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Something
Wicked
Sam and Dean battle a Shtriga, a witch
that sneaks into childrens' bedrooms and sucks the lives out of them. Dean
must relive his childhood when he remembers that he encountered the Shtriga
years ago.
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NotesWriterDaniel KnaufDirectorUnknownGuest Stars:Mary Black (Elderly Patient)Ridge Canipe (Young Dean) Erica Carroll (Young Mother) Ari Cohen (Miles Tarnower) Jeannie Epper (Shtriga) Alex Ferris (Young Sam) Adrian Hough (Dr. Hydecker) Jeffrey Dean Morgan (John Winchester) Colby Paul (Michael) Venus Terzo (Joanna) Other Guests:Filming Locations:2400 MotelBurnaby Hospital Completely Useless Trivia:SynopsisThe episode opens with a beautiful little girl saying her nighttime prayers as her father watches sadly from the doorway. When asked if Mommy's coming home, Daddy answers "not tonight, she has to stay at the hospital with your sister". In bed but wide-awake, little Bethany sits in the dark listening to the wind. Noting the empty bed where her sister Mary usually sleeps, Bethany fearfully closes the curtains and jumps back into bed. We see a tree branch tapping against the window, blown by the windy night, then the tree branch begins to move more smoothly and we see it take the shape of a hand with elongated fingers. The hand opens the window, walks to the bed and with an open, glowing mouth begins to suck the life force from Bethany's screaming body. Our first glimpse of the Shtriga.Sam and Dean receive coordinates from John sending them to Fitchburg, Indiana, but they can find nothing suspicious that would warrant their coming. Dean is in a restaurant asking questions while Sam waits at the car near a playground. When Dean emerges, saying, "the waitress thinks the freemason's are up to something sneaky", Sam asks for the time. Schools out but there are no children in the playground. Dean asks the solitary mother sitting on a nearby bench why it's so quiet, and the mother replies that 5 or 6 kids have been hospitalized with Pneumonia, and most of the parents think it's catching. Cut to the hospital where Sam, posing as an inspector from the CDC, is forced to use the fake ID which reads "bikini inspector", much to Dean's amusement. They go upstairs to the pediatrics ward and on the way Dean notices a frail old woman in a wheelchair sitting quietly in a room with an inverted crucifix on the wall. Sensing his presence, she turns her head and observes him with unseeing eyes before Sam calls him to hurry. They question doctor Hydecker, who explains that they've had six cases of Pneumonia in the last five weeks, and all cases are failing to respond to the antibiotics. Their white blood cell counts are down and they are all unconscious. The nurse interjects how odd it is that it works it's way through families, but only the children. "One sibling after another". They question Bethany's father who says they must have caught a draught from the open window. The boys ask if it was closed, and the father admits he can't remember about the night Mary fell ill, but with Bethany he's certain it was closed. Dean and Sam, knowing that the father won't be home, go to his house and check the girls' room for signs of a supernatural presence. They find nothing until Sam checks the window, which has a darkened hand print rotted deep into the windowsill. This sparks the first of Dean's flashbacks to their childhood. It's 15 years earlier, and a young Dean is being given instructions by his father on how to keep the door locked, not to answer the phone unless it rings once first, etc. On the table is a photo of the Shtriga hand print, letting us know what John is chasing. Behind Dean, a very young Sammy is watching cartoons, oblivious to what's going on around him. Flash forward to today, Dean says, "I know why Dad sent us here. He's faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job." Night falls, and they go to a hotel where they meet a precocious young boy named Michael, who asks "King, or two queens?" When Dean answers two queens, Michael looks out the window at Sam, and mutter's "I'll bet" under his breath. Mom comes in and sends Michael back to get dinner for his little brother Asher. He takes his responsibility to take care of his brother very seriously, reminding Dean of his childhood with "little Sammy". Flash back to young Dean making dinner, Sammy complains that he doesn't want "Speskettios", he wants Lucky Charms. Dean says there aren't any left, but Sam calls him on it, saying he saw the box. Dean admits there are some, but only enough for one and he hasn't had any yet. Then, moved by Sam's innocent expression of hope, Dean caves and gives him the last of the Lucky Charms. Sammy, not realizing the sacrifices his brother makes for him every day, offers up the toy prize to his big brother. Flash forward to the hotel desk where Joanna the proprietor hands Dean back his Kris Warren Mastercard along with the keys to the room. In the hotel room, Sam researches Shtriga's, learning that they are an old Albanian legend with ties back to Roman times. Sam reads that they can't be killed by any weapon forged by man but Dean argues, remembering that when they feed they are vulnerable to consecrated wrought iron rounds. They hunt at night, and during the day they masquerade in human form, often as a feeble old woman. Dean mentions