Plot

Dean becomes suspicious of Samuel's motives, but Sam isn't sold on the idea that their grandfather is doing anything wrong. The brothers go along on a hunt with Samuel and the other Campbells, but things go terribly awry.

When Sam and Dean go hunting for the Alpha vampire with the Campbells, Dean sees them shoving the Alpha in a van instead of killing it. Since Sam was involved, Dean confronts him about it and realises Sam has got no intuition with his soul gone. Dean then tries to convince Sam that their grandfather might not be such a good guy and that they need to find out what he's hiding.—immevangorp

Sam is waking up in the Winchesters' motel room after being savagely beaten by Dean, and through blurry vision, sees Castiel observing him and telling Dean that Sam looks terrible. An understatement -- Sam's face is a mess of lumps and blood.

Then Sam notices that they've tied him to a chair. Castiel asks Sam if he's feverish or speaking in tongues. Sam, perplexed and annoyed at being held captive, says no. He can't believe that Castiel is diagnosing him, but Dean is unmoved. He growls to Sam that his job is to answer all of Cas's questions but otherwise, "Shut your hole."

Castiel asks Sam how much he sleeps, and Sam tells him he doesn't, not since he's gotten back from Hell. Castiel's facial expression suddenly registers mild alarm, then he asks Sam what he's feeling at this moment. Sam replies that he feels like his nose is broken.

"No, that is a physical sensation," Castiel explains. "How do you feel?" Sam, confused, says he doesn't know. Castiel takes off his belt and puts it in Sam's mouth, telling him to bite down on the leather and warning him, "This will be unpleasant. If there's some place that you find soothing, you should go there. In your mind."

Before Sam can protest, Castiel closes his eyes and shoves his hand into Sam's midriff as Sam's veins glow with energy, and Sam howls in pain. When Castiel is finished, he calmly reclaims his belt and turns to Dean.

Dean asks Castiel if he found anything, and Cas tells him no.

"So, that's good news," Dean says, but again, Cas says no, it's not. Castiel explains that physically, he's perfectly healthy. But...

"It's his soul," Cas says. "It's gone."

From what Cas can guess, Sam's body was returned but his soul is probably still in the cage with Michael and Lucifer. Dean asks if that means Sam is still...Sam.

Cas looks at Sam very hard for a moment and tells Dean, "You pose a very interesting philosophical question."

As Dean and Cas begin to argue over the possibility of retrieving Sam's soul from Hell, with Cas telling him it's not going to happen, Sam quietly begins loosening the ropes that are holding him.

He begs Dean to untie him, and Dean adamantly tells him that he's not going to let him out of the room. Sam tells Dean that he's not going to hurt him, and that he only wanted to stop the vampires. Then he musters as much feigned sincerity as he can, and tells Dean he's sorry, and that it'll never happen again. Sam tells him that he's still him.

Dean neither believes him, nor does he intend to let him out of the room. Sam tells Dean he didn't want it to come to this, then shocks Cas and Dean by getting up and out the chair, tossing aside the ropes. He tells Dean he won't be able to hold him anywhere, so he's stuck working with the soulless guy.

Dean snarls that he'll be watching every move he makes. Cas touches Sam's forehead, restoring his face to normal, and the three of them start the long process of trying to figure out who has the power to spring Sam from the cage. Sam maintains that he recalls nothing about his resurrection, only that he woke up in a field with no memories, save for one.

Cut to the Impala driving into Samuel Winchester's compound, where the hunters are clearly preparing for a large-scale assault of some sort. Christian walks up to greet them but Dean brushes him off, asking for Samuel.

The brothers head to Samuel's back office, joined by Castiel, and tell Samuel they have questions. Samuel, amused, turns to Cas and tells him he looks scrawnier than he imagined. Castiel explains that what they're seeing is his vessel. "My true form is approximately the size of your Chrysler Building."

But, enough of that. Dean asks Samuel what he remembers, and their grandfather has the same story as Sam -- first he was dead, then suddenly he popped up on a ridge somewhere. Castiel then checks Samuel for a soul, and his screams bring Christian running into the room, gun drawn.

Samuel orders him to stand down, and tells Christian to give them a minute. When he leaves, Cas tells them that Samuel's soul is intact. At first Samuel is confused by this, but then he turns to Sam, who is forced to admit to Samuel that his soul is gone. Samuel insists he didn't know, but he sensed something was off.

"You're a hell of a hunter, Sam, but the truth is, sometimes you scare me," Samuel says.

Castiel stares skyward, then tells them he has to head back to handle Heaven's civil war. Dean reminds him to keep on the case with Sam. Castiel, with tired sarcasm, tells him, "Of course. Your problems always come first. I'll be in touch."

Once Cas leaves, Dean asks about what's going on with the gathering, and Samuel says they're prepping for a big hunt. He doesn't elaborate, but Sam guesses correctly that they've found the Alpha vampire. They're making their move at dawn. Surprised, Sam asks why Samuel didn't call him, and Samuel goes quiet. So Dean answers Sam's question. "It's because of me."

