At a house in Raton, New Mexico, a man is making dinner using pieces from a corpse that he's ripped open. A snake curls around the dead man's head as the cook, Noah Ophis, batters the corpse's liver, fries, it, and cooks it. He plucks an eye out of the body and eats it, his eyes turning snakelike. He sees Sam and Dean enter the house, gun drawn, and tells his snake Felix that they're on the way and leaves.
Later, Sam Dean, Castiel, and Jack enter the house and find dinner cooking on the stove. They realize that Noah is cooking the body parts again, and Sam wonders how Noah escaped them. Rowena comes in and complains that they're blaming her because her location spell failed, and they remind her that they've been chasing Noah for weeks. Dean finds the corpse's wallet and confirms that it's his house, and they note that the victim didn't put up a fight. Jack finds a discarded snake skin, and then coughs. He insists that he's not dying, and Castiel points out that Noah has killed six people. Rowena notices that the corpse's lips are blackened.
Back at the group's motel, Sam and Rowena research the lore and Rowena notes that Jack was dying the last time she saw him. Sam says that Jack is all right, and Rowena wonders how Dean is keeping an archangel locked away inside his mind. She wonders how long she can do it, and Sam says that they're working on another way to deal with Michael.
Dean and Castiel go to a diner and discuss the case, and Dean winces briefly as Michael continues pounding at the barrier in his mind. Castiel tells him that it must take enormous willpower to keep Michael imprisoned.
In the bathroom, Jack washes his hands and coughs again. He spits up blood and stares at it in shock, and then rinses it away.
Castiel asks Dean if he's really fine, and Dean admits that he doesn't know. He describes how there's a pounding in his head that never stops as Michael fights to get out. Dean says that he can never let his guard down and has barely been sleeping, and admits that it's not sustaining. Castiel tells him that they're there to help him.
Jack's fingers glow briefly as he uses his powers to heal his cough.
Dean tells Castiel that if they don’t find a solution then they still have coffin. Jack returns and sits down with them, and Castiel asks if he's all right. He insists that he's all right, and Castiel says that there's a religious quality to the killings and the killer might be human. Jack insists that it's a monster even if they're human. Sam calls to say that they have something.
Back at the motel room, Rowena says that they're hunting a demigod gorgon who eats human flesh. She explains that the Gorgon can paralyze people with a venomous touch. They've found seventeen deaths in the last few months, fitting the pattern and moving west. Some lore says that a gorgon can foretell people's fates by eating people's eyes and glimpsing the future, and Sam and Rowena don't know how to avoid his vision.
A truck driver leaves a diner and finds Noah waiting. He says that he needs food and a ride, and says that he can tell that the driver "wants" things. The driver tells him to get in and they'll work it out, and the driver asks if he's ready to do anything. Noah leans over and kisses the driver, immobilizing him with the poison on his lips. The driver is soon paralyzed, and Noah explains that it takes a little while for the numbing to kick in, reaches over, and plucks out the driver's eye. The gorgon eats it and its eyes turn snakelike again.
The next day, Dean and Castiel show up at the diner posing as FBI agents. They question the local police officer, who says that there was a note on the body made out to Dean. It's from Noah, saying that he saw Dean there and knows that Dean, Sam, and Rowena are chasing him, and tells Dean to stop or he will make him stop. They call Sam and the others, and realize that Noah can't see Castiel and Jack because they're angelic. Once Dean hangs up, Rowena says that she'll need some anti-venom for a cure.
Sam and Rowena posing as a couple and say that their dog "Jack" is ill. Once the vet takes the dog in the back, Sam complains that Rowena is hamming it up. Meanwhile, the vet checks the dog's temperature and goes to have Sam and Rowena fill out some forms. Jack then reverts to his human form.
The vet discovers that Sam and Rowena are gone.
Jack finds anti-venom in a cabinet. When the vet returns, she discovers that "Jack" is gone. Jack slips out the back door and gives them the anti-venom. Once Jack goes to the SUV, Rowena says that something pushed back when she used the transformation spell and asks Sam what they did to her. Sam insists that they're being very careful, and Rowena notes that it's the type of spell she would have used when she was a villain.
