Episode Details

Supernatural Season 4, Episode 16, On the Head of a Pin recap 😈 Someone is murdering angels, and Castiel needs Dean to do the one thing he swore he'd never do again: torture Alastair, on Denim-wrapped Nightmares, a Supernatural rewatch podcast. Grab tissues, and maybe something less caffeinated than we did. (The title comes from the old question: how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?)

Our drink of the episode: Cimarron tequila with a peach Celsius (200 milligrams of caffeine, a mistake), which we've named the Uriel, for reasons you'll hear. Angels are turning up dead with their eyes burned out, and Castiel (Misha Collins) and Uriel (Robert Wisdom) need answers. Their prisoner, Alastair (Christopher Heyerdahl), knows who's behind it, and Dean is the only one who can make him talk. Dean begs Cas not to make him do it. Cas does anyway.

Episode Highlights:

• Uriel calling Castiel the funniest angel in the garrison (sure, Jan)
• Christopher Heyerdahl's terrifying, captivating Alastair
• Our first Enochian devil's trap, and the first angel blade
• Sam, hopped up on demon blood, showing what he can do
• A revelation about the first seal that wrecks Dean
• Anna's return, and Misha's little spin-to-stand twirl
• A big betrayal in the angel ranks
• Fun fact: Castiel was reportedly supposed to die in this episode (thank you, fan popularity)
• Dean's heartbreaking closer: he's not the man either of their fathers wanted him to be

In the lore segment, we dig into Diyu and the 18 levels of hell in Chinese Buddhist tradition (and the very specific tortures in each), plus the Catholic view of who tortures the souls in hell (spoiler: we didn't see that answer coming).

"I'm considering disobedience." – Castiel

Your turn, hunters: Could YOU have done what Castiel asked of Dean? And did you see the betrayal coming? Tell us in the Spotify comments, leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts (it's how new hunters find us), or send us fan mail. Bonus points for fandom fun facts we missed.

Sources:

• https://supernatural.fandom.com/wiki/On_The_Head_Of_A_Pin
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diyu
• https://www.catholic.com/qa/who-tortures-souls-in-hell-0

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Denim-wrapped Nightmares is a Supernatural rewatch podcast hosted by Berly and LA, breaking down every episode of the Winchester saga with lore deep-dives plus cast and crew interviews. Special thanks to David Fesliyan and Fesliyan Studios.

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