Reichenbach

Reichenbach is the 2nd episode of Season 10. It was aired on October 14, 2014.

Summary
CROWLEY TELLS DEAN THE MARK NEEDS TO BE FED — Crowley (Mark Sheppard) notices Dean (Jensen Ackles) is becoming more and more aggressive. Dean tells him that’s the side effect of being a demon, but Crowley knows it’s something more - the Mark of Cain needs to be fed. Meanwhile, Sam (Jared Padalecki) is captured by Cole (guest star Travis Aaron Wade), an angry man who blames Dean for his father’s death years ago and wants revenge. Cole tortures Sam, hoping he’ll tell him where Dean is hiding. Hannah (guest star Erica Carroll) sees how weak Castiel (Misha Collins) is becoming as his grace continues to fade, so she makes a bold choice and asks Metatron (guest star Curtis Armstrong) for help.

Plot
On June 21, 2003, a thirteen year-old boy is seen sleeping in his bedroom when he's awoken by sounds of a struggle downstairs. He slowly goes down the stairs to investigate, tripping in his father's blood, whose laying on the ground, throat slit, and a pool of blood around him. Crying for his dad, he hears someone coming back in. His father's killer. Carrying a regular, bloody silver knife is a younger Dean, about twenty-four at the time. He looks down sympathetically at the young boy whose father he had just slain.

Back to the present time is Cole telling a still tied-up Sam how Dean was the one who killed his father, and this is why he is hunting Dean. He wants to avenge his father's death. Sam says he's sorry, but tries to tell Cole that Dean had to have killed him for a reason. Cole reminds Sam that he has no reason to protect Dean since he told Cole to go ahead and kill him. When Sam attempts to tell him that there are monsters out there, Cole assumes he means psychotic humans, such as suicide bombers or child soldiers. But Sam means monsters such as vampires and werewolves. Sam shows Cole the hunting weapons he carries in his dufflel bag, even though Cole still doesn't believe him. Instead he pulls out his own bag, puts on a pair of gloves and pulls out a hammer.

As the song Cherry Pie plays, Dean is enjoying watching a stripper at a strip bar, but he doesn't stop touching her after being warned that it's a rule. When a bouncer tries to make him leave, Dean begins beating him mercilessly.

As the scene goes back and forth between Dean beating up the bouncer and Cole torturing Sam. Cole continues to try to beat some answers out of Sam. Even grabbing Sam by the neck, then trying to break his injured arm. But Sam refuses to give up his brother. Cole then decides to take it farther and prepares to take a swing at Sam's knee with his hammer. Sam is saved by a cute ringtone coming from Cole's pocket; his wife calling him. When Cole goes to leave the room he drops his keys, which have a pocket knife attached. Sam notices this as Cole leaves the room to talk to his son. Cole comes back, and chair is empty and laying on the floor.

As Dean leaves the bar he finds Crowley standing outside waiting for him. Wanting to talk about Dean's "anger management issues".

Castiel washes his face over a sink outside somewhere, then tries to heal his wound, to no avail. Hannah comes over and heals it for him. Cas then gets call from Sam, telling him to meet him in Beulah, North Dakota because Dean and Crowley were recently there. But when Sam tells Cas that Dean is a demon, Castiel is clearly upset and completely surprised. Cas agrees to meet him there, and Sam finds an old truck and steals it, preventing Cole from being able to use a kill-switch again. Hannah and Cas ride in the middle of the night to meet with Sam. Hannah expresses how much she doesn't like Sam and Dean, but Castiel defends them, telling her they are his friends. He begins to fall asleep while driving as a large truck approaches and almost crashes into them. Castiel avoids the truck but crashes into a tree instead.

Dean and Crowley are sitting at a bar, and Crowley asks Dean how he's been. Tells him that because of the Mark of Cain, he's changed. Dean replies by flashing his demon black eyes. Crowley acknowledges that the Mark needs to be fed by Dean killing someone. Crowley offers him a kill: A woman who cheated on her husband, was caught, and is divorcing him and wants half his money. The husband made a deal with Crowley to sell his soul in exchange for having his wife, Mindy, killed. Then tells Dean that there's something else he needs to tell him.

Castiel's car is towed to an Auto Repair, and the woman offers to let Cas and Hannah stay at her place for the night while she fixes the car. Hannah goes to inspect the food in the fridge. When she comes back Castiel is asleep on the couch. She lays his trenchcoat over him like a blanket.

Dean stands outside Mindy's window, watching her, preparing to follow Crowley's deal when a car approaches. Mindy's husband, Lester, wants to sit outside the house and make sure the killing "gets done right". Dean tells him that waiting outside the house is a bad idea, then calls him a loser. Lester then reveals that he cheated first, thinking it's different when men do it. Dean punches him, and Lester calls Dean a "punk-ass demon and that he works for him", and to go do his job, calling him a "freak". Dean then proceeds to stab and kill him with the First Blade.

Sam is outside the bar where Dean beat up the bouncer, who he is questioning. As he drives away, Cole is sitting in his car nearby, following Sam.

