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Scarecrow - Recap
Episode eleven opens one year ago in the small town of Burkitsville, Indiana as a young couple on a road trip has gotten lost and is being helped out by the local folks. Food, free apple pie and directions later they are set on their way to the interstate out of town. The car dies along with their cell phone, leaving them stranded by an apple orchard and a scarecrow that is a little too lifelike. The couple is chased through the orchard by an unseen hunter that picks them off one by one, leaving us with a view of the scarecrow stand unoccupied in the distance as the last screams are cut off abruptly.
Meanwhile in their hotel room sleeping after a night of investigating the haunted Asylum, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) are finally contacted by their father. It's not a happy reunion, however, as he tells them to stop trying to follow him, and orders them off to investigate the disappearances of three couples. Every year a man and a woman disappear during the second week of April in Indiana and never reach their destinations. He tells the boys he's getting close to finding the demon that killed their mother and that it's too dangerous for them to follow him, or even to talk.
Angry at being given their marching orders Sam argues with Dean. Sam insists they need to go to California to try and help their father find the thing that killed their mother; Dean insists they need to follow orders. Eventually Sam sets out on his own to try and make his way to California on his own leaving Dean to investigate things on his own. Along the way he runs into Meg. (Nicki Aycox) Meg is also making her way to California and having trouble following the wishes of her family. Stuck together in a bus stop overnight it's a chance to bond and talk about family troubles.
By process of elimination Dean finds that the couple was last seen in Burkitsville. The picture he's showing around it recognized by Emily, an outsider who's come to live with her aunt and uncle in town. He follows the directions given to them to reach the interstate until he nears the orchard and the EMF tracker goes off signaling that there is something in the area. It turns out the scarecrow is not only "fugly", in the words of Dean, but he has the same tattoo that the missing man had on his arm. Discovering that there is a couple passing through town with car troubles Dean tries to tell them that they are in danger only to end up getting run out of town by the sheriff. Undeterred, Dean turns around back into town and rescues the couple before they are killed by the scarecrow.
The brothers talk over the phone, Dean telling Sam about his hunt and admitting that he envies Sam's ability to stand up to their father, a conversation that echoes back to the episode "Skin". Dean tells Sam he thinks the scarecrow is a pagan god and the sacrifices are what is keeping the town so prosperous in an area where all around them people's farms and livelihoods are drying up and dying.
In order to do more research Dean heads to a local college and discovers that the thing that they are looking for is the Vanir, gods of protection and prosperity. Unfortunately just as he finds the information he's taken down by the Sheriff. The town needs new sacrifices and Dean and the Emily are elected to take the place of the couple saved the night before.
Sam is worried when he can't get a hold of Dean and despite Meg's plea to come with her to California he leaves her in the bus depot to go find his brother.
Dean and Emily are left tied to trees in the orchard for the scarecrow. Unable to see if he's coming or not Sam's arrival throws them into a brief panic. Their relief at rescue doesn't last very long as they are unarmed, the scarecrow is on the move and the townspeople have stayed to make sure that no one leaves before the scarecrow takes his sacrifice. The scarecrow decides to take his own sacrifice, killing Emily's aunt and uncle instead.
The next morning the brothers and Emily burn the tree that gives the Vanir it's power and end the threat. The town will die along with the tree, but somehow that doesn't seem like a bad thing.
Sam decides that he's going to stay and finish the journey with Dean to find their father and the thing that killed their mother.
And we see Meg on the road, riding with a stranger. She kills him and uses his blood to “make a call”, telling whatever she's talking to that she could have killed Sam, killed both the brothers. And we are introduced to our first recurring villain on the show.
Review :
It was good to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan make his brief appearance as Sam and Dean's dad. He brings in some great tension for the brothers as they face the need to decide between doing what their father tells them to and making their own way. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jared Padalecki do a great job of letting you know that the last time father and son saw each other they left wounds on each other.
The conversations between Dean and Sam tie back into the episode “Skin” where the skin changer told Sam that “Boy did his brother have issues with him” letting him know that Dean had wanted things, and he was jealous of Sam's escape and getting to go to college. This probably helped fuel the argument that separated the bothers briefly, with Dean calling Sam selfish and telling him he only cared about himself.
The scarecrow was by far in my opinion the creepiest monster they have had on the show to date. Reminiscent of the monster in “Jeepers Creepers 2” that masqueraded as a scarecrow, it was lifelike, and yet still alien enough to make the scenes where it was examined almost uncomfortable to watch.
When the brothers finally gave in and called each other, after both of them considering it earlier on in the episode you never see which one finally made the call. That is a nice touch leaving it up in the air who finally made the choice to reach out and make contact.
Jared and Jensen who both really hit their strides with the roles in “Home” continue to grow into their parts. Both of them did excellent jobs in this episode. You start to get a feeling that while he portrays a different face to the world and his brother that there is a lot more going on in Dean's head than you think. Jensen does an excellent job in the emotional range from angry to upset in a totally believable manner.
The introduction of Meg seemed a little off, out of the blue dropping into Sam's life just as he's alone and with similar family troubles, the audience is meant to get that she is not what she seems. Sam with his desire to leave and find his father is nearly blindsided, and without events playing out the way they did probably would have been lost. It was probably no surprise to anyone in the audience that Meg ended up the bad guy in the last scene, her whole role was a little too pat to be anything other than a construct to lure Sam away from Dean.
Because after all they are a lot stronger as a team than either of them could be on their own.
Guest Stars:
Jeffrey Dean Morgan - John Winchester
William B Davis - College Professor
David Orth - Sheriff
Nicki Aycox - Meg
Tania Saulnier - Emily
Trivia
Burkitsville, Indiana may be a reference to Burkittsville Maryland, the town where the Blair Witch Project took place.
The scarecrow resembled the monster in “Jeepers Creepers 2” a film in which Nicki Aycox had a role.
Aliases:
Dean: John Bonham
