Recap / Supernatural S 08 E 19 Taxi Driver

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Recap of Supernatural
Season 8, Episode 19

Taxi Driver

Dean sent me.

I ain't exactly the retiring type, so if you idjits figure out a way to spring me...

—Bobby to Sam about an afterlife in Heaven

Written by Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner.

Directed by Guy Bee.

Air Date: April 3, 2013.

On Garth's houseboat, the Fizzle's Folly in Warsaw, Missouri, Kevin calls Sam and Dean after he starts having terrifying visions and hearing Crowley in his head. Sam and Dean tell him these are stress-induced hallucinations from working on translating the half of the demon tablet. Kevin has managed to translate the second trial they need to complete to close all the Hell Gates: an innocent soul must be rescued from Hell and released to Heaven.

Sam and Dean summon a crossroads demon and torture him until he reveals that rogue Reapers can take people and souls out of Hell. Sam and Dean find one of these rogue Reapers in Kansas City, Missouri, named Ajay. Ajay says he was the Reaper who took Bobby Singer and, because of interference from Crowley, Bobby was Rerouted from Heaven to Hell instead. Sam insists on going to Hell alone to rescue Bobby, despite Dean's objections, and they strike a deal with Ajay.

Ajay takes Sam to Purgatory, and tells Sam how to find a secret portal into Hell. He tells Sam to meet him back at this spot in exactly 24 hours. Dean checks in on Kevin and brings him a burger and fries. Crowley shows up in the back seat of the taxicab Ajay is driving. Ajay tells him he helped get Sam into Hell and that he should be back in 17 hours. Crowley then kills Ajay with an angel blade.

Sam traverses Purgatory, dispatching a vampire on the way, and finds the portal to Hell. He passes souls begging for help to find Bobby in a cell. Bobby initially does not believe it is really Sam, but then helps Sam to kill demons as they escape Hell. A demon pretends to be Sam, but Bobby stabs the demon with Ruby's knife. Bobby and Sam make it through the portal into Purgatory.

Kevin is under so much stress he hides his half of the tablet and refuses to tell Dean where this half of the demon tablet is. Naomi shows up on Garth's houseboat and tries to convince Dean to help her find Castiel, but Dean remains suspicious of her. Naomi does tell Dean that Ajay's secret route to Hell includes a detour through Purgatory. Dean goes to find Ajay, and finds him dead in his taxi. Dean realizes Sam is likely stuck in Purgatory.

Dean calls Benny, and asks him for a big favor. Benny agrees to letting Dean behead him so that Benny will die and go to Purgatory, where he can help Sam escape. Meanwhile, three monsters attack Bobby and Sam in Purgatory. Sam manages to behead two of them while Bobby struggles with the third. Suddenly, Benny appears and rips out the throat of the monster attacking Bobby. Bobby raises his knife to stab Benny, but Sam stops him and explains that Benny is Dean's friend. Bobby is disturbed by the idea of Dean being friends with a vampire, but follows Benny, who leads them to the human portal out of Purgatory.

At the portal, Sam and Bobby cut their arms, and while holding the wounds near each other, Sam recites an incantation, which causes Bobby to transform to a glowing light and enter the wound in Sam's forearm. Before Benny can follow suit, three vampires arrive. Benny takes on the vampires, using himself as bait to allow Sam to escape through the portal with Bobby. Sam finds Dean waiting on the other side of the portal in the Hundred-Mile Wilderness of Maine. Sam tells Dean how Bobby helped save them. Sam then cuts his arm and says another incantation, which causes Bobby's soul to pour out of the wound on his forearm as a bluish light that starts to rise in the sky.

Bobby's souls stops its ascent and turns into a red-black cloud. Crowley then appears to the Winchesters, intent on pulling Bobby's soul back to Hell. When Sam and Dean try to stop this, Crowley telekinetically flings them against two different trees, leaving them pinned against the trunks. Naomi then appears, but before she can smite Crowley, he disappears. Naomi then releases Bobby's soul so it can continue to ascend to Heaven. Naomi disappears after telling Dean he can trust her. Sam then recites the Enochian phrase which must be said after each trial, and his arm glows with a reddish light as he collapses from pain.

