Advanced Thanatology is the 5th episode of Season 13. It aired on November 9, 2017.
Summary[]
There was something about being there... It felt pure. This episode summary is an official CW press release. It may contain errors. DO NOT CHANGE! |
While working on a case involving the ghost of a demented doctor, Sam and Dean get assistance from an unexpected source - Billie (guest star Lisa Berry). Castiel finds his way back to the Winchesters.
Plot[]
Two boys go to an abandoned building where they are recording things with a camera. Shawn Raider is scared at being the there, while Evan tells him to stop being scared.
The two eventually found a room which had Meadows' old plague masks and Evan had a reluctant Shawn steal one. Hearing strange noises, the two attempted to flee the house, only to encounter the ghost of Doctor Avery Meadows. Meadows wounds Shawn in the head with his drill before attacking and killing Evan. As Meadows killed Evan, the terrified Shawn flees the house.
At the bunker, Sam treats Dean to a beer as he questions this, to which Sam remarks that he just thought of him. Sam soon offers to take him out on an assignment just between them, without Jack, as Dean wonders what brought this about.
The two go out and meet with Penny Raider who explained her son Shawn was left traumatized and only stated that they had been attacked by a monster before he stopped speaking from the trauma. The attack on Shawn and Evan and Shawn's claim drew the attention of Sam and Dean who visit under the guise of FBI agents investigating what happened. Dean finds Shawn drawing pictures of figures in plague masks and tried to get Shawn to open up to him, using his own experiences with monsters. However, Shawn refused to talk, and the Winchesters leave empty-handed.
That night, Sam offers to take Dean to a strip club as he continues wondering about the change in his brother. Meanwhile, Shawn has a nightmare and was soothed by his mother, Penny. After Penny leaves, Meadows comes after Shawn, who's scared to see him.
The next day, Sam wakes up before Dean who enjoyed himself at the club and goes to meet with Penny. She tells him that Shawn went missing that night. Sam promises to find him and goes back to Dean who awoke hung over and is mad at his brother for leaving.
That night, the Winchesters travel to Meadows' home where Meadows' ghost appears and quickly throws the Winchesters around and attempts to kill Dean with his drill. However, Sam uses an iron crowbar to dissipate Meadows before he can kill Dean. While searching the house, the Winchesters find Meadows' masks and Dean realizes that Meadows is most likely tied to them.
Hearing Meadows start up his drill, Sam lays down a salt line in front of the door while Dean dumps the masks into a trash can and begins performing a salt and burn upon them. Meadows attempts to enter the room by passing through the door but is stopped by the salt line. In response, Meadows makes the room shake and the salt line blows away. Sam attempts to shoot Meadows with rock salt, but he teleports away and then quickly returns to attack again. Before he can, Dean ignites Meadows' masks and Meadows' ghost goes up in flames.
Moments after Meadows is destroyed, the Winchesters learn that the house is haunted by the ghosts of his victims. Dean commits suicide in order to find out where the bodies are buried from the ghosts, telling Sam to bring him back. Dean wanders around the house, before he encounters the Reaper Jessica who promises to take him to a better place. However, after starting her speech, she stops suddenly, realizing who he is. She tells Dean that she's going to notify her superiors and disappears. Dean continues on throughout the house and encounters the ghost of Shawn. Shawn explains that Meadows possessed him the previous night. Meadows forced Shawn to put on the stolen plague mask and return it to its proper place in the house. The possessed Shawn was then forced to kill himself with a drill through the head. Meadows hid Shawn's body somewhere in his house, while Shawn himself became a ghost trapped in the house. Shawn is able to reveal to Dean where the bodies of Meadows' victims are hidden.
After three minutes, Sam tries to resurrect Dean, but nothing works. Dean wonders what is halting him, when Billie appears before him. Dean expresses his surprise at her being alive, knowing Castiel killed her. She freezes time after being annoyed by Sam's pleas for Dean to awaken, so she can explain what happened. After they killed the original Death, the first Reaper who dies becomes the next Death. When Castiel killed her, she became Death. Billie brings Dean to her domain where she questions him over the recent Rift between dimensions, because she knows he has information about it.
Dean promises to tell her if she will allow the ghosts of the abandoned building to finally pass on. At her shock, Dean explains that they will both get what they want. She complies and has Jessica gather all the souls of the building and tells them they are going to a better place.
Billie then tells Dean that she has lived up to her end of the bargain, now she wants her answers. Dean explains it is due to Lucifer's son Jack who opened it while he was being born. When Dean questions her about why it's important, Billie explains the importance of the cosmic and quantic fabric of order.
