Road Trip (9x10)

Crowley, Gadreel, & the Mark Begins

A hunter's funeral, a rock star in pleather pants, and Crowley finally getting out of the dungeon. That's just the first fifteen minutes.

Road Trip picks up right where the midseason finale left our broken little hearts. Dean is not okay. Sam still doesn't know what's been living inside him. And the only person with a plan to fix any of it is Crowley, which tells you everything about how bad things have gotten.

This week Berly and LA break down the road trip to Somerset, Metatron lurking in a bar for reasons that may or may not be strategic, a very handsome angel named Abner who makes some deeply unfortunate life choices, and the moment Sam finally gets the full picture of what Dean did. Also: Castiel's new trench coat gets a formal review, Crowley earns some genuine tenderness from two people who should know better, and Abaddon finds out the hard way that hell is not a dictatorship.

This week's lore digs into the real Aleister Crowley, the self-proclaimed Beast who founded his own religion, dabbled in occult secret societies, and inspired everyone from Neil Gaiman to Ozzy Osbourne. The reputation, as it turns out, is bigger than the man. Sound familiar?

Drop a comment with your theories, and if you're enjoying the show, a review helps other fans find their way to the bunker. See you next week!

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/Road_Trip
• https://www.buzzsprout.com/2076426/episodes/13865259

Transcript

Berly 0:01

Welcome to Denim Wrapped Nightmares, Tipsy Exchange podcast, where we explore the supernatural series episode by episode.

LA 0:10

Over drinks, we'll discuss the lore, the gore, and what we adore about the Winchesters and their adventures. I'm Burley, and I'm a new fan of the series. I'm LA, and I'm here along for the ride. Now let's get tipsy.

Berly 0:26

Hello, LA. Hey Burley. It's been a minute. Yep. Woo. We took an unexpectedly long hiatus there, listeners, and we apologize. Day job obligations got in the way, and I was also informed by our good pal Sadie from the Supernatural Music Extravaganza that she and I are going to Comic-Con. So we had some preparations and scrambling that we had to do there for a little bit, and it's been a while. So why don't you remind our listeners what happened in the first half of season nine?

LA 1:02

Alright. Well, season nine started with Sam dying, the angels falling, and Dean in full chaos mode. He prayed to Castille, got no answer, and then threw open a chapel-wide prayer to any angel within earshot. One showed up, Ezekiel, tall and very Canadian, who offered to heal Sam from the inside. Sam would never consent to possession, so Dean tricked him into saying yes, and then kept the whole thing a secret from everyone, including Sam. Meanwhile, Cast yells human, or was human, we don't really know. But he learned the ropes and got a job, got a tattoo, and got laid. All on his own, since he wasn't allowed to stay in the bunker. Crowley is still hanging out in the dungeon. His stay has been way longer than Cass's. Didn't see that coming. Abaddon is back from the dead, still growing her own hell army, and is extremely unimpressed with Crowley's wholesalesman approach. The Fallen Angels split into warring factions, and a televangelist named Reverend Buddy Boyd is helping them find vessels, some of which cannot hold I was gonna say hold the load, handle the load. Through all of this, something kept nagging us. Sam is clearly not okay, despite Ezekiel's assurances, and that he's almost healed. A chef asks Sam, What are you? A Roman goddess recoils from his liver. Monsters keep noticing something is wrong inside him that Sam himself can't see. The midseason finale answered why. The angel hiding out in Sam is actually Gadril, the angel who failed to guard the Garden of Eden and has been in Heaven's prison ever since. Metatron, newly born and newly villainous, recruited him as his second in command and handed him a list of names to prove his loyalty. The first name on the list was Kevin's. Poor Kevin died. Heading into the second half, Sam, who's essentially been hijacked, still doesn't know what's happening. Cadrill is working for Metatron, Castell is running on Stolen Grace, Abaddon has a list of every hunter's name, and Dean is sitting in the wreckage of the worst secret he's ever kept.

