Supernatural S03 E04 – It’s the fedora on the inside that counts.

Previously: A lucky, killer rabbit’s foot.
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Sin City

Anna: We open in a church at night, a priest and a nun tidying away the hymn books as the spooky indoor wind of spookiness messes with some candles.

Kirsti: Nuns, creepy music and spooky indoor wind? Always a good start…

Anna: They’re about to leave when a man on the balcony (Andy) claims that God isn’t with them—and if he is, he’s not a nice bloke. The priest tries to talk him down but Andy promptly shoots himself in the head. What a drama queen.

~~SATAN’S SCREENSAVER!~~

Bobby and Dean are attempting to repair the Colt to some montage-sounding music when Sam turns up with a possible lead. There’s some freaky weather going on in Elizabethville, a busted old factory town in Ohio that might be demonic omens… oh, and also a guy killed himself in a church while another went beserk in a hobby shop. Could just be two run-of-the-mill nutcases, Dean points out, but it’s the best lead they’ve got. Dean takes a moment to bemoan the lack of leads in South Beach before they head out to the Bromobile, leaving Bobby to work on the dismantled Colt some more.

Elizabethville; the church. The priest, Father Gil, talks Sam and Dean (posing as insurance investigators) through Andy’s suicide: he used to come to church every Sunday, but suddenly stopped two months previously. Gambled his money, ditched his wife and his business, and he wasn’t the only one either: the town’s full of people suddenly going off the rails, as though possessed. Turns out that includes Tony Perkins, who went nuts in the hobby shop… two months ago.

Sam: Two months ago, we open up the devil’s gate, all of a sudden this town turns into Margaritaville? It’s no coincidence.

Dammit Sam, if you’d said “Sin City” I could have given you a sparkly star but alas.

K: I don’t even think you tried, Sam. You should get those gold stars in while it’s easy, because once we hit episodes like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester” you’ll be on struggle street. 

Anna: Back at the hotel, Dean has a good chuckle at the mirrors on the ceiling before suddenly recognising the guy across the hallway—Richie. He’s wearing a fedora – or is it a trilby? either way it looks like a douchebag hat – which already doesn’t endear him to me at all.

K: I think it’s the ugly love child of a trilby and a fedora. Definitely a douchebag hat.

Anna: Douchebag Hat pays a prostitute on the way out of his room and tips his hat with a “m’lady”. I may have made the second bit up but worse, he does try to pass her off as his sister—nobody’s buying it and it kind of makes it even more gross than if he’d just gone “yeah she’s a prostitute whatever”.

As it turns out, he’s a hunter: Dean and Douchebag Hat worked a case together back in’t day (a succubus with a “great rack” because of course) and there’s some dudebroesque banter over who saved whose arse. After some more gratuitous sleaze, talk turns to the case, and Douchebag Hat’s got nothing – if the two guys were possessed, he can’t prove it. Theory of the day: demons are body hopping, possessing people and turning them batshit before moving on “like taking a car for a joyride”—and Douchebag Hat has his eye on a possible next target – Trotter, ex-head of the rotary club who turned bastard without warning – so it’s off to the Bromobile to find him.

Cut to a grotty looking bar, which is full to the brim with people (most of them hookers). Unusual, Sam points out, for a half-dead factory town. The boys run into Richie, who is now hatless—but I’mma still call him Douchebag Hat because after all, kids, it’s the fedora on the inside that counts (K: A+). Douchebag Hat points out Trotter, but he’s untouchable and besides Dean is too busy perving on a hot bartender… who, as it turns out, is off-limits anyway as Douchebag Hat’s already bagsied her. As creepy as this entire exchange is, I think that bartender can definitely do better than Richie—as does Dean, who continues to perv on her from afar.

K: Meanwhile, I’m distracted by the fact that Trotter is Dana Scully’s father. Considering he was in a whopping two episodes of The X-Files, I really shouldn’t associate him with that role so strongly, but there you have it. 

Anna: Father Gil catches him red-handed; Sam calls him out on being a priest at a bar, but he says he’s just going where his flock is. Oh, and the sexy bartender owes him a confession (not entirely sure if that should be in inverted commas or not). He leaves, making room for Dean to get in a little flirting with said bartender before Sam spots some trouble on the other side of the bar by the pool table.

