Let me start by saying it’s episodes like this one, “Stuck in the Middle (With You)”, that demonstrate why Supernatural is knee-deep in its 12th season with no signs of slowing down. (shout out to the man behind the scenes of tonight’s episode, Richard Speight, Jr!) But, with that said, the format of this episode is a little tricky to recap, kind of Quentin Tarantino-esque, if you will. So, though the scene kicks off while the team and a random guy are eating breakfast in a diner … we’re going to step back and do this recap in chronological order.

We start out tonight’s episode discovering Mary has been working for the British Men of Letters, and so far, so good … until she is given an assignment that requires the assistance of another hunter. So she calls a fellow hunter, Wally, for help. But not exactly help with the case, more with help calling Sam and Dean. If she calls them and asks for help, she’ll have to answer questions about what she’s up to, so, instead, she asks Wally to make the call and claim the case is his. Wally confesses to Mary that he doesn’t trust the British Men of Letters.

Wally, Mary, Sam Dean, and Cas all meet up for breakfast, where we get a little humor break when a waitress starts flirting with Cas, and we discover Cas has had no luck on getting a lead on Kelly, Lucifer’s baby mama. They head out to catch the demon at the center of the case, which should be easy. He’s a creature of habit (literally) and enjoys night fishing at 8pm every night. Our group decides to sneak into his cabin and trap him when he returns. When they get into the cabin, Mary sneaks into the basement and steals something from a safe. We don’t see the item, but we do see she’s keeping it hidden from the rest of the group.

When the demon returns, things go south, and they go south fast. He’s untouchable. The demon blade, bullets, and even the demon trap they’ve put down can’t hold him. This is no ordinary demon. As everyone tries to figure out what’s going on, he takes down Cas and flashes some YELLOW eyes at Mary. Two more regular demons show up. The main demon takes out some magical spear from nowhere and stabs and already injured Cas. Before he can stab him again, Mary hits the demon with her car and grabs Cas and heads off to a nearby barn. Cas explains he can’t heal himself; something is seriously wrong, and he suspects the spear was poisoned.

Sam, Dean and Wally are left to fight the demons. Of course, Wally ends up on the losing end of that fight, and Sam and Dean take out the two regular demons then head to the barn where Mary has quietly sent an angry text to the Men of Letters, who blame “bad intel” on the botched case.

The group knows they need to keep moving, but Cas is in too bad of shape to be moved. Then, out of nowhere (as per usual), Crowley shows up. “You’re all going to die,” he says.

He gives them the lowdown on the mega demon with yellow eyes. His name is Ramiel, and he is a “Prince of Hell.” The “Princes of Hell” are the first generation of demons after Lilith, the oldest generation of demons turned by Lucifer himself. They led the demonic armies in the war against heaven. Azazel was one of these “Princes of Hell”, and they are recognized by their yellow eyes. As it turns out, Ramiel is the reason Crowley is the King of Hell. When Crowley first met Ramiel, he was still just a crossroads demon sent to hell after Lilith was dead and Lucifer was in the cage to offer Ramiel the crown and a number of other supernatural treasures, including the spear (as it turns out, it’s the Lancer of Michael) and the secret item that Mary stole. But Ramiel wanted nothing to do with the crown. In fact, neither did Ariel’s brother or sister. Ramiel made a deal with Crowley: if he agreed to leave them all alone and make sure they stayed left alone, Crowley could rule Hell. And that is the story of how Crowley became King.

But NOW, Ramiel is not exactly being left alone anymore, therefore completely blowing up Crowley’s deal. Crowley realizes that Cas has been stabbed with Michael’s lance. As it turns out, the weapon kills Demons instantly, but an Angel just rots until it dies (it was a weapon intended for Lucifer). Knowing that Cas is dying, the boys decide they can get Ramiel to tell them how to cure him. Crowley tells them they’re wrong. Cas begs them to leave to save themselves. “The things we’ve shared together, they have changed me. You’re my family. I love you. I love all of you.” But, of course, as Dean reminds him, they don’t leave family behind.

The team preps for Ramiel to show up with some good old fashion holy oil. But before Ramiel can go inside, Crowley appears and asks Ramiel what he can do to stop them. Crowley says the people in the barn are his allies; they need to stay alive. Ramiel reminds Crowley their deal is no longer valid, and Crowley offers to make a new deal. Cut to Crowley be thrown into the barn and Ramiel stepping inside. No deal, it’s safe to assume.

The holy oil manages to trap Ramiel, who demands his stolen property back, obviously leaving everyone but Mary completely confused. When no one cops to the thievery, Ramiel simply takes out the lance and puts out the holy fire. A fight ensues, and, somehow, Sam manages to get a hold of the lance and kills Ramiel.

Unfortunately, even with Ramiel gone, Cas is still dying.

Remembering that the magic of the lance was in the craftsmanship of the rune work, Crowley breaks it in half, and, instantly, Cas is healed.

End scene.

Oh, but wait … After everyone goes their separate ways, Mary takes the stolen item to the British Men of Letters, and, after a few threats about what will happen next time she gets “bad intel’, she hands it over. The item? It’s THE COLT!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, back in hell, we discover Crowley is not only looking for the colt, too, but has an old friend in a cage. The old friend? Lucifer. And when I say Lucifer, I mean Mark Pellegrino’s Lucifer!

How many days hours until next Thursday??