Family Feud is the 13th episode of Season 12. It aired on February 23, 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! |
When Sam and Dean look into a murder at a museum, they learn a ghost from a merchant ship that sunk in 1723 may be at the heart of the mystery. After realizing "The Star" was the same ship that Crowley's son Gavin MacLeod (guest star Theo Devaney) should have been aboard, they enlist help from Rowena (guest star Ruth Connell) to track Gavin down. Kelly Kline (guest star Courtney Ford), still pregnant with Lucifer's child, takes refuge with a demon after an angel attempts to kill her.
Plot[]
Six Months Ago A teacher named Janice Woods in Andover, Massachusetts, is doing her nightly ritual before going to bed—brushing her teeth and putting her dress in the closet, etc. As she lays down and prepares to go to sleep, two ghostly arms pop out from under her bed and begin squeezing her midsection until her internal organs are crushed and she is killed, blood splattering across the room onto a locket on her dresser.
Present Day At the Men of Letters Bunker, Dean is finishing a phone call with Castiel regarding Cass' lack of leads in finding Kelly Kline, while Sam sits at his laptop reading about a recent murder outside of a museum in Des Moines, Iowa. He tells Dean of how a male teacher had his tongue ripped out and internal organs crushed, but showed no point of entry or damage to his torso. Dean, thinking they are dealing with a witch, calls Mary to see if she is interested in joining them on a hunt.
In an underground car park, Mary is fending off a rugaru. When she is able to put some distance between herself and it, she shoots it with a special gun made by the British Men of Letters that melts its brain as Mr. Ketch stands to the side timing her. When Mary's phone rings, she lies to Dean about where she is and declines his offer to join them on a hunt. She feigns needing to rest after the Ramiel incident, but tells Dean to call if they need her. Mr. Ketch compliments Mary on being an excellent liar, and Mary tells him she hasn't said anything given what happened with Lady Antonia Bevell's torture of Sam and Dean. She says she understands that Bevell was a "rogue operative." Mr. Ketch asks Mary out for drinks.
In Crowley's Lair, Crowley taunts Lucifer, telling him he will eventually break and call Crowley "master." He relates that when Lucifer was exorcised out of President Jefferson Rooney, Crowley perverted the spell so Lucifer was sent not to the Cage but to his lair where the body of his original vessel, Nick, waited repaired and improved. He tells Lucifer he had his most trusted demons analyze the Cage and replicate the materials to make the chains that now restrain him, but Lucifer is only amused, confident that he will get out eventually.
On the road to Des Moines, Sam informs Dean of a similar murder six months prior in Andover, Massachusetts, and says he is dismayed that Mary couldn't make it. Dean scoffs. When Sam questions him, Dean admits that he feels Mary is hiding something from them, but Sam assures him that hunting is a grind and she just needs a little time. Outside the museum, a Timber Troop scout leader is overseeing his troop preparing to depart when he excuses himself to the bathroom. After finishing, the troop leader begins to notice stall doors banging, lights going on and off, and indistinct whispering. As the air becomes chillier and the water in the sink freezes, the troop leader notices a figure behind him in the mirror and lets out a scream as it comes charging towards him.
The next day Sam and Dean arrive at the museum and meet with the curator, Dr. Ochoa, who takes them the museum's lab where they are setting up their new exhibits before excusing herself. The Winchesters soon realize that all the deaths have involved teachers or people that supervise children, and when Dean turns on the EMF, he believes they are dealing with a ghost instead of a witch. Sam is a bit skeptical, given museums tend to have ghosts tethered in them, but the two split up and try to find what item in the new exhibits the suspected ghost may be tethered to.
