5 Best moments from Supernatural Season 14, Episode 9

The Supernatural midseason finale was expected to leave us hanging but what we got was nothing short of painful. Some theories panned out and new ones have begun to evolve. Kansas City is never going to know what hit it.

Well, well, well, I am in pain. Yes, I know we were anticipating some drama and answers but Supernatural really hit us hard with Season 14, Episode 9. This being the fall finale, the pain is so much more intense as we now get to just… wait.

So if you haven’t seen “The Spear” yet, there’s a lovely review we offer and that will help. You can always go stream it from The CW app, too. Either way, this is one you certainly don’t want to miss. Once you’re all caught up, check out my list of the top five best moments from this episode of Supernatural.

#5. Sneaky snack

Wasn’t that just the cutest thing? So Jack is sitting in the kitchen at the bunker and eating some delicious sugary cookie cereal when Castiel appears and looks at him. “Don’t tell Sam,” he says. Castiel sat with him a while and they talked about how it isn’t unusual if Jack is having a hard time sleeping, given what he’s been through lately.

Jack asks if he means that time just now when he died and came back to life and all that in between. Castiel breaks the taboo and says what’s on everyone’s mind, “Yeah, we’ve all been through it.”

Yes, so normal, so expected. But you never can tell, can you? Sometimes dead is really dead. But count the times that’s happened on Supernatural, right?

So back to Castiel and Jack, they get into a talk about the deal that was made with The Empty. Jack confessed that he wasn’t having trouble sleeping because of what he’d been through, it was because he was worrying about his mother and whether she was safe in Heaven.

Castiel reassured him that Naomi may be a little unorthodox, but she will go to every length to make sure the souls in her charge are kept safe, as safe as angelically possible. Cass tried to get Jack to relax about it and not worry anymore.

So on that topic, Jack wanted to know why Sam and Dean couldn’t know about the deal Castiel made with The Empty to save Jack. Cass told him they could but he didn’t want them to worry. And then he wanted Jack not to worry, also.

The Empty made it clear that the time for Castiel to fulfill his deal of being dragged off into nowhere was going to come as soon as he finally gave himself permission to be happy again. Well, that was pretty clear to me. Castiel was going to have to be down for quite a while on Supernatural. This probably won’t be too difficult to work into the storyline though. Castiel is notoriously not smiling.

Castiel walked easily into this deal because he felt he could control the outcome to some degree, I believe. Of course, I know he would’ve done whatever was required, don’t get me wrong. But having this information was like a loophole for him in a way. All he had to do was make sure he wasn’t happy.

So this is exactly what Castiel uses to try and reassure Jack. He explains that all he has to do is be a Gloomy Gus and The Empty Shadow would keep its distance. I guess time will tell how well that goes.

“This life may be a lot of things, but it’s rarely happy,” Castiel told Jack. This was probably confusing for the little nephilim. I’m sure he is trying to live a fun life and learn about happiness. After all, Castiel has spent almost all of his dad time trying to lift his confidence and give lovely speeches about how he has family and good times and that’s what matters, etc.

Cass seemed to sense Jack’s confusion and dismay because he made an angel’s best stab at trying to change the subject and do the dad thing. He tells Jack, “Hey, at least we have Krunch Cookie Crunch.” And they did.

Jack asked Cass if he took the secret decoder ring out of the box and Cass told him “Maybe. The secret password is ‘cookietacular.’ Shhh.” Jack was quenched in all his childlike goodness by Castiel doing his straight-angel-faced impression of playing pretend with a preschooler. It was very awwww.

#4. The Big Bad’s wolf

Yes, Garth returned, as expected. Unfortunately, as predicted, the teaser pictures of Sam and Garth showed what did turn out to be Sam having to subdue him. We learned early on in this episode of Supernatural that Garth had agreed to come out of retirement at the request of Sam, in order to be the wereman on the inside of Michael’s monstrous plan.

On the upside, apparently, his time with his new pack gave him the practice he needed to learn to use “balls” the way Bobby would have liked. Unfortunately, it was well-placed, because he was about to get in way over his head.

As a volunteer, Garth went in and planned to trick Michael and his minions by doing the ol’ cough syrup trick he used on his mother all those years ago. Unfortunately, when the chips were down, Michael basically did the “show me under your tongue” doubting mother maneuver, asking Garth if it was all gone.

He had no way out, so he sure did swallow the magic booster elixir. Bummer for everyone. Later on, this would play out in a really messy scenario.

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Meanwhile, Garth continued to check in with Sam, giving him the heads-up on Michael’s plans and whereabouts, which were conveniently discussed right in front of him. Eventually, Sam ends up where Garth is and things get a little, well, wild.

After they met up, they head to the parking garage and no sooner do they step out of the elevator than Garth starts to become very obviously anguished. He’s turned his back around and is doubled over in agony. When he flips toward Sam again, we see he has begun to wolf out.

“Oh, Sam, he’s in my head,” Garth says so innocently and with deep regret and concern. “He won’t stop, he won’t let me stop!” This is when Sam realizes that Garth did, in fact, drink the good stuff from Michael, even though he had told him otherwise. Sam was sad about that.

