Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy For The Devil is the season premiere of Season 5. It aired on September 10th, 2009.

Summary
Picking up where the finale left off, Dean and Sam watch as the Devil (guest star Mark Pellegrino, "Lost") emerges from Hell. The brothers and Bobby (guest star Jim Beaver) deal with the aftermath of Lucifer rising and the stunning news from Chuck the Prophet (guest star Rob Benedict) that Castiel was blown to bits by the archangels.

Plot
Sam and Dean are trapped in the vestibule as Lucifer breaks free of his confinement, following Sam killing Lilith and breaking the last of The 66 Seals. Just as a blinding light and high pitched sound force them to their knees, they are transported into an airplane flying over St. Mary's Convent in Ilchester, Maryland, where Lucifer was confined.

Landing safely, although unsure how they were saved, they travel to Kripke's Hollow and the devastated remains of Chuck's house. He explains, that the archangel had blown Castiel apart. Zachariah and a contingent of angels arrive, and Zachariah tells Dean he is needed to battle Lucifer, who is seeking a vessel to possess. Dean is angry and not willing to help the angels, as they are responsible for jump-starting the Apocalypse. He has already partly drawn an angel banishing sigil on a sliding door with his own blood. He pulls out the sliding door to reveal the sigil, then slaps his bloody palm onto it and Zachariah and his angels disappear. "Learned that from my friend Cass, you son of a bitch."

At a motel room, Sam arrives with some Hex Bags to hide them from the angels, which Sam reluctantly admits Ruby taught him how to make. Sam says he isn't feeling any after effects from the Demon Blood. He tries to talk to Dean about what has happened, about freeing Lucifer, but Dean refuses to engage with him. Dean suggests they treat it as any hunt, and they set about finding Lucifer.

A brief scene of a man, Nick, who seems to be having nightmares or hallucinations. After hallucinating that his bed is full of blood, he finds his dead wife (actually Lucifer) lying beside him in bed, whispering to him, "You're special". Becky Rosen, obviously a fan of the Supernatural books written by Chuck Shurley, judging by the posters in her room, is writing some Wincest fanfiction, when Chuck instant messages her and asks her to pass a message to Dean and Sam. She does so, however the message - that the "angels have lost Michael's Sword" and that it is to be found "in a castle, on a hill made of 42 dogs", doesn't appear to make sense.

Bobby arrives in The Impala, with research about the Archangel Michael. Sam confesses to Bobby that it was his actions that freed Lucifer, and Bobby coldly tells him that once the hunt is over, he wants nothing to do with Sam. Sam leaves to do some research. While researching further, Dean gets an idea, and going through some of John Winchester's old things. He finds a receipt for a storage facility that fits the message from Chuck.

Just then, a woman arrives with two henchmen. It is Meg, the demon that once worked with Azazel and possessed Sam during the events of Born Under A Bad Sign. Bobby attacks and restrains Dean - he too is possessed! Meg says the demons want Dean dead so he can't stop Lucifer. She orders the possessed Bobby to kill Dean with Ruby's Knife, but just as he is about to strike, Bobby manages to battle the demon and stab himself instead. Sam returns and helps dispatch the other two demons, but Meg escapes by leaving her vessel.

Nick wanders through his house, distraught. His wife and child have been murdered during a home invasion. As he grieves, he starts hallucinating again.

Sam and Dean drop off a gravely injured Bobby at the hospital and race to John's Lock-up. Once there, they find some dead demons, and Zachariah with some angel muscle.

Zachariah reveals they misled Chuck; in truth Michael's Sword is at the storage lock-up - it's Dean! Zachariah explains that Dean is to be the vessel for the Archangel Michael, so he can defeat Lucifer. He admits, however, that they need to consent to this. When Dean refuses, Zachariah breaks one of Sam's legs. He then says that Bobby will never walk again unless Dean agrees. Dean still refuses. He then strikes Dean with Stage 4 stomach cancer and as he coughs up blood, Zachariah stops Sam from breathing by taking away his lungs. Just then Castiel appears. He kills Zachariah's henchmen with the Angel Blade and orders Zachariah to make Sam and Dean whole again, and then to leave. Scared of the being that Castiel implies brought him back, Zachariah complies.

Castiel is elusive about how he has been brought back from death, but before he leaves he touches Sam and Dean, carving Enochian sigils into their ribs, that will hide them from all angels, including Lucifer. Sam asks Castiel how he's still alive but he disappears before answering.

