Tombstone is the 6th episode of Season 13. It aired on November 16, 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! |
Castiel is reunited with Jack and together with Sam and Dean, they head to a sleepy old western town to investigate a murder. Dean gets to live out his boyhood fantasy when he comes face to face with a famous, gun-slinging outlaw.
Plot[]
Dean and an unknown man walk through a cemetery searching for someone when two hands appear from underground and pull down the unknown man as Dean is dismayed at having to travel underground.
Two days earlier, Dean and Sam are still shocked at seeing Castiel alive again as he confirms its really him and explains he annoyed an ancient cosmic being so much that it sent him back. With that, he is embraced by the brothers who state he was gone for too long before Sam questioned if he was in Heaven but Castiel replies that he was actually in The Empty. Castiel then tells the surprised brothers that the realm is where angels and demons go after death. Sam asks about it as Castiel tells them his experience in the realm was like travelling through a dark endless void of nothing. He explains he was sleeping before he was awoke after hearing a voice say his name, as he voices his belief that the brothers had something to do with it but they reply it wasn't them as they believed it was impossible to bring him back. He is then asked if God had something to do with it but Castiel replies God doesn't have any control there. The brothers soon realized that Jack had a role in it and go off to tell him about it.
At the bunker, Jack is on the computer just as the brothers show up as he questions their behavior before they reveal Castiel who greets Jack. He is shocked at the latter's return and he questions how its possible, due to what he learned about burning things so they won't come back as he is told it just happened. Jack is asked if he had a role in bringing Cass back as he mentions begging for the latter's return as the brothers suggested it was the cause. Castiel thanks him as Jack hugs his uncle and shows off his new capabilities. Jack then goes over a hunter's case about a zombie as he describes the details of it which seem supernatural.
Deputy Carl Phillips is on patrol and pulled over the truck of a culprit suspected of grave robbery and had dispatch run the license plate number. Noticing the passenger side door open, Carl investigated, but found no sign of anyone in the truck as he was informed that the truck was stolen. As Carl was spooked by all the noise around him in the dark, he was dragged under the truck.
While Dean seems to be humoring him, he agrees since it in a place where he can act out a cowboy fantasy as he adjourns the meeting excited.
The group head to Dodge where they rest at a motel with pictures of cowboys which Dean happily identifies while his team goes over his love of the old west. Sam soon asks Dean about his good mood as he explains with Cass back and their team whole, he has the win he was waiting for as Sam accepts his brother moving on from his depression.
That night, Jack and Cass get acquainted with the latter apologizing for not being there for him as Jack accepts since Cass didn't have much of a choice. They soon get a report with Cass warning Jack not to wake Dean, who is deeply asleep and snoring, since it means bad news, in which he learns after waking Dean anyway and Dean pointing a gun at him.
The group split up with Dean and Cass going to meet sergeant Joe Phillips who is revealed to be the uncle of the slain deputy that wants revenge for the death of his nephew and will kill him instead of arresting him, something Dean understands.
Elsewhere Sam and Jack meet the mortician Athena Lopez who doesn't know anything regarding the case and sends them off. The two then investigate the cemetery where they discover tunnels through graves and Sam finds remains and sees that it is a supernatural creature.
After the meeting, Cass showed suspicion towards Athena's position and possible connection with the grave robbing's, although this was quickly dismissed since she would have full access to the bodies and would not need to dig them back up. They soon get a video of the stolen truck being driven by an outlaw who Dean recognizes as a dead outlaw and realized its a Ghoul. Jack soon deduced the ghoul's identity as the mortician's boyfriend from a picture he had seen there.
At that moment, the ghoul Dave Mather visits Athena at the mortuary where he gave her a letter from the makeup school she had decided to apply to. While happy for his girlfriend, Dave was worried about the costs associated with living in Los Angeles where the school was located. Dave was upset that Athena wanted to mess up the good thing they had going in town and had his attention drawn when Athena mentioned two FBI agents visiting about the grave robbery. Dave quickly realized that the men were really hunters from the strange questions they had asked.
After tracking the Ghoul to a bank which he was robbing, a gunfight breaks out between Dave and the bank security guard, Lenny. In an attempt to stop it, Jack unleashes a telekinetic blast that throws the Ghoul and Lenny back. Lenny hits his head on a pole and dies while Dave gets away. Jack is grief-stricken at his accidental casualty as Dean tells Sam and Cass to take him to the bunker as he goes after the ghoul.
Dave returns to Athena, where he showed up with the stolen money, she was immediately concerned at his gunshot wounds, but it eventually turned to horror when she realized that he was behind the grave robbing's and that he had killed Deputy Carl Phillips. Upon this revelation, she is too horrified and tells him to leave while Dave subdues her.
On the way back to the bunker, Sam and Cass try to console Jack but the latter angrily tells them to stop.
