Scarecrow

Scarecrow is the 11th episode of Season 1. It aired on January 10, 2006.

Summary
A malevolent scarecrow is haunting an Indiana town - and the townspeople are sacrificing humans to its sake.

Recap
Burkitsville, Indiana – One Year Ago

A newlywed couple is leaving after the locals have helped them out when they get lost. The guy has a tattoo that the daughter notices as they make their farewells and leave. Down the road the car and the cell phone both die and they notice a nearby house. They go to check it out and on the way see an ominous-looking scarecrow suspended from a pole. The scarecrow seems to move as they head off into the woods – as they proceed they hear noises behind them and run for their car. The guy disappears and she turns and stumbles over the corpse of her husband. Then a shadowy figure closes in on her.

The Present

In their hotel, the cell phone rings and Sam takes the call – it’s their dad. He assures Sam they’re okay but that they have to trust him – he can’t reveal where he is. He reveals he’s after the thing that killed their mom – a demon. He tells them to stop looking for him and write down a list of names, warning it’s not safe. Dean takes the names, which are of three couples who disappeared over a three year-period on the same day in April. They head to the town where they disappeared, Burkitsville, but Sam decides they’re going to California where their dad is. Dean accuses him of being selfish and takes off without him when Sam insists he go.

Dean pulls into Burkitsville and thinks about calling Sam, but decides against it. He meets with a local man, Scotty, but the man claims not to recognize them. Sam comes across a young hitchhiker, who gets picked up by a guy in a van who refuses to take Sam. Dean isn’t having any luck with the Jorgesons, the couple that the newlyweds met earlier. Their niece Emily recognizes the newlywed husband, Vince, from the tattoo, and her parents then remember them. Dean leaves town but his emf meter goes off as he passes by an orchard. He investigates and spots the scarecrow, holding a sickle. He comments that the scarecrow is "fugly," climbs up and finds the scarecrow has a tattoo on its arm just like Vince’s.

Dean pulls back into town and talks to the daughter, Emily. She reveals that the Jorgesons are her aunt and uncle who took her in when her parents died, and that the town is seemingly “blessed.” He also notices a car belonging to another stranded couple. Sam is unable to get a bus out and meets back up with the female hitchhiker, Meg, and they bond. Dean goes into the café and chats up the couple, despite Scotty’s efforts to keep him away from them. Dean offers to help them fix their brake line, which won’t be fixed until sunset, but they decline. He gives them an ominous warning but they ignore him and Dean contemplates how Sam could have convinced them. Scotty calls the sheriff, who escorts Dean out of town.

Sam and Meg chat over a meal about her background and her issues with her family, and Sam’s similar problem with Dean. Come nightfall, Dean returns into town while the newest couple wanders through the orchard and are stalked by the scarecrow. They run for it and Dean gets in front of them and sends them to their car. He opens up on the scarecrow with a shotgun to no effect but they all get safely back to the car as the scarecrow disappears.

Dean checks in with Sam and they conclude that the scarecrow is a manifestation of a pagan god and takes the couple (fattened up by the locals) as a fertility sacrifice. The two of them kind of apologize and Dean admits Sam has to do his own thing and he admires him for standing up to their dad. Dean meets with a local professor (William B. Davis) who provides information on a Norse god, the Vanir, which the locals of Scandinavian descent imported with them. According to the books its energy springs from a sacred tree. Dean thanks him for his help and goes out…where the sheriff knocks him out.

The townsfolk are discussing what to do with Dean and how the Vanir is angry with them and the sacrifice must be made. It becomes clear that the Jorgesons are going to use Emily for the female sacrifice, and they toss her down into the cellar with Dean.

The bus arrives but Sam decides to go to Burkitsville when he can’t get hold of Dean. Meg tries to get him to come with her but he refuses and heads off. Emily has been ignorant of what’s been going on there and Dean figures they have to destroy the old tree the Vanir is tied to. She knows what tree he means but doesn’t know where the “First Tree” is. Then the locals show up to take them to the orchard and tie them up to trees near the scarecrow/Vanir. Come sunset, Sam arrives and frees them but the scarecrow has disappeared.

The three of them run off through the orchard, planning to come back in the morning, but the locals intercept them. Emily begs her aunt and uncle to let them go but they’re interrupted when the scarecrow kills them both. The townspeople run off and the brothers and Emily get clear. The next morning they find the First Tree, inscribed with runes, and the brothers prepare to torch it. Emily insists on setting it on fire herself and it goes up in flames. Emily takes off on a bus and Sam says he’ll be staying on and they’re going to finish it…together. Later at night, Meg is driving off with some guy in a van and asks him to pull to the side. She pulls out a silver goblet, cuts his throat with a knife, and catches the blood in the cup. She then recites an incantation and questions why she was ordered to let them go. She receives a silent explanation and responds, “Yes – yes, father.”

Characters

 * Sam Winchester
 * Dean Winchester
 * John Winchester
 * Stacey Jorgeson
 * Harley Jorgeson
 * Emily Jorgeson
 * Vanir
 * Meg
 * Scotty
 * Burkittsville Sheriff
 * Holly Parker
 * Vince Parker
 * Steve
 * Pauly

Featured Supernatural Beings

 * Deity (Vanir)
 * Demon (Meg)

Featured Music

 * "Lodi" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
 * "Bad Company" by Bad Company
 * "Puppet" by Colepitz

Trivia

 * Antagonist : Vanir
 * This is the first appearance of Meg in the series.
 * Also the first appearance of the Goblet of Blood in the series.
 * Also the first appearance of a deity.
 * William B. Davis, who plays the local professor Dean confers with, is best known for portraying the Cigarette Smoking Man on the cult Sci-Fi show, The X-Files.
 * The urban legend of this episode seems to be influenced by the plot of the Neil Gaiman sci-fi novel American Gods, in which Odin, Loki and Thor are remanisfested and recruited to fight the New American Gods.
 * This is the first odd-numbered episode not to feature a ghost (althoug, as demons are former human souls, this may not be true).
 * Goof: When Dean is heading for the door after speaking to the local professor, one of the camera's can be seen slightly.

Cultural references
Vince: Check it out. If only I had a brain... Dean: Yahtzee. Stacy: Sweetheart, that's what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good. The town needs to be safe. The good of the many outweighs the good of the one. Spock: Were I to invoke logic, however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few,
 * A reference to the Scarecrow character from the Wizard of Oz book and flim.
 * Yahtzee is a dice made by Milton Bradley. Saying "Yahtzee" has come to mean something goods happens. 
 * Possibly a reference to lines from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Kirk: Or the one.

Dean: Let's just shag ass before Leatherface catches up.


 * Leatherface is one of the family who wears a mask made of human skin and likes wielding a chainsaw in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Continuity

 * The phone call Sam gets from John started at the end of the previous episode

Quotes
Dean: "Dude, you fugly."

Dean : "I hope your apple pie is friggin' worth it!"

Dean: "How did you get here?"

Sam: "I, uhh ... stole a car."

Dean: "HAHAHA! That's my boy!"

Sam: "We're all that's left. You and me."

Dean: "Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful."

International Titles

 * Finnish: Variksenpelätin (Scarecrow)
 * French: L'Épouvantail (Scarecrow)
 * German: Vogelscheuche (Scarecrow)
 * Italian: Lo Spaventapasseri (Scarecrow)
 * Polish: Strach na wróble (Scarecrow)
 * Romanian: Sperietoarea de Ciori (Scarecrow)
 * Hungarian: Madárijesztő (Scarecrow)