Bristol, RI - one year ago - As Samuel watches, Sam shoots bullets into four SOMETHINGS we don't see, then they quickly leave what looks like a small cabin. "Are you OK?" Samuel asks--"how's the arm?" "It'll hold till we get out of town," says Sam as they both rapidly walk away. "Just don't bleed out, all right?" says Samuel. "Yeah," chuckles Sam, and we get a look at the bloody mess of his arm. They drive off in Samuel's black van, but are tailed by the deputy, who pulls them over and orders th... read more Bristol, RI - one year ago - As Samuel watches, Sam shoots bullets into four SOMETHINGS we don't see, then they quickly leave what looks like a small cabin. "Are you OK?" Samuel asks--"how's the arm?" "It'll hold till we get out of town," says Sam as they both rapidly walk away. "Just don't bleed out, all right?" says Samuel. "Yeah," chuckles Sam, and we get a look at the bloody mess of his arm. They drive off in Samuel's black van, but are tailed by the deputy, who pulls them over and orders the two "agents" to get out of the van. He's seriously agitated, complaining, "I can't get Sheriff Dobbs on the phone--I can't get anyone!" "We spoke to Dobbs earlier," says Samuel, "maybe he's just uh. . ." "Is that BLOOD?" demands the deputy. Sam looks at his shoulder without expression. "Look, there's no need to get riled," begins Samuel. "You're comin' with me," insists the deputy. Samuel agrees to follow him back, but the deputy orders, "Get in my car, or you're under arrest." "You're going to arrest two Federal agents," says Sam, laughing, "really--have a good night." "If you think," says the deputy. "Hey hey hey hey hey," says Samuel, but Sam is lit--he pretends to turn away, then hauls off and belts the deputy in the face, then proceeds to beat the crap out of the guy, leaving him bleeding and unconscious on the road. "You think there may be calmer ways we could have done all that?" asks Samuel. "Do we care?" asks Sam--"let's go." We understand why Samuel later tells us that he finds his younger grandson scary. They take off, only Samuel sparing a final glance at the unconscious, possibly dying man in the road.

Editor's comments: By the end of the episode, we know that Sam has shot four Arachne and the bullets haven't even killed them, but when we see him shoot Roy Dobbs, who begs him not to, we get a completely different view of Sam Winchester. To me, it was like he was killing Jake, who also pleaded for his life. Sam was sure these men were done for, without even bothering to have a doctor check them out. If he had, the doctor would have died, too, or been turned. And the Deputy? He was in the way of their escape, pure and simple. To Sam, he was a deterrent, and needed to be gotten out of the way. If he had accidentally killed him, it wouldn't have mattered; the end justifies the means. It WAS soulless Sam, and there is plenty of evidence in this ep that he doesn't give a crap about anything beside solving the case--through whatever means possible. Brrrrr! read less

Title

Present Day - Dean enters a hotel room to find Sam watching TV. "So--Mel Gibson really took a turn this year, huh?" remarks Sam, who says he's catching up. "Or he's possessed," suggests Dean, "seriously thinking about it." He tosses Sam something from a bag, presumably lunch. "So I just got off the phone with Bobby," continues Dean. "Anything else on this Mother of All thing?" asks Sam. "Nothing solid, he says it's quiet," says Dean. "Quiet like quiet, or quiet like TOO quiet?" asks Sam, going t... read more Present Day - Dean enters a hotel room to find Sam watching TV. "So--Mel Gibson really took a turn this year, huh?" remarks Sam, who says he's catching up. "Or he's possessed," suggests Dean, "seriously thinking about it." He tosses Sam something from a bag, presumably lunch. "So I just got off the phone with Bobby," continues Dean. "Anything else on this Mother of All thing?" asks Sam. "Nothing solid, he says it's quiet," says Dean. "Quiet like quiet, or quiet like TOO quiet?" asks Sam, going to check his signaling phone. "Just quiet," Dean answers. "Right," says Sam. "Hm," he says, and tosses Dean his phone. "Coordinates?" says Dean, concerned--"where from?" "No idea," says Sam. Sam calls the phone number but gets no answer. He shows Dean that the coordinates line up to Bristol, Rhode Island, where three women disappeared in the last week--the victims seemed to vanish into thin air. "Where's the text from?" asks Dean. "I dunno, just get ringing," says Sam. "What's that about?" asks Dean. "Another hunter, lookin' for backup," suggests Sam, "it's a case, who knows how many hunters I even met, workin' with the Campbells, but I think we should go." "Wait, we should just drop everything," says Dean. "Dude, two minutes ago, you weren't doing anything," says Sam. "You got mysterious coordinates from a mysterious Mr. X leading to a mysterious town--that doesn't throw up red flags to you?" asks Dean. "I dunno," says Sam, "maybe, but that doesn't mean we can just ignore a bunch of missing girls--right?" Dean is torn. "OK," he says, "we'll check it out, but if things get squirrelly, we dump out, OK?" Sam agrees.

