Previously: Dean did a little time travelling and found out that his mother was a hunter. He also found out that Sam’s up to something dodgy.
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Metamorphosis
Kirsti: We open with a close up of an iron pentagram, then pan down to see that Sam and Ruby 2.0 have a demon tied up underneath it. Sam asks where Lilith is, and the demon sasses at him. We then get in a double dose of misogyny shots when the demon says that Sam’s “slutting around” with Ruby and then calls her a bitch. Not even 30 seconds in and we’re two shots down. It’s going to be a long road, friends…
Marines: At this rate, though, we won’t even feel it.
K: Thank Heaven for small mercies.
Sam does his angry nostril twitch and holds his hand out. The demon pukes up black smoke, which burns away into the floor. Ruby gives Sam a little smile. Meanwhile, we see that Dean’s watching from outside with a serious case of FML face.
CREEPY BIRDS.
After the Not Credits, Sam checks the possession victim’s pulse. He’s alive. Ruby asks him how it felt, and Sam says it was good. He helps the guy towards the door but stops when Dean walks in. “So. Anything you want to tell me, Sam?” Dean says. Sam tries to explain, but Dean won’t have a bar of it. He asks who “she” is, and Ruby’s all “Yeah, hi. New face.”
Dean smiles coldly, then slams her up against a wall and pulls out the knife to kill her. Sam tries to intervene and gets thrown across the room. Ruby gets the upper hand and grabs Dean by the throat. Sam tells her to back off, and she lets him go, reluctantly.
Dean calls Ruby a bitch and THOSE SHOTS JUST KEEP ON COMING. Sam tells Ruby to go help the possession victim. Dean glares some more, but lets her leave. The zoomy cameraman gives us an incredibly dramatic close up of his face as he turns to look at his brother. Then he walks away as Sam calls after him.
Mari: I asked myself after this bit who I felt more for and was surprised when myself answered, “Dean.” Supernatural seems to be very much framed as Dean’s story, primarily, but I tend most often side with Sam. Something about how this must look to Dean, though, just makes me want to give him a hug. And something about Sam aligning himself with Lesser!Ruby makes me want to shake my head sternly at him.
K: I think maybe it’s because Sam tends to be the voice of reason, the one who’s able to see both sides of things. So when the voice of reason starts doing seriously dodgy stuff, it’s hard not to side with Dean…
Later, at last episode’s Motel of the Week, Sam’s reading when Dean walks in and starts silently packing up his stuff. Dean says Sam clearly doesn’t need him around. Sam tries to reason with him and Dean spins around and punches him IN THE FACE.
“You satisfied?” Sam says. Nope. Dean punches him again and demands to know if Sam has any idea how far from normal he’s become. Sam insists that he’s just exorcising demons. Dean yells that he wants to know what else Sam can do, and Sam says he can send demons back to Hell. That’s it.
Dean walks away, and Sam admits that he should have said something. He apologises, but says that Dean should try and see the other side of it: what Sam does usually saves the victim. Using the knife kills them. He’s saved more people in a few months than they usually save in a year. Dean has no fucks to give because Ruby’s involved. “Slippery slope, brother. Just wait and see. Because it’s gonna get darker and darker, and God knows where it ends…” he says.
Sam insists that he’s got it under control, and Dean smashes a lamp. He tells Sam that if he didn’t know him, he’d be hunting him. Because Sam’s turning into a monster. Sam tears up, and says he had to keep on fighting without Dean. What he’s doing helps people. Dean wants to know why he lied if it’s so helpful, why Castiel was all “Hey, yo, stop your brother, yeah?”. He also calls Castiel “Cas”, which is a HUGE relief because I’ve felt totally weird writing Castiel all the time in the past four episodes.
Mari: Meanwhile the newbie is like, “ah man. They call him Cas? That’s way less angelic than Castiel.”
K: Angelic schmangelic.
Ayway, their manpain-y argument is interrupted by Sam’s phone ringing. It’s an old friend of Papa Winchester’s, who has a case for them in Carthage, Missouri. They’re looking for a guy named Jack Montgomery. Dean glances tearily at the ceiling.
Cut to Carthage. We zoom up the front path of a nice looking house and get a close up of a dude’s mouth as he shovels food into his mouth. His wife watches in disgust. I don’t blame her. It’s pretty nasty. I totally recognise the dude, but IMDB informs me that it’s because he’s in One Episode of Every Crime Show Ever. Of course. He asks if there’s dessert, and his wife heads to the kitchen. He steals her steak while she’s gone. (M: Definitely evil.)
