9.08 Rock and a Hard Place
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| Title | Rock and a Hard Place |
| Episode # | Season 9, Episode 8 |
| First aired | November 26, 2013 |
| Directed by | Johnny MacCarthy |
| Written by | Jenny Klein |
| On IMDB | Rock and a Hard Place |
| Outline | Sheriff Mills calls Sam and Dean about a case involving multiple missing persons and a church chastity group. To figure out what is taking the victims, Sam and Dean go undercover and become born-again virgins. |
| Monster | Vesta |
| Timeline | |
| Location(s) | Lebanon, Kansas Hartford, South Dakota |
| [[{{{prevep}}}|« Previous Episode]] | [[{{{nextep}}}|Next Episode »]] | |
Contents
Synopsis
Honor locks up at her diner job, handing leftover food to Slim, a homeless man. Suspecting danger, she hides under her SUV, taser in hand, when a figure lifts the car. Striking her with a burst of blue flame, Honor's body is then dropped down a manhole.
In the Bunker, Sam appears more tired than usual, but insists he's not sick. Dean gets a call from Sheriff Jody Mills, who reports four abducted people, a pastor, an engaged couple, and Honor, and an eyewitness who saw the kidnapper lift a car. All the missing people are members of the Good Faith Church. Driving to the diner, the Winchesters interview Slim, who claims a figure covered in blue fire lifted the car and then vanished with Honor.
The Winchesters next visit Good Faith Church, where they feign interest in joining the congregation. Bonnie assures them that, despite the recent disappearances, the church is safe, and admits that she and the missing people all participated in the chastity group Abstinence Purifies Us. Sam and Dean ask to join the group, assuming a dragon must be hunting virgins, and make vows of chastity.
Sam and Dean attend a prayer meeting, led by Suzy Lee, where Sam admits that none of his sexual encounters ended well, and Dean gives a graphic description of the sex he's supposedly signed off of. Afterwards, Dean insists he's seen Suzy from somewhere, and when she volunteers individual counseling, Dean insists on walking her to her apartment. Meanwhile, Sam questions Tammy, another member of the chastity group, about Honor.
At the hotel, Sam informs Jody that Honor had slept with Pastor Fred. Jody in turn reveals that the engaged couple had had pre-marital sex, and were kidnapped two hours later in a flash of blue light. All of the victims broke their chastity vow. Jody points out that Sam looks ill, and that she enjoys church after mourning Bobby Singer and nearly being killed by Crowley.
At Suzy's apartment, Dean ignores Sam's phone calls in order to seduce Suzy, though he stops when she starts crying and asks him to pray with he for her missing friends. Afterwards when Suzy leaves the room, Dean discovers a DVD of Casa Erotica 28 starring Carmelita aka Suzy, and gets nervous around her. She discounts her old porn star life, but Dean praises her, and tells her she doesn't have to be embarrassed. Touched, she begins flirting with Dean, and once he realizes what is happening they embrace and begin kissing.
Down in the sewers, Honor injures her ankle and discovers the other missing church members slowly starving to death. A blue flame lights the room, and Pastor Fred vanishes and is heard screaming in the distance.
Dean kisses Suzy goodbye, but they are engulfed in blue flame and dumped into the sewer with the others. Fortunately, Dean keeps a spare cell phone sewn into his coat, and he manages to call Sam. However the signal underground is weak, and Sam can only make out a few words and the sound of a train in the background. One of the church members considers giving Honor to the monster to buy everyone else time, but Dean quickly quashes that idea.
Sam points out to Jody that Dean hasn't answered his phone in an hour. They arrive too late to Suzy's apartment, where they find everyone gone, the furniture smashed, and the porn DVD on the table, and conclude that Dean and Suzy must have had sex and been subsequently kidnapped. Jody finds an article on the goddess Vesta, who kept virgin servants but buried them alive should they break their chastity vow, and was often seen enveloped in a blue fire that she could use to maim, disorient, or kill.
Jody quickly deduces that Dean must be at an old farmhouse, and they set out to make a weapon. Vesta can be killed with oak dipped in virgin blood, so they visit Tammy. Thinking Sam and Jody are performing Satanic rites, Tammy refuses to give her blood, so Jody breaks her nose and takes the blood. Sam finds the sewer entrance at the farmhouse, but is knocked unconscious by Bonnie, aka Vesta, who then grabs Jody and straps her to a bloody table. Vesta monologues about having to pose as a Christian counselor to attract virgins, and when Jody tries to stab her with the blood-stained oak stake, Vesta snatches it away and slams it into Jody's chest. Sam awakens, wrestling Vesta away, but when she tries to eat him she recoils, saying Sam is so physically damaged he shouldn't even be alive. Jody pulls out the stake and kills Vesta, just as Dean manages to unbolt the sewer lid from the inside and climb out.
At the hotel, Jody leaves with her arm in a sling, and Sam voices his concern about his own physical health. Dean waves it off as after-effects of the trials, but when Sam becomes convinced that he is permanently damaged, Dean attempts to confess about the angel possession. Before he can go far though, Ezekiel surfaces, and warns Dean to say nothing to Sam, lest he eject the angel and die. Sam resurfaces, and Dean assures him that, whatever's wrong with him, they'll fix it.
Characters
- Sam Winchester
- Dean Winchester
- Sheriff Jody Mills
- Ezekiel
- Vesta aka Bonnie Fuschau
- Suzy Lee
Definitions
Music
None
Quotes
Jody: Wha... angels? You're joking!
Sam: "Purity pledge"?
Bonnie: It's a commitment to your virginity.
Sam: You really think you're gonna hit that? Dean, she's the chastity counselor.
Jody: I'm sor-- dragons? Those are a thing?
Jody: Born again?
Sam: Yeah.
Jody: Oh, Sam. I don't make promises I can't keep. It's just...I enjoy church. I mean, after... after Bobby, Crowley... I needed something that made sense to me -- you know, comfort, I guess.
Sam: I guess we're all looking for that.
Dean: I don't know. Why don't you ask me that in Spanish?
Suzy: ¿Eres un chico malo?
Trivia & References
- Kato is the partner of the Green Hornet, who was most famously played by Bruce Lee.
Jody: I think we need the real McCoy here, Sam.
- The real McCoy is an idiom used to denote something as real or genuine.
- Lindsay Lohan is an actress with lots of problems, who has begun to fade into obscurity.
Minutiae
Jody: Yeah. You bite your tongue, boy.
- A reference to Jody's disasterous near fatal blind date with Crowley in 8.23 Sacrifice.
- Sam is referring to the phenomenon commonly know as "Sleep with Sam Winchester and Die!" due to the fact that many of his sexual partners end up dead. For more information see Peen of Death.
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
Promotion
- Title and character spoilers by SpoilerTV
- Promo
- Sneak peek
- Promo pics by ksitetv
- Listen to Winchester Radio's discussion of this episode
