14.19 Jack in the Box

Title	Jack in the Box
Episode #	Season 14, Episode 19
First aired	April 18, 2019
Directed by	Robert Singer
Written by	Eugenie Ross-Leming Brad Buckner
On IMDB	Jack in the Box
Outline	Still grieving after Mary's death at Jack's hands, Sam, Dean, and Castiel find a case involving strange Biblical deaths. When they learn of Jack's involvement, Dean resolves to deal with Jack once and for all.
Monster	Dumah Jack Kline
Timeline	A few days after 14.18 Absence
Location(s)	Lebanon, Kansas Heaven Columbus, Ohio
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Synopsis

Sam, Dean, and Castiel are holding a wake for Mary with all her hunter friends. Dean leads the eulogy acknowledging that her family went beyond Sam and Dean, and reminiscing about how Mary was stubborn and tough but an atrocious cook. He brings his speech to a close by raising a toast in her honor. The wake is brought to an abrupt ending, however, by a flying axe landing in the head of one of the mourners, followed by Bobby’s arrival.

As hunters removes the body, Bobby explains to Sam and Cas that it was a wraith from a nest he and Mary had cleared out recently and that it must have snuck in to gloat. Cas quips that Mary would have approved of having a hunter’s wake complete with monster. Bobby asks how Sam is doing and notes that Dean –- who is boxing up Mary’s belongings in the background -- seems distant, which is confirmed by him declining to join them in splitting Ketch’s scotch.

Sam, Cas, and Bobby sit in the kitchen drinking beer as Sam looks at an old photo of Mary with the boys from 1983. Dean enters the room and once again declines to join them despite Sam asking him to stay and talk about what to do about Jack. Bobby mentions that he heard Jack was responsible for Mary’s demise and whilst Sam and Cas are clearly hoping Jack can still be saved, Bobby says that he’s going to round up some hunter friends to kill him as a soulless Jack is just a monster in his book.

Elsewhere, Jack sits in an abandoned factory trying to figure out what to do, reliving Mary’s death, and wishing his Mom was there to show him what to do. His Lucifer hallucination turns up and taunts him, telling him he was only ever a pet monster to the Winchesters and now that he killed their mom, they hate him and won’t ever want anything to do with him again.

Meanwhile, alone in the woods, Dean sits and cries, finally allowing himself to show the emotions he had bottled up around the others.

Castiel visits Heaven and finds Dumah, who tells him Naomi is locked away in a small cell after she allowed the Empty to attack them under her watch. When Cas explains that Jack has gone rogue and burnt away his soul, Dumah seems overly interested in this news and mocks Cas about how Jack lost it doing what he thought was right.

Back in the Bunker, Sam tries to comfort Dean by telling him that at least they are aware Mary’s in Heaven with John and happy, and that rather than disowning him, they should be helping Jack. This just further angers Dean, and he reminds Sam that there was nothing left of Mary to even attempt to bring her back because of what Jack did.

Dumah goes to find Jack at the warehouse and manipulates him into being her personal heavenly hitman by making him believe that smiting those Heaven sees as heretics will both help save the world and regain the Winchesters' love. They begin by visiting Professor Harrison Tate, an atheist and best-selling author, and demanding that he announce that he has had a revelation and that he recants everything he has ever published or face divine retribution. When he refuses to do as Dumah requests, Jack turns him into a pillar of salt.

Cas visits Sam and Dean, announcing that the angels said they would help find Jack though Dean is obviously skeptical, having been misled by Heaven in the past. Moreover, Sam tells them that he’s been keeping an eye on weird stories during his search for Jack and his research has led him to the deaths of Harrison Tate and a TV evangelist in Texas who was being investigated for fraud before she was swallowed by a crevice that opened up beneath her in the earth. Cas confirms that these sound like acts of biblical smiting and that Jack is the only being other than Chuck with the power to perform them.

In Heaven, Dumah leads Jack to Heaven's Throne Room, where God would receive prayers, and asks him to listen in to the prayers to see if he can find anyone who would be willing to become an angel. She tells him he does not have the power to create them from scratch but does possess the ability to forge human souls into angelic beings. While listening on the throne, Jack finds a church group and visits them to check that they really do want to go to Heaven and become angels. When the group leader confirms that it’s their dream, Jack shows his wings and says that he can make their dream a reality if they come with him. At that moment, a visiting pastor named Ames arrives and casts doubt on Jack’s credibility. Jack sees this as the pastor doubting the word of God and curses him to be eaten alive by worms before disappearing with the rest of the congregation.

Having heard of the case of Pastor Ames, Sam, Dean, and Cas arrive at the hospital to question him. Their suspicions are confirmed when the pastor is shown a picture of Jack and says that Jack punished him for his lack of belief.

