Previously: A water monster was murdering people and making it look like suicide.
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Phantom Traveler
Sara: We open at an airport where some guy is looking super anxious. He heads to the bathroom and is splashing water on his face, and a random other guy says not to worry because your odds of dying in a plane crash are 20,000 to 1. YEAH, NOT WHAT I WANNA HEAR, MAN. Let me just go ahead and tell you that flying is my absolute biggest fear and the majority of my nightmares center around plane crashes, so I’m pretty sure this episode is going to ruin me.
Kirsti: I’m not afraid of flying on account of I’ve been doing it on the regular since I was like nine months old (also because I live in Australia and it’s really fucking time consuming to get ANYWHERE if you don’t fly), but bathroom guy is a total asshat for listing that hugely unhelpful statistic.
Sara: The anxious guy feels the same way I do and says thanks for the super reassuring advice. As Not-So-Reassuring Guy leaves, some black bug looking things fly out of the air vent and straight into the anxious guy’s eyes. Ew.
Leaving On a Jet Plane. We get to the plane and YAY! It’s another game of Name That Character! You might have recognized the flight attendant as Tess from Eureka or Mindy O’Dell from Veronica Mars. (I am currently watching Eureka so for today, she’ll be Tess.)
Soulless Eyes makes his way on to the plane and when Tess tells him to have a good flight, he turns around, looks (with his black soulless eyes) straight at her, and says he will. She looks horrified but then is like, eh, whatever, gotta board the rest of the passengers. GIRL, NO. One of your passengers just got on this plane with black demon eyes. WHERE IS TSA? This episode is stressing me out already.
K: It was less the black demon eyes and more the murder-tastic smile that accompanied them that got me.
Sara: She had two whole signs to go off of, and nothing! A little while later, Soulless Eyes has normal eyes again and is asking the person next to him how long they’ve been in the air. He comments on how time really does fly and squeezes by her and into the aisle. He heads over to the hatch and stands suspiciously close to it while another passengers watches with unease. Right as Soulless Eyes grabs for the handle, the passenger watching freaks out, but it’s too late. The hatch opens and Soulless Eyes is sucked out.
The plane starts malfunctioning, people are getting thrown around, those safety masks drop down, the pilot looks scared. AND IT IS FUCKING TERRIFYING, OKAY? I probably could have given you more detail, but fuck that. I had to watch that whole scene from start to finish, no pausing, because I almost had a goddamn heart attack during that thirty seconds. Just know that I wanted to write this whole paragraph in screaming caps lock to convey just how legitimately terrifying this is to me. Just let me yell out a resounding NOPE.
After the cut to black, the cameraman is slowly panning over Dean’s sleeping body, so either he is giving me a present for having to go through that last scene, or he also recognizes the sexy.
K: I had a moment of “Wait, that scene happened this early in the show?” when it happened, because obviously Tumblr loves the shit out of it and it pops up constantly in gif sets.
Sara: Someone walks in and hovers in a creepy manner by the door, but the sound guy with the stalker music is just messing with us, because it’s Sam, of course. It’s 5:45 in the morning, which I’m not entirely sure is a real thing because I’ve never seen it. But Sam comes with coffee, and if you’re going to wake someone up at 5:45, you damn well better have coffee, so I think he’ll work out as my boyfriend. The boys discuss the fact that Sam hasn’t been sleeping, but Sam laughs it off and tells Dean not to worry about him. “Oh, I’m not concerned about you. It’s your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp.” We all know you’re a snuggly teddy bear underneath that sarcasm, Dean.
The brothers have a quick heart-to-heart about Sam still having Jess nightmares and whether they’re afraid or not. Dean insists that he isn’t afraid of what they do. The knife he keeps under his pillow is just a precaution. Dean gets a call from an old client who says they need to talk in person, so the boys hop in the Bromobile and head out for their next adventure.
When they get there, Mr. Client says that he tried to reach their dad but couldn’t get through. He also tells Sam that his dad often talked about how proud he was of him. Yeah, whatever. Probably would have been a nicer sentiment if he’d actually, I don’t know, been a father to Sam?
K: Awwwww, four episodes in and Sara’s already on the “JOHN WINCHESTER SUCKS” train. Welcome, friend.
