Let’s Speculate: Supernatural 14.07 “Unhuman Nature”
NOW: “I’ve got issues,” Nick says. “I should stop.” He’s sitting in a well-apportioned room lined with bookshelves. A blue and red stained glass window behind his head surrounds him like a halo. “I hate that it feels so good,” he continues. Apparently he’s confessing to a priest in a private office because he calmly, with regret, explains that he was sorry that the priest couldn’t tell him what Andy, his former neighbor, confessed to him. Perhaps he should pray. So far, Nick’s been the only one talking, his calm, wry voice dominating. The priest cannot answer: he’s been crucified in a doorway, arms spread to each side and nails driven into his bloody palms. His head hangs back, eyes staring unseeingly. There is a bloody gash across his throat; blood has stained his collar. “There is a devil,” Nick informs him, “and sometimes we just can’t fight him.”
SUPERNATURAL – flash of blue light and dark wings.
Jack is lying in bed. Castiel, in his trench coat, holds his hand over Jack’s forehead. Castiel’s hand is emitting a soft, golden glow. He slowly moves his hand over Jack’s chest and lungs, and Jack coughs himself awake. “Unhuman Nature,” the name of the episode, appears on the screen. Sam and Dean are lingering in a curved bunker hallway, anxiously ready to interrogate Castiel when he comes out, but their angel has no answers for them. But as he’s explaining that he doesn’t know what’s wrong, they hear a thump from the room. Running in, they realize that Jack has fallen off the bed, and, when they rush to him, they realize with horror that he’s foaming at the mouth. The Impala drives through the darkness and rain. Sam, Dean, and Castiel bring Jack into an ER only to realize that the waiting room is full of ill people, coughing and looking miserable. The receptionist at the desk attempts to get basic information from them; she has no idea how impossible even the simplest questions are to answer. Dean is frustrated and angry while Sam tries to answer the questions. They hesitate over his last name, eventually supplying Kline. Sam offers May 18th as his birthday. Now she wants the family history. What about his dad? He’s dead. Cause of death? Castiel interrupts, giving the details that he was stabbed in the heart and exploded. Now can they be seen, Dean wonders, but they could have been kept waiting longer if Jack, only standing with Castiel’s help, hadn’t started to collapse. Soon, he’s on a gurney with his friends surrounding him as the nurses push him into an examining room. “Jack, we’re right here,” reassures Dean, though soon after they’re ushered out and are left to stare through the glass as Jack undergoes medical tests.
The Ovaltime Cafe is entered by a pale woman with long brown hair and carefully lipsticked lips. She eyes the long counter in the narrow room and sees Nick slouching there with a coffee. It’s been a long time, but she remembers him. They spoke right after the murder. She’s a crime reporter. She remembers that there was barely any evidence and that the cops originally thought that Nick had done it, except, explains Nick, he’d been out drinking that night. He explains that he can’t go on; he’d like to talk to the cop that was on patrol in the neighborhood that night. The reporter tells him that it was Frank Kellogg, now working security in Montauk.
Back in the ER, Dean reveals that, with the life they live, he’d envisioned Jack losing his life to a vampire or ghoul but not a cough. When the doctor comes up, the three men eagerly approach her to hear the diagnosis. While all tests were negative, they don’t know what is causing his total systemic failure.
Sam and Dean realize that the hospital isn’t helping. “Let’s do what we do,” Dean says, “Find a way.” Maybe they could call Rowena. Already called her, says Sam. They help Jack up and get a coat on him, and he insists that he wants to leave with them when the doctor expresses her objections.
Rowena bustles into the bunker with the Book of the Damned which she BORROWED, she emphasizes to Sam. She thinks she’s there to help Dean, and Sam has to admit that the one needing help is Jack, son of Lucifer. Rowena is instantly, viciously angry. Sam tries to plead Jack’s case, but Rowena questions whether the world would be better with him gone. Suddenly, Jack speaks up behind them; he’s entered the room without them noticing. He says that they’re all still figuring out whether the world would be better without him in it. He adds that she saved them all from the Apocalypse World and earnestly thanks her. Rowena’s mouth tightens: “Bollocks.” She’s going to help him.
