Recap: Supernatural, Episode 8.06 – Southern Comfort

Apparently, Sam and Dean haven’t talked much since the Island. Okay, let’s talk, Dean says. He tells Sam that Benny is his friend, that’s why he’s still breathing. Oh, Sam says, how about his friend Amy (yay Jewel Staite!). Benny’s different, Dean says. And people change. Just like Sam turned his phone off for a year, Dean made a vampire friend. Dean says if another hunter comes across Benny and they take care of him, then it’s fine.

They put their little quarrel off for to work on a job. A woman dropped a car on her husband (literally) then drove over him. Doesn’t sound like their kind of job at first, but at the scene, they run into Garth who is also working the job. They see his jacket full of phones as he answers one and gives someone advice on how to gank a monster. They realize, “Hold up, are you the new Bobby?”

Yes, he says, since Bobby was gone and the Bros were MIA, someone had to step in.

They talk to son who says his parents were happily married for more than 30 years. The Bros and Garth look around and Garth steps in some green goop which he confirms, after tasting it, is ectoplasm. So a ghost is the culprit maybe.

Garth learns the wife scratched the word “Alcott” on her husband’s chest, so they head to the hospital to talk to the her. She says she felt a sudden fit of rage and anger, then it was gone. They asked about Alcott and she admits Sarah Alcott was a woman her husband had gone to prom with during a period when they were having a cool off from their relationship.

The threesome goes for a bite to eat and Garth asks about where the two of them have been the last year. Dean says purgatory.

“That’s balls.”

Garth asks how he got out, which is something Sam would like to know too. But Dean changes the subject and notices all the Confederate and Civil War stuff in the joint. Garth explains how Missouri was a border state so there were both Union and Confederate soldiers from the state.

They ask how he knows this.

“I went to college.”

Afterwards, he went to dental school where he eventually got his start as a hunter, having to kill the tooth fairy.

Meanwhile, the son goes to the store where his ear starts bleeding black goop before he splashes scorching hot coffee at a guy who greets him. He then uses a shovel to bash his head in and/or cut his body into pieces. He takes a look in the mirror and he sees the image of a Cival War era man as his reflection.

This time, the Bros and Garth notice “Sussex” written in blood on the wall. Dean notices Garth is wearing Bobby’s hat and takes it off his head. Garth explains they worked a case together and Bobby left it in his car.

They decide to split up. Sam goes to talk to Sarah Alcott while Dean and Garth head to the motel to find out about Sussex.

Sarah says she did go to prom with the dead guy, but a week later, he went back to his eventual wife Mary. Sarah says she pretty much moved on, but whenever she would run into Mary and her husband, it seemed Mary still held a grudge.

Sam has a flashback of him (wearing a shirt) and Amelia in bed. She tells him she lost her husband in Afghanistan eight months previous.

Back at the motel, Garth calls Dean an “idjit” and Dean corrects him saying it should be said angrily and not to use it if he’s going to just butcher it.

Garth offers an ear, saying he’s there if Dean needs anything.

“I know sometimes Bobby…”

Dean gets upset, “You’re never gonna be Bobby, so stop.”

This upsets Garth.

“Bobby belonged to all of us Dean, not just you and Sam. I’m just taking what he showed me and doing something with it, that’s all.”

Garth goes back to looking through Bobby’s journal and finds that green goop = a specter or an avenging ghost. It possesses you, finds out your betrayals and forces you to act on them.

Garth finds the grave of the Unknown Soldier was desecrated locally by a bunch of kids, so they go to burn the bones in the grave. But it doesn’t work since another killing happens when a cop turns on his sheriff.

Dean heads to the hospital while Garth and Sam look into who the Unknown Soldier might be. Outside the library, Garth tells Sam, like he did for Dean, that he’s here for him if he needs someone to talk to.

Sam flashes back to Amelia hurrying off to work and telling Sam to lock up when he leaves her room. I don’t need your pity, she says.

Sam and Garth talk to the librarian who tells them a theory that the Unknown Soldier was one of two brothers who fought on opposite sides of the Civil War and was killed by the Union brother and vowed revenge. The librarian points out a penny on a string, a keepsake given by families of poor soldiers as they went to war.

At the hospital, Dean encounters the specter now in the other cop who’s out to get revenge on an umpire, now nurse, who called him out at some game. Dean fights with him, but the specter has the cop put the penny in Dean’s hand.

Sam and Garth head back to the motel where Dean greets them with a gun.

You should’ved looked for me when I was in purgatory, Dean says as he points the gun at Sam.

Flashback to 3 days ago as we see how the penny traveled from the grave to Dean. (Very cool actually.)

Dean brings up how Sam never wanted this life and how Sam’s always blamed him for pulling him back in.

Everything you’ve ever done since riding shotgun in the car has been to deceive me, Dean says. Sam admits he’s made mistakes, but…

Dean goes on to list “Sammy’s greatest hits” – Drinking demon blood, getting into cahoots with Ruby, not telling Dean he lost his soul, and running around with Grandpa Samuel letting Dean think he was dead for a year.

Dean says he may have played fast and loose too, but he’s never once betrayed Sam or left him to die… for a girl.

Sam manages to get the upper hand for a second, but specterDean throws him across the room. Garth tries to reason with Dean.

Dean says Benny was more of a brother to him than Sam’s ever been. Castiel and Sam let him down, but not Benny.

Dean gets ready to shoot, but Garth punches him and the penny drops out of Dean’s hand. Garth picks it up, but he’s fine.

Garth goes off to melt the penny and explains to Dean that he never lets anything to get to him, so he has no grudges. He tells Dean to stop being an idjit. He and Sam are all each other has. Garth opens his arms for a hug and Dean indulges. He then gives back Bobby’s hat.

Garth gets in his car and gets a call from someone wanting help with a wendigo. His car doesn’t start at first.

“BALLS!”

Sam’s still inside and has a flashback to Amelia welcoming him back in to her motel room. He tells her about losing Dean and she softens to him.

Winchester Bros Emo Moment of the Week
Back in the present, Sam gives Dean a Cliffs Notes version of his relationship with Amelia. I told you where I was coming from, Sam says, but Dean had his secrets and Benny. You’ve been all high and mighty and kicking me since you got back, Sam says. But that’s over now. Either move on or I will.

Sam adds, I just might be that hunter that runs into Benny one day and ices him. We’ll cross that bridge when it comes, Dean says.

Episode Thoughts
An overall okay episode. It was fun seeing Garth. And that following the cursed penny was clever writing.

But I’m still pretty cold to the whole Sam-Amelia story. And the Dean-Benny bromance is starting to get cold as well. Also, this type of “You’re not sharing your feelings with me” angst has already been done before I feel like.

I did love Sam bringing Amy up again because that really was one of the toughest stories from last season. (And yay Jewel Staite!)

Kind of sad if the biggest thing I took away from this episode though was Jared’s very noticeable sunglass tan on his face. The Supernatural make-up department did absolutely nothing to cover that up. It was too obvious and very distracting. lol

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