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The Murder
The show begins on the streets of Chicago, where a young woman named Meredith is walking home. As she turns down an alley, the radio she's listening to becomes distorted and dies out. She hears faint breathing as a sudden burst of wind crosses her path, encircling her with debris. On the wall of a building in the distance, she looks and sees her shadow and a mysterious overpowering shadow hovering above hers. Meredith rushes home, bolts the door, and sets the alarm system. As she plays the messages on her machine, the same mysterious shadow, tears away from the wall in a cloud of dust inching toward Meredith. It sticks out its gruesome hand and grabs her from the back. Blood spews onto the wall.
The Investigation (One Week Later)
Sam and Dean pose as workers of the alarm company to gain access to Meredith's apartment. They question the landlady who discovered the body. She tells them that she found the body a few days after the murder occurred. There was no sign of break in, the door was bolted, and the alarm was set. She believes that a wild animal killed her. (No way could it have been an animal. They leave traces everywhere) The boys run a thorough scan of the apartment with their EMF and find very high levels of spirits in the room. As they're scanning the room, Dean notices something on the carpet. He takes a roll of masking tape and connects the splatters of the blood, which form a strange symbol, that neither of them recognize.
At the Bar
Sam and Dean head to the bar where Meredith worked as a waitress. Dean talks to the bartender about Meredith. Although he gets no lead on the investigation, he manages to get her phone number. (Oh Yeah Dean, you couldn't resist!) It turns out that Meredith lived a normal and uneventful life. Reviewing the file from the first murder, Ben Swardstorm, who was killed last month, was found mutilated in his apartment (same deal as in Meredith's case no point of entry, door bolted, alarm was on), but had no connection Meredith. They seem to be at a dead end because nothing in their dad's journal gives them any lead as to the meaning the symbol in Meredith's apartment. Sam suddenly gets distracted and walks up to a girl at the other end of the bar. The girl turns out to be Meg Masters, who he met on the road in the “Scarecrow” episode. She's thrilled to see him. Not being one to miss an opportunity to meet a new girl, Dean hints to Sam for an introduction. Meg takes the opportunity to ask Dean why he treats Sam “like luggage”. Sam begins to think that it's more than just a coincidence meeting up with Meg again in some random Chicago bar.
Surveillance
Sam decides to stakeout Meg's apartment to see if she's connected with this case in any way. Meanwhile, Dean finds information on the strange symbol in Meredith's apartment and calls Sam to tell him that the symbol is Zoroastrian. It's used to summon a Daeva (demon of darkness) that existed more than 2000 before Christ. Sam follows Meg to an abandoned warehouse where sneaks up an elevator shaft and sees her incanting into a ritual bowl filled with gushy blood. She is communicating with some spirit that remains unknown, and says she can't meet this spirit because Sam and Dean are in town, but the spirit conveys to her that she needs to wait. After Meg leaves the room, Sam sneaks in and finds numerous spiritual objects (cups, bowls, charms, powders, and other ritual objects). This table is assumably an altar where rituals are performed with these demons. In the center of the altar, smeared in blood, is the Zoroastrian symbol found in Meredith's apartment. It turns out that Meg's been summoning these demons.
Serious Lead
Back at their motel, Sam tells Dean that Meg's been following orders from a spirit, who's going to meet her at that warehouse. Dean tells Sam that he looked up the records of both of the victims and it turns out that both of them were born in Lawrence, Kansas ( Sam and Dean's hometown). Looks like Lawrence is where it all began. They decide to stakeout the warehouse to see who or what is meeting Meg. Dean leaves a message for their dad asking for his help. Sam and Dean talk about what would happen if this whole thing were to be over that night. Sam longingly says he would go back to Stanford and live a normal life. But Dean, being the skeptic, says that it will never be over because that there will always be something to hunt. Dean has a rare moment of emotion and even shed some tears, because he doesn't want to let Sam go. When this is all over, he wants the three of them to be the family that they were before their mom died.
The Trap
Sam and Dean sneak up on Meg in the warehouse while she's incanting into the bowl. It turns out that she's been waiting for them with the Daeva. The shadows attack the boys, clawing at their skin. When they awake, they find themselves tied up. They discover that this whole thing was a trap, not for them, but for their father. The demons used them to get to their father. Meg tells them that they are their dad's weakness because he lets his emotions cloud his judgment when he's around them. Meg takes advantage of the time, waiting for their dad, and puts the moves on Sam. Dean takes advantage of the time and starts cutting the bonds with his switchblade. But Meg hears him and throws away his knife. Meg doesn't realize that Sam has a knife of his own which he uses to cut free and head butts Meg (WAY TO GO SAMMY!!!) Sam rushes to destroy the altar. The Daeva more pissed off than ever throw Meg out the window.
Second Trap
When the boys get back to their motel, their dad is there waiting for them. At last they are reunited. He tells the boys that he's closing in on the demon and that he's not going to just stop it and “send it back to hell”, but actually kill it. He and Sam talk and work out a lot of their issues. Then out of nowhere, the demons attack. They throw Sam and Dean around the room while they pin their father to the wall trying to suck the life from his body. Sam gets an idea and lights a flare drenching the room in blinding light. The demons retreat and the boys pull their father to safety.
Letting Go
Sam desperately wants the three of them to stick together after all they went through trying to find their dad. But Dean convinces Sam that Meg was right when she said that their father is vulnerable when he's around them. He'll be stronger if they go their separate ways. As hard as it is for Sam, he lets his father go, and watches painfully as he drives off in his truck. With her face bulging and leering in the distance, Meg watches as Sam and Dean drive off in the opposite direction.
Thoughts
All I can is WOW!!! This episode was amazing. We weren't given as many answers as I expected. I thought for sure we would find out the truth behind Sam's nightmares. But at least we know why their dad's been avoiding them all this time. I think this episode had a lot of funny lines. “Did you get anything from her, besides her phone number?” “You mind doing a little bit of thinking with your upstairs brain?” “No why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram” The funniest moment in the episode is when Sam was watching Meg through her bedroom window as she changing and some woman with an umbrella comes up to him and says, “HMMM….PERVERT.” I was surprised to see the amount of emotion shown by Dean in this episode. I'm glad that Dean doesn't want to break up their family. After all they've gone through, when they finally do kill this demon, they should stay together and try to be a family again. I'm glad to see that Dean values his family so much. I'm dying to know what the significance of Lawrence, Kansas is with these demons. I don't think that Meg killed those two people, and I don't think that Meg killed their mom and Jessica because that would be too obvious. It was very confusing because in the scene where she's communicating with the Daeva through the bowl, one would think she's taking orders from these demons. But then in the scene where the shadows are attacking their dad, Meg is seen outside the motel holding up a charm around her neck. So I'm not sure whether she's controlling these demons, or is she following their orders. I like the smooth flow of this episode, as well as the high level of suspense. But I like this episode best because we were given a lot of answers, but not too many to where it would ruin the rest of the show. I give this episode a full 10/10 rating because it gave us suspense, humor, and continuity.
