"They say you can't protect your loved ones forever. Well, I say 'screw that'. What else is family for?"

Previously.

John admitted to the Demon that he knew the truth about Sam and the other children like him. Shame he didn't go on to elaborate just what that truth might be. Instead, he flat-out lied to Sam about knowing anything at all, and then whispered something top secret into Dean's post-coma ear just moments before shuffling off his mortal coil, leaving his sons to deal with the fallout. Dean then went on to continue this pattern of secret-keeping and lying, denying to Sam that John had said anything to him at all. Whatever this secret is, it seems clear that no one wants Sam to know anything about it.

Also in previous episodes, Sam met other people like him – psychic in some way, visited at some point in their lives by the Demon – and wondered what it was that connected them and made them different, why they had been singled out for demonic attention. He speculated that maybe the Demon wanted to break them, turn them into killers, but Dean was very keen to deny that possibility in any way, shape or form. Furthermore, under pressure from Ellen, Sam came clean to her about everything, including his own abilities.

Now.

"Don't be afraid, Scott. You can tell me anything, you know that," says psychiatrist George Waxler in a reassuring tone of voice. I wonder if he'd still say that if he knew just what young Scott is about to tell him. He also tells Scott that whatever he says won't leave the room. Oh, how those words will be proved wrong by the events of the episode.

Dr Waxler's patient, Scott, starts to talk, telling the doctor about the migraines he started to suffer from, about a year ago. A year ago…headaches…sound familiar? Sure enough, Scott goes on to explain his discovery of a shocking new ability. Literally shocking – he can electrocute things by touching them. Doctor Waxler eyes him calmly, not for a second believing that he actually has this ability, but simply seeing a disturbed young man in need of psychiatric care. How does Scott know he can do this, he asks? Because he fried the neighbour's cat, Scott tells him. "You don't believe me," he adds, calmly enough. No one could believe such a ridiculous story – that's half the trouble these psychics face. What is happening to them is terrifying and can't be explained, and they can't share it with anyone, not without risking ridicule and rejection.

"I believe that you believe it," says Doctor Waxler in his best psychiatrist voice. So, Scott leans forward and extends a hand. "Want to shake on it?"

Heh. The psychiatrist avoids the issue of whether or not he disbelieves enough to risk his own life by asking why Scott would want to kill the neighbour's cat. "I don't!" Scott hisses. "He wants me to."

That yellow-eyed demon is at it again, visiting Scott in his dreams, telling him to do things, awful things. Scott insists that he doesn't want to do those things – he's resisting far more than Webber did, it would seem. How does the Demon decide which of these 'special' children to pay more attention to than others? Those it feels are most susceptible? Those most useful to it? I mean, Scott's electrocution thing is way more obviously potentially deadly than Sam's visions, and so was Webber's mind control. But Andy also had the mind control, but didn't get any nightmare visitations or manipulation. So many questions!

The music in this scene is so cool. Just…makes the atmosphere of the scene perfect.

Outside a little later, Scott walks to his car. Heh. He's as bandy-legged as Dean. On reaching his car, he notices the reflection of a dark figure standing right behind him. But by the time he's noticed this, it's already far too late to run or shout. He is stabbed, tries in self-defence to reach out and electrocute his attacker, but is prevented, and dies. And that's the end of another of those psychic children like Sammy. Doesn't bode well, it has to be said.

Titles.

Before we get back to the brothers Winchester, let us remember exactly where we left them before the hiatus. John's death had driven a wedge between them that they seemed unable to fully overcome. A demonic virus had been let loose in some random town, scything through almost the entire population, simply as a test for Sam – who proved to be completely immune to that demonic influence. And Dean had reached the point of complete burnout, admitting to Sam that he was tired of hunting, tired of this life, tired of struggling, tired of the weight on his shoulders – tired of carrying around that secret John whispered into his ear moments before his death. And, the moment he heard of the existence of this secret, all Sam's concern for his brother melted away in the glare of his fears for and about himself. What secret – what was it that John told Dean about Sam?

We open on the last moments of that final scene of Croatoan, but seen from a different angle. They do that quite often in the Previously section – show us clips of a scene we've seen before but from an angle we haven't seen previously. This time, though, what with it being a new episode and post-hiatus and all, I suspect that they re-filmed those couple of lines before segueing into the new script.

"He said that he wanted me to watch out for you," Dean tells Sam. "Take care of you."

Sam points out, not unreasonably, that John had in fact given Dean that instruction about a million times during their lifetime. But this time was different, Dean insists, although he's finding it very hard to verbalise exactly why. He really doesn't want Sam to know any of this, but can't keep it to himself any longer. Sam needs to know and Dean needs to relieve himself of the burden of knowledge, but getting there isn't easy.

DEAN: "He said that I had to…save you."
SAM: "Save me from what?"
DEAN: "He just said that I had to save you, that nothing else mattered. And that if I couldn't, I'd…"
SAM: "You'd what, Dean?"
DEAN: "I'd have to kill you. He said that I might have to kill you, Sammy."

And that was the last thing John said to his son before his death? Damn, that man infuriates me so much! In Something Wicked we saw the child Dean learning the enormous lesson that if he failed to look after Sam properly, his brother could die. He's had a complex about that ever since. It's the reason Dean is such a control freak about the cases they work – the price of failure has always been too high to even contemplate paying. And then the last thing his father ever says to him is that if he fails to look after Sam properly, he'll have to kill him himself? Implying strongly that if anything happens to Sam, if the worst does come to the worst, it will be Dean's fault for not protecting him enough, no matter what the odds he's fighting against, and without actually giving him any of the information he needs to be able to carry out the task he is charged with. Nice one, John; way to screw up your son even more badly than ever. I appreciate the difficult position John must have been in for the bulk of last season – for the past couple of decades, come to that – but there are so many ways he could have handled just about everything that would have been less damaging to both his children.

Taking care of Sam was the first thing John told Dean to do when Mary died, and Dean's greatest desire, as seen consistently throughout the show, has always been to keep what's left of his family intact; in light of that, this final charge John gave him has to feel like the ultimate betrayal of everything he believes in and has spent his life working to achieve. And he's had this hanging over him all season, at the same time as holding himself utterly responsible for John's death. No wonder he's been falling apart so badly.

Sam can't quite take this revelation in at first, frustration with Dean's initial prevarication dissolving into near tearfulness as the words start to sink in. If John's final words felt like betrayal to Dean, how much more so for Sam? Dean sounds like he still can't quite believe it himself, and he's had a lot of time to think over John's words.

The moment of initial shock passes pretty quickly. Sam starts shouting and waving his arms about, making full use of his rather impressive size, while Dean just stands there, hunched in on himself and depressed as he denies all further knowledge – it's very neat direction, making Dean look very small while Sam makes himself look very large. Sam is furious that Dean didn't tell him right away. Dean insists that he couldn't "because it was Dad, and he begged me not to," but Sam – as usual where John's wishes regarding himself are concerned – is not impressed by that line of reasoning. "Take some responsibility for yourself, Dean," he rages. "You had no right to keep this from me!"

Dean bridles and rallies, regaining a little of his usual spark. "You think I wanted this? Huh? I wish to God he'd never opened his mouth! That I wouldn't have to walk around with this screaming in my head all day!"

More pieces slide into place regarding Dean's frame of mind all season thus far. But now the brothers are at loggerheads. Sam turns in disgust and takes a few steps away, and Dean also turns slightly, so they pretty much have their backs to one another. Highly symbolic of the divisions that have opened up between them this season, but also reminiscent of a couple of boxers taking time out in their respective corners before returning to the ring for another second round. This argument has been a long time coming and is not over yet.

