5.18 Point of No Return

Title	Point of No Return
Episode #	Season 5, Episode 18
First aired	April 15, 2010
Directed by	Phil Sgriccia
Written by	Jeremy Carver
On IMDB	Point of No Return
Outline	Dean begins to think the only way to stop Lucifer is to say "yes" to Michael, but the angels decide they don't need him anymore. Dean, Sam and Castiel are horrified at the angels' new game plan and take on Zachariah to prevent an all out war on Earth. Meanwhile, a familiar face returns.
Monster	Zachariah
Timeline
Location(s)	Sioux Falls, South Dakota Van Nuys, California
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Synopsis

The episode begins with Zachariah in a bar, drinking and complaining about "work" with another patron. After a few minutes, Zachariah’s “boss” comes to visit, burning out the eyes of the people in the bar and shattering all of the glass. Zachariah is given another chance to do something, and he leaves singing.

Dean is in a hotel packing up some of his important belongings, including his gun, keys, and leather jacket. Sam comes in, and talks to Dean about running away. Dean tells Sam that he won’t be able to stop him when he’s not on demon blood, but Sam brought backup: Castiel.

The boys appear at Bobby's house. Sam and Bobby try to convince Dean to wait longer before saying yes to Michael. Bobby tells them that he thinks about giving up every day, but doesn’t because of the promise he made to Dean. Castiel gets a vision of something about to happen, and disappears.

Castiel shows up in a wooded field, where he is attacked by a couple of angels with angel blades. After killing them, he pulls the body of Adam Milligan out of the ground.

Back at Bobby’s, Castiel brands Adam’s ribs with the same Enochian symbols that Sam and Dean have on theirs, hiding them from all angels. Sam and Dean tell Adam that they are all brothers, and they learn that Adam was resurrected by angels to be Michael’s vessel. If Adam agreed to be Michael's vessel, the angels would bring his mom back. Castiel says it is because the angels have given up on Dean. Sam tries to convince Adam to stay, saying he will if he has a single good memory of their father. He stays, but makes it clear that the only family to him is his mother.

When Adam has a lapse in watchers, he tries to escape. Sam finds him before he leaves, and talks to him about John. Adam doesn’t find this reassuring, and tells Sam how he would have taken a father of any form. He tries to console Adam, telling him that he and Dean would have tried to find him if they knew they had a brother.

Dean is being kept in Bobby's panic room. Sam and Castiel come down to talk to him. Dean says he won’t let Adam become Michael’s vessel, that they have let so many people die already. He wants to be who he was meant to be. Sam asks him to stop sacrificing himself for a minute and try to stick together. Dean can’t because he doesn’t believe in Sam. He is sure that Sam will turn and eventually be convinced to say yes to Lucifer. Dean has to say yes to Michael to be there to fight Sam when it happens.

Sam leaves, and Castiel goes to check on Dean. He hears a crash inside the panic room, and calls out to Dean. Once he’s entered, Dean puts his hand to an angel banishing sigil, sending Castiel away and giving Dean time to escape. Sam finds out and heads off to find him, leaving Bobby in charge of watching over Adam.

While Adam sleeps, Zachariah visits him in his dream. He tells Adam that he won’t be able to see his mother yet, and that he knows that Sam and Dean are bad news.

Dean meets a preacher on the street and asks him to pray to the angels and tell them where Dean is. Castiel hears this prayer, knocks out the preacher, and beats Dean up in an alley. He is angry that Dean would be willing to surrender to the angels after he has rebelled for Dean. He zaps them back to Bobby’s, where we learn that Adam has disappeared into thin air. Castiel figures out that he must have told the angels where he was in a dream.

In the Green Room, Zachariah speaks to Adam about how he is not the vessel of Michael, and he is just the bait to lure Dean there. When Adam confronts him about lying and seeing his mom again, Zachariah makes him cough up blood.

Back in Bobby’s panic room, Sam un-handcuffs Dean from a cot. He tells Dean that Adam has been taken by angels, and they need to get him back. Castiel has figured out that Adam is in the green room, and it is guarded by five angels. Sam tells Dean that he is bringing Dean along, trusting him to do the right thing when the time comes and not say yes to Michael. Castiel tells Sam and Dean that the green room is in Van Nuys, California. Castiel is to head into the abandoned warehouse in which the room is located, and he will fight off the angels, giving Dean and Sam time to get Adam. Dean notes that Castiel taking on five angels alone is basically suicide, and Castiel says he would rather face it than Dean failing (or saying yes).

Inside, Castiel kills an angel and is surrounded by the four others. He drops his blade and tells them to come get him. While they rush in, he reveals an angel banishing sigil he has carved onto his chest. He is banished, along with the four angels, and Sam and Dean can access the green room. Dean finds Adam on the floor in the green room. Adam, after his surprise that Dean came for him, tells him it is a trap. Zachariah appears, and Sam tries to stab him from behind. Zachariah throws Sam to the ground and makes Adam fall to the floor and cough up blood again. He does this to Sam as well, telling Dean there was no other choice. Dean asks him to stop, and says he will in exchange for Dean saying yes.

