There is...one more Cas-adjacent car to discuss, but I don't quite have it all straight in my head.
LOOK! It's not the same tan sedan, but it IS interesting. (4x03 & 13x01) Isn't it? Let's ramble:
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Look at this cute little tan sedan that Dean drives in 4x03 In the Beginning!
This is one of his very first interactions with Cas, and our first on-screen date car drive.
They've interacted very little at this point! Previous appearances with Cas n' Dean were 1) their first meeting in the barn and 2) the very tense middle-of-the-night meeting in the dream kitchen.
Anyway, this is the vehicle Dean drives throughout the episode. It's our first car ride with Earth and Heaven teaming up.
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Dean is ghostly as he bears witness to the tragedy of Samuel Campbell's death (stabbed in the gut, just as Mary was before she burned), Deanna Campbell's death (broken neck), and John Winchester's death (broken neck).
Azazel is killing all of Mary's support system to better weaken her resolve and entrap her in a deal.
Young—afraid—alone—distressed. Mary would have taken any deal, surely.
(Mary's Fate is not unique, exactly, but it's definitely got its own signature. It's an off-rhyme parallel in Supernatural. She did not, in fact, barter her soul, or go to Hell, as John and Dean will eventually do. No, she unknowingly Rumpelstiltskin'd her second child.)
Mary looks sadly over her shoulder at Dean, who was unable to help her. Then, John breathes in air with a shuddering gasp—returns to life.
Dean gasps, too, and Cas returns to his side. They disappear together, leaving only mysterious tan sedan in their wake.
Mary turns to look one last time, and we now have the setup of the scene: John—Mary—tan Cas Car (lights on)—black Dean Car.
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Mary’s voice was so small when she asked if Azazel would revive her parents, “M-my parents, too?”
(Of course Azazel said no. Mary has to take what she will get, and she may have made a terrible mistake, but she knew enough not to barter her soul.)
So, Mary gazes at her father—the protector—lost as he failed to protect her, just as she will fail to protect Sam. (Oh, and her mother? She's dead, too. Mary's world has shrunk. And the world is so, so much scarier after your father dies. He’s supposed to be invincible.)
This failing of his child will haunt Samuel Campbell beyond the grave and entangle him in a demonic deal of his own. (Just as Cas, too, will be drawn into an Empty deal for Jack, post-resurrection.)
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"I'll tell you one person that you're not gonna save. Your Granpappy."
Deanna, very nearly victorious in her bid to go for the gun on the ground, gives herself away with a grief-stricken scream:
We've seen this ghost before. The demon comes through the door. It kills the protector. Then it seeks to kill the second line of defense, before moving onto the rest of the vulnerable family members.
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Now, we come to 12x23 All Along the Watchtower and 13x01 Lost and Found. And well, it hurts.
Nothing is one-to-one in Supernatural. All parallels are based in the specter of missing bonds and of lost love—whether that's a child, a comrade, a sibling, a parent, or a lover. It's a symphony of harmonizing pain. :(
So, in 12x23/13x01, Cas dies. Dean and Sam are stunned speechless.
In 12x23, it's Mary who leaps into action, and Dean can only stand, a paralyzed witness to Jack's twin fate of The Lost Parents. (Jack's mom, Kelly? She dies. Dean can't save her. Jack's chosen father, Castiel? He dies, too. Dean can't save him either.)
(Both Deanna and Kelly die with their eyes open.)
But Mary is triumphant. She is a Doomed Child fighting back. She protects Jack from Lucifer, even though she could not protect Sam from Azazel. (Echoing this, Crowley serves as an inverse: he spurned his mother's protection from Lucifer and bit off more than he could chew to further the security of his career/position. His death, surprisingly, tears Rowena in two and unfreezes her heart.)
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But thanks to Mary's heroic efforts here, her own kids are spared this time, and Jack, too. (From here, Mary will go into another world where she never made her deal, and she will make peace with her past.)
Of course, Dean bears witness to his own off-rhyme parallel fate to Mary, The Death of the Lover, at the hands of a Luciferian figure. Cas falls at his feet, and Dean falls to his knees.
Dean is also like John. He can only watch as his loved one's sacrificial debt comes due, with no hope in sight, like how Mary's sacrifice came due--those cosmic consequences.
(And later, Jack, in a painful echo of Azazel, will resurrect The Lover but become destined to kill Mary.)
Later, still in North Cove, Dean pleads with God on the landscape of his broken dreams—Washaway beach, (a cruel nod to the beach trip he will never take), a valley without people or friends in it, and a car.
Like Mary, he looks over his shoulder to find a mysterious tan sedan (but its lights are off & it's enshrouded in darkness).
And there's nothing for Dean here. No miraculous resurrection. No deals that can be made. Not for Dean. Dean's happiness, and the happiness of his loved ones isn’t important enough. The universe turns a blind eye. The father doesn't care if he lives or dies, and his happiness certainly never mattered to Him.
It isn't fair.
His voice shakes, and his lip trembles. "Please. Please, help us."
But God's not listening. "He doesn't give a damn."
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And we're left with a similar setup to Mary's tragedy, another off-rhyme: we return to the lakehouse and we have...a black Dean car. A tan Cas truck, at cross positions to one another, as they were in 4x03.
But like John, Dean is now left with just Sam n' Jack, and he's ill-equipped for parentally supporting either of them.
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But Dean just keeps looking and looking and looking. Hoping.
He looks like he's about to faint, actually.
(A kitchen. A dining table. An empty chair at its head.)
But this is how it goes with Cas. Dean tries to stop him from walking away, and in reality, he's powerless to stop him from going anywhere.
Having faith when miracles happen and when they don't? What good is it? It just hurts more.
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They’re not really camping.
It’s the aftermath of a case. It just feels like camping.
Which is probably why Mary wakes at 4:30 a.m. sharp.
Samuel, Deanna, and Mary had gone on precious few “real vacations,” and Samuel’s whole mindset had been, “we’re not gonna squander this. We’re on vacation and we’re gonna friggin’ enjoy it.”
There’s no reason not to enjoy the camping, even if it is the coda to a case…
Which is why Mary drags herself outside of her tent at ass o’clock in the morning, and immediately starts rummaging around for any pot or pan.
She finds a skillet.
Castiel is already up (because he’s always up), poking at the fire, stoking it till it flames up again. He nods at Mary, then pays her no mind.
Ah-ha!
She finally finds the other piece she’s looking for: a ladle.
Here we go.
Cas’s eyes widen in horror, but he’s too late to stop her.
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