Back on Garth's houseboat, Kevin is painting wards in red paint on the windows while hearing Crowley whisper threats. Suddenly the windows shatter and Crowley appears. Crowley says he tortured Kevin's mother, Linda Tran, and when she would not tell him where Kevin was, Crowley killed her and took the information off her cell phone. Kevin screams as the scene fades out. Later, Dean and Sam arrive at the houseboat and find it empty with the windows intact. They believe Kevin has freaked out and is on the run.

Body Count:

For this episode = 1 reaper, 4 vampires, 2 demons, and 1 human.

For the series so far = At least 887 humans (of which 7 were witches), 132 demons, 59 angels, 50 vampires, 48 ghosts, 36 Jefferson Starships, 20 gods, 19 zombies, 10 hellhounds, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 shapeshifters, 5 werewolves, 4 ghouls, 4 Leviathan, 3 djinn, 3 dogs, 2 Amazons, 2 arachnes, 2 kitsunes, 2 reapers, 2 rugarus, 2 Thule, 2 vetalas, 1 crocotta, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 familiar, 1 Khan worm, 1 lamia, the Mother of All, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shojo, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 Titan, 1 wendigo, 1 whore of Babylon, and 1 wraith.

Tropes

• All in the Eyes: Ajay looking at Crowley in the rear-view mirror.
• An Arm and a Leg: In the teaser we see Kevin lose his hands and then his legs, while he is left standing on stumps in a pool of blood, but it's a hallucination.
• Anchovies Are Abhorrent: Ajay offers Crowley a slice of his pizza that has extra anchovies.
• Antiquated Linguistics: Use of archaic and poetic language in prophecy is lampshaded by Kevin.
  Kevin: "Unto". That's—that's how God talks.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: After everything Dean has seen in his long career of fighting supernatural entities, he dismisses the possibility that Crowley is reaching Kevin through his mind out of hand, despite having had angels visiting his own dreams. It seemingly comes back to bite Dean when Crowley tracks Kevin down and kidnaps/kills him, although it's not entirely clear whether Crowley's actions really happened or if they were just another of Kevin's hallucinations. It's confirmed as a real kidnapping in "The Great Escapist" (S08, E21).
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Bobby is Put on a Bus to Heaven.
• Asian and Nerdy: Dean calls Kevin a "little geek".
• Attack Hello: Bobby greets Sam by punching his rescuer in the face, assuming it's a trick meant to torment him. "And I'm Elvis!"
• At the Crossroads: Sam and Dean summon a demon at a crossroads surrounded by a huge devil's trap.
• Back for the Dead: Benny returns to rescue Sam and Bobby from Purgatory, and chooses to stay behind. It blends with Put on a Bus, since Benny is not permanently destroyed and it's been established in previous episodes that escape from Purgatory is not impossible.
• Back from the Dead: Lampshaded by Bobby.
  Bobby: I already said goodbye to you once, Sam. It didn't seem to take. No reason to think I won’t see you again somewhere down the road.
• The Bait: Benny uses himself as bait to allow Sam to escape Purgatory with Bobby.
• Bald of Evil/Beard of Evil:
  • The crossroads demon with his goatee and bald head.
  • The vampire that attacks Sam in Purgatory is sporting a similar look.
• Big "NO!": Kevin's reply when Crowley says he killed Kevin's mother.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Naomi tries to get on Dean's good side. She highlights her role in rescuing Castiel from Purgatory, while not mentioning brainwashing Castiel by having him kills hundreds of Deans.
• Black Eyes of Evil: The homeless man.
• Blatant Lies: Naomi claims that Castiel simply misunderstood her orders to get the Angel Tablet at any cost, causing him to attack Dean. She doesn't mention she'd been conditioning Castiel to kill Dean.
• Blood Magic: Sam and Bobby cut their forearms and hold the bleeding wounds next to each other to perform the ritual that allows Sam to transport Bobby out of Purgatory.
• Bumper Sticker: Ajay's cab has a bumper sticker that reads "How's my driving? Call 1-555-GO2-HELL"
• The Bus Came Back: Hey, Bobby!