Sara: It’s this crazy insta-love that is happening with the Winchesters. I LOVE THEM.
Mr. Client tells the boys that he wants them to hear something, as he pulls them into his office. He plays them a recording from the plane as it was crashing, and it all sounds normal (I guess?) until the feed cuts and there’s a loud growling noise. Uh. Yep. I’d say that’s a job for the Winchesters.
Mr. Client gives them the scoop: The plane crashed and seven people lived, one of whom is the pilot. The crash is being reported as a mechanical failure, but the pilot and Mr. Client don’t think that can be right, hence the phone call to the Winchesters. Sam lists the things they’ll need to get started, and Mr. Client will be able to get them everything, except for the access to the wreckage, because duh. But then Dean makes that face he makes, and so you just know he’s going to figure out how to sexy his way to that wreckage site.
Twenty minutes later, Dean walks out of a photocopy store with two Homeland Security IDs. I suppose I should just not question these moments, as they are probably going to be happening pretty often throughout the series, yes? (K: YUP. Although usually he just pulls them ready-made out of the Big Box o’ Fake IDs in the Bromobile…) They get back in the Bromobile and Sam plays Dean the plane crash recording backwards or slow motion or something, and we hear a demonic voice saying, NO SURVIVORS. Joke’s on you, demon, because there were seven. Way to fuck up your one job. The boys discuss what it could be, and Sam wins the gold star for this episode!
Sam asks if Dean remembers Flight 401, and Dean is like, “You mean that flight that crashed and then had its parts used on another flight that was then haunted by the dead pilots’ spirits? Huh. Nope, never heard of it.” I love these incredibly clunky exposition scenes. The boys go through the list of survivors and decide to start with the guy who ended up in a psychiatric hospital after the crash.
Never Gonna Survive Unless We Get a Little Crazy Hospital. The boys, masquerading as investigators, ask Max if he saw anything unusual or heard any strange voices before the crash. He denies it, so Dean asks why he checked himself into a psychiatric hospital. Max is like, Um, plane crash. (K: LEGIT.) Dean pushes him to admit what he saw, but Max won’t budge. He insists he was delusional and seeing things at the time. He goes on that he thought he saw a man with black eyes open the emergency exit door, but it has to be impossible because there’s 2 tons of pressure on that door. Sam asks if the man did that flickering thing that ghosts on this show do, but Max scoffs at that. Dude, maybe not the best time for laughing at ghost stories.
Soulless Eyes’ Residence. The boys are at SE’s home to ask his wife a few questions. Nobody ever wonders why they’re being asked the same questions they were probably asked during the original investigation? I guess we’ll just roll with it. She tells them that he was terrified of flying but he was acting normally before he left. Sam asks if there was ever anything strange or out of the ordinary about SE. “Well. He had acid reflux if that’s what you mean?” LOL.
The boys leave with no new information and decide that they need to get a look at the wreckage, and to look at the wreckage, they’ll have to look the part. CUE ROCK MUSIC AND TUXEDOS. I will happily take this gift of Winchesters in tuxedos to make up for this terrifying episode. Dean thinks he looks like one of the Blues Brothers, but Sam reassures him that he just looks like a seventh grader at a school dance. Hee.
K: They’re less tuxes and more cheap black suits, but WELCOME TO THE PARTY, SUITS. We’ll be seeing a lot more of them as the years go on.
Sara: Crash Into Me Warehouse. The boys have sneaked their way into the warehouse and are checking out the wreckage, so Dean pulls out his EMF meter to see if anything SUPERNATURAL happened.
K: I stop to have All the Feels, because the show often gives off the vibe that Sam’s the brains of this little operation on account of he went to college. But Dean BUILT A FUNCTIONING EMF METER OUT OF A WALKMAN WITH NO TRAINING. I just…FEELS, YO.
Sara: Dean waves the device over the door handle of the emergency exit and notices some white powdery substance on the handle. He scrapes some off with his hand and tells Sam to take a sample while he nonchalantly brushes the dust off on the back of Sam’s tux.
Back at the front of the warehouse, the actual Homeland Security officers show up to examine the wreckage which means our boys have to hightail it out of there before they’re caught. Not that anything bad would happen to them if they were caught because charm and looks will get you everywhere, darlings. By the time the other officers get there, Sam and Dean‘s stunt doubles are jumping a ridiculously tall fence and escaping.
