Bunker

File:Bunkerbytara.jpg

View from the upper balcony. Pic by Tara Larsen.

It is warded against any evil ever created. It is the supernatural mother lode. If knowledge is power, then this is the most powerful place on Earth. – Larry Ganem, 8.12 As Time Goes By

History

The Men of Letters Bunker is located in Lebanon, Kansas. Here they stored their collected knowledge "every object, scroll, spell ever collected for thousands of years under one roof...the safest place on earth, warded against any evil ever created.". The key to this place is in the Box.

The Bunker took three years to build and was completed in 1935. The style of architecture and decoration in the Bunker is Art Deco and WPA style. The Men of Letter's crest, the Aquarian Star appears as a motif, such as in the floor tiles, and on the telephones.

It is built betwene a WPA power plant that sits along a river and which supplies its power. source.

In 1935, Peter Jenkins and James Haggerty are the first of the Men Of Letters to be based there. The disappearance of [{Dorothy]] and The Wicked Witch of the West inside the bunker is the second case dealt with in the Bunker.

Inside the Bunker

The door to the bunker opens onto a balcony surrounding a large circular room containing a ham radio, telegraph and switchboard. There is also a chess board. Leading of this room is a large library, full of books and weapons, and an extensive card file. At one end the far end is a large telescope.

When they first arrive, Dean refers to the bunker as the Batcave referring to the secret lair where Batman did his research and kept his weapons. Sam and Dean find the facility has power, running water and sleeping quarters. Somewhere off these main spaces is a full kitchen, which Dean uses to show off his culinary skills, as well a shower which Dean reports as having good water pressure. They also install a small fridge in the library.

• Photos from the set by S.E. Hinton

There is also a firing range in the bunker Room 7B contains archived material. Two of the shelves push back to reveal a dungeon with a large Devil's Trap, and manacles engraved with spellwork.

The Bunker contains a garage where many vintage vehicles, including several motorcycles, one of which is Dorothy Baum's are still stored. After its discovery, Dean stores the Impala here.

• Bunker Floorplan - actual production plans for the Bunker

Detail of the floor.

Dean's Bedroom

The features of Dean's bedroom.

I haven't had my own room... ever. I'm making this awesome. I've got my kickass vinyl. I've got this killer mattress. Memory foam--it remembers me! And it's clean, too. There's no funky smell. There's no creepy motel stains. – Dean Winchester, 8.14 Trial and Error

Dean takes great delight in decorating his bedroom in the bunker. He buys a copy of Led Zeppelin's first self-titled record to add to the collection of presumably left by the Men of Letters, which include Howard McGhee, vol. 2 and Nat King Cole Sings for Two in Love. Dean has also bought a memory foam mattress for the bed. Dean mounts his weapons on the wall, including the axe he found in Purgatory, and places a photo of himself and his mother which he carries in his wallet, on the desk.

Trivia: The photo of young Dean and Mary was made by graphic designer Mary-Ann Liu, it was done by manipulating a photo of Samantha Smith as Mary with an actual photo of Jensen as a child.

Visitors

People aside from Sam and Dean who have visited the bunker:

• Prometheus
• Hayley and Oliver
• Charlie Bradbury
• Castiel
• Kevin Tran
• Crowley
• Ezekiel
• Dorothy Baum
• The Wicked Witch of the West

Behind the Scenes

The design was overseen by John Marcynuk and Jerry Wanek. Jerry describes some of the background and detail in the bunker :

"Because the Men of Letters were well-versed in everything from physics to astrology and the occult, they needed a power base. So I thought if they piggybacked off a WPA power station, that would license to have an art deco theme throughout the bunker... What started off as a bunker we adapted into a sanctuary, that has a working laboratory and a huge library. We have a shooting range and a storage area with a dungeon behind it as well as bedrooms and an observatory with a telescope."

• The map on the wall is marked with every city Sam and Dean have visited. Jerry Wanek said "I know it doesn't make sense for the Men Of Letters to have this but we did it as a nod to our fans and our writers."

• The war room is inspired by the one in Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove. "All these gauges signified something at some time, but now we'll never know. We have a old teletype, a reel-to-reel tape deck and old phones. We are historically accurate but it also has to have a sense of design and versatility."

• There are hidden symbols in the frieze around the library, plus sigils and devil traps above the bookcases. At the bottom is a bronze devil trap. At every doorway there is a symbol which would be the next line of defense is a demon broke in.

