Supernatural’s “The Prisoner,” written by Andrew Dabb and directed by Thomas J. Wright, regains some of the season’s momentum obliterated by last week’s “Dark Dynasty.”
The episode opens with a young man, Cyrus Styne, leaving a campus building named Styne Hall, which according to the sign was established in 1915. Other teens are bullying him when a Styne cousin arrives. Though Cyrus lies and says that everything’s okay, cousin Styne later accosts and kidnaps the bully.
Post titlecard, it becomes clear this episode begins shortly after “Dark Dynasty” ended. Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) and his younger brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) are chopping wood and building a pyre for Charlie (Felicia Day). The brothers aren’t speaking, and we see flashbacks of the Winchesters’ memories with Charlie as they build. It’s a hard scene to watch.
Dean’s solemnly carries Charlie’s wrapped body and places it on the pyre, taking a moment to heartbreakingly rest a hand on her head. A few moments later, the brothers stand side-by-side, watching the flames, and Sam speaks, “We’re going to miss you. You were the best. I’m sorry—” Dean cuts his brother off, saying, “Shut up. you got her killed. You don’t get to apologize.”
A moment of grieving becomes a spat between the brothers, one that rehashes a long-standing point of contention. Sam asks, “What was I supposed to do, just watch you die?” Dean retorts, “The Mark wasn’t going to kill me.” But Sam doesn’t share his brother’s perspective: “You’re all I’ve got. So of course I was going to fight for you because that’s what we do…” Sam’s explanation makes me shake my head, even as I recognize (and rely on) Dean’s importance to his brother. Sam has talked of the value of found family, and he expressed a degree of contentment In “Devil May Care” (9×2), yet he carries a loneliness that threatens to consume him.
Dean doesn’t care about Sam’s intentions and blames his younger brother for Charlie’s death. Sam says he’ll never forgive himself for Charlie’s death, and Dean bluntly retorts, “You want to know what I think? I think it should be you up there, not her.” Dean’s reaction is such a far cry from his own past belief to save Sam at all costs and shows his own fundamental changes, particularly as the Mark of Cain affects his personality. The pyre-side conversation reveals the chasm that now lies between the brothers. This situation is now so much more than siblings who don’t quite understand one another; the Winchesters divide seems insurmountable.
Dean orders, “This thing with Cas and the book? Shut it down.” I hear an unspoken “before anyone else gets killed” at the end of that sentence. Sam asks what Dean’s going to do, and his brother’s response is chilling: Dean’s out for revenge, and he’s going to take everything and “tear out their heart.” Sam asks, “Is that you talking or the Mark?” “Does it matter?,” Dean asks. He walks away, leaving Sam standing beside the burning pyre.
The episode returns to Cyrus, who’s telling an online video-game playing friend about his plans to run away. Cousin Styne interrupts Cyrus’s conversation, though, with a summons from Daddy Styne. Downstairs, in the Stynes’s personal laboratory, Daddy/Monroe Styne threatens Eldon, Cyrus’s older brother, for failing on his mission. Eldon tells his father about the bunker and its promised goods and volunteers to salvage what they can from it.
Cyrus has been summoned because the bully from earlier is strapped down to a table. Daddy Styne says, “This is a teachable moment… trash like him is only good for spare parts. You’re going to carve him up.” Cyrus doesn’t want to, but Monroe isn’t taking no for an answer: “It’s your legacy. You will not turn your back on this family…Either you’re going to do this or I’m going to butcher that boy, and then I’m going to put you up on that table and go to work…This is who you are, son.” Altogether, this scene is exceptionally creepy. The Stynes apparently don’t believe in sedating their victims, and when Monroe forces Cryus to make his first incision, the terrified teen is awake.
The interactions between Cyrus and Monroe, not to mention Eldon and Monroe, are interesting. Cyrus in particularly reminds me vividly of the teenage Sam we’ve seen in flashbacks, and his conversation with his father echoes the tension that existed between John Winchester and Sam, particularly over the latter’s lack of desire to follow in his hunter father’s footsteps. In similar ways, Eldon, who’s quick to prove his worth to Monroe, seems to function as a quasi-parallel for a younger Dean.
However, Dean Winchester’s no longer living his father’s mission. He’s carrying out his own, and he first retrieves the Blackbird Motel’s security footage and confirms that it was Eldon Styne who came after Charlie. Dean then heads for Shreveport, Louisiana.
Castiel is still on Rowena-guarding-duty, and he’s finding her scrutiny annoying. She comments, “You’re fascinating. An angel that rejected heaven – that’s like a fish that wants to fly or a dog that thinks he’s people.” “I’m a lot like people,” Castiel says. “Keep telling yourself that dear,” Rowena responds. Frankly, Rowena’s interest in Castiel makes me nervous – and previews of the season finale suggest she has plans where the angel’s concerned.
