Previously: We were introduced to crossroads demons and hellhounds, and Dean had a lot of feels about the fact that Papa Winchester died because of him.
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Croatoan
Kirsti: Dean pulls out a gun and walks into a room where a young blond guy is tied to a chair. The guy pleads for his life as a nurse and a tough looking guy suggest that maybe this isn’t the best idea ever. Dean cocks his gun and says he has no choice. Blond Guy cries that it’s not in him, but Dean has no fucks to give.
He shoots twice. The screen flashes white and fades into Sam lying on the floor of a motel. He sits up, panting, as Dean rushes to his side.
FLAME ON!
After the Not Credits, the Bromobile speeds through the night. Sam informs us that they’re heading to Oregon. Dean asks what he saw, and Sam fills his brother in on the vision. Dean says somewhat dubiously that he’s sure he has a good reason to kill the blond guy, and that he would never kill an innocent man. Sam’s not so sure, but says they should start by finding the blond guy.
The next day, they pull into Rivergrove. Sam spots the tough looking guy from his vision, and decides they should ask him for information. They head over, and Dean introduces them as US Marshals with the names of members of ZZ Top. I break out my “the fakest names in fakeonia” tag. Sam describes the blond guy, and Dean offers assurances that he’s not in any trouble. He notes a Marine Corps tattoo on the guy’s arm, and says that Papa Winchester was in the Marines, Echo-2-1 company. Apparently this is enough to tip the guy over the edge into helping them, and he says that they’re looking for Duane Tanner. They thank him and leave.
Across the street, Sam bumps into a lamp post and spots the word “Croatoan” carved into it. He points it out to Dean, who earns himself another gold star:
Sam reminds him of his US history – Roanoake was one of the first English colonies, settled in the late 1500s. Everyone disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a single word – Croatoan – and a bunch of theories. He wonders if his vision is somehow connected to Croatoan, and suggests they ask Bobby or Ellen for help. Dean agrees and pulls out his phone. But he has no reception. Neither does Sam. They head to a nearby pay phone, which is also dead. Dean’s twitchy, as cutting the phones is a great first step in killing a whole town.
The boys head over to the Tanner house and tell the teenager who answers the door that they’re looking for Duane. The kid says that Duane’s on a fishing trip. Mr. Tanner appears to confirm the story, and Dean says they’ll check back for him later. They head down the stairs and agree that the entire thing was Stepford creepy. They sneak around to the back of the house and peer in a window. They see Mrs. Tanner tied to a chair, a gag in her mouth.
Mr. Tanner casually cuts his son’s arm, and the blood drips into a wound on Mrs. Tanner’s shoulder. The boys kick the door down and rush in with their guns drawn. Mr. Tanner rushes forward with a kitchen knife and Dean coldly shoots him in the chest. The teenager jumps through the window. Sam aims at his back, but hesitates. The kid escapes into the woods. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, the boys pull up at a medical clinic and help Mrs. Tanner out of the car. Sam leads her inside as Dean looks around awkwardly, then opens the car boot. Inside, Sam calls for a doctor as Dean comes in with Mr. Tanner’s blanket-wrapped corpse on his back. The doctor is initially twitchy about the corpse situation, but calms down when Dean claims to be a US Marshal. She ushers them into an exam room.
In the exam room, she asks Mrs. Tanner what happened. She cries as she says that one minute her family were normal, the next “they had the devil in them“. The boys exchange a look. Out in the hall they discuss possibilities. Maybe mass possession, but there were no signs of black smoke with Mr. Tanner so they’re not sure. Dean berates Sam for not killing the teenager, and Sam’s all “WTF, dude.” Dr. Lee appears to ask what’s going on, and they inform her that they have no idea and that all communication is cut off. Dean asks how far the nearest town is – 40 miles, apparently – and says he’ll go for help.
On the way out of town, he pulls up behind an abandoned car with the numberplate WTF 4C7. There’s a bullet hole through the windscreen and blood all over the seats, so WTF seems like an appropriate numberplate. There’s a bloody hunting knife on the ground next to the driver’s door, and Dean picks it up.
Back at the clinic, Dr. Lee is doing tests. She says that Mr. Tanner was fighting a viral infection, but she has no idea what the virus is. Also, it’s left a weird residue in his blood that looks like sulphur. Sam gets “OH FUCK” face. Meanwhile, Dean’s found that the bridge out of town is blocked by gun-toting locals, including Teenage Tanner. He jumps as a guy leans in his window and informs him that he can’t leave town because it’s under quarantine. He asks Dean to get out of the car, and Dean’s all “LOL NOPE”. He slams the Bromobile into reverse and hits the accelerator, dragging the man along with him. The men at the roadblock start shooting, so Dean does a pretty fabulous slingshot, drops the guy leaning in the window, and drives off.
Clinic. Dr. Lee and Sam tell Mrs. Tanner about the virus. They want to take a blood sample to check if she’s infected. She nods and reaches for Dr. Lee’s hand, then grabs her wrist and screams in rage. She swings at Dr. Lee, and grabs for a scalpel, but Sam knocks her out with a fire extinguisher. Dean’s heading back into town when Tough Guy steps into his path with a rifle. After a tense chat, they reluctantly agree to head to the clinic together, given that there’s no way out of town. But they keep their guns pointed at each other in the car, which is a terrible idea because anyone who’s seen Pulp Fiction knows how that ends:
Clinic. The nurse freaks and wants to leave. Sam follows her to the lobby, insisting that help will be there soon. Just then, Dean returns, Tough Guy trailing behind. He tells Sam about the roadblock while Sam updates him on the demonic virus situation. Dean makes a comment about the virus being a Biblical plague, and Sam says that the Filofax of Shadows suggests that Croatoan might be the name of a demon that liked to spread plagues. I find this whole thing really interesting because season 1 of Sleepy Hollow ALSO dealt with the colony at Roanoake and it also involved a plague. And Pestilence, of Four Horsemen fame.