When Castiel wakes up the next morning, the mechanic's daughter sits next to him, and they bond over talking about dreams. Hannah and the mechanic see just how well Cas is with children, and how great a guy he is.

Crowley has a meeting with his demons, which he is clearly bored with. Dean comes back and tells him that he killed Lester instead of Mindy, thus breaking the deal and losing Crowley Lester's soul. Crowley then tells Dean that he needs to pick a side, being a demon or being human. Dean responds with "Or what?" He then proceeds to shove Crowley, who tells him that their relationship is over.

Sam walks out of his motel room with Crowley waiting for him outside. Offering to give up Dean to Sam.

Castiel wakes up in the car again, at a playground, finding that Hannah has gone to Heaven to talk to Metatron. He's still behind bars, this time wearing a straightjacket. Hannah demands to know if there is any more of Cas's grace left, and that she wants it. Metatron says he'll give it to her if she lets him out. He says he is done with Earth, and wants to escape to another planet. He taunts her into making a deal, but Castiel interupts and tells her that he would rather die than let him. Cas knows that deals like this always end badly, and Hannah listens. Before leaving, Cas tells Metatron that him being locked up is his "happy place". Metatron yells to Cas that he will die, and that eventually Metatron will escape and kill everyone.

Dean is sitting at a piano at a bad, pondering over what Crowley said to him. He looks over and sees Sam, who tells him that Crowley sold him out. Sam wants to cure Dean, but Dean reminds him that he left because he didn't want to be cured. Sam tells him that he's come to take him back home, which Dean makes fun of. Just as Sam is about to try to handcuff him with demon cuffs, a smoke can breaks through the window. Sam runs outside where Cole knocks him out.

Dean and Cole finally have a face-off. Dean taunts Cole for not having killed Sam. Then Cole tells him that Dean is the one who killed his father when he was thirteen. Dean doesn't deny it, but doesn't seem to remember. Cole shows how prepared he is to fight him, pulls out a knife, and charges him. Dean is able to hold him off with ease, almost laughing about it. All of Cole's knowledge in martial arts and fighting isn't enough to defeat Dean, who continues to make fun of him. Cole responds by cutting Dean's cheek, who then grabs him and reveals that he's a demon by flashing his black eyes before beating him brutally. Dean then pulls out the First Blade and holds it to Cole's throat. Cole screams at Dean to kill him, but he changes his mind and drops him.

While Dean is distracted by this, Sam splashes holy water on him. Dean flails his arms and groans in pain as Sam grabs his arm and cuffs that hand. Dean goes to grab Sam with his free hand, which gets cuffed too. Sam screams at him to stop, that it's over. Dean glaring up hatefully at his brother.

With Dean in the backseat of the Impala, handcuffed, watches as Sam hands over the First Blade to Crowley, who tells him that he'll get creative in hiding the blade. Knowing that Dean will want to get back at him for ratting him out if he gets a hold of the blade. Before leaving, he takes one last look at Dean, who glares at him with pure hatred.

Cole is holding onto a bookshelf, bloodied and out of breath. He demands to have every book the library has on demons.

Crowley looks back for a bit on his and Dean's time together, sadly. His demons convince him that it's time for them to move on, and they leave the bar they're at.

Dean and Sam head back to the bunker, with Dean handcuffed and Sam driving. Sam notices how messy the car is. Dean responds with, "It's just a car, Sam," which surprises him, showing him just how dark his brother has become. He then reminds Dean that by not killing Cole he took mercy on him. But Dean explains that because Cole spent years preparing himself to avenge his father's death only to be beaten by Dean, that letting him live was the worst thing he could done to him. Then he tells Sam what he plans on doing to him will not be merciful either.

Characters

 * Sam Winchester
 * Dean Winchester
 * Castiel
 * Hannah
 * Crowley
 * Metatron
 * Cole Trenton

Continuity

 * This episode marks the first time for this season that Sam and demon Dean meet face-to-face.
 * Dean's killing of Cole's father took place in 2003, two years before the series' beginning in 2005, and when he and Sam were estranged.
 * Throughout the series Dean's love of the Impala has been a source of comedy. So Sam is understandably surprised when Dean dismisses it as being "just a car" at the end of the episode.

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * Demon
 * Angels

Trivia

 * The episode title "Reichenbach" may be a reference to Reichenbach Falls, the series of waterfalls in Switzerland where Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis Professor Moriarty originally met their ends in the short story "The Final Problem" (Holmes was brought back to life after fan outrage). In this episode Cole confronts his nemesis - Dean.

Quotes
Crowley: So...how ya been feeling?? On edge? Pent-up? Unfulfilled? DemonDean: You sound like a Viagra commercial. You know that, right? Crowley: This isn't about "Little Dean." It's about the Mark. It's changed you DemonDean: (smirks) I've noticed. Crowley: I know you want to keep the party going; you want to be "Havin' fun, fun, fun 'til Daddy takes the 'Black Eyes' away." Fact is....you NEED to kill now. Not want to. Not choose to. NEED to. Face it, Darling, you're an addict. Death is your drug, and you're gonna spend the rest of your life chasing that dragon.