1.10 "Asylum"
Dean is amazed to receive what looks like a text of co-ordinates which he believes originated with their father. The co-ords point to an abandoned asylum, which has been the subject of mysterious deaths over the past few years, and now there's a story about a cop who went in there only last night and then came home and shot his wife dead before taking his own life. Sam tries to reason with Dean that the text may not have come from their dad --- it
does say "unknown" on the caller ID --- but Dean is having none of it, and excitedly heads off towards the location shown on the text message.
Disappointed that they don't meet their father there --- Dean had hoped for this, Sam was not so sure --- they investigate anyway and find a plaque in the asylum with a doctor's name on it. This leads them to the doctor's son, who fills them in on the fact that there was a riot in the south wing, where all the violent, criminally insane patients were held, in 1964. There were deaths and some bodies were never recovered, which leads the boys to assume there could be some dark energy, angry spirits still haunting the asylum.
Meanwhile two stupid kids enter the asylum too, thinking it'll be a laugh. Well, the boy thinks he's cool and brave and is trying to scare his date. She is more worried and uncomfortable. He goes off to explore but she stays behind. While he's cut off from her a female spirit tries to kiss him, but he pulls away and when Dean and Sam, with the girl, Kat, in tow, find him he tells them that he thinks the ghost tried to whisper something in his ear. As they make their way towards the exit, Kat is grabbed by another of the spirits and whisked into a cell, the door slamming shut, but Sam, who has also been approached by one of the spirits, tells her she has to listen to what it has to say.
Scared but seeing this as the only way to get out, she does and tells the guys that the spirit whispered "137" to her. Deducing this to be a room in the asylum, Dean goes to look for it while Sam gets the kids to safety. This turns out to be harder than expected though, as all exits are locked and all window barred. Seems something doesn't want them to leave, not just yet. Then Sam gets a call on his mobile phone from Dean, and rushes off to meet him, leaving the two kids alone but with a shotgun full of rock salt, good for repelling spirits. When Dean shows up shortly afterwards the two tell him that Sam went to see him, as he had called him, but Dean says he never made any call, so it's obviously a trap.
Indeed it is, as Sam encounters the spirit of Dr. Elicott, the head psychiatrist who had been conducting tests of extreme rage therapy, hoping that by making his patients vent their anger it would cure them of it. In reality, it only amplified it, leading to the '64 riot and the death of the good doctor. Now he has infused Sam with his anger and when he meets Dean again Sam attacks him, his rage boiling over as he shoots his brother, but since the shotgun is only loaded with rock salt it just knocks Dean out. When he comes to, he realises what has happened as Sam berates Dean for giving him orders, following slavishly the course their father has set out for them, always being the "good little soldier" etc, and Dean hands him a real gun, daring him to kill him. Sam squeezes the trigger but nothing happens: the gun is empty. Taken by surprise, Sam is off guard as Dean clocks him.
Down in the basement Dean locates the doctor's bones and pours salt over them, though the angry spirit tries to do to him what he did to Sam. Dean is however able to throw his lighter on the pile of bones and it goes up like a torch, the spirit vanishing as the bones disintegrate. The four of them reunited make their way out of the no-longer-haunted asylum.
The next morning, Dean's phone rings but he is asleep so Sam answers it. He stares in amazement at the thing as he gasps "Dad?"
MUSIC
Bachman-Turner Overdrive: "Hey you!"
QUESTIONS?
Other than the obvious, at the end: is that really their father calling?
The "WTF??!" moment
Again, final scene, as Dean's phone rings and Sam answers it, and it appears to be their dad on the other end...
PCRs
A lot in this episode, probably the most so far:
Talking about his father, Dean says "I love the guy, but I swear, he writes like friggin’ Yoda!"
A reference to the Jedi Master Yoda of the second and third Star Wars movies...
When introducing himself to one of the cops who searched the asylum, Dean says "I’m, uh, Nigel Tufnel, with The Chicago Tribune."