Later, he brushes his teeth in the bathroom when something goes crack. He doubles over in pain. There’s another crack and he ends up on his knees. We see his spine ripple as he cries out again. His spine ripples again and again, then stops. He pulls himself upright with a groan and checks his back in the mirror. There’s nothing there.
Meanwhile, the Bromobile bros through the night as Dean fills Sam in on Mary having been a hunter. He says she was happy and smart and full of hope. Sam’s horrified that their parents and grandparents were murdered just so Azazel could bleed in his mouth, and Dean gives him suspicious face because he never mentioned the demon blood. Sam says he’s known for a year and should have said something. Dean bitchfaces and lapses into silence.
Mari: “I should’ve said something,” is a thing people only say when they’ve been caught not saying something. So, WHATEVER SAM.
K: YUP.
The next night, Jack peers into the fridge and asks his wife how long dinner will be because he’s starving. The boys watch through binoculars and are surprised that they’re hunting someone so normal looking. Sam says that Travis was sure something was up and told them to keep an eye out for anything weird. Back inside, Jack looks around shiftily, then opens the fridge again. He grabs a leftover roast chicken and starts shoving it into his mouth. Then he grabs a package of beef mince – which has toooooooooooootally been dyed red – and shovels that in too. He stops in horror when his wife calls out to him. “I’d say that qualifies as weird…” Sam says. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, we’re at the New Motel of the Week. The boys walk in to find Travis waiting for them. They hug him and do the jovial hunter catch up thing. He says that Papa Winchester would have been proud of them for sticking together. Dean sarcastically says that there’s nothing more important than family, and Sam looks hurt. Travis asks if they found Jack, and Dean mentions the whole raw meat thing.
Travis informs them that they’re dealing with a rugaru. “Is that made up? That sounds made up…” Dean says.
Mari: How very Donna of him!
K: Crossover magic shots??
Travis says that rugaru are all rotted teeth and wormy skin. Dean says Jack’s not like that, and Travis says he will be. “So what? They go through some kind of metamorphosis?” Sam asks, earning himself a gold star.
With that, we cut across to Jack’s house as Travis voiceovers that it’s like a maggot turning into a fly, but really really hungry. Jack spots a new packet of mince in the fridge and stares at it hungrily. Then his wife cuts her finger while preparing dinner, and he’s suddenly not interested in the mince any more. Travis says rugaru crave human flesh. Except he calls it “long pig“, which Dean declares to be his word of the day. Ew. Travis continues, saying that when the rugaru eventually gives in and eats human flesh, they transform. Fast. And permanently.
Jack’s wife runs her bleeding finger under the tap, then says that she thinks it needs stitches. Jack is frozen in place, then announces that he needs to go. He runs out, and she’s all “Um, BLEEDING HERE”. The boys ask Travis how he knew about Jack given that Jack’s been totally human up until now. Travis says he killed Jack’s rugaru father in 1978, and had no idea the guy’s wife was pregnant. She gave the kid up for adoption and he was lost in the system before Travis could find him. Plus, he couldn’t really stand the idea of hunting down a kid.
Meanwhile, Jack’s in a bar shoving peanuts into his mouth like there’s no tomorrow and thinking about blood. He downs a whisky and orders another. Then he freezes, staring at himself in the mirror. A few barstools down, a creeper is harassing a woman, trying to get her to have a drink with him. Jack intervenes and tells the guy to back off. Creeper – who’s taller and heavier – gets all up in Jack’s face, then throws a punch. Jack grabs his arm and crushes his fist with a crunch. The woman screams, Creeper screams, Jack panics and runs. Fade to black.
Mari: I’m pretty done with the bone cracking sound effects in this episode; something tells me this episode is not done with the bone cracking sound effects in this episode.
K: This show really loves the bone cracking sounds, and they went overboard in this episode.
After the Not Commercial Break, Dean clearly has a death wish because he’s using an open flame next to a miniature flame thrower. He and Travis discuss how fire is the only thing that can kill a rugaru. Sam returns and thinks they’re jumping the gun on prepping the flame throwers. He’s been doing some research, because obviously. Travis sasses about how he’s got 30 years of experience, and Sam awkwards. Dean jokes that “Sam LOVES research” so much that he jerks off over it. Ew. Travis chuckles.