Berly 3:08

Well, today's episode is Road Trip. It's the tenth episode of season nine, and originally aired on January 14th, 2024. We start out the episode with a hunter's funeral. And I don't know why, I didn't realize who it was at first, but it's Kevin. Yeah. It's sweet baby Kevin being given that hunter's funeral. Dean is not okay. He goes inside and just after a beat, completely flips his shit. But that song, that needle drop, was perfect. It was Bob Seager's The Famous Final Scene. I I loved it. It was good. It was a good, good uh cold open to kind of remind us exactly where we're at mentally and all of that.

LA 3:54

Yeah.

Berly 3:55

Whenever he picked up the phone and started going through the pictures.

LA 3:58

Oh, that was that was not necessary. I was just like, oh it's kind of a knife to the heart.

Berly 4:02

There's a picture of his mom that you wouldn't let him go save a few episodes back. Then we cut to a concert. We're backstage at a concert, and there's this rock star named Corey. And he tells his manager whenever she opens his dressing room and sees Gadrill hanging out in there, and she's flipping out. He was like, bitch did a stada. Because he told her to just go away. And I was like, You're in pleather pants.

LA 4:29

Yeah, he looked like a real tool.

Berly 4:31

You cannot pull that off.

LA 4:33

No.

Berly 4:36

But it turns out he's a real fucking sadist, this Corey. He was apparently the guard of Gadrill and Gadrill's boyfriend, best friend, maybe both, and would torture Gadrill's boyfriend in front of him. So Gadrill was kind of happy to get this particular name because it was some vengeance that he wanted to take out. Back in the bunker, Castel shows up, and I don't like that new trench coat.

LA 5:04

I didn't really notice a difference.

Berly 5:05

I didn't care for it. It's just more it's more structured than his old trench coat. His old trench coat was more like detective P.I. This one is more like accountant going to office. Like it was just way more structured. Not a fan. Castell sees Dean's losing his shit. And Dean finally breaks down and tells Castell everything. But Castell assures him that he was stupid for the right reasons. And I mean, you know, and he was like, sometimes that's all that matters. And I'm like, yeah, but there's that saying the road to hell is paved in good intentions. Sometimes you do need to step back and be an objective and really think things through. And Dean didn't do that. And he is paying the consequences. They said oftentimes, like Cass said it about slitting that angel's throat and stealing his grace. And Dean said it about having Sam get possessed. I had no choice. It's bugging me. You did have a choice. You made the choice. Stand by it or admit you made a mistake and apologize. Don't just say, Oh, I didn't have a choice. I feel like we've been hearing it more and more frequently in the show. Stop it. Y'all need to stop that shit. You aren't little 20-year-olds running around anymore. Y'all have been at this for a while. After Dean explains everything to Cass, Cass comes up with the idea of, well, do you remember Alfie? My little hot dog vendor boy? Crowley hijacked his brain, was able to like get in the system and do some shit. So if he could do that to him, maybe he could do that to Goodrill so we could bypass Goodril and talk to Sam directly, fill him in on what's going on, and then he can eject the angel. Dean is just like good idea. This is a good final. Good thinking. This is excellent thinking. Just kidding. They cut away, and Dean and Cass are going down to the dungeon to talk to Crowley. I imagine that there was a much longer debate upstairs where they tried to come up with literally any other plan and couldn't before they went down to Crowley. Dean even brought him some of his blood and a syringe. It's just like Oh, it was already in there?

LA 7:26

I thought he was gonna do it right there. I didn't know.

Berly 7:28

I thought I saw some red in there already.

LA 7:29

Oh, that might make sense.

Berly 7:31

But he's like, you know, I'm gonna give you a little fix, Crowley. We just want you to like help us with this. And at first Crowley's like, um, what am I gonna get out of it? Like, I want to massage. Send Kevin in here. Let me let me have Kevin. And they're like, no, Kevin's dead. And LA and I were both like, Oh, his best friend. Poor Crowley. And he said he's sorry to hear that. He he was the only one who warned him, and he's he tells the truth. He's telling the truth.

LA 7:56

I thought it was kind of harsh that when Crowley was saying he warned Kevin like that like he should run from Dean.

Berly 8:03

Run the other way.

LA 8:04

Yeah, because uh people just die around Dean. He's he's bad luck.

Berly 8:08

Look at look at your scorecard, buddy.

LA 8:10

Right.

