Recap of Supernatural
Season 5, Episode 1
Sympathy For The Devil
Castiel: You two need to be more careful.
Dean: Yeah ... I'm starting to get that, your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought.
Written by Eric Kripke.
Directed by Robert Singer.
Air Date: September 10, 2009.
Lucifer's prison has been opened by Sam's successful attempt to kill Lilith. As the gate to Hell fully opens, the Winchester brothers are rescued by an unknown force and teleported into an airplane, watching the start of the Apocalypse in horror. In an encounter with the prophet Chuck, it is revealed that Castiel was blown to pieces by an archangel. When they try to figure out what to do next, they are attacked by their old enemy Meg and a possessed Bobby. The brothers learn that there is a weapon strong enough to defeat the Devil—Michael's Sword. They set off to find it, but instead burst upon Zachariah, who reveals that Dean is in fact Michael's Sword, the human vessel of the Archangel Michael. However, he refuses to provide his mind and body for the angels' plans, even when Zachariah threatens to kill Sam and Bobby. As Zachariah begins to torture Sam and Dean, Castiel, miraculously revived, appears, kills his two angel underlings, and orders him to leave. Meanwhile, Lucifer is trying to convince his own vessel, a man whose family has been slaughtered by a killer, to let him take over his body so he can face God and seek justice.
Body count
For this episode = 2 angels, 4 humans and 2 demons.For the series so far = At least 322 humans (of which 5 were witches), 39 demons, 28 ghosts, 10 vampires, 6 changelings, 4 angels, 3 gods, 3 shapeshifters, 3 zombies, 2 ghouls, 2 werewolves, 2 dogs, 1 crocotta, 1 djinn, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 reaper, 1 rugaru, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, and 1 wendigo.
Tropes
- Back from the Dead:
- Dean's knee-jerk reaction to the smug brunette demon is to assume that Ruby has come back somehow after he killed her in the previous episode. Subverted when it is revealed that the demon is actually Meg, whom we last saw in season two.
- On the other hand, Castiel is resurrected by God.
- Big Damn Hero: Zachariah is torturing Dean and Sam in order to get Dean to agree to being Michael's vessel, and there's not a damn thing they can do about it. Cue a freshly-resurrected Castiel appearing to kick angel ass and force Zachariah to back off.
- Blood from the Mouth: Dean vomits blood when Zachariah gives him stage four stomach cancer.
- Brought Down to Normal: Being saved from the chapel apparently cured Sam from his cravings for Demon blood but also stripped him of his powers. At the very least their inactive at the moment since Sam has no intention of drinking blood any time soon.
- The Bus Came Back: Meg returns.
- Call-Back:
- John's lock-up at Castle Storage from "Bad Day at Black Rock" (S03, E03) reappears as the place where Michael's sword is (supposedly) stashed.
- In this episode, Dean's father-figure gets possessed by a demon and tries to kill him, but manages to resist it out of love for Dean. This references "Devil's Trap" (S01, E22), all the way back to the first season finale, wherein Dean's biological father gets possessed by a demon and tries to kill him, but manages to resist it out of love for Dean. This will become very important later in the season.
- The Chosen One:
- Dean, who is the one destined to kill Lucifer because he is Michael's vessel.
- Also, Nick is called this for Lucifer by a demon. He gets Lucifer in his body thanks to having passed the Despair Event Horizon with his family's death.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Lucifer assumes the form of Nick's dead wife, Sarah, to talk to him.
- Death of a Child: Nick and Sarah's baby was killed during a home invasion.
- Despair Event Horizon: Nick's wife and infant child were killed in what appears to have been a home-invasion. Wanting God to answer for this seems to be his reason for consenting to Lucifer's request.
- Deus ex Machina: Despite being trapped in the chapel with Lucifer rising from the Cage a couple of feet away Sam and Dean are suddenly teleported onto a plane hovering over the town they were just in. Likewise despite being smote by an archangel Castiel arrives in time to save Sam and Dean. Cas himself implies that in both situations it was Mr. Deus Ex himself that saved the three of them.
- Distinction Without a Difference: When Castiel uses his powers to adorn Dean and Sam with Enochian sigils that will hide them from all angels.Dean: What, did you just brand us with it?!Castiel: No, I carved it into your ribs.
- The End of the World as We Know It: With the seals broken and Lucifer free, the Apocalypse has officially started.
- Everything Trying to Kill You: Dean and Sam are wanted by pretty much all of Heaven and Hell.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Now that Lucifer has escaped, the angels intend for Dean to be possessed by Michael in order to finish him off. They fail to consider that Dean would be pissed off at the angels for jumpstarting the apocalypse, and are shocked when Dean refuses to help them.