Airport. The pilot of the plane that crashed is about to fly again, and he’s freaking out. His co-pilot tells him that once the jet is fueled, they’ll head out. After he leaves the pilot sitting along, those creepy black bug things are back and hopping in for a ride in Mr. Pilot. These poor passengers.
K: It’s cool, it’s a light plane not a passenger jet.
Sara: Sam and Dean are back at Mr. Client’s office, showing him what they found. He tells them that the emergency door handle was covered in sulfur. When Mr. Client leaves, Dean fills us in on the fact that sulfur is left behind after demonic activity happens. Okay.
Back at the airport, Mr. Pilot saunters up to the plane and says, “I’m ready to do this!” all confidently, which HELLO. PEOPLE. RED FLAGS. Dude was just scared out of his mind twenty minutes ago! Idiots. Once they’re up in the air (in a smaller plane than the jet from last time), Mr. Pilot asks the co-pilot how long they’ve been flying. He answers forty minutes and gets an elbow to the face for his trouble. Mr. Pilot’s eyes black out and he steers the plane directly into the damn ground and I have another heart attack and a big NOPE NOPE NOPE to that.
Hot Boy Hotel. The brothers are discussing how demons could have evolved over the years to cause major catastrophe in the world, by creating earthquakes or, for instance, taking down planes. Dean scoffs and says that this isn’t exactly their normal gig since demons don’t want anything but death and destruction.
K: I stop to alternate between laughing hysterically and having feels because demons aren’t their normal gig.
Sara: He wishes their dad was there to help and Sam agrees. Just then, the boys get a call from Mr. Client and he tells them about the plane crash with his pilot friend. The boys head out to the crash sight to some rockin’ rock music.
Once there, they find sulfur again and tell Mr. Client that it’s possible the demon was only after the pilot since he was involved in both crashes. Sam brings up the fact that both planes went down forty minutes into the flight, and they further explain that the number forty has some biblical connotations, i.e. Noah’s ark when it rained for forty days. In the bible, the number forty stands for death. He goes on that there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in and with no survivors until the plane crash from the beginning of the episode. Dean realizes that it’s going after all the survivors, and HEY, I GUESSED RIGHT. Total Final Destination move.
On their way to the airport, the boys call all of the survivors and pretend to be surveyors with an airline, asking when they’ll fly again. All of them answer LOL NOPE, because who the fuck would get back on a plane after a crash like that? NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.
The only person they can’t get in touch with is Tess, the flight attendant who will be boarding a flight that night. The boys have left her messages, but her phone is off so now they have to race to the airport to stop her from getting on that plane.
Airport. The boys get there with thirty minutes to spare and head to the nearest phone to call the gate Tess is working. When she picks up, Dean pretends to be a doctor from a local hospital calling with news that a family member is in the hospital. Tess tells him that’s impossible because she just got off the phone with her, and Dean has a long WHOOPS pause before saying, “You what?” Tess starts to question who’s calling and when she asks if it’s one of Vince’s friends, Dean rolls with it and says sure it is and Vincent really wants to talk to Tess because he’s just a mess right now. Tess sounds hopeful about Vince (aw) but just says he can call her when she lands and hangs up. As she walks through the gate, more black bugs appear and follow her.
Sam tells Dean that they have no choice but to get on the plane. LOL UM WUT. Sense: That makes none. Guys, this is a post 9/11 world. Call in a bomb threat and be done with it, right? I don’t care how sexy Sam is or how many sexual favors he promised me. NOPE.
Sam gives the directions and says they’ll meet up and hop on the plane and handle their shit. Dean just stands there, looking exactly how I feel, and Sam questions if he’s okay. Dean slowly admits that he’s afraid of the whole flying thing, and YEP, WE’RE MADE FOR EACH OTHER. Sam says not to worry about it because he can do it himself, but Dean is wigging about the idea of Sam going without him because they luuuurve each other. Sam reminds him that they only have so many options and so much time, and Dean groans and agrees to go.
K: My favourite bit of this scene is “why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?”