At a diner a visibly pregnant Kelly Kline orders orange juice from a waitress who asks when her child is due, a question that Kelly cannot answer. The waitress tells her that whenever it pops out her life as she knows it will be over but that she is sure to love the "little devil," then reveals her blue angelic eyes after she turns and walks away. Back at the museum Dean looks over an Aztec knife, and thinks an Aztec ghost is a good bet, before moving on to Sam who is reading up on The Star, a brigantine ship that sunk in a storm off the New England coast in 1723. They realize that the exhibit is on loan from the Maritime Museum in Andover, Massachusetts. This prompts Dean's memory and he tells Sam he "knows something about something." When Sam continues reading, revealing that the ship set sail from Leith, Scotland, Dean suddenly remembers Gavin MacLeod -- The Star was the ship he was supposed to die on. Back at Crowley's Lair, Lucifer continues his mockery of the situation, telling Crowley how sad his plan is, before Crowley puts him on his knees and tells him to clean the floor with his tongue. But Lucifer only warns Crowley he won't see it coming when he gets taken down. He informs Crowley of the survival of his child, much to Crowley's shock. Dean places a call to Crowley asking him to contact Gavin for them, but Crowley having just learned that Lucifer's child is still alive refuses to help the Winchesters until they take care of the child and hangs up. A surprised Lucifer comments on them both being fathers, and asks Crowley for parenting advice.
Outside the museum, two female teachers are loading up their school bus to depart when a locket is slipped by an unseen force into the pocket of one of the teachers. That night, inside the museum lab, Sam and Dean sit with Rowena and ask for her help in getting intel on The Star. Rowena initially refuses, claiming the Winchesters still owe her for helping Dean get his memory back, but Sam and Dean are able to convince her to track down Gavin. Kelly Kline is walking down the street when she notices a man behind her. As she speeds up her walking she slips behind a corner to see if the man is still following her; the man appears in front of her, and as she tries to run away the waitress from the diner blocks her path and the two produce angel blades. Before they can attack, Dagon appears and tells them to get away from her. When the male angel refuses and tries to attack Dagon, she is able to completely obliterate the angel. When the female angel attempts to attack Kelly Kline, Dagon teleports behind her and kills her in the same manner. A rattled Kelly Kline sits in shock as Dagon offers her hand to Kelly. The next morning, Dagon takes Kelly to an abandoned warehouse where she explains that she's a demon and the things that attacked her were angels, not people. She tells her how Lucifer was actually God's favorite and an archangel, and that the son she is carrying her belly is not evil and could very well end up saving them. She tells Kelly she is the only one that can protect her. Gavin soon arrives in Des Moines and is greeted by Sam and Dean, having been brought to them under the pretense that Crowley was ill. Sam and Dean admit they lied and ask for his help. Not trusting the Winchesters, Gavin initially shouts for help, but Sam and Dean assure him that they don't want to hurt him, with Sam showing him a photo of The Star, and they introduce him to Rowena. Initially shocked that his grandmother is alive, he is reminded that he shouldn't be alive either. The four depart to The Star exhibit at the museum where Gavin goes over a binder of all materials collected from the wreckage. He soon comes upon a locket that he recognizes as the same one he gave to the love of his life Fiona Duncan, which Sam notices was added to the exhibit six months ago in Andover. Gavin explains that Fiona wished to join him on his journey to the New World, but he refused, telling her it was too dangerous. Fiona persisted and was to meet with Gavin on the night Abaddon took him to try and convince him to take her along. Gavin soon realizes that with him gone, Fiona must have assumed he had left without her and stowed away on the ship hoping to find him. Sam and Dean deduce that Fiona, angry and heartbroken when she died, is the ghost, and they look for her locket only to find it missing from its display case.
Mr. Ketch drops Mary off at her motel. He asks her about getting a drink, but she declines. Mr. Ketch then brings up Sam and Dean, and suggests Mary "disengage" from them for a bit. He says that working for the Men of Letters is demanding work and must come first above everything else. He calls them his family. Mary refuses the notion, telling him nothing comes before her family. Ketch asks her if she really believes that, noting she is "softer, weaker" around them. He tells her she is one of the best hunters he's seen and that is the real her; he thinks it scares her that it might be true.
