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Nihilism is the 10th episode of Season 14. It aired on January 17, 2019.

Summary[]

Dean Purgatory Blade.png 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!

Michael has re-taken control of Dean as his army of monsters continues to move in on our heroes. Sam devises a plan to try and reach Dean and stop Michael before anyone else has to die.

Plot[]

A thunderstorm is raging outside Rocky's Bar when Pamela Barnes pushes open the door commenting on the weather and stating that people were shopping like it was the end of days. She holds up a bag and says, despite all of that, she got the limes. Dean, behind the bar, tells her that he can't serve the house special, a tequila shot and a beer, without them. Pamela asks where Cass and Sam are and he tells her they're hunting a ghoul in Wichita. A woman comes in and tries to talk Dean into selling the bar, but he tells her that he's already informed her several times that he's not selling the place to her. She admonishes him, stating that the bar isn't exactly busy, but he turns her down again, and she leaves the bar in a huff.

Dean is in his office going over some receipts. Pamela comes in with a couple of shots of tequila. Dean comments about her leaving the unconscious drunk in the bar with all of the alcohol and she says it's no big deal because the guy is passed out. Pamela asks why he's so against selling and he tells her that the bar has always been his dream, and he's not about to let the best thing he's ever had in his life go. A man comes in with his head covered by a raincoat. He verifies Dean's identity then throws his hood off, revealing himself to be a vampire. He says he's there to settle a score because Dean and Sam killed his entire nest. Just as Dean steps forward, the supposed drunk guy jumps up and over the bar to attack him. Dean knocks the guy to the floor, tosses a shotgun to Pamela and grabs a machete as he hops over the bar. He cuts off the head of the vampire who walked in, then turns and cuts off the head of the vampire who was pretending to be drunk just as he starts to lunge towards him.

Pamela commends him then walks up to the bar where he's wiping off his arms. She grabs the cloth from him and starts wiping his chin, telling him that the worst part of working there is the fact that she has to wash off the blood when some pissed off monster comes to get revenge. Dean grabs the cloth back, stating with a snarky grin, "What can I say? I'm famous."

Outside in the real world, Michael states that it's much better. Dean's not fighting back anymore and he's much more comfortable. He raises his hand and Sam, Cass, and Jack all start to crumple to their knees, grabbing their stomachs. Michael begins taunting them about having hope, and now they don't have that. He tells them that he's seen everything that's happened through Dean's eyes, while flashes of the past few months of activities show. Without Michael noticing, Sam pulls a molotov cocktail from his coat, setting it up under his body and trying to grab a lighter. As a distraction, Cass jumps up to attack Michael, who grabs him and throws him to the side, saying not to interrupt him. Sam lights the cocktail and tosses it at Michael. He burst into flames, but before he can completely burn, Cass snaps a pair of angel handcuffs on him, and it douses the flames. Michael asks if they really think the cuffs can hold him, but Sam says they will for now. They try to connect with Dean, but Michael just says he's not home and to leave a message.

Sam gets a call from Maggie. She states they've got every hunter they can, but the monsters aren't killing anyone, they're just biting and scratching people. Sam tells her to save as many people as they can. Just as they start to plan on putting Michael in the trunk of the Impala, a bunch of monsters show up at the door and start trying to break it down. Jack puts part of the broken spear in the door and Cass uses some of his angelic power to try to keep the door shut but tells Sam they don't have much time. During all of this, Michael continues to taunt them and states that he's not going to be their captive much longer.

Sam suddenly gets an idea and calls out to Jessica. He quickly explains to Cass and Jack that she's the reaper Billie assigned to watch over them. After calling a few times, a reaper named Violet appears and states that they're taking shifts now, because the boys screw up so often. However, Sam just tells her that they need her help to get them out of there. While Cass is struggling against keeping the door shut, Jack asks who Sam is talking to and Sam realizes they can't see her. However, Michael comments that he can see her, and on his world, they locked Death up and enslaved the reapers, which makes Violet appear rather uncomfortable. Violet states that while they have her full emotional support, it's against the rules to help physically. She says that she also doesn't have access to that type of power. Sam starts to argue with her, saying that Death owes them because they helped fix the problem with Rowena, but Violet suddenly holds up her finger and shushes him. After Cass demands to know what she's saying, Violet says okay, and they are all suddenly in the bunker. Sam asks how she did it, and Violet says she didn't, but "Have fun!" just before she disappears.

At the hotel in Kansas City the monsters all burst into an empty room and look around in puzzlement.

Back at the bunker, Michael is chained to a post in the war room. Jack asks if they should put him in the dungeon and Sam states that the dungeon won't hold him; neither will the cuffs after very long. Michael snarkily states that he can hear them and they all step into the library, to Michael's amusement.

