Out With The Old is the 16th episode of Season 7. It aired on March 16, 2012.
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! |
After a ballerina is found dead from dancing herself to death, Sam and Dean look into the case and discover the ballet slippers she wore were cursed. When Dean accidentally touches the shoes, the power of the curse starts to take hold of him.
Plot[]
In Portland, several dancers are packing to leave when they note that Irina isn't there. Irina Koganzon comes in late and she smirks, implying she has more talent than they do. After the others leave and only the janitor is left, Irina puts on her shoes, turns on the music, and starts rehearsing. However, she soon discovers that she's unable to stop and the shoes drive her on until she spins out of control. The janitor sees the blood spray on the walls, comes in, and discovers that Irina's feet have been completely blown off, with blood soaking the floor. As the janitor crosses himself, the camera panes down to see the shoes, magically off her feet, which have absolutely no blood on them whatsoever.
Dean calls from Oregon and checks in with Frank, who reports that Dick is financing archaeological digs across the world. He admits that he hasn't found any activity at the coordinates in Wisconsin that Bobby gave them before he died. Sam comes back with coffee and admits that he hasn't been able to sleep with Lucifer yelling inside of his head. He's found an article on Irina's death and figures that something supernatural is involved.
The brothers drive to the Portland police station and finally get the desk sergeant to give them the crime scene photos. He goes to get them. Meanwhile, the evidence officer is bagging the toe shoes, and his daughter Tracy notices them. Her interest piqued, she says that she has to go to the bathroom and he tells her to go on her own. When she goes in, she discovers that the shoes are lying on the floor. After looking around to make sure that no one is there, the girl puts them on and they shrink to fit her.
Sam and Dean go to the evidence room and ask to see the toe shoes, and the officer discovers that Tracy has taken them. He explains that Tracy loves ballet and the brothers run to the bathroom and find her wearing the shoes. They act on their own, causing Tracy to dance. The brothers grab her and try to pull off the shoes, and Dean finally wrests them off.
The Winchesters go to the store where the shoes were purchased according to the tag, "Out With the Old." When they get there, they discover that shoes have jumped from the trunk to the back seat. Sam notes that they're now Dean's and Dean admits that he feels a compulsion to put them on.
A neighboring store owner, Mr. Marshall, is saying goodbye to a real estate investor, Joyce Bicklebee, and her assistant, George. As they leave, George doesn't think that they're going to sell but Joyce is confident that Marshall will get in. As they leave, Sam and Dean arrive and discover that the store is holding an out-of-business sale. They talk to the owner, Scott Freeman, who admits that he sold the shoes and that they were in a box. As Sam examines the box, Dean starts to examine the shoes and his brother yanks them away from him. Scott explains that he found the box in the back and his mother passed away a week ago. As Dean goes to the back, Scott explains that there are more things like them. Dean returns with more boxes and they ask Scott what was in the rest.
At a quiet suburban home, a woman is using the knives to chop up food. As she reaches for an apple, a teapot goes off. The woman picks up the teapot and pours the boiling hot water down her throat.
Scott explains that he found the boxes in a safe covered with mystic sigils, and didn't think they were dangerous. The brothers tell him to get them the names and addresses of all of the buyers and Scott reluctantly provides the information. They go to the first house to get the tea kettle and discover that the woman is dead. They collect the tea kettle and anonymously call in the death, and then split up to collect a gramophone and a vintage gentleman's magazine.
A mother turns on a gramophone but her son Timmy, playing on an iPad, is less than impressed. She takes the laundry upstairs and Timmy hears a voice on the gramophone whispering to him. He finally goes over and puts his ear to the speaker, and his eyes grow blank. He then picks up a kitchen knife and walks toward his mother as she comes back downstairs and sits on the couch. As Timmy prepares to strike, Sam comes in and disarms him, and then takes the gramophone. Dean calls to say that he got the magazine just in time, and Sam doesn't want to know what the victim was doing. Sam says that he'll meet Dean at the store with the gramophone, while Dean puts the magazine in the trunk.
