TVSquad

(S02E09) Gahhhhh. So close. If you watched this episode, you know just what has me frustrated so. But more on that later. First, let's talk about another great episode. The opening got me with the dream trick again. I know Sam has those dreams, so I should be expecting it, but there I was, hook in cheek, surprised when it cut to Sam waking up. It was a great way to open the episode. When Duane was screaming "It's not in me." I thought of The Thing.

The demon virus going around turned out to be a pretty clever way to do a zombie episode, without zombies. When Sarge was peeking out the window at all of the crazed residents waiting on them I had a flash of Night of the Living Dead. Which was the intent I suppose since Dean referenced the movie right after that.

Speaking of references, this episode was full of fun ones. When Sam was explaining the story of Roanoke and finding CROATOAN carved in the phone pole I loved his line, "That's not school. That's School House Rock." Of course, they did this while they were U.S. Marshall's Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard. The guitar player and drummer from ZZ Top for those that didn't catch it. They also managed to mention Mr. Rogers, The Omega Man, and Stepford Wives. Fun stuff.

But that is getting away from the interesting question that we find ourselves asking, just like Dean and Sam are. What the hell is the deal with this virus? As soon as the good doctor mentioned sulfur, it was clear that there was something 'demon' oriented involved in it. But to what end? What is the end game, and why did they need to test Sam to make sure he was immune? It has to tie in with what Dean knows about Sam, doesn't it? It's a credit to the writers that they were able to tell a good story, but still leave us scratching our heads and wondering what will happen next.

We got some really good Sam and Dean relationship stuff this week. The showdown at the Tanner house was very telling, if somewhat expected. Dean had no trouble shooting the father, but Sam couldn't pull the trigger on the son. Another example of the building tension between them caused by Dean's increasing aggressiveness and Sam's uneasiness with parts of the job. That led nicely to the confrontation over killing Duane. "You might kill an innocent man and you don't care."

It all came together after they thought Sam had the virus and Dean wouldn't leave him. That was a nice scene for Ackles when Dean was explaining why he wouldn't leave. "I'm tired Sam. I'm tired of this job, this life, this weight on my shoulders." I'm sure we were all thinking, "Yes, the weight, what John said." And just when he was about to get to it they were interrupted. Arrgh. That made me really excited when they resumed the conversation after everything calmed down. Another great scene. I really liked Sam's line, "Whatever weight you're carrying, let me help a little bit." Of course, the big moment was "What? Dean, what did he tell you?" Fade to black... Dang it. We're really close now though. I can't wait to hear what it is.

I liked the other ending as well. It was obvious that something was up when Duane asked Sarge to pull over, but I didn't get where it was going until he said he had to make a call. That was a very nice call back to the end of "Scarecrow" from season one, where Meg also killed the driver so she could phone home. The plot it does thicken. Overall, a great episode. I have more questions than ever, but I'm enjoying the ride.