Jack asks what they are going to do, and Sam explains that when he was possessed by Gadreel, the angel had created a fake world inside his head for him to stay occupied in. However, after Crowley was able to force his way into his mind, he showed Sam how to take control and force Gadreel out. The problem is, now that Crowley's dead, they don't have anyone who can do the same thing.

Sam receives a call from Maggie, who tells him that all of the monsters have stopped attacking and are leaving Kansas City, heading west. Michael snarkily comments asking, "Remind me, we're west of the city, right?" Castiel looks at Michael and questions if he is bringing the monsters to them; Michael sarcastically confirms that he is. Castiel tells Jack that they need to lock down the bunker. Michael again taunts them about not being able to defend against what's coming. He tells Sam that nothing has changed, "Either my monsters get here, or I break free from these chains," but everybody is going to die that night. However, Michael is going to make sure that the last thing that Sam is going to see is his (Dean's) pretty smile as he rips him apart.

A little later, Sam comes wheeling a cart with the Mind-link device on it into the library. Cass asks him what it is, and Sam tells him it's the messed-up machine that the British Men of Letters used to get into peoples' heads. He tells Cass that he figures he can get in that way, so that he can try to get Dean to fight and kick Michael out. He tells Cass that it's all they got.

Back in Dean's mind in Rocky's Bar, the storm outside is raging. Pamela asks if he's heard from Sam. Dean comments (again) that he's still working that ghoul thing with Cass in Wichita. The same scene that happened earlier is replaying over and over, Pamela and Dean taking shots of tequila, the same woman coming in and trying to buy the bar, the vampires attacking, and Dean going into the walk-in bar cooler area to restock. However, he pauses after a time when Pamela asks him about Sam again and he says he's got some serious déjà vu going on.

At the bunker, Michael taunts Jack about being helpless. Jack argues that Sam and Dean will beat him, that Dean is strong, and Michael knows nothing about him. Michael tells Jack that Dean sees him as a burden, a weak helpless thing that Sam and Dean do not love. Cass calls Jack over to go help Sam, telling him not to believe anything Michael says because he is lying.

Maggie and a group of hunters are outside waiting for the horde of monsters to arrive. A car approaches and they draw their weapons. Back inside, Michael taunts Castiel for being weak. Castiel says he is confusing love for weakness. They argue about whether the world should be saved or burned. Michael says on his world, they were abandoned by God, so no answers, just nothing. From inside Dean, he claims he has discovered God is a writer, churning out failed draft after failed draft, saying that when God realizes that, he will destroy them. Now, Michael wants to burn every world until he catches up to God because, "Even God can die." Meanwhile, the hunters discover the monsters have ditched their vehicles and are circling around the bunker on foot.

Sam works on the Men of Letters' mind machine as Jack asks if it's going to work. Jack wants to help by using his powers, but Sam tells him Dean wouldn't want him to save him that way. Sam hooks himself and Michael up to the machine, with Cass piggybacking on Sam. Jack is instructed to pray and make sure no one kills them. Michael laughs and says on the inside he is not chained, and they are all his.

Sam and Cass arrive in a dark place. Cass searches for Dean, sifting through audio of past memories, the trauma being foremost. Sam says, maybe he's not buried in trauma this time, maybe he has been given a better place this time. Audio plays of happier memories, and Sam zeroes in on Rocky's Bar. Sam and Cass enter the bar, Dean offers them a beer and Pamela greets them. Sam tells Dean that none of this is real, but Pamela argues with them. Sam persists and the loop starts again, this time with Sam and Cass witnessing things. Sam and Cass keep arguing and eventually jog Dean's memory, with Pamela's blinding and death being triggers for Dean to start questioning his reality. Sam remembers to say "Poughkeepsie," which does the trick to make Dean acknowledge that he is stuck in his own mind. Michael then enters the bar, sarcastically slow-clapping.

Michael taunting Sam Dean and Castiel

Michael taunting Sam Dean and Castiel while in Dean's mind.

Michael taunts Dean, insulting his relationships with Cass and Sam. Dean tells him to shut up, and Castiel accuses Michael of stalling. Back at the bunker, the hunters rush in, Maggie saying they barely beat the monsters on the way in. They prepare to fight.