They pull up to the Bristol, Rhode Island sign, on which is painted a friendly octopus. WHERE MEMORIES ARE MADE! it promises, and Sam proves it right when he gets a bunch of black and white flashbacks--of Samuel, that same sign, an ugly woman--but when Dean notices Sam's furrowed forehead and asks, "What?", Sam says, "Nothing."

At the sea and ship-themed Buccaneer Restaurant, Dean shuffles through the missing persons posters. "Freak's got a type," he grins, stopping at a brunette named Nicole Handler, turning her picture to show his brother, "whoa, this one's got a bit of a wild side, it's all in the eyes, Sam, see it?" "All right," smiles Sam, eating his food, "aside from your little deep insight there, these women actually have nothing in common--different jobs, different friends, different everything--so what's the connection?" Dean suggests to Sam that HE figure that out--"I'm going to go hit the Poop Deck." (Yes, that's what the bathroom is called!) Left alone, Sam chuckles and looks through the missing persons posters himself. "Agent Roark? Good to see you again," says a pretty brunette, stopping at his table. "It is," says Sam, not recognizing her. "You remember my husband?" she asks, pointing to the dour-looking man beside her--"Don." "Of course, right," says Sam, totally befuddled, "hi." Don nods. "So, you're back because it started again, right?" the woman says, leaning in confidentially-- "the disappearances?" "Uh, yeah, right," says Sam, "so if either of you hear anything, please let me know." Sam exits the bathroom, smiling at a pretty blond going into the ladies' room, who smiles back. He spots an "'Eat a whole 72 oz. surf 'n' turf, get it free' challenge on a nearby bulletin board and checks out the photos on it.

"Where's your partner?" the woman asks Sam-- "big bald guy? Agent Wyman, right?" "Sex rehab," answers Dean, "you've heard of plushies, right? Brrrrrrr." (Isn't that a stuffed toy sexual fetish?) "This is my new partner," says Sam. Dean shakes hands with the woman and her husband, then says to Sam, "So, AGENT, we should, uh," "Yeah, yeah, of course," agrees Sam. "Of course," the woman says, smiling at Sam, "nice chatting with you, Agent Roark." She leaves, touching his shoulder in a very familiar way. Sam flashes back to the two of them making out in the bathroom of this very place, then fumbling their way to the sink to have sex. She wraps her arms around him and whispers, "Cuff me." The flashback ending, Sam turns to see her grinning at him, as if she's reliving the same heated memory. "What was that?" asks Dean-- "she was cougar-eying you." Sam tells him he thinks he worked a case in this town. "Ya think?" says Dean, tossing him a picture from the wall. Behind a winner of the surf 'n' turf challenge sits Sam and Samuel! "Come on, let's get the hell outta here," orders Dean. The cougar and her husband, standing at the bar, watch them leave.

Sam's doing computer research while Dean's packing up. "Hop to," he tells Sam. Sam doesn't want to leave. A year ago, five men disappeared, and they never found the bodies--"That's got to be the case me and Samuel worked, right?" "What difference does it make?" asks Dean. "A year ago, all these guys go missing, and now, all these women go missing," says Sam, "something's here, so either we didn't stop it, or we only thought we did." "OK, but why the gender bend?" asks Dean--"first it's dudes, now it's chicks?-- totally different M.O." "I don't know," says Sam, "the point is, something's still here." "Great--call Bobby, he'll deal with it," insists Dean. "Why? We can deal with it," says Sam. "Are you serious?--Sam, there is a reason hunters don't hit the same town over again--because we have a habit of leaving messes behind." "I agree. . ." says Sam. "One of Dad's rules," says Dean, "never use the same crapper twice." "Everyone uses the same crapper twice," points out Sam. "Not us," says Dean, and at Sam's quizzical look, adds, "you know what I mean." "This creature is still walkin' around 'cause of me, right?" says Sam--"I let it go--Dad also said, 'You finish what you start.'" Chuckling, Dean nods. "OK, I get it," says Sam. "DO you?" asks Dean. "Yes," says Sam, "you're afraid I'll stroll down memory lane and I'll kick this wall in my head so hard, hell comes flooding through, right, and all of a sudden, I'm some drooling mess on the floor." "It's not a joke," says Dean, deadly serious. "OK, I know," says Sam, "but listen, "what's happening here right now is because *I* messed up, somehow, in some big way, so every person who gets taken, every person who dies, that's on me--I have to stop it--and you'd do the same thing." Reluctantly, Dean agrees. "All right," he says, "I'll talk to the brunettes, you see what you get from the cops."