Sam is first to break the silence, appealing to Dean's innate practicality. "We just have to figure out what's going on, then," he suggests, in the same belligerent tone of voice he was using to yell at his brother a moment ago. "What all this means."

Dean, though, who has had all season thus far to think about this, has reached an opposite conclusion. The events of Croatoan have shaken him very badly. "I think we should lay low. At least for a while. It'd be safer. And that way I could make sure –"

His eyes are pleading, saying 'please don't fight me on this, Sam', but Sam is indignant at the suggestion. He's been afraid for so long of what his visions and connection to the Demon might mean, afraid of becoming something dangerous – Dean's confession has come almost as confirmation of how genuine that fear is, proof that his father, at least, believed much the same thing, and he's reacting against all that. "What? That I don't turn evil? That I don't turn into some kind of killer?"

You can see why Sam would resent the idea of being locked up safely out of harm's way as if he were a bomb in need of careful handling in case it went off unexpectedly. As much as he's been afraid for so long that his connection to the Demon could only mean bad things, it's got to hurt like hell to think of his nearest and dearest being afraid of what he might turn into, to the point where his own father would believe he might one day have to be put down like a rabid dog.

Dean sighs. He's tired of not knowing what to do for the best and having no one to turn to for advice. "I never said that," he wearily points out.

"If you're not careful you will have to waste me one day, Dean," Sam seethes in response. Dean shouts, again, that he never said that and glares at his brother. Back in Croatoan, which in show timeline couldn't have been more than a few hours ago, Dean was prepared to give up his own chance of survival rather than leave Sam to face demonic-virus induced insanity and death alone. That moment, there in the clinic, must have seemed like John's words coming true, his worst fears coming true, and he simply refused point-blank to allow it to happen. Could he ever bring himself to kill his brother with his own hands? It doesn't seem likely on the evidence we've seen so far, not in any circumstances. Sam, though, in the heat of the moment, shock and anger surging through him, seems to have completely forgotten about that.

With Sam reacting so badly, the fear and anxiety Dean has been bottling up deep inside ever since John whispered that secret to him starts to bubble over, coming through loud and clear in both expression and tone. "Dammit, Sam, this whole thing is spinning out of control, all right, you're immune to some weirdo demon virus, and I don't even know what the hell any more. And you're pissed at me, and that's fine, I get it. I deserve it. But we lay low until we figure out our next move, okay?"

Dean's voice is shaking and honestly – when does Dean ever let his fear show like this? That is how freaked out he is, and has been all season, trying hard not to let it show. But Sam isn't listening, too busy being freaked out in his own right, and fails to spot that what Dean is suggesting isn't that far from what Sam himself just said he wants to do – figure out what's going on. Laying low and taking some time out to do so rather than distracting themselves with other jobs or considerations isn't actually such a bad idea, but Sam isn't in the mood to listen to anything his brother has to say right now. "Forget it," he seethes.

"Sam, please, man." Dean is pleading in earnest now. He's really, really scared of how this could turn out, doesn't know what to do, but can't afford to fail. Croatoan drove John's words home in a way that little else could have, made them horrifically real. And Sam's reaction, right here, is the perfect example of why Dean didn't want to tell him about this and wished he didn't know himself. "Please. Just give me some time. Give me some time to think, okay, I'm begging you, man, please."

Tight-lipped and angry, Sam nods his reluctant agreement. And then the next scene cuts straight to Sam sneaking out of the latest motel alone in the middle of the night and stealing a car.

Great. That should do wonders for Dean's abandonment complex, especially in the face of the naked fear we just saw about whatever they might be facing. One thing is clear – whatever Sam's abilities and connection to the Demon might mean, Dean would never, ever leave him to face it alone, no matter what it cost him to stand by his brother. Sam isn't so good at the 'united we stand' thing. Yes, his wishes right now seem directly opposed to Dean's, but we've seen throughout the last season and a half that Sam can talk his brother into just about anything when he puts his mind to it. He just doesn't want to have that conversation right now, while he's so angry. Easier to sneak away in secret, pursue his own agenda, and leave Dean to stew in his panic.

It could be, of course, that Sam simply wants to spare his brother the pain of having to be the one to put him down, should the worst come to the worst, but I honestly don't think he's thinking in those terms right now. That would involve a permanent separation, and his actions and dialogue throughout this episode make it clear that he isn't thinking that long-term. He just doesn't want to hide but does want to find some answers, right now, any way he can, and isn't willing to spare the time and effort required to bring his brother around to his way of thinking. There can also be little doubt that there's a large element of punishment going on here, too – Dean kept this huge secret from him all this time, so Sam gets his own back by walking out on him. He knows exactly how Dean will react.

Sam is wearing a really nice v-neck t-shirt, though, which is all kinds of love and makes me melt, and his hair has improved about 100% since the start of the season, he's got a gorgeous cut now, so I can forgive him completely on those grounds alone. *G*

Cut to: Sam, studying a piece of paper bearing an address – the address of a derelict house someplace. Just where he got that address and what it means we are not told. After snooping around some, he picks the lock and gains entry. But then, once inside, he accidentally trips a wire, which pulls the pin from a grenade…and Sam is completely blown to bits. Completely. Blood and gore splatter across the camera lens. A single shoe is left, smouldering quietly in a pool of blood amid the debris. First-time viewers gasp in horror.

Flash! A young girl we haven't seen before wakes up in bed with her boyfriend, gasping. "I just had another nightmare," she shakily assures her concerned partner. But, as her other half settles down to resume his slumbers, she stares fearfully into the distance with sleep the furthest thing from her mind.

Seems our Sammy is not the only one to get those sucky death visions.

Cut to: Harvelle's Roadhouse. Sam enters, very much alive and in one piece but looking kind of awkward as his arrival draws attention from the clientele. I believe we are meant to assume that those rough-looking fellas scattered about the place are all hunters, but I still don't see why so many hunters would be hanging out in this one saloon all the time, concentrated in one place. We'd only ever seen or heard of hunters in ones or twos before the Roadhouse was introduced, a loose network of contacts spread around the country. And, granted, a lot of that was to do with John keeping his sons away from the majority of other hunters, but my point is that a network should be just that: a network, scattered around the country actually working jobs. It feels less like a widespread underground network to show so many of them randomly hanging around the same place all the time. I also think that if there are so many of them living this outlaw life they would be drawing a lot more attention from the authorities than they seem to – after all, look at the legal predicament hunting has got Dean into. Besides, even if there are so many more hunters out there than we were led to believe last season, surely there can't be enough of them to keep Ellen in business if they are her only real customers, as is implied – not if they actually do spend any time working jobs, that is.

How far is the Roadhouse from wherever Sam started out from, and how long has it taken him to get there? A good long way, and a good long time, I'd hazard a guess, with Sam stubbornly clinging to his plan of action and refusing to answer his phone, and Dean climbing the walls unable to find him.

Anyway. Sam comes in, Ellen sees him, and we remember what happened last time the Winchesters visited the Roadhouse. Young Jo snuck off to go hunting with them and got herself into trouble. This in turn got the boys – Dean especially, because he's the oldest and the leader – into a lot of trouble with Ellen, who, in the heat of her anger, transferred years' old anger at John's involvement in her husband's death onto his sons. Very unfairly, I might add. Those details are important to bear in mind going into this scene.

Ellen and Sam greet one another rather cagily, and Sam gives a wry smile. "You don't seem that surprised to see me."

"Your brother's been calling, worried sick, looking for you," Ellen informs him. Worried sick? I bet he is.