• Border Crossing: Sam asks Ajay if a coyote like him can get them into Hell.
• Catchphrase:
  • When Sam tells Bobby they are in Purgatory, Bobby says "balls!".
  • Bobby calls Sam and Dean "idjits".
  • Crowley says, "Hello, boys."
• Celestial Bureaucracy: Naomi does not take kindly to being called a bureaucrat.
  Crowley: Bureaucrat! You're fighting outside your weight class.
  Naomi: Don't call me a bureaucrat.
• Cessation of Existence: Despite all Bobby has seen, he evidently did not imagine having an afterlife of his own.
  Bobby: I always figured that’d be the end of it. A hunter's funeral, zip, nothing. And I was okay with that.
• Clean Cut: Sam beheads the vampire in one swing.
• Closet Shuffle: When Dean goes to check on Kevin, he finds Kevin hiding in the closet whose door is covered in wards, because he believes it the safest place from Crowley.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Dean pouring holy water on the trapped crossroads demon.
  Crossroads demon: [through his teeth] I ain't got nothing. Bite me.
  Dean: Well, how about another owie?
• Conspicuously Public Assassination: During the daytime, Dean beheads Benny and loads his body in the truck of the Impala, leaving a pool of blood in an alley next to a busy street in downtown Kansas City with people standing on the sidewalk and walking by.
• Continuity Nod:
  • The Crowley in Kevin's head reminds Kevin how he cut off Kevin's finger in "A Little Slice Of Kevin" (S08, E07).
  • Kevin says Garth is on a case or at the dentist, recalling Garth's revelation that he had been a dentist and killed the tooth fairy in "Southern Comfort" (S08, E06).
  • Dean asks the crossroads demon, "What happened to the hot chicks?" Dean's crossroads demon was a beautiful woman in "Crossroad Blues" (S02, E06), "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part Two" (S02, E22), and "Bedtime Stories" (S03, E05). Bobby also got an attractive female crossroads demon in "Weekend at Bobby's" (S06, E04). Sam summoned another male crossroads demon in a flashback in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (S04, E09).
  • Sam tells Ajay they burnt Bobby's bones and that should have been the end of the story. In "Survival Of The Fittest" (S07, E23), they burnt Bobby's flask and saw his spirit burst into flames, after he joked about them joining him in Heaven, but not too soon.
  • Crowley seems really upset with how Sam killed his hellhound in "Trial and Error" (S08, E14). He brings this up again while talking to his assistant and previously brought it up in "Goodbye Stranger" (S08, E17).
  • Bobby is surprised to hear Dean spent a year in Purgatory, but is even more surprised to hear Sam did not go looking for Dean. His reaction to their "agreement" not to look for each other recalls Dean's reaction in "We Need to Talk About Kevin"(S08, E01).
  • Dean tells Benny that he will find the portal, and ride out of Purgatory with Sam, just like he did with Dean in "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (S08, E01).
  • Sam recites the same phrase after this trial as he did after the first trial in "Trial And Error" (S08, E14). His hand again glows red as he is overcome with pain.
  • Dean brings Kevin food from Biggerson's Restaurant, which seem like an odd place to patronize given their experience in "How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters" (S07, E09).
• Conveniently Interrupted Document: Crowley claims his half of the tablet is not as useful as Kevin's half. Crowley claims his half contains acknowledgements and "about the author". Considering that the tablet is the Word of God, his speech also qualifies as Rage Against the Heavens.
• Cosmic Plaything: The Reaper took Bobby to Hell. Despite Bobby being "on the good side of things" he didn't go to "the penthouse" because of Crowley, the King of Hell.
• Danger Takes a Backseat: Crowley appears to Ajay in the back of his cab. After interrogating him about the deal he made with the Winchesters behind his back, he kills Ajay.
• Dark Is Evil: When Crowley appears to Kevin on the houseboat, he snuffs out one of the candles.
• Deadpan Snarker: Dean.
  Dean: Purgatory, right? A real garden spot, ain't it?
