood and quickly admits everything about Ezekial's possession after the trials, urging Sam to expel the angel. Sam is furious at being tricked, and punches Dean unconscious. Dean awakens just in time to see Gadreel lay a hand on Kevin's head and smite him. Gadreel pins Dean to the wall, confessing that he’d overheard Dean and Kevin's earlier conversation, altered the sigils so they would fail, and pretended to be Sam in the storeroom. Taking the angel and demon tablets, Gadreel exits the Bunker, leaving Dean to weep beside Kevin's body.

9.10 Road Trip

After giving Kevin a hunter's funeral, Dean smashes up part of the bunker's main room in his anger. Castiel arrives and Dean explains what happened. After Castiel comes up with the idea to use Crowley to free Sam from Gadreel's control, the two visit him in the dungeon and eventually release him to help them.

In Sam's fantasy world, he is working in the bunker on a case involving ghouls and dead cheerleaders. Crowley, upon possessing Sam, meets him here in the main room and helps him realize the truth. Crowley and Sam battle Gadreel in the dream bunker and after pinning Gadreel to the floor, Sam expels him from his body.

9.11 First Born

After attempting to enjoy a sandwich in the Bunker's main room, Castiel continues the process of healing Sam which is nearly complete only to discover that he still has some of Gadreel's grace inside him. After learning from a file written by James Haggerty that if the grace is extracted it could be used in a spell to track Gadreel, Sam and Castiel go to a room with a chair set up for the procedure and Castiel proceeds to start extracting the grace. However, after it nearly kills Sam who doesn't care, Castiel stops the extraction and finishes healing Sam, eliminating the rest of the grace. The two try the spell, but find that they didn't have enough grace to do it. Castiel then leaves to find Metatron, believing him to be the key to setting everything right.

9.13 The Purge

Sam finds Dean in the kitchen pouring over his laptop, having not slept at all. Dean has found a case involving a fat man in Stillwater, Minnesota, dying and being hundreds of pounds lighter afterwards. Sam and Dean leave to investigate the case.

Having solved the case, Sam and Dean meet up in the kitchen where Dean tries to clear the air between them about his actions to save Sam's life and is stunned when Sam claims he would not have done the same.

9.14 Captives

Sam and Dean discover the Bunker is haunted by the ghost of Kevin Tran. Kevin explains that as he died there and people who die can't get into Heaven now that its closed off, he is trapped on Earth. Kevin asks for Sam and Dean to find his mother who he has learned is alive from another ghost named Candy. Sam and Dean agree and leave.

Returning to the Bunker with Linda, Sam and Dean reunite mother and son. Linda decides to take Kevin's ghost with her despite the risks when she leaves and despite Kevin's request for Sam and Dean to put their problems behind them, they go to their separate rooms without talking.

9.16 Blade Runners

At the Bunker, Sam is researching the Mark of Cain, while Dean is frustrated as he repeatedly calls Crowley to no avail.

10.03 Soul Survivor

Having captured the now-Deanmon, Sam traps him in a room in the bunker and attempts to treat him with the demon cure, although this is complicated due to the Mark of Cain further corrupting Dean's emotions. While the cure begins to take effect, it eventually reaches a point where Dean is physically cured to the point where anti-demon sigils will have no effect on him while still emotionally corrupting him to try and kill Sam. After pursuing Sam through the bunker, Dean is captured by Castiel, allowing Sam to complete the cure and return Dean to normal. It is revealed that they keep a master set of keys in a drawer in the War Room.

10.08 Hibbing 911

As Sam and Dean are researching the Mark of Cain in the bunker's main room using the Men of Letter's files, Sam gets a call from Sheriff Jody Mills who tells them about a body that has been eaten whole. Despite her insistence that they don't help her, they decide to go help her anyway.

10.12 About a Boy

Dean holes up in his room for a week pouring over any info he can find about removing the Mark of Cain. This prompts Sam to get Dean to join him on a missing person's case instead of obsessing over the Mark and letting it consume his life. After some poking, Dean reluctantly agrees to go on the case with Sam.

