Home

Home is the 9th episode of Season 1. It aired on November 15, 2005. 

Summary
After 22 years, Sam and Dean return to their childhood home. Now another beautiful young mother lives there - and, if Sam's nightmares are correct, she may be threatened by the same evil that killed Mary Winchester, their mother. It turns out his mother's spirit is still confined within the house with a poltergeist. With the help of the psychic Missouri Mosely, The brothers cleanse the house of the poltergeists, and their mother finally moves on.

Recap
Jenny has just moved into a new house in Lawrence, Kansas with her two children Sari and Richie, having moved from Wichita after her husband died. She settles Sari into bed. Her young daughter is nervous in the new house, but Jenny reassures her that there is nothing scary in her closet.

Jenny continues her unpacking, until a noise draws her down to the basement, where she discovers a trunk full of old photos. One shows a family, and is inscribed on the back “The Winchesters. John, Mary, Dean, and Little Sammy”. Upstairs, Sari screams as the closet door swings open, revealing a figure made of flames.

Sam wakes up from a dream of Jenny, screaming from Sari’s bedroom window.

Dean is researching new cases, but Sam is distracted as he sits, obsessively sketching the image of a tree. Finally he pulls out an old photo from his duffle, and recognizes the tree as the one that grew outside their childhood home in Lawrence.

Sam tells Dean has dreamed of something bad happening at their old house. Dean is skeptical as to why they should return to Kansas based on a dream, but Sam reveals he dreamed of Jessica’s death, just the way it happened, several days before the actual event.

Dean is disquieted by returning to the family home. When they arrive, Sam explains they used to live there, and Jenny shows them around. She explains the strange occurrences – the flickering lights, noises, and the being Sari reports seeing.

After they leave, Sam and Dean decide they need to approach this like any case and research the past of the house. They compare notes on what John has told them of the night their mother died, and Dean relates what he remembers from the night. Sam is surprised; he never knew Dean carried him from the house.

When he has a moment alone, Dean tearfully calls John asking for his help, and reveals how upset he is over the whole situation.

Back at the house, Jenny has called in a plumber after the garbage disposal has stopped working. As he tries to fix it, a toy monkey mysteriously starts banging its cymbals, and the unit starts up, tearing apart the man’s hand.

The boys go to a garage and speak to Mike Guenther who co-owned the garage with John. He reminisces about the time after Mary’s death, and mentions that John visited every psychic in town.

As Sam searches through he telephone book for psychics, a name rings a bell with Dean - Missouri Mosely. The first sentence in John’s Journal reads: “I went to Missouri and I learned the truth”.

The boys visit Missouri Mosely who recognizes them without introduction, and also knows of Jess’ death and John’s disappearance.

Meanwhile, something has helped little Ritchie escape from his playpen, and then traps him inside the refrigerator, although Jenny rescues him.

Sam, Dean and Missouri return to the house, and explain to Jenny that they can help rid the house of whatever is there. Missouri senses two presences, one of which is a mean poltergeist, but neither of which were responsible for Mary’s death.

Missouri has the boys help her prepare bags filled with ingredients that will help purify the house. As they start placing the bags, the poltergeist fights back violently, trying to stop them. Finally all the bags are placed, the house appears peaceful, and Missouri declares the house safe.

Sam is less sure, and he and Dean sit in the car watching the house. Suddenly Jenny appears, screaming at the upstairs window, just as she did in Sam’s dream. The boys rush inside and Dean takes Jenny to safety. Sam sensing something stops and sets both kids on on the ground and tells Sari to take Ritchie and to go outside just as something attacks him.

Dean breaks down the front door, and finds Sam in the dinning room, where some force has pinned him to the wall. Just then a fiery figure appears, but just before Dean shoots it, it coalesces into the figure of their mother, Mary.

She acknowledges Dean, and says “I’m sorry” to Sam, before commanding the poltergeist to leave the house, and disappearing herself in a ball of flame.

Jenny and her family return to the house, and promises to keep an eye on them, as Sam and Dean take their leave.

At home, Missouri, muses that she is surprised, that given his powers, Sam couldn’t sense the presence of his father - John Winchester is in her sitting room. Missouri tells him to go and see his sons, but he says he can’t, until he knows the truth.

Characters

 * Dean Winchester
 * Sam Winchester
 * Mary Winchester (spirit)
 * Missouri Moseley
 * Jenny
 * Sari
 * Ritchie
 * John Winchester

Trivia

 * It is listed as "The Journey Home" on the official CW site.

Featured Supernatural Being

 * Spirit
 * Poltergeists

Continuity

 * Though not referred to by name, hex bags make their first appearance in the series. (They are what Dean, Sam and Missouri put in the walls to purify the house.)
 * Sam demonstrates the ability to sense paranormal presences to a degree greater than Missouri. He will never display this ability again. Also, through the rest of series, Sam's abilities are usually linked only to demons and those "infected" with demon blood, making his premonition of Jenny and his detection of the poltergeist and/or Mary's spirit an even more singular event.
 * Mary enigmatically apologizes to Sam. This is the first indication that her role in the story runs deeper than previously thought.
 * John Winchester makes his first on-screen appearance in the "present" time-line.

Cultural References
Dean hacking away at the front door with an axe and then peering inside the hole is reminiscent of the scene from The Shining, albeit without Jack Nicholson's famous catchphrase.

Dean: All right, just slow down, would ya? I mean, first you tell me that you've got the Shining? And then you tell me that I've gotta go back home? Especially when... Jenny: That's Ritchie. He's kind of a juice junkie. But, hey, at least he won't get scurvy. Sari, this is Sam and Dean. They used to live here. Dean: Missouri did her whole Zelda Rubenstein thing. The house should be clean; this should be over.
 * The Shining (1980) is a feature flim by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. The flim stars Jack Nicholson as tormented writer Jack Torrance. Jack's son, Danny, has creepy visions of impending evil. Another character referred to this "gift" as The Shining, hence the title. 
 * Scurvy is a disease derived from vitamin C defiiciency. It was a common affliction for sailors and pirates who were out at sea longer than fruits and vegetables could be stored. 
 * Zelda Rubenstein played psychic Tangina Barrons in the 1982 flim Poltergeist and its sequels. There is a scene in the first flim where she proclaims, "This house is clean!"

Quotes
Missouri: "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I’m gonna whack you with a spoon."

Missouri: "John Winchester I could just slap you!"

International Titles

 * Finnish: Takaisin kotiin (Back Home)


 * French: La Maison des cauchemars (Home of Nightmares)


 * German: Zu Hause (At Home)
 * Italian: Ritorno a casa (Return to Home)
 * Polish: Dom (Home)
 * Romanian: Acasă (Home)