"Yeah. Figured he might," Sam admits. Like I said earlier, he knows full well that his brother will be frantic about the disappearing act he's pulled, but figures whatever it is he wants to do is more important, and wanted Dean to worry as punishment for keeping that secret from him. This is the less pleasant, slightly vindictive side of Sam's personality peeking through here. Ellen asks what the hell is going on, and it's a fair question, but Sam evades it completely, asking how Jo's doing.

Ellen admits that she wouldn't really know how Jo's doing. "I ain't seen her in weeks. She sends a postcard now and again."

And we know just enough about Ellen and Jo's relationship to know that there's a whole huge emotional story about their currently rather difficult relationship behind those words that we aren't going to learn much more about. This show isn't about them, so their story remains peripheral. Sam looks shocked and asked what happened, and Ellen explains in brief that Jo wanted to continue hunting, but Ellen had refused to contemplate it, so Jo took off to go do her own thing and has stayed gone ever since. Ellen seems calm enough about it, but she's got to be frantic with worry. We saw enough in No Exit to be sure of that. Three guesses which Winchester brother she's identifying with right now.

Sam gives another wry smile, guessing he must be the last person she wants to see right now, but Ellen counters that with a wry chuckle of her own. She'd love to put all the blame on Sam and Dean, she admits. It would make life easier. But she's honest enough and mature enough to see clearly that it isn't their fault. Well, no, it blatantly isn't. It seems clear that Jo wanted to hunt long before she ever met the Winchester brothers. Her conflict with Ellen over the issue was always going to boil over, with neither of them prepared to compromise. Ellen should be glad of the little bit of on-the-job training Jo got from Dean to prepare her for working in the field alone! Coming over all maternal, she firmly tells Sam that it wasn't his fault – none of it.

ELLEN: "I want you to know that I forgave your daddy a long time ago. For what happened to my Bill. I just don't think he ever forgave himself."

I'm so happy that she's apologised for her harsh and unfair words at the end of No Exit, now she's had time to cool down and think more clearly, although I can understand her anger in that situation. She's apologising to the wrong brother, though, really – it was Dean she took her anger out on; Sam pretty much stayed out of it. Curious now, Sam asks what did happen, all those years ago, and it is Ellen's turn to change the subject abruptly rather than answer that question. "Why'd you come here, sweetie?"

Good question – just what is it Sam wants to do that necessitates abandoning his brother in the middle of the night without a word of explanation?

"I need help," he explains, employing his puppy-dog eyes. Help he didn't think Dean would give him, at least not without considerable argument, one presumes. It's worth pointing out here, though, that Sam does nothing on his own in this episode that he and Dean couldn't have done together once they'd both calmed down enough to talk things through rationally. Taking off to do this alone is, ultimately, pointless, other than to make a point to Dean that really didn't need to be made. It's very Sam.

We skip forward to: Ash asking Sam what he's looking for. So, the kind of help Sam wanted was the kind of help Ash can offer. What happened to Sam's own Mad Skillz? He's such a research buff in his own right. But, apparently, Ash is better. Sam wants him to find other psychics like him, as many as possible – a nationwide search.

And…no one has thought to do this up to now? Knowing what they know, and with Sam as keen as he already was to find answers? Have they all had their heads buried in the sand, or what? Talk about ostrich syndrome.

Ellen, looking incredibly short standing next to the ginormous Sam, points out that there is no way to track them all down, since they know that not all had nursery fires like Sam did. Sam agrees that's a sticking point, but insists that at least some of them must have had the nursery fires, which gives them a place to start.

Later. Sam sits drinking at the bar as Ash reappears from out back, search complete. Sam is surprised by how fast he was, giving Ash the opportunity to brag about his Mad Skillz a little, before Ellen cuts across his bluster to ask what he's found. Since the search was so fast, does that imply that Ash is simply extremely good at what he does, or that he's already invested a little time and effort into research on the subject off his own bat? The Roadhouse crew have got to be extremely curious about what little they've learned from the Winchesters – could they be expected to be passive about it, knowing just enough to know what could be coming? Frankly, being who they are, it would be surprising if they hadn't been actively seeking more information…but then again, Dean and Sam haven't been, who have most reason to of all.

ASH: "Four folks fit the profile, nationwide. Born in '83, mother died in a nursery fire, the whole shebang."

Sam is amazed that there are only four, but Ash, undeterred, continues with the names of the four: Sam Winchester of Lawrence, Kansas; Max Miller of Saginaw, Michigan; Andrew Gallagher of Guthrie, Oklahoma…all three of those we've already met, of course. The final name is that of Scott Carey of Lafayette, Indiana, who we met in the teaser and who was murdered. Stabbed to death in a parking lot a month ago, Ash informs us.

Disappointed that this potential lead has turned out to be such a fizzler, Sam thanks Ash for his help and heads on out to pick up on what's left of the Lafayette connection, whereupon Ash promptly helps himself to the remains of the beer he'd been drinking. Nice character continuity for Ash there. Ellen calls after Sam that she has to call Dean and let him know where he's going. With Jo having taken off the way she did, she's totally identifying with Dean's off-screen anxiety over Sam right now, and it strongly reinforces that element of Dean and Sam's relationship that is closer to parent-child than sibling.

SAM: "Ellen, I'm trying to find answers, about who I am. And my brother means well, but he can't protect me from that."

I think Sam's missing some kind of central point there. Ellen looks deeply unconvinced, but agrees.

I feel obliged to point out that this entire conversation has been held right there in the middle of the saloon, within earshot of just about any customer who might choose to listen in. Sam clearly hasn't grasped the importance of privacy and secrecy, in spite of everything. He seems completely willing to trust Ellen and Ash with his deepest, darkest secrets about what his true nature might be, what the meaning of his visions might be – but how can he possibly know if everyone else in the bar can be trusted?

Lafayette, Indiana. Sam's stolen car sits outside Scott Carey's house. Since Ash only gave him the details of Scott's burial plot rather than an address, Sam has clearly being doing a little research of his own. Having gained entry under the pretext of being an old school friend – and ooh, I like that dark green jacket on Sam! – Sam carefully interviews Scott's grieving father. Mr Carey admits that Scott had changed a lot since this supposed school friend would have known him, and explains about the headaches, how they'd led onto nightmares, depression and paranoia. The nightmares information rings all kinds of alarm bells for Sam. His visions started as nightmares. He heard Webber telling Andy Gallagher about the yellow-eyed Demon visiting him in his dreams. It isn't a good sign, not that things could get much worse for Scott, what with him being dead and all. But it is a sign for Sam that Scott almost definitely was another psychic like him, that the nursery fire wasn't random coincidence, just as it wasn't with Max or Andy.

Mr Carey only appears in this one scene and I really feel for him, he seems so grief-stricken at the loss of his son, who he'd been unable to help in the misery-filled months leading up to his death.

Still in his guise of old school friend, Sam asks if he can see Scott's room, and is shown on up. A month on from Scott's death, his room remains untouched. It looks like a pretty normal room at first glance, the kind occupied by young 20-something males everywhere. On a bedside cabinet Sam finds several bottles of prescription drugs bearing the doctor's name. Casually stealing one of those bottles – although why I'm not sure, as he could have just written down the details, but maybe doesn't want to waste any more time than absolutely necessary – Sam continues to snoop, and hits paydirt in the closet. Behind Scott's clothes, the back wall of the closet is covered with pictures of eyes. Yellow eyes. It's both enormously creepy and proof of demonic involvement. Sam is alarmed.

Returning to the motel he's booked into for his stay in town, Sam is even more alarmed when he starts to feel like someone's watching him. It's like an action replay of a similar scene in Bloodlust, right before the vampires abducted him. Except this time there's no abduction. Spinning around to confront whoever is approaching, Sam finds himself facing a very nervous young woman – the same young woman we saw having that vision of him being blown up earlier. "Please," she gasps. "You're in danger."

