Recap – “The Monster At The End Of This Book”
Once quick shot of the Impala and Dean’s at Chuck’s place. “What are you doing here? I didn’t write this,” Chuck says. Sounds like prophecy can only go so far and eventually free will has to take over. Dean tells him the plan, they’re going to the motel. Chuck so wisely points out that’s where Lilith is, and she’s dangerous. Dean fills in Chuck on the whole archangel thing, and all Chuck has to do is show up. Chuck is reluctant since he hasn’t seen this. Dean pleads, letting him know he’s the only shot he’s got left. “I’m just a writer,” Chuck says. “This isn’t a story anymore! This is real, and you’re in it.” Dean reminds him.
Dean, being the true hero he is, appeals to Chuck’s heroic side, letting him know this is his chance to get in there and fight. Chuck thinks about it, as the dramatic music of heroism hits its climax. “No freaking way,” Chuck says. Dean, not ready to give up, threatens him with a gun in his pocket. If Chuck doesn’t go with him, he’ll blow his brains out. “I thought you said I was protected by an archangel,” Chuck says, now amused. “An interesting exercise,” Dean answers. “Let’s see who the quicker draw is.”
Showdown time! There’s a knock on the motel door. Sam answers, no one is there. Sam turns around to find a comely dental hygienist from Bloomington, Indiana standing behind him. She gives her terse hello, Sam sneers like he always does around demons. “I’ve been waiting for you.” Her eyes go white. Lilith asks where the knife is. On the nightstand, by the bed. Lilith goes over and sees the rug, lifting it to see the devil’s trap. She breaks it. She challenges Sam to try harder than that. So, out goes of hand of doom, and all he manages to do flap her long hair in the breeze. “You’re strong, but not that strong. Not yet.” Sam challenges her to throw him around. She can’t, and Sam knows it.
Okay, after this little anti-climactic exercise, it’s time to get to the point. Lilith wants to talk. Sam isn’t interested, but Lilith is offering to stand down. No more breaking seals, no more apocalypse, etc. Sam can end it all, if he agrees to her terms. He doesn’t get why she’d do this now. Turns out she must have a prophet on her side as well, for she doesn’t survive this war. Killed off before the good part starts. She wants to go back to they way it was, before she had to deal with angels 24/7. “The good old days, when it was all baby blood all the time.” It’s interesting how that’s not even close to the most disturbing thing in this episode.
Sam finally asks what she wants in return. “Your head on a stick, Dean’s too.” She even appeals to how self-sacrifice is the Winchester way. Sam asks if she thinks he’s stupid enough to fall for this. She firmly points out that when she makes a deal she has to follow through. Those are the rules and he knows it. She then pulls the guilt trip (because demons know what buttons to push), calling Sam so arrogant that he would put his and Dean’s lives before 6 billion people. He still doesn’t flinch, so she goes for the real hot spot. “Maybe it’s all that demon blood pumping through your pipes. A man after my own heart.”
Sam’s pissed now, for the freak card gets him every time. “You think I’m like you? I am nothing like you.” Lilith challenges him to prove it, and does the whole going once going twice thing. He hastily agrees. She tells him that a contract with her requires more than a kiss. She sits on the bed, pats it, and points out the dental hygienist she’s in wants it bad. Sam approaches the bed, she feels him up a little (she should have gone for that bulletproof ass) and he slowly lies on top of her. He then goes for the knife on the bed stand, but she sees that too quickly and overpowers him in no time.
The door busts open, with Chuck coming in first and Dean right behind him. Here we go, one of the best lines of the night. “I am the prophet, Chuck.” Lilith gets up, still holding the knife, not at all happy. The room starts to shake, white light appears and Sam is freaked out. “Oh, this is no joke,” Dean says. “Chuck here has an archangel on his shoulder. You’ve got about ten seconds before this room is full of wrath and you’re charcoal. Sure you want to tangle with that?” Lilith looks at Sam like “this isn’t over” and black smoke flies from the woman. She collapses to the ground, and the room goes back to normal. Everyone looks at each other with alarm, and the hygienist doesn’t look like she’s surviving this.
The plastic wrap flaps on the Impala, it’s night and as usual it’s raining. Sam has told Dean about the deal, and Dean’s surprised that Sam didn’t consider taking it. “She would have found some way to weasel out of it, and all it would have cost us is our lives.” Dean agrees. Sam says that’s not the point though. He knows she’s scared. He can see it. Lilith is running. “Running from what?” Dean asks. “I don’t know, but she’s telling the truth about one thing. She won’t survive the apocalypse. I’ll make sure of that.” Dean’s bothered by that. Me too! I think that was Sam’s open declaration (unbeknownst to Dean) that he’s going to keep demon blood doping.
