5.16 Dark Side of the Moon
Title | Dark Side Of The Moon |
Episode # | Season 5, Episode 16 |
First aired | April 1, 2010 |
Directed by | Jeff Wollnough |
Written by | Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin |
On IMDB | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588682/ |
Outline | Sam and Dean are killed and find themselves in heaven |
Monster | God |
Timeline | Sam says it is “a few months” since the events of 5.10 Abandon All Hope |
Location(s) | Heaven |
[[{{{prevep}}}|« Previous Episode]] | [[{{{nextep}}}|Next Episode »]] |
Contents
Synopsis
After noticing his gun is missing from under his pillow, Dean wakes to find two men pointing guns at him and Sam. He recognises them as hunters - Roy and Walt. Walt says they are there to kill Sam for starting the Apocalypse, and as Sam protests, Walt shoots and kills him. He tells Walt to shoot dean, and when he hesitates, Roy kills Dean too.
Dean finds himself sitting in the Impala, and when he leaves the Impala a 14 year old version of Sam appears with a box of fireworks. They go to a nearby field and set them, off - Sam obviously delighted. Dean remembers this as the fourth of July. Suddenly memories of the shooting flash into Dean's mind, and he finds himself alone again.
Castiel starts speaking to dean through the car radio, confirming that he is dead, and in Heaven, and that if he follows the road he will find Sam. WHat Dean and Sam are living through are happy past memories. Dean follows the road, and finds Sam having Thanksgiving dinner with one of his teen crushes family. Sam confirms that this a happy memory for him - what was to him his first "proper" Thanksgiving. Suddenly a searchlight sweeps through the house, and the boys hide. Castiel communicates through the TV, telling them Zachariah is looking for them to send them back to earth and not to go into the light. Castiel explains that this is their chance to find God, and that they should find someone called Joshua who communicates with him. He tells them to follow the 'axis mundi' - the road through Heaven to the garden.
Dean finds a toy race track in the famils cupboard, which takes them to the next place - a memory of Dean's from when he was 4 of breakfast with his mother, and him comforting her after she argues with John. The next memory experience through a postcard is Six Flags, which Sam and his dog, Bonesy, called home when he ran away from Dean and John once. Dean reveals that to him, it was a terrible experience. They exit there, and find themselves on a road - the place where Sam left his family to go to Stanford. Dean points out, distraught, that Sam's memories are all about leaving him - and then Zachariah appears, pursuing them through a wood.
A masked and caped figure appears, and beckons the boys to follow. They go through a door in the middle of the woods and find themselves in a bar - the Roadhouse - and the masked man is Ash. He explains that each person has their own version of Heaven, although Ash has worked out a way to move between these places. Ash says he has seen Dean and Sam on the other who tells dean that she is enjoying Heaven, and that maybe he should reconsider his resistance to being Michael's vessel. Ash shows them a shortcut to the garden and the boys leave.
They find themselves again in their family home, and Mary appears again. However this time she taunts Dean, saying he was a burden, and that it's his fault everyone leaves him. Zachariah appears, and tells the boys that he will torment them until they give in. Joshua appears and tells Zachariah that he needs to speak with Sam & Dean and Zachariah must release the boys or risk Gods wrath.
Joshua tells Sam and Dean that god is well aware of their predicament, and that it was God who saved them when Lucifer rose, and resurrected Castiel, and has now given them salvation. Joshua says that God is on Earth, but that the Amulet will no longer help find him. God, he says, doesn't want to intervene anymore in the Apocalypse.
Joshua returns Sam and Dean to Earth, with their memories of what they have learned intact. Castiel is devastated with the news of God's apathy, and returns the Amulet to Dean saying "It's worthless" before leaving. As Sam tries to offer hope to Dean that they can still defeat Lucifer, Dean leaves the motel room - dropping the Amulet in the wastebasket as he leaves.
Characters
- Sam Winchester
- Dean Winchester
- Castiel
- Zachariah
- Mary Winchester
- Ash
- Pamela Barnes
- Joshua
- God
- Walt and Roy – the hunters who kill Sam and Dean
Definitions
Music
Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan - Played during Dean's first memory (4th of July fireworks with Sam) immediately after he is killed. This song was also used in 2.13 Houses of the Holy
Brain Damage by Pink Floyd
Quotes
Dean: Go ahead Roy, do it. But I'm gonna warn you, when I come back, I'm going to be pissed.
Dean: Yeah.
Sam: OK, how are we in heaven?
Dean: Lot of clean living, I guess.
Sam: No, no... You, I get. But me, maybe you haven't noticed but I've done a few things.
Dean: You thought you were doing the right thing.
Sam: Last I checked, it wasn't the road to heaven that was paved with good intentions.
Ash: Pretty much. A few people share. Special cases. Whatnot.
Dean: What do you mean special?
Zachariah: I'm in a meeting.
Joshua: I'm sorry, I need to speak to those two.
Zachariah: Excuse me?
Joshua: It's a bad time, I know. But I'm afraid I have to insist.
Zachariah: You don't get to insist jack squat.
Joshua: No, you're right. But the boss does. His orders.
Zachariah: You're lying.
Trivia & References
This is a reference to the process of watching the film "The Wizard of Oz" and the Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon" together, often under the influence of drugs , when they are said to appear to correspond to each other when played in sync. There has been much debate, whether this is true or not, and whether it was intentional on the part of Pink Floyd. The process of watching the film with the Pink Floyd album on is called Dark Side of the Rainbow, in reference to the famous song from the movie "Over the Rainbow" and the rainbow on the album cover.
- Dean remembers setting off fireworks with Sam on 4th of July 1996. He would’ve been 17 and Sam 13. Dean says “they burned the field down.”
- Sam’s memory of Thanksgiving with a school friend’s, a girl called Stephanie, family occurs when he is 11.
- Dean remembers comforting his mother after a fight she has with John, that led to John moving out for a few days. Sam has been born, and so Dean is four.
- Sam ran away in Flagstaff and spent two weeks on his own, and befriended a dog he called Bones.
- The final memory for Sam is of the night Sam left for Stanford. (2001)
Dean: Okay, thanks Carol-Anne.
Ash explains that everyone has their own “heaven”, and at the centre of all of them is “the garden”. Most people can’t leave their own “heaven”, although Ash has worked out a way to do so.
Other people Ash has met in heaven are Johnny Cash, Andre the Giant, Einstein, Pamela and Mallanāga Vātsyāyana who wrote the Karma Sutra.Ash has rigged a PC to monitor Angels as they speak Enochian, by using string theory. String theory is related to quantum physics, and may in fact be the key to the theory for everything. You need to be really really smart to understand it.
Walt Disney, and many working at the Disney studuios during the 30s and 40s were purported to be anti-semetic
This is a reference to the popular quote "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
Minutiae
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
Promotion
- Episode titles 5.11-5.16 from spoiler tv
- Casting Call - note episode title name change from spoiler TV
- Chad Lindberg tweets about his casting, and from the set
- Casting spoiler from Fancast
- Samantha Smith comments on their spot on Facebook
- Episode synopsis from SpoilerTV
- Promo pics
- Teaser clips: One, Extended version of One, Two, and Three
- Episode promo
- Interview with Traci Dinwiddie