Supernatural S04 E09 – Summer lovin’

Previously: RAGE.
—

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Kirsti: First things first, friends. I was a teenager in the 90s, so obviously all I can think of when I see this episode title is this:

We should really #snarkathon that, now that I think of it.

Marines: Not a bad idea. I’ll remind you of this when it’s your turn to wake up stupid early on Sunday to lead one again. 

K: Thank you.

We open at a mental hospital. A girl named Anna stares spacily out the window as she’s informed that she’s in a mental hospital. A therapist asks if Anna remembers how she ended up there, and Anna twitchily says that she was trying to warn everyone. Therapist pushes for an explanation, and Anna says the Apocalypse is coming because Lilith’s trying to break the 66 seals and free Lucifer. Therapist raises an eyebrow and scribbles a note.

Anna goes back to staring out the window, and there’s a faint whispering noise. Therapist asks what she’s doing, and she replies “Just listening…“. Therapist asks about the seals again, and Anna says there are about 600 of them, but Lilith only has to break 66 of them. So stopping her is nearly impossible and the angels are losing and everyone’s going to die.

Later, an orderly walks in carrying Anna’s medication. Anna jumps back in fear when she sees him, and asks what happened to his face. His eyes flash black, because POSSESSED, and he locks the door. Anna shoots a glance at the dresser, and it flies across the room, slamming his head into the glass on the door. Anna runs over and squeezes out the door in a panic.

CREEPY BIRDS!

After the Not Credits, the boys are hustling pool. (M: Why does this always work for people on TV? Surely, every single pool player should know not to trust the bumbling idiot by now.) (K: SERIOUSLY.) Just as it’s going perfectly, Sam spots Ruby sitting at the bar. He bails on the game to go talk to her, and Dean’s pissed, but heads over to join Sam. Ruby fills them in on Anna and how a millionty high level demons really want to track her down, even though no one has any idea who she is. But clearly she’s important because they want her alive. Ruby figured they’d want to know and track down Anna.

Dean glares and snaps that they already have a (totally real and not at all made up) case. Ruby snaps back that she’s just delivering a message and they can do whatever the fuck they like. Sam asks for the name of the mental hospital, and we cut to the Bromobile speeding through the night. Sam’s on the phone, posing as a something and asking for a copy of the missing persons report.

Having established that Anna’s real, he’s feeling more upbeat. Dean’s still grumpy though, because they’re a three day drive from the hospital. Also because the tip came from Ruby. He wants to know what happened when he was dead that caused Sam to end up “BFFs with a demon“. Sam sasses that he’ll share if Dean spills the beans on what he remembers about Hell. Sam bitchfaces us into a flashback. (M: He has one of the hardest working bitchfaces on TV.) (K: I’m fairly certain that 90% of J.Pad’s salary is for his bitchfacing skills.)

Six months earlier, he digs a hole in a crossroads and buries a box. It’s pretty half arsed because he’s sloppy drunk. “COME ON!!!” he screams. A guy in a suit appears a little way down the road, and jokes that he was wondering whether to come seeing as Sam murdered one of his coworkers. He also points out that Sam looks like shit. Sam pulls out in the knife, and says he’s not there to play games.

Business Demon sasses “round and round the Winchesters go“, which YES. SO TRUE. (M: AND WE’RE ONLY IN SEASON 4.) Then he tells Sam that it’s not going to happen. Sam tears up a little, and stabs Business Demon through the hand. He says he doesn’t want a ten year deal, all he wants is to trade places with Dean. Business Demon chuckles and refuses. Then he consults the Big Book of Villain Gloating and says Dean’s in Hell right where they want him, so trades are off the table. Sam gets murder face-y.

Back in the present, Sam has Flashback Feels and looks at his brother. Dean – for once – keeps his eyes on the road. At the mental hospital, they interview Therapist, who informs them that the possessed orderly has no memory of what happened. She says that Anna had no mental health problems until two months ago. Then, boom – schizophrenia and the belief that demons were everywhere. The boys look intrigued.