Back at the Bunker, Dean tells Sam of his plan to trick Jack into the Ma'lak Box by telling him that he needs to stay in there while they finish a spell to restore his soul. Sam has reservations about lying to Jack and locking up someone whom he sees as his son. Sam finally accepts that Dean’s plan is all they have, even though it clearly pains him.

Castiel returns to the playground, but is denied entry into Heaven by its guardian Eremiel, who produces an angel blade. In the throne room, Jack is turning the prayer group into angels and proudly announces it when Castiel arrives. Castiel calls Dumah outside to talk to her about what she is doing. As he confronts Dumah, she threatens to destroy John and Mary’s Heaven if Castiel takes Jack away. Without a moment's hesitation, Castiel stabs her with his angel blade.

Sam reluctantly prays to Jack, saying they need to talk so that they can move forward. Jack hears him and listens excitedly to the promise of going home to his family. Jack arrives at the Bunker and says how relieved he is to see them and he was sorry about the "accident" -- a word that obviously angers Dean, although he manages to keep it under the surface as much as possible. Jack says how much he regrets it and just wants things to go back to normal. Sam encourages Jack, telling him that they want to keep him safe from hurting others and himself, and that being in the Ma’lak Box will also protect him. Jack agrees and enters the Ma’lak Box with some trepidation. As soon as he lays flat, Dean swiftly closes and locks the lid. The brothers return to the kitchen to drink and try to ignore Jack calling for them. Sam is obviously devastated.

Back in the Ma’lak Box, Jack is panicking when his vision of Lucifer turns up to taunt him about how he allowed the Winchesters to play him.

Castiel arrives to tell them that Dumah was using Jack by telling him it would please the Winchesters to purify the world. When he learns they’ve shut him in the Ma’lak Box, Cas is angry and claims that they are no better than Dumah.

In the box, Lucifer continues to tease Jack and then encourages him to escape by using his powers to destroy the box. This in turn causes the Bunker to shake and alarms to sound. Sam, Dean, and Cas race back to the room where they left Jack, only to be greeted by his foreboding silhouette and bright glowing golden eyes as Sam breathes out Jack’s name in fear.

Characters

• Sam Winchester
• Dean Winchester
• Castiel
• Jack Kline
• Bobby Singer (Apocalypse World)
• Dumah
• Jules
• Eremiel

Definitions

• Alcohol
• Aliases
• Angel Blade
• Angel Lore
• Angel Wings
• Apocalypse World
• Bible
• Costumes & Disguises
• Crew Cameos
• Heaven
• Heaven's Throne Room
• Hunters
• Jackifer
• John's Journal
• Led Zeppelin
• Ma'lak Box
• Men of Letters Bunker
• Metatron's Cube
• Monsters
• Nephilim
• Photo Album
• Playground
• Portal
• Prayer
• Redemption
• Salt
• Sammy
• Table of Death
• Teleportation
• Warding Sigils
• Wraith

Music

None

Quotes

Dean: We know it wasn't easy for some of you to get here, and we thank you. We, uh... We gave her a hunter's send-off a few days ago. But we know that her family went beyond just us. Some of you hunted alongside her. Some of you fought Michael with her in the other world. You know, we lost our mom once before. But we got a second chance with her. And we got to know her not just as "Mom," but... as someone who was tough and strong. Stubborn as Hell. Someone who had opinions and wasn't shy to use them. She could handle a machete. She could handle a vampire. She could handle our old man. She couldn't cook worth a damn. Mom, you weren't here long enough. But we're so glad for the time that we had. Goodbye, Mom.

Sam: Bye, Mom.

Hunters: To Mary.

Castiel: A hunter's memorial, complete with monster. Mary would have appreciated that.
Bobby: Now that you mention it, yeah.

Sam: I-I can't stop thinking that... Most people, it's hope and faith, right? That's all they have. But we know the truth. We know God is real. We know that angels are real, too.

Dean: God writes paperback books in His underwear, okay? And angels are dicks
Sam: But they're real, right? We know that Mom's not sitting on a cloud playing a harp. She's in a good place. Or she's in a great place. She's with Dad.

Dean: Hmm. You know what else? There wasn't enough left of her to even try to bring her back.

Dean: I didn't want it to come to this, either. But I know that kid's head's not right. And now that Heaven has its hooks in him, we don't have a choice.

Sam: Jack. I hope you can hear this. Some things, some bad things happened. But we're family. We're your family. And bad things happen in families. But we... We want to talk with you. That's how we can all... get through this. That's how we can all move forward. [...] Jack, we want -- we need to see you. Our mother would want it. Your mother would want it.[...] Jack, we just want things to be the way they were. Are you hearing this?