Berly 8:11

So Crowley tells them, Alright, so I I understand that I'm already your last resort. Like, if I'm plan A, that means there's not a plan B. Like, this is it. And I'm gonna be able to help y'all find Sam. But I have to come with you. You can't leave me here. You can't go find him on your own and bring him back to me. Like, no, that's not gonna work. Since Cass doesn't have his wings, he uh confiscated a vehicle to get out to the bunker. Because freaking Gadrill in Sam's body stole the Impala. I didn't realize that at the end of the last episode. Me either. It was a dick move. You've been but I guess he's been stealing it and taking it out to go run errands and do his like little menacing stuff behind Dean's back all along. They have to go walk to Castell's car because Cass didn't know you had to put gas in cars. So it ran out of gas a couple of miles away from the bunker. And he what did Crowley call it? His his hoopty?

LA 9:10

Yeah, yeah.

Berly 9:12

It had hydraulics. I was like, it's a pimpmobile.

LA 9:15

It really was.

Berly 9:16

And I liked it whenever Crowley was making fun of it, and Cass was very sternly, I like it. I mean, it was nice. It was nice, it was nice. It was that champagne color. Well, while they're filling up the hoopty and getting loaded in, they keep showing us a neighbor standing outside holding her dog. And so we knew, okay, is this an angel or a demon? Because this this is somebody. Well, it was definitely a demon, and she murdered her dog to call Abaddon and let her know Crowley was on the move.

LA 9:47

Yeah, how to use the dog bowl too, for the all the blood.

Berly 9:49

Well, they had they had to let us know that she's real evil. In the meantime, Metatron, little weirdo, went and found the bar that Gadrill's old vessel worked at and is hanging out in there. I thought it was very odd at first, but then after he asked Gadrill, okay, did you kill Dean? And Gadrill was like, he wasn't on the list. I am curious if he went to find Gadrill's old vessel because he knew there's a chance that we're gonna lose Sam. Oh. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, but why else would he have done that? Like it's just a coincidence that he wandered into the bar where Gadrill's vessel is. Old vessel.

LA 10:33

Maybe he thinks that vessel's cuter than Sam.

Berly 10:36

He looked real good in that Henley. He looked real good in that Henley. I guess it's because he had all those sweaters and stuff, like the hoodie and the layers and all that on. That maybe we just didn't get a good I didn't realize he was that. I mean, speaking of structured, good for you, T what is it, Tamo? That is oh, the actor's name? Uh oh. Mm-hmm. It looked nice. It looked nice.

LA 11:00

Yeah, I was like, I I thought he maybe he just thought he was cute. Wanted to hang out at his bar.

Berly 11:05

That is valid. That is. But you're probably more correct. I mean, they didn't say it explicitly one way or the other, so both of us can be correct, right? We we get to decide why Metatron was hanging out there. Yeah. I mean, he made that his home base, so there has to be a reason. I'm gonna go with yours.

LA 11:26

I was gonna say, I I wonder if the next episode will see him, like after we see what happens at the end. If like he's gonna be like, hey, you're back.

Berly 11:35

Glad to have this one back. You're coming up back up to heaven with me, buddy. Let's go on back to my place. Yeah, you're my second in command. Well, something important that happens during this conversation. First, Metatron says that he did something so that there aren't going to be any more prophets after Kevin.

LA 11:56

Yeah, like he's like, I flipped a switch up there. Yeah. This couldn't have been done before.

Berly 12:01

I mean, I guess they didn't want it to be done before. Same reason why they had the tablets down on Earth, right? Prophets were supposed to serve the humans, I think. Yeah, yeah. I don't fucking know. It's just weird. Gadrill gives him all the tablets, so it wouldn't matter if there was a prophet, there'd be nothing for them to interpret. And then Metatron gives him another name. And we should have seen it coming, but I didn't. Before we see what I'm fucking talking about. Dean, Castile, and Crowley go to this financial services building, and Crowley lets them know this isn't really this. It's a front. It's a front for an NSA office. Like they're tracking everybody. I'm like, oh, surveillance, right? Oh no, that they were surveilling us. Crowley says that he took one of his best and brightest and got her a job here. And she was cute.

LA 13:03

Yeah.

