In St. Louise in 1973, a girl named Suzie is at the old home that her parents recently bought. Her brother Brad turns off the TV that she's watching so he can play a record on his dad's stereo, and Suzie's mother tells her to do the laundry. Suzie takes a basket down past her father, who is on the phone boasting about the house which he bought for cheap, and goes down the stairs. She puts the basket down and then picks up a sledge hammer, and breaks through one wall. Beyond is a chamber holding an ornate box. Suzie tries to get it open, and a shockwave knocks her unconscious. A yellow mist-like substance flows past Suzie and goes up the stairs.
When Suzie wakes up, she goes upstairs and discovers that her father has killed himself in his study. Brad hangs himself from the upstairs balcony, and Suzie runs to the kitchen. Her mother tells her that everything will be okay... and then cuts her own throat.
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Rowena tells Sam that in return for her translating the Book of the Damned, she wants Sam to kill Crowley. She started to explain why she wants her son dead, but Sam doesn't care and agrees. However, Rowena admits that she can't read the book and Sam gets up to go. The witch stops him and says that she knows Sam is desperate so he can start pretending. Rowena explains that a dead witch's Codex holds the key to deciphering the Book. If Sam can find it and bring it to her, she can find Sam's cure. When Sam wonders where he can find the Codex, Rowena advises him to check the Men of Letters' files at the bunker.
Later, Dean goes hunting for vampires. He finds six of them and kills them with a machete. As he grabs a beer from their refrigerator, Sam arrives and demands to know what's going on. Dean says that he was bored and he needed to blow off some steam. They go back to the bunker and once Dean is in his room, Sam goes through the files. He finds a tape reel from 1956 and a reference to Cuthbert Sinclair, and listens to the recording.
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Markham and the council warn review the facts in Cuthbert's most recent violation of the group's protocols. Cuthbert created an enchanted vault, a Werther Box, that kills almost anyone who tries to open it. The rogue Man of Letters says that he needed to create something to contain the Codex, but Markham points out that he didn't follow the proper protocol. Now two men are dead: one died near the box, and the other cut his wrists. Cuthbert accuses the Men of cowardice and says that they should be out hunting monsters instead of hiding in the stacks. Markham offers Cuthbert leniency if he tells them how to disarm the Box, but Cuthbert refuses and says that there's only one way to shut it down. He points out that Martinez was close to successfully shutting down the Box and then leaves. When the council wonders what to do with the Box, Markham tells them to bury it forever.
Sam finds the address of the chapter house in St. Louis, and then calls Rowena that he needs a spell to break the enchantments on the Box. Rowena gives him an all-purpose disenchantment spell but warns that it's not for amateurs. Sam refuses her help and says that he'll take his chances.
When Sam gets to St. Louis, he goes up to the house's front door. A woman shoves a rifle barrel through the main slot and tells Sam to get off her porch. He quickly leaves and Dean gets into the car next to him and asks how the case is going. He figures that Sam went off solo to teach him a lesson about what he did earlier, and explains that he found the address from the pad where Sam wrote it down. He's looked up the "St. Louis Suicide House" on Google and confirmed that it's still owned under Suzie's name. Dean wonders why Sam is investigating a cold case, and Sam tells him about the Werther Box. He figures that it's their responsibility to deal with it because they're the last Men of Letters, and Dean insists on helping.
While Sam sneaks in the back, Dean knocks at the door. Suzie answers the door and Dean claims that he's with the neighborhood watch, and Sam is a suspected burglar. He slips in past Suzie and looks around. The tea kettle whistles and Suzie goes out to the kitchen to check on it. Dean goes with her and blocks her view of Sam at the basement door. Sam gets the lock open and goes downstairs, while Suzie tells Dean that her Aunt Pauline moved in to take care of her after her family killed themselves. However, Pauline went to the basement one time despite Suzie's warning, and now Suzie lives alone.
Downstairs, Sam finds the Box and starts to cast the spell to disenchant the vault.
Suzie grabs her gun after figuring out that Dean isn't who he claims. She figures that he's working with Sam and they're after the box, and she swore that she wouldn't let anyone take it. Dean admits that Sam is his brother and insists that they came to help, and Suzie has him call to Sam. Downstairs, Sam completes the ritual and reaches for the Box's handle.
