Playthings is the 11th episode of Season 2. It premiered on January 18th, 2007.
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! |
Sam and Dean investigate two strange deaths at a small Connecticut inn run by a single mom (guest star Annie Wersching) whose young daughter (guest star Matreya Fedor) plays with an imaginary friend. The brothers find evidence of voodoo around the inn, but soon realize the little girl's imaginary friend may in fact be a demon who is killing the townspeople.
Plot[]
A delivery truck pulls up to the Pierpont Inn., a single mother named Susan Thompson meets with delivery man who came to pick up the items that are being sold. She is closing down the in due to low investments and short income, thus giving her the decision of selling the inn. Her daughter, Tyler, was disappointed and consuls with her sister named Maggie Thompson. She goes into her room and over to a big dollhouse. Her entire room has dolls in it. She puts one of the dolls into a chair and then goes on to put more of them into their beds, saying good night to them as she does. Then she goes back and sees that the chair is now empty. She looks around the house and then finds the doll lying at the bottom of the stairs with its head twisted around. She hears a scream outside her room.
Her mother is on the phone, talking to the police urgently. The packing man is next to her on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He's dead, his head twisted around. There is a doll lying next to him. Her mother tells her not to look, but she stays anyway.
Peoria, Illinois.
There are missing posters of Ava Wilson on the walls of the motel. Sam and Den have been talking to their contacts to give them updates and have them scout for Ava. They even searched through federal, state, and local information regarding the whereabouts of Ava, but they ended up with nothing. While they are still searching Sam notifies Dean from Ellen saying that Pierpont Inn had been recently reported of deaths with a women drowning in bathtub and a delivery man with his head twisted. Dean reminscened about how a demon got its hands on Ava, and Sam assures him they will save her and the folks in the hotel.
Cornwall, Connecticut
Sam and Dean arrive at the Pierpont Inn hotel, much to Dean's astonishment of its luxurious features despite being a old building. He says this is an old-school kind of a haunted place. Sam notices a pattern on a plant vase called a quincunx, a type of spotted feature used in hoodoo techniques and practices. The brothers enter the premises and meet Susan, who mistakes them for a couple. They clear up the misunderstanding, telling Susan they are brothers. Sam and Dean meet Sherwin, the elderly bellman for the inn, and Susan's daughters, Tyler and Maggie. While Sherwin is showing them to their rooms, he gives the brothers a brief history of the place, telling them some of the worlds most famous people, including Vice Presidents, stayed here during its prime. Susan is closing up the inn due to the declining number of guests visiting.
Once the brothers settle in, Sam goes over the names of the victims who've died in the inn, all of which are related to the closure of the hotel. They narrow their suspicions as being Sherwin since he claimed to be the one who grew up in the inn. They investigate the hotel further, discovering more quincunx in the furniture. They see Susan and notice a set of antique dolls, and one of them happens to have its head twisted. Tyler walks right in, claiming that she found it just like that, and warned that her grandmother, Rose Thompson, would get mad if she found out that her dolls were broken. Susan reveals that her mother is sick, and refuses to take visitors. The brothers comes to conclude that Rose might be a witch doctor who refuses to have her place be sold.
Meanwhile, Susan is checking up with realtor who has come from the company that bought the hotel, and she asks him what kind of renovations they're planning. He replies that they're going to demolish the hotel.
Tyler is playing with her dolls and tea set. There is a doll sitting on a bed in exactly the same position as the actual man from the sales company is in his own room. A door behind the doll starts to open, and at the same time the same thing is happening with the man. Tyler suddenly turns around and looks at the dollhouse and sees that the doll is now hanging from its neck. The same thing has happened to the sales man, he is hanging from the fan in his room.
Dean and Sam notice police and ambulance carrying away the body of the realtor. While Dean went down to check on Susan, Sam has been drinking himself to mend his sorrows. Dean caught on and puts Sam to sleep while he goes down to the hotel's bar area where he meets with Sherwin. The bellman tells Dean of the story about the Pierpont Inn being the only home to Rose. He also told Dean about Rose's nanny, Marie, who notices the same symbol as the one on the furnitures.
The next morning, Sam suffers from a killer hangover while Dean informs him of Rose's nanny wearing a necklace with the same quincunx symbol as on the furniture. The brothers decide to investigate Rose. They finally met the elderly Rose, only to discover that she is in a wheelchair and she is unable to respond to them, making them realize that she has had a stroke. Susan walks in, and tells them to leave or she will call the police. Reluctantly, the brothers are forced to check out. Susan tells her daughter to start packing even though Tyler refuses to do so, saying that Maggie doesn't want them to leave. Susan is unaware that Maggie is someone only Tyler can see and has been with them this entire time
Susan is carrying boxes to start packing more items while Tyler is playing up in the playroom until she notices that the swing on the tiny swingset starts swinging. Outside, Susan sees the swings swinging by themselves and the seesaw starts moving as well. More of the playground equipment starts moving and as Susan backs up, she notices the car behind her start moving. She starts to run and just as the car is about to hit her, Sam jumps out from the side and knocks her aside.
