Supernatural - S9E7 - Bad Boys
Previously, on Supernatural: “Heaven Can’t Wait”
Guest Stars: Blake Gibbons, Dylan Everett, Erin Karpluk
Director: Kevin Parks
Hurleyville, New York… two kids are running away from something that’s definitely terrifying and seek shelter in a dusty old farm. The door opens behind them and …it’s another kid? Oh, they’re playing hide and seek (at night?), those precocious scamps! Enter stage right a crusty codger who appears to not like kids that much, according to his language. The rusted tractor collecting cobwebs in the corner takes offence to this and makes shish kabob of the surly senior.
Things appear to be slow at the Bunker… Dean and Kevin are nowhere to be found, Crowley is likely continuing his blood doping off-camera. Sam finally believes he has time to read a few books, but the phone vibrates. Some guy is looking for ‘D-Dog’ and Dean quickly snatches the mobile from nosy Moose. Early in his “career”, Dean was arrested for stealing food and instead of being put in the slammer, he was sent to a home for troubled kids to learn respect and responsibility, etc. Rather than tell Sam, Papa Winchester told him Dean was fighting monsters. LIES UPON LIES. Poor Sam should’ve stuck with graduate school with the way his dad and brother have “shielded” him from the truth.
The Winchesters arrive at Sonny’s Home for Boys and the memories of the two months Dean spent there immediately come back to him. Young Dean (Dylan Everett) is a bit of a punk, but Sonny (Blake Gibbons) knows its a facade to cover some serious emotional issues.
Sam checks the boy’s bunks while Dean searches the barn for clues when he meets Timmy and his favorite toy, Bruce the Monster Smasher.
The two quickly fashion a bond after Dean teaches Timmy how to give a proper, manly handshake. Timmy doesn’t admit much about what happened that night but it’s enough for Dean to surmise something sinster is going on at his old home. Another worker at the home, Miss Ruth, spins a story to Sam about the former owners of the property, the Wasserlaufs. The caretaker who died allegedly had an affair with the wife of Mr. Wasserlauf and he attempted to murder both. He was jailed but passed on recently. Sounds like a perfect opportunity to haunt old grounds and seek revenge, so the boys make for the closest graveyard and burn the remains. Case closed, right? Not for Miss Ruth, who is suffocated while in the bath. Turn around, guys! We’re not done yet!
Before they put Hurleyville behind them, Dean makes a stop at Cus’s Place purely for nostalgia’s sake. He and Sonny frequented the diner during his stay; on one particular occasion, Sonny admitted his past transgressions and what it cost him. By revealing his sordid past, he hopes it’ll make Dean think about his future. Returning to present day, Dean hoped to spy on/reunite with his first flame, Rachel (Erin Karpluk).
Well that didn’t work as well as he hoped… Sonny calls Dean to tell him the bad news and the brothers return to the home to figure out why in the hell the threat still remains. Searching the grounds, dean saves Timmy from a couple of bullies and gives him more advice on sticking up for himself; whereas Sam discovers more of Dean’s brief history in the home, like his prowess at wrestling.
Timmy takes Dean’s advice a bit too literally and watches (like a creep, of course) as one of the two boys who bullied him makes mince meat out of his hand while pulling Miss Ruth’s rosary from the lawnmower blades. Standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder is the ghost! tangent: On a show like Supernatural were bad things generally happen to stupid people, I must admit I was expecting a bit more bloodspray. …what?!
Dean bumps into Rachel again at the home, who’s clearly holding a grudge for Winchester. Through a flashback, it’s unveiled the two became an item and planned to go a dance together. Dean genuinely cared for Rachel and wanted to make a normal teenage life for himself, yet the life he was born into called him back into service no matter how hard he resisted.
Sam and Dean finally start putting two and two together and look into Timmy’s past. An only child, Tim and his mother were in a car accident. Although pinned inside, mom was able to save Tim from the fiery death she suffered. Alone in the forest, Timmy cried for his mother and she returned to her son in a newly disfigured fashion. Now unable to control her maternal-instinct-turned-rage, Mommy lashes out at anyone who has the slightest interest in her son.
In an extremely heartfelt scene, Timmy grants his mother release now that he knows he can take care of himself. Mommy reverts to her former appearance with arms outstretched; Tommy sighs “I love you too” before she fades into the aether. This brings up an important question: Now that Heaven is closed, where do the worthy souls go? Purgatory? Or is the spell solely to keep angels out?
‘Bad Boys’ concludes with a final flashback of Dean getting ready for his big night out with Rachel, spruced up as best as he can for a 16 year old grifter. Sadly, Sonny tells him his dad has returned that night (WTF) and wants him for “a job”. Watching a young Sam playing with his toy jet in the car, a teary-eyed Dean thanks Sonny for looking after him and decides to get back to work. Back in present day, Sam thanks Dean for always looking after him over the years, knowing how he gave up the happiest time of his life to assume the responsibility. Naturally, Dean smirks “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about” and drives off into the night.
