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7.03 – The Girl Next Door
7.03 – The Girl Next Door
DETAILS
Writers: Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin
Director: Jensen Ackles
First aired: Friday October 7, 2011
JENSEN ACKLES DIRECTS — Dean (Jensen Ackles) is furious after Sam (Jared Padalecki) disappears to follow a lead on a case with clues that are identical to a case Sam solved as a kid. The demon turns out to be Amy (guest star Jewel Staite), who has been killing low-life thugs and taking their brains for dinner – the same demon Sam found as a kid.
Jensen Ackles directed the episode written by Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin.
RECAP
Synopsis
Sam abandons Dean to investigate a case from his childhood that he thought he had solved: a demon that kills criminals and eats their brains.
Full Recap
Dean wakes up at Sioux Falls General Hospital in the ER as the doctors work on his broken leg and tell him what happened. He passes out and sometime later, pulls out the IV and tries to get out of bed only to discover that he has a cast on his leg. Bobby comes in, wearing a suit, and Dean is surprised to see that he’s alive. Once he gets Dean up off the floor, Bobby says that they have to go and leaves to find Sam.
The Leviathans possessing Dr. Gaines and the head nurse get a call that the Winchesters are at the hospital. Meanwhile, Bobby finds Sam on a stretcher and wheels him out of the hospital and into an ambulance. When Gaines comes out after them, Dean manages to get in just in time and they drive off. Gaines and the head nurse make a call.
Three weeks later in Whitefish, Montana, the brothers hole up in a cabin belonging to Rufus and Dean watches Spanish soap operas. Bobby comes in and Dean brings him up to speed, and they compare notes on what the Leviathans have been doing. Hunters have encountered them and determined that they bleed black goo and are indestructible, and that the ones at the hospital have disappeared. Sam spaces out briefly as he hears Lucifer’s voce but then manages to regain his self-control. Bobby goes to get copies of all the ancient tomes that were burned along with his house and Dean suggests that Sam make a run to get some food. Once he leaves, Dean asks Bobby for his opinion. Bobby figures that he’ll get over it and that for now they need to focus on the Leviathans.
At the store, Sam pays for the food with a bogus credit card and notices a newspaper article on a local ice pick killer. When he pays for the food, a Leviathan duplicating a credit card accountant tracks the charge, identifies it, and calls Edgar. Edgar tells him to deal with the Winchesters.
Sam returns to the cabin and Dean asks him how he’s doing. Sam admits that he’s still seeing things but he’s managing it. Later, Dean dozes off and Sam looks at the newspaper article on the ice pick killer.
Lincoln, Nebraska, 1998
Young Sam calls Dean to say that he’s located a kitsune. John gets on the line and Sam assures him that he’s heading to the library to research the killer.
The Present
Sam leaves a note for the sleeping Dean and leaves.
A drug dealer is making a deal but is interrupted when a police siren goes off nearby. His customer runs and the drug dealer takes off. Something grabs him and kills him, drilling a hole in his skull.
When Dean wakes up and discovers that Sam has gone, he calls splitting Bobby. Bobby figures that they should give it a couple of days until Dean gets the cast off. Dean then gets out a saw and starts cutting off the cast.
Sam poses as a FBI agent and talks to a cop who says that losing a drug dealer is no big loss. He claims that he dealt with a similar case and asks if the brains were missing. As Sam goes to check it out, he gets a call from Sam and ignores it.
Dean stops in at the grocery store and confirms that Sam bought a newspaper. He checks out the day-old copy and spots the icepick killer ad.
At the morgue, the coroner tells Sam that a big chunk of the victim’s brain was removed, including their pituitaries. Sam remembers reading about same deaths when he was a child.
The Past
Young Sam tracks the murders and confirms there was one death per town, each one in a park off the highway, and that the killer was moving along the highway in Montana.
The Present
Sam tracks the pattern of killings and realizes where the next one will occur. He drives to the park outside of the next town.
The Past
In Montana, Young Sam buys a coffee and spots a woman going into the library. He goes back inside and notices her going through the books, and she notices him as well.
The Present
Sam sees someone pull up and go into the park.
The Past
Young Sam goes to get a book and sees the girl in the next aisle, looking at him. He then calls Dean and tells him the way to kill the kitsune is to stab it in the heart. Once he’s finished his report, he asks his brother how he can talk to girls. Young Sam then approaches the girl and notices a moon necklace. He tries to make conversation and she tells him to go away. When he hesitates, she says that she’s not supposed to talk to boys and he goes outside. However, he sees the girl walk away and notices two boys following her. Young Sam watches and sees them harassing her. He intervenes and quickly takes them down, and the girl introduces herself as Amy.