Nicole's former apartment - Looking at a photo of Nicole, Dean asks a pretty blond, "So you and Nicole were roommates for a long time?" "Since college," the woman replies, "but we've been best friends forever. This whole thing's been really surreal. Are you any closer to finding her?" "We're doing everything we can," Dean assures her. "You were with Nicole the night she went missing--did she say anything?" "Nothing--it's like I told the cops," she says, "I wish there was something." Casually flipping through a bowl of cards on a table, Dean finds one from "that FBI guy, Agent Roark, yay high" according to Dean. "One of the men who disappeared lived in our building," she explains, "so Agent Roark was asking us all questions about it--he came by a few times." "To speak to Nicole," says Dean. "And how would you characterize their relationship?" asks Dean. "They weren't having a relationship," she says. "Just the tone and nature of their conversation," clarifies Dean. "Well, loud," she says, "and athletic." She grins, and Dean finally gets it.

Sam no sooner arrives at the police station than a deputy orders, "Hold it right there!" Sam looks around, wondering who the guy is talking to. "Hold it right there, the deputy says, coming toward him, gun drawn. "HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE 'EM!" Sam flashes back to this man ordering him into his car, and of him beating him up. "Hold on for a second, there's been a misunderstanding," says Sam quickly, as he's handcuffed. "You're as dumb as a sack of hair," accuses the deputy, locking him in a jail cell, "coming back here, after what you did." "There's been a misunderstanding here," insists Sam. "You are not a Federal agent," says the Deputy, "the FBI never heard of you--where are the bodies? Mothers want to bury their loved ones." "I don't know," says Sam. "Where's Sheriff Dobbs?" asks the Deputy. "I don't know," insists Sam. "You ran out of town, soaked in blood," says the Deputy, "oh, and you bashed my brains in to do it, and you really expect me to buy that." "Look, would you believe that I really don't remember anything," says Sam. (Said so sincerely, I sure believe him.) Shaking his head, the Deputy says, "But good luck selling it to the judge. He walks away, leaving Sam sitting on his bunk, trying to think.

Later, Sam is still sitting there when he is joined by a dark-haired woman who demands, "What happened to my husband?" "I don't know," he says helplessly. "Don't lie to me," she says, "I know who you are, SAM. I know what you do." "What?" he says, rising--"you do?" Flashback: he's sitting at a table with Samuel, this woman and a black man, who says, "Let me get this straight--you're not Feds, you actually hunt things." "We know how it sounds," says Samuel. "I'm not sure you do," says the black man. "You saw those crime scenes, Roy," says Sam, "you really think something human could have taken those guys?" "What you're saying is impossible," the woman insists. "I'm sorry," says Sam, "I don't understand what she's got to do with any of this." "She's my wife," says Roy, taking her hand, "she works with me at the sheriff's station, you tell something like this to me, you tell it to her, too." Sam nods. Roy and his wife exchange glances. "What do you need us to do?" Roy asks. Back to the present, Sam says, "Your husband, he's the Sheriff." "Was the sheriff," she says, "until he vanished-- and you vanished--what was I supposed to think? that THING got him?--or that YOU killed him? I just wanna know what happened." "So do I, believe me," says Sam, something happened to me, I have no memory of being here--ever." "What is this, DAYS OF OUR LIVES?" she snaps--"you telling me you have some sort of amnesia?" "If I knew any of this, would I have stepped foot into this station?" he asks--"I'm sorry, I don't even know your name. "If this is some sort of a game, you're either incredibly clever or incredibly stupid," she says. "I'm telling the truth," he says, puppy dog eyes going full throttle-- "look, I don't know what happened to your husband, but I can find out--if you really know me, then you know it's my job." "You really don't remember?" she asks. Shaking his head, he says, "No, I really don't." "I'm Brenna Dobbs," she says. "Brenna, I'm sorry about what happened to your husband," he says, "but I can find answers-- just not from in here." She releases him from the cell. Tears falling down her cheeks, she tells him she needs him to help her find some rope: "It's going to look like a break-out, you'll need to tie me up."

