Supernatural season 11, episode 10, “The Devil in the Details,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
Sam and Lucifer
Rather than torture Sam, Lucifer takes his true vessel on a grand tour of his memories. One of a teenage Sam kissing a girl, one of Sam defeating Lucifer in Stull Cemetery, and one of Sam talking to Amelia after she learned her ex was still alive. All throughout, Lucifer lectures Sam on how he’s changed from the decisive hero he used to be.
This portion of the storyline is pretty meta in that it puts words to what many parts of the fandom have been saying about the writing for Sam’s character since the Amelia storyline in season 8. He hasn’t seemed like himself in several seasons, and this is literally what Lucifer tells him.
After the trip down memory lane, Lucifer tries to convince Sam to be his vessel again. He says he’s the only archangel left to deal with The Darkness. Sam, though, still refuses. Thankfully. He realizes that even if Lucifer kills Amara, Lucifer being loose on the Earth is just as bad. It’s a pretty awesome moment for Sam’s character, and one that we’ve been waiting for.
At this, Lucifer loses his temper and starts beating Sam. Dean and Castiel, who have made their way to Hell, come running at the sound of Sam’s pain, and Lucifer pulls them into the cage as well. Cas attacks Lucifer while Dean goes to Sam; between the three of them, they need to hold him off long enough for the spell to return Lucifer to the Cage to work.
Rowena, who Crowley has placed a Witch Catcher on to keep her under his control, casts the spell as Lucifer has a hand on Castiel, and in a bright light Lucifer disappears. But things aren’t as they seem…
Casifer
It turns out, Lucifer is possessing Castiel. In the moments before the spell was completed, Castiel agreed to let Lucifer possess him to defeat The Darkness. This tethers him to Earth, meaning the spell didn’t work. And while Sam and Dean leave him, Casifer returns to hell. He frees Rowena, and when she reveals she’s the only one who could open the Cage again, he kills her. That leaves him alone with Crowley.
Because Sam is Lucifer’s true vessel, it’s a bit confusing as to how Lucifer can possess another angel’s vessel. We know a vessel’s suitability is determined by bloodline for each angel, and while Lucifer has other options (like his former vessel Nick), Sam is the vessel that could hold up. Our running theory is that when God restored Castiel after Stull Cemetery and sent Jimmy to Heaven, the vessel was reconstituted to be an ideal angel vessel.
The question becomes what Lucifer will do now that he’s topside. Will he keep his word to kill Amara? Will he still target Sam? When will the Winchesters realize Lucifer is free? There are some interesting things set up with this development.
Also, RIP Rowena.
The Darkness
Castiel runs into another angel while looking for Amara to see if she survived the smiting. The angel tells Castiel that she’s heard the stories and knows Castiel is expendable; the Winchesters are the true heroes.
This does wonders for Castiel’s self-esteem, but there isn’t much time to contemplate as they discover Amara is alive. She sucks the angel’s grace and uses it to recover. Amara wonders why her brother took a special interest in Castiel but decides he’s not worth the effort. Instead, she sends Castiel with a message to Dean. (“I am coming.”) However, she is suffering some aftereffects of the smiting.
Also worth noting
- Rowena confesses that she hates her son because he reminders her of who she used to be. She also can’t afford the weakness of love. Before she dies.
- We get a couple of references to the upcoming Lucifer show on Fox, as we see the Sandman comics and Lucifer suggests he “Move to L.A. Solve crimes” after killing Amara.
Watch a promo for the next episode
