"What kind of house doesn't have salt? Low-sodium freaks."

I'd heard mixed reviews of this episode, but I really liked it. There hasn't been an episode yet that I disliked, mind.

We start open on a very creepy painting – with the very creepy effect of the man-of-the-portrait's head moving – followed by the very creepy murders of the couple who've just bought it, and then cut to Sam and Dean, in a bar. Sam is researching, reading an article about the couple murdered in the teaser; Dean is kicking back and enjoying himself, flirting with girls in the bar. Apparently Dean feels in need of a little R&R because this attitude lingers for quite a while into the episode.

DEAN: "I think we need to take a little shore leave for just a little bit. What do you think, huh? I'm so in the door with this one."

Sam seems determined to focus on work, and nothing but work, and does his best to make sure that Dean does the same. When Sam is focused on something, boy is he focused. Dean, for his part, seems equally keen to get Sam to lighten up a little. But Sam, though he laughs with Dean at the notion of them being 'reality TV scouts' and seems torn between frustration, resignation and amusement at his brother's frivolous mood, finds the notion of joining him in his flirtations a step too far.

SAM: "Dean, no thanks. I can get my own dates."
DEAN: "Yeah, you can, but you don't."
SAM: "What is that supposed to mean?"
DEAN: "Nothin'."

That's a fairly important little exchange – they've never really talked about Jessica's death and the impact it's had on Sam, his reluctance to move on. Here, Dean raises it, but drops it again instantly when challenged, not willing – yet – to force the issue.

Sam sticks firmly to the subject of the Telesca double murder, because when Sammy has homed in on a potential case he's like a dog with a bone about it, and here does his utmost to keep Dean's attention just as firmly on the job. For all that Sam talks big about wanting out of the demon-hunting lifestyle once The Demon has been found and killed, the enthusiasm with which he throws himself into new cases shows that he doesn't really hate the job quite as much as he sometimes claims. Since the murders fit a profile John had noted in the journal, Dean agrees it's probably worth checking into – in the morning. He returns to his flirtations, and wallflower Sam is left to sit there laughing at him.

For all the differences between the boys, and the occasional bursts of tension between them, by this stage of the season they really do seem to genuinely enjoy one another's company, laughing with each other as much as at each other. Which is probably just as well, really, since each is the other's only constant companion at present.

Next morning, Sam wakes Dean up from his uncomfortable looking doze in the front passenger seat of the Impala by honking the horn, and then laughs gleefully at his reaction. It's fantastic. Sam has such an infectious laugh. And Dean's bleary-eyed disgruntlement is perfect.

DEAN: "Man, that is so not cool."

Seems that while Dean was out enjoying himself the previous night, Sam was sticking firmly to his chosen role of family bookworm, researching both the house and the dead couple. Nothing. And this morning, while Dean was catching up on lost sleep in the car, Sam has kept up the hard work, sweeping the house with the EMF. Nothing. And no contents, either.

The contents have already been removed from the house, to be sold on at auction. Seems indecently hasty to me. Got to love the camera pan across the very posh and very spotless cars lined up outside the auction house, ending on the decidedly travel-stained Impala looking more than a little out of place.

Dean and Sam, casually clad in fraying jeans and battered jackets, look equally out of place among the impeccably attired private viewers inside the auction house, and it doesn't take them long to gain the disapproving attention of the owner, Daniel Blake. And Dean takes as much of an instant dislike to the man as Blake does to him, which doesn't help matters.

DEAN: "Silent auctions, estate sales – it's like a garage sale for W.A.S.P.s, if you ask me."

Dean still isn't really on his game as yet – he seems rather casual about this case, which is unusual for him. It's not so much his clumsy handling of the undercover work that seems off, since we've seen that before, but his attitude. Usually if he blows his cover it's because he's trying too hard. He can be scarily intense at times. But when called on to play a part to gain information for a case, he usually puts in the effort required to at least try to pull it off. Here, though, he just seems tired of the whole thing already, making no attempt to behave as though he belongs there and unusually slapdash in his approach. In the bar the previous night he'd suggested 'shore leave', and although at the time that was mostly to do with him having his eye on a girl, but I can't help wondering if he might not have been at least partly serious.