Sam's cougar lover is hitting the boxed wine in her fridge pretty hard, annoying hubby Don. After he nails her with a dirty look, she says, "The boxed stuff doesn't get better with age, Don!" He stalks off. She kneels and finishes the last bit of wine, goes to her basement to get some more and finds the light out. (OH, NO!) On her third step down, something grabs her ankle, sending her tumbling down the steps to the bottom. Lying there in pain, something comes at her. She screams.

Editor's comments - Mel Gibson, possessed? It's a thought.

Dean is wary of this case from the get-go; just the way it falls into their laps is suspicious, and you sense he doesn't want anything to do with it, but he always has had a soft spot for missing women. So into the fray they go, and no sooner do they pull up to the town's sign than Sam has his first flashback.

Doncha love restaurants with bathrooms called Poop Deck and eating contests? It's so touristy!

Sam realizes right away that he had an affair with that attractive older woman who came up to him and remembered him as an FBI agent, and oh, dear, she asked that he cuff her! LMAO! Dean goes out and learns that Sam was quite the man-whore in this town; he bedded ALL the missing women! Now Dean feels real pride in Sam's accomplishments in this area, during this year when HE was faithful to Lisa. Here we have another brother reversal; soulless Sam apparently got himself a lot of tail while Dean became a one-woman man.

Sam innocently heads to the police station, only to be arrested by the pissed-off deputy he nearly neat to death when he and Samuel high-tailed it out of town! But re-souled Sam has no memory of this evil deed, so when he's roughly cuffed and jailed, he's all puppy-eyed and WTF?

Weirder and weirder, Sam and Samuel told Sheriff Dobbs and his wife, Brenna, the TRUTH about themselves, that they're hunters of supernatural creatures, and that's what got hold of those men. (I wonder what convinced them to tell Dobbs? Soulless Sam is obvious in his contempt of Brenna and doesn't want to let her in on their secret. Re-souled Sam is able to convince Brenna of his memory loss to the point that she helps him escape his cell. Why we never see the Deputy pursuing Sam is the only thing about this episode that perplexed me, unless he figures he quickly left town.

Notice how easily Sam talks Dean into sticking around and working the case with him. Those puppy eyes in that re-souled baby brother know how to WORK it!



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Sam is hiding out somewhere, and when Dean shows up, Sam is all set, gun cocked, to blow his head off. "So how does it feel to be a fugitive again?" asks Dean--"I hate to say I told you so." "You LOVE to say I told you so," counters Sam. Dean admits he's right, he loves to say it. "So I found out something about Crazy Eye McGee," says Dean, showing Sam her picture, "turns out you two knew each other--biblically--I just spoke to her roommate--I gotta say, man, you really got around, soulless or n... read more Sam is hiding out somewhere, and when Dean shows up, Sam is all set, gun cocked, to blow his head off. "So how does it feel to be a fugitive again?" asks Dean--"I hate to say I told you so." "You LOVE to say I told you so," counters Sam. Dean admits he's right, he loves to say it. "So I found out something about Crazy Eye McGee," says Dean, showing Sam her picture, "turns out you two knew each other--biblically--I just spoke to her roommate--I gotta say, man, you really got around, soulless or not, I'm really impressed." The police scanner announces another missing person. "I'll go, you stay," insists Dean. "Yeah, fine," agrees Sam. "Stay here," says Dean. "Fine, GO!" says Sam, who waits for his brother to leave and heads out as soon as he's gone. "Thank you for your time, we're on it," Dean tells Don, as the Deputy walks right past him. Dean calls Sam, getting his voice mail. "Sam, answer the phone, damn it," says Dean, "I found the connection between the missing chicks--they all banged the same dude--YOU--it's YOU, Sam. The texts, the victims, it's all a trap for YOU. Call me back."

