Winchester-Journals.net :: Episode 2x05

Episode 2x05 - Simon Said

Vital Statistics

Original Air Date: 26th October 2006
Production Code: 3T5505
Writer: Ben Edlund
Director: Tim Iacofano

Official Episode Description

Sam and Dean meet Andy, a slacker who has psychic powers of persuasion, which he uses to gain favors from people. However, when some of Andy's friends start dying, the brothers question whether Andy is using his powers to kill. After learning that Andy's family was visited by the Demon 22 years ago, Sam wonders if Andy is part of the group of children the Demon told him about, and if that means he himself will eventually turn evil.

Summary

Sam has a vision of a man walking into a hardware store, picking up and gun and killing himself. With almost no clues to go on, they decide to head over to the Roadhouse to see if Ash can shed any light. Sam draws him a picture of a logo he recalled seeing in the vision which they identify as the logo for the Blue Ridge bus lines in Guthrie Oklahoma. While there, Sam asks Ash to have a deeper look and see if Guthrie has any records of a house fire in 1983, starting in a nursery on the night of the child's 6 month birthday. One result pops up - Andrew Gallagher.

They track Andy down and Dean follows him, while Sam follows the man he saw in his vision. Andy notices Dean following and walks up to him and asks for the Impala. For some reason, Dean happily agrees and hands over the keys to the car. As soon as Andy is out of sight, Dean wonders what the hell happened. Meanwhile, Sam attempts to stop the man from killing himself. He manages to prevent him going into the hardware store, but the man promptly walks out in front of a bus.

Sam and Dean agree that Andy seems to have some kind of mind control power, but while Sam is convinced that he's the one who made the man kill himself, Deanisn't so sure. They continue following Andy (after managing to get the Impala back!) until he approaches them and demands that they tell him the truth about what they're doing. Sam continues the lie, but Dean begins blurting everything out uncontrollably - telling Andy that they're demon hunters and they think he has mind control powers. Sam talks to Andy, explains that they are in a similar boat, and the two start to connect. Suddenly, Sam has another vision, this time of a woman dousing herself with petrol and setting herself on fire. Dean rushes off to try and prevent it, but it's too late. By the time he gets there, it is already over. Sam is less convinced now of Andy's guilt, but is sure that the two deaths are still somehow connected to Andy.

Further investigations reveal that the woman was Andy's real mom - the one who died in the fire was his adopted mom. Even more surprisingly, they discover that she gave birth to twins and the three of them realise that the person doing the killing is almost certainly going to be Andy's Evil Twin. When the photo ID of the twin comes through, they are shocked to see it's someone who Andy knows - Weber is one of Andy's friends and it's him who has been killing people. Another vision comes to Sam and he see's Andy's friend Tracy being forced to jump over a dam. Sam and Andy rush to try and save her, leaving Dean (who is susceptable to the mind control) behind for safety.

They confront him and a battle of wills ensues. Weber reveals that he was told what to do by the "man with the yellow eyes" who said he had big plans for him. It was the demon who told Weber about his twin and who told him about his powers. Suddenly, Weber turns around and notices Dean hiding with a sniper rifle. Using his mind-control, he forces Dean to point the barrel of the rifle at himself and tries to make him pull the trigger. With seconds to spare, Andy shoots his own brother to save Dean.

They leave Andy and say goodbye. Sam wonders if all the other children like him are destined to be killers, like Andy was, like Max Miller. Does that make him a killer? Dean reassures him that he is different to the others. They head back to the Roadhouse and decide that the time is right to reveal to Ellen what Sam is capable of. They explain everything about the Demon and the other children. But Sam discovers something unnerving - Weber's mother didn't die in a fire when he was six months old. The pattern no longer fits and there could be other children with abilities out there that they have no way of tracking...

Notes

Sam is still wearing a plaster cast on his wrist. While, in the show, his wrist was broken when fighting the zombie in the last episode, the truth is that Jared Padalecki actually broke his wrist for real.
The Roadhouse appears to be in Nebraska.
Ash lives in a room at the back of the Roadhouse.
Andy's mind control doesn't work on Sam. It's safe to assume it wouldn't work on any of the other "special" children either.
It was Andy's adopted Mom who died in the fire, indicating that the Demon is killing the person who raised the child, not the actual blood mother.
Sam's visions are sometimes premonitions, and sometimes they seem to occur at the same time the incident does.

Cultural References

Cos there's a PBR in it for you.
PBR stands for Pabst Blue Ribbon, a brand of lager.
REO Speedwagon?
Damn right REO. Kevin Cronin sings it from the heart.
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band known for their power ballads. Kevin Cronin was the lead singer for a while.
He full-on Obi-Wanned me. It's mind control, man!
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a character from the Star Wars films. He is a Jedi Master who can use the Force to control minds.
Well, it looks like he can't work his mojo just by twitching his nose, he's gotta use verbal commands.
In the TV show "Bewitched", Samantha is a witch who can makes magic happen by twitching her nose.
Dean, you had OJ convicted before he got out of his white Bronco and you have doubts about this?
OJ Simpson was a profession football player who was accused of the murder of his wife. He was involved in a very public car chase that was watched by a huge number of Americans.
Hegel, Kant, Wittgenstein? That's some pretty heavy reading, Dean.
All three of these men are very advanced philosophers. Considering a quote by Weber later on in the episode, it is probable that Andy actually reads these books, rather than just keeping them around to impress girls.
These aren't the 'droids you're looking for.
Another Star Wars quote - this is what Obi-Wan Kenobi says to a passing Stormtrooper that he mind controls.