#the night of the pilot i mean where dean showed up at stanford

[monstermoviedean]

the night we met for song of the day in 15x20. loathsome

[ifyoulovemeletmebinge]

The Woman in White: Cohen’s Monster Theses Analysis

After reading Cohen’s theses, I immediately knew which “modern monster” I wanted to write about. I was an avid fan of the television sci-fi/horror show Supernatural which ended after 15 seasons in 2020. The premise of the show follows two human brothers, Sam and Dean, and their companions (supernatural and human alike) as they hunt and slay monsters from common/popular folklore throughout America. Arguably, the most famous monster in the series is the first one, introduced all the way back in the pilot of Supernatural in 2005. The Woman in White was Supernatural’s take on the common legend of the White Lady, a ghostly figure of a woman dressed in white, cursed to roam rural areas. It’s important to note that sometimes she is depicted to be constantly crying or weeping, too. Supernatural’s Woman in White derails from some aspects of the traditional legend, but she can be perfectly applied to Cohen’s theses on the constitution of monsters.

Highly suggest reading Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s “Monster Culture: Seven Theses”

Thesis 1: The Woman in White is a “displacement.” The pilot episode is set up in an investigative structure that allows for the protagonists, Sam and Dean, to play a tug of war game with the Woman in White. She regularly appears and disappears throughout, toying with them; the Woman in White does have a sort of agency as a “vengeful spirit” in that she takes various turns trying to scare Sam and Dean off from their plan to kill her. At one point, she takes control of their car and tries to run them off the bridge she haunts during the night. It’s important to note that the Woman in White is only active at night, where she can pray on “innocents” and where she can take advantage of the scarce eyes to scare people off. This connects to the idea of the monster’s body being part of that which “warns” the protagonists. In turn, when the next day comes along with sunlight, she is not active, but the protagonists are. This is when Sam and Dean talk to the whole town in search of information about the Woman in White. In this case, the monstrous body is not physically present like her ghost is at night, but the people that knew her and knew of her, are the ones which “reveal” her story. In this way, her “corporal” spirit is stuck between haunting and warning at night and being dissected during the day, stuck in “the gap between the time of upheaval that cre­ated it and the moment into which it is received.”

Thesis 2: The Woman in White “turns immaterial and vanishes, … to reappear someplace else.” In one of her first scenes in the episode, she attacks a young man who has stopped driving through the bridge to give her a ride. After she kills him, she leaves a fogged handprint on the window of his car, and then she is gone. The police find him dead and alone the next morning, with no evidence she was ever there. Additionally, her ghost-like state gives her the ability to disappear in flashes. When Sam and Dean first see her, she stands on the ledge of the bridge, balancing precariously, her white dress and long dark hair flowing around her, and then she gracefully tilts until she falls off the bridge entirely. Sam and Dean do not find her body down at the rocks below. She also teleports on a whim, going from inside to outside her victim’s cars, to different floors of her house within a blink.

Thesis 3: The Woman in White is “an invitation to explore new spirals, new and interconnected methods of perceiving the world” and it also “threatens to devour “all raw & quyk” any thinker who insists otherwise.” She is a great example of being a “revolution on the logic of meaning,” and this is demonstrated when she attacks Sam. Towards the end of the episode, desperate because the Woman in White took his brother, Sam decides he will use himself as bait to get to her and save him. This is supposed to be shocking due to his characterization; Sam Winchester is a law student at Stanford, he has a full scholarship, he got a 174 on his LSAT, he is in a steady relationship with his girlfriend Jessica, and even at 22, he is good enough of a monster hunter that his older brother Dean asked him for help in handling this case. All of this information about one of our protagonists (the audience’s point of human reference) is given to us in this same episode. Therefore, it is appalling to us as the audience that the Woman in White’s power is strong enough to make even Sam irrational to the point of carelessness, something that is unlike his established worldview challenged by the ghost of the Woman in White.

Thesis 4: The Woman in White’s challenge of “gender identities elicits an array of anxious responses throughout culture.” This is specifically seen through what Sam and Dean find out from her backstory. Constance Welch was a mother of two, whose two children drowned in the bathtub, which sent her into a depression so dreadful she committed suicide. The town resolves to forget about her wrongdoings, completely erasing her history to the point where even her widower refuses to talk about her and their deceased children when confronted by Sam. All that is left is the legend of Constance–or what she became to everyone: the Woman in White, a cursed spirit roaming the town at night and murdering those that are kind enough or pervy enough to stop by her. She is a mother and a “woman who oversteps the boundaries of her gender role” when she lets her children die and when she takes her own life, but that is not what our protagonists hear when they start investigating her. Until they start to dig deeper, the Woman in White is a ghostly menace to everyone that has encountered her or has had someone close to them encounter her, like the sister of the first victim in the episode.

Thesis 5: The Woman in White’s “sexuality takes on a separate life.” To focus on her for this thesis, it is important to note that Contance is a conventionally attractive young woman. Her ghost features are only shown in the episode when it is too late for the victim to escape, and in this way she is very luring and secretive. On the surface, when a victim first drives by her, they see a pretty girl wearing a skimpy dress; she is deserted at night, alone and possibly cold and afraid. She uses her appearance and sensuality to acquire her victims. One example is the uncomfortable zoom in that travels her body inside the car at the start of the episode. Supernatural does not have a great track record in terms of respecting their female characters and this scene is an example of the show exercising their original tag line: “Scary is the new sexy.” Although this scene was gratiutous in nature, it also served to separate Constance, the woman and mother, from the Woman in White, the seductress and murderer. This distinction, highlighted by the exploration of her body and appearance, creates a separate monster that is the main culprit in the killings: her sexuality.

Thesis 6: The Woman in White is “sexual indulgence” personified while also being abject. She uses her sensuality to lure victims into giving her a ride, and this still rings true when Sam does it. It was said earlier in the episode that the Woman in White only killed men, and more specifically men who cheated on their wives or girlfriends, something we are expected to believe she knows due to her ghost-powers. Sam thinks himself untouchable, since he declares he has always been faithful to Jessica, but the Woman in White forces herself upon him, breaking his last wall of protection against her. She feeds off of sex and sexual indulgence and she can physically and mentally conjure sex and sexual indulgence; all she needs is a victim to act on whice makes her even more terrifying since technically we could be susceptible to that too. In that same scene, she attempts to shove her hand into Sam’s chest to kill him, which makes her abject in many ways. Firstly, she is abject because she kissed Sam without his consent and that kind of sexual advance was unwanted and threatening to his loyalty to his girlfriend. Secondly, she is abject because she is literally physically entering Sam’s body and the horror of the scene is that a ghost-like figure is breaking through the very skin of our pure and sweet protagonist, who screams wildly in pain. The thought of those actions being done is disgusting and scary to the audience, and this only spikes the feelings of abjection towards her.

Thesis 7: Lastly, perhaps the most interesting thing about the Woman in White is that she is the first monster-of-the-week of the series, catapulting the brothers into a 15 season arc. Surprisingly, she comes back in the last season (mostly as an easter egg for fans), and although this is a different actress, a different dress, and a different era of Supernatual considering the main characters have developed over 15 years, she strikes up the same feelings as she did in the pilot. Cohen says monsters “always return,” which is true of her cameo in her second appearance in the show. The approach towards her reappearance is set by one character meeting her for the first time and saying “Bad ghost!” This neverending toxic cycle of living, and dying, and haunting continues in Supernatual as Constance, from the pilot of the show all the way to the end, along with other monsters in between asks “us why we have created them” only to never be given an answer, just banished until the next time they can be used as a shock-factor for an audience who wants to see them burn. One of the Woman in White’s classic lines is “I can never go home,” and she never does, not really, for her new home is this monstrous ghostly state of threatening sexuality and murderous sorrow for the things she has lost.

[archivingspn]

2019: Twitter- Eric Kripke

therealKripke: “In honor of #SPN300, here's my original #SPN pitch from 2004. The pilot story is very different, but the tone always rang clear to me. Could never have imagined what this show became and the good it's done. Humbled and grateful beyond words to you all. #SPNFamily @cw_spn ‘[images of spn pilot’s 4pg script]’“ - 12:08 PM Feb 7, 2019

[source]

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Supernatural

Pitch by Eric Kripke August 30, 2004

I. TONE AND WORLD

In one sentence, this is X-FILES meets ROUTE 66. Two brothers, cruising the dusty back roads in their trusty 64 Mustang, battling the things that go bump in the night. But much more than that, it's a show about an obsession of mine...

Throughout the U.S., (especially the MIDDLE, where I'm from), we have a folklore, as uniquely American as baseball, as rich and varied as any world mythology, and almost nobody knows it. For instance, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil, at an abandoned Mississippi crossroads, to be the world's greatest guitarist. But he died violently, poisoned at age 26, screaming about Hellhounds as he choked on his own blood. In the shadowy north woods of Minnesota, lives a creature named the Wendigo. Translated from Native American, it means "evil that devours.” It feeds on human flesh. And even today, dozens of witnesses say it's very real.

There are literally HUNDREDS of these stories and legends and urban legends. There are dark and dangerous things out there in the corners of our country. So here's a show that travels the diverse highways and byways of supernatural America. Black woods, ghost towns, those tourist trap mystery spots. Really, a show ABOUT our country-the bloody, beating heart of America.

Unlike X-FILES, this show isn't Vancouver rainy. It's brighter, more colorful, more VISCERAL, and more irreverent. The humor here is extremely important to me—but it has to arise from the characters and their attitudes. The characters can be funny, but the weekly stories have to be SCARY AS SHIT– I'm talking THE RING; how what you don't see is much more terrifying than what you do. I'm talking about making this series as scary as I possibly can, until you guys call and yell at me.

But I also want the tone to be GROUNDED. Where BUFFY, for example, felt HEIGHTENED, our show should feel like OUR WORLD, real-life America. With a darkness that bubbles and boils just beneath the surface. And I want to keep the weekly stories CREDIBLE- leave 'em with a question mark, the possibility of a rational explanation. Something early X-Files did very well.

Finally, I want this show to capture a certain SPIRIT. For one, that youthful electricity of dropping out and hitting the open road; the freedom of wide-open American spaces. But also, EVERY road trip story-from FEAR and LOATHING to Kerouac to The Odyssey, are inherently mythic quests, hero's journeys, real Joseph Campbell stuff. The way STAR WARS, LORD OF THE RINGS, and MATRIX are all the same story, with the same beats. So our series, too, is an epic hero's quest-- across the United States. Almost like a modern western, and our heroes are gunslingers. Or, as I like to call it - it's STAR WARS in TRUCK STOP AMERICA.

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II. CHARACTERS AND FRANCHISE

Now, let's get into establishing our characters, and launching our franchise.

So if this is STAR WARS, meet LUKE SKYWALKER. SAM HARRISON, 21. Think Jake Gyllenhall, or Tobey Maguire. Smart, funny, handsome, maybe a little type-A. He just graduated Stanford with a 4.0, and now he's heading back down to L.A., where he lives with his Aunt and Uncle, he'll spend the summer clerking at a powerful law firm. And in the Fall... Harvard Law, thank you very much. Pedal to the metal, Sam is cruising the track to success. But, like all good Luke Skywalker heroes, Sam is vaguely restless. He tells his girlfriend, maybe he should drop everything this summer and blow off to Europe. But of course, he doesn't. He has too many responsibilities.

Sam's well adjusted, successful life, it's a real triumph, especially considering his background. Fifteen years ago, his dad JACK became increasingly dark and depressed. He drank. A lot. Until Mom and Dad were in a car crash. Dad was driving. He lived. Mom didn't. That triggered a schizophrenic breakdown in Dad. He swore that twisted, dark, horrific things caused that crash and took Mom away. And those same dark things were chasing after him. Dad was institutionalized. But he escaped. And disappeared.

Sam is ashamed of his tragic past. Hates his Dad, blames him for killing Mom, and NEVER, EVER talks about it.

Now, Sam's mythic CALL TO ADVENTURE, the events that will change his life forever, begin simply enough. When his big brother DEAN rolls into town. Meet DEAN HARRISON, 25, think Colin Farrel. If Sam's the good kid, Dean's the troublemaker. If Sam's Luke Skywalker, Dean's Han Solo. Charismatic and dangerous. Cocky confidence masking a troubled soul. Sam hated Dad, but Dean was older and remembered Dad in brighter days, and he worshipped the man. Sam buried his past and ignored it, but Dean was haunted by it, never quite got his shit together. Dean never went to college. Just sort of traveled around. In fact, Sam hasn't heard from Dean in almost 3 years, which Sam clearly resents.

And now... Dean makes Sam a proposition. Let me drive you down to L.A.- it's just one day, we'll get a chance to catch up a little. Reluctant, Sam agrees.

At first, they're enjoying the electric, carefree pleasures of a ROAD TRIP. Top down, radio blaring, singing their lungs out to AC/DC.

But then... at twilight... on an empty stretch of highway... Dean's driving. And he has to make a confession. (Though I'm sure we'll break this up into a few different scenes.) "Sam. There's something I need to tell you," Dean says. “I went looking for Dad. And I found him. Took just about every dime I had, but I found him. And I've been with him, for almost 2 years." Sam is shocked and betrayed: "what?! Why didn't you tell me?!" But Dean continues: "listen. I know this is hard to believe. But Dad WASN'T nuts.

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Demons really DID kill Mom. Dark, awful things WERE following Dad. I know. Because I can see them. Because they're following me, too."

Obviously, Sam is BEYOND freaked and well aware that schizophrenia is hereditary. Dean goes on, getting worked up-“so Dad figured out how to kill these things, and he showed me how. Until they caught up to us in Baker. They got Dad. Before I got them." "What do you mean, you GOT them?” asks Sam. “I killed a demon. In human form," says Dean. “You killed somebody?!" "No, I killed a DEMON, it only LOOKED human.” (Which could be a scary, visceral teaser, by the way.) Anyway, DEAN continues: “Listen to me, Sam... it was Dad's wish, his DYING WISH, that I find you, that I teach you the way he taught me.” At this point, Sam goes into placating, survival mode. “Okay. Sure. Just calm down." But Sam's terrified-of his own brother.

Meanwhile, as this conversation's going on, Dean isn't going to L.A. He takes a detour-- for all intents and purposes, kidnapping Sam. They pull into a small, faded, all-American town in Central California. It's 1950's American optimism gone to seed. Basically, they pull right into the pilot's SELF ENCLOSED B-STORY. Whatever it is, the story should be simple, giving us room to focus on the brothers. It should be based in Folklore. And it should be personal—the job their father never completed.

Now, here's an example of exactly the kind of story I'm talking about. The real life ghost story of the "Weeping Woman," a sobbing wraith in a bloody white nightgown. She murdered her children by the river side, as revenge against her unfaithful husband. And today, it's said she lures unfaithful men to the river and drowns them. And sure enough, several MEN in this town have turned up dead by the river's edge. Anyway, something like this. And Dean, despite his smart ass jokes and references to the movie Poltergeist, seems to be taking this SERIOUSLY.

But Sam doesn't believe a WORD of it. First moment he's alone, he calls his Aunt and Uncle. “I'm with Dean, I think he's sick.” They tell him—"cops in Baker found your Dad's body. And a truck driver's body, too. Dean's the suspect. You have to get away! Where are you?!” But before Sam can answer-he pivots, right into Dean. Who grabs the phone, SMASHING it, furious: “Dammit, Sam, I'm not insane," Dean says, “Caspar the unfriendly fucker is really out there!"

Then, as Dean delves deeper and deeper into the ghost story, dragging a reluctant Sam along with him... INEXPLICABLE SUPERNATURAL phenomenon begin to occur, which SERIOUSLY RATTLES Sam. We'll have several good, scary set pieces. And soon, Sam doesn't know WHAT to think. And in the B-STORY'S climax, he'll even save Dean at some crucial point. (Though we'll be careful to leave things open ended, with just the possibility of a logical explanation.)

Afterwards, a beat in which Dean, vulnerable, says to his brother-"I've been thinking. And you're going home, Sam. You're smart, and you've got everything going for you. I don't care what Dad said, I can't let you live like this... Still," says Dean, "it was nice having you around. When you're with somebody... you just don't feel as crazy as

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often." Sam's very conflicted, and he feels awful, but he can't just abandon his old life. So the brothers part ways. Sam hitchhikes up the road. Meanwhile, thanks to his Aunt and Uncle, the cops have been searching for Sam, and now they find him.

At the station, Sam tells the cops, Dean's in Colorado by now. But a patrol car has spotted Dean's parked Mustang at a nearby motel. The police grab SHOTGUNS, they're going to take Dean with force. And in the face of ONE PASSING COP, Sam sees-a glimpse. A shimmer. Something DEMONIC and INHUMAN flashes across the cop's face-and then it's gone, just as quick. Did Sam imagine it? Is he going insane, too? Or is Dean really in danger? Are dark, awful things really after him, like he said?

This is Sam's crossroads moment. And he makes a decision-he takes off. Steals a car. Beats the cops back to Dean. Warns him at the last minute. It's very TIGHT and very HECTIC, but Sam and Dean get away. Escaping by the skin of their teeth.

As we leave Sam... he doesn't know if he's losing his mind. He doesn't know if Dean's a hero or a homicidal schizophrenic. All he knows is-Dean's his brother, and he needs help. And for now, that's enough.

III. THE SERIES ITSELF

I think the overall GOAL here, is building an engine that gives us SELF ENCLOSED STORIES. I am gonna pitch some very simple mythology, but STAND ALONES are a format I really believe in, they're the shows I loved and grew up on. Like the best EARLY episodes of X-FILES.

So basically, our two heroes, avenging their parents' death, cruise the golden backroads of America-picture chrome diners and bucolic farms and dusty Route 66 towns. Places that are mythic and American, but also haunting, in a way. Places where horror can strike in broad daylight. Sam and Dean are kind of like classic gunslingers, or dragon slayers, finding-and KILLING—the monsters of American folklore.

So first question-how do they find the damn things? Dean tracks these creatures in a low-tech way. He scans obituaries for strange deaths. Dean also has a loose network of contacts - defrocked ministers and trailer park psychics, who impart information to our heroes whenever necessary.

Second question-how do they KILL the damn things? The answer—they have no fucking idea. They're outgunned and desperate and in completely over their heads. They don't have a WATCHER, like in BUFFY. They don't have an OBI WAN. They're on their own. Each week, they gotta figure out what the hell they're dealing with, and how the hell to kill it. And a lot of the time, they're wrong, and they have to improvise. Whether it's finding a ghost's remains - and burning them into dust; or loading a shotgun with silver buckshot, our guys will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

[saltandburnsis]

wendigo, pt. 1

Characters: Reader, Dean, Sam, Ranger

Age: 20

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,506

Summary: With nothing to show from their week’s stay in Stanford after Jessica’s death, the Winchesters move on to Black Water Ridge in search of their father.

