(As I mentioned in my post announcing this rewatch project,Β there will be spoilers!)
Season 2, Episode 21:Β All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One
Image and episode summary from Wikipedia:
Sam is abducted by Azazel and taken to an abandoned town. Also placed there are Azazel's other psychic childrenβAndy Gallagher and Ava Wilson, as well as newcomers Lily (Jessica Harmon) and Jake Talley (Aldis Hodge). As Dean and Bobby head to the Roadhouse for help and find it burned to the ground with the body of Ash buried in the wreckage, Andy uses his mind-control abilities to send Dean his location telepathically. That night, Sam is visited in a dream by Azazel, who explains that he has brought them together so that they can fight to the death, with the sole survivor becoming the leader of his army of demons. He reveals why he killed Sam's girlfriend, Jessica: she was in the way and shows Sam the source of the psychic children's abilitiesβhis own demon blood. When he shows Sam the vision of the night of his mother's death, who Azazel explains he killed as she got in the way, Sam discovers to his shock that Mary recognized Azazel. Meanwhile, Ava uses a new demon-controlling ability and forces an AcheriΒ demon to kill Lily and Andy. She then reveals to Sam that she has been in the town since she went missing, killing off other psychic children that Azazel has sent there. She sets the Acheri demon on him, but Jake sneaks up behind her and uses his superhuman strength to break her neck, causing the demon to flee. Jake attacks Sam as Azazel told him only one of them is getting out alive, but Sam gains the upper hand and apparently knocks him unconscious. However, as Sam is distracted by an arriving Dean and Bobby, Jake regains consciousness and fatally stabs him. Sam dies in Dean's arms.
Here we go β almost done season two. A lot of things are going to happenΒ over the next couple of episodes and Iβm excited to watch them again!
We open on a little roadside cafΓ©, the Sunnyside Diner. Sam goes in to get food for the boys, with Dean of course asking for pie (Dean loves pie!). But after the radio fritzes and some time has passed β too much time β and Sam hasnβt come back yet, Dean goes in to investigate. Everything is quiet and he canβt see anyone in the diner through the windows. Inside, everyone is dead and Sam is gone. What the frick! Where did he go?? Dean notices sulphur on the back door of the diner β definite indication of a demonic presence.
Dean goes back out to the car but thereβs no sign of his brother. And he didnβt get any pie!
Sam comes to in some ghost town. He doesnβt know where he is or how he got there. He tries to call Dean but he canβt get a signal.
After wandering around, Sam encounters another person β someone we recognize! Itβs Andy from season 2, episode 5, Simon Said. Another βspecialβ kid!
Theyβre surprised to see each other. Andy doesnβt know where they are either. He just woke up here, like Sam. Andy says that he smelled sulphur before waking up here. They hear a girl scream β itβs Ava, from season 2, episode 10. Yet another βspecialβ kid. So clearly all of the yellow-eyed demonβs βspecialβ kids are being gathered together.
Sam tells Ava sheβs been gone for 5 months and he and Dean have been looking for her everywhere. Ava says it makes no sense, because she just saw Sam a couple of days ago. Sam tells her thatβs not true. Andy and Ava are introduced, and they hear a noise β they meet two more people β Jake and Lily. They are also confused about where they were. Jake went to sleep last night in Afghanistan and woke up here.
Sam guesses that theyβre all 23, and have some kind of abilities. He says he has visions and can see things before they happen, and so can Ava. Andy explains his power and says he has been practicing. His ability has grown stronger, although he still doesnβt think it works on the other βspecialβ kids (in the episode where we met Andy, his ability didnβt work on Sam). Lilyβs ability is that she touches people and their hearts stop. That is not a good ability. Sheβs understandably angry and wants to go home.
Sam says theyβre all here and have to deal with it. Andy wants to know who brought them here, and Sam says itβs more of a βwhatβ than a βwhoβ. He tells the others that itβs a demon.
Cut to Dean and Bobby trying to track down Sam. Theyβre looking at a map and Bobby explains that there have been no demonic signs, itβs been quiet. So how are they supposed to look for Sam?
