Supernatural Recap S9E14: Captives

The bunker is empty and quiet. Dean listens to some tunes, but something other than the boys are in there. Dean calls out and Sam searches for him, grabbing a sword on his way, but there’s nothing solid to attack. Something starts to materialize, when it gets shot by Dean. There’s something haunting their bunker, as if they didn’t have enough problems. So much for being the safest place in the planet, with the amount of wards and sigils Sam reasons that nothing got in. It’s been fifty years since anyone has occupied the bunker, and ghosts don’t typically wait that long before becoming active, so all signs point to it being Kevin, even if Dean did cremate him. At the mention of Kevin’s name, a coffee mug breaks. Looks like Kevin is coming back one way or another.

Castiel catches up to an Angel at Rebecca’s funeral. He tells Cas that she had no contact with Metatron after the fall, she gave it all up. Rebecca taught her followers that the angels have lost touch with their true mission. They want nothing more than to live humbly among the humans, until the monster, Bartholomew killed her and everyone else.

Sam stares at the coffee maker, but doesn’t get much from him. It’s taken Kevin time to make contact, and the boys plan to keep trying to communicate with him. Dean takes a stab at it, but he can’t deal with talking to the coffee maker. He tells Kevin he’s sorry. Kevin never chose the life that he was brought into, and he lost everything, while Dean was helpless to stop it. He pours out his heart, and misses the flickering light. Sam sees it, and comes running back. Kevin flickers into existence. Dean wonders why Kevin isn’t in Heaven. If anyone deserves to be, it’s certainly him. Heaven is closed off since the angels fell. Everyone is stuck inside of the Veil, and it’s not the best of situations. Kevin tells the boys that he wants them to find his mother. Dean tells him that Crowley was just trying to get a rise out of him, but Kevin isn’t so sure. It’s crowded in the Veil, and he’s talked to other spirits, Candy, one who recently saw his mother in Kansas. Kevin tells Dean that this is how he makes things right, so of course Dean is going to do it.

Some suits catch up to Castiel, looking for the other angel with their angel blades at the ready. He tells him that he’s long gone, but they recognize him. That’s what happens when you have such a handsome mug. The head suit has been looking for him, looks like someone is headed to see Bartholomew.

   

The boys head to Wichita, Kansas. Candy died in the woods, and the boys are going to summon her. Dean even brought the handy coffee maker to help with the process.

Castiel waits in the waiting room from hell for Bartholomew. Not a tv or magazine in sight only some dull conversation from one of the suits. Batholomew takes Castiel’s blade, and the two embrace like old friends.

Sam gets a little chilly out in the woods. Dean tries again unsuccessfully to reach Crowley, and Sam points out that maybe he’s just not into Dean. But Dean has to keep trying, since he’s the last confirmed link. With the last of Dean’s beer gone, the radio goes a little wild. Candy is trying to reach out.

Bartholomew thought Castiel went off the deep end when he took on Raphael, but he held his tongue. Castiel rose to power as Bartholomew stayed behind. Castiel points out that he gained a reputation of his own for the cruelty and malice he inflicted upon captives in his care. Bartholomew received his marching orders, and had no choice, but now Bartholomew follows no one, he gives the orders.

Dean fiddles with the radio knobs trying to get a good signal. Candy tells them that she was in a box, that there were others all in boxes. It was cold, and dark, and a vent allowed them to talk to one another. It sounds like a storage unit with its corrugated door. Two men held her captive, one being Crowley, by her description. He told her she was more valuable alive, until he stopped coming. The other one continued to come, to feed her, and she tried to escape. She ran through the forest, but she was caught, and killed. She doesn’t know what happened to Mrs. Tran. She tells them for her sake, she hopes she’s dead.

She isn’t though. She’s still being held in that room, being visited by that man, and by all the screaming it doesn’t seem like she likes him all that much.

The boys head to nearby storage facilities. Candy in life was a politician’s kept mistress. Crowley wanted to keep the victims alive, but the other guy was the one who did the killing. Sam doesn’t see it as a virtue, but Dean is giving the King of Hell the benefit of the doubt.

Bartholomew continues to reveal way too much of his plan. Castiel isn’t  quite trusting of this little friendship, but Bartholomew insist that they want he same thing. They both want to find Metatron and restore heaven. A drop of blood spilt to avoid a gallon, seems like a small thing to ask, he killed Rebecca and her followers to prevent a future uprising. Bartholomew sounds sure that he will beat Malachi and followers in their quest for Metatron, and wants Castiel aboard his crazy train. There’s a method to his madness, and if Castiel can stomach his methods then they can work together.

The boys head to a storage facility flashing badges, asking for the rental binder. Del complies, while Sam takes a look at the map. There is a perfect location for the captives, and they’re all leased by the same guy D. Webster, as in Daniel Webster, which sounds like just the name Crowley would chose. Del overhears the name, and he tells them that he’s also leasing another unit on the other side of the facility. Dean follows Del to the other unit, and Sam heads to the other block of units.

