Sharp Teeth

Sharp Teeth is the 12th episode of Season 9. It aired on January 28, 2014

Cast
Main Guest
 * Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
 * Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
 * DJ Qualls as Garth Fitzgerald IV

Summary
After finding out that Garth is in the hospital, Sam and Dean go to check on him. Still carrying the guilt over Kevin, Dean lays into Garth about disappearing and demands to know where he’s been. Garth makes an excuse and then hightails it away from the guys. Confused as to why Garth would run from them, Sam and Dean do some investigating and are stunned by what they find.

Plot
Garth is hit by a car after killing a cow. He's taken to the hospital, where both Sam and Dean come to see him. While both are awkward around each other due to their parting, they manage to wake Garth. Slightly disoriented, he quickly goes into the bathroom to vomit, leaving Dean and Sam to awkwardly wait. Dean goes into a brief explanation about his newly acquired Mark of Cain, and Sam is visibly surprised he went on a hunt with Crowley. He mentions Castiel extracting Gadreel's grace (though neglects to say what they tried to use it for). Before they can go further, they realize Garth has left the hospital. Dean is able to track him down and tries to steer Sam away from the case so they can stay apart, but Sam quickly catches on and insists on coming with him, agreeing to part once the case is over.

They go to Garth's apartment and find him, guns drawn, though he claims to be alone. However, they are attacked by a female werewolf; after a brief struggle in which Sam cuts her with silver, Garth explains who she is: his wife, Bess. He reveals he was bitten by a werewolf months earlier and, ashamed of his mistake, detached himself from other hunters. Before he could kill himself, Bess found and helped him, along with her whole family of werewolves. Bess, having been born a werewolf, is benevolent. Dean remains skeptical, and is invited to Bess' family dinner to prove nothing is amiss.

Dean goes while Sam does research on the killing of livestock in the town. While the family of werewolves--consisting of Bess' father, Reverend Jim Meyers, his second wife, and her cousins--seem polite, Dean remains suspicious during dinner. Afterwards he is confronted by the cousins, who subtly threaten him. Garth immediately confronts Dean about his poor attitude, and Dean in turn confronts him about his disappearance. Dean is angry Garth went months without calling them, as they had no idea what became of him. He reveals Kevin's demise, and Garth grieves, having missed Kevin. He apologizes for not speaking to them.

After meeting with the sheriff, Sam and Dean converse about whether Garth's pack is really trustworthy. Dean reamins suspicious, while Sam is more willing to believe the werewolves are good. He receives a call from the sheriff about a dead deer, and the brothers head on their way. Unbeknownst to them, the sheriff is also a werewolf and tries to kill them; they catch on in time to kill him. Noticing a silver bullet necklace on the sheriff, Dean notices an inscription: Ragnarok. As Garth and his pack wear bullets as well (as a reminder of their vulnerability) he goes to research Ragnarok at the reverend's church while Sam goes to retrieve Garth.

Dean researches on the reverend's computer and discovers the werewolves worship Fenris, a wolf god, and believe that when Ragnarok comes, they will rule over mankind. At the same time Sam discovers both Garth and Bess have been kidnapped, and he himself is taken by the werewolf cousins. Dean confronts the reverend with his newfound information, but discovers the reverend's bullet does not have an engraving. As it turns out, Bess' stepmother and her cousins are the worshippers, and believe hunters--and humans in general--cannot live beside werewolves. They believe it is better to be the dominant species and intend to kill Bess and Garth and frame the Winchesters; that way, the reverend would be more willing to give into her ideas (as he had already forgiven a hunter for killing his first wife, and would likely not do the same a second time). As Garth struggles to release himself, she tries to kill Bess but is interrupted when Dean appears, succeding in killing the cousins. Having dropped her gun, she and Dean take aim to kill; he hits first, killing her.

While Reverend Jim is left in shock and pain over his wife's alterior motives, Garth offers to rejoin the brothers in hunting, as his new abilities will certainly come in handy. Dean, however, tells him to enjoy his new life, having realized that all werewolves aren't so bad. They depart after a hug initiated by Dean.

While both brothers are ready to depart yet again, Dean explains why he decided to leave two weeks earlier. He feels the rules of hunting have become difficult to decipher, as things have changed. Sam says that Dean is the one whose ideals have changed: he talked Sam out of closing the Gates of Hell and tricked him into allowing Gadreel to use him as a vessel, all things that were arguably in the wrong. Dean tries to point out their family status, but Sam calls him on it; Dean cannot simply remedy a situation with the family card. He agrees to hunt with Dean, even though he makes it clear he does not trust him.

Featured supernatural beings

 * Werewolves

Continuity

 * Garth's last appearance in the show was "Southern Comfort." Since then, he has been vaguely mentioned as being away on a hunt, though the characters were uncertain what happened to him. It's revealed he was bitten by a werewolf and was too ashamed to admit it.
 * At one point Garth mentions Dean loves pie. Throughout the series this has been shown.

Quotes
Dean: Oh, eh it's uh... A gift from Cain. Sam: Like, the wrestler? Dean: Heh, I wish, that would be awesome. No, the Old Testament dude. Got all biblical on me and gave me his mark. Sam: “Actually, yeah. It turns out he left some Grace in me before he bolted. Dean: You know how wrong that sounds, right? Sam: I wouldn’t worry about it. Cas took care of it. Dean: I’m gone for two weeks and you’re like an episode of Teen Mom. Reverend Jim: Fear is not a purely human instinct. Even monsters know fear. Sam: Something’s broken here, Dean. … We don’t see things the same way anymore, our roles in this whole thing. Back in that church, talking me out of boarding up Hell? Or tricking me into letting Gadreel possess me? I can’t trust you. Not the way I thought I could. Not the way I should be able to. Dean: Whatever happened, we are family. OK? Sam: You say that like it’s some sort of cure-all, like it can change the fact that everything that has ever gone wrong between us has been because we’re family. You want to work, let’s work. If you want to be brothers… Those are my terms.
 * Sam: What happened to your arm?
 * Sam (to the nurse, about Garth): I’m looking for a John Doe that was admitted here a few days ago. He’s a skinny, Ichabod Crane-looking kind of guy.
 * Dean: Anything on Gadreel?
 * Garth: That’s Dean. Now he could start a fight in an empty house, but deep down inside he’s just a big, old teddy bear. Sam can be a bit insecure at times, but for good reason. Bless his heart.
 * Garth (to Sam and Dean about becoming a werewolf): There’s no cure, so I accepted my fate. I ate my favorite dish of egg foo young, watched the world’s greatest movie, Rocky 3, and then I was ready to eat a bullet when Bess here found me.
 * Garth: You two came busting in here like a house on fire. Guns waving, the jaw lines and the hair, it’s very intimidating.
 * Dean (to Reverend Jim): There’s nothing wrong with a little fear. It’s what makes us human.
 * Dean: Somebody changed the playbook, man, you know. It’s like what’s right is wrong and what’s wrong is more wrong.