I find myself wondering if John ever allowed the family to just take a break now and then, or if it was a genuinely relentless hunt, hunt, hunt all the time. In what little we've seen of him so far, he's come across as a very dedicated taskmaster, and if John pushed to the limits and beyond, Dean wouldn't argue against it. He'd just do his best to live up to whatever expectations John had of him. But Dean is in charge of the operation now, for the first time, and that's a heavier load than he's previously had to carry. Non-stop hunting has got to be wearing, for all of them. Dean's motivations for carrying on the hunt are very different to John's, or Sam's, for that matter, and he really does have very little in his life to enjoy. So, maybe I'm just constructing rationalisations for slopping writing, or maybe Dean really is feeling in need of a little break from the constant hunting, needs to recharge the batteries.

Sam's frustration with Dean's clumsiness at the auction house is highly amusing. Dean grabbing as much finger food as he can stuff down his throat is also amusing. He always homes straight in on any free food that's going – well, it saves them hard-stolen money, doesn't it? And that's what it's there for, right?

Has to be said, though – Sam's rather smoother attempt at blending in doesn't really go down any better with Blake than Dean's clumsiness. He doesn't look the part; therefore Blake is not interested, and cuts him dead when he holds his hand out to shake. Watch Dean's face when he sees that. Being rude to Sammy…if looks could kill.

Sam wants to blend in, and has the subtlety and people skills to pull it off, if not the outfit. He has a better understanding of the motivations and thought-processes of these people than Dean does. Dean, on the other hand, is only too aware of what people like this think when they see him – trash – and sees nothing there to want to impress. It is obvious that Blake thinks the worst of him – of them both, in fact – on sight, and Dean reacts to that by living down to his expectations. Which, on a day-to-day basis would be fine, since he's not called on to mix in this kind of society all that often. But a little more effort when working a job really is required.

Playing at being a cop (or priest, federal agent, alarm company engineer…) is one thing; maybe he sees trying to fit in with upper class snobs at an elegant soiree as a role too far.

And then Blake's daughter, Sarah, appears. Watch Sam's face on hearing her first remarks about the painting he's looking at – that little frown of puzzlement followed by dawning realisation as he figures out that she's testing his claim to be an art dealer. And it turns out that Sam actually does know enough about art to pass muster. Sarah hits it off with him at once on an intellectual level, for a few brief moments, anyway, before the irate Blake kicks the boys out, since they aren't on the guest list and are lowering the tone of his select little gathering. All Dean can do is stand there, looking at them like they're speaking another language.

DEAN: "Grant Wood? Grandma Moses? What?"
SAM: "Art history course. It's good for meetin' girls."
DEAN: "It's like I don't even know you."

Art history course for meeting girls would have been pre-Jessica, I take it – nice to know that Sam did make that kind of effort, once upon a time. He shuts himself off so completely these days.

The boys' faces and the joint 'huh' on seeing the truly tacky décor of their latest motel room is another fantastic moment – one of those tiny details that aren't really necessary but add so much to the show – as are the several occasions on which Dean fails to remember/pronounce the word 'provenance' and Sam has to correct him. This episode seems to be going out of its way to highlight that particular difference between the boys. Sam is the intellectual. He cares about those kinds of details. Dean is more practically minded. He really doesn't care what the word is, and therefore makes no attempt to remember it.

DEAN: "Huh. Well, we're not gettin' anything out of Chuckles, but, uh, Sarah?"
SAM: "Yeah. Maybe you can get her to write it all down on a cocktail napkin."
[DEAN chuckles.]
DEAN: "Not me."
SAM: "Oh, no, no, no, no. Pickups are your thing, Dean."
DEAN: "It wasn't my butt she was checkin' out."
SAM: "In other words, you want me to use her to get information."
DEAN: "Sometimes, you gotta take one for the team. Call her."