Seems grandpa doesn't trust Dean when it comes to big game, but he tells Dean that he just doesn't know him, not like he knows Sam. Dean offers to follow his lead, if he allows them along. He assures Samuel that he trusts him, one hundred percent.

As soon as they're out of earshot, Dean tells Sam he doesn't trust Samuel, not one bit. Sam is surprised that Dean doesn't trust family, and Dean instructs Sam to blend in and see what he can pick up. They head back in, and Sam joins the preparations. Meanwhile, Dean sneaks back to Samuel's office and picks the lock with his B&E kit.

But Christian catches him, and asks what he's doing. Dean tries to brush him off with sarcasm, but it soon becomes confrontational when Christian insults Lisa. Dean grabs him by the collar and shoves him against the wall, then finds his cool again. He lets Christian go and assures him he has his back.

At dawn, the hunters head to the Alpha's nest, and Samuel doles out orders, instructing Dean to hang back with Gwen and take down any stragglers. Neither of them is pleased, especially Gwen, who can't believe she's being told to stay behind with "the reject."

The rest of the team heads out, and Gwen apologizes to Dean. Dean accepts, telling her that he admires her for speaking her mind. But then a vampire jumps Dean, knocking him to the ground. Gwen beheads the vamp, saving Dean. As she helps him up, they hear gunshots and Dean runs toward the house, ignoring Gwen's protests.

Dean arrives at a mansion gate and looks around the grounds, noticing decapitated bodies everywhere. Then he looks up and notices a familiar weathervane, flashing back to his vision of the African American gentleman and the twin girl vampires that he experienced while passed out in the vamp's nest. This is, indeed, the home of the Alpha. He hears a woman's voice scream his name in the window, and sees one of the team banging frightened on the glass. But she's pulled back into the house, and the window is splashed with blood.

Dean sneaks up to the house and looks around the corner to see Samuel, Sam and other hunters leading a hooded figure into the van. A glimpse at the captive's hand confirms it's the man from his vision, the Alpha.

Dean doubles back to Gwen who at first asks where he ran off to, then covers for him when Samuel comes back to meet them. "One Alpha down," Samuel says. Dean asks to see the Alpha's body so he can pay his respects, and Samuel casually lies, telling Dean he's already burned him. Dean turns to Gwen, who can tell that something's up.

Sam gets into the car with Dean, and when Dean asks if anything weird happened on the mission, Sam says no. Dean nods, then veers off the road, parks and gets out of the car. He tells Sam that he saw him walk the Alpha out the door, and Sam can only reply, "Oh."

He tells Dean that he's not supposed to know about that, and goes on to explain that Samuel has been capturing Alpha creatures, taking them to a remote location and grilling them for info. Torturing them, in other words. Dean asks if it was Samuel's idea to keep him in the dark, and Sam says no, it was his own. In his experience, Dean shoots first and asks questions later. They need to ask questions.

Dean, now furious, reminds Sam that he knows better. He asks Sam if it ever occurred to him that this is really shady, and Sam just says he's their grandfather.

Dean tells Sam that he shouldn't assume that just because Samuel is their grandfather, that family means the same thing to him as it does to them and their dad. Dean's also shocked at how blind Sam is to the weirdness of Samuel's squad. He tersely tells Sam that he's calling the shots and that Sam needs to tell him about everything that's going on because he doesn't seem to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Either that, or Sam can go with Samuel.

In the next scene, Sam strolls into Samuel's back office and tells his grandfather that Dean is gone, that they weren't seeing eye to eye anymore. Sam tells Samuel he wants in on the interrogations, and that Samuel is the only family he has anymore. Samuel admires his enthusiasm, but tells him that because he doesn't know what's going on with Sam's soul, he would rather not let him in on it. Sam leaves, but heads to Samuel's vehicle and plants a GPS on one of his cellular phones. He heads back to the Impala, where Dean is waiting, and runs the trace.

Later, Samuel and Christian are entering a warehouse at another location as Dean and Sam pull up, headlights off. Before they slip in after their grandfather, they notice Samuel has covered the door in dead man's blood to repel other vampires. Inside, Sam and Dean sneak through a number of dim industrial hallways until they hear Samuel's voice. As they head towards it, they see Samuel questioning the Alpha, who is strapped down to a chair with iron chains, with spikes nailed though his hands and feet.

From their hiding place, they overhear Samuel asking the vampire where "it" is, and the vampire isn't telling him. Samuel flips a switch, sending electric current through the Alpha, who merely smiles and taunts him. Samuel assures him there are worse things in store for the monster if he doesn't tell him what he wants to know, then leaves.

Once Samuel is out of the room, the vampire calmly instructs Sam and Dean to come in with him. Horrified, they steel themselves and enter the room. The Alpha smiles at them, as if entertained. "How can I help you?" he says softly.

