RECAP

Dean walks down a corridor with a gun, then goes into a room with a sign mentioning River Grove on the wall. Several people are there and a man says it’s not in him. A doctor is present and says she can’t tell for sure. Dean aims the gun, and fires… and Sam wakes up from his vision-dream.

Dean and Sam drive to River Grove while Dean wonders how the dream relates to the yellow-eyed demon. They roll into town and ask an ex-military man, the Sarge, about the man Dean saw in his vision. They get directions to the man, Duane Tanner, and Dean notices the word “Croatoan” carved on a board. Dean notes how a similar word was found at the Roanoke colony in America and it was wiped out overnight. They try to call out but can’t get a cell signal and the pay phone is dead.

They go to the Tanner house and talk to Duane’s brother Jake and his father, but Duane is on a trip. The two act strange and after Dean and Sam leave, they double back and see Mrs. Tanner tied up in the kitchen as her son and father prepare to cut her and mingle their blood with hers. Mr. Tanner comes at them and they’re forced to shoot, and when Sam hesitates, Duane runs into the woods.

The brothers take Mrs. Tanner to the local doctor, Lee, and she tries to explain how her son and husband “had the devil in them.” The Winchesters wonder if demon possession is involved, but there was no black smoke. Dean drives to go get help but finds a car with a bullet through the windshield. It’s filled with blood and there’s a knife nearby, but no bodies.

Dr. Lee examines Mr. Tanner’s body and determines he was fighting off some kind of infection. There are also traces of sulphur. On the road, Dean keeps driving and comes to an improvised blockade lead by Jake Tanner. They tell Dean there’s a quarantine in place and ask him to get out of the car, and Dean drives off as they open fire.

Dr. Lee tries to take a sample of Mrs. Tanner’s blood, but she goes berserk and attacks them, and Sam is forced to knock her out with a fire extinguisher. Dean drives through town and runs into the Sarge from easier. After a tense standoff, they determine they’re both unpossessed and head for Dr. Lee’s office. Her nurse, Pam insists on going out to find her boyfriend but Sam convinces her to stay. Dean and the Sarge arrive and Sam tells his brother that their father suspected “Croatoan” was the name of a plague-demon. Sarge warns that his neighbors got stronger the longer they were infected, and they have to kill Mrs. Tanner. Dr. Lee doesn’t know of any way to cure her and they go in, but Mrs. Tanner is apparently normal. She doesn’t’ fool the brothers and Dean shoots and kills her.

The group tries to plan a defense when an apparently uninfected Duane arrives. He claims he fought off the other infected people but Dean notices he has a cut and they tie him up. Dr. Lee notices there’s no way to determine if he’s infected until after he is possessed. Sam warns Dean that his vision is coming true and that his brother is acting increasingly violent. Dean locks Sam up and then goes to shoot Duane. Dean considers it but in the end can’t bring himself to do it. He lets Sam out and they prepare explosives from the medical supplies. Dr. Lee has had enough time to determine Duane is clean and they untie him. Pamela manages to get Sam alone for a minute… and attacks him, mixing her blood with his through a cut. Dean shoots and kills her, but Sam is now infected.

Dean refuses to shoot Sam but Sam offers to kill himself. Dean still refuses and gives them the Impala keys so they can escape. After they leave, Dean admits he’s tired of the job and starts to talk about John, but Dr. Lee returns and interrupts them. It’s night outside and everyone has vanished. Five hours pass and Dr. Lee determines that Sam’s blood is clear. Lee checks the Tanner samples and determines there’s no trace of the virus. Duane and Sarge head south while Sam wonders why he was immune. Later on the road, Duane asks the Sarge to pull over to make a call, then cuts the Sarge’s throat and collects his blood in a familiar goblet. Duane reports that no further tests are necessary and Sam is immune as they suspected.

Later Sam and Dean take a break and Sam insists that Dean tell him what he was going to say before he was interrupted. Dean says that he promised John not to say anything but says that John told him something about Sam…

GUEST STARS

Chilton Crane (Beverly Tanner)

Bobby Hosea (Sarge)

Simon Longmore (Man at Barricade)

Kate Jennings Grant (Dr. Lee)

Sonja Bennett (Pamela)

Nolan Funk (Jake Tanner)

Diego Klattenhoff (Duane Tanner)

Laurie Murdoch (Mr. Tanner)

IMAGE GALLERY

Episode Stills

Episode Screen Captures

TRAILER/CLIPS

Trailer

“Soon” Promo

“Cut You Down” Promo

MUSIC

No Music in this episode.