The brothers explained that the strange events that have been occurring over the past few months was the result of a ghost. Susan tells the brothers that her mother had a stroke about a month ago. The brothers theorizes that Rose put the symbols on the furniture as means of spirit repellant and warns Susan to take her employees and her daughters out. Much to Susan's confusion, she reveals that she only has one daughter: Tyler. The brothers thought that Tyler had a sister named Maggie until Susan reveals that Maggie's imaginary. The brothers confirmed that Maggie is the ghost that's been haunting the hotel. Susan explains that Maggie was Rose's older sister, a little girl who lived at the Pierpont Inn who tragically died by drowning in the pool. They search for Tyler until they spotted her at the old hotel pool. Maggie pushes her and locked the doors and glass shut, trying to drown the girl until Rose telepathically called her name. Maggie disappears as the brothers successfully breaks in and saves Tyler from getting drowned.
To save her granddaughter's life, Rose offered to die and serve as Maggie's companion, so the spirit would not be alone. Maggie accepts and Rose died of another stroke. Susan takes Tyler away and gives her thanks to Sam and Dean while she hugs Sam before they drive off. The brothers leave the hotel, now resided by both the spirits of Rose and Maggie.
Characters[]
Main Cast[]
Recurring Cast[]
Co-Stars[]
- Annie Wersching as Susan Thompson
- Matreya Fedor as Tyler Thompson
- Conchita Campbell as Maggie Thompson
- Brenda McDonald and Talia Williams as Rose Thompson
- John R. Taylor as Sherwin
- Jonathan Bruce as Larry Williams
- Rob Bruner as Mr. Witherspoon
Featured Supernatural Beings[]
- Ghost (Rose Thompson)
- Primordial Entity (God, mentioned only))
- Sasquatch (mentioned only)
- Vengeful Spirit (Maggie Thompson)
Trivia[]
- When Dean returns to the hotel room and finds Sam drunk he says "Come on, time for bed, let's go, Sasquatch", Sasquatch is Jensen Ackles' nickname for Jared Padalecki in real life.
- Dean hopes that he and Sam can meet Fred and Daphne from "Scooby-Doo." That is what will happen in "Scoobynatural."
Errors[]
- When Susan Thompson warns Sam and Dean to "get out or I'll call the cops," the shot of them driving away is recycled at the episode's conclusion. However, an oversight occurs as Susan is still visible on the left side of the screen and is not fully cropped out during this reused sequence.
- During Sam's hangover, when he is barfing in the toilet, if you look at his right hand, it is wearing a watch and out of the cast, but when you look back later, it is still in the cast.
- Looking carefully, you can see that the picture is mirrored: The cast can be seen at what appears to be his left hand.
- Also during this scene, Dean is standing on opposite sides of the doorway, depending on the shot.
- This is not an error. The image of Sam at the toilet is a reflection in a mirror.
Deaths[]
- Packer
- Mr. Witherspoon
- Maggie Thompson (Human, mentioned only)
- Rose Thompson
Cultural References[]
Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969) (TV Series)
- As the guys approach the inn, Dean says, "We might even run into Fred and Daphne while we're inside."
The Shining (1980)
- A creepy hotel, two little girls dressed the same, room 237, the quote stating that "we can play together forever and ever and ever" and the bar scene in which Dean talks with an older bartender.
Weird Science (1985)
- Dean's hangover cure, "A greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray."
Psycho (1960)
- The scene of Rose looking out the window recalls the shots of Mrs. Bates in Psycho.
Quotes[]
(Dean nods)
- Sam: "Dude, you're not poking her with a stick."
- Dean: "Of course, the most troubling question is why do these people assume we're gay?"
- Sam: "Well, you are kind of butch. They probably think you're overcompensating."
- Dean: What did you find out about Granny?
- Sam: You're bossy.
- Dean: What?
- Sam: You're bossy. And short. [laughs]
- Dean: Are you drunk?
- Sam: Yeah. So? Stupid.
- Dean: Well, you saved the mom, you saved the girl. Not a bad day. 'Course you know, I could have saved 'em myself, but I didn't want you to feel useless.
International Titles[]
- Finnish: Nukkeleikki (Doll Play)
- Brazil: Brinquedos (Playthings/Toys)
- French: Maggie et Rose (Maggie and Rose)
- German: Spielsachen (Playthings)
- Polish: Zabawki (Toys)
- Romanian: Jucării (Playthings/Toys)
- Hungarian: Gyerekjáték (Child's Play)
External Links[]
"Supernatural: "Playthings", IGN review.