4.21 When the Levee Breaks

From Super-wiki
Jump to: navigation, search


Demon Blood Detox.jpg
Title When the Levee Breaks
Episode # Season 4, Episode 21
First aired May 7, 2009
Directed by Robert Singer
Written by Sera Gamble
On IMDB When the Levee Breaks
Outline Dean and Bobby try to break Sam of his demon blood addiction.
Monster Sam Winchester
Timeline
Location(s) Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Jamestown, North Dakota
Elk River, Minnesota
Cold Spring, Minnesota
« Previous Episode | Next Episode »

Synopsis

Dean and Bobby lock Sam in Bobby's panic room, in order to help him withdraw from the effects of the demon blood. Sam starts to hallucinate — first he imagines he is being tortured by Alastair. Next he is visited by his fourteen-year old self who accuses him of abandoning his hope of being normal, and brings up his guilt of Jess' death.

Meanwhile, Rufus Turner calls Bobby with news of more of the 66 Seals being broken. Bobby challenges Dean about whether they are doing the right thing, and whether they should let Sam go after Lilith to stop the Apocalypse.

Still in Bobby's panic room, Sam sees his mother, who says she understands what he is doing and gives him support.

Dean calls on Castiel, who tells Dean that Sam could kill Lilith, but that consuming that much demon blood would make him inhuman. Castiel says Dean can be the one to stop the Apocalypse, rather than Sam, and asks if Dean will do it. Dean agrees and swears fealty and obedience to God and the angels.

Sam starts experiencing more extreme symptoms — he is being flung around the panic room, so Dean and Bobby handcuff him to the bed. After they leave, Sam imagines Dean is taunting him and calling him a monster. At the same time the real Dean tells Bobby he would rather see Sam die than turn into a monster.

That night Castiel comes and uses his powers to release Sam's bonds and open the door to the panic room. Sam slips out, but is confronted by Bobby, who doesn't have the heart to shoot him. Sam knocks him out, steals a car and escapes.

Anna visits Castiel, and confronts him over his actions, but he says he is acting on orders, and she is taken captive by other angels.

Sam meets up with Ruby, and drinks more of her blood. Ruby tells Sam there are only two or three seals left to be broken. She says only "Lucifer's first" can break the final seal — and that is Lilith. This renews Sam's desire to kill Lilith. She says she has a lead on a demon close to Lilith, who is nearby.

As they prepare to leave, Dean arrives and tries to kill Ruby, but Sam stops him. Sam and Dean start to argue over what they should do, and things get more heated and bitter until Dean calls Sam a monster, and Sam hits him. They fight until Sam knocks Dean down and nearly strangles him.

As he turns to leave, Dean admonishes him with the same words John Winchester used so many years ago — that if Sam leaves, he should never come back.

Characters

Definitions

Music

None

Quotes

Sam: Killing Lilith is what matters. Or are you so busy being self-righteous you forgot about her?
Dean: Oh, Lilith's gonna die. Bobby and I will kill her. But not with you.
Dean: How long is this gonna go on?
Bobby: Here, let me look it up in my demon-detox manual. Oh wait. No one ever wrote one. No telling how long it'll take. Hell, or if Sam will even live through it.
Bobby: Hello... Suck dirt and die, Rufus. You call me again, I'll kill you.

Dean: What's up with Rufus?

Bobby: He knows.
Sam: I'm sorry. I am. But life doesn't turn out the way you thought when you were fourteen years old. We were never gonna be normal. We were never gonna get away. Grow up.
Young Sam: Maybe you're right. Maybe there's no escape. After all, how can you run from what's inside you?
Mary: Your brother doesn't understand. I was raised a hunter from a long line. We understand that there are gonna be hard choices. And we do what we have to to get the job done. Yes, our family is cursed. But you—you have the power to turn it into a gift. You can use it against them.

Sam: For revenge?

Mary: No, for justice. I know how scared you are.
Castiel: Consuming the amount of blood it would take to kill Lilith would change your brother forever. Most likely, he would become the next creature that you would feel compelled to kill. There's no reason this would have to come to pass, Dean. We believe it's you, Dean, not your brother. The only question for us is whether you're willing to accept it. Stand up and accept your role. You are the one who will stop it.
Bobby: Correct me if I'm wrong, but you willingly signed up to be the Angels' bitch? [Dean glares at Bobby] I'm sorry. You prefer "sucker"?
Bobby: I'm sorry. I can't bite my tongue any longer. We're killing him. Keeping him locked up down there. This cold-turkey thing isn't working. If—if he doesn't get what he needs, soon, Sam's not gonna last much longer.

Dean: No. I'm not giving him demon blood. I won't do it.
Bobby: And if he dies?

Dean: Then at least he dies human!
Dean: Yeah well, I'll tell you one thing: at this point, I hope he's with Ruby.

Bobby: Why?
Dean: 'Cause killing her's the next big item on my to-do list.
Bobby: I thought you were on call for Angel duty?

Dean: I am on call -- in my car, on my way to murder the bitch.
Ruby: Seal sixty-six. It can't be broken by just any demon. Apparently, only Lucifer's first can do it.

Sam: Lucifer's first?
Ruby: Demon Sunday School story. God prefers humans to angels. Lucifer gets jealous and then he gets creative. And he twists and tempts a human soul into the very first demon as a 'screw you' to God. It's what got him locked up in the first place.
Sam: That was Lilith?

Ruby: She's way older than she looks.
Sam: Stop bossing me around, Dean. Look. My whole life, you take the wheel, you call the shots, and I trust you because you are my brother. Now I'm asking you, for once, trust me.

Dean: No. You don't know what you're doing, Sam.
Sam: Yes, I do.
Dean: Then that's worse.'
Sam: Why? Look, I'm telling you—
Dean: Because it's not something that you're doing, it's what you are! It means—
Sam: What? No. Say it.

Dean: It means you're a monster.
Sam: You don't know me. You never did. And you never will.
Dean: You walk out that door, don't you ever come back.

Trivia & References

The episode title, "When the Levee Breaks" is a 1929 blues song, covered by Led Zeppelin in 1971.
Dean: If it smells like a duck...
Short version of the expression "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." The expression is from the jokingly named duck test, which is a form of abducktive reasoning.
Dean: They come on like shady politicians from Planet Vulcan.
Dean is referring to Star Trek's Spock's planet of origin, and comparing Castiel to the Vulcans' lack of emotional display.

Minutiae

The seals Rufus Turner reports being broken are: ten species extinct in Key West, fishing crew of fifteen goes blind in Alaska, and a teacher in New York kills 66 students, all in one day.
The magazines seen on Sam's cot in Bobby's Panic Room are Hunting & Trails, Weekly Woodsman, and Gun Collector.
Sam abandons the car he steals from Bobby in Jamestown, North Dakota. He then steals a car which he abandons near Elk River. Dean finally finds Sam in Cold Spring.
This is one of 3 episodes of Supernatural that do not involve a death of any kind. The others are 4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book and 10.17 Inside Man.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

Promotion

Episode Meta

Retrieved from "http://supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=4.21_When_the_Levee_Breaks&oldid=204501"