To continue our series celebrating 10 years of Castiel being on Supernatural, today we will look at some of his biggest moments in Season 5. If you missed it yesterday, you can check out our first article and Season 4’s biggest moments here. Season 5 was a very important one for our angel. He proved to Sam and Dean on multiple occasions that he would do anything to help and protect them, including turning his back on heaven and slowly losing his grace due to that decision.
Castiel comes a long way throughout this season. He starts off trying to find God to fix everything that has gone wrong so far, only to learn that God has disappeared and wants nothing to do with his creation. Eventually, Cas learns to stand up for himself, his new-found family, and what he believes is right – even if he ends up dying in the process. Of the ten seasons Castiel is in so far, Season 5 shows some of the most character growth and development than in almost any other season.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest moments for Castiel in Season 5.
Season 5, Episode 3 – “Free to Be You and Me”
At the beginning of this episode, Sam and Dean are separated and each doing their own thing. Sam is avoiding hunting and what is expected of him by working in a bar, while Dean is hunting alone. Castiel finds Dean and requests his help in hunting down the archangel, Raphael, for information on the location of God. After some back and forth where Castiel informs Dean that he needs his help because Dean is the only one who will help him, Dean agrees to go with him.
Dean and Castiel go to the sheriff’s office for information on the suspected sighting of the archangel. Cas wants to just tell the sheriff the truth, and becomes confused when Dean tells him that the truth would never work in getting the information they need. Dean gives Cas a fake FBI badge, straightens his tie, and tells him that they need to lie. Still confused, Cas asks why, and Dean hilariously responds by saying, “Because that’s how you become President.” The boys walk into the sheriff’s office and Dean pulls out his FBI badge to introduce himself. He has to nudge Cas to remind him to play along, and Cas adorably fumbles the introduction by opening his badge upside down.
Castiel continues to be awkward and confused during the rest of the interview, but the sheriff does give them the information they need. The two then go to the hospital to find the vessel that the archangel left behind.
Later, we find Dean in an abandoned house with Castiel appearing and stating he just came back from Jerusalem. Castiel explains the holy oil he retrieved and how it can be used to trap an angel. Dean asks about their chances of survival through all of this, and Cas replies that only Dean is likely to make it out of this encounter alive. Dean then asks if Castiel has any plans for his last night on Earth, which leads to a funny discussion where Castiel reluctantly admits he’s a virgin and Dean ends up dragging Cas off, saying, “There are two things I know for certain. One, Bert and Ernie are gay. Two, you are not going to die a virgin.”
The next time we see Dean and Cas, they are sitting at a brothel with Castiel looking completely terrified. Dean is an excellent wingman, though, and sets Cas up with a girl named Chastity. Cas goes with her looking incredibly uncomfortable. A few minutes go by when we hear Chastity scream. Dean goes to investigate and finds Cas in a state of disarray. After inquiring about what happened, Cas replies that he simply told the girl that it wasn’t her fault that her father ran away. Dean then drags Castiel out of the brothel, laughing hysterically the entire time.
The following morning, Cas and Dean eventually bait Raphael into a trap. Raphael attempts to scare the boys into submission with threats, but Cas and Dean continue to frustrate Raphael until he begins to advance on them, leading him into a ring of holy oil that Castiel lights to trap the archangel. Castiel then attempts to ferret out any information about God from Raphael, learning that God is gone and that the archangels purposefully set the apocalypse in motion. Castiel asks how he’s alive if God is dead, and Raphael replies that Lucifer could have brought Cas back so that the two fallen angels could rebel against heaven together. Castiel doesn’t buy that, and they leave Raphael trapped in the ring of holy fire with Castiel telling Raphael, “Today, you are my little bitch.”
As the episode concludes, Dean and Castiel share a moving conversation in the Impala where Dean encourages Cas to keep looking for God if he still believes that he is out there. Cas asks Dean if he is okay and happy event without Sam, and Dean responds that he’s good and has had more fun with Cas in the past 24 hours than he has with Sam in years.