Nigel Tufnel is the lead guitarist with spoof metal band Spinal Tap.
Making light of his knowledge of Sam's visions, Dean asks him to "Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel."
Haley Joel Oserver is the actor who played Charlie in "The sixth sense", the Bruce Willis-starred movie about a boy who can see dead people.
Dean mentions "Yeah, whatever. Don’t ask, don’t tell."
A reference to the US military tradition of prohibiting the recruitment of gay or bisexual applicants to their services. "Don't ask don't tell" was repealed by President Obama in 2011.
Dean asks (Yeah, I notice Dean uses the lion's share of the PCRs!) "Hey, Sam, who do you think is a hotter psychic –- Patricia Arquette, Jennifer Love Hewitt, or you?"
Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Melinda, a girl who can see and communicate with spirits in the TV drama show "Ghost whisperer", while Patricia Arquette is Allison DuBois, based on a real-life medium in the series, well, "Medium".
Dean makes two references to Jack Nicholson in this episode. First: "Kind of like my man, Jack in Cuckoo’s Nest."
That would be "One flew over the cuckoo's nest", a cult movie about life in an insane asylum.
And "Kind of like my man Jack in The Shining"
Another reference to "The Shining", this time clearly indicating the movie and not the book.
Dean calls Dr. Elicott "Dr Feelgood".
They were a British rock band of the seventies and eighties, whose biggest and most popular hit was "Milk and alcohol."
Dean also tells Sam, after his brother tries to shoot him "Man, I’m not gonna give you a loaded pistol!"
Although it's not a direct quote, and may just be Dean expressing his understanding that Sam was out of his head at the time, this could be a line from "Die hard", when Bruce Willis says it to Alan Rickman's character, who has been pretending to be a frightened American instead of one of the terrorists who took over the building. It would fit in with Dean's makeup and preferences certainly that he would use a quote from that movie.
BROTHERS
Here we see the continuing disparity between how the two boys see their father. Dean, as someone who has helped his dad hunting down evil creatures for the past number of years, is ready to follow orders and go where he's sent, or believes he's being sent. Sam is more level-headed and suspicious, reasoning that the text they receive at the beginning may not even be from their father. Dean is convinced it is, though there's little evidence to support that. It's more a leap of faith on the part of the older brother. However, Dean is at the wheel and despite Sam's protestations, it's he who makes the decision to check out the asylum.
Although under the mind control of the spirit doctor at the time, the feelings of resentment that bubble up to the surface in Sam have their basis in reality. He
does feel like Dean makes all the decisions, and in some ways sees him as almost a hired hand. Even Kat, the girl they meet in the asylum, asks if Dean is his boss, which of course slightly angers and perhaps embarrasses the younger man. When he is pushed to it (in his controlled state, it has to be said) he is actually prepared to kill his brother, though of course he would not do so normally; in fact, each would die to save the other's life.
Sam is more open and honest, more trusting than his brother. This may come from the fact that he has not spent the last few years stalking demons and evil things in the night. He prefers to tell the truth, where possible, whereas Dean usually constructs some sort of alibi or false identity. This is shown clearly when they return to their old home, and Dean immediately begins making up a story but Sam just tells Jenny who they really are. Sometimes of course, Sam's honesty will work and sometimes it will lead him and his brother into more trouble, just as Dean's attempts to lead various lives and hold multiple identities, while often handy, will come back to bite him on occasion.
It's rather telling, and good storywriting, that it's Sam, essentially the skeptic in terms of whether they will ever find their father --- or whether he's even alive --- who takes the call which appears to be from him.