the old woman at the hospital, and they go off to check her out. In her room, the woman sits with eyes open, but motionless. Dean leans in close to see if she's awake or dead, when she suddenly turns and asks who's there. They find that she's just a woman, "sleeping with my peepers open!" and that the crucifix is stuck upside down and can be fixed with a nudge. Back at the hotel they get out of the car, Sam laughing and teasing Dean for his reaction to the old woman, when they notice Michael sitting forlornly outside the office door. Asher was found sick that morning and Joanne is going to the hospital. Dean kindly offers to drive her there as she is quite distraught, and Sam goes to the library to see what he can find out about past incidents with the monster. Looking up old microfiche files, Sam finds a picture from 1897 showing doctors standing around a child in a hospital bed, and recognizes doctor Hydecker as one of them. Dean and Sam now know he's the Shtriga, and that it will come back for Michael. They enlist Michael's help to bait the Shtriga, and while waiting for night to fall, Sam questions why Dean is so passionate about killing this particular monster. We know that John Winchester has fought a Striega before and lost, but in a final flash back we find that young Dean, having been stuck in a tiny hotel room for three days, is tired of sitting around. He chooses to leave Sammy sleeping quietly and heads outside for some air. When he returns, the bedroom door he left open has been closed, and he can hear unnatural noises from the room. He opens the door to find the Shtriga feeding on little Sammy, and although he tries to quietly pick up the shotgun, the monster is alerted by the click of the hammer being cocked. Dean freezes as the creature looks up at him with a roar, but John bursts through the door and shoots the Shtriga several times before it crashes through the window and disappears into the night. When questioned by his father Dean admits that he left the room for a few minutes, at which point John yells at Dean saying how he told him not to let Sammy out of his sight. Dean feels the pressure of failure and loss of trust in his father's eyes, and we can infer that he is still fighting to regain that trust by following every order to the letter. Back in the hotel, Michael sits in his bed, looking unsure of his decision to act as bait. Dean sets the night vision camera to watch for the Shtriga, and reassures Michael that they won't let him come to harm. When the Shtriga comes, the boys burst in with guns blazing, but their timing is off and the monster falls but isn't killed. It throws Dean across the room, tosses Sam on the bed and begins to feed. Just as we see wisps of energy start up from Sam's mouth to the Shtriga's, Dean grabs his gun and shoots it right between the eyes. It falls to the ground, and three more shots assure us that it's dead. The body melts to dust and releases captured energy from the children into the air. The following morning we get the good news that all the children will be okay. |
ReviewThis was a very revealing episode with several flashbacks to Dean and Sam's childhood. There were many beautifully emotional moments for Dean as he grudgingly reveals the truth to his little brother. We were given a rare glimpse into the reason why Dean is so dedicated to his work and so obedient to his father's orders. We also see a young Sam, oblivious to the dangers around him and unaware of the responsibilities of his older brother. This gives us a clue as to why he could more easily turn his back on his family for college life and why he is not the "soldier" his brother has become.I enjoyed how similar in character Dean and Michael were. Michael is a reflection of the childhood Dean could have had if not for the tragedy of his mother's death. The same traits are all there; flippant attitude, sense of responsibility, bravery in the face of danger, only Michael is able to smile through it all and go back to a fairly normal life afterwards. Dean, on the other hand, has been taken from one intense experience to another, rarely, if ever, allowed to relax and be a kid. He has known from a very young age that he will never be anything other than what he is, and that shows in the final lines of the episode. Sam says he sometimes wishes he could know that innocence again (not to know what sort of things are really out there in the dark) and Dean answers with "If it means anything, I wish you could, too." He doesn't include himself in the sentiment, because he knows it can never happen. There were some memorable moments worth a special mention. The old woman saying "I was sleeping with my peepers open!" The way Sam looked when the Shtriga turned it's attention to him; his eyes turned dark and the veins in his face stood out. Very dramatic. And finally, after it's all over Michael looks up at Sam, who is visibly shaken after the ordeal, and it was a nice moment that seemed to say, "it's okay to be scared sometimes". Overall, however, I would say that Dean owned this episode from start to finish. He gave the emotional scenes just the right mix of tortured regrets without losing any of his trademark hard attitude. We were shown some of his real feelings without the charade of bravado. Kudos to Jensen Ackles for letting us see the truth behind the emotion in his eyes, without letting it get all girly and emotional. |