Rewatching 2-19 Folsom Prison Blues
This is one of my many favorite episodes of Season 2 and it's one of those episodes that I can just sit down and enjoy without a care. But there does seem to be an underlying theme in preparation for the last 3 episodes... Yes, we are almost finished with Season 2!
MUSIC LINKS
"Green Onions" by Booker T. & the M.G.'s
(plays at the beginning when Dean and Sam get into prison)
"Rooster" by Alice in Chains
(plays at the end of the episode)
So we start with the old wing of GREEN RIVER COUNTY DETENTION CENTER being re-opened and the cell of a notorious prisoner who died of a "heart attack"(aka ...bashed in head) ... or more likely where a notorious nurse who died of "severe cerebral edima" (aka bashed in head) ... is opened. An unknown ghost escapes and later on a guard gets killed while Randall, one of the prisoners watches. It seems Randall has possibly had an inkling of this ghost before, the way the guard reacted when Randall called him over. So the only things we know about the ghost in the beginning is that the noisy, barred clock stops. We don't get to see anything until a little later.
The next scene we see is Sam and Dean breaking into the ARKANSAS MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY. Interesting choice. There must have been a reason for that... maybe less serious of a crime than breaking into a shop? They are using a map so I guess they are purposefully finding alarms to walk through and/or just trying to find their favorite artifacts? And Sam complaining/worrying to Dean...
Sam: I hate this plan, Dean.
Dean: Yeah, I got that the first ten times I heard it.
I love them checking out the old blades! What better way to kill time :D They quickly take off as soon as they hear the sound of police ... not to get away, but to get caught.
Off to take mug shots.
And... you knew I'd get this one animated...
Next stop the interrogation room. Which we remember from Usual Suspects. They don't show Sam being interrogated on his own which is interesting. We do see Dean in his usual rebellious, snarky self, finally meeting Henriksen! (and his sidekick) for the first time. An awesome scene of banter between the two.
Dean: Well, it’s about time. I’ll have a cheeseburger. Extra onions.
Henriksen:You think you’re funny.
Well, after Dean finds out who Henriksen is, he decides he's not going to get that hamburger, and maybe the job is going to be a little more challenging than he anticipated. Henriksen is pretty sure that "'screwed to hell' is a major understatement.
(that smile at the end there...melt)
As Henriksen goes on, there is one expression by Dean that stops me from going further - that is not just good looking but actually portrays one of the themes of this episode.
Henriksen: See? That’s what I kept thinking as I was searching for your asses all over hell and gone. Your dad taught you well.
The way you cover your tracks and after Milwaukee the way you vanished. Near went nuts trying to find you.
This face when Henriksen mentions John... the pride and love, aye? A bit of growth since the beginning of the season too.
Then their attorney comes in and to Henriksen's assertion that he is not finished, replies, "Ah... yes, you are." I've heard some comments about it being unlikely that the attorney would believe Sam and Dean outright as she seems to, but I take it firstly as dislike and doubt concerning the FBI. She obviously doesn't appreciate the FBI or the highhanded behavior, this gal.
I like Dean's expression toward Henriksen when the attorney tells him off:
OK... moving it along... Sam and Dean and the attorney meet together, which is interesting. I don't remember seeing that in similar situations before, but I guess if they ask to be together they can be. The only thing Sam and Dean are worried about is how long they can stall extradition for the charges Henriksen has brought with him. A week.
And they are off to the detention center of their choice.
They are taken to their cells right across from each other. Dean calls top bunk but his roommate's like no way, dude. Stop me if you can.
Sam just looks at his roommate and gulps.
Lunch/Dinner time. They are waiting in line and Sam is still worried about the plan.
Sam:That's not funny. Dean, what about this escape plan? It -
Dean: It's 100 percent sure. I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't. I mean, come on, man, this place has all the signs of a haunting. Innocent people are dead. Four so far.
Sam: Yeah, innocent.
Dean: You from Texas all of a sudden? (Funny) Just because these people are in jail, doesn't mean they deserve to die. If we don't stop this thing, people are going to continue to die. We do this job wherever it takes us.
Sam: Look, Dean, just be straight with me, all right? You're doing this for Deacon.
