Don't Call Me Shurley

Don't Call Me Shurley is the 20th episode of Season 11. It aired on May 4th, 2016.

Summary
Amara (guest star Emily Swallow) unleashes a dark fog on a small town, causing everyone to go mad. Dean and Sam realize this is a stronger version of the original black vein virus Amara previously unleashed. They team up with the sheriff to protect the town but their old remedy no longer works. Meanwhile, Chuck (Rob Benedict) returns with an interesting proposal.

Plot
The scene opens with a scruffy dog outside a dumpster while Metatron scrounges inside for a sandwich. As he opens the wrapped sandwich scraps, the dog begs for some and whines. Metatron, with a deep breath, tosses the dog the meat and smiles. He goes back to scrounging and finally, frustrated, screams, "I give up!" Instantly, he and the dog are in a bar. He turns to the dog, commenting that they’re not on Earth anymore. He looks around and sees a man sitting in a booth. When he gets closer, and the man turns, it’s Chuck Shurley (or Carver Edlund, as Metatron assumes him to be).

Metatron demands to know what place they're in, and Chuck says it’s a bar. Metatron counters arrogantly, explaining that they're in "one of the Big Man’s constructs", and he should know. Then he wonders if it’s a punishment on him for how he behaved -- being stuck with a hack writer who’s also a prophet of the Lord. Chuck asks if Metatron thinks he’s really a hack and Metatron is highly dismissive of Chuck's work. Chuck acknowledges his criticism but says he can’t believe Metatron burned one of his books when he was doing his monologue to Castiel. Metatron is flustered, wondering how Chuck could have known about that and Chuck laughs. He says he’d forgotten that people can’t see him unless he wants them to. He hands Metatron some sunglasses to put on and makes a motion of flipping a switch -- revealing himself as God, in a blinding light and hallelujah chorus. Metatron’s jaw drops and he throws himself out of the booth, bowing and crossing himself. He avidly recants his criticisms of Supernatural, insisting that it's underrated and due for a reboot. Chuck tells him to stop with the kneeling and not to use the G-word. He smiles and says to just call him Chuck. Metatron pulls off the glasses and says he needs a stiffer drink.

At the bunker, Dean is swilling beer and ironing, using the beer as needed to add steam. Sam comes in and says he's glad to see Dean ironing because he's found a case and they're going to need their suits. Apparently a man named Wes Cooper committed a murder-suicide in Idaho and no one knows why -- he just snapped. They wonder if he might have been possessed or soulless and decide to head out, hoping it’s a lead on Amara. Sam sniffs at his freshly-ironed shirt and yells at Dean to stop ironing with beer.

Back at the bar, Chuck tells Metatron that he’s been busy these last few years. He started a blog but it was mostly pictures of cats. He says he also started a new series of books called Revolution. Metatron is dismissive of his taste in titles. Then he asks why God put on the Chuck suit to start with -- what was the point? Chuck says he likes front row seats and wanted to hide in plain sight. Metatron compliments him on his an Oscar-worthy performance but asks why no one knew. He mentions the amulet that supposedly burned hot in his presence. Chuck produces Dean's Amulet from thin air. He says he turned it off and then turns it back on with a blinding glow. As he puts the amulet back in his pocket, he starts to tell Metatron where it has been all this time, but Metatron cuts him off.

Metatron says he knows what a piece of garbage he’s been the last few years, and asks Chuck if he’s been brought here to be destroyed. Chuck tells Metatron that he feels humanity's greatest achievement is music, and that this place is B.G.’s Canteen, where many great groups got their start. He says he hopes they can tap into some of that musical magic and work together to finish what he started a few months ago. Turns out he’s been working on his autobiography, and he’s stuck. Metatron is happy that he wants them work together and asks if he can be an angel again. Chuck laughs and says that will never, ever happen. Metatron agrees that that's probably a good call then turns to the manuscript: "Let’s do this".

