Let’s Speculate: Supernatural 14.20 “Moriah”
The Impala – a phone rings. It was John in the past, getting Dean’s phone call after he’d been called to Lebanon, KS 2019. John is in the bunker summing up his boys’ unbelievable lives. “Carry On, My Wayward Sons” begins to play. THE ROAD SO FAR – Michael, Billie giving Dean a book, Jack dying then coming alive, discussion of Jack’s precarious soul situation, Nick trying to resurrect Lucifer, Jack killing Mary, Jack calmly getting in the box, the box exploding, alarms sounding.
NOW – The bunker’s alarm keeps sounding repetitively. Jack stands menacingly in front of the destroyed Ma’lak box, hands clenched at his sides, eyes glowing fiercely. Behind him, clouds of smoke are lit with a destructive orange glow. “You lied to me,” he observes. Flinging out his hands, he sends energy out toward Cas, Sam, and Dean, sending them crashing into the storage shelves to fall heavily to the floor. They struggle to get up, but Jack has disappeared.
WINGS – SUPERNATURAL. Title: “Moriah”
We see Cas through a burnt hole in the Ma’lak box. He doesn’t understand why the box couldn’t hold Jack when it was meant to hold an archangel. It’s because he’s not an archangel: “the kid leveled up,” says Dean. Cas wants to find Jack, but the last time, they prayed to him. He’s not apt to respond to that now. Cas tells them that they shouldn’t have put Jack in the box. “You’re right,” says Dean. “I didn’t want to put him in the box. I wanted him dead. He’s just another monster.” Cas and Dean, both intently sure of the rightness of their anger, stare at each other, leaving Sam uneasily hesitating as if he should step between them. Then Cas steps around Dean and leaves. The brothers start discussing some options. Dean says they need to ask Rowena about making a soul bomb, like the one they were going to use on Amara. Sam looks tormented at the thought, and Dean tells him, “This isn’t Jack anymore.” They’ll have to do the hard thing, the ugly thing. It’s not the first time for them to have to do that.
The panorama of a cityscape soon focuses in on Jack, walking through an open air mall. He hears human voices all around him. A couple are arguing; a mom and dad tell their son that even though they’re getting divorced, nothing will change; a tall woman is surprised at the shortness of her blind date while he insists he’s close to 6’1”. “STOP LYING!” Jack suddenly yells. For a moment, everything freezes, then life resumes as before, passersby continuing on their errands.
The Impala pulls up in front of a business titled “Mirror Universe.” Sam’s on the phone asking Rowena to try to help them stop Jack, then he enters the building with Dean. Looking at the workers, Dean mocks them as nerds, only to have Sam say, “Takes one to know one.” “What?” he replies, leading Sam to cite his knowledge of Zeppelin and his faithful watching of Jeopardy. Dean acknowledges that, but still insists he’s not like these computer geeks. The company produces facial recognition software; Sam hopes to use the technology to find Jack. “I got this,” Dean says, pulling his ID from his suit jacket and walking up to the receptionist with a winning smile. “I’m Dean Winchester, and I’m looking for the devil’s son,” he tells her calmly, holding up his badge with a practiced air. His forehead creases in confusion at his words so he tries again: “I’m Dean Winchester, and I’m looking for the devil’s son. This badge is fake.” The receptionist is looking at him with weirded-out worry in her eyes, so he walks away with an awkward laugh, to tell Sam that somehow they can only tell the truth. He proves it by asking Sam his favorite singer. Sam hems and haws, so Dean interrupts: “You say it’s Elvis but it’s really . . . “ “Celine Dion,” Sam says, repeating it a couple time, which rubs in the fact that he’s definitely speaking truth against his will. Just then, a disgruntled employee steps through a side door: “Who ate my yogurt?” Another coworker calmly raises his hand: “Right here!” Enraged, the first man flings himself at him and begins pummeling him. People suddenly start saying awkward truths like “I hate everyone!” and the work space erupts into chaos with people yelling and paper flying. Sam and Dean duck into a conference room. On the television, a newscaster is reporting that the president just had a press conference in which he revealed his tax history, talked of his ties to other countries, and mentioned a demon deal with someone named Crowley. Her co-anchor turns to her and confesses, “I love you.” The Winchesters turn the TV off realizing that this strange compulsion to tell the truth is affecting more than just the Mirror Universe Company. Sam knows that it had to be Jack. There is still yelling and crashing coming from the desk area outside the room. Coffee splatters against the wall. A woman runs by, clutching a handful of staplers to her chest, happily exclaiming that she is the Stapler Queen.