QUOTES

Dean: I’m gonna go down there, see if I can find some help. My partner’ll stick around, keep you guys safe.
Dr. Lee: Safe from what?
Dean: We’ll get back to you on that.

Sam: It’s over for me. It doesn’t have to be for you.
Dean: No?
Sam: No. You can keep going!
Dean: Who says I want to?
Sam: What?
Dean: I’m tired, Sam. I’m tired of this job, this life, this weight on my shoulders, man. I’m tired of it.

Dr. Lee: I’m sorry. Thanks for everything, Marshals.
Dean: Oh, actually we’re not really marshals.
Dr. Lee: (confused) Um, oh.

Dean: Sam, we’ve still got some time.
Sarge: Time for what? Look, I understand he’s your brother and I’m sorry. I am. But I got to take care of this. (prepares to shoot Sam)
Dean: I’m gonna say this one time, you make a move on him and you’ll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me? I mean, do I make myself clear?

Sam: I hesitated, Dean. It was a kid.
Dean: No, it was an It.

Dean: What does that mean? I mean, I’m not gonna waste an innocent man. I wouldn’t!
Sam: I never said you would.
Dean: Fine.
Sam: Fine. Look, we don’t know what it is. But whatever it is, that guy in the chair is part of it. So let’s find him, and find out what’s what.
Dean: Fine.
Sam: Fine!

Duane: You were gonna shoot me!
Dean: You don’t shut your pie hole, I still might.

Man at Barricade: Say, why don’t you get out of the car and we’ll talk a little?
Dean: Well, you are a handsome devil but I don’t swing that way. Sorry!

Dean: I just think we ought to go to the Grand Canyon.
Sam: What?
Dean: Yeah, you know, all this driving back and forth cross country, you know, I’ve never been the Grand Canyon. We could go to TJ, or Hollywood…see if one of us can bang Lindsay Lohan.

Sam: This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.
Dean: I don’t know about that. Remember that waitress in Tampa? Brrr….

Sarge: My neighbor, Mr. Rogers…
Dean: You’ve got a neighbor named Mr. Rogers?
Sarge: Not anymore.

Sam: Roanoke? Lost colony? Ring a bell? Dean, did you pay any attention to history class?
Dean: Yeah. The shot heard ’round the world, how bills become laws….
Sam: That’s not school; that’s Schoolhouse Rock!
Dean: Whatever.

TRIVIA

• Dwayne uses the exact same ritual to contact The Demon that Meg uses in Season One’s “Scarecrow.”
• In the scene where Dean makes the promise to Sam, as the camera pans alongside the Impala, you can see the dolly track on which the camera runs along.
• Dwayne Tanner cuts the throat of Mark, yet even though the blood was gushing wildly, the cup when he pulls it away to talk to the demon, is perfectly clean. Then the spatters on the side of the cup disappear according to the camera angle.
• The sign that is seen as Sam and Dean pull into River Grove, near the beginning of the episode, says “Visit Beautiful Crater Lake – River Grove Chamber of Commerce”. Crater Lake does actually exist in Oregon, but there is no town of River Grove in Oregon. However, there is a town of Rivergrove, but it is not located near Crater Lake.
• Trivia: A Master Sargeant (Sarge) is four ranks above a Corporal (John) in the Marine Corps. A MS is an E8, a Corporal is an E4. John was a member of Echo 2/1, which is a part of the 2nd Battalion , 1st Marines Regiment (2/1). That unit participated in the War in Vietnam, November 1965-May 1971.

ALLUSIONS

• Dean: Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, U.S. Marshalls.
  When introducing themselves, Dean uses the names of two of the three members of the band ZZ Top. The third member is Dusty Hill.
• Dean: See if one of us can bang Lindsay Lohan.
  Lindsay Lohan is an actress who’s infamous for her late-night partying, binge drinking, and bedhopping.
• Sam: That wasn’t school, Dean. That was Schoolhouse Rock!
  Referencing a series of short cartoons that aired on ABC on Saturday mornings starting in 1973. Each one presented a brief animated sequence set to music that taught something about history, government, math, language, etc.
• Dean: I feel like Chuck Heston in The Omega Man.
  Referencing the 1971 movie The Omega Man, which featured Charlton Heston as one of the last few uninfected people on Earth after a virus causes most of humanity to turn into homicidal albino maniacs. The movie was loosely based on Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, which in turn inspired the movie The Last Man On Earth (1964) starring Vincent Price.
• Dean: You’ve got a neighbor named Mr. Rogers?
  Referencing the TV series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which aired primarily on PBS and was aimed at children. The sweater-wearing Fred Rogers hosted the show and made the phrase “Won’t you be my neighbor?” famous.

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