1.11 "Scarecrow"
Picking up the phone that rang at the end of last episode, Sam talks to his father, who tells the boys he can't meet them yet but he is all right. He tells Sam he knows what happened to Jessica, and that the thing that killed both her and their mother, which he is hunting, is a demon. Sam says they can help, but John tells him instead to take down a list of names he's going to give him, saying the events about to unfold are bigger and more important than he and his quest for vengeance. Sam won't listen but Dean grabs the phone and nods, writing down the names. Seems that there is a certain spot in Indiana where, on the second week of April, three couples from three different states, all taking cross-country road trips, disappeared without trace. Since all their paths intersected at this one point, John believes there is something there responsible for the disappearances, and asks (well, orders really) his sons to go there and investigate.
Sam however is adamant that they should go to California --- the phone prefix code John used was for Sacramento --- and offer their help to their father despite his orders. He reveals that he is far closer to the tragedy than Dean, having seen his girlfriend killed only weeks ago. The two argue, and Sam eventually declares he will go to California on his own. In a heated rage, he gets out of the car and will not come back. Dean, equally angry and mystified as to why his brother won't trust their father, threatens to drive off and leave him, and when neither back down, this is exactly what he does.
Dean travels on to Burkitsville, Indiana, where he starts asking questions about the couples who have disappeared. He has no luck until the owners of the general store recognise the most recent one. They point him in the direction the couple left after they had fuelled up. Sam meanwhile meets a girl hitch-hiking like him, but Meg is pretty and sexy and quickly gets a ride, while Sam waits for someone to take pity on him. As Dean passes an orchard his EMF goes off, indicating paranormal activity nearby. He investigates and finds a nasty-looking scarecrow in the field, holding what appears to be a scythe. When he looks closer he is dismayed to see that the scarecrow has a tattoo, indeed the very same as the one the guy in the last couple to come through here and disappear had.
Back in town, he talks to Emily, who works in the gas station. She tells him she knows of the scarecrow and it creeps her out, but as far as she can remember it's been there forever. Dean points to a van, and she says it belongs to some couple who are having car troubles. Fearing the worst, Dean backtracks to the cafe where Scotty, the owner, is plying the couple with cider and apple pie. He seems very annoyed when Dean tries to interfere, to get the couple moving sooner, and when Dean warns them enigmatically that they may be in danger. He calls the sherrif, who forces Dean to leave the town. Meanwhile, waiting for the bus to Sacramento, Sam is reunited with Meg, who tells him the van driver was a pest and she left him. Turns out she's going to California too, so they introduce each to the other.
Undeterred, Dean is on his way back into town as night falls. He comes across the couple in the orchard, running from the scarecrow, which has somehow come to life. He shoots it, but it keeps coming. At the last it disappears, and the couple say they can't believe their car broke down, so soon after supposedly being fixed. Now that they're safe however, Dean calls Sam and they discuss what the scarecrow could be. Dean thinks it's some sort of pagan god. He reasons that the deaths only happen once a year, at the same time, and that it's always a man and a woman involved, indicating some sort of fertility rite. The fact that the townsfolk feed the couple before they leave is to him like fattening up the calf for slaughter before it's sacrificed to the god. After an awkward moment, the boys settle their differences: Dean says he realises Sam must follow his own path, and that he's proud of him. He asks him to call him when Sam meets their father.
Dean goes to a college to find out what he can about local gods, and turns up a picture of a scarecrow in a field, which the local professor tells him is one of the Vanir, a Norse god. The descendants of the village are mostly from Scandinavia, so that would fit. Also, the Vanir seems to draw its magical strength from the tree it co-exists with, so now Dean has a good idea how to kill the scarecrow in Burkitsville: burn the tree and the scarecrow should die with it. Unfortunately, just as he leaves the college with this vital information he's knocked unconscious by the sheriff, and it seems the professor is in on it too.
When Dean wakes up he is in a cellar, and then Emily, the girl he spoke to at the gas station, is brought in by her Aunt Stacy and Uncle Harley, who run the gas station and clearly intend to make she and Dean a sacrifice to the scarecrow. Seems it always has to be a couple and, well, Dean amd Emily aren't one but the god won't know or care. Dean tries to explain to her about the tree, and she tells him there is one in the orchard that is revered and treated as special; the townsfolk call it The First Tree. This surely must be the one the scarecrow is drawing its power from. Meanwhile Sam, about to board the Sacramento bus, changes his mind. He has not been able to get in touch with Dean for three hours and is concerned, considering what his brother is chasing. He decides to head to Burkitsville. Meg is almost in tears as he leaves, in disbelief that he is going back to the person he told her he was running from.
