Warning: Spoiler Alert
If we have learned anything during the veteran CW series “Supernatural’s,” tenth season, it’s that no character from the show can ever be considered gone forever. We’ve witnessed the return of the prophet Chuck Shirley, visited Benny the vampire in purgatory and got to visit fan favorite, Bobby Singer in Heaven, just a few weeks ago. Earlier this year, we spent some episodes with Claire Novak, daughter of the late Jimmy Novak, the man whose vessel our favorite trench-coat wearing Angel, Castiel now inhabits.
Although Castiel’s benefited humanity in numerous ways, while walking the earth these past few years, Claire only focuses on the fact that the Angel took her father from her as a girl. She watched her family fall apart in front of her, as her mother Amelia left her years earlier to search for her husband and Claire’s father. Claire went to live with her grandmother, but found herself alone again two years ago, when her grandmother passed.
The sweet and innocent grade school girl that we met earlier in the series, evolved into a tough and independent young woman, now schooled in the tricks that allows one to survive on the streets. Manipulated by a con-man that showed her kindness, Claire nearly became the personal plaything, of a loan-shark her supposed benefactor was deeply indebted to. Although she got saved from the situation by Cass and the Winchester’s, Claire became even more resentful, as Dean killed the man she considered her surrogate father. Though Cass felt an obligation to protect the girl, they went their separate ways a few months back, although the girl told the Angel that she wouldn’t mind hearing from him via the phone, every once in a while.
The latest episode entitled “Angel Heart,” not only featured Claire, but we found out the fate of her mother Amelia, whose been held captive by a supposed faith-healer, who goes by the name of Peter Holloway. Although Holloway can and has healed people, his true purpose is to take prisoners and steal a bit of their soul each day, over an extended period of time.
Our first image of the evening, is the living room of a nicely furnished home, when we see a man walk through the front door it’s Castiel, or at least we think it’s him at first. A woman walks down the stairway as the man enters the door, it’s Amelia Novak and she asks the man if he’s truly Jimmy Novak. It is Jimmy and he can’t apologize enough to his wife, for disrupting their lives by allowing Castiel to use his body.
Suddenly Amelia’s arm starts bleeding so heavily, that the sleeve of her blouse gets saturated quickly. She screams out, oh please, not again and tries showing the wound to Jimmy who just continues talking, seemingly oblivious to the problem with his wife’s arm. The scene morphs into Amelia strapped to a table, while a strange man’s sliced open her arm, she starts to scream and he quietly tells her to relax, that everything’s fine. She soon falls back to sleep, reliving seeing her dead husband returning home.
We head to a rustic bar, frequented by a motley crew of Good Ol’ Boys and a bunch of guys who look like they’re rejects from a biker gang. Claire Novak enters the place, walks up to the bar and the middle-aged woman behind the bar looks at her and says she’s got to be kidding. Claire tells her the next day’s her birthday and the woman asks if she turns twelve? Novak then places a fifty-dollar bill in front of the bartender and asks her to point out Ronnie Cartwright, a sleazy-looking middle-aged guy sitting alone in a booth.
Claire sits down across from Cartwright and shows him a picture of her mom and asks him if he recognizes her. Looking slightly uncomfortable, he denies ever seeing the woman, Claire tells him that Amelia’s last diary entry stated that she was to meet with him the following day and he’d introduce her to the miracle man. Ronnie laughs at the statement, saying if he knew a miracle man he wouldn’t be hanging out in this dive. He tells Novak he’s never seen the woman and tells her to get lost.
Later that evening, Ronnie’s in the parking lot and gets surprised by Claire, who once again asks what happened to her mother. Cartwright screams that he told her he doesn’t know Amelia Novak, causing the teen to smile. She says she never mentioned her mother’s last name. Ronnie panics and pushes her away, she slips and slams her head against a dumpster, then crumples to the ground. Cartwright thinks she’s dead at first, then feels for a pulse and calls 911 requesting an ambulance.
We see Castiel standing outside the hospital, when Sam and Dean drive up. Dean asks if it’s really a smart move getting him involved as Claire detests him for killing her surrogate father. Cas says he wants them both involved, they were troubled teens and the may connect with Novak. However Claire’s not thrilled to see any of them, she asks Castiel how he knew she was there, he replies she has him listed as an emergency contact.
The teen’s reticent at first to tell the trio what she’s up to, but eventually reveals that she’s searching for Amelia. The trail’s she’s followed ends up in the town they’re in and Cartwright was supposed to introduce her to a man that Amelia was excited to meet. But she then disappeared and Claire’s hoping to find out what happened to her.
Sam heads to the motel to hit the laptop and try to dig up some background on Ronnie Cartwright, while Dean and Cas head to the bar and tell Cartwright they’re with the FBI. When he’s slow to answer their questions, Dean starts slamming Cartwright’s head into the table in front of him.
Ronnie tells the pair that Amelia’s being held by Peter Holloway, an actual faith-healer who restored Cartwright’s sight. However, part of the price of getting his vision back was working for Holloway, who put him in charge of bringing him lost people, who would be missed if they suddenly vanished, Amelia was the last person he brought Holloway, he then saw some of Holloway’s victims and quit.