One of the patrons (John) is approached by a friend (Reggie) who admits he’s not feeling himself today, and by the look on his face that’s an understatement. Without warning, Reggie pulls a gun and shoots John point-blank in the face. He goes to shoot himself, too, but the Winchesters leap in in the nick of time and knock him to the floor. Sam’s straight in there with the holy water but – womp womp – it has no effect. Turns out John slept with Reggie’s wife and this is a straight up revenge case, no demons involved. (K: I love how offended they always get when it turns out a monster ISN’T responsible for something.) Sam and Trotter exchange super meaningful moody glances.

We cut to the police cuffing Reggie. Sam suggests they get out while they can because Winchesters and police are two very un-mix-y things (Buffy? no? okay), but Dean insists they stay and play it cool. As the police lead Reggie away, Dean starts to re-evaluate the possession theory; maybe the town’s just full of scumbags and nothing supernatural’s going on at all. Before he can get any further, a cop steps in to ask if they’re ready for their mugshots and you can see them both begin to stealth-panic before he clarifies: the local newspaper wants a picture of them. They smile it out until he leaves then get ready to peg it out of the bar pronto—that is, before Dean notices the absence of Douchebag Hat.

Cut to Douchebag Hat and the sexy bartender heading down into the ultimate Basement Of Don’t Go In There—in fact, it’s more like a Dungeon of Don’t Go in There. Douchebag Hat is clearly hesitant, suggesting they go back to his place instead, but doesn’t take much convincing before he follows her anyway. Isn’t this guy supposed to be a hunter? Clearly he could do with a Hunting 101 refresher class because this place clearly screams trouble.

K: Agreed. Quite how he’s lasted this long as a hunter is utterly beyond me. 

Anna: Sexy Bartender (the transcript says she’s called Casey so let’s go with that from now on) lights a few candles and—surprise surprise—gets straight to the murdering. Yep, she’s a demon. Douchebag Hat pulls a knife on her but he’s too slow and she twists his head one-eighty, Exorcist style – sadly, Douchebag Hat is not Linda Blair and he collapses to the floor, dead as a doornail.

Back at the bar, Dean tries ringing Douchebag Hat’s phone but to no avail. Sam tells him not to worry, also to no avail—Douchebag Hat, Dean points out, is a moron and has probably walked into an obvious trap because a sexy demon bartender promised him sex toys (I’m paraphrasing). Dean decides to go look for him and meanwhile, Sam makes plans to trail Trotter.

Cut to Bobby, testing out the Colt in his yard. It shoots alright, but Ruby appears to super helpfully tell him that it still won’t stop a demon. “How would you know?” Bobby asks, and gets a flash of the demon eyes in response. How lucky, then—he’s got a subject to try it out on. Bobby shoots Ruby in the chest… but the only reaction he gets is a disgruntled “that smarts a little” before she explains she’s there to help.

 

K: I kind of love her and her sass. 

Anna: I’m still t0-ing and fro-ing about whether or not I like her but agreed, this moment was good.

Back in Elizabethville, Sam sneaks into Trotter’s office whilst on the phone to Dean, narrowly avoiding Henchman #43 as he arranges to meet him at the bar in twenty minutes. At the bar, a woman who is clearly a prostitute joins Dean and starts to hit on him. He flirts back, oblivious, until she mentions the money—once Dean clicks, he’s out, and Clearly-A-Prostitute walks off offended. “Did I just see you strike out with a prostitute?” asks an amused Casey. Dean asks about the whereabouts of Douchebag Hat but she feigns ignorance so he gets straight back to flirting with her. In practically no time the two are leaving the bar together.

Trotter’s office. Sam sneaks in and roots around before Henchman #43 catches him in the act. There’s a scuffle, which quickly stops as he finds a gun pressed to his neck by Trotter. Sam tries to talk his way out of it until Trotter says he’s calling the cops—which completely stumps him because in two and a half seasons so far almost nobody has done that due to the police generally being as useful as a screen door on a submarine. Clearly, Trotter’s not their guy. Sam grabs the gun and makes a hasty (if awkward) exit, throwing holy water at him just to be sure.

K: This made me laugh stupidly hard. 

Anna: He’s so hopelessly awkward. Bless his lil face.

