Previous Episode ————————————————————Next Episode

13.05 – Advanced Thanatology

Details

13.05 – Advanced Thanatology

DETAILS

Writer: Steve Yockey
Director: John Showalter
First aired: Thursday, November 9, 2017

BILLIE RETURNS…BUT NOT LIKE BEFORE — While working on a case involving the ghost of a demented doctor, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) get assistance from an unexpected source – Billie (guest star Lisa Berry). Castiel (Misha Collins) finds his way back to the Winchesters.

John Showalter directed the episode written by Steve Yockey (#1305). Original airdate 11/9/2017.

 

Recap

 

RECAP

Outside of Grand Junction, Colorado, Evan and his friend Shawn Raider climb over a fence and approach an abandoned mental hospital. Evan figures that they’re going to get a lot of hits, and enters the house with Evan following him. Shawn doesn’t want to hear stories about how the head doctor used to cut people’s skulls in, and Evan figures that he’s scared. When Shawn denies it, Evan says that they can look around if he’s not afraid. They continue on and find the general room where the patients slept. They come to a door to the main operating room, and Shawn refuses to go in. Evan goads him into following him in, and Shawn finds a series of bird-like masks. Shawn tells Evan to take one, and they hear a noise in the darkness. Shawn says that he’s out, and something comes at him and Evan. They both run, and come to a doctor holding a power drill and wearing a mask. He attacks Evan, and Shawn runs out as Evan’s screams echo through the night.

At the bunker, Sam comes down to the kitchen and offers Dean a beer. Dean wonders what’s up with him. Sam dismisses it as nothing and says that he found a case in Grand Junction. There’s a story about Shawn wandering by the side of the road, bleeding from the head. The only word he’s said is “monster”, and Sam suggests that they check it up. Jack is busy catching up on his fantasy DVDs, and Sam suggests that just the two of them work the case.

Once Dean agrees, the brothers head to Grand Junction and Sam gives Dean the fake ID he usually uses. Shawn’s mother Penny answers the door and they ask to speak to her and Shawn. Penny says that Shawn can’ talk and it’s psychological trauma, like he saw something awful. Dean goes to Shawn’s room and finds him sketching pictures of the bird mask.

Penny tells Sam that Evan is still missing. Shawn, Evan, and their friend Mike Ramos are inseparable, and Penny figures that since they did things together, she figures that he knows something.

Dean tells Shawn that he knows what’s it like to see monster, and they ever really go away. He says that he and Sam are the guys that scare the monsters, but Shawn has to talk to him.

Later, the Winchesters drive to a hotel and Dean tells Sam that Shawn didn’t say anything. Sam suggests that they go to a strip club, much to Dean’s surprise. Dean asks why Sam is being so brotherly, and Sam says that he’s trying to be nice because of Dean not believing anything. Dean insists that he’s fine, and says that he’s fought his way back before and will again.

Shawn wakes up screaming and Penny runs in. She tells him that it was a bad dream and should go back to sleep, and Shawn hesitantly lies back down. Once Penny leaves, Shawn hears something in the darkness. The saw starts up and the ghostly doctor appears. He runs at Shawn, who screams.

The next morning, Sam’s alarm goes off and he discovers that Dean didn’t sleep in his bed. He’s on the floor with a woman’s brassiere around his neck. Sam gets ready for the day and leaves Dean snoring on the floor. He goes to the Ramos farm, and Mike says that he doesn’t know where Shawn and Evan went. Sam doesn’t believe him and calls mike on it, and Mike finally says that Evan is hiding out somewhere as a prank. He explains that Shawn and Evan were going to the old Meadows place, and Mike was too scared to go.

Dean is getting complimentary breakfast at the hotel when Sam comes in. When Sam gives him a beer, Dean tells him that he’s forgiven for talking too loudly. Sam has discovered that the head of the doctor, Dr. Avery Meadows, lobotomized his patients. He then experimented with those who survived, and when people found out what he was doing, he was tried and executed. There’s a photo of Avery’s mask, a plague mask, and Dean recognizes it from Shawn’s sketches. Meadows was wearing one when they arrested him. Penny calls and tells them that Shawn had a bad dream and seemed that he was getting better. When she went back to her room, it got cold and when she came back in, Shawn was gone.

Outside, Sam worries that he pushed Shawn too heard. The reports said that Meadows was cremated, and Sam figures that Shawn took something from the house. He suggests that if it’s Meadows, Meadows too him to the house. that night, the brothers arrive and go inside the house, and Sam picks up Ems. The ghost appears and knocks Sam aside, then knocks the shotgun out of Dean’s hands. He prepares to drill into Dean’s skull, but Sam hits the ghost with cold iron, temporarily dissipating it.

