The Winchester Family Business

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning
Robin’s Rambles by Robin Vogel
 

Starting where we left off last week, Dean is fruitlessly trying to bring Sam back to consciousness. He calls his name, feels his pulse, touches his head, looks up in despair. "SAMMY!" he yells desperately--"come on, damn it!" Sam's eyes open, and the hellfire inside recedes. Sam takes in a deep, phlegmy-sounding breath. His hands on his brother's chest, Dean asks, "You with me?" Sam nods. Dean helps him up. "Gotta get you the hell outta here," insists Dean. 
 
At Great Falls Junior College in Paterson, New Jersey, a janitor swabs the floor. The eyes in a medical teaching dummy appear to be following him. A cut slithers open on the janitor's forehead and he finds himself mopping his own blood droplets. The lights go out. He sees his own breath. A box of something sharp has fallen on the floor. "Who's there?" he calls, blood running down his face. A hook hangs, moving back and forth. He runs, stopping in terror. The medical dummy turns its head, staring at him out of open eyes. He screams. His blood is splattered against a board reading FUNCTION OF THE (?). 
 
He lies dead, a a knife protruding from his throat, the medical dummy swaying slightly on its post.
 
Editor's comments: We very rarely start off from where we ended last week, so coming back to Sam and Dean exactly where they were was fantastic--and upsetting. I felt Dean's desperation that the wall in Sam's mind had already been obliterated and he'd lost him. I breathed a sigh of relief seeing Sam back, too!
 
As for the opening of the MOTW, I guess I've seen too many; I wasn't scared or even especially icked out. Ho hum, another opening to another SUPERNATURAL show.
 
Sam squeezes the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. When Dean comes over and asks how he feels, Sam answers, "Like I got hit by a planet." "Lucky for you, I'm a doctor," says Dean, "I got joe, grub and"--he shakes a bottle of pills. "What are they?" asks Sam. "Effective," replies Dean. "I'm OK, thanks," says Sam. "Suit yourself," says Dean, pocketing the pills. Dean tells his brother he was out two or three minutes--"What did it feel like to you?" "About a week, give or take," replies Sam ruefully. Dean asks if he wants to talk about it, saying, "It was like you were freakin' electrocuted." They stare at each other for a long moment. "Look," says Sam, "it wasn't fun, but I'm fine." "Fine," repeats Dean--"it was hell, wasn't it?--you got a big fat faceful of hell. Ever cross your mind that you could have died?" "Aw come on," demurs Sam. "I'm serious," says Dean, "and none of this is just a flesh wound of crap, 'cause we did it your way--we let you go explore, and every bad thing that I said would happen, happened. So guess what--past stays past. You're not kickin' that wall again." "So I'm just supposed to ignore it?" asks Sam. "Yes," insists Dean. "I might have done heaven knows what," says Sam, "and you want me to just forget about it?" "You shove it down and you let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism," advises Dean. "Sounds healthy," says Sam. "Works for me," says Dean, "it's not a joke--your life is on the line here, Sam. This is not a debate. I mean, first you were a soulless dickbag, and now you're not. So we good?" "Yeah. . .sure," Sam answers uncertainly. "Good," nods Dean. A smile quivers on Sam's lips for a second. Dean suggests getting Sam's mind off it--"You up for a job?" Sam is. Dean shows him the newspaper: "Janitor murdered in a college lab last night--doors were locked, nobody in or out of the building." "Great--where to?" asks Sam. "Paterson, New Jersey," says Dean, "and maybe we'll have a Snooki sighting." "What's a Snooki?" asks Sam. "That's a good question," says Dean, making funny faces.
 
College lab - "Check it out," says Dean, "these things are freakin' awesome!" He goes over to the medical dummy and proceeds to pull out an organ. He offers Sam the heart. "Be my valentine?" he asks (he asked last Valentine's Day, too). "Not now, put it back," says Sam. "Have a heart," jokes Dean. "DEAN!" warns Sam. "Buzzkill," says Dean, tossing the heart in the air and catching it, "do you smell sulfur?" "Yeah, we're in a science lab," Sam reminds him. Dean replaces the heart. His phone rings--Lisa. "Who is it?" asks Sam. Dean steps away and hits IGNORE. "So, Lisa," says Sam. "Maybe you should mind your own business," suggests Dean. "What's wrong with just talking to her?" asks Sam. "Thanks, Dr. Laura, that's very insightful," says Dean, "look at that, our time's up." Sam's EMF meter starts to sound. "Ghosts going wild," says Dean, "something's up in here." "Question is, what?" says Sam. Dean notes surveillance cameras on the ceilings and says, "Good news, big brother's watching." Unfortunately, the tapes prove fruitless; whoever did the deed erased the evidence.
 
