By Barbara Doyle

Ohhhhhhh. That’s the cliffhanger. If last week’s episode of Supernatural kept you on the edge of your seat, wondering what would happen to the Darkness, this week we find out exactly what does, when our dream team from Heaven, Hell, and Earth bond together once more not to trap Amara, but to kill her.

Are you there, God? It’s me, Dean.

Cas is back! And Chuck feels like a squashed bug. That can’t be good. The dream team has failed in their attempt to stop Amara, and now the sun is dying. Dean responds to the defeat by hitting the brewskis. “Look, man, if you got something for me to punch, shoot, or kill, let me know and I’ll do it. I’ll do it ‘til I die,” Dean tells Sam. “But how are we supposed to fix the friggin’ sun?” Sam’s argument? Doing anything is better than nothing. He won’t give up, even when God Himself has. Why? ‘Cause he’s Sam Friggin’ Winchester, that’s why.

Meanwhile, in London

We meet Toni, a Woman of Letters, who seems to get that the sun dying is a problem. I have to confess I didn’t care much about her at first, until she went through her super-cool lair door and we saw the Sam and Dean inspiration board she had in her basement. Did you pause to try to read all of the posts? I did. There were arrest records and mug shots, a family tree of the Campbells and Winchesters, maps and driver’s license pictures. It was a treasure trove of Winchestery goodness that rivals my own Supernatural shrine. Wait. What?

God and Goddess

Rowena taking care of “Charles”? Adorable. Sure, Crowley wasn’t amused (“Whatever. I’m not calling you Dad.”) but I loved watching them compare parenting stories about the King of Hell and the original sinners. The entire dream team had incredible chemistry in this episode, both amongst themselves and with Emily Swallow’s Amara. God bless the Supernatural casting director for finding these gems.

You’re my best friend

Dean shows he really has given up, because, on the beer run, he confesses his feelings to Cas. No, not those kind of feelings (sorry, shippers.) “You’re our brother, Cas. I want you to know that,” he says, and Cas is appropriately moved. Cas has done his usual—screwed up again with the best of intentions—but Dean knows his heart. That he was trying to help. So in what Dean thinks are his last moments on earth, he wants to let Cas know he understands. It was a brief scene but a touching one. (Not that kind of touching. Sorry, shippers.)

It’s all about souls

Sam’s argument is that since Chuck is dying, Amara has to, too, to keep the balance of the universe in play. Amara’s weakness is light, so the plan is to blast her with the brightest light of all, the light of thousands of human souls (great idea, Cas!). The plan is to recruit souls from Heaven and Hell and for our beloved brothers to go ghost-hunting to capture some more (which was awesome). When Heaven falls through, choosing to “die with dignity,” and Crowley’s stash is gone, raided when he was indisposed, the ghost souls are too few. Fortunately, the dream team is about to expand. (Side note: Wasn’t Dean’s impersonation of Rowena the cutest thing ever? Bravo to Jensen Ackles for his brogue. And for the line delivery of “Let’s give the magic word a shot because we’re six!”)

Charming Billie

Billie the reaper is back, and she strolled right into the Bunker like it ain’t no thang. Lisa Berry ramps the chemistry up even further as she demands an answer for why the souls are being collected. They tell her the plan—to build a bomb of light—and, surprisingly? She’s in. “Little tip?” she says, “You want souls? Call a reaper.” She raids the veil and infuses the soulstone with soul after soul, swirling through the Bunker in swaths of light. How many did she get? “A couple hundred. Thousand.” That’ll do, Billie. That’ll do. Just one more thing: How do you make Crowley grin like that? Inquiring minds want to know.

You da bomb

Turns out Dean won’t be carrying the bomb to Amara—he’s going to be the bomb. Of course, this crushes Sam. Everyone wishes there was another way but there isn’t. So they go to visit Mary’s grave (where Sam places a gentle kiss to his fingers and brushes the stone) to have their final goodbyes. It is, again, very moving, especially when Dean gives Sam the keys to the Impala and the boys hug it out. “No chick flick moments, come on,” Dean says. “Yeah, you love chick flicks,” Sam replies and now I have something in my eye. Okay, eyes. I’m not a stone, people.

Family matters

Dean goes to Amara, and tries to talk her down, prepared to pull the trigger on the bomb if he fails. She tells him she isn’t destroying the sun. The upset balance of the scales is. He manages to convince her that what she really wanted all along wasn’t to kill Chuck—it was to have him back. To not be alone. He reunites brother and sister, and they take it from there, reconciling, Amara admitting that all Chuck has made is beautiful. Amara heals Chuck and the sun goes back to normal. And Sam is convinced that Dean has prevailed. Therefore? Heartbreakingly? He must be dead.

Shootout at the Bunker Corral

Sam, dejected, goes back to the Bunker, to likely once again drink himself into a stupor and mourn his brother. Cas tries to help him through it, but before he can, Toni uses the angel banishing sigil to send him away. She has been sent to take Sam in. The “old men” have decided that he is, as Toni says, “a jumped-up hunter playing with things you don’t understand and doing more harm than good.” Sam tries to tell her off and she pulls her gun. “You and I both know you’re not going to pull the trigger,” Sam says, advancing, and he is way wrong, because she totally does, leaving us wondering what happened to Sam. Until next fall. ARGH!

Mother Mary comes to me

Chuck and Amara decide to take a break from the world and reunite in peace. Chuck diffuses the bomb in Dean’s chest and Dean asks what will happen to earth when they leave. “Earth will be fine. It’s got you. And Sam,” Chuck says, and no pressure or anything. “Dean—you gave me what I needed most. I want to do the same for you,” Amara says as she and Chuck fade away in a swirl of black and white smoke. Later, Dean is stumbling around, searching for cell service in the dark, and he hears a woman’s cries for help. He goes to her, and sees she is a dazed and confused MARY WINCHESTER. “Mom?” he says, and we cut to black and next fall and ARGHHHHH!

That’s a wrap on Season Eleven, folks! Good luck surviving Hellatus. See you in the fall!

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