Beat the Devil is the 21st episode of Season 13. It aired on May 3, 2018.
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! |
Sam, Dean, Castiel and Gabriel (guest star Richard Speight Jr.) must work together if they have any hope of bringing Mary (guest star Samantha Smith) and Jack home. Meanwhile, Rowena's (guest star Ruth Connell) encounter with Lucifer may alter the outcome of the journey for one of our heroes.
Plot[]
As everyone prepares to ready for the ritual, Dean asks Cass where Gabriel is. Cass tells him that Gabriel went to extract his grace in Dean's room, to the latter's dismay and Sam's amusement. Gabriel arrives with the grace but its only a little though he is confident it'll work. Rowena does the ritual and a rift opens but doesn't stay open for a while as the grace wasn't enough. This caused the others to reconvene about the plan, Gabriel was left with Rowena and they share a banter for a while before they makes advances. In another room, the others are wondering what to do as Cass suggests bringing in Lucifer who most likely has regained some of his powers. Sam is unsure until Cass and Dean state the Devil never stopped being their responsibility since he was first let out of his cage.
They trio return to the library and interrupt Rowena and Gabriel having a sexual encounter and Dean tell them that Sam has a plan.
At a bar, as Harry Chapin's Cat's in the Cradle plays Lucifer drowns his sorrows and complains about his recent endeavors such as Heaven and Hell in his grasp. He tells the confused bartender that he realized it didn't matter and that the only thing that did matter was his son and he can't find him. The bartender expresses sympathy and tells him that Lucifer's son will come around but slipped up by stating Jack's name which Lucifer never told him and questions his identity.
Lucifer soon notices his senses acting up and the bartender revealing himself to be Gabriel who disguised himself and stated he served Lucifer a magical spiked drink before he greets his brother. Shocked to see him alive, Lucifer quickly tries to punch Gabriel but he is too weakened to do so, he brings up killing Gabriel as the latter taunts him with his survival. Lucifer tries to run out the bar but ends up back in and questions what was in the drink as Rowena appears and reveals the ingredients. Seeing her, Lucifer laughs as he mentions that he killed her too. He tries to escape but the pair succeed in binding and capturing Lucifer. Gabriel holds an Archangel Blade to Lucifer's neck, begs for them to kill him as they are confused and appear tempted but instead knock him out.
Lucifer awakes in the bunker to see his foes and realizes they need his grace to rescue their mother Mary. Castiel confirms and drains him as he states this could have been done already at the bar and believes its for revenge and humiliation. Sam tells him those are bonuses and tells him they are going to use Lucifer to power the rift until they complete their mission and when they return they'll kill him. Rowena opens the rift, as Lucifer only accepts his fate. Sam has Rowena stand guard over the devil as he and the others journey through the rift to Apocalypse World.
Arriving in the other world, the group have a hard landing but ignore it as they decide to find their family. Dean remembers where Charlie told him the resistance was and has Castiel give him directions and they move out. Dean and Sam talk about how they returned to the other world and will rescue the others. As they talk, Gabriel is asked by Castiel of his future plans once they return to Earth and he tells him that he got revenge, had sex with a witch, and humiliated his brother. He is then told by Castiel of Heaven's state and how it may need him to maintain its state. He is reluctant since he once abandoned it but Castiel reassures him.
The group travel through the forest and hear screaming, though Gabriel tells them to ignore it they go anyway and come across a pair of humans named Floyd and Maggie who they save from vampires. The two tell him when the angels and demons went to war, the monsters went wild with a lack of food in humans. The group are told that Jack and Mary are at a camp which is where they are headed and there is a shortcut but vampires are there, Gabriel wants to avoid it but Castiel tells him it is the best way.
Back at the bunker, Lucifer works on breaking his bonds and taunting Rowena who ignores him for a while. She soon gets annoyed and retaliates by revealing that his son is in Apocalypse World, hence why he couldn't sense Jack in the main universe; Rowena goes on to say that he was and will never be the father to the nephilim the way Sam, Dean and Castiel are. Finally, Lucifer angrily breaks free and attacks Rowena, he tells her that he was down in his sorrows but she renewed his resolve and tries to kill her out of gratitude. However, she magically repels him, inadvertently sending Lucifer through the rift into Apocalypse World.
Rowena packs up her things, as she bemoans that she couldn't handle a simple task. She wishes the others luck and prepares to leave but her conscience gets to her and she looks through her spellbook to find a spell to prolong the rift's opening.
