Stuck in the Middle (With You)

Stuck in the Middle (With You) is the 12th episode of Season 12. It aired on February 16, 2017.

Summary
RICHARD SPEIGHT JR. DIRECTS – Mary asks Sam, Dean and Castiel for help on a case she’s working but neglects to mention the British Men of Letters are involved. When Mary is double-crossed, everything is revealed.

Plot
At 5:20 PM, Dean, Sam, Castiel, Mary, and a man named Wally are in a diner discussing a case, in which she had called the three to come. Wally explains he brought Mary in when he realized it was a possible demon, and Mary has all the intel. He expresses nerves about the case. Mary reassures Wally that everything is going to be fine.

The scene suddenly changes hours later, nighttime of Mary carrying a wounded Cas into a barn. Another flashback appears five minutes prior, to a fight between Sam, Cass, and two demons outside a farmhouse. Sam stabs one demon, but Wally is killed by the other. As the demon bears down on Sam, Dean kills the second demon.

A title card titled "The Wounded Angel" cuts to Cass earlier in the day, sitting in his truck listening to a radio sermon about the brevity of life as Sam, Dean, Mary, and Wally arrive at the diner.

Another title card "Earlier" shows a flashback of the boys and Cass meeting Wally and briefly discussing the whereabouts of Kelly Kline, in which he has no lead.

Cutting back to the opening scene, they finalize the plan to kill the demon. Dean tells Wally not to die (to calm his nervousness), and the scene ends with Mary reassuring Wally.

Later that evening with everyone arrives the demon’s house. Sam paints the devil’s trap, Dean loads his gun with devil’s trap bullets, and Cass catches Mary coming up from the basement. She claims she was using the bathroom. Wally calls from his position as the look-out to tell Mary the demon is home early.

The demon approaches, and everyone gets into position. When the demon enters, Dean shoots him twice, only to realize the bullets don’t work. The demon discovers the devil’s trap under the rug; Dean shoots him three more times, but nothing happens. Sam stabs him with the demon blade, and the demon throws Sam. Mary and Cass enter the fight, and the demon cuts them off from Sam and Dean. As the demon stalks towards Mary, his eyes flash yellow. Cass throws himself on the demon and tells Mary to run. She takes off out the back, Cass is thrown out the window, and the boys are met in the front by Wally announcing the arrival of two more demons.

Sam and Wally fight the demons while Dean goes to assist Mary and Cass. Meanwhile, the demon reaches for a spear that magically appears at his back and stabs Cass as he tries to crawl away. Wally is killed. Mary arrives in Wally’s Jeep and knocks the demon away before he can kill Cass. She loads Cass into the Jeep, then carries him into the barn. When she tells him to heal himself, Cass says he can’t. Sam calls Mary to get their location.

At 9:05 PM, Sam and Dean reunite with Mary and Cass. Mary learns Wally didn’t survive, and she asks Sam if he saw the demon’s eyes. She tells him they were yellow, and Sam asks her what she got them into.

A title card "Mother Mary" and on indicating "11 Hours Ago – 10:07 AM" flashes back to Mary and Wally watching the demon’s house as Wally tries to understand why Mary needs him to pretend this is his case. Mary says it’s so her sons won’t ask too many questions. She thinks she’s protecting them. Wally knows Mary got her intel on this demon from the British Men of Letters, and he’s suspicious of them and why Mary trusts them.

Flash forward to the diner scene again and another discussion of the BMOL where Sam and Dean make clear to Wally that they do not trust the BMOL.

At 8:23 PM Sam, Dean, Cass, Wally, and Mary approach the demon’s house. Inside, Sam talks to Mary about being back in the life she never wanted. Mary responds coldly, “Since when is life about getting what you want?” Mary goes to the basement, cracks a safe using BMOL tech, steals something from the safe, and hides it in her clothes. Upstairs, she lies to Cass about being in the bathroom.