Sam and Dean visit Dr. Ochoa in her office and tell her of the missing locket. Sam then asks if any student tours have been through the lab, and she replies that one has for the Pembroke Day School for Girls. That night at the Pembroke Day School, the two teachers, Karen and Elizabeth, are grading papers in a study. The lights abruptly start to flicker, and as Karen and Elizabeth investigate the strange sounds and drafts from a closed window. Fiona's ghost appears before Karen and impales her, then she moves on to Elizabeth who is trapped in the study. As Fiona is about to kill her, Dean bursts through the door and shoots Fiona with rock salt. Gavin is then placed alone in the study to summon Fiona. When she manifests in front of him she accuses him of abandoning her. As he tries to explain that he was taken away, Fiona tells him of what happened when she was found and the abuse, scorn, and rape that followed. When she looked to their childhood teacher Mistress Allaway for help, she was met with only betrayal and told she deserved what was happening to her for "throwing herself" at Gavin. She tells Gavin while she can't punish Mistress Allaway, other teachers will pay her debt, then disappears. When Gavin tells Sam, Dean, and Rowena what happened to Fiona on the ship, they agree that Fiona must be stopped and talk about destroying the locket. But Gavin is too hung up on the people that have died and the monster his Fiona had turned into. Sam and Dean suggest another way: if Gavin goes back to 1723 he can prevent Fiona from ever becoming a ghost either by getting on board the ship or both of them not boarding at all. Rowena protests tampering with the flow of time and sending Gavin to his possible death, but Sam tells her it would keep history intact. Gavin agrees and tells Rowena he was thinking the same thing as he felt he never belonged in the 21st century. Crowley arrives and tries to put a stop to their plan, but Rowena freezes him with a spell, allowing Gavin to say goodbye before leaving with the Winchesters.
At the Bunker, Sam prepares the blood spell. After Gavin adds his blood, Sam paints the sigil on a pillar in the library. The Winchesters thank Gavin as Sam recites the invocation. Clutching Fiona's locket in his hands, Gavin is joined by her ghost as the two are engulfed in a white light and disappear. It is not known if they die or become ghosts, only that they have gone back in time. Sam and Dean see that their plan worked, just as Mary arrives with beer and burgers. When they ask her what she has been up to, she readily admits that she has been working with the British Men of Letters, much to Sam and Dean's shock and dismay. She pleads with them to hear her out.
At a bus station Crowley sits on a bench with Rowena and asks her what spiteful, rancid reason she had for allowing her grandson to be sent to his death. She tells him Gavin was a good boy, not unlike Oskar, the child she loved more than him and who Crowley made her kill to remove the Mark of Cain. She tells him that sending Gavin back was the right thing for him to do, as well as allowing Rowena to get revenge on Crowley for Oskar, forcing him to suffer the loss of a child. Rowena leaves him to sit alone as she boards her bus.
At the Bunker Mary continues pleading her case to a visibly frustrated Sam and Dean. Crowley ruminates at the bus stop on what Rowena did. Kelly Kline and Dagon leave the abandoned warehouse. All the while Lucifer sits in silence in his dungeon, before simply uttering "Dagon."
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
Recurring Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
- Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer and Nick
- Ruth Connell as Rowena MacLeod
- Samantha Smith as Mary Winchester
- Theo Devaney as Gavin MacLeod
Co-Stars[]
- David Haydn-Jones as Arthur Ketch
- Courtney Ford as Kelly Kline
- Ali Ahn as Dagon
- Candace Woods as Fiona Duncan
- Susie Lee as Elizabeth
- Colby Wilson as Scout Leader
- Jennifer Kitchen and Bola Omodara as Waitress and Angel #2
- Fraser Atchison as Rugaru
- Corina Akeson as Dr. Daisy Ochoa
- Jordan Largy as Karen
- Christine Gavin-Bartlett as Woman
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
- Angels (Kelly's Attackers)
- Archangel (Lucifer)
- Seraph (Castiel, mentioned only)
- Crossroad Demon (Crowley)
- Knight of Hell (Abaddon, flashback)
- Nephilim (Jack Kline, referenced only)
- Princes of Hell (Dagon; Ramiel, mentioned only)
- Rugaru (Unnamed Rugaru)
- Vengeful Spirit (Fiona Duncan, alternate timeline)
- Witch (Rowena MacLeod)
Continuity[]
- Kelly Kline previously appeared in LOTUS.
- Rowena MacLeod previously appeared in Regarding Dean.
- Gavin MacLeod previously appeared in the Season 9 episode King of the Damned.
- Nick's body was last used by Lucifer in the Season 5 episode Swan Song.
- A rugaru was previously featured in the Season 8 episode What's Up, Tiger Mommy?.
- A vengeful spirit was previously featured in the Season 11 episode Plush.
Trivia[]
- The episode was watched by 1.62 million viewers and got a 0.6 rating.
- The episode title is a reference to a real American TV gameshow where two families compete to name the most popular responses to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
- This episode is the only one so far to feature 9 different types of supernatural creatures: witches, ghosts, angels, seraphim, archangels, Princes of Hell, Knights of Hell (in a flashback), crossroad demons and rugarus.
