‘Supernatural’ Recap: ‘The Trap’

Written by Juanita ‘Obi-Juan’ Bonner

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

If you could move the clock forward and see the future, how far would you go? Just like tarot cards, would every move you make thereafter change the outcome? Well, this isn’t tarot cards! It’s Supernatural and God (Rob Benedict) is a frustratingly spoiled fanboy who bends the rules where and when he sees fit. However, the point is, there’s still rules!! And as we see in The Trap, Chuck needs certain rules to be broken for him to leave the Supernaturalverse of this Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) behind. We also get to see a reconciliation between Dean and Cas (Misha Collins) that’s been a long time coming. For better or worse, before you can say “Leviathans’ aren’t florists” (LOL!), let’s dive in, shall we…
​
Picking up in the casino from ‘Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven’, Sam and Eileen (Shoshannah Stern) are each tied to a chair facing one another. Already a tense scene, we learn that Eileen has been God’s puppet all this time. What!!! Horrible news, am I right? Chuck admits that he and Sam are connected through the gunshot wound, keeping him from leaving earth. So, not only is he weakened by this wound, but it has bound him to Sam thereby binding him to this earth. Tricky little rules, eh!? And more so, the wound is festering with hope. Yes, hope! Sam, ever the optimist, believes that they will defeat God and win! But Chuck has other plans. After using Eileen to dig into the wound with a scalpel, because the assbutt is too chicken-bleep to do it himself, Chuck realizes it’s not working. He then uses time, specifically, future time, to wear Sam down. Like Sam, in the beginning, I thought, “No way! This won’t work!” However, what we see in the future through a series of four scenes culminating with Sam and Dean being hunted by their own, is shocking. Devastating even!! We learn that all the Wayward Sisters are dead except Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes). No! Just. NO!! Cas has been locked in a Ma’lak Box after going crazy from the Mark of Cain. WHAT!?! And to top it off, Sam and Dean are now vampires! #WTF!!! Hence the hunting by their own kind in the fourth scene on December 9, 2022. The worse part is seeing Jody shoot Sam before Dean attacks and kills her while alternate universe Bobby (Jim Beaver) brings a machete down on a fallen Sam’s head. WHOA!! All the while, present day Sam watches. By the end, he’s clearly distraught. And so am I!! But Chuck’s not done yet. He divulges to Sam that without God, evil will prevail and the monsters will take over. Without God, they will NEVER win. **SIGH**

On the flip side, Dean is trying to reach Sam with no luck. Eileen dials Dean, while Chuck is focused on Sam, and sets it to speaker. YES!! However, Chuck realizes this and destroys her phone. Ugh, how many times can I say, “DAMMIT CHUCK!?!” Dean tracks Sam’s phone to the casino and is ready to hit the road and go in guns a blazing. Yep, me too Dean!! Cas stops him. Because. Purgatory!! The clock is ticking and without the Leviathan Blossom, they cannot perform the spell to trap Chuck. Man, it’s hard to think when you’re panicky and angry, but Cas is right! They wouldn’t stand a chance AND it’s not just Sam and Eileen they’re trying to save, but the whole world.

Purgatory doesn’t go as planned, of course!! After forcing a Leviathan, played by Tom Stevens who also played Will in 8.01: ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’, to show them where a Leviathan Blossom is, Cas can’t move due to an Angel trap surrounding the space where the Blossoms grow. By the way, they only grow at the site of a Leviathan’s rotting corpse and the process takes months. Huh, go figure! Then we hear a name not yet spoken this season or in quite some time. As described in my article The Supreme Beings of ‘Supernatural’: Angels, Demons and Gods, it’s Eve (Julia Maxwell)! – The Mother of All Monsters. WOW!! I can only assume those in Purgatory know what’s happening on Earth and were expecting someone would come looking for the Leviathan Blossom. During a scuffle, Dean is knocked unconscious and, because he killed Eve’s alphas and swallowed her Leviathans, only Cas is taken. But why? Dean is the one who actually put the nail in Eve’s coffin, so to speak. It stands to reason that Eve would obviously LOVE to get her hands on the man who got the drop on her. HER! THE MOTHER OF ALL THINGS SUPERNATURAL taken down by a measly hunter! 