Dean: Damn right.
Sam: Well, you barely even know the guy.
Dean: We know he was in the Corps with Dad. We know he saved Dad's life. We know we owe him.
Sam: But don't you think he's asking a little much?
Dean: It doesn't matter. We may not be saints, but we're loyal and we pay our debts. Now, that means something to me, and it ought to you. I'm not thrilled about this either, man, but Deacon asked us to hunt this thing down, and that's exactly what we're going to do.
And here it is again. Reference to John and how he raised Dean and Sam. It is an underlying theme which we will see pop up again later. Dean's explanation here sounds very much like something I'd imagine John saying himself. It is also important to note how important loyalty is to Dean, and how he is not averse to taking a bit of a risk to get the job done while Sam is VERY reluctant.
I realized, reading a review of AHBL and WIAWSNB, that this is going to be a theme from now till the end of the season at least. Loyalty taught by John is what is going to be moving Dean forward and being the reason behind his decisions to the end of this season... and in general, way up to Season 9.
We also get filled in about the case the boys are on - and of course for first timers, this is the first indication that they were arrested on purpose.
have a funny little scene about the food, which Sam obviously does not appreciate and although Dean puts a good face on it, he's not as thrilled as all that as we will see in the next "cafeteria" scene. In any case, we find out more about the case - a notorious prisoner by the name of Mark Moody, who supposedly died of a heart attack in his cell, which was just opened along with the rest of the old wing right before the killings started.
Sam: You sure it's him?
Dean: Pretty sure.
Sam: Dean, considering our circumstances, I'm gonna need a little bit better than "pretty sure."
Dean:Really pretty sure.
So, dinner finished, they are walking out and Sam is probably thinking what a situation they have gotten themselves into etc., not looking where he's going, and he bumps into one of the scary looking inmates aye? He's like I'msorry! and the inmate growls that he should walk where he's going and it could have ended like that but Dean sees it as a perfect opportunity to live one of his prison movie scenes ...
Dean:He said he was sorry.
Sam:Dean...
Inmate: You talking to me? Are you talking to me?
Dean:Great, another guy who's seen "Taxi Driver" too many times. Yeah, I'm talking to you. Trust me. Let it go.
Dean pretty easily subdues the guy when they get into a fight, but the guard (Deacon) comes in and stops it, and throws them both into solitary.
Deacon: What's your name?
Dean:Winchester.
Warden:Well, Winchester ... not a good start.Solitary. You too, Lucas.
The big dude (whom I understand is Jared and Jensen's bodyguard) is making "you're dead" signs at Sam and Sam is rolling his eyes and sighing at the mess they are in. (It would have been neat to see a Sam fighting scene... but I guess that would have been out of character :D)
So Lucas and Dean are in solitary accross from eachother and Dean is trying to make friendly conversation - wishing he had a baseball - and not getting through to the mean guy when suddenly it freezes up.
Dean warns Lucas to keep still, but he's just not the type to do what he's told aye?
And we finally get to see the ghost's eyes for the first time. I love that shot.
However, Dean doesn't see anything there except for the stopped clock.
In the meantime, Dean and Sam's pretty attorney has been doing some research on their case and finds inconsistencies. She's talked to people who told her that Dean and Sam saved their lives in the robbery and murder cases and well, the cases just don't make sense - they are "just.... strange." She goes to talk to Agent Henriksen but he treats her condescendingly, tells her to leave them alone so the "adults can get some work done." etc. So not only does she have doubts as to their actually having murdered or been involved in the burglary, but I think she's got a worse opinion of Henriksen than she did before.
While that's going on, Sam is on toilet cleaning duty with Randall, the guy who saw the guard killed. Sam - not very good at starting conversations in such a situation but wanting to get more information, asks Randall how he is... Randall says how do you expect I am, cleaning a barred bathroom at 54 years old. Sam tries again, introducing himself and when he hears that this is Randall who had seen the guard killed, he pumps him for information.
Randall: Why are you inside, kid?
Sam:'Cause I got an idiot for a brother.
Randall:That'll do it.