10.16 Paint It Black

Olivette reveals that there are bunkers scattered across the world and when the Men of Letters plundered the Grand Coven's horde of powerful spells and potions, they were divided among the bunkers. Due to the weakened state of the Coven and the powerful warding on the bunkers, the Coven couldn't get at them.

10.17 Inside Man

As Sam is sleeping in his room, he hears Dean screaming out his name in his sleep. Sam rushes to Dean's room with his gun and discovers Dean having an intense nightmare caused by the Mark of Cain. The next morning Dean asks Sam if there are any cases available. Sam tells him that there is one but that another hunter named Rudy is handling it. Sam then tells Dean that he is going off to watch a French movie being aired at some theater and that Dean is welcome to join him, which Dean refuses. He also tells Dean to stay out of his room.

After Sam has left, Dean, being the good brother that he is, goes into Sam's room and proceeds to prank him in various ways including rubbing Sam's toothbrush under his armpit and taping his phone.

When Sam returns after having busted Metatron out of heaven along with Castiel, both he and Dean decline to mention any of the events that occurred during their time apart. Sam then goes into his room and reads a letter that Bobby had written to him concerning his mission to cure Dean of the Mark of Cain.

10.22 The Prisoner

Having failed to retrieve the Book of the Damned from Charlie Bradbury, Eldon Styne suggests to his father that they raid the bunker, taking what they can and destroying the rest. Monroe agrees, getting Eldon a new arm to replace the one he ripped off and sending him, his cousin Roscoe and younger brother Cyrus to do it.

Arriving at the bunker, Eldon kicks the door off its hinges and finds it empty. He and Roscoe begin to steal what's valuable and prepare to burn the rest as Cyrus excitedly examines the books. Cyrus tries to convince his brother not to burn everything and fails, but they are interrupted by Roscoe stumbling in and dying after being stabbed in the back by Dean. In the main room, Dean and Eldon face off and Eldon taunts Dean about Charlie Bradbury's murder before Dean reveals that he wiped out Eldon's family in revenge. He then shoots Eldon dead and murders Cyrus as he believes that despite the fact that Cyrus isn't evil now, he has evil in his blood and will eventually turn. A horrified Castiel confronts Dean and tries to convince him to let them cure him, but Dean refuses and tries to leave. When Castiel tries to stop him, Dean beats him up and nearly kills him. Dean leaves Castiel alive ultimately and leaves, warning Castiel to leave him alone or he will kill him next time.

11.02 Form and Void

After Dean deals with baby Amara and Sam finds a cure for the rabids, they both return to the Bunker. The Bunker is in the same chaotic state that it was in after the Stynes raided it, and Dean jokes that they need to get a maid. Hearing groaning coming from behind a stack of books, they find Castiel who begs for their help.

11.05 Thin Lizzie

Dean checks with Sam to see if he's found anything on Amara but he's had no luck. After Sam announces weird murders at the Lizzie Borden house, the two take off to investigate it.

11.07 Plush

Walking past Sam's room, Dean finds him praying to God for answers about the visions he has been receiving. Dean tells Sam that God didn't show up to help them stop the Apocalypse so Dean doubts He will help them with the Darkness. Sam then leads Dean to the Bunker's library where Sam has been going over all the pre-Biblical texts Castiel was able to get from Gaza and tells Dean that half he can't read and the other half have nothing in them about the Darkness. Dean then gets a call from Sheriff Donna Hanscum about a case and they leave for Minnesota.

11.08 Just My Imagination

After waking up, Sam finds the Bunker's kitchen filled with junk food and is greeted by his imaginary friend from when he was a kid, Sully. After Sam punches Sully and has a hard time believing he's real, Dean enters the kitchen as well and can't see Sully who tells Sam that he's invisible unless he wants to be seen. Sully makes himself visible to Dean, thus proving his existence to Sam. Sully explains that he's a zanna, a being who helps kids by being their imaginary friend and he needs their help as his friend was killed. Dean and Sam go to the library to discuss the situation and Sam looks up zanna in the Men of Letters records which confirm what Sully told them. While Dean is reluctant to help, Sam convinces him to investigate the death of Sully's friend.