- Finger Gun: How Zachariah breaks Sam's legs.
- Forceful Kiss: Meg kisses an unwilling Dean deeply while she has him at her mercy.Dean: [after she pulls back] Was that peanut butter?
- Gender Bender: Lucifer, a male-gendered archangel, takes the form of his vessel's dead wife in a dream.
- Heroic Willpower: Bobby manages to snatch control of his body from a demon long enough to kill it.
- It Was with You All Along: Team Free Will searches for The Sword of Michael only to learn that Dean is The Sword of Michael.
- Kick the Dog: Zachariah tortures Sam and Dean to force Dean to consent to being Michael's vessel. Two broken legs, stage 4 stomach cancer, and removal of the lungs.
- Kill the Ones You Love: Bobby gets possessed by a demon and is almost forced to kill Dean, whom he loves like his own son. Thankfully, he manages to break free of the possession long enough to kill the demon by stabbing himself. Good thing he did, too, since otherwise that would've be one MORE time he had to kill someone he loved because of possession.
- Living MacGuffin: Dean is the sword of Michael.
- Lock-and-Load Montage: Sam and Dean grab a whole bunch of guns and salt rounds to potentially fight off the demons coming for the Michael sword. Unfortunately their guns are useless since the angels have been hiding in wait for them.
- Ludicrous Gibs: What happened to Cas, according to Chuck. He picks a tooth out of his hair.Chuck: He, like, exploded. Like a water balloon of chunky soup.
- Manipulative Bastard: Lucifer is a very effective one. To attain permission from his vessel, he doesn't force Nick to say yes as Zachariah does; he gains Nick's sympathy and offers to get justice for them both. He eventually convinces Nick and Nick agrees to letting Lucifer possess him. Then again, despite his apparent gentleness, he still doesn't go about it in the nicest way: he causes Nick to have nightmares/hallucinations concerning his murdered baby and appears to him as Nick's murdered wife, to manipulate him.
- Meaningful Name: Nick becomes Lucifer's vessel. One of the Devil's nicknames is Old Nick.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Becky gropes Sam's chest upon meeting him. Repeatedly. Even after he asks her to stop.
- The Nth Doctor: From here on out, Meg, the demon, is played by Rachel Miner instead of Nicki Aycox or Jared Padalecki (Nicki's Meg was the real one and died at the end of the first season from injuries when Sam did a Disney Villain Death on her).
- Pillar of Light: One of these was produced when Lucifer was freed.
- Prophecy Twist: The sword of Michael that can supposedly defeat Lucifer is not an actual physical sword but rather the fancy name for the vessel powerful enough to contain the archangels presence. And in this case Dean will defeat Lucifer by allowing Michael to possess his body and use him as his sword.
- Satan Is Good: Satan presents himself as this to Nick, the victim of a God with unfair standards. Later averted when Lucifer is revealed to be unambiguous, stone-cold evil.
- Shout-Out: To Galaxy Quest:Becky: Look, Mr. Edlund. Yes, I'm a fan, but I really don't appreciate being mocked. I know that Supernatural's just a book, okay? I know the difference between fantasy and reality.
Chuck: Becky, it's all real.
Becky: I knew it! - Squick: In-Universe. Chuck is disgusted to find a molar in his hair.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Lucifer convinces Nick that Satan Is Good and was wronged by God.
- Talking in Your Dreams: Like all angels, Lucifer has the power to talk to people in dreams. In this case, he talks to his vessel, Nick.
- This Is Unforgivable!:
- Bobby says this to Sam while possessed. He didn't mean it.
- Downplayed with Dean, who forgives Sam for choosing to trust Ruby over him, but says he still cannot trust him.
- Titled After the Song: "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones.
- Took a Level in Badass: Before this episode, Castiel is effective a few times but also gets beaten up a lot. Here, he pops up from being presumed dead, kills two angels with brutal efficiency, and intimidates freaking Zachariah into running scared. It helps that Zachariah knows Castiel was killed by the ArchAngels and there is only one being who could have brought him back like that.
- Understatement: When Chuck finds a molar in his hair.Chuck: This has been a really stressful day.
- Villains Never Lie: Lucifer states that "contrary to popular belief, I don't lie. I don't need to." Throughout the series, it's not that he never lies, he just usually obsesses over Exact Words and his own biased viewpoint.
- World-Wrecking Wave: Lucifer's rise triggers a number of disasters, including North Korea succeeding for the first time in a nuclear weapons test.
- Yaoi Fangirl: Who writes Sibling Incest Slash Fic.