The Present
Sam sees a woman approaching a man whose car has broken down on the road. He grabs her, sees the moon necklace, and greets her as Amy. Amy recognizes him and admits that she never thought she’d see him again. He holds a knife to her and walks her away, and asks why she’s doing the same thing again. Amy insists that she has a life and a family.
The Past
Amy takes Young Sam to her home and treats his injuries. She talks about how her mother is often on the road and Young Sam admits that he goes through the same thing with his father. They commiserate over their lives and when Sam admits that he’s a freak. Amy agrees, but says that she’s a freak and all the coolest people are freaks. Sam leans forward and kisses her.
The Present
Sam points out that she’s spiked three guys in the last week, but Amy insists that she just had to do it. She can’t explain further and attacks Sam when he doesn’t believe her. Amy knocks him out and runs. As he falls, Sam grabs something from her coat pocket.
The coroner tells Dean that Sam was there and confirmed that the pituitary glands were missing. He calls Bobby to tell him that Sam is tracking a kitsune. Bobby wonders what Dean is going to do when he catches up, and Dean says that he has a few ideas.
Amy goes to her suburban home and packs, but discovers Sam in her bedroom. He’s traced her from the note he grabbed from her pocket. When he spots fresh blood on her hands and demands to know what she’s been doing. Amy still refuses to explain and says that Sam know the kind of person that she is.
The Past
Once they get done kissing, Young Sam knocks over his beer. Amy says that her mother has a temper and starts to clean it up, and explains that her mother isn’t a good person. She wonders if she’s a good person and Sam says that he knows good when he sees it. He takes her hand and Amy explains that her mother has a plan. They both admit that neither one of them want to be like their parents.
The Present
Sam asks for an explanation and refuses to drop his knife until she does. Amy finally relents and opens the bedroom door, revealing her son Jacob in the next room. She explains that she works as a mortician and she’s been feeding on the dead, taking what she and Jacob need. Jacob was dying and needed fresh meat, but now that he’s been fed, he’s recovering. Amy says that Sam could just walk away, and reminds her of what she did for him.
The Past
Amy’s mother arrives and Amy hides Young Sam in the closet. She says that two men in an Impala have caught up to them, and they need to move. Amy hesitates until her mother starts toward the closet, and then agrees to start packing. Her mother goes to get gas and Amy realizes that something’s wrong. Young Sam says that he has to go but then notices a jar with a brain inside of it. He explains that his dad and brother are in the Impala and accuses Amy of being a monster. She realizes that he’s a hunter and she wonders if they’re supposed to kill each other. Young Sam advances on her with the knife and Amy admits that she hasn’t killed anyone and doesn’t want to hurt him. She asks if he wants to hurt her and Young Sam admits that he doesn’t. She tells him to run and he puts away the knife and leaves.
The Present
Sam returns to his hotel room but Dean ambushes him and punches him. Once they get inside, Dean complains that Sam left him. Sam insists that he had a job and he wanted to take care of it, and Dean asks to see the body. His brother finally admits that he let the kitsune go.
The Past
As Sam tries to leave, Amy’s mother comes back, realizing that something was up when Amy agreed to leave town so easily. She condemns Amy for letting Young Sam into his life and slaps her daughter aside when she tries to interfere. The kitsune grows claws and prepares to eat Sam’s brain, but Amy stabs her in the chest and kills her.
The Present
Sam finishes telling Dean what happens. He doesn’t believe that Amy committed the murders but Dean insists that they have to drop her now no matter what she did as a kid. When Dean says that it’s sample, Sam points out that nothing in their lives is simple.
The Past
Young Sam tells Amy to get out of town on the bus while he takes care of the body. She asks him to come with her so that they can be freaks together, but he says that he can’t.
The Present
Dean dismisses Amy as a freak and Sam prepares to leave. He explains that he figures that Dean considers him a freak as well and he agrees, but he insists that he’s not dangerous. Sam explains that Amy works in a funeral home and has figured out how to deal, and says that they’d do the same thing if someone close to them were dying. He asks Dean to trust him, not Amy, and Dean agrees. Sam is surprised and Dean says that he has to start sometime.