Sam's motel room. "I know how all this sounds, but I'm not insane and I'm not on drugs," insists the freaked out young woman as she attempts to explain herself. Looking completely relaxed, what with 'unusual' being all in a day's work for him, Sam uses his best mild-mannered approach to calm her down and suggest that she start from the beginning.

The young woman introduces herself as Ava Wilson, and I am delighted to have a name for her at last. She continues to be freaked out – she is very, very normal and can't quite believe she is doing this. About a year ago, she explains, she started having headaches and nightmares, but didn't think much of it. But then she had a dream in which she saw a young guy get stabbed in a parking lot.

Sam freezes – that's exactly how Scott Carey died. And sure enough, the nightmare was about a month ago, Ava continues, and then a couple of days later she saw a newspaper report about Scott Carey's murder. She's brought the cutting with her, offering it to Sam as proof that she isn't crazy. "I saw this guy die, days before it happened," she wails. "I don't know why, just for some reason my dreams are coming true. And last night I had another one. About you. I saw you die."

Sam…doesn't actually look too worried about this revelation, accepting it as just another piece in the puzzle. Instead he asks how she found him, and she bemusedly explains that in her dream he had motel stationery. "And I Googled the motel and it was real!"

So she thought that she should warn him, even though she expected him to laugh in her face at how crazy she sounds. I really like Ava.

Sam is flabbergasted, not so much about Ava's vision as because his dead-end search for clues about Scott Carey has inadvertently led him to an entirely different psychic, one he might otherwise never have found. "I don't believe this," he murmurs, thinking hard. Ava promptly assumes he means that he doesn't believe a word of what she's telling him, and honestly can't blame him for that, flailing helplessly around the room bemoaning how crazy she sounds, so he hastens to assure her that he believes that part, all right. "You must be one of us!" he declares, as if this statement is going to mean anything at all to her.

Sam really needs to work on his standard spiel for the other psychic kids like him, because so far it completely sucks. It's a nice character touch, though, that for all his usual skill at talking to people in general, when it comes to this issue Sam gets so intense he loses all focus and thus also loses the ability to be in any way persuasive or sympathetic. He goes on to blurt out a few vague details about his own visions and belief that the two of them must be connected, and Ava just laughs out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. "Okay, so, you're nuts, that's great."

Sam tries another tactic, asking if her mother died in a house fire, although if she had, surely Ash's search would have already located her. It's possible he's opened his mind to the possibility of other kinds of fires, other kinds of attacks, at different stages in life for different people – after all, Jessica was also attacked and died in a demon-induced fire. Or he could just be clutching at straws. Either way, it turns out that Ava's mother is very much alive and well and living in Palm Beach, meaning that, like Webber, Ava doesn't fit the pattern of mothers being killed in nursery fires on the kid's six-month birthday. It seems that Sam, Max, Andy and Scott were the only four out of an unknown number of psychics out there that the Demon chose to visit in that particular manner. I'm not convinced that Sam's assumption that they are all the same age as him is necessarily valid – after all, baby Rosie was attacked in a similar way just last season. John believed that the Demon had gone into some kind of hibernation until last year, but that doesn't have to be an entirely accurate assumption just because John made it. And if it does operate in 22-year cycles, presumably there would have been other cycles before 1983. It also doesn't have to mean that the cycle Sam was part of started or ended in 1983, either – it could be active for any number of years before vanishing off into hibernation again.

Anyway, Sam really needs to stop talking in riddles and start explaining himself in a way that Ava actually stands a chance of understanding!

The Impala speeds along some road in the middle of nowhere by night. Dean's cell phone rings and he answers. It's Ellen. "Have you heard from Sam?" he immediately asks, not wasting any time on niceties. Ellen promptly informs him that she has, but that Sam made her promise not to tell Dean where he was going.

"Come on, Ellen, please," Dean implores, at his wits end. "Look, something bad could be going on here, and I swore I'd look after that kid." No matter what happens, no matter how old they get, Sam will always be the baby brother he promised to protect no matter what. That is never going to change. It's the reason John's last words to him were so very horrific, the reason that final order from his father has weighed so heavily on him all season. Dean always, always obeys his father's orders – but that final order is one he doesn't believe he can ever carry out.

"Now, Dean, they say you can't protect your loved ones forever," Ellen remarks, and then rolls her eyes at herself, no doubt remembering her own reaction to Jo's Philadelphia escapade, before going on to add, "Well, I say 'screw that'. What else is family for? He's in Lafayette, Indiana." Just as in No Exit Ellen transferred all her long-buried anger at John onto Dean due to her fear for Jo, now she's totally identifying with Dean's anxiety about Sam, again due to her fear for Jo, seeing Dean in much the same situation as herself and relating to him as Sam's 'parent' rather than brother. Dean grunts his thanks at her, and continues to speed along. How far is he from Indiana, at this point, and how long will it take him to get there, viewers start to wonder? It seems likely that the brothers have already been apart for longer than in Scarecrow – their longest separation since the Pilot, in fact.

Blue Rose Motel. "Why can't you just leave town?" Ava pleads. "Please – before you blow up!" But Sam refuses, and he is very quiet and grave about it; all that anger and resentment we saw in his confrontation with Dean earlier has vanished completely. Having ditched his brother he's alone on this, and he's worried. He also really doesn't seem that concerned about the prospect of blowing up, in much the same way that he was quite willing to rush back into a burning building at risk of his own life in hopes of gaining revenge on the Demon back in Salvation. With his new knowledge of what John told Dean confirming his worst fears that he could one day turn into the very evil he was raised to hunt, he's right back in that same place, emotionally speaking – holding the answers he seeks (as opposed to vengeance, this time around) above his own life.

"There are others like us out there, and we're all a part of something, and I've got to figure out what," he attempts to explain.

Ava has heard enough. "You know what? Screw you, buddy. Because I am a secretary from Peoria and I'm not a part of anything." She's completely normal, she insists, getting married in eight weeks and way behind on her preparations. The things that concern her are mundane, everyday matters of the kind that Sam once aspired to. "I drove all the way out here to save your weirdo ass, but if you just want to stay here and die, fine. Me, I'm due back on Planet Earth."

Sam once wanted the kind of normal life Ava has got. But he found out the hard way that the supernatural had a hold on him and wasn't about to let go, no matter how far he tried to run from it. It seems safe to say that Ava's visions are only the start of something also, that they will continue to strike and she will be increasingly drawn in by them, or driven mad by them. "Don't you want to know why this is happening?" he asks. "I mean, don't these visions scare the hell out of you? Because if you walk out that door right now, you might never know the truth."

It occurs to me that if Sam wanted to locate other psychics like him in order to search for the truth, he could have done worse than return to Guthrie, Oklahoma to team up with Andy, the one surviving psychic that he's actually already met. Andy might have already been disqualified as a source of further information, but he doesn't know any less than Ava, or than Scott would have if he hadn't already been killed, and is just as deserving of answers as Sam. What exactly is it Sam hopes to find out by locating these other psychics? None of them know any more than he does, and most of them considerably less. Perhaps he simply hopes that if he finds enough of them, and learns as much as he can about their different abilities and experiences, he will be able to establish some kind of pattern that will help him gain understanding of his situation.

Ava agrees to help, and we cut straight to the next scene: Ava proving herself to be a very nervous and awkward liar, providing a distraction for Scott Carey's psychiatrist while Sam does his best impression of a cat burglar clambering around windowsills outside so that he can break into the doctor's private records. It's daytime now. Where does Ava's fiancé think she's been all night?

