Previously: The boys came to the attention of the FBI when they helped hold a bunch of people hostage in a bank while hunting a shapeshifter.
—
Houses of the Holy
Kirsti: First things first, this is the second of three episodes in this season that’s named after a Led Zeppelin song. I know Dean loves his Zeppelin, but that’s a little over the top. ANYWAY. Providence, Rhode Island. A junkie-looking young woman sits watching TV, surrounded by creepy-as-shit angel statues. She flicks from the Drew Carey Show to a televangelist, wibbling about how God is with you. She turns the TV off, and the lights flicker. The TV switches on again. The televangelist asks if she can hear the glory. The lights continue to flicker and the room starts to shake. She stares in shock and awe at a white light that appears.
FLAME ON!
After the Not Credits, she’s been cleaned up and is sitting quietly in a psych ward. Sam walks in wearing white scrubs and she happily answers his questions about how she’s feeling. He asks what she saw, and she says that she stabbed a man in the heart because it was God’s will. God sent an angel to her, and the angel told her to wait for a sign and then kill a dude. So…it was one of these assholes, right?
Anyway, the angel told her that the dude was hella guilty, and that was good enough for her to not ask any questions.
Motel of the Week. Dean’s listening to music on the Magic Fingers bed, which reminds me of precisely one thing:
Sam’s grossed out by how much Dean is enjoying the vibrating bed. Dean says that lockdown is boring and it’s his only entertainment. He asks Sam about his trip to the psych ward, and Sam fills him in, saying that he’s checked into the guy she murdered and he seems like a totally normal church-goer librarian with no criminal record. Also, she’s the second person in town to kill someone because an angel told them to. Sam thinks it’s worth looking into, but Dean’s all “LOL, ANGELS AREN’T REAL.” I laugh and laugh and laugh because of the future.
Sam’s incredulous because there’s a shit ton of lore about angels, but Dean says he puts anything he hasn’t seen on the bullshit list. I laugh some more. He says he needs hard proof to believe in things, and is pretty sure it’s a demon or a spirit that’s fucking with people. He suggests checking out Gloria’s house. Sam says he’s done that and there was no sulphur or EMF but maybe they should look for the sign she saw near Dead Guy’s house. Dean bounces like a puppy about to go on a walk.
When they reach Dead Guy’s house, they find there’s a plastic Christmas angel by the front door. Dean jokes about not leaving Christmas decorations out lest you get yourself murdered, and Sam bitchfaces as he walks into the back garden. He spots a storm cellar and mentions that Gloria said Dead Guy was “guilty to his deepest foundations” and suggests maybe she meant literally. They decide to investigate.
In the cellar, Sam spots some scratch marks on the wall. He looks closer and finds a fingernail embedded in one of them. The boys exchange a look, grab conveniently placed shovels, and start digging. Cut to sometime later. They’ve uncovered at least one skeleton and now know that whatever beastie they’re dealing with, it knows some shit.
Across town, a guy is lying in bed and drinking. His room starts to shake and the lights flicker. Empty booze bottles smash all over the place and he scrambles out of bed. There’s a white light and he stares in awe. Cut to him on the street. There’s a bright light on the porch of a house. He walks up the stairs and rings the doorbell. A middle aged guy answers and promptly gets stabbed in the chest for his trouble. The camera pans across to show us a stone angel standing on the porch where the bright light was. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Dean’s listening to the police scanner in the Motel of the Week. Sam returns with food, and Dean asks longingly if he brought quarters for the Magic Fingers. Sam gets judgey.
Then he tells Dean that three students have disappeared from Dead Guy’s workplace in the past year. In turn, Dean tells him that the police scanner has informed him that the Avenging Angel has struck again. Drunk Guy went straight to the police station to confess after he did it. Dean’s got the address written down. They head over there and sneak in the back. Despite being a crime scene, there are no cops there. Also, Sam manages to hack the victim’s computer in like two seconds. He finds a bunch of emails to a thirteen year old girl who the victim met in a chatroom. They were supposed to meet in person that day. Excuse me while I break out our pedoalert tag.
Dean’s confused because what the hell kind of demon goes around stopping evil-doers. Bitch, please:
Sam says that an Avenging Angel (which totally warrants capitalisation after that gif) is literally the only possibility. Dean finds a church newsletter on the desk and realises that both the creepers they’ve investigated so far went to the same church – Our Lady of the Angels.
Cut to the church. The boys tell Father Reynolds that they’re interested in joining the congregation. He welcomes them, and says that though the neighbourhood’s kind of gone to crap, the church is doing important work. They ask about the murders and Father Reynolds says the killers were hella whack if they thought an angel wanted them to murder people. Sam points past Dean to a painting on the wall and says “That’s Michael, isn’t it?“. The archangel Michael, we’re told, is a holy force again evil who fights demons with a flaming sword. But Father Reynolds likes to think of angels as “more loving than wrathful.” I laugh my seeing-the-future laugh again.
Outside the church, they thank Father Reynolds for his time, then ask what the memorial on the steps is about. He tells them that his fellow priest, Father Gregory, was killed for his car keys two months earlier. He died before Father Reynolds could even give him the last rites. He’s been praying for deliverance ever since. He heads back inside, and Dean says that everything makes sense now – they’re dealing with Father Gregory’s spirit. He heard the confession of the victims and is getting his revenge.