Cas knocks at a door in an alley; a small eye-height rectangle opens and someone looks through. “I need to go to hell,” Cas announces. “Literally or metaphorically?” asks the person behind the door, her eyes switching to black. Cas really wants to go to hell; he wants to study the cage. The demon guard refuses; “Go to hell, metaphorically,” she tells him before closing the aperture. “You guys are screwed,” says a voice from behind Cas. The trench-coated angel turns to see Chuck standing calmly in the brightly lit, graffiti-decorated alley. Chuck smiles.
A figure knocks at a door. A woman opens it to reveal Jack. “Hello, I’m Jack,” he says in a bright voice. “I remember,” says the older woman, looking upset. It’s Kelly Kline’s mother.
Chuck tells Cas that he prefers being called Chuck not God. Cas wants to know how he is here. Chuck says calmly, “You called me.” We see a flashback to his prayer. “My prayer?” questions Cas, rightfully doubtful that a prayer summoned a God who rarely answers no matter how earnestly his creation begs him to appear. “That,” says Chuck, “and him. He’s a problem.” Cas frowns at this.
Jack is forthrightly telling his grandmother that he’d visited before, and he’d liked that talk and wants to talk again. He wants to talk about her daughter, but the woman is practically vibrating with tear-filled anger. “No!” she says. He’d lied to them. He said he’d worked with their daughter, but, after he left, they’d looked him up. There was no record of him at all. Now they are pretty sure that Kelly isn’t on an extended trip. She must be dead. “What did you do?” shrieks the devastated mother. “Stop!” Jack hollers back, his eyes turning yellow.
At the Mirror Universe, the employees are still fighting. One man rips up paperwork while exclaiming, “I hate everyone.” Another woman sits on the floor, crying as she wails, “I just want to be loved.” In the conference room, Dean is looking at the internet on his phone, mocking 8-Pack Mommy and the false pretensions she puts out on her blog. When Sam is confounded that he even has an opinion about 8-Pack Mommy, he quickly x-es out the website.
Suddenly, Chuck and Cas are standing in the office, observing the fighting and crying. “This is why people need to lie,” says Chuck. “It leads to peace.” Cas is surprised that Chuck is advocating falsehoods, but Chuck says that he’s a writer. “Lying’s what we do.” Then they’re in the conference room. “Hi, guys,” says Chuck, with a deprecating, slightly smug smile.
Jack exits the house rapidly, leaving the door open behind him.
Sam and Dean stare at Chuck, stunned. Chuck says he can explain; he actually has a song about it. He reaches down and lifts a guitar from the floor, but before he can play, Dean snatches it away and slams it onto the floor. Dean yells for Chuck to give them an answer, and Chuck raises his voice back, “Don’t!” But he doesn’t want to play wrathful God; he wants to talk so, with a snap of his fingers, they’re in the bunker. “So, how’s things?” he asks with a feigned lightness that isn’t fooling Cas, Sam, or Dean who continue staring at him in consternation. Chuck keeps acting as if he wants to set them at ease; he admits he’s the Deus ex Machina. When Sam asks where he’s been, he says he’s been everywhere and nowhere. He’d been reconnecting with Amara. She’s now in Reno; she likes Keno. They’re baffled at how he’s remained aloof, but he tells them that he’s hands-off. He doesn’t mind if they want to fight leviathans or face off against the British Men of Letters, but when it comes to the apocalypse, he has to step in. “So Jack’s apocalyptic?” asks Sam. Chuck says he is: even just his one wish for people to tell the truth has ushered in chaos around the globe. With a finger twitch, he turns on the bunker’s radio which begins to broadcast snippets of news like “The Purge is real!,” “The State is a lie!”, and “The Queen of England is a lizard.” They ask if he can fix it. He snaps his fingers. “Fixed.” Dean is doubtful; to test it, he says, “Celine Dion rocks.” Yup, he can lie again. Everything is back to normal, as if it never happened. Back at the software company, the angry employee yells about his yogurt. The pilferer surreptitiously licks a spoon and keeps his eyes averted, leaving the bereft coworker to stomp off angrily.
