You Can't Handle The Truth is the 6th episode of Season 6. It aired on October 29th, 2010.
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! |
Sam and Dean investigate a series of suicides and discover the victims were being told brutal truths that drove them crazy. They find out someone is invoking the Goddess of Truth, Veritas, forcing people to be cruelly honest against their will and Dean is the next victim. Dean is forced to tell Sam the truth about how he feels about his return from Hell.
Plot[]
Sam and Dean travel to Calumet City, Illinois to investigate what is the city's fourth suicide in two weeks. Jane Peterson, a waitress at Biggerson's Restaurant, shot herself after being bombarded by several harsh truths, the worst of which came from her sister, Olivia. Sam and Dean learn of Olivia's culpability after questioning her, but she isn't sure why she said horrible things to Jane when what she really wanted to do was comfort her sister. Then, shortly after they arrive in town, a dentist named Dr Paul Connelly drills his friend Kenny to death in his dentist's chair after Kenny confesses to raping his underage daughter.
Meanwhile, Dean confides in Bobby about Sam's actions in Live Free or Twihard and asks him to research possible causes for Sam's strange behavior. Dean is convinced that his brother is not himself, and he decides to research the case in Calumet City on his own to get some time away from Sam. He learns that both Jane and Dr. Paul Connelly were taking music lessons at a music store called Harry's House of Horns, where an antique horn was recently stolen. He calls Castiel with the theory that it is a holy weapon, Gabriel's Horn of Truth, that is causing the disruption in Calumet City. Castiel shows up immediately after Dean mentions a holy weapon, and Dean is angry with him for only answering when it's in his own interests. He suspects that Sam is possessed by Lucifer, but Castiel says he would have felt if Lucifer had gotten out of his cage. Dean starts to explain what's going on in town, but Castiel disappears before he can finish. He then reappears two seconds later and announces that the Horn of Truth is not causing the disturbance. Before he goes again, he tells Dean that he does want to help with Sam and that he'll make some inquiries.
Dean then goes to a bar for a drink, and when the bartender asks him what else he wants, he unwittingly invokes the truth curse by saying "I'd just like the freaking truth." Immediately, people start telling him embarrassing truths about themselves, and Dean calls Bobby to test his theory that he's been cursed. When it becomes obvious that he is, he decides to find Sam and demand answers from him. Sam denies that he let Dean be turned into a vampire, telling him that he just froze, and Dean is relieved when Sam tells him that he'll always have his back. Dean also gets a call and a dose of truth from Lisa. She tells him that she's sick of him burying his emotions and drinking too much. She also tells him that she's happy Sam's alive, but that she knew their relationship was over the minute he showed up again. She thinks Sam and Dean's relationship is unhealthy and that Dean can never be happy while Sam is in his life. Just before hanging up on Dean, she says that she and Ben can't be "in this" with him.
While Dean has been investigating on his own, Sam visits the morgue and discovers that the bodies of all but the latest suicide victim are missing. He also goes to the home of the first suicide victim, Corey, who's death had been ruled as an accident. He speaks to her roommate and learns that Corey was obsessed with finding the truth because she thought her boyfriend was cheating on her. Sam finds a box in her room that contains a cat skull, grains of paradise seed, and Devil's Shoestring: the ingredients needed to summon Veritas, the Goddess of Truth. They discover that Veritas, who can take human form, is in the city posing as an investigative reporter named Ashley Frank. Whoever asks for the truth in Calumet City will get too much of it, and when they kill themselves, Veritas takes and eats their bodies as tributes. They go to her home to kill her, but she captures them and, before eating them, decides to play "Truth or Truth." She forces Dean to admit that he wanted to kill Sam because he thought he was a monster; however, when she questions Sam, she becomes agitated because she can tell that Sam is lying to her. She asks Sam what he is—he can't be human if he can lie to her. Sam and Dean use this distraction to kill her, but then Dean turns a knife on Sam and demands to know what he is. Sam asserts that he is himself, but admits that something is wrong with him: he hasn't been able to feel anything since he's come back from Lucifer's Cage. His emotions are completely absent, which was why he was able to let Dean be turned, and though he thinks that having no emotions makes him a better hunter than he's ever been, he tells Dean that he thinks he needs help. Dean responds by punching Sam in the face and then continuing to pummel him, with a total of 14 punches to the face, and the episode ends with Sam lying bloody on the floor.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
- Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
- Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
- Misha Collins as Castiel (cameo)
Recurring Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
Co-Stars[]
- Serinda Swan as Veritas
- Michael Chase as Kenny
- Ingrid Nilson as Jane Peterson
- Tristin Leffler as Olivia
- Roger Haskett as Paul Connelly
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
- Archangel (Gabriel and Lucifer, mentioned only)
- Deity (Veritas)
- Seraph (Castiel)
- Vampire (Boris, mentioned only)
- Phoenix (referenced only)
Continuity[]
- Dean's time as a vampire is mentioned after occurring in Live Free or Twihard.