Flash forward to the fight as Sam and Dean try unsuccessfully to take down the demon; flash forward to Cass being stabbed; then to 9:03 PM as Mary ends her call to Sam from the barn. Mary tends to Cass’s stab wound and sends a text to someone from BMOL about the yellow-eyed demon. Her contact blames it on bad intel and tells her to leave the area immediately. Sam and Dean enter the barn. Dean tends to Cass and Mary tells Sam the demon had yellow eyes. Cass tells Dean he’s dying. As Dean, Mary, and Sam gather round Cass, Crowley arrives and tells them they’re all going to die.Crowley tells the gang that the demon they’re fighting is Ramiel, and Prince of Hell. These were demons created by Lucifer to lead armies of demons in the battle against Heaven. Mary realizes Azazel was one such demon.

A flashback of six years ago shows Crowley’s first encounter with Ramiel. Crowley introduces the King of the Crossroads to an unimpressed Ramiel. With Lilith and Azazel’s death, and Lucifer’s return to the cage, Hell needs a new king. Crowley offers the throne to Ramiel. He’s bearing gifts of the Lance of Micheal and the same glowing item Mary stole from Ramiel’s basement. Ramiel refuses the Kingdom of Hell and gives it to Crowley. His only condition is that he and his kind are left in peace.

Back in the present, Crowley explains that Cass has been stabbed with the Lance of Michael. He will not recover from his injuries, nor do the boys have time to defeat Ramiel. Dean tells Crowley to help or leave, and he immediately disappears.At 9:07 PM, Ramiel approaches the barn as Sam lays a holy oil trap for him. They load up their strongest weapons as Cass lays dying. Outside, Crowley tries to talk Ramiel out of killing the four and explains that the Winchesters are powerful assets and allies for Hell, and he offers to make a new deal with Ramiel. Ramiel’s response sends Crowley flying through the barn wall.

A title card name, "A Real Barnburner" shows the scene of Dean threatening Crowley to help them save Cass or leave. Crowley disappears.At 9:12 PM Cass tells Sam, Dean, and Mary that he’s not going to live, that he loves them all, and he wants them to leave. He will face Ramiel alone so they can save themselves. The Winchesters refuse and gear up to fight Ramiel. Sam pours a holy oil ring, and they load up their weapons. Crowley comes flying through the wall with Ramiel behind him.

Sam traps Ramiel in the circle of fire and the Winchesters try to convince Ramiel to heal Cass. Unable or unwilling to do so, Ramiel expresses his complete lack of concern for the battles between heaven and hell, including his knowledge that Lucifer has fathered a child. Ramiel accuses them of stealing something from him. He says if they don’t return it, he will kill them all. Mary refuses to admit to her actions, and Ramiel produces the Lance of Michael, snuffs out the holy fire in an impressive blast of energy, and the fight begins. Just as he’s about to deliver a killing blow to Dean, Sam disarms him of the lance and uses it to stab Ramiel, killing him. Cass begins screaming and writhing in pain, a thick, black slime pouring from his mouth. The Winchesters gather round him. Crowley regains consciousness, sees Cass on the verge of death, grabs the Lance of Michael and snaps it in two. Cass is enveloped in angel-grace light and healed instantly. Crowley drops the pieces and vanishes. Cass asks what Ramiel meant about them stealing something, but Dean waves it off. They take off for home.

A title card named "One Last Thing" cuts to a meeting between Mary and Mr. Ketch. Mary’s furious about the BMOL’s lack of intel on Ramiel, Wally’s death, and Cass’s near death. She threatens to destroy the BMOL if this happens again. Mr Ketch admits their error and apologizes. He asks to see the item Mary stole from Ramiel, and she produces the Colt. Crowley, in his throne in, is on the phone demanding Ramiel’s house be searched for the gun. From a nearby cage, a man sings about a gun. He belittles Crowley for his relationship with Sam and Dean, asserting it’s only a matter of time before the Winchesters kill him. When Crowley tells him to shut up, Lucifer’s eyes (in Nick’s meat suit) glow red.