Dean and Suzie hear an explosion and Suzie blames Dean for letting it out. The yellow cloud flows into the room and enters Dean and Suzie. Sam runs upstairs as Suzie stares at her dead brother, who has materialized out of nowhere. She shoots wildly at Brad, and Sam and Dean duck into the living room. When Suzie backs away from Brad, she comes face-to-face with her dead mother. Her father appears as well and they blame Suzie for letting the evil out of the Box. Sam goes to help her, and Dean sees Purgatory flickering into reality around him.
Suzie's ghosts corner her in the study and tell her that she doesn't have to be alone. As Sam pounds on the door, Suzie shoots herself and the door opens. Her ghost appears to Sam and blames him for her death, and says that he's the reckless one, not Dean. She asks how many more people will die because Sam is trying to save Dean, and tells Sam to stop himself before he kills anyone else. As Sam glances over at Suzie's discarded revolver, Rowena appears and dispels the ghost. She explains that she used magic to find Sam, and they go to the living room. Dean is standing there in a trance, oblivious to the world around him.
In the Purgatory of Dean's imagination, a Leviathan attacks him. As it prepares to eat him, Benny arrives and decapitates it.
Sam warns Rowena to stay back, but she points out that Dean can't see her while he's entrances. She tells Sam that she only brought one dispelling spell and that Sam will have to break the trance by opening the Box. Sam says that they have to tie Dean up so he doesn't hurt himself, and Rowena gladly offers to help.
In Purgatory, Benny insists that he's the real Benny. Dean figures that Benny is a figment of his subconscious trying to stop him from waking up, but Benny points out that if he is Dean's subconscious then he has no reason to hurt him. The vampire offers to help Dean out of Purgatory, but dean ignores him until he realizes that he keeps returning to the same spot.
Once Sam and Rowena tie Dean up, they go to the basement and Rowena admires the Box's design.
When Dean discovers that he can't escape, he asks Benny for help. Benny suggests that Dean came there because Purgatory is the place where he was the most happy.
Rowena translates the writing on the Box and Sam realizes that it requires the blood of a Man of Letters.
Benny tells Dean that he can kill whatever he wants in Purgatory, and Dean insists that he's tired of fighting. The vampire says that the Mark isn't tired and suggests that Dean kill himself rather than get rid of the Mark or give in to it. Dean tells him that it isn't going to happen, but Benny points out that Sam and Castiel will never kill him if he gives in. And if they do, it will ruin their lives. Benny tells Dean to kill himself now and spare them that, and Dean agrees.
In the real world, the entranced Dean breaks free of his ropes and picks up a bottle. He shatters it and prepares to cut his own throat.
In Purgatory, Benny offers Dean his weapon to kill himself, and says that no one will ever know what Dean did.
Sam cuts his arm and squeezes blood from a vein into a bowl. The Box starts to open as the blood pours out.
Dean tells Benny that he always loved being in Purgatory.
The Box suddenly stops and Rowena warns that it needs blood. Sam cuts himself again and the Box mechanism starts again.
Dean tells "Benny" that he would kill himself if he had to, but realizes that the real Benny would never let him. He glances at the Mark, which is glowing on his arm, and tells Benny that it won't let him commit suicide. He then stabs Benny through the chest with his own weapon, and finds himself back in Suzie's living room. he runs down to the basement but doesn't see Rowena because she's Sam's hallucination. Sam is passing out from blood loss, and Dean tries to stop him. His brother swings at him with a knife and Dean easily disarms him, and figures that two people can donate legacy blood. he cuts himself and lets the blood drip into the bowl, and the Box opens. The hallucinatory Rowena disappears in a burst of yellow mist, and Dean finds the Codex inside.
Later, Dean breaks the Box apart with a sledgehammer and goes out to find Sam in the Impala, holding the Codex. Dean points out that they almost died when they split up, and figures that the universe is telling them that they belong together. As they prepare to drive away, Dean asks what is so valuable about the Codex. Sam lies and says that he doesn't know, but figures that they have to keep it safe.
Later, Sam meets Rowena at an abandoned church, and tells her that he has the Codex. Rowena eagerly takes it but Sam manacles her with warded chains. He makes it clear that Rowena will only get Dean's cure from the Book. Once she does, Sam will burn the Book and kill Crowley.
Written by Gadfly on May 22, 2016