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Metamorphosis is the 4th episode of Season 4. It aired on October 9th, 2008.

Summary[]

Dean Purgatory Blade.png 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!

Sam and Dean discover that Jack Montgomery (guest star Dameon Clark), a family man, is turning into a Rugaru, a creature that starts as a human but changes into a flesh-eating monster. The people who are infected don't understand what is happening until they turn into cannibals and eat another person. Understanding what it is like to be a victim of a twisted destiny, Sam believes he can reason with Jack and convince him to control his urges. Dean doesn't think Jack's animalistic behavior can be subdued and decides the only honorable thing to do is to shoot him.

Plot[]

Sam and Ruby are holding a demon captive. Sam demands information on Lilith's whereabouts, but the demon simply responds by taunting Sam. Sam uses his psychic powers to exorcise the demon and send it to hell. The man who was possessed survives, and Sam is helping him when Dean appears. Following Castiel's directions (given at the end of In The Beginning), Dean has seen everything.

RubyDeanSpar2

Sam referees Ruby and Dean.

He is shocked to find out that the woman with Sam is Ruby, and he attacks her with the demon-killing knife, but she slams him on a wall before Sam intervenes and orders Ruby to take the man to hospital.

Later, Sam is waiting worriedly back at the hotel room when Dean storms in and starts packing. Sam asks if he's leaving and grabs his arm as he heads toward the door.

IWasHere2

Slightly bloodied Sam tries to explain himself.

Dean responds by punching him - twice. He's angry that Sam is using his powers, but Sam responds that he has been saving people, and that after Dean died, he kept fighting the only way he could.

GodSaysNo4

Unconvinced, Dean tries to tell him that God doesn't approve

Dean is not convinced and asks why an angel had to inform him, to Sam's confusion. Dean then tells Sam that Castiel had warned him to stop Sam or he would, he tells Sam that this means God wants him to stop as well. They are interrupted when Sam's phone rings, with information on a case from a hunter called Travis.

On the way to meet Travis, Dean tells Sam about his trip back in time and what he learned about their parents. Dean is shocked to find out Sam has known that he was fed demon's blood as an infant, for over a year, and is scornful about the apparent list of things that Sam has failed to tell him about.

HungryJackBinoc

The boys observe Jack as he devours raw meat.

In Carthage, Missouri, the boys observe Jack Montgomery, a seemingly normal guy, until he starts ravenously consuming raw meat. Travis, who knew the Winchesters when the boys were young, tells them that he killed Jack's father, who was a rugaru in 1978, but that he did not know that Jack's mother was pregnant at the time, and that she later put him up for adoption. Sam does some research and insists that it might be possible for Jack to resist the transformation into a rugaru.

ScrapStop3

Sam tries to explain his struggle to Dean.

As they travel to talk to Jack, Dean charges Sam with over-identifying with Jack. Sam orders Dean to stop the car. He tells Dean how hard it has been, living with the knowledge that he is contaminated with demon blood, and that he is trying to make the best of it.

The boys try to talk to Jack, they tell him of his and his real father's status as a Rugaru as well what will happen if he consumes human flesh. Taken aback by the unbelievable story, he orders them to leave his property or he'll call the authorities. They trail Jack, and that night see him about to attack a woman, but he resists his urges and heads home.

JackReflect

Jack catches a reflection of his emerging trait, and resists it.

Travis, without consulting Sam and Dean, has broken into Jack's home, and holds his wife Michelle hostage and learns that she is also pregnant. When Jack arrives, Travis overpowers him and ties him up, intent, though regretfully, on burning them both alive. Jack breaks free and attacks Travis, whom he kills by eating from his neck, completing his transformation into a monster. Travis' body is eaten until there's little left but the bloodstain.

RugaruJack1

Jack succumbs after Travis tries to burn his wife.

Sam and Dean arrive and a fight ensues that leaves both Winchesters unconscious. Sam wakes locked in a closet, and he encourages Jack to resist his urges as he tries to break out - using a coat hanger rather than his powers. But Jack can't resist and is about to eat Dean as Sam escapes and incinerates him.