Dean finds one new message on his cell phone. Sam gets into the car after interviewing the "mop jockey's" girlfriend. The guy was great--went to church, donated to charity, rubbed her feet during GLEE. "I just threw up in my mouth," says Dean. "I checked his records--spotless," says Sam. Dean found nothing weird about the building or land, the weirdest thing that ever happened was "Some genius spilled sulfuric acid on his crotch. They don't even dissect anything good in there; bigger than Kermit, they use an iPad." "So we got nothin'", says Sam. "A big, steaming pile of it," agrees Dean. 
 
In a factory, a security guard hears a noise and shines his flashlight on nothing. "Who's there?" he calls--"Johnny? Is that you?" He finds himself face to face with a white mannequin that gives him a scare. "Ha ha, very funny," he says, but then he's seeing cold air and a cut zips across his forehead and a second faceless white dummy blocks his way. Clutching a pair of scissors in its hand, it attacks him, sending him to the floor. The other mannequin raises a sharp, pointed pole above its head and thrusts it into the guy's gut, killing him.    

The dummies are gone, disassembled into their respective arms, legs and torsos.       
 
Editor's comments: Dean makes Sam VERY aware of how serious this episode was and essentially ORDERS him not to do anything to mess with that wall again. Sam promises, but we know that events have a way of changing such promises. Dean suggests booze and violence to combat the situation, but Sam even refuses the "very effective" pills Dean offers, since he generally handles things more soberly than his brother. I SO envied Sam not knowing who Sooki is!
 
The scene in the lab with Dean playing with the organs, offering Sam the heart, again, was so sweet and funny. Unlike last year, Sam didn't completely refuse. 
 
Notice how all these guys who played this terrible trick on this innocent girl were all good men with spotless records. Choosing to play a cruel trick on Rose got them into trouble they couldn't possibly dream of.
 
QUOTE: "Rubs her feet during GLEE." "I just threw up in my mouth" (Dean). 

The brothers enter the lab just as the janitor is being zipped into a body bag. Sam finds his EMF meter going crazy again, this time over parts of mannequins. "Wait, that anatomy dummy you were molesting at the lab," says Sam, "maybe that's what this is about." "What exactly are you accusing me of?" asks Dean. LOL!) "Not that," says Sam, "I mean, there was an anatomy dummy there, and here--" He points to the dummy standing nearby. "You're joking," says Dean, then sees Sam's serious face-- "you're not joking. . .OK, so we've got a bunch of killer dolls, like. . .Chucky?" He stares into a blank mannequin face and gets nervous. "I mean, that's freakin' creepy," he says. Sam says, "If ghosts can possess humans and move objects, why can't they possess this?" "I suppose," says Dean, "riddle me this, Batboy--ghosts aren't exactly known for hopping county lines." "True," agrees Sam. "This one hits up a college," says Dean, "and now a factory three towns over?" "It doesn't add up," agrees Sam. "So we dig--over there," says Dean, staring the mannequin in the face, waving his hand in front of it. "I don't like the way Kim Cattral's lookin' at me." 
 
"This dead guy's as squeaky clean as the last dead guy," complains Dean. "I can't find a speck of dirt on him, you?" Sam finds an article: A seamstress named Rose Brown went missing about a year ago, cops gave up on her, she was last seen at the factory, presumed dead, survived by sister Isabel. "Fifty bucks, vengeful spirit," says Dean. "Pay sis a visit?" says Sam. Dean's phone rings--Lisa. Sam insists he pick it up. It's Ben, filled with bad news: "Something's wrong with Mom, she's locked in her room, won't get out of bed or talk to me, or come to the phone. Please come and help me, I don't know what to do." Dean hangs up just long enough to talk to Sam, who insists that he go to Lisa and Ben's aid. "I can handle it," says Sam, "I get you wanna bury it; I had to handle my past year, you gotta deal with yours." "That worked so great for you," says Dean sarcastically. "Come on," says Sam, urging Dean into the Impala and closing the door.
 