Sam says he’s found stories of people who have the rugaru gene but they never ate human flesh so they didn’t fully transform. They just need to eat a shit ton of raw meat instead. Travis says the stories are just urban legends. Sam says they should tell Jack what’s going on and give him the choice. Travis declares this to be the dumbest idea of ever. Sam insists that they can’t kill Jack until he actually does something wrong, which seems totally fair but also you can’t watch the guy every day for the rest of his life, Sam… He storms out.
At Jack’s the next morning, his wife – now with a heavily bandaged finger – is making tea. She turns and finds Jack right behind her, and jumps. He apologises for scaring her and asks how she is. She’s super pissed about him leaving. He apologises some more and she melts a little. They make up and he kisses her. That rapidly heads towards making out and then it gets rapey when she tells him to stop and he keeps nibbling at her jaw and neck and reaching up her nightgown. Ugh. She yells and shoves him away, and asks what the fuck is wrong with him. He says he has no idea.
Bromobile. The boys are en route to see Jack, and Dean wants to know if Sam will be able to kill Jack if necessary. Sam says that maybe Jack will be able to fight it off and everything will end happily. HAHAHAHA, NOT ON THIS SHOW. (M: For some reason, at this point, I still had hope. Will I ever learn?) Dean tells Sam that he’s totally overreacting because Jack’s got something evil in his blood just like Sam. Sam looks hella pissed and demands that Dean stop the car. Dean pulls over and Sam gets out. He starts yelling that this is why he didn’t tell Dean the truth, that he knew Dean would treat him like a freak who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong.
Dean asks if he DOES know the difference between right and wrong. Sam yells that he’s a freak with demon blood in his veins and he’s just trying to use his power for good instead of evil. He stares at the ground sadly. Dean sighs and says they should go talk to Jack. Sam nods reluctantly and they get back in the Bromobile.
Cut to Jack’s. He’s technically watering the garden, but you could put a hose in the hand of a corpse and it would water the garden in much the same fashion. The boys walk through the gate and call out to him. He snaps out of it as the boys introduce themselves. Sam says they need to talk about how Jack’s changing. Jack’s all “The fuck?”. Dean rattles off some symptoms – including the memorable line “And your appetite’s reaching, you know, “hungry hungry hippo” levels“. Jack asks who they are, and Sam says they can help. That reminds to be seen, kiddo.
Mari: Yeah, but “we can try to help,” and “we can help for a scene or two” don’t have the same ring to it.
K: Truth.
Thankfully, we’re spared hearing them tell Jack that monsters are real, and we jump straight to him asking what the fuck a rugaru is. Sam says that Jack’s father was one, and Jack says they’re totally crazy. Dean interrupts and says that Jack’s hunger for human flesh is just going to get worse. They say that they can help him deal with the cravings, and mention that if he gives into his urges it’ll all be over and they’ll have to stop him. He asks if his father was stopped the same way, and then yells at them to GTFO. Sam sighs as they walk away. The zoomy cameraman zooms in on Jack.
That night, Jack’s looking teary as he sits on a bench and listens to voicemails from his wife telling him to come home so they can talk. He looks up and spots a woman changing by the window of her apartment (do people really do this???). (M: I just did this over the weekend in my hotel room, with the window facing the pool open. Definitely not on purpose.) He watches as she closes the curtains, then crosses the street and heads to her building. DUDE, NO. The boys, watching in the Bromobile, agree with me. They grab their flame throwers and run down there in time to see Jack climbing up the fire escape.
Up on the woman’s balcony, Jack watches her walk around in her underwear, his heart rate pounding. She turns off the light, and Jack sees his reflection in the window, eyes bloodshot and animalistic. He freaks out and vanishes into the night. Meanwhile, the boys burst through the woman’s apartment door and she screams. “Whoa. Uh. We’re here to save you, I guess??” Dean manages before she screams that she’s calling the cops. They bail.
After the Not Commercial Break, Jack wakes up handcuffed to a pillar. Michelle’s still tied up nearby. He tells her to stay calm as Travis walks in looking all murdery. Jack tells Travis to take whatever he wants and leave. Travis calls him by name and says Jack’s already met his friends the Winchesters. Jack insists he hasn’t hurt anyone as Michelle cries silently. Travis says he still could and that he’s doing Jack a favour.
