Supernatural S01 E06 – Doppelgangers.

Previously: The girl from the Ring starred as Bloody Mary.
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Skin

Sara: St. Louis, MO. We open this episode with a girl tied to a chair and covered in blood. A man is in the room with her, holding a knife. Cops enter the house and follow the blood stains to find the girl still alive. As they untie her, the girl motions to the room behind them and the cops find the guy standing at the door, with the bloody knife still in his hand. They instruct him to turn around, and when he does, it’s Dean.

Kirsti: The entire thing is done to the strains of Iron Butterfly’s In-a-Gadda-da-Vida, which would probably be a lot spookier if it didn’t immediately conjure up memories of Bart Simpson selling his soul to Milhouse for $5…

Sara: One Week Earlier. Dean is filling Sam in on their plans, but Sam is only half listening, because he’s catching up on emails from his friends at Stanford. Dean scoffs a little at Sam still keeping in touch with his college friends, but Sam was still in college up until five weeks ago, so. Dean encourages Sam to cut all people out of his life, so he doesn’t have to lie to them, but Sam doesn’t see how keeping some truths a secret is really *lying*.

K: The whole thing smacks very strongly of jealous older sibling. Or maybe that’s just because I’ve BEEN the jealous older sibling… Although I’ve never told my little brother that he should stop talking to all his friends because EW FRIENDS GROSS. Score: Kirsti – 1, Dean – 0. 

Sara: This conversation is interrupted by a very important email Sam received from his old friend, Rebecca. Her brother has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend, and the cops have fingerprints and DNA evidence, but Rebecca swears he didn’t do it. That’s enough to convince Sam, and the road trip has now been backtracked 400 miles. These are the kind of friends you keep on speed dial, for sure.

St. Louis. The boys make it to Rebecca’s house in Missouri, and she greets Sam warmly. Rebecca is staying at her parents’ house while they’re in Paris, but they’re headed home now for the trial. (K: IRRESPONSIBLE PARENTING SHOTS!! But like seriously, your kid gets arrested for murder and you’re all “Eh, we’ll be back in time for the trial, whatevs.”) Rebecca fills them in on the details: Her brother came home one night to find his girlfriend tied to a chair and bloodied up. He called the police, who then arrested him. A security camera from across the street shows him getting home at 10:00 PM and his girlfriend dying shortly after. The only problem with the story, Rebecca says, is that her brother was with her, drinking beers until after midnight.

Sam asks to see the crime scene, and when Rebecca asks why, he lies that Dean is an off-duty cop who can help. Rebecca agrees and when she leaves the room to get her keys, Dean confronts Sam about lying. A little bit funny considering how they lie literally all. the. time. Sam tells Dean that they’ve investigated cases for less, and Dean gives a meh, true nod.

Murder House. Sam and Dean just walk right on in to the scene of the crime, easy as that, and there is blood everywhere. I’ve never murdered someone, but it looks like a pretty messy business.

K: I was going with it being equal parts really messy murder and LOLPD fail. Because it may be a sealed crime scene, but a) I’m pretty sure the crime scene team wouldn’t just leave their little plastic numbers all over the place, and 2) that place would STINK LIKE OMFG (I call bullshit on no one gagging) and the cops would want to get it cleaned up pretty damned quickly.

Sara: Rebecca tells the boys that the cops said there was no sign of a break-in, so the girlfriend must have let her attacker in the house willingly. She also mentions that there was a break-in the week before, when someone came in and stole some of her brother’s clothes. Well, that seems suspicious, yeah?

A loud dog is barking in the backyard, and when Dean looks out at him, Rebecca creeps up behind him and says that the dog used to be the sweetest thing, but started acting nutty around the time of the murder. Dean comes back inside to quietly tell Sam this information, and Sam delivers the clunkiest line I have yet to hear from this show: “Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal.” Still, it was campy and campy is my thing, so I’m good.

Dean still won’t admit that this is due to something…. Supernatural…but he is willing to look at the security tape to see what’s up. Lucky for them, Rebecca is as into breaking the rules as they are, because she stole the tape right off the lawyer’s desk.