So a struggle happens and Garth lunges at Sam, then gets Jack on the ground and scratches his poor baby face. Sam ends up getting him in a headlock with his Friday the 13th Jason-knife ready just in case. He tries to get Garth to resist, reassuring him he can do it.

Garth just can’t find a way through and Sam gives him the ol’ nighty night sleeper hold. Garth ends up getting put in the trunk for a nap when Dean and Castiel get there.

Sam and Dean chatter a bit at this point about how much this stinks. Sam feels pretty guilty because he believes it’s all his fault he got Garth into this mess. He also hypothesizes that Garth must have been a window for Michael, maybe that’s how he knew what they were up to earlier at the shipping place when Michael knocked Sam out and snatched up Jack (wrong-o) — we’ll get to that.

Sam also said a little idea of his, “Maybe if we kill Michael, it’ll cure him.” Well, wouldn’t that be lovely? I wonder that, too, Sam.

That’s a great open door for later. I hope we’ll eventually learn the outcome of that theory. Maybe it’ll be all sunshine and rainbows like after Amara was happy again.

#3. The worse place

So who goes into an archangel battle on Supernatural without a weapon? Not these guys. After Ketch had to mail them the egg trinket that combined with Rowena’s spell to hack Lucifer’s cage, they discovered that even though he paid extra, it wouldn’t reach them in time. You gave it a good try, Ketch, thanks a lot.

They did track down the location of the package in transit. The group decided to split up so they could double their odds. At Dean’s suggestion, he and Castiel headed off to a recycling plant in search of Dark Kaia on a tip from Garth, while Sam and Jack went to Joplin, Missouri to try and snag the egg. They’d meet in Kansas City to tackle Michael from both directions.

The egg plan went pretty crappily. While they did make it there, find the package, and use Jack’s internet lock-picking skills to get in and secure it, Michael was waiting for them. Yeah, seems like a trap happened. Sam gets almost totally knocked out but is alert just enough to see some monster goons dragging Jack off to the kidnapping van.

When he cleared up a little, Michael belligerently melted the egg with his archangel eye power right in front of Sam. Sam was really crushed and discouraged, but only for a moment because Michael really did knock him out after that.

Sam was out for a bit and while he was, Dean and Cass were on scene at the recycling place where Garth said Michael had sent his posse to trap “her.” They assumed it was Dark Kaia and wanted that spear so there they were.

Well yeah, she was there. After a brief and polite, yet stern, discussion, Dean launched into a very compelling speech about why they were there. She asked if he thought he could take it from her but he wanted her to know they were respectfully requesting it and told her why:

"There are people that I care about — my family — and they’re in danger. Michael, the one who tortured me, the one who tortured you — he’s gonna hurt them and kill them. And then worse, thousands will die. And the only thing in this world that will stop him is the spear in your hands. So if you’re not gonna give it to me, kill me."

Dark Kaia shows her softer side and gives her own monologue in return:

"I came here to escape a life of running from monsters. But here, it’s no different. Not for me. Michael’s monsters haven’t stopped hunting me. At least over there I understood things. The world, my place in it. The magic I used to get here, magic from my home, it doesn’t work here. To get back, I need help."

She mentions “the boy, the special boy,” and wants him to use her to open a rift again the way he did the first time with our Kaia. Dean gives her his word that Jack will do that for her in exchange for the spear. Castiel knows this is a load of junk but says nothing, only looks at Dean from behind like, “you sneaky devil, we’ll never get away with this.”

Kaia agrees, but with obvious hesitation. She wants to know how she can trust them but Castiel acknowledges she can’t know that. But they know she’s definitely hiding something. She wanted to come here so bad but now she’s willing to let her grip off the spear to get back?

All she says to that is that they’ve got people they’d do anything for, people they need to protect, and so does she. Now, it may just be my weird brain ticking away here, but who could she be trying to protect by fleeing her monster world then fleeing back to it because she’s in danger?

Maybe.. a baby? We’ll see, I’m sure. I’m dying to know who the father is, though, if that’s the case. Supernatural plot twist?

#2. The wrong stuff

OK, this is a quick one, but my favorite moment for this episode of Supernatural, in my opinion. I’m putting it at number two only because the top slot is open for the big bang of the episode. Please, don’t get me started on that yet, though, this was too great to not put a quick focus on first.

One of my favorite things about Supernatural is that despite all its deep, and very deep, dark themes and visuals, it’s somehow still a feel-good show. I always say “the Supernatural geniuses,” and this is just one of those examples.

Amidst all this angst, with an impending battle at hand, one of great proportions, there was a super humorous moment. The parking garage prep scene. I can’t get over it. I’ve got a clip up there for you but it’s even more than that. In fact, the number one laugh for me was Sam’s face when Dean was doing this unfortunate-looking spin maneuver with the spear.

This is classic Dean characteristic behavior on Supernatural.  He does or says something that he thinks is oh-so-clever, only to finally realize that everyone around already has him pegged for a master dork.

That happened big time. Sam looked like he was feeling the real pain for what should have been some serious humiliation for Dean’s attempt at badassness.