AVA: "I, uh, just remembered. When I was a kid, I swallowed, like, eight things of Pop Rocks and then drank a whole can of Coke – you don't think that that counts as a suicide attempt, do you?" Hee.

Back at the motel, Ava appears decidedly dazed as Sam asks if she's okay. "I just helped you steal some dead guy's confidential psych files," she replies, flashing a sudden, happy grin. "I'm awesome!"

Heh. I really like Ava, so delighted at her own daring. Sam also seems impressed at how quickly she's gaining confidence now that she's agreed to pitch in.

Later, Sam and Ava listen to the tape of Scott Carey's last therapy session, in which he told his doctor all about the yellow-eyed man who came to him in his nightmares. Outside, the Impala pulls into the parking lot. I'm guessing Dean is randomly cruising around every motel in town in hopes of finding his brother, and we don't know how many he's already visited before striking lucky here. Seeing Sam through a window, his relief is very subtle but heartfelt. There's no overt relaxation at simply seeing him because he and Sam are still at odds with a lot to resolve – this won't be over until then. "Thank God you're okay," he murmurs to himself. I've always adored Dean's habit of talking to himself when he's alone. Then he sees Ava in the room with Sam and grins. "Oh, you're better than okay. Sam, you sly dog."

Back in Sam's motel room, Sam and Ava continue to listen to the tape as the doctor asks Scott what else the yellow-eyed man says in his dreams. "He has plans for me," says Scott, posthumously giving much the same story as Webber, who is now also, of course, deceased. Doesn't say much for the Demon's recruitment techniques that both the psychics we know it to have visited in dream-form are now dead. "He says there's a war coming," Scott continues, on the tape. "People like me, we're going to be the soldiers. Everything's about to change."

Sam looks distressed; this is what he's been so afraid of. Ava is nervous. "He's not talking about us, right?" she quavers. But Sam has no reassurance to offer her, since Scott so blatantly was talking about them, and others like them. "But how can we turn into that?" stutters Ava. Again, Sam has no reassurance to offer, and then as he sits down, a bullet smashes into the wall where his head just was.

Woo! Way to break up the action and move the plot along into its next stage. Sam dives forward to sweep Ava to the floor as more shots are fired into their room. It's none other than Gordon Walker, wielding a sniper's rifle on a roof opposite. There isn't much cover, and Gordon gets a bead on the top of Sam's head, his finger tightening on the trigger…

"Gordon!" Dean comes racing across that roof to kick Gordon smack in the teeth a split-second before he can take the shot, thus saving the oblivious Sam from having his head blown off. With a couple of days' worth of pent-up panic over Sam's safety to unleash, Dean dives on the other hunter and lets loose, furiously pounding on the man who just came so close to murdering his brother. "You do that to my brother, I'll kill you," he snarls. John told him he might one day have to kill Sam, but that's only made him all the more determined to prevent it ever happening, to keep Sam safe no matter what.

Unfortunately, Gordon still has a firm grip on his gun and, despite the punches Dean is raining down on him, manages to throw him off long enough to get a good swing, and lays him out cold with the butt of the rifle. Ouch. It was a head injury that came so close to killing Dean in In My Time Of Dying – those boys really need to be more careful about blows to the head!

Cut to: Sam and Ava very tentatively making their way up onto that same roof. Some time has passed, since both Gordon and Dean are now long gone – how long were Sam and Ava pinned down in that room, afraid to move for fear of having their heads blown off? How long did Sam wait before he risked moving out into the open? They seem confident enough about venturing up there now.

"Wait, I don't understand – shouldn't we be talking to the cops?" Ava ventures, completely at sea in this strange new world her visions have drawn her into. "Trust me, they wouldn't do much good," Sam tells her as he peers around, finding evidence in the form of a spent bullet, from which he is totally able to identify the kind of gun used for the shooting, sounding way too enthusiastic about it, too. Ava flings her hands up in disbelief. "Dude! Who are you?" Hee. Her incredulous reactions are just perfect for the situation she finds herself in. Flustered, Sam splutters something about a TJ Hooker-rich TV diet, rather than elaborating on his unusual upbringing.

Sam hauls out his cell phone, and tells Ava he's calling his brother. "I think we definitely need help."

Oh, Sam. He throws a tantrum about Dean keeping secrets from him, runs away in the middle of the night leaving Dean alone to fret, insists that Ellen not tell his brother where he is because he doesn't believe Dean is able to help or protect him…and then at the first sign of trouble, he calls for his big brother to come and help. That is just…so Sam. And it is so much the parent-child aspect of their relationship. Dean is the authority figure Sam rebels against in the absence of John, but also the first person he turns to when things go wrong and he feels unable to cope.

Dean answers his phone and, since we just saw him laid out by Gordon's rifle, viewers are immediately suspicious. We can't tell from that first shot if he's holding the phone himself or not.

"Sam, I've been looking for you," is Dean's opening remark, making no bones about the matter – Sam abandoned him and he's not happy about that. Sam makes no apology, just tells Dean where he is, which Dean admits he already knew. "Yeah, I talked to Ellen, just got here myself," Dean says, casually enough, as the camera pan reveals that he is very securely tied to a chair, tightly bound hand and foot. Gordon is holding the phone to his ear, a gun in his other hand trained on Dean's kneecap. "It's a real funky town. You ditched me, Sammy."

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Looking a little concerned now, Sam pretty much blows off the accusation, informing his brother that someone is after him. Dean guardedly asks who, Sam says he doesn't know, that's what they need to find out, and asks where Dean is. "I'm staying at 5637 Monroe Street, why don't you meet me here," says Dean. That's the address on the motel paper that Ava saw in her vision. Sam agrees and hangs up, and Gordon also puts Dean's phone away. "Now, was that so hard?" he gloats. Dean seethes helplessly at being forced to lure his brother into a trap. "Bite me."

Back on that rooftop, Sam is fretting. "My brother's in trouble…he gave me a code word. Someone's got a gun on him."

Code word. Woot. That's a fabulous continuation of what we saw in The Usual Suspects, that the brothers have pre-established routines for getting information to one another in times of strife. Dean has been forced to act as bait for the trap Gordon is setting for Sam – but he has also made damn sure that Sam knows about it.

While Sam scrawls the address down on motel stationery, Ava is incredulous about the code word thing. "Yeah, funkytown," he nonchalantly confirms, like it's the most normal thing in the world. Then he notices her disbelief and backtracks at speed, spluttering once more that it was Dean's idea and a long story, and they should just go now. I love that this girl keeps throwing him off balance just by the way she reacts to things about him that he's stopped noticing aren't so normal.

Monroe Street. "Gordy. I know me and Sam ain't your favourite people, but don't you think this is a little extreme?" Since he's so securely tied up, Dean is going down the road of trying to keep his captor talking, trying to find out what he's thinking so he can talk him out of whatever he's got planned.

"What, you think this is revenge?" asks Gordon, as cool as a cucumber. Dean points out that they did leave him tied up in his own mess for three days. "Which was awesome," he chuckles at the memory, unrepentantly adding, "sorry, I shouldn't laugh." He really, really can't help himself – always got to be a smartass when he gets into trouble. Anything rather than let his captor see how he really feels. That façade is his shield. We've seen this exact attitude in previous episodes where he's been arrested, or otherwise come into conflict with the authorities.

Gordon calmly admits that he was 'planning on whooping [his] ass for that', but continues that that's not what this is. "This isn't personal. I'm not a killer, Dean. I'm a hunter. And your brother's fair game."