Brenna arrives home after grocery shopping and runs right into Sam. She shrieks. "You can't be here!" she cries. He apologizes. "Please just listen," he pleads. "What happened to Debbie Harris?" she asks. "Debbie?" he asks. "I let you out and she's just GONE," says Brenna. "And you think I did something to her?" asks Sam. "I don't know what to think, admits Brenna. "I need your help," he says. "Are you kidding?" she says. "I need the case files your husband made up of the disappearances last year," explains Sam. "Go to the station and find it," she says. "It's not there," says Sam, "I broke in and looked, and I have a theory about who may have it. Look, we both want the same thing here, I promise--we're gonna find out what happened last year and stop what's happening right now." She stares at him, considering, wondering. "The file's upstairs; I'll be right back," she says. Sam sighs--and flashbacks: Gunshots, drinking beer off this table in this house. Brenna, sitting beside her husband, asking, "So, you guys travel all the time, just pick up and go?--doesn't that get hard?" "No, it's great," answers Samuel, "once you've got a family, it's a little tougher. When Deanna got pregnant, we didn't know what we were going to do, but Mary was a blessing." Noting Samuel's empty beer bottle, Dodds says, "There's more in the garage." "You sit, I'll get it," volunteers Samuel. "He misses her," Brenna tells Sam after Samuel leaves, "at least you two have each other." "Samuel wasn't really around when I was a kid," says Sam, "we have more of a business relationship." "Do you have any other family?" asks Brenna. "Family just slows you down," says Sam. (OUCH! Which explains how little soulless Sam valued Dean.) Back in the present, Brenna is calling Sam's name, asking, "Are you all right?" "Yeah, yeah," he says, distracted, "let's see what you have." They sit at a table and pull files from the box marked EVIDENCE. The first gives Sam flashes of glasses and webs. He draws an evidence bag from the box and flashes back to Samuel saying, "Best guess, it came from Arachne." "You ever seen one?" asks Sam. "No one has," says Samuel, indicating they haven't been around for 2000 years and they know zip about them beyond a bunch of guesses and a blurry picture on the side of a Greek vase. In front of them, someone has consumed the 72 ounce surf and turf and his picture is being taken, Sam and Samuel in the background for all time. "So I gather we have no clue how to kill this thing," says Sam. "I guess we go at it until something sticks," says Samuel. "Great, says Sam, "taking a paper from his pocket, "I got an idea where it might be, at least--so far, all the vics have been men in their thirties, and they've all gone missing within a three mile radius." "So we just get out and kick bushes," suggests Samuel. "It would be a waste of time," says Sam, "it's all suburban sprawl, "hundreds of houses, at least, could be anywhere." "Lonely Pines Park," says Samuel. "Yeah," agrees Sam, "we're gonna make this thing come to us." "How do we do that?" asks Samuel. Sam returns to the present and asks Brenna if he could borrow all this stuff for a couple of hours. "Okay, I guess," she says. "You really don't remember Roy, do you?" she asks. Sam hates to admit it, and but she can see in his eyes he doesn't. "He was a good man," she says, "I've made peace that he's dead. Now, I just want to know what happened." Sam nods. "I'm sure he died a hero," he assures her. He exits into the snowy outside, the box under his arm, and answers his phone. "Sam, answer the phone, damn it!" says Dean's voice--"I found the connection between the missing chicks--they all banged the same dude--you--it's you, Sam--the texts, the victims, it's a trap for you. Call me back." Sam glances over and notices a huge web on the side of the house. He puts down the EVIDENCE box a moment and steps forward to get a better look at the web. SOMETHING that sees Sam in multiples is staring at him, too, unnerving him, so when he feels a hand on his shoulder, Sam turns, gun drawn. It's Dean. "Whoa!" says Dean. "I almost shot you--again!" says Sam--"what the hell!" "I figured you'd come and talk to her," accuses Dean, "I told you to stay home, man! Did you get my message? We're gonna get you outta here, come on, let's go."

As they're leaving Brenna's house, Sam turns to take another look at the giant web. And whatever creature made that web watches him leave with Dean, too, multiples of Sam.

Editor's comments: So, even after Dean knows this THING is after Sam (who is now also a fugitive) and orders him to stay behind closed doors, Sam disobeys. He HAS to, you see, because with his soul restored, he's very emo and must fix everything he broke. So he breaks into Brenna's house, scaring her, to get the case files he needs to figure things out. Unfortunately, this coincides with the disappearance of Debbie Harris, Sam's cuff-loving lover.

"Family just slows you down," says soulless Sam, even after his grandfather speaks of what a blessing the birth of his mother was. COLD! Sifting through the evidence box reminds Sam about the Arachne, but he doesn't remember Roy, whose wife tearfully tells him what a good man he was. Sam is sure he died a hero, and gently tells Brenna so, which is such a sweet, Sam-like thing to say.

