From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Something Wicked"

Dean and Sam were surprised, but not displeased,
with the strippergram in their room.

Alright, like I said last week, it's sort of a witch episode. Not really, though.

But sort of.

It's weird.

After our recap, a little girl is saying her prayers and getting into bed. She worries about her mother coming home, but her father tells her that she'll be at the hospital with her sister. With that, she goes to sleep. . .only to be awakened by a cloaked figure with a glowing mouth, which causes the little girl to scream her heart out.

Presumably the next day, Sam and Dean arrive in Fitchberg, Wisconsin following some coordinates that John had left them. When they park, Sam takes note of the nearby playground and asks the time - ten minutes past four. However, the playground is almost empty. . .something that shouldn't be the case, seeing as school is out.

They poke around, finding out that kids have been getting sick - just five or six of them, but enough to be noticeable. They head to the hospital and, after Sam manages to bluff his way in with an ID reading "Bikini Inspector", they pose as CDC doctors and start poking around. As they head into the ward, Dean notices an old woman in a wheelchair sitting alone in one room. . .with an inverted cross on the wall. Afterwards, they meet Dr. Hydeker, who was so totally about to call the CDC himself to deal with this problem. He runs them through the low down - six kids, they have no idea what it is. Their immune systems are shutting down and, no, Hydeker has never seen anything like it before.

It seems to be affecting families - but only siblings, not parents and children together.

They question the father from the opening scene. Both his daughters, Bethany and Mary, are now in the hospital. He insists that the window was open, but that it was a second story window and only Bethany could have opened it. It was closed when he tucked her in.

Dean's a hell of a big brother, no lie.
My little brother wouldn't get the last of the cereal.

The boys go and check the house, Sam finding a black handprint on a windowsill. We get a flashback of Dean as a boy, watching John prepare for a hunt and looking at a similar hand print in a photograph. There's a scene of John reminding Dean about their protocol for answering the phone, which informs a lot of Dean's character.

Namely John's statement that "it only takes one mistake". Kind of helps to explain why Dean is so hard on himself and to an extent on Sam as we go on.

Also, little Sammy is a fan of Thundercats. Pretty nifty!

In the present, Dean realizes why John sent them there - John's fought this creature before, and it's up to the boys to finish the job. Dean tells Sam that it's a Shtriga, which he admittedly doesn't know much about. Sam claims to have never heard of it, and has found no reference to it in John's journal. Dean, however, remembers a hunt in Wisconsin around fifteen years ago or so. He's surprised that Sam doesn't remember. When pressed, however, Dean is dismissive. Almost suspiciously so, in fact.

At the motel, while checking in (and with the kid of the owner implying that Sam and Dean are a gay couple - because comedy), Dean has another flashback. Sam is tired of Spaghetti-Os and wants Lucky Charms, something that irritates Dean. However, in a moment of sweet innocence, Sam offers Dean the prize from the box.

Back in the present, they settle into the room and Sam does some research on the Shtriga. Creatures that feed off of life force (preferring children), date back as far as ancient Rome, and are only vulnerable when eating and even then only by consecrated iron rounds. Dean gives the last part rather quickly, which gets Sam's attention and he clearly thinks of pushing Dean further. . .but lets it go, for now. When Sam mentions that shtriga wear disguises, usually old women, Dean remembers the old woman with the inverted cross in her room. This also lines up with the center point between all the homes of the kids who have gotten sick. . .is the hospital.

The two narrowly avoid Hydeker and find the old woman sitting alone in her room. Full credit on the misdirection, she definitely has the witch look going 100%. However, she's old. . .and has bad eye sight. . .and apparently the crucifix is just a coincidence, she's asked to have it fixed four times already!

Meanwhile, another pair of kids (the motel owner's kids) are menaced by the shtriga. . .which sinisterly opens a window.

The next morning, the younger brother is sick and in the hospital while the older - the one heckling Dean earlier - is crying and insisting that it's his fault. Dean assures him that it's not his fault and even offers the motel owner a lift to the hospital. This pulls on Dean's heartstrings enough that he makes it clear to same that they're going to kill this thing.

A bit later, the kid isn't doing well and Sam is doing research. There are cases of similar attacks every 15-20 years going back to the late 1800's. While at the hospital, Dean comes up with a theory - Hydeker is the shtriga.

And indeed he is, the disguise is almost too perfect and the placement is way, way too convenient.

"Hello, I am definitely not the villain of this episode!"

Dean plans to use the older brother of the motel owner's two kids, Michael, to draw the shtriga out and take it out. Sam finally confronts Dean on what's going on, given that Dean admittedly that the shtriga must have gotten away from John earlier. In a flashback, we see young Dean leaving the motel room to go play in the arcade until closing, having left Sam to sleep. When he returns, he finds the shtriga about to feed off of Sam. John arrives at the last second and shoots it, chasing it off. Luckily, Sam is okay, though John is displeased with Dean having left the room even for a second.

John had dropped the boys off at the home of a friend, Pastor Jim, and by the time he came back to hunt it down, the shtriga was gone. Now that it's resurfaced, Dean feels responsible and wants to end this once and for all. They speak to the Michael who is skeptical, but he's seen the shtriga himself and he agrees, even though Dean and Sam aren't certain if killing the shtriga will make the other kids better. He wants to do anything to help his little brother, no matter what.

The brothers prep with a night vision camera in the Michael's room. Thus, the boys wait and watch. They have a short exchange where Sam apologies for giving Dean so much crap about following John's orders. The shtriga arrives, getting through the window and into the room proper. It goes in, starts to feed, and the brothers Winchester fill it with iron rounds.

It seems to be dead, but soon gets up and jump scares the boys, throwing Dean to the side and starting to feed on Sam. Dean recovers and puts a bullet between its eyes for its trouble, ending the threat. As it dies, the soul energy seems to leave the shtriga's body, going back to those it stole from.

The next morning, Michael's brother is going to be alright and all is said and done. . .although Hydeker was mysteriously absent from work that morning. Mother and son drive off as Sam and Dean muse on the fact that, now, Michael knows there are things out there in the dark. Sam wistfully thinks of what it would like to have that kind of innocence. Dean admits that, sometimes, he wishes Sam had that, too. The brothers drive off for their next adventure, this chapter in their lives closed.

Something Wicked is a great little episode, though the shtriga doesn't do anything really witch-like to warrant the moniker or the title of the episode. The creature itself isn't bad, and plays right into the adult fear of something terrible happening to kids. As someone who works in public education, even though I don't have any kids of my own, I can tell you that it hits hard for me and it was pretty satisfying seeing Dean end the shtriga right then and there.

Although, I imagine, not nearly as satisfying for Dean himself. Ridge Canipe plays an excellent young Dean in the flashbacks this episode, which is probably why he was called back in Season 3's A Very Supernatural Christmas a few years later. Sadly, he's only three years younger than me. . .so I can see why he wasn't called again for the role.

Even so, he does well in getting the mannerisms of a young Jensen Ackles in there. It's worth noting.

Shtriga - neat design, but kind of underwhelming.
Also, still trying to figure out how it's a witch.

Something Wicked is pretty solid. A good one and done that informs us a bit more about Dean's character, helps us see the things that made him who he is. We'll be taking a break from Supernatural next week, however, as even I must bend to the Christmas season, it seems. We'll be returning to our favorite Gallifreyan traveler, finding himself onboard the Titanic.

IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

It's as ridiculous as it's sounds!

As for Supernatural, come back in the new year. Starting January 5th, we'll tackle the first of the last four episodes of Season 1, and we can finally put it to rest.

Supernatural is the property of Warner Brothers and the CW.

For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.