After some prompting, we find out that Moody got killed by the guards and not through any natural heart attack - and that there was so much blood they had a hard time cleaning it up. (Randall also mentions he was in the cell mopping up the blood.)
Next we see them outside in the yard. Dean is doing good in his poker games and winning lots of cigarettes.
Dean: Ha ha ha, sorry. Hey, it's a cruel game, my friend.
Dean: Sorry, guys.
Dean:It's like picking low hanging fruit.
Sam: You don't even smoke.
Dean: Are you kidding me? This is the currency of the realm.
(Come on Sam! Even I know that and I haven't seen that many prison movies!)
And they get to talking about what Sam found out about Moody and this time Sam figures out a plan to burn the traces of blood left in the cell. Dean cashes in his cigarettes for a lighter.
Sam: I got a plan.
Dean: That's the Sammy I know. Come on, man, you're like Clint Eastwood from "Escape From Alcatraz."
Sam: The problem is, if even if we do find something, how are we gonna burn it? We don't have any accelerant.
Dean:It’s a good thing I'm like James Garner from "The Great Escape."
Hey, fellas! Who's ready to deal?
So we have a cute little scene in the lunch line again...
Dean: You sure about this?
Sam: Pretty sure.
Dean: Yeah, well, considering our circumstances, I'd like a little better than "pretty sure."
Sam: Okay, really pretty sure.
Dean's like, I'd like my spaghetti al dente... yeah... that's perfect(Dean putting a funny face on everything!). And he goes to sit with big guy, who he's nicknamed Tiny and proceeds to rile him up for a fight.
Dean: Hey, I wanted to ask you, 'cause I couldn't help but notice that you are two tons of fun. Just curious - is it like a thyroid problem, or is it some deep seated self-esteem issue?
'Cause, you know, they're, uh they're just doughnuts. They're not love.
I know they do this a lot but man they are good at it aye? Sam, using that fight with Lucas and building on it is just great. And Deacon coming in not too fast but not too slow. He would not know what Sam and Dean are doing, but he sure would know they were planning something. Sam's waiting by the kitchens for the guards to have their hands full - which they do with Tiny!! Even the guards are flying through the air. Sam slips into the kitchen, picks up a container of salt and goes down the vent to Moody's cell in the old wing. We will ignore the fact that it is unlikely a bedroll with blood on it would still be in the cell after 30 odd years because it's a story aye?. He pours the lighter fluid and salt on the mattress and burns up the stains.
Meanwhile, Dean and "Tiny" are in the infirmary cooling down.
Dean is feeling a little bad about starting the fight, and apologizes to "Tiny" who honestly confides that he truly does have self-esteem issues because of his dad.
What happened to his dad? His brother killed him.
OK..
Stop. This is a mention of another set of brothers, and another dad. And self-esteem issues? Who else do we know that has those? (I all of a sudden have the image of Dean and his doughnuts from Season 9 ....) I am not going to try to read into this in detail because they just don't match but I do think that we are supposed to see the contrast between how Sam and Dean were raised and how they turned out - with how Tiny and his brother were raised, and how they turned out. The difference between Dean and Tiny with regard to self-esteem is (1) Tiny's dad, I assume, made them feel worthless. (2) Tiny and his brother hated their dad and killed him for it, while (1) Dean felt he could never live up to dad's expectations and (1) Dean loved his dad and John died(and went to hell) for him.
Woh... moment to contemplate...
Anyway, the ghost again appears and this time Dean can see that it is not Moody but a scary looking nurse. She goes to attack Dean first (Maybe because he has been in solitary and in the infirmary for fights he started? She deems him bad?)
Thank goodness they have their lunches in their cells with them and Dean has a container of salt to spray at the nurse ghost. While he's recovering from his heart attack (and I am shouting at Dean to tell Tiny to get his salt out), Tiny gets attacked and dies there. After that honest confession, I felt pity for him just as Dean did - even though he must have been a pretty mean guy.
Back in the yard, Dean's filling Sam in on what happened in the infirmary. When Sam hears that the ghost wasn't Moody, he's not very happy about it. They are running out of time and if they don't get out of there quick, they might be extradited. Dean insists they need to get the real ghost before they leave. Sam's like, but there is no way to research who it might be! They are in prison! Leave it to Dean - they go see Randall and reluctant two packs of cigarettes gains them information on the scary nurse Glockner who was rumored to have killed inmates by giving them an dose of something with a hypodermic.