The camera zooms into a picture of Rebecca and her brother (K: Who are the most un-sibling-y looking pair I’ve ever seen in my life) (S: SERIOUSLY), and then the scene cuts to a guy who looks just like him watching a couple say goodbye from across the road. He overhears the man telling his girlfriend that he’ll be home the next day. As the Asian businessman walks away, Not!Brother’s eyes glow silver and he smirks like the creepy creep he is.

Hardy Boys. The boys + Rebecca are watching the security tape, and to get a moment alone, Sam asks her to go grab them some beers and sandwiches. “What do you think this is, Hooters?” Glad she said it, so I didn’t have to yell at Sam for her. With Rebecca out of the room, Sam rewinds the tape and shows Dean Not!Brother’s glowy eyes as he walks past the camera. He reminds Dean that cameras can catch glimpses of people souls, and possibly the dog (remember the dog?! from earlier?!) saw the Not! part of Not!Brother, too. Point goes to Dogs in the Dogs vs. Cats debate. No stupid cat is ever going to warn your ass that there’s a demon in the neighborhood. The boys conclude that a doppleganger is at play, and yay! We get to use our doppelganger tag!

K: I’m on board with anything that gives us a reason to use our doppelganger tag. 

Sara: Murder House 2.0. Asian Businessman returns home and calls out for his girlfriend but gets no reply. He worriedly looks for her throughout the house and finally finds her tied to a chair and bloodied. As he’s untying her, she begs him not to hurt her anymore. Confused and hearing a noise somewhere else in the house, he wanders out to confront whoever might still be there. Not!Asian Businessman creeps up behind him, and Actual!Asian Businessman turns around to see a direct reflection of himself with glowy eyes before getting hit in the face.

Hardy Boys. The Bromobile rolls up to Murder House #1, and Dean tells Sam what the plan is. You would think that he would have maybe told him this stuff on the drive over, but LOL. Since the security tape didn’t show Pseudo Boyfriend leaving the scene of the crime, that can only mean that he left from the back door. Since the cops don’t think he ever actually left, they wouldn’t bother looking for a trail to follow, and this is where the boys have a lead.

K: Oh, LOLPD. You do love to do things half-arsed, don’t you?

Sara: Sam finds a telephone pole with all sorts of blood on it, and OF COURSE the LOLPD didn’t notice this. Sure. As they examine the pole, an ambulance rides by and they follow it to Murder House #2. I wonder if they always follow ambulances around when they’re on a case? As Sam looks some trash containers, Sam informs him that he talked to some cops, and this is definitely a ….. Supernatural…. issue. The cops have verified that Actual!Asian Businessman was driving home at the time of the attack, and they think he’s crazy after hearing the story about seeing his doppelganger in the house.

Sam guesses that it’s a shapeshifter, and Dean confirms that every society has a shapeshifter lore. Sam wants to know if shapeshifters can fly, since the trail at both Murder Houses disappears in thin air. The boys notice a sewer system nearby and figure that’s as good a lead as any.

K: I love that Sam’s automatic conclusion when the trail disappears isn’t “It got into a car and drove away” or anything logical like that. It’s “IT MUST BE ABLE TO FLY!”

Sara: I guess your logic can get super fucked up when you deal with supernatural creatures every week. When they get down there, they find some gooey skin looking substance at the bottom of the sewers and deduce that every time the shapeshifter changes, it sheds a layer of skin, which: ew.

After getting back to the car, Sam gets a call from Rebecca who is pissed. She talked to her lawyer about going to the crime scene with Sam’s cop brother, but the lawyer informed her that Dean is definitely not a cop. Before Sam gets a chance to explain, she hangs up on him. Womp.  Dean uses this opportunity as another friendly reminder for why you shouldn’t have friends. Poor Dean. I’ll be your friend. Ahem.

K: Don’t make me break out the Eyebrows of Innuendo, Sara… 

Sara: Back in the sewers and armed with flashlights, the boys try to find the lair of the shapeshifter. Dean thinks they must be close, and Sam asks why he thinks that. “Because there’s another puke-inducing pile next to your face.” Sam gives the best UGH GROSS face, and this is one of those special moments that makes me love this show so, so much.