When Sam arrives, Cas asks about Charlie. Sam tearfully shakes his head; Cas looks stricken. The angel says, “I should’ve gone after her…what happened?” Sam explains that it was the Stynes and that Dean’s gone after them. Cas looks troubled, “So he knows.” Sam says, “Yeah. I’m shutting this down; I promised Dean.” Quietly, they discuss what’s to happen with Rowena, and Sam heavily implies that she’s to die. Castiel volunteers: “I’d be happy to kill her. She just called me a fish.” But he wants to know about Dean. Sam explains that they can track his brother, “I lowjacked the impala a few weeks ago, just in case.” He pulls out his phone and discovers that he has a new email from Charlie – it’s an uploaded file named “ForDean.doc.”
Sam shows Rowena, who confirms that Charlie “cracked the code” and promises that she can read every word of The Book of the Damned with this information. Sam gets emotional over the possibility of a cure and immediately changes his mind, tasking Cas with keeping Dean from going “too far off the reservation…” Cas questions the abrupt about-face, but Sam insists that he owes his brother this because when he’s been in trouble, “Dean did whatever he could to save [Sam].” Rowena watches Sam closely during this conversation and looks entirely too pleased with herself. Sam reminds Castiel that they both know what happens if they don’t save Dean: “We both know where that road ends.” “In black eyes and blood,” Cas says resignedly. “Go, find him, Cas. Keep him safe.”
After Castiel leaves, Rowena clarifies her promise: “I said I can read the book, I never said I would…I want my son dead….Now.” Sam is at Rowena’s mercy, and he knows it. She reminds him, “Your brother’s a walking, freaking time bomb and times he’s a ticking…. You’ll do it my way. Now.”
In the Stynes’s laboratory, Eldon is now sporting the teen bully’s tattooed arm. Cyrus, traumatized from the procedure, wants to be excused but is told that he’s going with Eldon.
Dean’s arrived in Shreveport, and he’s pulled by local law enforcement. The officers break out the Impala’s lights, and Dean – who’s already been sassy – lunges for the one of the officers and is arrested for attempted assault.
Meanwhile, Crowley’s enjoying coffee at a local diner; it seems he’s in the beginnings of a crossroads deal when he gets a call from Dean. “I need your help,” Dean says, and the call ends. Crowley puts the phone down, but then a text comes through, asking the demon to meet and providing an address.
In the Shreveport police department, the officer is rifling through the famous cigar box, commenting, “They said you were a pro, but…” Dean picks up on the slip immediately and wants to know “who said that.” The officer reasserts his presumed authority: “I’ll ask the questions here. Seventeen fake IDs and a trunk full of weapons… who are you, man?” Dean confidently states, “I’m the guy who’s gonna get out of here in about thirty seconds.”
Dean deliberately reaches out and knocks a mug full of pens off the desk. “Real mature,” the officer replies before coming over to pick up the now-scattered office supplies. Dean traps the guy using his legs, gets the keys, knocks the officer out, and unlocks the handcuffs. Dean makes his way through the station, coming upon the other arresting officer finishing a conversation about Dean with an unknown party. Dean quickly coerces the man into admitting that the Stynes run the town and are behind Dean’s arrest. The officer cautions, “You can’t take on the Stynes. They own this town. They’re practically gods around here.” Dean smirks, “Well, I kill gods.”
Crowley arrives at the address Dean texted, only to learn that it was Sam who’d contacted him, not Dean. This is a trap. (This plot point also underscores the plot holes in last week’s episode: In “Dark Dynasty,” Sam tells Castiel that Rowena can’t be left alone; here, he’s the one to leave her alone while he goes after Crowley.) Sam shoots Crowley with a devil’s trap bullet, and as the demon collapses, Sam accuses him: “You’re the reason Dean has the Mark of Cain…All of this, it’s your fault. So, this, you’ve had this coming for a long time.” Sam brandishes the demon-killing knife, and though Crowley says he isn’t afraid of that “toothpick,” Sam then sticks a hex bag into the demon’s pocket and says, “By the way, [Rowena] said to tell you she should’ve taken the three pigs.”
In Shreveport, Dean has infiltrated the Stynes’s estate, taking out their security one by one. Once inside the house, though, he’s confronted with a small army. While Monroe taunts Dean, a couple of Stynes come up from behind and use a plastic bag to render Dean unconscious.