I love that there's no jealousy there – Sam clicked with Sarah at the auction house but completely expects Dean to do any wining and dining necessary for the case. And Dean is completely aware that it was Sam Sarah was interested in, not him, and is completely at ease with that, even if Sam isn't.

But…when and how did they get Sarah's number? We certainly didn't see Sam exchange numbers with her prior to being kicked out of the auction house.

So, Sam takes Sarah out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, and I find myself wondering how he's paying for that: fake credit card, or Dean's hard-hustled cash? It's all a bit awkward at first. This is the first official date Sam has been on since Jessica's death. And, to his surprise, Sarah turns out to be in a similar boat.

SARAH: "Glad you called. Surprised, but glad."
SAM: "Yeah?"
SARAH: "Although you seemed to have trouble getting out the words: 'would you like to have dinner?'"
SAM: "Yeah. I haven't really been on a date in a while."
SARAH: "Welcome to the club."

That pretty much breaks the ice, as does Sarah's decision to have a beer. It seems that although Sam can give the appearance of fitting in with, uh, upper class society rather more smoothly than Dean, if only because Sam makes the attempt and Dean doesn't, there are limits to his knowledge, and his four years at college did not manage to fill all the gaps in his social education left by a nomadic upbringing revolving around demon hunting. The wine list is beyond him, and it shows.

Although it was Sam who did the asking out, it's Sarah who makes all the running at dinner, keeping the conversation flowing. Sam, of course, has to lie a lot; it's an occupational hazard. During the course of the conversation, Sarah opens up about her life, losses and hang-ups, and why she's avoided anything resembling a date since her mother's death. Sam can't quite bring himself to reciprocate.

SARAH: "So, what about you? You're a reasonably attractive guy."
SAM [laughing]: "Reasonably?"
SARAH: "Why haven't you been out and about?"

Sam's smile falters, and he remains silent. He's enjoying the date more than he probably expected, seeing as he only asked her out so he could get information for the case, and he seems to like Sarah a lot, but he's just not ready to talk about Jessica. It's too painful, and there's too much that can't be said. Perceptive Sarah quickly gets the message and backs off.

SARAH: "Another long story for another time?"
[Sam nods.]

I find myself really loving Sam's voice and accent in this scene. Totally random observation…

Back at the motel post-dinner, Sam is researching again, while Dean, as so often, keeps himself occupied making sure his many weapons are in good condition: sharpening a knife, this time.

DEAN: "So, she just handed the providences over to you?"
SAM [slightly annoyed]: "Provenances."

Heh. And Dean isn't even mispronouncing it deliberately to wind him up. He might start, though, if Sam provides him with a reaction like that every time.

SAM: "Yes. I went back to her place, I got a copy of the papers."
DEAN: "And?"
SAM: "And nothing, that's it. I left."

Dinner must've been good. Hope Sarah wasn't too disappointed about the night being cut short…although since she's also feeling her way rather gingerly back onto the dating scene that probably helps with the taking it slowly thing. And we know how convincing Sam can be when he turns on the sincerity.

Dean seems determined to force Sam at Sarah. And only partly because they need her help to solve the case.

DEAN: "You know, when this whole thing is done, we could stick around for a little bit."
SAM: "Why?"
DEAN: "So you can take her out again. It's obvious you're into her, even I can see that."

Stage one of The Talk, interrupted by business of the 'I've found what we need to know variety'. And the second time this episode that Dean has suggested taking a break from the relentless hunting they've been keeping up all season. Seems the painting seen first in the teaser and later at the auction house is haunted, and gruesome death has a habit of following it around.

I like that having told Dean he's found something, Sam just hands the papers over and lets Dean make the connection for himself, rather than spelling it out.

Love watching the boys scale that fence – even if it is the stunt doubles – and break into the auction house. Sam disables the alarm and Dean picks the lock, like poetry in motion – such an unconventional upbringing and training these boys had to acquire those skills, as if further evidence was needed at this stage of the season.

DEAN: "Ugly-ass thing. If you ask me, we're doin' the art world a favour."

