Previously: The boys teamed up with Jo to hunt the ghost of America’s first serial killer, and it was creepy as shit.
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The Usual Suspects
Kirsti: A police station in Baltimore. A detective grabs a fax off the machine, reads it, and tells the person he’s talking to that he’ll call them back. Cut to a SWAT team at the Motel of the Week. Cut back to Detective Cheap Suit [DCS] talking to a suspect in an interrogation room. He thought the suspect had just upped his game on the petty stuff, then they got a fax from St. Louis about Mystery Suspect killing someone. “So now we know Karen Giles wasn’t the first person you murdered,” he says. He pronouces Giles as Guylz, and I want to punch him in the face.
Across town, LINDA FREAKING BLAIR (better known as Regan from The Exorcist) and the SWAT team break down a motel room door. “Going somewhere, Sam?” she says. Sam raises his hands in confusion. Back at the station, DCS tells Mystery Suspect that he’s killed his last victim. He leaves and the zoomy cameraman reveals that Mystery Suspect is Dean. Dun dun duuuuuuuun.
FLAME ON.
After the Not!Credits, Linda Blair plays Good Cop with Sam. He asks why they’re being held, and she says Dean’s suspected of murder and Sam’s an accomplice. She reads his basic history, including Jessica’s death. Sam sasses in response. Linda Blair says it’s not his fault Dean’s his brother. Dean’s life is over but Sam’s doesn’t have to be. He just has to tell them what happened. Sam gives her major side-eye. She says they caught Dean at Karen Giles’ murder scene, and if Sam helps them fill in the gaps she’ll talk to the district attorney for him. Sam sighs and says Mr. Giles was a friend of Papa Winchester’s, so they came to Baltimore when they heard he’d died.
Flashback. Dean circles an article about Anthony Giles in the newspaper. I really want to know if this is a nod to Rupert Giles/Anthony Stewart Head. Sam’s all, “Who the fuck is Anthony Giles?” and things get infodump-y: Baltimore lawyer, found in a locked room with his throat slit, no sign of the assailant even on the security cameras. They decide to check it out.
Present. Sam says Dean couldn’t have killed Mr. Giles because they weren’t in town at the time. But they wanted to be there for Karen, so they went to see her. Flashback. The boys introduce themselves to Karen as insurance agents, and ask what she can remember about the night her husband died. She tearfully says that he had to work late, she has no idea who could have killed him, and he didn’t mention anything weird in the days before his death. Unless a nightmare about a pale woman with dark red eyes standing at the end of the bed counts. The boys share a concerned look.
Present. Sam tells Linda Blair that he hugged Karen and told her to call if she needed anything. She tells him to be honest with her because an eyewitness saw him and Dean breaking into Mr. Giles’ office. He claims Karen gave them the keys, so it wasn’t technically breaking in, even though they knew it was wrong to enter a crime scene.
Flashback. The boys break into Mr. Giles’ office. Dean suspects a vengeful spirit, then finds a piece of paper with “danashulps” printed on it over and over. Sam suggests that it’s a name – Dana Shulps. Dean finds more pages just as Sam notices smudgy fingermarks on the glass desk. He breathes on the glass, and the fingermarks spell out DANASHULPS. “Wow. I’d say we’ve officially crossed over into weird…” Dean says. They start searching Mr. Giles’ files for anything about Dana Shulps. Later, they’ve found nothing. Sam’s trying to guess Mr. Giles’ computer password, which he estimates will take another half hour. Dean makes fart noises with his mouth to pass the time.
Sam glares, and Dean leaves to go talk to Karen again.
