Supernatural Season 14 Episode 4 Recap

In last week’s Supernatural episode, Dean returned to the bunker with Sam as everyone wondered why Michael suddenly vacated his vessel. As Castiel and Jack stayed behind to help a cursed girl, Sam and Dean met up with Sheriff Jody Mills and discovered that Dark Kaia had left the scar on Dean’s arm with a spear that is capable of hurting the archangel.

Last night’s episode delivered a great, classic Monster-of-the-Week episode in celebration of all things Halloween and nerdy, including plenty of pop culture references. Sam and Dean took on a ghost hunt in Salem, Ohio over the holiday, which led to Dean geeking out over his favorite slasher movies as Sam finally revealed why he’s always hated Halloween — and it’s not just because, as Sam points out, that the Winchester’s lives are already like a scary movie.

New Case

Dean was enjoying the Shocker horror movie marathon — including his favorite Hatchet Man slashers — when Sam came in to check on his brother, who had been hiding out in his room for the past week away from all of the strangers in the bunker. Sam wanted to know how Dean was doing, but Dean was more interested in pointing out that Sam’s clean-shaven face was as smooth as a “dolphin’s belly” (RIP Sam’s grief beard).

With Castiel and Jack seemingly out on their own hunt and no fresh leads on Dark Kaia, the spear, or Michael, Sam presented Dean with a case that he knew would get his brother out of his room: A killer toy, aka, a ThunderCats Panthro action figure that came to life and attacked a comic book store worker named Stuart. Sam’s plan worked as Dean immediately jumped out of bed declaring, “Panthro is mine.”

Small Soldiers

Sam and Dean, undercover as insurance agents, arrived at the Smash! Pow Comics store in Salem, Ohio to investigate Stuart’s claims of being attacked by Panthro. After Sam half-heartedly indulged a couple of young trick-or-treaters, Dean gave his little brother a hard time for not being a fan of Halloween. Inside of the store, Dean noticed that the girl at the register, named Samantha, was like Sam’s “Wonder Twin,” comparing their “soft, delicate features” and luxurious hair. Sam pointed out one of the other comic store workers, Dirk, who loved Hatchet Man as much as Dean, saying that he found his twin before Dean started nerding-out over the store’s life-size Hatchet Man figure.

Sam and Dean asked Samantha about Stuart, and she explained that he and his roommate had gotten into a fight so Stuart was now staying at his mom’s place. The brothers made their way to the mom’s house, where Sam had to explain Fortnite and online jargon to Dean. When they asked Stuart about the attack, Stuart lied and said he made up the whole thing and ended up kicking Sam and Dean out of the house. The brothers decided to wait until Stuart and his mom left so they could search the house.

During their stakeout, Dean confronted Sam about his long-time hatred for Halloween. Before Sam could answer, they ducked down as Stuart’s mom left the house, but with no sign of Stuart. Sam noted after reading through some brutal comments left on Stuart’s uploaded video about the attack that Stuart must have changed his story because of online trolls. Dean put it perfectly: “Gotta love the internet, where everyone can be a dick.” Stuart then came out of his house, bleeding, and as Sam stayed with him Dean went inside to investigate. Dean quickly found himself under attack by a flying chainsaw but managed to avoid getting sliced and diced.

Ghost Hunt

At the hospital, Stuart’s mom thanked Sam and Dean for saving her son’s life as the brothers suggested she stay with her son and away from their house. Dean told Sam that he checked the house for hex bags and found nothing, but the EMF went crazy, confirming they were dealing with a ghost. Sam left to check out the house again as Dean agreed to stay at the hospital to make sure Stuart’s mom steered clear.

At Stuart’s house, Sam found a picture with Stuart, Samantha, Dirk, and an older guy that the brothers had not met yet. Back at the hospital, Dean found Dirk outside of Stuart’s room. The two discussed their love of the Hatchet Man movies, titled All Saint’s Day, and which ones were their favorite. Dean explained that growing up, it was nice to check out every once in a while by watching movies where he knows the bad guy is gonna lose.