And the painting is toast…or is it? While the boys watch the canvas burn out in the yard, back inside the auction house, the painting quietly reforms in its frame….

DEAN: "We've got a problem, I can't find my wallet."
SAM: "How is that my problem?"

Heh. Nice reaction. And an excellent little ruse Dean pulls there, proving he can act a part well when he wants to, since Sam knows him better than just about anyone but still swallows it completely. The supposedly lost wallet, complete with prints and fake ID, provides the perfect excuse to get Sam to see Sarah again. Sam is so cutely frustrated with his brother for managing to lose his wallet, and then so adorably flustered on coming face to face with Sarah once more.

And so annoyed when he realises the trick Dean pulled on him, while Dean now gets a kick out of playing the part of embarrassing older sibling for all he's worth. And then Sam sees the painting.

SAM [shocked]: "Oh my God!"
SARAH: "What?"
SAM [floundering]: "Uh…that painting…looks so good."
SARAH: "If you can call that monstrosity good, then, yeah, I guess."

If Dean hadn't manoeuvred Sam back to the auction house, they never would have found out about the painting restoring itself after they burned it. Sam's inability to conceal his shock on seeing it, and his babbling to Sarah while thinking at a hundred miles an hour is just too funny for words because it's so unlike Sam, and Sarah is left completely bemused by his odd behaviour.

Outside the auction house, the very baffled boys sit in the car and puzzle over what's going on.

SAM: "I don't understand, Dean, we burned the damn thing."
DEAN: "Yeah, thank you, Captain Obvious. All right, we just need to figure out another way to get rid of it. Any ideas?"

Once Dean has thus so calmly prompted him, Sam gets his brain in gear once more and they start brainstorming. Since haunted paintings tend to be haunted by their subjects, the next logical step is to find out more about the Isaiah Merchant family, so creepily captured on that canvas.

Next stop – the library, where the oh-so helpful librarian amuses me immensely, so delighted that someone has expressed an interest in local crime history, which is evidently some kind of hobby of his. He also possesses the kind of ghoulish humour that Dean appreciates, even if Sam doesn't.

LIBRARIAN: "I dug up every scrap of local history I could find. So, uh, are you boys crime buffs?"
DEAN: "Kind of. Why do you ask?"
LIBRARIAN: "Well…."
[He holds up a page from an old newspaper. The headline reads, 'Father Slaughters Family, Kills Self.']
DEAN: "Yes. Yeah, that sounds about right."
SAM: "The whole family was killed?"
LIBRARIAN: "It seems this Isaiah – he slits his kids' throats, then his wife, then himself. Now, he was a barber by trade – used a straight razor."

The bodies were cremated, which draws disappointed looks from the boys since it makes their job so much harder when there aren't any remains to salt and burn. Then the librarian shows them a facsimile of the family portrait in a book – and Sam notices at once that the father, Isaiah, is in a different position than in the original painting he saw just that morning.

Back at the auction house, Sarah is dismayed to learn that her father has already sold the portrait of doom – not because she knows it is haunted, of course, but because she thinks it is hideous, not to mention in bad taste so soon after the Telesca murders.

Sam is always at his most animated when he's deep into a puzzling case. It's cute. Here, he's frustrated by his own inability to figure out how they can stop this particular murderous spirit, since it is trapped in the painting, the bones are already dust, and burning the canvas was so completely ineffectual. And, while Sam flusters and puzzles, Dean, who is now being Mr Rational, calmly points him back toward a sensible, methodical approach to the problem.

DEAN: "All right, well, if Isaiah's position changed, maybe some other things in the painting changed as well. It could give us some clues."
SAM: "What, like a DaVinci Code deal?"
DEAN: "I don't know, I'm still waitin' for the movie on that one."

And then while the boys discuss what their next move should be, we get stage two of The Talk.

SAM: "Dude, enough already."
DEAN: "What?"
SAM: "'What?' Ever since we got here, you've been tryin' to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, all right?"
DEAN: "Well, you like her, don't you? [SAM says nothing.] All right, you like her, she likes you; you're both consenting adults…."
SAM: "What's the point, Dean? We'll just leave. We always leave."