Dean tries to strut confidently, reminding the vampire that he has so much dead man's blood pumping through his veins that he can't possibly psychically alert other vampires to come and help him. The Alpha admits that's true, slowly scraping at one of his iron cuffs with a claw. Then he throws Dean for a loop by calling him by name.

The Alpha reminds Dean that he was "his child" for a time, which sets Dean on edge.

"Dean, tell me," the Alpha taunts, "did you enjoy it?"

Dean responds by throwing the electrical switch. The Alpha angrily tells him that when his "kind" was huddling around the fire, "I was the thing in the dark! Now you think you can hurt me? I have all night, boys. You do not." Then he tells him he's happy to tell him whatever they want to know, because soon he'll be ankle deep in their blood, sucking the marrow from their bones.

So, yes. He is, indeed, the first vampire. But if he's the first, Sam asks, who made him? The Alpha, still scraping at his iron restraints, answers, "We all have our mothers...even me."

Dean asks why the vampires' numbers are swelling, and the Alpha explains that they're going to war. Over what? He does not answer, but instead observes that Sam smells cold. He realizes Sam has no soul and asks him if he feels empty.

"The thing about souls, if you've gone one," the Alpha explains, "is that they're predictable. You go up, or down. Where does my kind go?"

Dean tries to brush him off, but Alpha insist he's trying to answer his question. For those like him that have no soul, when they die, they can't go to Heaven, or Hell. And that leaves...

"Purgatory," Sam correctly answers.

The Alpha explains that Purgatory is filled with the souls of every hungry thing like him that ever walked the Earth. But, where is it? That is the mystery, the Alpha says, and that's what Samuel is trying to torture out of him.

The boys ask what Samuel wants with Purgatory, and the Alpha, grinning, only replies that "we all have to answer to someone."

"If the old man's Kermit," Dean asks, "whose hand is up his ass?" Dean does not get his answer, because Samuel has entered the room, gun drawn, to end the conversation.

Leaving a man to guard the Alpha, Samuel takes his grandsons aside, and Dean voices his displeasure with Samuel's tactics. The boys go for their guns, but Gwen walks up and gets the drop on them. Suddenly they hear a scream. Samuel, Christian, Dean, Gwen and Sam run in to the Alpha's room to see an empty cage and the guard on the floor, dead in a pool of his own blood.

Suddenly seeing things Dean's way, the group preps a few syringes of dead man's blood to subdue the Alpha vampire, who has now disappeared within the dark corridors of the warehouse. They split up to find him -- Samuel with Sam and Christian, Dean with Gwen. For a time they find nothing...until the Alpha finds them.

The creature sneaks up on Sam's group and breaks Christian's neck with one motion. Samuel shoots buckshot into his torso, but the Alpha flings him aside. He wants Sam.

Holding Sam by the neck against the wall, he gloats that souls are so pesky. With Sam unburdened of one, "You will be the perfect animal!"

The Alpha produces his teeth, ready to bite Sam, but Christian suddenly pops up -- now displaying black eyes -- and injects dead man's blood into the Alpha. The creature's knees buckle, and Christian and the Alpha suddenly vanish.

Dean and Gwen walk into the room just in time for everyone to hear some hearty applause. They turn to the other side of the room to see...Crowley?

Yes, Crowley. Samuel demands that he tell him where Christian is, and Crowley reveals that Christian has been possessed for some time now. Crowley explains to Samuel that he has to keep an eye on his "investments."

Dean suddenly realizes that Samuel is, in Dean's colorful terms, Crowley's bitch. Sam and Dean tell Crowley they know that he's looking for Purgatory. Sam and Dean ask why, but the only thing Crowley will tell them is that Purgatory, besides being Hell-adjacent, is vast and underutilized. Beyond that, the only thing he adds is that employees do not question their management.

Wait, what? Yes, that's right -- they're working for Crowley. Samuel has known this from the start. And if Sam and Dean want Sam's soul back, they have to work with Samuel. Crowley knows Samuel knows a lot of things. Besides, Crowley reminds them, he raised both Samuel and Sam. As King of Hell, he can do that now.

"So, we clear? Me Charlie, you angels," Crowley says. "The job is simple enough: You bring me creatures. Aim high on the food chain, please. Everybody wins."

Crowley disappears. Samuel tries to order everyone to get the van to head out, but Gwen protests. Samuel insists that they're doing everything as always, and Gwen, clearly annoyed, does as she's told.

Dean asks Samuel what's so important that he would do what the King of Hell says, and all Samuel can say is he has his reasons. He tells Sam and Dean that he won't hurt him, but the way he sees is they have two choices: Put a bullet in their grandfather, or step aside and let him go. Sam raises his gun, but Dean stops him and tells him to let him go. Samuel, dejected, leaves.

Sam asks what to do next. Dean insists they can't work for Crowley -- demons bone them every time. But Sam points out that they probably don't have a choice -- they have to play ball, for the moment. Until they find another way. Then they track Crowley down, and give him what's coming to him.

Sam stares his brother in the eye and asks, "You with me, Dean?"