12.12 Stuck in the Middle (With You)
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| Title | Stuck in the Middle (With You) |
| Episode # | Season 12, Episode 12 |
| First aired | February 16, 2017 |
| Directed by | Richard Speight, Jr. |
| Written by | Davy Perez |
| On IMDB | Stuck in the Middle (With You) |
| Outline | On a mission for the British Men of Letters, Mary calls on Sam, Dean and Castiel to help kill a demon. When the hunt quickly goes south, they realize they are dealing with a Prince of Hell. |
| Monster | Ramiel Demons |
| Timeline | |
| Location(s) | |
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Contents
Synopsis
Present Day
Arthur Ketch is seen drinking a cup of coffee in a diner and he asks a person sitting across from him to tell him a story.
5:20 PM
Dean, Sam, Castiel, Mary, and Wally are in a diner discussing a case of Wally’s involving a demon. Dean tries unsuccessfully to flirt with the waitress, but she’s got eyes for Castiel. While the boys argue about whether or not it’s a good thing that waitresses smell like food, (Sam can’t understand the appeal), Mary refocuses them. Wally brought Mary in when he realized it was a possible demon, and Mary has all the intel. The waitress returns and continues flirting with Cas while Wally expresses nerves about the case. Mary reassures Wally that everything is going to be fine.
Mary is soon carrying a wounded Castiel into a barn, while Sam and Wally fight two demons outside a farmhouse. Sam knifes one demon, but Wally is killed by the other. As the demon bears down on Sam, Dean kills the second demon.
The Wounded Angel
As Castiel sits in his truck listening to a radio sermon about the brevity of life; Sam, Dean, Mary, and Wally arrive at the diner. The group meets up outside the diner and they briefly discuss the whereabouts of Kelly Kline and Lucifer’s baby, a topic which shocks Wally. In the diner they finalize the plan to kill the demon. Dean tells Wally not to die, and the scene ends with Mary reassuring Wally.
Later that evening with everyone at the demon’s house. Sam paints the devil's trap and Dean loads his gun with devil's trap bullets. Cas catches Mary coming up from the basement, and she claims she was using the bathroom. Wally calls from his position as look-out to tell Mary the demon is home early. Everyone takes position as he demon approaches. When the demon enters, Dean shoots him twice, only to realize the bullets don’t work. The demon discovers the devil’s trap under the rug; Dean shoots him three more times -- still no effect. Sam stabs him with the demon blade, which also has no effect, and the demon throws Sam. Mary and Cas enter the fight, and the demon cuts them off from Sam and Dean. As the demon stalks towards Mary, his eyes flash yellow. Castiel throws himself on the demon and tells Mary to run. She takes off out the back as Castiel is thrown out the window, and the boys are met in the front by Wally announcing the arrival of two more demons. Sam and Wally fight the demons. Dean goes to assist Mary and Cas. The demon reaches for a spear that magically appears at his back and he stabs Castiel as he tries to crawl away. Wally is killed. Mary arrives in Wally’s Jeep and knocks the demon away before he can kill Cas. She loads Castiel into the Jeep, then carries him into the barn. When she tells him to heal himself, Cas says he can’t. Sam calls Mary to get their location.
9:05 PM
Sam and Dean reunite with Mary and Castiel. Mary learns Wally didn’t survive, and she asks Sam if he saw the demon’s eyes. She tells him they were yellow, and Sam asks her what she got them into.
Mother Mary
11 Hours Ago – 10:07 AM
Mary and Wally watch the demon’s house as Wally tries to understand why Mary needs him to pretend this is his case. Mary says it’s so her sons won’t ask too many questions; she thinks she’s protecting them. Wally knows Mary got her intel on this demon from the British Men of Letters, and he’s suspicious of them and wonders why Mary trusts them. The two then disembark and head for the meet-up at the diner where Sam and Dean make clear to Wally that they do not trust the British Men of Letters.
8:23 PM
Sam, Dean, Castiel, Wally, and Mary make their approach to the demon’s house. Inside, Sam talks to Mary about being back in the life she never wanted. Mary responds coldly, “Since when is life about getting what you want?” Mary goes to the basement, cracks a safe using British Men of Letters tech, steals something from the safe, and hides it in her clothes. Upstairs, she lies to Castiel about having been in the bathroom.
9:03 PM
Mary ends her call to Sam from the barn, tends to Castiel’s stab wound, and sends a text to someone from British Men of Letters about the yellow-eyed demon. Her contact blames it on bad intel and tells her to leave the area immediately. Sam and Dean enter the barn. As Dean tends to Castiel, Mary tells Sam the demon had yellow eyes. Cas tells Dean he’s dying. As Dean, Mary, and Sam gather round Castiel, Crowley arrives and tells them they’re all going to die. He tells them that the demon they’re fighting is Ramiel, Prince of Hell -- one of a class of demons created by Lucifer to lead armies of Hell in the battle against Heaven.
Six Years Ago
Mr. Crowley
Crowley introduces himself to an unimpressed Ramiel. He first gifts Ramiel the Lance of Michael from all demon kind, before giving him a personal gift which pleases and surprises Ramiel. Crowley tells him that with Lilith and Azazel’s death, and Lucifer’s return to the his Cage, Hell needs a new king. Crowley offers the throne to Ramiel. Ramiel refuses the Kingdom of Hell and gives it to Crowley. His only condition is that he and his kin are left in peace.