Sam arrived at the comic book store to ask Samantha if anyone close to Stuart had died recently. She told Sam about Jordan, the original comic book store owner who taught her, Stuart, and Dirk all about comics and games before he passed from cancer. Samantha also explained the store is now owned by her and Dirk, but not Stuart. Jordan had apparently fired Jordan a couple of times for stealing, but Samantha had hired him back. Sam’s EMF then started to go off and he was suddenly knocked out by the now alive life-size Hatchet Man.

Time to Slice and Dice

When Sam came to, he found Samantha alive but scared. Sam told her that sometimes ghosts can possess objects and that Jordan had taken over the Hatchet Man figure, determined to kill Stuart. The ghost took the keys to the store and locked both Sam’s inside. When Sam tried to break the glass, he discovered that Jordan had installed shatter-proof glass to deter thieves, as well as a hardcore lock. Sam called Dean to warn him that Hatchet Man was on his way to the hospital.

Dean, excited at the opportunity of going toe-to-toe with Hatchet Man, fessed up to Dirk about Jordan’s ghost and quickly put the still-unconscious Stuart inside of a salt circle to keep Jordan away. Dean told Dirk to get inside of the salt circle as well, explaining that ghosts can’t cross the salt lane and to stay inside no matter what. Back at the comic store, Samantha told Sam that Stuart had been stealing items from the store again but she had been taking the money out of his checks to make up for it. With Jordan’s ghost unaware, though, it motivated him to go after Stuart.

Dirk, freaked out, left the salt circle and finds Hatchet Man in the hallway. He told Jordan’s ghost that if he wanted to kill Stuart he would have to go through him since Stuart was his friend. Jordan, inside of Hatchet Man, chased Dirk throughout the hospital as the security guards watched All Saint’s Day completely unaware of the killer ghost.

Sam managed to build a bomb with cleaning supplies inside of a Scooby-Doo lunchbox in order to blow up the heavily fortified door as Dean finally came face-to-face with Hatchet Man in the hospital’s morgue. As Dean and Hatchet Man battled, Sam and Samantha arrived at the hospital with Sam trying to figure out what item was keeping Jordan’s ghost around. Samantha figured out that it must be the keychain, which belonged to Jordan and Stuart had had with him the night he was first attacked. The two arrived in time to save Dean and Dirk by having Dean toss them the keychain and burning it with the help of ethyl alcohol and sending Jordan’s ghost to the beyond.

Happy Halloween

Sam and Dean reassured Samantha and Dirk that Stuart would be safe and that Jordan was now in a better place. On the drive home, Dean thanked Sam for finding this case, knowing that his little brother did so to help Dean get out of his funk and get Dean a win. Sam told Dean that when they get back to the bunker that Dean needs to stop hiding out, and that he gets why he’s doing it, but nobody blames Dean for what Michael has done. Sam acknowledges that he knows Dean said yes to Michael for Sam, for Jack, for family, and that he did the right thing and to stop blaming himself for what Michael did.

Dean told Sam that he would never get over it, but that he knows Sam is right and that he can’t stay cooped up in his room. Dean reassured his brother that “whatever you need, I’m there,” and then teasingly called him “chief” like the hunters in the bunker do. He then again asked Sam to tell him why he hates Halloween so much. Sam finally admitted that it stems from a terribly embarrassing incident from the sixth grade. A girl Sam had a crush on named Andrea had invited him to a party where he ended up throwing up everywhere, including all over Andrea, causing people to run and scream. Sam had hidden out in the woods until Dean came and got him.

Dean told his brother that he needs to get over that, and then promised Sam that next year they would do Halloween right. Dean said that he wanted he and Sam to wear matching outfits, and started to list off a bunch of ideas, including Batman and Robin, Bert and Ernie, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Shaggy and Scooby, Turner and Hooch, and Ren and Stimpy, with Sam protesting along the way. Dean’s final idea was Thelma and Louise: “We just put it in drive and go.”

The episode ended in a way any Halloween-themed hour should, with a security guard investigating the morgue and coming across the life-sized Hatchet Man figure lying on the ground saying “Trick or treat” and laughing maniacally.

What did you think of “Mint Condition”? Let us know your thoughts about the episode in the comments below!