Dean finally catches up with Sam, who has spotted a giant web at Brenna's house. He knows about the Arachne, clearly a spider connection, so surely he must have realized that web meant something bad was hanging out around Brenna's place. Understandably, Dean wants to hustle his brother out of town. He's right--there's an enemy here, and Sam is the target.
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"We know this is a monster with opposable thumbs and unlimited text messaging," says Dean, "and we know it wants to KILL you specifically, does that about cover it?" "It's an Arachne," says Sam, "I remembered." "I'm sorry, what else have you remembered?" asks Dean, upset. "Don't worry," says Sam, "it's nothing to do with hell." "Not yet, anyway," Dean points out. "What can I do, this stuff is just startin' to come back," says Sam, "maybe it's natural." "We're leaving," insists Dean, "we're not t... read more "We know this is a monster with opposable thumbs and unlimited text messaging," says Dean, "and we know it wants to KILL you specifically, does that about cover it?" "It's an Arachne," says Sam, "I remembered." "I'm sorry, what else have you remembered?" asks Dean, upset. "Don't worry," says Sam, "it's nothing to do with hell." "Not yet, anyway," Dean points out. "What can I do, this stuff is just startin' to come back," says Sam, "maybe it's natural." "We're leaving," insists Dean, "we're not the only hunters on the planet--we can call Bobby, he and Rufus can come and wrap this up!" "We can't," says Sam, "like you said, it can be anybody, and we got jack for leads." "Somebody that hates you," Dean reminds him. "I know who did this," says Sam, "I just. . .can't remember." He reaches into the EVIDENCE box for another folder. Dean takes it away and says, "I don't think you get the risk here, Sam--you get that every time you scratch that wall, you are playing Russian Roulette?" "Dean, I get you're worried, and I know what you think is going to happen, but you know what?--it will or it won't--I'm starting to think I might have done some bad stuff here, so I don't care if it's dangerous, I have to set things right, 'cause I got a friggin' soul now, and it won't just let me walk away!--I'm staying here, and I need you to back me up." They gaze at each other for several emotion-packed seconds, and Dean finally smiles and relents. "All right," he says, "let's Memento this thing, shall we?

As they start pinning everything to the wall, John Winchester style, connecting things with string and tacks, Sam's memory pumps into overdrive, and the flashes come with more frequency: Brenna: You're back because it started again?; Roy: You're hunters, not Feds?; Brenna: You really don't remember?; Dean: I found out something about Crazy Eyes McGee--turned out you two knew each other; A strange, scary eye with more than one pupil; the Deputy: Is that blood?; him firing a gun; Sam telling Samuel, The Arachne's been snacking on mid-thirties guys, we need bait that fits the demo, I'm too young, you're too old. Eighty-nine and counting, says Samuel, I still think we should have looped Roy in on the plan. Sam: Do we want a credible performance, or don't we? Samuel: What if something goes wrong? Sam: Roy's a big boy, he'll be fine, trust me. Samuel: It's just not the way I'm used to doing things. Sam: Got it--welcome to the future. Let's go. Lying in wait, Sam: Let's hope this thing's hungry. Samuel stares at him in disbelief, holds up binoculars to check on Roy, who is jumped by the creature, a woman, from above. Samuel: Split up, look for him. Sam: It's too late--they're GONE!--it's all right, I turned on the GPS on Roy's cell. Samuel: In English, please. Sam: We can track him back to wherever she goes. Samuel: So Roy was just some red shirt to you, some spider bait? Sam: No of course not, this is my back-up plan. Samuel: My God, son, you're about as cold as they come, you know that? Sam: Let's go.

Samuel and Sam head over to Arachne Central, guns tucked against their lower backs, swords in their hands. They find all the victims alive, cocooned in webs. Samuel opens a web over one man's bespectacled face. "Poor bastard," he says. Sam and his grandfather leap in terror as every victim begins to stir. "Help me!" calls Roy, "can't feel." Sam uses his knife to tear the web off Roy's face. "Where is she?" demands Sam. The female Arachne leaps over and slams Sam into the wall, tearing up his arm. She goes at him again, but he kicks her away with his long, strong legs. Samuel shoots her several times, but, undeterred, she turns and attacks him, sending him flying into another wall. Sam climbs to his feet and with one swift stroke, beheads her. "Well, I guess decapitation works," gasps Samuel, struggling to his feet, "Roy!" He kneels down beside the Sheriff and says, "Just hang in, we're gonna get you some help." Standing, he says, "Sam, if we get him to the hospital quick. . ." "He can't be helped," says Sam coldly, "I don't know about Arachne, but I do know about spiders--one brown recluse can kill you. This thing--look at these guys, the poison's eating them alive--they're just dead men walking." "So what are you saying?" asks Samuel miserably. "I'm saying we put him out of his misery," says Sam, withdrawing his gun. Realizing what the man he thought a friend is about to do, Roy, shaking his head, says, "Sam. . .please. . .no." "Killing this thing saved a lot of lives," Sam tells him, "we couldn't have done it without you. You're a hero." Sam shoots him. Then the others, one at a time, in the head, execution-style, as Samuel turns away and closes his eyes. "We can't just leave the bodies here," says Sam, "get the gasoline."

