Supernatural: Gimme Shelter
October 16, 2020 4:29 PM - Season 15, Episode 15 - Subscribe
Castiel and Jack work a case involving members of a local church. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean go off in search of Amara.
I didn't get what was happening with Zack the demon driving away the pastor's daughter at the end. Was that setting up some mystery to be resolved later, or was there some self-contained plot thing within this episode that I missed? I also didn't quite get what was going when Jack unplugged the TV showing the captive girl. What was he trying to achieve there? And it seemed like the TV was still showing the video even after he unplugged it. That seemed to suggest something supernatural was afoot, but then it just turned out that the killer was a normal human.
I had the pastor pegged as the baddie, with his daughter (whose name escapes me) as a possible second choice. They did a good job throwing us off her trail, with her grief over the guy who died and her being nice to Jack. It didn't bug me that her crimes were kind of wonky and the "sins" were maybe a little off, because she was clearly a crazed serial killer type. I was sure glad that Cas was able to heal that one poor girl's fingers! That finger-guillotine stuff was one of the more upsetting acts of violence on a show that's hardly lacked for upsetting acts of violence.
It seems like they really can't kill Amara. She's... not exactly an innocent, but she's not party to Chuck's crimes and killing her now would be just wrong. I'm guessing that Amara and Chuck end up locked up together, or (and this would be really wacky but interesting) that they get re-merged into some entity with a meld of their personalities, Skeksis/UrRu-style. It seemed like they might be setting that up, with Amara talking about how their division was essentially what set off the Big Bang. Then you might get a mix of Chuck's creativity with Amara's reserve and relative maturity, hopefully eliminating the worst of both of them.
It's weird to think that we are rapidly running out of episodes. They still have a lot to deal with. What about the Shadow, and its' promise that if Cas ever knew a moment of happiness he'd be whisked off to the Big Empty? (I have a hunch that they save Jack, Cas is happy and then it's off to the Empty for him, which would make sense but would suck for such a beloved character.) What about Lucifer? They've suggested he might not be as dead as he seems, but if they're gonna bring him back it better be soon. What about Alt-Bobby and Alt-Charlie? I feel like they kind of dealt with Hell and Rowena in this episode with a throwaway line about how she's making Hell nicer, but I have a hunch we'll see her (and maybe Crowley) again before the end.
It was funny how they tossed in a line where Cas was like, "Wait, Mrs. Butters who?" His periodic absences from the show must lead to a lot of conversations like that.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:51 PM on October 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I had the pastor pegged as the baddie, with his daughter (whose name escapes me) as a possible second choice. They did a good job throwing us off her trail, with her grief over the guy who died and her being nice to Jack. It didn't bug me that her crimes were kind of wonky and the "sins" were maybe a little off, because she was clearly a crazed serial killer type. I was sure glad that Cas was able to heal that one poor girl's fingers! That finger-guillotine stuff was one of the more upsetting acts of violence on a show that's hardly lacked for upsetting acts of violence.
It seems like they really can't kill Amara. She's... not exactly an innocent, but she's not party to Chuck's crimes and killing her now would be just wrong. I'm guessing that Amara and Chuck end up locked up together, or (and this would be really wacky but interesting) that they get re-merged into some entity with a meld of their personalities, Skeksis/UrRu-style. It seemed like they might be setting that up, with Amara talking about how their division was essentially what set off the Big Bang. Then you might get a mix of Chuck's creativity with Amara's reserve and relative maturity, hopefully eliminating the worst of both of them.
It's weird to think that we are rapidly running out of episodes. They still have a lot to deal with. What about the Shadow, and its' promise that if Cas ever knew a moment of happiness he'd be whisked off to the Big Empty? (I have a hunch that they save Jack, Cas is happy and then it's off to the Empty for him, which would make sense but would suck for such a beloved character.) What about Lucifer? They've suggested he might not be as dead as he seems, but if they're gonna bring him back it better be soon. What about Alt-Bobby and Alt-Charlie? I feel like they kind of dealt with Hell and Rowena in this episode with a throwaway line about how she's making Hell nicer, but I have a hunch we'll see her (and maybe Crowley) again before the end.
It was funny how they tossed in a line where Cas was like, "Wait, Mrs. Butters who?" His periodic absences from the show must lead to a lot of conversations like that.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:51 PM on October 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Rowena's new rule is "people end up where they belong." Zack was taking the daughter "where she belonged." That's how I took it anyway.
