TV Review: Supernatural 1.09

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

From WB: After Sam (Jared Padalecki) has several haunting dreams, he persuades a reluctant Dean (Jensen Ackles) to return with him to their childhood home for the first time. They find much more to battle with than painful memories when the house's current occupants, a single mother with two young children, experience terrifying supernatural phenomena, just as in Sam's nightmares. The boys track down an eccentric local psychic, Missouri Mosley (guest star Loretta Devine, "Waiting to Exhale," "Crash"), who is mentioned in their father's journal, and together the three fight to rid the house of powerful spirits. But before they can stop what's happening now, they have to face what happened when they lived there - including their mother's horrible death. Amazing twists and revelations await Sam and Dean on their most personal mission yet.

My Rating: 4/4

Oh my God! I really had high hopes after seeing the teasers for this episode, and boy did this episode live up to my hopes. In my mind, this was the best episode of the season for this show to date. So much happened in this episode. We learned so much about what happened all those years ago. Am I the only one that cried at the end of tonight's episode?

Let's discuss this episode titled 'The Journey Home' and all that happened. A new family moves into the rebuilt house the two brothers lived in as a child – a single mother with two young children. Almost immediately things begin happening in the house. The girl sees a fire being in her closet, and the mother hears strange sounds. Sam also starts having dreams about his old house and a woman begging for help. Turns out we can see it is the woman that moved in.

After some work, Sam gets Dean to return to the scene of their mother's death all those years ago. He has to tell dean about the dreams he has, and the current dream involving their house. It does involve a lot of work though because Dean swore to himself that he would never return to their childhood home.

They do return, and for once they are completely honest about whom they are. They go to their old house, and talk to the woman now living in it, Jenny. She quickly starts to tell them about the house and all the problems she has had in it since she moved in. She blames it all on the house being old. The brothers know different.

After a long conversation, the two start treating this like any other case, but Dean isn't handling being back at the house so well. He makes a frantic phone call and leaves a message for their father. One he hopes he hears. I've never seen tough guy Dean so shaken up before.

The two brothers go off to learn more about the house and what has happened in it, while things continue to occur at house. A man called in to fix the kitchen sink loses his hand it appears when the garbage disposal turns on with his hand inside it. The youngest child, her son, is locked in the fridge by the force in the house.

While all this is happening, Sam and Dean are meeting up with various people, the last being a psychic their father had gone to years before. She tells them things before they can even do so themselves. She knows about Jessica's death and their father being missing by just holding Sam's hand. I love the psychic's character. She can read their thoughts before they act, and she catches Dean a few times. She also tells them something evil once was in their house, but she is confused as to the reason it is acting up now.

They take her to the house, and the three arrive just minutes after the mother finds the little boy locked in the fridge. She takes through the house and to the room that was once Sam's nursery, the location of their mother's death. She tells them the spirit there in the house now is not the same one that took their mother years before. She also tells them there is two spirits in the house.

The three then go about cleaning the house of spirits. They send Jenny and her children away, and proceed to destroy the spirits. They appear to be successful after a few scary moments, but Sam still feels something in the house. He takes Dean back, and they see the scene he has dreamt with Jenny pounding on her window. They run inside the house, Dean goes for Jenny and Sam goes for the children. Dean makes it out okay with the mother, but Sam gets trapped inside the house.

Dean runs in, and they both see the fire spirit. Dean is about to try to kill the spirit, but Sam stops him. Well, it turns out the fire spirit is the spirit of their dead mother, Mary. This scene just made me cry. The mother returning, seeing her boys and then sacrificing herself so they may live. This scene was so sad and touching and spooky – all at the same time. However, now the house is free.

The episode doesn't end here though. In a surprise twist, the psychic returns home, but she isn't alone. Their father was closer than thought. It appears he is staying with Missouri. She tells him to go see his boys, but he says he won't - not until he knows the truth. Truth about what I'm not sure, but this just adds another twist to this amazing episode.

We learned so much here - about the brothers, about their father, about their mother. This episode has to be the best to date as far as this show is concerned. Another great episode looks to be in store for us next week.