• The library bookcases and columns are on wheels to make it camera-friendly.

• The Staircase was originally used in Crowley's torture chamber in season seven.

• Detailed photos of the set by Clarissa of ScreenFad

Episodes

The exterior façade of the Bunker.

8.12 As Time Goes By

In 1958 Abaddon, one of the Knights of Hell, was sent by party or parties unknown to kill the members of the group who were gathered in Normal, Illinois. They were gathered for the initiation of Henry Winchester and Josie Sands. Abaddon killed David Ackers and Ted Bowen, and blinded Larry Ganem. After Henry bursts through to find out what was happening, Larry, crawls up to Henry and entrusts him with the Box, which contains the key to the Bunker. She then went on to burn down their quarters before following Henry through the portal created by his blood spell. Sam visits Larry Ganem, the other survivor of the incident, who tells Sam about the Bunker, and gives him coordinates to it. He tells Sam to lock it forever to keep it out of the hands of the demons.

Abaddon, possessing Larry's wife kills Larry and captures Sam. Abaddon then calls Dean for a trade between Sam and Henry and the Box. During the trade, Henry shoots Abaddon in the head with a bullet that had a Devil's Trap carved onto it. This immobilizes Abaddon which allows Dean to cut her into pieces. After Henry's death, Sam and Dean decide to find out if the bunker is still intact.

Sam and Dean doing research in the library.

8.13 Everybody Hates Hitler

Sam and Dean follow the coordinates provided by Larry, and find the underground Bunker, which they are able to enter using the key inside the box. The boys are stunned at what they find, with everything perfectly preserved. Sam is thrilled at the rich store of information contained in the bunker, although Dean is initially dismissive of its worth. While Dean is visiting Kevin, Sam researches the Men of Letters and their networks. During this he discovers the Judah Initiative, and finds out that a member, Rabbi Bass, recently died in what is reported as a case of spontaneous combustion. The boys leave to investigate.

After the case the boys return to the bunker, and Sam immediately starts entering information from the Thule Society's red ledger on the index cards. As Dean pours them each a scotch, he asks whether Sam is becoming a Man of Letters. Sam considers but doesn't reply. "Good," says Dean. And silently they toast each other.

8.14 Trial and Error

Sam and Dean have completely moved into the Bunker as their new home and Dean sets up his own room, excited as he hasn't had a room of his own for most of his life. As Sam researches in the library, Kevin Tran calls saying he has something important and Sam and Dean leave to meet with Kevin.

8.16 Remember the Titans

Sam and Dean stay at the bunker while waiting for word from Kevin on cracking the next trial. During that time, Sam hides the fact that he is coughing up blood as a side effect of doing the trials. After reading in a magazine about an apparent zombie in Great Falls, Montana, Sam and Dean leave to investigate.

After finding out that it is actually Prometheus, Sam and Dean bring him and his ex-girlfriend Hayley and their son Oliver back to the bunker for protection. While there, they search through the Bunker's books for information on Zeus and find the journal of an ancient Greek hunter named Dracopolis who trapped Zeus and learned how to kill him. After learning how to trap and summon Zeus, the group leaves the bunker to get the ingredients and break the curse.

After everything is over, Sam and Dean return to the bunker and Dean prays to Castiel to look after Sam who he knows is not doing as well as he is trying to pretend. Castiel does not respond or appear.

8.17 Goodbye Stranger

While looking through the Bunker's artifacts, Dean finds the Spear of Destiny, a porn magazine and, unknown to him, the Key to Oz. Sam finds a case where people who die across the Midwest have burns on their hands and feet along with their organs being liquefied causing Sam and Dean to leave and investigate.

8.20 Pac-Man Fever

After the second trial takes a major toll on Sam, he and Dean return to The Bunker to rest. While Sam wants to go hunting for the missing Kevin Tran, Dean doesn't believe he is ready and proves it by having Sam shoot at a target on the Bunker's shooting range and miss the target completely. Charlie Bradbury contacts them with a case and they learn that The Bunker blocks a cell phone from being able to be tracked despite the fact that they can make and receive calls inside it. Charlie comes and introduces them to a case where the victim's insides have been turned to "jelly." After Charlie proves herself on the shooting range, she and Dean leave without Sam who eventually heads out to work on the case himself.