It seems to matter to him that Dean understands that distinction between hunting and senseless killing. But Dean, naturally enough, just looks horrified. This is exactly why he didn't want anyone, but anyone, to know about Sam's visions. Gordon is the perfect tool for the writers to make this point, since he has already been established as viewing the world purely in black-and-white. Supernatural = evil = to be killed, regardless of good or bad intentions, or of any personal considerations. Dean, for all his usual general agreement with that line of reasoning where the hunting of supernatural evil is concerned, simply cannot and will not apply that same logic to his brother: the brother he helped raise, who he knows to be on the side of good, and who he considers to have more of a compassionate conscience than himself. How could his Sam ever turn evil? This has been the source of Dean's inner conflict all season, the reason he can no longer find satisfaction in his work.

Meanwhile, Sam and Ava have now reversed arguments. At first, Ava wanted out while Sam wanted her to stay and help with his search for answers. Now, though, now that the situation has changed, with Dean in trouble and danger all around, Sam wants Ava safely out of harm's way while Ava feels she should stay and help.

"Harm's way doesn't really bother me," Sam murmurs. I think he really does mean that, too – that secret Dean told him really has knocked the stuffing out of him, now that the first shock of hearing it has worn off and he's had time to really think about the implications. Whichever way he looks at his situation, it's got to be horrendously depressing. No doubt he can understand a few of Dean's recent moods a little better now, too. He's probably also reflecting on the fact that Dean wouldn't be in trouble – not this particular trouble, anyway – if Sam hadn't walked out on him the way he did. Actions inevitably have consequences in this show.

Ava protests that Sam is walking right into her vision and that this is how he dies. "It doesn't matter," Sam says, sounding every bit as wearily fatalistic as Dean did in the last episode, when Sam was facing death and Dean refused to leave him, preferring to die right there alongside him. "He's my brother."

Ava again suggests that maybe she can help, but Sam overrules her, telling her to get back to her fiancé. Again, I have to wonder just where her fiancé thinks she's been all this time. "Go home, Ava. You'll be safe there," he tells her. Fatal last words. Sam of all people should know that safety in the home really can't be guaranteed, least of all for the 'special children', the psychics like him. But there is no apparent sign that the Demon is paying any real attention to Ava at present, so there is no reason for either of them to suspect any immediate danger for her. Ava insists that he call her when it's all over, to let her know everything's okay and that he didn't get blown to bits, and he promises that he will.

Monroe Street once more. Dean remains tied to that chair while Gordon talks at some length about the fact-finding and decision-making process that brought him to this end. This is the second time this season that Dean has spent a sizeable portion of an episode in bondage. Viewers, no doubt, are enormously appreciative of this. But it can also be read as highly symbolic for just how trapped and helpless Dean seems to be feeling this season.

Gordon explains: he'd been conducting a standard exorcism in Indiana. Seems he doesn't confine himself to vampires exclusively – well, I suppose he couldn't, if there are so few of them left that John would consider them extinct. The low-level demon possessing this teenage girl had, he relates, in the throes of the exorcism, muttered something about a coming war. "Piqued my interest, and you can really make a demon talk, you got the right tools."

"And what happened to the girl it was possessing?" Dean immediately asks. Dean's concern has always been for the innocents involved in any given case. Gordon is less high-minded. "She didn't make it," he calmly acknowledges, and Dean shakes his head in disgust. "You're a son of a bitch."

Dean, of course, exorcised Meg last season, leading to her death. But he didn't cause the injuries that killed her, and that's the crucial distinction here. The demon was already the only thing keeping Meg alive at that point, her possessed body having fallen from a window and been shot, so it was a straight choice between living as a demon or dying as a human. Meg was grateful for the choice Dean made to end her torment and let her die. The situation Gordon is describing here is completely different – the girl he was exorcising died as a direct result of what he did to her; that much is clear.

Gordon stands up, still cool as a cucumber, and slugs Dean across the face, hard. "That's my Momma you're talking about." Heh. Total psychopath. Dean smiles wryly, seeing clearly that there is no reasoning whatsoever with this man. Gordon continues that this demon had told him they have soldiers to fight in this coming war. "Humans, fighting on hell's side, can you believe that? I mean, they're psychics, so they're not exactly pure humans, but still – what kind of worthless scumbag you gotta be to turn against your own race?"

Says the man who has already murdered one human in cold blood just because he was a psychic and might have 'turned' one day, and is planning the murder of a second – no interest whatsoever in trying to find a solution, trying to find some way of saving these people from whatever the Demon has planned for them. And, when he refers to psychics as 'not exactly pure humans', it makes you wonder about people like Missouri Mosely. She's a psychic, but not, as far as we know, one of the Demon's 'special children'. Where do people like her fit into Gordon's vision of humanity?

"But you know the biggest kick in the ass? This demon said I knew one of them – our very own Sammy Winchester." Gordon finally reaches the point of his little story, Dean glaring his outrage throughout. At this point, Dean breaks his stony silence to chuckle. "That's a whole new level of moronic, even for you."

Gordon insists that he knows everything, about Sam and his visions, but Dean continues to play dumb, keeps trying to protect Sam the only way currently available to him. "Because a demon told you? Yeah, and it wasn't lying."

Sam's safety lies in secrecy – Sam himself doesn't seem to have grasped that point, but Dean can see it, only too clearly. This is why he didn't want Sam to reveal all to Ellen in the first place. The more people that know, the harder it will be to keep Sam safe from those that might learn to fear him, whether those fears are well-founded or not.

"Look, you got your Roadhouse connections, I got mine." Gordon pretty much confirms that confiding the truth about Sam in anyone – least of all people they've only known such a short length of time – was a bad move. The leak doesn't have to have come directly from Ellen or Ash; anyone who was in the Roadhouse at the time could have overheard the conversation Sam had earlier about Scott Carey and Lafayette and tipped Gordon off that Sam was headed that way. Equally, while Ellen was the only one in the room when Sam came clean about his abilities, it is clear that Ash and Jo, at least, are in on all the details now, too. The subject of Sam and his abilities could have been discussed by the Roadhouse crew at any time, and they might not be too careful about who they talked in front of. They might not have seen any need for such privacy, especially since Sam himself hasn't seemed too bothered about it. But the more people that know, the more danger Sam is in – this episode makes that perfectly clear.

Dean's game face is showing signs of cracking now, but he's trying hard not to let Gordon see how afraid he is for his brother as Gordon tells him all about Scott Carey and his ability to deep-fry a person just by touching them.

"He kill anyone?" Dean instantly enquires, which for Dean is the central point. We saw in Simon Said how determined he was to prove that the 'special children' are not necessarily killers, that they don't have to go down that road. Gordon freely admits that, other than that neighbour's cat, Scott hadn't ever harmed a soul. He doesn't see this as a problem though, convinced that Scott would have killed, eventually, if left unchecked. "They're all gonna be killers, Dean. We got to take them all out. And that means Sammy, too."

It's kind of disturbing how anxious Gordon seems to talk Dean around to his way of thinking. He also, very deliberately, refers to Sam as 'Sammy' every single time. Provocative. Mind games.

Dean glowers his fraternal outrage, pointing out that Sam wouldn't be so stupid as to just walk through the door, and Gordon blithely acknowledges that. "Especially since I'm sure you found a way to warn him." Gordon has got it all worked out: Sam will scope the place, see him covering the front door, and take the back. "And when he does he'll hit the tripwire." He pulls out a grenade. "Then – boom."

"Sam's not gonna fall for a freaking tripwire," Dean scoffs, still trying hard to hide his fear. Gordon allows that possibility – which is why he'll have a second one. This does not look good.