Sam flips through Anna’s sketch book, which is full of drawings of a church window over and over again. He stops at a page with a familiar looking symbol and the scrawled words “Raising the Witnesses“. He turns the page, and the next page mentions Samhain and a broken seal. The boys exchange looks. Therapist mentions that Anna’s father was a church deacon and suggests that’s why she was so obsessed with Revelations and convinced that the devil was going to take over the world.

The boys head to Anna’s parents’ house, and I twitch because a plaque by the front door reads “The Milton’s”. THAT IS NOT WHERE THE APOSTROPHE GOES. YOU DON’T EVEN NEED AN APOSTROPHE. NOTHING IS POSSESSIVE. Dean knocks on the door, and there’s no answer despite two cars in the driveway. Dean tries the door and it’s open. The boys head inside. They find the Miltons dead on the floor. It was me. I did it. Their apostrophe abuse was too much to handle. Sam sighs. Fade to black.

Mari: I was waiting to make a, “you hated on their plaque and they were dead!” comment, but I see you do not care.

K: Apostrophe abuse = zero fucks given about your death, fictional character. Sorry not sorry.

After the Not Commercial Break, the boys look closer and find sulphur around the bodies. Okay, FINE. It was demons, not me. Dean asks where Anna would go, seeing as it clearly wasn’t home, and Sam studies family photos on the mantel. There’s one taken outside the church where Anna’s father was a deacon, and it features the same church window that’s in Anna’s drawings over and over.

Having joined the dots, the boys head over there and creep in with their guns drawn. They spot Anna hiding behind a screen, and Sam says they’re there to help and offers their names. “Sam? Not Sam Winchester?” Anna says, still hiding. The boys are all “How the fuck’d she know that?”. When Sam confirms that they are indeed Winchesters, Anna comes out of hiding to gush. Apparently the angels talk about the Winchesters all the time. I have this random headcanon that the angels are total judgey gossips, and they’re all “OMG, did you SEE what Sam Winchester did yesterday?” “I know, seven thousand push ups and zero leg work. That boy looks like a human carrot.” “SERIOUSLY. Meanwhile, did you see Dean and Cas? Ten bucks says they make out before the Apocalypse.” Which would explain why Anna’s so gushy.

Mari: She’s basically read angel fanfic on them.

K: Exactly.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaanywho. The boys are confused about her communicating with angels, but Anna says it’s a one way thing. She hears them in her head, and she can’t block them out. But they don’t know she exists. Sam asks when she started hearing the angels, and she says it was September 18th, otherwise known as the day Dean crawled out of his grave. “First words I heard, clear as a bell – ‘Dean Winchester is saved’,” she says.

This explains why the demons are so interested in Anna – capturing her would mean hearing everything the angels are planning. Anna asks if her parents are okay, and the boys awkward. Just then, Ruby bursts in and says they have to leave. Anna freaks because she can see Ruby’s true face. Sam reassures her as Ruby says a high level demon followed the boys from Anna’s house and he’s coming for her. Sam points at a statue that has blood dripping from its eyes, and they realise it’s too late: the demon’s already arrived.

Sam hides Anna, then Ruby tells him he has to use his powers or they’ll die. Dean doesn’t approve, but Sam readies himself. The demon kicks the door in, and he looks like a dude who hangs out at country clubs playing golf. Sam holds out a hand to exorcise him, but the demon just shakes it off with a cough and a sarcastic comment. Sam looks shocked. Country Club Golfer gestures, and Sam goes flying across the room and down the stairs.

Dean pulls out the knife and attacks, but he’s easily overpowered. Country Club Golfer greets him by name as he pummels him, and Dean’s confused. Country Club Golfer sasses about how close they were in Hell. Meanwhile, Ruby grabs Anna from the closet and rushes her out. Dean looks up at Country Club Golfer, and realisation dawns. “Alastair…” he whispers. Alastair spins around in time to get stabbed in the shoulder by Sam.

But the knife doesn’t kill him. It sparks and it injures him, but he’s still alive. Sam grabs his brother, and they make their escape by jumping through a second storey window. Alastair, having pulled the knife from his shoulder, looks disapprovingly after them.

Mari: Me too, Alastair. I can’t imagine that was the best escape route. 