A/N: y’all the fact that they changed the name of the town from Blackbottle Ridge to Black Water Ridge has been so frustrating. The “‘Blackwater?’ “No, Blackbottle” dialogue I put in the last part of the pilot was a joke for myself because I could not keep the name straight and now they’re just going to change it on me?? Insane. Also, as always, all dialogue taken from the show will be in italics.

~ ~ ~ ~

Sam woke up with a start, bolting upright in the passenger seat. Dean looked to him a few times, watching his movements as Sam tried to shake off whatever had scared him so.

“You okay?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sam replied, brow furrowed as he played off his sudden waking. You looked to him from your spot in the back.

“Was it another nightmare?” you asked. Sam cleared his throat but, unsurprisingly, didn’t answer. They’d been happening so frequently since that night, but Sam refused to talk about them.

“Wanna drive for a while?” Dean looked to his younger brother. Sam chuckled in response, shocked.

“Dean, in your whole life, you’ve never once asked me that.”

“Yeah, me neither,” you agreed, leaning forward and resting your arms on the seat in front of you.

“Just thought you might want to. Never mind,” Dean replied to Sam. “And, Y/N, you’re never driving Baby again after what happened.”

“God, you crash a car into a house one time,” you replied, sitting back in your seat. This seemed to lighten the mood enough to take Sam out of his head.

“Look, guys, you’re worried about me. I get it and thank you, but I’m perfectly okay.” Dean only hummed in response. Quick to change the subject, Sam spoke again, grabbing the map as he did: “Alright, where are we?”

“We are just outside of Grand Junction,” Dean replied. Sam looked over the map for a few minutes before taking a deep breath.

“You know what? Maybe we shouldn’t have left Stanford so soon,” he mused. Dean shut his eyes for a moment, and you leaned forward again to look at Sam.

“Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you want to find the thing that killed Jessica-”

“Gotta find Dad first,” he interrupted, finishing your thought.

“Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years? It’s no coincidence. Dad’ll have answers. He’ll know what to do,” Dean reminded Sam. The same words he’d used to convince Sam to leave Stanford in the first place. Sam tried to change the subject again.

“It’s weird, man. These coordinates he left us, this Black Water Ridge…” Sam trailed off, looking at the map again.

“What about it?” Dean asked, glancing over at the map.

“There’s nothing there. It’s just woods.” Sam lowered the map and looked out the windshield, confusion clear on his face. “Why’s he sending us to the middle of nowhere?”

——————-

You looked around the ranger station with Dean while the three of you waited for the ranger. Sam was at the terrain model of the woods, looking at the entirety of the area.

“So, Black Water Ridge is pretty remote. It’s cut off by these canyons here—rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place,” he explained to you and Dean. His words fell on deaf ears, however, as you and Dean were too preoccupied with looking at the pictures on the wall.

“Dude, check out the size of this friggin’ bear,” Dean called the two of you over. You walked over with Sam and shrugged when you saw the bear.

“…and a dozen or more grizzlies in the area,” Sam concluded his summary of the area.

“I’ve seen bigger than that. I fought a werewolf twice that size a few months ago before I met back up with you and Dad in Des Moines. I could take that thing on no problem,” you scoffed. Dean smiled proudly, but Sam furrowed his brow. He knew how invested you were in this life, how much you’d always been, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit overprotective of his kid sister. You’d been out facing monstrous werewolves three times your size without any help during his absence?

“It’s no nature hike, that’s for sure,” he said, shaking his head. The three of you were interrupted by the ranger’s entrance.

“You three aren’t planning to go out near Black Water Ridge, by any chance?” he asked. The three of you turned to face him.

“Oh, no, sir. We’re environmental-study majors from U.C. Boulder. Just working on a paper,” Sam answered. Dean fist-bumped the air.

“Recycle, man,” he added.

“Bull. You’re friends with that Hailey girl, right?” The Ranger moved to stand behind his desk. You stepped out from behind Sam and Dean, nodding.

“Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger…Wilkinson,” you answered, leaning in slightly to make out the name on his badge. He set his coffee mug down.

“Well, I will tell you exactly what I told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn’t be back from Black Water until the 24th. So, it’s not exactly a missing persons now, is it?” Dean shook his head. “Tell that girl to quit worrying. I’m sure her brother’s just fine,” Ranger Wilkinson finished, stepping away from his desk again.

“We will,” Dean stated with a nod. “Well, that Hailey girl’s quite a pistol, huh?” He chuckled.

“That is putting it lightly,” the ranger replied with a shake of his head.

“Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother’s return date,” Dean suggested. Ranger Wilkinson looked down for a moment then nodded.

——-

“Yeah!” Dean laughed victoriously as he led you and Sam to the back of the car.

“What? Are you cruising to hookup or something?” you asked. Dean looked to you.

“What do you mean?”

“The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge. So, what are we waiting for?”

“She’s right, Dean,” Sam agreed. “Let’s just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we should know what we’re walking into before we actually walk into it,” Dean shot back defensively. He looked between you and Sam and shook his head.

“What?” Sam asked, clearly annoyed at this point.

“Since when are you two all ‘shoot first, ask questions later?’ anyway?”

“Since now,” Sam quipped, getting into the car with a slam of the door. Dean turned to you before you could follow suit.

“You know, you’re the one who said we were friends with this girl. Now you’re mad it got us some information?”

“Yeah, the wrong information. How was I supposed to know that girl wasn’t a victim going in?” you sighed. “If Dad’s here in those woods, he could fill us in on what we need to know. Making all these other stops, interviewing people Dad probably already got to…it’s just more time spent not looking for him.” With that, you slid into the backseat before Dean could answer.

———-

You opted out of going to the girl’s house, choosing instead to stay back and do some more research of your own. If you weren’t going right into the woods, you might as well look further into all this while you could. Besides, Hailey didn’t need two strangers at her door during all this, let alone three. However, this left you up to analyzing the video Dean and Sam collected while at her house. You met back up with Dean and Sam at a local dive-bar to share your findings.

“So, Black Water Ridge doesn’t get a lot of traffic. Local campers mostly, but, still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found,” you recanted, searching through the papers on the table before you.

“Any before that?” Dean asked.

“Yeah.” You finally found the old newspaper you’d printed and laid it on the table in front of your brothers. While they read, you got the laptop from the bag and turned it on. “In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And, again, in 1959, and before that in 1936. Every 23 years, just like clockwork.

“Okay, watch this. Here’s the cincher. I downloaded the video Sam sent over. Watch this.” You spun the laptop to face them. “Here’s the clincher.  I downloaded the video Sam sent me. Watch this.” You pressed a key, playing a few frames of the footage. Sam and Dean leaned in closer to the laptop.

“Do it again,” Dean said. You complied, rewinding the tape then playing those three frames again.

“That’s three frames. It’s a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move.” Sam’s eyes stayed locked on the screen as he spoke, reaching forward to play the clips once more. Dean hit Sam’s arm triumphantly.

“I told you something weird was going on here,” he said. You shook your head, shutting the laptop.

“Yeah, I got one more thing. In’59, one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid—barely crawled out of the woods alive.” You passed your last paper across the table for them to look over. Dean grabbed it first, and Sam looked on over his shoulder.

“Is there a name?” Dean asked.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

SPN rewrite taglist: @mrsfortune1306 @marvelous-glims

forever taglist: @griff1ndor @gothsatanicrapunzel @choosemyname @mersuperwholocked-lowlife @not-astounding @sassy-specter @vicmc624 @idksupernatural

[brown-bi-beautiful]

Supernatural Series Rewrite

Supernatural Rewrites Masterlist

Dean Winchester x named reader

Series Warning: language violence, angst, fluff, sexual content, Gore, molestation, mention of sexual harassment, usual supernatural violence. (If you’re triggered by any of these then please don’t read)

(A/n- I had to give the reader a name, there’s reason behind it but you can change it if you want. I changed some of the plot and some of the scenes but mostly it’s the same. I do not own the supernatural series but there are some things that are completely my imagination, it has nothing to do with the actual mythology or the series)

Bloody Mary (part 3)

Season One. Episode Six.

Skin (Part 1)

Dean pulled up to an crappy gas station and turned off the engine. "Alright, I figured we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch. Then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." He started telling the plan for the week now that you guys don't have any case. "Sam wears woman's underwear." Dean continues when he noticed that Sam wasn't paying attention, this made you chuckle.

"I've been listening, I'm just busy." Sam replied while doing something on his palm pilot.

"Busy doing what?" Dean asked as he got out of the car and you did the same to stretch your legs out. You've been sitting in that back seat for an awful long time. "Reading emails." Sam replied. "emails from who?" Dean asked as he walked around the car to the other side. "from my friends at Stanford." he said and you rolled your eyes. Of course he had friends in Stanford other than Jessica, he wasn't a freak like you.

"You kidding? You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" Dean scoffed and started filling gas in the car.

"why not?" Sam asked.

"Well..... What exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you been doing?" He asked leaning against the car beside you and looking at Sam through the window.

"I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother and Alex. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Jess."

"well, so you lie to them." Dean commented.

"No. I just don't tell them everything."

"yeah. Th-that's called lying, Sam." you chipped in. "Hey, I get it. Telling them the truth is far worse." said Dean.

"So what am I supposed to do? Just cut everybody out of my life?" Sam asked and Dean shrugged. "you're serious?"

"Look, it sucks. But a job like this, you can't get close to people, period." Dean said.

"you're kind of antisocial. You know that?"

"Dean's kinda right, Sam. I mean, look at me, I don't talk to anyone from college." you said.

"That's because you didn't have any friends in college beside Jessica." he said making you gasp slightly.

"That's so not true. I had friends." you made a weak attempt at defending yourself.

"oh really, name one of your 'friends'." he said giving you a challenging look. You looked at Dean who was looking at you with an raised eyebrow.

"There was..... Umm... There was that guy, in the Halloween party. Oh and there was Toby."

"what? Toby wasn't your friend, you broke his face." he scoffed.

"ya, because I considered him a really close friend."

"oh yeah?...what was his full name?"

"ummm.... Maguire?" you asked making both of them laugh. "yeah whatever. I didn't have any friends. You were the cool guy." you said crossing your arms over your chest and rolling your eyes.

Dean wrapped his one arm around you when he saw Sam wasn't noticing. "Don't listen to him, you're awesome and anyone would die to have a friend like you." He whispered making you chuckle. "I know." you whispered back. You grabbed his collar and pulled him down for a kiss but before his lips could meet yours you heard Sam gasp "God."

"what?" Dean asked leaning down to his window you rolled your eyes and muttered "Cockblocker."

You have no idea what you and Dean actually are, but you guys have been doing weird couply things for a week now, like holding hands under the table, sneaking kisses when Sam doesn't look, But you haven't gone farther than those kisses. Everytime you guys try to make out something interrupts, and that 'something' is mostly the younger Winchester.

"uh, this email from this girl, Rebecca, one of those friends of mine." Sam said.

"is she hot?" Dean asked and you hit him from the behind.

"I went to school with her and her brother Zach. She says Zach's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it. But sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." Sam explained and you leaned down beside Dean to listen closely.

"Dude, what kind of people are you hanging out with? "

"No, man. I know Zach. He's no killer."

"Well, maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you." you said standing up straight.

"They're in St. Louis. We're going." Sam said making your eyes wide a little.

"Look, I'm sorry about your buddy but this does not sound like our kind of problem." Dean said with a slight chuckle.

"it is our problem. They're my friends." Sam argued.

"St. Louis is 400 miles behind us, Sam." Dean said.

"He's right, Dean. We could at least check it out." you said and he turned around with a raised eyebrow. "come on. I would hate it if there's any chance that we can help and we don't." you said giving him the puppy eyes. He sighed and said "Fine, get in." before getting in the driver seat and slamming the door.

Dean turned the so fast that you almost fell off the back seat. "Jeez." you said. Six hours of ride and Dean kept glaring at you through the rear view mirror.

Dean finally pulled up in front of the address. It was a nice little house. You guys walked up to the front porch and Sam knocked on the door. A blond girl opened up and you squinted your eyes trying to remember her.

She looked a little enthusiastic when she saw Sam. "oh my god, Sam."

"well, if it isn't little Becky." Sam said. You looked up at Dean and saw he couldn't take his eyes off of 'little Becky.'

"you know what you can do with that 'little Becky' crap." She said and pulled Sam in for a hug. Although as soon as her eyes fell on you her smile faded, turning into a fake one clearly filled with disgust.

"Alex. You're here too." She said pulling away from Sam.

"yeah. And you know me." you gave her a even faker smile than hers.

"oh we met at the fresher's party. Remember?" She said and you faked remembering it.

"oh yeah, I do." you quickly turned to Dean and mouthed "I don't." It was getting a little awkward between the two of you so Sam spoke up. "I got your email."

"I didn't think that you would come here."

"Dean, older brother." Dean said introducing himself. "Hi." She said.

"we are here to help. Whatever we can do." Sam said. "come in." She stepped aside and letting you guys in.

"Nice place." Dean commented as you guys got further inside.

"It's my parent's. I was just crashing here for the weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zach's free. She said as she led you guys inside.

"where are your folks? " Sam asked.

"They live in Paris for half the year. So they are on their way home now for the trial." She said as you guys stopped at the living area.

"You guys want a beer?" before anyone could say anything she said again. "oh, sorry. I forgot you're under aged." She said looking at you. "I still have no idea how you got into Stanford." she clearly hated you and you had no idea why. "No we're fine." Sam chipped in once more to save everyone from the awkwardness. "so tell us what happened?"

"well, um, Zach, he came home and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody and she wasn't breathing and so he- he called 911. And the police, they showed up and arrested him. But the thing is the only way that Zach could have killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police they have a video. Its from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zach coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that. But I swear, he was here with me having a few beers at least after mid night." Rebecca explained the whole situation to the three of you.

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene, Zach's house." Sam said. "we could?" you asked raising an eyebrow.

"Why? I mean what could you do?" Rebecca asked Sam.

"well, me, not so much but Dean's a cop." Sam said making you chuckle slightly.

"A detective actually." Dean corrected, obviously trying to impress the blonde.

"Really? Where?" She asked.

"Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off duty now." Dean said.

"you guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just, I don't know." Rebecca said looking unsure about the whole situation.

"Beck, look. I know Zach didn't do this. Now we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent." Sam said softly trying to convince her.

"okay, I'm gonna go get the key." Rebecca said walking away to get the keys.

Dean walked around Sam to where Rebecca was standing before, whistling. "oh, yeah man. You're a real straight shooter with your friends." Dean said making you roll your eyes. If you didn't hate her enough, you sure do now.

"Look Zach and Becky need our help-" Sam started but Dean cut him off.

"I just don't think this is our kind of problem." Dean said.

"No I think it is. I mean the guy was 2 places at once? We've looked into less." you said, finally making the older Winchester see the point.

Dean stopped the car in front of Zach's house. "you're sure this is okay?" Rebecca asked as the four of you got out of the car. "ya, I'm an officer of the law." Dean said as you ducked under the yellow tape and got inside Zach's house followed by Sam. "Beck, you wanna wait outside?" Sam asked when he saw Rebecca hesitating to come in. "No, I wanna help." She said and got inside as well. There was blood splattered everywhere. You saw a picture frame of Zach And who you assume, his girlfriend.

"Tell us what else the police said." you questioned forgetting for a second that she hates your guts for some reason.

"Well, that there was no sign of a break in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. And the lawyers, they're already talking about a plea bargain." She said, maybe also forgetting that she hated you. Rebecca Started sobbing again as she looked around at all the blood and you felt bad for her. "look, Beck... If Zach didn't do this it means someone else did. Any idea who? " Sam asked and she shook her head but then she seemed to o remember something. "um there was something. About a week before, someone broke in here. They stole some clothes, zach's clothes. And the police they don't think it's anything. We were not that far from downtown. I mean sometimes people just get robbed." Rebecca said as you looked around the house for any sort of evidence.

A dog started barking and it became louder as Dean opened the door and looked out through the crack. You walked over to look over his shoulder. His barking became louder as he saw you guys. "You know that used to be the sweetest dog." Rebecca said coming up to you and Dean. "What happened?" He asked. "He just changed."

"You remember when he changed?" you asked.

“I guess around the time of the murder." She answered and you rolled your eyes, as if it wasn't enough weird already. You turn and walked over to Sam who was looking at a picture of him with Rebecca and Zach over the fridge.

"So the neighbour's dog went psycho right around the time Zach's girlfriend was killed." You said informing the younger Winchester about the new information you learnt.

"Animals can have a sharp sense of paranormal." Sam replied.

"Yes, maybe Fido saw something." Dean said as he walked over to where you and his younger brother were having an conversation. You turned with the small smirk and asked, "So you think maybe this is our kind of problem?"

"Nah, Probably not, but we should look at the security tape to make sure." He replied and you and Sam shared a look. "yeah." Sam agreed with a slight smirk That matched yours.

Dean turned to talk to Rebecca as she started her way toward you three." So the tape, the, uh, security footage? Think your lawyers could get their hands on it? I don't have that kind of jurisdiction."

"I've already got it." She said and you raised an eyebrow. I didn't wanna say anything in front of the cop. I um, I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself." She added and you have to say it impressed you a little.

"Alright." Dean said and gestured for her to lead the way. You stared at the picture of Rebecca and Zach with Sam for a few seconds before following the boys out of the house.

"Here he comes." She said as all of you sat in her living room looking at the security footage that was mentioned before. Dean was sitting next to Rebecca on the sofa and you were standing next to Sam.

"22:04, that's just after 10:00. You said time of death was about 10:30." said Dean, looking at the blonde sitting beside him.

"our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tapes authentic. It wasn't tampered with." Rebecca said as you watched the tape closely. You saw as Zach, or at least who was supposed to be Zach walked around and as soon as he looked at the camera you saw a weird glow in his eyes, just for a split second. You looked at Sam to realize he noticed it too because he gave you the look that you were about to give him.

"Hey, Beck, Can we take those beers now?" Sam said turning toward the blond. "oh sure." she said walking towards kitchen. “Hey, uh, maybe sandwiches too." Sam added when he realised this might take a little more time to discuss. She laughed and said "what do you think this is, Hooters?"

Dean laughed at the terrible joke and mumbled "I wish." which made you roll your eyes. "What is it?" He asked and walked over to you and Sam.

"Check this out." Sam said rewinding the tape and then playing it on slow motion to show Dean.

"Maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean said

"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen. You know a lot of cultures believe a photograph can catch a glimpse of soul. Remember that dog that was freaking out? Maybe he saw this thing maybe, this is some kind of dark double of Zach's something that looks like him but isn't him?" You explained your theory to the boys but more to Dean.

"Like a doppelganger?" He asked.

"yeah. That'd sure explain how he was two places at once." Sam said and with that Rebecca walked out balancing three sandwiches and two beers in both of her hands. "I didn't know if I should give you a beer in front of a cop." She said looking at you and then at Dean.