Having remembered it all, Sam turns to Dean. "I know what happened," he says.

Outside, it's snowing, wind blowing hard, and it sounds very cold. Brenna, who has been sleeping on the sofa, awakens. Her husband, now an arachnoid monster, is there. "Roy?" she whispers. "I love you," he says.

Sam is trying to reach Brenna on his cell. Dean wants to know what he's going to say to her. "Relax," Sam tells him. When he reaches her, Sam says, "Just checking in. . .of course I can swing by. OK, yeah, bye." "What was that about?" asks Dean. "She wants me to swing by," says Sam. "For?" asks Dean. "She says it's no big deal," says Sam, "but I can tell she's in deep trouble."

They drive the Impala to Brenna's house. "Dean, back door," orders Sam. "Lights are on in the shed," says Dean. They enter the shed. "My spidey senses are tingling," says Dean. Sam shushes him. "Sam?" calls Brenna. He finds her sitting next to a tool chest. "What you did to Roy," she says, tears falling down her cheeks, "is it true?" Roy suddenly sends Dean flying across the room. Roy, his face distorted and hideous, one huge blue and black eye sharing the white space with a much smaller one, has Sam slammed, pinned to the wall. "Answer the question, Sam," he commands.

Editor's comments: Dean wants to leave town and let Bobby and Rufus wrap up the case. Sam lays on the guilt trip: "I got a friggin' soul now, and it won't just let me walk away! I'm staying here, and I need you to back me up." Dean can't say no to that, it's like a crying four year old Sammy sobbing that he fell and hurt his knee. Unfortunately, they "Memento" everything and cause Sam's memories of the previous year to flood back in. He remembers coldly using Roy as bait for the Arachne without telling him (much as he let Dean be turned into a vamp), and the female spider-woman attacks and drags him away.

LOL, so old Grandpa Campbell is a Trekker? He knows about the Red Shirt guys always being the sacrificial lambs in the first STAR TREK series?

I couldn't help but notice that, when Sam executes Roy and the others, he has the exact same expression on his face that he did when he killed Jake, the man who knifed him in the back and caused Dean to make a deal with a demon to bring him back to life. Did it even occur to Sam that killing them wasn't necessary? That Samuel was right? Of course, Sam was wrong, and his decision to shoot them ill-advised. They couldn't have been saved in any case. But Sam DID sacrifice Roy, a friend he trusted enough to tell the truth about himself, to the Arachne, things his souled self would never do. Then again, would his souled self, posing as an FBI agent, bang so many women involved with the case? Soulless Sam had a lack of morals, didn't he?

Cruelest of all, Sam calls Roy a hero before blowing him away. Before his memory returns, Sam assures Brenna he's sure Roy died a hero. It's too much to bear, the difference between the two Sams, it really is.

Roy must have terrified his wife, showing up alive, but in that horrific face. Ugh! Now she knows the supernatural is really there. That scene was exciting, ending with Roy pinning Sam to the wall and demanding he answer his wife's question. DID YOU REALLY DO THAT TO MY HUSBAND?? no, my soulless self did, not me!