Jack begs him to let Michelle go, because she’s not a part of this, and Michelle is shocked and pretty damned confused. Travis sighs and says that Michelle is, in fact, part of it. Because when he turned up, Michelle begged him not to hurt her because she’s pregnant. Womp womp. (M: WTF. Does spousal pregnancy trigger this thing? Weird.) (K: That would be far more interesting than the “what a crazy random happenstance!” that the writers gave us…) Michelle starts crying as Travis says he has to take care of things now because he’ll be dead in 30 years. He wishes he didn’t have to do this. He pulls out a jerry can and starts splashing fuel around.
Jack begs for Michelle’s life, but Travis says he has no choice. Jack fights against the handcuffs, and we get some more shots of blood cells floating about like when he was in the bar. He flashes back to kissing Michelle and to how his eyes looked when he was watching the woman in her apartment, and suddenly the handcuffs snap. He leaps forward and tackles Travis to the ground. They fight, and Jack quickly gets the upper hand, breaking Travis’ already broken arm. Then he pulls away Travis’ shirt and bites into his neck, ripping out a chunk of flesh and chewing. Travis bleeds to death. I throw up in my mouth a little as Jack keeps eating.
Mari: You were doing so well, Jack. And now I’ve had the weird thought that Jack represents anyone on a diet.
K: Urgh.
He turns on Michelle, his face bloody, and she freaks. Legit, girl. He sets her free, and she screams at him to stay away from her before sprinting out the door. She jumps in the car and speeds away. Left alone in the house, Jack sad pandas momentarily, then goes back to eating Travis. Ew. (M: Eating your emotions? Check.)
The boys pull up ouside and spot Travis’ truck over the road. They rush up the path and sneak inside, flame throwers at the ready. There’s a giant pool of blood on the floor, followed by signs that Travis’ body was dragged somewhere. They follow the trail and find Travis Leftovers behind the sofa. Sam looks defeated and says that Dean was right about Jack. Just then, Jack leaps out and tackles Dean. Sam tries to light his flame thrower and fails. Jack knocks him down and knocks him out with the flame thrower. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Sam wakes up in a closet. The door’s locked. He calls out to his brother, and Jack answers “Dean can’t come to the phone right now“. Sam pounds on the door, and Jack tells him that Dean’s alive. Sam calms down and asks a teary Jack to open the door. Jack refuses because he thinks the boys sent Travis there, and so blames them for trying to kill Michelle.
Sam wants to know why Travis went after Michelle, and when Jack realises the boys don’t know she’s pregnant, he claims he doesn’t know. Sam finds a coat hanger and tries to pick the door lock. Jack dips his finger in Dean’s blood and talks about how hungry he is. He cries that he can never see his family again, and blames the boys for turning him into a monster. Sam stops trying to pick the lock and tells Jack that he knows what it’s like to have a dark pit inside you. “But that doesn’t mean you have to fall into it. You don’t have to be a monster.”
After the Not Commercial Break, the boys get the fuck out of town. Dean says Sam did the right thing. Sam says nothing. Dean apologises for his behaviour and says the psychic thing scares him. Sam snaps that he doesn’t want to talk about it because he can’t make Dean understand. It’s something he has to deal with. “Not alone,” Dean says. Sam turns and stares out the window. He says he’s done with using his powers because it’s playing with fire. Dean’s relieved. Sam has no fucks to give about Dean’s relief because it’s his choice and he’s doing it for himself. Fade to black.
I…do not like this episode. Anything that involves the consumption of human flesh gives me a major league wiggins, so it took me the better part of two days to recap this episode because I just didn’t want to keep watching. Basically, the whole thing is a really heavy handed way of dealing with Sam’s Special Snowflake Powers, and it was like the writers were sitting behind me with a stick, poking me and asking if I’d seen the parallels every two seconds. So…yeah. Meh.
Mari: I don’t think I disliked it quite that much. I’ve reached a very accepting attitude when it comes to this show, though I have a feeling 90% of that is because I’m commenting and not recapping. (K: Now I just want to make you recap a few episodes and see how that changes…) I’m actually glad that the whole thing with Sam keeping Ruby a secret came to a head now and not 10 episodes from now. I mentioned that I sympathized more with Dean and I think that still holds. Yes, Sam has very valid points about what he’s going through and even had some decent motivations. Maybe it’s because I’m a big sister, though, to the type of little sibling that does crazy crap all the time. I don’t know.
I’m curious to hear who your feels pull toward in this particular Dean vs. Sam argument.
Next time on Supernatural: It’s Oktoberfest and the boys are dealing with death by classic Hollywood monsters in S04 E05 – Monster Movie.
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.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