In the Impala, Dean apologizes to Sam for being hard on him, but Sam responds by saying he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. He says he has made a choice, not for Dean or God but for himself, to stop using his powers.

SamsDone

Sam's decided not to use his powers anymore.

Characters[]

Main Cast[]

Recurring Cast[]

Co-Stars[]

Title[]

  • The title could refer to Jack's adaptation into a rugaru.
  • The title could refer to Sam's evolving dark side.

Featured Supernatural Beings[]


Continuity[]

  • This is the first episode where Dean refers to Castiel as "Cas".
  • The episode continues shortly after where the previous one left off, with Castiel issuing a warning to Dean about Sam.
  • Though Sam vows that he is giving up his powers, he later relapses due their addictive nature and his declining mental health.
  • Dean stating God doesn't want Sam using his powers turns out to be true in The Monster at the End of This Book, where it is revealed Chuck Shurley, who is really God, didn't put his habits in his books. Although it should be noted that years later it's revealed that everything was planned and watched by Chuck, so it stands to reason that Sam's powers were part of that plan as well.

Trivia[]

  • This is the last episode in the series to be directed by Kim Manners (January 13, 1951 – January 25, 2009).
  • Jack's struggle mirrors Sam's: both have an inner nature that pushes them to do bad things, but prefer to be good. Sam tries extremely hard to save Jack because he sees the parallels to his own struggles and wants to believe that Jack - and therefore he himself - can continue to be good despite their circumstances.
  • Jack Montgomery resided in Carthage, Missouri, the same town that Lucifer later choses to conduct the ritual to summon Death in the Season 5 episode Abandon All Hope....
  • The CW's official summary misspells Jared Padalecki as Jared Padalekci.

Deaths[]

Errors[]

  • 23 minutes into the episode, the Impala is shown with the "KAZ 2Y5" license plate from the early seasons. This is most likely a goof caused by editors using a shot from earlier in the series, as in the very next shot Sam and Dean are wearing different clothes.
  • Travis told Sam and Dean the only way to take Rugaru's down was with fire, but said he killed Jack Montgomery's father by shooting him with eight bullets.
  • During the scene where Travis has Michelle Montgomery tied up, actor Ron Lea (who plays Travis) calls Joanne Kelly (who plays Michelle) by her real name instead of her character's name.

Featured Music[]

  • "Phillip's Theme" by Hound Dog Taylor and The Houserockers

Quotes[]

  • Dean: "Sam loves research. He does. He keeps it under his mattress with his KY."

  • Sam: "We need to talk."
  • Jack: "About?"
  • Sam: "About you. About how you're changing."
  • Jack: "Excuse me?"
  • Dean: "You're probably feeling your bones moving under your skin. And your appetite's reaching, you know, Hungry, Hungry Hippo levels. How am I doing so far?"

  • Jack: "Are you guys listening to yourselves? You sound like you're—"
  • Dean: "Let's skip the whole 'You guys sound crazy!', shall we? You're hungry, Jack. You're only gonna get hungrier."
  • Jack: "Hungry for...?"
  • Dean: "Long pig. A little 'Manburger Helper'—may have crossed your mind already."
  • Jack: [disbelieving] "...No. No."
  • Sam: "It doesn't have to be like this, Jack. You can fight it off. Others have."
  • Jack: [still disbelieving] "No."
  • Dean: We're not gonna lie to you, though. It's not gonna be easy. You're gonna feel like an alcoholic swimming around in whiskey. But I'm tellin' you, you gotta say 'no'. Or..."
  • Jack: [belligerent] "Or what?"
  • Sam: "You feed once, and it's all over... and then we'll have to stop you."
  • Jack: "...'Stop me'?" [belligerent] "My dad, did, uh... somebody 'stop him'?"
  • Sam: "...Yes."

Gallery[]

International Titles[]

  • German: Metamorphose (Metamorphosis)
  • Brazil: Metamorfose (Metamorphosis)
  • Hungarian: Átváltozások (Metamorphoses)
  • French: Métamorphose (Metamorphosis)
  • Polish: Przemiana (Change)

External Links[]

Navigational[]

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