Before we start, I want to include a trigger warning for discussion of suicide and self harm. This was a pretty dark episode, so, be safe. That said, this episode was good dark and dug wuite deeply into Sam and Dean's messed up psyches.
We cold open in St. Louis Missouri in 1973 as a groovy family gangs up on a teenage girl named Susie. Understandably morode she retreats into the family basement to do some laundry and get a jump on the remodeling they've started by taking a sledge hammer to a wall in a bout of teen rage...of course it's what she finds behind the wall that matters. It's a large metal box thing, and when she tries to open it some strange smoke pops out, knocks her out then heads up stairs...When susie wakes up she discovers her brother and farther have kiled themselves and watches in horror as her mother does the same. And credit. Yikes.
Back with our boy well, boy, we pick up where we ended last week, with Sam making a promposal to Rowena that she translate the Book of the Damned and use it to remove the Mark of Cain from Dean. Rowena has a price: Kill Crowley, and Sam is more than happy to do that. Unfortunately, Rowena can't just translate the Book of the Damned, she needs a key, that is, a powerful codex stolen by the Men of Letter from the Grand Coven years ago. It's up to Sam to find it.
Well first he has to find his borther who went off to clean out a nest of vampires alone. It looks like he didn't do so bad, even though Sam is understandably distressed to find the elder Winchester wiping off blood and sipping a beer among the carnage like nothing happened. Dean knows Sam is upset, but killing monsters helps takes the edge off and he just wants to go home now and watch "Speed 2: Cruise Control." He doesn't want Sam to worry.
Later while Dean sleeps Sam dives into research. He discovers that the codex was taken by Cuthbert Sinclair - remember the disgraced man of leters who tried to keep Dean as a pet last season. He hid the codex in a device he called the Werther box which killed several Men of Letters who tried to open it. The Men ordered Magnus expelled and ordered the box to be burried where it stood...at their St. Louis chapter. Aftr a quick tip from Rowena on how to disenchant the box (or try). Sam heads out alone to track down the house and gets a gun pointed at him through the mail slot when he tried to break in (to be fair the house looked kinda abandoned). He retreats to his stolen car only to find Dean waiting for him. Uh Oh.
Dean wonders aloud of Sam is getting back at him for his solo vamp hunt, but offers to help Sam out on the cold case. Sam is a bit confused but Dean explains he easily googled the "St. Louis suicide house" after finding the address Sam had gone to. Sam shares some infor about it - explaining that the Men of Letters left what is essentially a ticking time bomb in the basement and it's their responsibilty to defuse it. Dean goes along and take a crack at the front door. Taking all..necessary precautions.
After a lie about being Neighborhood watch, Dean makes it in to meet...Susie from the opening! Now older and armed with the gun gus, she guards the house alone. As Sam sneaks into the basement she explains a a bit to Dean about growing up in the shadow of the tragedy and living alone. Sam tries to disenchant the box as they talk, and Susie warms that no one should ever go in the basement...as she realizes Sam is in the basement. Much yelling happens but it's too late as the evil magic is released again and hits everyone. Including Dean. Susie almost immediately begins seeing her dead family members who blame her for their deaths, and Dean starts seeing himself back in Purgatory. Sam is just generally distressed by all of this until her hears a gun shot. Susie has sucumbed and taken her own life. It seems like Susie's ghost is quick to turn on Sam when he finds her body, accusing him of yet again spilling blood just to save his brother. She's tearing into him pretty good when POOF! Rowena to the rescue. It wasn't a ghost it was Werther trying to get Sam to kill himself.
Lucky break for Sam, not so much for Dean who is entirely within his mind now and Can't see Sam or Rowena. All he can see is Purgatory...and BENNY! Yes our favorite cajun bear is back even as a hallucination. And Dean's pretty aware of that too. He knows that Purgatory and Benny aren't real, but that apparently isn't going to stop his own subconcious from psychoanalyzing him. While Benny and Dean walk in circle in fake purgatory, and Benny reminds Dean that purgatory was his happy place, where he could kill and kill without consequence; Sam and Rowena set to the Werther box.
The witchy ones are pretty fast to translate the spell. It turns out that to open the box and break the enchantment Werther wants blood - the blood of a man of letters. So, Sam starts slicing and bleeding. This can't end well. At the same time not!Benny is laying into Dean. Telling him he should stay in Purgatory...or kill himself. He reminds Dean that his plan to fight the Mark until it goes bad won't work because he might kill Cas and Sam and that if the two of them have to kill Dean it will ruin them...But Dean can killself.
Or...not. The Mark wouldn't let him die, Dean reminds Benny himsself, and he refuses to go out that way...though it looks like Dean was ready to use a broekn bottle to cut himself, he doesn't and instead kills dream!Benny and breaks the spell. Go Dean!
Sam on the other hand is not doing to well, as the box seems to want enough blood to take a life, and Rowena just keeps pushing him to give more. Just in time Dean rushes in and pulls Sam back from the brink, telling him what he's seeing isn't real and it's part of the spell. Sam still insists of giving the box blood, so Dean gives it some of his own and together they are enough to break the spell...and make Rowena go poof, as she too was an illusion!
Out by the car as sam recovers late, Dean reminds little bro that the universe was trying to remind them that they do better together than apart, which Sam pretends to appreciate...and yet he still brings Nadia's codex to Rowena. Smartyl though he chains her up and says she on;y gets to use the book to save Dean. The red haired witch it none to please but her hair looks awesome.
Other highlights:
Nose boop of hallucinating Dean!
Also, not really a highlight but some cool trivia: the title is based on "The Werther Effect" which occured after the publication of Goethe's "The Sorrow of Youn Werther," wherein the tragic hero cmmit suicide because of his unrequited love. The book was so po[ular suicide rates went up. Creepy.
Shipping News: Dean's sunconcious was very clear that the other most important person to Dean in the world beside Sam is Cas, which made me squee pretty hard.
Next week Dean and Cas have to help out their teenage daughter or something close to that.