Ash calls Dean from the Roadhouse and says that he canβt find Sam, but he found something. He canβt talk over the phone but tells Dean that itβs huge. It will definitely help him find Sam. He tells him to get to the Roadhouse now.
Back at the ghost town, Jake is incredulous about Samβs explanation (soldiers in a war to bring on the apocalypse). And theyβve been picked, although Sam doesnβt know why. None of them want to believe him, but Sam says if theyβre already here together, itβs already starting. Jake walks away, saying heβs better on his own.
As heβs walking through the town, he sees a child appear in a doorway, then suddenly disappear. He goes to investigate, entering the building. Itβs old and abandoned. He calls out to the child, but no oneβs there. Suddenly the chalkboard is filled with writing, βI will not killβ, and the child appears β but itβs no child. Itβs a demon, and Sam shows up just in time to save Jake, with the others behind him. He tells the gang that was a demon.
Sam says itβs a demon that can disguise itself as a little girl β an acheri. But knowing this still doesnβt tell him where they are.
Now prepared to stick together, they wander around and Sam sees a landmark that he recognizes. He believes theyβre in Cold Oak, South Dakota. Itβs a town so haunted, every single resident fled! Spooky!
Lily gets freaked and wants to leave. Sam tells her the only way to get out is through miles of woods. Sam and Jake try to tell her they need to stick together, but she says that she is not part of them. She accidentally touched her girlfriend, implying that she killed her. She feels like sheβs in a nightmare that keeps getting worse.
Sam tells her the best way out is to stick together, and she reluctantly agrees. Sam tells them to look for iron, silver, salt. As theyβre entering a building to search, Lily hangs back, and goes off on her own.
Meanwhile, Dean and Bobby are driving to the Roadhouse. Only when they get there, there is no Roadhouse. Itβs been burned to the ground! They walk through the wreckage, but donβt see Ash or Ellen. However, Dean finds him. Ash is dead.
Lily is making her way through the woods, trying to get out. She hears some strange noises, but carries on.
Back at the town, Sam is looking through an old trunk and finds an old knife which he can use as a weapon. Ava says sheβs dizzy but sheβs just hungry she says. They hear Andy calling to them. Heβs found a couple big bags of salt. Sam notices Lily is gone. Not good. They hear some noises and go outside. Lilyβs body is hanging from a windmill. Lilyβs dead.
Ava freaks out. Sam told them they were chosen for a reason, but she points to Lilyβs body and says that is not chosen, thatβs dead. Sam says the demon wonβt let them get away. They need to gear up for the next attack.
Sam wishes he had a phone to reach Dean, but Andy says he might be able to contact him, if Sam has something of Deanβs, something he touched. Sam has a receipt and gives it to Andy (the receipt is signed by D. Hasselhoff, lol). Andy holds it and tries to use his powers to reach Dean.
At the Roadhouse, Dean wonders out loud what the hell Ash knew to cause this. They have no way of knowing if Ellen is alive or how to find Sam. Bobby promises theyβll find him. Dean gets a major headache, and gets a vision of the landmark Sam recognized. Dean gets another headache and vision. He tells Bobby what he saw, and Bobby knows where Sam is. Yay for Bobby!
Back in the town, Jake and Sam are preparing. Jake explains that his ability is super strength. He can bench press 800lbs! Jake tells Sam he appreciates what heβs doing, keeping calm and trying to keep everyone else calm. Sam tells Jake that whatβs coming, itβs going to get bad.
Inside, Sam and Ava line the doors and windows with salt. Ava wonders why them, why now. What did they do to deserve this? She wishes she was back home with her fiancΓ©. Sam tells her that Brady is dead and comforts her when she grieves.
Later that night, Andy is asleep, while the other three are trying to stay awake and keep watch. Sam keeps nodding off. He has a dream where the yellow-eyed demon appears in the room but none of the others can see or hear him.