Agree on the Amara/Chuck reunification theory, too. Even in 2020, I think literally killing God is too much for network TV. Plus, I like Amara.
posted by Ruki at 8:15 PM on October 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
Agree on the Amara/Chuck reunification theory, too. Even in 2020, I think literally killing God is too much for network TV. Plus, I like Amara.
posted by Ruki at 8:15 PM on October 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
I like Amara too. Or at least, Amara after she ditched Chuck. I want Crowley back as well, if only to see Mark Shepperd get exasperated when she calls him "Fergus".
posted by Ber at 12:38 PM on October 20, 2020
posted by Ber at 12:38 PM on October 20, 2020
Alexander Calvert posted this on his Instagram story and it was just the right amount of adorable I needed after a heavy episode.
Ha! I wonder why he writes the K in his name backwards but it's fine everywhere else.
posted by numaner at 7:06 AM on October 21, 2020
Ha! I wonder why he writes the K in his name backwards but it's fine everywhere else.
posted by numaner at 7:06 AM on October 21, 2020
Castiel and Jack have an interesting dynamic, it was nice to give it some time here. There are some big ways in which they're not human and are never going to be, because they're something else and that matters, and they understand that about each other, but they also sincerely try to be human with each other. (And they would genuinely really love each other anyway, and maybe don't really have another model to express that? I thought Castiel's speech was rather touching when he talked about how becoming a parent created new meaning and purpose in his life. Jack obviously thinks of all three of them as his parents, they think of him as their kid, but they don't always connect those dots and talk about themselves as being parents. Which, considering the complicated relationships they all had with their own parents and various surrogate kids along the way, kind of makes sense but is still something I wish they'd found time to dig into more.)
Even chances that Castiel was gone for months without explanation and never met Mrs. Butters, and no one has since bothered to explain, or that he was in and out the entire time and they instinctively weirded each other out so profoundly they were never introduced.
When Jack was telling the daughter about how he'd lost his mom, I assume he probably meant his actual birth mother but to me it came across as being about Mary.
It actually makes sense to me that Dean left a little fuel in the tank of Furious About Mary that he was saving up for Amara. He decided it couldn't all go on Jack, Chuck, or himself, and putting it on Amara maybe isn't fair either but it felt pretty real to me that he HAD to say to her, why did you give us this gift if it was going to end this way. (But otherwise, the Sam and Dean stuff this episode felt pretty airless in comparison and Sam's right, Amara should definitely be able to tell when Dean is lying.)
I have no idea what was going on at the end there with Zack, the bored crossroads demon with the terrible fake accent (which was funnier than it really should've been.) It was so quick I actually didn't notice it till I came here to read the comments. Maybe it's going somewhere, but with so few episodes left I feel like maybe it was just a throwaway weird dark twist that Zack's about to have a new project.
Jack insisting that they cannot tell Sam and Dean that he'll die when he kills Chuck and Amara because "they won't understand" is hilarious and exactly what you get when you from learning 98% of what you know about being a person from Sam and Dean (and Castiel, who learned from Sam and Dean.) (also Castiel aren't you also supposed to be suddenly killed by the Empty in your moment of happiness which you definitely have not warned them about either.)
posted by jameaterblues at 9:17 PM on October 21, 2020
Even chances that Castiel was gone for months without explanation and never met Mrs. Butters, and no one has since bothered to explain, or that he was in and out the entire time and they instinctively weirded each other out so profoundly they were never introduced.
When Jack was telling the daughter about how he'd lost his mom, I assume he probably meant his actual birth mother but to me it came across as being about Mary.
It actually makes sense to me that Dean left a little fuel in the tank of Furious About Mary that he was saving up for Amara. He decided it couldn't all go on Jack, Chuck, or himself, and putting it on Amara maybe isn't fair either but it felt pretty real to me that he HAD to say to her, why did you give us this gift if it was going to end this way. (But otherwise, the Sam and Dean stuff this episode felt pretty airless in comparison and Sam's right, Amara should definitely be able to tell when Dean is lying.)
I have no idea what was going on at the end there with Zack, the bored crossroads demon with the terrible fake accent (which was funnier than it really should've been.) It was so quick I actually didn't notice it till I came here to read the comments. Maybe it's going somewhere, but with so few episodes left I feel like maybe it was just a throwaway weird dark twist that Zack's about to have a new project.
Jack insisting that they cannot tell Sam and Dean that he'll die when he kills Chuck and Amara because "they won't understand" is hilarious and exactly what you get when you from learning 98% of what you know about being a person from Sam and Dean (and Castiel, who learned from Sam and Dean.) (also Castiel aren't you also supposed to be suddenly killed by the Empty in your moment of happiness which you definitely have not warned them about either.)
posted by jameaterblues at 9:17 PM on October 21, 2020
Quotes
Pastor Joe: You're an angel?
Castiel: Well, not a very good one.
Pastor Joe: A saint is a sinner who keeps trying.
Dean: So... Atlantic City? All-you-can-eat. And possibly one all-powerful cosmic being. Come on, man, sounds like a road trip to me.
Zack: Sorry lads. Shop's closed. No more deals. [flicks to red eyes]
Castiel: We don't want to make a deal.