In Rocky's, Dean taunts Michael to vaporize them, but Cass and Sam figure out Michael is all talk in Dean's head. The trio attacks. In the bunker, the monsters get in and start beating the hunters. Jack loses control and destroys all of the attackers with his powers. Back in Dean's head, Michael has gained the upper hand over them, mocking them for trying to get him to evacuate Dean's body, since it might cause physical repercussions on Dean. Hearing this, Dean decides to not eject the Archangel but keep him locked away. With help from Sam and Castiel, Dean pushes Michael into a walk-in bar cooler, locking him inside with a screwdriver. Michael immediately starts bashing on the door, screaming. Dean declares the door will hold because he has control over his subconscious and will have it act as The Cage to hold Michael.

The group leave Dean's mind and are finishing cleaning up the mess left by the monsters. Sam and Maggie are relieved that Michael's monsters scattered after becoming disoriented and confused without his direction. Sam thanks Maggie for protecting them, but she states that Jack destroyed the monsters with his returned powers. Castiel admonishes Jack on his actions since they have burned away part of his soul from the Enochian magic, but Jack defends himself because there was danger. Cass accepts this and warns Jack to be careful. Jack promises he will.

Michael trapped

Michael angrily tries to escape Dean's mind.

In his room, Dean is talking to himself in a mirror saying that he is still in control of his body while Michael is in his subconscious continuously bashing on the locked door, screaming to be released. Dean senses this and continues to worry over his control before Billie appears and comments on the screaming in Dean's mind, keeping him occupied. Dean thanks her for the assist she provided as she shrugs it off to the matter at hand. She reminds him of her warnings of dimension traveling and the danger it brings. Dean justifies it, since Michael is now trapped, but Billie is not so sure, she tells Dean of the books on his shelf of possible deaths, have all changed to the same thing. She reveals that each one now details how Michael will escape to take control of Dean and destroy the world. Billie shows Dean that only book has an alternate ending as she hands it to him. Reading the contents, a stunned Dean questions this. Billie tells him it's his choice to make before she disappears.

Characters[]

Main Cast[]

Recurring Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Stars[]

Featured Supernatural Beings[]

Continuity[]

Errors[]

  • Angels are naturally able to perceive Reapers, as Castiel did in Abandon All Hope.... However, in this episode, he couldn't see Violet, the Reaper that Sam was talking with. This could be because Billie made it so Violet could only be seen by Sam and Dean.
    • However, Michael was able to see her.

Deaths[]

Featured Music[]

  • The Marshall Tucker Band - Searchin' For A Rainbow

Trivia[]

  • The episode was watched by 1.44 million viewers and got a 0.4 rating.
    • This is the show's least watched and lowest rated mid-season premiere.
  • "Nihilism" is the philosophical viewpoint that nothing in life has intrinsic meaning. Most often (and somewhat erroneously) it's presented as the belief everything is meaningless.
  • Sam and Castiel enter Dean's mind using the same device Dean did to get into Mary's mind in Who We Are to break her brainwashing.
  • In Dean's fantasy, he owns a watering hole called Rocky's Bar. Crowley's nickname for Dean is squirrel, and the squirrel from the TV show Rocky and Bullwinkle is named Rocky. The name of the bar could be a nod to the nicknames, as the other main character on the show is a moose, and both a squirrel and a moose decorate the bar.
  • Jack Kline uses his supernatural powers for the first time since Let the Good Times Roll. However, he uses them by tapping into the power of his soul using the magic that is keeping him alive.
  • Alternate Michael has been imprisoned in Dean Winchester's mind in this episode. As of this episode, both versions of Michael are imprisoned.
  • Alternate Michael reveals that the Reapers in Apocalypse World are enslaved by angels after Death was locked away.
  • Billie reveals to Dean that following his trapping the alternate Michael, all of the notebooks in Death's Reading Room regarding Dean's death have changed to Michael breaking free and using Dean's body to destroy the world. Only one notebook shows a different fate and Dean is left shocked by what it reveals has to be done.
  • In Dean's memories, he can be heard telling Sam "saving people, hunting things, the family business" from Season 1's Wendigo.

Quotes[]

Sam: Dean? C'mon Dean, are you in there?
Michael: Dean's not home right now, please leave a message.
— Sam and Michael
Michael: You only tolerate the angel because you think you owe him, because he "gripped you tight & raised you from Perdition." Or whatever.
— Michael to Dean about Castiel
Dean: You could have knocked.
Billie: Figured all out that bashing on the door in your head, that was enough.
— Dean and Billie

International Titles[]

  • Hungarian: Nihil (Nihilism)

Gallery[]

Behind the Scenes[]

TBA.

Promotional Pictures[]

Videos[]

Supernatural_14x10_Extended_Promo_"Nihilism"_(HD)_Season_14_Episode_10_Extended_Promo

Supernatural 14x10 Extended Promo "Nihilism" (HD) Season 14 Episode 10 Extended Promo

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