Billie then asks him about his change in demeanor, wanting to know why his request was for the ghosts of the house and not for himself. Dean explains he knew he couldn't win with her because of their previous interactions with one another. She realizes that Dean actually wants to die permanently as he explains that he has lost and failed so much. He states while Sam is still trying, he is just tired and done with everything. He ends his rant by telling her she can reap his soul if she wants.
Amused by this attitude, Billie refuses and tells him that, while she would be satisfied at the thought, her eyes have been opened by her new position. She tells him that she now knows the importance of the Winchester Family. She explains that she's gone over every one of his possible deaths, but he is not meant to die this way. She also tells him that he still has work to do. Dean starts to ask about his mother, but Billie sends him back before he can get an answer. Dean awakens, to the great relief of Sam.
The next morning, while the police gather the bodies, Sam questions Dean about what happened. Dean tries to shrug it off for later, but Sam refuses to wait. Dean explains about Billie being the next Death, then tells Sam about what happened during his conversation with her. Sam questions Dean further, trying to figure out how things can get better for them. Dean tells him that he just needs a win to get over his pain of losing so much recently.
The brothers leave while Penny identifies the dead body of her son and breaks down at seeing him gone. Billie continues going over deaths in her domain.
While Sam sleeps during the drive, Dean gets a call from someone and is shocked to hear who it is from. Sam wakes up and asks him about it, but Dean is too shocked to explain. The Winchesters travel to a small town and are surprised to see a figure near a payphone who is revealed to be Castiel alive again. He greets the brothers with a nod.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
Recurring Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
- Lisa Berry as Billie
- Seth Isaac Johnson as Shawn Raider
Co-Stars[]
- Kayla Stanton as Jessica
- Sacha M. Romalo as Avery Meadows
- Josh Hudniuk as Evan
- Micah Solis as Mike Raimos
- Alisen Down as Penny Raider
- Dan Vaider as Ghost
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
- Archangel (Lucifer, mentioned only)
- Ghosts (Evan, Shawn Raider)
- Ghouls (mentioned only)
- Horseman (Death, mentioned only)
- Nephilim (Jack Kline, mentioned only)
- Reapers (Jessica, Billie)
- Seraph (Castiel)
- Violent Spirit (Avery Meadows)
- Witch (mentioned only)
Continuity[]
- Billie previously appeared in the Season 12 episode First Blood.
- A ghost was previously featured in the Season 12 episode Family Feud.
- A reaper was previously featured in the Season 12 episode First Blood.
- Souls were previously featured in the Season 11 episode All in the Family.
- Death's ring and scythe was previously seen in the Season 10 episode Brother's Keeper.
- Dean Winchester previously died briefly in the Season 12 episode First Blood. In both cases, he returned because of Billie.
- Team Free Will has been reunited once again since the Season 12 episode All Along the Watchtower.
- The last person to become Death was Dean Winchester in the Season 6 episode Appointment In Samarra, but he only possessed his powers not knowledge, seeing as he couldn't comprehend principle concepts like the Natural Order and didn't go to Lucifer's Cage himself.
Trivia[]
- The episode was watched by 1.71 million viewers and got a 0.6 rating. This is the show's most viewed fifth episode since Fan Fiction in Season 10.
- This is the first episode of the season not to feature Jack.
- It was revealed that after Castiel killed Billie with an angel blade in the Season 12 episode, First Blood, she got "a promotion" and took Death's place.
- This is the first episode in which the Winchesters deal with a haunted house full of ghosts and have the authorities recover the bodies in the end. With Jessica having taken their souls to Heaven, the Winchesters no longer needed to salt and burn their remains to put the ghosts to rest thus allowing the recovery of their bodies.
- A foreshadowing of potential future dangers to Dean was made by Billie when she listed the many potential versions of his actual death. Some of those causes of deaths include: "Heart attack", "Being burned to death by a red headed witch", and "Being stabbed by a ghoul in a grave yard".
- Alisen Down previously played Alice Cassity in the Season 8 episode Trial and Error.
- There are numerous references to the Syfy series 12 Monkeys in this episode, presumably because Alisen Down stars in it. The references include the repeated imagery of the plague masks, and quote about "time travelling ferrets".
- Thanatology means the scientific study of death. That came in connection that the episode was about ghosts and the new incarnation of Death, Billie.
Errors[]
- When Sam lies in his bed and the alarm clock goes off, the time on the clock goes from 7:59 to 8:00 to 8:01 within half a second.
Quotes[]
“ | So, you wanna die. I say, keep living. | ” |
— Billie to Dean Winchester
|
“ | I just need a win. I just need a damn win. | ” |
Deaths[]
International Titles[]
- Hungarian: Haladó Haláltan (Advanced Thanatology)