Baby’s Rear View Recap: 12.07 “Rock Never Dies”

This post is about Supernatural season 12 episode 7 “Rock Never Dies,” written by Robert Berens and directed by Eduardo Sánchez.

*****Spoilers below*****

“Rain your splendor upon me. Let me bathe in your unholy wrath. Drench me, Lucifer.”

This episode opens on two hooded figures gathered around a pentagram reciting a ritual. Though they are concerned that the Satanist Society of America-approved summoning they found online won’t work, the power of the fossilized feather does indeed draw Lucifer out of the ocean and into their living room. That’s mighty nice for Lucifer, but not so much for his “followers,” whose necks he snaps shortly after arriving.

“Think about it. Of all the extinct rock acts, Ladyheart are the most Paleolithic. A major label sponsored comeback in 2016 for those dinosaurs? It doesn't feel like a wholly natural turn of events, does it?”

After the title card, we see Dean sitting in the bunker playing words with friends with his mother. Sam joins him to complain about research just before Cas calls to let them know Lucifer is on the loose once more. Cas is still living out a bad buddy comedy with Crowley in a bar, and Crowley is not going to take being left out of the loop any longer. He takes Cas’s phone and puts it to speaker just so he can berate the Winchesters for neglecting to call after they saved the world together. Eventually the group plans to meet in LA, and Crowley takes off to meet someone he thinks can help.

“And just talking to Vince, he seemed different, you know? Energized. Reborn. Lit. Like a whole new man.”

Crowley’s “guy” turns out to be a record producer, one Russell Lemmons. It turns out Russell has an arrangement with Crowley—he sends him desperate young wannabes he thinks will sell their souls for fame. But they’re not as close as Crowley thought. Russell is dead set on bringing back Lady Heart, and Crowley has to put the fear of god in him just get have a chance in hell.

“You know what? I'm done apologizing. Lucifer possessed Vince Vincente. This is Vince Vincente's music, so listening to it is research. As a matter of fact Study up, Dean.”

Meanwhile, Dean and Sam are making the drive from Kansas to LA. Dean is complaining about LA until he realizes Sam has headphones in and hasn’t heard a bit of his rant. Dean asks that they listen together to keep him awake, but Sam hedges. He insists it’s just a really boring history podcast on Luther’s 95 theses, but Dean doesn’t buy it. Turns out Sam is totally listening to Vince Vincente, and he’s not going to stop just because Dean is stubbornly judging the book by its cover. In fact, he’s gonna turn it up all the way and make Dean listen to it.

“It means it's not about the music. It never really was. You know, rock's not the reason. It's just an excuse to worship, to adore. See, humans have always been desperate to put someone or something above them. And let's face it, God ain't cuttin' it these days. It takes a Kim Kardashian, a whatever Justin Bieber is. A me. They're enjoying the ride. So should you.”

Meanwhile, “Vince” is in the studio NOT recording. Apparently the music doesn’t matter. They only care about whether Vince Vincent is bay, nae, or daddy.

“You consider switching up your duds there? Bit stiff for this town.”
“He could be an agent or something.”
“Yeah, maybe a third-tier agent.”
“At least I don't look like a lumberjack.”

The gang meet up at Vince’s hotel and check out his room. It’s a mess of rockstar biographies and women’s underwear, but there’s no evidence of a plan. There is, however, a human tooth.

“I was a fool not to recognize such sweet devotion. Talk to me, Roseleen. Tell me about me.”

“Vince” is hanging out on someone else’s couch with a girl named Roseleen. He gets Roseleen, who is suspiciously missing a tooth, to profess her love to him. And then he gets her to carve his name into her chest.

“Roseleen, did Vince force you to do this?”
“No. Vince didn't. He wouldn't have to. I wanted to, to show him, to make him happy.”

The gang convenes at the hospital, where Dean orders Cas to keep an eye on Crowley in the hallway while he and Sam talk to Roseleen. They’re disturbed by Roseleen’s level of devotion as she defends Vince Vincente and begs them to let her go the concert.

“Religion, celebrity, Twitter -- it's all the same rules. If you're not gaining followers, you're losing followers.”

Meanwhile Vince is planning his next move with PR. The concert tonight is going to be at an undisclosed location with small audience, but Vince is adamant that he wants fresh blood.

“So we couldn't flip a single member of Vince's team. Even with the threat of mass murder, these SoCal douchebags won't do the right thing.”
“Welcome to Los Angeles.”

