Previously: Papa Winchester got possessed by the demon, Sam shot him in the leg, and they all got in a hella bad car crash.
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In My Time of Dying
Kirsti: We pick up where we left off last season, with the possessed truck driver getting out of his rig. He rips the door off the Bromobile, only to find Sam pointing the Colt at his junk. The demon scoffs that there’s only one bullet left and it’s destined for the Yellow Eyed Demon. Sam has no fucks to give. The demon bails, leaving the truck driver to stare in horror at the three people he’s nearly killed.
Cut to a helicopter landing some time later. The Winchesters are all rushed to the helicopter on stretchers. Sam demands information but the paramedics tell him to stay still. Cut to a hospital. A pyjama-clad Dean wakes up and gets out of bed. He calls out, but there’s no answer. He walks down to the reception desk where a nurse is dealing with paperwork. (S: FUCK THE PAPERWORK.) He asks for help, but she doesn’t react. He waves a hand at her. Still no response. Dean rushes back to the room where he woke up, only to see himself lying in the bed on life support.
FLAME ON. (Which is code for “it’s a new season, so we have new Not!Credits in which everything catches on fire”. Mostly, I just wanted to make a Johnny Storm reference.)
After the Not!Credits, Sam walks into Dean’s room and stares at his comatose brother. Spirit!Dean’s relieved that Sam’s okay. He asks if Sam can hear him (NOPE) and how Papa Winchester’s doing. He begs Sam to use his psychic powers and work out that he’s there. A doctor enters, and tells Sam that Papa Winchester’s awake. Sam’s more worried about Dean, who’s lost a lot of blood, sustained some liver and kidney damage, and is showing signs of cerebral edema. They just have to wait and see if he wakes up.
Spirit!Dean gets pissed and tells his brother to “go find a hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on me”.
Sam tears up. Across the hall, Papa Winchester hands Sam a fake insurance card before asking how Dean’s doing. Sam repeats Spirit!Dean’s hoodoo priest line, then looks a little deja vu-y. Papa Winchester says they need to be realistic. Sam cracks it (legit), especially when Papa Winchester asks where the Colt is. Sam says it’s in the Bromobile, but that Bobby’s on his way to collect the wreck and tow it to his place.
Papa Winchester tells Sam to get the Colt, then hands him a list. Sam’s all “The fuck is this?” and Papa Winchester says it’s a list of things for protection. Sam asks if Papa Winchester knows what the Yellow Eyed Demon [YED] meant when it said it had plans for him and the children like him. Papa Winchester’s all “NOPE NO IDEA TRALALA”. Sam leaves, and Spirit!Dean stares suspiciously at his father.
Junk Yard. Sam and Bobby stare at the wreck of the Bromobile.
Bobby says the car isn’t worth towing and that they should sell it for scrap. Sam disagrees – Dean would kill him. Bobby reluctantly agrees to take the car. Sam hands him Papa Winchester’s list, and Bobby’s all “The fuck’s he want with this?”. Sam says it’s for protection and Bobby gives him side-eye because NOPE.
Hospital. Papa Winchester sits by Dean’s bedside as the Tinkly Orchestra does its feelsy thing. Spirit!Dean begs his father to do something:
Dean: “I mean, you haven’t called a soul for help. You haven’t even tried. Aren’t you going to do anything? Aren’t you even going to say anything? I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked me. Everything. I have given everything I’ve ever had. And you’re just going to sit there and you’re going to watch me die? I mean, what the hell kind of father are you?”
OH GOD THE FEELS. Dean’s finally realising that the man he worshipped for all those years is a douchecanoe.
