4x11 Death Takes a Holiday
Sam wakes in the back seat of the Impala to find Dean researching a case. Sam complains that they haven’t stopped hunting for the last month, but Dean insists they investigate a case in the small town of Greybull where people have stopped dying. When they arrive in Greybull they head to a nursing home, the subject of the newspaper article that sparked Dean’s attention. There they encounter Rachel who is also investigating why people in Greybull refuse to die when their time is up. They decide to summon the spirit of the last person who died - Cole Griffith - to see if he can shed any light on the situation.
As they commence the summoning ritual on Cole’s grave Ruby appears instead. She taunts them for not knowing what is going on and narrowly avoids being shot by Rachel, who lays into the Winchesters for consorting with demons. Dean and Sam explain to her that Ruby has helped them in the past, and Ruby exemplifies her helpfulness by explaining what is really going on in Greybull. She says that Lilith has unleashed Mammon, Greed by any other name, to sow a little chaos and distract the other side from Lilith’s continuing mission to open the 66 Seals. All Ruby knows is that Mammon is interfering with Death in some way, but she can’t get close enough to him to know what he’s actually doing. She says that she needs the Winchesters’ help.
Dean suggests that Cole might know more and that they could contact him by projecting on the astral plane. Ruby says that she could help them do that but Rachel refuses to go under with only Ruby there to watch their backs on the corporeal plane so Sam volunteers to stay behind with Ruby. Dean isn’t happy about any of it but he’s more interested in getting on with the job then assuaging anyone’s hurt feelings. Rachel finally consents to go under to watch Dean’s back and Ruby does some magic.
Sam, while watching Rachel and Dean drift away, has a flashback to a time over the summer when he and Ruby were exorcising a demon. The floor was littered with bodies that hadn’t survived their sojourn of possession and Sam was desperate to at least save the man tied to the chair in front of them. While he was concentrating he didn’t hear the door behind him open nor did he see a figure slip into the room. The banishment goes well and Sam is excited when the person is still alive. Suddenly he turns when a shotgun clicks to behind him, only to discover it’s Rachel who just saw the whole thing.
After sending Dean and Rachel to the astral plane Ruby suggests that she and Sam do a little investigating of their own. They ward the room tightly and leave Dean and Rachel behind. On the astral plane Dean and Rachel find Cole who tells them that after he died a reaper appeared but he refuses to tell them where this happened or how. The lights flicker and Tessa arrives. With a kiss she awakens Dean’s memories of her. Rachel persuades Cole to reveal where he saw the black smoke, at a funeral home, by bonding with him over death and family. Tessa agrees to not take Cole until they find out what’s happening. Just then the room is flooded with black demon smoke and when it dissipates Tessa is gone. Cole gives Dean and Rachel some quick lessons on how to teleport and move objects, spirit-style.
Back on the physical plane, Sam and Ruby have captured a demon and are working it over. It taunts Sam over how weak his powers have gotten with disuse and calls Ruby a traitor who will get what’s coming to her. They eventually persuade it to give up a hint about Mammon’s location but Sam isn’t able to hold himself back from banishing the demon for long enough to discover the plan. The demon burns away and the body slumps over, dead. Ruby takes this chance to give Sam her own critique over how rusty he’s getting. Sam starts to explain his moral dilemma but Ruby dismisses his concerns.
As he and Ruby leave, Sam has another flashback to his summer activities. In it he first protected Ruby from Rachel’s automatic exorcism by using his powers to cut off Rachel’s words. Then he used his powers to take Rachel’s memory of the encounter, even as she’s pleading with Sam not to. Sam only knew that he couldn’t let anyone know what he was doing or how he was doing it. Afterwards, Sam is obviously shaken by and disgusted with what he’s done.
On the astral plane, Dean and Rachel find the funeral home, which is covered in strange sigils. They enter to find Tessa and another reaper laid out in the middle of another sigil drawn on the floor. As they attempt to rescue the reapers they’re ambushed by demons and trapped in a circle of iron. Mammon appears and explains his plan to kill Death and, by doing, break a seal. Mammon kills one reaper but Dean and Rachel use the spirit tricks they’ve learned to free Tessa who teleports them all out of there.
The demons scatter in pursuit. Mammon paces the funeral home furiously when Sam and Ruby arrive. Sam is obviously more powerful than he was, though banishing Mammon is still a struggle. Mammon finally departs, but only after pointing out to Sam how close he is to becoming a demon himself. Ruby is delighted by what they’ve accomplished and assumes that this means that Sam is back in business. Sam says that he made his choice and that this was the last time he’s use his powers that way. Ruby doesn’t believe him and reminds him of all the good he can do, and of how he could be powerful enough to protect Dean. Sam is still conflicted and she tells him to call her when he finds his balls.
Before returning to the physical plane, Dean and Rachel help Tessa convince Cole to cross over. After Rachel returns to her body, Tessa tells Dean to stop lying to himself, that he knows that saving people on earth won’t make up for what he did in Hell. He tells her that he knows but the memories won’t let him stop, especially the memories of how much he enjoyed what he did.
Back in his body, Dean discovers Rachel, Sam, and Ruby standing off in the motel room. Rachel is upset because Sam and Ruby left them lying there defenseless. Sam explains that he and Ruby had to go take care of Mammon and clean up after Dean and Rachel. Rachel grudgingly accepts Sam’s explanation but she is obviously no more comfortable with Ruby than she was at the beginning. The episode ends with Sam remembering back to the summer when he laid an unconscious Rachel on a dingy motel bed. It’s clear that she still doesn’t remember what she saw Sam do.
Quotes
Rachel: Am I making you uncomfortable?
Dean: Get out of me.
Rachel: You’re such a prude.
SuperPretendWiki Entry
After School Special
____