"it's ok. I wasn't really in the mood either." you said taking a bite out of the sandwich she handed you.

Dean pulled infront of a Motel and you guys walked towards the front desk. You started hoping that you guys wouldn't find two different rooms so you could get an excuse to share a bed with Dean but when the hell was your luck ever on your side, of course, there are two different rooms available.

You could always just ask him to sneak into your room But you definitely weren't going to admit it out loud to him that you wanted to share bed with him, That will only boost his ego. So without any complain you grabbed your duffel bag and took the key from Sam and made your way to room number 11. It was one in the farthest corner And you noticed there were three more rooms between yours and the boy's which made you scowl even more.

You got inside the room and locked it behind you. You quickly freshen up and changed into something comfortable, a shirt of Sam you stole a while ago and pyjama pants. Normally you would do some research instead of going to bed but today you just weren't in the mood so you got inside the sheets of the motel bed which smelled like some really rough detergent.

You didn't dare closing your eyes, already knowing what was coming for you in your dreams so you just lied there awake staring at the ceiling. After what felt like an hour but a few minutes at the same time you heard a series of soft knocking on the door of your motel room.

You huffed and got up from your bed annoyed that someone would dare to disturb you at this time. "What?" you yelled you open the door, but regretted it as soon as you a pair of green eyes staring at you innocently and not just any pair of eyes, your favourite ones.

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" He asked not wanting to invade your privacy.

"No, No, it's fine, get in." You quickly poked your head out and looked around to see if Sam was somewhere in sight. "so?" You said turning to look at Dean who was now standing in front of your bed.

"I was really hoping we could share a bed tonight." He confessed making a smile.

"Really? Me too." You finally admitted knowing there was no point of hiding it now.

"Then maybe we could share a bed tonight." He suggested with a shrug.

"wouldn't Sam be suspicious?" you asked taking a step closer.

"No, He'll think I'm hooking up with some girl." He said.

"Well, aren't you?" You asked taking your final step and standing right in front of him.

"Nope, you are not just 'some girl'." He answered wrapping his arms around your waist pulling you even more closer. Not just physically, the more you stared at those Apple green eyes the more you found Your soul being pulled to him and as cliche as it sounds you are practically lost in him.

That's when you realised your lips were almost touching. You made the final move pushing yourself on your tippy toes pressing your lips to his. He started kissing back immediately like he was waiting for you to do this the entire day. You both fell back on the bed the kiss not breaking even for a second.

You don't even know when you guys fell asleep in each other's arms. But what you do know is not even a single Nightmare there to come home to that night.

*******

Part 2

Taglist:

@rach5ive @paintballkid711 @chubby-dumplin @hobby27 @colie87 @iilooveereadiingfiics @spnchick1996 @greenarrowhead @for-a-brothers-love @deanw-is-pretty @puppies-make-me-extra-happy @eternaleviee @slytherinrising

[poorreputation]

SPN 1X01 Pilot Retrospective Meta

Tag list for old episodes meta! (let me know if you wanna be tagged):

@emblue-sparks @metafest @verobatto-angelxhunter @evvvissticante @dea-stiel @sudo-apt-get-destiel @wildligia (tumbler’s not letting me tag you, sorry)

Pre re-watch notes/things to touch on:

Comparing the Woman in White to John, Sam and Mary/hindsight notes.

S1 motivations vs. S14/15 endgame.

Episode Notes:

Written by: Eric Kripke

Directed by: David Nutter

A long post, so I will put it behind the cut.

Lawrence, Kansas

22 years ago

We begin our tale with Mary bringing Dean into Sam's nursery to say goodnight. John enters the room, and in a nice bit of short-hand, he's wearing a USMC (United States Marine Corps) shirt, showing John was a soldier.

There's a shot of Mary and John in a picture. We already know they're married, so why is it here?

Mary thinks it's John in the nursery, only to find him asleep in the living room in front of the TV. (again, a connection to John's past, he's fallen asleep watching a war movie)

Something that'll become a continuity issue, later in the show: Mary's many years of experience being a Hunter, only to not recognize the flickering of lights as a sign of trouble.

Of course, Mary's wearing a white gown, (white is usually seen as a pure color/ of purity, but in this instance a connection to the Woman in White/see Jess later)

Mary's dead, and everyone involved is scarred for life.

The look on John's face, as we finish the Lawrence sequence, is that of a broken man, who's seen something that will eat away at his mind.

Stanford University Present Day (2005)

Okay, the first image we see of Jess is her in a nurse's costume, white with red trimming. Jess also has medium length curly blond hair. Guys, she looks like Mary, especially in Mary's death scene (white gown, covered in blood). 

We focus in on the picture of Mary and John for visual shorthand, confirming this is a grown-up Sam.

We establish Sam is "scary" smart, has aspirations of becoming a lawyer, and has a job interview on Monday.

Jess: "Knock 'em dead on Monday." laying it on thick, Kripke.

Sam: "What would I do without you?"

Jess: "Crash and burn."

*smooch*

Damn you, Kripke.

Night scene, and holy shit, why do Sam and Jess have so many plants? Why doesn't future Sam have plants in the bunker, you know, something low maintenance?

Dean, why the fuck can't you use the door? Or a phone?

From the get-go, Dean's cocky, suffers from eldest sibling syndrome, and is a shameless horn-dog.

Sam: "He's on a Miller time shift." See, when I first watched the pilot, years ago, I didn't realize this was Sam implying John was a drunk. These things would just fly over my head.

Sam wants to make a point of including Jess in the conversation, of being honest. And yet, the moment Dean says John is on a hunt and hasn't returned, that honesty goes right out the window. More on that later.

Sam and Dean's exposition dump in the hallway, a part of me feels it's an odd way to catch the audience up to speed, while the other part of me knows this is how families argue when they spend most of their time biting their tongues. Sam especially seems the type to mull over his thoughts, storing away comebacks for the perfect moment when they'll be most effective (like later in the episode). Also, it's been years since the brothers have seen each other (we're told later it's been at least 2 years since Dean bothered Sam), they're so icy towards one another.

Sam: "You think Mom would've wanted this for us?" we'd find this out later in S4, but, no. Funny enough, maybe if Mary shared her knowledge of Hunting, something more could've been done (foreshadowing).

Dean: "What're you gonna do? Just live some normal, apple pie life?" Dean, if you'd only taken your own advice, we could've avoided S6.

Sam, paraphrasing John: "If you're gonna go, stay gone." Well, that's only very emotionally manipulative.It does, however, remind me of the U.S. military’s views on those dishonorably discharged, and since John raised them as "warriors", it's not a stretch to think, in a time of crisis, John treated his sons as soldiers.

Dean: "I can't do this alone."

Sam: "Yes, you can."

Dean: "Yeah, well, I don't want to."

This exchange, this vulnerability from Dean, after his initial introduction of being a cocky asshole who hits on his brother's girlfriend, shows just how much of a facade Dean's attitude is. In the end, he's a kid scared of losing his Dad.

It's this vulnerability that convinces Sam to listen.

Come the fuck on, "I can never go home." after we establish Sam left John and Dean, left Hunting behind, and was told to never come back (home). KRIPKE. YOU'RE *not* SUBTLE.

2 years, Dean says, since they last talked. Either Sam entered college late, (20 rather than 18) or Sam and Dean kept in touch even after Sam and John's blow-out fight.

Again, Jess pries for more info, and Sam changes the subject. Nope, that’s not gonna bite him in the ass, at all.

Jericho, California

(insert biblical/wrestling reference here)

We meet monster fodder, I mean, some random dude, who tells his girlfriend Amy over the phone he can't see her that night. He slows down to a stop and picks up the Woman in White.

Anyway, another example of a young woman with curly, medium length hair in a white gown/dress. I mean, her house even looks a bit like John and Mary's old place.

We get a brief, blurry shot of the Woman in White and her kids. Sorry, but if you're familiar with the legend of her/La Llorona, it's easy to see where this is going.

Oh, and whatshisface is dead.

Chips and soda. Breakfast of champions.

Sam's being a real sassy bitch about how Dean and John get their funds. I get it, world-building for the audience, bit it shows just how passive aggressive Sam is in these early seasons; Dean's clearly playing moderator between Sam and an absent John.

Sam: "Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metalica? It's the greatest hits of mullet rock." Sam, it's not Dean's fault you have poor taste. Shut your cakehole.

Sam: "Sammy's a chubby 12 year old." or, it's what a big brother says to his infant sibling to calm him down, oh wait.

Monster bait's name is Troy. Yeah, I don't care.

Dean sassing the officer and Sam stomping Dean's foot. Yep, they're brothers. This interaction is where their chemistry really starts to shine through.

Amy and her friend are peak mid-2000's goths/emos, good lord.

Dean's "I told you so" smart-ass look as the friend shares the rumors in town, he's such an older sibling.

They... they never tell Amy what happened to her asshole boyfriend, huh? Well. Sucks for Amy.

Researching on a public library computer, fucking hell. (nothing wrong with that, I’ve worked in a public library, but they’re doing super-secret Hunter’s stuff in such a public place)

Have it paused on a photo of Constance Welch, the Woman in White, and the article mentions her husband's exact line of work; associate manager who works the graveyard shift at Frontier auto salvage. Gives me shades of Bobby, who also lost his wife under tragic circumstances.

A mother leaves her child unattended, comes back to check on them, tragedy strikes. Or, so the story goes.

Dean confronts Sam about living a life of willful ignorance, and even asks if Jess knows the truth. Sam makes it clear she doesn't and he intends it to stay that way, as Dean sarcastically quips, "That's healthy".

Really, the more I think about it, the more S6 feels like the inverse of S1; Dean tries to live a normal life, Sam comes stomping in to rain on his parade. Lisa is kept largely in the dark about Dean's past, and gets hurt because of it.

Dean: "You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later, you're gonna have to face up to who you are."

Sam: "And who's that?"

Dean: "One of us."

Sam: "No. I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life."

Sam thinks Dean's just talking about Hunting, but Dean means more than that, he means family. One of us, Dad and me, a Hunter and a Winchester.

Sam: "Mom's not coming back." and so on about how he doesn’t even remember Mary, doesn’t share John’s obsession. 

Dean: "No chick flick moments." Dean, dude, bro, you're the one who started this by breaking into Sam's place like a dramatic bitch, and then proceeded to give life/relationship advice. It's already a chick flick.

John's room being covered head-to-toe in case notes, only to come to the obvious conclusion it's the Woman in White. But, Sam said, because of the salt line, John was worried. Now, as far as I can remember, John was never a target of this spirit, so, I think he was paranoid about Yellow Eyes. After all, John had notes on devils/demons up, too, so maybe. I could be wrong.

There's something amusing about Sam and Dean's first duo Hunt, one without John, includes one of them getting arrested. Just, how rare that happens in the rest of the show, compared to how many laws they break daily.

Sam talks to Joseph Welch, who seems to wear the same clothes as Bobby. Also, Sam looks like a giant standing next to him.

Joseph lies to Sam's face about his and Constance's marriage, and it takes Sam a moment to work up the nerve to call him out on it. Or, it's Sam losing his temper. They're dealing with a murderous ghost, after all, and this guy wants to hide the truth.

Sam's done with lying witnesses, and now he's making fake calls to the cops. Gloves are OFF.

So, it's revealed John's purposefully leaving Sam and Dean clues, the journal, and the coordinates, but won't outright tell the truth.

Sam: "I'm not unfaithful. I've never been." See, Sam, that's only in the cheating department. You are, however, keeping Jess in the dark about dangerous stuff. Can any relationship with such big lies every be a faithful one?

Again, the imagery of the flickering lights. A standard in the show later for when a ghost's around, but considering all the visual parallels between the Woman in White and Mary, I think it's intentional.

That CGI of the ghosts vanishing was kinda shit, though. So is the sound of water swirling down a drain, I'm now just thinking of a toilet.

Dean: "I'll take you home." and there, in an episode where the ghost is afraid to go home and face the consequences of their actions, Sam too must go back to Jess.

Sam discovering Jess' body on the ceiling, as the room's engulfed in flames, never fails to give me chills. Hot damn.

Post Episode Notes:

While the pilot is a treasure trove of world building, plotting of character arcs, and chemistry between Jared and Jensen, it still doesn't make up for the fact it's bookended with 2 women getting fridged. Mary and Jess don't get to be characters, only fuel for man-pain, and argue with me all you want, but Mary's send-off in S14 is far superior to what she got in the pilot.

I remember seeing Kripke discuss how many drafts they went through while writing the pilot, and it feels like that at quite a few points. Like maybe the sheriff was to get more time, or Troy's father, who I believe is a cop, would've been more vital to the plot. And Amy, who'll spend who knows how many weeks and months putting up missing person posters for Troy.

I believe Kripke also said they'd considered killing John at the end, rather than Jess. I think, and this is pure speculation, the more they went into the lore for the Woman in White, the more they knew Jess had to die. I don't like it, wish they could've done it different, but it fits the story they wanted to tell.

The Woman in White, John, Mary and Sam, in hindsight

It's a retcon from S4, but if Mary was honest with John about her past as a Hunter, maybe they'd have a better chance with fighting Azazel. It's tragically paralleled to Sam not telling Jess about his own past, which may have prevented her death. And while you could say Heaven and Hell would still have their way, and shape Sam and Dean the way they want to, I'd like to think, given the chance, free will could prevail, And, look at how often keeping secrets is framed as one of the worst things the characters could do to each other?

Additionally, if John had been honest with Sam and Dean about what he wanted them to do, and what kind of danger they were really in, maybe Sam wouldn't have left Jess alone.

Thank you for reading this monstrosity of a meta, I hope you enjoyed/found it interesting!

[mittensmorgul]

HECK there’s so much in 1.06 I still find fascinating. In its own way, there’s even the aspect of the “truth spell” to it, when the shapeshifter takes on Dean’s form and talks to Sam about Dean’s state of mind and thoughts, and the entire episode revolves around Sam’s “normal life” past through his college friend Becky.

Big themes: lying and telling the truth (both to each other AND to the general public about what they do and the reality of monsters), identity (and the things they keep hidden from each other, which have focused on Sam in 1.05 but now get a spotlight on Dean’s internal headspace via the shapeshifter).

They show up lying, drawn into the case by Sam’s connection to her and the mysterious circumstances of her brother’s murder charge-- he was supposedly two places at once and had an alibi. Sam talks Dean into detouring to help her, and everything goes almost immediately sideways. Sam has history with Becky, which is effectively a history of lying about his entire life.

He almost immediately lies to Becky that Dean’s a police officer, forcing Dean to go with it to gain access to the crime scene, because Sam doesn’t want to tell Becky what they actually suspect. He desperately wants to keep the “civilian” side of his life untainted by the supernatural. He wants to protect Becky from learning the truth. Ironically that ends up hurting them all in the end, and they still can’t protect her from either the monster or from learning the truth-- Sam’s family hunts monsters, and the monsters are real. This little bit of unrealistic sanctuary Sam had found with his friends at Stanford has been corrupted yet again. It’s an ongoing case of “this is why we can’t have nice things.” He can’t even think back on that life he lived under false pretenses with the same “purity” anymore, you know? Can’t unring that bell now.

Yeah, Jess dying the way she did (and that guilt is STILL weighing upon him unvoiced to Dean yet) kinda wrecked the possibility of going back to that life for him, but the truth of it, the truth of the rest of his life and the monsters had still been contained. The rest of his friends were still “unpoisoned” by this knowledge and would still welcome him as the friend they’d known for four years at college. The fact Sam kept in touch with all of them via email had served as a sort of lifeline for him, an anchor to the “normal life” he’d tried to build for himself where he could pretend the monsters weren’t real.

And then he’s confronted by a literal monster wearing Dean’s face. Everything the shapeshifter taunts him with here is a fascinating early case study in Dean. Wearing a literal false face, it reveals an awful lot about Dean-- from the fact he was jealous of Sam for getting out and going to college while he was stuck in the hunting life to what he personally gave up to make sure Sam even had that chance in the first place. This is also the source of the “everyone eventually leaves me” agonizing facet of Dean’s personality:

Shapeshifter Dean: I am your brother. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. Sam: What are you talkin’ about? Shapeshifter Dean: You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It’s not without its perks. I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let’s see what happens.

There’s a reason this shows up in so many fanfics, you know? It explains his cavalier attitude about relationships, flirting-- all of it. He puts on the mask, no chick flick moments, and he can be the guy who always leaves at the end of the night or the end of the case (which we learn in another 7 episodes has additional painful rationale after we learn about how Cassie broke things off with him... what IS it with this show and episodes that invoke “college” as a symbol of freedom and normalcy? I say while 1.07 runs in the background, set at a college...). But Dean has accepted that his life is what it is. For one reason or another-- be it the nomadic lifestyle of hunting going from case to case, or just having to hide the truth of his entire life from a disbelieving public-- he’s isolated and in self-defense he wears this mask of the happy-go-lucky ladies’ man and macho BAMF. He’s accepted that normal life can never be his life, and this is the way he deals with it without getting hurt.

Ironically, it’s the very fact that Sam had been trying to keep these two sides of his life separate, untouched by one another, that “got Dean killed” here...  Secrecy may have been the expected reaction for him and Dean in their investigations, but Becky reacted like a “normal person” and disclosed everything to her lawyers.

REBECCA: I told the lawyers that we went to the crime scene. (SAM scoffs.) SAM: Why would you do that? REBECCA: Well, I told them that we were with a police officer. And they checked it out, and they told me that there is no Detective Dean Winchester. SAM: Bec— REBECCA: No, I don’t understand why you would lie to me about something like that. SAM: We’re tryin’ to help. REBECCA: Oh, trying to help? Do you realize that that was a sealed crime scene? This could have just ruined Zack’s case. SAM: Bec, I’m sorry, but— REBECCA: No, goodbye, Sam.

This leaves Becky unprepared when the shapeshifter shows up at her house looking like Dean... and uses that to gain her trust while also telling her about the monster, about what Sam had actually been investigating. And it also leaves Sam entirely unprepared for what he finds when he actually goes himself to Becky’s house to attempt to explain the truth to her. She’s already been replaced by the shapeshifter, and the moment he DOES explain the truth of the monster, she clocks him. And then Dean is forced to kill the shifter while it looks just like him... talk about an unsettling experience, but also a really freaky mirror situation, killing a mutant version of oneself. D:

But this is also Sam effectively severing his connections to the last hope of being able to go back to his life at Stanford as if nothing happened. He’s burned a bridge. And while Becky does her best to understand, for Sam, a large part of the idealization of that life as somehow “normal” has been forever shattered. He can’t pretend to be just another guy anymore.