The boys are in Hope Springs, Idaho. Dean and Sam ask the sheriff, Mac, about Wes Cooper. Mac says it doesn’t make sense and that a witness overheard him saying strange things like his life was meaningless and no one loved him – like every negative thought he had. The deputy, Harris, says Wes’s wife really loved him and she has no idea why he'd snapped. Looking at crime scene pictures, Sam sees marks on Cooper’s arms that look like the black tendrils they've seen before on the rabids. He asks if there were any strange phenomena around town like sulfur smells or fog, but Harris says no. Harris knocks off work early once she's done showing Sam the photos so she can get home to her new husband.

Chuck is hovering as Metatron reads, and Metatron wonders at his hurry. Chuck says he is on a deadline, and asks Metatron for his initial opinion. Metatron prevaricates, not making eye contact, and says it’s good. Chuck deadpans: "you hate it". Metatron tries to backpedal, but Chuck says, "it’s a safe place, just tell me." Metatron says it’s lacking some details, like all of them. For instance, the book starts "In the beginning, there was me", but Metatron reminds him that he wasn’t alone – he had his sister with him. Chuck seems to get angry, distant. He doesn't want to talk about his sister. Metatron, however, does. He asks if Chuck knows she’s out and about, ready and rested. He asks Chuck if that's why he's come back. Chuck says this is not her story.

The deputy pulls up at her home and her husband comes out to greet her. He asks if "that" followed her from town and she turns to see a strange fog approaching. Remembering Sam's questions, she tells her husband to go inside while she calls it in. She calls dispatch and says there’s a strange heavy fog heading her way. As it envelops her, she starts coughing and collapses as her arm breaks out in black veins.

In the bar, Chuck shoots pool while Metatron reads. Metatron tells Chuck there are some "great bones" in the draft, but maybe what it's lacking is balance rather than details. He says Chuck is giving the wrong stuff too much real estate; he says Chuck spends too much time explaining his years as ‘Chuck’. Chuck defends his telling, commenting how much good he did as Chuck -- he traveled, dated, learned to play guitar. Chuck strums a tune. Metatron says all of that makes Chuck seem like a grounded, likable person. Chuck says that is good, but Metatron reminds him that he is neither grounded nor a person. He says Chuck is wasting pounds of pages that should be spent on juicier stuff that people want to read.

Metatron suggests Chuck write more about the archangels; he says Chuck gave them just two paragraphs and they deserve a few more words, especially Chuck’s ‘favorite’ Lucifer. Chuck says Lucifer was not his favorite. But Metatron talks about how he helped Chuck defeat Amara, how Chuck trusted him with the Mark and then he rebelled. Metatron says if Amara is off limits, fine. But every great hero is defined by their villain. Chuck says Lucifer was not a villain. Metatron explains that there are two types of memoir. One is honest and the other not so much -- truth vs fairy tale. He asks if Chuck wants to write like Keith Richards or like Brian Wilson. He says there is no revelation in what he's written, and that’s odd given who Chuck is. Metatron says there’s no soul in the story and Chuck says he doesn’t have a soul. Metatron says Chuck invented souls and asks him how it felt to do so. Chuck says he felt nauseous and Metatron is shocked, dismayed. He says that’s Chuck talking not G-O-D. Metatron calls the script nebbishness and reminds Chuck of all the great things he did and that he created as much as he punished. Metatron says the guy he worked for was a badass who could be a dick, but had stories to tell. Metatron says he also has a lot to answer for.

Chuck agrees, but isn’t sure how to go forward. Metatron tells him to ‘hold up a mirror’ and show the world who he really is, warts and all. He tells Chuck to write for an audience of one -- himself. He hands back the manuscript and says he’ll help him either way but he needs to pick a lane.

Baby pulls up to a crime scene as a body bag is being loaded into a van. Sam and Dean join Sheriff Mac, who apologizes for the early morning call. He tells them Deputy Harris didn’t show up for work so he came by her place and says it looks like Art was shot in the face point-blank by his wife. Sam asks if her behavior seemed off recently. Mac says nothing was out of the ordinary until she called in last night about some heavy fog. Dean perks up and tells Mac to let them know if they get any more fog reports. Sam asks where Harris might be now and Mac says they can track her from the office.

