Shadow

Summary
Sam runs into Meg in Chicago, a girl he met weeks earlier at an Indiana bus stop. But Meg may be connected to a demon killing people on the Windy City.

Recap
Chicago, Illinois

A young girl, Meredith, is walking through the streets and enters a deserted alley – her IPod goes dead and a wind kicks up. A shadowy figure appears behind her as she starts to run in a panic. She manages to get to her apartment and locks herself in, triggering the security system. She starts to make herself comfortable when the shadow enters the house, comes up behind her, and rips through her chest.

One Week Later

Dean and Sam show up dressed as security alarm repairmen to investigate the murder, the second one in two months. A landlady provides some information on how the place was locked up and the alarm was still on, and how Meredith was cut up into pieces. Sam thinks it's "their kind of gig" and Dean picks up radiation. Dean has also checked with the police and found out Meredith's heart was missing. They suspect a spirit and Dean manages to lay out a symbol with masking tape from the carpet – a symbol they don't recognize.

Later at the bar where Meredith worked, Dean and Sam compare notes. The two victims have nothing in common as far as they can tell. They're interrupted when Sam spots Meg, the girl he met (in "Scarecrow"). She talks about how she didn't make it to California and ended up in Chicago. She's not impressed with Dean, berating him for dragging Sam around the country, but Sam covers. Sam gets her number and they agree to meet later. But after they leave, Sam is suspicious and Dean is upset. Sam insists there's something up with her and he watches her while Dean goes to check up on her and research the symbol.

Later they touch base and Dean determines it's a Zoroastrian symbol, representing a Demon of Darkness, a Daēva, which has to be conjured by an experienced sorcerer. However, Meg's history shows she's clean. After Meg leaves her apartment, Sam sneaks in by climbing up the freight elevator. He gets to the top just as she returns, and sees her conduct a ceremony with a golden goblet. She speaks to someone warning that the brothers are in town, and is told to wait for the entity at the other end. After she leaves, Sam comes in and finds the Zoroastrian symbol.

Sam compares notes with Dean and brings him up to speed. Dean reveals there was a connection between the two victims – they were both from Lawrence, Kansas. Dean figures they need help and leaves a message for their father. As they prepare to head out, they discuss what they might do after destroying the demon responsible for their history, and Dean insists Sam needs to go off after it's over, but for him it'll never be over. Dean confesses that he wants them all three to be together as a family. Sam warns that when it's over, Dean will have to let him go his own way.

At Meg's apartment, the brothers climb up the elevator again as Meg prepares her ceremony. They sneak in but she cheerfully calls out to them and invites them in. She says she was waiting for Sam, and then the Daēva strikes, knocking them both unconscious.

They wake up bound and Sam concludes the whole thing was a trap to lure them in, but Meg reveals it was a trap to bring in their father. She knows he'll come to rescue his boys and that the room is filled with devas. She comes on to Sam who starts to respond, but Meg catches on that it's a distraction for Dean to free himself. But that's a distraction for Sam to cut himself free with his own knife. He knocks Meg flying and destroys the altar, and the Daēvas appear and haul Meg out a window where she falls to her death. They go back to their hotel room…where their father is waiting for them.

They have a brief reunion and John reveals he knows about the demon and that it knows he'll kill it, but he has to do it alone for now. They share a hug, but then the Daēvas strike, attacking them all. Meg has recovered from death and has an amulet she uses to control the Daēvas.

The family is seconds from death when Sam manages to grab a flare and dispel the Daēvas. They stagger out into the street where Dean insists that John leave them because he's vulnerable with them around. John and finally Sam reluctantly agree and they part. As they leave, Meg sees them go.

Characters

 * Dean Winchester
 * Sam Winchester
 * Meg
 * John Winchester

Featured Supernatural Being

 * Daeva
 * Demons (Meg, Daeva)

Featured Music
"You Got Your Hooks In Me" by Little Charlie And The Nightcats

"Pictures Of Me" by The Vue

"The New World" by V

Continuity

 * Sam and Meg meet again. Last time they met was in Scarecrow. Sam mentions this to Dean in the episode itself.
 * Sam and Dean find and reunite with their father.

Quotes
Dean: "Next time you wanna get laid, find a girl that’s not so buckets-of-crazy, huh?"

Dean: "What are you gonna do?"

Sam: "I'm gonna watch Meg."

Dean: "Yeah, yeah."

Sam: "I just wanna see what's what. Better safe than sorry."

Dean: "All right, you little pervert."

Sam: "I think there's something strange going on here."

Dean: "Yeah, tell me about it. She wasn't even that into me!"

(Dean is showing Sam the bartender's phone number he received.)

Sam: "Do you mind doing a little bit of thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?"

International Titles

 * Finnish: Varjo (Shadow)


 * French: Daeva


 * German: Tödliche Schatten (Deadly Shadows)
 * Italian: Ombre (Shadows)
 * Polish: Cień (Shadow)

Trivia
There is an inside joke when Meg mentions that she met something Michael Murray, and Sam answers, "Who?". In real life, Jared Padalecki (Sam) and Chad Michael Murray know each and worked together on the set of Gilmore Girls. They are even good friends to date.

When Dean talks with Sam on the phone, he tells him that the Zoroastrian symbol they found was from around 2000 years before Christ; in reality, Zoroastrianism was founded just sometime before 6th century BCE.