REBECCA: So, this is what you do? You and your brother—you hunt down these kinds of things? SAM: Yeah, pretty much. REBECCA: I can’t believe it. I mean, I saw it with my own eyes. And, I mean, does everybody at school—nobody knows that you do this? SAM: No. REBECCA: Did Jessica know? (SAM looks thoughtful.) SAM: No, she didn’t. REBECCA: Must be lonely. SAM: Oh, no. No, it’s not so bad. Anyway, what can I do? It’s my family.

Must be lonely... and that’s it right there. That’s what Dean/Shapeshifter Dean had said as well. But Sam doesn’t really get it yet. He spent years with his friends at Stanford and none of them ever knew this HUGE aspect of his entire life before. Not even the woman he lived with and considered marrying and spending the rest of his life with. Sure sounds lonely to me, having to cut out so much of himself to pretend like that... and this is one of Sam’s ongoing major themes for a very long time to come-- through his soullness and shattering of self after his wall is broken, to the promise he extracts from Dean to go live that apple pie life after 5.22, to running away with Amelia and abandoning hunting yet again while never actually talking about the truth of any of it. At least Dean had Lisa, who was at least aware of the hunting and the monsters (though that didn’t help her much in the end... it did make for a situation where Dean could actually recover from his trauma without having to lie or hide huge portions of the truth from her, which is something Sam never even allowed himself to consider until the whole “something, with someone in the life” speech in 11.04).

And these themes continue over the next two episodes. Sam’s impression of going to college as his shot at freedom and normalcy, a chance to choose his own future for himself, while that illusion slowly shatters.

His conversations with Lori about how going to college got her out of her father’s home, gave her a chance to try new things in her own life, while literally carrying the baggage of her father’s beliefs of morality around her neck, “punishing” her every time she tries to step out from under his rules. The fact her father has defied the moral code he’d always taught to her-- having an affair with a married woman-- crushes her own faith in herself and her long-standing beliefs. It’s only by uncovering and destroying the symbol of that baggage that she’s able to free herself from it.

Makes it kind of ironic when in 1.08, Sam’s the one who earns the “not a liar” tag:

DEAN We're students from the university. JOE No, you're not. You're lying. DEAN seems taken aback. DEAN Well, truth is JOE You know who starts sentence with "truth is"? Liars. DEAN exchanges a look with SAM. SAM Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley. JOE (to Dean) I like him. He's not a liar. (DEAN looks angry.) I know the area.

Back to 1.07 for a moment, because Dean finally gets the chance to pretend, to live a bit of the college experience vicariously, and in true Dean chameleon style, he fits himself right in, makes himself at home in the frat house, even while Sam remains uncomfortably on the fringes and only really engages when Dean leaves him no other choice-- leaving it to him to paint the purple guy while they talk, dragging him to the party while Sam confesses that he didn’t really enjoy parties while he was at Stanford (which we saw in the pilot episode how even while he was there pretending to be normal, he still didn’t really let himself have that full experience and tried to keep the wall up at the halloween party). But for Dean, this is just one more experience to throw himself into with a casual lie about who he is and why he’s there, knowing full well that they’ll move on to another case, another town, another persona for him to adopt for the next case. Sam just... has trouble packing away parts of himself like this and truly letting himself be the chameleon Dean’s mastered. Not that this is healthy for Dean, either, but it’s how he’s learned to cope with his entire life.

And this “college as freedom” theme strikes again in 1.08, from several angles, telling Matt that things will get better between him and his father, and explaining to Dean as they talk about how different their experiences with their father were-- Sam feeling like the “freak” of the family for wanting to get out and live a normal life, despite possibly being the one person in their family who was already incapable of it (because hey, demon blood! psychic powers! even if we don’t know this yet, it’s painfully ironic when we’re eventually given that context).

SAM Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay? MATT What, why? SAM Because something's coming. MATT More bugs? SAM Yeah, a lot more. MATT My dad doesn't listen in the best of circumstances, what am I supposed to tell him? SAM You've gotta make him listen, okay? DEAN Give me the phone, give me the phone. (He grabs the phone from SAM.) Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts. MATT But he's my DEAN Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay? MATT Yeah. Yeah, okay. He hangs up, and so does DEAN. DEAN Make him listen? What are you thinkin'?

Matt, of course, tries to tell his father the truth, and it nearly gets everyone killed, because of course his father doesn’t believe him. After the night they have, his father will be convinced and their lives will all be changed forever. There’s no going back once they know the truth.

And all of this still through the lens connecting them to the still murky mytharc, finding their father and learning the truth, uncovering and unraveling the mystery that drew them into this life in the first place. And this is still just level one of that grand tangle of cosmic deceptions that will lead them through the next 14 years to the end of their ultimate quest for the truth, and the unraveling of their fate so their final battle can be for their own freedom and free will from this eternal cosmic game. :’)

[hippychick006]

1.01 - Pilot Recap/Review

Original Air Date: 13 September 2005

Episode 1 of a 327 Episode Watch

Lawrence, Kansas, 22 years ago…

…Nope, more like 37 now… sobs

Love this episode, so many iconic brother moments and the start of the epic love story of Sam and Dean (creators words, not mine).  Where do we even start?

Intro is a little difficult to watch now, with so much changed with Mary from this original episode over the years –with her a) being a hunter, b) making the deal and c) the family not actually being as happy as they are portrayed in this episode which kind of screws up John’s story for me, but this is my only negative, and it certainly wasn’t an issue at the time the pilot aired.  

Weechesters!  First words from Dean to Sam: “Night, Sam” and if these are the last words (and both are alive), I will be a very happy bunny!

John (handing baby Sam to Dean): Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don't look back! Now, Dean, go!

Wee!Dean telling Wee!Sam it will be okay.

I love how John picks them both up as he runs.  Also love that shot of John and his two boys on the hood of the Impala at the end of the intro.

Now, Stanford University...

Nope, almost 15 years ago – add a few decades for each brother for their hell experiences

Our first glimpse of Baby!Sam as he peeks around the door, reluctant to go out for Halloween: “Do I have to… you know how I feel about Halloween?” Boops nose, he’s so gosh darned cute! Ignores the later canon that he doesn’t like Halloween because he puked in front of a girl (or similar story as I can’t remember it fully).  Also forever bitter we don’t get the deleted scene where it’s suggested that Sam dress up in something slutty. “Slutty Dorothy, Slutty Alice…” 

Jess is rightfully proud of her boyfriend for scoring a 174 on the LSAT which is “scary good.”  I’ll take her word for it as I have absolutely no idea what an LSAT is.

I love how Sam is instantly alert at the noise in the apartment. Hunter instincts.

Urgh, the first ever broment. I mean they’re fighting, but it’s still a broment!  I love the whole fight scene and how it was shot.  Instant chemistry.  Excuse me while I watch it several times.  Will never be tired of the “Woah, Easy Tiger!” from Dean.  Question though, why was Dean fighting Sam?  He broke into his brother’s apartment and he didn’t think to go “Wait, Sammy, it’s me, stop trying to punch me!”  Also, Jensen is gorgeous, these are my favourite Dean years.

Dean, stop hitting on Sam’s girlfriend!

Call to action that starts the whole thing: Dad’s on a Hunting Trip.  And he hasn’t been home in a few days.

Exposition Kripke!!  Though we do find out a lot, Sam was chucked out, wouldn’t pick up the phone if Dean had called, and they were “raised like warriors”. Dysfunctional family?  Hello, yes, I’d like to watch 327 episodes of this show, please!

Brother feels!

Dean: I can’t do this alone

Sam: Yes, you can

Dean: Yeah, Well, I don’t want to

What the hell is a gold wave?  Was that made up?  That sounds made up.  Me as a writer.

Dean: “You know, in almost two years I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing.”  This is so sad their relationship got to this point and they hadn’t seen each other or spoken. 

Dean telling his brother to skip the job interview.  He really wants his Sammy back.

Before the end of the show, I want to see Sam using that lethal looking knife he packs in his duffel in this episode. Just once.

I like the MOTW in this one, Lady in White was a good starting point for the show.  Troy is the first victim we see with her and since he’s a cheating scumbag, I don’t feel sorry that his guts are now splattered all over his car.

Dean asking Sam if he wants breakfast.   Lawyer boy is concerned about how Dean paid for it – “You and dad still running credit card scams?” Sam is also concerned about Dean’s music collection

Sam: I swear, man, you've gotta update your cassette tape collection.

Dean: Why?

Sam: Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And two… Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica?... It's the greatest hits of mullet rock. (*cough* Vince Vincente Sammy *cough*).

DEAN: Well, house rules, Sammy, Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.

Sam protests Dean’s use of Sammy, but as we know, Dean’s the only one who gets to call him that (except later seasons where everyone seems to call him that).

I love Sam’s face when Dean is searching through the box of fake ID’s.  He’s horrified.  He can’t believe Dean is going to use a fake badge.  Oh Sam.

So much brotherly bickering in this episode:

Sam stomping on Dean’s foot and Dean whacking Sam on the head.

Dean smacking Sam’s hand and Sam wheeling Dean’s chair out of the way so he can take over control of the computer in the library when they look up the case.  Dean smacks Sam on the shoulder in return. (first ever scene they filmed according to Jared).

Also First Ever Winsync!  When they interview Troy’s girlfriend and say at exactly the same time: “What do they talk about?”  

Also, in this same scene, someone needs to remind Jensen he’s playing Sam’s brother, not his boyfriend.

Love the whole scene on the bridge at night, Dean slamming Sam up against the side just because he talked about their mom.  You. Are. Brothers!  

Sam may not be happy about using fake credit cards, but he’s more than at home with a lock picking kit.  I like how Sam yanks Dean inside the room.

Sam tries to apologise for talking about their mom.  

Dean: No chick-flick moments

Sam: Jerk…

Dean: …Bitch

Dean leaving the motel, spotting the police then calling his brother to warn he’s been made and telling him to take off.  

Sam placing a false 911 call to allow Dean to escape and Dean being resourceful in getting out of the cuffs.

Sam demonstrating exactly why you shouldn’t talk and drive.  Luckily he runs over a ghost and not a real person.  

Uh, That Constance bitch is in the car with Sam demanding to be taken home. Sam refuses and she takes over controls, locking the car and mentally driving it home.  Constance: “I can never go home.”

Sam: You’re scared to go home.

Constance, you get your hands off Sammy. Sam: You can’t kill me.  I’m not unfaithful.  I’ve never been!  Constance: You will be.  Uh no, he said he wouldn’t, stop cheating Constance and go after the real douchbags!

Hurt!Sam – Constance is digging into his chest, going for his heart.

Big Brother Dean to the rescue – he shoots her in the face, but she keeps reappearing.

Sam’s had enough, “I’m taking you home.” To Dean’s shock, Sam drives his baby straight into her house.  

Dean helps Sam out of the car, while Constance looks at a photo of her and her children.  She’s not happy with Sam and Dean, tking the sideboard to slam right into them and pin them against the car.  Luckily, before she can do any more damage, her ghost kids turn up and they all melt into the floor.

Sam gets the kill count on this one. Sam: 1, Dean: 0.  Dean’s proud as he slaps Sam on the chest right where Sam had been injured. Dean: You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy.

Sam: Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freak?

Dean: Hey. Saved your ass…. I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car?... I’ll kill you

Oops, the car is damaged, one of the headlights is out.  Sam seems okay though, he checks co-ordinates their dad left earlier while Dean drives.

Dean just wants to hunt with his brother and Sam just wants to be safe, but at least Sam wants a relationship with Dean: “And maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?”

Dean: You know, we made a hell of a team back there.

Sam: Yeah.

Jess made Sam cookies ☹

Sam’s tired and flops down on the bed, it’s such a peaceful moment and he’s happy and then blood drips on his forehead and it’s just…

Big brother Dean to the rescue again (though I don’t think they should have cut what brought Dean back). Dean literally has to drag Sam out of the room and I’m always here for Dean manhandling Sam.

The scene at the end, Dean looking at Sam, worried about his brother, Sam looking at him, sighs and nods, tossing the shotgun he’s been checking into the trunk.

Sam: We got work to do

Yes Sam, 326 more episodes of work to do!  I really miss these early boys so much, they’re both so dragged down with constant crap over the last few years to the point of being almost unrecognisable.  

[roadtripwiththewinchesters-blog]

S1E1 - Pilot (Chapter 3)

A/N: 

Hello! The last part to the ‘Pilot’ episode will be posted later, I can’t wait for for the action to begin but I thought it was necessary to set the tone in this episode. From now on the chapters will be much longer. Really hope you like this x

Word count: 794

Warnings: Mild language

Summary: It’s November 2nd, 2005. Sam and Dean are in Jericho, California, hunting the woman in white. You’re at home looking after your little brother Gus, when Sam rings updating you on the search for his dad. Later that night, you awake to a phone call. It’s Dean. He tells you that Jess is dead and that he needs you in Blackwater Ridge, Colorado to find John.

2nd Nov 2005

 I closed the shop around six o’clock and drove home. I didn’t like leaving Gus alone, but I figured he would be okay for a couple hours. I found him in the backyard, covered in dirt.

“Do I even wanna know?” I asked him casually, as I set my bag down in the kitchen.

He shrugged, “Probably not.”

Joni’s eccentric purple drapes danced as a breeze trailed across the kitchen, sending chills up my arms. I crossed over to the window to shut it, leaning over the counter. I watched Gus for a while, digging holes in the yard.

Gus was really into pets, but not the puppies and kittens kind. He collected insects, ones with lots of legs like beetles and locusts, and ones with none at all like his giant African snails. I thought it was actually kind of cool when he wasn’t flashing me jars of bugs over the dinner table. I was really gutted I couldn’t be around for him more.

My attention was drawn to the buzzing of my phone. My expression softened at the name of the caller.

“Hey stranger,” Sam said, nonchalant.

“So, you’ve finally remembered how to use a phone,” I said. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ve been meaning to call. I’ve just had a lot going on – interviews, and deadlines, and Dean showing up out of nowhere.” His tone changing to slightly accusatory.

“No way am I getting in the middle of that one,” I said. I tended to avoid Winchester family conflict. “How are things going with him anyway? You heard anything from your dad?”

“We found his motel room,” He said. “He was chasing a woman in white but it looks like he bailed on the case.”

“Right, Dean told me, the disappearances on the highway. Need any help?”

“I’m on my way to burn the bones now, should be over in a couple hours,” He said. It sounded like he was driving.

“Alright, well be careful.”

“On that note,” He began. “Listen, I don’t wanna freak you out but Dad left Dean a message. He said we were all in danger, and that we needed to be careful. I don’t know what he’s talking about but just watch your back, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” And then he was gone. 

I got the call from Dean later that night - the one I had been expecting the first time.

I reached for my phone blindly, connecting the line.

“Dean, what is it?” My voice heavy with sleep. I squinted at the clock. It was almost one o’clock in the morning.

Someone was dead. It was Jessica.  

I knew the story of what happened all those years ago. The year before I was born. Mary Winchester went into Sam’s nursery and never came back out. John had found her on the ceiling, a great gash across her abdomen, before she erupted into flames setting alight their home and ending any chance of them being normal. Dean had carried his baby brother to safety. Twenty two years later history was repeating itself. Why? Why now? Why them? What did it all mean?

My heart battered against my ribcage. I had met Jess once, it was the only time I ever visited Sam at Stanford. This wasn’t supposed to happen. California was supposed to be safe for him.

“Listen, you said to call if-” I could hear the desperation in his voice.

“I can be there by morning,” I said without hesitation.

“No,” Dean said quickly. “We found something else, coordinates in my dad’s journal. You go to college in Denver right?  Ever heard of a place called Blackwater Ridge?”

I didn’t venture out of the city a lot, but I wracked my brain for the name. Everything seemed so surreal. I shook my head, before I realised he couldn’t see me. “No. No, I don’t know it.” “Listen, I don’t think Sam’s ready to leave here yet. We gotta stick around for a few days, see what we can find out about this thing, but it’s gotta mean something right? Maybe he’s there. Maybe there’s a case. You think you can check it out?”

I switched my bedside lamp on, securing the phone to my ear with my shoulder as I scribbled down the details.

“Yeah,” I said, swallowing. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Alright, thanks Kid. We’ll meet you there in a couple of days.”

“Wait. Dean.” I swung my legs out of bed. “What about Sam?” I wasn’t sure what I meant by this, but Dean sighed. “He’s gonna need you Y/N.”

There was a pause, broken by the wailing of sirens on Dean’s end of the line. “I gotta go. Be careful.”

“You too.” I said.

GIF CREDITS:

All: @thejabberwock

[iamcmims]

SUPERNATURAL: Olivia Parker: Skin.

Words count: 7K.

A/N: “Skin” is finally here after a week of hiatus! I hope you guys will like this one! There isn’t much of Olivia but it’s on its way, I promise!

Feedback is always highly appreciated! If you want to be tagged, just ask me!

taglist: @ohsoevilsoul

Warning: skin, injuries, torture, blood, insults, death, angst, violence.

Previous parts: Pilot — Wendigo — Dead In The Water — Phantom Traveler — Bloody Mary

Next Parts: Hook Man — The Fight — Home

Previously on Olivia Parker…

"Why don't you just kill me? You've already taken everything from me!", "Why would I kill the prodigy? You can't stop the hands of time."

"We know where Olivia is, but we have to hurry.", "Okay, let's go."

"Dead or alive, I will kill you.", "Yeah, I don't doubt that. Now," he walks to her and forces her to stand up, he ties her to a chair. "let the fun begin." He opens a box of torture tools. "I won't talk and neither will I scream."

"That's all you've got, big guy? I should have known better, you're just a demon, a low level by the way. I thought they would at least bring me something better, something that respects my reputation." The demon punches her, she spits blood and laughs.

"Why don't you finish the job? You coward!" She waits for the demon to come back. The demon comes in with more objects to torture her. "I figured out if you want to play the hard and tough one, why shouldn't I bring the whole package? As you remarked, I have to respect your reputation.", "Well, you know, I'd say let's not rush things."

The door of the room where Olivia is locked up reopens, but she doesn't move. "Olivia?" Not able to distinguish who's talking, she slowly opens her eyes and sees Dean. "I got you." He takes out a knife and cuts her ties and gets her out of the room. "We have to hurry, Dean. He's out there."

The demon throws Dean and Olivia on the wall with the wave of his hand, knocking Olivia unconscious. Bobby goes to help Olivia out of the house. "Come on, kiddo."

"They're waiting for you if you're ready." Olivia nods. They walk out of the room to the pyre where he parents" bodies are. The four of them stand there for a moment, paying their respect to Caitlyn and Roger Parker.

"Who's bloody mary?", "She's this witch."

"Bloody Mary. This is so stupid. Bloody Mary." The candle flickers. "Bloody Mary."

'SHOEMAKER, Steven — The Shoemaker family is sad to announce the sudden death of their beloved husband and father."

"What's the official  cause of death?", "Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up on there. Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen.", "The eyes, what would cause something like that?", "Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims."