11.09 O Brother Where Art Thou?

After another vision of himself with Lucifer in the Cage, Sam discusses with Dean the idea of going to the Cage and speaking to Lucifer over drinks in the library. Dean is reluctant to listen to Sam's idea since Lucifer had caused them so much trouble in the past, but Sam is insistent on the idea.

After getting Rowena to agree to help, Sam takes her to the Bunker's dungeon to work on decoding the Book of the Damned in order to find a way to safely open Lucifer's Cage and talk to him. Sam calls Dean who is investigating an attack on a church by Amara and lets him know that the Book of the Damned definitely has what they are looking for though they're still trying to find it. The two discuss Dean's case and after Sam hangs up, Rowena comments on his lack of trust in her despite the Winchesters telling her that they were partners in their war against Amara. Sam reminds Rowena that she has the Book of the Damned and the means to read every word of it so he's not taking the chance of letting her go free with that. Moments after they finish their conversation, Rowena finds the spell they need and tells Sam to call Crowley and that she will need some ingredients for it. Sam calls Dean but is unable to reach him due to Dean seeing Amara face-to-face. While Sam initially wants to wait for Dean, Rowena convinces him to go ahead with the plan without him and they depart the Bunker for Hell.

11.10 The Devil in the Details

After leaving Castiel to check on the mass-smiting of Amara, Dean returns to the Bunker in search of Sam but finds the place empty. As he searches, Dean gets a call from Crowley who tells Dean that Sam is in Hell with Lucifer, enraging Dean.

11.11 Into the Mystic

Sam has a restless night, haunted by memories of his encounter with Lucifer in the Cage. The next morning, Dean finds Sam cleaning his gun and shows him an article about a mysterious death nearby and asks Sam, who hasn't left the Bunker in days to come investigate with him. Sam is reluctant as they haven't heard anything on Amara or Castiel, but Dean insists.

Dean later returns to the Bunker to get gold blades to kill the Banshee that is attacking the people at the Oak Park retirement home. There Dean finds Lucifer looking for a spell to draw Amara out and, believing him to be Castiel, admits that he had two shots at Amara and failed to kill her. As Dean gathers three gold blades, he tells Lucifer the story of his encounters with Amara and admits to having an attraction to her. Lucifer is intrigued and tells Dean the attraction between him and Amara could be a good thing and could help draw Amara out. Dean then gets a call from Sam and checks the Men of Letters records for Edward Durban II and finds him as part of a Men of Letters delegation that was sent to Europe. After going over their plan for killing the Banshee, Dean leaves, making Lucifer promise not to tell anyone what they had talked about.

After killing the Banshee the Winchesters return to the Bunker where they find Lucifer gone. The two wonder about the strange behavior of "Cas" but dismiss it. Sam tells Dean about Lucifer showing him how Sam had abandoned Dean after he got trapped in Purgatory and admits he's never forgiven himself for it. Dean tells Sam he has and all that matters is they are together. The two then go to bed and Sam, unburdened, is finally able to sleep while Dean remains restless.

11.12 Don't You Forget About Me

Dean enters the Bunker's library with food to find that Sam hasn't found a new case or anything on Amara. Dean admits that he also doesn't have anything on Castiel. As the two discuss Dean's taste in food, they get a call from Claire Novak and go to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to see her.

11.13 Love Hurts

As Sam reads an article on the death of Stacy Altman, Dean enters the kitchen for breakfast. The two discuss Dean's Valentine's Day activities and then Sam shows Dean the article. After hearing that Stacy had her heart ripped out of her chest, Dean agrees to check the case out after taking a shower.