Noah plucks more skin from another victim and tells his snake Felix that they made a deal with the victim that he wouldn't scream and Noah wouldn't kill him as painfully as the others. The gorgon says that he doesn't like killing humans but he has no choice and there are only so many ways to kill and eat humans. Noah explains that he feeds on women but they're more careful, and the victim yells in fear. The gorgon says that screaming is a deal-breaker and paralyzes him with his poison.
At the motel, Sam calls Maggie and learns that the only way to kill a gorgon is to cut off its head with a silver blade. She says that Mary finished up a case and is driving back, and Sam thanks her for stepping up while they're gone. Rowena casts the location spell to learn where Noah is, and hands out the anti-venom potion that will oppose Noah's poison.
Noah is pouring wine when there's a knock at the door. Castiel and Jack break in and Castiel gives the owner the antidote. Noah tells Jack a story about a chicken that gave a snake a hard-boiled egg to choke a snake, and can't tell if Jack is the chicken or the snake. Castiel attacks the gorgon and they fight until Noah paralyzes him. Noah knocks Jack aside, and Sam and Dean come in and attack him. The gorgon knocks Dean out. Sam attacks Noah, who knocks him out and leaves. Jack decapitates him, and Sam checks on Dean. The anti-venom doesn't work on Castiel, and Jack uses his powers to restore him. Sam is too busy with the unconscious Dean to notice.
The group take Dean to the bunker and Castiel is unable to heal him. Jack offers to help, and Castiel tells him that he can't burn off any more of his soul. After a moment Jack walks out, and Rowena realizes what they've been doing to him. Castiel goes after Jack, and Rowena says that all they can do is make Dean comfortable. As Sam starts to clean Dean's head wound, Dean wakes up briefly, Michael's screams echoing in his head.
In the main room, Rowena checks the lore.
Jack goes to his room, and Castiel follows him. The younger man wonders if Dean will recover, and Castiel says that there are always risks. Jack hates thinking about any of them injured, and Castiel tells him that Sam and Dean are just humans and don't live as long as they do. The angel says that they have to learn that they will lose people, and Jack wonders what the point is of being a cosmic being if everyone he cares about is going to live. Castiel tells him that the point is they're being there, and the pain of loss will remind them of the people they've lost. Jack figures that it's awful, and Castiel tells him that they have to appreciate the time they have when Michael wakes up.
Jack wonders what the point of having his powers are if he can't cure them. He has put Felix in a container and says that he's keeping Felix, and asks what the story Felix told him means. Castiel says that it's about being willing to give up things you love to kill the things you hate.
Castiel and Jack hear Dean yelling, and go to investigate. He tells them that Castiel is gone from his mind and blames himself for letting his guard down, and says that he should have taken the coffin to the bottom of the ocean. Maggie screams and the others go to the main room. The other Hunters are dead, and Maggie glows with angelic light and falls over dead, her eyes burned out. Rowena comes out, Michael possessing her, and Castiel tells Michael to let her go. Michael says that Rowena is studier than she look, and that Rowena didn’t' want to let him in.
Rowena is studying the books when Michael appears to her. He says that it's all in her mind, and he explains that he's looking for a new "home". If Rowena agrees the Michael promise that he'll leave her alive. She points out that she'll live either way, pointing out that Fate says that Sam will kill her. Michael says that he'll let her alive, find another host, and kill everyone in the bunker that she cares about no mat4te what she tells them and the others.
Michael explains that he had no intention of keeping his word, and Michael blasts Sam, Dean, and Castiel when they go for the cuffs. He stops their breathing and she inflicts pain on them. Jack grabs an angel blade out of a knapsack and calls to Michael, and when Michael blasts him Jack shrugs it off. Jack tells Michael to let them go, and Michael tells him that power is just a crutch. Unimpressed, Jack blasts Rowena's body and the others recover. Michael says that Jack will soon burn off his soul, but Jack tells him that it's worth the cost. The archangel keeps blasting Jack, but he shrugs it off and says that he's the son of Lucifer, a Hunter, and a Winchester. He grabs Rowena's head and forces Michael out of her body, and then inhales Michael's angelic form. Jack then tells the others that Michael is dead and he's himself again. His wings appear as Jack says that he's him again.
Written by Gadfly on Mar 8, 2019