"Were there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?", "No." Lily, the little sister, turns around and look at Donna then Sam, Dean, and Olivia. "That's because it wasn't a stroke. It happened because of me. Right before he died, I said it.", "Said what?", "Bloody Mary."

"They found her on the bathroom floor. And her eyes—her eyes. They were gone.", "I'm sorry.", "And she said it. I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane right?", "No, you're not insane.", "God, that makes me feel so much worse."

"They both has someone's death on their hands.", "It has nothing to do with the legend, though.", "With Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run, both had secrets were people died.", "There's a lot of folklore about mirrors."

"When someone would die in a house people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped.", "So Mary dies in front of a mirror, and it draws in her spirit."

"Well, Mary's hard to pin down, right? She moves around from a mirror to another so who's to say that she's not going to keep hiding in them forever? We should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it.", "Well, who's going to summon her?", "I will. She will come after me.", "You know what, that's it. This is about Jessica, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret that you killed her somehow? Sam, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night—it's going to kill you. You shouldn't blame yourself, there's nothing you could've done.", "I could've warned her.", "About what, Sam?", "And besides, all of this isn't a secret, we know all about it. It's not going to work.", "No, you don't. You guys don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything.", "What are you talking about?", "Well ti wouldn't really be a secret if I told you, would it?"

"It's your fault. You killed her. You killed Jessica. You never told her the truth—who you really were. But it's more than that, isn't it? Those nightmares you've been having of Jessica dying, screaming, burning — You had them for days before she died. Didn't you?! You were so desperate to ignore them, to believe they were just dreams. How could you ignore them like that? How could you leave her alone to die?! You dreamt it would happen!!"

Today.

"It's okay. It's okay." The girl points to the officer to the room across the hall. "In there! In there!" The S.W.A.T team moves to the other room. The man is here, trying to open a pair of doors leading to a balcony. "Freeze! Don't move! Drop the knife. Keep your hands where I can see them. Drop it! Hold it right there! Do it!" The man turns around. It's Dean.

One Week Earlier.

Sam, Dean, and Olivia pull into the station. "Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." Sam doesn't respond. Dean looks at Olivia, he smiles and looks back at Sam. "Sam wears women's underwear." Olivia bursts out laughing. "I've been listening, I'm just busy." Says Sam checking his e-mails on his PalmPilot without looking up at Dean or Olivia. "Busy doing what?", "Reading e-mails." Dean gets out of the car and starts to fill the tank with gas. "E-mails from who?", "From my friends at Stanford." Dean and Olivia glance at each other. Olivia looks back at Sam, frowning. Dean focuses on filling the tank then looks at Sam. "You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?", "Why not?", "Sam, it makes no sense.", "What exactly do you tell them? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doing?", "I tell them I'm on a road trip with my big brother and best friend. I tell them I needed some time off after Jess." Olivia cringes, "so you lie to them.", "No. I just don't tell them…everything.", "Yeah, that's called lying. I mean, hey, mean, I get it, telling the truth is far worse.", "And dangerous.", "So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" Dean shrugs. Sam looks at Olivia, and she shrugs too. "You're serious?", "Look, Sam, it sucks, I know. But it's our job. Our lives.", "She's right, and in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period.", "You guys are kind of anti-social, you know that?", "Wouldn't be the first one to say so.", "Yeah." Sam ignores Dean and Olivia and continues to read his e-mails. "God…", "What?", "In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine.", "Is she hot?" Sam ignores Dean, but Olivia looks at him, smack his arm and rolls her eyes. "I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack. She says Zack's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case.", "Dude, what kind of people are you hanging out with?", "No, mean, I know Zack. He's no killer.", "You know Zack as much as he knows you?" Sam looks at Olivia and sighs. "They're in St. Louis. We're going." He sits straight on the seat and looks ahead. Dean chuckles. "Look, sorry about your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem.", "It is our problem. They're my friends.", "St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam." They turn to Olivia, she put her hands in the air, "don't look at me! I don't care whether we're going or not." Dean looks back ahead, Sam looks at Dean. "Fine." Dean starts the car, they pull out of the gas station and start driving.

Rebecca opens the door and sees Sam, Dean, and Olivia. "Oh my God, Sam!", "Well, if it isn't little Becky.", "You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." She smiles, and they hug. "I got your e-mail.", "I didn't think that you would come here." Dean steps forward and extends his hand. "Dean. Older brother." She shakes his hand and looks at Olivia. "Hi, I'm Olivia.", "Hi.", "We're here to help. Whatever we can do.", "Come in." They walk inside the house, Olivia shuts the door behind her. Dean looks around, "nice place.", "It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm going to stay until Zack's free.", "Where are your folks?", "They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home for the trial." The four of them enter the kitchen. "Do you guys want a beer or something?" Dean smiles, "Hey—", "No, thanks. So, tell us what happened." Olivia silently giggles at Dean's face when Sam refused the beer. "Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." Rebecca starts to cry. "So, he called 911, and the police—they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police— they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight.", "You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack's house." Dean and Olivia look at Sam and ask in unison, "we could?", "Why? I mean, what could you do?", "Well, me not much. But Dean and Olivia are cops." Dean laughs. "Detective, actually. "Really?" Dean nods. "Where?", "Bisbee, Arizona. But we're off-duty now.", "You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just—I don't know.", "Bec, look, I know Zack didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent.", "Okay. I'm going to go get the keys." Rebecca disappears, walking about down the hall. "Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends.", "Dean's right, Sam. You're shooting too close on this one.", "Look, Zack and Becky need our help.", "I just don't think this is our kind of problem.", "Two places at once? We've looked into less." Sam and Dean look once more at Olivia. She grimaces a little and looks at Dean, "he's right, D. We've looked for way less." Dean says nothing defeated.          Dean parks the car in front of Zack's house, the four of them get out of it. Rebecca looks at Dean, "you're sure this is okay?", "Yeah. We are officers of the law." They walk to the house.         Sam, Dean, and Olivia enter and look around. The furniture and walls of the house are smeared with blood. Rebecca stays on the porch steps. "Bec, you want to wait outside?" She looks at Sam and shakes her head. "No. I want to help." She ducks under the police tape and enters the house. "Tell us what else the police said. Tears in her eyes Rebecca answers to Sam's question. "Well, there's no sign of a break in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawleys—they're already talking about a plea bargain." She looks around the room, crying. "Oh, God…", "Look, Bec, if Zack didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" Rebecca shakes her head, then begins to remember something. "Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes—Zack's clothes. The police—they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed." Sam walks away, Dean moves to the open front door and sees the neighbor's dog barking loudly. Rebecca comes up behind him. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog.", "What happened?", "He just changed.", "Do you remember when he changed?", "I guess around the time of the murder." Dean looks at her, then walks away. Sam and Olivia were in the hallway, looking at a framed picture of Sam, Zack, and Rebecca. Dean walks over to them. "So, the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zack's girlfriend was killed.", "Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal." Dean nods at Sam. "Yeah, maybe Fido saw something.", "So, you think maybe this is our kind of problem?", "No. Probably not. But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure." Olivia smiles and shakes her head, Sam smirks and nods. "Yeah." Rebecca walks over to them. "So," begins Dean, "the tape. The security footage—you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it because we don't have that kind of jurisdiction.", "I've already got it. I didn't want to say something in front of cops." Dean laughs. "I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself.", "All right." The three of them leave.

Zack is sitting on a bench across the street from a house. He watches an Asian man come out of the house with his wife. "I'll be home tomorrow night. I'll make it up to you." They kiss, the man gets in his car and drives away. Zack watches the wife go back in the house. He smiles wickedly, and his eyes glint silver for a moment, before returning to normal.

In Rebecca's living room, Sam, Dean, Olivia, and Rebecca are watching the security footage. "Here he comes." The tape shows Zack entering his house. Dean looks at the timestamp, "22:04, that's just after ten. You said the time of death was about 10:30.", "Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." Olivia slightly hits Sam's arm, he looks at her, she nods her head to Rebecca, making him understand that she saw something. "Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?", "Oh sure." She gets up to go to the kitchen. "Hey." Rebecca turns around and looks at Sam. "Maybe some sandwiches, too?", "What do you think this is, Hooters?" Rebecca leaves the room. Dean raises his eyebrows. "I wish." He looks at Sam. "What is it?", "Check this out." She rewinds the tape, then replays it. One of the frames shows Zack looking directly at the camera. His eyes are silver. Olivia pauses the tape. "Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." Sam looks at Dean, "that's not like any camera flare I've ever seen. You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul.", "Right." Olivia stands up, "remember that dog that was freaking out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack's, something that looks like him but isn't him.", "Like a doppelganger." Sam nods at Dean. "Yeah. It'd sure explain how he was two places at once."

The Asian man enters his house. "Honey, it's me. Flight canceled at the last minute." He sets down his briefcase and keys and then looks around. "Lindsay?" He looks around. "Lindsay?" He turns around and sees blood spattered on the wall. "Lindsay?!" He opens the door to a nearby room and finds Lindsay. She is tied in a chair, beaten and bloody. The man rushes over to her and takes the gag out of her mouth. "It's ok, Lindsay, it's me.", "Please, don't hurt me anymore! Leave me alone!" Her husband looks at her, confused. He hears a noise in the other room and leaves. In the living room, the man looks around. Suddenly, he turns and sees himself, standing there with a baseball bat. The man is puzzled. The double's eyes glint silver, and he hits the man over the head with the bat.

Sam, Dean, and Olivia park their car behind the house and get out. "Alright, so what are we doing here at 5:30 in the morning?" Asks Dean. Olivia's head was resting on Dean's shoulder half asleep. "I realized something. The videotape shows the killer going in, but not coming out.", "So, he came out the back door?" Dean leans against the hood of his car and puts his arm around Olivia, she puts hers around his waist. "Right. So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue.", "Because they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zack inside. I still don't know what we're doing here at 5:30 in the morning." Sam looks around the outside of the building and notices blood smeared on a nearby telephone pole. "Blood. Somebody came this way." Olivia raises her head. "Yeah, but guys, the trail ends.", "She's right, Sam. I don't see anything over here." An ambulance drives past them, the three of them exchange a look.          Sam, Dean, and Olivia observe the scene.  The Asian man is handcuffed and is stepping into a police car. "What happened?" Asks Dean to a nearby woman. "He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her. I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy." They watch the man get taken away.          Sam is on the side of the house, looking around. He looks inside two garbage cans but finds nothing. He moves to the front of the house, where Dean and Olivia come behind him. "Hey." Sam turns around. "Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?", "Yeah.", "Definitely our kind of problem.", "What'd you find out?", "Well, we just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story. Apparently, the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked.", "So, he was two places at once.", "Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob.", "Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way.", "Also, it could be the same thing doing it, too." Sam thinks for a second. "Shapeshifter?" Dean shrugs. "Something that can make itself look like anyone?", "Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men.", "Right, skinwalkers, werewolves.", "We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessing we've got a shapeshifter prowling the neighborhood.", "Let me ask you this—in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" Dean and Olivia shake their head. "Not that I know of.", "Why?", "I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way.", "Just like your friend's house.", "Yeah. And, just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared.", "Well," Sam and Dean look at Olivia, "there is another way to go." They frown. "Down." They look down and notice a manhole. Olivia grimaces at the thought of going down there. They climb down the manhole and look around. "I bet this runs right by Zack's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around.", "I think you're right. Look at this." The three of them bend down and examine a pile of blood and skin on the ground. The same look of disgust on their faces. "Is this from this victims?" Dean takes out a pocketknife and holds up some of the skin. "You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape — maybe it sheds.", "That is sick.", "I'm going to be sick." Dean puts the bloody pile back on the ground.          Dean opens the trunk and takes out some weapons. "Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it.", "Silver bullet to the heart.", "That's right." Sam's cell phone rings. He answers it. Dean gives Olivia bullets, she smiles and takes them. "This is Sam. -- Where are you?" It was Rebecca calling. "We're near Zack's, we're just checking some things out. -- Well, look, Sam, just stop, because I really don't need your help anymore. -- What are you talking about? -- I told the lawyers that we went to the crime scene." Sam scoffs. "Why would you do that? -- Well, I told them that we were with two police officers. And they checked it out, and they told me that there is no Detective Dean Winchester and Olivia Parker. -- Bec— -- No, I don't understand why you would lie to me about something like that. -- We're trying to help. -- Oh, trying to help? Do you realize that that was a sealed crime scene? This could have just ruined Zack's case. -- Bec, I'm sorry, but— -- No, goodbye, Sam." She hangs up. Dean and Olivia walk over to Sam, who looks disappointed. "I hate to say it, but that's exactly what we were talking about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just—", "It'd be easier if—," "If I were like you guys.", "Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig—it ain't without perks." Dean holds up a gun, Sam takes it and puts it in the back of his jeans.          Back to the sewer, Sam, Dean, and Olivia are looking around with their flashlights and guns. "I think we're close to its lair.", "Why do you say that?", "Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face." Sam turns and sees another pile of blood and skin on a nearby pipe. "Oh, God." They look around the area and see a pile of clothes in a corner. "Looks like it's lived here for a while.", "Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Dean looks at Olivia and sees the shapeshifter, still in the form of the Asian man, standing behind her. "Olivia!" She turns and gets punched by the shapeshifter. She falls to the ground, and the shapeshifter runs away. Sam and Dean shoot at it a few times but misses it. They run to Olivia. Dean hurts his left arm kneeling down. "You're okay?", "I'm going to kill this son of a bitch!" She gets up, charges her gun, and they run away following the shifter's trail. They see it leave by the manhole. They all get out on the street and look around. "All right, let's split up.", "Okay, we'll meet around the other side.", "All right." They all walk away in separate directions.          Dean looks around, with his gun drawn, passerby turn away, frightened.          Sam was searching too, keeping his gun inside his jacket, looking around.          Olivia was walking, searching for the shifter, people were looking at her and got scared when they saw she had a gun in her hands. She sees Sam and walks over to him. "So?", "Nothing. You?", "Same." They wait and see Dean coming up to them. "Hey. Anything?", "No. He's gone.", "All right. Let's get back to the car." Sam and Olivia cross the street. Dean stops, waiting for a passing car to drive by. As the car passes, Dean's eyes momentarily glow silver. Dean, who's actually the shifter catches up to Sam and Olivia.          Sam, the shifter, and Olivia stop at the Impala. "You think he found another way around?" Asks Sam. "Yeah, probably. You got the keys?" Sam stops and thinks before turning around. "Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?", "Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form. A psychic projection, remember?", "Oh right. Here ya go." He throws the shifter the keys and walks away. The shifter opens the trunk and observes all the weapons and laughs.          "This isn't Dean, right?", "Right. I take front you take behind.", "Got it." The shifter turns and sees Sam pointing the gun at him. "What have you done to him?", "Dude, chill. It's me, all right?", "No, I don't think so.", "Where's my brother?", "You're about to shoot him. Guys, calm down.", "You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt when we were in the sewer." The shifter slightly turns to Olivia. "Yeah, it's better. What do you want me to do? Cry?", "You're not my brother.", "Why don't you pull the trigger, then? Hm? Because you're not sure. Dude, you know me.", "Don't—" The shifter pauses before hitting Sam and Olivia with a crowbar, making them fall to the ground.          Same wakes up in a dingy, dusty room. His neck and hands are bound to a wooden post. He looks around him trying to find Dean or Olivia but found none of them. The shifter walks over to him with the appearance of Dean and backhands him. Sam groans in pain. "Where are they? Where's Dean and Olivia?", "I wouldn't worry about them, I would worry about you.", "Where are they?", "You don't really want to know." The shifter chuckles. "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family — I thought I came from a bad background.", "What do you mean, learn?" The shifter stops. He grabs his head in pain and grimaces. A quick succession of Dean's voice comes. Sam looks at the shifter, confused. The shifter relaxes and looks at Sam. "He's sure got issues with you. And some unfinished business with Olivia. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad and Olivia. And then she left, too. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?", "Where are they?", "I am your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's going to leave me. And Olivia will find someone else.", "What are you talking about?", "You left. Olivia left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothing, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It's not without its perks. I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. I mean he can't have Olivia so why not try with Becky? Let's see what happens." He smiles and covers Sam with a sheet.          He knocks on the door. Rebecca opens it. "Oh. Hi.", "I know you're going to say.", "Oh, you do?", "Well, no, not exactly. But I can take a guess. Get off my porch?" Rebecca laughs. "That's about right.", "I admit it, we lied. Thought I'd try to explain myself. Sam told me not to come, but, you know, I thought, what the hell, I have to try."          Sam tries to get out of his ropes but fails. "Damn it." He hears movement in another area of the room and hears someone coughing. "That better be you, Sam, and not this freak of nature." Sam laughs. "Yeah, it's me." Dean manages to uncover himself from the sheet and starts to undo his ropes. "He went to Rebecca's, looking you.", "Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one.", "Olivia is with you?", "What? No. She's not with you?", "No!" Dean gets rid of his ropes and walks over to Sam and gets his off. "Let's find her."          Olivia was tied to a chair in a dark room. "Motherfucker. Son of a bitch. Asshole. Freak. I'm going to kill you, you stupid nature freak mother fucking son of a bitch!!" Olivia tries as hard as she could to get rid of her ties but couldn't. "Second time this month. The second time I fucking get tied to a chair. Come on!!" The shifter dislodge her arm, she couldn't move it. She tries to reach the knife she has under her legging but pails. "This shit is seriously pissing me off. I'm going to make you pay for this!" She screams at the empty room. She moves too hard and hurts her arm, making her scream. "Hello? Is anybody here? Yes? No? Maybe? Come on don't be a dick!" Olivia hears footsteps, she hopes it's not the shifter but takes the risk anyway. "Hello! I'm here! Please! I'm tied up!" The footsteps stop. "Damn it. Son of a bitch.", "No need to be mean." She looks around and sees Dean. "Dean! Wait — hold on. Is this really Dean?" Dean laughs and walks over to her. His smile drops when he sees how beaten up she is. "Oh, my god. Olivia are you okay?", "My arm. This asshole dislodged it." Dean undoes Olivia's ropes and helps her get up. "Thanks." Sam arrives. "You're here. Glad to see you're okay." Olivia nods and smiles. "Dean, could you, just, hold my hand and elbow as tight as you can?" Dean nods, not understanding what Olivia was doing. He does as asked, holds her hand and elbow as tight as he could, Olivia moves back and pulls down on her arm to replace it. "Oh shit!", "Hell, no, Olivia!", "Never again. You can't do that!" Olivia laughs and shakes her head. "I'm going to kill this asshole.", "It's at Rebecca's house.", "Looking like me.", "Yeah, that's the thing. He didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you.", "What do you mean?", "I don't know, it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories.", "You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?" Sam nods at Olivia. "Yeah, something like that. I mean, maybe that's why he doesn't just kill us.", "Maybe he needs to keep us alive.", "Psychic connection.", "Yeah, come on, we gotta go. He's probably at Rebecca's already." They climb out a window and onto the street. "Come on. We have to find a phone, call the police.", "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're going to put an APB out on me.", "Sorry." Olivia looks around them and sees the direction where they have to go. "This way." They start running down the street.

