The story starts at Theta Sorority, Eastern Iowa University. A preppy girl walks into a dorm room and asks her friend what she thinks of the outfit she's in. before the friend can say more than 'um' she compares her choices to Martha stewart. The friend goes to her dresser and pulls out a small camisole, telling her to swap her clothes over to that. She puts it on and the friend calls her hot. She leaves for the date she's been dressing up for, and her friend calls out not to do anything she wouldn't do. The preppy girl says there isn't anything she wouldn't do.
Oh, I know, I know, this doesn't sound scary! This sounds like a teen movie, or a romcom or something. But actually, I think they're being pretty smart here. Preppy girl is symbolic of all the virgins in horror films who never die because they're virtuous. This episode is basically the reasoning behind why the virgin might live. This is exposition, suck it up.
Preppy girl's date pulls up in a quiet spot, under a railway bridge. She mentions the fact they're meant to be going to a party, and he says they'll be fashionably late. She tells him she thinks he brought her out there on purpose, and he acts surprised that she would think that. She then reaches over and kisses him. Her phone starts ringing, and they break off the kiss. Her father's calling. She hangs up, and they start kissing in the car again. He starts trying to slide his hand in her top, and she tells him No. Outside the car, a figure holding a hook starts moving towards the car.
There's the Supernatural we know and love and want Dean's babies from!
He starts kissing her neck, trying to get into her top again, and the figure outside draws its hook along a sign, the metal screeching and disturbing them both. The figure starts scratching along another road sign as they both turn to look. The guy, Rich, decides to leave the car and look around for what's going on, as she begs him not to leave her. As he looks around, the car starts being carved out by the hook, but this time the Hook Man is invisible. She calls out to Rich to go, as the tyres are deflated one by one.
That opening sequence took five minutes. Easily one of Supernatural's longest ones. And on one of the shortest episodes too.
Sam is on a pay phone, thanking someone for their time. He hangs up and walks into a cafe's patio, where Dean is on form.
Dean - "Your half-caf double vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Frances."
Sam - "Bite me."
Sam sits down, and Dean bends over their laptop. Sam starts talking about calling the FBI for anyone matching their father's description, and running his licence plates in case John had any traffic violations. Dean says "Sam, I'm telling you, I don't think Dad wants to be found." before changing the subject to a potential case he's found. It is, of course, a story on Rich's death.
Can I just hold the phone to say - I fucking hate John for this. Dean and Sam are doing everything they can at this point to locate him, he used to be a team with Dean and he's just bailed? Worse, we find out later on that he knows exactly what they've tried to do to find him, and he's evaded them on purpose. You don't fucking do that to your kids, man, especially when you're their only parent. I don't think Dean was saying at this point that he doesn't care about John either, I think he was acknowledging what John wanted and he's so fucking brainwashed that he'll go along with it. He needs Sam to be whiny and pushy to get mad at the man who's screwed him up. And that is why I love Sam.
They drive to Iowa and pull up at Rich's house. They approach his fraternity brothers and claim they're from the Ohio Chapter. They wrangle a place in the frat house, and walk into their temporary room where a boy is painting himself purple. The kid asks for help painting his back, and tells them there's a game on. Dean immediately passes the job to Sam, saying he's the artist. He deadpans "The things he can do with a brush."
No one buys Dean's macho bullshit.
Dean starts asking the kid - Murphy - about Rich's murder as Sam paints him. Murphy tells them the rumours going around about the killer, and then mentions the girl Rich was on a date with. Lori. Dean asks about her, teasing Sam at the same time for missing a spot. Sam shoots him a bitchface, but carries on. Murphy tells Dean that Lori is a local girl, and a reverend's daughter, and Dean asks which church.
A sermon is going on, and Dean and Sam walk in, disturbing the reverend's words as he prays for Rich.
This is the first time they step into a church. They do a lot of stuff in the church, since a lot of canon is Christian-based. It actually feels weird that it's taken them so long.
The reverend continues the sermon, asking the congregation to pray for Rich. Sam begins to join in, and has to nudge Dean to at least look like he's praying.
There is so much I could say about this, but I'll try to do it as it comes up in canon. For now, Dean isn't particularly religious. I guess his daddy didn't drum into him that if there are demons, and hell? Heaven could be real too. But since Sam always stuck his fingers up at John, pretty much, he's more accepting of all possibilities.
