What? I told you. The episode for this week is Simon Said.
Not all the lead ins to the next episode can be gold.
The episode begins with yet another recap as we've come to expect. We're reminded of Sam's nightmares, John's looking into the psychic kids created by Yellow Eyes, and the events of Nightmare with Sam debating whether or not he'll turn evil because of these abilities.
After the recap, we come to a man walking down the street. He answers his ringing cell phone and has a vision of himself wielding a shotgun. He walks into a shop and asks to look at a gun, the vendor taking one out for him and explaining the specs and even showing him the shells for it and rather stupidly watching as he loads it up. The man shoots the vendor and them himself...and we cut to Sam, splashing water on his face having clearly just had an intense vision of the aforementioned events.
Sam and Dean drive off, Dean attempting to be a voice of reason. However, Sam is adamant that what he has seen will happen and that they have to prevent it. The pair head off to the Roadhouse. Jo has successfully hustled a man at electronic deer hunting when the boys arrive, the boys bypassing her with all the grace of a sledgehammer to so check with Ash.
After getting some pants, Ash does some computer hijinks and finds no demonic signs in the area. When Sam asks him to narrow the scope, offering him a PBR for it, Ash says he'll have it in 15 minutes.
Cue the Dean and Jo shipping to REO Speedwagon that once again isn't going anywhere.
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| REO might not be able to fight this feeling anymore, but the female fanbase can! |
Regardless, the boys head off (with a humorous scene of Dean signing "I Can't Fight This Feeling" in the Impala) and Sam gets Dean up to speed on what Ash found. A man named Andrew Gallagher - someone who's mother died in 1983 in a nursery fire, rather like Mary did. They have nothing on the guy at all except for a work address, though - not even collections agencies have anything on this guy, much to Dean's surprise.
They pose as lawyers to question Andy's friends about where he might be and they get pointed to a van with a barbarian queen riding a polar bear painted on it. While Dean is (rightly) impressed with the sheer awesomeness of that, Sam is still dealing with his issues from Nightmare thinking that he might go full dark side with his abilities. Dean refutes that Sam is or could be a killer, bringing up that difference in killing people and killing monsters that was faintly touched upon in Bloodlust.
They find Andy, who appears to be the world's biggest hippy. When Sam sees the man from his vision, the man with the shotgun, he tails him while Dean tails Andy. When Andy stops, questioning Dean about the Impala, Andy asks him if he can have the car...and Dean says yes, getting out of the Impala immediately and without so much as a second thought.
Sam, meanwhile, is witness to Shotgun Man getting the phone call that would lead to him killing the vendor and himself. Sam turns on the alarm, getting everyone to leave the shop. However, after walking away, Shotgun Man gets another phone call...and then gets hit by a bus, killing him instantly.
As Dean and Sam commiserate on what to do next, Andy goes back to see some of his friends. Apparently, he knew and was good friends with Shotgun Man and seems genuinely broken up about the man's death. Sam and Dean do actually make it back to the Impala, finding it intact and with the keys still in it to boot! Dean has some doubts that Andy is the killer, however.
They discuss the case, then Andy comes up and demands that Sam and Dean tell him the truth. When Sam doesn't...Dean does, telling Andy everything - the reason they're there, the demons, all of it. Sam interrogates Andy, who insists that he didn't murder Shotgun Man.
Elsewhere, a blonde woman filling her car with gas suddenly gets a phone call, then douses herself in gasoline. A mechanic at the garage attempts to stop her, but is too late as she sets herself on fire...or so a vision that Sam is having says will happen. A firetruck comes by, though, it seems that it has already happened...and Andy was with them, so he can't be the killer.
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| Dean! You can't just ask people why they're psychic! |
As Dean investigates, Sam and Andy get to talking and get on much better terms. Sam questions why, with his abilities, why Andy isn't living somewhere better than a van. Andy just says that he has all that he needs. Dean comes back with some info - finding out that the woman who burned to death gave birth to a child on the same day that Andy was born. The exact same day, in fact. They go to check the birth records with some of Andy's mind mojo and discover that not only was that woman Andy's birth mother, but Shotgun Man was the doctor who assisted in the birth.
The shock reveal here is that Andy isn't a single child, but a twin. As Andy puts it, he has an evil twin! His name is Ansem and apparently...he's local, specifically the guy at the bar from earlier. Ansem corners Andy's not-girlfriend Tracey and this leads to Sam having a vision of her jumping off the local dam. It seems Ansem has the same mind control abilities that Andy does and has been using them for murder! Murder for the best of reasons, of course - closeness to his brother!
. . .yeah, this guy is nuttier than a Pay Day bar if you haven't caught on.
Sam and Dean cowboy up to save the day, Andy insisting that he come along with them to save Tracey. When they arrive, Sam makes a good effort at subduing Ansem...however, it seems that Ansem doesn't need to verbally command people like Andy does, but instead can use telepathy. When Ansem puts Tracey at the edge of the damn, Andy backs off and attempts to talk him down. Andy rightly points out that killing people isn't the way to go about dealing with finding out you have a twin. Ansem claims that he wanted to, but the man with the Yellow Eyes came to him in his dreams and told him that he had plans for him, for both of them.
Dean, attempting to use a sniper rifle from a distance, is nearly coaxed into killing himself by Ansem...who is then shot in the back by Andy. After some whammying of the cops, Andy talks with Sam and Dean about what happened, not sure what he's going to do. Sam gives Andy his cell phone number just in case something comes up. When he asks what he's supposed to do now, Dean warns him to be good or they'll be back.
As they walk off, Sam and Dean once more debate the finer points of morality considering Andy did kill someone one way or another. With no clear solution given, Dean denying everything he said under mind control, the boys are about to head off when Dean gets a call from Ellen. They go back to the Roadhouse, where Ellen has worked out that something is up even as Sam and Dean have tried to deny it. Sam comes clean about what's going on, that something is up with the psychic kids. The kids are definitely not alright.
Interestingly enough, though, Ansem's mother was not killed in a fire like Mary or Andy's adoptive mother was, meaning that the psychic kids do not necessarily have a traceable pattern...something which we also probably knew from Max, but never mind.
With all this brought down upon them, Ellen tells Jo she needs to break out the whiskey and the episode ends.
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| Yet another character who deserved better. |
Simon Said is a pretty okay episode. It doesn't really give us anything out of the ordinary. Much like the aforementioned Nightmare, it's a show about a psychic causing chaos with a unique twist. Rather than being focused on Dean as we have been for the last few episodes, the episode is more focused on Sam and his fears that his abilities are going to lead him down a dark road. Andy is both proof of the fact that he won't and the fact that he still might. After all, while Andy wasn't using his abilities for terrible things like his brother Ansem was...he did still ultimately kill Ansem, even if it was to stop him from killing Tracey.
Andy, played by Gabriel Tigerman, is a pretty cool guy. He uses his psychic abilities more than a little recklessly, sure, but he isn't committing malicious or evil acts beyond a little bit of credit fraud (and, honestly, Sam and Dean are in no place to judge on that one). His use of his abilities to whammy the cops at the end does put him in a bit of a negative light, though that was admittedly out of necessity more than anything else. The dude's just a stoner that wants to hang out, hit some bongs, and live his best life. Nothing wrong with that.
I like Andy and I want him to go on doing well and I certainly hope nothing bad happens to him near the end of the season.
. . .we'll be getting back to that.
Next time, Jo finally joins the hunt after five episodes of teasing it. Blondes are disappearing in a Philadelphia apartment building and, for Jo, there may be...No Exit.
. . .okay, that one was gold.
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