"Hey, look. I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to do this, I really do. But for what it's worth, it'll be quick." And the thing is, Gordon really seems to be sincere about that, at least as sincere as Gordon ever gets. He genuinely believes those are words of consolation for the brother of the man he's planning to murder. Not the slightest bit consoled, Dean continues to fret while trying not to let Gordon see that he's fretting.

Gordon very carefully lays his tripwires, connected to those grenades. Increasingly afraid for Sam's life, Dean starts to plead, no longer making any attempt to hide his growing anxiety. "Come on, man. I know Sam, better than anyone. He's got more of a conscience than I do, I mean, the guy feels guilty surfing the Internet for porn."

Gordon is unmoved, insisting that Sam will one day be a monster. "How?" Dean protests. "How's a guy like Sam become a monster?" Gordon doesn't know, but is simply convinced that he will. "You don't know that!" Dean explodes. Gordon is totally embodying John's final words here, speaking aloud the fear that both Dean and Sam have been carrying for so long and are so anxious to deny.

"I'm surprised at you, Dean. Getting all emotional. I'd heard you were more of a professional than this." Gordon sounds scornful now, almost disappointed. For a man known for working alone, he really does seem very keen to sway Dean to his way of thinking, both in this episode and in Bloodlust, as if trying to recruit a junior partner. It implies that he works alone less because he chooses to and more because no one will work with him, being as crazy as he is. He tries to liken killing Sam now to killing the young Hitler before he could go on to become the dictator.

If looks could kill, Gordon would so be toast right now. Dean is unimpressed by the analogy, stonily insisting that that's not Sam. Turning evil is what John told him to protect Sam from, and he is absolutely determined to succeed in that – but Gordon plans to deny him even the chance to try.

"Dean, it's his destiny," Gordon insists. "Look, I'm sympathetic. He's your brother, you love the guy. This has got to hurt like hell for you." He doesn't actually sound at all sympathetic, though. Grabbing a piece of cloth, he abruptly up and gags Dean so he can't shout any warnings when Sam arrives, and also can't interrupt or argue any longer. "Now here's the thing. It would have wrecked me. But your dad, if it really came right down to it, he would have had the stones to do the right thing. But you're telling me you're not the man he is?"

Now unable to respond in any way even if he wanted to, Dean turns that death glare up a notch and gives his captor a look that really should burn a hole right through him.

Outside, Sam approaches the house, checking the address he's got written down on his motel stationery, just like in Ava's vision. Scoping the place out first, just like Gordon said, he peers in through a crack in the boarded up windows and see Dean very securely bound and gagged, with a rifle-wielding Gordon sitting nearby.

Sam looks anxious, and rightly so. He now has to rescue his brother both without getting himself blown up and without otherwise getting the pair of them killed. He cautiously scurries around to the back of the building and tries the back door. It's locked, but that isn't much of an obstacle for Lock Picker Extraordinaire Sam. Inside, Gordon and Dean can hear tiny noises that indicate entry is being made, Gordon alert with anticipation and Dean looking sick with fear, because this really is it. Sam enters the house.

In the lounge, Dean tries and fails to shout a warning before the blast rips through the back room. Through the gag, he bellows his muffled rage at Gordon, who remains unmoved. That was grenade number one. The second blast is bigger, closer. Dean practically chokes on his furious grief; if he weren't gagged, he'd throw up on the spot.

"Sorry, Dean," says Gordon, as if that means anything, and heads into the back room to confirm that his booby-trap has worked, while Dean struggles desperately against his bonds.

In the back room, Gordon smiles wickedly when he sees a shoe lying amid the rubble, smouldering. No blood, though, unlike Ava's vision. Gordon doesn't drop his guard, but keeps searching cautiously for further evidence that his plan has worked. It hasn't. Sam pops up behind him and holds a handgun to his head. Yay, Sam! What did he do – throw his shoe at the tripwire?

"Shouldn't take your shoes off around here," Gordon calmly observes, at gunpoint. "You might get tetanus."

Heh. Sam bellows at him to put the gun down, and, in the other room, Dean's head whips around on hearing his brother's voice, letting him know that Sam wasn't killed in the blast after all. But he's still bound and gagged, unable to go to his brother's aid in this face-off with Gordon.

"You wouldn't shoot me, would you, Sammy?" says Gordon, lowering his rifle to the floor as ordered. "'Cause your brother, he thinks you're some kind of saint."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be so sure," Sam grits. Which is kind of Gordon's point, really, although his own murderous intentions make it hard for him to claim any kind of moral high ground. He swings, swiping the gun from Sam's hand, and they fight. It has to be said: Sam's hand-to-hand fighting skills really do suck when he doesn't have the advantage of surprise. Gordon quickly establishes the upper hand, and Dean frets helplessly in the other room, able to hear the fight but unable to intervene. With a very battered Sam down and seemingly out of the fight, Gordon stands over him, knife in hand. "You're no better than the filthy things you hunt."

He's verbalising Sam's deepest, darkest fears. But that doesn't mean Sam's going to take it lying down, especially not coming from Gordon, and that accusation revives him enough to fight back once more. He blocks Gordon's arm before he can strike a killing blow, and they fight again. Sam punches Gordon over and over with his cast. Woot! I'm really not sure he should be doing that, but it must be just about healed by now. Having turned the tables, Sam stands, aiming Gordon's own rifle at his head. Gordon snarls at him to do it. "Show your brother the killer you really are, Sammy."

Not about to do anything of the sort, no matter how much he'd like to, Sam reverses the rifle and knocks him out cold with the butt, just like Gordon did to Dean earlier. "It's Sam," he snits at his unconscious opponent. Heh. He doesn't correct Dean on that point any more, but it's cute to hear him doing it for an outsider. Dean is the only one allowed to use that name, having earned the right to do so.

Battered and bruised, Sam shuffles into the other room, claps his brother on the shoulder as physical reassurance that they are both more or less in one piece, and sets to work untying him, without a word. The second Dean is free he hauls Sam back to his feet to get a good look at him, examine his cuts and bruises, and further reassure himself that his little brother wasn't blown to bits after all, and then remembers that Gordon is still in the other room and responsible for all this. "That son of a bitch…"

Sam calls him back, and Dean fiercely insists him that he let Gordon live once and isn't making the same mistake twice. Gordon has crossed a line, and in Dean's current state of mind that completely justifies taking whatever action is necessary to remove such a clear and present threat to both their safety. Sam, though, insists that Gordon is taken care of, and wearily ushers his brother out the front way. There's more hands-on contact between the brothers in this scene than we've seen all season, and it took life-threatening peril and separation to bring that about. It's about comfort, and reassurance, and reconciliation.

The brothers are no sooner out of the house than Gordon comes striding after them, a gun in each hand, and starts shooting. Dean and Sam dive for cover. "You call this taken care of?" Dean yells. Sam insists his brother trust him on this one, as they keep their heads down and the bullets keep flying. Gordon really has lost it, completely. Moments later, a couple of police squad cars come screeching up and, since he's standing in the middle of the street guns a-blazing, they've got him bang to rights – especially when they find the secret weapons stash in his car.

"Anonymous tip," Sam explains, looking enormously pleased with himself. Dean beams in delight, and it's a joy to see, it's so rare to see Dean happy these days. "You're a fine, upstanding citizen, Sam." Heh. Nice one, Sam. He's so proud of himself, and so pleased with Dean's approval, delighted at having impressed his brother.

Harvelle's Roadhouse. Ellen has got Dean shouting at her down the phone about how Gordon Walker was hunting Sam and almost killed them both, "because somebody over there can't keep their freaking mouth shut." Ellen defends herself. "You can say a lot of things about us, but we aren't disloyal. And we're not stupid. We haven't breathed a word of this."