Present. Sam says that Dean went to talk to Karen and he just went back to the motel. She says that she thinks they split up so that Dean could murder Karen. Sam insists Dean didn’t kill anyone, but Linda Blair says she’s heard the 911 call, and Karen sounded terrified. Flashback. Karen’s crying. She looks up and there’s a ghostly figure visible through a glass door. She screams and the figure vanishes. She calls 911, saying that someone’s in her house. The call gets cut off, and the printer starts printing page after page of “danashulps.” Karen turns to find the ghost of a young woman standing there, blood dripping from her eyes. She screams. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Dean arrives at Karen’s. There’s no response to his knock, so he picks the lock and heads inside. He finds Karen upstairs, throat slit. He spots the pages on the printer and frowns. Then he notices ligature marks on Karen’s wrists, and lifts her hand to investigate. A gun cocks behind him, and Dean’s arrested. Present. Detective Cheap Suit exchanges notes with Linda Blair. He says all he’s getting from Dean is smartassery. She says that Sam and Dean’s stories match perfectly, and unless Sam folds, all they have is circumstantial evidence. He touches her face in a secret sexy times way and says that he’s convinced Dean is their guy. Linda Blair says that she knows Mr. Giles was a defence lawyer and knew tons of criminals, so maybe one of them did it? DCS laughs at her, and she says they should get back to their respective interrogations. He kisses her before anyone can see.
Stewing in their juices, the boys ponder the “danashulps” puzzle. They both decide it’s an anagram. Dean’s public defender arrives. He asks to borrow a pen and paper, and starts working on anagrams. Public Defender wibbles about Dean’s case, but Dean has no fucks to give. He asks Public Defender to look at his list and see if anything applies locally. Public Defender reluctantly looks at the list, and says that Ashland is a street nearby, though the SUP part makes no sense. Dean quickly scribbles a note and asks Public Defender to see Sam.
Out in the bullpen, Linda Blair is typing up notes on the case. Suddenly, her computer starts typing “danashulps” over and over again. Ctrl + Alt + Del does nothing, and she looks around in confusion. When she looks back at the screen, the words disappear. Back in the interrogation room, Sam’s reading Dean’s note: “Hilts – It’s a street. Ashland. -McQueen.” Public Defender tries to discuss the case with Sam, but is interrupted by Linda Blair who says they need Public Defender back in with Dean.
Dean’s interrogation room. DCS informs Public Defender that Dean’s decided to confess. They have a video camera ready and everything. Going against Public Defender’s pleas, Dean turns to the camera:
“I did not kill anyone. But I know who did. Or rather what did. Of course it can’t be for sure, because our investigation was interrupted. But our working theory was that we’re looking for some kind of vengeful spirit.”
Linda Blair’s all “Skrrrrt, WHAT??”, and Dean repeats himself. He’s pretty sure Karen and Mr. Giles both saw the ghost. It’s trying to communicate, but things get wonky when you try to communicate across the veil, like REDRUM. He tells Linda Blair they thinks it’s a street – Ashland.
DCS calls him an “arrogant bastard“, and says he murdered the Giles’ in cold blood, just like the girl in St. Louis. Dean turns to the camera and says it was a shapeshifter in St. Louis, not him. DCS slams him against the wall and orders a uniformed officer to lock him up. Dean grins. DCS and Linda Blair head to Sam’s interrogation room and find it empty. Sam’s escaped out the window, despite the four storey drop and no visible fire escape. Dean’s note was a reference to The Great Escape. DCS eyerolls.
Bathroom. Linda Blair walks in, and the lights flicker. The sinks turn on by themselves, steam fogging up the room. She sees the word “DANASHULPS” written in the steam on the mirror. She wipes it away and gasps as she sees the ghost standing behind her. The ghost tries to talk, blood pouring from her slit throat. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Linda Blair walks into Dean’s interrogation room and asks what a vengeful spirit would want. He infodumps that they’re usually created by violent deaths and want revenge on the people that hurt them. He notices ligature marks on her wrist. “You’ve seen it, haven’t you? The spirit?” he asks. She reluctantly says that she has. He tells her to be careful because the last two people to see it died soon afterwards. He tells her to go to Sam for help.
Motel of the Week. Sam’s surprised to see Linda Blair. He examines her bruised wrists and asks about the ghost. She gives him a basic description. He shows her some photos, saying that he’s been investigating girls who disappeared or died on Ashland Street. She’s momentarily horrified that he hacked into police databases, then she recognises the ghost. It’s a girl named Claire Becker who disappeared nine months ago. She was arrested a few times for heroin possession, and Sam asks Linda Blair if she ever worked narcotics. Yes, she and DCS worked narcotics together before they moved to homicide.