Berly 13:04

I liked that actress. She was very, very cute. So she comes downstairs and sees Crowley, and it's just like, the fuck? Okay. And he insists on going upstairs with her. The security guard is like only Crowley. So Dean and Cass had to just sit there. How silly did they look, all three of them squished in next to each other on that little bitch.

LA 13:25

I like that he called the girl, uh, or what, Cecily, his narc. Yeah. I got a narc in here.

Berly 13:31

I got a narc. And she was a good narc. Yeah, oh yeah. She was a good little narc. So she goes upstairs, and after commenting on how Angel Castell is far more hot than human Castille. I gotta say, I agree. I liked human Castell. I wish he had stuck around longer. But then when we saw him suck that grease. So you're right. What was it? Cecily? Cecily. Cecily. Yeah. So she does a quick search and finds the impala, tells Crowley, hey, he's in, where was it? Florida? Was it Florida? I don't know. Somerset, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Somerset, Philadelphia. Ran a red light. Not Florida. But he ran a red light, so the cameras caught him. She was like, here you go. This is where he is. Good luck. And I enjoyed their little conversation where like she's playing both sides, and she's like, Wouldn't you do that? And I imagine he was kind of proud of her. Just you know, being Crowley. And so Crowley leaves, lets the guys know we're off to Somerset. We see Gadrill pull up in front of a house, and there's this dude bent over working in his garden, and he's walking up and he's like reaching into his jacket to pull out an angel blade and stab this guy. His name's Alexander Sarver.

LA 14:51

In his front lawn, right next to his child's like toys.

Berly 14:55

It was like, oh, lovely. No, no. Well, then Alexander stands up and he's a hot man.

LA 15:03

He was very handsome.

Berly 15:04

He was handsome. He's a very handsome man with a nice little beard. Beautiful smile. Beautiful smile. Stops Gadrill in his tracks.

LA 15:13

I have to say, he looked like a little more aged than we see a lot of actors, you know? But like he looked great. Like he looked good. I liked that.

Berly 15:20

I liked it. Mm-hmm. I like I like this daddy. I like this daddy. And this daddy liked being a daddy. He did. Well, the whole big shocker here is it's Gadrill's boyfriend, Abner, who was tortured with him. I guess he was also one of the guards of the garden. And so he uh contributed to Satan getting in and all that other kind of stuff, too. And Abner explains, like, I have a kid, I have a family, but they're gonna go to the movies. He was just like, come back a few hours later.

LA 15:50

Oh my god, I like that he called his uh little girl a niblet.

Berly 15:53

A nibblet, yeah.

LA 15:55

Like the mom the mom, my my wife and this nibblet here, they're gonna go to the movie.

Berly 16:00

I did not like that he just said, Oh, come back in a few hours. I would have been like, I need an exact number. Are we talking three, four, like five?

LA 16:08

Where am I supposed to go for all these hours?

Berly 16:10

Yeah. What do you think I'm gonna do? I'm literally here just to murder you. What else am I gonna do? Come on now, Abner. Well, anyway, that night, Gadrill comes back and Abner explains like he fucking loves his human life. He has found some purpose. The dude he possessed was an obsess abusive asshole, and now his family loves him. He loves taking care of his family. So gives a fuck if the abusive asshole isn't happy that he's possessed his vessel. He's like, I don't care. I'm loving life. Yeah, I'm having a good time.

LA 16:42

I like that he was trying to convince him that the with the fall of the angel, this is our second chance.

Berly 16:47

Yeah. I mean, that's a good way to look at it. Yeah. For the ones who were able to find a vessel that didn't explode. Right. You know? Well, Goodrill is just like, oh, that's fucked up. I thought we were gonna talk about getting back together or something. And Abner's like, no, I'm happy with my family. And then he said, If you know what you want, do whatever you have to do to get it, and don't ever let go. And I was like, fuck Abner, why'd you say that, man? Why'd you say that? And then Gadrill was like, What if there's consequences? And Abner was like, fuck the consequences, do it, man. So Gadrill said, Stabby stabby. Yeah. Bye-bye, Abner. Said if you don't want to come be with me. You don't want to come on me, you're gonna bleed out on the floor. Yep. Either way, you're leaking fluids right now. R.I.P. hot man.

LA 17:41

Yeah, we should see what else he's in.