In the bunker, Chuck smiles and says, “You’re welcome.” They keep staring at him. He challenges them about what could come next with Jack. He could sneeze and, oops, there goes India. Jack is “Me level bad,” says Chuck. “Can yo stop it?” Sam asks. “Not exactly,” admits Chuck. “You can. With THAT.” He directs their attention to an engraved handgun lying on the map table. They stare. “What is that?” asks Cas. “The Equalizer or the Hammurabi,” jokes Chuck, but his words fall flat. Dean wants to know if it can kill Jack. Chuck is pretty sure it can; he’s never used it before – he just made it. There are no bullets because it sends out a link that connects with the balance of power in the universe – his explanation goes over their heads. “What?” asks Cas, so Chuck simplifies things. What you do to him happens to you. You kill him, you die. It’s all about balance. That’s why he can’t do it. “It has to be one of you. Sorry.” Cas wants to know why the plan is all about killing Jack. Chuck could fix him, restore his soul. “Not so much,” says Chuck. “You’re GOD!” responds Castiel. Chuck wants to know if they’d want to bring back someone with this much power. Dean interrupts, “Stop! It’s the only way.” Cas won’t give up advocating for Jack; he mentions Billie’s predictions, but God scoffs. He liked old Death not this new one who’s always sticking her sickle where it doesn’t belong. Cas insists there must be another way. “I know you don’t like it,” Dean tells him. “I don’t care. Get on board or walk away.” Cas turns and leaves. Dean shakes his head and looks at the gun.
Jack is walking down a sunny street, his mind replaying what just happened: him yelling “Stop!”, the woman yelling, “What did you do?”
Dean is sitting in a dark corner of his room, one leg propped up on the chair as he leans against the wall, pouring himself some whiskey. Sam knocks and enters, and Dean says he’s glad Sam’s there because he wants to talk. Sam is reluctant. Dean tells him they don’t have a choice. “Of course we do!” exclaims Sam. “We always have a choice.” “He killed our mom!” Dean states clearly. Sam starts saying he was angry about that, but amends it to say that he still is angry about that, but they haven’t even tried to save him. He’s doing these things because he has no soul. Sam says it’s his fault; he brought Jack back and Jack burnt away his soul to save them. Sam is practically shaking, so intense is he as he demands to know if Dean wants his permission , because he’s not cool with losing Jack and Dean. “No! I’ve already lost too much. He exits the room. Dean stares ahead and drinks, then wearily closes his eyes.
A white pickup pulls up to a graveyard and Cas gets out to stand silently. The other sound are birds cawing in the distance. He turns and slams his fist into the vehicle but suddenly there’s a rustle of wings. Jack appears behind him. Cas turns, eyes him with fierce eyes, then steps toward him and hugs him. Jack accepts the hug passively.
Chuck is in the bunker, looking at the archangel blade and wondering where they got it. “Another world,” answers Sam. Chuck tries a few fight poses with it. “How many other worlds are there?” Sam wonders. Chuck doesn’t know; he’s lost count. Most are pretty boring. There’s one in reverse, one with no yellow, one that is all squirrels. Sam asks him if he just creates worlds and then throws them away, like a discarded book an author doesn’t want any more. “Is that what you’re doing to us?” Chuck instantly denies that. “You’re my favorite! Of all the Sams and Deans in other universes, they’re so interesting. Like what happened at the office with the employees all fighting! He laughs.
Cas and Jack are walking, and Jack is talking about how things aren’t working out. “I used to hate myself for killing my mom,” says Jack, “but now I don’t feel anything.” He has a flashback to his visit with Grandma Kline. He shouts, “Just stop!” “What are you?” she exclaims, terrified. He walks out, leaving her behind, astonished but alive. “I ran,” Jack admits. Cas reaches out to pat his shoulder.
Chuck admits to Sam that he’s been watching them. Sam is a bit overwhelmed at everything they’ve faced: “Why does it always have to be US?” he wants to know. “You’re my guys,” Chuck says blithely. Sam accuses Chuck of being scared of Jack. “Aren’t you?” replies Chuck, adding that Dean’s already gone.
On a white bench near a white marble statuary, Jack and Cas sit and talk. Jack says that Mary was a mistake. It never goes right. All he ever wanted was to be good, but he’s empty. He knows that Cas is there because he loves Jack, and he wants to love Cas, but, “It’s just . . . I can’t.” “You can’t YET!” Cas interjects. Given time, they could fix it. Jack looks up. Dean stands a few yards away, Chuck’s gun by his side. Cas’s face crinkles in worry while Jack’s eyes narrow.
