The Born-Again Identity is the 17th episode of Season 7. It aired on March 23rd, 2012.
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! |
Lucifer (guest star Mark Pellegrino) drives Sam to the breaking point and Sam ends up in a mental hospital. Desperate to save his brother, Dean calls every hunter he knows for help. One of the hunters gives him the name of a healer who turns out to have a very familiar face (guest star Misha Collins).
Plot[]
A sleep-deprived Sam is running down railroad tracks and into an alleyway, and a drug dealer tells him to go away. Lucifer keeps talking to Sam, keeping him awake. When Sam tries to walk away, the dealer offers him something to doze off. Sam takes it and tries to go to sleep, but jerks awake. Lucifer is still there, and when Sam tries to run away from him, he enters traffic and is hit by a car.
Dean arrives at the hospital and asks to see his brother, Dr. Kadinsky explains that Sam has had a psychotic episode and is locked up on their psychiatric floor. They are observing him so that they can determine how to treat him, and Dean tells Kadinsky that the non-sleep thing is new. Kadinsky takes Dean to see Sam, who is resisting the sedatives. Sam is still seeing Lucifer, and Dean tells him that he'll get him help. Sam isn't convinced, reminding him that the last healer they found was using a Reaper, and tells Dean not to bother because there's no hope. Dean considers and then walks out.
Back at the motel, Dean calls everyone that he can to find help using Bobby's journal. He has no luck and goes to get a beer, and a light wind blows the card of Mackey's Taxidermy Shop out of the journal. After a moment, Dean leaves a message at the shop's answering machine.
Lucifer continues to haunt Sam, who meets with Kadinsky. The doctor informs him that he is preparing Sam for torture and then transforms into Lucifer, who reminds him that the locked ward is just like the cage they spent together in Hell. That night, Sam tries to eat but sees maggots crawling in his food. He looks up and sees a female patient look at him briefly before walking away.
Mackey finally calls Dean back and says that he's heard of a man named Emmanuel Allen who roams around healing people. The hunter figured that Emmanuel was a monster and called the healer's wife, Daphne. She told Mackey that Emmanuel would see him, and Emanuel came to see him, bypassing all of his tests and traps. Emmanuel healed Mackey's injured right eye and tells Dean that he's convinced the man is real.
The woman, Marin, comes to see Sam and offers him a candy bar before leaving.
Dean goes to Daphne's home and asks for Emmanuel. A man greets him at the door and says that Daphne is resting. However, Dean sees Daphne tied up and the man reveals that he's a demon and attacks. Dean stabs him with the demon-killing knife and then discovers that Emmanuel has arrived and he looks just like Castiel.
Emmanuel goes inside and frees Daphne, and explains that he saw the demon's real face. Dean explains that there are numerous demons and is surprised that Emmanuel knows nothing about them, and asks him to help Sam.
At the psych ward, Lucifer continues to keep Sam awake and boasts that his madness has won. An orderly, Marcus, comes in with food and Sam asks him about Marin. The orderly refuses to talk about Marin but says that she didn't come there due to an accident. Once he leaves, Lucifer goes back to setting off firecrackers.
As Dean drives Emmanuel to the hospital, he asks about Daphne. Emmanuel explains that she was out hiking when she stumbled across him, naked and confused and wandering in the woods. She claimed that God led her to him, and Emmanuel has no memories of his life before that. However, he says that he doesn't feel like he might have been a bad person.
Marin comes to see Sam, who is still struggling to stay awake. She leaves him a stolen candy bar and starts to go, and Sam invites her to stay and share. Marin accepts and says that she's been there five weeks. He notices the bandages on her neck and asks what the matter is, and Marin tells him that she feels depressed and suicidal, and wants everything to be over for her. She asks about Sam and he admits that a voice is keeping him awake, and Marin says that she hears a voice as well. Sam notices on her burns, asking if the voice told her to do it, and Marin insists that her dead brother was the one who set the fires and wants her kill herself to be with him, or he'll do it for her.