Zack: Do tell. So how can Zack be of service?
Jack: [whispering] Why is he talking like that?
Castiel: [whispering back] I don't know.
Zack: Because... Zack has style. [clicks tongue]
Jack: Who killed that boy in the alley downtown?
Castiel: Was it a demon? Was it you?
Zack: No! And... wait... are angels solving people crimes now? What like Highway to Heaven but with murder or something? Because I would watch that show.
Jack: Right...
Pastor Joe: Do you have kids?
Castiel: It's complicated.
Pastor Joe: It always is.
Sam: [at a gas station while putting gas in the car] Not going in for a snack?
Dean: Saving room. I got four hours till all-you-can-eat. I have a process.
Sam: [consults the traffic report on his phone] Oh, can your process last for six hours? Lane closures I76.
Dean: Damn it!
Sam: Pork rinds?
Dean: Pork rinds.
Amara: [appearing before Dean and Sam at the gas station] You headed somewhere fun?
Dean: Well, we were headed to you, actually.
Sam: How'd you find us?
Amara: I smelled you from two states over. [to Dean] You have a very distinctive musk.
Dean: Thank you.
Trivia
Castiel and Jack introduce themselves with fake surnames (Swift and Lovato), a reference to two famous singers (Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato).
It's shown that Castiel has gotten over holding his FBI badge upside down while Jack has taken to doing so.
This episode is directed by Matt Cohen, who played young John Winchester in several episodes of the TV series.
The title of this episode is a reference to a Rolling Stones song.
Dean mentions Chuck saying that Amara loves Reno, a reference to when the Winchesters asked Chuck about Amara in "Moriah" (ep. 14.20).
When Jack creates his own social media account, his full name is once again given as Jack Kline.
The street shown in the opening scene is Granville Street between Helmcken St. and Nelson St. facing Northeast.
According to the Crossroad Demon Zack, Rowena has ordered no more deals in her reign. However, Zack appears to be breaking this rule at the end of the episode, driving away with the killer Sylvia while dressed up as a deputy, either suggesting that he intends to break Rowena's rule on not making deals or he really wanted to help solve a human crime and drive a car as he suggested to Castiel.
This is on of the series' rare cases of an episode with a purely human bad guy, though supernatural beings still appear.
The picture Castiel uses to summon the crossroad demon is an image of himself from "Tombstone" (ep. 13.6).
Zack is the first Crossroad Demon to appear since Barthamus in "The Scorpion and The Frog" (ep. 13.8).
Amara reveals that she resurrected Mary Winchester in order to get Dean to see that Mary was just a person and that Dean's belief that he would have had a better life had she lived wasn't true. Amara had hoped that seeing that the real complicated Mary would help Dean to finally accept his life and to let go of his anger.
It's revealed that Death's story about the Darkness existing before God had been a lie. Chuck and Amara are in actuality twins and their separation is what caused existence to be created. Sam compares it with the Big Bang.
Castiel is shown to be able to heal severed fingers, something that he had previously done off-screen for Kevin Tran in "A Little Slice of Kevin" (ep. 8.7).
Jack reveals that he's going to die taking out Chuck and Amara. Billie's spell has been turning him into some kind of bomb and when he goes off, God and Amara will cease to exist and Jack won't survive it. As a result, Castiel is determined to find another way.
Whether accidental or on purpose, this episode has quite a few similarities with CBS's Criminal Minds. Cas referring to Jack as a very smart, very pale agent could be a reference to the character Dr. Spencer Reid, who has an IQ of 187. The BAU has also investigated a case where their sins were carved into victims' bodies, and hunted a criminal who fed his victims their fingers. This episode's plot also contains similarities to Se7en.
posted by orange swan at 11:16 AM on June 17, 2022
Pastor Joe: You're an angel?
Castiel: Well, not a very good one.
Pastor Joe: A saint is a sinner who keeps trying.
Dean: So... Atlantic City? All-you-can-eat. And possibly one all-powerful cosmic being. Come on, man, sounds like a road trip to me.
Zack: Sorry lads. Shop's closed. No more deals. [flicks to red eyes]
Castiel: We don't want to make a deal.
Zack: Do tell. So how can Zack be of service?
Jack: [whispering] Why is he talking like that?
Castiel: [whispering back] I don't know.
Zack: Because... Zack has style. [clicks tongue]
Jack: Who killed that boy in the alley downtown?
Castiel: Was it a demon? Was it you?
Zack: No! And... wait... are angels solving people crimes now? What like Highway to Heaven but with murder or something? Because I would watch that show.
Jack: Right...
Pastor Joe: Do you have kids?
Castiel: It's complicated.
Pastor Joe: It always is.
Sam: [at a gas station while putting gas in the car] Not going in for a snack?
Dean: Saving room. I got four hours till all-you-can-eat. I have a process.