Lying on the floor, seemingly dying, Crowley questions why Sam’s working with Rowena: “What has she got over you?” Sam doesn’t answer, instead saying, “Will you just die already?” Crowley grouses, “That’s what I get for trying to be the good guy.” Sam questions that label, and Crowley talks about changes he’s made in hell, and says, “I thought if I did better I might actually feel something again. That it might matter.” Sam disagrees. “It doesn’t matter. Maybe everybody else forgot about all the bad you’ve done. I’ve watched you kill people, Crowley… people I loved. You have the accent and the suit and the snark, but at the end of it, you are a monster, just like all the rest of them. And I’m going to watch you die screaming, just like all the rest of them.”
Crowley agrees, “You’re right. I am a monster. And I’ve done bad. I’ve done things you can’t even imagine. Horrible, evil messy thing.” Crowley turns to look at Sam, and his eyes are red and smoking. “And I’ve loved every damn minute.” Crowley uses his fingers to remove the bullet and gets up; his eyes are still red. “So, thank you, Sam, for reminding me who I really am.” The demon throws Sam across the room and then removes Rowena’s hex bag from his pocket, musing, “Powerful magic – bet it works on any other demon. But me? Please.” Crowley’s eyes are back to normal now, and he burns the bag.
Crowley’s eyes have gone red before, when he temporarily possessed Linda Tran (8×2). However, this is different – his eyes are smoking, and he clearly possesses more power than we’ve seen. And if he truly worked his way up from being a crossroads demon to Lilith’s right-hand man to King of Hell, then what kind of demon is Crowley? Hopefully, we’ll find out. Personally, I’m glad to see Crowley’s darker side again; though I appreciate his character becoming more nuanced, this season, his storyline has often felt vague and disconnected, if not entirely absent. Maybe this means his role in season 11 will be defined and portrayed differently?
Sam, recovering from being thrown, reaches for the demon knife, but Crowley telekinetically moves it away. “I could kill you… [but] I want you to know that the only reason you’re alive is because I allowed it. And I want you to deliver a message: You tell that ginger whore that I gave her a chance to walk away and she spat in my face. So now? She’ll never see me coming.” With that, Crowley disappears.
Dean comes to on Monroe Stynes’s operating table and warns them against playing “Operation” on him.” He says, “The Mark on my arm means that I can’t die… You flatline me, I will come back, but I will come back with black eyes and then you’ll all die.” The Stynes don’t seem concerned by Dean’s threat; instead, Monroe’s intrigued. “A man that doesn’t die? Well, now, that is a perfect lab rat.” He moves to start working on Dean, and the latter breaks free of his restraints. In seconds, Dean has killed everyone in the room and has Monroe’s neck in his hands. “You took something from me, and now I’m going to take everything from you,” Dean promises. Monroe says, “It’s too late – your home, your family, they will…” Dean doesn’t let him finish, cracking Monroe’s neck, taking the man’s gun, and leaving the laboratory.
While Dean lays waste to the Styne estate, Eldon, Cyrus, and a third Styne break into the bunker, intending to steal what’s useful and burn the rest.
Sam calls Rowena to let her know that the plan didn’t work. She’s horrified to learn that Crowley’s alive, well, and free. She looks worried but doesn’t admit that to Sam, instead reminding him, “You’ve got a job to do, Samuel. Get it done.”
Castiel arrives in Shreveport and reaches the Styne estate after Dean has already left; there is mass carnage. He calls and updates Sam, telling him that Dean killed more than fifteen people – and he killed them brutally. Sam says he’s on the way, but Cas stops him. The GPS shows that Dean’s heading north. “Home,” Cas says. “Dean’s coming home.”
The Stynes are still rifling the bunker. Cyrus finds a framed photograph of Sam, Dean, and Bobby, though it winds up on the burn pile. When the third Styne returns from his investigation of the dungeon, he stumbles into the room, a knife embedded in his back. Dean’s home.
Eldon faces off, taunting Dean about murdering Charlie, whom he calls “Chucky.” He offers to tell Dean how he did it, and Dean informs him, “Your old man’s dead – they’re all dead.” Cyrus looks relieved and Eldon disbelieving. Dean goes on to talk about how Eldon might have upgraded his body, even with “seven nipples – for the ladies, or the fellas. I don’t judge. [But] You only have the one brain.” Dean fires off a shot, hitting Eldon between the eyes. It’s a fatal shot.
Cyrus is the last Styne standing, and Dean makes to shoot him too. The teen begs him not to, “I hate my family. I’m not like them. I promise.” Dean sees it differently: “…You are like them. There’s bad in you. It’s in your blood. You can deny it. You can run from it all you want, but that bad will always win.” Cyrus begs, “You don’t need to do this. Please.” Dean pulls the gun back and scratches his head. For a moment, I thought Cyrus had convinced him, but Dean instead says, “Yeah, I do” and shoots the teen. Cas comes to the door of the research room and calls Dean’s name, “What have you done?” A quick scene shows that Sam is forty miles from Lebanon (though I’m not sure how Castiel drove from Shreveport to Lebanon more quickly than Sam drove across Kansas). So, whatever’s about to happen, it only involves Dean and Castiel.