Zachariah calls Michael down from Heaven with an Enochian chant, and Dean says that he has some conditions first, including Michael wasting Zachariah. After sharing a look with Sam, Dean stabs Zachariah through the mouth with an Angel Blade, finally killing him. He gets Adam up, and rushes to help Sam out of the green room before Michael arrives. But as soon as Sam and Dean pass the threshold, the door slams shut, locking Adam in. Back on the road, Sam asks Dean why he changed his mind about saying yes. Dean explains that Sam had faith in him, and he couldn’t let Sam down. Dean says screw destiny and they will keep on fighting.

Characters

• Sam Winchester
• Dean Winchester
• Castiel
• Bobby Singer
• Adam Milligan
• Zachariah
• Michael

Definitions

• Alcohol
• Angel Banishing Sigil
• Angel Blade
• Angel Lore
• Angel Wings
• Back to the Future
• Bobby's Hats
• Bobby's Panic Room
• Deals and Pacts
• Dean's Leather Jacket
• Enochian
• Green Room
• Resurrection
• Sammy
• Sedation
• Singer Salvage Yard
• Unconscious
• Vessel

Music

• "The Man Upstairs" by Kay Starr

(plays in the jukebox when Zachariah is in the bar)

• "When the Saints Go Marching In" by Kurt Fuller

(sung by Zachariah as he is leaving the bar)

Quotes

Sam: You’re going to kill yourself, right? It’s not too hard to figure out the stops on the Farewell Tour. How’s Lisa doing, anyways?

Dean: I’m not going to kill myself.

Sam: No? So Michael’s not about to make you his Muppet? What the hell, man? This is how it ends? You just... walk out?

Bobby: What the hell happened to you?

Dean: Reality happened. Nuclear’s the only option we have left. Michael can ice the devil, save a boatload of people.
Bobby: But not all of them. We gotta think of something else.

Dean: Yeah, well, that’s easy for you to say. But if Lucifer burns this mother down, and I coulda done something about it, guess what? That’s on me.

Bobby: You can’t give up, son.

Dean: You’re not my father. And you ain’t in my shoes... What is that?

Bobby: That’s the round that I mean to put through my skull... Every morning, I look at it. I think, 'Maybe today’s the day I flip the lights out.' But I don’t do it. I never do it. You know why? Because I promised you I wouldn’t give up!

Sam: Look, Adam... You don't know me from a hole in the wall, I know. But I'm begging you. Please, just trust me. Give me some time.

Adam: Give me one good reason.
Sam: Because we're blood.
Adam: You've got no right to say that to me.
Bobby: You're still John's boy.
Adam: No, John Winchester was some guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. I don't have a dad. So we may be blood, but we are not family. My mom is my family. And if I do my job, I get to see her again. So no offense, but she's the one I give a rat's ass about, not you.

Sam: Fair enough. But if you have one good memory of dad, just one, then you'll give us a little more time. Please.

Adam: Great. You know, you pitched this whole dewy-eyed bromance thing, but the truth is, I'm on lock down, aren't I?

Sam: Adam, you may not believe it, but dad was trying to protect you. Keeping you from all of this.

Adam: Yeah, well, I guess the monster that ate me didn't get that memo.

Sam: Still, trust me. The one thing worse than seeing dad once a year was seeing him all year.

Adam: Do you know how full of crap you are?
Sam: What?

Adam: Really. You see, it was me and it was my mom. That's it. She worked the graveyard shift at the hospital. I cooked my own dinners. I put myself to bed. So you can say whatever you want about our dad, but the truth is, I would have taken anything.

Dean: I’m serious. I mean, think about how many people we've gotten killed, Sam. Mom, Dad, Jess, Jo, Ellen. Should I keep going?

Sam: It’s not like we pulled the trigger.

Dean: We might as well have. I’m tired, man. I’m tired of fighting who I'm supposed to be.

Zachariah: So you know you can’t trust them, right? You know Sam and Dean Winchester are psychotically, irrationally, erotically codependent on each other, right?

Dean: I said... before Michael gets one piece of this sweet ass... he has to turn you into a piece of charcoal.

Zachariah: You really think Michael’s gonna go for that?
Dean: Who’s more important to him now? You... or me?
Zachariah: You listen to me. You are nothing but a maggot inside a worm’s ass. Do you know who I am…after I deliver you to Michael?

Dean: Expendable.

Dean: Just...let me say this. I don't know if it's being a big brother or what, but to me, you've always been this snot-nosed kid that I've had to keep on the straight and narrow. I think we both know that that's not you anymore. I mean, hell, if you're grown-up enough to find faith in me…the least I can do is return the favor. So screw destiny, right in the face. I say we take the fight to them, and do it our way.
Sam: Sounds good.