- This episode is written and directed by the same three people who wrote and directed King of the Damned, the very episode in which Gavin MacLeod arrived in the present.
- The CW's official summary for this episode misspells Gavin MacLeod as Gavin McLeod.
- This episode takes place around early March 2017 as the locket is stated to have been added to the exhibit six months before and the date for that is given as September 2, 2016. This explains why Fiona's spirit only recently started attacking teachers.
- After saving Kelly Kline, Dagon tells her "come with me if you want to live" with her hand outstretched. This is a reference to the famous line from the Terminator series of movies.
- The majority of this episode belongs to a negated timeline due to Gavin MacLeod's return to 1723 altering history and keeping Fiona Duncan from becoming a Vengeful Spirit. This is best shown when the Winchesters discover that the murders they were investigating have never happened now.
- This episode reveals that Nick's body was restored by Crowley's demons so Lucifer could possess him and become Crowley's prisoner.
- Dagon reveals that Lucifer's unborn child is a boy.
- Rowena finally gets her revenge on Crowley for the death of Oskar, whom she was forced to kill in the Season 10 episode Brother's Keeper.
- It also marks Rowena and Crowley's last meeting in the series.
- As revealed in Season 14's Stranger in a Strange Land, Lucifer's vessel Nick was in fact resurrected by Crowley to house him once more meaning that Nick was in this episode too but was unconscious. Before Stranger in a Strange Land it appeared as if Crowley simply repaired his body and Nick remained dead when Lucifer was returned to it.
Errors[]
- When discussing the fact that the murders had now never happened, Dean refers to Iowa as Ohio. This is a common mistake from people who aren't from the Midwest (Iowa/Idaho/Ohio). However, the Winchesters are from the Midwest, and have hunted in both Iowa and Ohio multiple times, so it can be assumed that this was Jensen Ackles's mistake, not a character error.
- Crowley said the demons had studied Lucifer's Cage and crafted chains based on the Cage's design. This is inconsistent with the statement that the demons had been unaware of Lucifer's location and had no way of reaching him until Azazel discovered a portal at St. Mary's Convent.
- So far, no one has been able to view the Cage's outer walls. The entrance has always been through spells or by using the rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
- Sam stated that by sending Gavin back in time, Fiona's victims were brought back to life as they were never killed by a vengeful Fiona. However, it was Fiona's killings that drove Sam and Dean to investigate the case and ultimately contact Gavin in the first place.
- However, Sam and Dean would still have to remember why they sent Gavin back to his original time, as doing so still didn't erase the fact that Abaddon brought Gavin to the future.
- Gavin tells Sam and Dean that Mistress Aloway "taught most of us in the village." Previously, Gavin never went to school or studied because Crowley, aka Fergus was abusive. Gavin's lack of education led him to become illiterate.
- Crowley used his powers to give Gavin the ability to read and write in 2014. Gavin is clearly shown using this ability while reading the list of artifacts salvaged from his ship.
- What Mistress Aloway taught Gavin and when is never fully explained. Fiona's victims imply she was a regular teacher. Gavin may also have been speaking in the broad sense when speaking of Mistress Aloway. It is possible Gavin was speaking in the broad sense as well.
Deaths[]
- Janice Woods (alternate timeline)
- Unnamed teacher (alternate timeline, mentioned only)
- Unnamed Rugaru
- Two unnamed Rugaru
- Scout Leader (alternate timeline)
- Karen (alternate timeline)
- Fiona Duncan (alternate timeline, mentioned only)
- Mistress Aloway (mentioned only)
- Gavin MacLeod (corrected timeline, mentioned only)
- Fiona Duncan (corrected timeline, mentioned only)
- Kelly's Attackers
- Sara Deshenski
- Oskar (mentioned only)
Featured Music[]
- Play with Fire by The Rolling Stones.
Quotes[]
- Dean: Need a favor.
- Crowley: You. need. You? Turns out beneath the whole moron facade, you and your brother are in fact morons! You let Lucifer's love child live.
- Lucifer: Oh my Dad. I love that. You and I both single fathers. I could use a little dad advice right now. When do you let them date?
International Titles[]
- Hungarian: Családi viszály (Family Faud)