"All Hell Breaks Loose" is the joint title for the two-part second-season finale of The CW television series Supernatural. It consists of the twenty-first and twenty-second episodes of the second season. "Part One" was first broadcast on May 10, 2007, and the second part aired the following week on May 17, 2007. The narrative follows series protagonist Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki)—a young man who travels the continental United States with his brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) hunting supernatural creatures—as he is abducted by series villain Azazel (Fredric Lehne) and sent to an abandoned town. Azazel intends to find a leader for his demon army by having Sam and other psychic children like him fight to the death. Sam is eventually killed, but is resurrected after Dean sells his soul. The sole survivor, Jake Talley (Aldis Hodge), is sent by Azazel to a cemetery protected against demons, where he opens a gateway to Hell. At the end of the episode, Azazel is finally killed by Dean with the mystical Colt revolver, but not before hundreds of demons are released into the world.
The production process was plagued with problems, and changes had to be made throughout filming. "Part One's" setting was altered after production learned of a pre-existing set, which had been used for the western television series Bordertown. The choice of location in turn influenced the type of supernatural monster that was featured. The once-epic script of "Part Two" had to be toned down due to budgetary reasons, with weather conditions forcing the episode's climax to be filmed on a sound stage rather than on location. The scenes featuring the return of John Winchester (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) had to be filmed weeks in advance using blue screen due to the actor's limited availability.
Despite season-low ratings, the episodes garnered positive reviews from critics, who praised both the writing and the decision to end the main storylines. Fredric Lehne's and Ona Grauer's performances were also applauded, with Jessica Harmon gaining a Leo Award nomination for her role.
Plot
Part one Sam Winchester (Padalecki) is abducted by the yellow-eyed demon Azazel (Lehne) and taken to the abandoned town of Cold Oak, supposedly the most haunted place in America. Also placed there are Azazel's other "psychic children"—young men and women whom the demon visited as babies, doing something that gives them supernatural abilities later in life—including Andy Gallagher (Gabriel Tigerman) and Ava Wilson (Katharine Isabelle), as well as new characters Lily (Jessica Harmon) and Jake Talley (Hodge). Ava had been abducted months earlier, but claims to have no knowledge of her whereabouts during the time gap. Lily tries to leave the town, but is killed by an Acheri demon, prompting the others to seek refuge in a building, protecting themselves from the demon with barriers of salt. As Dean Winchester (Ackles) and fellow hunter Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) head to Harvelle's Roadhouse—a saloon frequented by hunters—for help and find it burned to the ground with the body of hunter Ash (Chad Lindberg) buried in the wreckage, Andy uses his mind-control abilities to send Dean his location telepathically.
After falling asleep that night, Sam is visited in a dream by Azazel, who reveals that he has brought them all together so they can fight to the death, with the sole survivor becoming the leader of his army of demons. Admitting that he killed Sam's girlfriend Jessica because he believed she was holding him back from returning to his old life of hunting supernatural creatures, the demon then shows him the night of his mother's death. Azazel had come into Sam's nursery and fed him his blood, with Mary Winchester (Samantha Smith) walking in and recognizing the demon.
Later, when Ava and Andy are alone together, she lets the Acheri demon into the building, and uses a new ability to command it to kill him. After revealing to Sam that she has actually been in the town all the months she has been missing, killing off other psychic children whom Azazel has sent there, she sets the Acheri demon on him. However, Jake sneaks up behind her and uses his superhuman strength to break her neck, prompting the now free Acheri demon to flee. As Sam and Jake then start to leave the town, Jake attacks him out of distrust, but Sam gains the upper hand and apparently knocks him unconscious. However, as Sam is distracted by an arriving Dean and Bobby, Jake regains consciousness and fatally stabs him. Dean assures his brother he will take care of him, but Sam dies in his arms.
Part two Desperate to save his brother, Dean sells his soul to a Crossroads Demon (Ona Grauer) in exchange for Sam's resurrection, and is given only one year before collection is due. They later conduct research at Bobby's home, hoping to determine Azazel's plan. Ellen Harvelle (Samantha Ferris), owner of the now-destroyed Roadhouse, then arrives, and is forced to drink holy water to prove she is not possessed by a demon. After giving them a map of Wyoming, which Ash had left in the Roadhouse's safe, she points out five Xs representing the frontier churches built by Samuel Colt—hunter and creator of the mystical Colt, a gun capable of killing anything. Research also shows that railway lines connect all the churches in the form of a pentagram, creating a giant devil's trap that demons cannot enter.