Berly 17:45

Well, Dean comes in, and even though the body is in the middle of the living room floor, he needs to follow blood droplets on the carpet before he sees it.

LA 17:53

I feel like he was like looking out for Sam, like seeing like Sam around before he went to the body.

Berly 17:58

Maybe before he saw the blood drops on the floor and then was like, uh, body. Oh, right in the middle of the floor, oh fuck. And then he hears the sink running, and so he goes in there to check it. Cass sneaks in the back and punches Gadrill whenever Gadrill's like, oh, I'm gonna fucking kick your ass, Dean Winchester. And I guess Crowley's just hanging out in the car. Yeah. I mean, they gave him a lot of freedom if he likes in this episode.

LA 18:22

No, no, no.

Berly 18:22

I understand that he had the handcuffs on and he wasn't gonna be able to get the handcuffs off, but I don't think the handcuffs were preventing him from opening the car door. Right.

LA 18:29

And just walking off.

Berly 18:34

Anyway, they kidnap Goodrill and they take him to the that punch.

LA 18:39

Oh.

Berly 18:40

I I appreciate a unique segue, okay? Like there was a transition when Cass first got to the bunker and the camera panned behind Cass's back, and suddenly they were sitting at a table to show that time has passed. Dean has told Cass to yell everything. That was a nice transition. So I I appreciate a unique transition, but just the way Misha Collins had his arm completely straight with his fist into the camera, I don't know. It made me chuckle.

LA 19:10

I think he was just really proud of himself.

Berly 19:12

He was very proud of that punch. Hey, it was a good punch. Knocked him out and won. He should be a little proud. So now we see Cecily has a new visitor back at the NSA office. It's Abaddon Girl. And uh she does not think it's cute that Cecily's playing both sides. So she finds out where they are, Summers at Philadelphia, not Florida, and fucking kills our girl. I was like, oh man. Like I liked Cecily a lot. Right.

LA 19:44

You could have used her. Yeah. She was playing both sides. Yeah, she was more information than just that.

Berly 19:49

Yeah, she wasn't working against you per se. She just was also helping Crowley. Like, come on. She was smart. Oh, maybe sad. Yeah. I didn't like it. Dean, Cass, and Crowley take Sam's body to like another abandoned warehouse. Or maybe, maybe it's just a Saturday and they aren't working that day. Let's go with that. Because that little fan thing was going in that one room. So Cass checks out Sam and confirms that his injuries have actually mostly been healed. So LA and I were both happy to hear that. We both were under the impression with the way these monsters were reacting. We were both under the impression that he was fucked. Yeah. But he's he's okay. He's doing alright. He's not fully healed, but he's mostly healed. So at least Gadrill did hold up his end of the bargain. You know, while he was murdering people, he was also healing Sam. True. So yeah, I mean, did some good. Goodrill says that he's gonna fuck up Sam and is like telling Dean, go ahead do it. Stab your brother in the heart, kill me, blah, blah, blah. Well, what they end up deciding, because Cass can't possess Sam's body without Sam's permission. Gadrill isn't cooperating. Oh, I did forget. Crowley did do the little needles in his brain, and they found out what Gadrill's name is, and Cass got all kinds of flustered over it. Like, oh my god, this fucking guy.

LA 21:10

Well, and he had to burn, remember, he had to burn the tattoo off too.

Berly 21:12

Yeah, but not before he was done ranting and raving about Gadrill, and he was like, This fucking guy. He's he's why the apocalypse happened. He's he's why everything happened. That's right. But then yeah, he calms down and burns off the tattoo. And he didn't just burn, like, I thought it was gonna look like burned skin when he moved his hand away, but it was like, nope, he just lasered it off. It was nice and smooth. Good job. Nice and smooth.

LA 21:35

Thanks for not harming that chest.

Berly 21:37

He was off, he already had needles in his head, right? Like let's let's just He's been through enough. Let's be easy, okay? Well, Crowley doesn't need consent. He's like, I'm a fucking demon. I just take what I want. But you gotta take these cups off for me to do it. And so sure enough, Crowley smokes out and possesses Sam, and LA and are both like, oh, he's red. Yeah. Look at the I didn't I don't remember us ever seeing his smoke before because I don't think I knew he was red.