At the store, Scott admits to Dean that he kept pushing his mother to sell the store and figures that he changed her mind. He says that his mother agreed to sell the store to Joyce and then died in a car crash the next day. Dean tells Scott to live the way that he thinks his mother would want him to, puts the items in the safe, and tells Scott not to go near the stuff. As Dean leaves, he notices that Joyce has bought a lot of property in the area.
Joyce calls Mr. Marshall into her office to finish the sale and she continues to ride George. She offers Marshall the papers, saying he can get on with his life with the money he'll make. Marshall tells her that he was planning on selling until she comments about his life, and he refuses to sell. Joyce talks glowingly of the future but when he refuses to buy it, she shakes his hand and there's a crackle of energy. She then transforms into the shape of Marshall and breaks the real Marshall's neck, signs the papers, and transforms back into Joyce. George suggests that she might have been quick on the trigger, warning that Dick doesn't like them calling attention to themselves. Joyce just glares at him and George quickly gives in, and she tells him to take Marshall home and stage an "accidental" fire.
Later, the fire department takes Marshall's body away while Joyce chuckles in satisfaction. When she gets a bad cup of coffee, she warns George that she's had four previous assistants and tells him to get a proper espresso. When George points out that it's all the way across town, Joyce tells him to get going.
As Sam drives to the store, he starts to doze off and plays the music loud on the radio to stay awake. Dean calls from a coffee house and tells him that the company behind Joyce's real estate office, Geothrive Inc., appeared out of nowhere and bought up dozens of stores. Sam tries to focus without success and admits that he's suffering from sleep deprivation, and then hangs up. Dean tries to access Joyce's computer and calls Frank for help when he is blocked by a firewall.
Sam starts to doze off and goes back and forth across the road. He finally passes out and barely manages to swerve in time to avoid an oncoming truck.
George is getting coffee for Joyce and ends up arguing with the barista because he makes it wrong. As he goes, he hears Sam ordering coffee and calls to warn Joyce. George follows Sam to the antique store and wonders if they're there for them, but Joyce says they'd know if the brothers were after them. When George suggests that he eat them, Joyce tells him to come back to the office immediately. When he gets there, Joyce explains that it's her job to eat the Winchesters and make absolutely sure that they're dead because she doesn't trust George. He tries to protest and she tells him to shut up, takes her coffee, and discovers that he messed that up as well.
Frank calls Dean back and tells him that Geothrive Inc. belongs to Dick Roman. They have no idea how it's all connected, and Frank suggests that Dean get out of Portland before the Leviathans realize that they're there. Sam arrives to meet with Dean and it's clear that he's out of it from sleep deprivation. However, Sam admits that it doesn't matter where he goes because Lucifer still talks to him. Scott calls Sam to tell him he looked into one of his mom's old mirrors and now he wants to rip his own face off. However, once he hangs up, Joyce and George tell him that he did the job and then she takes off her scarf and gags him. Joyce says that they'll wait until the Winchesters arrive and then dispose of them.
As George ties up Scott, Joyce tells him that they'll kill him and George will take on his form for the next thirty years to make sure that no one realizes that Scott is dead. The brothers pull up outside with a U-Haul truck for the cursed items and come in to find Joyce and George waiting for them. The Leviathans attacks and Sam fights with George, who whispers to him to dunk him in the bucket of cleanser nearby. He tells Sam to dunk him first and Sam obliges, and then George tells him to grab a sword. Sam breaks it out of the case and decapitates Joyce just as she prepares to kill Dean.
As the brothers clean up, Scott worries that he can't abandon his life. However, the brothers tell him that the Leviathans have a long memory and Scott reluctantly goes. Once he's gone, George explains that he wants to eat Joyce to make sure that she's dead. When they wonder if he's on their side, George explains that it was either kill Joyce or have her boss him around for the rest of his existence. He smiles and assures them that their allies for a moment and the brothers tell him that it's not going to happen. Sam puts the sword to his neck and they demand to know what Dick is doing in Wisconsin. George explains that Joyce was getting impatient about killing people and that the big picture is that Dick is buying property everywhere. He tells them to keep their heads down but Dean tells him to explain what's going on or they'll apply more of the chemical. The ex-assistant gives in and explains that Dick is building a research center for disease in Wisconsin, and they're going to cure cancer. When the Winchesters wonder why the Leviathans want to cure cancer, George says that they're only there to help.
