7.23 Survival of the Fittest

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Title Survival of the Fittest
Episode # Season 7, Episode 23
First aired May 18, 2012
Directed by Robert Singer
Written by Sera Gamble
On IMDB Survival of the Fittest
Outline Dean convinces Castiel to join them in their attempt to kill Dick.
Monster Dick Roman
Leviathans
Crowley
Timeline Immediately after 7.22 There Will Be Blood
Location(s) Whitefish, Montana (Rufus's Cabin)
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Synopsis

Dick knows that Dean and Sam need Crowley's blood for the Leviathan-killing bone. He believes that Crowley has hidden some away in case of emergency and the two begin to work out a deal together. He offers Crowley and his demons control over Canada while the Leviathans will keep the U.S., plus they will leave the demons alone in exchange for betraying the Winchesters, giving them the blood of another demon rather than his own blood. Crowley accepts and hands Dick an extremely long contract, specifying the terms and conditions of their pact.

Meanwhile, the brothers are looking for the bone of a righteous person and, while driving, catch a report on the radio about Dick being at SucroCorp. Following a joking idea from Dean, they break into a nunnery crypt and find a nun that they think fits the bill of being a righteous person and start to remove her bones from her crypt. Back at Dick's office, he and Crowley finish going over their contract and sign it.

Sam and Dean go back to the cabin and perform a ritual to summon Crowley there. However, he does not arrive. Meg shows up instead, along with Castiel. Dean goes outside where Cas is waiting and tries to talk with him, but he starts to speak about testing on animals. He finally snaps out of it and informs the brothers that the angels in his garrison have been wiped out and that Kevin Tran is missing. Just then, Crowley teleports in and, after threatening Cas and Meg and realizing that Cas is now insane, gives Sam and Dean a vial filled with blood. They ask why he came late and he responds that Dick captured him and made him a deal. He insists, however, that he lied to Dick about accepting his offer and that the blood in the vial really is his. He then goes away, but not before promising to get Meg after all is said and done. He also informs them that Castiel could be very helpful in killing Dick, but Castiel denies knowledge of what Crowley is talking about.

Bobby, in the meantime, has bought a machete and tries to steal a truck, while still in Louise's body. He accidentally touches some iron and is pushed out of the maid's body, but repossesses her when he spots a newspaper article about Dick and becomes enraged again. At SucroCorp, Dick tells Susan to fetch "the arm" from a freezer and Kevin tries to get out of the room that he's been locked up in. A Leviathan lab tech brings a young girl in and orders her to have a seat. She introduces herself as Polly to Kevin, but otherwise remains silent, under the influence of the Leviathan-tainted corn syrup.

The Winchesters finally mix the three bloods of the fallen and pour the mixture onto the nun's bone they stole. Nothing happens and they realize they have no way of knowing for sure whether it will work or not. Cas returns with ham sandwiches for the brothers, careful not to use ingredients poisoned by the Leviathan, and insists that he cannot go with them to kill Dick.

Susan brings Dick a case and informs him that the "delegates" are on their way. He then opens the case and takes out a severed arm...belonging to the real Richard Roman. Dick and Susan go to greet the delegates while Kevin starts picking the lock on the door with a pin. He gets out, then notices Dick and the delegates having a meeting. Dick explains to his fellow Leviathans his plan to take over the entire U.S. and has the lab tech bring in Polly. He demonstrates a new dairy creamer additive he's created that kills skinny humans, whose trait of being thin is not preferred by Leviathan for food. It also breeds out other undesirable traits. It's injected into Polly, who throws up and dies. Kevin heads towards the exit, but before he can escape, he is re-captured by Susan.

Outside, Dean and Sam hack into the surveillance cameras using a trick they learned from Charlie Bradbury. They spot Dick on the camera in the conference room still talking to the delegates. Then they check another camera and see Dick in another office. When they check a third camera, they see Dick walking in a hallway. They realize that he has had a bunch of Leviathans take his form to confuse them. All of a sudden, Louise arrives in a pick-up truck and Sam recalls that she's the maid from the Buffalo Hump motel they stayed at near the Alpha vampire's lair. He figures that it's Bobby and goes after him. Bobby tries to kill Sam by choking him, but sees his reflection in a window and stops himself. He disappears and the brothers take Louise to a hospital.

Back at Rufus's cabin, Meg criticizes them for not taking care of Dick and Sam explains that more Leviathans morphed into Dick's form in order to protect the original. Cas once again says he can't help them and Dean gets angry at him, telling him to clean up his mess. Cas teleports away, then comes back with a game of Twister. Meg points out that, since Cas was the Leviathans' original vessel, he can tell which of them is the "real fake Dick Roman." That night, Bobby reappears and requests that they burn his flask to prevent him from becoming a vengeful spirit. The boys oblige and Bobby moves on.

Later, Dean finally convinces Cas to accompany them and tells him the plan. Dean also alludes to Castiel that he has forgiven him for all he did.