LA 22:05

I didn't.

Berly 22:05

It's a beautiful color, I thought. Yeah. And I thought it was cute because like he wears that color sometimes. When he gets inside Sam's head, he fortunately finds him very quickly because he did warn Dean, uh, if Gadrill catches me, I'm gonna run. Like, I'm not gonna risk my life for y'all, but I'm gonna just do what I can do. He finds Sam quickly, says the safe word, what was it? Pookeepsie? Yeah. Pukee. So Sam stops and listens. Crowley explains to him what's going on, shoots him in the chest so that he knows he's not fucking around. God.

LA 22:36

Well, I mean, time is of it of the essence here. Yeah.

Berly 22:39

Gadrill straight up warned Crowley, I'm gonna fucking find you in there. So he knows he doesn't have a lot of time to convince Sam this isn't real. You're you're in a dream. Like this is not real. So he was he was efficient, our Crowley. Yeah, he got the point across very quickly. But then it was so sad when he said, Listen, you've been in here the whole time that he's been doing stuff. You might not realize it, but you can remember everything he's done. So just remember, think, think, think. And Sam sure enough starts thinking and he starts seeing everything, and the last thing he sees is Gadrill killing Kevin, which was so sad. And Sam just like kind of falls over a little bit and is so like you can tell he's like in shock. And he's like, I killed Kevin. And I loved that Crowley was like, No, you you didn't, he did. That was sweet. He didn't have to be this kind. No. So I thought that was we're seeing that humanity in Crowley still. So that that our theory that that blood is still hanging around in him, I think is true.

LA 23:43

He had to comfort his little moose.

Berly 23:45

The moose and squirrel and Laverne and Shirley and all that other stuff. Love Didn't he call Bullwinkle? So cute. Love seeing our man back in action. Like that was the highlight of this episode for sure. So Sam gets his shit together, but unfortunately, not before Gadrill finds them. Sure enough. He's there. He's like, look at me, I'm hot. I'm the hot Tambo guy, and I'm here, and I'm gonna fuck y'all up. But Sam fortunately is able to get his shit together and tell Gadrill to get the hell out of his body. And Gadrill gets ejected. And then Crowley goes back to his vessel just in time for Abaddon to find them and come storming in with her troops. So Crowley tells them, Y'all get out of here. I'm gonna deal with this. Abaddon comes in and she's thinking she's just gonna kick his ass. But then Crowley points out, no, no, no, this isn't a fight, it's a campaign. The demons don't have to follow you just because you beat me up. Like that's not what we're doing here.

LA 24:52

Well, and it was good then when she she told the two demons with her to bring her his head, and they just kind of like look like, oh, I don't really want to do that.

Berly 25:03

Right? Yeah, I mean he they proved his point. They don't have to do what you're telling them to do. So whenever she realizes fuck, this isn't gonna be as easy as I thought it was, he's just kind of like, Yeah, so see you on the campaign trail, bitch. I thought it was funny. He snaps his fingers, huh?

LA 25:22

I was like, I like how he was like, Spread the word, boys.

Berly 25:24

Yeah, spread the word. Your vote counts.

LA 25:27

Yeah.

Berly 25:28

Vote Crowley. Uh and then whenever Crowley snapped and disappeared, he took the torture chair with him. That was odd.

LA 25:35

Yeah.

Berly 25:37

I don't think that was uh I mean he did sit down in it himself for a second. Maybe he was like, ooh, I like this headrest. This is nice.

LA 25:45

That's a good torture chair.

Berly 25:47

It's a good torture chair. I think I'm just I'm gonna take this with me. Oh, and I did think it was funny in Sam's dream that um Gaudrill was saying, like, I've got him locked away and he thinks he's working on a case with ghouls and cheerleaders.

LA 26:03

I was like, what?

Berly 26:04

Sam's like, why is why are they only going after cheerleaders? Well, Gaill, thank goodness he went to that bar with Metatron earlier because he knows exactly where his previous vessel is. Goes straight there. And I gotta say, his vessel, he agreed very quickly. It was like glass broke, things shattered, and he stood up straight and went, yes.

LA 26:24

He's like, Come home, Daddy.

