'Supernatural' Season 8, Episode 17: 'Goodbye Stranger' Recap

“Supernatural”, season 8, episode 17, “Goodbye Stranger”

Castiel lurks in the shadows and sneaks up on Dean, throwing him to the ground. Dean protests, but Castiel ignores him, and stabs him in the chest. Dean bleeds out, and dies. The lights come up in the room, and Naomi walks in, and congratulates Castiel on his kill, saying he’s finally ready. The camera pans up to reveal the floor covered in thousands of dead Dean Winchesters.

In their Batcave, Dean digs through various items left by the Men of Letters while Sam looks for a case. He keeps coughing up blood, but hides it from Dean. Dean is more interested in a copy of “Voluptuous Asian Lovelies” to notice, anyway. Sam tells him there’s a case for them. People through the Midwest have turned up dead, their eyes and organs liquefied, but there are no links between the victims. Sam tells Dean to get ready, and he leaves to pack up his gear. As he walks off, Dean notices the bloody tissue left in the trash.

The brothers question the husband of one of the victims. He says his wife changed before her death. He says she stopped sleeping, and would often disappear at night. He followed her and found her digging in various spots in town, never once breaking a sweat. Then he tells the brothers that he tried to confront her, but when he did, her eyes turned black, so he left. When he returned home, she was dead.

Outside the house, the brothers knows that someone is killing demons. But Sam doesn’t know why demons would be digging for stuff.

They visit another witness. She reveals that the victim, a real estate agent, was looking for the site of an old orchard. She was supposed to meet her, but she never showed up. But after her death, her assistant called and wanted the map again. As she said that, there’s a knock at the door. 3 men wait on the other side. As soon as she opens the door, and the men, black-eyed demons, see the Winchester Brothers, they attack. One of them steals the map as the other two tackle the brothers. Dean goes to kill one, but he jumps bodies into the witness’s. She runs. The other man has Sam pinned to the ground, but a bright flash of light dispatches him. Castiel has arrived. He also managed to catch the witness.

The brothers recover, and Castiel informs them he has the demon secured and is going to interrogate it. The brother stop him; they want answers. He says that he heard Dean’s prayers, but he’s not there for that. He is there to stop the demons, who are looking for Lucifer’s Crypts somewhere in town. He wants to tell them more about it, but Naomi is forcing him to lie. He excuses himself. The brothers discuss that he’s changed and is shady now.

In the kitchen, the gang interrogates the demon. Castiel has no time for games, and stabs the demon in the hand to show he’s serious. The demon reveals that they have a hostage who told them about the crypts. The brothers ask more, and as the demon is about to tell them the truth, Naomi forces Castiel to kill her. The brothers aren’t too happy, but Castiel says that he started without them because they’re just slowing him down, and that he needs to get to the hostage. He vanishes from the room, and the brothers hastily head towards the hotel where the hostage is.

Upon arriving, the see the telltale glow of a pissed off angel. They rush inside to find a pile of dead demons. Castiel says the hostage is in the bathroom. Dean opens the door to find their old friend, Meg.

They sit down for a nice chat. Meg says she told Crowley the ‘general’ locations of the crypts to buy her some time to escape. While she’s talking, Castiel conferences with Naomi, worried about having to kill Meg. She tells him to keep her alive and use her to get the locations. Meg reveals that the Angel Tablet is in the crypts, so Sam and Dean realize that Castiel was lying to them. They agree to bring Meg along to find them.

In the basement of one of the victim’s houses, she shows them the location of one of the crypts. She excuses herself and Castiel follows to clean up her wounds. Meanwhile Sam and Dean discuss how Castiel lied to them. They find the building that the crypt is beneath, and debate whether or not they can trust Meg and Castiel.

In the hotel, one of the demons calls Crowley and updates him on how they have messed up. Not too thrilled, Crowley shows up behind him, and stabs him.

Outside of the abandoned building, Dean, Castiel, Meg, and Sam make a plan of action. Dean tells Sam to stay behind with Meg, but he protests. Dean mentions the bloody tissue, and Castiel chimes in and says that Sam is damaged beyond repair. He agrees to stay with Meg while Castiel and Dean go inside.

Inside, Castiel locates a wall that seems out of place, and goes to destroy it.

Outside, Meg questions Sam about the trials. He tells her he can’t trust her, so he won’t tell her. She gets him to talk, and he tells Meg about Amelia.

Inside, they look around the crypt. Castiel asks Naomi what he’s supposed to do, and she tells him to handle it. He points out the tablet to Dean and has him retrieve it, since the box is angel-proof. Then Castiel tells Dean to give it to him so he can take it to heaven. Dean hesitates and says they need to take it to Kevin. Castiel says to give it to him anyway, and he can take it to Kevin. Naomi urges Castiel to kill Dean, but he tries to reason with Dean. He tells Dean he can’t and won’t let him take the tablet. Dean asks how Castiel got out of purgatory, and if he tells him, then the tablet is his. Castiel draws his angel blade instead.

Outside, Meg says that they’ve got company.

Inside, Dean tries to get through to Castiel and tell him he doesn’t have to do whatever it is he’s being told to do. Naomi keeps telling him to kill Dean. Castiel strikes the tablet with his blade, and Dean tries harder to get through to him.

Castiel starts to have a meltdown. He asks, out loud, what Naomi did to him. Dean asks him who Naomi is, while Naomi tells Castiel that he owes her.

Outside, Sam and Meg are ambushed by demons.

Inside, Dean tries to comfort Castiel, but he attacks him. He breaks his wrist and Dean drops the tablet. Castiel beats him bloody, Naomi urging him on. Dean tries hard to get through to him. Castiel draws his blade, ready to stab him. Dean tells him that Castiel is family and that they need him. Naomi tells him that he must choose between them.

Castiel drops his blade and lets go of Dean. He picks up the angel tablet, and severs his connection with Naomi. He looks upon Dean with pity, and reaches his hand out to him. Dean cowers, but Castiel cups his face and heals him. Castiel apologizes.

Outside, Crowley appears. He says he’s there for the tablet. Meg tells Sam to go inside and save Dean and Castiel. Crowley informs Meg that the brothers plan to close the gates of hell. She is excited at the thought of a dead Crowley. He’s not too pleased, and stabs her.

Inside, Castiel tells Dean everything, including how he got out of purgatory. But he’s not sure what happened this time and how he got out of her control. He knows that he must protect the tablet now. From Naomi and from Dean. When Dean asks what he means, Castiel vanishes.

Outside, Meg struggles to her feet. She notices that Dean and Sam are driving away without Castiel. She laughs and tells Crowley that the tablet is long gone. She stabs him in the arm, but he stabs her in the chest, killing her.

Inside the crypt, Naomi pays Crowley a visit. He knows that Castiel has the tablet. He offers to make a deal with Naomi, but she’s gone before she can hear it.

In the car, Sam asks Dean what happened, and Dean says he doesn’t know and doesn’t care. He tells Sam that he can’t take anymore lying from anyone. Including him. Sam apologizes. Dean makes him promise to be honest from now on.

An angel reports to Naomi, unable to locate Castiel.

Castiel, however, is on a bus with the angel tablet.