The next day, Dean calls Bobby and confirms that they’ll meet him the next day. He lets Sam drive and they go to Spokane to hole up. Sam checks in and Dean claims that he’s going to get medication. Instead he goes to the hotel where Amy has holed up and explains who he is. Dean warns that she’s a killer and eventually she’ll kill again no matter what she claims. He stabs her and apologizes, and then sets her down on the bed. As he turns to go, he sees Jacob in the door, watching him. Dean asks if he’s ever killed anyone. When Jacob says that he hasn’t, Dean promises to come back for him if he does. The boy says that the only person he plans to kill is Dean and Dean tells him to look him up in a few years.
At the grocery store in Whitefish, Chet the Leviathan calls his superiors to report that he’s on Sam’s trail. He then ties up the owner and pours hot cheese sauce on him as he eats him.
GUEST STARS
Jim Beaver | … | Bobby Singer | |
Colin Ford | … | Young Sam Winchester | |
Emma Grabinsky | … | Young Amy | |
Jewel Staite | … | Amy Pond | |
Benito Martinez | … | Edgar / Leviathan | |
Sean Owen Roberts | … | Chet / Leviathan | |
Cameron Bancroft | … | Dr. Gaines / Leviathan | |
Lori Triolo | … | Head Nurse / Leviathan | |
Leslie Hopps | … | Amy’s Mother (as Leslie Hopps Deschutter) | |
Steven Garr | … | Coroner | |
Michael Nyuis | … | Store Clerk | |
Nicholas Harrison | … | Cop (as Nick Harrison) | |
Willy Lavendel | … | Coffee Vendor |
IMAGE GALLERY
Official Episode Stills:
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7.03 “The Girls Next Door”
TRAILER/CLIPS
Comic Convention Sneak Peek – MTV 10 On Top Video 01
Don’t Drink The Water – The CW Promo – CHCH Promo – Clip – Clip 02
MUSIC
“She Was Country” by The Neil Nelson Band
(plays when Sam is buying snacks)
“Two Days in February” by The Goo Goo Dolls
(the “cool” song that plays during Sam’s flashback of his kiss with Amy)
QUOTES
Young Sam: That’s my dad and brother in the Impala. You’re a monster.
Young Amy: You’re a hunter. So you’re supposed to kill me? And I’m supposed to kill you?
Leviathan: Plain old people taste fine, but everything is better with cheese.
Sam: Look, I see the way you look at me, Dean – like I’m a grenade and you’re waiting for me to go off.
Dean: Sam…
Sam: I’m not going off. Look, I might be a freak, but that’s not the same as dangerous.
TRIVIA
The girl next door is a term used to describe a cultural stereotype of a young woman who is good natured and fits accepted cultural norms of femininity. It is the name of many songs and movies, however the one that most closely fits this episode of Supernatural is a Japanese erotic animated movie (i.e. hentai) of the same name in which a man is haunted by the memory of a young woman who helped him when he was injured as a child. This may be a shoutout to the fact that in 7.01 Meet the New Boss Dean is watching “Asian cartoon porn.”
This is the fifth episode in which the part of a younger Sam has been played by Colin Ford. The only episodes in which young Sam was not played by Colin were 1.18 Something Wicked, when the character was played by Alex Ferris, and 5.22 Swan Song, when the character was played by Nathan Smith.
In this episode, young Sam would be 15.
The cabin in Whitefish Montana belonged to Rufus Turner.
Dean: Before you bail again – Girl, Interrupted over there – any thoughts?
Girl, Interrupted is a memoir by Susanna Kaysen and the movie based on same, both entitled Girl, Interrupted and depicting Kaysen’s stay in a mental health facility. Misha Collins has a bit part in the movie; a more important character is played by Clea Duvall, who co-starred with Jensen in Ten Inch Hero. The season five episode 5.11 Sam, Interrupted was a play on this title.
Amy worked as a mortician in Bozeman, Montana.
Dean: Hey, ground control. Sam!
A reference to the David Bowie song, “Space Oddity” — specifically the lyric “Ground control to Major Tom” — the song was previously used in 6.09 Clap Your Hands If You Believe….
Amy is going by the alias “Amy Pond” which is the name of the companion of the eleventh doctor in Doctor Who. In fandom Fanworks that crossover Doctor Who and Supernatural are referred to as SuperWho.
In an interview with TV Guide, Jewel Staite mentioned that Jensen was an old friend of hers.
It is notable that young Sam’s first kiss is with a supernatural creature. In 4.14 Sex and Violence when Dean thinks that Dr. Cara Roberts, whom Sam has just had sex with, is the siren he says “…first it’s Madison and then Ruby and now Cara. It’s like, what is with you and banging monsters?” Madison of course being a werewolf and Ruby a demon.