Suddenly, the music turns from feelsy to spooky. A creepy white spirit shoots past Spirit!Dean. Papa Winchester hasn’t noticed anything. Spirit!Dean searches for the spirit. It rushes by him again and into a room. He follows and finds a woman choking to death on the floor. He calls out for help, but no one can hear him. The woman gasps for breath, then falls silent. Spirit!Dean watches helplessly as she dies. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Sam marches into Papa Winchester’s room. Spirit!Dean yells that there’s something in the hospital that needs to be hunted. Sam’s too busy yelling at Papa Winchester – Bobby told him the supplies are for summoning a demon. Papa Winchester says he has a plan, and Sam yells “You know what, you care more about killing this demon than you do saving your own son!” Spirit!Dean tries to place peacemaker, very ineffectively. After more yelling and Papa Winchester blaming Sam for Dean’s coma, Spirit!Dean yells “I said SHUT UP!!” and swipes at a glass on the table. It crashes to the floor, causing Sam and Papa Winchester to stare in confusion. “Dude, I full on Swayze’d that mother…” Spirit!Dean says, and oh my God, I just love him so much.
Suddenly, he crumples in pain and starts to flicker. Hospital staff rush past the door. Sam reaches the door of Dean’s room to find his brother in cardiac arrest. The medical staff are defibrillating him. Sam fidgets tearily in the doorway. Spirit!Dean sees the creepy white spirit [CWS] floating over his body.
Spirit!Dean stands next to Sam and says he’s not going anywhere. Because if he can grab the CWS, he can kill it. Down the hall, Spirit!Dean finds a girl yelling about how no one can see her. He introduces himself, and she says her name is Tessa. She asks what’s happening, and if she’s dead. “That sort of depends…” Spirit!Dean says. Cut to a hospital room. Spirit!Dean and Tessa watch as a woman cries over Tessa’s comatose body. Tessa’s convinced it’s all a weird dream, but Spirit!Dean assures her it’s not. He thinks they’re both having an out of body experience, and that if they hold on they can step right back in when their bodies heal. Probably other stuff happened too, but I was too busy staring at Jensen Ackles’ freckles…
Papa Winchester’s room. Sam asks if Dean’s spirit could be around. Papa Winchester says anything is possible. Sam says he needs to get something so they can know for sure. Papa Winchester promises not to hunt until they know Dean’s okay. Sam nods and heads out.
Spirit!Dean tells Tessa he’s impressed with how quickly she accepted it all, and she says there’s nothing she can do about it. Spirit!Dean scoffs – the options are die or fight like hell. He’s interrupted by a code blue announcement, and rushes off to the room in question. The CWS hovers over a little girl. It touches her forehead gently, and Spirit!Dean yells at it. He starts forward, but the CWS vanishes. A doctor calls time of death, and a nurse says the girl isn’t suffering now. Spirit!Dean looks horrified. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Sam heads into Dean’s room. “Hey. I think maybe you’re around. And if you are, don’t make fun of me for this, but um, well, there’s one way we can talk.” He pulls out a ouija board, and Spirit!Dean is all “Oh, FFS.” Still, when Sam sits on the ground, Spirit!Dean sits opposite him. He puts his fingers on the pointer and manages to drag it across to the “YES”.
Sam tears up. Spirit!Dean’s more shocked that the ouija board actually worked. He spells out “HUNT” and Sam asks if he’s hunting something. Spirit!Dean ouijas that he is. It’s a Reaper, and it’s after him. Sam realises there’s nothing they can do before insisting that there has to be a way. He’s sure Papa Winchester will know. But Papa Winchester’s bed is empty.
Cut to the Boiler Room of Don’t Go In There. Papa Winchester sets up the demon summoning spell. Upstairs, Sam sits by Dean’s bed, flipping through the Filofax of Shadows. “Thanks for not giving up on me, Sammy,” Spirit!Dean says quietly. Sam finds a page in the Filofax marked “REAPERS” and Spirit!Dean reads it over Sam’s shoulder. His eyes widen. Tessa’s room. The scene Spirit!Dean saw before is gone, and Tessa is sitting on an empty bed.
“You know, you read the most interesting things. For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception? I sure didn’t. Basically they can make themselves appear however they want. Like, say, a pretty girl,” Spirit!Dean says. Tessa’s pleased he worked it out. She thought a pretty girl might be easier for him seeing as he freaked out when he saw her in CWS form. She tells him it’s his time to go.