Now that's a rather telling remark. They do always leave, and that is, after all, a big part of the reason Dean avoids anything more than the most superficial of relationships with the people they meet on their travels, why he restricts himself very much to one night stands along the way, never getting close to anyone new. They always leave. But that doesn't mean he doesn't want more for Sam, more at least than Sam currently allows himself, wants Sam to finally be able to move on from Jessica.

Sam is pretty agitated now – he was already feeling frustrated going into this conversation, and has been slightly on edge for most of this case so far. It's proving a frustrating gig, after all, and the Sarah situation is only adding to that, forcing him to face up to issues he's kept buried deep for a long time now. Dean, in contrast, is looking the picture of relaxation whether he feels that way or not.

DEAN: "Well, I'm not talkin' about marriage, Sam."
SAM: "You know what, I don't get it. What do you care if I hook up?"
DEAN: "Because then maybe you wouldn't be so cranky all the time.

Sam scoffs. And then, since hinting and implying isn't working, Dean abandons his laid-back pose, sits up, and switches to deadly serious mode as he finally broaches a subject that's been pretty much taboo for the entire season, whether Sam wants to hear what he has to say or not.

DEAN: "You know, seriously, Sam, this isn't about just hookin' up, okay? I mean, I think this Sarah girl could be good for you. And, I don't mean any disrespect, but I'm sure that this is about Jessica, right?"

Note how carefully Dean treads around the subject of Jessica, after Sam blew up at him so badly in Scarecrow about having no way to understand how he felt about Jessica's death, when at the time Dean wasn't even talking about Jessica anyway.

Here, at first, Sam reacts pretty much as he did when Dean raised the subject of Jessica's death in Bloody Mary – looking anywhere but at his brother with a sullen expression, not wanting this conversation. But once Dean actually mentions Jessica by name, Sam's defences start to crumble and he has to silently acknowledge the truth of what Dean is saying.

DEAN: "Now, I don't know what it's like to lose somebody like that, but…I would think that she would want you to be happy. God forbid, have fun once in a while. Wouldn't she?"
[Close to tears, Sam smiles faintly, clearly remembering Jessica.]
SAM: "Yeah, I know she would. [He sighs.] Yeah, you're right. Part of this is about Jessica. But not the main part."
DEAN: "What's it about? [Sam says nothing, looking unhappy, and Dean gives in and lets it drop.] Yeah, all right."

This is a conversation that really couldn't have taken place any earlier in the series. Sam wouldn't have been ready to hear it, and Dean wouldn't have been comfortable saying it – he still isn't comfortable saying it, but now feels able to at least make the attempt. It has taken them until now to be sufficiently relaxed with one another, to be ready to talk about something so personal. And even now they can only say so much before the subject has to be dropped again. Small steps.

And, whether Sam wants to get more intimately involved with Sarah or not, the bottom line is that they still need her help if they are going to solve this case before anyone else dies.

Which…it's already too late, as the next scene shows. With the Isaiah Merchant family portrait proudly situated above her fireplace, poor Evelyn who has just bought it comes to the same grisly end as the Telescas – and everyone else who has ever owned that painting.

SARAH: "What are you guys, burglars?"
SAM: "I wish it was that simple."

Sarah is incredibly trusting. This guy she's only just met and been on just one date with, and who displayed such bizarre behaviour at the auction house earlier, calls to ask all kinds of weird questions…and she just hands over the address of a friend and client, just like that? Okay, so she insists on meeting them at the house of the woman who bought the painting rather than just telling them where it was, but even that seems dodgy to me. And then she watches them break into the house, and still doesn't call the police…

The windows of Evelyn's house appear to have bars across them, for some reason. This will be important later.

Of course, they are way too late to save Evelyn. And Sarah gets to see the painting of Isaiah move with her own two eyes.

Then later, back at the motel, Sam is pacing anxiously and Dean working on the laptop when Sarah turns up demanding answers, wanting to know who is killing these people. The boys exchange that Look – the one that says 'nothing else for it, got to go with the ugly truth this time'.