After Cas and Dean takeoff, Cartwright calls Holloway on his cellphone telling him of the conversation. Holloway suddenly appears in the parking lot and tells Ronnie that the men he talked to were Hunters, then he says Cartwright needs to be punished for his loose lips. Peter first takes away Cartwright’s vision, then rams a sword through his back that goes clean through to his stomach.
Sam teaches Claire how to hack credit card companies to get information and pulls up all Amelia’s purchases before she went missing, when Dean and Castiel return and inform the pair about Cartwright’s demise and about Peter Holloway. The brothers try to determine exactly what Holloway is, when Sam discovers that he owns a farmhouse about 40 miles away. They tell Claire and Dean that they’re being left behind, Claire to protect her from danger and Dean because they don’t want him going dark-side.
After a few minutes of bickering in the motel room, Dean tells Claire to grab her jacket and he takes her to play miniature golf. The game comes to a quick conclusion and Claire drops her putter into the last hole. Dean suddenly realizes that Cartwright wasn’t killed by a blade, was run through with a sword. The pair rush back to the motel, to do some research on what that could mean.
Winchester proves that his computer skills have vastly improved over the last few years, as he discovers that Holloway is a Gregory, also known as a Watcher Angel. They were amongst the first Angel’s sent to Earth, assigned to protect humanity. However they went rogue and most off them got destroyed as the Angels started feeding off humans, rather than guard them. Claire assumes Dean’s going to make her stay at the motel, but he surprises her by handing her a pistol, wishing her a happy birthday and asking that she doesn’t shoot him.
Sammy and Cas arrive at the farmhouse, Sam tells the Angel to search the barn while he checks out the house. Sam hears a noise, but he reacts too late as Holloway hits him on the head and knocks him out. Castiel finds Amelia, she’s unconscious and back in her home, but she can’t see Jimmy, suddenly she comes to and screams when she sees Castiel.
Cas attempts to heal her wounds, but his powers aren’t strong enough. Amelia stares intently at the Angel, then says that her husband isn’t with him anymore. He tells her she’s correct, that Jimmy’s now in Heaven. She tells Castiel, that she left Claire to search for her husband, thinking if she could get him back that all would go back to the happier days they used to have. She then starts sobbing uncontrollably as she tells Cas that she should never have left Claire.
Sam wakes up handcuffed to a chair and he sees Holloway entering the room. Winchester says you must be Peter Holloway and his captor responds he has been for the last 50-years or so, before he took that name he was a Jenkins and his name was Miller before that. He tells Sammy that he’s a Gregory, a Watcher Angel and the reason he takes human’s captive is to feed off their souls. He says that a human soul is filled with tiny bits of Heaven and can provide delicious meals for years and even decades if cared for properly. While he’s telling Sam about himself, the younger Winchester’s in the process of picking the lock on his handcuffs.
Dean and Claire enter the barn and Amelia sees her daughter and she’s overjoyed. Claire’s animosity vanishes in a heartbeat and the two embrace and each start crying. Cas and Dean watch the reunion, then head to the house to look for Sam. Dean sees the chair Sam was sitting on and the handcuffs on the floor, the two nearly clobber each other as they each turn the same corner at the same time.
Claire helps Amelia off of the table and she tries to help her mother leave the barn, but Amelia suddenly grows very weak. Peter appears and he says to Claire that she realizes her mother will never be well again. The teen empties the pistol into Holloway’s chest, but it doesn’t cause him to miss a step. He says she should have realized a mere gun couldn’t hurt an Angel Of The Lord, then starts to push his sword through her stomach, but Amelia steps in front of her daughter and takes the blade.
Cas, Dean and Sam enter the bar right then and the three of them try to take down Holloway, but he’s just too strong. As he wrestles with Dean, we see the light pour out of his eyes and mouth, then we see a blade poke through his stomach. Claire’s standing there when Holloway’s corpse hits the floor, unfortunately though Amelia’s gone as well, but there is a bright side.
We see Amelia’s home again, however this time she walks through the front door and Jimmy comes down stairs and hugs her tightly. She asks if they’re in Heaven and Jimmy tells her they are. He says that he’s waited so long for her to join him and that he’s missed her terribly. He then asks about Claire and Amelia tells him their daughter’s beautiful and very strong, then they hold each other as tightly as they can.
Sam’s arranged for Claire to stay with Jodi Mills until Claire can get back on her feet. He tells her that Jodi’s good people and the arrangement’s temporary. Dean goes to talk to her next, revealing he knows that she’s got Holloway’s sword in her duffel bag. He begs her not to take up the life of a Hunter, that it’s a terrible existence and most times leads to an early death.
Castiel’s nervous and struggles to find the words to convey his feelings, but Claire makes words unnecessary as she hugs the Angel as hard as she can, expressing everything she felt, without uttering a word. Claire’s seemingly found closure and now she can get on with a fresh start and a new life.
The Story Continues Next Wednesday Night at 9:00 pm on The CW.