Sam: Give it to him.
Dean: I earned these.
(grumble)
Now that they know who the ghost is, they have no way of knowing where or if she was buried... Sam's again urging Dean that they have to get out. Dean decides to talk to the lawyer.
Mara Daniels:Why should I? Henriksen says you're a monster.
Dean:I'm a monster? I’m - [laughs] Well, he's wrong, okay? I'm not what they say I am.
Mara Daniels: Everybody says that.
Dean: Yeah. Look, if you're as smart a P.D. as I think you are, then you can tell with just one look whether or not your clients are guilty, okay, just like that. So I want you to look at me, really look, and you tell me - am I guilty? We're not the bad guys.
OK, so we remember how the attorney Mara Daniels has doubts about the guiltiness of Sam and Dean, and she also has resentment toward Henriksen. And here comes Dean asking her to look into where nurse Glockner was buried. WTH? Again, she's thinking ".... strange." She tells Dean (like the attorney did in Usual Suspects) that they are in for serious charges and there are other things they should be doing besides looking into the death of a nurse. And Dean tells her as he did the other attorney... humor me. This is the best way you can help right now. But of course Mara is not sure of Sam and Dean's innocence and is not going to go on gut instinct at this point so she's like, why should I? And, ok, Dean's phrase about looking into his eyes - a smart PD would know that you cannot tell by just looking into someones eyes but I'm really pretty sure (:D) Dean uses these kinds of tactics to make people think a little more and go with their gut. Mara has her doubts and she obviously does not trust Henriksen's assessment. She just needs a little push to believe and help them. I wish she could have found out the truth though. That would have been neat.
Back in the yard, Sam and Dean are putting on their little show for their escape plan and Deacon comes to take them and releases the other guard in order to get them to himself.
Dean: Deacon, you are beating the holy hell out of me, man.
Deacon: Sorry, Dean. I thought I was going easy on you. Just, uh, trying to make it look real.
Dean:Yeah. Well, mission accomplished.
And first viewers finally find out who Deacon is. This scene is also so awesome, even on a rewatch.
They tell Deacon who the ghost is, but Dean's like we should stay and see this through and Sam is all we need to get out of here! and they are starting the argument from the yard all over again. Deacon is trying to get their attention -
Deacon: Guys! Guys!
Sam/Dean: What?
And Deacon kind of shakes his head at them smiling, and gives them the letter from Mara telling them where the nurse was buried.
Dean: Don't worry, Deacon. We'll get rid of this thing.
Deacon: Good, 'cause I want it out of my prison.
Deacon: Boys, uh... I can't thank you enough for this. I know it was asking a lot but you still came through. Your daddy ... raised you right.
(Conclusion to our underlying theme here.)
With the case almost solved, Deacon opens the vent in the back of the room and Sam and Dean are on their way. But first...
Dean: Where do you want it?
Deacon grins apologetically and points to his jaw.... "Make it look real, son."
Outside of the prison, they have their car waiting for them (This scene reminds me of another similar scene in a future episode - Sam was rather worse for wear in that one aye?) and Sam's telling Dean it's not over yet, as the alarm starts ringing. They are on their way to dig up Nurse Glockner and burn her bones.
While they are doing that, Henriksen interrogates Deacon, and then Mara to find out where the boys might be. Mara tells him the wrong cemetery (which we do not know on first watch aye?!) and we have that suspenseful scene as the police scour the cemetery for them and they dig up the grave saying how the police could be there any moment.
At the same time, the ghost is attacking Deacon for letting Sam and Dean go and Sam and Dean burn up the bones just in time. (Note the ghost burning in this ep is quite quick and doesn't look even half as painful as the one in Road Kill.)
Mara comes out of her office and grins before getting into her car... and Henriksen, figuring out what she had done, grimaces himself... sort of like he did at the end of Usual Suspects. He's lost them again.
Sam and Dean back at their car...
Sam:You thought we were screwed before?
Dean:Yeah, I know. We got to go deep this time.
