"Don't you get it, Sam? It's all about you."

Then.

"So what do you say we kill some evil sons of bitches and we raise a little hell?" Dean suggests, which is the cue for a little montage of just some of the many evil things killed over the past couple of seasons.

Sam gets himself murdered by Jake, and Dean sells his soul to the Crossroads Demon to bring him back, which leaves Dean himself with just one year left to live. Bobby furiously rants that he could throttle Dean for making that deal, while Sam vows that he doesn't care what it takes, he's going to get his brother out of the deal. But then Dean tells him about the catch – that if they try to wriggle out of it, Sam will die again.

All hell breaks loose rather literally, and Sam meets a Glossy Blonde Chick, who saves his life by means of a nifty and heretofore unheard of magical knife capable of killing demons.

Now.

Cicero, Indiana. A young mother comes outside to meet her daughter, who is being dropped back off at home by her dad. Young Katie has apparently pitched a fit and refused to spend her usual one night a week with her father, so rather than force the issue and make her unhappy, he has conceded defeat and brought her back to her mother, although he's clearly disappointed. Katie clings to her mother and tells her she never wants to stay with her dad again, that he's mean and his house is full of monsters, and she sounds sweet and innocent enough, but…my Creepy Kid Episode radar is already buzzing madly.

Later, Katie's dad busies himself out in his garage, making a little wooden rocking horse, and we get the sense that someone or something is watching him. He realises that it's getting pretty late, like almost one in the morning, and decides to pack it in for the night. As he heads out of the garage, the camera shows us a power saw in the foreground, which switches itself on. Seasoned viewers instantly clap their hands over their eyes, knowing what to expect. Dad is puzzled, wanders over to peer quizzically at the saw, and shuts it off. He goes to leave the garage again, only for the saw to turn itself on again. Totally nonplussed by all this, he comes over to investigate once more. Seasoned fans are by now screaming at him to get the hell out of there before anything gory can happen. Alas, he cannot hear us, and is unaware of the danger he's in until it is too late – something pops out of the shadows and pushes him over, landing with a bloody squish on his back right on top of the active power saw, and that's the end of him. It's very gross.

Nifty new titles.

"What do you mean, you don't think it'll work, Bobby? It's a demon dispelling ritual," Sam snips frustratedly into his cellphone, sitting alone at a table in some random diner someplace. So, Sam clearly hasn't given up his deal-breaking research just because Dean wants him to and told him about the catch. It's just that now he has to keep it hidden from his brother.

Dean himself knocks on the window at this point, cheerfully waving a newspaper at Sam, thus conveniently warning his brother that he's on his way in. But Sam still has a few seconds to spare in which to argue fiercely with Bobby. Sam gets very single-minded when he's set his heart on something, and failure or setback of any kind is not something he has a great deal of tolerance for. He suggests that maybe they got the translation wrong, insisting that they can't just let Dean fry in hell, that there has to be something that they –

Time's up. With Dean reaching the table, Sam has to quickly hang up the call and slam the laptop shut so that his brother won't see the Sanskrit translation programme he's got running, and he could not be shiftier about it if he tried. Dean wonders who was on the phone, and Sam says the first thing that pops into his head – that he was just ordering a pizza.

Dean looks at Sam, looks around at the room he's sitting in, looks at Sam again. "Dude. You do realise that you're in a restaurant?" Heh.

Sam is really bad at lying to Dean, especially if he hasn't had time to prepare a cover story. But Dean doesn't call him on it, just lets it go, maybe doesn't want to know. "Okay, Weirdy McWeirdson." Hee.



Dean has found a story in the paper that interests him – the case of young Katie's ill-fated dad falling on his own power saw. The article gives us Doomed Dad's name as Richard Keel, and names his ex-wife as Dana Keel, by the way. Seriously – the whole article has been written up properly for fans to read in the screencap, although it does repeat itself a little. The only thing it doesn't tell us is the date. Sam doesn't see how one fatal accident translates to potential job, and Dean confesses that there's something better in Cicero than just a case that may not be. "Lisa Braeden."

Sam laughs. "Should I even ask?"
"Remember that road trip I took, about…eight years ago, now? You were in Orlando with Dad, wrapping up that banshee thing," Dean begins.
"Oh yeah, the five states, five days," Sam remembers.

Fans are instantly intrigued by the notion of Dean at 19/20, as he would have been eight years or so ago, taking even a short road trip on his own. After everything the show has told us about how harsh the boys' upbringing frequently was, about how bad the relationship between John and Sam had become by the time Sam hit his teens, how much both of them relied on Dean, it's good to learn a little about the good times, too. A bit more information would be really nice! For example, was it about good times? Was it a 'you deserve a break, son, why not take a few days' thing? Or was it more about John and Sam's bickering getting on top of him and just needing some space for a few days, although that would be the first indication of such we've ever had. More background information please, show.

Mind, if the Winchesters have always travelled around as much as has always been indicated, I'm not sure how a whistle-stop tour of five states in five days equates to a vacation – kind of a busman's holiday, surely. Then again, Dean does love to drive. Still suggests to me that it was more about the act of taking a break and getting some space, spreading his wings, than especially wanting to tour those five states in five days.

Anyway, Dean admits that he didn't actually get through five states in five days, because he met Lisa Braeden and ended up spending most of his mini-vacation in her loft, instead.

Sam laughs. "So let me get this straight. You want to drive all the way to Cicero just to hook up with some random chick?"
"She's a yoga teacher," says Dean, deadpan. "It was the bendiest weekend of my life. Come on, have a heart. Huh?" He's wheedling now, and teasing with it, light-hearted and having fun. "It's my dying wish!"
"Yeah, well, how many dying wishes are you gonna get?" Sam chuckles.
"As many as I can squeeze out," Dean laughs. "Come on. Smile, Sam. God knows I'm gonna be smiling after 24 hours with Gumby Girl…. Gumby Girl. Does that make me Pokey?"

Heh. The best bit is that Sam is smiling, amused by Dean's enthusiasm and womanising ways, that both of them have a sense of humour about Dean's many dying wishes and are able to laugh about it, no guilt, no guilt-tripping, no rancour, just acceptance that it is what it is, make the most of now.

Dean has clearly hit the nostalgia stage of coming to terms with impending death, moving past the fierce, almost belligerent determination to appear okay he displayed in the last episode toward genuine relaxation, acceptance of his fate. Content to both cram in as many jobs as he can find between now and then and to enjoy himself as much as possible while so doing. Re-visit people and places that meant something to him if circumstance draws them back to his attention, because each reminder of times past is also a reminder that he may never get another chance to experience those things again.

Of course, the trouble with nostalgia is that re-visiting fond memories in the here-and-now almost never lives up to those rose-tinted expectations.

