Hook Man is the 7th episode of Season 1. It aired on October 25, 2005.
Summary[]
There was something about being there... It felt pure. This episode summary is an official CW press release. It may contain errors. DO NOT CHANGE! |
The infamous "Hookman," a vengeful spirit who kills his victims with a shiny hook that serves as his hand, terrorizes a small college town in Iowa. Sam and Dean learn that all the victims are connected to the daughter of a local minister and race to find and destroy the Hook Man's bones before he comes for them.
Plot[]
THETA SORORITY, EASTERN IOWA UNIVERSITY- We see two girls discussing clothes in their room. One, a girl named Lori tries on a top lent to her by her roommate (which is more revealing than she is used to) and then goes to meet her boyfriend.
9 MILE ROAD, UNDER A BRIDGE, NIGHT TIME- A 4x4 pulls up and we see it is Lori and her guy Rich. They start to kiss but Lori's phone rings. It is her dad, so she doesn't pick up and continues to kiss. Rich tries to put his hands under Lori's top, but she resists - he puts a bit of pressure on her. We see a figure in the shadows, watching. He has a hook, and scratches it along two nearby road signs before vanishing. Rich and Lori hear the noise and Rich goes to investigate.
Something invisible attacks the car and we see the tires burst and an elongated scratch along the bodywork. Lori locks herself in and screams. After a while when it has gone silent, Lori gets out of the car and finds Rich's body hanging upside down from the bridge, blood pooling under him.
OUTSIDE A CAFÉ, DAYTIME- Dean and Sam are still making enquiries about their dad. Sam comes off a public phone and Dean shows him a newspaper clipping about an invisible attack on a car in Iowa. They decide to investigate.
EASTERN IOWA UNIVERSITY- Dean and Sam arrive and pose as frat brothers from out of state. They ask for a room in the frat house and are put in with a guy named Murph. They ask him about the killing and he tells them Rich was with his girlfriend Lori Sorenson the night he died. He also says Lori is the local Reverend's daughter.
CHURCH- Reverend Sorenson is giving Rich's service when Dean and Sam walk in. They wait and talk with Lori afterwards. They ask questions and Sam tells her he knows how she feels to see someone hurt. Lori introduces them to her dad. Dean distracts the Reverend while Sam asks Lori more about what happened. She says she must have been seeing things and that no one believes her.
LIBRARY- Sam and Dean talk about a "Hookman" legend and look at arrest records all the way back to 1851. Sam finds a case where a preacher named Jacob Karns, who had lost his hand in an accident, murdered 13 prostitutes in 1862 with a silver hook he wore on his stump. It all happened on 9 Mile Road where Rich was killed.
OUTSIDE UNIVERSITY- Lori argues with her dad in the car. He wants her to live at home but she tells him no, she's old enough to make her own choices, and goes back to her dorm. She heads to her room where her roommate is already asleep, so to avoid disturbing her, Lori gets ready for bed in the dark.
9 MILE ROAD, UNDER THE BRIDGE- Sam and Dean check the crime scene and are prepared with a shotgun full of rock salt. It won't kill the spirit of Karns, but it will deter him. They hear a rustle in the bushes - but it's not the "Hookman", it is the cops, and the brothers get arrested.
NEXT MORNING, LORI'S ROOM- Lori awakens to find her roommate dead in bed in a pool of blood. There is a message on the wall in blood that says "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?". Underneath is a symbol made up of crosses.
POLICE STATION- Dean has told the sheriff Sam was a "dumbass pledge" and that they were hazing him. The sheriff believes the story and lets them go. Suddenly, cops come running from the station and speed off in their cars. Sam and Dean follow and find a new crime scene. Lori is there and the cops think she is somehow involved. They reluctantly let her dad take her home, though, after he insists they either arrest her or let her go.
Meanwhile, Sam and Dean climb through a window and check the crime scene. From the smell and the symbol painted on the wall they say it's a spirit, and "classic Hookman". The pair go back outside and are convinced it's the ghost of Jacob Karns they're dealing with. They now need to find the body, salt and burn it. Sam says Karns is somewhere in Old North Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
UNIVERSITY PARTY- Sam shows Dean articles from both 1932 and 1967 about priests who were blamed for murders involving a sharp weapon. The boys think either Lori's dad is summoning the Hookman or the Hookman has latched onto the reverend's repressed emotions and is feeding off them. Dean goes to find the Hookman's unmarked grave while Sam goes to keep an eye on Lori.
CEMETERY, NIGHT- Dean is searching and feels like he's being watched. He finds a grave marked with the symbol that was carved on the bedroom wall and begins digging, making the quip, "Next time, I get to watch the cute girl's house". His spade hits a coffin.
LORI'S HOUSE- Sam is watching Lori from outside. He sees her arguing with her dad through the window, then the light goes out and Lori joins Sam. He tells her he's watching because he's worried about her.
CEMETERY- Dean salts and burns Jacob Karns' bones and says, "Goodbye, Preacher."
LORI'S HOUSE- Lori tells Sam she just found out her dad is having an affair with a married woman and she's obviously upset, saying he's a hypocrite and is going against God. She hugs Sam and then goes to kiss him. After a moment, Sam pulls away and says he can't. Lori's dad comes out and calls her in when suddenly the Hookman appears and attacks him from behind, dragging him in the house. Sam gives chase with shotgun and stops Hookman killing Lori's dad by shooting him with rock salt. The Hookman vanishes.