Back at the bar, energetic rock music is playing in the background. Metatron reads the new work that Chuck is typing and is excited, asserting this is what he was talking about. He gushes about Chapter Ten -- Why I Never Answer Prayers, and You Should Be Glad I Don't -- and Chapter Eleven -- The Truth About Divine Intervention and Why I Avoid It At All Costs. After a moment, Metatron asks if he can ask Chuck a question, and Chuck agrees. Metatron asks "Why?" After a beat, Chuck tells him he will have to be more specific since he is asked that question all the time, about everything. Metatron asks Chuck why he created life. Chuck thinks a minute, and finally says he was lonely. Metatron asks, but what about his sister? The music cuts off abruptly and Chuck says that she wasn't very good company -- "I am being. She is nothingness." Metatron reminds Chuck that he didn't just create a few angels for company, he kept going and created worlds. Chuck says he was stupid and naïve. He wanted to show his sister there was something more than them, something better, and he thought if he could make her see, maybe she would change. He says he built new worlds and she destroyed them every time. Metatron understands -- Chuck locked her away and then just created freely. Chuck says that was what he tried to do, anyway. He transports them to a lake shore, a beautiful landscape, and says that nature is the best thing he ever did. He tells Metatron that nature is smart -- smart enough to know that sometimes you have to wipe the slate clean. Metatron says okay, so, when Chuck wipes a slate he does it with a flood, but also with a boat well-stocked. But if Amara wipes the slate, the entire slate is destroyed too. Everything will be lost forever. Chuck says they should take a walk and enjoy it one last time before it’s all gone, then.

At the station in Hope Springs, Mac tells Sam and Dean he can’t figure out the computer, as Harris was their computer person. The other deputy interrupts and says that a fog is coming into town. Dean says to tell everyone to get into their homes and seal the doors and windows. He says they’ve seen this before. Mac is worried, and says they need to call the CDC, but Dean says there's no time. Sam finds Harris’ car with the tracking program -- she's headed straight for the station. They go out to find her parked in the street. She says she tried to kill herself but that "she" wouldn’t let her. She says "she" has a message for Dean. He asks if Amara is here but Harris says no, not here, but she has had to listen to "her" voice since the fog first came. Dean asks if the voice told her to kill her husband, and Harris says yes, and she had to watch herself do it. Sam tries to tell Harris it’s an infection and to let them help her, but she says it’s not an infection. She says it’s a mirror and "she" is showing them the truth. She says the light is a lie. She raises her gun at the boys, but is suddenly shot by Mac. Dean runs over to her. She is still breathing, barely, and tells Dean, "It will all be over soon. He's not gonna save them. It's all going away... forever. But not you, Dean." Having delivered the message, she dies. Sam spots more fog coming in to the town area and calls to Dean. The fog is all over the mountains and a giant wave of it rolls towards them.

Chuck and Metatron are walking along the lake shore. Chuck says that nature is divine, but human nature is toxic. He says they blow up stuff in his name, then ask for his forgiveness. Metatron scolds Chuck about not helping. Chuck says he did help, by leaving. He says it was time to take the training wheels off. Metatron reminds him about Amara, and Chuck lays the blame for her freedom at the feet of Sam and Dean. He says the world would have continued with a Demon Dean in it, but Sam couldn’t leave things alone. He says he saved the Winchesters and rebuilt Castiel many times, and look where that got him. He says it’s Amara’s time to shine now and Metatron asks why he is bothering to write a book that no one will be around to read.

