Or, Nick is gross but is also an important mirror to... everyone.
Spoilers for 14X12 Prophet and Loss, and episodes prior.
A contribution to @metafest .
Thank you to @verobatto-angelxhunter for inviting me to be a guest this week!
In 14X12,-
-Nick goes back to the home his wife and child were murdered in, searching for something. A sudden chill fills the room, and he turns around, only to face the image of his wife, Sarah. But, he calls out Lucifer instead, convinced that the Archangel has returned to him in the same place they first met. Appalled he could say make this mistake, Sarah recoils, then begs Nick to reject Lucifer; only then can she be free.
Nick turns his back and leaves.
On its own, this scene, and Nick’s entire story-line, is just disturbing. The implication that Nick cares more for Lucifer than his own wife, that he just went on a bloody killing spree to get answers about, is gross. The fact that Buckleming don’t know how to pull off these scenes makes the whole side-plot feel tedious and unnecessarily cruel. But, I would argue that all of Nick’s actions so far have been to be a mirror for just about all the main characters on the show, but in the worst ways possible.
For example, in 7X15: Repo man-
-we meet Jesse, a man formerly possessed by a Demon. Years after being freed, he tries to reunite with said Demon because he enjoyed killing, and felt that a part of him was gone without said Demon, and even went so far to call him the love of his life. When the Demon takes a new meat-suit, though, they reveal Jesse was ready to carry on their dark work on his own. Jesse refuses this, and is killed by Dean shortly after.
Fun fact, 7X15 was written by Ben Edlund, and directed by Thomas J. Wright, the same director for 14X12. Bonus fun fact is that Sam had a series of Lucifer hallucinations during Repo Man. Okay, maybe not-so-fun...
The point of Jesse, wanting to be reunited with this Demon, is that it was one-sided. He was molded into the killer he had the potential to be, and then left in the dust. Fast forward to Nick, who wants to be reunited with Lucifer, and cares more for him than his own wife. Right here, we can already get a glimpse as to where Nick’s story will end.
But, the mirrors don’t stop there.
In 1X09: Home, Sam and Dean return to the house Mary died in, and find out it’s been taken over by a poltergeist. They also find the spirit of Mary, who’s bound to the location by the malevolent spirit. She ends up banishing the poltergeist, freeing herself in the process. Before this, earlier in the episode, Dean tries to get in touch with John, begging for his help on the case. John is revealed to actually be in town with the boys, but purposely avoided them, including missing the chance to see/free his wife.
Fast forward to 14X12, where Nick returns home only to find it is haunted by his dead wife. She is trapped, and is unable to free herself. Nick refuses to let Lucifer go, and abandons her. All of this is similar to John’s actions in Home, but so much darker and twisted.
And in just the previous episode, 14X11, Nick serves as a dark John mirror, hell-bent on finding the Demon responsible for killing his family. What’s important to note though, with the events of 14X12 in mind, is that Nick wants info from Abraxas, first and foremost. The Demon replies by telling Nick he is not a part of some grand plan, he was picked as a vessel because he was just there. I think Nick cared more about finding out why Lucifer picked him, and not why his wife and child were murdered. This is starkly different from John, who still lost himself after Mary’s murder, but never slaughtered innocent people for pleasure or self-gain.
From my own notes/meta for 14X11:
In the same episode Dean brings up a memory of John not handling Mary’s death well, Mary is confronted with a John mirror. (Nick)
(I swear I’m not implying Mary is gonna sock John in the face, this is just the only gif with Mary from this episode I could find. It is quite satisfying though, isn’t it?)
The clearest distinction between the two I can see is this: if given the option to prevent his wife’s death, John would agree in a heartbeat. Nick would hesitate and let things remain as they are, unable to imagine a life without Lucifer.
Now, let me grab my third mirror, and the first one we saw for S14, Sam.
Sam immediately connected with Nick in the premier; both had been possessed by Lucifer, and knew of his mind games and cruelty. Sam was also the one who was the most devastated to hear Nick had gone dark side. He says in 14X11 that Nick could’ve been him. Of course, in this moment, Nick is also serving as a Dean mirror, when Dean reminds Sam that they can’t save everyone, and sometimes you just need to let go of those who are beyond the brink. As he says this, Dean is planning to lock himself in a coffin and be buried at sea, all to prevent Michael from taking control.
This leads me to the unspoken Nick mirror of 14X01, Dean.
We start off the the premier with Dean gone for two weeks, possessed by Michael. We then meet Nick, who managed to survive being stabbed by the Archangel blade. He was clearly still very shaken after being freed, but his surviving Lucifer provided hope that the same might be done for Dean. Obviously not with the blade, as there were no other Archangels around, but that if Nick could come back in one piece mentally, so can Dean. However, if Nick should (and did) prove to be scrambled from his time as a vessel, then that would add a sense of dread to Dean’s own future.
Sam wanting to help Nick is not only Sam needing to believe things will get better for himself, but that Dean can be brought back home.
Another fun fact! 14X01 was also directed by Thomas J. Wright.
The final mirror I have to discuss is none other than Jack Kline.
Jack is told by person after person that his being a Nephilim, and the son of Satan, means he’s destined to be evil. And, yet, over the course of S13, he learns to be good, even in the face of defeat and crushing mistakes. By the S13 finale, he chooses Sam, Dean and Cas over Lucifer and his legacy.
Time and again, Nick is told that becoming Lucifer’s vessel did not mean he was special, though he tried to convince himself otherwise. Nick is also personally touched and entwined with Lucifer, but embraces his darkness. He tells Sam in 14X11 he doesn’t wish to be fixed, and shows no remorse for the people he has hurt. He is the antithesis of Jack in his wants and in his relationship to Lucifer. He is the darkest versions of the Winchesters, whereas Jack is a positive TFW mirror, and represents hope.
Jack is a mirror for Sam, who thought his blood made him bad, but still kept to the path of being good. Jack is a mirror for Dean and Castiel, showing he is more than a tool for his birth father to use. He and Nick are opposites, and yet mirrors for everyone else.
Aaaaaaand I’m exhausted. I’ve been wanting to write up this meta since the previous episode, but I’m glad I waited, because Prophet and Loss gave me so much more to work with.
I’m also very, very, VERY tired. But, this also felt very rewarding. It’s a bit difficult to go back and forth between other people’s posts, and the tagging system doesn’t always notify me, and I had felt a bit of Impostor Syndrome yesterday, or Friday, whatever, but I’m happy with this post, and really happy with this week’s Metafest!
Hopefully I gave some useful or unique insight with this post, and people can find all the extra stuff I undoubtedly missed! Like, seriously, there’s 299 episodes worth of canon to sift through, fucking hell it’s a miracle I remembered the S7 stuff at all.
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!