11.14 The Vessel

Dean enters the kitchen to find Sam pouring over history books and them out of coffee with spoiled milk. Sam tells him that he's going through the history books to find something that can help them defeat Amara and found information that the Nazis got their hands on a Hand of God but it was stolen by Delphine Seydoux who the Nazis believed was a Woman of Letters. The two then look through the Bunker's records and find a report in French written by Clifford Henshaw, a Bunker-based Man of Letters in 1943 that they translate using the Internet. They learn that after Delphine stole the Hand of God, Henshaw arranged for Delphine to transport the weapon back to the Bunker on the USS Bluefin, but the submarine was sank en route and the contents never recovered. As a result, the Hand of God never made it to the Bunker. In order to get at the Hand of God, the Winchesters then call what they believe to be Castiel to the Bunker but is in fact Lucifer. Lucifer is surprised that any of the Hands of God survived the Flood and the twentieth century and tells them that he can get them to the past. After an argument about who will go, Lucifer takes Dean back in time to the Bluefin, leaving Sam behind in the Bunker.

Later, Sam is reading up on the Bluefin when Lucifer returns to the Bunker soaking wet. Lucifer tells Sam that while Dean got on the sub, he couldn't get past the Bluefin's hull due to warding. After Lucifer refutes Sam's ideas to leave a message for Dean before the sub departed or to send Sam back, Sam began looking through the Bunker's books for a way to clear the Bluefin's warding from the outside. Sam eventually finds the Spell of Gathering which would allow an angel to focus their power and clear all warding, but discovers that it requires the power of an archangel and begins looking for another way, still believing Lucifer to be Castiel. After Sam finds Lucifer still trying the spell, he offers to let "Castiel" touch his soul to get the power he needs, but Lucifer reveals himself to Sam and starts drawing power from his soul, planning to destroy him at the same time. However, Castiel manages to regain control of his body and stop Lucifer from killing Sam. Castiel tells Sam how he came to be possessed by Lucifer but is unable to expel him as he doesn't have the strength and they need Lucifer to retrieve Dean from the past.

After Dean and Lucifer return from 1943, Sam warns Dean that its not really Castiel who saved him. Lucifer throws Dean across the room and mocks his disguise as Castiel. Lucifer attempts to use the Hand of God to kill the Winchesters, but finds that its power was expended by Delphine using it on the German destroyer. As Lucifer advances on Dean, Sam draws an angel banishing sigil on the Bunker wall and uses it to banish Lucifer out of the Bunker, saving them.

11.15 Beyond the Mat

Sam enters the Bunker library where Dean gives him some advil and lets him know that he's found an article on the death of Larry "The Hangman" Lee, their father's favorite wrestler. Dean suggests that they go to the funeral and tells a protesting Sam that they have no clues on how to beat Amara, find another Hand of God or save Castiel so he suggests they take a break.

After stopping the rogue Crossroads Demon Duke, the Winchesters return to the Bunker more determined than ever to stop Amara and Lucifer and rescue Castiel.

11.17 Red Meat

As Dean futiley searches for a way to save Castiel from Lucifer, Sam searches the Internet and finds a werewolf case. While Dean is reluctant to go as he wants to find a way to save Castiel, Sam convinces him to leave the Bunker and go investigate the case with him.

11.18 Hell's Angel

After getting the Horn of Joshua, a Hand of God, Crowley calls Dean to tell him as he's making his morning coffee in the Bunker. Dean is dubious at first, worried that Crowley really hasn't escaped Lucifer and is being forced to help draw Dean into a trap. However, after Crowley reveals that he has a Hand of God, he gets Dean's attention. Crowley tells Dean where to meet him before hanging up and Dean calls out to Sam to get his attention.

In an attempt to get Castiel to expel Lucifer, Crowley enters his vessel and finds Castiel in the Bunker's kitchen with the door bricked up in his mind. Castiel explains that the kitchen, where he's watching a small TV is his safe place, but Lucifer's hold on Castiel proves too strong for Crowley to get him to expel the archangel. Lucifer then enters the kitchen in the form of his long-dead vessel Nick and attacks Crowley. As Castiel watches TV, Lucifer throws Crowley around Castiel's version of the Bunker's kitchen and nearly kills him before Sam exorcises Crowley from Castiel and saves his life.