The following day, they begin to execute the plan. Meg drives the Impala through a SucroCorp sign to call attention and acts as a distraction while the others attempt to infiltrate the building. Sam splits up from Dean and finds Kevin, who informs Sam that they must blow up the laboratory containing the creamer. Dean and Cas find the real Dick, who thanks Cas for getting him out of Purgatory and then throws him across the room. Dean stabs Dick in the chest, but he is not affected by it. Dick taunts them, only to have Castiel pull his head back so Dean can stab him through the neck with the real weapon.

Just as Sam and Kevin arrive, Dick starts to pulsate an aura around him as he dies. With an explosion of black goo, Dick is gone, only to reveal that Dean and Cas have disappeared as well. Crowley and two demons appear and take Kevin, leaving Sam entirely alone.

Elsewhere, Dean and Cas find themselves in a dense, dark forest. Cas tells Dean that they are in Purgatory before promptly disappearing, while Dean stands surrounded by glowing eyes.

Characters

Definitions

Music

(plays during "The Road So Far" recap of events; also played in 1.21 Salvation, 2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two, 3.16 No Rest for the Wicked, 4.22 Lucifer Rising, 5.22 Swan Song, and 6.22 The Man Who Knew Too Much)
  • "Vincent" by Don McLean
(playing on the radio when Dean finds Cas in the car)
  • "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf
(plays during the Impala's return)

Quotes

Dean: Well... let's bone this nun.

[Sam makes a face.]

Dean: Sorry.
Sam: We should call Castiel.

Dean: Dude, on my car, he showed up naked, covered in bees.

Sam: Yeah, I am not really sorry I missed that.
Crowley: You know what I like about you?

Dick: Lack of pretension?
Crowley: You're smarter than you look.

Dick: Oh now you're just flirting.
Dick: We need America. They're so fat.
Castiel: How important is lipstick to you Dean?
Dean: Not very.
Meg: (to Dean) Go ask him, he was your boyfriend first.
Dick: Oh, eat up. The sushi's made of fresh orphan.
Dean: So, what's it feel like?
Bobby: What? Going vengeful? It's an itch you can't scratch out. Look... I'm done. Go get Dick. But don't do it 'cause you think it'll scratch the itch. Do it 'cause it's the job. And when it's your time... go.
Bobby: Here's to running into you guys on the other side. Only... not too soon, all right?
Dean: Yeah, but you know what? Bottom of the ninth, and you're the only guy left on the bench... Sorry, but I'd rather have you, cursed or not. And anyway, nut up, all right? We're all cursed. I seem like good luck to you? [Castiel stares at Dean.] What?

Castiel: Well, I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I detect a note of forgiveness.

Dean: Yeah, well, I'm probably gonna die tomorrow, so...
Castiel: So, can I ask, the plan?
Dean: Well, according to Crowley, Dick knows we're coming. So we're gonna announce ourselves, big.

Trivia & References

The title of the episode "Survival of the Fittest" is a phrase commonly used to refer to the idea that in evolution, the organisms best suited to their environment will survive.
Dick: The blood of one sadly unimpressive demon in New Jersey. All I ask is that you give it to Frick and Frack, tell them it's yours, stand back, and let them come to me.
Frick and Frack is a term used to refer to two people who are closely linked in some way. Its origins date back to a Swiss comedy ice-skating pair.
Dean: Look, did you come here to, uh, donkey-punch your old grudges or to help us end Dick? Pick a battle.
A donkey punch is a sex act, where the back of the head of the receiving partner in sex is punched, supposedly causing a tightening of the muscles.
Dean: Shut up, Meg.
This could be a reference to the cartoon series Family Guy, in which Peter Griffin often uses the line on his daughter Meg. Watch a compilation of the running gag here.
Meg: Nice. You scared off the Empire's only hope.
This a reference to the Star Wars movie The Empire Strikes Back. When Luke leaves his training with Yoda prematurely, the spirit of Obi Wan says to Yoda: "That boy is our last hope." However, in Star Wars, Luke is the hope of the Rebellion, rather than the evil Empire.

Minutiae

This is the last episode to be written by Sera Gamble. Sera had been with the show since the beginning - her first episode was 1.03 Dead in the Water with Raelle Tucker and she had written 29 episodes in total. Sera took over as showrunner in season 6 after the departure of Eric Kripke. Returning writer Jeremy Carver took over as showrunner in season 8.
This is the first season of Supernatural to have 23 episodes. Every other season to this point had 22, except season 3 which had 16 due to the Writers' Strike.
The original working title for the episode was "Get Dick".
Proud of Supernatural, SPN Finale, Impala, Purgatory, Survival of the Fittest and GetDick all trended on Twitter leading up to and during the finale.
One of the radio announcers heard talking about Dick Roman is named Lawshe, a reference to Michael Lawshe who is supervising sound editor on the show.
This episode marked the return of the Impala after an absence of 17 episodes. She was last seen in 7.06 Slash Fiction, when Frank Devereaux advised the boys to change cars to avoid the police and the Leviathan. She had just been given a new engine fit-out in real life. Jim Michaels posted this video of the car afterwards.
According to VFX I/O Coordinator Adam Williams, the "gorilla-wolves" that Dean and Castiel first encounter in Purgatory were visual effect models made for the Leviathans that they ultimately decided not to use, and re-purposed as "gorilla-wolves."

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

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