Sam:"Deep," Dean? We're screwed to Yemen.
Dean: Ooh, I'm - I'm not sure I'm ready to go that deep.
MUSIC LINKS
"Green Onions" by Booker T. & the M.G.'s
(plays at the beginning when Dean and Sam get into prison)
"Rooster" by Alice in Chains
(plays at the end of the episode)
So we start with the old wing of GREEN RIVER COUNTY DETENTION CENTER being re-opened and the cell of a notorious prisoner who died of a "heart attack"(aka ...bashed in head) ... or more likely where a notorious nurse who died of "severe cerebral edima" (aka bashed in head) ... is opened. An unknown ghost escapes and later on a guard gets killed while Randall, one of the prisoners watches. It seems Randall has possibly had an inkling of this ghost before, the way the guard reacted when Randall called him over. So the only things we know about the ghost in the beginning is that the noisy, barred clock stops. We don't get to see anything until a little later.
The next scene we see is Sam and Dean breaking into the ARKANSAS MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY. Interesting choice. There must have been a reason for that... maybe less serious of a crime than breaking into a shop? They are using a map so I guess they are purposefully finding alarms to walk through and/or just trying to find their favorite artifacts? And Sam complaining/worrying to Dean...
Sam: I hate this plan, Dean.
Dean: Yeah, I got that the first ten times I heard it.
I love them checking out the old blades! What better way to kill time :D They quickly take off as soon as they hear the sound of police ... not to get away, but to get caught.
Off to take mug shots.
And... you knew I'd get this one animated...
Next stop the interrogation room. Which we remember from Usual Suspects. They don't show Sam being interrogated on his own which is interesting. We do see Dean in his usual rebellious, snarky self, finally meeting Henriksen! (and his sidekick) for the first time. An awesome scene of banter between the two.
Dean: Well, it’s about time. I’ll have a cheeseburger. Extra onions.
Henriksen:You think you’re funny.
Well, after Dean finds out who Henriksen is, he decides he's not going to get that hamburger, and maybe the job is going to be a little more challenging than he anticipated. Henriksen is pretty sure that "'screwed to hell' is a major understatement.
(that smile at the end there...melt)
As Henriksen goes on, there is one expression by Dean that stops me from going further - that is not just good looking but actually portrays one of the themes of this episode.
Henriksen: See? That’s what I kept thinking as I was searching for your asses all over hell and gone. Your dad taught you well.
The way you cover your tracks and after Milwaukee the way you vanished. Near went nuts trying to find you.
This face when Henriksen mentions John... the pride and love, aye? A bit of growth since the beginning of the season too.
Then their attorney comes in and to Henriksen's assertion that he is not finished, replies, "Ah... yes, you are." I've heard some comments about it being unlikely that the attorney would believe Sam and Dean outright as she seems to, but I take it firstly as dislike and doubt concerning the FBI. She obviously doesn't appreciate the FBI or the highhanded behavior, this gal.
I like Dean's expression toward Henriksen when the attorney tells him off:
OK... moving it along... Sam and Dean and the attorney meet together, which is interesting. I don't remember seeing that in similar situations before, but I guess if they ask to be together they can be. The only thing Sam and Dean are worried about is how long they can stall extradition for the charges Henriksen has brought with him. A week.
And they are off to the detention center of their choice.
They are taken to their cells right across from each other. Dean calls top bunk but his roommate's like no way, dude. Stop me if you can.
Sam just looks at his roommate and gulps.
Lunch/Dinner time. They are waiting in line and Sam is still worried about the plan.
Sam:That's not funny. Dean, what about this escape plan? It -
Dean: It's 100 percent sure. I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't. I mean, come on, man, this place has all the signs of a haunting. Innocent people are dead. Four so far.
Sam: Yeah, innocent.
Dean: You from Texas all of a sudden? (Funny) Just because these people are in jail, doesn't mean they deserve to die. If we don't stop this thing, people are going to continue to die. We do this job wherever it takes us.
Sam: Look, Dean, just be straight with me, all right? You're doing this for Deacon.
Dean: Damn right.
Sam: Well, you barely even know the guy.
Dean: We know he was in the Corps with Dad. We know he saved Dad's life. We know we owe him.
