Let’s Speculate: Supernatural 14.09 “The Spear”

Dean’s voice is heard talking about how their family fights monsters and how someday it would be nice if monsters were scared of them. THEN: Michael/Dean killing Lucifer, Michael taking over Dean, Michael enhancing the monsters, Jack getting sick and dying, Dark Kaia and the spear, the Empty and Cas’ deal, and Jack being alive again.

NOW: The cheerful holiday tune “Rocking around the Christmas Tree” plays as we see a wide view of Kansas City, MO at night. The lights of the city mingle with the added Christmas lights, creating a festive scene. From the wide angel, we zoom in to a close up of a richly decorated tree in an office building. Large red and gold balls lavishly fill its branches. Wrapping paper and other party detritus are scattered on the floor. But instead of laughter, screams come from another room; the litter on the floor isn’t just holiday leftovers but blood. A man in a suit and a green tie runs panicking into the room and slams a frantic finger into the elevator button. He’s desperate to get away, but before the elevator arrives, a man with long dark hair and a Santa hat appears next to him. His mouth enlarges with the emergence of werewolf fangs. Reaching out for the terrified businessman, the monster looks up to see mistletoe hanging above them. He leans in, then twists the man’s neck, killing him instantly. Entering an office, the werewolf approaches a tall, slim woman with an upswept hairdo; dark, professional clothes; and a confident, calmly superior air to her. She is standing in front of a huge window looking down at the lights of Kansas City. It’s Michael in a new vessel. The werewolf reports that they’ve killed everyone in the building and didn’t feed, but he does wonder why Michael is here. “I like the view,” the archangel replies simply.

Two werewolves are waiting nervously on a couch – one is a young man in a baseball cap; the other is Garth who says he knows a war is coming and he’s got to be on the winning team for his little girl. “Kansas City won’t know what hit it,” the monsters gloat.

SUPERNATURAL – WINGS!!!! Title: “The Spear”

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Jack is at a table in the bunker, eating a bowl of cookie crunch cereal. As Castiel enters, Jack asks, “Don’t tell Sam.” Sam doesn’t like it because it rots your teeth, but Jack likes how it tastes. The whole dying and coming back to life thing? “We’ve all been through it,” Cas tells him. Jack is concerned about his mother’s safety in heaven because the Empty got in. He’d assumed heaven was perfect. “Nothing is perfect,” clarifies Cas, but he adds that Naomi, despite what had happened in the past, is dedicated to protecting the souls in heaven. Jack wonders why Castiel doesn’t want Sam and Dean to know about the deal he made with the Empty. “They don’t need that burden,” answers Cas. He would have preferred that Jack not have that burden either. Then again, the Entity said that he’d come get Cas when Cas allowed himself to truly be happy. With everything they’re facing, Castiel feels that any real happiness is a long time in the future: “This life . . . it’s rarely happy.” “I’m sorry,” says Jack. Breaking up the heavy mood, Castiel jokes, “At least we have cookie crunch.” “Did you take the decoder ring?” queries Jack. Castiel, mighty angel of the Lord in his tax-accountant trenchcoat, leans across the table and divulges the secret code hidden in the plastic toy in the cereal box.

Garth is talking on the phone with Sam, letting him know everything Michael is doing – how he’s enhancing monsters and planning on destroying the humans in Kansas City. When he’s given the mixture of blood with Michael’s grace, he plans on just holding it in his mouth and spitting it out later. Sam is worried, but Garth believes he can handle it, though, after hanging up, he utters a worried, “Balls!”

Sam feels responsible for Garth who had gone in as an undercover contact but could now be in serious danger. Dean reassures him. A video call comes in from Ketch who’s in Europe trying to track down the egg, the specialized weapon that they’d used before to trap Lucifer. He’s suave as ever in suit and tie, but he describes a dicey situation in which he had to drop the egg to get away from those who were after him. The Winchesters can’t believe he put it in the mail, but Ketch says it’s fine; it’ll be there in a couple of days. There’s one problem: they need it right away. There’s an awkward silence. “Sorry,” says Ketch.

In the Kansas City highrise, the two werewolves are waiting with a mix of eagerness and trepidation. The younger one confuses Garth with a reference to Fortnite. A henchwoman enters with two vials filled with glowing blue essence. “Drink up!” The young werewolf does right away, and his eyes glow with pure blue light. Garth looks worried. He shouldn’t be, says the henchwoman. Only one in seven monsters explode when they drink it. Garth reaches out, takes the vial, and pours it into his mouth, but his attempt to be sneaky are foiled when Michael enters the room. “All gone?” Garth swallows and the grace-infused blood makes his eyes glow for a moment. Michael discusses how he’s sending some of his army after the spear and how his monsters are converging on the city, filling it and waiting for a signal to attack. Garth can hear their voices in his head.