After the failed attempt to evict Lucifer from Castiel, the Winchesters return to the Bunker where they discuss the events that had occurred. Sam and Dean note how similar Crowley and Rowena are in that they ran away when things got tough and discuss how even Lucifer with the power of a Hand of God couldn't harm Amara. Dean suggests that as Lucifer is a fallen angel he couldn't properly wield its power and the two vow to rescue their friend from Lucifer and Amara.

11.19 The Chitters

A week after Castiel and Lucifer were captured by Amara, Dean sits in the Bunker's library, sifting through lore and trying to find a way to save his friend. Sam assures Dean that they will get Castiel back and that Amara needs him alive for something before showing Dean an article on his laptop of a girl disappearing outside of Gunnison, Colorado and then turning into a green-eyed mutant. Dean reluctantly agrees to work the case with Sam and they leave for Gunnison.

11.20 Don't Call Me Shurley

In the Bunker's kitchen, Dean irons the shirt from Sam's fed suit with beer when Sam enters to tell him about a case in Hope Springs, Idaho where a perfectly happy man committed a murder-suicide. Suspecting possession or the man being soulless, Dean agrees to check out the case and Sam is left annoyed as he follows him out after realizing that Dean has been ironing his shirts with beer again.

11.21 All in the Family

After Chuck Shurley reveals himself as God, he teleports himself, Sam and Dean to the Bunker when Dean expresses doubt that Chuck is who he says he is. Kevin Tran's ghost then appears from behind Chuck to the Winchesters shock and tells them to trust Chuck and whatever he has planned for them. Chuck then waves his hand and sends Kevin's soul to Heaven where it belongs.

Following Kevin's departure, the Winchesters sit down with Chuck to get answers on everything with Sam excited but Dean unhappy because of how long Chuck has been away when the world needed him as God. Chuck explains that he was once very hands-on but it did no good so he stepped back to let his creation find its own way which he believes worked. While Dean feels Chuck is just trying to justify what he did, Chuck tells him not to confuse Chuck with his dad. Chuck tells the Winchesters that Amara is relentless and he has come back to stop her, but she has warded herself from his ability to detect her but he has faith in them. As Chuck heads off to a guestroom in the Bunker, the Winchesters bring up how Amara is holding Lucifer captive and last time, Chuck needed his help to defeat her. Getting emotional, Chuck refuses to hear of him saving Lucifer and leaves the library. Later that night, as Dean searches police databases for clues, Amara telepathically contacts him to let Dean know that she is aware that God has returned and asks him to pass on the message that Lucifer and Castiel aren't doing well if he sees God. The next morning, Dean finds Sam looking through the Internet for clues on Amara's location and the two discuss the weirdness of the situation with having God in the Bunker and how Rowena and the Book of the Damned could be useful to them if they could find them. Dean also fills Sam in on Amara contacting him about Lucifer before Chuck enters and tells them that its a mistake to get involved with Lucifer. Sam then finds an article on a toxic cloud generated by Amara in Lewis, Oklahoma that killed thousands of people, leaving only Donatello Redfield still alive. Chuck explains that Amara is baiting him but refuses to respond to the attack and tells them to find her.

After picking up Donatello who is the next Prophet, the Winchesters return to the Bunker where Dean finds Chuck watching curling on his computer. Chuck is unconcerned by the development and tells Dean that he's never seen so much porn in one sitting when questioned by Dean about using his computer. After shutting the lid of his computer and asking Chuck to tone down the "God stuff", Dean has Sam bring in Donatello who is shocked to meet God as he's an atheist. Meeting God gets Donatello to be willing to help them locate Amara.