Boiler Room of Don’t Go In There. Papa Winchester chants in Latin as he cuts his palm (WHY ALWAYS THE PALM?!?! SO MANY NERVE ENDINGS…) and dribbles blood on some mystical ingredients, then drops a match on the mixture, which goes poof.
A hand grabs him by the shoulder. It’s a janitor, who asks what Papa Winchester’s doing down there. Papa Winchester pulls out the Colt and cocks it. Janitor Guy turns, his eyes yellow. He sasses that Papa Winchester only has one bullet left. Papa Winchester says he doesn’t want to trap the YED. He wants to make a deal. The YED looks intrigued. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Sam tells Dean he’s going to find an answer. He tells Dean to hold on because “we were just starting to be brothers again“. Cut to Spirit!Dean talking to Tessa. He insists that he can’t leave in the middle of a war, and she says he’s just like all the other soldiers she’s plucked from battle. Spirit!Dean says he’s not going. Tessa replies that she can’t make him go, but if he stays, he’ll end up as one of the things he hunts – an angry spirit. Spirit!Dean looks horrified.
Boiler Room of Demonic Deals. YED wants to know how he can be sure it’s not a trap. Papa Winchester says he’ll give him the Colt and the bullet in exchange for saving Dean. YED agrees that Papa Winchester is the bigger threat, and asks if he knows the truth about Sam. Papa Winchester admits that he does, and asks if YED can bring Dean back. YED says he knows someone who can and it won’t be a problem. Papa Winchester insists on seeing Dean with his own eyes before he hands the Colt over. YED says Papa Winchester has to sweeten the pot.
Bargaining With Death Central. Tessa tells Spirit!Dean it’s time to put the pain behind him. She asks for his decision, and the lights start to flicker. Spirit!Dean looks at her in confusion, but Tessa insists it’s not her. Black demon gunk pours from a grate in the wall. Tessa screams as it possesses her and she turns to Spirit!Dean, her eyes yellow. “Today’s your lucky day, kid,” the demon says.
It places a hand on Spirit!Dean’s forehead and he gasps. Cut to Dean’s hospital room. He sits bolt upright, gagging on the life support tubes. Sam screams for help and we fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, the doctor says Dean’s injuries are gone. Dean turns to Sam in confusion because he has no memory of what happened or how he could have defeated a reaper. But he can feel that something’s wrong. Papa Winchester asks how Dean is. “I’m alive…” Dean says with a shrug, and Papa Winchester says that’s what really matters. Sam coldly asks if Papa Winchester went after the demon, but doesn’t believe his “NOPE” response. “Can we not fight? You know, half the time we’re fighting, I don”t know what we’re fighting about. We’re just butting heads. Sammy, I, I’ve made some mistakes. But I’ve always done the best I could. I just don’t want to fight anymore, okay?” Papa Winchester pleads.
He asks Sam for some coffee. Sam heads out, and Dean asking what’s going on. Papa Winchester reminisces about how Mini!Dean used to comfort him after a hunt. The Tinkly Piano of Feels starts up. “You know, I put, I put too much on your shoulders, I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that, and you didn’t complain, not once. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you,” he says tearfully.
He tells Dean to take care of Sam, and Dean says “Dad, you’re scaring me“. Papa Winchester whispers something in Dean’s ear. Dean pulls away, tears in his eyes. Papa Winchester turns and walks away. He heads down the hall, and places the Colt on the table. “Okay,” he tells the YED. Cut to Sam, coffee in hand. He sees Papa Winchester on the floor. He drops the coffee and rushes over, screaming for help as the Orchestra of Feels strikes up. Cut to medical staff doing CPR. Sam and Dean hover tearfully in the doorway, and this is clearly a shitty hospital because they would NEVER let you stand there while they worked on your loved one… We cut to black and the doctor voiceovers “Time of death: 10:41 am.”
Next time: CLOWNS. Seriously, this is your warning. There are clowns. Find out more in Supernatural S02 E02 – Everybody Loves a Clown. [No. They really don’t.]
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.