The Winchesters go upstairs to the operating room where Meadows performed his lobotomies. They figure that Meadows is tied to the masks, and they hear Meadows screaming outside. Sam lays down a salt line to keep Meadows out while Dean burns the masks. The ghost appears and blasts away the salt, but then disappears screaming as Dean burns the masks. The brothers search for Shawn and Sam realizes that it’s still cold. Lights explode and the brothers figure that there are most ghosts. The ghosts are all asking for Meadows, and Sam figures that they’re not strong enough to pierce the Veil. Dean says that he’s going to ask the ghosts where they are by taking out two syringes. He tells Sam that one will stop his heart and one will bring him back. Dean says that Sam should give him three minutes and then injects himself with the first syringe.

Dean is able to see the ghosts and talks to one. A woman, Jessica, tells Dean that she’s there to lead him Dean says who he is and brushes past her, and Jessica realizes who he is.

Sam lays down a salt circle around Dean to protect his brother from the ghosts.

Jessica goes to a vast vault and says that Dean is in the veil.

Dean approaches a male ghost patient, who goes through a wall. Shawn comes in and says that he recognizes Dean. and explains that Meadows’ ghost entered his body. He put on the mask Shawn took, took Shawn’s body to the house, and forced him to drill himself in the head. Dean apologizes, and Shawn says that Evan is there as well and they can’t leave.

Sam prepares to bring Dean back after three minutes.

Dean tells Shawn that he’s going to help him go to a better place. However, he needs Shawn to tell him where Meadows put the body. Once he gets it, he goes back to his room just as the three minutes elapse. Sam gives Dean’s body the second injection, but nothing happens. Billie appears and tells Dean that they need to talk. She tells Dean that one rule of death is that when they kill one incarnation of Death then the next Reaper to die takes his place. When Castiel stabber her, it made her the new Angel of Death.

Billie transports Dean to the room: the vault filled with books. She says that whether Dean is dead depends on him. Billie wants to know how he’s been slipping between worlds, and in return for the information he tells Billie to free the ghosts at the house. Billie agrees.

At the house, Jessica tells the ghosts to come with her. they all move on.

Billie tells Dean that it’s done, and Dean tells her that when Jack was born, it created a rip into another world. She explains that the last thing she needs is a Winchester knocking down all the dimensions. Billie figures that Dean has changed, pointing out that he could have negotiated for his own release from death. She says that Dean has changed, and he tells people that he’ll work through it but he knows that he won’t and it scares the hell out of him. Dean figures that it doesn’t matter and he doesn’t matter, pointing out that he couldn’t save Mary or Castiel or Shawn. All he does is drag Sam down, and if it’s his time then it’s his time. Billie figures that he wants to die, and points out a shelf with all the different versions of how Dean dies. She tells dean that which one is true depends on the choice he makes. Dean says that he made his choice, and Billie explains that none of the books say that he dies that day. Since she got her promotion, she sees a larger picture and she sees Dean and Sam. They’re important and have work to do, and that’s all dean needs to do. Billie isn’t thrilled with the fact that humans like the Winchesters are important. She tells Dean to keep living, and sends Dean back to his body before he can ask if Mary is alive.

The next day, the police remove Shawn’s body. Sam comforts Penny as best he can and then asks Dean how he came back. Dean merely says that he got lucky, but Sam wonders what happened to the ghost. After a moment, Dean tells Sam that Billie is death and she took care of the ghosts. He explains what Billie said about how they have work to do, and says that he’s pretty far from okay. Dean tells Sam that he’s always believed what they did was important, no matter what the cost. Now he just needs a damn win. The brothers get in the Impala and drive off.

Penny looks at her son’s body as the coroners bring it out.

Billie looks through the books about Dean’s deaths.

Dean’s phone rings and he answers it. The Winchesters then drive to the phone booth where Castiel is waiting for them.

TV.com

Guest Stars

GUEST STARS

Misha Collins Misha Collins Castiel
Seth Isaac Johnson Seth Isaac Johnson Shawn Raider
Alisen Down Alisen Down Penny Raider
Lisa Berry Lisa Berry Billie
Kayla Stanton Kayla Stanton Jessica / Reaper
Sacha M. Romalo Sacha M. Romalo Dr. Avery Meadows
Josh Hudniuk Josh Hudniuk Evan
Micah Solis Micah Solis Mike
Dan Vaida Dan Vaida Ghost
Videos

TRAILER/CLIPS

Trailer

Sneak Peek

 

Music

MUSIC

It’s Never Too Late” by Steppenwolf
(playing over the closing montage)

Superwiki

Quotes

QUOTES

Dean: What is that? A monster? Is this the one you told the cops about? You know… I know what it’s like to see monsters. And I know that when they’re gone, they never really go away. You see ’em when you close your eyes. You see ’em in your dreams… But you know what? Me and my brother? We’re the guys that stop the monsters. We’re the guys that scare them. But you gotta talk to me.

