Supernatural: I'm No Angel
November 4, 2021 6:20 AM - Season 9, Episode 3 - Subscribe

Sam and Dean track down Castiel, while Bartholomew, a new leader of the fallen angels, tries to destroy him.

Quotes

Castiel: There really is a lot to being human, isn't there?
Dean: It ain't all just burritos and strippers, my friend.
Castiel: Yeah. I understand what you're saying.
Sam: You do?
Castiel: Yes, there's more to humanity than survival. You... look for purpose, and you must not be defeated by anger or despair. Or hedonism, for the matter.
Dean: Where does hedonism come into it?
Castiel: Well, my time with April was very educational.
Sam: Yeah. I mean, I would think that getting killed is something.
Castiel: And having sex.
Dean: You had sex with April?
Sam: Yeah, that would be where the hedonism comes in.
Dean: Shh. So... Did you have protection?
Castiel: I had my angel blade.
Dean: Oh. Oh, he had the angel blade.

Sam: [looking at a piece of pie Dean just bought at a convenience store] Look at these chemicals. Do you even read the label?
Dean: No. I read pie. The rest is just blah, blah, blah.

Dean: Uh, alright, well. He's definitely been here. Good news is he's gettin' cagy. He's using a fake name. Clarence.
Sam: That's what Meg used to call him. 'Course, he doesn't get that's the name of a pretty famous angel.
Dean: What?
Sam: It's a Wonderful Life.
Dean: [shakes his head]
Sam: Dude, seriously?

Frank: Hey, Clarence. How much longer you gonna be with us?
Castiel: [chewing toothpaste at a sink in the men's room] I'll be moving on tonight after work. It's time. Can I ask you something?
Frank: Sure.
Castiel: Do you ever tire of urinating? I'll never get used to it.

April Kelly: So you know, I don't usually bring home strange men.
Castiel: Am I strange?

Dean: I need your help finding Cass.
Ezekiel: It cannot be done. He is warded.
Dean: I know that. But maybe you can use your intergalactic, hyper-space, X-ray eyeballs to find someone else.

Castiel: I'd better try falling asleep. It's quite a process, isn't it?
Vagrant: Try counting sheep.
Castiel: Thanks, once again.
Castiel: [trying to fall asleep on an abandoned bus; to himself] What sheep?

Vagrant: You're new at this, aren't you?
Castiel: Yes. Food, sleep, or passing gas. It's all very strange.

Maurice: You can kill me. It won't matter. If I don't find Castiel, there are others that will. But do what you want.
Dean: Sure. [stabs him]

April Kelly: April, by the way. April Kelly.
Castiel: Castiel.
April Kelly: One name?
Castiel: Like God.
April Kelly: Or Cher.

April Kelly: You look like you've been to hell and back.
Castiel: Yeah. Few times.

April Kelly: What happened to the guy who attacked you?
Castiel: Oh, I stabbed him. He exploded.

April Kelly: I needed information. So I had to gain your trust.
Castiel: And that required intercourse?
April Kelly: Well, I am allowed some leeway for executive decisions.

Trivia

In this episode, Castiel is in a homeless shelter and soup kitchen. In real life, Misha Collins actually volunteers at soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

This marks the first episode where Supernatural actually depicts an angel possession in its entirety. Usually they only show the bright light appear and cut away until after the fact. Ironically, an angel possession isn't all that different from a demon possession (visually, anyway) in the sense that the only difference is that the angel smoke is white.

The title of this episode, "I'm No Angel", shares a name with a music single by The Gregg Allman Band, as well as a song by the singer and songwriter Dido.

In this episode, Castiel goes by the name Clarence (the name Meg used to call him). Clarence is the name of a character (who happens to be an angel) from the 1946 movie It's a Wonderful Life.

There is no Emory Park, Iowa, and in fact the map Dean uses is not real.

When the Reaper "throws" Dean Jensen Ackles over the counter it's obvious that it's his stunt double.
posted by orange swan (5 comments total)
 
What are the logistics of a reaper possessing a human? Angels need consent, demons don't... and reapers don't either?

Being human is actually proving to be a good experience for Castiel. He's learning a lot from it. Seems like it would be a good idea for every angel to experience that. I loved his line about finding a purpose and not letting anger, despair, or hedonism derail one. That really is what it's all about.

