Previous Episode ————————————————————Next Episode

13.08 – The Scorpion and the Frog

Details

13.08 – The Scorpion and the Frog

DETAILS

Writer: Meredith Glynn
Director: Robert Singer
First aired: Thursday, November 30, 2017

HE BIG HEIST – Feeling as if they are running out of options, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) agree to steal a mysterious trunk belonging to a demon named Barthamus (guest star David Cubitt), in exchange for a locater spell the Winchesters can use to track down Jack.

Robert Singer directed the episode written by Meredith Glynn (#1308). Original airdate 11/30/2017.

 

 

Recap

RECAP

In Cambridge, England, a woman enters a museum fifteen minutes before closing. She enters the numbers for a keypad but when the numbers she has don’t work, she kicks the door open, goes inside, and searches through a cabinet of scrolls. The woman gets the sheets that she’s looking for and puts them I a case, and a security guard comes in. The demon in the woman enters the guard and the woman collapses, and the guard takes the case and goes outside. Another demon, Barthamus, takes the papers and then kills the demon with a blade. Barthamus then calls Dean and says that he has something he might be interested in.

At the bunker, Dean is checking his guns. Sam comes in and says that there’s been no reports of Ketch at any local hospitals, and Castiel is still searching for Jack. Barthamus calls Dean and says that he has something that he might be interested in. The demon says that Jack has gone rogue, and offers them a way to find him. He asks them to meet him at a diner and hangs up.

Later, Dean and Sam go to the diner and discuss whether it’s trap. Sam figures that it’s a chance to find Jack because their out of options. They go inside and spot Barthamus, and he offers Dean a piece of pie. Barthamus says that they’re all natural disruptors, and offers them the pages with a genuine nephilim tracking spell. Sam wonders why he’s giving it to them, and Barthamus explains that he’s the crossroad demon since Crowley is dead. He says that he only gave them half the spell, and hand over the other half when the job is done. Dean isn’t interested, and Barthamus tells Sam to look into it and then he’ll contact them.

Back at the bunker, Sam checks the spell and tells dean that it’s legitimate and would work if they had the other half. He figures that it’s the only option they have. The brothers arrange a meeting with Barthamus and find him with two other demons. Barthamus introduces the woman, Smash, and the man Grab. Smash cracks safes and Grab bypasses security. The target they’re going after is Luther Shrike, a hoard who collects rare supernatural objects. Luther has something of Barthamus: a mahogany trunk, hidden someone on Luther’s farm. The farm is warded inside and out, and the only thing that can open it is the blood of a man who has been to Hell and back. Dean invites Barthamus to take the blood, but Barthamus says that the blood has to be fresh and he needs the Winchesters to deal with anything unexpected. Luther uses his own blood to open the vault, and Barthamus assures them that Luther is human but a sadist and a murderer. The Winchesters refuse to cooperate without knowing more about the trunk, and Barthamus says that he can give the spell to Asmodeus but he trusts the Winchesters more.

Dean and Sam talk privately and Dean figures that Barthamus is setting them up. Sam figures that they need the spell and says that they can kill Barthamus once they have the other half. They go back and Sam says that they need something to keep Luther busy.

Luther receives word from Asmodeus’ assistant that Barthamus is coming. He asks for notification from Luther when they arrive, but Luther lures the demon into a demon trap and then exorcises it from its host body. Luther promises that if anyone comes after him then he’ll be ready.

Lar, Sam pulls up to the gated farm and claims that he’s John Dortmunder, and they called earlier about a family heirloom. Grab and Dean are hiding in the back, and the guard lets Sam through. Once they’re clear, Smash and Dean get out and duck into the trees. Sam then continues on ahead, gets out, and rings the bell. The door opens and Sam walks ahead. Luther calls him into his study.

Dean and Smash go to a barn. They go inside and Smash offers Dean a can of the high-caffeine drink that she buys that Dean drank when he was a kid. He takes a swig and tells Smash that he doesn’t have a choice except to work for demons. She says the same and refuses to discuss it further, and Dean casts a demon-summoning spell to summon Grab. He says that the vault is hidden under a cloaking spell, and explains that Dean’s blood will lead them to the vault. Grab casts a spell and after a moment, the blood in Dean’s veins drags him to the vault.