I found that there wasn’t one specific moment in this episode that could easily be chosen as significant for Castiel. Instead, there are dozens of little moments within it that show how Castiel is growing and learning. The importance of this entire episode is the cultivation of the friendship and bond between Dean and Castiel. This bond is one of the main reasons why Castiel rebelled against heaven in the first place. Castiel begins learning how to hunt Winchester-style and also learns how to have a little bit of fun. These lessons are important for all future story lines that Castiel is part of.
Season 5, Episode 10 – “Abandon All Hope”
The episode begins with Castiel following Crowley as Crowley makes a deal and then returns to his place of residence which is warded against angels. Sam and Dean, with the help of Jo, infiltrate Crowley’s compound to retrieve the Colt. Crowley gives up Lucifer’s next known location and the Colt without any trouble because he, too, wants the boys to kill Lucifer.
The next scene is at Bobby’s house where Ellen and Jo are attempting to get Castiel drunk by having him drink multiple shots of whiskey in a row. Sam, Dean, and Bobby are discussing the plans and likely outcomes of the mission that is planned for the next day. Dean goes off to flirt with Jo and then Bobby calls everyone into the living room for a group photo. He says jokingly that he’ll need something to remember everyone by. Ellen sarcastically replies that it is nice to have an optimist around. Cas, not recognizing the sarcasm, brings the tone of the room down dramatically by replying, “Bobby is right. Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on earth.” The picture is then taken with everyone having serious and contemplative expressions instead of smiling faces.
The next day, everyone apart from Bobby, drives into the surprisingly abandoned town. Deciding to split up to figure out what is happening, Castiel stays with Ellen and Jo. As he looks around, he realizes that the town is not empty after all, but full of reapers who are invisible to everyone but him. Castiel goes to investigate why all of the reapers are in town and disappears into a building. When he arrives in the room, he hears the words, “Hello brother,” and everything flashes white. Cas is trapped in a ring of holy fire by Lucifer. Lucifer assumes that Cas is there with the Winchesters, even though Cas denies it and says he is alone. The two have a conversation about riding in a car, Lucifer’s vessel deteriorating and Castiel’s loyalty to the Winchesters. The conversation ends with Cas saying that he would die before joining Lucifer and allowing him to take Sam as a vessel.
The next scene with Castiel shows the demon Meg coming to tell Lucifer that she has pinned down the Winchesters’ location. Lucifer goes to complete the ritual, leaving Castiel and Meg alone. Castiel keeps Meg talking while using his grace to unscrew a bolt that attaches a pipe to the wall, causing the pipe to slam into Meg and making her fall into the circle of holy fire with him. Castiel attempts to smite her, but his grace is too low, so instead, he pushes her down and uses her body as a bridge to escape the holy fire in a move that is extremely intelligent and absolutely ruthless.
Sam and Dean find Lucifer and attempt to kill him with the Colt. Though they manage to shoot him, the Colt does no damage to the archangel. Lucifer then completes his ritual to raise Death after sending both boys flying into trees. Castiel sneakily appears while Lucifer is distracted and manages to fly Sam and Dean out of harm’s way.
This entire episode is significant for many characters. There is a reason why this was the mid-season finale, after all. Though Castiel’s part in this episode was not the main story line, he still had a very important role to play. Castiel standing up to Lucifer to say that he is on neither the side of Heaven or Hell but on the side of the humans is extremely important. We already knew Castiel would go against heaven’s plan, but this scene proves unequivocally that our favorite angel would never betray the brothers to join with Lucifer. Castiel’s bold move in grabbing Meg to use her to get out of the ring of holy fire was epic, and is more proof that Castiel doesn’t care what he has to do in order to help the Winchesters save the world. The most significant part of this entire episode might be when Bobby makes sure Cas is included in the end-of-the-world family photo. Though the scene is short, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Cas is included as part of Team Free Will, or some might say, part of the family. And that is definitely a big deal.