Sam: But don't you think he's asking a little much?
Dean: It doesn't matter. We may not be saints, but we're loyal and we pay our debts. Now, that means something to me, and it ought to you. I'm not thrilled about this either, man, but Deacon asked us to hunt this thing down, and that's exactly what we're going to do.
And here it is again. Reference to John and how he raised Dean and Sam. It is an underlying theme which we will see pop up again later. Dean's explanation here sounds very much like something I'd imagine John saying himself. It is also important to note how important loyalty is to Dean, and how he is not averse to taking a bit of a risk to get the job done while Sam is VERY reluctant.
I realized, reading a review of AHBL and WIAWSNB, that this is going to be a theme from now till the end of the season at least. Loyalty taught by John is what is going to be moving Dean forward and being the reason behind his decisions to the end of this season... and in general, way up to Season 9.
We also get filled in about the case the boys are on - and of course for first timers, this is the first indication that they were arrested on purpose.
have a funny little scene about the food, which Sam obviously does not appreciate and although Dean puts a good face on it, he's not as thrilled as all that as we will see in the next "cafeteria" scene. In any case, we find out more about the case - a notorious prisoner by the name of Mark Moody, who supposedly died of a heart attack in his cell, which was just opened along with the rest of the old wing right before the killings started.
Sam: You sure it's him?
Dean: Pretty sure.
Sam: Dean, considering our circumstances, I'm gonna need a little bit better than "pretty sure."
Dean:Really pretty sure.
So, dinner finished, they are walking out and Sam is probably thinking what a situation they have gotten themselves into etc., not looking where he's going, and he bumps into one of the scary looking inmates aye? He's like I'msorry! and the inmate growls that he should walk where he's going and it could have ended like that but Dean sees it as a perfect opportunity to live one of his prison movie scenes ...
Dean:He said he was sorry.
Sam:Dean...
Inmate: You talking to me? Are you talking to me?
Dean:Great, another guy who's seen "Taxi Driver" too many times. Yeah, I'm talking to you. Trust me. Let it go.
Dean pretty easily subdues the guy when they get into a fight, but the guard (Deacon) comes in and stops it, and throws them both into solitary.
Deacon: What's your name?
Dean:Winchester.
Warden:Well, Winchester ... not a good start.Solitary. You too, Lucas.
The big dude (whom I understand is Jared and Jensen's bodyguard) is making "you're dead" signs at Sam and Sam is rolling his eyes and sighing at the mess they are in. (It would have been neat to see a Sam fighting scene... but I guess that would have been out of character :D)
So Lucas and Dean are in solitary accross from eachother and Dean is trying to make friendly conversation - wishing he had a baseball - and not getting through to the mean guy when suddenly it freezes up.
Dean warns Lucas to keep still, but he's just not the type to do what he's told aye?
And we finally get to see the ghost's eyes for the first time. I love that shot.
However, Dean doesn't see anything there except for the stopped clock.
In the meantime, Dean and Sam's pretty attorney has been doing some research on their case and finds inconsistencies. She's talked to people who told her that Dean and Sam saved their lives in the robbery and murder cases and well, the cases just don't make sense - they are "just.... strange." She goes to talk to Agent Henriksen but he treats her condescendingly, tells her to leave them alone so the "adults can get some work done." etc. So not only does she have doubts as to their actually having murdered or been involved in the burglary, but I think she's got a worse opinion of Henriksen than she did before.
While that's going on, Sam is on toilet cleaning duty with Randall, the guy who saw the guard killed. Sam - not very good at starting conversations in such a situation but wanting to get more information, asks Randall how he is... Randall says how do you expect I am, cleaning a barred bathroom at 54 years old. Sam tries again, introducing himself and when he hears that this is Randall who had seen the guard killed, he pumps him for information.
Randall: Why are you inside, kid?
Sam:'Cause I got an idiot for a brother.
Randall:That'll do it.
After some prompting, we find out that Moody got killed by the guards and not through any natural heart attack - and that there was so much blood they had a hard time cleaning it up. (Randall also mentions he was in the cell mopping up the blood.)