 

Sam: So, strip club?
Dean: Wait. Sorry. What?
Sam: Mm, s-strip… club. There’s one just outside of town, the, uh… Clamdiver.
Dean: You wanna go to the Clamdiver?
Sam: Yeah. It-it got great reviews.
Dean: You read reviews for the Clamdiver?
Sam: It-it-it got four and a half —

 

Dean: You give me a-a beer for breakfast. You — you gave me Agent Page, which you always like to be. You — you didn’t whine about me blaring my music the whole way here. And when we stopped for lunch, you ordered me chili fries.
Sam: You love chili fries.
Dean: Everybody loves chili fries. That’s not the point. Now you wanna go hang out at a strip club? You hate strip clubs.

 

Dean: Dude, the last lap dance you had was — was — was at Christmas. It was a gift paid for by me. You spent the entire song trying to convince the girl that she should go to nursing school.

 

Dean: I’m fine.
Sam: No, you’re not, Dean. You said you don’t believe in anything, and — and that’s… that’s not true. That’s not you. You — you — you do believe in things. You believe in people. That’s who you are. That’s what you do. I know you’re in a dark place, and I-I just want to help.
Dean: Okay. Look, I-I’ve been down this road before. I fought my way back. I will fight my way back again.
Sam: How?
Dean: Same way I always do — bullets, bacon, and booze. A lotta booze.

 

Dean: Why do you care?
Billie: Because I do. Because… this whole multi-versal quantum construct we live in, it’s like a house of cards. And the last thing I need is some big, dumb Winchester knocking it all down.
Dean: Hmmm. That does sound like us.

 

Billie: That doesn’t sound like the Dean Winchester I know and love. The man who’s been dead so many times but it never seemed to stick. Maybe you’re not that guy anymore, the guy who saves the world, the guy who always thinks he’ll win no matter what. You have changed. And you tell people it’s not a big deal. You tell people you’ll work through it, but you know you won’t, you can’t, and that scares the hell out of you. Or… am I wrong?
Dean: What do you want me to say? Doesn’t matter. I don’t matter.
Billie: Don’t you?
Dean: I couldn’t save Mom. I couldn’t save Cas. I can’t even save a scared little kid. Sam keeps trying to fix it, but I just keep dragging him down. So I’m not gonna beg. Okay, if it’s my time, it’s my time.
Billie: You really believe that. You wanna die. Dean… every notebook on this particular shelf tells a version of how you die. You specifically — heart attack, burned by a red-haired witch, stabbed by a ghoul in a graveyard, and on and on. But which one’s right? That depends on you, on the choices you make.
Dean: Well, I guess I made my choice.

 

Superwiki

 

Trivia

TRIVIA

Thanatology is the scientific study of death.

Dean: What about Jack?
Sam: He’s, uh, he’s catching up on all my old fantasy DVDs — “Red Sonja”, “Beastmaster”, uh, “Beastmaster 2” — you know, the one with the time traveling ferrets.
Dean: Yeah. Wow, how you ever got laid, I’ll never know.

Red Sonja is a fantasy movie based on the eponymous Marvel Comics character who is a barbarian warrior.Beastmaster and Beastermaster 2: Through the Portal of Time are fantasy films about a warrior, Dar, who can communicate with animals. In the second film he travels forward in time with his companions, including the ferrets called Kodo and Podo.

 

 

Dean and Sam use the aliases “Agents Page and Plant,” referencing Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and lead singer Robert Plant. As stated in the episode, it’s a somewhat commonly used alias of the brothers, except Sam typically uses the name Page.

 

Dean: What’s up with the creepy-ass mask?
Sam: It’s a plague mask. Doctors used to use them. They thought they filtered out disease. As a matter of fact, when they arrested Meadows, he was wearing one. They had to hold him down to rip it off.

Used in France in the 17th century, the plague doctor costume consisted of ankle-length overcoat and a bird-like beak mask to protect against airborne diseases. The plague mask was in use by Roman doctors as far back as the 14th century.

 

 

Dean: What’s up, Doc?

This is the catch phrase of the Warner Brothers cartoon character Bugs Bunny.

 

 

Dean: Look, we can’t talk to ’em on this side of the Veil, so I’m gonna go to the other side. I’m gonna work my way through all these Caspers until we find out where this freak hid the bodies.