Main Cast

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

Guest Starring

 * Samantha Smith as Mary Winchester
 * David Haydn-Jones as Arthur Ketch
 * Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer

Co-Starring

 * Donavon Stinson as Wally
 * Jerry Trimble as Ramiel
 * Donna Benedicto as Mandy

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * Archangel (Lucifer)
 * Crossroad Demon (Crowley)
 * Prince of Hell (Ramiel; Azazel, Dagon, Asmodeus mentioned only)
 * Seraphim (Castiel)
 * White-eyed Demon  (Lilith, mentioned only)

Continuity

 * Mary seeking help from the British Men of Letters was briefly mentioned at the end of First Blood, when Mick Davies speaks to her at the diner.
 * Castiel continues to drive the truck he stole at the beginning of Keep Calm and Carry On.
 * Azazel is revealed to be one of four yellow-eyed demons. Previously, the Yellow-Eyed Demon name was attributed only to him.
 * Ramiel is revealed to have had the Colt since the defeat of Lucifer in Swan Song. It is now in the hands of the British Men of Letters.
 * The Colt appears in the present for the first time since the season 5 episode Abandon All Hope....
 * Lucifer previously appeared in LOTUS and is shown to be locked in a different cage in Crowley's throne room.

Trivia

 * This is the most watched episode of Season 12 since the premiere episode, Keep Calm and Carry On with 1.82 million viewers and a 0.7 rating.
 * Castiel is the third main character to say "I love you" on Supernatural (the first being Sam to Dean in Sam, Interrupted and the second being Dean to Mary in Dark Side of the Moon).
 * However, since Sam saying "I love you" is only under the effects of strong medications while Dean saying "I love you" happens in Heaven while he's reliving one of his "good memories", most do not see these as canon iterations of the phrase.
 * Notably, Dean was also supposed to say it to Castiel in season 8 episode, Goodbye Stranger, but was replaced with "I need you" instead as it was considered to have been "out of character".
 * Davy Perez revealed that Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets is "tied in" to this episode.
 * This is likely to do with the fact that this episode is the second of three Castiel-centric episodes, the third being The Future.
 * "Stuck in the Middle (With You)" is a reference to the Dylan-esque pop bubble gum favorite of the same name from 1974 by British folk/rock band Stealers Wheel. The song is most famous for its use in Quentin Tarantino's first feature film, Reservoir Dogs. The episode also pays homage to Tarantino through the use of non-linear storytelling and the use of title cards in scene transitions.
 * This is the second episode directed by Supernatural actor Richard Speight Jr. He previously directed Just My Imagination, which was his directional debut. He is best known for playing the archangel Gabriel.
 * This episode is largely an homage to the works of Quentin Tarantino.
 * Reference to From Dusk Till Dawn: Dean's line "All right, ramblers, let's get rambling" mirrors Seth Gecko's line in the movie.
 * References to Reservoir Dogs: the scene in the diner references the similar scene in the film; Wally's death mirrors Mr. Brown's death; Castiel's injury during the heist mirrors Mr. Orange's.
 * References to Kill Bill: Ramiel's whistling references Elle Driver hospital scene in the film.
 * References to Pulp Fiction: the glowing item in the box Mary steals references the glowing item in the suitcase Vincent Vega sees.
 * The use of title cards and spaghetti western music in the episode are also used by Tarantino in his films.
 * Mark Pellegrino returns as Lucifer's actor for the first time since the Season 11 episode Hell's Angel.
 * Michael is revealed to have created a lance specifically for torturing Lucifer.
 * In this episode, it's revealed that Crowley tried to offer rule of Hell to Ramiel who was next in line as one of the Princes of Hell. However, Ramiel rejected the offer and instead suggested that Crowley take power instead, seemingly inspiring Crowley to do so.
 * Donna Benedicto, who portrayed the waitress Mandy, revealed that Castiel sniffing her wasn't scripted. She didn't even know it had happened until the scene was shot and Richard Speight Jr. asked Misha if that's what he did, and he admitted it.
 * Richard describes the scene in which Ramiel stabs Castiel in the middle of the road as "iconic".