• Deliberately Monochrome: The color desaturation in the Purgatory scenes give them a washed-out look.
• Dies Wide Open: Ajay.
• Disposing of a Body: Dean buries Benny's body instead of burning his body, leaving the door open for Benny to return from Purgatory.
• Dramatic Wind: The wind from the portal blows Sam's hair back.
• Dual Wielding: Sam with Ruby's knife and a Purgatory blade.
• Enemy Mine: Despite Sam's distrust of Benny, he keeps Bobby from stabbing Benny and acknowledges Benny has been a good friend to Dean.
• Evil Virtues: Crowley, self-admittedly evil, states that he has no virtues. He's wrong though, since he exhibits:
  • Ambition: He has played a centuries-long game to ascend to becoming the King of Hell, started the quest for unlocking the souls of Purgatory, and has other goals for the demons far into the future.
  • Diligence: While he delegates a lot of tasks to his underlings, he has no reservations about doing the hard work himself if he has to or if he finds them incompetent for the job.
  • Honesty: He demands that his demons keep their words about the deals they make with mortals and not break the contract by killing the humans years ahead of schedule, although this has as much to do with maintaining "consumer confidence" as with having integrity.
  • Loyalty: He is not prone to a Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, and doesn't betray those he makes alliances with. He especially calls out Castiel for doing just that in the sixth season finale.
  • Patience: As stated above, for centuries he's been ascending in the demonic hierarchy and waiting until enough of his superiors had died out that he could assume command of Hell himself. In the series he's decidedly less patient (and even admits so), but that's only due to the Winchesters working at such a fast rate that their actions require immediate responses.
    Crowley: Patience isn't one of my virtues. Well, I don't have any virtues, but if I did, I'm certain that patience wouldn't be one.
  • Responsibility: He is in command of all of Hell's forces, and fights for the demons' interests as well as his own. Examples include helping lock up Lucifer again so he can't wipe out the demons and trying to prevent Sam and Dean from closing the Gates of Hell.
• Face Death with Dignity: Benny.
  Benny: You just make sure you tell Dean I said goodbye. I was never any good up there anyway.
• Face Framed in Shadow: Both Crowley and Kevin get this treatment in the candlelit scene on the houseboat.
• Fake Action Prologue: Kevin awakens to Crowley whispering his name and is then torn apart by Crowley, but it is only a vision Kevin had.
• Fantastic Racism: Bobby does not accept that "his Dean" could be friends with a vampire.
  Sam: He's a buddy of Dean's, Bobby.
  Bobby: A buddy.
  Benny: A good buddy.
  Bobby: A friggin' vampire. Well, you two really went off the rails while I was gone, didn't you?
• Fate Worse than Death:
  • The crossroads demon feels Crowley will dream this up for him because he betrayed Crowley to the Winchesters.
    Crossroads demon: Now kill me. Come on, man. Better death than Crowley.
  • The souls Sam passes in Hell. We see a woman covered in blood with her hair torn out and a pentagram carved in her forehead chained to the wall, who tells Sam she is innocent and asks for his help. We see a man blinded by a metal ring inserted through his eyes who is calling for "Eddy". A woman (who looks undamaged, but is behaving quite creepily) in a cell who believes Sam is the person she has been praying to come for her.
• The Ferry Man: Rogue Reapers.
  Crossroad demon: Rogue Reapers. They got secret ways in and out. Not just Hell—the Veil, Heaven.
  Sam: Rogue Reapers smuggling people?
  Crossroad demon: People, souls...
  Sam: So, what, they're like Hell coyotes?
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: No fire or lava, but there is a dungeon décor with tortured souls.
• Forgets to Eat: Dean is worried about Kevin and unable to help Sam, so he brings Kevin burgers and fries and cooks him bacon and eggs. He might have also thought these would be better meals then Kevin's fried hot dogs.
• Frying Pan of Doom: Kevin answers the door holding a frying pan.
  Dean: Would you put the frying pan down, please?