Sam has checked online and discovered the location of the package Ketch has sent them. The facility is closed which means they’ll be able to break in and get it. Garth calls, informing them of Michael’s intention to recover the spear, but he doesn’t reveal that he actually swallowed the potion. Upon hearing Michael’s plan for the monsters to attack the unsuspecting city, Dean remarks, “Merry freaking Christmas.” They discuss plans and decide to go after both weapons: Sam and Jack will recover the package while Cas and Dean will try to get to the spear before Michael’s minions.

Castiel and Dean get out of the Impala at an old recycling center. They’re surrounded by walls of bundled trash. “You seem happy,” notes Cas. Dean says that they got Jack back; it’s rare that they get a win like that with no strings attatched so, yeah, he’s happy. Cas tenses a bit when Dean mentions that they got Jack back without anything bad happening; Dean doesn’t know about the deal he made to go to the Empty. Dean reveals how horrible it was to be possessed; he wants Michael dead and he wants to be the one to kill him. Cautiously, the turn toward the warehouse and enter, weapons drawn.

Sam and Jack are at the closed mailing center. Sam disables the security system, and Jack asks to pick the lock. Once he could have opened the door by simply touching the lock, but without his powers, he has to do it the manual way. Sam is surprised that he knows how, so Jack tells him that he learned how from the internet: he’d wanted to be useful. When the lock clicks open, they smile at each other, Jack happy that he succeeded and Sam proud of Jack’s skill.

Dean and Castiel silently search the deserted warehouse, their flashlight beams piercing the darkness. They finally decide that Dark Kaia is not there, though she had to have been recently. The food they discovered in a pan is still warm. Perhaps Michael’s monsters had gotten there first and taken her. Dean doesn’t think so: Kaia wouldn’t have gone without a fight and there’s no sign of a struggle.

Jack comes back through the door with the package. “Happy holidays,” he declares cheerfully, pointing at the inscription on the package. A large black van in the parking lot catches Sam’s eye, but before he can say anything, he’s struck from behind. One of Michael’s werewolves has blindsided him. As he collapses to the ground, he sees Jack being dragged into the van and driven off. Suddenly, Michael is there, holding the egg casually in her hand as if it didn’t have the power to trap her. “Happy holidays,” she/he smirks. “What are you going to do, Sam?” Sam stands, pulling an angel blade. “You’re gonna kill me anyway,” he says as he lunges toward the archangel, but with barely a move of the hand, Michael has flung him into the side of a panel truck in the parking lot, then she makes the egg melt, its supposedly powerful runes running together and dripping through her fingers. “No!” exclaims Sam, knowing they’re losing one of their few options to fight the archangel. He gets slammed into the truck again and loses consciousness.

In the warehouse, Dean is worried that Sam isn’t answering his phone calls. When his phone rings, he answers eagerly only to find out that it’s Garth. Garth hasn’t heard from Sam either. Garth hangs up, hoping that no one has caught on to his double-agent identity, but then Michael confronts him: “Let’s talk.”

Dean wonders what is going on. Have they been set up? Just then, he feels a spear at his back. Dark Kaia is behind him, spear held ready to run him through. He turns slowly and explains that they want the weapon. Dark Kaia mocks the thought that he could take it from her, but he responded that they came to ask. He talks calmly to her, ignoring the spear leveled at his chest, though Castiel is vibrating with tension behind him. He explains that Michael – the one who tortured them both – now plans to torture and kill his family. The spear is the only thing that will stop him. If she won’t give him the spear, she might as well go ahead and kill him. Kaia crouches at the ready, hands firm on the shaft of the spear, eyes shrewd under her dark hood. “What will you do for me?” “What do you want?” questions Castiel. Her answer: she wants to go back. She’d entered their world to escape the monsters in her own, only to find out that there are monsters here too. She’d rather return to the world she knows. The special boy who’d opened the portal the first time can open it again and get her back. Dean says he can. How does she know they’re telling the truth, Kaia wonders. “How do we know that you are?” retorts Castiel. He knows she’s hiding something. All she reveals is that she too has people she wants to protect. With eyes sharp and intense, she hands the spear to Dean, warning him that she’ll track him down and kill him if he doesn’t return it. When they wonder how they’ll find her, she tells them that they managed to find her before. The phone rings, and, when they’re distracted, she disappears. It’s Sam calling, disheveled and worried, letting them know that Michael destroyed the egg and took Jack. They decide to all head toward Kansas City. Dean tells Sam that he has the spear, and Cas warns him not to go after Jack alone.

Some of the enhanced monsters drag Jack into the luxurious office where Michael has made his headquarters, leaving him on his knees on the rug with his arms bound behind him. Michael watches with a superior quirk to her eyebrows. Jack doesn’t know why Michael hasn’t killed him, but the archangel replies, “Why bother? You’re powerless.” Michael explains how, in his world, despite the angels powerful weapons, the humans still found a way to fight back. Now, in our world, he plans to use a monster army to attack all the humans in the city; a wave of transformation will sweep Kansas City. All the newly formed monsters will be on Michael’s side. “I hate you!” declares Jack. “We’re family!” calmly replies Michael. When Jack hotly denies that, saying that his uncle was in the cage but this Michael has no connection to him, Michael explains that their relation is one of scale and power. In comparison to them, humans are insignificant insects. He adds that Jack is merely an infant with no concept of time. Gradually, as he spends time with Michael, as ages pass, they’ll become more alike. His loyalty to humanity will fade. “Sam, Dean, and Cas will come for me!” declares Jack, but Michael only smiles before leaving.

