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1.04 – Phantom Traveler
1.04 – Phantom Traveler
Writers: John Shiban
Director: Robert Singer
First aired: Tuesday October 4, 2005
On TransNational flight 2485, a man possessed by the spirit of the Phantom Traveler causes the plane to crash, leaving only five survivors left alive. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) must exorcise the angry spirit before it attacks the survivors. The brothers realize the only way to do that is to take the battle to the skies.
Richard Hatem wrote the episode directed by Bob Singer.
RECAP
The mystery
A nervous flyer is attacked by some black smoke seeping out of the air vents in an airport restroom. Suddenly, he’s calm and collected. Exactly 40 minutes into his flight, he gets up and opens the emergency door. The plane crashes. Only seven people survive.
The hunt is on
The guys get a phone call from Jerry, a former client who had poltergeist problems. He works for the airport, and they have the cockpit voice recorder for the doomed flight. In the middle of the maydays, a spooky noise cuts over the voices. The guys ask for passenger manifests, a list of survivors, and a look at the wreckage. Jerry says the last one is impossible. Not for Dean – he whips up a couple of fake Homeland Security badges.
The evidence
When they guys run the cockpit voice tapes through their techy despookifier, they hear a ghastly voice say “No survivors!” They resolve to question some of the survivors, starting with a guy who checked himself into a psychiatric hospital after the crash. The passenger confesses he thought he saw a man with his eyes turned black right before he ripped open the emergency exit. No mere mortal should have the strength to do that when the plane is in the air. The guys buy some black suits to better impersonate HSA agents, and con their way into the facility where the wreckage is being housed. Dean uses his homemade electromagnetic frequency reader (canabalized from an old walkman) to pinpoint an area of spookiness – the emergency door handle, which is coated with sulfur. Before they can contemplate this too deeply, real HSA agents appear, and the guys run for it.
The evil
The guys figure out a demon must be behind the plane crashes. Suddenly, Jerry calls with news: the pilot of the earlier crashed flight just crashed another plane, again 40 minutes into the flight, and there’s sulfur in the cockpit. The guys figure the plane-crash demon is going after all the survivors. The only survivor likely to fly again is Amanda, the flight attendant. The guys speed over to Indianapolis, whre her flight is taking off. They try to con her into not getting on the flight, but it doesn’t work. They have no alternative but to get on the flight and try to stop the demon in mid-air. The only problem: Dean is terrified of flying.
Ghost busting
Dean is having panic attacks at every bump, and Sam tries to call him down – the demon will strike at anyone emotionally vulnerable. That does the trick. The guy figure the Amanda is the next natural victim, but she doesn’t react when Dean tries to flush out the demon by saying the name of Christ in Latin. They eventually discover the co-pilot is the one who’s possessed. With only minutes to go, they convince Amanda to lure the co-pilot back to them. They hit him with holy water and an exorcism, but that just pisses him off. The demon tells Sam he knows what happened to Jessica. Despite that taunting, Sam manages to complete the part of the exorcism that kicks the demon out of the possessed one’s body, but loses the book before he can consign the demon to hell. The demon jumps into the air vent and shorts out the plane, which goes into a dive. Surrounded by screaming passengers and a hysterical Dean, Sam completes the exorcism, and the plane comes back online. They land safely.
The aftermath
Back at the airport, Jerry thanks the guys for their help. Dean asks how he got his number in the first place. Your dad gave it to me, he replies – it’s on his voicemail. The guys are shocked – they’ve called his phone dozens of times, and it’s always been out of service. They call their Dad’s voicemail – it’s back. “This is John Winchester. I can’t be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean – 866 907 3235. He can help.”
GUEST STARS
 Jaime Ray Newman as Amanda Walker imdb.com | gallery |
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 Geoff Gustafson as Lou imdb.com | gallery |
 Kelly-Ruth Mercier as Passanger imdb.com | gallery |
 Benjamin Ayres Homeland Security Man #1 imdb.com | gallery |
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Amanda Wood |
| Ingrid Tesch as Bonnie Phelps imdb.com | gallery |
Dana Pemberton |
IMAGE GALLERY
Episode Stills:
Episode Screen Caps:
MUSIC
“Paranoid” by Black Sabbath
“Working Man” by Rush
QUOTES
Sam: What is that?
Dean: It’s an EMF meter. It reads electromagnetic frequencies.
Sam: I know what an EMF is. But why does that one look like a busted-up walkman?
Dean: (proudly) Because thats what I made it out of. It’s homemade.
Sam: Yeah, I can see that.
Dean: What time is it now?
Sam: Oh about 5:45.
Dean: In the morning?!?
Sam: Yup.
Dean: (sarcastically) Where does the day go?
Dean: Yeah, it was a poltergeist right?
Co-Worker: Hey, Poltergeist, I love that movie!
Jerry: Yeah, no one’s talking to you. Keep walkin’.
Demon in co-pilot’s body: (speaking to Sam) I know what happened to your girlfriend! She must have died screaming! Even now, she burns!