K: Seriously.

Cut to Sam giving himself stitches and groaning in pain. It’s gross. Dean swills the blood out of his mouth and asks for help with his dislocated shoulder. Sam finishes his stitches as Dean bitches about Sam having lost the knife. Sam points out that he was saving Dean when he lost it. Then he pops Dean’s shoulder back in, and Dean screams.

Then he says they need to find Anna. Sam insists she’ll be fine with Ruby, but Dean suspects Ruby’s responsible for Alastair turning up. Sam insists that’s not the case. He says they have to lay low and wait for Ruby to get in contact.

Dean asks why Sam trusts her so much, and Sam says it’s because she saved his life. Then he has another flashback. In it, he returns to his motel room, drunk. A man attacks him, and a woman grabs the knife from Sam. “Thanks for keeping this warm for me, Sam,” she says. It’s Another Another Ruby. She says Lilith’s given her one final chance to prove herself, and Sam tells her to go ahead and kill him. She stabs the other guy – also a demon – and tells Sam to get his keys because they need to run. Fade to black.

Mari: Whoever keeps giving Ruby more chances is so dumb.

K: YUP.

After the Not Commercial Break, we’re still in flashback town. The Bromobile speeds through the night as Ruby 1.5 says that she’d really quite like some french fries. Sam’s too busy doing a tearful impression of Grumpy Cat to care. Ruby 1.5 mentions all the horrible things she went to in order to prove herself to Lilith and get back to Sam, but all he cares about is the fact that he’s still alive and Dean’s still dead. She can’t help with that. Sam pulls over and tells her to GTFO of the body that she’s in or he’ll send her back to Hell.

With that, we cut to a hospital. The camera pans across a bed labelled “Jane Doe”, and we see that Ruby 2.0 is hooked up to a life support machine. The doctor unplugs it and calls time of death. Ruby 2.0 sits bolt upright in bed, gasping for air, and requests french fries. Just, you know, in case we hadn’t joined the dots on who she was.

Mari: Because, you know, that would be difficult even though we’ve seen this actress be Ruby repeatedly. THANKS FOR THE FRY CLUE, WRITERS.

K: Excuse me while I break out our “hit over the head with the anvil of storytelling” tag.

Cut to Sam, cleaning guns in a falling down house. There’s a knock on the door and Ruby 2.0 walks in, carrying proof that she’s inhabiting a coma patient whose spirit had already moved on.

She tells him that she can’t bring Dean back, but she help him get Lilith. All it will take is using his powers. Sam agrees instantly and wants to rush in straight away. Ruby’s surprised, and tells him that he needs to sober up and learn some wicked demon fighting skills first.

Back in the present, Dean asks what Ruby taught him. “Well, the first thing I learned? I’m a crappy student,” Sam says. That throws us into another flashback. Sam and Ruby have a demon tied up inside a devil’s trap. Sam uses his powers, and a little bit of black smoke comes out of the demon’s mouth, but then it goes right back in again. The demon grins and Sam’s dejected.

He tries again and gets a little further, but his nose starts bleeding and he grabs his head in pain. The demon cackles, and Ruby kills him. Later, Sam downs a bunch of aspirin as Ruby tells him it’ll get easier. Not just using his powers, but life without Dean. Sam snaps that he doesn’t want to talk about it. Ruby says she was human once and remembers what it was like to lose someone. She touches his shoulder and tells him he’s not alone.

Then she kisses him. Sam pulls away, and is all “DUDE, WHAT THE FUCK, EW”. Ruby says it’s okay and that if he’s worried about the body she’s in, he shouldn’t be because it’s just her in there and it’s all warm and soft. She rubs his hand over her waist as she talks and I throw up in my mouth a little because the whole scene is kind of rapey. (M: Watching Sam cycle through a bunch of emotions is rough, especially since the main one is EW EW EW for a bit.) She asks if he’s afraid to go there with a demon, and Sam looks disgusted. Then he kisses her and things head to hot angry sex town in approximately two seconds flat. I have two notes: 1. JPad has shoulder muscles for days. And 2. Watching them in that scene is kind of gross when you know that they’re together in real life.