• Geometric Magic: The devil's trap at the crossroads and on the ceiling.
• Give Me a Sword: Sam tosses the Purgatory machete he took from the vampire to Benny before Benny faces the monsters and allows Sam to escape through the portal.
• Glowing Eyes/Power Glows: Naomi's eyes and right hand glow white, but Crowley disappears before she smites him.
• Go into the Light: Sam takes the Reaper's hand and steps into blinding white light to travel to Purgatory.
• Handshake Refusal: Naomi offers her hand to Dean, who backs away.
• He Didn't Make It: When Dean asks Sam if he got Benny out, Sam replies, "Only Bobby".
• Hell of a Heaven: Bobby is not anxious to go to heaven.
  Sam: Well, I guess if there has to be an eternity, I'd pick Heaven over Hell.
  Bobby: Yeah, cause there's nothing screwy up there.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Benny.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Sam drops Ruby's knife and ends up killing the vampire that attacks him with the vampire's own Purgatory-style machete.
• Holy Burns Evil: Dean pours holy water on the crossroads demon.
• Holy Hand Grenade: Naomi says she is scared because Castiel has the angel tablet, and says he has a "hydrogen bomb in his pocket".
• Hunter of His Own Kind: Benny.
  Benny: You know, I'm a disgrace to my own people.
• I Am the Noun:
  Crowley: What you people never seem to understand is that you are NOTHING. Fleeting blips of light. I. Am. Forever.
• If We Survive This: Dean tells Benny they are going to fix how alone Benny has felt when he gets back.
• In the Back: Crowley stabs Ajay in the back.
• It's a Small World, After All: The first cell Sam walks into in Hell has Bobby inside, right down the hall from the portal to Purgatory.
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Dean explains this to Kevin.
  Dean: Look, man, other guys got it easy. It's all backyard barbecues and bowling teams. But you and me gotta carry a little extra weight.
  Kevin: I can't take it.
  Dean: Yes, you can. Hey, look at me. Now, this whole thing sucks, I know. But you suck it up and you push through, because that’s what we do. And when you get on board with that, the ride is a lot smoother. French fry?
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Benny allows Dean to kill him and returns to Purgatory because he knows how much Sam means to Dean.
  Benny: Hey, he's your brother. I say, let's do this.
• Just in Time: Despite having no idea where Sam and Bobby were supposed to meet Ajay in Purgatory, Benny arrives just as they are attacked by three monsters and manages to kill the monster attacking Bobby.
• Kill the Ones You Love: Dean reluctantly kills Benny so he can find Sam and lead him out of Purgatory.
• Life Energy: Bobby transforms into a red glow that enters the incision in Sam's arm.
• Madness Mantra: The woman in white Sam encounters in Hell says only, "You came. I knew you would. I've been praying for it forever." She's still saying it after he walks off.
• Madness Makeover: Kevin has Messy Hair, Exhausted Eye Bags, and has not shaved.
• Mad Oracle: The stress of translating the tablet seems to be affecting Kevin's mental health like it affected his physical health in "Trial And Error" (S08, E14).
• Magical Incantation:
  • Conjunti sumus, unum sumus. Roughly translates to "we are joined, we are one".
  • Solvo haec phantasmata in terram, et inde ad olympum. Roughly translates to "free this ghost of earth, and thence to Olympus".
  • The Enochian phrase after each trial: Kah-Nuh-Ahm-Dahr.
• Mangst: Benny apologizes for talking about his feelings.
  Benny: Cry me a river. Like you need to listen to this.
• Mama Bear: Even frightened out of his mind, Kevin does not believe his mother would give him up to Crowley.
  Crowley: There's always a way. If you can't find one Tran, find another. Your mom, she didn't want to give you up. Quite a pain threshold, that one. But even she could only take so much.
  Kevin: She never would have told you.
  Crowley: Moms are like that, aren't they?
• Man Hug: Bobby and Sam, Dean and Benny, and Sam and Dean.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Kevin is either being mentally tortured by the King of Hell or he is cracking under the stress of being a teenage prophet.