Dean: This is going to sound nuts, but we just don’t have time for “The Truth Is Out There” speech right now…
Dean: Sam, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I’m freakin’ four!
Sam: (very calmly) You need to calm down.
Dean: Well, I’m sorry I can’t!
Sam: (still calm) Yes, you can.
Dean: Dude, stow the touchy-feely, self-help-yoga crap. It’s not helping!
(Dean is being fidgety on the plane)
Sam: Just try to relax.
Dean: (through clenched teeth) Just try to shut up!
Sam: Are you ok?
Dean: No, not really.
Sam: Why? What’s wrong?
Dean: I kind of have this problem with…
(moves his hand in a plane motion)
Sam: Flying?
Dean: It’s never really been an issue until now.
Sam: You’re joking right?
Dean: Do I look like I’m joking?! Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?!
Sam: Never? You’re never afraid?
Dean: No, not really.
(Sam pulls a long knife out from under Dean’s pillow)
Dean: That’s not fear. That’s precaution.
Sam: Alright, whatever. I’m too tired to argue.
Dean: When’s the last time you got a good night sleep?
Sam: I don’t know. A little while I guess. It’s not a big deal.
Dean: Yeah, it is!
Sam: Look I appreciate your concern…
Dean: Oh, I’m not concerned about you. It’s your job to keep my ass alive! So I need you sharp.
Dean: Did you get any sleep last night?
Sam: Yeah, I got a couple of hours.
Dean: Liar. See, I was up at 3 and you were watching George Foreman infomercials.
Sam: What can I say? Riveting TV!
Sam: If she’s possessed, she’ll flinch at the name of God.
Dean: Uh, nice.
(Dean gets up and starts to walk away)
Sam: Hey?
Dean: What?
Sam: Say it In Latin.
Dean: I know!
Sam: Hey?
Dean: What?!
Sam: In Latin it’s Cristo.
Dean: Dude, I know! I’m not idiot!
Sam: Are you humming to Metallica?
Dean: Calms me down.
Dean: I look like one of the Blues Brothers.
Sam: No you don’t . You look more like a seventh grader at his first dance.
(On the plane, Dean’s EMF Radar begins to beep frantically. Dean stares wide-eyed at the co-pilot, who he is pointing it at)
Sam: What is it!?
(Dean is still in a state of shock, and doesn’t even turn to look at his brother)
Dean: Cristo!
TRIVIA
When the plane first takes off with Sam and Dean on it, we hear it lift off the ground and the tires go up. The tires would never have gone up that early and would have been down for a couple thousand feet at least as a safety precaution.
When the first plane goes down, the door hits the right wing and takes half of it off. But a few seconds later, the wing is whole again.
Near the beginning, when Sam and Dean are talking, if you look close you can see Sam chewing on something. But, we never see him eat anything. It is revealed on the commentary by Jared and Jensen that they had Sam eating a donut, but they never got the donut in the shot. So, it appears that Sam is just chewing on nothing.
Why are none of the passengers alarmed by the shouting and snarling coming from the room the co-pilot just went into? They would definitely hear what was going on, the only thing between them is a thin curtain.
“Cristo” is not Latin, but the Greek (Christós) translated as “The Annointed One”. The Latin word for “God” is “deus” or “deo.” Both “deus” and “deo” are heard when performing the exorcism.
“A Day in the Life of Jensen and Jared”, featured in Season 1’s bonus features on the boxset, shows both actors going into the trailer to record the commentary for this episode. Jared Padalecki jokingly points out that it was filmed about six months previously, something which made a detailed commentary difficult.
This was the last episode aired in The Netherlands.
Jared Padelecki and Jensen Ackles do the commentary on this episode for the Season 1 DVD.
The airport terminal where Sam and Dean are boarding the flight to exorcise the demon, is actually the terminal Jared and Jensen fly out of when they go back to Los Angeles.
ALLUSIONS
Flight 401:
Sam and Dean make several references to Flight 401, a plane that crashed in the Everglades in December of 1972 and its parts were re-used in other planes. In the planes with 401’s parts, sightings of the ghosts of the pilot and the co-pilot were often reported.
Jerry: About sixty miles west of here near Nazareth.
Allusion to Nazareth, the town where the Bible says Jesus Christ grew up.
Dean: This is going to sound nuts, but we just don’t have time for “The Truth Is Out There” speech right now…
Referring to The X-Files, which ran from 1993 to 2002. “The Truth is Out There” is the phrase shown at the end of the opening credits, and is basically the motto for the whole show.
Dean: This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup.
Referring to the 1973 horror movie The Exorcist, in which a young girl is possessed by a demon. The movie was written by William Peter Blatty, who also wrote the novel it was based upon.
Office Worker: Loved that movie!
Stated after Dean and Sam talk about poltergeists, and referencing the movie 1982 movie Poltergeist directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Steven Spielberg, about a family who is haunted by a host of ghosts.
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