Work Text:
Lawrence, Kansas
A woman unpacks boxes in the dark, and reminisces sadly over her wedding photo. Her daughter interrupts her to tell her that there’s something in her closet. The mom humors her and looks, but finds nothing.
[Image description: A mother looks at her daughter, back to the closet
Mother: The way the camera is positioned makes me think that I shouldn't be facing away from the closet, but I'm a professional actress and I will hit my mark, monsters be damned.]
She tucks her daughter back into bed, reassuring her that there’s nothing in the closet and that they’ll all eventually get used to their new home. Before leaving, she tucks a chair under the closet door.
As she continues to unpack downstairs, she hears the tiny pitter-patter of little …. feet? She heads to the basement to investigate a potential rat infestation. Meanwhile, upstairs in the daughter’s room, the chair barricading her closet door moves. The mom’s investigation reveals an old box with pictures of John Winchester and family in it. And upstairs, the closet door opens to reveal an inferno!
Psychic!Sam wakes from a dream where a woman was silently screaming for help from their childhood home.
The next morning, Dean is throwing out ideas for their next hunt, while Sam doodles. He connects his doodle tree with a photo of their old house. They need to go home. In classic Winchester fashion, Sam insists the family that lives in their old home is in danger, but he won’t tell Dean how he knows. Dean wants the truth so Sam spills about his prophetic nightmares. “Come again?” Dean questions. Sam continues to plead his case.
[Image description: Sam Winchester
Caption: Sam "I'm not a moose, I'm a puppy" Winchester]
It’s not that Dean doesn’t believe his little brother, it’s just that he swore he’d never go home again. He relents though, because he knows the case is too important.
[Image description: animated gif of Impala driving past a Lawrence road sign]
The boys pull up to their home. Supportive!Sammy asks Dean, “You gonna be alright man?” Dismissive!Dean will get back to him. They knock on the front door. Dean is all ready to slide into Fed mode, when Sam interrupts him and introduces themselves truthfully. The woman, Jenny, admits to finding old photos of theirs, and invites them inside. Once inside, Jenny talks about starting over in a new city and home, and how this home has its quirks. Flickering lights, rats in the basement --or just scratching really. The daughter them pipes up to ask about the thing in her closet-- and how it was on fire the other night. The boys are on high alert.
Sam knows there’s a case. Dean doesn’t disagree but can’t wrap his mind around Sam’s visions. It could be the same thing that killed their mom. Dean says they need to chill out and figure out what is really plaguing their home. Sam asks Dean how much history he knows about the house--how much he remembers about that night. Dean doesn’t remember much: the fire, the heat, and carrying Sam out the front door. (Feels.) “Does this feel like just another job to you?” Sam wonders. Dean has to use the bathroom. Err. He actually needs to make a phone call to their MIA father. And it’s a doozy. There’s just too much pain for my heart to take. The fact that this whole case is tearing Dean apart is so sad, but he has to stay strong for Sam --and his absent father (full disclosure: Boris just finished watching The Good Wife and is crushing kinda hard on John Winchester, but this episode as a chaser is putting my head back on straight).
Meanwhile, Jenny brings the plumber in to check out her backed up kitchen sink. As he’s working, a toy monkey with cymbals starts clanking. Jesus, we’ve all read Stephen King. Not cool, show.
[Image description: Animated gif of a monkey toy playing cymbals]
The plumber tests the garbage disposal but it doesn’t work so he does the smart and professional thing and STICKS HIS HAND DOWN THE DRAIN! WTF, dude! It’s shit like this that make me never want to even use my garbage disposal! The obvious bloodbath ensues.
The boys head to the garage that John used to own (Boris never picked up on that before! Cool.) They interview an old colleague who knew John. He didn’t have too much to say. John loved his family, but didn’t talk about that night. He started reading books, and seeing a palm reader in town. Sam looks into all the psychics in town, and Dean remembers reading about a Missouri Moseley in their father’s journal.
They head to Missouri’s to interview her.
[Image description: Sam and Dean sitting on couch
Caption: Wait, you're telling us that we start and stop the apocalypse how many times? And how many of Sam's girlfriends die? And Dean and an angel are secretly what?!]
And we’re introduced to Missouri Moseley, one of the best characters that we only see once. She welcomes the boys --and startles them by consoling Sam about Jessica and showing concern for their missing father. “How did you know all that?” Sam asks. She can read minds, but she doesn’t know where John is (But she does! Is she just telling them that because that’s what they want to hear because they’re so much better off without John in their lives? Hmm.) Dean blurts, “Don’t know? You’re supposed to be a psychic, right?” And we’re gifted with a truly hilarious exchange --with Missouri taking Dean down a couple notches and Dean’s reactions worthy of all the Oscars. Sam is enjoying himself.