As they're leaving the church, Lori's friend tries to encourage her to socialise, just the girls. Lori says she can't, it's a Sunday night. Her friend says they're just going to do shots and watch TV, but Lori insists on a family dinner. her friend reminds her that, although it's bad that Rich died, she is still allowed to have some fun. The friend leaves, and Sam approaches Lori. They use the excuse they they've transferred to the university, and Sam tells Lori he knows what she's going through, hinting at Jessica's death.
The reverend comes along then, and Lori introduces Sam and Dean to her father. Dean tells him the sermon was inspiring, and the reverend replies that it's nice to see young people care about God so much.
No, Dean's just really skilled at bullshitting. By good, I mean horrendously obvious.
Dean walks off with the reverend, feeding him some line about a church group, while Sam stays and asks Lori what the police are doing. She says she thinks they blame her for not having much to go on. That she thinks she was so scared she was seeing things. Sam tells her that it doesn't mean it wasn't real.
We cut to the library, and Dean's asking Sam if he believes her. Sam says yes, and Dean calls her hot. Sam mentions her eyes. He then explains how Lori found Rich, and Dean says it sounds like the Hook Man legend.
10.49 in, and we have confirmation of the lore! But this one is interesting, because we know the problem, we know the solution really quickly, but the Hook Man's motives? That's the main conflict in this episode. Who controls him? How? Why?
As they debate over the origin of the legend and whether it's THE Hook Man, Sam suggests the Hook Man isn't a man in that sense, but some kind of spirit. They get arrest records for the last 155 years for the area, and sit there, going through evidence sheets. Dean asks if that's how Sam spent the past four years of his life, and Sam replies with "Welcome to higher education."
Dean could not have looked more pissed off at that.
After going through all the boxes, Sam is at another desk with more information, and he calls for Dean's attention. There was a case where a priest got so angry about a red-light district in the town, he killed 13 prostitutes. Some were murdered in their beds, some were hung upside down. The preacher had lost his hand in an accident and had it replaced with a silver hook - the murder weapon. The murders took place on the same stretch of road that Rich was killed.
We see a car pull up to the sorority house, and inside the reverend is talking with Lori. She thinks he's upset because her mother died and now she lives in the house and he's alone. He says no, he just worries about her. She tells him that she's safe in her sorority house, there's 22 other girls. He says he knows what goes on in a sorority.
I think the reverend has made the same mistake I did recently, and read Bad Rep by A Meredith Walters. It's bad narration, poor story-telling and far too many fingering scenes. I'm with you, reverend.
She tells him she's over 18, she's smart enough and needs to have her own life. He says what, to get drunk and party? She says she can take care of herself, and gets out of the car.
She goes in, and walks up the stairs, pausing by a Sister's door where her Sister is obviously studying, surrounded by books and typing slowly. She heads into her room, and is about to turn on the light when she sees her roommate - the girl from earlier - fast asleep. Lori leaves the light off, and gets into bed.
Dean and Sam pull up to the scene of Rich's death, grabbing some equipment out of the trunk. Sam says if it's a spirit then a gun won't do much good, and Dean shows him the shot rounds that he's filled with rock salt. Sam asks if their dad started doing that, and Dean tells him he can be a genius without graduating from college. They notice something moving through the trees, and aim their gun at it. A police officer barges through the underbrush, wielding a gun of his own and demanding they drop their gun, and put their hands behind their backs, on their knees.
Bit OTT, but then, I don't understand gun laws, exactly. I do like that position for them though … but they're still as dangerous as hell, mr officer dude.
Lori stirs in her bed, smiling, then opens her eyes, and frowns. On the hardwood floor, there's a puddle, and we see red drips on the comforter. Lori's eyes widen as she sees the mess that was her friend, and sits up straight to scream. Then she notices the message on the wall. And screams again.
The boys walk out of the local sheriff department, with Dean crowing about how he's saved Sam's ass by talking the sheriff down to a fine. He compares himself to Matlock. Sam asks how, and Dean said it was a haze for a pledge. When Sam asks how Dean explained the gun, he says he told the sheriff the truth, that Sam was hunting ghosts and spirits are repelled by rock salt.
lol, Dean's such a dick.
They get to the Impala, and see the officers in the sheriff's department running out quickly, heading to their cars and running the lights and sirens. They look at each other, and decide to follow.