Cut back to the present. “Sam?” Dean says weakly. “TOO MUCH INFORMATION!“. Yup.

You and me both, Dean. He goes on to say that all Sam’s told him about is “a manipulative bitch” (MISOGYNY SHOTS!) who played mindgames with him and did everything she could to turn him bad. Sam insists there’s more to the story, and Dean begs him to skip any sex scenes. Sam says that not long after the sexy times, a bunch of signs indicated that Lilith was in town.

Another flashback, now five months earlier. Sam packs his stuff up as Ruby insists that he’s not ready. He gives zero fucks, even when Ruby points out that if he doesn’t get Lilith first try, she’ll kill him. Ruby suddenly realises that Sam doesn’t care if he dies. He’s planning a kamikaze attack. Sam says it’s stupid, but Ruby gets between him and the door and says that defeating Lilith means accepting that Dean’s gone, and Sam can’t do that. She yells that it’s not what Dean would have wanted, that it’s not what he died for. Sam shoves her up against the wall, the knife at her throat, then leaves without a word. Fade to black.

After the Not Commercial Break, Sam locates Lilith. He creeps into the house and towards the table where she’s sitting. Then the little girl spins around. “Please, I want to go home…” she sobs. Two male demons grab Sam, and he drops the knife. One’s all “LOL, good work falling for our trap” as he holds Sam by the throat. Luckily, Ruby turns up and gets her murder on. She yells at Sam to take the girl and run while she fights the second demon. Sam does as he’s told.

The demon overpowers Ruby and she drops the knife. He pins her against the wall, a hand to her throat, and drags her off the floor. He sasses about all the things they’re going to do to her back in Hell. Then he starts to cough. Black smoke pours from his mouth and he drops Ruby. The camera pans up to show Sam standing there, his nose bleeding. The demon falls to the ground, dead.

Back in the present, Sam tells Dean that Ruby got through to him when no one else could. She said what Dean would have said, and saved his life. The zoomy cameraman zooms in on Dean looking feelsy. A maid knocks on the door to say that she’s got clean towels for them. Dean answers the door and she barges in, pulling the curtains. Then she hands Sam a piece of paper, and says “I’m at this address“. Sam’s all “O…kay?” and she says they have to leave through the bathroom window and not take the car because there are demons literally all over the place.

Mari: I’m sure they did not at all notice the maid suspiciously pulling the curtains. Maybe they blinked when that happened.

K: The only possible explanation.

Sam joins the dots that it’s Ruby, and she’s all “Okay, FINE. I borrowed a maid for a second…” He asks about her coma patient body, and she says it’s slowly rotting on the floor so she should probably hurry back. Cut to the boys walking up to the cabin where Ruby and Anna are hiding out. Anna assures them that she’s fine, and says Ruby saved her life.

“Yeah, I hear she does that…” Dean sasses. He makes the world’s most half hearted and awkward thank you to Ruby as the tinkly piano tinkles.

Anna asks if she can call her parents, and Sam reluctantly tells her that they’re dead. Anna breaks down and demands to know why this is happening. Then she jolts upright, and says “They’re coming“. The lights flicker. Ruby locks the doors while Sam takes Anna to the back room. Ruby asks where the fuck the knife is, and Sam looks guilty. Ruby headdesks and the door flies open. Fade to black.

After the Not Commercial Break, we discover that it wasn’t demons bursting in, but angels. More specifically, Castiel and Uriel. Dean’s relieved to see them, but Uriel’s all “Ew, demon”. Ruby glares a little. Cas says they’re there for Anna and Uriel demands that they hand her over. Sam asks if they’re going to help Anna, and Cas replies “No. She has to die.”

TO BE CONTINUED.

It’s kind of hard to judge this episode on its own given that it’s only half a story. It’s good to finally have some of what happened to Sam filled in, although I do wish it hadn’t felt as rapey as it did…

Mari: That’s like a permanent wish around Snark HQ, though. In general, count on us to be wishing everything in the world less rapey.

 

Next time on Supernatural: More angels and also car sex in S04 E10 – Heaven and Hell.