The gang discusses what to do next. Rowena is out and no one can figure out what Lucifer is planning. The gang splits up to try and get a break. Crowley attacks Russell, Cas contacts Tommy, and Dean and Sam pose as a new band to get a meeting with Vince’s PR person. They all strike out and meet back at the hotel to commiserate.

“Tonight's show? It's gonna kill.”

Luckily for them, Vince is getting a little too crazy for his team. When Russell threatens to revoke Vince’s contract, Vince makes Russell stab himself with his prized pen. The PR person quits, and that’s when Tommy texts Cas and gives him the location.

“I'll take Lucifer. He's my responsibility.”
“No, he's not. He's all of our responsibility.”

The gang gets to the location but they haven’t really thought up a plan. Cas volunteers to distract Lucifer so Dean and Sam can save the crowd. Crowley offers to accompany Cas to try to buy them some more time.

“You think this is fun?”
“Oh, I wouldn't expect you to understand. I was inside you. I know what a weak, duty-bound pleasureless dullard you are.”

Cas and Crowley take on Lucifer in the dressing room. They live, but Tommy doesn’t. Meanwhile, Dean and Sam try to disperse the crowd to no avail.

“You know what my plan is? I don't have one. I'm just gonna keep on smashing Daddy's already broken toys and make you watch.”

Finally Vince comes out onstage, and Dean gets rid of the crowd by shooting his gun into the air. Lucifer tries to magic the doors closed, but Sam manages to hold them open until everyone gets out. Once it’s just Lucifer and the gang, Cas attacks. Dean manages to put the handcuffs on, but Lucifer burns them off right away. Once it’s clear they’re no match for the devil, they rest for a bit while Lucifer monologues. But apparently the night has been too much for Lucifer, and he vows to move onwards and upwards as he exits the disintegrating vessel.

“We're not winning. We're just losing slow.”

The gang is pretty depressed to say the least. But they’re not dead! They’re not feeling too great, but they’re determined. They reaffirm their commitment to stopping Lucifer, because “it’s what we do, man.”

Questions:

Why does this feather repair his vessel? I mean, we have seen angel feathers used in spells but I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything quite like this. I guess archangel feathers probably carry more power, and maybe the fact that it’s his feather imbues it with special power over his vessel as well. I dunno. Seems mighty convenient if you ask me.

Does this mean the impala still has that iPhone jack? And Dean is actually willing to use it? Otherwise how could they listen to Sam’s “podcast”? I’m so proud of Grandpa Dean getting hip with the times.

Is it just me, or was Dean really mean to Cas this episode? I mean, was this like boyfriends bickering mean, or you should legitimately feel like crap for leaving me mean? I guess, obviously Dean still cares about Cas but he has a funny way of showing it. It’s pretty obvious Cas is not doing well and I’m worried about him.

So there were seven deaths this episode? And 5 of them were from snapped necks. Interesting. It reminds me of the Hitler episode, which also had a shocking number of deaths and some neck snapping. Was that an intentional parallel? Could it be a way of comparing Dean and Sam to Lucifer himself?

Conclusions:

Rick Springfield did so. well. That ending monologue was actually pretty moving, and I’m sort of sad to see him go. In general I wasn’t a huge fan of the character or the story, but I was really impressed with Rick Springfield’s acting. Aces, Rick.

The episode is not going to go down as one of my favorites. The myth arc episodes lately always seem rushed and jam-packed, and this one in particular left me feeling sort of empty. I mean, it was depressing without being emotionally fulfilling. And it was just sad, okay. Poor Cas. Poor Sammy. Poor everyone! This was such a depressing episode!

Also, I was sort of wary about the message. I mean, all that talk about how fans are pathetic and crazy did not sit well with me. Plus, it was just a really nihilistic feel. I mean, ew.

There actually were some really funny parts, and I love seeing the cast working more as an ensemble, but it makes it hard to balance the characters’ emotional beats. I felt like Cas got sidelined over and over again in the beginning of the episode, and that doesn’t make me happy. And I felt like the end part just made it worse. That said, I am still whooping over that lumberjack line. DRAG HIM QUEEN B. Anyway, the good parts were really good, but not all of it was good. In fact, the Lucifer bits were excruciatingly boring until the very end.

But I have to say, that moment where Sam held the door open was amazing. Really amazing. 10/10 would recommend.

Here’s to hoping next week’s myth arc episode will be more fulfilling, since it is the mid-season finale and all.