Cicero Pines Motel. Dean drops Sam off and speeds away, still full of enthusiasm for the little jaunt trip down memory lane he's anticipating. He's such a big kid at times. You've got to love that the vague possibility of one accident turning out to be supernatural in origin wasn't enough to convince Sam to come here, but Dean wanting to hook up with a former fling was. Despite their showdown at the end of the last episode, Sam is clearly still in indulgence mode, inclined to agree to just about anything Dean wants to do. Besides which, keeping Dean occupied provides Sam with more alone time for covert research.

Morning Hill housing estate. I love that the big billboard on the way into the estate says 'sold out', but the houses still under construction on the fringes of the development all have 'for sale' signs outside. That's so real. Also? Those houses still under construction will be important later, which is why this throwaway scene of Dean driving past them isn't quite as throwaway as it seems on first glance.

Lisa Braeden's house. Dean parks the Impala outside. He's a little surprised to see balloons tied to the fence, and checks the address he's got written down to make sure he's got the right place, then heads to the front door and rings the bell. So he's obviously done some research to find out where Lisa is living, and thus learned that she's still single, or at least still using the same surname. Lisa opens the door, recognises Dean instantly, and is absolutely stunned to see him. Dean kinda shuffles around a little awkwardly, looking both pleased to see her and a bit embarrassed, since even Dean can't exactly just come out and say, 'hi, great to see you again after all these years, I'd like to sleep with you again just for old times' sake while I'm in town, if you don't mind.'

Eight going on nine years is how long Dean says it's been since he and Lisa had their little fling. That's actually kinda precise. That weekend clearly left quite an impression on them both, even if he was only reminded of her and felt moved to stop by after seeing the name of her town in the paper. Of course, the writers threw in that precision regarding just how long ago they knew one another for reasons that will shortly become apparent. "I was just passing through, couldn't resist. And I remember that you love surprises," Dean offers as explanation for his unexpected visit, throwing his sultriest smile in for good measure. How could any woman resist?



Lisa wows a few times to cover her surprise, and then explains that he's come at a bad time, as they're in the middle of a party. "I love parties," Dean smiles.

Out back, excited children are running amuck. It's a children's party, and Dean is fast getting the sense that his nostalgic trip down memory lane is not going to go quite the way he'd hoped. Lisa's life has moved on a lot since they were together; the party is for her son, Ben, who is currently in raptures over an AC/DC CD he's been given as a birthday gift. Dean takes one look at the kid and starts doing sums in his head. "How old –?" he begins.

Ben is eight, says Lisa. Her fling with Dean was eight going on nine years ago. It doesn't take a genius to see where Dean's calculations are taking him as he eyes the kid with surprise and suspicion. Me, I'd like to know how a single mother like Lisa can afford such a big, beautiful house, and such an extravagant party. Is teaching yoga that lucrative? Maybe she's inherited from rich parents, or something.

Lisa excuses herself to go welcome some new arrivals – Katie and her mom from the teaser – and Dean is left alone, looking decidedly out of his depth. He eyes Ben, now chomping on an enormous sandwich, with an air of deep foreboding, before moving on to admire Ben's racing car birthday cake and help himself to a slice.

Nearby, a couple of random women check out Dean's backside and discuss the fact that they heard Lisa call him 'Dean'. "You don't know about Dean? The Dean? Best-night-of-my-life Dean?" Hee. Dean clearly made as much of an impression on Lisa as she did on him, if she's talked about him enough since that random neighbours and/or parents of children in Ben's class have heard of him. "They had this crazy, semi-illegal –" one woman begins, only to be cut off by the approach of Dean himself, much to the disappointment of fans who wanted to hear those juicy details. He says hey, very awkward, completely out of his element here, and they say hello back, practically salivating over him. Dean has no idea what to do with that, so makes a hasty getaway, leaving them to drool.

Dean finds Ben watching some other kids play on the 'moon bounce'. They say a casual hey to one another, turn in unison to check out a mother and daughter as they walk past, and each take a bite of cake, also in unison. The show could not have tried harder to make this kid a miniature version of Dean. Except that Ben doesn't actually bear that much resemblance to the 10-year-old Dean we met in Something Wicked, who came across as a serious-minded youngster weighed down by responsibility. Sure, the seeds were there of who he would grow up to be, but there wasn't even a hint of the kind of exuberance that young Ben seems to possess in spades and which the adult Dean tends toward, whether genuine or feigned. A genuine comparison between Ben and Dean as a child would not be possible, whatever likes and dislikes they had in common, because in terms of attitude you simply cannot compare an only child who lives in a big house with a doting mother and has everything he could ever want, with a child who has witnessed his mother's murder, been uprooted from everything and everyone he ever knew, dragged around a succession of backwood cabins and cheap motels, and is regularly left alone for days at a time to care for a younger sibling. They come from completely different worlds.

As an adult, Dean's innate character traits are highly exaggerated, it's part of his defence mechanism – look over there, nothing to see here. But although he clearly did not have an easy life, struggling to balance being a child with the adult responsibilities on his shoulders, the child Dean in Something Wicked had not yet been worn down enough that the construction of those defences was necessary. Young Ben, on the other hand, has all the exaggerated character traits associated with the adult Dean, and although a lot of that no doubt stems from the fact that this is his birthday party and he's excited and showing off, it still means that Ben bears more resemblance to the adult version of Dean than the child, the character traits they possess in common stemming from very different places. All that said, Ben's mannerisms and behaviour certainly remind Dean of himself, more than enough to cement the suspicions he's already entertaining.

Dean watches Ben for a moment longer, does his sums again, and freaks, almost falling over a trashcan in his haste to find Lisa.



Inside, Lisa pours a drink for Katie's mother, who is not named verbally on-screen. IMDB suggests she might be called 'Annette', but she is, as mentioned, named as 'Dana' in the newspaper article seen on-screen reporting her ex-husband's death, so we shall go with Dana for the purposes of this recap. Dana insists that she's fine, not affected at all by the death of her ex-husband, but then confesses that she's worried about Katie. Katie herself, we see, is just standing around outside, not interacting with the other children at all, and Dana hesitantly explains that she thinks there might be something wrong with her daughter. Lisa tries to be understanding, pointing out that Katie just lost her dad, but that's not what Dana is talking about. "There is something really wrong with her. I'm not sure that Katie is…Katie." Lisa has no idea what to make of that, starts to get worried about Dana.

Dana looks haunted, can't believe she's thinking what she's thinking. "I'm not sure that's my daughter."
But Lisa, of course, can't process a statement like that, so tries to be practical, reminding Dana that she's grieving and pointing out that Katie needs her. "Seriously, we're gonna get you help. It'll be okay."

Having gone out on a limb and trusted her friend with something terrible that is troubling her deeply, Dana takes offence at the implication that she's going crazy and sweeps out into the yard to get Katie. Dean wanders into the kitchen as she passes and awkwardly tries to talk to Lisa about Ben. "You know, I couldn't help but notice that he's turning eight…. You and me…you know…?"