At the sorority house, Lori is sitting on the back of an ambulance, wrapped in a blanket. She sits up as Sam and Dean drive past. We see the reverend talking to the sheriff, and he's saying that he just wants to take Lori home. The sheriff says he can't allow it, because now Lori is connected to two murders. The reverend says they either arrest her there or then, or he gets to take her home. The sheriff tells him to make her available for questioning.
Sam and Dean park at the back of the sorority house, and sneak around it. Sam asks Dean why the Hook Man would possibly go there, so far away from the road. Dean says maybe it's not about the scene of the crime, but about something else. They see two girls leave the house, and pin themselves to the wall. Dean grins. "Dude, sorority girls! Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?"
And yet, I still would. What does that say about me, that I even think he's charming saying junk like that?
Sam scales the house, and dean follows him, until they get to the first floor balcony. Sam tries the window there, and it slides right open.
Two tall, fairly grubby men, sneaking into a sorority house in broad daylight, in view of the officers down below? Yeah, that looks good.
They bicker as they go through the window about being quiet, and end up in a closet. They peek through the gap in the door until the officer in the room has left, and then they enter the crime scene. They see the message on the wall and Sam says it's right out of the legend. Dean taps his nose and says it's definitely a spirit, and Sam says he's never smelt ozone so strong before.
I think the writers forget they made ghosts smell after this episode. They never forget about the smell of demon possession. But I'm glad Sam spelt that out then, because they have such elaborate hand gestures for everything that the nose-tap could mean literally anything. It could mean 'fuck, Sam, there's a spirit right behind you' for all I knew of the smell of spirits. Beyond the yumminess of amaretto, anyway.
They compare the symbol on the wall to the one on the old preacher's hook, and the symbol's match. Sam says it must be the spirit of Jacob Carnes, the preacher. Dean says they need to salt and burn. Sam reads out from the case notes that Jacob was buried in a cemetery - of which they have the name - in an unmarked grave. Dean's happy noise at the mention of the cemetery dies.
Sam starts wondering where he'll appear next and why. Dean notices a ticket on his car and pulls it off, then says he thinks Lori has something to do with the why.
They go to a frat house, where a party is in full swing. Dean looks at Sam.
Dean - "Man, you've been holding out on me. This college things is awesome!"
Sam - "This really wasn't my experience."
Dean - "Oh, let me guess, library, studying, straight A's." *Sam nods* "What a geek. All right, did you do your homework?"
Sam says yes, the connection between the Hook Man and Lori was annoying him, so he came up with something. Sam has two more cases where a preacher had murdered others they believed were immoral and then blamed an invisible force. All murders were carried out with a sharp instrument. Dean asks what the connection to Lori is, and Sam says maybe the Hook Man's connected to Lori's dad, and this is about Lori, instead of the morality of the entire town. They debate whether the reverend is summoning the Hook Man, or whether he's being haunted, like a poltergeist.
And lo, we hear about poltergeist criteria in the middle of a Hook Man episode! Which is kinda cool, because we can see how they compare the different elements of the supernatural world and notice the finite differences that alter how they can save the day.
Dean tells Sam to keep an eye on Lori, and when Sam asks what Dean's going to do, he looks around at the party, and the girls eyeing him up, and then claims he's going to the cemetery to look for the unmarked grave.
The scene cuts to Dean, who is walking through a cemetery, flashlight in one hand and spade in the other. He hears some crunching underfoot, and stops, looking around before walking on slowly. Eventually he stops, and mutters "Here we go." before approaching a gravestone with the crucifix symbol on it.
Meanwhile, Sam is walking slowly by the church, looking up into a lit, unobscured window to where Lori and her father seem to be having an argument.
Dean is down the hole he has dug for the grave, sweaty and dirty. He tells himself that next time, he gets to watch the pretty girls house, as he pants with the effort. His spade eventually goes through the wooden slats of the coffin, and he breaks a few more slats into the cavity, until he can see the remains. He throws the spade to the side.
In Lori's dad's house, the argument finishes and the light is turned off. Sam is sitting nearby on a bench, and Lori approaches him. She tells him she saw him, and asks what he's doing. Sam tells her he was worried, and she tells him it's cool, and jokes that she already called the cops. She tells him that she thinks he's sweet, so he should probably run, because she's feeling cursed.