Sam still thinks it might be an angel, answering Father Reynolds’ prayers. Dean’s incredulous, and sasses that next Sam will start praying every day. Sam says he already does. Dean looks at his brother in confusion, and says they should check out Father Gregory’s grave in the church crypt. Down there, they find a bunch of stone angels. (DON’T BLINK) Dean walks a little ahead of Sam. Sam stops to look at one of the angels just as the room starts to shake. A bright light appears and he stares in wonder. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Dean finds Sam unconscious on the floor. Sam groans and says he saw an angel. Peace washed over him when he saw it. It knew who he was, and told him to smite a sinner when he sees a signal. Dean asks what the guy’s done, and Sam says he hasn’t done anything yet. But he will. Dean headdesks a little and says Sam’s supposed to be bad too, so maybe he should just take care of it now. Sam replies that they need to consider the possibility that it’s God’s will. Dean sighs. He says he understands faith – Mama Winchester used to tell him every night that angels were watching over him (cue seeing-the-future laughter) – but he can prove they’re dealing with a spirit.
He leads Sam into the crypt and shows him that Father Gregory’s gravestone is covered in wormwood, which is associated with restless spirits. And, you know, absinthe… Sam’s still not convinced. Dean snaps and says they should prove it once and for all by summoning Father Gregory’s spirit. Sam is horrified about doing such things in a church but agrees when he realises they’ll know for sure – a seance will summon his spirit and they can put it at rest. If nothing happens, they’ll know it’s an angel.
Later, the boys walk out of a supermarket with a bag of seance goodies. Sam’s worried that using a Spongebob placement as an altar cloth is so ghetto that it won’t work. Dean replies confidently “We’ll just put it Spongebob side down!” Sam laughs then stops when he sees a young guy across the road with a white light glowing behind him. He tells Dean that’s the sign he’s waiting for, and they have to stop the guy. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Sam wants to follow Almost Guilty, but Dean won’t let him. He only relents when Sam says the guy’s going to hurt someone. They head to the Bromobile, but Dean says Sam has to go do the seance. He’ll take care of Almost Guilty. Sam reluctantly agrees. Dean follows Almost Guilty, who picks up a girl for a date. In the crypt, Sam sets up his seance. He reads in Latin from the Filofax of Shadows and lights a black candle, which flares. Obviously, that’s when Father Reynolds walks in and is all “DUDE WHAT THE FUCK.”
The bright glow resolves into a young priest who I know as a spoilery character from season 4 of Dawson’s Creek. Ghost Priest says that he’s come in response to Father Reynolds’ prayers. Elsewhere, Dean continues to follow Almost Guilty. Ghost Priest is shocked to see Sam there because he set him on his path already. Sam says sadly that Ghost Priest isn’t an angel, and it’s time for him to rest. Ghost Priest is all “Bitch, please” because he’s doing God’s will. Dean follows Almost Guilty down an alley but quickly loses him.
Back at the church, Ghost Priest says that he’s offering redemption to broken people. They may be murdering people, but it’s God’s work so they’ll get to Heaven by doing it. Father Reynolds is all “DUDE, NO” and tells him that he can’t possibly be an angel because men can’t be angels. Also, there’s that whole “thou shalt not kill” commandment. Ghost Priest is confused.
Alley. Almost Guilty stops driving and his date is confused as to why. He gets twitchy, then leans over and kisses her. She fends him off, laughing, and says they’ll miss the movie they’re going to. He slaps her and she scrambles for the door. But he’s locked it and she can’t escape. I break out our “that’s rape, asshole” tag. He pulls a knife as she begs for her life. She fights him and he yells at her to stop. The driver’s window explodes. Dean reaches in and slams Almost Totally Guilty’s face into the steering wheel. He unlocks the doors and rolls over the bonnet to help the girl out of the car. She sobs hysterically as he asks if she’s okay.
Totally Guilty comes to and speeds away. Dean yells at the sobbing girl to call 911 and dashes back to the Bromobile to give chase. Back in the crypt, Ghost Priest stares in shock at his own gravestone. Father Reynolds begs for permission to do the last rites and Ghost Priest eventually nods in resignation. He flickers a little as the rites are read, then glows brightly and vanishes. Father Reynolds stares in awe.
Dean continues chasing Totally Guilty through the streets. The chase causes general pandemonium on the roads. At a cross street, a pick up carrying long metal pipes screams to a stop. One of the pipes breaks loose and bounces before it flies straight through the windscreen, impaling Totally Guilty right through the heart. Dean jumps out of the Bromobile and runs over to stare in horror at the corpse. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, we’re back at the Motel of the Week. Sam sadly tells Dean that it wasn’t an angel. Knocking on Heaven’s Door starts to play as Sam tearfully says he wanted to believe so badly because it meant there was something out there counteracting all the evil in the universe. Dean says he’s watching out for Sam, no matter what, and Sam scoffs because Dean’s only one person. Maybe if there were a higher power watching him, he’d stand a chance of being saved. Dean tells him that Ghost Priest was right, and Totally Guilty was totally guilty. He says, a little hesitantly, that he thinks maybe Totally Guilty’s death was God’s will. Fade to black.
This episode is kind of intriguing, given where the show goes in subsequent seasons. There are some interesting parallels and foreshadowing in there if you’ve seen some of the later seasons. Let’s discuss further in the comments, shall we? In rot13 to protect the Snows, obviously!
Next time on Supernatural: Sam’s got some amnesia problems in S02 E14 – Born Under a Bad Sign.
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.