Luther pours Sam a drink and says that he doesn’t get out much. He points out a Fang of the Basilisk, and Sam says that it’s actually a Gorgon tooth. Sam asks to see more of Luther’s collection, but Luther tells him to stick to business. He asks to see Sam’s heirloom, and Sam shows him a knife that can kill demons.

Dean leads Smash and Grab through the forest to the vault. When they find the unlocked door, Smash confirms there’s a flight of stairs leading down. Grab refuses to go any further, and Dean and Smash descend. The safe is behind a door, and Smash directs Dean to put his hand in a gargoyle-head hole.

Luther takes out the money to pay Sam, but says that they both know Sam isn’t there for that. He takes the knife and figures that Barthamus sent Sam to rob him. Luther attacks Sam, figuring that he’s a demon, and Sam disarms him. The hoarder grabs a shotgun and fires at Sam, who dives out of the way. As he reloads, Sam grabs the knife and stabs it into Luther’s chest. Uther explains that as long as he’s on the property, he can’t die, and pulls out the knife. He then grabs the Gorgon’s tooth and knocks Sam out with it.

Dean reluctantly puts his hand into the hole, and a clamp traps his fingers and a needle pricks his finger. The clamp releases his hand, and the door unlocks. There’s a short hallway and a vault at the other end. Smash steps forward, triggering a dart shooter, and Dean pulls her out of the way just in time.

Smash confirms that Barthamus didn’t say anything to her. Meanwhile, Luther stabs Grab and goes downstairs. Smash manages to run past him and gets outside, and finds Grab’s corpse. Meanwhile, Luther says that Sam was alive the last time he left him. Dean shoots him but the bullets have no effect. Sam runs in and says that Luther is immortal, and Dean knocks Luther unconscious with a puncher.

The brothers tie Luther up, but he refuses to tell them the answer to the riddle to bypass the trap. Dean gags him.

Smash runs to the gate and finds Barthamus waiting for her. She says that everything went sideways, but Barthamus tells her that he isn’t going to renegotiate and he doesn’t want her to do another job.

Sam figures that the tiles are like a giant keypad and only Luther knows the combination. Dean wants to wing it, and Sam points out the roll of duct tape that Dean brought. He gets an idea but warns that it’s a little crazy. They tape Luther to a cart and prepare to wheel him into the hallway. Since he’s immortal, the darts have no effect on him. The Winchesters tie Luther back up and go to the safe, and Smash comes in and they realize that she sold her soul. She can’t get it back, and Barthamus won’t collect as long as she works for him. Smash says that she has to take care of herself and doesn’t need their help, and goes to work on the safe. She soon gets it open and the brothers grab the trunk. As they go, they discover that Luther has freed himself and left.

Outside, the brothers load the trunk into the Impala and drive off. Luther is waiting for them in a truck, and Dean backs up as Luther drives after them. Sam shoots out the truck’s tires and order Luther out. He says that he traded his son’s life for his own, but then his son drowned a few years later. Barthamus told him that he couldn’t be held responsible and dragged Luther to Hell, and Luther made a new deal using the leverage he had by holding the trunk. The Winchesters open the trunk and find a skeleton inside: Barthamus’ bones. If they burn them, the demon dies. Luther tells the Winchesters that they’re on the wrong side of things… and Barthamus arrives and cuts off his head.

Barthamus says that Luther didn’t read the fine print, and gives Smash her contract back. He takes out the other half of the spell, but Sam refuses to hand over the trunk. Dean agrees, and Barthamus grabs Smash and threatens to break her neck if they burn the bones. The Winchesters agree and slide the trunk over, and Barthamus releases Smash. She apologizes, and Barthamus tells her to get to work. She takes the brothers’ cigarette lighter out of the trunk and sets the bones on fire. Barthamus burns up and Sam blows out the burning pages.

Later, the Winchesters take Smash–Alice–to a bus station and she tells them that she’s going to be good. She apologizes and thanks them for what they did for her. Dean tells her to stay weird as she gets on the bus and it leaves.

Back at the bunker, Sam tells Dean that it wasn’t the best day that they’ve had. He admits that saving Alice felt good, and Dean assures him that they’ll figure something out. Sam says that it feels good to hear him talk like that, and they share a drink.