Sam questions Isabel in her apartment. She explains that she and her sister were always close; their parents died when they were little, and they only had each other. "What was she like?" asks Sam. "Kind, giving--she had the biggest heart," says Isabel, "but people gave her a hard time--she was shy, a little awkward--I guess that made her an easy target. I've been defending her my whole life." "I'm sure she appreciated it," says Sam softly. "It went both ways," says Isabel, "she did more for me than anybody else ever could. I just miss her." Sam asks to look at a photo album on the table. She shows him a picture from the Salzman and Sons Christmas party, and she explains she works for the factory, too. Everyone does. He spies a familiar face in the picture.
 
In the next scene, Sam is on his phone telling Dean that the college janitor worked there, too, until last year--he quit right after Rose's disappearance. "So, fair bet something happened to that girl around the factory," says Dean, "let's call that joint ground zero." "That doesn't explain how a ghost ended up at a college in another zip code," says Sam. "It's not like she hopped the Blue Line," says Dean. "I'm going to the factory now," says Sam, "I'll call when I get the whole scoop on Rose." 
 
We see Sam sitting and talking with Rose's co-workers, one at a time, men and women, until he speaks with Johnny, a skeevy-looking guy who is clearly nervous about the situation. Why? asks Sam. Because he was friends with the guys who died, answers Johnny. Sam leaves his card with this guy, in case he remembers something, but Sam is suspicious.
 
At Lisa's. Dean rings the bell over and over. Lisa, dressed in a sexy black cocktail dress, answers the door. "What are you doing here?" she asks coolly. "You look absolutely fine," he says. "What's going on?" she asks. "We've been Parent Trapped," says Dean, "Ben sent out a 9-1-1." "Why would he do that?" she asks. "You're going out on a date, huh?" asks Dean. Shaking her head, she says, "Come in." He enters. She gives him a beer. "You want to sit down?" he asks. "Not so much," she says. "So who's the guy?" he asks. "Who's the guy," she repeats, "name's Matt, he's a doctor." (Go Lisa!) "Oh, Dr. Matt, how respectable," says Dean, gazing down at his beer bottle. "Really, that's how this is gonna be," she says, "I called you SIX times." "And I almost called you back about a hundred," he counters. "Good to know," she says sarcastically. "Ben called me, I dropped everything and ran," he says, "so if you wanna know if I care. . ." "It doesn't help me," she says. "What do you want from me?" he asks. "I'm not asking for anything," she says. "Well then ASK for something!" he says angrily. Ben enters. Um," he says, seeing them together. "GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Lisa and Dean say in unison, but the latter winks reassuringly at him. Ben leaves. "I can't ask for something," says Lisa, "I know what I want, but I can't have it, not how you live--my phone rings, I think tiny chance it's you, big chance it's Sam calling to tell me you're dead. . .no, don't--don't apologize for  anything, it's just that I get to this place where I'm OK and then you show up at our door--you keep doing that. Every time I think I'm never going to see you again. I'm TRYING to get over you. What are you trying to do? What do you want from us, Dean?" Dean thinks that one over and stares at here.
 
Factory - Johnny, talking to someone on the phone, says, "Why am I flipping out? I dunno, maybe because of the Feds. Maybe because Dave and Steve are freakin' dead. No. No. Just call me later. Blood begins to fall on the hand holding his cell phone, and he reaches up under his cap and feels blood. Taking off the cap, he looks in the mirror to see the cut spreading across his forehead by itself.
 
Editor's Comments: You would think, after all Dean's seen, that the concept of killer dolls/mannequins wouldn't be such a shock to him, yet he is continually surprised when something new comes along.
 
While RoboSam didn't care about Sam, Lisa or Ben, Sam cares a great deal, especially in relation to Dean, so he insists his brother go to Indiana and square things away while he stays in Jersey and takes care of Snooki, I mean the killer dolls. I was proud of Sam for stepping up, even though I also felt that usual frisson of fear whenever the brothers separate. Usually, nothing good comes of it. 
 
When Isabel was describing Rose, how many of you flashed on Sam and how often Dean might have had to come to HIS aid before Sam learned to fend for himself? Kind, giving, shy, a little awkward? Defending her (him) my whole life? 
 
Sam is starting to add up how Rose is the centerpiece of all this, and how the college and past and former employees of the factory figure in. Johnny makes him instantly suspicious, for good reason. Sam does fine on his own with this case, solves it alone, and I'm very proud of him.
 
Meantime, Dean and Lisa find themselves "Parent Trapped" because Lisa has been dating a doctor and it's Date #3, which Ben knows is the sex date. Dean and Lisa realize their relationship is hopeless because he can't give her what she wants--a normal relationship. They love each other, but, quoted often everywhere, love just isn't enough. A hunter cannot be with anyone but another hunter. It's as simple as that.