Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Supernatural through the current episode, “Yellow Fever,” originally broadcast October 23rd, 2008.

This was a tour de force episode for Jensen Ackles. From start to finish, this was his episode and he performed brilliantly. The monster of the week story was interesting but somewhat confusing.  I could have done without the tired television contrivance of starting an episode with a brief scene and then flashing back to tell the rest of the story. Although it was hilarious seeing that the horrific beast Dean was running from was a tiny dog, would it have changed the episode at all to simply start at the beginning? No, not at all. And in my book, if there’s no good reason to set an episode as a flashback, it shouldn’t be done.

As the episode proper begins, Sam and Dean are investigating a string of mysterious deaths (as they often do). Three otherwise healthy men have dropped dead of heart attacks. Posing as FBI agents, the brothers observe the autopsy of the latest victim, Frank O’Brien. His arms are covered with nasty scratches and the coroner notes that his heart is perfectly healthy. Hrm. In other words, he shouldn’t have had a heart attack. Eventually, after talking with the local sheriff and a neighbor, and with some help from Bobby, the two determine that the men died of a “ghost sickness” that caused them to become scared, then terrified, then literally quaking with fright, and then dead.

And Dean has caught the sickness. Uh-oh.  He only has forty-eight hours to live (or twenty-four by the time they figure out what is going on). Early on, Dean exhibited signs of the sickness, jumping at the softest sound and generally being freaked out by the whole world.  Jensen Ackles did an incredible job depicting Dean’s descent into utter terror. His facial expressions and body language subtlety shifted throughout the episode. Not to mention the girlish screams of terror. And Jared Padalecki did a fine job as Sam, who spent the episode attempting to reign in his brother’s fear and keep his frustration in check.

At one point, Dean erupts at Sam, questioning why anyone would intentionally hunt monsters. Coming on the heels of the discussion Dean had with Jamie in “Monster Movie” about monster hunting and how his trip to hell made him realize that what he does is important, Dean’s argument served as a wonderful counterpoint. Why would anyone want to spend eight hours a day in a car chasing after monsters that want to kill or eat them?  There aren’t a lot of rewards.

While working to find a way to save Dean, Sam learns that twenty years earlier, Frank’s wife disappeared and was later found to have committed suicide. But before he knew what happened to her, Frank had killed a man named Luther Garland, a gentle yet imposing man who worked with Frank’s wife at the mill and had a bit of a crush on her. It was a nasty death: Frank threw a chain around Luther’s neck, attached it to his truck and pulled Luther to his death. It was Luther’s ghost who infected Frank and Frank, in turn, infected two others. Dean was infected while handling Frank’s heart.

Why Dean was infected was never truly explained. Sam suggests that all those infected, Dean included, were dicks or bullies or otherwise used fear to intimidate others. Dean takes exception at being called a dick but Sam does point out that their jobs basically revolve around using fear. Still, Lilith (in the form of a creepy little girl) makes cryptic remarks about the real reason Dean was infected, suggesting he listen to his heart. Executive producer Eric Kripke released this statement trying to quell fan fury over the idea that Dean is a dick.

In the end, as Dean begins hallucinating and waits for the end (he’s even attacked by the sheriff, who is also infected and thinks Dean is going to take him down for not arresting Frank twenty years ago for Luther’s death), Sam and Bobby hatch a harebrained scheme to literally scare Luther’s ghost to death. They recreate the moment of his death, with Sam tossing a chain around his neck and Bobby doing the driving. The ghost disintegrates into black smoke and disappears, leaving Dean alive and well.

Why Luther waited twenty years to infect Frank, or why Frank was at the mill at all, was never explained. Sam noted that Frank wore a ring at the autopsy and the ring was later found at the mill. And why Sam never even attempted to reason with Luther’s ghost, even given the ticking clock on Dean’s life, is a bit flummoxing. Still, Sam and Bobby had very little to work on and were trying to save Dean, after all. They didn’t have the luxury of taking the time to really consider all the angles.

So, ultimately, what made this episode work so well, despite being another humorous episode in the vein of “Monster Movie,” was Jensen Ackles. The extra scene after the episode ended of Ackles lip synching to “Eye of the Tiger” was one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen.  I must have watched it five or six times. And the little things, like refusing to eat the donuts out of some unknown fear, or clutching the Bible as his time ran out, helped round out “Yellow Fever” (I must admit that it took me a little while to figure out what the title of the episode meant).