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The brothers prove more and less than the sum of their parts.

The episode opens in a convent in 1972 where a black smoke overwhelms a priest. During morning prayers the priest nonchalantly stumbles through his sermon before telling the nuns how he’s been looking for his father – the one Our Father imprisoned. Towards the end of his tirade his eyes start flashing yellow – revealing himself to be Azazel – and as the shot pulls back, the nuns begin to scream.

The camera blurs into focus on Sam, who is still reeling from his fight with Dean. Ruby tries to comfort him, but Sam now believes Dean is safe as far away from Sam as possible. He also believes there is no ray of sunshine waiting for him after this is over – and there is no going back.

Next the scene blurs to Dean, as Bobby tries convincing Dean to reach out to Sam. Dean quickly blows him off, maintaining Sam never wanted to be part of the family anyway. Bobby angrily chides Dean for giving up so easy. “They’re supposed to make you miserable. That’s why they’re family!” Bobby calls John a coward for pushing Sam away and begs Dean not to make the same mistake. But before a forlorn Dean can reply, he soon finds himself mysteriously transported to a fancy room. At a hospital, Lilith’s “personal chef” tries to snatch a baby for a new recipe – only to be snatched herself by Sam and Ruby.

There, Dean finds his favorite beer, his favorite cheeseburgers and even Ginger and Mary Ann from “Gilligan’s Island” if he wants. Dean doesn’t care for either though – he wants to know what the game-plan is for stopping Armageddon. Zacharias, however, seems more concerned with distracting Dean with his every whim than stopping Lucifer. Zacharias promises the rest “all in good time”, and when Dean tries to probe further, Zacharias callously reminds Dean of his pledge of obedience and tells him simply “obey.”

Sam and Ruby torture Lilith’s chef, drawing painful screams from the nurse the demon possesses. After much torture, they get the location of Lilith – the same church Azazel attacked in the opening credits. But the chef throws a kink into things by letting her host re-take the wheel. At once, their hostage becomes a crying, terrified woman – one Ruby is intent on killing for the demonic blood necessary to defeat Lilith.

Back in the “green room”, Dean finally calls Sam. He reaches his voice mail, but leaves a lengthy apology, explaining he didn’t mean the things he said and that at the end of the day they’re still brothers. The machine cuts him off. Dean is left waiting for further instructions from his angelic handlers.

In 1972, the Yellow Eyed Demon communes with Lucifer through the body of one of the slain nuns. He receives further instruction on how to spring dear old Dad – namely through Lilith, and a prophesized child heavily implied to be Sam Winchester. In the present, Dean summons Castiel, who agrees to take him anyway. Dean wants to see Sam. Except there, it turns out. Castiel doesn’t believe that would be a good idea. Dean then says he wants to take a walk. Not without Castiel, of course. And when Dean tries to leave, Castiel simply sweeps the door out from under him – trapping him alone.

Sam considers playing Dean’s voice mail while the nurse trapped in the car trunk screams her lungs out. Sam wants to find another demon to drain for the necessary juice, but Ruby is dead set against it. She views this as a necessary sacrifice to save millions. Sam, on the other hand, wonders if it really is too late to change course – and if Dean was right all along.

Zacharias appears to Dean, who has had enough with the angel’s cryptic reasoning. It’s then that Zacharias spills the beans – Dean isn’t going to stop Lilith because the angels aren’t trying to stop Lucifer’s breakout. They want the Apocalypse now. Zacharias feels their chances are good, and after they win, peace on Earth is at hand. Sam’s role to play is also clear, because Lilith is the final seal. When she dies in the church Lucifer is freed. The only downside is the millions of people lost in the spiritual crossfire. This isn’t to say Dean is out of the picture – as Zacharias hopes to harvest him a poster boy against Lucifer. When Dean asks where God is in all this bureaucracy, Zacharias simply states “God has left the building.”

Dean appeals to Castiel to help him. Castiel is apologetic, and Dean realizes what he was going to warn him about, chiefly Zacharias’ less than candid intentions. But Castiel can also see deep within Dean, and in his flaws – guilt, confusion and anger – he doesn’t see much worth saving in humanity. Dean tells Castiel to shove his peace – he’ll take humanity and Sam as they are. He asks one last time for Castiel to help. When Castiel refuses, Dean says they are done.