After finding a second victim and learning that the bodies have been burned, the three return to the Bunker to research what could be doing this. Eventually, Dean discovers in John's Journal that it is a "bastard off-shoot" of a djinn. Charlie heads out to supposedly get food, but when she doesn't return, Sam and Dean follow her using the GPS in her cell phone. They later briefly return to try to figure out who the Djinn responsible is and leave after figuring out that it is Jennifer O'Brien and where she is keeping Charlie.

After Jennifer and her son are killed and Charlie is rescued, the three return to the Bunker and Charlie leaves the next morning. Charlie is invited back to go through the archives anytime she wants and Dean embraces Sam and finally agrees to go looking for Kevin with him.

8.21 The Great Escapist

While at the Bunker, Sam and Dean receive an email from Kevin Tran containing a video message stating that he's probably dead or will be and that he's sending them his notes and translations on the demon tablet. Sam and Dean go through the notes, trying to figure out the third trial, but are unable to. However, Sam finds a symbol appearing repeatedly in the notes that belongs to Metatron, the angel who wrote the tablets. After remembering seeing it in one of his Stanford classes, Sam looks through one of the Bunker's books on Native American lore and finds that the symbol belongs to a tribe in Colorado that has managed to hold onto their land through everything and is supposed to be gifted by God's Messenger. Realizing that this could lead them to Metatron himself, Sam and Dean set off to follow the lead.

8.22 Clip Show

Sam and Dean look through the Bunker's files on demonic possessions for any clues on how to cure a demon. Their supplies of food are also running low and Castiel is staying with them as he recovers from the wound Crowley gave him. Sam and Dean find that there are files on every possession for 300 years up until the time the Men were destroyed. Sam finds a file numbered 1138 that has a note saying to look in Room 7B and that it's "weird!!!" In the room, along with a film, they find the Bunker's dungeon. The film was taken by Josie Sands and is of a new type of exorcism performed by two priests, Father Max Thompson and Father Simon. The exorcism fails and interested, Sam and Dean track down Father Simon to ask about it while Castiel later leaves to get supplies in an attempt to get back in Dean's favor.

After getting Father Thompson's records, they return to the Bunker and listen to the tape of his last attempt at curing a demon two days before he died. The attempt succeeded and now knowing how to do it from the tape and Father Thompson's notes, Sam and Dean leave to put back together Abaddon to cure her.

After everything is over, Sam and Dean return to the Bunker and Sam suggests they accept Crowley's deal to turn over the tablet and give up the Trials as innocent people are dying and they have no demon to cure though they now have the method. Dean, however, is determined to finish the job.

8.23 Sacrifice

At the Bunker, Sam and Dean get a call from Crowley who is killing Jody Mills demanding their surrender in exchange for sparing her life. After they make a deal, the two leave the Bunker.

Sam and Dean send Kevin Tran to the Bunker for safety and Dean and Castiel return to the Bunker to try to get the third trial to close the gates of Heaven using the angel tablet. Kevin is later called by Dean and reveals that he can't find anything on the "trials" that they were doing and tries to leave the Bunker. However, before he can leave, the Bunker's map of the world lights up and alarms go off as all around the world, angels fall.

9.02 Devil May Care

Returning to the Bunker with Crowley, Dean is shot at by a panicking Kevin. Kevin explains that after the angels fell, the Bunker locked down, which included blocking cell phone signals. Opening the Bunker from the outside seems to break the lockdown and Crowley is locked in the dungeon, left in the darkness to consider helping them hunt down the demons on Earth. After finding massive demonic omens, Sam and Dean leave to check them out while Kevin remains behind.

As Kevin goes over the angel tablet in the Bunker, he gets a call from Dean to get him to cover for his and Sam's FBI cover with a military sergeant which he does through blackmail. Looking through the file room attached to the dungeon, Kevin is taunted by Crowley and beats him up in revenge for being tortured by Crowley. Crowley tempts Kevin to set him free and flee the Bunker together by promising the location of his mother and claiming that the Winchesters will just use Kevin and discard him.

Returning to the Bunker, Sam and Dean find Crowley still locked in the dungeon and he offers a deal in exchange for helping them with the demons on Earth. Finding Kevin getting ready to leave, Dean convinces him to stay by telling him that he is family now and the Winchesters would do anything to protect him. Sam and Dean later sit in the main room discussing the current situation.