TV.com

Guest Stars

GUEST STARS

David Cubitt David Cubitt Barthamus
Christie Burke Christie Burke Smash / Alice
Matthew Kevin Anderson Matthew Kevin Anderson Grab
Richard Brake Richard Brake Luther Shrike
Pasha Ebrahimi Pasha Ebrahimi Asmodeus’ Demon
Charles Jarman Charles Jarman Museum Guard
Nadja Sofi Nadja Sofi Demon-Possessed Woman
Videos

TRAILER/CLIPS

Trailer

Sneak Peek

Music

MUSIC

No music.

Quotes

QUOTES

Dean: You know what ‘miracles’ are called from demons? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it’s not ‘miracles.’
Sam: How about this? Let’s hear the guy out.
Dean: All right, and after that, we kill him.

 

Barthamus: I’m a crossroads demon, Sam. After Crowley’s promotion to King of Hell, the crossroads demon. Helping people is what I do, my raison d’etre.

 

Dean: Well, see, here’s the thing. When a demon tells us to jump, we don’t ask how high. We just ice their ass.
Barthamus: How very ‘Dean’ of you.

 

Sam: Look, whatever game Bart is playing, I-I-I don’t wanna play it, but…
Dean: Sam, you know that these things don’t usually go our way.
Sam: It doesn’t matter. Jack is out there, in the world, and he’s alone and he’s scared and he’s dangerous. And if this is our chance to find him… we have to take it.

 

Dean: All right, well, I’ve seen this movie a thousand times. Some asshat too fancy to get his hands dirty plans a job, swears it’ll all go smooth, and it does… until bang! And everything goes screaming off the rails, and it’s our asses.
Sam: Dean…
Dean: You know he’s gonna screw us over first chance he gets.
Sam: Not if we screw him over first. Listen, we want that spell, right? I mean, we need that spell. We definitely don’t want Asmodeus getting his hands on it. So let’s do this, have him hand over the other half of the spell…
Dean: And then?
Sam: And then, like you said… We kill him.

 

Sam: Dean?
Dean: Yeah.
Sam: Don’t get dead.
Dean: You too.

 

Dean: I mean, there could be anything in there. Anything, right? There could be spiders. There could be the spiny blade thing… Snakes. Spiders. You don’t even know, do you? All right. I… How about this? What if I cut myself, put it on, like, a little piece of paper? We’ll just wad it up and throw it in the mouth, okay? Okay.

 

Barthamus: Let me see if I understand. You two do-gooding idiots are willing to welch on our deal, throw away the only chance you have at finding your boy, because I killed a 200-year-old blackmailing piece of garbage? Is that it?
Dean: Yeah, that, and we just don’t like you.

 

Dean: You okay?
Sam: Yeah, not really. Not exactly the best day, you know?
Dean: Well, it’s not the worst. We did save somebody. That felt good.
Sam: Yeah. Yeah, it did. But… back to square one with Jack.
Dean: We’ll figure something else out. And if that doesn’t work, then we’ll move on to the next, and then whatever’s after that. We just keep working, ’cause it’s what we do.
Sam: It feels really good to hear you talk like that again.
Dean: I’ll drink to that.

 

Superwiki

Trivia

TRIVIA

The Scorpion and the Frog is a fable in which a scorpion asks a frog to ferry it across a river. The scorpion promises not to sting the frog, rationalizing doing so would mean they would both drown. As the frog is taking the scorpion across the river, the scorpion stings the frog. Before the frog dies, it asks the scorpion why it stung. The scorpion simply replies that it was in its nature to do so.

 
One of the paintings the demon can be seen passing by in the museum is St. Jerome and the Angel of the Judgment.

 

Dean: All right, so what are we talking? Your favorite My Little Pony?

My Little Pony is a line of pony-shaped figurines, famously featured in various TV shows and movies, aimed at young girls who enjoy collecting the ponies and brushing their pretty manes.

 

 

Sam: It’s, uh, John Dortmunder. We — we emailed about my… family heirloom.

John Dortmunder is the name of a fictional character in the novels of Donald Westlake. He is a criminal whose careful plans usually go awry.

 

Dean: Hey, Winona. The ’90s called. They’d like their shoes back.

Dean is referring to actor Winona Ryder, who was something of a style icon in the 1990’s, and whom “Smash” evokes, particularly with her flower-patterned Doc Marten boots.

 

 

Luther: Ever seen a ‘fang of the basilisk?’
Sam: Actually, that’s not, um… So whoever sold this to you had it wrong. Uh, basilisk fangs are hollow. This is actually a Gorgon tooth. It’s still really cool though. You know, I would love to see more of your collection.