9:07 PM
Crowley explains that Cas has been stabbed with the Lance of Michael. He will not recover from his injuries, nor do the boys have time to defeat Ramiel. Dean tells Crowley to help or leave, and he immediately disappears. Ramiel approaches the barn as Sam lays a holy oil trap for him. They load up their strongest weapons as Castiel lays dying. Outside, Crowley tries to talk Ramiel out of killing Sam, Dean, Mary, and Castiel. Crowley explains that the Winchesters are powerful assets and allies for Hell, and he offers to make a new deal with Ramiel. Ramiel’s response sends Crowley flying through the barn wall. Ramiel strolls in after him.
A Real Barnburner
9:12 PM
Castiel tells Sam, Dean, and Mary that he’s not going to live, that he loves them all, and he wants them to leave. He will face Ramiel alone so they can save themselves. Not surprisingly, the Winchesters refuse and gear up to fight Ramiel. Sam pours a holy oil ring, and they load up their weapons. Crowley comes flying through the wall with Ramiel behind him. Sam traps Ramiel in the circle of fire and the Winchesters try to get Ramiel to heal Castiel. Unable or unwilling to do so, Ramiel expresses his complete lack of concern for the battles between Heaven and Hell, including his knowledge that Lucifer has fathered a child. Ramiel accuses them of stealing something from him. He says if they don’t return it, he will kill them all. Mary refuses to admit to her actions, and Ramiel produces the Lance of Michael and snuffs out the holy fire in an impressive blast of energy, and the fight begins. Just as he’s about to deliver a killing blow to Dean, Sam disarms him of the lance and uses it to stab Ramiel. He dies in a huge burst of black smoke.
Castiel begins screaming and writhing in pain, a thick, black bile pouring from his mouth. The Winchesters gather round him. About that time, Crowley regains consciousness, sees Castiel on the verge of death, grabs the Lance of Michael and snaps it in two. Castiel is enveloped in a white light and healed instantly. Crowley drops the pieces and vanishes. All healed, Castiel asks what Ramiel meant about them stealing something. As Mary is about to say what she had stolen, Dean waves it off. They take off for home.
One Last Thing
Mr. Ketch finishes listening to Mary's account of what happened. Mary is furious about the British Men of Letters’ lack of intel on Ramiel, which led to Wally's death and Castiel's near-death. She threatens to destroy the British Men of Letters if this happens again. Mr. Ketch admits their error and apologizes. He asks to see the item Mary stole from Ramiel, and she produces The Colt.
Crowley, in his throne room, is on the phone demanding Ramiel’s house be searched for the gun. From a nearby cage, a man sings about a Colt .45 and belittles Crowley for his relationship with Sam and Dean, asserting it’s only a matter of time before the Winchesters kill him. When Crowley tells him to shut up and calls him a dog, Lucifer’s eyes glow red.
Characters
Definitions
- Alcohol
- Angel Blade
- Angel Lore
- Angelic Weapons
- British Men of Letters
- Castiel's Pickup Truck
- The Colt
- Demonology
- Devil's Trap
- Enochian
- Enochian Brass Knuckles
- Hunters
- Holy Oil
- Impala
- Lance of Michael
- Needham Asylum
- Princes of Hell
- Ruby's Knife
- Sammy
- Table of Death
Music
- "Lover Boy" (Instrumental) by Toodlum Barker & Emil Lomax (Extreme Music)
- (playing in the diner as the group formulates a plan)
- "Walk with a Winner" by Gene McDaniels
- (playing while the Winchesters kill the demon)
- "La donna è mobile" by Giuseppe Verdi
- (whistled by Ramiel as he enters his house and later the barn)
- "Not for Me" by Bobby Darin
- (playing as Mary and Wally stake out Ramiel)
- "Crop Won't Ever Come" by Robin Loxley & Jay Hawke (Extreme Music)
- (playing as Crowley meets with Ramiel six years ago)
- "Colt .45 Opening Theme" by Hal Hopper & by Douglas Heyes
- (sung by Lucifer in Crowley's prison cell)
Quotes
Sam: Classic demon sign.
Wally: I started to dig. A lot of virgins go missing around here, too.
Mary: Bathroom. I get nervous sometimes.
Mary: Since when is life about getting what you want?
Castiel: Yeah, that sounds about right.
Crowley: It took you years to defeat Lucifer, and the power of God to stop the Darkness. Maybe if you had more time, you could manage Ramiel. But right now, in this barn... Hey, I was growing fond of the choir boy, too.
Ramiel: Allies. Is that what you call three humans with one good liver between them and a busted-up angel?
Mr. Ketch: Is that a threat?
Mary: It's a promise.Crowley: Shut your mouth, dog.
Trivia & References
- A line of dialogue used in the Tarantino films Reservoir Dogs and From Dusk till Dawn.
Crowley: The oldest of the old demons. The first generation after Lilith. Lucifer turned them himself, before the oceans drank Atlantis.
- Throughout the centuries occultists and theologians have written books detailing the hierarchy of Hell. Francis Barrett's book The Magus or Celestial Intelligencer lists Beelzebub, Pythius, Belial, Asmodeus, Satan, Merihem, Abaddon, Astaroth and Mammon as Princes of Hell. The Book of Abramelin and The Satanic Bible only list four demons as princes: Lucifer, Leviathan, Satan and Belial.
- Atlantis is an ancient fictional island, believed to have sunk into the Atlantic ocean.
Minutiae
Mary: My father used to tell me stories about this thing. You know there’s only five things in all creation it can’t kill?
Ketch: Oh, yes. I know all about the Colt.
- Dean said "Hello, beautiful" to the Colt in 6.18 Frontierland. Mary telling Mr. Ketch that Samuel used to tell her stories about the Colt calls back to Samuel telling Dean he would tell Mary bedtime stories about it in 4.03 In the Beginning. Lucifer mentioned that there is only five things in all of Creation that the gun cannot kill in 5.10 Abandon All Hope....