Emmanuel asks about Sam's problem and says that he can cure spiritual illnesses as well as physical ones. He realizes that Dean is angry and that the person responsible for Sam's current condition betrayed him, and senses that he's killed a lot of people. Looking at Emmanuel, Dean says that he thought that the person responsible is dead. He mentions Castiel by name and says that he's having trouble dealing with it, and Emanuel assures him that he's only human. He doesn't respond to the name "Cass" other than to say that it's unusual.
The next morning, Dean stops at a convenience store to make a call on his cell phone and has Emanuel wait in the car. Inside, a demon attacks him and he kills it with the knife. The phone is destroyed in the fight, and two more demons come at Dean. They attack him and Dean drops the knife, but someone comes in, stabs one, and drives the other one out. However, a surprised Dean realizes that it's Meg, not Emmanuel.
Meg explains that she has been tracking down Emmanuel and was surprised to discover that he looks like Castiel. Dean tells her not to give anything away and Meg admits that she's still not on good terms with Crowley. She promises to dispose of Crowley, but admits that right now there's a price on her head and she needs friends. Dean isn't interested, figuring that Meg wants to turn Emmanuel into a weapon, but she figures that it's in their best interests to work together. Dean agrees but says that they're going to Sam first, and then asks for his knife back. Outside, Emmanuel recognizes Meg as a demon but Dean tells him that she's a friend of sorts. She hints that she's met Emmanuel before and starts flirting with him, and Dean gets them on the road.
Sam approaches Marin in the hall, apologizes for upsetting her, and asks her about the fire. He assures her that he believes she didn't start it, and offers to help her deal with her brother. Lucifer watches, smirking, as Sam asks Marin about her brother. She explains that he died a year ago and only she can hear him, and she feels chills when he manifests. When Sam says that it must have felt good to hear her dead brother at first, Marin admits that she missed him and it felt good, but then her brother started to get mad and yell at her. Sam says that he can banish the ghost and that Marin has to trust him because it's her only chance. Marin shows him a string bracelet that her brother gave her, that he bled on, and Sam asks if she has a lighter.
Meg and Dean travel in silence and Emmanuel finally asks if there's something he should know. They insist that they don't.
Marin returns with a lighter that she stole from the orderly, and Sam creates a circle of salt. Lucifer blows it away and Sam tells Marin that she will have to do it on her own. Once she rebuilds the circle, Sam gets into it with her. The ghost of her brother appears and begs her not to do it, but Marin says that she has to. Sam takes the bracelet and burns it and the spirit disappears, and then tells Marin to go. She thanks him and leaves, just as the orderlies arrive and sedate him. Later, Sam wakes up and Kadinsky examines him, and says that they have to consider a surgical solution.
Dean, Emmanuel, and Meg arrive outside the hospital and discover that demons have surrounded the building. Emmanuel and Meg both wonder what Dean plans to do, and Dean pulls Meg off to the side. She wants to tell Emmanuel who he really is, even though they don't know how he will react. Emanuel hears them and comes over, and Meg tells him that he's an angel. Emmanuel wonders why they wouldn't tell him, and Dean says that it's bloody and corrupt. When Meg says that Dean and Emmanuel used to be friends, Emmanuel admits that he doesn't remember Dean. Meg tells him to smite every demon in the parking lot, but Emmanuel says that he doesn't remember how. He finally agrees to try, but Dean doesn't think it will work out well.
Emmanuel walks into the parking lot and touches one of the demons on the head. His hands glow with angelic fire and Emmanuel/Castiel starts to remember everything. He disposes of the other demons in short order, and Dean and Meg come down. Castiel turns to them and says that he remembers everything. He asks why Dean didn't tell him that Sam is dying because of him, and walks away, blaming himself for everything.
Marcus takes Sam to a treatment theater and explains that they're going to perform electroshock therapy. He then turns the device up to full and puts the headpiece on him, and reveals that he's a demon.
Dean tells Castiel that he did the best he could at the time, but Castiel says that there's no defense for what he did. He reminds Dean that they didn't part as friends and deserves to die, and wonders why he walked out of the river if he couldn't fix things. Dean says that maybe he came back so he could fix things, and brings out Castiel's trenchcoat and gives it to Cass.