Rebecca and the shifter are sitting in front of the fireplace. "So, you're saying that there's something out there that made itself look like my brother.", "Mhm.", "What'd you call it?", "A shapeshifter." Rebecca laughs and rolls her eyes. "Yeah, maybe we're crazy. But what if we're not? I mean look, you said it yourself that Zack was in two places at once. Now, tell me how that can happen.", "Okay, so, this thing—it can make itself look like anybody.", "That's right." She chuckles. "Well, what is it? Like a genetic freak?" The shifter laughs. "Maybe. Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else." Rebecca looks around, uncomfortable. The shifter's eyes glint silver, and he smiles. "It's funny. I kind of understand him. He's all alone—close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He's like me." Rebecca looks very uncomfortable. "You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It's so hard to be different." He tucks Rebecca's hair behind her ear. She shrugs away. "You should go." The shifter leans in and whispers something in her hear. She looks horrified and stands up. "You are disgusting, just get the hell out of here!", "Rebecca, just calm down." The shifter stands up. "Calm down? What is wrong with you?", "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" Rebecca walks to the phone. "I'm calling the police." The shifter walks over to her and throws the phone to the floor. She screams and tries to run away, but he trips her and she falls to the ground. He straddles her legs and begins tying her hands with the telephone cord. "Give me your hands!" She continues to scream. "Shut up!"          Rebecca is tied in a chair, beaten and bloody. "You're a nice girl, Rebecca. I mean, I liked you. Believe me, that makes this harder." He holds up a knife and examines it. "But I gotta do what I gotta do." He moves towards her. Suddenly, they hear a crash come from another room of the house. Rebecca screams, but the shifter covers her mouth and holds the knife to her throat. "Shh."          The S.W.A.T. team is searching the house. While their backs are turned, the shifter crosses the hall and goes into another room.          The shifter enters and closes the door, looking around frantically. He moves to a set of doors leading out to a balcony. Just as he opens the doors, the S.W.A.T. team enters. "Freeze! Drop the knife! Drop the knife! Drop the knife!" The shifter throws the knife at the police officer, and the rest of the team begins shooting. The shifter kicks one of the men, then goes outside and jumps off the balcony, onto the grass below. "Come on! Come on! Go! Go!" The shifter runs away, while the team continues to shoot and miss him several times.         The shifter stops walking, looking weak. He takes off his jacket and shirt, then falls to his knees. He groans and screams in pain as he continues to shed his skin.         Sam, Dean, and Olivia are standing in front of a store window, watching a news report that is being shown on a display of televisions. "An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T. team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home." A sketch of Dean appears on the screen. "Man! That's not even a good picture." Sam and Olivia look around cautiously. "It's good enough." Sam walks away. "Man!" Dean and Olivia follow Sam.          Sam, Dean, and Olivia are walking. Dean steps into a puddle. "Come on." Sam pauses. "They said attempted murder At least we know—," "I didn't kill her.", "We'll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she's all right.", "All right, but first I want to find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him." They stop walking. "We have no weapons. No silver bullets.", "Guys, the man's walking around with my face, okay, it's a little personal. I want to find him.", "Okay. Where do we look?", "Well, we could start with the sewers.", "We have no weapons. He stole our guns, we need more.", "The car?" Dean looks at Olivia, "I'm betting he drove over to Rebecca's.", "The news said he fled on foot. I bet it's still parked there.", "The thought of him driving my car.", "All right, come on." They start walking. "it's killing me, man.", "Let it go."          Sam, Dean, and Olivia walk around the side of Rebecca's house and see the Impala parked. "Oh, there she is! Finally, something went right tonight." A police car appears and parks next to Dean's car. "Oh, crap." They turn around, but another police car is parked a few yards away. "This way, this way." He moves towards a fence. "You guys go. I'll hold them off.", "Sam, no.", "what are you talking about? They'll catch you.", "Look, they can't hold me. Just go, keep out of sight. Mett me at Rebecca's." Dean and Olivia start to climb over the fence. "Dean." Dean stops and turns around. "Stay out of the sewers, too." Dean says nothing and hops over the fence. "I mean it!", "Yeah, yeah!" The police officer approaches Sam. "Don't move! Keep your hands where I can see them." Sam raises his hands in the air.          Dean and Olivia are getting weapons from the trunk. "I'm sorry, Sam. But you know us—we just can't wait." Olivia closes the trunk, and they walk away.          Dean and Olivia are in the sewer, looking around. They come across a chamber filled with candles and chains. Revolting piles of skin and blood are on the floor. They hear a noise and move to another area of the sewer. Olivia sees a large figure covered with a sheet. She removes it and sees Rebecca. Her hands and feet are found together with rope. "Rebecca?" Olivia turns to Dean.

Sam is sitting, having a beer at Rebecca's house, oblivious to the fact he's talking to the shifter and not Rebecca. "So, say this shapeshifter is real. By the way, you know you're crazy? But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?" The shifter replaces Sam's empty beer bottle with a new one. "Thanks." Sam sighs. "Silver bullet to the heart." The shifter chuckles. "You are crazy." The shifter hits Sam over the head with the empty bottle. Sam falls over, unconscious. The shifter's eyes momentarily flow silver.

Olivia is untying Rebecca's ropes. "What happened?" Rebecca who was crying tried to answer as calmly as possible. "I was walking home, and everything just went white. Someone hit me over the head, and I wound up here just in time to see that thing turn into me. I don't know, how is that even possible?", "Okay. Okay. It's okay." Olivia finishes untying her while Dean calms her down. "Come on. Can you walk?" She nods at Olivia. "Okay, we have to hurry. Sam went to see you."

The shifter has changed back into the form of Dean. He finishes tying up Sam's hands and feet, then starts walking around the kitchen. "What are you going to do to me?", "Oh, I'm not going to do anything. Dean will, though. "They will never catch him.", "Oh, doesn't matter. Murder in the first of his own brother? He'll be hunted the rest of his life." The shifter picks up a sharp knife and examines it.          "I must say, I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother's got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do." The shifter pours himself a drink. "Cheers." He takes a sip, then picks up the knife from the kitchen and sticks it into the edge of the pool table. Sam lifts his legs and kicks the shifter, who falls to the ground. Sam quickly sits up and moves his hands up and down on the blade of the knife. The ropes break apart. The shifter gets up, Sam takes the knife and swings at him. He grabs Sam's arm in mid-swing and twists it. Sam falls to the ground. "Oh, you son of a bitch." They both start to fight. Sam tries to pin the shifter down. "Not bad, little brother.", "You're not him." They continue to fight. The shifter finally throws Sam into a bookshelf. It falls apart, and books fall on top of Sam. "Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass." He grabs a pool cue and swings at Sam but misses and hits a light fixture. After fighting for several more minutes, they fall onto a coffee table. The shifter pins Sam to the floor and starts to choke him. Dean, Olivia, and Rebecca enter the house. "Hey!" Olivia quickly looks around her and see a way for her to reach the shifter. She runs and then jumps on the couch, jumping on the shifter. He lets go of Sam. Olivia and the shifter fight. He tries to punch her but she ducks in time, while still ducking, she punches his stomach, stands up straight and kicks him in the stomach once more. He grabs the knife on the ground and swings it at her, he reaches her stomach and cuts it. "No!" Sam tries to stand up, but Rebecca stops him. Dean walks closer and shoots twice the shifter in the heart. He falls to the ground, Dead. Dean rushes to Olivia who's on the floor holding her wound. "Olivia!", "I'm fine, don't worry. Hurts but it's not profound." Dean looks at the shifter's body and notices him wearing his necklace. He yanks it from the shifter's neck and looks at Sam, he nods at him and looks back at Olivia.          Dean is by the car, looking at a map, Olivia is sitting in the backseat on the Impala, door open and her legs outside of it. Rebecca and Sam come outside. "So, this is what you do? You and your brother and Olivia — you hunt down these kinds of things?", "Yeah, pretty much.", "I can't believe it. I mean, I saw it with my own eyes. And, I mean, does everybody at school — nobody knows that you do this?", "No.", "Did Jessica know?" Sam looks thoughtful before answers. "No, she didn't.", "Must be lonely.", "Oh, no. No, it's not so bad. Anyway, what can I do? It's my family." Rebecca laughs. "Well, you know, Zack and me, and everybody at school — we really miss you." Rebecca hugs Sam. Sam looks pained, "yeah, me too." They pull away. "Well, will you call sometime?", "It might not be for a little while." Rebecca nods and waves goodbye to Dean and Olivia. They smile and wave back. Rebecca goes back inside the house. Sam walks over to the car. "So, what about your friend, Zack?", "Cops are blaming this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder. They found the murder weapon in the guy's lair, Zack's clothes stained with her blood. Now they think maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becca says Zack will be released soon." Sam smiles. Dean rolls his eyes and gets in the car.          Olivia was asleep in the backseat, Sam shotgun, and Dean driving. "Sorry, man.", "About what?", "I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be…Joe College.", "No, that's okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in.", "Well, that's because you're a freak.", "Yeah, thanks.", "Well, I'm freak, too. Olivia, Dad, we all are. We're right there with you, all the way." Sam laughs, "yeah, I know you are.", "You know, I have to say— I'm sorry I'm going to miss it.", "Miss what?", "How many chances am I going to have to see my own funeral?" Sam and Dean smile at each other.

[magickmoons]

patching up

based on the (accidental) line that Dean and Sam had seen each other two years prior to the pilot episode. Dean takes a trip to see Sam at Stanford. Things don’t go according to plan.

“Shit. Damn it!” Dean got both hands back on the wheel just in time to pull the Impala out of the skid she was heading for as he took a corner too fast.  As soon as she was righted, he went back to dabbing up the blood that dripped down the interior of the door. If Dad saw that, he'd take the car back for sure. But Dad wasn't ever going to know about any of this.

He glanced up at a street sign, trying to remember the directions he'd pulled off the library computer that afternoon. The couple/few shots he'd had the bar, combined with his head meeting a brick wall soon after, made his memory a little funny.

Stupid, Dean. Stop in for a little liquid courage, and then you just had to go and push your luck. Apparently, college boys aren't all that open and experimental, even in a hippie town like this.

He spat some blood out the open window and slowed the car, trying to read the building numbers. He had to be getting close to Sammy’s dorm. Half a block down, a car pulled out into traffic, and Dean slipped into the spot it had vacated with a grin. Finally, something was going right. He spent a minute wiping the obvious blood off his face and hands. Not that he gave a damn what Sammy's roommates thought about him, but he really didn't want to draw too much attention.

Stepping out of the car, he tried to focus on the building closest to him. The bricks moved disconcertingly, and he was already heading for the trunk for a weapon before he realized it was just another wave of dizziness. He felt along the back of his skull, wincing when his fingers found one hell of a lump. When he looked at his hand in the light of the streetlamp, his fingers were smeared and sticky with blood.

He walked two buildings in the wrong direction before turning around and finding the one that the student directory listed as Sam's residence hall. Putting on his most charming persona, the one that (almost) never failed to land him in bed with whoever he aimed it at, he caught up with a girl heading up the walk to the secured entrance.

“Chilly tonight, isn't it?”

She eyed his t-shirt and flannel combo appreciatively. Black t-shirts were excellent for hiding blood stains, especially at night. “If you say so,” she grinned.

He threw her his best Aw, shucks grin. "Hey, maybe you could help me with something. Do you know Sam Winchester?”

“Yeah, I know him. But I don't know you.”

“I'm Dean.” He waited, but no spark of recognition appeared on her face. He swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat and moved automatically into yet another cover story. “I'm an old friend of his from back home. Was just passing through and thought I'd surprise old Sammy-boy, but I can't remember his room number.”

She chewed on her lip as she evaluated him. Finally, she shrugged. "Guess you look all right. Sam's in room 617."

She pushed the door open, and he followed her through. As they stepped into the bright light of the lobby, and she got a good look at his face, she gasped. "Oh my god, are you okay? What happened to you?"

Well, crap. Didn't think it was that bad.

"This?" He chuckled. "This is nothin' sweetheart. You should see the other guy."

"Really?"

Dean inwardly rolled his eyes at the tinge of excitement in her voice. This was the kind of people Sammy had ditched them for?

She rode the elevator with him up to the fourth floor where she exited with a flirty grin, after writing her number on his palm. “Just in case Sam's busy,” she winked.

Dean slumped against the wall of the elevator with a groan as soon as the doors closed behind her. This is such a bad idea. His hand hovered over the panel; he could just head back down, leave, and Sam would never be the wiser, probably wouldn't care even if he knew. But damn it, Dean hadn't gone through all this just to walk away.

The doors opened on the sixth floor and Dean pushed off the wall with a grimace. His muscles were already stiffening up, and he could feel the warm trail of blood just above his ear. With no one in the hallway to impress, he let himself limp along to 617. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and knocked.

"Hang on!" Sam yelled from inside. Dean smiled at his voice. God, he'd missed the kid.

The door opened and there was Sam. He'd somehow grown another inch or two, apparently not content with just being taller than Dean; he was going for full-on Giant status. He'd grown into his height too, muscles starting to offset the teenage beanpole syndrome.

"Dean?" Sam stared at him in surprise. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Before Dean could answer, Sam pulled him inside, glancing up and down the hallway before closing the door. "What happened? What's after you?"

"Nothin's coming, Sammy. Stand down. It was just a bar fight."

"Really, Dean?"

Not here for thirty seconds and we've already got epic bitchface. Must be some kinda record.

"What, did you get caught hustling pool? Hitting on the wrong guy's date? Then you thought, hey, I'm near Sam. Let's go spread the joy."

Dean tried to protest, but really wasn't sure what he'd say. I came to see you, but stopped by the bar for a shot or two of liquid courage, got stupid and hit on the wrong guy and got my ass beaten by a bunch of homophobic pricks wasn't exactly how he wanted to come out to Sam.

"What were you even doing out this way? No, never mind. Just sit down and try not to bleed on the furniture." Sam tossed him a towel. "Stay here."

Sam left the room with a huff, and Dean settled into the desk chair. He draped the towel around his neck and looked around the room. Decent size -- better than some places they'd stayed, for sure.

Sam's side of the room was lacking character -- no decoration, pathologically neat except for textbooks and notebooks scattered across the desk. The photo of their parents stood on an otherwise empty nightstand next to the bed.

At least he hasn't completely left the family behind.

The other side of the room looked like Sam's roommate was working overtime to counter Sam's studious neatness. Unmade bed, a couple of beer cans on the desk, posters of half naked women stuck haphazardly to the walls. A TV and some kind of video game system sat on top of a stack of cardboard boxes at the foot of the bed.

"All right." Sam slipped back in. He put a bowl of water on the desk next to Dean and dug around in his closet, pulling out a first aid kit.

He efficiently assessed Dean's injuries, cleaning each, bandaging where needed. He kept coming back to the head wound.

"It doesn't need stitches, but it's not insignificant. Don't suppose I can convince you to go the hospital? Get a CT scan, maybe?"

Dean threw Sam a confused look. "Are you sure you didn't get hit on the head?"

"Yeah, okay. I guess not." Sam started packing away the unused supplies, separating out everything that could be cleaned and piling it in the bowl.

"You meeting up with Dad after this? Someone should keep an eye on you for a bit."

"Nah, Dad's working something with Caleb in Colorado. I'm on vacation." He tried not to sound too bitter at being excluded from the hunt -- and being prohibited from finding his own. Spent all of his childhood being told to act like an adult; now he's actually an adult, he can't get out from under Dad's thumb.

"All right, then. Brady's out of town for the night anyway. I guess you can stay here for a bit."

"Hey, don't do me any favors, man."

"It's just ... Dean, I need to be away from this, from all of it." He made a sweeping gesture from Dean's head to his feet. "Whether it's monsters or bar fights, I want out."

"Yeah, I get  it, Sammy." Dean pushed roughly past his brother. "I'll get out of here and let you get back to your nice, normal life."

"Dean, stop."

He paused facing the door.

Sam sighed. "I'm ... That was kinda harsh. I just wasn't expecting this right now. Why don't you stick around for bit? We can play some video games or something."

Dean turned around. Sam offered him a sheepish smile and a shrug. For just a minute, it was ten years ago, before Sam hated him, left him behind. Back when Dean's respect meant something.

"Well, if you're that desperate for company ... "

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Sam shook his head and laughed. "Sit back down and prepare to have your ass handed to you." He tossed a controller to Dean as he set the system up.

Several hours and a few beers later, they had run through just about all of Brady's games and switched over to watching some late night show.

Stretched out on Brady's bed with Sam in his own on the other side of the room, it was almost like old times. Maybe it was that, maybe it was the beer, maybe it was just a random impulse, but Dean found himself saying, "I hit on the wrong person. He and his buddies were not too happy with me." He stared up at the ceiling, afraid to see Sam's reaction.

The bed creaked as Sam rolled onto his side to face Dean.

"Really? Damn. Fucking assholes like that make me sick."

Dean swiveled his head to see Sam's face full of concern and outrage.

"No, I was ... Sam, I ... " Damn it, why can't the kid just read between the lines? Gonna make me say it? "I was hitting on the guy, Sammy."

Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah, and?"

"What d'ya mean, 'Yean, and?'"

Sam blew out a frustrated breath. "I mean, you look like you feel even worse than when Dad needed the Impala for a hunt and you'd taken it to get lucky in the backseat. So, I'm waiting for the 'and.'"

A veil of numbness settled over Dean as he replied. "I hit on a guy, Sam. Don't you got something to say about that?"

"What, that you're bi?"

Dean swung up to sitting and spread his hands wide. "Yeah?"

Sam stared at him for a few seconds. "Dean, I already knew."

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out so he closed it again.

"I've known for years." Sam sat up opposite Dean. "I thought you knew."

"No," Dean said faintly. "You never said anything."

"Neither did you. I just figured it wasn't a big deal -- didn't need to be spelled out. And, well, talking about it in front of Dad seemed inadvisable."

The numbness started to fade, leaving words crashing into each other in his head. Sam knew. Sam fucking knew and didn't care? He stared at his brother.

"I don't ... How'd you figure it out?"

Sam shrugged. "I'm observant."

"Yeah. So's Dad. Does he know?"

Sam's quick head shake quashed the idea that somehow Dad knew and was okay with it -- that this wasn't yet another way for Dean to disappoint him. He swallowed. Stupid to hurt over something that was exactly the same as it had been ten minutes earlier.

"Dad only sees what he wants to."

Sharp prickles spread from Dean's neck down his arms, a flush of anger had him spitting the words, "What the hell is that supposed to mean, Sammy?"