Traveling through a tunnel in Apocalypse, the Winchesters and company deal with attacks from swarms of vampires where they soon lose Floyd and Sam is attacked by a vampire. Dean watches as Sam's throat is ripped apart and he is dragged away by the vampires with Castiel following him but prevents Dean from seeing the carnage.
Very soon, they find an area with warding which halts Castiel until Gabriel gets rid of it before they are found by armed humans led by Mary who is shocked to Castiel. Dean approaches her and they share a hug at being reunited, Mary asks about Sam but Dean doesn't answer though his expression and tears tell her what has occurred.
In the tunnel, Sam lays lifeless before he suddenly wakes up and is confused at how he returned. He turns and finds Lucifer with him as the latter reveals of how he was sent to the world and that he drained the grace of several of Michael's angels to replenish his depleted powers to resurrect Sam. Lucifer asks Sam for his help with having a relationship with his son and shows that he is using his powers to hold back a horde of starving vampires. Lucifer insists that the Winchesters cannot defeat Michael without his help and presses Sam to accept his help.
At the resistance camp, Mary takes the others to Jack. When Jack becomes distraught at Sam's fate, Cass tries to comfort him but he refuses it and asks both his uncles why they didn't revive Sam, Gabriel tells him that they aren't strong enough to resurrect Sam. Dean tells his mother that he's going to retrieve Sam's body before the camp's alarm goes off and Sam appears.
This takes everyone by surprise while Jack is happy and Sam smiles at his loved ones before Lucifer arrives not to long. Sam's smile turns into a look of despair since he had no choice to lead Lucifer to them as everyone is shocked that Lucifer is there. Lucifer looks past them as he greets his surprised son.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
- Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
- Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
- Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer
- Misha Collins as Castiel
- Alexander Calvert as Jack Kline
Recurring Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
- Richard Speight Jr. as Gabriel
- Ruth Connell as Rowena MacLeod
- Samantha Smith as Mary Winchester
- Katherine Evans as Maggie
Co-Stars[]
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
- Angel (Naomi, mentioned only)
- Archangels (Lucifer and Gabriel; Michael, mentioned only)
- Nephilim (Jack Kline)
- Seraph (Castiel)
- Vampires (Unnamed Vampires)
- Witch (Rowena MacLeod)
Continuity[]
- Castiel and Rowena MacLeod previously appeared in Funeralia.
- Lucifer previously appeared in Bring 'em Back Alive.
- Castiel tells Gabriel of the problem in Heaven, which he learned in Funeralia.
- A rift was previously featured in Bring 'em Back Alive.
- Vampires were previously featured in Breakdown.
- A grace of an Archangel was previously seen in Bring 'em Back Alive.
- The Archangel Blade was previously seen in The Thing.
- The Black Grimoire was previously seen in Various & Sundry Villains.
- The Demon Tablet Alternate Reality Rift Opening Ritual was previously used in The Thing.
- Team Free Will 2.0 was previously reunited in Tombstone.
- Sam and Dean are reunited with their mother for the first time since Season 12's All Along the Watchtower and Jack for the first time since The Bad Place.
- The Dayton outpost previously appeared in Unfinished Business.
- Sam is resurrected by Lucifer, something Lucifer once said he would do if Sam killed himself during the Apocalypse.
Trivia[]
- The episode was watched by 1.39 million viewers and got a 0.4 rating. This is the second lowest rated episode of the season behind War of the Worlds.
- This is the first time since Season 8 where the 21st episode of a season is not written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming.
- This is the first episode of the season not written by Steve Yockey to feature Rowena MacLeod.
- This episode marks the first time Lucifer meets Jack Kline.
- It is also the first time Gabriel meets Jack.
- This is the second episode of the season to feature all the main characters with Lost & Found being the first one.
- This episode is the first time Lucifer sees Rowena MacLeod since All Along the Watchtower in Season 12 and Gabriel since Hammer of the Gods in Season 5.
- Ironically, Lucifer believed to have killed both of them in those episodes. Even though Rowena, unlike Gabriel, was literally killed, but resurrected later
- In the previous episode, Dean told Sam he died the last time the Apocalypse started.
- Ironically, Sam ends up dying like Dean stated.
- The song playing in the bar, Cat's in the Cradle by Harry Chapin, is about an estranged father and son, and ends with the line "My son was just like me" which is ironic as Jack is shown to be different than Lucifer
Deaths[]
- Maggie and Floyd's companions (mentioned only)
- Four Apocalypse World vampires
- Floyd
- Sam Winchester (resurrected)
- Several unnamed angels (mentioned only)
International Titles[]
- Hungarian: A halál alagútja (The Tunnel of Death)