Dean and Casey arrive at her Blatantly A Demon Lair Of Doom, and Dean almost instantly brings up Douchebag Hat. He tracked the GPS in his phone, swung by and gave him a proper burial—and as Casey gives up the act and launches herself at Dean, we see he’s hidden a Devil’s Trap under the rug, too. Dean begins an exorcism but Casey’s not having it—demon powers, activate! She scatters the pages of his book and brings the roof over the doorway crashing down, trapping him inside the Demon Lair of Doom with her.

After the Not-Commercial Break, Dean starts the exorcism again—but without the help of his Exorcism For Dummies handbook, he’s lost. And stuck in a basement of doom with a mouthy demon.

K: Dean, honey, your mother died 24 years ago. Your father raised you as a hunter. HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE AN EXORCISM MEMORISED BY NOW??? (Also, I totally just looked up exorcisms on the Supernatural wiki, and most of the include the line “Go away, Satan”, which I find incredibly amusing for inexplicable reasons.)

Anna: If you translate the text from Dean’s Exorcism For Dummies book it’d just read “scram, skedaddle, get outta here”.

On the upside, Dean points out, he’s got Sam coming for him – but Casey has back-up too, so it’s a waiting game to see who turns up first.

In the bar Sam scans around for Dean without much success, and Clearly A Prostitute hits on him only to get turned down. Not a good business night for CAP. The other bartender turns up, and Sam asks after his brother—the guy’s seen him, but he needs a little papery green incentive first. When Sam pays up he admits him and Casey left a little while ago. Another banknote gets him the address.

Back in the Demon Lair of Doom, Dean searches for a way out but nothing comes up.

 

Casey suggests they just be civil until the cavalry show up—but Dean’s not having it. She still killed Douchebag Hat. There’s some more bickering before Casey goes into the mandatory villainous infodump rant of the episode: the people of the town aren’t possessed. All the demons did was nudge them in the right direction by pointing out to Trotter the money that could be made from exploiting people’s guilty pleasures. I’m confused and not exactly sure what this was supposed to achieve, but there’s a hint that it’s part of something bigger.

K: Sense: this episode makes very little. It’s basically an excuse to infodump about demon hierarchy. 

Anna: Sam arrives at Casey’s house, finding the door open and heading inside. There’s a picture of human!Casey with a guy and cross necklace draped over the frame—and behind it, a little patch of sulphur.

In the Demon Lair of Doom, Dean and Casey’s conversation gets increasingly pretentious. Dean argues on the side of a God he’s not sure he believes in, and Casey takes the standard “humans are intrinsically evil anyway” point. They’re interrupted by a noise which Dean thinks for a moment is Sam, but it’s just the wind.

Back at the bar, Sam leaves a worried voicemail on Bobby’s phone before going back to the bartender for help. There’s not much else he can do besides offering him a drink, but Sam’s not having it. He spots Father Gil across the room and asks him for a word.

Casey continues her spiel in the basement, giving us the Devil’s backstory. He was the most beautiful angel, but when he refused to bow down before man, God cast him out. No-one’s seen him, Casey says, but he’s apparently returning to take over Hell. (K: ‘Sup, Lucifer?) Dean can’t help but get inquisitive about what Hell’s like, seeing as he’s booked a non-refundable one-way ticket down there, and Casey takes the opportunity to taunt. Given the trouble the Winchesters have caused, she says, Dean’s not exactly getting the presidential suite once he’s down there. Even demons, she points out, are desperate to get out of there.

Sam interrogates Father Gil, who says he’s known Casey since she was little. He explains that she’s left with Dean, and that since they’re not at Casey’s house, he thinks they might be in trouble. It doesn’t take much to convince Gil, who insists on going with Sam to find them… and as he puts on his coat, out of sight of Sam, we get a flash of his demon eyes. He’s Casey’s back-up. Whoops.

Dean and Casey are still talking—she admits that actually, for a hunter, he’s not too bad. She even, to an extent, admires the deal he made to save Sam.

   

Dean’s line was kind of painful ‘cause I feel like that was already his attitude, just a little bit, what with hunters not having especially long lifespans. Casey needles at him, asking if he’s scared. “’Course not,” Dean lies.

Gil and Sam are in a car on their way to the rescue and the Father tries to make small talk with Sam about his and Dean’s fake job, dropping in some thinly veiled Demon Prince stuff about “doing great things” and being “at the front of the pack”.