If Castiel were better versed in the ways of humankind, he would have known that women don't bring home homeless men -- especially those with knife wounds -- and bang them.

I can't help but feel happy for Castiel for finally getting laid, even if it... didn't end well. It must have been a long 2000 years for him. He should use condoms next time, though. As we've already seen, angels and humans who have sex can conceive and have nephilim, which are considered monstrosities.

How has Dean never seen It's a Wonderful Life? It's pretty much inescapable for anyone who watches TV, and Dean has seen plenty of TV.
posted by orange swan at 6:26 AM on November 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


I was going to go off on a screed about not wearing gloves when treating a stragner’s bloody open wound, but given that the woman in question turned out to be a reaper, I guess I won’t bother. My rant was also going to include a bit about women bringing homeless dudes home, but again, it's kind of pointless given how the plot played out, except that you're right, in that if Cas had a better understanding of what was happening and what normally happens in those situations, he might not have fallen into her trap.

I do, however, find it amazing that a simple laundering not only gets all the blood out of a shirt (without leaving any stains behind) but also magically repairs the hole which was created when the person wearing the shirt was stabbed.

Zeke is turning out to be very helpful and reliable, even if his actions do mean Cas is getting cast out again. Poor Castiel. I will say, that no grown adult man should be able to make such effective sad puppy eyes. That’s some weaponizable skill.

I also echo your incredulity that Dean wouldn't get the Clarence reference. Or even if he didn't get it, that he wouldn't have been curious about it after Meg has used it so much.
posted by sardonyx at 10:47 AM on November 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


Okay so back up because I’m still thinking about the time Castiel was amnesiac and naked covered in goo and was nevertheless husbanded INSTANTLY by the mysterious Daphne. Okay, they never had sex, fair enough, but now this April woman finds him foraging in a dumpster and has his pants off like thirty minutes later. I get Castiel is new to all this but like. at a certain point you would at least wonder what kind of energy you’re putting out there? (I did laugh at how when Castiel had to tell his nominally random hookup he was looking for the two foot long sword in his coat, he opened with “it’s hard to describe.”)

I don’t get the thing of reaper also needing to take human vessels, unless somebody felt they needed a reason for why the reapers just look like normal people now? Emphatically no one needed a reason, they’re reapers, they can look like whatever, it’s fine.

“You lied.” “I did. I do that.”
I can’t not be happy for Dean, and how happy he was having Sam and Castiel right there and content and not dying for two minutes finally, and bringing them all back to their safe beautiful house. That said while there are some specific chains that Dean can yank with 99.9% accuracy and success, that doesn’t mean he’s always good at spotting when someone is better at chain-yanking than he is.
posted by jameaterblues at 6:52 PM on November 4, 2021 [2 favorites]


So, as a mortal, Cas was able to get at least a couple of hours of tattoo work done for smelly bum pocket change, and heals essentially immediately after he got tattooed with zero after care, or even primary care.

Even looking like Misha Collins, getting offered a sandwich and sex while looking and smelling indigent immediately raises "how much do I enjoy having two kidneys, most of a liver, and corneas" questions. But, yeah, yeah.

Nowadays, in that neighbourhood, offering someone with that indigent look a sandwich gets you a 1/4 chance of getting assaulted (because untreated mental health compounded by sociological issues). Specifically, offering food. Access to food is not an issue with the demographic, and doing so is tantamount to a nasty insult, or at best proclaiming that you're clueless (and a large part of the problem).

I do agree with Cas that good water pressure is something to appreciate.

Padalecki's Penikett impression is much less good this ep.
posted by porpoise at 7:42 PM on November 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


Castiel was amnesiac and naked covered in goo and was nevertheless husbanded INSTANTLY by the mysterious Daphne

Oooh, I'd forgotten about Castiel's marriage (and perhaps the writers did too). It doesn't seem likely that he and Daphne wouldn't have consummated their marriage, but I suppose given the weirdness/dysfunctionality of their "relationship", it's possible...? This episode definitely makes it clear that Castiel's night with April is the first (and second) time he's had sex.
posted by orange swan at 6:25 AM on November 5, 2021


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