Lisa finally gets what he's trying to say and tries to laugh it off. She clearly has a lot on her plate today quite besides having an old fling unexpectedly turn up on the doorstep and start enquiring about the paternity of her son. "You're not trying to ask me if he's yours?"

He totally is. Denies it at first, but then just has to ask, straight out, "he's not, is he?" sounding kind of panic-stricken at the notion.

Distracted, Lisa's like, "what? No." But Dean, watching Ben through the window, is not what you'd call reassured.

Dana sweeps back through the kitchen with Katie in tow at this point, and Dean watches them leave, partly because he always does love to check out a beautiful woman in passing, and partly because something about Katie's withdrawn attitude and Dana's obvious distress is setting off his spider sense. He asks if something's wrong, and Lisa explains about the accident that killed Katie's dad. Dean expresses his sympathy, and Lisa sighs that there's been a lot of bad luck going around town lately. Now that really does set the spider senses a-tingling.

Cicero Pines Motel. Sam sits in the cafeteria with a stack of untouched sandwiches and potato wedges on a plate before him, laptop open, busily making notes. He's in full-blown research mode, completely absorbed in his work, because he has to make the most of whatever time is available to him for it. This is another good reason for him to encourage Dean to go out and have fun: it gives Sam time and space to research ways out of the deal without Dean knowing, catch or no catch. Oh and bless him, he's drinking lemonade with a straw. Cute.

Someone sits themselves down opposite, and Sam freezes when he sees just who: the Glossy Blonde Chick who so unexpectedly and enigmatically saved his life in The Magnificent Seven. "Hello, Sam," she smirks, and right here and now, watching this episode for the first time, this is when I knew that the demon theory I suggested in my last recap was right. She's got that air of idle superiority that seems to come attached to all demons on this show. All that posturing when she met Sam in the last episode made no sense and was off-putting if you thought of her as a hunter of some kind; once you start viewing her as a demon, though, everything makes sense.



Taking exception to her attitude, Sam's opening gambit is to point out that Glossy Blonde has been following him since Lincoln, rather than waste time beating around the bush. Glossy Blonde sasses that nothing much gets by him, helping herself to his potato wedges. "Mmm. These are amazing. It's like deep-fried crack."

Sam ignores the diversion, and questions her about the knife. "You can kill demons with that thing?"
"Sure comes in handy when I have to swoop in and save the damsel in distress," mocks Glossy Blonde.
"Where'd you get it?" Sam wants to know.

Glossy Blonde chooses not to answer that question, instead gleefully pouring ketchup into a saucer, the better to enjoy Sam's food.

"Why are you following me?" Sam asks, getting more and more angry and uptight the more she dances around his questions without answering.
"I'm interested in you," Glossy Blonde evades, still pretending to be more interested in the food than the conversation.
"Why?" Sam grits. Getting information out of this chick is a bit like pulling teeth.
"Because you're tall," Glossy Blonde nonchalantly offers by way of explanation. Not a straight answer in sight. "I love a tall man." Oh, and Sam rolls his eyes hilariously at that. "And then there's the whole anti-Christ thing," she adds.

Ooh, she's piqued Sam's interest now, and not in a good way. Everything about her behaviour in this scene just screams 'demon': the rudeness, the boldness, deliberately keeping him off-balance, the air of general superiority and of lazy disinterest. Oh, and I've just realised who she reminds me of: Hilary Duff. Practically the spitting image in this scene.

"You know: generation of psychic kids, this Yellow-Eyed Demon rounds you up, celebrity death match ensues," Glossy Blonde recaps, as if it should be obvious. "You're the sole survivor."

Sam starts to wig, wondering how she knows about all that. She snots that she's a good hunter. Except that she blatantly isn't. We've met enough hunters on this show for it to be obvious that she is nothing like any of them. If she had turned out to be a hunter, it would have been the most disappointing thing this show had ever done, given her behaviour. As it is, they had much better ideas. It's just a shame that the pre-season publicity – what little I accidentally saw of it while trying to adhere to a rigid 'no spoiler' policy, anyway – hailed her as a hunter, because that creates false expectations in viewer's heads, rather than allowing them to view her with unbiased eyes and speculate freely. I mean, I get that the writers didn't want to spoil the surprise, which would be why they planted misleading information about her. But seriously, you know the best way to not spoil a surprise about a new character? To say nothing about that character at all!

"So, Yellow-Eyes had some pretty big plans for you, Sam," Glossy Blonde remarks.
"'Had' being the key word," Sam firmly points out.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right," she acknowledges. "Ding dong, the demon's dead. Good job with that. Doesn't change the fact that you're special. In that Anthony Michael Hall, ESP vision kind of way."
"No, that's stuff's not happening any more," insists Sam. "Not since Yellow-Eyes died."

Except that it hasn't been all that long since Yellow-Eyes bought it, and Sam only ever had about half a dozen visions spread over 18 months or so, so the fact that he hasn't had another in the short time since All Hell Breaks Loose is hardly conclusive evidence, really. He believes that his visions were tied to the Yellow-Eyed Demon and therefore won't happen any more now that it is dead, but he doesn't know for sure. It's wishful thinking more than anything else.

"I'm thinking you're still a pretty big deal," says Glossy Blonde, appraisingly. "I mean, after all that business with your mom…"
Sam stiffens. "What about my Mom?"
"You know, what happened to her friends," says Glossy Blonde, again as if it should be obvious. Sam shifts, torn between curiosity, anger and nervousness, and she starts to smile, enjoying his reaction. "You don't know. You've got a little bit of catching up to do, my friend." She reaches out, takes his hand, and writes a phone number on it. "So why don't you look into your mom's pals, and then give me a call and we'll talk again."

She stands up to leave, then turns back. "And by the way – you do know there's a job in this town, right?" So totally a demon, not a hunter. Every hunter we've ever met has been pretty focused on the job, and she isn't, not in any way, shape or form. She's playing games with him, making it clear that she knows so much more than he does and dangling tantalising snippets of that knowledge before him like bait on a hook, the better to reel him in.

Even as Glossy Blonde makes her exit, leaving a severely discomfited Sam behind, Sam's phone is ringing. It's Dean. "Dude, there is a job here," he announces, and Sam twitches at this confirmation that his Glossy Blonde stalker was telling the truth.

Dean explains that there have been four more freak accidents that never even made the paper, all in the Morning Hill gated community – people falling off ladders and drowning in their Jacuzzis. Sam concedes that that is weird. "Yeah, something's up," Dean concludes. "Something these nice big gates can't protect them from."

Dana and Katie's house. Dana has fallen asleep on the sofa, and wakes to find Katie sitting right alongside her, watching her, all quiet and creepy. Still half asleep and already suspicious of her 'daughter', Dana jumps out of her skin, and struggles to behave normally around the little girl, who is behaving as if nothing is out of the ordinary at all, completely ignoring her mother's state of nerves. It is this air of absolute innocence and normality, no matter what is happening around them, that makes the creepy kids in this episode so very, very creepy.