Castiel: You're establishing a reign of terror, beating humans into submission, stripping Heaven of its mercy.
Dumah: Oh, Heaven never really had any mercy, Castiel. You know that. I am saving Heaven. I am saving our kind. I am saving the world.

Jack: I heard. And I was so glad. I didn't think I'd ever see you again. I've been working with the angels to purify the world. Oh, and making angels. Yeah. I make angels. But... I really missed you guys.

Dean: Yeah. Us too. Right, Sammy? Tell Jack how, how we want to clear things up, you know, between us.
Jack: I know things have been bad. And if it helps, I regret it. The accident.
Sam: The -- the accident?
Jack: What happened to Mary. She kept talking about my soul, t-that I didn't have a soul, and she kept pushing.
Dean: Oh, so... she made you do it?
Jack: No, it was me, but I didn't want this no-soul thing to become an issue between us. I guess I snapped. Before I knew it, it was all over.

Dean: "It" being the "accident."

Dean: Sammy, we knew from the beginning it was a long shot with him.
Sam: Yeah. Yeah, but long shots are kind of our thing.

Jackifer: Am I getting through to you? Did they tell you the specifics of their "cure"? Are you getting a new soul? Does it have a factory warranty? Why didn't they tell you how much time it would take?

Jack: I don't know.

Jackifer: You don't know because you, my friend, are naive, clueless, trusting. And you know what? They suckered you. "Why" you may ask? Okay. One, 'cause you're no longer useful to them. And two, you killed their mother. Okay? There's no coming back from that. So this is it, for the rest of time.

Castiel: What? You just want to forget about him?
Dean: I wish I could forget about him! After what he did? And you know what he can do. This is our only play.

Trivia & References

"Jack in the Box" refers to the children's toy of the same name, as well as Jack being trapped in the Ma'lak Box.

Dean, Sam and Castiel use the aliaes "Agents Kilmister, Clarke, and Taylor". A reference to the 1976-1982 Motörhead line-up consisting of Lemmy Kilmister, "Fast" Eddie Clarke, and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor.

The angel Eremiel is assigned to guard the entrance to Heaven at the playground. In traditional lore, Eremiel was/is seen as the guardian of Sheol and later the Gates of Heaven, along with St. Peter.

Jack's words "...and he was eaten by worms" come from the Christian New Testament Acts 12:23:

"Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died."

Sam: So you want to lie to him.

Dean: No. Well, I mean, I want Zeppelin to get back together. But what I need -- what we need is to stop Jack. Big difference. But here's the deal. We both got to sign off on it. This might be our only shot, and if he even catches a whiff that this is a scam, he's off into the wind.

Led Zeppelin broke up after the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. There were a couple of subsequent reunion concerts, sometimes with Jason Bonham taking his father's place on drums.

Minutiae

Filming Locations: Map of known filming locations

Original score by Jay Gruska.

Giles Panton, who played Professor Harrison Tate, previously played Deputy Cooper in 9.13 The Purge.

Xantha Radley, who played Shelley, previously played Homeless Woman in 9.23 Do You Believe in Miracles?

Castiel says that no ordinary angel can turn a person into a pillar of salt. In 6.03 The Third Man Balthazar uses a weapon -- Lot's Salt -- from Heaven's armory to transform Raphael's vessel into a pillar of salt in order to save Castiel. In 11.10 The Devil in the Details it's revealed that when angels in Heaven pool their collective power for a mass smiting, one effect of the fallout can be turning a person into a pillar of salt, as with Lot's wife.

Executive Producer and director of the episode Robert Singer makes a cameo appearance as a doctor walking past the frame as Sam, Dean, and Castiel arrive at the hospital to interview Pastor Ames.

Jack is shown capable of forging a human soul into angelic grace; this is in contrast to his father, Lucifer, who twisted human souls into the first demons.

Snow is seen covering the ground of the Playground when Castiel faces off with Eremiel, a departure from its usual clear, sandy appearance.

Dumah confirms that Mary and John Winchester are sharing a Heaven, as implied by her comments in 14.18 Absence.

When Castiel kills Dumah, his angel blade is left clean of blood, possibly due to Dumah being killed in Heaven.

In the Bunker's kitchen, Sam and Dean are drinking a bottle of "Glennlach" scotch provided by Ketch, who was unable to attend Mary's funeral. This type of scotch was previously seen in 12.14 The Raid when Ketch attempts to make inroads with Dean and in 12.17 The British Invasion when the Winchesters drink with Mick Davies.

The end scene parallels the end to 12.23 All Along the Watchtower, where a fearful Sam sees Jack with glowing golden eyes.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

• 14.19 Jack in the Box (transcript)
• Jack in the Box script (Writer's 2nd Draft)

Promotion

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