Trivia[]
- Antagonist: Veritas.
- The title of this episode is referencing the 1992 movie A Few Good Men starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson. Jensen Ackles (as Lt. Daniel Kaffee) did the play in the version of the film from June 5–10, 2007.
- When discussing why the bodies are going missing from the morgue, Dean asks if it’s a “Soylent Green situation.” Soylent Green is a 1973 film where humanity is facing a worldwide shortage of food and must eat ‘Soylent wafers,’ of which the ‘Soylent Green’ variety are actually made of human corpses.
- This episode was produced fifth but aired sixth.
- When Dean is supposedly doing research while away from Sam in the hotel room, he is actually researching why Sam is not acting himself. Dean's computer screen shows an article about Doppelgangers.
- Dean looks up the same picture online of an angel raising a soul from Hell that one of Bobby's lore books referenced in Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester.
Deaths[]
- Corey (mentioned only)
- Jane Peterson
- Kenny
- Paul Connelly
- Veritas
Errors[]
- The title of the newspaper article Sam Winchester shows Dean near the beginning proclaims Jane Peterson as the fourth tragic suicide but the article itself says that three more suicides have been reported since Jane's death, which would mean that she was the first suicide not the fourth as the headline proclaims.
- Around timestamp 28:20, Dean picks up a receipt from the dentist's desk from "Harry's House of Horns". On the receipt, "Saxophone Lessons" is misspelled as "Saxaphone Lessons".
Quotes[]
[Dean testing to see if his curse works over the phone]
Dean: Hey! Anything you’re itching to tell me?
Bobby: Not really. Sorry to disappoint.
Dean: Ah, it’s alright. I’m just testing a theory.
Bobby: Well, I’m here hittin’ the books while drinking a nice glass of milk and watching “Tori & Dean.”
Dean: Wh-wait w-who and Dean?
Bobby: Tori Spelling. I’m a huge fan. Girls a real talent.
Dean: Oh, I guess it does work over the phone.
Bobby: You know what else?I get a pedicure once in a while. This nice Vietnamese joint.
Dean: Okay. Okay. Please stop.
Bobby: This one gay, Nhung Phuong — her name means “velvet phoenix” —tiny thing, but the grip on her. She starts in my toes, and I feel like I am gunna-
Dean: Whoa, whoa! Hey, come on, m- now im scarred for life. Thank you.
Bobby: I never told anyone that. Why am I telling you? Maybe ‘cause you’re my favorite. Although, Sam’s a better hunter. Lately, anyway. Whoa why the hell am I tellin’ you this?!
Dean: Because I’m cursed.
Bobby: Cursed?
Dean: Yes.
Bobby: How is it that half the time you clean a mess, you end up dirty?
Dean: Actually, this might be the best thing that’s happened to me in a while …. I gotta go
Bobby: Okay, but did you know that my first girlfriend turned out to be a- [Dean hangs up]
[After defeating Veritas, Dean holds a knife towards Sam]
Dean: You are not my brother.
Sam: Just listen.
Dean: What are you!
Sam: It’s me, Dean. Look, please. Just let me explain
Dean: Why the hell should I believe anything you say?
Sam: Okay, okay. You want the truth? Here it is. Here it is. Gods honest. [Exhales sharply] She was right. There’s something wrong with me, really wrong. I’ve known it for a while. I lied to you. Yea. And… I let you get turned by that vamp. Because. I knew there was a cure, Dean, and we needed in that nest! And I knew you could handle it!
Dean: Handle it?! I could’ve died! I could’ve killed Ben.
Sam: And that should stop me cold. But I- I just don’t feel it.
Dean: You what?
Sam: Ever since I came back, I am a-a better hunter than I’ve ever been! Nothing scares me anymore! ‘Cause I can’t feel it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I think… I need help.
Behind the Scenes[]
International Titles[]
- German: Wahrheit tut weh (The Truth hurts)
- French: Veritas
- Hungarian: Veszélyes igazság (Dangerous Truth)
- Polish: Nie zdzierżysz prawdy (You Won't Handle the Truth)
- Italian: Il gioco della verità (The game of truths)