• Mind over Matter: Crowley flicks his wrist and Sam and Dean are thrown against tree trunks and held there.
• Mind Rape: Crowley to Kevin.
• Missing Mission Control: Ajay is not there to meet Sam and Bobby in Purgatory.
• Mistaken for an Imposter: Bobby thinks Sam is a demon pretending to be Sam.
  Bobby: [to Sam] Get the hell out of here, you black-eyed son of a bitch.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Benny and the other vampire in Purgatory.
• Mundane Solution: Kevin refuses to believe his mother gave up his location even under torture, so Crowley admits it's not true...they just killed her and traced him via her smartphone.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: Dean's plan to rescue Sam involves killing Benny.
  Benny: By "access" you mean getting beheaded?
• The Nicknamer: Crowley likes to give Sam nicknames based on his height and gives Sam a new one in this episode, "Winchester Jumbo-Size". Other nicknames in this line Crowley has used for Sam in the past include "Moose", "Jolly Green", and "Giraffe".
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Bobby ends up in Hell for Demon Slaying.
  Crowley: He's inflicted untold damage on my kind. From where I sit, actually, Hell's too good for him.
• Not Named in Opening Credits: Jim Beaver, who plays Bobby Singer, is not listed in the credits.
• Not Too Dead to Save the Day: Bobby does his part to complete the second trial, entering Heaven. Benny dies to enter Purgatory and rescue Sam and Bobby.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Naomi tries to convince Dean she's a warrior, like him. She certainly takes offense to Crowley labeling her as a bureaucrat.
• The Nth Doctor: In "Death's Door" (S07, E10), Bobby's Reaper was played by Henri Lubatti, while in this episode he is played by Assaf Cohen.
  • It's unlikely to be the same Reaper, though, given that Ajay is a rogue on Crowley's payroll.
  • We know Reapers can change their appearance, so it could well be the same one.
• Our Souls Are Different: When Sam cuts his arm, Bobby's soul appears as a ball of white and blue light. When Crowley catches him, this transforms into a reddish-black cloud.
• Portal Door: The door painted in the Generic Graffiti, which Ajay uses to travel to Purgatory.
• The Problem with Fighting Death: Bobby gets to find out what the result is of pissing off someone who has a say over the afterlife allotted to mortals, in this case, the King of Hell, by undermining his plans and killing his demons on a regular basis. After he dies again after having been a ghost, Crowley instructs a rogue Reaper to take Bobby's soul to Hell so he can have him tortured forever. Crowley intervenes again when the Winchesters try to release Bobby's soul to Heaven instead, but Bobby is saved by intervention from the angel leader Naomi, who's a tad higher on the cosmic scale.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Ajay "freelances" as a guide for souls and people, but his special skills are "pricey".
  Ajay: [to Crowley] Sir, I was just doing what I do. As you are more than aware, I do occasionally moonlight as a freelancer.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The crossroad demon's eyes flash after he appears.
• Reluctant Retiree: Bobby.
  Bobby: But if they give me a rocking chair up there, I'm raising hell.
• Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: Sam beheads the vampire and two other monsters in Purgatory. Dean beheads Benny.
• Rerouted from Heaven: The whole episode is about correcting this.
• Rescued from the Underworld: Subversion. Bobby is not resurrected, but his soul is rescued from Hell and sent to Heaven where he should have gone in the first place.
• Sanity Slippage: Kevin.
• Scream Discretion Shot: Happens to Kevin near the end where Crowley seemingly finds and abducts him, although it's not entirely certain if Kevin was just hallucinating and ran away on his own or if Crowley really did get him. The scene pulls out to an external view of Garth's houseboat under a full moon as Kevin's scream is heard.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Apparently Crowley can divert Heavenbound souls into Hell.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The crossroads demon tries to do this as soon as he sees Sam and Dean. Emphasis on "tries".