Next we see them outside in the yard. Dean is doing good in his poker games and winning lots of cigarettes.
Dean: Ha ha ha, sorry. Hey, it's a cruel game, my friend.
Dean: Sorry, guys.
Dean:It's like picking low hanging fruit.
Sam: You don't even smoke.
Dean: Are you kidding me? This is the currency of the realm.
(Come on Sam! Even I know that and I haven't seen that many prison movies!)
And they get to talking about what Sam found out about Moody and this time Sam figures out a plan to burn the traces of blood left in the cell. Dean cashes in his cigarettes for a lighter.
Sam: I got a plan.
Dean: That's the Sammy I know. Come on, man, you're like Clint Eastwood from "Escape From Alcatraz."
Sam: The problem is, if even if we do find something, how are we gonna burn it? We don't have any accelerant.
Dean:It’s a good thing I'm like James Garner from "The Great Escape."
Hey, fellas! Who's ready to deal?
So we have a cute little scene in the lunch line again...
Dean: You sure about this?
Sam: Pretty sure.
Dean: Yeah, well, considering our circumstances, I'd like a little better than "pretty sure."
Sam: Okay, really pretty sure.
Dean's like, I'd like my spaghetti al dente... yeah... that's perfect(Dean putting a funny face on everything!). And he goes to sit with big guy, who he's nicknamed Tiny and proceeds to rile him up for a fight.
Dean: Hey, I wanted to ask you, 'cause I couldn't help but notice that you are two tons of fun. Just curious - is it like a thyroid problem, or is it some deep seated self-esteem issue?
'Cause, you know, they're, uh they're just doughnuts. They're not love.
I know they do this a lot but man they are good at it aye? Sam, using that fight with Lucas and building on it is just great. And Deacon coming in not too fast but not too slow. He would not know what Sam and Dean are doing, but he sure would know they were planning something. Sam's waiting by the kitchens for the guards to have their hands full - which they do with Tiny!! Even the guards are flying through the air. Sam slips into the kitchen, picks up a container of salt and goes down the vent to Moody's cell in the old wing. We will ignore the fact that it is unlikely a bedroll with blood on it would still be in the cell after 30 odd years because it's a story aye?. He pours the lighter fluid and salt on the mattress and burns up the stains.
Meanwhile, Dean and "Tiny" are in the infirmary cooling down.
Dean is feeling a little bad about starting the fight, and apologizes to "Tiny" who honestly confides that he truly does have self-esteem issues because of his dad.
What happened to his dad? His brother killed him.
OK..
Stop. This is a mention of another set of brothers, and another dad. And self-esteem issues? Who else do we know that has those? (I all of a sudden have the image of Dean and his doughnuts from Season 9 ....) I am not going to try to read into this in detail because they just don't match but I do think that we are supposed to see the contrast between how Sam and Dean were raised and how they turned out - with how Tiny and his brother were raised, and how they turned out. The difference between Dean and Tiny with regard to self-esteem is (1) Tiny's dad, I assume, made them feel worthless. (2) Tiny and his brother hated their dad and killed him for it, while (1) Dean felt he could never live up to dad's expectations and (1) Dean loved his dad and John died(and went to hell) for him.
Woh... moment to contemplate...
Anyway, the ghost again appears and this time Dean can see that it is not Moody but a scary looking nurse. She goes to attack Dean first (Maybe because he has been in solitary and in the infirmary for fights he started? She deems him bad?)
Thank goodness they have their lunches in their cells with them and Dean has a container of salt to spray at the nurse ghost. While he's recovering from his heart attack (and I am shouting at Dean to tell Tiny to get his salt out), Tiny gets attacked and dies there. After that honest confession, I felt pity for him just as Dean did - even though he must have been a pretty mean guy.
Back in the yard, Dean's filling Sam in on what happened in the infirmary. When Sam hears that the ghost wasn't Moody, he's not very happy about it. They are running out of time and if they don't get out of there quick, they might be extradited. Dean insists they need to get the real ghost before they leave. Sam's like, but there is no way to research who it might be! They are in prison! Leave it to Dean - they go see Randall and reluctant two packs of cigarettes gains them information on the scary nurse Glockner who was rumored to have killed inmates by giving them an dose of something with a hypodermic.
