Supernatural Hiatus Hunting: 4.16, On The Head of a Pin
Okay, now for the devastating part. Alastair chokes, blood comes spewing out, and he says “Sounds like something’s caught in my throat. I think it’s my throat.” Dean’s still acting tough, so Alastair goes for the jugular. “You know, it was supposed to be your father, he was supposed to bring it on, but in the end it was you.” Dean foolishly asks bring on what? Okay, you asked. The first time Dean picked up Alastair’s razor and sliced into that “weeping bitch,” that was the first seal. Dean at first doesn’t believe him, so Alastair knows some scripture should fix that. “And it is written that the first seal shall be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in Hell. As he breaks, so shall it break.”
Dean stares Alastair down, and then realizes he’s telling the truth. Dean turns away and oh, his look of devastation just kills us all. Alastair explains they had to break the first seal before they could break the others. Dean is too lost in “I broke the first seal” to really care what Alastair is saying. Alastair tells him when they win, and when they burn the earth down, they’ll owe it all to him. Dean’s lip quivers and he closes his eyes, for the shock is still too much.
Alastair tells Dean he wouldn’t lie about that. Then he notices the breach in the trap while Dean is still turned away fighting his grief. Dean chokes out, “No, I don’t think you are lying.” Then he pulls it together. “But even if the demons do win, you won’t be there to see it.”Dean whips around intending to go for the kill, but he’s too late, Alastair is free. “You should speak to the plumber about your pipes.”He punches Dean hard.
Time for the “hang on the edge of your seat” action scene, and it’s one of the best ever. Alastair beats the crap out of Dean, and then holds him up off the ground by the neck choking him. “You’ve got a lot to learn boy, so I’ll see you back in class, bright and early, Monday morning.” I’m assuming that’s his way of saying Dean’s going back to Hell. Dean’s eyes roll to the back of his head and he’s about to succumb when suddenly Castiel appears and plunges Ruby’s knife right into Alastair’s chest. He drops Dean and isn’t affected by the knife. “Looks like God is on my side today.” Castiel holds out his arm and twists it with his mind. It’s really cool to see Castiel’s tough look while doing this, but that doesn’t work. Alastair removes the knife, charges at Castiel, and Dean slips into unconsciousness on the floor.
Castiel and Alastair exchange blows with their fists, but Alastair is stronger and hangs Castiel on a hook, the sounds of squishing hinting impalement. Gotta love those sound effects. Alastair grabs Castiel by the throat and reveals he can’t kill an angel, but he can send him back to Heaven. He does the latinating in dramatic cadence and I wonder what happens if you just recite Latin in a deadpan voice. Does nothing happen? Castiel’s eyes and mouth begin to glow. Man, Cas is having a rough day.
But wait! Alastair starts choking and gets slammed up against the wall. Guess who arrives to save the day? It’s our newly amped up Sammy, giant hand extended out. “Stupid pet tricks,” an unimpressed Alastair says. Castiel falls to the floor, but is fully alert, so he gets to witness all the mind blowing stuff Sam does. The camera keeps cutting back to his stunned reactions, and they’re priceless. I guess he didn’t know about Sam.
This is in my top 10 best episodes of Supernatural. It was so well acted by every single actor in it. each character showed their power, so the writing was great. Dean made me cry in both instances that you mentioned but I think when he was torturing Alaister and realized that he had broken the first seal-that was so potent. that is the scene that gets me every time I watch this episode.
It is an interesting idea that Ruby knew Deans role in this-she must have knew. She worked pretty hard to get him on her side or, if that failed, to get him “dead”. She was with them at the finale of season 3, she saw Dean go down via hell hounds, she was working with Lilith, so I say Yes, she knew Deans role.
This was an excellent and intense episode in a season full of great episodes. Christopher Heyerdahl and JA really knocked it out of the park in their scenes together. Then we have Sam chugging demon blood from Ruby’s arm; that was shocking but kind of made sense when you thought about why Sam’s mojo waxed and waned over time. Some of the parts with Uriel and Castiel dragged a little bit. Loved the look of shock and horror on Castiels face when he saw Sam tossing around Alastair like a rag doll, then killing him. Then, the juxtaposition of Sam – brutally taking out Alastair, then in the next scene being the worried brother sitting by Dean’s hospital bed.
One thing I wasn’t clear on – when angry Moose demanded that Castiel heal Dean, and Castiel refused, was it because he couldn’t or was he under orders not to?