• Secret Path: Ajay takes Sam to Purgatory to get to a backdoor to Hell.
  Ajay: Whoa, whoa, Winchester, detach. This is Hell-adjacent. Been down this highway many times before. Follow the stream to where three trees meet as one. Where they meet, there are rocks. Between the rocks is a portal.
• Send in the Clones: Bobby is tortured in Hell by endless demons posing as Sam and Dean.
  Bobby: I'm sorry, Sam. But you're the 200th Sam I've seen today. That's how they screw with me, just endless Sams and Deans all wearing the same black eyes.
• Sharing a Body: How Sam gets Bobby out of Purgatory.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Averted Trope. As opposed to Dean and Sam, Bobby's time in Hell seems to have had little effect on him.
  Dean: So, uh, Bobby, how, how'd he hold up down there?
  Sam: He's good, all things considered. Ornery as hell, of course.
  Dean: As he should be.
• Shout-Out:
  • Ajay compares going to Heaven to an airline flight.
  Ajay: If you're on the King of Hell's no-fly list, no way you cruise the friendly skies.
  • Sam calls the portal to Hell "a rabbit hole".
  • When Sam tells Bobby he is Sam, Bobby doesn't believe him and says, "Yeah, and I'm Elvis."
  • Sam reveals Bobby is a fan of Tori Spelling.
• Sickening "Crunch!": As Kevin loses his limbs in the teaser.
• Something Only They Would Say: Sam convinces Bobby it is really him by revealing some of Bobby's embarrassing secrets, namely Bobby's love of Tori Spelling and pedicures.
• So Proud of You: Dean is proud of Kevin for translating the second trial.
  Dean: You...crazy prophet, you. Nice work!
• Soul Jar: Sam's arm for Bobby.
• The Soulsaver: Sam, with some help from Dean, Ajay, Benny, and even Naomi.
• Spot the Impostor: Subverted/Parodied. During Sam and Bobby's escape from Hell, a demon takes on Sam's appearance, and Bobby struggles to figure out which is the demon and which is the real one, until he kills one of them, and turns out to be right. When Sam asks him how he knew, Bobby admits that he just took a guess.
  Sam: You knew somehow, right?
  Bobby: Took a chance. [Sam scowls] Fifty-fifty. [Bobby shrugs]
• Stranger in a Familiar Land: Benny back on earth.
  Benny: I'm not a good fit, Dean. Not with vampires and, for sure, not with the humans. I don't belong. And after a while, that starts to wear on you.
• Supernatural Angst: Benny admits he does not fit in on earth as a Friendly Neighborhood Vampire. Dean has to kill his best friend to rescue his brother from Purgatory.
• Surprisingly Easy Mini-Quest:
  • Based on what we saw of Purgatory and heard about angels dying to get Castiel out, they were able to traverse Purgatory and find the human portal without much interference.
  • A Winchester breaks into Hell and steals a soul that Crowley diverted from Heaven because of how interested he was in seeing him suffer. This seems at odds with what we know about Castiel's rescue of Dean from Hell. There are several possible explanations for this discrepancy, but none are stated in-story.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Crowley is not impressed by his new assistant.
  Crowley: Something is going on. My hellhound has been killed. Winchester Jumbo-Size is trying to break into the mothership. And that prophet of theirs is madly translating away. Add it up!
  Assistant: I will, sir.
  Crowley: Where did we get you? Temp agency?
• Swirly Energy Thingy: The flashing blue human portal between Maine and purgatory.
• Teens Are Monsters: The fact that Kevin's youth may be contributing to his difficulties as a prophet and demon target is lampshaded by Naomi.
  Naomi: Kids. So cute when they're little. Then they turn into teenagers, and the party's over.
• Telepathy: Crowley invades Kevin's mind, talking in Kevin's head and making him see disturbing visions. Of course, it could all just be Kevin cracking from the stress.
• Teleportation: Ajay disappears in a flash of light after taking Sam to Purgatory.
• Tempting Fate: Dean tells Benny he will be waiting for him in Maine as soon as he gets topside.
