12.01 Keep Calm and Carry On
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| Title | Keep Calm and Carry On |
| Episode # | Season 12, Episode 1 |
| First aired | October 13, 2016 |
| Directed by | Phil Sgriccia |
| Written by | Andrew Dabb |
| On IMDB | Keep Calm and Carry On |
| Outline | While Dean and Mary try to process her resurrection they soon find themselves on a desperate search for a missing Sam. Meanwhile, Sam fights for his survival after being shot and kidnapped by the Woman of Letters Lady Antonia Bevell. |
| Monster | British Men of Letters |
| Timeline | Immediately after 11.23 Alpha and Omega |
| Location(s) | Lebanon, Kansas Aldrich, Missouri |
| « Previous Episode | Next Episode » | |
Contents
Synopsis
After Amara and Chuck resolved their problems, Dean was left with a form of gratitude from The Darkness: the resurrection of his mother, Mary. Having not seen Dean for thirty-three years, she doesn’t recognize Dean at first and tackles him to the ground. Dean relates to her the story of how she and John Winchester met, to prove that he really is her son. When Mary finally absorbs that she really is alive in the time long after hers, she gives him a hug.
On the other side of the state, a truck driver is driving on an empty road when his radio goes static, and a meteor-like object flies past and then crashes right next to his car. Curious, he looks into the crater to find a man climbing out, with dark hair, a suit, and a tan coat. It’s Castiel, who was banished from the Men of Letters bunker by Lady Antonia Bevell. After asking for directions and stealing the man’s car, Castiel drives back to Lebanon, Kansas.
Meanwhile the reunion between Dean and Mary is filled with stories from Mary’s missing time -- how John died and the way Dean and Sam lived since she died, even when Dean met younger Mary through time travelling with Sam and Castiel. Dean promises to explain more about their life after they’re back home in the bunker.
Still unknown to Dean, Sam was kidnapped by Toni Bevell, from the Men of Letters London Chapterhouse. She takes him to a veterinarian, Dr. Gregory Marion, to have his bullet wound treated before she can interrogate him.
Meanwhle, Crowley is starting his mission in search for Lucifer. He knows that the archangel is currently jumping from one vessel to another, looking for the right one. As he's found a family whose members have all been used as vessels by Lucifer –- and left them burned out when he moved out –- two demons enter the house to clean up the corpses.
After his wound has been treated, Sam is now held prisoner in the cellar of a house where Toni and her assistant, Ms. Watt, start the interrogation, accompanied with torture. From Toni, Sam learns that the London Chapterhouse has been watching him and Dean for years, ever since they stopped the first apocalypse. Now they’d like to know about the Winchester boys, other hunters in America, and how the boys managed to save the sun. What Sam doesn’t understand is if they knew about them all along, why didn’t they came and help? Toni replies that they had orders from their superiors that they shouldn’t interfere with the American issues, until The Darkness showed and almost killed the sun. Then they agreed that things need to change.
Toni tries to convince Sam that they are actually come to help, but Sam doesn’t believe her. Sam laughs at the threat of torture, saying that he has been tortured by the Devil and there’s nothing that Toni can do that will make him surrender.
When Dean and Mary arrived at the bunker, Mary is surprised to find out that Men of Letters was actually real, not some old Hunter’s tale. Dean is more surprised to find trails of blood on the bunker’s floor along with an angel banishment sigil on one of the walls. Sam and Cas are nowhere inside the bunker. Dean hands one of the guns from under the war room table to Mary, and tells her to stay put. Mary is looking at one of the bookshelves when she hears the bunker door open and footsteps going down the stairs. She confronts the stranger, only to have Dean stop her. Dean hugs the other man tightly while being asked about how he’s alive, and Dean also promises him that he will explain, after they know where Sam is. Mary asks if the man in the tan coat is a hunter. Dean makes the introductions.
Cas tells Dean that there was a woman waiting for them in the bunker after they arrived. She banished Cas first, and he doesn't know what happened to Sam. After hacking local traffic cameras and finding a suspicious car, Dean, Cas, and Mary go on their new hunt.
In the barn, Sam is still facing the tortures from Toni, who also shares how the British Men of Letters works. Sam keeps refusing to answer Toni's questions, and she finally walks away and lets Ms. Watt to continue the torture.
Inside the house of Lucifer’s victims, the two demons are still disposing the bodies, when Crowley decides to show up. He points out the vessel-hopping is a sign that Lucifer is weak. He is mocked by the demons, who jeer that he will never beat Lucifer, even in a powered-down state. Crowley stabs the two demons and starts looking for the fourth member of the family, that was shown on a photo, but is nowhere to be seen inside the house.
Back in the barn, Sam survives torture from Ms. Watt that involves a blowtorch, without having to say a word about American hunters. Ms. Watt suggests that Sam is too strong for her to break and asks Toni to call Mr. Ketch, which Toni vehemently refuses to do. Starting to feel a little desperate, Toni decides that they have to start playing with Sam’s mind.
