Recap of Supernatural
Season 11, Episode 21:
All in the Family
“Amara (guest star Emily Swallow) shows Dean (Jensen Ackles) how she’s torturing Lucifer (Misha Collins). Worried for Castiel, Dean and Sam (Jared Padalecki) come up with a plan to rescue him from Amara’s clutches.”
Writers: Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner
Director: Thomas J. Wright
Body Count
For this episode: Thousands of humans, one ex-angel
For the series so far = At least 1269 humans (of which 15 were witches), 1125 angels, 186 demons, 71 vampires, 52 ghosts, 36 Jefferson Starships, 22 gods, 19 zombies, 17 werewolves, 10 hellhounds, 8 Bisaan, 7 shapeshifters, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 djinn, 5 reapers, 4 dogs, 4 ghouls, 4 Leviathan, 3 Khan Worms, 3 Thule, 2 Amazons, 2 arachnes, 2 kitsunes, 2 rugarus, 2 vetalas, 2 zannas, 1 banshee, 1 cat, 1 crocotta, Death, 1 deer, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 familiar, 1 lamia, The Mother of All, 1 nachzehrer, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 pishtaco, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 qarin, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shojo, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 soul eater, 1 Titan, 1 wendigo, The Whore of Babylon, 1 wicked witch, and 1 wraith.
Tropes
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Chuck brings back Kevin Tran to show the Winchesters that he really is God, then sends him up to heaven because he's been stuck in the veil since his death.
- Badass Fingersnap: Chuck does this every time he uses his powers in some way. Sometimes it takes the form of him flipping an imaginary light-switch but accompanied by the sound of an actual light-switch being flipped.
- Creepy Good: Metatron wrote Donatello's name on the inside of the angel's eyelids and he's happy to tell him all about it. The prophet is understandably creeped out.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Dean's first question to Chuck is why he stood by and let the world go to hell with so much war and pain and suffering and death. Chuck replies that he was really hands-on in the early days, which is a reference to the old testament. He says it didn't change a thing and so he had to step back and let his creations grow up on their own, otherwise he would just be enabling rather than parenting. Chuck also reminds Dean that while he is the father of creation, that doesn't make him Dean's father, John Winchester who walked out on his sons.
- Easy Evangelism: The new prophet says he's an atheist when Sam and Dean first meet him. Then he meets Chuck. By the episode's end he's fully convinced and on board, having met God, Lucifer and Amara.
- Enemy Mine: Sam asks Lucifer if he'll work with his father to defeat Amara. He retorts by asking if his broken, bloody, scarred body makes him look like a fan of her.
- Et Tu, Brute? Amara pulls this on Dean, saying he betrayed her once she sees into his mind and realizes he's working with Chuck and stalling for time while Sam busts out Lucifer.
- Evil Is Sterile: Lucifer laughs in Amara's face and says that while she has power equal to or greater than God's, she can never create because she wants nothingness.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Metatron is this for the Winchesters, Chuck and just about everyone. He thanks Dean for inviting him to the bunker and Dean retorts that they let him in after he circled the place for two hours texting them silly emojis.
- God Test: Dean is accusing Chuck of trying to trick them when He teleports them to the Men of Letters headquarters in the middle of Dean's sentence, then raises Kevin from the dead and sends him on to Heaven. All Dean can say is, "Holy crap."
- God Was My Copilot: Ever since season 4 Chuck has been with the Winchesters every step of the way, helping them in little ways without becoming too obvious.
- Healing Hands: Hands free. Chuck heals the damage Amara did to Lucifer/Castiel with just a thought.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Chuck's plan for beating Amara is to sacrifice himself. He will offer her a deal where he will allow himself to be imprisoned the way she was if she agrees to take over stewardship of the world.
- Metatron buys time for Sam, the new prophet and Lucifer to escape from Amara. He initially tries an angel banishing sigil which unfortunately does nothing. She crushes him literally out of existence.
- Hidden Depths: For the first time in the series, Lucifer hints at a little spark of humility on his heart when he says he doesn't expect God to come running to rescue a "screwup of a son", and that he does give his dad props for making the universe.
- Humans Are Special: Chuck explains this to Dean - that he made humanity to be a firewall between light and darkness and he has faith that humans will step up and protect creation from the forces of evil like Amara if Chuck fails to stop her.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After getting over the initial shock of going from being an atheist to a prophet of the lord and meeting God himself all in one day, Donatello gladly accepts a beer from Dean.
- The Internet Is for Porn: Chuck has never seen as much porn as is on Dean's computer, at least not in one sitting.
- My Greatest Failure: Chuck names Lucifer as this.Chuck: Lucifer was perhaps my greatest hope, and my bitterest disappointment. Do you think if I could have trusted him for a moment that I would have put him in the cage? And I wasn't gonna mention this, but thank you so much for springing him. Now as bad as he was, after all this time in prison, he's probably worse! And by now he could have formed an alliance with Amara! Not walking into that trap, guys! So no! Thus spake the lord.
- No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me: Once Chuck and Lucifer are reunited, they both comment that the other has changed. Chuck denies it about himself, saying he really never changes.
- Pals with Jesus: Now that they know who Chuck really is and he's hanging out in the bunker eating donuts, drinking beer, singing in the shower and actually using his enormous power to help, Sam and Dean are literally this.
- Product Placement: Apparently, Chuck's a fan of Voodoo Donuts.
- Quit Your Whining: Lucifer, of all people, tells Amara this after she bitches about how she wanted to be alone but her little brother made his fan club and stuffed her in a prison when she complained.
- Redemption Equals Death: Metatron's final sacrifice to get Lucifer out.
- Singing in the Shower: Chuck loves to do this, much to Dean's annoyance. Sam comments on the enormous balls Dean has in telling God multiple times to "cool it".
- Schmuck Bait: Amara is back to destroying more towns with her Fog of Doom. Dean asks Chuck if he plans to do anything about it, but Chuck replies that she's just baiting him into showing himself and that he can't take the risk.
- Teleportation Rescue: Chuck rescues Sam, the prophet, Lucifer and the entire impala by finger-snapping it right into the compound in the nick of time.
- Token Romance: Dean's connection to Amara is discussed by them both once again, despite there being no sign of obsessive desire on Dean's part to be with her.
- Touched by Vorlons: Rather than infect him, it's theorized that the divinity of Amara's fog activated Donatello as a prophet.
- Why Couldn't You Save Them?: Sam and Dean question Chuck on why he let The Darkness wipe out another town with her Fog of Doom, who replies that it's Schmuck Bait and that he won't be manipulated by her. He says it's unfortunate that thousands died, but thinks it's necessary to let it happen in order to avoid tipping their hand to Amara.
