No Rest for the Wicked

Season 3

Episode 16

No Rest for the Wicked

The Season 3 finale of Supernatural, “No Rest for the Wicked,” was their last shot at trying to stop Dean from going to Hell. Sam was prepared to do anything, including summoning Ruby even after Dean had told him no. Luckily Dean counted on it and was able to get the demon-killing knife from her. Fast forward to where Lilith is playing the creepiest version of dollhouse you’ve ever seen. However, times up for Dean Winchester. Making it all the way to Lilith but not being able to deal the final blow, Dean is ripped apart by a Hellhound, but not Sam. Lilith tries to destroy him with this flash of light, but nothing happens, and she runs away, leaving Sam to mourn his loss and poor Dean in perdition.

                The episode was a very fitting way to close up the 3^rd season. It showed the lengths that the brothers will go to save each other, but instead of trying to get out of it they decided that going in swinging and dying together is better than being alone. We also learn it is possible to see Demon’s real faces which would be an interesting mechanic to see in later seasons. We also learn that even with Sam’s powers gone, he is immune to Lilith’s power which we will probably learn about next season. What’s also interesting to see is how Lilith is depicted in the show compared to old texts. She has always been a strange creature the mythologies behind her have changed so much over time and have been interpreted in different ways. In Supernatural she is the one that opposes Sam as leader of the Demons however, we don’t actually know how strong she is relative to Azazel. We don’t know if she is stronger or weaker, we simply know she is stronger than the average Demon and she’s the holder of contracts. There’s not a power ranking but the Demons seem to have a hierarchical system and we have yet to see who is actually at the top. Even with all their powers our boys are able to take them out with just a few broken bones, usually. However, this time Dean didn’t make it out with his charm.

                There was also more than enough time for Sam to stab Lilith after her attempt at “smiting” him failed. Instead he took the deep breath route and she escaped and he was left by himself. We saw in the last scene that Dean is indeed in Hell with hooks and chains strewn about him as he lays there in an empty hellscape above or below who knows what. However even that wasn’t the saddest part of the episode, the worst part was after Lilith ran and Sam had to see his brother lifeless and in shreds. We’ve seen Dean over his lifeless brother, but this was the first time we saw Sam instead. What’s more this all happened because of Sam. Dean brought Sam back, and Sam spent a year trying to fix it and he couldn’t. Sam is always being saved by Dean and the one time he had to save his brother, he couldn’t and we are going to see what Sam does with that burden in the next season.