He and the demon walk outside, and Sam asks where Dean is. The demon tells him to worry more about himself. Heβs trying to help Sam, says heβs the one heβs rooting for. The demon explains that this is a competition and only one of the kids will survive. They are soldiers in a coming war, but the demon doesnβt need soldiers. He needs one soldier. A leader. To lead who, Sam asks. The demon says he has his army, or he will soon. The demon says heβs surprised Sam hasnβt guessed. Why does he think so many flamed out already? They werenβt strong enough. The demon is looking for the best and brightest of Samβs generation, saying there were other generations but letβs not worry about them.
The demon says heβs here to give Sam the inside track. Heβs smart, well trained, thanks to his dad; heβs the demonβs favourite. Sam responds that the demon ruined his life and killed everyone he loved. The demon says itβs the cost of doing business: Jessica had to die because Sam was going to get attached. The demon needed him sharp, on the road honing his skills. He says killing Samβs mom was bad luck: wrong place, wrong time. It wasnβt about her, it was about Sam. The demon shows Sam, taking him back to the night his mother died.
The demon is standing over his crib, and Mary walks by as she does in the pilot, thinking itβs John Winchester in the room. She walks away, and the demon bleeds into baby Samβs mouth. Thatβs where the abilities come from. Sam asks if this means he has demon blood in him.
Mary runs back in, recognizing the demon. Sam is surprised to see that she knew him. Then before he watches his mother die, Jake wakes him up, telling him Ava is missing.
The two of them go outside to look for her and split up, agreeing to meet back in 10 minutes. Inside, Andy is awake, and sees Ava in the next room. She says she heard them looking for her, while she brushes some of the salt away from the windowsill. Andy notices that thereβs demon smoke coming in through the window. An acheri appears and attacks Andy, killing him while Ava watches. Oh no!
Then Ava screams, and Sam rushes over, finding Andy dead. Ava claims to have found Andy like that, and Sam wonders how it got in. He asks Ava where she was β she says she went to get water from the well. He tells her she shouldnβt have gone outside. Then he sees the salt and asks who did it. That salt line wasnβt broken when he left. Sam tells her that he thought she was the only one with 5 months of time that canβt be accounted for. The headache she got came on right when the demon got Lily. Sam doesnβt trust her. Ava drops the act and says she had him going though. She says sheβs been there a long time, not alone. People kept showing up, βspecialβ kids like her and Sam. She killed all of them. Sheβs the undefeated heavyweight champ. She tells Sam she had no choice β it was her or them β and after a while, it was easy. She tells Sam to stop fighting who they are. Her abilities have grown. She can control demons. She summons one right then, and tells Sam sheβs sorry. Then Jake shows up and snaps her neck! The demon vanishes. Now itβs just the two of them.
Meanwhile, Bobby and Dean show up in the Impala and have to make their way into the town on foot.
Sam tells Jake they can make it now. They have to go. Jake stops and says not βweβ. Only one of them is getting out. He says heβs sorry. He had a vision, and the yellow eyed demon talked to him. Seems like the demon gave the same speech to all of the kids. Jake says the demon told him that if they donβt play along, the demon will kill both of them. Jake likes Sam and feels bad, but what good does it do if they both die?
Jake says he can get out and kill the demon; Sam says they can kill him together. But Jake isnβt having it. He doesnβt know that Sam wonβt turn on him. Sam pulls out his knife and puts it down, asking Jake to come with him. Donβt play into what the demon wants. Jake puts his weapon down too. Then he punches Sam, sending him flying. Super strength!
Sam tries to fight back, but Jake is way too strong. Eventually Sam knocks Jake out but refuses to kill him. He hears Dean calling for him and walks toward his voice. He sees Dean and Bobby.
Suddenly Jake comes up behind Sam and stabs him in the back while Dean calls for him to look out. Nooooooo!! This is so heartbreaking to watch again! Bobby runs after Jake while Sam dies in Deanβs arms. ALL THE FEELS. Dean was supposed to take care of him and look out for him.
Overall Thoughts:
What a heartbreaker of an episode! The revelation that Ava had embraced her demon-given powers and was killing people, including Andy, made me sad already, but watching Sam die in Deanβs arms is just so sad. Jensen Ackles is so great in that scene.
Lore:
Demons