Dean finds some scary looking tools, but Sam finds Mrs Tran. She tells him that they need to get out before he comes back, and while Sam is toying with her chains, someone uses a remote to lock them in. The door is strong enough, not even the moose can get it open. Del watches the pair on the camera feed on his phone. All the while, Dean has no clue just what Del is doing, as he looks though the hodpodge of stuff. Dean asks if Del is sure that its leased by Webster, and Del says it is, but Dean finds a package that says otherwise. Just as all the pieces come together, and Del knocks out Dean. His poor noggin sure does take a beating.

Bartholomew takes Castiel to his war room. It’s full of Metaton sightings, but nothing concrete yet. Bartholomew has been distracted taking out rebel factions that he hasn’t had time to fully focus on Metatron, but with Castiel by his side, and more determined than ever to find Metatron, there’s nothing that could stop them. A set of suits come in with a bagged angel, the one from Rebecca’s funeral. Bartholomew plans to torture him to find out what he knows and then kill him. Castiel looks like he is no longer willing to drink the Kool-Aid.

Sam breaks Mrs. Tran’s shackles. She tells him that there’s an electrical line that leads to the control panel. Sam is hesitates for a second looking at the wires, and Mrs. Tran takes over. She’s learned a few things from Kevin, and she still has no clue her son is dead. She hopes that they left him some place safe, and Sam tries to break the news to her, but she insists that he will take her to her son.

Dean wakes up on the floor next to Del’s dead co-worker. Del is complaining about Crowley and his internship. The job sucks, and the boss has been M.I.A. What’s worse, he was told not to kill anyone, but to protect them. He hopes that when he calls Crowley to tell him he bagged the Winchesters, he’ll be happy with him, but he knows that’s a slim chance. Dean tells him, if anything Crowley will be upset since they’re such bosom buddies now. Del looks sickened as Dean tells him that they’ve been hanging out. Del throws his nametag to the ground, he’s through being leashed.

Bartholomew cuts away at the poor angel, but he has nothing left to tell. Bartholomew hands the blade over to Castiel to finish the job, but he doesn’t want to, there’s no point. Bartholomew tells him that the reason he was brought back from the battle was because they knew that Castiel couldn’t slaughter the captives, that he would stand in the way, but Bartholomew hopes that he’s changed. Castiel has done bad things, he’s murdered to regain his grace, but it’s not who he is. Bartholomew wants to work with Castiel but they need to see that guiltless unconscionable side that can get the job done no matter the cost, they need to know that he can be that ruthless killer. There was never any hope in this partnership, Castiel has too many morals, too much hope to fall into this line, and he finally realizes it. He chooses to oppose Bartholomew, and Bartholomew plunges the knife into the tortured angel, killing him while Castiel is restrained and unable to do anything to stop him.

Del thanks Dean for reminding him what he truly is as he cuts him across the throat. Sam enters before Del can cause any major damage, and the smaller man is little match for the moose.

Bartholomew doesn’t appreciate Castiel’s superiority, though he should be use to that gruff attitude by now. He punches Castiel, but Castiel refuses to hit him back, he sees that angels fighting angels needs to stop. Bartholomew goes after Castiel with a blade as he tells his men to stand down, but Castiel is much faster, and quickly gets the upperhand turning Bartholomew’s blade on him. Bartholomew tries to be the martyr, but Castiel refuses to finish him, throwing the blade away. Bartholomew tells him that there can be no peace without bloodshed, and pulls another angel blade from his suit. He tries to spring on Castiel, but Castiel catches him, and plunges the blade into his stomach. Bartholomew’s men look shocked, but they let Castiel pass.

Sam and Dean have Del detained in special demon cuffs. Del thinks that they’re going to serve him up to Crowley, but they have someone else in mind. Mrs. Tran gets the honor of dishing out some justice, and she uses his own blade against him. With Del dead she just wants to be taken to her son.

The boys return to the bunker, and deliver the good news to Kevin. They tell him that they found her mother, and that she’s there. He asks if they’ve told her yet, when she comes in, and sees him. Dean gives her all of Kevin’s things. She finds a ring, which was his fathers. She tells him that if Kevin’s spirit is bound to an object, its to that ring. Dean warns her, that they’re not sure about the whole heaven situation, but that being stuck in the Veil has some very negative effects on the spirits. It doesn’t matter to her though. Kevin is her son, and its her job to keep him safe.

Castiel goes to Rebecca’s grave. She may have lost the war, but he respects that she tried a new way to solve the problem. One of Bartholomew’s suit’s approaches Castiel. He makes it clear that he doesn’t want to fight, but he can and will. He doesn’t want to fight either. He tells Castiel that when he fell he thought he didn’t have a choice, but Castiel showed him that he does. Castiel may not think he’s a leader, but the angel thinks otherwise. He pledges himself to Castiel, and he is not alone.

Kevin plans to protect his mother too. She was held and tortured for a year because of him and he won’t let it happen again. Sam tells him that he failed him, but Kevin knows that it wasn’t Sam that killed him. He doesn’t blame either of them for his death, and he thanks them for what they’ve done. The job isn’t done until he gets to heaven, Dean tells him. Before he goes, he makes the boys promise him to get over it. The fighting, the drama he tells them is stupid. His mom is taking home a ghost, but he reminds the boys that they’re both still there. Although the boys agree to his wishes, Sam isn’t much for the forgive and forget. He walks away, and they both go back to their separate corners, for now.