Instantly they’re back at the bar. Metatron realizes that Chuck is hiding -- he built the bar as a safe place where he’s hiding out from his sister. Metatron says that at least when he was playing God, he may have been crappy but was never a coward. Angrily, Chuck flings Metatron out of the bar through the doors. Metatron limps back inside, smiling, saying that this is more guy he knows and loves. He says all the angels were terrified of that guy, but his light was beyond measure. He tells Chuck how great he felt when he was picked as scribe, but Chuck tells Metatron he was not special, just the closest angel to the door. He tells him he was not special then or now. Chuck says he’s been called many things, but not a coward. He says he’s not hiding – he’s just done watching his experiments’ failures. Metatron says those are Chuck’s failures. Chuck looks at Metatron and asks him if he wants to "watch". Chuck makes a gesture, and several TV’s turn on, with disasters everywhere, reports of chaos breaking loose on Earth.

Back in town, Sam and Dean are trying to get people off the street and into the station. Sam helps a couple get their toddler out of their car and tells them to get inside and don’t get near the fog. A couple further down the road is overrun and falls down. Sam starts to head toward them, but Dean comes from behind and grabs him, telling him to run too. They go into the sheriff station and the sheriff says the radio is dead. Dean starts taping off the windows and vents. Sam sees a couple outside, but Dean give him a look and tosses him tape to seal the doors. The people inside are scared. Dean and Sam work to tape the place up. After a bit, they check their phones and see that they have no signal, so they go to check on the radio. Unnoticed, the tape breaks loose over the air vent, and fog seeps in. There are shouts outside, then breaking glass. The infected suddenly rush the front doors of the station. Sam braces the doors as the infected try to break in. The boys retreat inside, closing an inside set of steel doors, but notice that the fog is getting in. Dean bars the steel doors and Sam tries to reseal the vent, but goes down coughing from the fog. Sam’s hands begin to trace with black veins. Dean sees him go down, and calls his name. Dean runs to Sam, but Sam throws up a hand, telling Dean to get back. Dean tells the townspeople to get inside the inner office and as they are hurrying in to shut the door, Mac, seeing Sam is infected, urges Dean to come with them. Dean tells him no, he can’t leave his brother.

Back at the bar, Metatron is working through pages and Chuck tells Metatron he’s a good editor. Metatron says he was a terrible God and a lousy writer, so at least he has something good going for him. Chuck comments that he was surprised by Metatron's evil turn, and asks why he tried to take over. Metatron says that it was a pathetic cry for attention. Chuck asks whose attention he was trying to get, and Metatron says "yours". He tells Chuck he is light and beauty, creation and wrath, damnation and salvation, and even if Metatron was just the angel closest to the door he was picked and it meant something to him. Metatron said the light shined on him and it was warm and incredible, and then Chuck left him, left all of them. Metatron says more than humanity prayed, the angels prayed too and so did he every day. Chuck says he knows. Metatron chokes up as he begs Chuck to explain why, why he abandoned him, why he abandoned all of them. Chuck says it was because everyone disappointed him. Metatron tearfully says he knows he's a disappointment, but he’s wrong about humanity. He says they cheat and steal and destroy but they sing and dance and love too. He says above all, they never give up. But Chuck did. Chuck clears his throat and goes back to writing.

Collapsed at the station, Sam looks at Dean and says they're never going to make it. He says that Dean was going to choose Amara over him, and over everyone. Dean is shocked and denies what Sam is saying. Sam apologizes, telling Dean he can’t fight the curse. He tells Dean to go before he hurts him, but Dean refuses to leave him. The fog is everywhere. The people in the other room start to scream and struggle. Dean, holding Sam, centers himself and takes a deep breath. He notices that he’s not turning rabid. He yells out, "Stop this! You hear me, you dick?!" Silence falls. Dean, frantic, tries to comfort Sam who has fallen dead weight now, telling him “I’m here’ over and over.

Back at the bar, Metatron sits sulking while Chuck prints out the last page of his manuscript, yawns, and stretches. He says he lied before -- he didn’t learn to play guitar, he just gave himself the ability. He smiles, giddy, and says this "honesty thing" is really freeing. Chuck goes up onto the stage and picks up the guitar and begins to play a song. He magics up some stage lights and tells Metatron to go read the new pages. Metatron says no at first, but as Chuck begins to sing, he makes his way over and starts to read.