"You know exactly what it means, Dean. Everything's black and white for Dad, good or evil. And there's no changing his mind once he's decided what something is; he sees the facts that support his view and dismisses everything else."

"Nice to see college hasn't changed you. Still the same opinionated know-it-all brat."

Restless energy coursing through him had Dean on his feet. Sam stood too, almost looming over him, his face stormy. "Having an opinion that's different from Dad's is not automatically a bad thing, Dean. He's not perfect, and we're allowed to think for ourselves. That's supposed to be his job -- to help us do that!"

"He did help us. He kept us alive, safe from all the monsters out there!" Dean shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to keep from balling them into fists.

"Maybe we wouldn't have been in danger if he didn't go looking for them. Maybe he should have just left well enough alone."

Dean stepped back, his breath coming in jagged bursts, his arms aching from tension. He would not punch his brother.

"I'm outta here, man. I did not come all this way to see you just to have the same old argument. Let me know when you get some new material." He shoved past Sam, jostling him harder than was strictly necessary.

"You came here to see me?" Sam spoke quietly, and it took Dean until his hand was on the doorknob to process the words.

"Yeah." He was shaking -- anger and fear and disappointment -- and wasn't that always how it ended up for him?

"I thought ... I mean, I figured you were out here anyway, just ..."

"Well, I guess you don't know everything, huh, college boy?"

"Dean."

Sam's wounded voice called up a flood of memories. Fragments of their life

Dean, why is Dad always so mad? I'm hungry, Dean. Why do we have to leave again, Dean? I like it here.

Dean let his head rest against the cool door. He couldn't resist trying to help Sam when he sounded like that. But he couldn't make it better, not anymore. Sam had a chance here, and Dean wouldn't screw it up for him. This had been a mistake.

He cleared his throat and spoke to the door. "You were right, Sam. It's time for you to get away from all of that shit."

"No, Dean. That's not what I meant."

He could feel Sam standing about four paces behind him, stock still, waiting.

"S'ok, Sammy. I gotta head out and meet Dad anyway." He glanced over his shoulder, then wished he hadn't. Sam looked a little lost, yeah, but also more than a little knowing. "Yeah, anyway, thanks for patching me up."

Sam looked down at the floor, then back up. "Anytime, Dean."

"See you around then."

"See you."

In the elevator, Dean's finger hovered over the 4th floor for about one second before he hit the button for the lobby. He needed to get out of this damn town now. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

And good riddance.

Author’s Note: This was actually supposed to be just a quick bittersweet interlude, where Sam accepts Dean as bisexual. Unfortunately, I forgot that they cannot communicate for shit in the early years (and by extension just a couple years before that), so.... argument.

[visceralcalum]

Pilot - Part 1

Word Count - 1881

Pairing - Dean x OC 

Warnings - language, blood, death, basically everything supernatural offers

A/N Here you go, I’m gonna give it a shot with this and see how it goes. This one is mostly prologue and the start of the pilot.  Please leave comments or send them to me privately if you want! I’m not great at this, honestly no clue how this works since i’m used to ao3, comments are definitely welcome! If you wanna get tagged, also please ask! If part 2 is uploaded I’ll edit this post and put the link in the bottom :)

Prologue She stretched on her toes, attempting to get the last remnant of the white walls with the thick brush. She cringed when her arm came in contact with the wet paint. She’ll have to redo that section for a perfect porcelain finish, she thought as she dipped her brush in the tub lying a few centimeters away from her feet. With a steady hand, she brought the bristles down the wall, watching them leave a trail of red behind, hiding the faint marks left from the posters of her Johnny Depp phase. She did a double coat on that section as she remembered how she would stay awake attempting to differentiate the shades of brown in his eyes.

As she stepped back, she twirled around the room as the old sheets protecting her carpet from paint spill, wrapped around her ankles. She glanced, letting her eyes jump of the four walls, remembering the many photographs she had stored on them. There was her high school graduation photo, where she was smiling at her grandmother instead of the lens. One of her old best friends stood next to her, showing the camera her diploma with a sly smile, as the tassels of her cap fell on her face, visibly annoying her. Then there was the photograph of her family on a beach somewhere in Spain when she was just a baby that sat on her dresser, and above her desk she used to have the photographs from her photography phase from freshman year.

And then there was the one that used to hang next to her window, the one with the broken frame. It was her most recent picture, and with recent, she meant about 5 years old. A picture of her and the Winchester brothers.

The boy on the left was about 17 years old when the picture was taken, he was slightly taller than the other guy and he was wearing a plaid t-shirt. The boy, Sam, would be, what, 22 years right now? She counted on her fingers. Yeah, 22. That would make Dean, the other boy, 26 at this moment. Dean was leaning against the car behind them, a 67’ Chevrolet Impala. He was laughing at some cheesy joke she just told him.

It’s been two years since she last saw either of them, mainly because Sam went to Stanford, and she also left for college while Dean stayed with his dad, John.

Sam  tried to keep in touch for a while, but it faded away when he started dating some girl he never told her about. She and Dean hadn’t spoken since the night she left.

She freed her ankles from the old sheets and dipped the brush in the tub and started painting again, thinking about the night when everything went to shit. She stood there with her hand wrapped around the doorknob waiting for him to speak up and ask her to stay. After what seemed like years he spoke, “So, this is it?”. He asked it if as everything that’s ever happened between them never existed. She psychically could feel her heart throb, and not in a good way.

After swallowing the lump in her dry throat, she opened her mouth. “I guess so.” “You know I didn’t want it to end this way.” he said as she heard his footsteps walk across the dark brown wood floors she’d grown accustomed to. She felt his presence too close to her and she sucked in a breath.

“I should probably go then.” “It almost feels like you want things to end, and that you’re leaving.” he said bitterly. “That’s where you’re wrong!” she shot back, letting go of the knob and turning around. “How so?” he said. He didn’t realize how fucked up this situation was, or maybe he just didn’t want to believe it. “You haven’t gave me an ounce of your time since I’ve came back to Bobby’s and it’s like you brush of my presence every time I’m with you. I don’t know what your problem is, but it seems you most definitely wanted things to end and it’s easier just to say that then play games with me.” she said, raising her voice and squeezing her hands into fists.

He stood there, watching her with his flashy green eyes and his arms folded across his chest. “C’mon Princess, you know that’s not true.” “Don’t call me princess.” “Elizabeth, you’re overreacting, just calm down.” It was the first time in months he said her full name which meant he finally realized he really fucked up this time. “I’m not overreacting, I’m done.” she semi-shouted and turned back around and went to open the door when he grabbed her wrist. “Don’t leave me like Sam did.” He whispered. If she looked in his eyes, she could see tears forming, but she avoided making any eye contact. She pulled herself free from his grip and gave him one last glare.

“Bye, Dean.” He tried calling her every day for the next month, leaving voicemails and text messages, before he eventually gave up and left her alone. After that she moved back in with her grandmother and went to college. She tried to forget about her so called ‘old life’, the life she had when she was living with the Winchester family, but how can you try to live a normal life when you know there is nothing normal about it? When you know about all the things that bump in the night? Liz had seen it all. From ghouls to vampires to wendigo’s. It was all real, and she tried to live a normal, apple-pie life.

That was a total lie, even after she went to college she was still hunting. Nothing big, small cases around her campus and her hometown. Ghosts usually, nothing she couldn’t handle alone. If something bigger, like a nasty demon or crazy rugaru, she’d call Bobby. Bobby Singer was an old man who basically adopted the Winchester boys and even her when her parents died and her grandmother couldn’t take care of her anymore when she was younger. He’d help her out. But it was their secret, he promised he wouldn’t tell Dean or John how she was or where she was.

It was summer break, meaning she could finally leave her college for a good six weeks and move back in with her grandmother. She decided to paint the walls of her old room, giving it a fresh, new look. She looked at the walls she painted red and nodded. She put the lit back on the paint and threw the brush on the sheets before walking downstairs, just in time to see her grandmother struggling to stand up.

She walked over and helped her. “Thought you needed a hand.” Liz said. “Where ya need to go?” she asked. “The kitchen table.” Her granny said and Liz helped her. “I still think you should buy a walker.” Liz said. “You know I’m too stubborn for that. Wait ‘till I break my hip.”  She snorted.

“I found you a case, by the way.” Her grandma said when Liz helped her sit down. Liz frowned. “You found me a case?” She repeated and her grandma nodded. “Yeah, Jericho. Not far from here.”

Liz watched her grandma reaching for the newspaper and gave it her. She looked at the circled article. “Boy went missing. He isn’t the first one. Thought you might like it. It’s better than being stuck with me for six weeks.” She said. A smile formed on her wrinkled face. Liz took a moment to read the article before nodding. “Yeah, sure. Sounds like a case. I’ll look into it.”

And after a night full of research, she decided to check it out.

Pilot

It was around 2am when she arrived at the Sylvania bridge in Jericho. It wasn’t a long ride, Jericho was about 30 minutes from Santa Ana, where her grandma lived, she just wanted to make sure this was really a case and needed to be prepared for whatever she walked into.

She found an article about a woman who lost both her children in a freaky bathtub accident, and then thrown herself off the bridge. So, this seemed like as good a lead as any. Elizabeth parked her car and started walking along the bridge, looking for answers. It was cold, and at this point she’d wished she’d stayed with her grandma, instead of going on a hunt blind, but whatever. It was a good waste of time. She was totally off guard when a woman in a white dress suddenly appeared in front of her. Before Liz could even lift her arm to grab her gun, the lady in white already threw her over the side of the bridge.

A small scream escaped her mouth, before landing in the ice cold water. Thanks to a huge area of mud and slop that broke her fall, she didn’t break anything. She spit out some of the mud in her mouth. “Yeah, that wasn’t a smart move.” She said to herself and pulled herself up, and that was when she heard voices on the bridge, it sounded like two men having an argument. Fantastic, if the spirit just threw her of a bridge, she can only imagine what it would do to some screaming idiots.

Elizabeth stood there for a moment, not moving and eavesdropping on the men, instead of making herself known. “Don’t talk about her like that!” the one man seethed at the other. Some more inaudible worlds, followed by the revving of an engine and one man asking “Who’s driving your car?”

Oh shit.

She looked up to see the two men jump from the bridge, one of them catching himself on the side of the bridge, the other landing not far from her. Liz grabbed her gun from her back and glanced over at the man, who was covered in mud and god knows what else, just like herself.

That was when she saw the unmistakable green eyes. “Dean?” Dean stared at her for a moment, before he realized that she was really there and not some hallucination. “Elizabeth?” he said with a quivering voice. “The one and only.” She said.

Was this really how their first conversation after two years would be? Covered in mud and sarcastic comments? Dean pulled himself up and grabbed her shoulders. “Are you okay? What are you doing down here? Are you hurt?” he asked worried, checking her skin for any injuries. “I’m fine. I was on a hunt. What are you doing here?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Looking for dad. It’s a long story. You went hunting, alone? Bobby told me you’d quit hunting! Are you insane?” Dean asked. He sounded like my dad. “Jee, Dean, nice to see you too.” She rolled her eyes. Then, she heard a voice coming from the bridge. “Dean? Dean!”

Elizabeth looked up, recognizing that voice immediately. “Is that Sam?” she asked. Dean nodded. “Yeah. As I said, it’s a long story.”

“Hey! Are you alright?” Sam shouted again. Dean lifted up his arm and gave him an A-OK sign. “I’m super. Actually, I’m fantastic. You’ll never guess who I found down here!” he yelled back.

Part 2

[hippychick006]

14.18 - Absence Recap

I’m putting this recap under a cut. I’ve tried to cut it down, but nope, I have a lot to say about this episode.  It’s highly critical so if you are a fan of Dabbernatural, you most definitely want to keep moving down your dash.  Nothing to see here, the show is absolutely wonderful, carry on with your day...

Note, if I talk about Dabb’s writing, I mean him being in overall charge of the quality of writing as show runner, even though another writer might have written the episode I’m criticising.  I’m not fully blaming the writers because they have no clear direction with Dabb as showrunner.

Positives are the brother moments, though I definitely felt that Jared and Jensen were struggling a little to find the emotion in this episode – which contrasts with the emotion of episodes like Lebanon where it came more naturally.   Rowena is always a positive addition to an episode, and even though I talk about Jack being over utilised in my post, I still love my nougat eating Nephilim. Can we keep him and just send him off to Stanford and have him back for the holidays?

I’m struggling with the show right now.  My mind is “helpfully” supplying that we have 22 episodes and counting until there’s no more new Sam and Dean content, and episodes like this, that are so far beneath the - admittedly high - bar set by Kripke are just depressing to watch.  I’ve made no secret that Dabb is the worst showrunner to ever happen to Supernatural (I would have said any show, but I mistakenly started to watch Quantico a few weeks ago, so he’s been elevated recently).  Even by Dabb’s standards though, this episode is epically bad.   And it’s bad for so many reasons.

I had a quick look back at Dabb’s writing to see if he’s perhaps a better writer than a showrunner.  IMO, he’s had more misses than hits since joining the show in Season 4. Hits include: Yellow Fever, Dark side of the Moon, Red Meat and Lebanon (though I wouldn’t put Lebanon in the league of the other 3 personally, it was a great Season 14 episode, but stacked up against others, it falls down the list).  Misses include 2 failed pilots: Bloodlines and Wayward sisters, plus many others.   He’s capable of good writing obviously, I just believe he’s lazy and tries to please the online fandom too much, completely forgetting that fandom is an incredibly small part of the overall viewing audience.   He should write for the story first and foremost, only giving the odd nod to fandom, not allowing it to completely overtake – and in my opinion - completely ruin the story being told.

As showrunner, he’s started and dropped many plot lines (several of them running at the same time so you experience whip lash while viewing).  He kills characters for shock value and brought long dead characters back for the same reasons.  He’s then proceeded to butcher those characters (or ruin their earlier arc) until they are unrecognisable from the characters you loved.  He steals plot lines and ruins them, his dialogue includes ridiculous levels of pandering.  The show has too much drama, people constantly dying and there’s no fun anymore. When they try to do funny, it just falls flat, because they can’t write comedy in the same way as someone like Ben Edlund.

His biggest missteps though have been the forced pushing of “found family” onto a general audience that was watching the show for the unique bond between the siblings.  Making Supernatural about “family” is just making Supernatural the same as every other show out there.  The bond between the brothers is actually what made the show unique and special. Now it isn’t any more and the magic it had has been, not lost entirely, but heavily watered down under Dabb’s incompetence.  

His other misstep has been too much focus on other characters that are not Sam or Dean.  Seriously, I’m one of the people that likes Jack, but he’s had far too much focus this season (almost like they’re making a lame, last ditch attempt to try to get a character worth a spin off for this show).  No longer whispers into the void but screams until I’m hoarse: PEOPLE ARE WATCHING FOR SAM AND DEAN YOU DUMBASS HACK, FUCKING WRITE WITH THEM AS THE CENTRE OF YOUR FOCUS AND NOT REDUCE THEM TO PRETTY FURNITURE!

For those of you that might come back with “But J2 want time off…” I acknowledge this, but I’ll come right back and point out that J2 are in the episodes, it’s just not about them and that is the problem, not the time off.  As mentioned, I loved Jack in Season 13, now I don’t really care about him because he’s had too much of the story be about him, as if he’s the protagonist of the show and not Sam and Dean.  

Anyway, on to the episode.

We recap on Mary badgering Jack and watching it again annoyed me just as much as the episode last week.  Definitely slapped in the face with the stupid stick.  When someone is out of control, you humour them and give them space. You don’t constantly badger them, making things worse – particularly if you witnessed said being lose control and charbroil to death another human (a very bad, murdery human, but still a human).  And I don’t actually blame Mary, it’s simply bad writing, because if you want something to happen to get to the position you want to be in, write it better. Don’t make a character suddenly stupid in order to achieve it.  Unfortunately, as I mentioned on another post, Dabb is a very lazy writer.  He wants to get to point B and doesn’t care how stupid he makes his characters in order to get there.  

Sam and Dean arrive home, immediately calling for ‘mom’ and ‘Jack’.   Sam looks longer than Dean who is already sitting down with a beer when Sam returns from searching the bunker.  They share a toast to “another miraculous Sam Winchester survival.”  Dean: “Gotta say man, if Jack hadn’t have healed you…” Dean trails off and I try not to think of the consequences, particularly with how devastated Dean was during the few seconds he lost Sammy yet again. Dean reflects they’d be “up the creek without that kid.”

Jack’s all right as long as he’s saving Sammy and killing bad guys.  Got it.

Dean brings his phone out to try mom’s cell.  Sam brings his own phone out, presumably to try Jack. When Dean connects to Mary’s cell, they hear a buzzing and see Mary’s bag with her cell phone and keys on the other end of the map table.  Both start to get a little worried.

Sam says he’ll try Jack.  We switch to Jack and hear the phone ringing, but he doesn’t answer. He seems to be in shock.

Fast forward an indeterminate time and our boys have tried everyone; Jody, Donna, Charlie, Bobby, Rowena.  Nada from most of them, but Rowena is a little more helpful and might have a spell that can track Jack and Mary down.  Just as I’m wondering if Castiel was on their list, Dean’s phone rings, Sam looks hopefully at Dean (that it’s either Jack or Mary) but Dean shakes his head.  He answers the phone without putting it on speaker and it is indeed Castiel, who got Dean’s message that Nick was trying to raise Lucifer.  Dean updates Castiel that “the kid” says he took care of him, and they are just trying to find him and Mary at the moment.  Castiel: “Are they together?”  Dean: “Yeah.”  Castiel: “Alone?” Dean’s got no idea what Castiel is on about, he answers that yes, they are together, alone. Sam is only hearing one side of the conversation and wants to know what Cass is saying.   I have no idea why Dean doesn’t put the phone on speaker (I am however 100% certain it has nothing to do with non-existent Destiel), it just seems weird not to put it on speaker as they normally would, and there’s no obvious reason not to do so.  Dean knows Castiel is holding something back and says, “If you’ve got something to tell us, now is the time.”   Castiel explains about Jack using his powers to kill Felix the snake.  “I was gonna tell you but…”  

Urgh, how many times must we suffer through this?  This is Castiel’s role on the show: try to fix a problem without telling Sam and Dean, because he doesn’t want to worry them. It leads to something bad happening.  They find out, Dean is angry and wants no more to do with him, while Sam defends Castiel.  Rinse and repeat.   It’s manufactured drama and it’s bad writing, because if you are a decent writer, you can get drama within an episode without this.  And the thing is, Dabb wrote Red Meat, loads of drama in that episode, none of it manufactured, so he can do it.   Baby, Regarding Dean are other examples from recent years. Not a single one of these had manufactured drama, all absolutely fantastic episodes.