At the mortuary, Dave spots a truck arriving outside, Dave goes to deal with the people coming after him. Dean and Joe arrive the mortuary after they both identified Dave as the grave and bank robber as well as the deputy's killer. Joe says he knew Dave wouldn't leave without his girlfriend and he intends to take him down, seeing his determination Dean agrees to his help and tells him aim for the head. They stalk Dave to the cemetery where Dave sneaks past them and gets away after pulling Joe down the hole. Dean travels the hole where he finds a tied up Athena in the mortuary, and upon seeing her panic, he revealed that Dave was not human, to which she responded with clear upset and fear. Dean soon finds a battered Joe who explains Dave tossed him around and Dean asks where he is as Joe points him out to be behind Dean, as Dave holds Dean at gunpoint. Athena pleaded with him not to do it, but he refused to listen as its for them but she says they are done. Dean taunts him about being dumped, as Dave tries to shoot him out of rage before he moves out of the way and Dave is killed by Joe Phillips by blowing off his head with a shotgun.
The following morning, Joe questioned Dean on what exactly had happened. Dean gave Joe the story that a guy named Dave had killed Carl and tried to kill Joe before Joe shot him dead while Dean was never there. Joe agreed that the story was "fair enough." Dean told Joe that Dave was responsible for the death of the security guard at the bank as well.
Once Dean returns to the bunker, he explains he took care of the case and had the ghoul take the fall of the guard's death as Jack has an outburst regarding the dead man and is scared that he will hurt the others saying the they are all he has and he can't hurt them. The group attempt to console him as they all made mistakes like him in the past but Jack can't accept this and decides to leave. They try to stop him but Jack throws them back saying he is sorry and teleports out of the bunker.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
- Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
- Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
- Misha Collins as Castiel
- Alexander Calvert as Jack Kline
Recurring Cast[]
Co-Stars[]
- Sarah Troyer as Athena Lopez
- Jonathan Cherry as Dave Mather
- Eric Schweig as Joe Phillips
- Paul C. Grenier as Carl Phillips
- Jason Asuncion as Lenny
- Hana Kinani as Shawnte
- Amanda Gray as Kansas Deputy (uncredited)
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
- Ghoul (Dave Mather)
- Nephilim (Jack Kline)
- Primordial Entity (God and The Shadow, mentioned only)
- Seraph (Castiel)
- Zombies (mentioned only)
Continuity[]
- Jack previously appeared in The Big Empty.
- Jack mentions the comment of what is burned doesn't come back which he heard in The Big Empty.
- A ghoul was previously featured in the episode, Patience
- The Men of Letters bunker was previously featured in The Big Empty.
- Castiel mentioned hearing Jack's voice waking him up in Patience.
- Dean brought up Team Free Will, a concept he originally came up with in the Season 5 episode, The Song Remains the Same.
- Castiel mentioned his time in The Empty in The Big Empty. He also stated that he "annoyed an ancient cosmic being" until it brought him back to life.
- Dean mentions getting Castiel back as his win which he stated he needed a win in Advanced Thanatology.
- When finding the case, Jack states that he knows about zombies now. In The Big Empty, the Winchesters told Jack about zombies while attempting to figure out what was murdering people.
Trivia[]
- The episode was watched by 1.89 million viewers and got a 0.7 rating. This is the season's most watched episode since Patience, highest rated episode since The Rising Son and the show's most watched sixth episode since Ask Jeeves in Season 10.
- The episode title is a reference to the 1993 American western film with the same name.
- This is the first episode where Castiel physically interacts with Jack.
- This is the first episode where Jack kills. However, it was only accidental.
- It was never addressed why Castiel was unable to resurrect the security guard Jack accidentally killed.
- This is the first episode where we hear Jack's angel wings.
- After hearing Billie reference it several times, Sam and Dean finally learn about The Empty.
- While in the tunnel, Dean jokes "sure, come to Dodge City, we'll have some laughs," a reference to John McClane's line in Die Hard. He said something similar during the Season 2 episode, Hollywood Babylon.
- This is the first episode to not feature any recurring guest stars since the Season 12 episode, The Memory Remains.
- As of this episode, Jack is officially a member of Team Free Will which is now described as "two salty hunters, one half-angel kid and a dude that just came back from the dead, again." Dean also calls them Team Free Will 2.0.
- This is the second episode to feature a Western theme since the Season 6 episode Frontierland.
Quotes[]
“ | I missed you so much. | ” |
“ | I told you, he's an angry sleeper. Like a bear. | ” |
“ | I said I needed a big win. We got Cass back, that's a pretty damn big win. | ” |
“ | Dean: Just act like you're from Tombstone. Castiel: The city? Dean: The movie. With Kurt Russell? I made you watch it! Castiel: Yeah, yeah. The one with guns and tuberculosis. I'm your Huckleberry Dean: Great to have you back Cass. |
” |
— Dean Winchester and Castiel
|
“ | Two salty hunters, one half-angel kid, and dude that just came back from the dead again. Team Free Will 2.0. | ” |
“ | Jack, your mother, she believed that you would do amazing things, she said that you would change the world for the better. And now, looking at you, talking to you, I know she was right. That we were right. Kelly would be so proud of you. | ” |
Deaths[]
- Dave Mather (mentioned only)
- Carl Phillips
- Lenny
- Dave Mather (Ghoul)
- Adam Milligan (Ghoul) (mentioned only)
International Titles[]
- Hungarian: Vadnyugati történet (Western Story)