Tough Guy returns from talking with Dr. Lee and shouts that they have to kill Mrs. Tanner on account of her being infected. Dean pulls his gun with barely any hesitation. Sam frantically asks Dr. Lee if there could be a cure, but she has no fucking clue because DEMONIC VIRUS. Dean heads into the storeroom where they’re keeping Mrs. Tanner, gun drawn. She pleads for her life, and tells Tough Guy that she’s not infected, the others are. Dean asks Sam if he’s sure, and he nods, clearly pained. Tough Guy is close to tears. Dean steps forward and shoots. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, the boys and Tough Guy are doing weapons checks because there are people outside the clinic. The nurse drops a phial of blood and freaks that she’ll be infected. Dr. Lee calms her down. She cries and says she wants to leave. Sam quietly says to Dean that she’s right – they need to get out of town. Tough Guy says it won’t be easy, as lots of people in town like to hunt. He says explosives would be a good start, and Sam glances thoughtfully at a shelf of medical supplies.
Just then, someone bangs on the door, begging to be let in. It’s Duane Tanner. Tough Guy lets him in, and Dean’s all “Ohhh, so this is the guy I’m going to murder?” to Sam. Duane tries to head deeper into the clinic, but Dean demands that Dr. Lee check him out first. She agrees as Tough Guy asks Duane where he’s been. He says he was on a fishing trip and got home just in time to see one of his neighbours being hacked to pieces. He asks where his parents are and Dean sing-songs “Awkward…“.
Dr. Lee notes a gash on Duane’s leg, and he says he tripped trying to escape from crazy people. Dean immediately pulls his gun and orders the others to grab some rope and tie him up. Duane’s all “THE FUCK?!”, and Sam hurridly asks if there’s a way to tell if Duane’s infected. Dr. Lee says there was no sign of anything in Mrs. Tanner’s blood until after she turned. Sam demands to talk to Dean alone.
In another room, Sam tells Dean that his vision is coming true, but they can’t do anything to Duane until they know for sure. Dean says he can’t take that chance. He starts to leave but Sam stops him, saying that the job is supposed to be tough but they need to come out of it with a clear conscience. Dean has no fucks to give, and Sam freaks: “You might kill an innocent man, and you don’t even care! You don’t act like yourself anymore, Dean. Hell, you know what? You’re acting like one of those things out there.” Dean shoves Sam into a wall, storms out, and locks the door behind him.
Out in the hall, we’re back into Sam’s vision from the start of the episode. Dean walks into the room, gun drawn. Duane begs for his life, blah blah blah, Dean points his gun at Duane. But after a minute, he lowers it again, hands shaking. He turns and leaves the room as Duane sobs in relief.
Later, Sam and Dean are using medical supplies to make Molotov cocktails. Dr. Lee comes in and says that it’s been four hours and Duane’s blood is still clean. The boys agree that he can be untied now. She leaves, and Sam asks Dean why he didn’t shoot. He doesn’t answer. Sam goes to get more supplies, and finds the nurse already in there. She locks the door behind him and attacks, knocking him to the ground. She slices his chest with a scalpel, then cuts her hand and presses it into his wound. Dean and Tough Guy break the door down, and Dean shoots the nurse. Tough Guy says in a panic that Sam’s infected. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Tough Guy says they have to kill Sam, and Dean snaps “No one is shooting my brother!” Sam tearfully says to give him the gun and he’ll take care of it himself. Tough Guy pulls his gun, and Dean gets all up in his face. Then he stops and tosses Tough Guy the keys to the Bromobile. He tells him to take Duane and Dr. Lee and use the explosives they’ve made to get the hell out of town. He’s going to stay with Sam.
The others leave and Dean locks the door behind them. Sam starts to cry as he tells Dean to go with them and leave him behind. Dean’s all “Hahaha, NO.” Sam says that Dean can still keep going, keep fighting, but Dean disagrees.
They follow her and see that apart from the five survivors, the town is abandoned. Everyone’s just disappeared. The zoomy cameraman gives us a close up of the word Croatoan carved into a lamp post. The next morning, Dr. Lee’s examining Sam’s blood. There’s no sign of the virus. She tells him he’s dodged a bullet and goes to compare it with Mr. and Mrs. Tanner’s blood, but the sulphur is gone from their blood too.
Cut to outside the clinic. Duane and Tough Guy are loading up his truck. They suggest that Dr. Lee should come with them, but she says she’s going to go report the situation to the authorities. They roll out of town. Meanwhile, the boys have a lot of questions about the case, like why Sam was immune and where everyone went. But there are no answers. They give up and hit the road.
That night, Duane and Tough Guy are still driving. Duane asks Tough Guy to pull over because he has to make a call. He slits Tough Guy’s throat and catches the blood in a silver cup. He reports that further tests are unnecessary and that Sam’s immune as expected. The zoomy cameraman shows us that Duane’s eyes are black.
Elsewhere, the Winchesters are parked on the side of the road, drinking beer. Sam wants to continue their conversation about the weight on Dean’s shoulders. Dean’s not having a bar of it, and instead suggests that they go on vacation to the Grand Canyon because he’s never seen it. Sam’s confused and demands that Dean share whatever load he’s carrying. Dean reluctantly reveals that Papa Winchester told him something about Sam the night he died. And we fade to black because everybody loves a cliffhanger…
This episode is proper creepy. And is another one that proves to be incredibly important into the future…
Next time on Supernatural: Another psychic kid turns up, and Sam’s being followed by a murdery creeper. Find out more in S02 E10 – Hunted.
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.