The basilisk is a snake-like creature from European mythology. Gorgons are creatures from ancient Greek legend which resemble women with snakes for hair.

 

 

Dean: There was supposed to be a safe, not some Dollar Store Indiana Jones crap.

In the Indiana Jones movies, the titular hero often faces elaborate puzzles which must be solved in order for him to reach his goal. Indiana is also famously afraid of snakes.

 

 

Dean: Well, looks like gun beats knife, so how about you hand over the safe, and then we’ll all be home in time to watch Game of Thrones.
Shrike: I’m more of a book guy.

Richard Brake who plays Leonard Shrike played the Night King in seasons 4 and 5 of fantasy TV series Game of Thrones based on the books by George R.R. Martin.

 

 

Sam: Wing it? Dean, these — these aren’t like the lasers in Entrapment. There are infinite possible combinations.. and pressure-released darts.
Dean: Did you just say Entrapment?
Sam: I don’t know. I mean, I don’t — I don’t watch a whole lot of those kind of movies.
Dean: Yeah, but you saw Entrapment?
Sam: Catherine Zeta Jones.

Entrapment is a 1999 heist movie starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery. In its most famous scene, Zeta-Jones must contort her body under and over a series of laser beams in order to avoid setting off alarms during a robbery.

 

 

Dean: Oh. Look who decided to show. Why’d you cottontail?

To “cottontail” is a phrase referencing the cottontail rabbit, and means to turn tail and run away.

 

 

Sam: You sold your soul.
Alice: And if I could take it back, I would. But sorry, Charlie. I can’t. So here I am. And as long as I keep working for him, Bart never collects. So you gonna let me do my thing or what?

“Sorry Charlie” is the catchphrase of Charlie the Tuna, mascot for the Starkist brand of tuna.

 
The building used for the front of the Cambridge Museum is The Permanent, an event space in Vancouver. The interior set was previously used as an abandoned bank inhabited by Boris’ vampire nest in 6.05 Live Free or Twihard and a bank robbed by Dr. Dwight Mahoney in 8.08 Hunteri Heroici.

 
In the Cambridge Museum, a poster can be seen advertising an exhibition called “Reflections of the Pacific” by Monique Mees. Monique Mees is a visual artist, and one of the painters on the show.

 
As Sam and Dean walk to their meeting with Barthamus at the Smile Diner, they pass Bangtown Hair Saloon and several other recognizable storefronts. This scene takes place on the 400 block of West Pender Street in Vancouver, and all businesses and signage shown (including the diner) are the actual stores on that street.

 
The safe is branded “Fitzmartin’s” and is named after Andrew Dabb’s assistant Meghan Fitzmartin.

 
On a very rare occasion, Dean gets a slice of pie and actually gets to eat it.

 

Superwiki

Spoilers

EPISODE SPOILERS

Episode Spoilers can be read HERE

Episode Schedule

Thu, Oct 10 15.01 - Back and to the Future - Season Premiere
Thu, Oc 17 15.02 - Raising Hell
Thu, Oct 24 15.03 - The Rupture
Thu, Nov 7 15.04 - Atomic Monsters
Thu, Nov 14 15.05 - Proverbs 17:3
Thu, Nov 21 15.06 - Golden Time
Thu, Dec 05 15.07 - Last Call
Thu, Dec 12 15.08 - Our Father, Who Aren’t In Heaven
Thu, Jan 16 2020 15.09 - The Trap
Thu, Jan 23 2020 15.10 - The Heroes' Journey
Thu, Jan 30 2020 15.11 - The Gamblers
Mon, March 16 2020 15.12 - Galaxy Brain
Mon, March 23 2020 15.13 - Destiny's Child
Thu, Oct 08 2020 15.14 - Last Holiday
Thu, Oct 15 2020 15.15 - Gimme Shelter
Thu, Oct 22 2020 15.16 - Drag Me Away (From You)
Thu, Oct 29 2020 15.17 - Unity
Thu, Nov 05 2020 15.18 - Despair
Thu, Nov 12 2020 15.19 - Inherit the Earth
Thu, Nov 19 2020 15.20 - Carry On - Series Finale

* This Schedule might change as new info come.

SFO on Tumblr

    https://supernaturalfansonline.tumblr.com/post/184422707480

SFO on Twitter

Support SFO & DFN

Show your support for the site/forum and become a Bronze, a Silver or a Gold member who has some privileges.

Our Affiliation