The next day, the Winchesters head out with the cursed items and Dean tells Sam to get some sleep. They drive to Frank's RV but get no answer when they knock. The brothers break in and discover that someone has torn up the place. The walls are covered in blood and there's no sign of Frank, alive or dead.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
Recurring Cast[]
Co-Stars[]
- Kevin R. McNally as Frank Devereaux
- Mary Page Keller as Joyce Bickleebee
- Darcy Belsher as Scott Freeman
- Bryan Cuprill as George
- Carmen Smith-Morpurgo as Dancer #1
- Emma Rendell as Dancer #2
- Lindsay Ann Sutton as Irina Koganzon
- Cameron Dent as Evidence Officer
- Dave Leach as Barista
- Roger Barton as Mr. Marshall and Joyce Bickleebee
- Allyson Grant as Timmy's Nanny
- Howard Lai as Himself
- Gordon Grice as Timmy
- Taya Clyne as Tracy
- Javier Caballero Cano as Janitor
- Sarah Hayward as Tea Kettle Victim
- Peter Brown as Student (uncredited)
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
- Archangel (Lucifer, mentioned only)
- Leviathans (Joyce Bickleebee, George; Dick Roman, mentioned only)
Trivia[]
- Antagonists: The Leviathans.
- This is the first appearance of the Leviathans since Death's Door.
- Frank Devereaux last appeared in Adventures In Babysitting.
- This episode was originally titled Another Man's Treasure.
- When tempted by the ballet shoes, Sam asks Dean, "You okay there, Baryshnikov?" This is a reference to Russian-born male ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. Dean's response, "Yeah. I'm pas de done." is a play on the ballet term for a duet, pas de deux.
- Bad Moon Rising was heard when Frank Devereaux was implied to have been killed by the leviathans. The last time it had been heard was Devil's Trap, when the Impala was hit by a truck, resulting in the events which lead to John Winchester's death In My Time of Dying.
- Frank tells Dean that Dick Roman is funding an archeological dig. This is further mentioned in Of Grave Importance and explored in The Girl With The Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo and Reading Is Fundamental where its revealed that Dick is searching for the Leviathan Tablet.
- Second appearance of the 1977/78 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, Idaho plates: SD 4420E.
Featured Music[]
- Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Cultural References[]
Dean: I saw Black Swan... twice.
- Referencing the 2010 psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as rival ballet dancers. The two dancers compete for the role of the White Swan in Swan Lake, and Portman's character grows increasingly obsessed with the role when she is required to perform both parts and unleash the dark side of herself to win the position.
Sam: He's singing Stairway to Heaven right now.
- Referencing the 1971 song by Led Zeppelin. The 8-minute song was ranked #3 by VH1 on its 2000 list of Greatest Rock Songs
Sam calls the police to report the woman who was killed by the cursed teapot dead. They ask his name and he thinks a moment and says it's Bruce Hornsby.
- Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer and keyboardist known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances. Hornsby has achieved recognition for his solo albums and performances, his touring band Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers, his bluegrass project with Ricky Skaggs and his appearances as a session- and guest-musician. He also collaborated with Grateful Dead and was a member of the band from September 1990 to March 1992, playing at over 100 shows during that period.
Quotes[]
- Sam: It doesn't matter where I go Dean. Lucifer will not shut up.
- Dean: Even now?
- Sam: He's singing Stairway to Heaven right now.
- Dean: Good song.
- Sam: Not fifty times in a row.
- Dean: You know, I wonder how old porn kills you.
- Sam: Pretty sure you don't want to know.
- Dean: Frank, hey, I don't mean to double-dip in your crazy sauce. No offense.
- Frank: None taken, Fudge Pop.
- Dean: Dancers. They are toe shoes full of crazy. I saw Black Swan twice... Hot tutu on tutu action. Come on Sam, what's wrong with you?
International Titles[]
- German: Von schwarzen Schwänen (About Black Swans)
- Hungarian: Álmatlanság (Insomnia)
- Italian: Fuori il vecchio (Out the old)