The Slice Girls

The Slice Girls is the 13th episode of Season 7.

Sypnosis
Sam and Dean investigate a case where the victims' hands and feet have been severed and each have been branded with a strange symbol. While Sam does some research at a local university, Dean heads to one of his favorite places to investigate - the town bar. Dean strikes up a conversation with a local named Lydia, and the two go back to her place. Sam discovers the symbol on the bodies is a sign of Amazon warriors.

Plot
Sam has found a case in Seattle, Washington, in which four men have been killed in two weeks. They were thrown into walls with massive strength and then their hands and feet were cut off. Dean wants to focus on Dick Roman, but Sam reminds him that they don't have any leads and that they may as well stay busy.

When they arrive in Seattle, they examine the latest victim's body. His hands and feet were cut off while he was still alive, and then a strange symbol was carved in his chest. Eddie, the coroner's assistant, tells them that the DNA found at the crime scenes doesn't seem to be human. As they leave the morgue, tells Dean that he's going to do some research. Dean tells him that he's going to "mingle amongst the locals," aka go to a bar. He ends up at The Cobalt Room, where he meets a forward woman named Lydia. He tells her that he's a successful investment banker and that he can speak Japanese. She seems impressed, and they head back to her house and have sex.

The next morning there is a new victim. At the crime scene, Eddie introduces Sam and Dean to the lead detective on the case, Charlene Penn, and she tells them that the murder is just like the others. All of the victims so far have been good-looking, successful men in their thirties. As they talk, Sam notices a man standing outside the crime scene and goes to question him. A friend and neighbor of the victim, he tells Sam that Jerry's wife just left him a few days ago because he had a fling with another woman.

As they leave the scene, Dean realizes that he no longer has Bobby's flask, a keepsake that he's attached to. He calls Lydia, assuming that he left it at her house, but she tells him that she hasn't seen it and that she's very busy. Sam thinks it's amusing that Dean is being blown off, but it turns out that Lydia is busy. Although she wasn't pregnant the night before, she gives birth to a baby girl that night, surrounded by a group of women that, before calling for the "next woman," tell her the baby's name will be Emma.

The next morning, Dean and Sam go to the University to see a Professor Morrison in the Anthropology department. They ask the meaning of the symbol carved into all four victims' chests, and he tells them that it will take him time to research it. They convince him to hurry by promising to get his housekeeper a green card, and Dean expresses his displeasure to Sam as they leave. Sam tells him that they don't have any other options: Bobby is dead and they have to settle.

Dean leaves Sam and heads over to Lydia's to get his flask. She is surprised to see him and appears anxious, but tells him that she found the flask. He follows her inside, where he sees a toddler in a crib. He goes over to say hello and learns that she is Lydia's daughter, Emma. Sam calls while he's there and he goes into the next room to talk. Sam tells him that they need to go to the crime lab, but Dean is distracted when he hears a high-pitched voice in the other room. He looks around the corner and sees Lydia hushing Emma, who's talking like a pre-teen instead of a toddler, and he hangs up on Sam.

At the crime lab, Sam examines the latest victim. Charlene asks why the FBI is involved, and Eddie conjectures that the cold cases across state lines are what triggered the federal investigation. Sam confirms this with Charlene and then asks if he can see the cold cases that Eddie has on file. As he goes through the latest victim's belongings, he finds a receipt for The Cobalt Room, and Eddie confirms that one of the other victims went there, as well. A pattern among the victims is that they all had flings with unknown women just before they were murdered. Sam thanks him for his help and then calls Dean, who is watching Lydia's house for suspicious activity.

Dean sees a group of women arrive at Lydia's house and go inside just before Sam calls. Sam fills him on what he's learned: every two years a number of similar victims are found in a different city. All are young, successful men who frequented the same bar. This time, at least a few of them hooked up at The Cobalt Room, where Dean met Lydia. Dean hangs up when he sees the women exiting Lydia's house, this time with a girl who looks about five years old. Dean watches in shock as Lydia calls her Emma and then gives her a locket before saying goodbye to her. He follows the women who have Emma to a back alley and watches as they go inside a dilapidated building.

That night Dean tells Sam about all the strange things he's seen at Lydia's house, but Sam isn't convinced that she's culpable. They're still discussing it when Professor Morrison calls them in to explain that the symbol carved on the victims' chests is a variation of a Greek symbol found on the temple of the Goddess Harmonia. According to myth, the offspring of Harmonia and Ares were the Amazons, a tribe of female warriors that had no need for men except for procreation. After being impregnated, they would amputate parts of their lovers and then kill them. Sam's own research uncovers that the Amazons eventually made a bargain with Harmonia that turned them into monsters. Not only were they stronger, but also they could reproduce quickly: within 36 hours of impregnation they could birth children that grew up just as fast until they reached adolescence. Because their mating cycle is every two years, which lines up with when the murders have taken place now and in the past, and because of the strange things Dean has seen at Lydia's house, they have to consider that Lydia used Dean to become pregnant and that Emma is his daughter.