"Play with me, Mommy," Katie asks, throwing her arms around Dana's waist and telling her how much she loves her. Confused and worried, Dana hugs her back – then glances up and catches sight of their reflection in a mirror. The reflection shows Katie's bare arms and legs covered in some kind of greyish goop, a bit like when a shapeshifter sheds, except that she isn't shedding, this is her actual skin. But it only looks like that in the mirror.

Dana wigs, but tries not to let Katie see. Instead she dazedly agrees to fix some food for her, clearly wondering if Lisa was right and maybe she is losing her mind after all.

I would like to note, for the record, how much I love that this episode is not about demons. Although ongoing issues of the demonic war and Sam's connection with ol' Yellow-Eyes are dealt with, this is a solid, old-fashioned monster-of-the-week storyline. And I really appreciate that, partly because those are always entertaining as a break from the mytharc, and also because it kind of implies that all those newly released demons are going to ground and doing their own thing, rather than forming an army. That means that tracking them down is going to be harder, but, on the other hand, also means they'll probably be easier to take out one at a time, rather than wholesale. Also, there's just something so...refreshing about watching the boys working standard jobs in between dealing with ongoing mytharc issues. I really hope the show always manages to keep this balance.

House. "So, once again, I'm really sorry to disturb you, we just really want to expedite that life insurance policy," Sam dissembles for the sake of the homeowner he is flannelling, as she shows him out into the yard. Awww, bless. He's in his tweediest suit, with his hair all slicked back the way he always does when he wants people to take him seriously.

The woman shows Sam a boarded up window out of which her husband apparently fell, while changing a light bulb. "Must have lost his balance," she guesses, adding that she'd been out at the time. The only other person in the house when her husband had his accident was their daughter, Dakota. Sam turns to see Dakota standing in the window, staring out, every bit as creepy as Katie.

There's a red splotch on the windowsill near where Dakota is standing. Sam takes one look, and you can tell he thinks its blood. He also sees another splotch on the fence, but this one looks to my ill-educated eyes a little too pink to be blood, and it would be unlike the props department to get their fake blood wrong, which is a point to bear in mind for later.

Since Sam now has all he needs, the homeowner turns to show him out, and he notices an ugly bruise on the back of her neck, surrounded by what look like round little teeth marks.

Dana and Katie's house. Dana is toasting a sandwich in the frying pan. It looks way too burnt to be edible, but apparently she's done it like that on purpose. She rubs the back of her neck as if it hurts, serves the sandwich up to Katie, and excuses herself for a moment. So deferential, clearly scared of her own child, while Katie is all sweetness and politeness, like butter wouldn't melt, and that's the worst thing about it.

Upstairs, Dana locks herself in the bathroom, and pulls her hair back to examine her neck in the mirror, shocked to see a bruise just like the one sported by the woman Sam was just talking to.

She's even more shocked when Katie starts hammering on the door, yelling to be let in. Katie keeps hammering and yelling, more and more insistent, and Dana is getting more and more freaked out and scared, has no idea what to do. Kudos to the actress, who does an excellent job of portraying Dana's escalating feelings of fear, confusion and desperation.

The doorbell chimes, and Katie falls silent. Dana takes a moment to compose herself and then goes downstairs, where Katie has answered the door to a realtor bearing a basket of pastries. A gift for the recently bereaved. The realtor coos over Katie, and asks how they're bearing up. Dana tries to get rid of her, as politely as she can manage right now. The realtor won't take the hint, wondering if they'll be keeping the house. Now, presumably, Dana got the house as part of her divorce settlement, and therefore would have no reason to sell up just because her ex-husband has died. So it is clearly just an excuse to come calling; she's checking up, although we won't realise that till much later in the episode. Dana firmly insists that they are fine, this is a bad time, and closes the door in the woman's face, then leans against it, shaking.

"I want ice cream," Katie brightly announces, appearing right up close in Dana's personal space once more, totally oblivious to her mother's distress.

Street. Dean wanders back to the Impala studying a piece of paper in his hand, presumably information he's been picking up while out and about. I'm not sure we're ever told just what. He glances up, sees Ben sitting on a bench looking morose, and approaches the boy. Dean has a soft spot for kids even when he doesn't half-suspect they might be his.

Ben remembers Dean from the party, which is Dean's cue to introduce himself and sit down, ask what's wrong. Ben just shrugs and looks glum. Dean notices an empty case in his hand and sees a group of boys standing around nearby playing with a gameboy, Ben unhappily watching them. He guesses that it's Ben's game they are playing with, and Ben despondently explains that Ryan Humphrey borrowed it and now won't give it back. After the brash confidence displayed at his party, where he was on home turf and the centre of attention, felt and behaved like the king of the roost, now we are seeing Ben's more vulnerable side, unsure of himself when ganged up on by bigger kids. If his earlier behaviour was reminiscent of Dean as he is today, Ben's downbeat attitude in this scene bears more resemblance to the child Dean we met in Something Wicked. Dean automatically offers to go over and get the game back for him, a suggestion Ben reacts to with alarm. "Only bitches send a grown-up. And I'm not a bitch."

Dean is liking this kid more and more, impressed by his spunky attitude. He'd want to help him out even if he didn't have his suspicions about the boy's paternity. Dean likes being able to forge connections with people when he's working a job, no matter how short-lived those connections might be, and he's always related well to kids. "Is that Humphrey?" he asks. "The one who needs to lay off the burgers?"

Ben smiles in spite of himself at this derogatory description of his tormenter, recognising an ally when he meets one, and confirms the boy's identity.

A few minutes later, Ben approaches the group of boys, and tries clearing his throat a couple of times to get their attention. They are all bigger than he is, and ignore him completely. Still a little uncertain of himself, Ben turns back to Dean who offers him thumbs up by way of moral support. Ben tries again, calling Ryan by name and politely asking for his game back. Ryan is all belligerence, like, "fine, take it back," the 'if you can' being heavily implied, and Ben looks crushed, turns away in disappointment. Ryan starts to crow over the younger boy's inability to stand up to him, which is the distraction Ben needed to turn back and knee him in the groin, hard, twice. Watching, Dean is delighted by Ben's success, casting a guilty little look around to see if anyone has noticed, then grinning proudly.

That is totally what John would have taught his sons to do in a similar situation – first the polite approach, then, if that failed, a careful and precise application of violence. And you can absolutely picture Dean encouraging and backing Sam up in exactly this way when they were young.



Ryan crumples to the ground moaning in pain, enabling Ben to retrieve his game with thanks, and rush back to Dean in triumph, excited at his success at having stood up to the bullies like that for probably the first time in his life.

"Benjamin Isaac Braeden!" Uh oh – Lisa has seen what happened, and is furious. Ben defends himself, arguing that Ryan stole his game, but Lisa doesn't care, disapproving of violence as a valid means of resolving any disagreement. It doesn't take long for her to notice Dean and put two and two together. Check out the way that guilty look comes over Dean's face the moment she looks at him, like a naughty puppy who's been caught chewing a shoe.