SAM: "It's not who, it's what is killing those people. Sarah, you saw that painting move."
SARAH: "No. No, I was seeing things. It's impossible."
DEAN: "Yeah, well, welcome to our world."

And then Sam tells her that they think the painting is haunted.

SARAH: "You're joking…. You're not joking. God, the guys I go out with."

But she moves rapidly from disbelief to determination to go along with them and help get to the bottom of things. Maybe she's just that convinced by Sam's impression of Dean at his most scarily intense – she seems to settle for thinking of them as weird but well meaning. And she's got plenty of spunk – she's seen enough to know there's more going on than meets the eye, and instead of running and hiding she wants to know the truth, to understand.

SARAH: "Look, you guys are probably crazy, but if you're right about this – well, me and my dad sold that painting, we might have got these people killed. I'm not saying I'm not scared, 'cause I am scared as hell, but I'm not gonna run and hide, either. So, are we going or what?"
[She heads out to the car; Dean looks at Sam]
DEAN: "Sam? Marry that girl."

So they return to Evelyn's to examine the painting in more detail, and in this scene Jensen definitely slips up and calls Sam 'Jared' at one point.

The changing aspects of the painting are pretty well done, and provide good clues. Keeps the story spinning out. I love how observant they all are in this episode – each taking turns at spotting small but significant details.

SARAH: "So, this is what you guys do for a living?"
SAM: "Not exactly. We don't get paid."

Bet he's glad she didn't ask what they do do for a living. The ghost-hunting revelation was enough for her to deal with, without getting into the whole credit card fraud, poker and pool hustling thing.

Next stop is a search of local graveyards for the Merchant family mausoleum, and Sarah is creeped out when she sees a doll that had belonged to the Merchant's adopted daughter preserved in a glass case. Sam proves extremely well informed about burial traditions of the past; another occupational hazard, I presume. Then Dean notices the crucial detail: there were five members of the Merchant family, but there are only four urns. Isaiah himself isn't there. Nice to see that after such shaky beginnings – namely, contributing to them getting kicked out of the auction house – Dean is well and truly on form again now they are so firmly back in the field he knows best: the hands-on ghost-busting work.

SARAH: "So, what exactly is your brother doing in there?"
SAM: "Searching county death certificates, trying to find out what happened to Isaiah's body."
SARAH: "How'd he even get in the door?"
SAM: "Lying and subterfuge, mostly."

I can only assume Dean got the job of checking death certificates and the like because he wanted Sam to have time alone with Sarah – given a choice, he generally prefers to leave that kind of thing to Sam, where possible. And Sam generally prefers to handle the research end himself rather than trust Dean to do it right, despite the fact that there's been plenty of evidence all season that Dean is more than capable. But this way allows Sam to have another version of The Talk with Sarah – he kind of tells her about Jess, but not really. He says as little as he can possibly manage while still getting his point across.

SAM: "Look it's hard to explain...it's just that when people are around me…. I don't know; they get hurt."
SARAH: "What do you mean?"
SAM: "I mean, like, physically hurt. With what my brother and I do, it's – [He stops, seeming to have trouble with the words.] Sarah…. I had a girlfriend. And she died. And my mom died, too. I don't know, it's like…it's like I'm cursed or something – like death just follows me around."

I can understand why Sam feels that way, but also feel the need to point out that two deaths in twenty-two years doesn't really add up to either being cursed or of death hounding him at every turn. People die. It's a fact of life. Every family experiences tragedy at some point or other, and while the fact that both Mary and Jessica were killed by the same demon does form a potentially dangerous pattern, he's had other people close to him during his life that haven't died horribly. Yet. But the scars left by Jessica's death are still raw enough for the idea of becoming that intimate with anyone else, anyone new, to be painfully scary. And there's just too much that he can't explain adequately to Sarah, not least because he doesn't really understand it all himself.

