Today brings us two people who need to be removed from the gene pool for lacking basic genre savviness. Seriously an empty abandoned asylum where you KNEW a doctor was experimenting on inmates and drilling into their skulls for random lobotomies. He even wears a random plague masks
I mean, why? A 20th century asylum doctor has a 17th century plague doctor mask? Was his whole goal in life to be a horror movie villain?
So these two teens decide to go explore the asylum, one disappears thanks to doctor drilly and the other kid is deeply traumatised. This should shock no-one.
So we have a ghostly case to follow - but the main real issues this episode is Dean. Dean is, as we established last episode, losing all his hope and faith. Sam decides it’s time to help his big brother by being nice to him ranging from supporting all of his bad habits: from beer at breakfast to trying to get Dean to go to strip clubs
And I can think of few things more disturbing in this world than going to a strip club with your brother but their family relationship has never been exactly healthy.
Dean isn’t a fool, he can tell what Sam’s doing and insists he’s been there before and he’ll bounce back with lots of booze, bullets and bacon - going out, partying and returning severely hung over and eating his own weight in bacon (obligatory reminder that there’s no way you can look like Jensen Ackles and have Dean’s lifestyle).
They try to talk to the survivor of the attack but he’s so traumatised Dean can’t get him to talk despite a pretty good speech. He is taken in the night and Dean has an extra layer of guilt that he didn’t manage to get Shaun to talk
They manage to get a lead on the ghost, go to the asylum and do the Winchester thing, salting and burning the object tethering it. So Victory!
Except all the ghosts in the asylum - all of his dozens of victims - are trapped. They need to find their bodies and salt and burn them but first they need to find them. So Dean has the excellent idea of using one drug to kill himself and another drug to bring him back so he can talk to the ghosts
Yes it’s TVlandia’s tradition of infallible resuscitation - but in this case it’s tempered by the fact that Dean doesn’t seem to care whether he lives or dies
When he reaches the other side a Reaper basically says “shit, Winchester” because they’ve got a reputation and goes to get the New Death (after the last one was killed).
This would be Billie. Yep even though she was also killed by Castiel it seems the rule is if Death dies the next Reaper to die gets a promotion.This would probably be a bad thing as we know Billie is NOT A FAN of the Winchesters and their coming back from the dead ways. But being Death opens up a lot more avenues, and she’s especially concerned by the whole portal opening thing and wants Dean to tell her what happened
He agrees - so long as she has a reaper free all the ghosts - including poor Shaun who is, indeed, dead. Billie agrees - and Dean tells her all about Jack. Billie is surprised though, that Dean didn’t include a “come back to life” clause in his bargain. He claims it’s because he knew she’d say no - but she sees the truth. Dean no longer cares if he lives or dies despite all his history, all his reputation his saving the world habits and firm belief he’ll always win, he’s given up.
Dean doesn’t deny it, he thinks he’s dragging Sam down and losing Shaun, someone they’d come here to save, just breaks him a little more.
Except Billie, seeing the big picture, knows this can’t happen - the Winchesters are part of the bigger picture. And though she doesn’t like them very much, they’re important - and Dean does not die today
I’m all for Billie being on side and the promotion - it promises for her having a much longer life without being killed this time.
Dean returns to life and after much prodding Dean tells him what happened… including how broken he is. Desperately he tells Sam that he just needs a win (with a heartbreaking montage of Shaun’s mother seeing his body).
So we need a win
Like Castiel calling Dean to come pick him up
I think that counts as a win.