Berly 26:26

Get in me, get in me. He wanted it, he was ready for it to be back. So Gadrill comes back, and Metatron's just like, let me guess, Winchester problems. So that's where I started thinking, like, oh, maybe that's why he was there. Maybe he was there intentionally, so that Gadrill would see immediately where his old vessel was, and that here's my question though. Why didn't one of these other angels hunting for a vessel go snatch that up? I would have snatched him up as soon as that was vacant again, right?

LA 26:58

Yeah. One would think maybe they weren't gonna do it if Metatron was there guarding him.

Berly 27:05

Maybe that's what it was. Yep. That's a good point, too. He was he was he was like, I don't want anybody else touching that ass. Except for me and my second in command. So Castiel, Sam, and Dean are safe. They have escaped. So of course they do what one does and stop on a bridge to stand out in the rain at night. Cassiel heals Sam's noggin and tells him, Okay, it's gonna take a little bit for me to take care of the rest of this mess. We're gonna have to do it in sessions. I'm sorry, I don't have the strength to heal you in one go. Then Sam lets Dean know he's mad. He was willing to die, he was ready to go. And how dare Dean take that choice away from him? And then Dean, I didn't have a choice. I was just like, oh yes, you did. You very much had a choice. You made a decision. You very much did, but anyway, Dean's very upset about Kevin. He said that's ne I'll never wash my hands clean of that. I'm going to hell for that alone, if not everything else I've done in my life. But I'm definitely going now. I know that. And they just are not on very solid ground here as the episode ends. Dean is pissed off. Sam is pissed off. Cass is there. And I don't remember why. Why did Dean get in the car and like drive off and leave Cass and Sam?

LA 28:32

Well, he was like, I must have stopped paying attention. He got upset and he got upset that Sam was upset and blaming himself for Kevin. He was like, No, no, no, that's on my hands, that's on me. I heard that part. And then he said he he was gonna go after Gadrill. And Sam said, I'm not gonna stop you.

Berly 28:48

Oh, that I missed that part. Okay. But yeah, he was like, he's like Dean knows what Gadrill's hot body looks like. But does he know he's a bartender?

LA 28:58

I don't know. We'll see.

Berly 28:59

Well, anyway. This was written by Andrew Dabb and directed by Robert Singer. So that explains some of those transitions. I guess Misha Collins just doesn't actually know how to punch.

LA 29:13

He just likes a good strong one punch.

Berly 29:16

Strong one punch and holds the arm out straight after the impact is done and then pulls it away slowly like this. It wasn't a jab. It was all right. Well, there wasn't a lot of gore in this episode. I would say the goriest thing was Abner's dead body.

LA 29:36

Yeah.

Berly 29:37

It was it was uncomfy watching Crowley hack Sam's brain, but I wouldn't call that particularly gory. No. Did you adore anything about this episode?

LA 29:48

Uh seeing our old uh goodrill was nice.

Berly 29:51

Oh yeah, he looked hot. Yeah. About Henley, that was nice. And Crowley being back. Yeah, yeah.

LA 29:56

And out of the bunker for finally.

Berly 29:58

Out of the fucking dungeon.

LA 29:59

Yeah.

Berly 30:00

So speaking of what's our lore today?

LA 30:02

Okay, well, since he's been locked in a dungeon the whole season, uh, our boy Crowley is finally back in action. So for today's lore, we're taking it back to the king's very first appearance in season five, episode 10, Abandon All Hope. Well, this is a screen rant article on the real life influence behind Crowley. So names are very important within the realm of supernatural, with many characters christened after figures from mythology or legend. The Winchesters themselves were named after both the famous gun and a haunted house attraction, while angels such as Michael Castiel and Gabriel are all derived partially or wholly from genuine biblical figures. The same goes for Supernatural's demonic contingent. Villains such as Lilith and Azazel all take their titles from established demons or evil spirits in wider lore. While all of the above are appropriately ancient, Crowley's name has much more recent inspirations. Supernatural's Crowley shares similarities with the Neil Gaiman character of the same name, but according to Mark Shepherd himself, both characters trace back to a real life figure known as Alistair Crowley. The real life Crowley was born in 1875, England, but achieved notoriety in the early part of the 20th century before his eventual death in 1945. Raised within a strict Christian upbringing, Crowley rejected his parents' beliefs at an early age and indulged in activities that were frowned upon during his day, although perhaps wouldn't raise an eyebrow in 2020. In the 20s. The 2020s.

