Something Wicked

Summary
John sends Sam and Dean on a hunt for creature that eluded John before. Once there, Sam and Dean discover children across town are falling ill. What could be attacking the children and what connection does it have to the boys' past?

Recap
The scene opens in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, where a young girl named Bethany, is saying her prayers before bed. Her father comments that her mother in is the hospital with her sister, and then leaves. Bethany is still very awake by the tree branches banging against the window. Creeped out by this, Bethany gets out of bed and closes the blinds and returns to bed. She soon sees a thin, long fingered hand which opens her bedroom window. The figure creeps in, and rolls her over. As it hisses at her, Bethany lets out a scream.

The scene shifts to a highway, where the Impala is driving along. Sam and Dean are following coordinates sent to them by John leading to Fitchburg. Although Sam is finding nothing when he searches the net. They soon arrive in town and stop to get coffee. That's when Sam notices something. Sam asks Dean to look at the playground and notice only one kid playing during the late afternoon. They move to talk to the mother of the child. The mother mentions that there has been a recent outbreak of an illness affecting the children in the area.

So Sam and Dean move to investigate this illness, and head to the hospital. As they walk in Sam confronts Dean about his ID saying Female Bikini Inspector. Dean comments that they won't even check the ID. So Sam approaches the desk and introduces himself as CDC to the nurse. To his dismay, the nurse asks for ID. With Dean silently laughing in the back, Sam shows the ID, and Nurse directs them to where the children are. As they walk towards the ward, Dean notices an old lady in one of the rooms with an upside down cross on the wall.

They soon meet Dr. Hydeker, the doctor on the case, who is surprised to see the CDC here. He tells the boys that the disease works itself through siblings in a family. Dean asks to speak with the kids, but the doctor tells Dean he can't due to all the children with the illness being not conscious. So they go to talk to the families of the victims. They talk to the father of Bethany, who reveals that it was first Mary who got the illness first, then Bethany. With a need for more evidence, they decide to go visit Bethany's house due to no one being currently home.

Once in the house, they begin to look around Bethany's room for clues to what had happened. Sam eventually looks around the window and finds something on the windowsill. He calls Dean over to show him the semi-human handprint. Dean recognizes it from the past from when he saw it as a kid, which triggers a flashback. ''A young Dean looks over pictures for John's current hunt. John's with his bag packed, is about to leave for a hunting trip and begins to run down the rules again with Dean. Dean recites them perfectly and tells John he knows all this. John also tells Dean to watch out for Sammy, and leaves. Soon as John leaves the motel room, Dean locks the door. Dean looks at Sam, who is still watching TV. ''The flashback ends, and Dean tells Sam that John had faced this creature before. Dean concludes that John wants them to finish the job.

As they unpack the Impala in the Motel's parking lot, Dean explains to Sam that they are hunting a Shtriga, and that their dad faced one 17 years ago in Douglas, Wisconsin. But it got away, which surprises Sam since much doesn't escape John Winchester. They go to check into the motel where they are greeted by a smart mouthed young boy. The kid's mother comes before the kid can do anymore damage, and finishes up. Dean watches as the young boy joins his younger brother, which reminds Dean of his past. Another flashback is triggered.

''With John out on a hunting trip, its just Sam and Dean. Dean is getting a meal ready for Sam. He pours Sam a glass of milk and gives him noodles. Sam moans about the food and asks Dean if there is any Lucky Charms. Dean lies saying there isn't any, but Sam catches this, knowing there is some left. Dean tells Sam that there is some left, but only one bowl and he hasn't had any yet. Dean goes give in and clears Sam's bowl and gives the last bit to Sam instead of himself. Sam goes into the box and pulls out the toy and offers it to Dean. ''Thus ending the flashback, and Dean takes the key for the room.