Dean goes through his bag, grabbing a tub of salt and a bottle of lighter fluid. He covers the bones in salt, squirts the lighter fluid onto the bones, and lights a match, which he throws onto the pile. He stands there and watches it burn.
Lori is filling Sam in on what's being going on at college since her friend died, and how she's being ostracised. She says her father's only advice is to pray and have faith, and then she tells Sam he doesn't have a clue about faith. Sam admits to hearing her fighting with her father, and she tells Sam that he's been seeing a woman. A married one. She starts talking about morality and her father's conflicting messages, and Sam listens intently the whole time.
God, that's a lot of description, sorry. I kinda hate having to recap when they split the boys off and do that back and forth because I don't know how confusing it is to read. It's far less confusing to watch.
Anyway, this is the sort of moment that I love with Sam. He can be so patient and open and compassionate with people. He's giving her some major puppy eyes too. But as much as it seems like he's just letting her cry over his shoulder, he's listening. He's making the connections. He scored really high on the LSAT's, remember?
Lori reaches over and hugs Sam, playing with his hair. He puts his arms around her too, and when she goes in for a kiss, he does nothing to stop her.
Seven episodes in and it's like 'Jess who?'
Kidding! He'll have his fair share of women, but he'll still bang on about her. This one doesn't die. Statistically, a third of the women he does date, die. Fun with numbers! We'll let him have his snog-fest for now. Unlike her father …
He pulls away from her, and tells her he can't do that. She asks if it's because of the person he lost, and then apologises. At that moment, the reverend opens the door and calls her in. She says she'll come in when she's ready, and behind him, the Hook Man manifests and stabs her father with his hook. Both Lori and Sam start, as the reverend is pulled back into the house, yelling. Sam reaches into his bag and pulls out his gun loaded with salt. He runs into the house and follows the sounds of the reverends pleas.
The door at the end of the hallway bangs shut, and Sam runs forward, kicking it open and shooting at the Hook Man as he stands over the reverend. Lori hears the gun shots and goes flying in after them, running straight to her dad as Sam looks around for the Hook Man.
At the hospital, Lori's dad is in a bed, and Lori is fussing over him as Sam gives a statement to the sheriff about what happened. The sheriff points out that every time there's something going on since Rich's death, he's seeing Sam. He tells Sam to stay out of trouble.
And Sam looks so wide-eyed and innocent that everyone buys it that he's cowed by this and will do his very best, mister, to be a good boy!
Down the hallway, Dean is trying to get close, telling the officers that Sam's his brother. The sheriff calls for them to let Dean through. The sheriff dismisses Sam to let him talk to Dean. Dean asks what happened and Sam tells him, it was the Hook Man. He asks why Dean didn't salt and burn, and Dean says he did. Dean asks if they've got the right person, and Sam says he's sure. He also thinks the Hook Man isn't connected to the reverend. Dean says duh, why would he send it after himself? Sam says he thinks it's Lori, and sums up everything Lori told him, emphasising the parts relevant to the case.
I love how Sam never edits for Dean when it comes to women. It gets really bad in season four with Ruby, ha!
Sam connects all cases to their immorality, and Dean says "Remind me not to piss this girl off." Dean wonders why salting and burning the body hasn't stopped the Hook Man. Sam says he must have missed something. Dean says no, the coffin was completely wasted, and Sam asks if he got the hook.
This goes with what I was saying the other time! Possessing a personal item that may have some bodily residue. Wait until it's a kidney transplant ;)
They go back to the library, looking for traces of where the hook could be. Dean finds a penitentiary itinerary for Jacob Carnes, and Sam asks about the hook. They find that when Jacob died, all his personal effects went back to the church, which must be the link between all the other preacher murders. Sam asks why no one's seen the hook in the church, since a blood-stained silver hook might be noticeable. Dean decides they need to check the church records.
Off topic, but Dean keeps putting a pen lid in his mouth and then taking it out to talk. Normally, I hate when people do that. Normally. But right now, I wish I was a pen lid.
Sam finds an entry in the church records about the hook, and finds that it was reforged. They drive back to the church, where Dean starts instructing Sam to put everything that's made from silver in a fire, to avoid taking any chances. Lori and her father are still at the hospital, so they need to break in. Sam takes the house, and Dean takes the church. As Sam walks off, Dean calls after him to stay out of her underwear drawer. Sam gives Dean a dirty look.