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Sam and Dean have been imprisoned in thick webbery from the necks down. "You gotta admit, I look good, Sam," chortles Roy, "well, except for your little souvenir." He points to the bullet hole scar. "You win, I'm here, let Brenna go," says Sam, "this has nothing to do with her." "You come back around, start hanging around with my WIFE!--and you think this has nothing to do with her? But then, you thought I was out of the way, right? (Dean has spotted a broken piece of glass which he grabs and su... read more Sam and Dean have been imprisoned in thick webbery from the necks down. "You gotta admit, I look good, Sam," chortles Roy, "well, except for your little souvenir." He points to the bullet hole scar. "You win, I'm here, let Brenna go," says Sam, "this has nothing to do with her." "You come back around, start hanging around with my WIFE!--and you think this has nothing to do with her? But then, you thought I was out of the way, right? (Dean has spotted a broken piece of glass which he grabs and surreptitiously uses to begin tearing into the web keeping him prisoner. Handcuffs or spiderwebs, our Dean knows his way out!) "I gotta say, you get a helluva lot wrong, Sam. Like that thing you threw me to. You thought it was here to feed." "She was here to BREED," realizes Sam. "Yeah!" says Roy--"that thing was playing the mating game, and I guess I fit her profile, me and all those other poor bastards--she did this to turn us into what SHE was. By the time you pulled that trigger, I wasn't human, not anymore, so bullets didn't hurt me much--oh, and neither did fire. In fact, after you left, we ran. Me, I hid for months, nearly starved, but you know what kept me going? Every night I dreamed of ripping your throat out. Thought I was sending you a neon sign. The texts! Taking all those girls you screwed! I was kickin' so much sand in your eye, I couldn't figure out why you weren't gettin' it! Then Bren tells me you got brain damage. It's just too good." "Where are they, Roy?" asks Sam--"the women?" "Scattered," answers Roy, "in the wind. They're like me now--you killed one monster, you made so many more--congratulations. Now the question is, do I kill you--or turn you?"

Looks are exchanged between Roy and Sam, Roy and Dean. The latter is now free of the sticky web, and with a cry of anger that this spider freak has plans to harm his brother, he attacks Roy, who quickly pins him against a wall, strangling him.

Brenna, unable to stop her husband, grabs a sword, rushes to Sam's side and slices him out of his web. He takes the sword and quickly decapitates Roy. Brenna stands over her dead husband and cries, looks at the two hunters, and cries some more.

Sam walks Brenna to her door. "I am SO sorry," he tells her. She doesn't respond, so he tries again. She closes the door in his face. Sam sighs, sad. Back where they hid from the cops, Dean is getting them ready to leave. "You all right?" he asks Sam. "You were right," says Sam quietly, "I shouldn't have come back here." "Well, you did kill spider-man," Dean reminds him. "So you're suggesting what I did back there was a good thing?" asks Sam. "I'm just sayin'," begins Dean. "What?" challenges Sam. "Sam, you gotta understand, all that crap last year, all of it. . .none of it was you." "Let's be crystal clear, OK?" says Sam--"it WAS me." "Can I get you anything?" asks Dean. "What are you now, my waitress?" asks Sam. "I'm just tryin' to make you feel better, don't be a bitch," says Dean. "Yeah, I'm fine," says Sam. "Yeah, you look fine," says Dean sarcastically, "all I'm sayin' is that everything is gonna be OK." "I dunno, Dean, if I did this here, then who knows how many other--" Dean sniffs a piece of his clothing and recoils. There's a thud and the sound of more thuds. "Sammy? Sammy!" calls Dean, finding his brother on the floor having a seizure. "Sammy, talk to me!" cries Dean, clutching at Sam's flailing arms.

Sam lies still, eyes wide open, and we travel into his left eye to hell, where everything is red and he lies BURNING, his face and clothing in flames. He is screaming, screaming, screaming as the fire consume him.

Editor's comments: Taken prisoner by Roy, the Arachne, Dean cleverly escapes his web with a piece of glass while Sam is freed by Brenna with his own sword. This gives him a chance to behead Roy, killing one Arachne, leaving all the other humans-turned-Arachne still out there. As Roy pointed out, Sam killed one monster, but made so many more. This happened despite the fact that Sam was soulless. There was just no happy outcome for this story, no matter what. Dean points out to Sam the one bright spot--he killed Roy. Sam, realizing HE was the reason Roy NEEDED to be killed in the first place, finds no comfort there. Dean insists, "It wasn't YOU," but Sam isn't buying that. When Dean offers to get him something, Sam sarcastically asks if Dean's his waitress now. Dean, who always hated chick flick moments, says, "I'm just trying to make you feel better, don't be a bitch." I wanted Sam to just say, "JERK!" and end the episode like that.

Sigh. Instead, Sam fell to the floor, convulsing, reminding me instantly of my poor dog, Snaps, and his final seizure the night we put him to sleep. I burst into tears, for Sam, Dean and Snaps, as Dean called to Sam and clutched frantically at him.

That wall in Sam's head has been scratched. How much? How hard? Oh, Sam, your brother loves you so much, don't scratch anymore.


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