If anyone wants my two cents (and probably by the time you get to this point in the recap your eyes are crossed), but I think Lilith meant it. I think she everything she told Sam is the truth. Granted her motives are shaky, but since this episode is all about prophecy, she probably has some of her own and realized rising Lucifer wasn’t going to do her any favors. By killing Dean and Sam, that’s her way of hinting one or both are going to kill her. Lucifer can’t rise without Dean, can he? Castiel’s words in “On The Head Of A Pin,” were vague, but isn’t Dean meant to play a role? Ah well, I’m sure in four episodes time we’ll find out.
Chuck wrestles in his sleep, of course over stuff we don’t see but we do hear chomping sounds and white flashes, so it must be awful. He wakes up in fright. “Did you see it?” Chuck jumps, and there’s Zachariah! This angel tale keeps getting more twisted. He asks Chuck if he saw it, and a scared to death Chuck nods. “Is it true? Is all that really going to happen?” “Have you been wrong so far?” He’s got you there Chuckles. Chuck wants to warn Sam and Dean, but Zachariah won’t let him. “People shouldn’t know too much about their own destiny.” If he tries, Zachariah will stop him. So Chuck goes to kill himself. Zachariah tells him he can’t, and he’ll bring him back to life. “What am I supposed to do?” A crushed Chuck asks. “What you always do. Write.” The final shot is a heartbroken Chuck, wishing he was just a fiction writer again. Aww, now I want to give him a big hug and a “there, there.”
Whew, that’s a freaking long ass recap. I’m still in awe how they manage to do so much with such a small time frame. I rated this episode an A by the way. Only four more episodes before Chuck’s unknown vision comes true. April and May are going to be painful. Heck, all summer too.
Wow, Alice, this is one wicked recap. I love it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book, tv show or movie poke fun at itself (and us) better than this. It’s the bomb (if you will).
I notice that Kim Manners was listed as Exec Prod on this one – I suspect this is the last episode he worked on. 🙁 Kind of nice that it was such a fantastic episode.
I wonder if anyone else had the same reaction to Zachariah that I did. I just wanted him to bugger off and leave Chuck free to contact Sam and Dean. GRIN
Sigh, X’ing off the days until April 23rd.
Great recap Alice!
As far as I’m concerned, the longer your recaps, the better I like it.
I don’t think Zachariah is a bad angel. Just one of the more detached ones. At least I hope he’s not the monster at the end. And Cas, I just about cheered when he helped Dean in his sneaky way. He’s learning.
Everyone was wonderful in this episode and I’d give it an A+ for writing and acting.
Am a little scared about what Kripke will leave us with to suffer over the summer.
Hope you find lots of stuff to write about our show when the summer hiatus begins.
Hi, Alice,
Fantastic recap, thank you for all the effort it takes to put those screen caps in there, love that sometimes you get the fade.
I was checking the titles of the eppies at first as well planning to include that in my comments until I realized Red Sky was mentioned but not included…decided to pass it by but they do get high marks for referring back to shown episodes (esp. high marks for JIB and the tats…show those tats anytime please.)
I thought the actress playing the ‘comely dental hygienist’ did a good job of channeling some of what Katie did when she showed Lilith as ‘all grown up and pretty’. Some of the facial expressions and turns of the head are similar and added to the continuity.
Julie Siege is an excellent addition to the writing staff, hope she stays for next season ’cause she’s got three good to great episodes under her typewriting fingers from this season.
Yes, it will be a long, long, long summer…sheesh.
We’ve been away so I’ve got a bit of catching up to do!
I was expecting to hate this episode. Normally it makes me cringe when fiction gets all smug and knowing and self-referential. It sort of bursts the bubble … I know it’s not real but there’s some little bit of my subconcious that thinks it is and doesn’t like to be reminded that the whole thing’s a construct.
Anyway, I got as far as the publisher showing them the tattoo on her bum before dissolving into hysterics. Love it. So many in-jokes and Castiel is just getting better and better.
I think the monster at the end was poor ol’ Chuck. He goes from creator to helpless by-stander. He knows there’s something hideous coming down the line but he can’t warn the boys and he can’t help, he just writes it down and it happens, which makes him feel it’s all his fault.
For my money the best Zep ever was Immigrant Song or Battle for Evermore 😀
Ah the show amuses me with its normal male double standard here. For all Dean and Sam cringe at slash, Dean has no problem with incest when it is too his benefit. For example Magnificent Seven at the very start, Dean is about to have sex with twins (and does) while Sam researches deals in the car. Now really, two women, one man, sex? Even I am not so naive as not to know that those girls would be touching each other as well as Dean
I think it is interesting that though the first song is a famous Zep tune the second song may actually be referring to the original Robert Johnson song and not the Zepplin cover. Yup Robert Johnson of Crossroad Demon fame. The first version of the lyrics fit Dean’s travelin’ woman in every port life style, the second could either be a reminder of Cassie or a creepy reference to Dean’s deal
Oh and I forgot to mention the “get a life” is actually a pop culture reference to Shatner’s Saturday Night live appearance where he ticked off Star Trek fandom.