SAM: "Look, I'm not scared of much, but if I let myself have feelings for anybody –"
SARAH: "You're scared they'd get hurt, too. That's very sweet. And very archaic."
SAM: "Sorry?"
SARAH: "Look, I'm a big girl, Sam. It's not your job to make decisions for me. There's always a chance of getting hurt."
SAM: "I'm not talkin' about a broken heart and a tub of Haagen-Dazs. I'm talkin' about life and death."
SARAH: "And tomorrow, I could get hit by a bus. That's what life is. Look, I know losing somebody you love – it's terrible. You shut yourself off. Believe me, I know. But when you shut out pain, you shut out everything else, too."
SAM: "Look, Sarah, you don't understand. The pain that I went through – I can't go through it again. I can't."

I like Sarah. She's feisty, and you get the sense that if Sam could only allow himself to get close to her, if they had the opportunity to give it a go, with Sarah knowing the full truth and going into it with eyes wide open, they'd have a good chance of making it work. But throughout this conversation you can see that she sees that she isn't convincing Sam. He believes he's cursed and should remain alone – for his own protection as much as anyone else's – and as much as he likes her, he isn't going to let his barriers drop enough to let her in. She's already got just about as far as she's ever going to, and further than she would have if not for this case.

It turns out that Isaiah the alleged family-killer had a pauper's burial, which means they have bones to burn. And we know how much Dean loves to salt and burn….

Sarah's grim acceptance of what they do grows more amusing by the moment.

SARAH: "You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this."
SAM: "Yeah, well, this isn't exactly the first grave we've dug. Still think I'm a catch?"

But of course it was never going to be that simple. Not least because the episode still has another nine minutes to run. They go back to Evelyn's house to dispose of the painting, just to be sure, Sam and Sarah going into the house, while Dean waits in the car to give them some time alone together.

Sam amuses me so much when he pulls that incredulous, frustrated expression, which is mostly reserved for his brother whenever Dean does something he disapproves of. He's so earnest.

SARAH: "Uh, Sam? You're the expert on all this ghost stuff. Is that painting supposed to look like that? Where's the little girl?"
SAM: "And the razor?"

Both the girl and the razor have disappeared from the painting completely. That seems a pretty good indication that something is seriously wrong here, that they busted the wrong ghost. While from somewhere in the house they can hear a little girl laughing, the front door slams shut, and Dean is unable to get it open again to get them out. At this point, on my first viewing, I started hollering at the TV to break a window and get out that way. Took a while to remember those bars across the window noted earlier, which would make it a fairly tricky exit.

All hail the invention of cellphones, without which Sam and Sarah would be toast.

Seems the little girl in the painting was the killer all along, and the father was trying to warn people by changing position, looking directly at her. For some reason, I find that incredibly touching and feel impossibly sorry for Isaiah, who was blamed for the killings, given a pauper's burial because his family were ashamed of him, has now had his remains salted and burned – and yet even beyond the grave attempted to rein in his murderous adoptive child.

Children who are placed for adoption can at times be seriously disturbed – they are all available for adoption for a reason, and that reason is generally a good reason to be screwed up in some way. Of course, 99.99% of them are not serial killers. This one was, and it's a nice twist.

The ghost girl with the doll in one hand and razor in the other is deeply creepy. Trapped in the house with her, Sam panics and yells at Dean to get them out, while Dean again does the trying to keep him calm and think rationally thing.

SAM: "Hey, hey, hey, let's recap later, all right? Just get us out of here."
DEAN: "Well, I'm tryin' to pick the lock, but the door won't budge."
SAM: "Well, then, break it down."
DEAN: "Okay, genius, let me grab my battering ram."
SAM: "Dean, the damn thing is comin'!"
DEAN: "Well, you're gonna have to hold it off until I figure somethin' out. Get some salt or iron."

Unfortunately, both iron and salt prove a little hard to come by in Evelyn's house.

SAM: "What kind of house doesn't have salt? Low-sodium freaks."

Mwahahah. Who says this show doesn't have entertaining dialogue?