Castiel tells Dean he doesn’t think Jack is well.  Dean puts the phone down on him.  And thousands of anti Cass fans rejoice, and we will enjoy our few seconds of rejoicing even knowing that Sammy will at some point (probably this episode) vouch for Castiel as he has done many times in the past (undeservingly so imo – how many times is Sam going to say ‘it’s Cass’ before he stops getting a free pass and changes his behaviour?)  

Dean brings Sam up to speed about Jack, and Sam has an idea for finding him. He uses the “find phone” app to discover Jack is in Nepal. As they watch, Jack suddenly jumps to Lima, Peru.  Sam makes the genius (not really) observation that Jack must be flying.  They watch as Jack jumps again to Paris, France, and then Madagascar.  Dean: “What the hell is he doing?”

It’s night and we hear a flap of wings and Jack slumps onto the ground.  He stumbles to get up, then checks his phone, he has 10 missed calls, 7 voicemails, and several missed texts, all from Sam, Dean and Castiel. Interestingly, the most communication is from Dean, but I headcanon that a large part of that is Dean leaving messages: “Where the hell are you, Sammy’s worried sick!”

We see a flashback between Jack and Mary where Mary says what he did was amazing (in dealing with one of the AU angels – can’t remember which one – Zachariah I think, but he was wearing a different meat suit than normal).  The flashback ends and we see something appear in the dark behind Jack.  It’s Nick, though it’s not Nick.  His eyes flash red and I worry for a second that Lucifer is actually back, but no, he’s Jack’s sub-conscious.  Taps chin in puzzlement.  Where have we seen a similar storyline before, with this exact same character, hmmm?

Nick tells Jack that he can’t come back from killing Mary.  Jack: “It was an accident!”  Nick: “Okay, tell Sam and Dean that, I’m sure they’ll understand, it’s not like family isn’t everything to them.”   Jack zaps Nick, telling him to shut up.  

Oh, if only it were that easy, kiddo.

Sam and Dean are driving to somewhere – presumably still tracking Jack’s cell phone signal. Sam tells Dean that Cass is going to meet them there.  Dean doesn’t answer.   Sam tries to defend Jack, saying that maybe he wasn’t able to stop Nick from raising Lucifer and Lucifer took them both… “and Jack, he must have thought he was helping, you know, being kind.”  

Dean (and me, puzzled): What?

Sam: With Felix.

Dean (annoyed): “Really, with the snake?”  

Sam: I’m just saying, Dean, I’m trying to understand Jack without a soul

Dean (very annoyed now): We don’t know that he doesn’t have a soul!  Okay, I don’t wanna… let’s… let’s not talk about it, all right... let’s just find mom, find Jack and we’ll figure it all out.”

Sam’s tablet indicates they’ve lost Jack’s signal, but they still head to where Jack was last, which is the cabin where Nick was killed.  Very dramatic music as they head in there.  The music is another thing that has annoyed me this season, it overpowers scenes rather than compliments them, it’s very distracting.  Please stop it, because I’m not three years old and can understand perfectly well when I’m supposed to find something dramatic and when I’m not.

Sam looks inside the cabin, while Dean looks outside.  Sam therefore is the one to come across Nick’s body.  He shouts for Dean who doesn’t hear him (though last week heard him perfectly well from quite a distance).  Dean comes across a spot outdoors which is covered in ash.  He’s either just lucky he came across it, or he was tracking Jack and Mary’s path.  Dean’s an outstanding hunter, let’s go with tracking.  Sam soon joins him (also an outstanding hunter) and it’s clear they both seem to believe something bad happened at that spot.  

Cass is in the car and he’s arrived at the cabin.  He doesn’t go in.  We see a flashback to where he was hunting with Mary.  Jack having a flashback I understand, but Castiel has no reason to suspect that Mary is dead, only missing at this stage, so why is he having a flashback? Also, as other people have pointed out, this flashback of him hunting with her couldn’t have happened within the timeline. Lazy idiots that can’t keep track of the story!  Upshot of their completely fake scene is that Castiel says he’s glad she’s back and that Sam and Dean are happy, “Finally they don’t have to be so alone.”    Mary answers: “Castiel, they were never alone.” No, they weren’t Mary, because they always had each other and that’s all either of them needs.  Other people are nice to have, but not necessary to eithers continued existence.  Whispers: platonic soulmates.

Now, if Dabb meant that line to mean that they were never alone because they had Castiel, I look up the facts.  Dean was 30 before Castiel dropped into their lives, he was 37 before Dabb started forcing him into the narrative as “family/brother” when in actual fact between the years of 30-37, he was rarely around, and they only called him when they wanted something. Over the last three years, he hasn’t exactly been a constant in their lives, no matter how much Dabb has tried to shoehorn him in to please the 1%ers at the expense of the general viewing audience and a decent storyline.

Moving on, Castiel finally gets out the car to go inside the cabin.  

Sam covers Nick with a blanket.  He’s worried. Dean tries to reassure Sam that they don’t know what happened, they don’t know what Nick did, he probably deserved it.  Sam somewhat agrees Nick deserved it, but not in that way.

Sam updates Castiel on Nick and a “blast spot” behind the house that looks angelic, only bigger. Dean is turned away during this, giving Castiel the cold shoulder.   He does chip in at one point though;

Dean: It might have been Lucifer, Nick was trying to bring him back  

Sam: Yeah, but Jack said…

Dean: I don’t care what Jack said!  We don’t know what happened, but I swear, if he did something to her, if she is…

Sam sighs and Dean turns to Castiel, “then you’re dead to me.”

Hold on, I need a moment.  

“Then you’re dead to me.”

Sam: Dean…

Hold on another moment, while I speak to Sam in private about defending Castiel yet again. This is what I was afraid of, he always defends Castiel and Castiel is not learning anything. He makes the same mistakes over and over because he doesn’t deal with the consequences of his actions.  Slaps Sam in the face with a parenting book that helped me enormously during the teenage years.

Dean: “No, he knew, he knew something was wrong with the kid, he knew it and he didn’t tell us. He didn’t even tell us!”

Sam says nothing (good, our little chat worked then).

Castiel: I was scared, I believed in Jack for so long, I... believed that he was good, I knew that he would be good for the world, he was good for us, my faith in him, it never wavered, and then I saw what he did.  It wasn’t malice, it wasn’t evil, it was like Jack saw a problem and in his mind he just solved it with that snake…

Dean (angry):  the snake? [he’s seriously getting annoyed that everyone keeps bringing up the snake]

Castiel (talking to Dean’s back): What he did wasn’t bad, it was the absence of good and I saw that in him, but we were a family (family mention alert for those of you playing dabbernatural bingo!) and I didn’t want to lose that, so I thought I could... fix it on my own, felt like it was my responsibility, so I left, and I didn’t tell you.  If I could go back and just… just talk to him right then and there, I would, but I can’t Dean.  I failed you and I failed Jack.  And I failed…

Dean (turns around): No, no, Don’t even say it, don’t even say her name!  

Dean steps towards Castiel, but Sam steps forward and puts his hand out with a quiet “Dean.”

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to feel during this scene. Sad, I presume?  I just feel pissed that we are having to suffer through incredibly bad writing that has Castiel screwing up yet again, by going off on his own, yet again, and I’m going to have to suffer through some more puke inducing dialogue at some stage in the very near future that will have Dean apologising and all will be right with the world.  Totally fed up with Castiel being used as nothing more than a plot point, I don’t even like the character, but no one deserves that.  Bad, lazy writing that shows he has no purpose to the show and that he no longer fits and hasn’t for a long time.

Sam’s phone rings, it’s Rowena and at least Sam knows how his speakerphone works.  Sam’s really upset as he answers.   Rowena updates that she’s tried to find Jack, but his energy is too unstable. Sam: “And mom?”  We see Rowena close her eyes and not answer.  Dean orders: “Say it” and Rowena says, “I don’t know what happened, or where she is, but I can tell you with certainty, Mary Winchester is no longer on this earth”

Dean closes his eyes, we switch to Sam and then Castiel (rolls eyes because getting his reaction is pandering, because sure, let’s not waste footage by focusing on the two that are actually her sons).  We get a minute of watching Sam and Dean, and can I just say how brilliant these two are. I mean I have no feelings at all towards Mary, Dabb completely screwed over her character and did nothing to make me care about her in any way, so I don’t feel anything towards her.  But I do feel for Sam and Dean here, but only because of Jared and Jensen’s acting in this scene.

Dean’s quiet for a few seconds, then he breaks a chair.  Sam flinches as he does with loud noises and someone needs to get my poor baby some help for that PTSD he’s been carrying around for the last few years.  

Sam (to Dean): So, what do we do?

This isn’t Sam Winchester, the hunter, this is Sam Winchester, the little brother, looking to his big brother to have some answers, because he’s completely lost.

Dean: What we always do when we lose one of our own, we fight, we fight to bring them back.

Wait, what? Seriously?  Are we retconning that narrative now too?  I’m starting to suspect that Dabb hates the special bond and his personal mission has been to break it. Kripke we need you back, stat!!!! An untalented petty little man is ruining your legacy!

Sam asks “How… Billie? Dean says Rowena, she’s got the book of the damned and can resurrect Mary.  Cass says they don’t even know where your mother is.  

Dean (angry): Then go to heaven and find her!

In direct contrast to Mary last week, Sam knows how to deal with someone on edge.  He knows when to keep quiet and he does as Dean walks out, telling Sam to tell Rowena that they are on their way.

Rowena is working on something when the boys arrive.  But it’s not the boys, its Jack.  He admits he killed Mary, but it was an accident.  He asks for her help, but Rowena says the magic she uses on herself, only works if it’s prepared in advance (i.e. before death).  Jack asks about the book.  Rowena says there is a spell, and starts to talk about it, but when Sam and Dean arrive, Jack realises that Rowena has been stalling.  Jack disappears with Rowena, just as Sam kicks down the door – which was hot by the way.

Castiel is at the children’s sandpit that leads to heaven.  No one is guarding it, he calls for Naomi.

Jack and Rowena appear in the bunker, Jack passes an area on the wood floor which has marks on it. He has a flashback which shows a knife being thrown into the floor.  Mary is teaching him knife skills.  He keeps dropping the knife,  Mary tells him he’s doing well though.  Jack says when they get Dean back, Dean is going to kill him (for the holes in the bunker floor).  Mary pulls the table over to cover the marks and says, “For what?”

This is a cute moment, and this is another thing I hate about Dabb.  The writers are capable of writing characters, they just choose not to do it until they need to go for a cheap moment like Mary dying.  It’s just bad writing.  If they had done their job properly, all of these would have been real flash backs to real moments and we would all be genuinely sad (or kind of sad, given that Dabb has also ruined the meaning of death). 

We see Sam arrive and he hangs back until Jack leaves, which concerns me that he’s avoiding Jack. Also, Bearded!Sam alert – when was this filmed?!  He asks Mary how Jack’s training is going.  He tells her he feels bad as he doesn’t feel he’s been there for Jack since he’s been so busy looking for Dean.  Sam apologises for laying his problems on her.  Mary: “No, are you kidding, it’s nice knowing I’m not the only one.  [Sam frowns] with parental guilt.”  She tells him that parenting is always a struggle, you always feel like you are failing, then you look at them and somehow, they’re amazing, somehow they’re literally… [Mary grabs Sam’s chin because he looked away]… the bravest, kindest, most heroic men on the planet.

Right, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, if this had been a real flashback, and death hadn’t been cheapened by Dabb, I’d have been very upset right about now if this had been the version that Mary had been allowed to develop into. Where tf was this when we were getting the crap we’ve been getting?  As it is, I feel nothing – actually not true, I feel very angry at how crap Dabb is and what he’s done to my show.

Actually, the one bit I liked about this, which I mentioned in a separate post, was the flashback that Jack was having led into the flashback that Sam is having, and I like that transition between them.  

Anyway, back at Rowena’s and Dean’s still angry.  Jack’s got Rowena and the Book of the Damned and they’ve got no way of keeping up with Jack when he’s got wings.    Sam’s a good brother and stays quiet, just letting Dean get it off his chest.

Dean is still pissed at Cass and says he should have told them as soon as he saw Jack go all… (no idea what he says here) … on a stupid freaking snake.

Sam is a good brother and stays quiet, just letting Dean get it off his chest.  

Sadly no, that’s not what happened.  Sam once again defends Castiel, saying it wasn’t just him.  That they also knew that Jack was dangerous, they always knew. “You more than anyone, I mean from the very beginning you knew…”

Oh, so we’re going down that route now?  The route that has to end with Dean always being right and everyone else being wrong. I thought we’d moved on from that, but okay, no.  

Hammering my keyboard, we move on as Sam continues, “But you know we fell for him because he had a good heart, and a good soul… then he didn’t… And that’s on me too, by the way.  I mean I’m the one who made the call to bring him back.  He didn’t ask for that, I decided for him.  And you warned me.”

Dean: You didn’t know, okay… we didn’t know.

Sam: Exactly, we didn’t know, but… he’d become our family (I’m losing count, is this the second or third mention of family in a single episode?)

Sam: You know, after Maggie and the other hunters…died, I just left, just… dumped Jack on Cass and left.  I knew, I mean I knew something… was gonna… I just didn’t know it would be this.

I think Sam looks at Dean here, expecting him to explode at him, the same way he did Castiel earlier, but Dean doesn’t.  He admits that he did too and it’s a nice moment between them.

Back to Rowena and Jack.  Jack’s impatient for the spell.  Rowena says the ingredients are simple but need to be compounded precisely.  She tells Jack she could have fought him back at her flat.  Jack doesn’t ask the obvious question “flat?” which disappoints me.    I think she’s starting to get through to Jack, but Nick hallucination appears and he’s as annoying as Lucifer with the constant badgering.  He tells Jack that trying to bring Mary back isn’t going to work.   Rowena notices there’s something wrong with Jack (looking and talking to something imaginary), but she finishes the spell ingredients. Jack tells Nick to shut up, then asks Rowena if the spell is finished.  Rowena tells him it is, but they need the last thing, which is Mary’s body.

Back to Castiel – I’d forgotten about him – he’s still at the sandpit, calling for Naomi.  He refuses to go anywhere until he speaks to her. Duma appears and she’s one of my favourite angels after Zachariah, because like him, she tells it how it is, and I appreciate the honesty.  Duma tells him that Mary Winchester is happy, she’s in heaven, a “special” heaven. (me: oh fuck, here we go, Dabb will retcon Sam and Dean’s soulmate heaven as a final fuck you to the brother fans).  “Mary Winchester is complete.  You and the Winchesters may not be, but she is.” (hmmm, not sure about this line).  

Jack takes Rowena to Mary’s “body”, which is a pile of ash.  She tells him she can’t make it work.  Because Rowena can’t help him, Jack shoves her back to her “flat.”  I think that’s a little progress over the previous episode since he didn’t flame grill her.

Rowena is pissed, she calls Sam and Dean to tell them they need to stop Jack as she fears he’ll bring something terrible back instead of Mary.

Jack gathers some ash to perform the ritual.   He’s part way through when he sees the Impala approach.  He uses his powers to stall the car.  Unfortunately for him, Sam and Dean are within running distance of the cabin.   The spell finishes and Mary’s body is returned, just as Sam and Dean arrive.  

Jack looks devastated as he tells them it didn’t work.  We hear the flap of wings and he’s disappeared.  Dean runs to Mary as Sam approaches more slowly. Dramatic music as Sam kneels down beside Dean.  We see Dean’s flashback in the car with Mary and at first I thought it was a poxy flashback compared with everyone else, but then I remember this is Dean’s flashback, this is what made Dean happy, this is what Dean has always wanted, his family (Sam, Mary and John) around him. That’s what his one wish with the pearl was.  This is why it annoys me when I read meta that Dean’s arc is to realise he’s sacrificed his life and he’s going to stop doing that (i.e. let Sam die) and go live his happy life with the angel.  No, that isn’t who Dean is, Sam has never been an obligation or a job to Dean, Dean’s face shines when he’s taking care of his family, that’s what brings him enjoyment and we see that in this scene with Mary, just having her in his life brings him joy.  

I like how Sam is comforting Dean in this scene.  This is what siblings do, in that moment Dean needed Sam more than Sam needed Dean and Sam steps up and provides it, even though he too is grieving.

Jack’s on his own, but not for long.  Hallucination Nick is by his side, telling him that there’s no going back.  Castiel, Sam and Dean will never trust him again. He tells Jack: “You can never trust them.” Which given the dramatic music, is an anvil for an upcoming episode.

Sam’s looking through family pictures when Castiel arrives.  He tells Sam that Mary is in heaven and that she’s at peace.  Dean arrived at the tail end of the conversation but stays off to the side.    Castiel tells them that he saw Mary’s heaven and she’s happy.  (I like the 2 dates on the door, someone has already made a joke about Dean and Sam’s doors.  Like what on earth was Dean’s door like during Mystery Spot?)

Question for Castiel, if Mary is with John, then why is his name not on the door or does he have his own door that interconnects with Mary’s room?  

He tells them Mary is with John, that there’s no sorrow or guilt, just joy.

Sam tells Castiel and Dean that Rowena thinks Jack just brought back a shell, a replica, incapable of holding life.  Sam asks once again, what are they supposed to do now.

Dean: What we always do.

Sam closes his eyes, he knows what Dean’s talking about.

Now, if I was a shipper, desperate for proving my ship, I’d point out the clear separation between Dean and that of Castiel and Sam in this scene.  Sastiel for the win, and once again, you guys totally deserve it.

What they always do turns out to be a lot more accurate this time.  They’ve built a funeral pyre to burn the fake body.  I don’t understand why Castiel is there, I personally think it was just a moment for Sam and Dean, but Dabb is intent on ruining the show entirely, pushing Castiel into everything, even though he can’t feel a fraction for Mary that Sam and Dean do.  He’s just awkwardly standing there.  

Sam steps up to put a picture on the pyre.  We get some more flashbacks of Mary again and I’m feeling… well I’m still feeling absolutely nothing but anger at Dabb to be honest.

Castiel looks at Dean and makes a move to go to him, but Sam puts his arm out, very clearly “You go near my brother and I’ll kill you.”  Not really, but he does stop Castiel and tries to smile in reassurance, kind of “give him time.”  

Dean is once again kind of standing on his own in this scene, with Castiel and Sam slightly off to the side.

That’s it. That’s the end of this episode!  

I wish!

Because we go back to the bunker and the camera glides over the table and MW initials have been added to that of Sam and Dean, and seriously fuck you Dabb.  Fuck you for taking everything that was amazing and special about the unique bond between the brothers and what those initials mean, and crapping all over it.  Others disagree, but that’s fine.

Onwards to the next episode where I think Sam will have to choose between Dean and Jack.  Kind of like Season 4, where he was forced to choose between Dean and Ruby, even though he wanted both.  Maybe he’ll get both this time around and Jack won’t be evil?

I’ll finish with this line from Dean to Sam in next weeks promo:  “We need to stop Jack... but here’s the deal, we’ve both got to sign off on it.”