O Brother, Where Art Thou?

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the 9th episode and the mid-season finale of Season 11. It aired on December 9th, 2015.

SummaryEdit

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!

Amara (guest star Emily Swallow) unleashes her power on the local townspeople as she issues a shocking challenge. Dean tries to better understand the hold Amara has on him, while Sam and Crowley come up with a plan that could have disastrous consequences.

PlotEdit

At a park, an evangelist is preaching to the crowd about how only the forgiven will ascend to holy grace. Amara speaks up and asks if God is watching. She says that God isn't that interested, and the evangelist tells her to beg him for forgiveness or face his wrath. He tells her that only God is able to bring about plagues and destruction. To which, Amara gestures and a nearby fountain spouts blood. She then summons a storm and the evangelist wonders if Amara is God and is testing the congregation. She says that she isn't, and warns that God isn't the only game in town. Amara then calls down the lightning, and each blast incinerates one of the crowd. The park is filled with charred corpses.

Sam has a vision of being in the cage with Lucifer with a nearby bush bursting into flame. Sam then tells Dean about his vision, and says that he felt calm when Lucifer touched him and that wouldn't be his typical reaction. Each time the visions have become clearer. Dean points out that they have no proof that any of it is real, and Sam describes the burning bush. He figures that Lucifer would know how God imprisoned the Darkness since Lucifer was there.

Later, Sam and Dean meet with Crowley and tell him about Sam's visions. He says that they don't want to open the cage and prepares to leave, but Dean reminds him that the Darkness will destroy everything. Crowley asks Dean why Amara spared him, and Dean says that Amara is God's sister. Crowley is shocked to hear God has a family and dismayed that he let that leverage escape. He asks if Sam can meet Lucifer outside of the cage, and Sam says that they can't let Lucifer out. Crowley considers and says that there may be a way. They would need the Book of the Damned and a witch. In Hell, Lucifer senses someone approaching.

At a church, the priest is greeting his parishioners and finds Amara there. She says that she's looking for God and wants an actual meeting. The priest says that the way to reach God is through prayer and invites Amara to try it. She prays, but gets no response. The priest assures Amara that God has heard her, but admits that no one alive has met God. Amara is shocked to know that only the dead get to meet him. When he shows her a Bible, Amara says that it's manipulation and humans only believe what God wants them to. The priest insists that God is the Light and the Light vanquishes the Darkness.

In his palace, Crowley has his demons bring Rowena to him in chains. Once they're alone, Rowena tries to bluff her way out. Crowley doesn't fall for it, and Sam and Dean come in. Dean says that they have to work together and can kill each other later, and Rowena realizes that the Darkness is free. She wonders how she can trust any of them, and Crowley admits that she can't.

The lesser angels meet on Earth, well aware that Amara plans to take over Heaven. The other angels figure that it's on God to make things right, but he's not around. Some of them argue that Amara's fight is with God and not his creations. The lead angel argues that since God is not around, Amara would exact her vengeance upon his creations. They figure that their leaders won't do anything, so they have to spread the word that they unite and move against the Darkness.

Sam and Dean tell Rowena that Amara is God's sister. Crowley says that he'll call off his assassins if she helps, and Rowena says that she'll need the Codex and Charlie's codebreaker. She wonders what's in the cage that is so dangerous, and Sam tells her that it's Lucifer.

In the church, Amara kills everyone and drains the priest of his soul. She tosses him aside, breaking his neck, and looks up at the stained glass windows. Amara calls to God, saying that his favorites are suffering, and tells her brother to show himself.

When they hear about the church murders, Dean goes to confirm that Amara was involved. He calls Sam, who says that what they're looking for is in the Book. The police have confirmed from witnesses that an unknown woman was talking to the priest, and they figure that it's Amara. Rowena gets impatient and wants to begin without Dean. Sam agrees to it.

After Dean finishes talking with the police, he senses Amara nearby. He goes to a nearby park and ignores Sam's phone call. Amara appears next to Dean and he stares at her. Amara tells Dean that he arrived at the park because he felt her presence. She teleports him to a nearby lake.

Sam, Crowley, and Rowena proceed through Hell and Crowley warns his mother that she has no idea what they're dealing with. He explains that they're in Limbo and Lucifer should be powerless there. They come to the cage and Rowena paints the wards. Rowena then activates them and it begins.

Amara tells Dean that he misunderstands her purpose. She had to get God's attention, and he ignored her so she harmed his chosen. Dean says that it's between the two of them, and Amara is killing humans by taking their souls. Amara explains that they're a part of her and they will live forever.

Lucifer appears inside the cage and asks what Crowley wants of him. Sam steps forward and Crowley and Rowena move back to watch from a safe distance. Sam explains that they have a crisis on Earth, and tells Lucifer about the Darkness. Lucifer wonders where God is, and Sam admits that there's no sign of him. However, he says that God has recently reached out to him and answered his prayers. Sam says that God sent him to seek out Lucifer.