Season 5, Episode 17 – “99 Problems”
Castiel does not make an appearance in this episode until over halfway through, but his short time on-screen has some of his funniest moments. Sam and Dean are in a town that is being led to take out demons and prepare for the apocalypse by a young woman suspected to be a prophet. The boys call Castiel for assistance as the town’s rules and regulations become more strict. Castiel arrives, stumbling, in the motel with Sam while Dean is out.
SAM:
What’s wrong with you? Are you…drunk?CASTIEL:
No!…Yes.SAM:
What the hell happened to you?CASTIEL:
I found a liquor store.SAM:
And?CASTIEL:
And I drank it. Why’d you call me?
Sam goes on to explain what is going on in the town and why they called for Castiel’s help. When Dean arrives, Cas explains that she is not a prophet, she is actually the Whore of Babylon and has been tricking everyone into believing that her rules and exorcisms are all from the word of angels. He goes onto explain that the Enochian exorcism really means, “You breed with the mouth of a goat.”
Castiel finds a weapon that can kill the Whore of Babylon, but explains that it can only be wielded by a true servant of Heaven, which none of them are. After proving that he is an angel and helping convince a priest that his daughter is actually a monster, Cas and the gang goes to defeat her. Battle and beat-downs ensue that end with Dean surprisingly killing the Whore of Babylon. Castiel is helping care for the pastor when Dean manages to escape to the Impala and run away from everyone with the intention of saying yes to Michael.
The hilarity of a drunk Castiel made the scenes he’s in a few of the funniest scenes that Castiel is ever part of. They give the fandom many fantastic one-liners like, “It’s funnier in Enochian,” and, “Don’t ask stupid questions,” just to name a few. However, the underlying issue for Castiel in this episode is much more serious.
The importance of this episode for Castiel lies in him dealing with his emotions. As a disciplined angel, Castiel did not have to deal with many emotions. Now that Castiel has been torn from Heaven and is learning what it is like to be human, he is having to deal with the emotional pain of accepting that God has left the world (including him!) to its own devices. Castiel handles these confusing and intense emotions the same way he’s learned Dean would, by drinking an entire liquor store in order to get drunk. As sad as that is, drunk Cas is still super funny and provided us with some great moments in this episode.
Season 5, Episode 18 – “Point of No Return” (a.k.a The 100th Episode)
This entire article could be made up using only moments from this one episode. Castiel played such a large role in the story and showed how awesome he is on many occasions. At the beginning of the episode, he helps Sam bring Dean back to Bobby’s house, and takes out two angels in a fantastic fight scene to bring Adam to the Winchesters in order to keep him safe. He’s mad and frustrated with Dean throughout the episode and tells him often by using his newly learned communication tools: grumpiness, sarcasm, and attitude.
After Dean uses the angel banishing spell that Cas taught him against Cas to escape from Bobby’s house, Castiel finds him trying to use a Jehovah’s Witness to contact the other angels. Castiel puts the other man to sleep and drags Dean into the alley for an intense confrontation. Cas throws Dean against the wall, punches him multiple times and gets up in face to yell, “I rebelled for this? For you to surrender to them?” He continues to pummel Dean even after Dean begs him to stop, replying, “I gave everything for you, and this is what you give to me?” Cas continues to beat Dean up until Dean is lying on the ground and taunts Castiel to finish him off by yelling, “Just do it!” Fortunately, that appears to be enough to snap Castiel out of his haze of rage, and instead of continuing to beat Dean, he puts him to sleep and brings him back to Bobby’s house.
Later, the boys need to go and try to rescue Adam from the clutches of Zachariah before Adam says yes to being Michael’s vessel. Sam decides to trust Dean to not say yes to Michael and brings him along to the fight even though Cas makes it very clear that he thinks it’s a bad idea. Due to Castiel’s prior investigating, they know that there are five angels inside the warehouse guarding the room where Adam is being held. Cas says that he is going in alone to take out all of the angels so that Sam and Dean can try to save Adam.