Sam says Claire was last seen at 2911 Ashland. They need to search it so they can salt and burn her bones and put her spirit to rest. Cut to 2911 Ashland, which is a creepy abandoned building. Obvs. They split up to search the building. Linda Blair spots Ghost!Claire standing by a window. She backs away, yelling for Sam, as Ghost!Claire steps towards her. When Sam arrives, Ghost!Claire vanishes. He’s a little surprised she didn’t attack Linda Blair.
They move a shelving unit in front of the window, and they discover that the window says “ASHLAND SUPPLIES” on it. The “PLIES” part is scraped off, leaving the letters from “DANASHULPS”. Sam turns to see the letters reflected on a brick wall behind them. He pulls out an EMF meter and scans the wall. It goes off, so Sam starts smashing. He peers inside and notes that there’s something there.
Linda Blair helps him pull a wrapped body from the wall. They peel away the wrappings, and see that Claire’s wrists are bound, just like the bruises she left on Linda Blair and the others. Linda Blair spots a necklace around Claire’s neck and looks shocked. She says it was custom made, and that she has one just like it. DCS gave it to her. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Sam says things make sense now: Claire’s not a vengeful spirit, she’s a death omen. Because, you know, that’s better. He says Claire’s trying to warn people, and asks how much Linda Blair knows about DCS. She realises that about a year ago some heroin went missing from lock up. DCS must have taken it and given it to Claire to sell.
Cut to a road. DCS is driving an armoured van, with Dean in the back. Dean thinks being extradited to St. Louis at 2am is hella sketchy. Elsewhere, Linda Blair makes a phone call, and informs Sam that DCS left the precinct with Dean, and now won’t answer his radio. Sam’s not okay with this turn of events, then realises that as DCS is driving a county vehicle, they can find him by lo-jack.
Cut to the armoured van pulling into a clearing in the woods. Dean gets “Welp, I’m fucked” face. DCS throws him out of the van and pulls his gun. He says that Dean’s not going to make it to St. Louis. He’ll be killed trying to escape. Linda Blair and Sam arrive. She has her gun drawn, and tells DCS to put his gun down because she knows about Claire. He pleads ignorance, then says he’s a faster shot than her. He says it wasn’t his fault – Claire was trying to turn him in, so she had to die. And Mr. Giles laundered the money, then got skittish. He’s sure Karen knew everything. Sam and Dean exchange a “how the fuck do we get out of this?” look.
DCS says Dean’s a gift because no one will miss him. Dean’s not impressed by this assessment. DCS says he still loves Linda Blair, and she lowers her gun. He turns towards Dean, and Linda Blair shoots him in the leg. Dean rolls out of the way as Linda Blair yells “Then why don’t you buy me another necklace, you ass?” LOL. DCS tackles her and she loses her gun. Sam goes for it, but DCS gets there first. He points the gun at Linda Blair, then hears a groaning noise behind him. He turns to see Ghost!Claire staring creepily at him. There’s a gunshot, and DCS falls to the ground. Linda Blair, backup gun in hand, looks at his corpse a little sadly. Fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Linda Blair asks the Winchesters what will happen to Claire now. Sam says that she should be at rest. She says that DCS fucked up both their cases and confessed to her, so she can deal with those charges. But she can’t help with St. Louis. She tells them that she’s going to turn her back and they can just walk away. She’ll sleep better knowing they’re out there doing what they do best. The boys thank her and head off down the road. As they walk, Dean asks his brother if Linda Blair looked familiar. Sam says she didn’t, and Dean says that he has a weird hankering for pea soup, and we fade to black.
I don’t really have strong feelings either way about this episode. Linda Blair and Dean’s sassiness are obviously the highlights.
Next time on Supernatural: Making deals with a demon never ends well. Find out just how bad it can get in S02 E08 – Crossroad Blues.
I'm a 30-something librarian and I still live with my parents because I'm super broke. Leader of Team Heartless Cow. I have an inexplicable love for 90s television, eat too much chocolate, and read more than is good for me.
I'm a 30-something with three kids who spends an embarrassing amount of time watching teen television dramas. There's a whole lot of Internet out there, and I plan on reading all of it before I die.
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