Oh gosh. What is this show doing to me. First of all, if anybody is wondering, don't watch this episode if you're triggered by suicide or cutting. Because... like... wow. Second of all, I'm legitimately terrified for the rest of the season now. If they're getting this intense with three more episodes to go, then we're in for a nightmare finale. Let's talk about what happened.
Sam asks Rowena for help translating the Book of the Damned. Rowena says that she can't figure it out without a special codex that will help her interpret it. Sam is on a mission to find said codex. He also agrees to kill Crowley if Rowena helps him figure out how to get rid of the Mark. Sam goes to meet Dean, only to find that Dean has just taken on a vampire nest by himself. He says it's his way of "taking the edge off." Sam is annoyed at Dean for his reckless behavior.
Sam does some research and finds out that the Men of Letters were involved in keeping the codex hidden. Magnus had put the codex in a special box called the Werther Box, which caused anybody who tried to open it to commit suicide. The box is hidden in a house where, in the 1970's, an entire family had killed themselves, leaving just one daughter left. Now much older, this woman, Suzie, stays at the house and guards its secrets. She doesn't want to let the evil out of the Werther Box again.
Sam shows up to get the codex out of the box. Unbeknownst to him, Dean follows him. Dean apologizes to Sam for going off on his own before, and says he wants to work this case with his brother. Sam doesn't tell Dean what's inside the Werther Box, but merely explains that the box causes people a lot of hurt, and since Magnus, a Man of Letters, is the one who put it there, it's their responsibility to get rid of it. Inside the house, Dean distracts Suzie while Sam goes downstairs and tries to open the box. He sets free the magic that causes people to have suicidal thoughts.
Suzie doesn't last long, immediately shooting herself. Dean finds himself in what looks like Purgatory, where he meets up with his old friend Benny. Benny tries to convince Dean that he should kill himself to save people from the Mark of Cain. If Dean doesn't do himself in, then he'll make Sam and Cas do it - and they'll never recover from having to put him down. Dean considers it, but ultimately he realizes that even if he would kill himself if he had to, the real Benny would never let him. He kills the hallicination-Benny instead, and wakes up.
Meanwhile, the ghost/vision of Suzie appears to Sam just after she killed herself, and taunts Sam, telling him he should just kill himself. Rowena shows up and saves Sam from Suzie, and the two of them go back into the basement to try and open the Werther Box. Sam translates the Latin on the box and realizes that it requires the blood of a Man of Letters. He starts giving it his blood, only to realize that it wants enough of it to kill him. Luckily, Dean manages to break out of his own hallucination world in time to find Sam before he bleeds himself dry. He wraps Sam's arms up and gives the Werther Box some of his own blood, which completes the spell and opens the box. Rowena disappears, revealing herself to be just another hallucination, courtesy of the Box.
Dean apologizes yet again for ditching Sam earlier, and Sam says it's okay. Dean remarks that the Box taught them something they should already have known - they're stronger when they're together. The Box has been destroyed, so that's good, but Sam lies to Dean and says he doesn't know what the book inside of it is supposed to be. Later, Sam brings the codex to Rowena. He locks her up and tells her that she can use it, but only to figure out a way to remove the Mark. After that, Sam will kill Crowley for her.
I don't have anything to complain about. Honestly. The only nitpick-y thing I can think of is that I was a little bit confused about the beginning, where we see Suzie as a kid finding the Werther Box. Why did she break down the wall like that? Maybe I missed a detail somewhere, but I thought that was a little bit odd.
But honestly? This was GREAT. Let's talk about all the awesomeness.
Dean is clearly getting worse, but at the same time, he's being as responsible as he can about this. I love that he makes a mistake - going off on his own to take down some vampires - but then he later apologizes for it. Actually, he apologizes more than once, and then finishes the episode by telling Sam that they're stronger together. It's a really depressing echo of that scene in Season Five right after Dean sees the future where Sam says yes to Lucifer. Dean is doing everything he can to manage an impossible situation. I loved the moment when Dean said he wanted to work the case with Sam: "I'm in. If you'll have me." Sam is the one who's making it worse with his lies. I love it.
This episode actually pulled quite a lovely little plot twist. As we're watching, we're worried about Dean. We're worried he's going to kill himself. It's not until it's almost too late that we realize we've been worrying about the wrong brother. Sam is the one in need of help. Sam's reasoning for killing himself is that it's worth it - if it gets to the codex, then Rowena can figure out how to save Dean. Under the influence of the Werther Box, he's not thinking clearly. If he really had died, Rowena could have gotten her hands on the codex and done whatever she wanted with it. But in that state, all Sam can think about is saving Dean. That's what spurs him to nearly kill himself.
And then there's Dean. What gets him to almost commit suicide? The thought of hurting Sam and Cas. Also, the thought of how devastated Sam and Cas would be if they had to kill him. The reason I've just used italics for the and Cas part is this: imagine if you lifted every mention of Cas out of this episode. Imagine of the entire crux of Dean's dilemma is that he's scared of killing his brother. He's scared of what would happen to Sam if he were to have to kill Dean. It all makes sense, right? I mean, Cas wasn't even in this episode. You could lift him right out and it would still make narrative sense and not be distracting or wrong. And yet... and yet Benny mentioned Cas. Multiple times. I am SO HAPPY. Seriously. If Benny is meant to be Dean's subconscious, then we know for a 100% fact that Dean loves Sam and Cas more than anyone else in the world. Well, duh. Perhaps more importantly, we know that Dean realizes that Cas loves him enough that it would screw him up permanently to have to kill Dean. That's big. That's HUGE. I'm a happy camper. That is all.
Rowena gets more and more interesting every episode. The fact that she wants Crowley dead is really intense... I mean, I knew there was no love lost between them, but it's still your son, Rowena! Sam is being pretty ruthless with her, not letting her get the upper hand, but I still wonder what she's got up her sleeve. I've got to assume she's going to get control of her situation at some point, and that when she does, it won't be good for our heroes.
Some other random little things I liked: Sam translating Latin! I don't know why, but whenever we see Sam the genius, I get so excited. It's so adorable. Also, I liked seeing Magnus again. I mean, I hate that guy. It's only logical that he'd be the reason Sam and Dean almost killed themselves. I liked the moment when Sam told Dean that it was their responsibility to get rid of the Box - the Men of Letters are their legacy. Obviously, Sam had a different motivation, but he wasn't wrong. Sam and Dean get to use the bunker, and all of the Men of Letter's extensive resources. It's only fair that they take responsibility for the Men of Letter's irresponsible behavior.
I think that's all I've got to say about this one. Great stuff. Truly. I'm legitimately scared for the finale.
9/10
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