"Did you tell my son to beat up that kid?" Lisa disbelievingly demands.
"What? Somebody had to teach him how to kick a bully in the nads," Dean defends both himself and Ben.
"Who asked you to teach him anything?" snits Lisa, furious. She hauls Dean aside to talk out of Ben's earshot. "What are you even still doing here? We had one weekend together, a million years ago. You don't know me, and you have no business with my son."

Telling Dean to leave them alone, Lisa takes Ben and storms away. Tries to, anyway. Ben pulls away from her, runs back, and throws his arms around Dean's waist for a big hug, thanking him for his help. Dean is touched, but also a little unsettled by the whole encounter, not sure what to think or feel. Despite Lisa's denial, he still half-thinks Ben might be his and that suspicion is feeding into his interactions with the boy, but his lifestyle wouldn't exactly allow him to be much of a father to the boy, and Lisa clearly wouldn't encourage him to be involved anyway, her outlook on life and parenting so obviously not matching his. Plus, he only has a year to live, so has no kind of future to offer. But it felt good, being able to connect with Ben like that, being able to teach him to stand up for himself, and provide support. So, Dean is conflicted.

Then, as Lisa marches away with Ben, Dean notices a trio of children standing around nearby. They aren't doing anything, just standing there, looking creepy. As if sensing his regard, they turn in perfect unison to fix their creepy gaze on him. Dean is unnerved.

Car. Dana straps Katie into the back seat, Katie adoringly telling her mother over and over how much she loves her. Dana is distraught, almost in tears, as she gets into the front seat and pulls the mirror down to check behind her. She almost jumps out of her skin with shock when she sees Katie's reflection – not a little girl, but a creature, grey-skinned, with hollows for eyes and a gaping round mouth full of pointy little teeth. So, so creepy. Horrified, Dana turns to see her perfectly normal-looking daughter regarding her innocently, wondering what's wrong. Dana almost sobs that nothing is wrong, folds the mirror away again, and agrees to go for ice cream now.

Later. Dana's car pulls up at the edge of a large body of water, some kind of lake. With tears running down her face, Dana parks up, gets out, puts the car back into gear, and takes the brake off, then stands and watches as it rolls forward into the water and sinks. Katie just sits there as if nothing is happening, and Dana watches her daughter disappear underwater with a look of disbelief on her face: disbelief at her own actions and desperation, disbelief that this is really happening. At first, I was surprised that she didn't stay in the car and drown herself along with her child, given her mental state. But if she truly believes that this isn't her daughter, and she does, it makes more sense that she'd be able to go through with it in this way.

Appalled at her own actions, Dana returns home on foot, sobbing hysterically. She stops dead when she sees puddles of water all over the kitchen floor, and looks up to see Katie sitting on a stool, soaking wet. Katie perkily greets her mother and asks if she can have that ice cream now, smiling happily and innocently, as if nothing had happened.

Motel. Sam is tapping away at the laptop, researching changelings, when Dean arrives. They agree that the kids in this town are weird, and Sam asks what Dean knows about changelings. Dean's like, "evil monster babies?" but Sam points out that they aren't necessarily babies, which is all the hint Dean needs to catch up to speed on where Sam's research has brought him. "The kids. Creepy, stare at you like you're lunch kids."

Sam hands over a satellite picture of the Morning Hill estate, with the site of each 'accident' marked on it. There was a child in each house.

Later. Sam is explaining changeling lore, while Dean sits and makes flamethrowers, the perfect example of what each of them brings to this partnership. "Changelings can perfectly mimic children," Sam exposits. "According to lore, they climb in the window, snatch the kid. There were marks on the windowsill at one of the kids' houses – looked to me like blood."

Dean wonders about motivation, and Sam explains in voice-over as we see young Katie crawling into bed with Dana, who has knocked herself out with sleeping pills. "Changelings feed on the mom," Sam tells his brother. "Synovial fluid. The moms have these odd bruises on the back of their necks." And we see Katie morphing into her true form, lowering that creepy mouth with those creepy teeth down to the bruise on the back of Dana's neck…

"Drain 'em for a few weeks before mom finally croaks," Sam continues.
"And then there's dad, and the babysitter," Dean adds in reference to all the freak accidents in town, still making flamethrowers. I've missed these brainstorming sessions in recent episodes. We don't see the boys bouncing ideas off each other like this often enough lately.
"Yeah, seems like anyone who gets between the changeling and its food source ends up dead," Sam agrees.
"And fire's the only way to waste 'em?" Dean confirms, holding up a flamethrower. "Great. We'll just bust in, drag the kids out, torch 'em on the front lawn. That'll play great with the neighbours. What about the real ones, what happens to them?"

Sam explains that, according to lore, the changelings stash the children underground somewhere. He doesn't know if it's true, but if it is, the real kids might still be out there somewhere. Dean concludes that they'd better start looking, takes the car keys Sam is holding out to him, then stops and looks worried. "So, any kid in the neighbourhood's vulnerable? We got to make a stop. I want to check on someone."

Sam protests that if the real kids are still alive, they don't have time to waste, but Dean firmly insists that they have to make this stop. Not having the faintest idea what this is about, Sam looks frustrated.

Lisa's house. Lisa is very surprised to see Dean on her doorstep again, but not pleased, as she was earlier. Then, his showing up on her doorstep was a bolt from the blue, and maybe a little awkward, but not unwelcome. This time, his unexpected appearance is a nuisance. She starts to tell him to go away, but Dean cuts her off, breezing straight into a story about feeling bad over not giving Ben a birthday present and handing over one of his fake credit cards with the suggestion that the two of them go away someplace for the weekend. As in, get out of town. Now. Dean is really bad at convincing people in situations like this, and that has never changed. He tries too hard and can't pull it off, gets too intense, subtlety not being his strong suite. Since he was already in her bad books, and since she barely knows him, Lisa is more disturbed by this approach than anything, especially when she sees that the name on the card is 'Sigfried Houdini'. Heh. Getting desperate, Dean promises her that it's his card and that it'll work, but she's not having any of it, suggests that he leave now.

Dean has nothing left but the truth with which to convince her, and the truth is never going to fly, but before he can start to even try to spin another story, Ben approaches and asks what's wrong. It is immediately apparent that something is wrong. All the life has gone out of the boy, and he sounds more like an automaton than a child. "Make him go away, Mommy," he tells Lisa, flatly, and Dean's face falls, instantly recognising that the worst has happened. He tries to tell Lisa that something is wrong, but she just shouts at him to leave and slams the door in his face.

