Black

Black is the season premiere of Season 10. It aired on October 7th, 2014.

Summary
Dean is a demon and running amok with Crowley while Sam tries to figure out what happened to his brother. Meanwhile, Castiel is dealing with his diminishing grace.

Plot
A demon, Dar, is being tortured. She tells her torturer that he has lost his soul and any ethics he had. Her tormentor is Sam Winchester, trying to find Dean and Crowley.

 Back at the bunker, Sam keeps researching - looking for signs of demonic activity by tracking weather events, cattle deaths, and crop failures, and by calling other hunters. He wanders into Dean's bedroom and looks at the only clue he has, a note left presumably by Dean that reads, "Sammy let me go."

Sam finds what he think may be a clue - a man called Drew Neely who had killed his family and disappeared three years earlier has been found dead. Sam theorizes that Neely was possessed by a demon, who may have possessed Dean and left Neely's body to die. Sam calls to share the news with Castiel, who is anxious for news of Dean. Picking up that Castiel is seriously unwell, Sam backtracks and tells him not to worry, that the clue probably isn't anything.

At a bar called the Black Spur, Dean is singing karaoke - badly - and later has sex with a waitress called Ann Marie. He warns her not to get attached as he's just passing through. Crowley interrupts them, and he and Dean go to play foosball. Later, Dean notices a guy harassing Ann Marie, follows him outside, and delivers a severe beating to him in front of a shocked Ann Marie.

Hannah visits Castiel. She tells him that rebuilding is proceeding in Heaven; Metatron is in jail, and reconciliation amongst the angels is proceeding. However, some angels remain on Earth, and recently two of them - Daniel and Adina - killed an angel who tried to get them to return to Heaven. Hannah asks for Castiel's help in finding them, and he agrees.

 In Wisconsin, Sam is investigating Drew Neely's death. When the police show him the security footage from the Gas-n-Sip, Sam recognizes Dean. In the footage Dean is reading a porn magazine when Drew draws a blade and attacks him. Dean fights back and kills him, stabbing him repeatedly with the First Blade. Sam believes that his suspicion that a demon is possessing Dean has been confirmed when Dean's eyes flash black on the tape. He travels to the store himself, where the clerk gives him Neely's phone.

At the Black Spur, one of Abaddon's demonic followers attacks Dean, who fights and kills him.

Sam finds a text on Neely's phone that had alerted the demon to Dean's presence there, and realizes that the demon had also been an Abaddon loyalist. He calls the number, and Crowley answers, revealing that Crowley has been sending Abaddon loyalists after Dean. Sam vows to save Dean or die trying. Crowley taunts him, saying he's jealous that Crowley is Dean's best friend now, and informs him that Dean is not possessed, but that the Mark of Cain has twisted his soul until it is demonic.

 Sam traces Crowley's location to Beulah, North Dakota, via an app, a move which Crowley has anticipated. Crowley tells Dean of his talk with Sam in order to convince him that is time to leave. He wants Dean to come with him to Hell and act as Crowley's second-in-command. Crowley reveals he had been sending demons after Dean because he knows that Dean needs to kill to 'feed' the Mark of Cain. He tells Dean to choose whether to come with him and rule Hell, or not.

During the night Dean drinks and sings karaoke - even worse than before - and drinks a lot more, even shoving a man off the stage when the man tries to usher him away. Later when he's in bed, Anne Marie brings him some water. He proposes that they take off together, but she says that when she saw him beat her ex, she realized he wasn't a good man. Dean is cruel to her, and she leaves, saying that she knows she is so damaged she'll probably think that she deserved it.

Hannah and Castiel travel to find the two rogue angels. Hannah confronts Castiel about his fading grace, but he angrily rebuts the implication that another angel die for him to get more grace. They find Daniel and Adina, who want to stay on Earth, having found much there they enjoy. Hannah persists - that they must return to Heaven; Heaven needs rules to operate. A fight ensures during which Castiel has to kill Daniel to save Hannah. Adina escapes. Hannah continues to insist to Castiel that Heaven needs rules, but Castiel says that the chaos on Earth can produce good things - art, hope, dreams, love - that Hannah points out are "human things."

On his way to the Black Spur, Sam's car breaks down. A man, Cole, stops to help, but reveals he rigged Sam's car to stop, and kidnaps him. In a barn, he prepares to torture Sam for Dean's location, alluding to some connection to Dean hinted to earlier in the episode, which has lead to him now wanting to kill Dean. He uses Sam's phone to call Dean, who answers as he is driving, alone. Cole demands Dean meet him or he will kill Sam. Dean refuses, telling Cole that he told Sam not to come look for him, but warns Cole that if he kills Sam, Dean will find and kill him.

Characters

 * Sam Winchester
 * Dean Winchester
 * Castiel
 * Crowley
 * Hannah
 * Cole Trenton
 * Ann Marie
 * Dar (Demon Girl)
 * Daniel
 * Adina

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * Demons
 * Knights of Hell (Demon Dean)
 * Angels

Quotes

 * Crowley: "Moose! Took you long enough. Your brother and I were beginning to wonder if you'd hit another dog."


 * Crowley: "Moose, Moose. I'm afraid you haven't allowed yourself to dream quite big enough here. Your brother is very much alive, courtesy of The Mark. The only demonized soul inside of Dean is his and his alone. Wee bit more twisted, a little more mangled beyond human recognition. But I can assure you, all his. There now, feel better?"


 * Crowley: "You know what tickles me about all this? It's what's really eating you up. You don't care that he's a demon. Heck you've been a demon, we've all been demons. No. It's that he's with me, and he's having the time of his life. You can't stand the fact that he's mine."
 * Sam: "He's not your pet!"
 * Crowley: "My Pet? He's my best friend. My partner in crime. They'll write songs about us, graphic novels! 'The Misadventures of Growley and Squirrel'. Dean Winchester completes me, and that's what makes you lose your chickens."

Trivia

 * Antagonists: Dean Winchester and Cole Trenton
 * The title is likely a reference to Dean's eyes.
 * This episode is Crowley's 35th appearance and the first to credit him as a series regular after having major recurring roles during the last 2 consecutive seasons.
 * Sam has another broken arm, and it is alluded to have happened during a hunting accident with Castiel.


 * Jared Padalecki was reportedly wrestling with Osric Chau (Kevin Tran) at a Con in Rome, and dislocated his shoulder, requiring surgery. Jared broke his hand during the first season, but was able to film without a cast. He also broke his arm during the filming of Season 2's Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, and the cast was written into subsequent episodes.

Featured Music

 * Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar (Played during "The Road so Far" montage)


 * Imaginary Lover by Atlanta Rhythm Section (sung by Dean in the Karaoke machine)


 * I'm too Sexy by Right Said Fred (sang by Dean in the Karaoke machine)

References to Popular Culture

 * Sam asks the till boy if he just "kept on keeping on": Might be a reference to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
 * Dean telling Cole, "I will find you, and I will kill you." is most likely a nod to Liam Neeson's famous line from the film Taken.

Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=691bIPI7SP8