Dean asks if Castiel knows that this plan is basically a suicide mission. Castiel’s reply of, “Maybe it is. But then I won’t have to watch you fail. I’m sorry, Dean. I don’t have the same faith in you that Sam does,” shows just how extremely upset Cas is with Dean’s plan to give up and say yes to Michael. Castiel then goes inside the warehouse. He kills one angel easily and goads the other four angels into all of them coming after him at once. As soon as the other angels make their move, Castiel rips open his shirt to show a banishing sigil that he carved into his chest. Cas succeeds in banishing all of the angels in the warehouse, including himself, in a plan that was innovative and brilliant.
Of all of the episodes in this season, this one shows Castiel as the warrior angel he once claimed to be. Many times throughout the course of Supernatural, Castiel is shown to be awkward or confused, but we do not see that side of Castiel at all during this episode. Instead, we see what a fierce fighter he truly is. As Dean warns Sam after he was beaten and thrown around by Cas, “Don’t piss off the nerd-angels.” It turns out to be excellent advice, because the socially awkward angel really can kick some ass, and this episode proves just how fierce Castiel can be.
Season 5, Episode 22 – “Swan Song”
In one of the best season finales Supernatural has ever had, the role Castiel plays in “Swan Song” can sometimes be overlooked. This episode focuses more on what happens to Sam after he says yes to Lucifer and how Dean copes with his brother essentially being dead with his body still alive. Yet, we know that Castiel is there to support the Winchesters in every step of the process. He is there to help catch the demons needed for Sam to get juiced up. He is there as they decide the most likely place to find Lucifer. He is there to say goodbye and good luck to Sam, knowing that his loyalty and support is needed in that moment. He helps by being his wonderfully awkward self and making Sam laugh when he doesn’t understand that honesty is not always the best policy when it comes to poignant goodbyes. He’s there to support Dean after Sam is unable to defeat Lucifer after saying yes, knowing that no one can replace his brother, but thinking maybe a friend can help. He is there to help Bobby try to convince Dean not to do anything stupid that will risk his life, knowing that Bobby couldn’t bear to lose another one of his boys. Throughout the entire episode, Castiel is there.
At Stull Cemetery, where the final showdown between Michael and Lucifer is to take place, Castiel arrives to stand with Dean and Bobby in a last chance effort to thwart the apocalypse. Castiel proves once and for all who he is loyal to and what he believes in after he throws a Molotov cocktail filled with holy oil at Michael with his best and most quoted line, “Hey, assbutt!”
Unfortunately, Lucifer takes personal offense to Castiel throwing holy fire at Michael and mercilessly kills Castiel for doing what he knew was the right thing to do. Lucifer then kills Bobby after Bobby tried to shoot him, and begins to punch and torment Dean. Sam is ultimately able to overpower Lucifer’s hold on his body, and manages to not only be brave enough to jump into the cage in Hell, but also to grab Micheal and bring him down with him as he falls. Dean despairs that everyone he knows and loves is dead, but as he is kneeling next to the Impala, Castiel appears alive and well, and heals both him and Bobby. Dean asks if Cas is God, and Castiel laughs and says no, but he does think that God was the one to bring him back again, new and improved.
The next scene we see is Castiel sitting shotgun in the Impala while Dean drives. The two are having a conversation about what to do next. Castiel says he is planning on returning to Heaven to help lead the angels. During their talk, Castiel discovers that Dean is angry at God for not intervening more. Castiel calmly explains that Dean got what he wanted: no Paradise or Hell on Earth, just more of the same. He asks what Dean would rather have, peace or freedom, and then disappears without saying goodbye.
Castiel came a long way from the beginning of the season when searching for God’s help. By the end of Season 5, he is standing up to his brothers for freedom and choice. He is murdered and resurrected again because of his own choices that he has made. All of the many, many things Castiel learns throughout Season 5 shapes his actions and decisions for future seasons.
Check back tomorrow for more of Castiel’s best moments in Supernatural when we continue our series and take a look at Season 6.