Marcus continues torturing Sam, but Castiel arrives and kills him. He switches off the power and apologizes to Sam for breaking the wall in his mind, and then touches his forehead in an attempt to put the wall back. Sam sees him as Lucifer and insists that he's not real, while Castiel says that he's sorry.
Later, Dean and Castiel visit Sam, who is still seeing Lucifer and has withdrawn entirely from reality. Castiel explains that Sam's mind is too far gone and he can't fix it. However, he realizes that he can shift the problem. He tells Dean that it's better that way, touches Sam's head, and draws red veins of energy into his own body. Sam snaps back to normal but now Castiel sees Lucifer and backs up in horror.
Sam and Dean have no choice but to leave the hospital, leaving Castiel behind as a patient for his own safety. Sam isn't convinced that working with Meg is a good idea, but Dean warns him that they don't have a choice. Meanwhile, Meg meets with Kadinsky and convinces him that he should hire her as a nurse at the hospital.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
Recurring Cast[]
Special Guest Stars[]
- Misha Collins as Castiel and Emmanuel
Guest Stars[]
Co-Stars[]
- Kacey Rohl as Marin
- Eli Goree as Marcus
- Bill Dow as Dr. Kadinsky
- Toby Levins as Mackey
- Johanna Marlowe as Daphne Allen
- Ryan McDonell as Dealer
- Shaine Jones as a Demon Medic
- Kai James as Marin's Brother
- Mark Pawson as Allen House Demon
- Shaun Omaid as Passerby
- Iris Paluly as Nurse Linda
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
- Archangel (Lucifer, hallucination)
- Crossroad Demon (Crowley, flashbacks)
- Demons (Meg, Demon Medics, Convenience Store Demons, Allen House Demon)
- Seraph (Castiel)
- Vengeful Spirit (Marin's Brother)
- Primordial Entity (God, mentioned only)
Continuity[]
- Castiel returns in this episode. He was last seen in Hello, Cruel World.
- Lucifer was last seen in Repo Man.
- Meg was last seen in the Season 6 episode Caged Heat.
- This is the final appearance of Lucifer for this season, and until his return in Season 11.
- This is also the final appearance of Sam's hallucination of Lucifer.
- Sam mentions that the last healer they hooked up with had a reaper on a leash. This is in reference to Season 1's Faith.
- As Emmanuel is smiting the demons his memories are shown in brief flashbacks. They include Season 4's Lazarus Rising and Lucifer Rising, Season 6's The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Season 7's Meet the New Boss.
Trivia[]
- Antagonists: Lucifer and Demons.
- Misha Collins is billed as a "Special Guest Star" like in Meet the New Boss and Hello, Cruel World.
- This episode was originally titled "Heaven Is A Place On Earth".
- Lucifer's next appearance is in O Brother, Where Art Thou? in Season 11.
- The title of the episode is a reference to the 2002 movie The Bourne Identity starring Academy-Award winner, Matt Damon.
- On a tweet on Twitter, Jared Padalecki's friend was revealed to be in a movie with Matt Damon and Jared said he was jealous, revealing he is a Damon fan.
- Dean finds "Emmanuel "with his "wife" Daphne Allen. He tells Dean that she found him wandering along a river, unclothed. In Greek mythology, Daphne is a Naiad, a nymph associated with bodies of freshwater.
- When Dean asks "Emmanuel" where he got his name, he replies Bouncing Baby Names dot com, which is (at this time) a parked domain pointing to adult (NSFW) web sites. Interestingly, the domain name was first registered on February 23, 2012.
- Marin, played by Kacey Rohl, has a bandage around her neck, much in the same way that Rohl's character Abigail Hobbs on NBC'S Hannibal does, which was caused by her father attempting to murder her.
- The name Emmanuel is a Hebrew baby name. In Hebrew the meaning of the name Emmanuel is: God with us. Also an Old Testament name for the Messiah.
- This is the first episode to show Sam with facial hair.