Dean is determined: “Cas, step aside.” Cas won’t. He tells Jack to run, but Jack says he can’t, and when Cas continues to try to block Dean’s path, Jack hurls him away. Cas goes tumbling across the grass. “I won’t run anymore!” Jack declares. Jack and Dean face each other. Dean lifts the gun, aiming it with both hands directly at Jack. Unexpectedly, Jack kneels down. He looks calmly at Dean, who approaches with quiet concentration. Jack waits with his hands resting on his thighs, leaving the choice completely up to Dean. From several yards away, Cas rolls over to gaze back at where Jack kneels among the graves and Dean points his gun at his head. Sam drives up in Cas’s old boat of a blue car. Leaping from the vehicle, he starts to run through the cemetery yelling Dean’s name. “Sam, stay back,” Dean orders. “I understand,” Jack tells Dean. “I know what I’ve done. You were right. I’m a monster.” Sam stands nearby, conflicted, when in a flash Chuck is next to him, also observing the two men facing off against each other. “Do something!” Sam says, but Chuck just watches. Dean lifts the gun. It’s ready to fire. The camera focuses on his determined face, then Jack’s concerned eyes. Then he lowers the gun. Cas approaches as Dean tosses the gun to the ground. “No!” Chuck yells. “Pick it up! This isn’t how the story is supposed to end. This is epic! Abraham and Isaac. The father killing his son!” “He’s been playing us this whole time!” Sam exclaims. “It’s all you! Because we’re your favorite show.” Chuck ignores him, focusing on Dean: “Pick it up. I’ll bring her back.” “No,” Dean says. He backs up. “My mom’s my hero. I’ll miss her, but she wouldn’t want this. You don’t even care. The apocalypse – you knew! Why the games?” “Look . . .” Chuck begins placating, but Sam interrupts him. “Where were you? Watching us suffer ? We had to do it on our own. Where does it end?” “Don’t do this,” Chuck says to Dean. “It’s our lives,” Dean says. “God or no God, you go to hell.” Chuck laughs. “Have it your way.” He snaps his fingers. Jack collapses and screams. Light is pouring from his mouth and eyes. “Stop it!” Dean yells, so Chuck flings him away to crash through a gravestone and land heavily on the ground. Sam scoops up the gun from the ground.
“Hey, Chuck!” he yells, and fires the gun at God. Chuck doges, but gets hit in the shoulder. Sam collapses, holding his own shoulder. “Fine! That’s the way you want it!” Chuck exclaims, finally losing the casual friendliness he’s exhibited the whole time. “Story’s over! Welcome to the end!”
Dean looks up from the grass. Day has turned to night. Everything is dark. Getting up, he asks if Sam’s OK. Sam says he’s fine. Cas is kneeling next to Jack’s body where he lies among the graves with his eyes empty, burnt-out holes. “I thought Chuck said the gun was the only thing that could kill him,” says Dean. “Writers lie,” Cas says bitterly.
Jack’s body lies supine surrounded by darkness. His eyes open and he sits up. A figure of shiny liquid metal approaches him, making indistinct motions with its hands, almost looking like a benediction. It tips its featureless face sideways, and Jack turns to see Billie. “We should talk,” she says.
Cas, Sam, and Dean stand in the graveyard in the darkness. Nearby, a narrow stream of fire shoots upward into the sky like fireworks. Under the grass, red rivers squirm like snake. More forms shoot upwards. Cas tells them they’re souls from hell.
On a dark road, a car pulls over for a dark-haired woman in a white dress standing on the verge. The driver asks if she needs a ride. A happy mom holds a huge birthday cake, but goes to answer the door when the bell rings, revealing a grimly smiling clown. Two teen girls giggle and preen in front of a mirror. As they turn away to look at their phones, Bloody Mary appears in the glass behind them.
In the graveyard, tombstones explode and decaying, marred bodies stagger into view. More and more appear, men and women, dark and ominous figures in tattered clothes. Cas’s angel blade drops into his hand. Dean rips a couple posts from an iron fence, handing one to Sam. From all sides, the risen dead approach Castiel, Sam, and Dean. “Never, never, never,” the background music plays. “God was never on your side.” Team Free will, grip their weapons determinedly, Sam still holding a cloth to his wounded shoulder. They stand back to back as the walking dead approach from all sides. The camera pulls away as the circle closes in and swamps the three men.
THE END
QUESTIONS: It’s the final episode of the second to last season! All I can think of is Shakespeare’s lines: “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods – they kill us for their sport.”
- Did you expect Chuck to be the bad guy?
- Is Chuck’s final plan to allow monsters to destroy the world? We saw three monsters of the past besides the zombies. Are there any specific monsters you’d like to see resurrected?
- Are Billie and the Empty going to conspire with Jack against God?
- Why is Jack so upset by humans lying? Wasn’t that Michael’s beef?
- Does telling the truth inevitably lead to fighting? Is lying necessary for peace?
- Did you think of Stull Cemetery when Sam pulled up at the graveyard to interrupt Jack and Dean’s confrontation?
- Why did Jack kneel, allowing Dean the opportunity to kill him?
- How are the Winchesters and Castiel going to survive this time?
- How did the theme of sacrifice, specifically relating to the title, tie in to the story?
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