---

Also, it doesn’t make sense that the Leviathans don’t know who Dean Winchester is, right? And while I’m asking questions… we saw Benny (Ty Olsson) in one of Sam’s visions during ‘Atomic Monsters’, so I expected to see him in Purgatory. However, he’s explained away by a Leviathan in just a couple sentences. Killed by his own kind. Is this really true? Finally, the rift is left unattended for nearly 12 hours. Did, or rather, can anything else slip through? All interesting things to ponder, hmmm? Coming to, Dean makes his way through Purgatory, seemingly looking for Cas while heading towards the rift. We then see one of the most heart wrenching scenes of the season. Possibly even the series!! Dean is a bit frantic. Upset that Cas is gone and that time is running out. He stops and wearily looks around. Resting his hand on a tree, he prays to Castiel. As he tells Cas he forgives him for everything, he admits his anger freely and completely. This is HUGE for Dean, am I right!?! He drops to one knee and as his tears flow, so do mine! To see him this distraught is heartbreaking. At the same time, it’s beautiful to know that after all these years of me getting upset with him over his anger, that he actually knows how bad it can be. He truly knows!! **SIGH**
​
Nearing the rift, Dean finds Cas, a bit worse for wear, sitting against a tree. OMC!! I thought Dean was going to have to leave Cas in Purgatory – AGAIN!! However, Cas gave himself up then once he spotted a Leviathan Blossom, fought his way free before reaching Eve. Whew!! TOGETHER, they make it back to the bunker and perform the spell. Having it collected in a ceramic sphere Cas notes that because he will take the Mark of Cain, someone else must break the sphere. Wait! Can I just say that I had truly had no idea THIS spell is the one that puts The Mark on Cas? WHOA!! The future scene doesn’t say how Cas got The Mark. Was this explained before… at all?? They race to the casino and after they enter, Eileen, under the force of God, attacks Dean from behind. Cas tackles her then Chuck appears. Dean punches Chuck. YES!!! It doesn’t end well, but hey, he got to punch GOD right in the face… lol! Cas then rolls the spell filled sphere to Sam. Dean tells him to smash it.

But wait!! Sam can’t. God did it – He broke Sam freaking Winchester!! Sam falls hopelessly to his knees dropping the sphere which rolls directly at Chuck’s feet. And in one fail swoop, the wounds heal, Chuck crushes the sphere to dust and then reveals that Sam’s visions of the brothers fighting each other to the death were memories. Memories of other Sams’ and other Deans’. WHAAAAT!!! Holy cow, that totally makes sense. It also explains Benny a bit more. Chuck insists, that just like the other brothers, this Sam and Dean will end the same. Dean angrily stands up to God one last time telling him they won’t give in. God smirks and says, “We’ll see,” then disappears. WOW!

Back at the bunker, Eileen says good bye to Sam. I don’t want her to go, but she’s right! She doesn’t know what’s real and what isn’t. Before she leaves, Sam kisses her then says, “I know that was real.” Dammit, I thought I was done crying!! After, Sam regroups with Dean and Cas as they ponder their next move and boy do things look grim! Fade to black. Truly black. The Empty!!! We see Jack (Alexander Calvert) and Billie (Lisa Berry) behind him simply says, “It’s time.” Again I say, there’s still rules!! YES!!!!!! And I thought this episode was going to end on a somber note!! I mean. As far as midseason openers go, The Trap had me screaming and crying at my TV more than once, but it still ended with hope. However, it was full of tense #WTF moments eclipsed by tear jerking and moving scenes, and that means my statement to “buckle up” from the previous review was spot on!! Wouldn’t you agree? Let me know in the comments below or reach out to me @obi_Juanita on Twitter. Until next time… Go Team Free Will?  

---