Deaths[]
- Marin's Brother (Human, mentioned only)
- Allen House Demon
- Allen House Demon’s vessel
- Two Convenience Store Demons
- Two unnamed vessels
- Marin's Brother (Vengeful Spirit)
- Demon Medics
- Two unnamed security agents
- Unnamed patient
- Unnamed ordonned
- Marcus
- Marcus’ vessel
Errors[]
- Between shots of his conversations with Marin near the end of the episode, the amount of facial hair Sam has changes. In one shot Sam has very little but only a couple minutes later, Sam has significantly more despite only a few minutes having passed.
Featured Music[]
- Wake Up Little Susie by The Everly Brothers
- Turn Into Earth by The Yardbirds
Quotes[]
- Lucifer: Pills? You do get you're just bringing free drugs to the party, right? I am inside you, Sam.
- Lucifer: Hey, Sam. What's the longest a normal human being's gone without sleep? Eleven days. Hey, you always wanted to be normal, Sam. If you are, you'll be dead in a week!
- Lucifer: (Reading DSM IV) Narcissistic Personality Disorder? This one I could have! [...] Setting unrealistic goals? Check. But trouble keeping healthy relationships? Not sure about that one. Thoughts?
- Lucifer: Sam? You, me, locked ward? Is it me or this just like the Cage?
- Marin: You're worse. Your organs need sleep, you know. Your hair and nails are gonna fall out, and your kidneys are gonna shut down. I saw it in a movie. (Pause) Sorry.
- Lucifer: (Laughs)
- Meg: Look, you got the juice. You can smite every demon in that lot.
- Emmanuel: But I don't remember how.
- Dean: It's in there. I'm sure it's just like riding a bike.
- Emmanuel: I don't know how to do that, either.
- Meg: You're an angel.
- Emmanuel: I'm sorry? Is that a flirtation?
- Meg: No, it's a species.
- Meg: So, Dean, what's poor dead Castiel doing in that junker out there?
- Dean: Christmas caroling.
- Meg: Fun. But how's he still alive?
- Dr. Kadinsky: Sam? How are you feeling now?
- Lucifer: His soul is broken, Doc. Can you give him a pill?
- Dr. Kadinsky: We can't give you any more medication. The potential for overdose is too great. We need to talk about surgical solutions.
- Sam: Sur-surgical?
- Lucifer: Ooh, lobotomy?
- Dr. Kadinsky: It's okay; we're not talking lobotomy here.
- Lucifer: Darn.
- Dean: Emmanuel, you son of a bitch!
[Demon falls down to reveal Meg with the demon-killing knife]
- Meg: Emmanuel. Yeah, not so much.
[Dean gets to his feet slowly]
- Dean: Meg.
- Meg: Dean, Dean, Dean, you got some 'splaining to do.
- Meg: Now picture Crowley with his hands on poor little amnesia Cass. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to burn that smarmy dick my time's coming, but my army-of-one situation is not cutting it. It's cold out here; there's a price on my ass, and I need friends.
- Dean: Yeah. I get that. But I ain't it.
- Meg: That's where you're wrong, Dean. 'Cause I'm here to help you, and that makes us friends.
- Lucifer: You know he's telling the truth. Burned through that last beer hours ago, right about the time when Dean passed out. Come on, Sam, tell the nice tweaker. [gestures at the man]
[Sam groans]
- Lucifer: You'd be sleeping by now if the Devil would leave you alone for five seconds. Stupid Satan. Chasing you all the way to- where the hell are we?
[Dean gestures at Meg to Cass]
- Emmanuel/Castiel: Her face! She's one of-
- Meg: It's OK - we come in different flavours.
- Dean: She's... different.
- Meg: Meg. Just here for moral support. After all, you and I go way back.
[Dean stares at her in disbelief. Cass looks at Dean in confusion]
- Meg: Dean and me! I only just met you, of course.
Gallery[]
Promotional Photos[]
International Titles[]
- German: Identitätsverlust (Loss of Identity)
- Hungarian: A pszichiátria (The Psychiatry)
- Italian: Nato due volte (Born twice)