While Lisa sits down with a book, and Ben sits watching her, Dean lurks around outside, peering in the window, worried. He's worried because he worries about any endangered child he encounters through the course of his work, worried because this is the son of an old flame and Dean always cares about the people he's connected with in any way. But he's especially worried because he still half-wonders if Ben might be his son, whose life is now in danger. On the windowsill he sees a red splodge, swipes his fingers through it and then studies them thoughtfully.

Impala. Dean comes charging back to the car and anxiously brings Sam up to speed: that the changelings have taken Ben, he's changed. He's clearly explained en route just who Ben is, although whether he confessed to the part where he wonders if Ben might be his son is unclear, but unlikely. He adds that he found a stain on the windowsill, which Sam automatically assumes is blood. "I don't think it is blood," says Dean, hastily starting the engine. "And I think I know where the kids are."

See, this is the advantage of Dean's proclivity for sticking his fingers into icky things. Sam looked and thought blood. Dean touched and was able to analyse and identify.

Unfinished house. The Impala pulls up outside, and the boys get out, Dean making a beeline for a pile of red dirt in the driveway to confirm his theory. That red splodge wasn't blood – it was mud. I love Smart!Dean not only recognising the substance but remembering where he'd seen it before, when he'd only ever driven past the unfinished houses probably without paying much attention to them. He's very good at his job, although that fact isn't always a great deal of comfort to him when he's feeling down about the many ways in which his life is completely screwed up. Each taking a bag of gear, including flamethrowers, the boys split up to search the house.

Much flashlight-fu searching of the unfinished house ensues, with lots of odd creaking noises to unnerve the boys as they go. Dean makes his way down into the cellar, and therein finds Ben and the other missing children locked up in cages. Dean is enormously relieved that they are still alive and assures young Ben that he is going to get them all out of there.

Meanwhile, Sam is challenged by the realtor, who unexpectedly pops up behind him and accuses him of trespassing, threatens to call the police. It would be a good bluff, if Sam didn't see her reflection before he sees her, and thus recognises her as a changeling, the mother changeling.

In the cellar, Dean finds the real realtor slumped in one of the cages. He sets about busting the locks to get all the prisoners out of there.

Upstairs, Sam makes flustered excuses, bluffing far more successfully than the changeling, then fires his flamethrower at her. Unfortunately, she escapes before the flame hits her, and disappears.

Lisa's house. Changeling!Ben insists his mommy play with him, and Lisa wearily protests that she's put him to bed three times already, but still does not suspect that anything might be wrong.

Empty house. Dean breaks open Ben's cage first, and hugs the boy both in relief and as reassurance, then sets about freeing the other children.

Lisa's house. Changeling!Ben claims to be hungry and, instead of packing him back off to bed, Lisa offers to make pizza. Then she sees his changeling face in a reflection, and is freaked.

Empty house. Dean continues to free the captive children, and is impressed to see little Ben offering reassurance to them, much as you can picture Dean himself doing as a child – much as Dean still does today with any frightened victim he is trying to save. Dean now has half a dozen terrified children to wrangle, and handles them with aplomb, telling them to stand back and cover their eyes as he smashes a window up near the ceiling of the cellar, through which they can escape. Ben, demonstrating great presence of mind and common sense, offers his jacket to place across the broken window as protection from the glass, and then pushes one of the other children forward as the first to leave.

The 'mini Dean' really is being laid on a bit too thick. But it works, in many respects, because you know what really kills me about these rescue scenes? It's that you really can scrunch up your eyes and replace Dean with Young!John, and Ben with Child!Dean, and believe it.

Sam comes dashing downstairs now to tell Dean about Mother Changeling. Dean directs him to the realtor, who is still caged, and Sam sets about freeing her, while Dean theorises that the children have been kept alive as food for Mother Changeling. Then Katie turns around, sees Mother Changeling, and screams.

Lisa's house. "What's wrong, Mommy?" Changeling!Ben intones, impassive. Lisa stutters that he's not her son, demands to know where Ben is, then dives for her keys and runs out of the house – only to find three more changeling children standing outside, blocking her exit. How did they know to go there? Why are their own parents not suspicious? Lisa retreats back into the house, away from them, and is thus trapped in her house with Changeling!Ben.

Dana's house. Dana is huddled on the bathroom floor, the tap running as some kind of cover, sobbing her fear and desperation, while Changeling!Katie hammers furiously on the door.

Empty house. Mother Changeling sets about kicking Dean and Sam's asses but good, tossing the two of them all over the place, and getting in lots of kicks and punches for good measure. "Ben, get them out of here!" Dean yells, picking up a brick and managing to smack the changeling across the face with it.

Notice how, with Dean and Sam both fully occupied with Mother Changeling, calling out for Ben to take charge of the other children – rather than the realtor, the adult among them – comes instinctively to Dean. Of course, he's the only one of the prisoners that Dean knows at all to be able to command in this way. But also, even the suspicion that the boy might be his is enough to put Ben on the other side of a dividing line between 'them' and 'us'. Dean has spent enough time with him to have bonded, if only a little bit, and has seen how sensible and capable the little boy is, even in the midst of this traumatic situation, trusts him unthinkingly in a way he wouldn't with any other random, unconnected child. The suspicion, the maybe, colours every scene that Dean and Ben share, whether Dean is aware of his own semi-paternal feelings and behaviour toward the boy or not.

Ben, again showing how level-headed he is, moves a couple of industrial size cans of paint in front of the window so that the kids can use them as steps up and thus be able to make their escape. He helps the last little girl climb out, then clambers up to the window himself, turning back to see Dean now managing to get the upper hand over Mother Changeling. The changeling struggles back to her feet, only to see Sam and his flamethrower right in front of her. No time to escape – he hits her full on with the flame, and she combusts into nothingness.



In Lisa and Dana's houses, Changeling!Katie and Changeling!Ben likewise combust and vanish. So…killing Mother Changeling also kills all the baby changelings? That's convenient!

Morning has arrived by the time the Impala pulls up outside Lisa's house, young Ben the last child to be dropped off at home. I wonder how they explained the others, or if they just dropped them off outside and made a hasty getaway before awkward questions could be asked. Rather more to the point, Sam is driving! Yes, Sam is behind the wheel of the Impala, on screen, for the first time since Devil's Trap. And with Dean in the car, even. Talk about an incident worthy of note!

Lisa comes sprinting out to hug her son, relieved at his safe return, having seen his changeling double burst into flames right in front of her, which is not something she can rationalise in any way. Having reassured herself that Ben is all right, Lisa turns to Dean and shakily asks what the hell happened.

"I'll explain everything if you want me to," Dean offers. "But trust me – you probably don't. Important thing is that Ben is safe." And he ruffles Ben's hair affectionately. After freaking out when he first realised that, mathematically, Ben might be his son, having got to know Ben he's become so at peace with the idea, probably without even fully realising it himself, it's almost heartbreaking.

