The Man Who Knew Too Much is Part 2 of the season finale of Season 6, and the twenty-second episode.
Synopsis
The wall comes down in Sam’s head and all hell breaks loose. Dean and Bobby are, for once, at a total loss on how to help him and are forced to stand by and do nothing while Sam breaks. The battle for heaven comes to a head.
Recap
Sam wakes up on a park bench when two policemen try to move him along. He has no memory of who or where he is, but his first instinct is to take the policemen down. Afterwards, he's running from a patrol car when he bursts through the back door of a bar and scares a bartender named Robin, who tells him that the bar is closed. When she learns that he has amnesia, however, she takes pity on him and tries to help.
Robin wants to take Sam to the hospital, but he refuses. He feels like he has to be somewhere - stop something. When he sees a book by H.P. Lovecraft in the bar, snippets of memory assault him. He sees flashes of Dean,Balthazar, and,Bobby who says something about Lovecraft. He doesn't recognize them, but the last thing he sees is the sign for a motel called the Nite Owl. When he and Robin look online, they learn that the motel is real and just two towns over. Robin offers to drive him and, when they arrive, Sam instinctively knows that he's staying in the room with the best escape route. Robin is disconcerted, even more so when Sam opens the door to his room with her credit card and she sees the papers and other evidence of Sam's hunting occupation all over the walls. When she finds a pile of fake IDs, she starts to leave, but Sam sees a newspaper clipping about a missing woman named Eleanor Visyak and collapses.
Sam remembers finding Eleanor bleeding from her stomach in an alley with Dean and Bobby. In his memory, he hears Eleanor tell them that Castiel and Crowley kidnapped and tortured her for information about opening a door to Purgatory. She broke when Castiel took over the interrogation and told them everything they wanted to know. Bobby asks Eleanor how close they are to getting in, and she tells him that they just have to wait for the lunar eclipse tomorrow, as they already have or can easily get what they need: the ritual, the blood of a virgin, and the blood of a "Purgatory native." Before she can tell them where Castiel and Crowley are, she dies, and Castiel appears. He tells them to stop interfering, but Dean refuses. Castiel tells him that if he backs down, he'll save Sam when everything's over, and then touches Sam's head, tearing down the wall in his head.
"Soulless" Sam attacks.
Sam snaps out of the vision, and Robin asks him what he remembers. He tells her that his name is Sam and that he was with two guys, one a "male model type" and one an older man named Bobby. He finds an address for Bobby in his contact book, takes the car keys on his desk, and goes outside with Robin. He instantly knows that the Impala is his car, and while Robin says her goodbyes, she warns him that he might not like what he finds if he goes to Sioux Falls. As they talk, Sam hears something and tackles Robin to the ground just in time to avoid being shot by someone who looks exactly like Sam.
While Sam and Robin drive to Sioux Falls, it is revealed that Sam is actually comatose and in a dream state as a result of Castiel touching his forehead and breaking the walls that Death created in his head. Dean and Bobby have put his unconscious body in Bobby's Panic Room, but they're running out of time if they want to stop Castiel from opening the door to Purgatory. When Balthazar appears and betrays Castiel by giving up Crowley's hiding place, they decide to leave Sam behind with a note that lets him know where they'll be.
Sam confronting his "soulless" doppleganger.
Meanwhile, in Sam's head, Sam has another confrontation with his doppelganger, who reveals that Sam is actually unconscious after Castiel broke the wall in his mind. He learns that the doppelganger in his mind is "soulless" Sam, and that he intends to kill "soulful" Sam in order to take over his body in the real world. The two Sams play a cat and mouse game where "soulful" Sam emerges the victor. As he dies, "soulless" Sam tells him that there is another Sam, one that's worse than him. Sam then absorbs "soulless" Sam and regains his memories of the time he was soulless. He remembers that Robin is actually a victim of a demon attack, one who he mercilessly killed when the demon tried to use her as a hostage. After Sam apologizes for failing to help her, she disappears.
Back in the real world, Castiel meets with Crowley, who has assembled the necessary ingredients for their ritual. Castiel wants to renegotiate their deal. He will not give Crowley the souls, so Crowley can either flee or die. The demon leaves Castiel with the blood for the ritual.
Sam absorbs memories of his time in Lucifer's Cage
Still trapped inside his head, Sam travels to Bobby's house and meets the third Sam, who is comprised of the memories of his time in Lucifer's Cage. "Tortured" Sam tries to convince Sam not to reabsorb him as he is not strong enough to face those memories, but Sam is adamant that he needs to wake up and help Dean and Bobby. "Tortured" Sam wishes him luck and then allows Sam to kill him. As he reintegrates into Sam's mind, Sam's physical body seizes out of control.
Later, Castiel confronts Balthazar. He says that Dean is coming, and someone among them is a traitor. Balthazar asks him who it is, and Castiel tells him that he doesn't know, but he wants Balthazar to investigate. While the other angel is distracted, Castiel stabs and kills him with an Angel Killing Sword.
Dean and Bobby arrive at Crowley's hideout and scope out the building. It's full of angels, but before they can try to infiltrate it, they are hit by an entire cloud of demons that flips the Impala with them inside it. Castiel is still preparing the ritual when the cloud of demons descends around the building, and Crowley appears. Castiel tries to kill him with his angelic touch, but it fails because Crowley has a new partner: Raphael. Castiel is surprised at the partnership because of their differing goals, but both Crowley and Raphael seem to think they have taken the best course available. They demand the blood; Castiel throws them the jar of blood and leaves. Outside, Sam surveys the flipped and empty Impala - has a flash of memory from Lucifer's Cage, then continues to approach the building.