In the motel room, Sam is researching the Shtriga and confirms that Dean was right. Sam finds that they feed on ‘spiritous vitae,’ or life’s breathe, and there is no known way to kill one. Dean corrects Sam, and tells him there is a way to kill one. He tells Sam that they are vulnerable when they feed and can be killed then with consecrated iron bullets. Which Dean learned from John. Sam believes Dean, and asks how do they find the thing? Dean tells Sam that a Shtriga, when not feeding, can take on human form. Dean figures out that all the victims are around the hospital, which is in the dead center. Then Dean remembers the old woman from the hospital with the inverted cross, and believes her to be the Shtriga.

So Sam and Dean head into the hospital towards the old woman's room. They silently pull out their guns, and Dean moves closer to her. Then she moves, and quickly accuses them of stealing her stuff. Realizing she isn't the Shtriga they put away their guns and claim to be hospital maintenance. Believing them, she tells them to fix the cross, since she had been asking someone to fix it for a while now. Meanwhile, at the motel, Michael and his brother are sleeping, when the same hand from before appears and opens the window.

The next morning, Sam and Dean head back to the motel, and Sam is still laughing at Dean for almost shooting the old lady. Then notices Michael outside, not too happy. Dean approaches him and asks whats wrong. Michael tells them that his younger brother got sick. Then his mother appears, and is in a hurry to get to the hospital. Noticing her fluttered state, Dean offers to drive her to the hospital, which she accepts. Before leaving Dean looks at Sam and says that they're going to kill this thing.

While Dean is at the hospital, Sam heads to the library to research the witch. At the library Sam calls Dean up who is still at the hospital, and tells him that he found other reports across the country, hitting a new town every 15 years and killing kids for months leading to 1890s. In one of the articles, Sam finds a picture of Dr. Hydecker from the 1890s, and figures out that the doctor is the witch. Dean, who is at the hospital, looks at doctor who is in the same room. Hydecker moves to talk to Dean, who is barely able to contain his anger, and doesn't attempt to attack the doctor.

Back at the motel, Dean is still angry, and Sam is surprised that Dean didn't shoot the doctor right there. Dean tells Sam he knows how to kill it and proposes a plan to use Michael as bait to draw out Hydecker. Sam doesn't like the plan, and Dean tells Sam there isn't any other way. Dean continues on by saying that he screwed up once before. Sam is confused by this comment. So Dean begins to tell Sam what happened the first time, which triggers a flashback.

''It has been three days since John left and Sam and Dean are still at the motel. Dean, at the time, was getting bored of being cooped up for so long. So Dean decides to go out for a bit. Before leaving he does check on Sam, before exiting the room and heading to the arcade. As its getting late, Dean heads back to the motel room. When he enters, he notices a light from Sam's room, and slowly walks towards it. He looks in to see Sam sleeping with the Shtriga above him, and reaches for the shotgun. As he points the gun, John bursts in and fires at the Shtriga. Obviously hurt it flees, and John rushes to check on Sam. Seeing Sam okay, John yells at Dean for not following his orders. ''Back to the present, Dean finishes up his tale by saying that after that day, John looked at him differently. The reason that dad sent them here was so Dean can finish the job.

So they go to talk to Michael about their plan. When told, Michael flat out refuses to do it. Michael does admit he did see the Shtriga coming for his brother, but thought it to be a nightmare. So they head back to their room to figure out what to do next since Michael didn't want to help. Then there's a knock at the door and its Michael. Michael asks if they kill this thing, would his brother get better? Dean honestly tells Michael he doesn't know. Michael asks Dean if he would do anything for his little brother. Dean looks at Dean and answers yes he would. Michael tells Dean he would too.

That night, Sam and Dean place camera around Michael's bedroom, and tell him to hide under the bed when they start shooting. Michael voices his worries about getting shot, but Dean assures him that he won't miss.

Its, now 3 am, and Sam and Dean are waiting in another room for the witch to show up. Sam attempts to apologize to Dean for always giving him hell for following Dad's orders, which causes Dean to groan in annoyance. Then the creature comes, and approaches Michael. As its about to feed, Sam and Dean burst in, and open fire on it. It appears to be down and the boys let their guards down, and the creature attacks. It throws Dean across the room, and grabs Sam and chokes him as it begins to feed. Dean manages to get there in time and kills the Shtriga, for good this time. He looks at Sam and asks if he is OK. Thumbs up from Sam is his response. Dean shoots the creature a couple more times for good measure. Unharmed, Michael climbs out from under the bed.

