Nihilism

Season	Episode	Overall
14	10	297

Series

Supernatural

Airdate

January 17, 2019

← Previous	Next →
The Spear	Damaged Goods

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

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!

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

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

Michael continues to fight the trio and gains the upper-hand over them before mocking them on 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 full of kegs and locks him inside using a screwdriver. Michael immediately starts bashing on the door wanting out. 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, as they are cleaning up the mess left by the monsters. Sam and Maggie are relieved that Michael's monsters scattered after being rendered in disarray without his direction. Sam thanks Maggie for protecting them, as she states it was Jack since he destroyed the monsters as she and Sam note on the latter's powers returning. Castiel is admonishing Jack on his acts 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 and he promises.

Michael trapped — Michael angrily tries to escape Dean's mind.

In his room, Dean is talking to himself in a mirror where he tells himself that he is still in control of his body while Michael is in his subconscious continuously bashing on the locked door and screams to be released. Dean senses this and continues to worry over his control before Billie appears and notes 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 his shelf of possible deaths and they have all changed to the same thing. She reveals that each detail of how Michael will escape to take control of Dean and destroy the world. Billie shows the shocked Dean that only one details an alternate way as she hands him a thin book. Reading the contents, a stunned Dean questions this and Billie tells him it's his choice to make before she disappears.

Characters

Main Cast

Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester and Alternate Michael
Misha Collins as Castiel
Alexander Calvert as Jack Kline

Recurring Cast

Guest Stars

Co-Stars

Panta Mosleh as Violet
Barry W. Levy as Smithy
Brendon Halcrow as Tiger/Tiger Impersonator
Sarah Bridget Johns as Lawyer
Lincoln McGowan as Bunker Vampire

Featured Supernatural Beings

Angels (Alternate Castiel and Gadreel, mentioned only)
Archangels (Alternate Michael; Alternate Lucifer and Michael, mentioned only)
Crossroad Demon (Crowley, mentioned only)
Demons (Alastair's Henchmen, mentioned only)
Djinn (Bunker Djinn)
Ghouls (mentioned only)
Horsemen (Alternate Death, mentioned only)
Nephilim (Jack Kline)
Primordial Entity (God, mentioned only)
Psychic (Pamela Barnes, manifestation)
Reaper (Billie, Violet; Jessica, mentioned only)
Rugaru (Bunker Rugaru)
Seraph (Castiel)
Shapeshifter (Tiger Impersonator)
Vampires (Bunker Vampire; Lydia Crawford, flashback only)
Werewolf (Bunker Werewolf; Garth Fitzgerald IV, mentioned only; Melanie, flashback only)
Witch (Rowena MacLeod, mentioned only/flashback)

Continuity

The episode picks up right after the events in The Spear.
Maggie previously appeared in Nightmare Logic.
Billie previously appeared in Funeralia.
Pamela Barnes previously appeared in Dark Side of the Moon.
Garth Fitzgerald IV was mentioned in this episode. He previously appeared in The Spear.
Rowena MacLeod was mentioned in this episode. She previously appeared in Unhuman Nature.
Alternate Bobby Singer and Mary Winchester were mentioned in this episode. They previously appeared in Nightmare Logic.
Alternate Castiel was mentioned in this episode. He previously appeared in Exodus.
Jessica was mentioned in this episode. She previously appeared in Funeralia.
Crowley was mentioned in this episode. He previously appeared in All Along the Watchtower.
God was mentioned in this episode. He previously appeared in Alpha and Omega.
Gadreel was mentioned in this episode. He previously appeared in Do You Believe In Miracles?.
John Winchester was indirectly mentioned in this episode. He previously appeared in As Time Goes By.
The Main Universe Michael was mentioned in this episode. He previously appeared in Swan Song.
Flashbacks of Unhuman Nature are seen.
Billie mentions Dean's shelf of possible deaths, which was seen in Advanced Thanatology.
The mind-link device was previously seen in Who We Are.
Sam uses Poughkeepsie to warn Dean. This was previously used by Crowley in King of the Damned.
Pamela's blindness was mentioned, it occurred in Lazarus Rising.
Alternate Michael mentions Castiel's quotes "The one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition", which occurred in Lazarus Rising.

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.

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.
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