Castiel exposes his new God-like power.
Crowley conducts the ritual, and though Bobby and Dean try to interrupt, completes it. Nothing happens, and Castiel reappears. Crowley realizes that he switched the blood and conducted his own ritual. Castiel displays his new power briefly in a flash of energy and tells them that they cannot imagine what it is like to be filled with the power of "millions upon millions of souls." Crowley immediately beats a hasty retreat, but Raphael is unable to. A terrified Raphael begs for mercy, asking why Castiel allowed Crowley - a demon - to escape. Castiel answers that he has plans for Crowley, but none for Raphael. Castiel then snaps his fingers, completely obliterating Raphael.
He turns to Dean and Bobby. He was right, he says, and did save them. Dean nervously agrees, then suggests that Castiel should return the souls and disarm himself. Castiel says he has Raphael's followers to deal with. Dean is worried that Castiel's power is affecting his mind and that he could "kill us all." He reminds Castiel that he is family and tells him that he doesn't want to lose him. Castiel says that he has no family anymore; he will not give up the souls. Suddenly Sam stabs him from behind with an angel killing sword, but nothing happens. Castiel greets him, then says the sword will not work because he is not an angel anymore. He says that he is their new God - a better one - and that they must venerate him or be destroyed. They look at him in horror.
Main Characters
Recurring Characters
Continuity
- As of this episode, all of God's Archangels are either dead or out of commission.
- Last episode, Castiel kidnapped Dr. Visyak for information on Purgatory.
- Castiel is still working with Crowley, though he terminates their alliance in the middle of the episode.
- Castiel obliterates Raphael in the same manner Raphael and Lucifer obliterated him in Lucifer Rising and Swan Song respectively an interesting note is that all 3 occurred during a Season Finale.
- This episode marks Balthazar's and Raphael's last appearances.
Featured Music
- Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas
- Playing With Fire by The Rolling Stones
Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors
- Possible Goof: When Sam is hunting the Crossroads Demon in his flashback, he's using a regular firearm, which shouldn't have any effect on a Demon.
Notes
- Antagonists: Raphael, Crowley and Castiel.
- Jared Padalecki states that the finale focuses more on Sam, while the previous episode focused more on Dean.
- This episode was filmed before any news of a season seven renewal, yet the writers still left a cliffhanger at the end due to the optimism of many fans on the show's renewal.
- The episode's title refers to the movie: The Man Who Knew Too Much, involving Balthazar's role.
The episode's title may refer explicitly to the actions of Balthazar, Sam, and Castiel throughout the entire episode. - This is the last episode with Misha Collins as main cast member, he returns as a "Special Guest Star" in Season 7.
- The scene when Sam takes down the two policemen is reminiscent of a scene from The Bourne Identity in which the main character takes down two policemen in a similar manner.
- The Leviathans technically have a cameo in this episode, as they are absorbed into Castiel with all the souls of Purgatory. They are fully introduced as the show's new villains in the next episode "Meet The New Boss".
- It's interesting to note the similarities between the culminated events of this season and those that transpired in Season 4. The circumstances are fairly similar in their motivations and consequences, though some differences are present due to having two antagonists in Season 4 to the singular in this season. Comparable situations include:
- Castiel is Sam; a "wayward hero" who attempted to do good, making questionable decisions, but through a unforseen factor ends up causing a cataclysmic mistake, Castiel the Leviathans (which is only revealed in the next season) and Sam releasing Lucifer.
- Crowley is Ruby; the scheming ally of the wayward hero who ultimately betray them to their archenemy; Crowley betrays Castiel to Raphael to seize power, while Ruby was a double agent to release Lucifer.
- Raphael is Lilith; the archenemy of the wayward hero, whose death somewhat coincided with the release of the hidden evil; Raphael is killed as Castiel absorbs all the souls, including the Leviathans, and Lilith's death is the final seal to release Lucifer.
- Sam is Dean; the hero's ally whose refusal to comply leads to their incapacitation; Sam's wall is removed by Castiel, and Dean is attacked by Sam while attempting to prevent him from leaving with Ruby.
- Balthazar is Castiel; the 'repentant underling' who originally worked with the wayward hero until they realise the hero's plan to be flawed and immoral. In betraying the hero to the 'original ally', they are killed for their treachery; Balthazar is killed by Castiel after informing Dean and Bobby of his hideout and Castiel is killed by Raphael for removing Dean from the White Room.
- Dr. Visyak plays the role of the possessed nurse whose blood Sam had to drink, an innocent who the wayward hero kills as a sign of their ruthlessness.
- The Leviathans (though not revealed until the next episode) are Lucifer; the hidden evil whose presence and danger is not realised until is too late; the Leviathans stowaway in Castiel's body and stay when he releases the souls, and Lucifer's release was caused by Lilith's death.
- The kidnapping of Lisa and Ben serves a similar purpose to Zachariah's trapping of Dean; both serve as distractions for the hero's ally to prevent them from interfering with the grand plan. The 'repentant underling' is the one who allows for the hero's ally to prevail.
- The way Dean has Castiel remove all traces of him from Lisa and Ben's memories is the same as Jimmy Novak finally giving up all notions that he could ever return to his family;
- The characters learning about Castiel's allegiance with Crowley comes at roughly the same point in the time-line as the revelation that Sam was drinking Demon Blood to fuel his powers (sinister methods unveiled);
- Both Castiel and Sam plead to Dean to remain faithful to their actions by reminding his familial bond with them;
- Both Sam and Dean arrive seconds after the final blow is struck, attempting to attack whoever is responsible, Sam attacking Castiel and Dean stabbing Ruby.