Trivia & References

The episode title may be a reference to the album and song of the same name by Kansas -- "Point of Know Return." In Back to the Future Part III, a windmill is used as a landmark and referred to as the "point of no return" in their planned trip back to 1985. Doc Brown explains it as, "That is our fail-safe point. Up until there, we still have enough time to stop the locomotive before it plunges into the ravine. But once we pass this windmill, it's the future or bust."

Adam: Well, I was dead and in Heaven. 'Cept it—it uh, kinda looked like my prom and I was making out with this girl, her name was Kristin McGee.

Kristin McGee is a personal trainer of yoga, Pilates and fitness, and has released a number of DVDs.

Adam: They said the fight might get pretty hairy, but it is the devil, right? So we got to stop him.

Sam: Yeah, but there's another way.
Adam: Great. What is it?
Dean: We're working on the power of love.

Possibly a reference to the Huey Lewis and the News song of the same name. This would be another Back to the Future reference in this episode.

Bobby: Where’s Cas?

Sam: Blown to Oz.

Reference to the Land of Oz, which can be accessed through being blown away by a tornado.

Dean: The beautiful room is in an abandoned muffler factory in Van Nuys, California?

Castiel: Where’d you think it was?
Dean: I—I don’t know. Jupiter? A blade of grass? Not Van Nuys.

This may be a reference to the "Jupiter and the Infinite Beyond" segment of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Adam: What? We gonna hop in the Family Truckster? Pop on down to Wally World?

This is a reference to the film National Lampoon's Vacation, where the Griswold family load up for a cross country trip in a green station wagon called the Family Truckster and drive to Wally World.

Minutiae

This is the hundredth episode of Supernatural. It started filming the first week in February 2010. On Saturday January 30th, the cast and crew of Supernatural celebrated the 100th episode of the series, which was about to begin filming, with a party in Vancouver.

At the beginning of the episode, Dean's motel room has 100 on the door. It is at Mike's Travel Inn in Cicero, Indiana. It is likely a reference to this episode being the 100th for the show.

Dean's goodbye letter^S5Com:

Sam and Bobby—

Given what's about to happen, I'll be surprised if this package ever finds you. But if it does, I want you both to know that what I'm doing isn't about giving up. John taught us better than that. This is about time. We've run out of it.

Left the Impala in Cicero. Where I'm going, we don't need roads. I know you'll look after her for me. Bobby—you've taken more for the team than anyone could ever ask. That makes you an honorary Winchester in my book.

Sam. You told me once that you pray every day. Not sure if that's still true. Probably isn't, but if it is, give it one last try for me. And Sammy—one Winchester lost to this fight is enough. When it's over [...]

The second paragraph contains the line "Where I'm going, we don't need roads." This is a reference to the last line of the movie Back to the Future. When Doc Brown prepares to travel to October 21, 2015, with Marty McFly and Jennifer Parker, he says, "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads."

Bobby: That's the round I mean to put through my skull. Every morning, I look at it. I think, "Maybe today is the day I'll flip the lights out." But I don't do it. I never do it. You know why? Because I promised you I wouldn't give up!

Bobby is referring to comments Dean made in 5.07 The Curious Case of Dean Winchester:

Dean: You don't stop being a soldier 'cause you got wounded in battle. No matter what shape you're in, bottom line is you're family. I don't know if you've noticed, but me and Sam, we don't have much left. I can't do this without you. I can't. So don't you dare think about checking out. I don't wanna hear that again.

Dean: Cas, not for nothing, but the last person who looked at me like that... I got laid.

This line was taken by fans as a shout out by the writers' to the Dean/Castiel shippers. Even the review in Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch blog said of the line: "...and Cas/Dean ’shippers’ heads exploded."

Zachariah's line about Sam and Dean being "erotically co-dependent" was likewise taken as a shoutout to Wincest.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

• 5.18 Point of No Return (Transcript)

Promotion

• Interview with Eric Kripke
• Interview with Jake Abel and Kurt Fuller by Examiner
• Episode Title
• Plot Spoilers from Ausiello
• Plot Spoilers from Ausiello
• Plot Spoilers from Ausiello
• Casting Spoiler from Ausiello
• Episode Synopsis from SpoilerTV
• Promo Pics
• Promo
• Sneak Peek

Episode Meta

• 5.18 Point Of No Return: When Push Shoves, You’ll Make The Right Choice by bardicvoice (April 2010); archive link, spn-heavymeta
• Bond, Silvia. 2010. Faith in the Atmosphere: "Point of No Return: Season 5, Episode 18. Pink Raygun, April 20; archive link, spn-heavymeta
• Chan, Suzette. 2010. Supernatural Talk: Tarts talk about SPN 5.18: Point of No Return. Sequential Tart, May 31; archive link, spn-heavymeta link