Back at the entrance to the church, Sam wonders if he can turn his back on the blood lust. He listens to Dean’s voice mail, but unfortunately it isn’t Dean’s voice mail – it’s one of the “nudges” Zacharias mentions, and is essentially the angel impersonating Dean and telling Sam he’s coming to hunt him down. Sam agrees to go through with the blood sacrifice of the demon-possessed nurse.

In the green room, Castiel ambushes Dean and then pulls out a knife. He proceeds to cut his own arm and draw a symbol on the wall. When Zacharias demands to know what Castiel is doing, Castiel activates the glyph, banishing Zacharias temporarily. Cas then tells Dean that Lilith is the final seal, and her death breaks Lucifer free. Castiel agrees to take Dean to Sam, though he’s not sure where he is – but he does know someone who does. They appear before the prophet Chuck – right when the paperback author is awkwardly soliciting prostitutes via phone. Chuck is surprised – this doesn’t happen in his book. Castiel admits they are making it up as they go. Chuck gives Dean the coordinates of the church as the room lights up – and the archangel becomes aware of their presence. Castiel agrees to hold them off, sending Dean ahead to stop his brother.

Sam confronts Lilith just as Dean arrives at the door. Ruby sees Dean coming and shuts the door on him, barring him from interfering – and showing the first sign of her true loyalties. Dean yells for Sam to stop, and though at first Sam listens, Lilith goads Sam into attacking her head on. Sam’s eyes go black as he finally kills the powerful demon, breaking the final seal.

Ruby rejoices that Lucifer is about to be set free. Angrily, Sam tries to vanquish Ruby, but simply doesn’t have the power. Ruby explains it was her intention all along to free Lucifer – she was so deep undercover no one, not even Alistair, knew of her true loyalties. And now that Lucifer is free, both she and Sam will be richly rewarded.

Dean busts into the room, but Ruby gleefully says he’s too late. Dean doesn’t care, brandishing her knife as Sam grabs her. Dean stabs Ruby, killing the treacherous demon with immense satisfaction. Sam apologizes to Dean, realizing now he was right, but soon light spills out from the ground. Lucifer is free. Dean says they should go, but Sam is paralyzed with realization that he is coming. The two brothers are soon engulfed by the light as the credit rolls.

I have mixed feelings about this season ender. As far as direction, writing and acting are concerned, you couldn’t ask for a better finale to an exceptionally strong season – but the finale, like some of the closing episodes, seemed to lose a lot in the way of momentum. As my two and half page summary shows, a lot happened in this episode, but save for the final twenty minutes, it wasn’t nearly as fast-paced as any of the previous season finales. And like season three, the ending is broadcast well in advance – we have a sinking suspicion Lucifer is going to break free, Otherwise there’s just not much room for season 5.

Overall, this felt like more of a linking episode to open season five than a cliffhanger to close season four. Again, it was exceptionally powerful. I liked how the episode reinforced the mythos of Supernatural – it’s all about family. From the Winchesters to the Yellow Eyed Demon, everyone is looking for family. In fact, the only ones who aren’t looking for family are the angels themselves, and their sanitized rigidity makes their actions even more terrifying as a result.

I was both right and wrong on the subject of Ruby. I had argued against fans who said she was pure evil – it turns out I was majorly wrong on that account, but I didn’t believe she was corrupting Sam. As Ruby joyously admits, that blame lies mostly on Sam. While Ruby facilitated Sam’s addiction, it was Sam who made the choices even before he was hooked which led him down a path of darkness and bloodshed. Only the bonds of family and forgiveness are enough to save Sam. It’s ironic how much weight these Biblical principles take even as the angels themselves admittedly move further and further away from God.

Lastly, I liked how the light spilled from the ground. Lucifer is the light-bringer after all, and Kripke seems to have nailed this image from the beginning. A season ago, if you asked me if Supernatural could do an angel right, I would have laughed at the notion. I didn’t think angels were good fit for the blue collar atmosphere of Supernatural, but as I said already once in this review, I was majorly wrong. Now Krikpe and company stand against an even bigger conundrum – depicting not only Lucifer but also the Winchester’s fight against the first of the fallen. Somehow, though, I think the show is in good hands and heading in the right direction.

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