Berly 31:42

Is that what this is? The 2020s.

LA 31:44

I never get it right. I don't know.

Berly 31:45

Like, shouldn't we just be calling it the 20s?

LA 31:47

Yes. Okay, well that's what I want to call it. So the 20s called.

Berly 31:51

We just feel weird calling it the 20s because we grew up in the 19th 1900s. And so to us, the 20s was the 1920s. Right. But think about it, like 50 years from now, when they say the 20s, people are going to be thinking about now. Oh my God.

LA 32:08

I don't like to think about this. Oh, we're all no. Well, as an adult, Crowley began dabbling in occult literature while exploring free-thinking philosophies that were considered taboo by his contemporaries. This interest rapidly developed as Crowley, now the self-proclaimed beast, studied magic, published his own occult works, and frequented secret societies such as Golden Dawn. He called himself Beast? I guess so. Beast? Who's the movie? What's the the trilogy with Unbreakable Split? Didn't they call him The Beast?

Berly 32:45

Oh, James McAvoy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was thinking about what we do in the shadows. Wasn't the Jermaine Clement character known as like they would call he called his ex-girlfriend the beast?

LA 32:57

Did he?

Berly 32:58

Wasn't it? I don't remember that. I'll have to Google it.

LA 33:01

I need to watch the movie again. I watched the show.

Berly 33:03

I own it.

LA 33:04

We should watch it.

Berly 33:06

He called her the beast. His ex-girlfriend was the beast.

LA 33:09

Oh my god.

Berly 33:11

I love that movie.

LA 33:13

It's so good. Oh. The legend of Alistair Crowley became more wet spread? Widespread after he founded his own religion, Thelema.

Berly 33:24

Thelema.

LA 33:25

Thelema. Thelima. What was it? Thelema. Thelema.

Berly 33:29

Yeah. There we go. Thelema. Yeah.

LA 33:31

His own religion, Thelema, which instructed followers to live as they wanted. As Crowley's influence spread in Britain and across the world, the mainstream were quick to decry him as an evil follower of Satan, no doubt enhancing his reputation and eventual legacy, although never confirmed. Crowley was routinely linked to the Secret Services, and this only bolstered his shadowy reputation as a mystical but influential figure. Much of what Crowley did in his lifetime would likely be considered kooky or self-destructive by today's standards, but his influence on pop culture arguably overreaches those achievements as gothic and magic-based subcultures would rapidly become mainstream. Still, Alistair Crowley was involved in several genuinely concerning scandals. Crowley open openly supported Germany during World War One, although later claimed he was operating undercover, and a dedicated follower died while living at the controversial Goddamn Thielamite. Controversial Thielamite Abbey in Sicily, but Crowley's own role in this tragedy remains unclear. Alistair Crowley was painted as a sinister evil occultist, whereas many modern scholars see him as a bisexual drug user who wrapped radically progressive political concepts in the guise of ritual and occult gatherings. In both cases, the reputation is more foreboding than the man, supposed embodiments of evil who, despite some undoubtedly wicked deeds, are something quite different in reality. In more recent years, Crowley has become a byword for the paranormal, something perpetrated by the likes of Ozzie Osborne, a man with his own share of satanic accusations, who wrote a song about the infamous magician for his debut solo album. In truth, the only otherworldly element to Ozzy's Mr. Crowley is the guitar solo. Nevertheless, Crowley's reputation helps bring the same mysticism and enigma to his supernatural counterpart.

Berly 35:41

I wonder if uh this was also the inspiration for Alistair's name. Because whenever I tried to Google Alistair, there was nothing. Oh, really? Mm-hmm. So I wonder if this is Alistair Crowley. It's from the King of Hell himself. He said, I keep my bargains. Besides, I don't want to be inside your brother any longer than I have to. I'm not one for sloppy seconds. Cheers. Cheers.

LA 36:11

Thank you for listening to Denim Wrapped Nightmares. Follow us on Twitter or Instagram, leave a review, and let us know how we can get involved in the fandom. This was fun. Jerk. It always is, bitch.