Thinman

#Thinman is the 15th episode of Season 9. It aired on March 4th, 2014.

Cast
Main Other
 * Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
 * Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester
 * A.J. Buckley as Ed Zeddmore
 * Travis Wester as Harry Spangler

Summary
After a teenage girl is killed, Sam and Dean only have her last selfie to go on, which has something supernatural in the background. As they question her mother, they discover that two familiar yet very annoying faces are also on the case.

Plot
It’s Springdale, Washington and a young girl is taking selfies when she spots a monster behind her in her photos. She tries hiding in the closet but the creature is already waiting for her and slashes her throat as the 911 operator is on the other line. Dean quickly gets wind of the case and is about to make his way to Springdale without Sam. Sam insists that they work together and they go road-tripping. They speak with Mrs. Miles, the victim’s mother and it’s evident the Winchesters aren’t the only ones on the case. The Ghostfacers are on the hunt too.

Knowing the ‘Supernaturalist’ amateurs are out of their league, they confront Harry and Ed, the two remaining Ghostfacers, in a café. Dean threatens the two, reminding them that they are way out of their league. Back at the motel, Sam discovers Harry and Ed’s book on the Thin Man. Dean is still not buying the theory, putting stock in it being a ghost of some sort but Sam is not as quick to dismiss the Thin Man theory.

While Dean is searching for any deaths in the city that could have created a ghostly entity, the Ghostfacers are revisiting Casey’s room, filming a part of the Thin Man documentary when Ed expresses his doubts about pursuing the ghost. Harry admonishes him thell him that they need to keep going. And that night, the café manager is added to the list of victims. By the time Sam and Dean arrive on the scene the next morning the Ghostfacers are already there. Dean threatens the dynamic duo again but does some rethinking about the Thin Man theory when they all watch the surveillance footage of the murder. Knowing that he is so close to catching the Thin Man, Harry musters courage and wants Ed to drop him off in the woods.

Sam and Dean continue to research the possibilities when Dean mention just how “sick” people can be. There is a moment of shared reminiscing between the two when Ed pays them a visit. He comes clean about making up the Thin Man to keep Harry from leaving Ghostfacers. Ed tries justifying his actions though admits to faking only one case before real ones started popping up. Sam is especially upset about it, reiterating how “secrets ruin relationships,” a reality he’s feeling now. The trio gets on the road and come across Harry, who has barely escaped his run in with the Thin Man.

While Sam is patching up, Dean takes pictures of the tire tracks close to the scene. Harry doesn’t understand why until he and Ed have a chat with Ed coming clean about the entire Thin Man hoax. Sam steps in to check on Harry, feeling a kinship with a guy who was lied to by the most important person in his life. Dean interrupts the two to relay the info he’s received on the tire treads—belonging to a Geo Metro and guy named Roger. The brothers, accompanied by the Deputy, start to investigate the warehouse when the good deputy knocks them out with a taser.

They wake, cuffed to a chair with Deputy Do-Wrong setting up some film equipment. He admits to being behind the Thin Man murders, with the help of his psychopathic partner, Roger, the busboy from the diner. Roger does all the killing, not caring about the whys of it. He’s ready to cut Dean’s throat when the Ghostfacers arrive on the scene. Though they’re captured, it gives Sam and Dean just enough time to escape. When they come back into the room with the Ghostfacers at gun and knife-point, the Winchesters jump them. Dean takes Roger out, intimately introducing the murderer to his own knife while Harry shoots the deputy before he can take out Ed.

Sam is almost surprised at the heinous actions perpetrated by people and not monsters. Dean reminds his little brother that “people are sick.” The Ghostfacers is breaking up for good as Harry just can’t get over Ed’s actions, confessing he can’t forgive such selfish actions. He then approaches Sam and Dean and asks them for a ride, which they allow. As they drive away, Harry remarks how long he had been friends with Ed, and how different it will be without him. The brothers then realize how similar Harry's affair is to theirs, and how much their relationship truely is falling apart.

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * No supernatural creatures were present in this episode (with the supposed, "Thinman," being in reality just a regular human.)

Featured Music

 * This House Is a Hotel by The Wind + The Wave
 * Ghostfacers Theme Song by Christopher Lennertz and Ben Edlund

Continuity

 * Dean and Sam are still on unsettled terms after Sam finds out about Gadreel's possession in Road Trip.
 * It has been roughly 6 months since the events of Sacrifice.
 * Harry and Ed's tarnished relationship is meant to reflect Sam and Dean's: one does something selfish (Ed and Dean respectively), with the consequence damaging their relationship with someone close to them (Harry and Sam). Harry and Ed's splitting up could foreshadow what will happen to the brothers if they do not repair things.

Quotes
Ed: Says nobody. Harry: Ever. Dean: (to Harry) Am I supposed to be impressed with that treasure trail or the lady gun you’ve got hiding in your pants? Ed: Rainbows can’t happen without rain. Harry: Don’t try to use science with me.
 * Harry: The Winchesters. Yay.
 * Harry: Say hola to my little pistola.
 * Dean: Because everything started on the Internet is true. Like the shark attacking the helicopter. All I’m saying is those douche wheels aint’ experts on crap.
 * Ed: (to Harry about his ex-girlfriend) Everything about that girl is complicated. She gets the cream puffs, she tells you to take out the filling. They’re just puffs!
 * Ed: The bedroom of a teenage girl is meant for two things: giggles and joy. Until one night, Thinman turned the giggles into blood.
 * Ed: The lore says that Thinman hangs out by trees. And the woods is where trees hang out.
 * Harry: Quit raining on my rainbow.
 * Ed: (to Thinman) It’s Scooby Doo time, douchebag. Take off the mask.

Pop Culture References

 * Dean refers to the Ghostfacers' vehicle as the Mystery Machine; a reference to the van used by Scooby Doo and the Gang.
 * Dean: So there was no teleporting, just a couple of douchebags doing a "Scream" thing.
 * Referencing the Scream movie franchise.
 * Harry: Fifty Shades of whey too much protein!
 * It is a reference to the erotic romance novel: Fifty Shades of Grey.
 * Harry: Amazon me bitches!
 * Harry is refering to the popular website, Amazon.

Trivia

 * Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler make their first appearance since Hammer of the Gods.
 * The title of the episode is a reference to the urban legend known as "Slenderman."
 * Based on Ed's story, the origins of the Thinman is the same as Slenderman. Both live in the woods, both were crowdsourced, both don't seem to have anything of a face, and both of them were posted in a "horror forum."
 * Many users confuse Thinman for popular internet meme "Thin Hair Chin Man."