Red Sky at Morning is the 6th episode of Season 3. It premiered on November 8th, 2007.
Summary
A watery death - without the water. Bela joins the boys in solving a mystery of a ghost ship that appears every 37 years, leaving dry-land drownings in its wake.
Synopsis
A woman, Sheila Case, is jogging when she glimpses the apparition of a ship in the harbor. Later, while she showers, a figure appears, and she dies, of drowning.
Dean confronts Sam about having killed the crossroads demon, a fact he deduced due to a bullet being missing from the Colt, angry that Sam put himself in danger. Sam is unapologetic.
The boys visit Gertrude Case, Sheila’s aunt, inquiring about the circumstances of her death. They are surprised when Gert, who is obviously attracted to Sam, suggests Sheila may have seen a ghost ship, and asks if they are working the case with “Alex.”
Outside Dean panics when the Impala is missing, until Bela Talbot appears and admits she had it towed. She tells them she scams old women by selling them fake charms and doing seances for them. She says that she, calling herself "Alex," had convinced Gert that she had solved her niece’s murder, but after the boys showed up Gert is withholding her payment.
That night a man dies, again by drowning at home. Sam and Dean speak to his brother, Peter, and find out that they both saw a Ghost Ship while night diving. They try to protect Peter, but that night he too is visited by the Sailor’s Ghost and drowned.
Bela turns up at the house where the Winchester's are squatting with information – the ghost ship is the Espírito Santo, and it is a death omen. The ghost is that of a sailor who was hung for treason. His hand was removed after death to make a Hand of Glory, and Bela suggests they need to retrieve and salt and burn it in order to vanquish the spirit.
Gert obtains invitations for Sam, Dean and Bela to a function at the Maritime Museum where the Hand of Glory, is kept. While Sam keeps Gert, and her wandering hands, busy, Dean and Bela steal the Hand of Glory.
Bela tricks Dean and leaves with the object, which she sells to a client – her goal all along. But then she too sees the Ghost Ship.
Meanwhile, Sam and Dean have deduced that what links all the deaths is that the people were involved in the death of a family member. Bela turns to the boys for help, although she admits to having been involved in someone’s death, she won’t elaborate.
At the sailor’s grave, Sam summons the ghost of the ship’s captain who had the sailor killed – his brother. Their spirits 'merge' and disappear, and Bela is saved. She shows her thanks by giving the boys $10,000.
Dean is keen to head to Atlantic City for some fun. He apologizes to Sam for the pain his bargain with the Crossroads Demon is causing, but Sam angrily counters that he doesn't want Dean to worry about him, he wants Dean to care about himself.
Featured Supernatural Being
Continuity
- In the brothers' opening scene, Dean confronts Sam on his confronting the crossroads demon at the end of the previous episode.
- Sam angrily reminds Bela that she shot him in the shoulder the last time they met.
- Dean asks Bela why she is the way she is, and taunts her by asking if her father didn't give her enough hugs. Flashbacks to her childhood in "Time Is On My Side" strongly imply that her father sexually abused her.
- Sam and Dean last squatted in an unused house in "Bugs". Ironically, like "Bugs", "Red Sky at Morning" was not well-received by fans and was dubbed "bad writing" in "The Monster at the End of This Book" by series creator Eric Kripke's stand-in.
- Bela is revealed to be responsible for the death of a family member. This is further explained in "Time Is On My Side."
- The summoning spell Sam uses invokes Castiel's name. Castiel later debuts in "Lazarus Rising" and goes on to become a major recurring character.
Trivia
- The episode's title refers to an old mariner's adage: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." Similar declarations are also made in Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis" and in the NewTestament book of Matthew (Chapter 16, verses 2-3).
Quotes
Sam: "How do you sleep at night?"
Bela: "On silk sheets, rolling naked in money."
Dean: "Can I shoot her?"
Sam: "Not in public."
Bela: "You know, when this is over, we should really have angry sex.
Dean: (after thinking very long) "Don’t objectify me."