Then: Werewolves! AWESOME!!! I’m reading a Lori Handeland novel, so I’m IN. DANG. Just realized Tivo didn’t pick up last night’s Vampire Diaries.
Now: Dude talking baby talk on the phone gets stalked by something snarly, then explodes bloody. YUM. Time for a cookie.
Dean’s on the phone with Bobby, when Crowley appears at his elbow with a job. Dean resists and Crowley burns Sam’s hand with a touch. (Trust me when I say OUCH. Also, wish Crowley had been around to heal me like that three weeks ago. Fingers just now returning to normal.) Dean caves. Crowley promises Sam’s soul if the boys bag him a live alpha, and shows them a paper about a businessman killed with his heart ripped out.
Crowley: Werewolves turning on the full moon. So…’09.
Sam tells Dean he and his Sampa ganked one on the half moon, so they go after it.
Dean to Sam, complaining about working for a demon: Crowley’s so far up our ass we’re coughing sulphur.
Sam’s determined Dean knows he’s still Sam as they drive to the next case, a dock worker whose chest was ripped open and whose heart is missing.
So, question. A soul is the part of the body that makes you sleep?
Anyway, Sam’s been playing connect the victims, and damn, there’s my car. I love that car so much. They pull up to the house of the man who’s the common denominator and the woman who opens the door looks a lot like Lisa, don’t you think? They ask to see Cal, who staggers into the kitchen rubbing his head like he has a hangover. His German shepherd growls at him. Turns out he’s the brother of one of the victims. They didn’t have the best relationship—Cal called the cops on his brother the last time because his brother was out of control. Also, the businessman was his landlord. Cal and Mandy don’t think it’s weird both were killed by an animal attack, even after the Winchesters point it out.
That night they stake out Cal, following him as he barhops.
Dean: I’m getting cirrhosis just watching him.
Dawn comes and the guy’s still standing. The brothers drive off—too soon, I fear. Cal walks out to his truck and his German shepherd attacks. We see the attack through the dog’s eyes, then the dog changes to a man.
The man shows up in Mandy’s bedroom while she’s sleeping, shifts back to a dog and licks her awake. She realizes Cal isn’t home, and goes to shower while the dog watches. (This is a fear of mine. Anyone else?)
The brothers realize since Cal is dead, Mandy might be their alpha. Sam asks Dean if he can serve her up to Crowley if she’s the one. Dean reluctantly agrees. They go out to Mandy’s and have to break the news that Cal’s dead. They want her to come with them, Sam pretty heartlessly when she tells him her kid is sick and she doesn’t want to leave him. She reveals that her kid was up all night (so why was she sleeping so soundly when the dog came in?). Dean believes her alibi, but Sam wants to stay and watch the house. While he’s hanging next to a pretty nice playscape, he sees a naked man stand up and stretch inside the house. The man walks out and sniffs. Sam follows and sees dog-man talking to someone else, who gestures him back to the house. The dog-man sniffs again and turns in Sam’s direction, then bolts. Sam jumps over the fence in a very nice move after him. The guy shifts and—oh no! Hit by a minivan!
The driver loads the dog in to take it to the vet and drives off.
Sam called Dean to tell him it’s a skinwalker, a werewolf cousin. Same weaknesses, but can change anywhere, any time.
They go to the animal hospital and retrieve Lucky, first showing him silver bullets, then giving him a choice. They can do things the easy way—clothing—or the hard way—silver chains.
Sam is actually kind of funny in the interrogation in the hotel room. He’s threatening Lucky with a knife, when Dean interjects. He knows why Lucky stays with the family, to protect them. Dean wants to know who Lucky was talking to, and he tells Lucky if he reveals who the man is, that will protect the family.
Lucky speaks. He says there are about 30 skinwalkers, and they were recruited. Lucky had been homeless. One bite and they’d be fast and strong. They were told to find families and lay low, waiting for the word. Once they’re settled, they’ll get a signal, turn on their families and turn them.
Sam wants to know who organized them. They have a pack leader. Dean plays on Lucky’s emotions, wondering how he plans to take out this family he cares for, and Lucky helps.
Dean wants to take out the pack leader, but Sam wants to get the pack leader to lead them to the alpha. Dean is appalled (his go-to emotion this season) and asks if Sam wants 150 people turned into monsters. He said that Sam isn’t Sam and to stop pretending.
While Dean is behind a sniper rifle, Sam says he bets Lucky will double cross them. Sam would. He thinks that’s the only way he’ll go on living. Some men drive up in an SUV and a garage door opens,, revealing more people. Sam tells Dean to take the shot but he doesn’t have a clean view. Then the SUV opens and Mandy and her son get out. Sam urges Dean to take the shot. Dean says Mandy’s in the way and Sam tells him to take it anyway. Dean doesn’t, of course, and she’s ushered into the garage and the door closes.
“Plan B?” Sam asks.
“We’ve got one?” Dean responds.
Inside the garage, Mandy is confused. Lucky’s in trouble for unauthorized murders, and is told to turn Mandy and her son while the others watch. Sam charges into the garage and starts shooting, the pack leader first. Lucky pulls Mandy and her son out of the line of fire, and Sam comes upon some empty clothes. The skin walkers have shifted.
One attacks Dean, who has the sniper rifle barrel through a grate. It’s stuck, so he whips out his pistol at the last minute.
Lucky shifts to protect his family, and the man who turned him says he was going to turn the family but now he’s going to kill them. He shoots Lucky, but before he can kill him, Dean fires. Sam comes around the corner to see a smear of blood and a confused Mandy.
In a transition I didn’t quite get, Lucky the man shows up at Mandy’s house and tells her thanks for being kind to him. She rejects him, telling him to get away, calling him a psycho. He shifts back to a dog and wanders off.
Dean and Sam are walking in a park and a girl with a dog runs by. Dean swears he’ll never look at a dog the same way again and wonders how many packs are out there, waiting for the signal.
Sam tells Dean he’s right, that he’s not Sam and doesn’t really care about things, doesn’t care about Lisa and Ben, or really Dean, for that matter. He says he’s done bad things, killed innocents in the line of duty. He should feel guilty, but doesn’t. It’s more efficient, you get the job done and don’t feel bad about it. He remembers his life before and thinks he should go back to being him, which is why he wants his soul back, and why he wants Dean’s help. Dean agrees because he wants his brother back.
Oh, hallelujah, next week is a light-hearted episode. I have to go with Terri’s review from last week. I’ve not rewatched one episode this year. Last year, with the Apocalypse looming, we had more levity. Now, it’s just too gloomy.