Jack lies on a bed with Rowena doing a spell nearby, casting ingredients into a bowl and chanting. Her eyes turn purple. Jack’s three dads are waiting nervously in a hallway again, but when Rowena approaches them, she doesn’t have good news. A nephilim is unnatural. His grace kept the balance and without it, his cells are self-destructing. Castiel offers his grace, but Rowena clarifies that it has to be archangel grace. As she talks, Dean’s vision suddenly starts wavering. Voices fade and his companions grow fuzzy for a moment. He’s off guard and confused, but it stops and no one notices anything.
A strong rock beat sounds as the scene opens on a dark street, lit by a neon sign. A tall young woman in a short black dress is talking on her phone, not realizing that someone is watching her from his car. It’s Nick. He approaches her, hands in pockets, and asks if she isn’t scared to be out here. It could be dangerous. She eyes him suspiciously and he laughs self-depracatingly, admitting he’s being “weird.” She’s turning away to go back to the club, when she turns back and asks if he wants to go in with her. She never sees the knife he’d pulled from his pocket and has hidden behind his back. Suddenly, he commands, “Get away from me!” She stares at him in confusion until he yells, “Go!” She steps back into the club, and Nick hunches into himself, clutching his upper arms.
After getting burgers, Dean tosses Jack the keys. Jack is nervous; he doesn’t know how to drive. But Dean is calm and matter-of-fact, staying unruffled even when Jack grinds the gears or slams on the brakes. The Impala begins to creep down the road, but Dean tells him to relax, to feel it. Dean turns on the radio and leans back in the passenger seat. Jack beings to grow confident. Sunlight glows on their faces as they smile, enjoying the drive. “It’s like I’m you,” exclaims Jack. Dean relies, “No, it’s not!” Jack, noticing that Dean has had his hand on the window frame, puts his own arm outside the car. Dean roughly pats his shoulder in congratulations as he successfully navigates the road. “Best day ever!” Jack exults. The road is straight ahead of them. There is no traffic. Dean tells him to open her up, and Baby zooms off toward the horizon.
Castiel and Sam make plans: Castiel will go to meet Sergei, the shaman. Castiel has noticed that Dean is taking Jack’s illness hard. Sam says that Dean hasn’t forgotten how hard he was toward Jack when Jack was first born and he hasn’t forgiven himself for it either. Of course, they have lost a lot of people over the years. “Losing a son is different,” observes Castiel. Sam sighs.
Baby is parked, Dean sitting on the edge of her hood, enjoying his burger, while Jack munches on his nearby. “I can drive!” Jack repeats happily. Dean wants to offer him more experiences: he knows of a nearby bar where he can find a hook up, but Jack has another idea.
A car pulls up to a blue house. It’s Nick. He knocks, and a tired-looking, middle-aged bearded man comes to the door. It’s Frank Kellogg, the former cop. He doesn’t remember much from nine years ago. He goes to shut the door, but Nick blows up in anger, grabbing Frank’s throat and forcing him backwards. “Let’s talk!” he snarls.
A peaceful stream gurgles over the sunlit rocks. On the bank, Dean and Jack are fishing, Baby parked on the embankment above them. “You’re an easy date,” teases Dean. Jack reveals that he chose this because he remembers Dean talking about fishing with his dad. “It was your happiest memory of him.” “I never said that.” Dean demurs, but Jack explains that he could tell just from the way Dean talked about it. Then Jack grows contemplative: “I wouldn’t miss Tahiti. I’d miss more time with you. Life isn’t all amazing moments. It’s time together.” Dean, moved, takes a gulp of beer. “I’ve had a good life,” muses Jack.