The next morning, Sam and Dean are packing up, when Michael's mother appears saying that her son Asher has made an excellent recovery, among the other children. Plus, Dr. Hydecker has disappeared. So Michael and his mother drive off to the hospital. Sam tells Dean it's sad that Michael will always know what's out there, and that he sometimes wishes he was innocent too. Dean admits himself that he wishes Sam were innocent too. And they drive off.

Characters

 * Dean Winchester
 * Sam Winchester
 * John Winchester (flashback)
 * Dr. Hydeker
 * Michael (Something Wicked)
 * Asher

Featured Supernatural Being

 * Shtriga

Featured Music
"Rock Bottom" by UFO

"Road To Nowhere" by Ozzy Osborne

Quotes
Michael: "King or two queens?"

Dean: "Two queens."

Michael: (under his breath) "Yeah, I bet."

Dean: "What'd you say?"

Michael: (brightly) "Nice car."

Sam: "Dude, dude, I am not using this ID!"

Dean: "Why not?"

Sam: "Because it says "Bikini Inspector" on it!"

Sam: "Well, you were right. It wasn't very easy to find, but you were right. A Shtriga is a kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about 'em date back to ancient Rome. They feed off of spiritus vitae."

Dean: "Spir what?"

Sam: "Vitae. It's Latin, it translates to 'Breath of Life'. Kinda like your life force or essence."

Sam: "Should've thought of this before. A doctor's the perfect disguise, you're trusted, you can control the whole thing!"

Dean: "That sonofabitch."

Sam: "I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there."

Dean: "Yeah well, first of all, I'm not gonna open fire in a friggin' pediatrics ward."

Sam: "Good call."

Dean: "Second, it wouldn't hava done any good, 'cause the bastard's bullet-proof unless he's chowin' down on something. And third... I wasn't packing, which is probably a really good thing 'cause I probably would've just burned a clip in him out of principle alone."

Sam: "Getting wise in your old age, Dean."

Dean: "Damn right."

Sam: "You sure these iron rounds are gonna work?"

Dean: "Consecrated iron rounds, and yeah, it's what Dad used last time."

Sam: "Hey Dean, I'm sorry."

Dean: "For what?"

Sam: "You know. I've really given you a lot of crap. For always following Dad's orders. But I know why you do it."

Dean: "Oh God, kill me now."

Sam: (as they prepare to leave) "It's too bad."

Dean: "Nah, they'll be fine."

Sam: "That's not what I meant. I meant Michael. He'll always know there are things out there in the dark, never be the same, you know? Sometimes I wish that..."

Dean: "What?"

Sam: "I wish I could have that kind of innocence."

Dean: "If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could, too."

Trivia

 * The title of the episode alludes to a line in Shakespeare's MacBeth. The full line is, "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." The line is said by a witch in the play. Shtriga is Albanian for witch.
 * One of the chapter listings for this episode is "...this way comes."
 * The original line refers to MacBeth and his craze for power and willingness to sacrifice anything to complete his goals. This may be a reference to the dark side Dean has shown, specifically his willingness to use a child to kill the Shtriga.
 * There is a reference to The Simpsons, when Sam refers to places recently struck by the Shtriga. He references Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook, which in Episode 12 of Season 4, Marge vs. the Monorail, are struck by a similarly catastrophic monorail.
 * We learn, through a flashback, the reason why Dean is the way he is about following John's orders: The shtriga almost killed Sam when Dean had disobeyed John's orders and had gone out, only to come back and find the thing hovering over Sam.

International Titles

 * Finnish: Pahuuden ilmentymä (Manifestation of Evil)
 * French: La Strige (The Shtriga)
 * German: Eine Hexe kehrt zurück (A Witch returns)
 * Italian: Qualcosa di Stregato (Something Wicked)