Amara tells Dean that God was so threatened that she'd make a more perfect creation that he exiled her and passed out stories that she was a threat. He encouraged religions as monuments to his ego and offered safety to the faithful if they adored him. Dean points out that it's God's universe and rules, and Amara asks what would happen if there were no rules but only bliss. She says everyone can have the same feeling Dean has when he's around her.

In Limbo, Lucifer admits that he helped God seal up the Darkness millennia ago. He tells Sam that Amara is equal to God in raw powerbut doesn't have the experience, and God sent Sam to get Lucifer's help. Lucifer wants a vessel who is strong enough to hold him.

Dean asks Amara what she gets, and she says that she will have everything. He points out that would make her God, and reaches for his dagger. Amara says that she will be the Dark to God's Light, and that's all that Dean needs to know. He stabs her and the blade shatters on her body. Amara says that she knows Dean's instinct is to resist, but she can't be resisted. She then cups Dean's face to suck out his soul, but kisses him instead.

Dean backs away and asks what the kiss meant, and Amara says that it's the future. They're bonded because Dean is the one who set her free, and they will be together. Dean insists that it isn't going to happen, and Amara wonders why he doesn't want it. Three lesser angels appear and call on Amara to surrender. She tells them to summon God to fetch her Himself, and the angels warn that every one of them is ready to smite her with one blow that even she can't survive. Dean speaks up, saying that if Amara dies then a whole group of people will die. Amara dispatches the angels with no effort. A storm masses overhead, and Amara figures that now God will hear her. She teleports Dean away and offers herself, and a blast of heavenly light stikes down from the sky.

Dean finds himself back in the park.

Sam tells Lucifer that he won't say yes to Lucifer possessing him. Lucifer deactivates the wards and extinguishes the Holy Fire around the cage. Rowena tells Crowley to follow him. Meanwhile, Lucifer teleports Sam into the cell and advances on him. Sam calms himself and says that it's how God told him it would be. He figures that he just has to go with it, and Lucifer explains that when the Darkness descended, the cage was damaged. Reaching out through the fissures, Lucifer made contact with Sam and gave him the visions. Lucifer reveals that God was never with Sam. A single tear rolls down Sam's cheek when Lucifer says that he is Sam's only hope.

CharactersEdit

Main CastEdit

Recurring CastEdit

Guest StarsEdit

Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer
Ruth Connell as Rowena MacLeod

Co-StarsEdit

Featured Supernatural BeingsEdit

Angels (Head Angel)
Archangel (Lucifer)
Crossroad Demon (Crowley)
Primordial Entities (The Darkness; God, mentioned only)
Witch (Rowena MacLeod)

ContinuityEdit

Lucifer reappears in this episode. He last appeared in the Season 7 episode The Born-Again Identity as a hallucination and in the Season 5 episode Swan Song possessing Sam.
Amara has grown into a woman.
Rowena returns in this episode. She was last seen in The Bad Seed.
This is the first episode to feature archangels (in the flesh, not hallucinations) since Season 6.
Rowena and Crowley learn that The Darkness/Amara is God's sister in this episode.

TriviaEdit

After Lucifer is summoned to the cage in Limbo, his eyes are glowing. It is unknown if this is the true color of his eyes or a reflection of the flames surrounding him.
- Later episodes reveal Lucifer's eyes do glow an unusual red.
Sam encounters a burning bush following one of his visions. The burning bush is believed to symbolize God's presence or God's protection, which prevents someone from being consumed by flames or danger.
This is the first episode of Season 11 where the Impala does not make an appearance.
"O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is the title of the 2000 film, an adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey by the Coen Brothers.
When Sam asked Lucifer what would he do after defeating The Darkness, he answered that he would go to Los Angeles and become a detective. This is a reference to a Lucifer series.

Featured MusicEdit

Memorial by David Kelly

QuotesEdit

Amara: "Wait, so only dead people get to see him? And this makes sense to billions of you?"

Priest: "God is the light, and it is the light that vanquishes the darkness."

Rowena: "Lay a hand on me and my followers will swoop down on this tin can palace of yours with all the power of the Book of the Damned."
Crowley: "Stow it, you lying bitch. If you could do that, you'd have done it. If I wanted to kill you, I'd have done that."

Crowley: "Makes your flesh crawl, doesn't it, Moose? I get it, I'm the King of this place, still not my cup of tea".
Sam: "I don't know, Crowley, I'd say it suits you... dark, empty".
Crowley: "Fascinating, the utter contempt, when I'm in the midst of saving the Winchesters' bacon. Again."

Dean: [about the kiss] "What was that?
Amara: "The future. The inevitable result of our first meeting, what you've been feeling since that moment. What we both felt, that we're bonded. You're the one who set me free."
Dean: "No, that was an accident."
Amara: "It was destiny. You bore the Mark, I am the original Mark. You and I will be together.
Dean: "No, no. That's not gonna happen".
Amara: "It's so simple Dean, we will become one. Why wouldn't you want that?"