Overwhelmed, Lisa thanks Dean wholeheartedly and hugs him tight, which is the closest he's got yet to his reason for looking her up in the first place, not that that seems all that important to him any more, given everything. Sam shuffles, decides he's going to give them some time, and takes off. This looks an awful lot like tolerance and indulgence, but comes with a flip side of allowing Sam himself a bit more time for covert research. There's a lot he's not telling Dean right now. Also? This is the reason Sam is driving the car in this scene, so he could make this tactical retreat without having to futz around swapping keys.

Later. Ben sits and listens to music while he eats, apparently not the slightest bit traumatised by his hair-raising experience. Lisa has evidently opted for the truth, which Dean has given her, no holds barred. "Changelings?" she murmurs, torn between disbelief and the memory of what she witnessed with her own eyes.

"You know I never mentioned my job?" Dean reminds her. "This is my job."

"I so didn't wanna know that," Lisa mutters. Well, he did warn her she wouldn't want to know. Dean's looking at her with regret, no doubt remembering what happened the last time he told a girlfriend the truth about what he does, and nods, recognising the reaction and accepting it with quiet, almost melancholy resignation. There is a good reason he sticks to one-night stands, on the whole, and avoids getting too close to anyone new.

Lisa wonders if Ben will be okay, and Dean assures her that he will be fine. "Look, seriously, I mean, you're a hundred per cent sure that he is not mine, right?" he has to ask.

Lisa laughs and assures him that he's off the hook. Apparently she did a blood test when Ben was a baby. "It was this guy, some bar-back in a biker joint. What? I had a type: leather jacket, couple of scars, no mailing address, I was there. Guess I was a little wild back then." That would have sufficed to drive home the comparison between how much her life has changed in comparison to Dean's, but the writers chose to hammer the point home a little harder by having her add, "Before I became a Mom."

Dean fidgets uncomfortably and looks a little wistful, because her life has moved on so much since they last met, whereas his hasn't so much. Almost nine years and he's still stuck looping around the same circles, moving from job to job and never forming any lasting attachments, with so much he's never had the chance to experience, and little or no likelihood now that he ever will.

Lisa concludes that he can relax, and Dean clears his throat and says that's good, but he doesn't sound entirely convincing, looking at Ben with something almost like longing, and Lisa notices. "I swear, you look disappointed," she realises.

Dean looks at her again, and there's this really lovely moment between them where she clearly recognises that there's a lot more going on than meets the eye, but doesn't push it, just allows him tell her as much as he's willing. She makes such an awesome former girlfriend, even if they only ever had a weekend fling – the chemistry between them is so much more convincing than Cassie ever had.

"I don't know," Dean admits. "It's weird, you know – your life. I mean this house, kid. It's not my life. Never will be…. Some stuff happened to me recently, and uh. Anyway, a guy in my situation, you start to think, you know. I'm gonna be gone one day – what am I leaving behind besides a car?"

He tries to laugh it off, keep it light, but he's not fooling anyone, least of all Lisa. There is undoubted relief that he doesn't have to deal with the responsibility that would come attached to fatherhood, with his time being so limited and therefore giving him so much less to offer than he would have anyway. But he's bonded with Ben enough over the course of the episode that he's come to quite like the idea of being someone's dad, no matter how complicated it would be in practice, likes the idea of leaving something of himself in the world, instead of just disappearing as if he was never here when the hellhounds come for him. Proof that his existence has made a difference. With less than a year on the clock, this was the last chance he thinks he'll ever have to be someone's dad, and now that half-formed hope has been crushed before it had a chance to even fully develop. He's always known that this kind of thing – lasting relationships, children, normality – was inaccessible to him, due to the lifestyle. He's been saying as much to Sam since as far back as Skin, pretending he doesn't care and even fooling himself most of the time. But it has been clear for a long time that he harbours deep regret about missing out on so much, usually carefully hidden away, but shining through numerous times in episodes from Route 666 to What Is And What Should Never Be. This experience has tapped right into those hidden yearnings just when he was least expecting it.

"I don't know. Ben may not be your kid, but he wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you," Lisa softly tells him. "That's a lot, if you ask me."

That's beautiful, because it's the kind of affirmation Dean really needs right now, the kind of thing Sam has been trying to drum into his head ever since he realised how little faith in himself his brother really has beneath the surface. It carries a lot more weight coming from an outsider, the acknowledgement that he has touched a life, that he won't be forgotten, that his existence really has made a difference. I think the simple fact that Lisa remembered him at all after almost nine years – not to mention the fact that random acquaintances of hers had heard of him – also says a lot about the memorability of Dean Winchester.

"You know, just for the record," Dean tells Lisa as he prepares to leave – and presumably walk back to the motel, since Sam has the car. "You've got a great kid. I would have been proud to be his dad."



Aww. That is a rare moment of emotional honesty, one he can afford because it is said as much for her sake as for his, and he isn't going to see her again anyway. Lisa can't resist, rushes forward and plants one right on his lips. Now that's more like what he was hoping for when he first knocked on her door. But that moment has passed, nostalgic wishful thinking giving way to wistful regrets over what can never be, and Dean just looks sad now. Lisa invites him to stay for a while, and he manages to muster up a smile for her, but tells her he can't. "I got a lot of work to do. And it's not my life."

Lisa looks a little sad now, as Dean walks out of her life for the last time, as if she's also regretting what might have been. I think she might have realised now that Dean would have been a much better father to her son than the no-hoper who clearly hasn't stuck around since consenting to the blood test. And I think she also kind of has an inkling of what's wrong, because 'my time is running out fast' was stamped all over the conversation they just had, even if Dean never actually said the words out loud.

Cicero Pines Motel. While Dean was explaining and saying his farewells to Lisa, Sam has been hard at work researching, following up on his conversation with the Glossy Blonde Chick. We get a montage of random clips of this research – Internet searches and a myriad of fact-finding phone calls. The upshot of it all is that every single friend of Mary's that Sam has managed to identify is now dead. Someone named Hardecker died in a fire in November 2006 in Lawrence, Kansas. A Robert Campbell died in July 2001 – that one was before the Yellow-Eyed Demon became active once more, as far as we knew until now. A cardiac surgeon died from a previously undiagnosed heart condition. A Mrs Wallace. One Ed Campbell. And so on until every name on his list is scratched out, and Sam sinks his head into his hands, appalled and struggling to process.



Just how Sam managed to find out the names of all Mary's friends is another matter entirely, as is just how far back he took the connection. I mean, did his search include school friends and teachers? Or just the friends important to Mary in her adult life, once she'd married and settled in Lawrence?

