Wrapping up a fabulous two-parter Heaven and Hell doesn’t let up on the peddle at all! If you recall from my previous post – I know What You Did Last Summer – you’ll remember that the boys had an found a girl named Anna in a mental asylum and she seemingly had the ability to monitor and listen to what the Angels were saying about the ongoing war. Added to that complexity of course is Alistair – a demon that not only recognizes Dean from his time in Hell, but is able to withstand Ruby’s knife. Definitely stronger than the other demons the boys have encountered, he is obviously a leutenant of some sort and something that weilds enormous power!
Dean: They… they sliced and carved and tore me in ways that you… Until there was nothing left. And then suddenly, I would be whole again. Like magic. So they can start all over. And Alastair, at the end of every day… every one, he would come over and he would make me an offer… to take me off the rack if I put souls on… If I started to torture. And every day I told him to stick it where the sun shines. For thirty years I told him. But then I couldn’t do it any more, Sammy… I couldn’t. And I got off that rack, God help me, I got right off and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls. The… the things that I did to them…
Sam: Dean…. Dean, look, you held up for thirty years. That’s longer than anyone would have.
Dean: How I feel. This… inside me… I wish I couldn’t feel anything, Sammy. I wish I couldn’t feel a damn thing.
Now those problems by themselves might be enough for the boys, but we’ve also got both Castiel and Uriel also hunting Anna but unfortunately they are not there to help her, but rather to kill her also. Either way it seems the boys are doomed in this quest & there is no simple black and white as either way they & Anna lose. I guess the question that needs to be answered is why is everyone after Anna’s blood? Well after she manages to banish Castiel and Uriel by drawing a mysterious symbol in her own blood, the boys know that the answer isn’t going to be an easy one to find out.
Sam: You want Anna? Why?
Uriel: Out of the way.
Dean: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay, I know she’s wiretapping your angel chats or whatever, but it’s no reason to gank her.
Uriel: Don’t worry. I’ll kill her gentle.
Dean: You’re some heartless sons of bitches, you know that?
Contacting Pamela – you might remember her from Lazarus Rising? – the boys are able to enlist her help in unlocking Anna’s memories and identity. Anna is definitely not what she seems – she is not really human, but is rather a fallen angel – one that has given up the obedient existence that Castiel and Uriel still follow in an effort to experience life itself and all of its positives and negatives. Unfortunately for her, neither God or the Devil is willing to let Anna go that easily and they both want her. The demons for their own nefarious purposes, and the angels to silence her and stop her from returning to heaven.
Anna needs to find her “grace” – she ripped this force out when transforming herself from angel to mortal and it is the only thing that can save her now. The brothers manage to track it down, but by the time they find its location, its gone and it seems that Anna is doomed – from one side or another. When Anna receives an ultimatum from the Angels that Dean will be sent back to Hell if she doesn’t return to them, the brothers are stumped. That night, Anna approaches Dean and tries to broach the subject of what happened in Hell. Although he can’t talk about it, she offers him reassurance and kisses him, which culminates in them having sex in the Impala on her last night on Earth.
Ruby too is looking for a way out of this seeming morass that might allow her to remain alive and she approaches Alistair with an offer so that he won’t kill her. Unfortunately for her, he captures her and uses her own knife to wheedle out the location of the brothers and Anna. Simultaneously though – Dean has provided the Angels with the location also as his dreams were being invaded by Uriel who threatens to hurt Sam if he doesn’t give up Anna & realizing that the only way out is if they could get both sides to fight, the brothers and Ruby smartly decided to pit the antagonists against each other.
When both the Angels and Demons arrive simultaneously – a massive battle ensues and Anna is able to retrieve her grace from Uriel. In a flash of light she becomes an angel again and vanishes seemingly taking Alistair along with her. While it seems that all is now back to normal – well as normal as Supernatural gets! – we learn that while it might have only been a couple of months for us, Dean’s visit to Hell was over 40 years long for him and while he tried to resist Alistair, after 30 years he gave into the pain and ended up torturing other souls. He has been haunted by this ever since.