Meanwhile, Emma has continued to age rapidly, and she and a group of young girls are being initiated into the tribe of Harmonia. After a number of rituals, they are told that they are going to take their last steps into adulthood and become warriors. Detective Charlene, who is also a member of the tribe, has uncovered Sam and Dean's real identities as hunters and their leader, Madeline, tells her that Dean is already scheduled to be killed: they'll just need to add Sam to their list.

Back at Sam and Dean's motel room, they continue to dig through Bobby's files looking for information about the Amazons and Harmonia. Dean puts some papers down on the bed and turns to talk to Sam. When he turns back, the papers have moved, uncovering a piece of paper with Greek script on it. Dean is convinced that Bobby's spirit is in the room with them and that he uncovered the paper on purpose, but Sam thinks it was the wind from the open window that moved the papers. The nearby power lines also make it impossible to trust the EMF reader, which is redlining in the room. Still, Dean convinces Sam to take the paper to Professor Morrison so that he can decipher it.

Once he's alone, Dean hears a knock on the door. It is a young woman named Emma, and she tells him she's in trouble and that, as her father, he's the only one who can help her. She doesn't want to be like the women who have been indoctrinating her, and so she escaped them. She knows that Dean is a hunter and thinks he can protect her so she can get away.

Meanwhile at the university, the Professor translates the Greek script for Sam. According to the paper, it was not the Amazonian women who killed their lovers, but the children born of their mating. They would kill their own fathers as a rite of passage. Once Sam learns the truth, he rushes out of the professor's office and tries to call Dean, but is stopped by Detective Charlene, who throws him across the hall and then unsheathes her own blade. Before she can kill him, he turns and shoots her in the chest, killing her. Unfortunately, Sam's phone was smashed when he was thrown and he can't call Dean to warn him about Emma. He races to the motel.

At the motel, Dean seems to be listening to Emma's story, and, when she asks for something to eat, he goes to look in the fridge. Once his back is to her, she stands, clutching a large blade in her hand. But Dean is ready, and he quickly turns around, a gun in his hand. He tries to talk Emma out of what she's doing, but she says that she has no choice and is determined to kill him. Still, Dean can't seem to pull the trigger and kill her. Sam arrives on the scene, bursting into the room with his gun trained on Emma, and Dean is still frozen. Before the situation can get any worse, Sam shoots Emma in the chest, killing her.

Afterwards, Dean and Sam drive to the location where the Amazonians had been holed up, but they're already gone. As they leave town, Sam confronts Dean about his hesitation to kill Emma. He reminds Dean of Amy Pond, and how Dean had said that monsters needed to be killed. He tells Dean that his head isn't in it and he's going to get himself killed, and Dean says that he'll do what he can. Sam isn't convinced.

Major Characters

 * Sam Winchester
 * Dean Winchester

Minor Characters

 * Lydia
 * Emma
 * Professor Morrison
 * Charlene Penn
 * Madeline

Featured Supernatural Being

 * Amazons

Featured Music

 * "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC
 * The Devil's Gotta Earn by Brett Detar

Trivia

 * Both Sara Canning and Jensen Ackles appeared in Smallville.
 * Sara Canning played Jenna Sommers on The Vampire Diaries, another fantasy show on The CW, for two seasons.
 * This episode was originally titled Amazon.com, then Knocked Up before settling on the current title.
 * The title is a play-on the name of the disbanded British pop girl group The Spice Girls, being "Emma" also the name of one of the Spice Girls (Baby Spice).
 * Harry Groener previously appeared as Mayor Wilkins (the main antagonist in the third season of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer) He is n ot the first from that series to appear on Supernatural (James Marsters and Charisma Carpenter ( Shut Up, Dr. Phil) and Amber Benson (Bloodlust and Mommy Dearest)
 * Notably, the last time they used "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC was in the Season 4 beginning, "Lazarus Rising," where it is played during the Road So Far recap.
 * The concept of women who come to maturity rapidly and give birth the day after having sex is used in the story Mayfly by Heather Lindsley, published in Strange Horizons September 2006.  The Mayfly women in the story differ from the Amazons in this episode in that they have no supernatural side, do not kill their fathers, and die of old age after living about a week.