HOSPITAL- Lori's dad is being tended. Sam tells the sheriff about the Hookman, leaving out the fact that he's a ghost. Dean arrives and they talk. Sam wants to know why Dean didn't burn the bones, because the Hookman is still around. Dean says he did, and they realize they need to find and destroy the original hook. They also realize the Hookman was latched onto Lori, not her dad. Dean makes the comment, "Remind me not to piss this girl off".
LIBRARY- The brothers research prison records and find the hook was sent back to the church when Karns was executed for murder in 1862: Lori's dad's church. Sam finds the hook was then re-forged by the church, but it doesn't say what into.
CHURCH- Sam and Dean arrive and search for anything silver. They toss everything that is into the church furnace. There's a noise upstairs and when they check they find it's Lori. Sam stays with her while Dean goes back to finish the melting of the silver. Lori blames herself for the Hookman's appearance and is crying, which is building a resentment towards herself which will summon the Hookman. Sam tries to console her, but the Hookman appears again and attacks them. They run, and Sam tries to protect Lori, but gets hooked through the arm. Dean arrives on-scene and shoots the Hookman with salt again. He vanishes, and they realize the silver from the hook has yet to be melted. It's a cross on Lori's neck; a church heirloom given to her by her father. Dean takes the cross to melt and gives Sam the shotgun.
Sam tries to fight off the Hookman, even though he's hurt, but the ghost takes the gun away and is about to kill them when the cross melts in the furnace and he vanishes in a shower of sparks.
OUTSIDE- Sam is getting his arm tended by paramedics while Dean spins a yarn to the sheriff. Lori is there and thanks Sam. Dean gets in the Impala and watches. He knows Sam liked Lori. Sam gets in the car and Dean says that they could stay there, but Sam shakes his head and they ride off once again into the sunet.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
Recurring Cast[]
Co-Stars[]
- Sean Millington as Jacob Karns
- Jane McGregor as Lori Sorensen
- Christie Laing as Taylor
- Dan Butler as Reverend Sorensen
- Brian Skala as Rich
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
Deaths[]
- Rich
- 13 prostitutes (mentioned only)
- Jacob Karns (Human, mentioned only)
- Taylor
- Jacob Karns (Violent Spirit)
Trivia[]
- The CW's official summary mistakenly calls "Hookman" a vengeful spirit, when in fact he is a violent spirit.
- This the first and only time the Impala's spotlight was used when driving up to investigate the murder site on 9 Mile Road. The Impala's spotlight on the car was removed in Season 3.
- When Dean is burning the preacher's remains, the classic Star Wars blaster sound effect can be heard as the remains begin to burn.
Featured Music[]
- "Higher Mathematics" by Split Habit
- "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" by Quiet Riot
- "Noise" by Low Five
- "At Rest" by APM
- "Royal Bethlehem" by APM
- "U Do 2 Me" by Paul Richard
- "Peace of Mind" by Boston
- "Dancing On A Wire" by Keygrip
- "Operated On" by Union of Knives
Cultural References[]
- The way that Lori's roommate was killed is a reference to the urban legend, "Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn On the Light?" Sam and Dean erroneously describe it as part of the Hook Man legend.
"Eastern Iowa University" is a fictional location created by sci-fi author Stephen Bury.
This is the first episode to feature the brothers successfully salting and burning a ghost's bones. In previous episodes, the remains were unavailable, forcing Sam and Dean to use alternate methods to end the hauntings.
Sam: Or it could be nothing at all. One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man.
- The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells, first published in 1897. The story tells the tale of a scientist named Griffin who learns the secret to invisibility. However, he fails to learn how to reverse the process.
Dean: Nice job, Dr. Venkman.
- Dr. Peter Venkman is the character Bill Murray played in Ghostbusters flim series.
Dean: Saved your ass! Talked the sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock.
- Ben Matlock is an attorney played by Andy Griffith in the TV show Matlock.
Dean: Dude, sorority girls. Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?
- Reference to National Lampoon's Animal House where in a scene the character Bluto, played by John Belushi, gets to see some sorority girls in a naked pillow fight.
The Hook Man's cross is a Jerusalem cross.
Lori: Too Martha Stewart?
- Martha Stewart is a television personality best known for her household product lines and designs.
Quotes[]
- Dean: "Your half-caf, double vanilla latte is getting cold over here, Frances."
- Dean: "Remind me not to piss this girl off."
International Titles[]
- Czech: Muž s hákem (Man with the Hook)
- Brazil: O Homem-Gancho (The Hook Man)
- Finnish: Koukkumies (Hook Man)
- French: L'Homme au crochet (The Hook Man)
- German: Hakenmann (Hook Man)
- Italian: L'uomo uncino (The Hook Man)
- Polish: Człowiek z hakiem (Man with the Hook)
- Romanian: Omul Cârlig (The Hook Man)
- Hungarian: Kampókéz (Hook Hand)
External Links[]
- "Supernatural: "Hook Man" Review", IGN review.