Missouri fills in some of the gaps on John. He’d first come to her for a reading a few days after the fire. She told him the truth about monsters and demons and then scoped out the house to try and sense the attacker. All she’d been able to sense was that it was evil, however.
Back at the house, Jenny leaves her kid in his toddler cage while she checks out an odd noise from the second floor. The malevolent spirit pops open the little boy’s cage and unsnaps the refrigerator. (Side note: rewatching this episode I’m like, this kid is WAY too old for that baby cage WTF.)
[Image description: little boy standing in a playpen
Boy: Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage]
Anyway, “JUICEY” squeals the Juice Monster, who climbs into the refrigerator. The door closes, gobbling him up. Mom heads back down and panics before she spots milk pooling from the fridge. She unsnaps it and pulls out her son.
Sam, Dean, and Missouri arrive, purportedly to “tour the old house” again. You guys, it was a little weird when you did it the first time. Jenny turns them down but Missouri steps in. “You think there’s something in this house. Something that wants to hurt your family.” This is enough to reel Jenny in. They check out Sammy’s old nursery and scan the place for ghosties. Missouri tells them that whatever is threatening the current homeowners wasn’t what killed their mom. The energy is different. Furthermore, Missouri senses multiple spirits. The evil done in the house drew in a malevolent and murderous poltergeist but the second spirit is still pretty nebulous.
Missouri enlists the boys’ help in making hex/protective boxes to place in the corners of the house to purify the space and expel evil.
[Image description: Animated gif of Dean tasting spell ingredients and making a disgusted face]
They send Jenny and family out for a night on the town while they make their move on the poltergeist. As they each set out to plant their protective boxes, the poltergeist makes its move on them. Missouri gets a desk slammed into her, Dean faces a barrage of cutlery, and Sam gets choked by a serpentine lamp cord. Sam begins to pass out when Dean busts into the room. He can’t loosen the cord by hand so he chucks the protective box into the hole Sam made in the wall. White light bursts out from the house and Sam is freed.
Jenny and the kids come back home to an utter mess. “We’ll pay for all of this,” says Sam. WTF, Sam? Missouri tells them not to worry. Dean will clean up the mess. Oh, Dean Bean. The perils of being the eldest.
[Image description: Dean and Missouri
Caption: Kegger clean-up is the worst]
They leave the house and Jenny settles into bed with an issue of Parenting. Suddenly her bed starts to rattle. She screams but nobody can hear her.
Outside, Sam and Dean loiter in their car. Sam has a bad feeling about the case and refused to leave, which is justified when Jenny starts pounding on the window just like in Sam’s dreams. The boys rush into the house. Jenny struggles to escape her room while the fiery apparition arrives in her kid’s closet. Dean kicks down the door to Jenny’s room (Natasha takes a moment to fan herself) and Sam grabs the two children. Sam tells the older sister, “Take your brother outside as fast as you can. Don’t look back.” PARALLELS, YA’LL. She screams as Sam gets dragged away and escapes the house with her brother.
Dean loads up on weapons from the trunk, tries to kick down the door, and eventually starts chopping at it, ‘Heeeeere’s Johnny’ style. Inside, Sam is pinned to the wall when the fire spirit walks in.
[Image description: flaming figure in a dark room
Caption: Kids, remember. The game of hot lava can KILL]
At first it’s just an androgynous human silhouette and Dean prepares to shoot. But Sam stops him just before the apparition resolves into Mary. “Mom?” Dean asks. She smiles and calls them both by name before apologizing to Sammy. “For what?” Sam asks but she won’t answer, turning her attention to the poltergeist instead.
“You get out of my house,” says Mary, turning into a literal flaming badass. “And let go of my son.” She flames into the ceiling to kick a little ass on the spiritual plane.
Later, Dean sorts through the old photos Jenny found while Sam touches base with Missouri. “Your mom destroyed herself going after that thing,” she tells him. Then Missouri apologizes for declaring the house all clear. Sam sensed that the poltergeist was still there, even when it evaded Missouri. She doesn’t have any answers for him about his mysterious powers, though. The boys head out of town.
Missouri heads back to her house and sighs. “That boy,” she muses. “He has such powerful abilities.” She wonders aloud why he couldn’t sense John. The camera pans to John Winchester, sitting on Missouri’s couch.
[Image description: John Winchester sitting on a couch, head in his hands
John: Even a single man tear is one too many]
John stares mournfully at his wedding ring and tells her that he longs to see his children. But he can’t see them. Not until he knows the truth. Dun dun DUN.
Single Quote Tears
I’m just freaked out your weirdo visions are coming true.
I know I’ve left you messages before. I don’t even know if you get ‘em.
You put your foot on my coffee table and I’m gonna whack you with a spoon.
That an EMF? Amateur.