As Chuck sings, the view flashes from him to Sam and Dean. Dean startles and sees a bright light coming from Sam’s pocket. He pulls the Samulet out of Sam’s pocket. As he does, he notices that Sam is healed -- no black veins. The fog is cleared in the station too. Sheriff Mac and the others, unscathed, come out of the back office.

Metatron reads through the pages that Chuck wrote, gasping in surprise. Chuck keeps singing.

Sam and Dean make their way outside, Dean holding the Samulet up and watching it glow. Life has returned to normal outside. Even Deputy Harris is resurrected, and stands up looking around. Her husband comes running up, taking her into his arms. Dean looks again at the glowing amulet in his hand then up the street where a man in a jacket is helping a victim to their feet. The man turns, and it’s Chuck. Sam and Dean stare in shock at Chuck who looks at them a moment, then says, "We should probably talk."

Main Cast

 * Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
 * Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester

Recurring Cast

 * Rob Benedict as God
 * Curtis Armstrong as Metatron

Guest Cast

 * Sonja Bennett as Deputy Jan Harris
 * Jacob Ruchter as Art Harris
 * Tim Kelleher as Sheriff Macready

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * God
 * Rabid (new kind)

Continuity

 * Rob Benedict returns as God in this episode. He previously made a small appearance at the end of the Season 10 episode Fan Fiction.
 * This is the first time that Chuck reveals his true identity as God.
 * God confirms Joshua's statement that Dean's amulet could not find him unless he allowed it.
 * The Rabid returns for the first time since Form and Void, albeit as a new kind.
 * Metatron returns in this episode. He was last seen in Our Little World.
 * Dean's amulet returns in this episode. The real amulet last appeared in season 5 episode Dark Side of the Moon. Dean and Sam later acquired a fake one in the episode Fan Fiction.

Trivia

 * According to Curtis Armstrong, the actor who portrays Metatron, the dog's name is Gidget.
 * Curtis Armstrong also stated that after Our Little World, Metatron ended up in a hospital and the feeling of his own heart beat is what made him realize the value of life.
 * Curtis further stated that the first scene they filmed was by the lake.
 * The title of this episode is a direct reference to a popular quote from Airplane! (1980).
 * The song that Chuck/God sings at the end, Fare Thee Well or Dinks Song is a folk tune last popularized in the movie Inside Llewyn Davis and sung by the title character. Chuck makes a joke about singing "too high" which seems to be a reference to the fact that the Rob Benedict version had to be in a lower key than Oscar Issac's.
 * God has a mug that says: "World's greatest dad". This mug gets destroyed by Amara in We Happy Few.
 * This is the final episode written by Robbie Thompson, who departs the show following Season 11.
 * The CW's official summary for this episode mistakenly does not cite actor Rob Benedict as a guest star.

Quotes

 * Metatron: You... God.


 * Sam: Dude, quit ironing my shirts with beer!


 * Chuck: I did some great stuff as Chuck. I mean, I told you about my blog.


 * Metatron: Right, right. Your cat pic blog.


 * Chuck: Yeah. They're super cute. So there's that. And I traveled, a lot, you know. And I dated. I had some girlfriends, had a few boyfriends. Oh, I learned how to play guitar.


 * Chuck: This gift (gesturing to his face) is super cute!


 * Chuck: You were just the closest angel to the door when I walked into the room. There's nothing special about you, Metatron. Not then... not now. Now...I've been called many things -- absentee father, wrathful monster. But, coward...(shakes his head) I am not hiding. I am just done watching my experiments' failures.


 * Metatron: You are light and beauty. Creation. Wrath. Damnation and salvation. I don’t care if I was just the angel nearest the door. You picked me. Your light shined on me. Me! …and the warmth!... but then you left me. You left all of us."