Cas checks Cyrus, confirming that he’s dead. Dean defends his actions, “I took down a monster because that’s what I do. And I’ll continue to do that until—“ “Until you become the monster,” Cas finishes for him. Dean narrows his eyes and says, “You can leave now, Cas.” But Castiel won’t go. “I can’t because I’m your friend.”
Dean then gets angry and addresses Cas and Sam working behind his back. “Really? Well let me ask you something you screw over all your friends?” I’m not sure who Dean sees as screwed over here – Charlie? Himself? Cas protests, “Sam and I were trying to cure you. We still are.” Dean scoffs, “Like hell.” Castiel shares, “We can read the book,” but Dean remains unimpressed. “So, you might find a spell that might take this crap off my arm…but even if you do, what’s it going to cost? Because magic like that does not come free. No, it comes with a price that you pay in blood. So thanks, but I’m good.”
This is an interesting moment. Dean’s angry, but his reasoning seems to shift from the duplicity that got Charlie killed to what (else) it might cost his family and even the world to save him. Castiel grabs Dean’s shoulder, as if he knows that touch is needed to ground the hunter. Dean’s none too happy about it, either. Cas says, “Maybe you could fight the mark for years, maybe for centuries like Cain did. But you cannot fight it forever and when you finally turn – and you will turn – Sam and everyone you know and everyone you love could be long dead. Everyone except me. [Dean swallows, looks away.] I’m the one who will have to watch you murder the world…”
Castiel points out that the Mark is changing Dean and that the Dean Winchester he knew “would never have murdered that kid.” Mark-of-Cain-juiced-up-Dean replies, “That Dean has always been kind of a dick.” (This comment doesn’t make sense to me – is he saying that it’s less dickish to kill someone than to not?) Castiel grabs Dean’s shoulder again and tells him, “I don’t want to have to hurt you.” Dean responds, “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
An awful fight ensues, set to the familiar, haunting melody used for significant, emotional scenes, with Dean tossing Castiel around the room and beating him bloody. It’s clear that Castiel isn’t fighting back – not because he can’t, but because he won’t. And I think Dean knows that when he says, “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.” Why does Dean keep going? Is he in the Mark’s thrall? Is he trying to get Castiel to fight back, to kill him as they discussed months ago?
Regardless, this scene is brutal. Castiel picks himself up from the books and calls out to his friend, “Dean – stop.” Dean does stop and turns around, coming back to Castiel, and reigniting the fight. He has Castiel on the floor and takes Cas’s angel blade. He grabs Cas’s tie and positions the angel, as if he’s going to stab him in the chest. (I may have stopped breathing here.)
Castiel grabs Dean’s wrist. “No, Dean, please,” he manages to say before blood fills his mouth. Dean has the angel blade poised over Castiel, though the hunter’s hand his shaking. His hand descends (and I definitely wasn’t breathing at this moment). The music stops, and Dean stands up. The camera angle shifts, revealing that Dean stabbed the book beside Cas’s head. “You and Sam stay the hell away from me. Next time, I won’t miss,” Dean calls out, his voice cracking, and leaves the room. Castiel, still lying bloodied on the floor, looks over at the embedded blade with an inscrutable expression on his face.
This scene, which in many ways echoes the crypt scene from 8×17, says so much about Castiel and Dean’s dynamic. I think it’s important that it’s when Cas grabs Dean’s wrist – skin to skin – that he manages to reach his friend, however briefly. I also think there’s something to be said about Dean killing Cyrus, who can be read as a stand-in for young Sam. So where do Dean and Sam stand now? Where do Dean and Castiel? And who exactly is a “monster” now?
I spent the first part of “The Prisoner” disengaged – admittedly perhaps because of lingering bitterness over Charlie’s brutal discarding and/or my continuing annoyance with the Stynes. I’m glad that this particular branch of the Styne family tree has been felled, and I hope we won’t see their reanimation or an influx of other branches of the “juggernaut” family (9×21). The episode really picks 
up in the last thirty minutes, and the last fifteen, focusing on the conflict between Dean and Castiel, had my undivided attention.
So, where will Supernatural go from here? Will we be left with a hellish cliffhanger to send us off into hellatus? Will the Winchester brothers finally learn their limits? What will happen with Dean and Castiel? The “Brother’s Keeper” promo promises Death’s return, bargaining, and Rowena’s manipulations. Season ten’s finale airs Wednesday, May 20, at 9 pm ET on the CW network.