Reichenbach

            “Reichenbach,” season ten episode two of Supernatural, starts off in 2003 with a young Dean Winchester killing a monster. The son sees Dean, and holds a grudge against Dean, vowing he will pay for killing his father. It turns out the son is Cole, and he has captured Sam in order to lure Dean to him. However, Dean is a demon and has stopped caring about his little brother. After a while, Cole lets Sam think he’s escaped to he can follow Sam to Dean.

            Dean meets up with Crowley, who tells him that the Mark of Cain makes him crave death. He enlists Dean’s help in the crossroad deals as an outlet for Dean’s bloodlust. However, Dean kills the client instead of the client’s wife, and Crowley gets angry with him. Crowley decides to give Dean over to Sam, saying he’s “bad for business.”

            Sam finally tracks down Dean. Dean tells Sam that if he wanted to be cured, he wouldn’t have left in the first place. Cole shows up then, and he and Dean fight. Dean lets Cole go and gets captured by Sam, and Sam gives Crowley the First Blade so Dean can’t get it. Sam takes Dean back to the bunker with plans to cure him.

            Meanwhile, Castiel and Hannah are on their way to help Sam find Dean. Along the way, Hannah meets with Metatron and asks for Castiel’s grace. Castiel arrives and refuses Metatron’s offer before Hannah can answer.

            Season ten focuses on Dean’s humanity and how closely he walks the line between monster and human. In “Reichenbach” specifically, points in the dialogue prove just how unlike the human Dean this demon version has become. For example, he seems not to care whether or not Cole is going to kill Sam. In fact, he seems to be leaning toward wanting Sam dead, with lines like “You’re the guy who’s supposed to put a bullet in Sammy’s brain. Did you miss?” He also plays with some of Sam’s doubts with pointing out that if he wanted to be cured, he wouldn’t have left in the first place. The final and biggest example, though, is when Sam points out how filthy the impala is and Dean simply replies “It’s just a car.”

            Along with questioning Dean’s humanity, “Reichenbach” also questions the humanity of the angels. Is there really a line anymore? In the early seasons, there was a pretty clear line between human and monster. Now, the brothers have worked with nearly every supernatural creature, and the lines have become blurred. What defines humanity? “Reichenbach” seems to define it as kind and caring. Castiel supports this definition when Hannah explains that she wants to help, and Castiel tells her that’s “very human.”

            It begs the question that if kind, caring, and helpful are what define humanity, then what about the humans that are serial killers, like the Benders? Do they still count as human? Many angels despise humans, or tolerate them at the very least. Why would angels look down on traits that are generally perceived as good?

            Then there’s Crowley. He has become more “human” since Sam used him to attempt to complete the last Trial of Hell two seasons ago, and he obviously enjoyed his friendship with Dean. While Crowley has never really been terrifying, he pulls off intimidating pretty well. However, “Reichenbach” puts him up against Dean, and Dean wins. When a character who is stuck somewhere between human and demon is more terrifying than the King of Hell, it begs the question: Why is Crowley still in charge? If caring, kindness, and helpfulness make up humanity, then wouldn’t apathy, rudeness, and inconsiderate make up a demon? Although, that definition makes them sound like teenagers, so let’s up the ante a bit. How about a true, terrifying demon would be something sadistic that thrives on death, destruction, and misery. Crowley just seems to care about keeping his Soul Business of Hell up and running, which makes him more like the first definition of a demon.

            “Reichenbach” shows Dean as less human than any other character in this episode. So if the demons show more “humanity” than the human, does the definition change?