9.03 I'm No Angel

Sam goes on a run and to get food without Dean ever knowing he's gone, surprising him when he returns. While discussing Sam straining himself after being so badly affected by the Trials, Ezekiel takes control to tell Dean that Sam is feeling better and that he is slowly but successfully healing him. Ezekiel reveals that a faction of angels are after Castiel and after Ezekiel gives up control, Dean tells Sam this and they start searching for him.

After Castiel is rescued from a rogue reaper, he returns to the Bunker with the Winchesters, but Ezekiel warns that he must leave as he is too dangerous to have around with angels searching for him as even with the Bunker's protections, they won't survive a full angel incursion. As Ezekiel will leave Sam and flee if Castiel stays and this means a death sentence for Sam, Dean is forced to tell Castiel to leave the Bunker.

9.04 Slumber Party

The Bunker's car garage.

In 1935, after the Bunker is finished, James Haggerty and Peter Jenkins settle in but quickly grow bored with nothing to do. After some time, Dorothy Baum arrives with The Wicked Witch of the West, trying to find a way to kill her using the Bunker's files. The three are unable to find anything and the Witch escapes and possesses Jenkins, forcing Haggerty to kill him. Dorothy then casts a spell to bind herself and the Witch to stop her and her plans. Haggerty spends the rest of his career trying to find Dorothy and stop the Witch and his efforts are recorded in the Bunker's files.

In 2013, Sam discovers that the map table is connected to an ancient computer and he and Dean call in Charlie Bradbury to hack the computer and use it to try to find the location of all the angels in the world. Dean accidentally knocks over the bottle containing Dorothy and the Witch and they are freed. Charlie downloads all of the information in the computer and the three then discover Dorothy who explains what happened. Sam, Dean, Charlie and Dorothy team up to hunt down the Witch who is still in the Bunker trying to get the Key to Oz which the Men of Letters had somehow gotten into their possession and was now in Dean's room after finding it while doing inventory. Using poppy seed extract bullets, the four are able to fight, but not defeat the near-invincible Witch. Eventually Charlie figures out that the Oz books were written by L. Frank Baum to leave clues for his daughter Dorothy and the two find Dorothy's motorcycle still in the Bunker's garage even after over 75 years. In the motorcycle, they find the Ruby Slippers which Dorothy figures out can be used to kill the Witch. While Dorothy distracts a possessed Sam and Dean, Charlie kills the Witch with the Slippers and stops her from bringing her army to Earth through the door to Oz which she opened with one of the Bunker's doors. With the crisis over, Dean moves the Impala into the Bunker's newly-discovered garage and Dorothy and Charlie travel to Oz to free it from the forces of evil.

Behind the Scenes

View from the main war room into the library. Pic by Tara Larsen.

The reveal of that [bunker], which I believe is in the next episode…it’s a really stunning set. It's full of mysteries [and] it'll become kind of a home base for the boys. We’re really excited about it. After eight years of never really having a home base, this will be home base for quite some time and I think you guys will really dig the set. It's really cool. They'll go to great pains to keep that hidden. It's also kind of impenetrable. We've had places like this before [ie. Rufus' cabin]. They need a place, not just for us to have a set to shoot on, but I think that the boys need a place where they can decompress, have their bromance. When you see this set you realize they have lots of room to move around and there's lots of really cool things in there. Adam [Glass, the episode's writer] came up with this idea and we really latched on to it immediately. It's a very expensive set and we’re going to be using it [a lot]. – Bob Singer, Source

When Adam Glass brought the Men of Letters into his episode it was the opportunity to give [the Winchester brothers] a really, really cool atmosphere-rich kind of space for them to be in and Jerry Wanek has done a beautiful job making it real. – Ben Edlund, Source

When Edlund first sat down to write the language to make the set become real he said that he:

Kind of got really prosey in the scripts because I was just so excited to do it I had to limit myself. It started out unproduceable and then we scaled it back. At one point it was constructed as ‘an echo of the Axis Mundi’ and it actually was a mini-universe underground that had all of these spiral staircases. But this is just gorgeous. I made something that was unshootable and Jerry made it something incredible. – Ben Edlund, Source

Trivia

• Lebanon Kansas where the bunker is located is the geographic centre of the contiguous lower 48 states of the United States.