K: Seriously. Sam’s face is MAGICAL at this moment. And again, it’s such a sibling thing to do. Like the time when I was like seven and I woke up in the middle of the night to hear my little brother crying, and I went into his room and sat on the bed and asked what was wrong. He looked at me and went “You’re sitting in it.” Because OBVIOUSLY, he was crying because he’d puked everywhere. So yeah. The “LOOK AT THE GROSS THING RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR FACE” thing gives me childhood flashbacks. </random segue of randomness>

Sara: Sam shines the flashlight back over Dean’s shoulder and FREAKING NOT!ASIAN BUSINESSMAN IS STANDING THERE WITH GLOWY EYES. It is legit scary. He hits my beautiful boyfriend in his beautiful face and runs off, as Sam shoots at his retreating figure. Dean tells Sam to chase the sonofabitch down, and when they get out of the sewers, they split up to find him. Guys, THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA. There is a MF’ing shapeshifter out there. Splitting up is the worst possible move ever. Alas, my boyfriends don’t listen to me and head off in separate directions. You’re going to get a That’s What Happens tag for this, I guarantee it.

K: The first time I watched this, I was fully expecting the “That’s What Happens” to be because Sam – who looks hella shifty for the duration of his “where did the shapeshifter go?” search – got his ass thrown in jail.

Sara: The boys meet back up and as they head back to the car, Not!Dean’s eyes flash because THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS. Well that was quick.

After the Not Commercial Break, Dean asks for the Bromobile keys and Sam is at least smart enough to look suspicious and try to trip Not!Dean up with a question about something that happened to their father a long time ago. Unfortunately, Not!Dean answers perfectly. I do notice, though, that Sam doesn’t tell Dean his suspicions which must mean he isn’t fully convinced. OH SNAP. AND THEN SAM PULLS A GUN ON DEAN BECAUSE HE IS THE SMARTEST BOYFRIEND I’VE EVER HAD. Recapping while watching makes this whole experience so fun!

Sam tells Dean that he caught the keys with his left hand, which was a tip-off because Actual!Dean’s left shoulder was hurt. Dean challenges him to shoot him if he’s so sure, which, to me, would be the best sign of it not being Dean at all. Because Actual!Dean would never be like, ‘Shoot me to find out, dude!’.

K: I dunno. Sometimes Dean makes really fucking stupid decisions… See also: splitting up to search for the shapeshifter.

Sara: Unfortunately, Sam doesn’t react quick enough and gets a shovel to the face for his trouble. This shapeshifter really needs to stop messing with these pretty faces.

When Sam comes to, he’s tied to a pipe in a sewer and Not!Dean shows up to beat him up a little more. Sam demands to know where his brother is, but Not!Dean isn’t answering. He tells Sam that he’s been learning a lot about them, and Sam realizes that the shapeshifter can get memories, as well as bodies, when he shifts.

Sam asks again about Dean, but Not!Dean says that he is his brother and then starts talking in the first person as Dean. “Deep down, I’m just jealous. You’ve got friends, you have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everyone is gonna leave me.” He goes on that even their own father left him without explanation. (Curse you, Negligent Parent of the series!) (K: OMG THE FEELS. In case y’all haven’t worked it out, I am Team Feels all the way where Dean Winchester is concerned.) Not!Dean says that he’s sure Dean would like to bang Rebecca and with that, he’s off. Ew.

Not!Dean shows up at Rebecca’s house and charms her enough to get an invite into the house.

Sewers of No, Not Their Beautiful Faces! I guess Actual!Dean was unconscious before, because he’s now awake, tied to a pipe across the room, and calls out to Sam. Sam fills his brother in on the shapeshifter stealing his shape and going to Rebecca’s. Dean says that makes sense since he’s the handsome one and all.

Rebecca’s House. At Rebecca’s, Not!Dean is telling Rebecca the truth about what the boys discovered about the shapeshifter. She asks if it’s a genetic freak or something, and Not!Dean looks offended but laughs.