The townspeople tie Emily and Dean to separate trees and retreat. Dean tells Emily to keep watch and let him know when the scarecrow starts to move. She gasps and says she sees a shadow moving, but it turns out to be the returned Sam, who frees them. When they try to escape the orchard however the villagers are blocking their path. Just then the scarecrow appears and slices into Harley, then taking Stacy too. The sacrifice has been made --- if not the intended one --- and the townsfolk leg it. The next morning they locate the tree and Dean Sam and Emily burn it to the ground.
They leave the next morning, Emily deserting her erstwhile adopted family and going to Boston on a bus, Sam electing to join back up with Dean: it's pretty obvious they both need each other, and they've now blown off the required steam. Meg, meanwhile, is picked up on the road again and when the driver's attention is diverted she slits his throat, allowing the blood to pour into a silver bowl which then seems to allow her to contact someone. She argues that she "could have stopped Sam", but although we can only hear one side of the converation, it ends with her nodding and saying "Yes father"....
MUSIC
Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Lodi"
Bad Company: "Bad company"
Colepitz: "Puppet"
QUESTIONS?
The one from "Home" remains: why does John Winchester not want his sons' help, and why will he not meet them yet? What is he waiting for? And what does he mean by "this thing is bigger than anything else"?
Who, exactly, or what, is Meg? It seems obvious from the final scene that she's either some sort of demon or is allied with one, and the fact that she communicates with her father by murder and blood sacrifice is not good...
PCRs
Dean to Scotty: "Hi, my name’s John Bonham. "
Drummer with Led Zeppelin (For once, he's found out, as Scotty professes to be a fan...)
Aunt Stacy to Emily: "The good of the many outweighs the good of the one"
Classic line from Star Trek II: The wrath of Khan", spoken by Spock as an example of pure logic. The actual line is "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one."
Dean, as they try to escape the field: "Let’s just shag ass before Leather Face catches up!"
Leather Face is, I believe, the crazed killer in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". However, it's an unfortunate choice of phrase as "shag" means, at least here, to (ahem) make love, and to have the word "ass" after it, well....
The "WTF??"! moment
Right at the end, when the sweet, innocent Meg is revealed to be something far, far darker and more evil. When she's picked up and says "I need to make a call", and the driver hands her a mobile phone, and she says "It's not that sort of call!", suddenly slitting his throat, there is no other phrase that goes through your head but WTF???!
BROTHERS
This is the first time the boys have a real big blow-up. They've had their differences of opinion before, mostly about how they see their father, and indeed this is the catalyst for their temporary separation here. Sam can't believe that Dean would just blindly follow orders from their father, and wants to go help him in his quest to track down and face the demon that killed their mother, although as he points out Sam is closer to the event than Dean, having only just recently watched his fiancee die at its hands. When Dean won't see things his way, Sam reaches breaking point and leaves his brother, determined to do what he believes is right.
It's indicative of the fact the Sam has not spoken to, or engaged in any way with his father in years that when he is told what to do he argues, demurs and questions, whereas Dean, aware of the way his dad's mind works and somewhat aware of what's at stake, snaps to attention, as it were, immediately and does as he is told. While Dean never questions their father, Sam is all too quick to, and this denotes the different ways the two men see their father.
Left on his own to work things out, Dean has yet to turn to Sam for advice, or perhaps just support, and even at the end he is willing to allow Sam follow the path he has set, by asking if he needs to be dropped somewhere, but it's Sam who realises that his place is by his brother's side, and even though they make light of their reunion, it's obviously a big relief to both the brothers to be back again as a team.