Mint Condition

Season	Episode	Overall
14	4	291

Series

Supernatural

Airdate

November 1, 2018

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The Scar	Nightmare Logic

Mint Condition is the 4th episode of Season 14. It aired on November 1, 2018.

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!

Dean continues to struggle. Meanwhile, Sam must think fast when action figures come to life, and our heroes find themselves living in a real-life horror movie.

Plot[]

In Salem, Ohio, at the "Smash! Pow! Collectibles" comic book shop, an employee, Stuart Blake, is unpacking merchandise when he comes across a 15” inch Panthro figure that he decides to steal. He gets a call from his manager, Samantha Juarez, who talks to him about a bad review the store got on Yelp because he got into a fight with a customer. She appreciates his passion, but tells Stuart they need all the customers they can get. He agrees, hangs up, takes his backpack with Panthro and the keys, and locks up. At home, he’s arguing with the pizza man when Panthro comes to life and attacks.

At the Bunker, Dean has been watching movies and eating pizza in his room for almost a week when a clean-shaven Sam comes in with a case specially chosen to appeal to Dean. Sam shows Dean a video of Stuart talking about getting attacked by a Panthro figure. When Sam offers to give it to someone else, Dean jumps up, eager to stop the ThunderCat.

On Halloween, Sam and Dean arrive at the comic shop. Dean notes the similarities between Sam and Samantha, but Sam also points out Dean’s similarities with Dirk Winchell, the other owner of the shop. At first, Dean disagrees, but then Dean and Dirk bond over a life-size figure of David Yaeger, aka Hatchet Man from the movie series All Saints' Day. Posing as insurance agents, the boys ask Samantha how to find Stuart and she directs them to his mother's house where he is now living.

At Stuart’s mom’s house, Stuart denies the story about Panthro attacking him and demands they leave, but not before letting it slip he dated and dumped a Wiccan. Dean thinks they may be dealing with a witch who has cursed Stuart. They decide to wait until Stuart and his mother leave to check the house for hex bags. After Stuart's mother, Barbra, leaves and just as Sam and Dean are wondering how to get Stuart out of the house, Stuart staggers out the front door, bloody and screaming for help. As Sam tends to Stuart's wounds, Dean checks the house, and has to dodge the bloody flying chainsaw that attacked Stuart, which becomes embedded in the basement wall.

At the hospital, Stuart is recovering from the attack and Dean reveals that he did not find hex bags, but that his EMF "went freakin' crazy" indicating that they are dealing with a ghost. Dean stays at the hospital with Stuart and his mom, while Sam checks their house. At the Blake residence, Sam finds that no EMF, so he goes to the comic shop to asks about recent deaths. Samantha reveals to Sam that Jordan MacNeel, the previous store owner that left the shop to Samantha and Dirk, had died recently of cancer and that his body was cremated. Suddenly, Sam notices the glass in the shop icing over as it gets cold, and he checks the EMF meter, which goes off like crazy. Sam is then attacked by the David Yaeger figure, which knocks out Sam and attacks Samantha. Dirk, who came to see his friend Stuart, and Dean are having fun discussing horror movies, when Sam calls to tell Dean that the Hatchet Man is coming for Stuart because he steals from the shop which angered Jordan's ghost. Dean puts Dirk and Stuart in a salt ring and goes to get a weapon.

As Dean searches the hospital, Dirk is scared out of the circle by Jordan's ghostly presence affecting the electricity and he confronts the possessed figure, which starts to go after him instead of Stuart's mother. The oblivious hospital security guards watch All Saints' Day while Dirk is chased through the hospital by the figure, mimicking the movie.

At the comic book shop, where Sam and Samantha are locked inside, Sam rigs a homemade bomb in a Scooby-Doo lunchbox to get him and Samantha out. Dirk runs into Dean in the morgue, where David magically rises from a table and Dean is thrilled. Sam and Samantha arrive at the hospital and figure out that Jordan’s spirit is connected to the shop's keychain. Dean gives Jordan an ultimatum: to give up his revenge and walk into the light or Dean will send him there. When Jordan responds by pressing the button on the Hatchet Man figure, telling Dean "Time to slice and dice," Dean and Jordan face off. Jordan gets the upper hand, but Dirk stabs him through the back before he can kill Dean. When David turns to attack Dirk, Dean has to save him, and he ends up being choked by the figure as Sam and Samantha appear. Sam has Dean throw him the keychain, then both Sam and Samantha work together to burn the keys and release the spirit.

As they drive home, Dean thanks Sam for getting him out of his funk. Sam lets Dean know he did the right thing with Michael, and no one blames him. Dean replies he won’t get over it, but he’s there for Sam, whatever he needs. Dean then asks why Sam hates Halloween. Turns out, when Sam was young, he threw up all over his crush at a Halloween party. Dean tells him he needs to get over that, and suggests that next year they do Halloween right and begins to list couples’ costumes for next Halloween to help Sam overcome his aversion.

In the morgue at the hospital, a security guard finds the David Yaeger figure and as he shines his flashlight onto it, the Hatchet Man figure lets out a final "Trick or Treat?"

Characters[]

Main Cast[]

Recurring Cast[]

Featured Supernatural Beings[]

Archangel (Alternate Michael, mentioned only)
Nephilim (Jack Kline, mentioned only)
Seraphim (Castiel, mentioned only)
Vampires (mentioned only)
Vengeful Spirit (Jordan MacNeel)
Werewolves (mentioned only)
Witches (mentioned only)

Continuity[]

A ghost was previously featured in Season 13's Scoobynatural.
A fire axe was previously featured in Season 9's Alex Annie Alexis Ann.
This is the first episode of the season, and the first since the episode Scoobynatural, to not feature any recurring guest stars.
Two of the clips in the Slasher Week movie marathon advertisement at the beginning of the episode are clearly taken from the Season 1 episodes Route 666 and Hell House. The Route 666 clip is in reference to the in-universe movie Monster Truck, which was featured on a poster in Season 2's Hollywood Babylon.

Trivia[]

The episode was watched by 1.46 million viewers and got a 0.4 rating.
"Mint condition" is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state.
- It is also the name of the American R&B band.
David Yaeger/ Hatchet Man is a combination of multiples slashers from horror movies:
- He wears blue coveralls like Michael Myers from Halloween.
- He uses one-liners like Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare On Elm Street. Also, his last name, Yaeger, is an subtle hommage to Krueger.
- Jordan MacNeel controls a chainsaw that destroys a poster of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. In that movie, Leatherface uses a chainsaw.
- Jordan MacNeel possess a life-size doll of Hatchet Man like Chucky from Child’s Play.
- His face strongly resembles Jason Voorhees from Friday The 13th.
- He uses two small hatchets like Victor Crowley from Hatchet. Also his name, Hatchet Man, is an hommage to that series.
- He wears a half mask like Hannibal Lecter from Silence Of The Lambs.
One of the mugs that Sam and Dean used is the head of the Flash. The Flash is a fellow The CW show.
Samantha, Dirk, and Stuart Blake were meant to mirror Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, and Castiel respectively.
In the store, Sam and Dean pass by a lifestatue of Red Hood. In the 2010 movie Batman: Under the Red Hood, Jensen voiced Jason Todd, aka Red Hood.
Three co-stars present in this episode portrayed another character from previous episodes:
- Genevieve Buechner previously appeared as Lily Shoemaker in Bloody Mary.
- Kurt Ostlund previously portrayed Billy in Mother's Little Helper.
- Ingrid Tesch previously was cast as Bonnie Phelps in Phantom Traveler.