While he did only kiss her, we’re counting Amy on the list of women who’ve slept with Sam Winchester and died.
The aliases used are Lemmy Kilmister (of Motörhead) by Sam and Lars Ulrich (of Metallica) by Dean.
A credit card customer, David Righton, calls to report strange activity on his account. $775 was charged to a Mistress Magda on May 27, 2011. Chuck called a Mistress Magda in 5.22 Swan Song.
Dean’s love of pie is well documented. There is a running gag through the series, where Sam never ends up getting Dean pie when asked. See Pie for details.
Dean is a fan of soap operas, such as Dr. Sexy M.D., and while he’s laid up with a broken leg in Rufus’ cabin he is seen watching a telenovela. Bobby also seems invested in the Spanish-language saga.
The scene in the beginning when Dean falls out of the hospital bed and can’t walk is reminiscent of the section in Kill Bill: Vol 1 where “The Bride” falls out of her hospital bed – having been in a coma for four years – as she tries to escape a sexual abuser. The scene at the end, when Dean stabs Amy through the heart and turns to see her son, Jacob, in the doorway, may also reference the same film. In the movie, Uma Thurman’s character kills a woman with a knife, and when she turns around, she sees that the woman’s daughter is in the doorway. She tells her, “It was not my intention to do this in front of you. For that, I’m sorry. But you can take my word for it, your mother had it coming. When you grow up, if you still feel raw about it, I’ll be waiting.” Watch the two scenes side by side here.
TV Commercial: My Bloodiest Valentine in hell-a-vision 3D.
A commercial for this movie plays while Dean is asleep on the couch. Jensen played Tom Hanniger in My Bloody Valentine 3D.
The documentary playing when Dean wakes up alone is about wildebeests, and the line Here on the Savannah, the wildebeest lounges, lazy and self-content, and is oblivious to the fierce predator that stalks him from the shadows also played in a documentary in 5.15 Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, just before Benny Sutton was murdered.
The store clerk in Whitefish Mt. Gas-N-Sip is wearing a Batman: Under the Red Hood T-shirt when Dean questions him. Jensen Ackles voiced Red Hood in Batman: Under The Red Hood.
The scene at the very end when the Leviathan kills the store clerk with a bowl of melted cheese is a shoutout to Cheeseheads – a term of Wisconsin sports fans. Executive producer Jim Michaels commented: “It was a shout out to Wisconsin Cheese Heads! I am a Chicago Bear fan though…So it kills me…” The scene was also reminiscent of one in the TV series Game of Thrones when the character Viserys Targaryen is killed in a similar fashion, only with a pot of melted gold rather than cheese. The end effect is similar though.
Young Sam tells Young Amy that his dad never listens to any music written after 1979. This is a reference to the creator of Supernatural, Eric Kripke. He has stated more than once that he never listens to music after 1979, and since he created the show he is also Sam’s father of sorts.
In 5.08 Changing Channels, Sam tells Dean that he doesn’t know Japanese, however Young Sam is getting all the information on the kitsune from a book written in Japanese.
Bobby tells Sam that he has been speaking Japanese since before he was born in the episode 4.06 Yellow Fever. So given his “profession” and knowledge of Japanese, he definitely should know what a kitsune is. “Kitsune” (?) is the Japanese word for “fox”. It is also the name of a supernatural creature known for trickery and shapeshifting. It commonly appears as a beautiful woman.
Jensen announced at Asylum 6 2011 that he would direct an episode in season 7. As happened in season 6 when he directed 6.04 Weekend at Bobby’s, the episode would be the first one shot, to allow Jensen time to prepare, but would not be the first to air. Pre-production started on June 26th and shooting on July 6th.
• Jensen talks about directing the episode at Comic Con 2011.
• Jared talks about being directed by Jensen (at around 13:40) at Nerd HQ at Comic Con 2011.
After Jared teased on twitter that he had the first two scripts for season 7 and asked who wanted him to fax them a copy. @CariAnn923 was the first to respond, and Jared did fax her the front page of the script to be shot by Jensen. Portion of the script Jared faxed to @CariAnn923.
A scene from the episode was previewed at the Supernatural Panel at Comic Con 2011.
The clip played at Comic Con 2011 contained Belle and Sebastian’s “The State I Am In” as the “cool song” playing when young Sam and Amy are together, instead of the Goo Goo Dolls song in the final cut.
One of the kids outside the library in the flashback is played by Nico McEown who played Lucas Barr in 1.03 Dead in the Water.
Near the end of the episode Sam gets food from a Biggerson’s Restaurant.
Superwiki
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.