It's worth wondering just why Sam is keeping what he now knows about Mary a secret from Dean. He's never told his brother what the Yellow-Eyed Demon revealed to him, that Mary recognised it, and he clearly hasn't told Dean about his encounter with Glossy Blonde, which led him down this avenue of investigation. Is it that he's afraid of his brother's reaction, especially if it all turns out to mean something sinister about Sam himself? He should know by now, surely, that nothing can shake Dean's faith in him. Is it that he is afraid of shattering Dean's faith in their mother, destroying the memories of her that his brother has, if his research reveals anything too disturbing about her connection with the demon? Or does it stem from his obvious determination not to burden his brother any more, to stand on his own two feet and deal with his problems by himself? He knows how heavily his neediness weighed on Dean last season, and has to realise how much that contributed to Dean's decision to make the deal with the Crossroads Demon. He knows that if Dean even suspected Sam was in any kind of danger still from the Yellow-Eyed Demon's plans, he'd start worrying again, when Sam is clearly drawing a lot of pleasure from seeing his brother enjoying himself burden-free for once.

It puts me in mind of the start of season two, when the writers and show makers talked a lot about hero's journey mythology, about how, as a writer, if you want your hero to stand on his or her own two feet, you have to take their mentor away from them. That's what John's death was all about, and it worked, in many respects, but for Dean far more than for Sam. Dean really came into his own once the safety net of John's authority was taken away from him and he had only himself to rely on, as difficult as that process was for him. But for Sam to truly stand on his own two feet, you'd have to take Dean away from him, and that fact seems to be a large part of Sam's season three character arc thus far. Sam is anticipating Dean's loss, has seen how damaging his over-reliance on his brother has been, and is trying very hard to handle his problems on his own now, instead of just handing them on to his brother. On the one hand, Sam absolutely believes that he will find a solution; he has to believe it for his own peace of mind, has enormous faith in his own research and problem-solving skills. But, on the other hand, he doesn't want Dean to spend the last year of his life worrying about him.

It'll be interesting to see how it all comes out in the wash, later in the season, which is obviously going to happen at some point. The keeping of secrets on this show never works out well.

"They're dead. All of them. All my Mom's friends. Her doctor. Her uncle. Everyone who ever knew her systematically wiped off the map one at a time," Sam recaps for us, glaring fiercely at someone in the room with him. So Mary's uncle is also now dead, presumably the one who put up her memorial, just another relative the boys will never know. "Someone went through a hell of a lot of trouble trying to cover their tracks."

"Yep," Glossy Blonde agrees, lounging comfortably near the window. Clearly, Sam has done what she told him and phoned her once he did the research she'd suggested. He's taken the bait – now we find out how far she's able to reel him in. It's kind of a risk, though, surely: holding this conversation in the motel room, when Dean could walk in at any moment. He's clearly expecting Dean to take his time with Lisa and Ben, which could say something about how well he is or isn't reading his brother at the moment, being so wrapped up in his secrets.

"The Yellow-Eyed Demon," Glossy Blonde explains, was responsible for the bloodbath Sam has just learned of.
"So what's your deal?" Sam wants to know, deeply pissed off. "You show up wherever I am, you know all about me, you know all about my Mom…"
"I already told you," Glossy Blonde laughs. "I'm just –"
"Oh right, yeah, yeah. Just a hunter," Sam loudly disbelieves. "Just some hunter who happens to know more about my family than I do."

She is so blatantly not a hunter it's almost funny at this stage. We've met enough of them in the course of the show now for that to be obvious.

"Just tell me who you are," Sam demands. She tries to brush him off, and he repeats the question, a little louder. "Just tell me who you are." Again she starts to laugh that it doesn't matter, and Sam bellows the question a third time. "JUST TELL ME. WHO YOU ARE!"

Ooh, and with an echo and everything. Very masterful. Sam's a lot less diffident this season than he used to be; he has good reason. He's trying very hard to be calm and reasonable, practical and methodical, but he's got a lot of anger and tension simmering away beneath the surface that he doesn't want Dean to see. Glossy Blonde makes a good target for venting.

"Fine." Glossy Blonde closes her eyes, and opens them once more to reveal demon blackness. Woohoo! As mentioned earlier, I speculated in my recap for The Magnificent Seven that she might be a demon – it certainly explains the glossy, the posturing and attitude, and the interest in Sam – so that's theory #1 confirmed! Watch me get everything else wrong for the rest of the season.

Shocked and alarmed, because 'demon' hadn't occurred to him for a moment, no matter how perplexed he was by his weird stalker, Sam skitters back to the bed and starts fumbling in a bag for holy water, never taking his eyes off her for a second.

"I'm here to help you, Sam," coos Glossy Blonde.
"Is that some kind of joke?" Sam snarls.
"God's honest truth," she mocks. "Or, whatever."
"You're a demon," Sam points out, lip curling with revulsion.
"Don't be such a racist," she snaps. "I'm here because I wanna help you. And I can. If you trust me."

She smirks, knowing she's got the upper hand. She possesses knowledge and information that's valuable to him, and he knows just enough to be aware of that. It makes her doubly dangerous.

Sam's not inclined to trust a demon, holds his flask of holy water in front of him like a shield. Glossy Blonde rolls her eyes and tells him to calm down. Sam tells her to start talking. "All those murders – what was the demon trying to cover up?"

Ah, the $64,000 question.

"I don't know," Glossy Blonde calmly says.
"What happened to my mother?" Sam grits.
"I honestly don't know," Glossy Blonde insists. "That's what I'm trying to find out. All I know is that it's about you."

Sam is taken aback. He's always suspected that it was all about him, all those deaths, all that tragedy, the train wreck that is his brother's life, not to mention his own. But every confirmation he receives hits him like a physical blow all the same. It makes me wonder, though, if Sam was special among the special children, if there were reasons for his being the Yellow-Eyed Demon's favourite besides how well John had trained him, or if this systematic wiping out of evidence is something that has been done for all of them. The fact that at least one of the deaths Sam learned about happened several years before the Yellow-Eyed Demon was known to have become active once more is interesting, although whether or not it is relevant is another matter entirely.

Glossy Blonde laughs, almost bitterly. "Don't you get it, Sam? It's all about you. What happened to your mom, what happened to her friends, they're trying to cover up what he did to you. And I wanna help you figure it out."

Who is this 'they', I wonder? The Yellow-Eyed Demon's minions? Does that mean that Glossy Blonde is not one of them? Who is she? What's her motivation? It's still possible that she is one of his underlings, trying to carry on his legacy but struggling due to the gaps in her knowledge, because apparently ol' Yellow-Eyes was as bad at communicating his full intentions as John was? Or is she some completely random other demon who can see the fragments of a good plan just lying around in tatters and wants in, hopes to twist things to her own advantage? It'll be fascinating to find out!

"Why would you want to help me?" Sam asks, very reasonable even when afraid.
"I have my reasons," Glossy Blonde evades. "Not all demons are the same, Sam. Not all of us want the same thing. Me, I wanna help you from time to time. That's all. And if you let me, there's something in it for you."
"What could you possibly –?" Sam begins, lip curling with contempt.
But Glossy Blonde interrupts, offering him the biggest and best bait she could ever hope to lay her hands on. "I can help you save your brother."

Ooh, and watch how the look on Sam's face slowly shifts from anger to confusion – and temptation.



October 2007

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