At the pentagram's center is an old cowboy cemetery, which Azazel forces Jake to go to by threatening his family. The Winchesters, Bobby, and Ellen are there to meet him, but Jake, having given in to his demonic side, develops mind-control abilities and orders Ellen to put her gun to her head. Everyone is forced to lower their weapons, giving Jake time to use the Colt as a key to open a mausoleum. However, Sam then shoots Jake in the back, and finishes him off with multiple shots as he begs for mercy. As the mausoleum doors begin to open, they realize it is a Devil's Gate—a doorway to Hell. A rush of demons then escape and break the iron railway lines of the devil's trap, allowing Azazel to enter. As Ellen and Bobby try to close the gateway, Sam and Dean take the Colt to confront Azazel. Unfortunately, the demon catches them by surprise and takes the gun. After taunting Dean about his demonic pact and questioning if what came back was "one hundred percent pure Sam", Azazel prepares to kill them. To his surprise, the escaped spirit of John Winchester (Morgan) grabs him, distracting him long enough for Dean to take back the Colt and shoot him in the heart, finally killing him. As Bobby and Ellen manage to close the gates, John's spirit moves on. Knowing they now have to face an army of demons, Sam promises to try to free Dean from his deal.
Production
Guest stars The first episode featured the return of many characters. Actress Samantha Smith reprised her role as Mary Winchester in a flashback, with Chad Lindberg making an appearance as the hunter Ash. Actor Gabriel Tigerman of the second-season episode "Simon Said" guest starred as the mind-controlling Andy Gallagher, and Katharine Isabelle of "Hunted" returned as the missing Ava Wilson. Other of Azazel's psychic children introduced in the episode were the heart-stopping Lily, portrayed by Jessica Harmon, and the super-strong Jake Talley, who is played in both episodes by Aldis Hodge. Actor Jim Beaver also guest starred in both parts as recurring character Bobby Singer, as did Fredric Lehne as the yellow-eyed demon Azazel. Lehne first portrayed the character in the second-season premiere "In My Time of Dying," and was originally meant to play the part only temporarily because the demon changes human hosts periodically. However, the show runners liked him so much they kept him in the role. Executive producer and director Kim Manners was happy with this decision, believing Lehne brought to the character "a real Jack Nicholson flavor." The second episode brought back actress Samantha Ferris as hunter Ellen Harvelle, as well as Jeffrey Dean Morgan as John Winchester, whose previous appearance was in the season premiere. Morgan's busy schedule required his scenes for the episode to be filmed weeks in advance.
Writing
Multiple storylines spanning the first two seasons were brought to a close in the two-part season finale, including the search for the demon Azazel and the existence of Azazel's psychic children. As many of the show's questions are answered in one long conversation by Azazel, series creator Eric Kripke and writer Sera Gamble had to rewrite the demon's speech multiple times because they felt that "the payoff [was] never as good as the anticipation." Though it would have been easier for them to keep postponing the revelations, the writers believed they would get "crushed under the anticipation" because they would not be able to satisfy fans if they kept building up more expectations.Knight, Nicholas, (Season 2 Companion), p.115 As for the psychic children, the writers originally intended to continue their storyline into the third season, but ultimately killed them off after deciding the characters were not as interesting as demons and monsters. In the first version of the script, the character of Lily was two roles: a girl named Alex who could kill with a single touch, and a telepath named Lily. Believing they had too many characters, the writers combined Alex and Lily into one. Gamble had envisioned the episode as a "psychic Breakfast Club", so the new Lily's motivation was that she was Ally Sheedy. The Acheri demon responsible for two of the psychic children's deaths was based on the Acheri from Hindu mythology; writer Sera Gamble felt that it being a "diseased spirit" that comes down from the mountains and "kills everybody in the settlements" fit in with the abandoned mountain-side town where the episode takes place.Knight, Nicholas, (Season 2 Companion), p.117 Harvelle's Roadhouse—a saloon frequented by demon hunters—was dropped from the show in these episodes as well, as Kripke disliked the concept of having a fixed home for a road-based series. With the Roadhouse's destruction came the death of recurring character Ash, whom the writers had been phasing out during the season because they felt his "comical" and "wacky" personality was too unrealistic for the show.Knight, Nicholas, (Season 2 Companion), p.16
With John Winchester making a demonic pact in the second-season premiere, it was decided early on to end the season with another demonic pact. This required the writers to kill Sam—they felt it was the only thing that could motivate Dean to sell his soul—with the pact becoming one of the driving forces behind the third season.Knight, Nicholas, (Season 2 Companion), p.119Knight, Nicholas, (Season 2 Companion), p.123 At the same time, it opened up another new storyline by questioning if what returned was "one hundred percent pure Sam."Knight, Nicholas, (Season 2 Companion), pp.119–120 Additionally, the "war of demons against humanity"—hinted at throughout the first two seasons—finally started with the release of demons through the Devil's Gate at the end of the second episode. This plotline continues throughout the rest of the series, with the Winchesters attempting to hunt down the demons in the third season.