Yeah, Dean, as if Sam would be that crass!
In the church, Dean has lit a fire in the fireplace and thrown salt on it to purify. He starts throwing in all the silverware he could get his hands on. He turns as someone opens the door, and Sam comes in with a bulging bag, saying he grabbed anything that even looked silver. As they throw pieces on the fire, they hear a creaking overhead, and dust falls down between the floorboards. Someone else is inside the church. Dean orders Sam to move.
They walk out into the main area of the church, and see Lori near the pulpit, praying in a front pew. Dean nods at Sam to go talk to her, and walks back into the alcove where they have the fire going. Lori is crying as Sam approaches, and when he asks her what's wrong she says she's figured out what's been happening, and she's praying for forgiveness. She mentions avenging angels, and Sam says that the Hook Man is no angel.
Knowing what some of the angels in future series can be like … hmmmm. He's no Castiel, for sure. But hey, only 54 more episodes until we get him. I know, too long a wait, right?
As Lori gets her feelings off her chest, and Sam listens and tries to rationalise what's been going on, we can see something manifesting at the back of the church. The Hook Man is there.
Which completely destroys the belief that churches are sanctuaries from all evil. There's no place to hide. Except maybe the Men of Letters bunker, but we're even further away from that. Season Eight.
When Lori says she's the one who deserves to be punished, Sam hears a chain link rattle, and stands up, looking at the alter where the candles flicker out. He tells her they need to go and starts to lead her out of the church, but as he opens the door, the Hook Man appears, slashing his hook forward. Sam slams the door on the hook and orders Lori to go, to run. He runs with her past the alter, into the clergy rooms behind. As he gets her into one room, the Hook Man smashes his hook through the glass panel in the door behind Sam.
The Hook Man takes a few swipes at Sam, who ducks out of the way and moves Lori further away from him. The Hook Man materialises between them as they run, and Sam jumps in the way of the hook. The Hook Man dematerialises again, and Lori is flung along the floor into the main area. Sam goes running up to her, holding his bleeding arm, and manages to check that she's okay before the Hook Man rematerialises again, bitch-slapping Sam out of the way. Sam is slammed into a bookcase, which then falls on him.
Sam will get out, relatively unharmed. He has superpowers.
Sam gets up, and approaches the Hook Man. Dean, having heard the commotion, comes running out of his alcove, shot gun in hand. He shouts for Sam to drop, and fires a shot. The Hook Man disappears, and a huge lump of dry wall falls out. Before the Hook Man reappears, Sam says he thought they got all the silver. Dean said they did, but they must have missed something if he was still there.
Sam looks at Lori, and notices a necklace she's wearing. When he asks where she got it, she says from her father. He had told her it was a church heirloom. Sam asks if it's silver and when she says yes, he pulls the chain, snapping it off her neck. In the wall behind Dean, an invisible hook starts scoring the wall. Dean throws Sam the shot gun, and goes running off when Sam throws him the necklace.
Sam aims a shot at where the Hook Man might be, based on the wall scratching, and drops closer to Lori, changing the shot pellet and groaning with the pain in his slashed hand. Meanwhile, Dean has made it to the fire, and throws the necklace in, standing there and waiting for it to melt. Sam finishes loading the shot gun one handed, and as he goes to aim it again, it's smacked out of his hand. The Hook Man approaches Sam and Lori again, both of them now unprotected on the floor.
As he stands over them, the hook begins to melt, as the pendant below does, and the Hook Man burns to cinders in front of them. Dean comes running back, and Sam sits up, cradling his hand.
The next day, outside, Dean is now answering the sheriff's questions. When the sheriff begins chewing Dean out, he promises that they're leaving town. Lori approaches the ambulance that Sam's sat on the back of, and Dean climbs in the Impala, watching in the side mirror as Sam says goodbye to Lori. She thanks him, and he walks over to the Impala, holding his arm up as he does. Dean offers to stay around a while, but Sam shakes his head, facing forward sullenly.
That's such a sad ending to me. I mean, I get that he's still upset over Jess, but he had a good connection to Lori. Maybe he was just focused on the case or something. I don't know.
This has been really descriptive heavy, I'm sorry about that. It's short and action-packed, and there wasn't so much to analyse. The next episode is Bugs, which is a funny episode so hopefully there's more dialogue to go through.
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