Episode Report Card Tippi Blevins: B+ | 167 USERS: A- YOU GRADE IT The Hardy Boys' Home For Hard-Luck Boys
By Tippi Blevins | Season 9 | Episode 7 | Aired on 11.19.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Once upon a time, a teenage Dean Winchester got arrested for stealing some food after losing all his money in a poker match. His dad basically ditched him at a boys home, left him there for two months, and told Sam that his brother was "lost on a hunt." What a reassuring thing to tell a kid, huh? Certainly much better than simply admitting Dean broke the law while trying to feed his little brother. What a prize of a daddy that John Winchester was. Anyway, a kindly ex-con named Sonny ran this home, and taught boys to do chores around his farm. At first Dean hated it, but then he started fitting in at school and even got himself a girlfriend.
Cut to the present day, when Sonny calls Dean asking for help. A ghost is haunting the farm, and it's killed one of his employees in a grisly tractor mishap. Upon arriving to check it out, Dean befriends a quiet kid named Timmy, who's there because nobody really knows where he belongs. His mysterious past coupled with his almost creepily subdued manner seem to point to him as the responsible party. Also, everybody who scares or threatens him in some way ends up dead or horrendously injured, as is the case with a bully who loses his hand to a lawnmower.
As Sam does some digging around, he finds out that Timmy's parents died in a car fire not too long ago. He also finds out that Dean had a good life at this place, and had to leave it behind when their assbutt dad finally decided he'd been punished enough. Sadly, this meant disappearing in the middle of the night without saying goodbye to his little girlfriend, who still harbors some hurt feelings 20 years later. She's visiting the farm when the ghost shows up to kill anybody who gets near Timmy. Sam figures out it's the kid's mom, and she's anchored to her son. The kid isn't purposely siccing her on people, so it's not like they can just gank him. With Dean's encouragement, Timmy finds the strength to move on without her, setting her free in the process. He's still kind of creepy, though.
There are lots of youthful flashbacks, and some questionable casting choices, but the early-season feel of the episode is a nice change of pace from the poodle-leering and "Zeke ex machina" of late. Stay tuned for the full recap.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!THEN! Dean Winchester has always been about saving his little brother. The show reminds of this just in case we forgot it at some point in the last 8.5 years of constant reminders. They start with John Winchester placing baby Sam into preschool Dean's arms and exhorting him to take his brother to safety, back on that fateful night when Yellow Eyes killed their mama. Flash forward a few years to John reminding preteen Dean that the most important thing he can do is watch out for his little brother. He cooked canned food for his little brother while their father was out hunting monsters and neglecting his children. He brought Sammy junk food when their father failed to show up on Christmas. Dean continued to risk everything -- from himself to the fate of the whole world -- to save his little brother. He even played fast and loose with the definition of "consent" when he helped trick Sam into letting the angel Ezekiel hole up in his injured bod.
NOW! Two boys run through the misty woods as if something monstrous were hot on their trail. The chubbier of the two trips and falls. His skinny friend hesitates, then goes back to help him. "Hurry, he's right behind us!" he pants. Ominous music plays. The show helpfully lets us know that this is Hurleyville, New York. The boys run past a farmhouse and into a barn. A few moments later, their dreaded pursuer catches up to him. The camera swivels around to reveal...
...a small boy! Eek! He looks like what would happen if Elliott from E.T. and that Amish kid from Witness somehow got melded into one person. He's not even breathing hard from chasing after these much bigger, stronger-looking kids. "Come on, guys," he calls out. "The barn is a no-fly zone during hide-and-go-seek!" Only silence answers him. The barn's only inhabitant appears to be an old tractor.
From somewhere outside the barn, a man fusses at them for being up past their bedtime. The little boy runs off to hide just as an older gentleman comes into the barn. "All right, game's over," he says. "Lights out was 10 minutes ago!" He points a flashlight here and there, but sees no sign of the kids. "Bastards," he mutters. To his surprise, the air grows suddenly icy. He shivers and exhales in frosty bursts. "You got to the count of ten, and you better come out or the belt's coming off!" His flashlight flickers as he begins his countdown. The old tractor comes to life in front of him. With nobody at the controls, the gears shift and the hay spears come down. As the tractor rolls toward him, the old man slips and falls. He gets back up again just in time to get speared right through the gut. Blood drips from the hay spears, the spatters audible in the otherwise silent night. Supernatural has wings!