On the bottom floor of the office building, two werewolves exit the elevator, discussing strategy for the night. The young one in the ball cap will be stationed at a nearby church, ready to attack those attending Mass. He runs off eagerly, but the older one pauses, concerned about the vehicle he can see parked nearby. His concerns are justified: Sam appears behind him and with one swing of his machete, removes his head. Even pumped up on archangel juice, no werewolf can survive a beheading. Michael’s henchwoman sees the fallen body on the security screens, but before she can do anything, Sam slices off her head too. Blood-stained blade at the ready, he enters the office and immediately frees Jack. They freeze as they hear footsteps in the hall, but it’s only Garth. They take the elevator to the ground floor and exit, not noticing Garth who seems to be throwing up behind them. He turns with a roar and hits Jack. “He’s in my head!” he declares desperately. “I can’t stop! I’m sorry!” Sam holds out his hand, one finger up in warning. “You don’t have to do this!” he cries, but Garth doesn’t stop. When Sam grasps him from behind, the werewolf throws him over his shoulder. Jack charges him, but is thrown to the ground, then Sam runs at him again. Sam manages to get behind Garth, grabbing him in a choke hold. The werewolf, even strengthened with Michael’s grace, can’t escape and finally collapses into unconsciousness. “Sorry, Garth,” says Sam.

Garth, still unconscious and tied up, is being placed in the trunk of the Impala. Dean and Cas have arrived. “Thanks for waiting for us,” Dean says dryly. Michael had probably been spying on them through his mind control of Garth. At least, they have notified other hunters who are coming to Kansas City to help fight the monsters. Cas heals Jack from the wounds Garth’s werewolf claws had inflicted while Dean attempts to spin the spear, though he’s not very dexterous with it. They sum up their situation: they have zero element of surprise since Michael can sense Castiel’s presence. They face impossible odds. “Feels like home. Let’s do it,” says Dean. The four of them stride purposefully across the parking garage, Dean with the spear and Castiel with his angel blade drawn.

Michael pours a drink, then restlessly waits in a chair in the office. “Come on, fellas. You’re gonna miss the show.” She looks annoyed, sighs, shifts in the chair, then closes her eyes and smiles. “Mmmmm, there he is.” She steps out into the hall, calling “Castiel,” in a falsely pleasant voice. Castiel springs out at him, fighting fiercely, but Michael sidesteps or blocks every blow. “Why’d you come alone?” wonders Michael. If Castiel is the strongest one, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the team because Michael easily, barely trying, has beaten Castiel down, bloodying his face and then dragging him into the office where he’s dropped on the floor. Suddenly, Jack and Sam are there, but their rush to engage the archangel is immediately stymied by nothing more than a raised hand which causes them both to collapse, choking, onto the floor. But Team Free Will 2.0 isn’t done. Dean comes up behind Michael, attacking him with the spear. Michael, though , demonstrates his superior ability as a warrior angel, blocking the weapon and grabbing Dean by the throat. As she chokes Dean, she reminds him that he’d agreed to let him in and now he’ll see Michael destroy his world. While Michael is talking, Sam has been gradually inching toward the spear. Swiftly, he throws Dean the weapon, and Dean manages to slice Michael’s arm with it. “That’s gonna leave a scar!” states Dean as he stands on guard, ready to attack. “Kill him!” shouts Jack. Dean blinks, mind flooding with memories of things Michael had done while possessing him, vision of the office around him wavering and fading. Michael’s female vessel sways, then slowly falls to the side. Dean steps forward to the window, standing silhouetted against the panoramic view of the city below. Then he lifts the spear and snaps it in half. He turns and faces Sam, Cas, and Jack. His eyes are glowing blue. “No!” shouts Sam. “Yeah,” responds Michael with Dean’s lips. Dean was resisting me, he explains. He was too attached to YOU. He wouldn’t stop squirming. So I left. “Why wait?” wonders Castiel. To break him, replies Michael. To disappoint him. And he’s succeeded. Dean is gone. Sam, Cas, and Jack watch in stunned dismay as Michael, wearing Dean, takes a drink. “I have a whole army waiting, “ says the archangel, “ready for THIS.” He snaps his fingers.

QUESTION: 1. What did you think of the midseason finale? Were you intrigued? Did it meet your expectations?

What will Dark Kaia do when she realizes that her spear is destroyed and Jack has no power to return her to her world?
Jack seems to be still human, but AU Michael indicated that he was a superior being with the ability to live for ages. Is he right? Does Jack have supernatural powers still?
With both the egg and the spear destroyed, what will the hunters use to try to defeat Michael?
Why is Michael leaving Sam and Castiel still alive?
Do you think Michael is right? Is Dean crushed by Michael’s victory or is he still trying to fight?