After an unsuccessful meeting where he tries to convince Chuck not to sacrifice himself to Amara, Dean brings Donatello some beer in the Bunker's library and tells him that he's not sure that Chuck is leaning their way but they have a chance if they can rescue Lucifer for added strength with battling Amara. Sam then leads Metatron into the Bunker after he texted them repeatedly to be let in so he could help them. Metatron reminds the Winchesters that he transcribed the angel tablet and knows all of its spells, has an understanding of Amara and a relationship with God. After Metatron tells them that he cares because he had been with God since the Creation and he feels he should do anything he can to save God and his creation now that he plans to sacrifice himself to Amara, Dean tells him that their plan is to rescue Lucifer and convince Chuck to use him to fight Amara. The group then discusses their plan for rescuing Lucifer, joined by Metatron.

As Amara prepares to kill them, the Impala with Sam, Lucifer and Donatello is suddenly teleported into the Bunker's storage room. The group is shocked to find themselves back in the Bunker and Chuck emerges and tells them that he does occasionally answer a prayer and saved them. From across the Bunker's library, God and Lucifer see each other for the first time in millennia and comment on how much the other has changed. Chuck then heals Lucifer's injuries with a wave of his finger to everyone's shock.

Behind the Scenes

View from the main war room into the library. Pic by Tara Larsen.

The reveal of that [bunker], which I believe is in the next episode... it’s a really stunning set. It's full of mysteries, [and] it'll become kind of a home base for the boys. We're really excited about it. After eight years of never really having a home base, this will be home base for quite some time, and I think you guys will really dig the set. It's really cool. They'll go to great pains to keep it hidden. It's also kind of impenetrable. We've had places like this before [ie. Rufus' cabin]. They need a place, not just for us to have a set to shoot on, but I think that the boys need a place where they can decompress, have their bromance. When you see this set you realize they have lots of room to move around and there's lots of really cool things in there. Adam [Glass, the episode's writer] came up with this idea and we really latched on to it immediately. It's a very expensive set, and we're going to be using it [a lot]. – Bob Singer, Source

When Adam Glass brought the Men of Letters into his episode, it was the opportunity to give [the Winchester brothers] a really, really cool atmosphere -- a rich kind of space for them to be in. Jerry Wanek has done a beautiful job making it real. – Ben Edlund, Source

When Edlund first sat down to write the language to make the set become real he said that he:

Kind of got really prosey in the scripts because I was just so excited to do it I had to limit myself. It started out unproducible, and then we scaled it back. At one point, it was constructed as ‘an echo of the Axis Mundi’ and it actually was a mini-universe underground that had all of these spiral staircases. But this is just gorgeous. I made something that was unshootable, and Jerry made it something incredible. – Ben Edlund, Source

The design was overseen by John Marcynuk and Jerry Wanek. Jerry describes some of the background and detail in the bunker :

"Because the Men of Letters were well-versed in everything from physics to astrology and the occult, they needed a power base. So I thought if they piggybacked off a WPA power station, that would license to have an art deco theme throughout the bunker. What started off as a bunker, we adapted into a sanctuary, that has a working laboratory and a huge library. We have a shooting range and a storage area with a dungeon behind it, as well as bedrooms and an observatory with a telescope."

• The map on the wall is marked with every city Sam and Dean have visited. Jerry Wanek said "I know it doesn't make sense for the Men of Letters to have this but we did it as a nod to our fans and our writers."

• The war room is inspired by the one in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. "All these gauges signified something at some time, but now we'll never know. We have an old teletype, a reel-to-reel tape deck, and old phones. We are historically accurate but it also has to have a sense of design and versatility."

• There are hidden symbols in the frieze around the library, plus sigils and devil traps above the bookcases. At the bottom is a bronze devil trap. At every doorway, there is a symbol which would be the next line of defense if a demon broke in.

• The library bookcases and columns are on wheels to make it camera-friendly.

• The staircase was originally used in Crowley's torture chamber in season seven.

• Detailed photos of the set by Clarissa of ScreenFad

• Photos from the set by S.E. Hinton

External links

• Blogger visit to the Bunker by Screenfad
• Actual location of the Bunker in Vancouver by SupernaturalLocations
• A Closer Look At Dean's Bedroom by karen on The Winchester Family Business site
• A Closer Look At Sam's Bedroom by karen on The Winchester Family Business site