Well, her point about loyalty simply begs the question of who exactly they are loyal to – the Winchester brothers, who they hardly know, knowing what they do about Sam's abilities and what they might mean? Or to themselves and each other in opposition to the brothers, should the worst some to the worst?

Dean points out that Ellen and co. were the only people who knew about Sam, which is a valid point, and that Gordon said he had Roadhouse connections. Ellen counters that the Roadhouse is full of other hunters, who are all smart, good trackers, all with their own patterns and connections, and that she could name a dozen capable of putting this together off the top of her head. That is not a reassuring thought, and simply proves my point earlier about not holding confidential conversations about Sam in such a public place. Ellen apologises for what happened, but insists that, "I can't control these people, or what they choose to believe."

Which is, of course, exactly why those boys need to be more careful now than ever about who they choose to trust. Gordon has proved that the hunting fraternity could very easily turn against Sam should things escalate. Whatever this war is that's coming, it seems to be a good long way off at present. But it is coming, and the boys won't be able to avoid being caught right in the line of fire – possibly from both sides, as battle lines are drawn.

Later. The Impala speeds along a rainy road, as Sam –his Gordon-inflicted facial injuries miraculously healed – tries yet again to get hold of Ava. He's been calling pretty much since they set out, was on his cellphone while Dean talked to Ellen, but can't get through, and none of his messages have been returned. Call concluded with another message left, the brothers make a little small talk around the subject of Gordon's arrest and Dean's hope that if he goes down for Scott Carey's murder he should be safely locked up for some considerable time to come – if, that is, he doesn't bust out, as Sam more pessimistically suggests he might. Having escaped police custody themselves, more than once, they both know it's entirely possible. Then, small talk exhausted and more personally important issues still to be resolved, Dean gives Sam a stern look. "Dude, you ever take off like that again…"

Sam's lips quirk. "What? You'd kill me?" Heh. Nice to see that Sam is seeing the funny side at last, even if the humour is very black.

"That is so not funny," Dean growls. It's such a normal brother thing, to toss casual threats around. Only now…those threats have a more sinister feel to them, knowing what they know.

Sam wonders where they should go next, and appears not to have any suggestions of his own to make regarding further investigation into his abilities and the other psychics. All insouciance now, letting nothing of his deeper feelings show, Dean has one word for him – Amsterdam! "I hear the coffee houses don't even serve coffee." Hee. Fear of flying be damned, apparently. Maybe the experience of Phantom Traveler really did lay that one to rest. It's classic Dean-style diversionary tactics, tossing out an outrageous suggestion that he knows Sam is never going to go for. Sam groans, not wanting Dean to make light of this or try to brush it under the carpet or whatever – or to bury his head in the sand.

SAM: "I'm not gonna just ditch the job."
DEAN: "Screw the job. Screw it, I'm sick of the job anyway. I mean, we don't get paid, we don't get thanked, the only thing we get is bad luck."

Whoa. Way to reverse roles from this time last season, but the process of reaching this point of role reversal has been so slowly and methodically laid out for us, through the progression of circumstance and character development, that it really feels completely natural that the brothers should have reached this point.

Even after everything Dean said in Croatoan, Sam can't quite believe this line of argument coming from his brother and tries reasoning with him. "Come on, dude, you're a hunter. It's what you were meant to do."

Except that hunting seems to be the farthest thing from Dean's mind right now, and has been for a lot of the season. Surely even Sam with his newfound commitment to the cause and current preoccupation with his own concerns can't have failed to notice that.

"I wasn't meant to do anything," Dean growls. He really does refuse to believe in pre-destination of any kind. "I don't believe in that destiny crap."

"You mean you don't believe in my destiny," Sam clarifies. He points out that he tried running away from this life before and look what happened. And, yeah, that's a valid point. Except that back then he was just rebelling against a lifestyle he no longer wanted to pursue and, if he wasn't actively hunting, had no reason to assume that the supernatural would pursue him in any way. Now that he knows, he could take precautions – if he chose to hide himself away in any way. Which he doesn't. "You can't run from this," he insists. "And you can't protect me."

Dean gives him a hard look. "I can try." And isn't that just the perfect reaction to a statement like that? Fangirls everywhere melt into a gooey puddle.

"Thanks for that." Sam is touched; those three words mean a hell of a lot, given their circumstances. He goes on to pretty much lay it on the line. "Look, Dean, I'm going to keep hunting. I mean, whatever's coming, I'm taking it head on. So if you really want to watch my back, I guess you're going to have to stick around."

How many times now have we seen Sam getting his own way at the expense of what Dean wants? Dean seems pretty much like his normal self in this scene, but it's important to bear in mind just how desperate he was at the end of the last episode and beginning of this one. That deep bone-weariness and desperation won't have gone away, especially after everything that's just happened. The burdens he's been carrying all season are as heavy as they ever were, maybe even more so, but at least everything is out in the open now.

Does Dean really want out of the hunting life he was raised to pursue? It's hard to say. What is certain is how difficult, nigh on impossible, it would be for him to adapt to any kind of 'normal' life – especially in the face of that warrant for murder he's got hanging over him, and especially knowing what could be coming for Sam. He is very, very good at what he does, but all that skill and experience – and, let's face it, attitude – aren't what you'd call transferable into any other kind of career path. But he doesn't seem to be talking about any kind of pursuit of 'normal', having accepted a long time ago that he could never have that. What he's been asking for was the chance to rest, to recharge his batteries without any further distractions of the new hunt variety, so they could try somehow to avoid what's coming, or at least attempt to find out what it is that is coming, and seek out some kind of positive way forward.

With the possibility of stopping and resting removed due to Sam's determination to carry on, business as normal, though, we can almost visibly see him firmly closing the lid on his weariness and pulling himself together, preparing to soldier on in whatever way Sam needs him to. Saving Sam in whatever way necessary is his number one priority, and if that means continuing to actively hunt because that's what Sam wants to do, then so be it.

DEAN: "Bitch."
SAM: "Jerk."

Heh. Season one-style bantering to indicate that season one-style reconciliation has been achieved. Fantastic.

With that settled. Sam tries calling Ava again, but still can't get any answer. He's starting to get a really bad feeling, and asks Dean how far it is to Peoria, wanting to check up on Ava in person.

Cut to: Ava's house in Peoria. The brothers Winchester break in, as you do when visiting a friend – or new acquaintance, anyway – and I'm suddenly distracted by a band-aid around Dean's finger, wondering if it's physical evidence of his fight with Gordon but suspecting it's probably more to do with the actor and something we aren't meant to notice. By torchlight, they search the place – and find Ava's fiancé very dead in bed, throat slit and sheets soaked in blood. Yikes.

I get very cross with both boys at about this point, as they are positively littering this fresh murder scene with their fingerprints. Sheesh. Have they learned nothing?

There is no sign of Ava whatsoever, but the horrified Sam finds her engagement ring on the floor and there are traces of sulphur around the window…

There are a number of possibilities for what could have happened to Ava. She could have been taken by the Demon after arriving home, possibly finding her fiancé dead when she arrived. She could have been possessed at any point after leaving Sam, and murdered her fiancé herself on arrival. Or, most chillingly, she could have been possessed all along – most chillingly, because she seemed so utterly normal, cute and perky and completely harmless. So utterly normal and harmless…but also one of those 'special children', the psychics that the Demon has such plans for, with the same dark, shadowy legacy hanging over her head as Sam. If someone as wonderfully normal as Ava could be taken or turned so easily…what does that ultimately mean for Sam? Ava's situation and disappearance perfectly demonstrate John's final charge to Dean for the curse it truly is.


January 2007

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