Sam: [consults the traffic report on his phone] Oh, can your process last for six hours? Lane closures I76.
Dean: Damn it!
Sam: Pork rinds?
Dean: Pork rinds.
Amara: [appearing before Dean and Sam at the gas station] You headed somewhere fun?
Dean: Well, we were headed to you, actually.
Sam: How'd you find us?
Amara: I smelled you from two states over. [to Dean] You have a very distinctive musk.
Dean: Thank you.
Trivia
Castiel and Jack introduce themselves with fake surnames (Swift and Lovato), a reference to two famous singers (Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato).
It's shown that Castiel has gotten over holding his FBI badge upside down while Jack has taken to doing so.
This episode is directed by Matt Cohen, who played young John Winchester in several episodes of the TV series.
The title of this episode is a reference to a Rolling Stones song.
Dean mentions Chuck saying that Amara loves Reno, a reference to when the Winchesters asked Chuck about Amara in "Moriah" (ep. 14.20).
When Jack creates his own social media account, his full name is once again given as Jack Kline.
The street shown in the opening scene is Granville Street between Helmcken St. and Nelson St. facing Northeast.
According to the Crossroad Demon Zack, Rowena has ordered no more deals in her reign. However, Zack appears to be breaking this rule at the end of the episode, driving away with the killer Sylvia while dressed up as a deputy, either suggesting that he intends to break Rowena's rule on not making deals or he really wanted to help solve a human crime and drive a car as he suggested to Castiel.
This is on of the series' rare cases of an episode with a purely human bad guy, though supernatural beings still appear.
The picture Castiel uses to summon the crossroad demon is an image of himself from "Tombstone" (ep. 13.6).
Zack is the first Crossroad Demon to appear since Barthamus in "The Scorpion and The Frog" (ep. 13.8).
Amara reveals that she resurrected Mary Winchester in order to get Dean to see that Mary was just a person and that Dean's belief that he would have had a better life had she lived wasn't true. Amara had hoped that seeing that the real complicated Mary would help Dean to finally accept his life and to let go of his anger.
It's revealed that Death's story about the Darkness existing before God had been a lie. Chuck and Amara are in actuality twins and their separation is what caused existence to be created. Sam compares it with the Big Bang.
Castiel is shown to be able to heal severed fingers, something that he had previously done off-screen for Kevin Tran in "A Little Slice of Kevin" (ep. 8.7).
Jack reveals that he's going to die taking out Chuck and Amara. Billie's spell has been turning him into some kind of bomb and when he goes off, God and Amara will cease to exist and Jack won't survive it. As a result, Castiel is determined to find another way.
Whether accidental or on purpose, this episode has quite a few similarities with CBS's Criminal Minds. Cas referring to Jack as a very smart, very pale agent could be a reference to the character Dr. Spencer Reid, who has an IQ of 187. The BAU has also investigated a case where their sins were carved into victims' bodies, and hunted a criminal who fed his victims their fingers. This episode's plot also contains similarities to Se7en.
posted by orange swan at 11:16 AM on June 17, 2022
As someone with a bag of frozen potato bacon pierogis in her freezer, I can only nod in approval of Amara's suggestion that she and Winchesters' have them for lunch.
Sylvia the pastor's daughter was one twisted chick. And also good with computers and mechanical devices.
Rowena does seem like she's rocking the job of being Queen of Hell, but you'd think she'd have reassignments for her crossroads demons. Boredom and resentment among the rank and file can lead to coups.
I must admit I got something out of Amara's explanation to Dean: that the now and the real is better than the past and the might-have-been. But I don't blame Dean for being furious that she would take it upon herself to teach him that object lesson by bringing back his mother after she'd been dead for over 30 years, which messed with Mary and her sons' heads even if they were happy to be able to spend time together, especially when ultimately he and Sam would only lose their mother a second time. That's fucked up.
posted by orange swan at 11:23 AM on June 17, 2022
Sylvia the pastor's daughter was one twisted chick. And also good with computers and mechanical devices.
Rowena does seem like she's rocking the job of being Queen of Hell, but you'd think she'd have reassignments for her crossroads demons. Boredom and resentment among the rank and file can lead to coups.
I must admit I got something out of Amara's explanation to Dean: that the now and the real is better than the past and the might-have-been. But I don't blame Dean for being furious that she would take it upon herself to teach him that object lesson by bringing back his mother after she'd been dead for over 30 years, which messed with Mary and her sons' heads even if they were happy to be able to spend time together, especially when ultimately he and Sam would only lose their mother a second time. That's fucked up.
posted by orange swan at 11:23 AM on June 17, 2022
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Aside from greed, the sins didn't make much sense to me. But I thought this was a good episode that started to really tie things together.
posted by Ruki at 11:05 AM on October 17, 2020