Sam's eventual discovery of the iron poker, cunningly concealed in plain view by the fireplace, means he is able to repel the spirit – for now.

SARAH: "Sam, wait. We used to handle antique dolls at the auction."
SAM: "Well, that's fascinating, Sarah, but important right now?"

Hehe, that's just…so coupley. And Sarah is completely right, and provides the information crucial to solving the case – and to saving hers and Sam's lives. The girl's doll was made using her actual hair – human remains for her spirit to cling to. So Dean takes off back to the cemetery. And…he must be really worried about Sam to risk damage to his car smashing through the gates like that.

Fab lightbulb moment when, after trying unsuccessfully to smash the glass case containing the doll, Dean suddenly realises that instead of using his gun as a blunt instrument, he could just shoot out the glass…

Sam and Sarah, meanwhile, are doing their darndest to hold off that murderous ghost, but are fighting a losing battle to save their own lives. Dean manages to get the doll burned just in the nick of time, and I love that when it's all over, and Sam and Sarah are sitting on the floor recovering from their near miss, you can tell that Sam is waiting for the inevitable phone call to check that they are okay. Because it's inevitable, and his brother is very predictable in that regard. Again, all hail the invention of cellphones!

Seems the little girl, Melanie, was adopted out after her real family were murdered in their beds. That was one troubled child.

DEAN: "Who'd suspect her, a sweet little girl? So, then she kills Isaiah and his family, the old man takes the blame – spirit's been tryin' to warn people ever since."

What amuses me most is that they have this conversation totally openly, within earshot of the workmen packing the painting away. Sarah then makes the executive decision to have the painting destroyed, regardless of how safe it now is. I can't honestly say that I blame her.

SARAH: "So, why'd the girl do it?"
SAM: "Killin' others, killin' herself – some people are just born tortured. So, when they die, their spirits are just as dark."
DEAN: "Maybe. I don't really care. It's over, we move on."
SARAH: "I guess this means you're leaving."
[Sam shrugs and looks at Dean. They are all silent for a minute, standing around shuffling their feet and looking awkward.]
DEAN: "I'll go wait in the car. See ya, Sarah." [Sarah nods and smiles at him, and he walks away, talking to himself.] "I'm the one who burned the doll, destroyed the spirit, but don't thank me or anything."

Heh.

SARAH: "There are a million things that I want to say to you, but for the life of me, I can't think of one."
SAM [laughing] "Yeah, I'll miss you, too."

LOL. Sam is very good at reading between the lines of what other people fail to successfully verbalise. After all, he's had a lifetime of practice interpreting Dean-speak.

SARAH: "You know, there's a lesson in all of this."
SAM: "What's that?"
SARAH: We all got through this in one piece. I didn't get hurt."
SAM: "Yeah, I'm glad for that."
SARAH: "So, maybe you're not cursed. Maybe…"

Seeing the look on his face, knowing that he isn't going to change his plans, she opts for the lowest possible expectation.

SARAH: "Maybe you'll come back and see me."
[SAM nods slowly.]
SAM: "I will."

Sam was never going to stay with Sarah – he knows it and she knows it. He's not ready for that, even if he was prepared to give up on his mission. But he agrees to come back and visit, rather than fobbing her off with a maybe.

It's kind of a chaste farewell for a couple that might-have-been – one dinner date and a shared adventure do not anything more substantial make, after all, no matter how much chemistry there might be between them. But Sam gets only halfway to the car before making a spontaneous decision to live a little for once, to take a chance, to go back for more…

…and seals the deal with a long and tender kiss. So, Sam's post-Jessica healing process moves forward another step. And Dean looks satisfied, since that's pretty much what he's been saying he wanted to see all episode – not so much Sam getting some action, although that's how he expressed it, but the post-Jessica healing process reaching the stage where Sam can allow himself to be interested in someone else and relax enough to enjoy himself a little.

Overall, maybe not a mile a minute, and very much standalone in many respects, but it's a strong episode with lots of fun moments, satisfying in terms of the interactions of the brothers and Sam's gradual healing process beginning to make real forward progress.


August 2006

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