Sara: Next thing we know, they’re on the plane and it is incredible how quickly they bought tickets and got through security. Dean looks like he’s going to vomit, and Sam looks like he’s kind of enjoying it. Hee.
Sam tells Dean to calm down, stop humming Metallica, and focus on the exorcism they’re going to have to perform. Demons typically force themselves into people who have issues or emotional problems, so they start with Tess since going through a traumatic plane crash would probably definitely give you emotional problems. Dean sets out to the back of the plane to talk to her and throw some holy water on her to see if she’s been possessed yet. Sam says they could probably be a bit more discreet than throwing water at a flight attendant and reminds Dean that a possessed person will flinch at the name of God. Huh. Okay. As Dean leaves, Sam reminds him to say it in Latin and then further reminds him how to say God in Latin (Christo). Dean is like Ugh, I get it, leave me alone, god, and heads off.
Dean finds Tess in the back, stocking the drink cart (hopefully these people get full sodas and not just one plastic cup of flat soda). He does what he’s best at and flirts her into talking about whether she’s a nervous flyer or not. She admits that she is but doesn’t want to get into the long story about why. He mumbles Christo under his breath, but Tess doesn’t react, and when he says it again, still nothing. Bummed about not knowing who the demon is, Dean heads back to his seat and tells Sam that it isn’t her.
Sam has found an exorcism that will release the demon from the possessed person and give them an opportunity to send it back to hell. So now they just have to find the damn thing. Dean walks the plane using his EMT Walkman but nothing sets it off and with only fifteen minutes to go, they don’t have a lot of time. They’re standing in the aisle as the co-pilot walks out and the EMT Walkman goes berserk. Dean quickly says Christo, the co-pilot flinches, and we cut to black.
K: RUH-ROH.
Sara: After the Not Commercial Break, the brothers rush to talk to Tess. They tell her they don’t have time for the whole Demons Are Real speech, so she needs to listen quickly. They fill her in on the pilot who died in the second crash and tell her to go get the co-pilot immediately. She’s worried she could lose her job, but the boys are like Job < Life, okay?
Tess brings the co-pilot back and Sam holds him down while Dean tapes his mouth and throws holy water on him. Tess is understandably freaking out, and the boys send her out in the hall to block anyone from entering. Sam starts reading the exorcism text, but Co-Pilot Demon knocks the holy water across the room and starts fighting with Dean. He rips the tape off his mouth and tells Sam that he knows what happened to Jess: that she died screaming and even now, she’s still burning. Sam pauses, but Dean yells at him to keep reading and he proceeds. Co-Pilot Demon vomits up the demon in him and the black bugs quickly fly into an air vent. You probably should have taped over those, guys!
K: Think, THEN exorcise, guys.
Sara: The plane is now nose diving, and everyone is screaming, and THIS IS THE WORST EVER UGH. Sam finishes the exorcism just in time, and the plane rights itself and everyone is relieved. Dude, fuck that. I would still be hysterical and NOPE NOPE NOPEING my way to the front to demand the plane land right the fuck now.
K: Meanwhile, I can’t believe you left out the best part of the almost plane crash – Dean’s facial expression. I mean, just look at that second gif:
After they land, the police are asking the passengers questions and it seems like everyone’s okay. Tess mouths a thank you to the boys, and don’t you think these guys have earned some lovin’ from the girls they keep saving? The girls all obviously want to bone them. As they leave, Sam brings up that the demon knew about Jess and Dean says he knows.
As Dean and Sam say goodbye to Mr. Client, he tells them that he’ll always be grateful for what they did, even if no one else knows about it. Dean asks how he got his cell number in the first place and Mr. Client says that when he called their dad’s number, his voicemail gave out Dean’s number. Way to forward your calls without letting anyone know. They call the number and hear the same message Mr. Client just told them about. Sam’s eyes water up, and I think he needs a hug and I am more than happy to provide it.
K: Dick move, John. Dick move.
Sara: The boys drive off to rock music and towards their next mission.
Next time: Someone says Bloody Mary and things get even scarier in S01 E05 – Bloody Mary
I'm a 30-something with three kids who spends an embarrassing amount of time watching teen television dramas. There's a whole lot of Internet out there, and I plan on reading all of it before I die.
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.