Casper is the title character in the famous cartoon series Casper, the Friendly Ghost. The Winchesters have referred to ghosts as “Casper” or “Caspers” on previous occasions.

 

 

Dean: No, I saw Cas kill you.
Billie: How’s that working out for him? It’s funny to hear a Winchester talk about the finality of dying. This reality — it has rules, Dean. So many rules. And one of them? Kill one incarnation of Death, like you did, the next Reaper to die takes his place. So… when Castiel stabbed me in the back, turns out… I got a promotion. New job. New gear.

Billie taking on Death’s mantle is a slight twist on the plot to the 1983 fantasy novel On a Pale Horse, in which the main character, Zane, kills Death and is forced to take the mantle on himself.

 

 

Dean: Lucifer’s son. Jack. When he was born, it created a little rip.
Billie: ‘A little rip’? Into another world? And you went there?
Dean: Mm. Yeah, I’ll just say it’s, uh, it’s not Candy Land.

Candy Land features in the board game of the same name, and is a land made of candy and confectionery.

 

 

Death’s various notebooks on the way Dean dies bears some similarity to the manga/anime Death Note, where shinigami, gods of death, write down the names of people and their deaths in their own personal Death Notes.

 

Alisen Down, who played Penny Raider, previously played Alice Cassity in 8.14 Trial and Error.
The set of Dr. Avery Meadows’ Mental Health Center was previously used in Dr. Eleanor Visyak’s mansion in San Francisco during the events in 6.12 Like a Virgin, specifically the grand staircase and the stained glass window featuring Joan of Arc.
When Dean takes out the syringes to induce death and revive him, the masking tape on the kit reads: “Dr. Robert. For Emergency.” Dr. Robert was the doctor that first induced death on Dean in 6.11 Appointment in Samarra.
Sam: Dean, you’re talking about killing yourself.
Dean: Yeah? Well, it worked before.

Dean previously induced death on two separate occasions, first in 6.11 Appointment in Samarra and later in 11.17 Red Meat. Both included reapers, with the latter including Billie as well.

 

 

Billie: Since I got this… new job, I stand witness to a much larger picture. Do you know what I see? You. And your brother. You’re important.
Dean: Why?
Billie: You have work to do. That’s all you need to know. And trust me, having my eyes opened to the necessity of any humans, especially Winchesters, is not a thrill. So… you wanna die, but I say… keep living.

At the end of the pilot, there is a shot of Dean and Sam standing over the trunk of the Impala. As Sam tosses a weapon into he trunk he says, “We’ve got work to do” and closes the trunk. At the end of 2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two, the scene is replayed with the brother’s positions reversed. Dean tosses the Colt into the trunk and says, “We’ve got work to do.” In 4.01 Lazarus Rising, when Dean asks Castiel why he was brought back, Castiel responds, “Because we have work for you.” In 7.19 Of Grave Importance the line is used by Bobby to explain his presence as a ghost. It is also re-created at the start of 10.05 Fan Fiction after Dean announces he has found a case.

 

Superwiki

Spoilers

EPISODE SPOILERS

Episode Spoilers can be read HERE

Episode Schedule

Thu, Oct 10 15.01 - Back and to the Future - Season Premiere
Thu, Oc 17 15.02 - Raising Hell
Thu, Oct 24 15.03 - The Rupture
Thu, Nov 7 15.04 - Atomic Monsters
Thu, Nov 14 15.05 - Proverbs 17:3
Thu, Nov 21 15.06 - Golden Time
Thu, Dec 05 15.07 - Last Call
Thu, Dec 12 15.08 - Our Father, Who Aren’t In Heaven
Thu, Jan 16 2020 15.09 - The Trap
Thu, Jan 23 2020 15.10 - The Heroes' Journey
Thu, Jan 30 2020 15.11 - The Gamblers
Mon, March 16 2020 15.12 - Galaxy Brain
Mon, March 23 2020 15.13 - Destiny's Child
Thu, Oct 08 2020 15.14 - Last Holiday
Thu, Oct 15 2020 15.15 - Gimme Shelter
Thu, Oct 22 2020 15.16 - Drag Me Away (From You)
Thu, Oct 29 2020 15.17 - Unity
Thu, Nov 05 2020 15.18 - Despair
Thu, Nov 12 2020 15.19 - Inherit the Earth
Thu, Nov 19 2020 15.20 - Carry On - Series Finale

* This Schedule might change as new info come.

SFO on Tumblr

    https://supernaturalfansonline.tumblr.com/post/184422707480

SFO on Twitter

Support SFO & DFN

Show your support for the site/forum and become a Bronze, a Silver or a Gold member who has some privileges.

Our Affiliation