Meanwhile, after Dean, Cas, and Mary find their first lead from the driver of Toni’s car, they makes a stop for Dean to do some research. Cas and Mary talk about their situation. Cas shares his first 'arrival' on Earth to Mary, who in return tells him that she never thought to be the person she used to hear stories about, being brought back to life. Their conversation comes to an end when Cas spots the vehicle that was mentioned by the driver before.
They follow the car to Dr. Marion’s practice and interrogate him about his guests. After the veterinarian mentions that he has Toni’s number, they make a call to let her know that Dean, Cas, and Mary will come to get Sam. The call ends in Dean’s anger when she hangs up.
In panic, Toni sends Ms. Watt to meet Dean’s group, while she’s watching over Sam who’s under the influence of her hallucination potion, which makes him see people for whose deaths he feels responsible. Meanwhile Ms. Watt slams her car into the Impala and attacks Dean and Cas using magic infused-knuckle dusters. She almost brings them down, but Mary stabs her using Castiel’s angel blade. After disposing of Ms. Watt’s vehicle, Dean comforts his mother who is still in shock over taking the life and finding herself again a hunter. Dean assures her that he believes that what he and Sam have been doing for years has made the world a better place to live in.
While Dean and his companions continue the search for Sam, the younger Winchester is dealing with the hallucinations and uses a shocking tactic to trick Toni, pretending to kill himself. Toni enters the basement to check on him, and while he overpowers her for a moment, Toni succeeds in escaping and keeping him captive. Sam crumbles in despair.
Characters
Definitions
- Angel Banishing Sigil
- Angel Blade
- Archangel
- British Men of Letters
- Castiel's Pickup Truck
- Dead Man's Blood
- Enochian
- Hugs
- Impala
- Led Zeppelin
- Men of Letters
- Men of Letters Bunker
- Monsters
- Pie
- Sammy
- Sedation
- Spells
- Table of Death
- Title Card
- Unconscious
- Vampires
- Vessel
- Warding Sigils
Music
- "Bad Boys" by April Wine
- (plays over "The Road So Far" recap of events)
- "Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves" by Tom Powder
- (playing in a truck as Castiel comes crashing through a billboard)
- "Solitude" by Black Sabbath
- (plays over the closing montage)
Quotes
Dean: I'm Dean Winchester, I'm your son.
Mary: My Dean is four years old.
Mary: How do you know all that?
Dean: Dad told me. March 23, 1972 you walked out of a movie theater, Slaughterhouse-Five, you loved it. And you bumped into a big marine and knocked him on his ass. You were embarrassed and he laughed it off, said you could make it up to him with a cup of coffee. So you went to, uh, Maroni's, and you talked and he was cute, and he knew the words to every Zeppelin song, so when he asked you for your number you gave it to him even though you knew your dad would be pissed. That was the night that you met-
Mary: John Winchester.
Dean: August 19, 1975 you were married, in Reno, your idea. Few years later I came along, then Sammy.
Mary: Then I burned. How long have I been gone?
Dean: He gave himself up. For me.
Mary: That sounds like John. And he was a hunter? And he raised you and Sam to-
Jervis: Whatever? What are you, a 14-year-old girl now?
Castiel: No, I'm an angel.
Dean: He's an angel.
Mary: Come again?
Dean: Angel. With a capital 'A'. You know, wings, harp.
Dean: Hell yeah, she is.
Mary: One word for it. I grew up with hunters, I've heard of people coming back from the dead before. But to actually do it, after thirty years. A lot's changed. A lot.
Trivia & References
Dean: Twice. Your memory got wiped, so.
Mary: And I saw you when I was a ghost, which I don't remember either. And God's sister brought me back to life.
Dean: Pretty much. It's a lot and I know it's a lot. And I'll explain everything, I will. But right now, let's get out of here. Let's get you home. Come on, Mom.
- Dean and Sam traveled back to the past in 4.03 In the Beginning and 5.13 The Song Remains the Same. Mary appeared as a ghost when she saved the boys from a poltergeist in 1.09 Home.
- A puggle is a crossbreed of dog that is a mix of pug and beagle.
- Posh Spice was the nickname of Victoria Beckham who was a member of the '90s Brit Pop group The Spice Girls.
- Elsa was one of the lead characters in the popular 2013 film Frozen.
- Dean's conversation with Toni is a reference to this scene from the Liam Neeson film Taken.
Minutiae
Dean: Mom, I get it. I do. If I had kids, I wouldn't want them in this. But, Sam and me? Saving people and hunting things, this is our life. I think we make the world a better place. I know that we do.
- "Saving people, hunting things. The family business." is the Winchester's unofficial motto, first used by Dean in 1.02 Wendigo.