• Terms of Endangerment: Naomi tacks on a "dear" when threatening Crowley. In "Goodbye Stranger" (S08, E17), it was implied that they once had an intimate relationship, but they are far from lovers now.
• Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Kevin looks for Crowley under his bed and in the closet in the teaser.
• This Is as Far as I Go: Ajay takes Sam to Purgatory and tells him where the portal to Hell is, but will not personally take him into Hell.
  Ajay: Smuggling a mortal across the border is risky enough, but gate-crashing a Winchester into Hell seriously blows.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Sam insists on going to Hell without Dean.
• The Three Trials: Trial #2 of 3.
• Throat Light: When Crowley stabs Ajay with an angel blade, and the three demons Bobby stabs on the way out of Hell.
• Through the Eyes of Madness: It is unclear if Crowley is really tormenting Kevin or if they are all stress hallucinations...at least, until Crowley shows up to take down Kevin at the end.
  Kevin: He's in my head.
  Sam: He's—in your head.
  Kevin: Do you know what that means?
  Dean: Yeah, it means we need to up your anxiety meds. Kevin, you're dreaming. If Crowley knew where you were, he'd do a lot more than mess with your head.
• To Hell and Back: Sam, seeking Bobby's soul.
• Torture Always Works:
  • The crossroads demon tells Sam and Dean about the rogue Reapers.
  • Subverted Trope in the account Kevin hears from Crowley about torturing Kevin's mother.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Kevin takes Dean's slice of pie.
  Dean: That's my pie.
• Trailers Always Spoil: Played with; the trailer for this episode had Bobby's back to the camera as he stood in his cell. Prior to the airing of this episode, that wasn't concrete evidence. However...
• Traveling at the Speed of Plot: Dean travels from Kansas City, Missouri, to the Hundred-Mile Wilderness in Maine, over 1,500 miles, between beheading Benny and meeting Sam when he returns, which is a 4-minute timespan in the episode.
  • At what point in the episode did it say that was how long it took for Dean to reach Maine? They never said how Purgatory time works...
  • Who says it was four minutes for the characters? What are the odds that the Hell portal and the human escape hatch portal are within a few minutes' walk of each other in a realm big enough to contain every monster who's ever died?
• Unmanly Secret: Bobby's love of pedicures.
  Sam: What about your free pedicure at The Mall of America? You made Dean swear to never tell another living soul how it changed your life.
• Vampire Bites Suck: Benny bites into the neck of the monster attacking Bobby, and then spits out a mouthful of blood.
• Vegetarian Vampire: Benny is sitting in his truck drinking donated plasma from a bag when Dean calls him.
• Villainous Rescue: Naomi stops Crowley from snatching back Bobby's soul, in an attempt to convince Dean she's on his side.
• Walk into Mordor:
  Sam: We wanted to cross the border—into Hell.
  Dean: Visitor's pass.
  Ajay: No one wants to get into Hell.
• Weirdness Search and Rescue: Benny once again guides a Winchester out of Purgatory.
• What You Are in the Dark: Before killing Ajay, Crowley asks if there's anything else Ajay feels like telling him. Ajay says no, despite not having told Crowley that Sam knows Bobby's in Hell and that he's the soul due to be rescued. Presumably Sam and Bobby would have had a much harder time escaping otherwise.
• Who You Gonna Call?: Kevin calls the Winchesters when Crowley invades his mind.
  Dean: What's with the SOS?
• You Shall Not Pass!: Sam manages to perform the ritual that will allow Bobby to pass through the portal with him, but monsters appear before he can do the same with Benny, who rejects Sam's offer of salvation in favor of buying Sam time.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
  • Dean tells the crossroads demon they won't kill him until he tells them everything.
  • Once Crowley is assured by Ajay that he has told him everything, Crowley stabs and kills him.
• You Owe Me: Ajay says that one day Sam and Dean will owe him a favor.
  • Ironically, he's not going to be collecting on that any time soon, since Crowley kills him for helping the Winchesters.