Sewers. The boys free themselves and figure out that the shapeshifter probably has to keep its doppelgangers alive in order to keep downloading their memories. Sam suggests they call the police for Rebecca, but Dean isn’t so sure about putting the police on his own tail. Fair.

Rebecca’s House. Not!Dean says that he understands the shapeshifter, because he’s all alone and just wants someone to love him. He goes on that everyone needs a little human touch now and then, and he gets all gropey on Rebecca. She asks him to leave, and she threatens to call the LOLPD, but he attacks her before she has the chance.

A little while later, we see Rebecca tied to a chair, covered in blood, and Not!Dean sharpening a knife. Just before he cuts her, there’s a shot outside and we’re back at the scene from the beginning of the episode. After the cops instruct him to turn around and drop the knife, Not!Dean throws it at one of the officers and takes off. Once back in the sewers, he takes off his clothes (hello!) and morphs back into the really gross creature he is normally. It figures that after giving us that nice shirtless Jensen Ackles moment, we have to see that super gross shapeshifter creature.

 

K: I think it’s less “shifting back into himself” and more “this [having to pull off his own skin and lose fingernails and teeth] is what the shifter has to go through every time it shifts”. Which I say mostly because I can see the future.

Sara: After the Not Commercial Break, the boys are watching a news report with a drawing of Dean’s face. Dean is disappointed at it not even being a good picture (K: Okay, Flynn Rider…). Dean says first thing in the morning, he’s going to find that handsome devil and kick the crap out of him. I love him.

They figure that Not!Dean might have driven the Bromobile over to Rebecca’s and left it there since he ran out of the place on foot. They find the car there and are excited to get their weapons back, but unfortunately, they also find a bunch of police. Well, duh. Sam tells Dean he’ll handle the police and yells at him to get out of there and meet up with him at Rebecca’s later.

Instead of meeting up with Sam, though, Dean grabs some weapons and heads right back down to the sewers to find the jerk who stole his beautiful face.

Rebecca’s House. Sam is drinking a beer at Rebecca’s house, and he’s telling her more about what’s happened with the shapeshifter. Stupidly, he has his back to her and after telling her that you kill it with a silver bullet to the heart, Not!Rebecca whacks him in the head with an empty beer bottle. There is so much head hitting today, you’d think Giles was visiting the set.

K: A+ and 1430, Sara.

Sara: Back in the sewers, Dean is untying Actual!Rebecca and asking what happened. She says she showed up in time to see that thing turn into her. They take off to go save Sam.

Rebecca’s House. Sam is tied up again, but stupid Not!Dean leaves the knife in close enough reach for him to cut the ropes off his hands. They fight and Not!Dean chokes Sam out, but Actual!Awesome!Dean shows up just in time to put a silver bullet in the stupid shapeshifter’s heart. He looks understandably freaked out about killing a person with his face.

After the Not Commercial Break, the boys are getting ready to leave and Rebecca is asking questions about Sam’s line of work. She asks if Jess knew about it, and when Sam replies in the negative, says that it must be a pretty lonely line of work. She gives him a flirty hug (fair) and asks him to call sometime, but he says it’ll probably be a while.

Dean asks after Rebecca’s brother, and Sam tells him that the cops are going to release him since there’s a new suspect: Dean Winchester. Dean gives a half-hearted eye roll, and they’re off. As they’re riding off, Dean apologizes for ripping Sam out of his comfortable college environment, but Sam admits that he never felt fully normal in college anyways. They agree that they’re both freaks, and with that, we’re out.

K: I kind of love this episode. Yes, it has its cheesy moments and its disgusting moments. But it also has the boys settling into more of a sibling relationship after being apart over the past four years or so. We learn that Dean has All The Feels, some of which are “OH GOD, SAM’S GOING TO LEAVE ME AGAIN” related. And we get – for the first time – a monster of the week that can go where it wants and do what it wants and mostly pass as human. And that? Is a truly terrifying concept. 

Sara: Big fan of this episode. It had some cute and funny moments, the brother bonding always gets me, and the creature of the week was pretty damn creepy. Plus the opening to the episode was really exciting, and: Shirtless Dean.

 Next time: A famous urban legend comes to life in a small town, in Supernatural S01 E07 – Hook Man.