“Carry On My Wayward Son” by Kansas starts us off for the third season finale of Supernatural and I can’t help but think back to the first season finale when we were heard the song for the first time, when the Winchesters were all reunited in an effort to kill the Yellow-Eyed Demon with the Colt. In retrospect, that plan almost seems quaint in its simplicity. They’ve come a long way since then, haven’t they?

Dean (Jensen Ackles) is having dreams of hellhounds chasing him through the woods, but luckily it’s not the real thing yet. 30 hours left until the clock winds down and Sam and Dean are at Bobby’s house trying to find a last minute solution. While Sam (Jared Padalecki) is reassuring his brother that they’ll find a way (anyone else notice he was using his ‘calm, don’t scare the civilian’ tone with Dean?), Dean is trying to keep from freaking out at his hellhound-induced hallucinations of Sam, ala the ones we saw in Season Two’s Crossroad Blues. 

Sam wants to summon Ruby (Katie Cassidy) and use her demon-killing knife. Dean doesn’t want to and well, it seems like there aren’t many options left, especially with the Colt long gone… but he’s adamant that they won’t be accepting help from demons.

Of course, Sam isn’t about to leave any rock unturned in his quest to help Dean, and he summons Ruby in secret. Ruby appears and we find out that she’s been lying to at least one Winchester—she does know of a way to save Dean. But it’s not an option that Sam likes. It turns out the psychic powers he thought had disappeared were only lying dormant and they’re the key to saving Dean (and also the reason why Lilith has been so eager to kill him).

I thought this was an excellent scene between Ruby and Sam, both of them being smart and calculating in their treatment of each other, with Ruby reminding Sam that she hasn’t lied to him yet, and Sam grudgingly acknowledging that he wouldn’t have considered using his powers until he was desperate.

While I found Katie Cassidy’s performance a little stilted in earlier episodes this season, I really think she’s grown into the role of Ruby and despite what happens at the end of this episode, I’m hoping that the writers will find a way to bring her back next season.

But back to the episode, Dean isn’t wanting any part of this plan, and he isn’t shy about showing his distrust of Ruby openly, stealing her knife and trapping her beneath a Devil’s Trap. Note to any future demon antagonists of the Winchesters- you might want to look up before engaging in a fight with them.

The truth is, Dean’s not exactly wrong to distrust Ruby (although some of his sexist remarks towards her made me squirm nonetheless). It’s clear she’s not just doing this out of the goodness of her heart, and they’d be fools to just following her instructions without questioning.

Dean’s conversation with Sam after the fight with Ruby is particularly illuminating and heartbreaking in this regard. The lesson that the Trickster tried so hard to impress upon Sam in Mystery Spot finally hits home, as Dean says that they’ve got to stop sacrificing and being martyrs for each other – it’s their Achilles Heel and the demons know it. They’ve got to be smart and stop feeding into the vicious circle- John sacrificing for Dean, Dean trading himself for Sam and Dean feeling that Sam about to do same thing if he gives in to Ruby and learns to use his powers. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that…

This theme has been in the background all season and it’s nice to see it come out here, with Jensen and Jared bringing depth and subtlety to this scene, especially with the gentle ribbing Sam gives Dean at the end of his speech, which viewers familiar to the show know is classic Winchester language for ‘I love you’.

Bobby’s found a spell that reveals the town where the final battle for Dean’s soul will take place.

So I’m going to jump to the good part. Dean, Sam and Bobby begin their journey towards New Harmony, with their soundtrack being Bon Jovi, shockingly enough.

Jim Beaver is awesome here as Bobby, bringing gruff humor, “What, do I look like a ditcheable prom date?” and common sense that grounds Sam and Dean as they try and figure out the plan that will be their one and only chance to get Lilith.

Since Dean has only about five hours left, he’s begun to ‘see the b-side’ – ie. he can see demons in their true forms, which comes in handy when they’re scooting out the neighborhood Lilith has holed up in. Ruby joins in their party, apparently able to escape devil’s traps, and holy-water sprinklers are employed as they carry out their plan.

And the body count is racked here, as the Winchesters burn through demons wearing human suits, although thankfully we’re spared having to watch them, as Dean puts it - ‘give a Colombian necktie to a 10 year old girl’. This season has definitely shown the darker side of the Winchesters, who have progressed from grave doubts and remorse for the unfortunate casualties in the war with demons to coolly dispatching them without second thoughts.  

Since Lilith disappeared when she left the little girl, it looks like it’ll take a last minute miracle to save Dean as the clock begins to strike midnight and the hellhounds appear, this time for real. The graveyard dust won’t hold back the hounds for long, and as they barricade themselves in, the final nail in Dean’s coffin in nailed in. It turns out Lilith sent Ruby back to hell and took control of her body, which traps the boys in the same room with her. There’s only time for a quick, heart-wrenching good-bye between Dean and Sam before the end comes.

Lilith sics the hellhounds on Dean while Sam is forced to watch them tear his brother apart, pinned to the wall. Lilith plans on dispatching Sam as well, but as her eyes turn white and she unleashes the same destructive power as in Jus In Bello… something happens and she’s unable to harm Sam. Obviously, this had to do something with Sam’s powers but it’s maddening and kind of frustrating that the show leaves us there instead of showing us what Sam did to overcome her. Lilith quickly leaves when Sam threatens her with Ruby’s knife.

And the last minute… Sam cradles Dean’s bloodied body, sobbing, and we switch to Dean, in hell, strung up with meathooks through his flesh and screaming for Sam.

Dean’s anguished ‘Saaam!’ plays over the credits, and that’s what we’re left for the summer hiatus.  

Wow. I don’t know about other viewers, but for me that was an emotional roller-coaster of an episode (in the fine tradition of the other Supernatural finales) and especially hard on rewatch. Eric Kripke and the other writers have been leading up to it all season, but until that last minute, I wasn’t totally convinced that they’d send Dean to hell. But they did. I think… I think I’m still a bit shell-shocked.

What about you guys? Anyone else gnashing their teeth and cursing Eric Kripke? Rocking back and forth, whimpering? Fervently writing a fic where Sam finds a way to get Dean out of hell?

It’s going to be a long summer, methinks.

See you in the fall!

Supernatural 3x16, "No Rest for the Wicked"
Writer: Eric Kripke
Director: Kim Manners  
Guest stars: Jim Beaver, Ruby Cassidy, Sierra McCormick