A blue car pulls up to an airstream trailer surrounded by tall trees and thick bushes. Castiel steps out and calls for Sergei but is suddenly surrounded by a circle of holy fire. Sergei comes out, holding a gun on him. He has learned to be cautious, but he invites Castiel inside. Sergei explains that he travels and studies and answers the unanswerable. He is a healer. He has a stellar reputation, as has Ketch. Castiel wouldn’t describe Ketch as stellar, which makes Sergei laugh. In order to heal their nephlim, they need a recharging agent, a way to reboot the computer, so to speak. Crossing to a safe, he brings out a box, from which he removes a glowing vial of vintage grace. It was from Gabriel, traded for a cloaking spell so he could secretly hang out in San Monaco. In addition, a spell needs to be recited. Castiel is suspicious when he offers these things. What’s the cost? Sergei however never charges; he only barters. And what does he want? He’s not sure. “Tell the Winchesters they owe me,” he replies.
There is the sudden, harsh sound of flesh hitting flesh. Nick has Frank tied to a chair and is beating him. He tells Frank that his former neighbor Arty saw someone leaving the house — a cop. But there had been a coverup. Frank shakes his head. Nick raises a huge knife, about to plunge it into him, when Jack blurts out, “There’s this guy – Abraxis. Next thing I know I’m back in my patrol car, covered in blood.” Frank is crying. It’s crazy; he’d never kill anyone. Nick grows calm: “I know. You were possessed. Not your fault.” For a moment, it seems as if he’s absolving Frank, but then he draws closer. “That’s still the hand that killed my family. Even if it wasn’t you, it’s still you.” He takes a hammer from his bag. “I’m sorry, Frank.” He hits him viciously in the side of the head, and the chair crashes sideways to the floor. Nick looms over the fallen man, then brings down the hammer sharply, once, twice, three times. Blood spatters. He looks down, then hits him again. Nick breathes deeply, then clutches his head.
Everyone’s back at the bunker, surrounding Jack who is sitting in a chair. They’re not sure it will work, but Jack says he’s ready. Sam hands him the glowing vial, and Jack ingests it while Rowena reads the magic incantation. Jack slumps. The lights flicker. Then Jack lifts his head and opens his eyes. They glow gold. He stands. He feels something. He starts to smile. Then he staggers and collapses.
Castiel is on the phone with the shaman, incensed when he discovers that Sergei is actually just experimenting. He threatens to find him if anything bad happens to Jack.
A couple whiskey bottles lie scattered on a wooden floor near the fallen, bloody body of Frank Kellogg. Nick kneels to pray in the dark room. The priest had said this was a good idea. Nick thinks of his Sarah and Teddy. He had said that he wanted to be free of this darkness and rage, but he lied. The truth is, he likes doing these things. He doesn’t want to stop. As he speaks, the screen reveals a barren expanse with a bubbling liquid. A hand rises from the black ooze. Nick is crying, “I don’t know who I am! No consequences, no pain, no sorrow — I want it back. . . Where are you?” A skeleton rises from the blackness – a grinning skull lit up with glowing red eyes.
Jack lies in bed while his dads are watching him. Dean says it was too risky to take him out; he shouldn’t have. Sam responds that life is risky. Castiel reassures him that he’d made Jack happy. Rowena gives her prognosis: “Watch over him, stay by his side – as he dies.” The camera focuses on Jack’s calm, peaceful face.
THE END
- Were you surprised at how Dean handled Jack driving Baby?
- Jack’s bucket list originally mentioned Vegas, Tahiti, and watching a hockey game. What would yours include?
- “Even if it wasn’t you, it was all you.” Do you agree with Nick’s perception of the moral responsibility of the person being possessed?
- Which of Nick’s kills was most shocking to you and why: Artie, the priest, or Frank?
- Who is Abraxis?
- Whom has Nick awoken with his prayers?
- What do you think about Nick’s words about wanting no consequences, no pain, and no sorrow?
- What will happen to Jack now?
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