Casey throws some half-assed flirting Dean’s way in an attempt to pass the time—but, as she points out, he wouldn’t respect her in the morning. Correct assumption, demon lady. Dean asks her what the plan is now that the demon army has been let out of hell, and Casey admits that with Yellow Eyes (whose name we discover is “Azazel”) gone, the chain of command has fallen apart.

K: It’s nice of them to bother giving him a name AFTER THEY KILLED HIM OFF. Oh well. 

Anna: Sam was supposed to take his place, but clearly that’s not gonna happen. Dean is sure that’s a good thing, but Casey not so much—she, for one, was ready to follow Sam. Now there’s chaos, and with a lot of demons gunning for the top spot, Sam currently has a big bullseye on his head.

Father Gil’s station wagon finally arrives at the Demon Lair of Doom, and after a little searching Sam manages to find Dean. “We’re coming,” he reassures him—and with a glance back at Casey, Dean clicks what’s going on and warns Sam to be careful. He turns just in time to see Gil’s eyes turn black. Gil starts forward, just as a gunshot explodes the head of a nearby statue—the camera whips round, and Bobby’s there with the Colt.

K: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand Bobby continues to be the best. 

Anna: Without a second thought Gil throws Sam and Bobby aside, busting through the door and into the Demon Lair of Doom. Sam rushes to Bobby’s aid but he tells him to go in after Dean, and he’s backed up by Ruby who seems to appear out of nowhere.

The rubble in the doorway of the basement begins to clear and Father Gil bursts through, knocking Dean into a wall and setting Casey free of the Devil’s Trap. They kiss, and as Dean clambers to his feet he looks as grossed out as I am. Gil grabs him by the throat, lifting and strangling him, but Casey says they should just leave him and get the hell out. “Please,” she says, but before he can make a decision either way he gets a gunshot to the shoulder and goes down, sparking and shuddering. Sam’s in the doorway with the Colt, aiming it next at Casey—Dean barely has time to tell him to stop before she goes down too. Sam is blank-faced, still holding the gun; Dean looks conflicted and we get a super artsy shot of the dead couple lying on the Devil’s Trap before we cut to black.

Town, the next day. Dean asks Bobby if what they did really made a difference, seeing as all the demons really did was nudge people towards something they were already headed for. Bobby points out that at least they rid the world of a couple more demons, but Dean’s not sure. The way Sam killed them was too cold, too ruthless—perhaps, he thinks, Yellow Eyes / Azazel was right when he said that Sam came back different. Bobby reassures him that Sam’s probably okay, that demons lie.

K: Yeah, but sometimes they also tell the truth just to fuck with everyone’s heads…

Anna: Back in the hotel, Sam’s packing. Ruby walks in to congratulate him on the day’s kills but he’s not having it, reminding her that he killed two humans too. Ruby disagrees – being shot, she argues, is preferable to the slow and painful death brought on by demon possession.

“You’re a cold bitch, you know that?” Sam says, but she demands a little more respect off him if he wants her help with Dean and his impending death sentence. He points out she’s not been particularly helpful so far, and threatens her with the Colt – but ultimately gives up because of the dangling possibility that she really can help Dean.  Ruby reminds him that saving Dean won’t be easy, he’ll have to do things that he wouldn’t normally do, but he points out that it’s necessary. He doesn’t have to like it.

This episode was a bit all over the place for me. It had some good ideas, like the demons playing a very minor role and pretty much just setting the ball rolling for humans to self-destruct, but I don’t think it really knew quite what it wanted to do with them. It all felt a little messy. And the inclusion of Douchebag Hat felt unnecessary, he was too slimy and too minor a character for it to have any sort of impact when he died.

K: Agreed. This episode didn’t quite know what it was trying to be. They tried to cram too much into it and use it as a way of giving us demon backstory, but it just ended up doing a bunch of things is a really half-arsed way. Honestly, I would have loved to have them get the demon infodump from Ruby and that the rest of the episode was dedicated to them tracking down mysterious objects all over the place and against the clock to make the Colt work again. That would have been much cooler. Sigh.  

 

Next time on Supernatural: A town is attacked by fairy tales in S03 E05 – Bedtime Stories.