Lucifer then appears as Nick's wife Sarah and tells him that he is a vessel, and that Lucifer wants his consent to possess him. Lucifer says he is misunderstood, that he was punished for "loving God too much". He says that, to let Nick's family be murdered, God must either be uncaring, or a sadist. He tells Nick possession will be painful, but that Lucifer will help him get justice for his family. Nick assents to possession.

At the hospital, Bobby yells at a doctor who tells him he won't walk again. He says they need to keep fighting, but is pessimistic about their chances. Dean makes a stirring speech, saying they should take them all on - angels and demons - and try to win. As Dean and Sam leave the room, Bobby admits that it was the demon who said that he wanted nothing to do with Sam, and that no matter what Sam has done, he will never stop contact with him.

As they walk to the car, Dean admits the speech was for Bobby's benefit. Sam again tries to get Dean to talk about what happened. Dean admits that he feels deeply hurt and let down by Sam, and even though he knows Sam is sorry, he doesn't know if he can trust him again.

Main Cast

 * Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
 * Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
 * Misha Collins as Castiel

Guest Stars

 * Jim Beaver as Bobby Singer
 * Rob Benedict as Chuck Shurley
 * Kurt Fuller as Zachariah

Co-Stars

 * Mark Pellegrino as Nick
 * Rachel Miner as Meg
 * Bellamy Young as Sarah and Lucifer
 * Emily Perkins as Becky Rosen
 * Genevieve Padalecki as Ruby
 * Katherine Boecher as Lilith

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * Angels (Castiel, Zachariah)
 * Archangel (Lucifer; Michael and Raphael mentioned only)
 * Demons (Meg; Ruby, corpse and mentioned)
 * Primordial Entity (God)
 * White-Eyed Demon (Lilith, corpse)

Continuity

 * Meg was last seen in the Season 2 episode Born Under A Bad Sign.
 * This episode takes place immediately after Lucifer Rising.

Trivia

 * Antagonists: Zachariah, Meg and Lucifer.
 * This marks the first episode in which Misha Collins has a starring role on Supernatural.
 * This is the first appearance of Castiel as a main character.
 * Despite it being previously stated that the brothers' last name never made it into the books, Becky Rosen knows their last name, Winchester, in this episode.
 * This is one of the only two episodes in season 5 where Lucifer is not portrayed by Mark Pellegrino. The other is The End.
 * The identity of the archangel that killed Castiel is revealed in Free To Be You and Me.
 * Bobby is the only human that has survived Ruby's knife trying to kill a demon inside of him. In Season 4, Sam used the fact that the knife kills the human host as well as the demon as a reason to use his psychic powers.
 * When Sam and Dean are transported onto the plane, they find themselves watching a Looney Tunes  episode that features the character Yosemite Sam. In the animated short, Yosemite Sam was being taken to Hell by the Devil, foreshadowing Sam Winchester finally accepting his role as the vessel of Lucifer and jumping into the Cage.
 * The episode title is named after a song by the Rolling Stones as well as a title by Guns N' Roses with the same name.
 * When Dean tells Zachariah "Cram it with walnuts, Ugly," it's a reference to the Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show". Homer Simpson says it to Roger Meyers Jr while auditioning to be the voice of the Meyers' latest cartoon character.
 * The radio in the car into which Sam and Dean are transported mentions "Governor O'Malley", most likely then-Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley.
 * On Becky’s bedroom wall there is a street sign that reads “Winchester Blvd.” Located on Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, CA, is the Winchester Mystery House. It was built by Sarah Winchester, the eccentric widow who married into the Winchester family, which according to contemporary mediums, was cursed. Family members were said to be haunted by the spirits of Native Americans, Civil War soldiers and others killed by Winchester rifles. She reportedly built the house in an effort appease the revenge-seeking spirits.

Featured Music

 * "Thunderstruck" - AC/DC

Quotes

 * Castiel: (To the Winchesters after Zachariah leaves) You two need to be more careful.
 * Dean: (Dumbfounded at the sight of the supposed-to-be-dead Castiel) Yeah ... I'm starting to get that, your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought.


 * Dean: Oh yeah, life as an angel condom. That's real fun. I think I'll pass, thanks.
 * Dean: (Upon being asked how he plans to get rid of both the angels and demons) I got no idea, but what I do have is a GED and a "give 'em hell" attitude and I'll figure it out.

International Titles

 * German: Mein Name ist Luzifer (My name is Lucifer)