Garth is in the trunk, the two main minions have been given the “full Ichabod,” as Garth’s werewolf co-volunteer called a beheading, and all four of our guys were ready to take on the Big Bad. They addressed that the Michael lady would sense Castiel right away so there was no element of surprise. They had only this amazing, weird spear as a weapon, they were walking into a trap that was set up for them by an archangel. “Impossible odds. Feels like home,” Dean said.

This is when they did the walk of shame with all the pride any group of wayward sons could ever hope for. They headed up to see Michael and engage in what would be the top moment of this episode of Supernatural, leaving us with a mother cliffhanger to sit on for all of eternity.

OK, until January. Feels the same.

#1. Just a crack

So the guys head upstairs. Knowing the Michael lady would sense Castiel immediately, they let him go in alone while they snuck into position elsewhere for the big pounce. And boy, was that a fight scene.

I was particularly fond of the creativity involved when Michael threw Cass and he bounced all over the whole entire elevator, walls, all of it. Ouch. Spectacular and original moves, Supernatural.

Michael also punched him a bunch of times in his poor face with this crazy spiked ring. I took note of the ring earlier, I feel pretty sure it was put out there in a way that it would be hard to miss. I actually wonder if it will have another significance as episodes progress on Supernatural. It even got its own shot after Cass took one for the team. Sure, maybe it was for effect to get how much Cass was really damaged, but I just don’t know about that.

So the fight moves back into the big office with a view that Michael has been inhabiting and the other three of our guys are in there waiting. Michael quickly gets Sam and Jack in a Darth Vader style death grip but Dean shows up with the spear. He’s working much better with it now, incidentally.

Alas, it doesn’t take much for the Michael lady to get Dean incapacitated as well, knocking the spear away. Michael takes a moment to toss him on the ground and give him a little confidence-destroying speech.

He’s pretty cut and dry like that, as we saw earlier when he spoke to Jack before Sam came to rescue him. He basically explained that Jack was a tiny infant and would learn a lot over the zillions of years to come while they ruled everything in existence together. They are the only kin each of them has in that world, after all.

Jack didn’t agree and said his peeps would be coming. Michael just smirked at that, but we know that’s because he was counting on it. He explained this to Dean, as well, while he was on the floor. He told him how glad he was that Dean was able to make it there for the big event.

Michael was basically going to destroy this city, all the people in it were going to be monsters, all at once. This was a super great time for Dean to be around because now he could watch all the horrible screaming, bloody, mass destruction that Michael affirms is definitely all his fault.

Tricky guy, he knew this would really mess with Dean. He was badly struggling with guilt over having let Michael in to begin with, already blaming himself for everything that had happened since. Power play complete.

So Sam finally slides Dean the spear and for a brief second, he’s got the upper hand after slashing the Michael lady on the arm with the spear. “Believe me, that’s gonna leave a scar,” he says. But yep, that didn’t last long. With nothing more than a look in the eye, we get to see some excellent acting as the demeanor of the two actors switch places.

Dean gets the woozy vision, answering the question we all pondered earlier about what was happening with him after Michael left. In a flash, we see a montage of scenes from the earlier days when Michael was in Dean. Michael lady falls to the ground. Dean, only showing from behind now, lifts the spear and snaps it in half, blue energy flaming around from within it.

When he finally turns around to face the three, confused and highly concerned guys, yeah, his eyes are a glowing shade of Michael-blue. Michael!Dean is back. Now we know something we’ve been wondering a long while, once you give permission, the door can be left open, even if only a crack. Michael may have left, but apparently, he had a spare key to the front door.

Oh, the look of heartache on Sam as he realized what he was seeing. “No.” That was all he could say. “Yeah,” Michael!Dean said back to him. Wow, Jensen Ackles has really mastered the Michael demeanor at this point. It looked to be a super smooth and masterful transition, complete with flitting eye movements and looks of grandeur.

So Michael explains what happened here, as any good villain does in a story. “He was too attached to you, to all of you. He wouldn’t stop squirming. To get out, to get back.” This is reminiscent of that scene way back when, Dean breaking through for a split-second and punching the mirror in the hotel room when Michael and he had a unique confrontation with themselves.

Michael goes on to explain that because of Dean’s unruly behavior, he left, “but not without leaving the door open just a crack.” Castiel asked why he would wait like this. Michael wanted Dean to have enough time to feel horrible, guilty, broken. This way, he’d be quiet and stay buried. “And he is. He’s gone.”

The guys are just simply stumped and horrified at this point. As am I. Yeah, I know, I really did know this was coming, I think we all did. But it was just done so well.

It really has to be when you know everyone out there is sort of expecting it. It has to be a real winner of a scene. And that is exactly what happened next, and absolutely last.

After Michael gave his speech, with Dean buried down, the other three of them just mesmerized by the shock, Michael says the last words of the episode. “And now I have a whole army out there waiting, ready for my command. Ready for this.”

Camera zoom. Blurred focus from faces watching to Michael!Dean’s hand: *SNAP* Darkness. January. See you there.

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Supernatural returns to The CW on Jan. 17, 2019. Follow SPN Hunters on Twitter for more stories and discussion about the show and the actors!