Sam: Give it to him.
Dean: I earned these.
(grumble)
Now that they know who the ghost is, they have no way of knowing where or if she was buried... Sam's again urging Dean that they have to get out. Dean decides to talk to the lawyer.
Mara Daniels:Why should I? Henriksen says you're a monster.
Dean:I'm a monster? I’m - [laughs] Well, he's wrong, okay? I'm not what they say I am.
Mara Daniels: Everybody says that.
Dean: Yeah. Look, if you're as smart a P.D. as I think you are, then you can tell with just one look whether or not your clients are guilty, okay, just like that. So I want you to look at me, really look, and you tell me - am I guilty? We're not the bad guys.
OK, so we remember how the attorney Mara Daniels has doubts about the guiltiness of Sam and Dean, and she also has resentment toward Henriksen. And here comes Dean asking her to look into where nurse Glockner was buried. WTH? Again, she's thinking ".... strange." She tells Dean (like the attorney did in Usual Suspects) that they are in for serious charges and there are other things they should be doing besides looking into the death of a nurse. And Dean tells her as he did the other attorney... humor me. This is the best way you can help right now. But of course Mara is not sure of Sam and Dean's innocence and is not going to go on gut instinct at this point so she's like, why should I? And, ok, Dean's phrase about looking into his eyes - a smart PD would know that you cannot tell by just looking into someones eyes but I'm really pretty sure (:D) Dean uses these kinds of tactics to make people think a little more and go with their gut. Mara has her doubts and she obviously does not trust Henriksen's assessment. She just needs a little push to believe and help them. I wish she could have found out the truth though. That would have been neat.
Back in the yard, Sam and Dean are putting on their little show for their escape plan and Deacon comes to take them and releases the other guard in order to get them to himself.
Dean: Deacon, you are beating the holy hell out of me, man.
Deacon: Sorry, Dean. I thought I was going easy on you. Just, uh, trying to make it look real.
Dean:Yeah. Well, mission accomplished.
And first viewers finally find out who Deacon is. This scene is also so awesome, even on a rewatch.
They tell Deacon who the ghost is, but Dean's like we should stay and see this through and Sam is all we need to get out of here! and they are starting the argument from the yard all over again. Deacon is trying to get their attention -
Deacon: Guys! Guys!
Sam/Dean: What?
And Deacon kind of shakes his head at them smiling, and gives them the letter from Mara telling them where the nurse was buried.
Dean: Don't worry, Deacon. We'll get rid of this thing.
Deacon: Good, 'cause I want it out of my prison.
Deacon: Boys, uh... I can't thank you enough for this. I know it was asking a lot but you still came through. Your daddy ... raised you right.
(Conclusion to our underlying theme here.)
With the case almost solved, Deacon opens the vent in the back of the room and Sam and Dean are on their way. But first...
Dean: Where do you want it?
Deacon grins apologetically and points to his jaw.... "Make it look real, son."
Outside of the prison, they have their car waiting for them (This scene reminds me of another similar scene in a future episode - Sam was rather worse for wear in that one aye?) and Sam's telling Dean it's not over yet, as the alarm starts ringing. They are on their way to dig up Nurse Glockner and burn her bones.
While they are doing that, Henriksen interrogates Deacon, and then Mara to find out where the boys might be. Mara tells him the wrong cemetery (which we do not know on first watch aye?!) and we have that suspenseful scene as the police scour the cemetery for them and they dig up the grave saying how the police could be there any moment.
At the same time, the ghost is attacking Deacon for letting Sam and Dean go and Sam and Dean burn up the bones just in time. (Note the ghost burning in this ep is quite quick and doesn't look even half as painful as the one in Road Kill.)
Mara comes out of her office and grins before getting into her car... and Henriksen, figuring out what she had done, grimaces himself... sort of like he did at the end of Usual Suspects. He's lost them again.
Sam and Dean back at their car...
Sam:You thought we were screwed before?
Dean:Yeah, I know. We got to go deep this time.
Sam:"Deep," Dean? We're screwed to Yemen.
Dean: Ooh, I'm - I'm not sure I'm ready to go that deep.