“Into the Mystic” begins 30 years ago in Ireland: a couple share a dance while their newborn lays in a nearby crib. The baby begins crying as a high pitched scream breaks through the music. It gets inside the husband’s (Brett Alexander Davidson, “American Psycho”) head until he beats his forehead against the wall enough times to kill himself. The wife (Karyn Mott, “Gracepoint”) is able to send the monster, a phantom-like woman in a red dress (Atlin Mitchell, “Arrow”), away before it reaches her child, but at the cost of her life.
Present day, Sam (Jared Padalecki, “Gilmore Girls”) is struggling to sleep, haunted by Lucifer’s words and his guilt for having not looked for Dean when he was in Purgatory. He gets up and opts to clean his gun until Dean (Jensen Ackles, “Smallville”) wakes up and comes to him with a new case. A man in a retirement home has been found dead, head smashed in, without any sign of an intruder. And the best part is that the home is located on 15 minutes away.
Lucifer (Misha Collins, “24”), still dressed as Cas, spends time at a park: taking a walk, feeding the birds, exploding fellow angels, etc. He promises the doomed angel that he intends to destroy the Darkness. “Lucifer ex machina” he calls himself. Ex machina is a term commonly used to refer to a plot device that comes out of nowhere to save the day in a slightly too convenient way. At least the devil is self-aware. Misha’s body language is completely different as Lucifer. He somehow manages to make his legs looks longer. Castiel’s legs aren’t often shown in shot and are never the focus of his pose. As Lucifer he leans back, spreading and crossing his legs, folding his arms, and it really looks as though Mark Pellegrino (the former actor for Lucifer, “The Tomorrow People”) is trapped inside him. Not to mention the change in speech pattern and facial expressions.
Sam and Dean arrive at the Oak Park retirement home and Dean comments that they might want to make a reservation. Sam, who is being unusually pessimistic, says he doubts they’ll even live long enough to retire (hunters notoriously die young). Sam checks out the crime scene while Dean speaks with owner of the home, Arthur (Jonathan Potts, “The Strain”), who tells Dean he heard the victim screaming to get something out of his head. He also explains that he recently broke up with his wife via text emoji. While they are talking, Dean is introduced to Mildred (Dee Wallace, “Just Add Magic”), one of the residents.
Dean discovers that a former resident, Jake, may have a grudge of the victim and the brothers believe he might be returning as a vengeful spirit. They dig up his grave. While they dig, Sam admits that he is having a hard time after interacting with Lucifer. They salt and burn the body. Jake was not the cause of the deaths, obviously (we are only 13 minutes into the episode), and that night the creature claims Arthur as its next victim, right in front of Mildred.
She explains what she saw to Sam and Dean the next day. She tells them that she saw a woman in a red dress who was eating Arthur’s head, and is relieved to hear that they believe her. She flirts with Dean while Sam goes to ask a member of the cleaning staff some questions. The woman, Marlene (Shoshannah Stern, “Weeds”), is deaf. She doesn’t have any answers and when Sam tries to thank her in ASL I’m pretty sure he ends up saying something rude, but she appreciates the attempt and shows him the proper way to say it.
The brothers discover that their monster is likely a malevolent species of Banshee that attacks people who exhibit some kind of weakness. They can only be killed with a gold knife, which neither of them have on them, so Dean heads back to the bunker to get one. While there, he runs into Lucifer, who he thinks is Cas. Lucifer does his best impression of Cas. Misha is now playing Lucifer playing Cas. Dean buys it, and admits to Cas (Lucifer) his unwanted attraction to Amara (Emily Swallow, “The Mentalist”). Lucifer tells him that it may be a good thing.
Meanwhile, Sam visits Mildred to tell her the truth and that since she may potentially be the Banshee’s next victim. He also asks after the staff member, Marlene, but Mildred explains that Marlene is on vacation and there aren’t any deaf members of staff. Suspicious, Sam goes to track down the so-called Marlene, but he’s surprised when she attacks him with a trapping signal. Also a hunter, she had mistaken Sam and Dean for Banshees. Sam clears up the situation and she explains that her parents were killed by the banshee they’re hunting — its screams are the reason she is deaf. Her real name is Eileen, and what’s more intriguing: she is a legacy of the Men of Letters just as they are.
Sam, Eileen and Mildred reconvene. While Sam calls Dean and tells him to get back, Mildred practices her signing with Eileen, telling her that she can have Sam but she calls dibs on Dean. Sam warns Eileen that revenge isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, he understands that more than anyone. He asks what she is going to do after they kill the Banshee and she answers that she might go into law. Sam explains that he was studying law before he chose to be a hunter.
Dean arrives with gold knives for everyone. Mildred steals him away to sit and watch the sunset together. It’s very romantic. She offers Dean a piece of advice: to follow his heart. He stands to escape her hand on his knee, only to be taken down by a high pitch scream. Dean is the next victim of the Banshee. Mildred and Eileen are able to take down the Banshee before Dean knocks himself out on the wall. Luckily, Dean has a hard head.
After the battle Eileen admits that she isn’t planning on going to law school and that hunting is her life, a conclusion Sam came to a while ago. They exchange phone numbers with the promise to text, not call. I have a feeling that Sam is going to brush up on his ASL. Mildred sees Dean off, admitting that she knew she never had a chance. She says that she can tell that Dean is pining for somebody else. The question is, is Dean pining for Amara? And if so, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
The episode wraps with a typical BM (“Boy Melodrama”) scene. Dean comments that something seems a little “off” about Cas. Gee, ya think, Dean? And Sam admits that he still feels guilty about not searching for Dean in Purgatory, but Dean absolves him, forgiving him. That night Sam is able to sleep soundly. But Dean is left wide awake. It’s probably for the best anyway, because I’m pretty sure he has a concussion.