Supernatural S04E02
We start off from the end of the season opener, still in Greenfield, Indiana, and still in a budget hotel. Ciaran, in room 215, finds a Carl Sagan book rather than the Bible or Book of Mormon. He swaps it out. Meanwhile in 113, Scott finds a strange note in the Bible:
"White Nissan Truck 2010 TN plates. I am Michael. I am Michael. I am Michael. I am not evil. they are the monsters."
Scott checks it over and the back side has impressions that give yesterday's date and "What to take From Oliver Springs." He shares the note over breakfast. On the diner television they see some disaster unfolding in Oliver Springs, Tenessee. There's some sort of multi-casualty event with a wide perimeter. Airy briefly checks Angel Radio in case something has happened to the OG Michael and his vessel is in distress, but there's nothing amiss.
Breakfast, unfortunately, is made of corn syrup, and the Leviathans have put in their special recipe to fatten up humans and make them docile. It doesn't settle well.
Ciaran and Jon (as Fillmore) pose as investigating Michael's disappearance as a person of interest for a Federal Investigation and get to look at the motel video recordings. They see who must be Michael, a man of vague age but terribly scratched up. He is carrying something small and wrapped up in red silk. He walked in without having a car and paid in cash.
Meanwhile, Scott and Marcus check out the local clinic, but there are no reports of anyone fitting the description seeking care. Marcus heads off to the Bullseye, and Scott to the Greyhound station. No dice for a bus ticket, but Marcus gets some success - the description fits an individual of interest. He gets the direct attention of manager Stamos Gant and Security guard Carlos Jenkins. They had seen some kid, and he had an issue with a group following him. They describe and then provide descriptions of the two people attempting to harass the kid. The first is a man in his 50s or 60s with a broken nose, slim, 5'9" tall, wearing a big overcoat. The second was mid-50s, 6' or close, with close-cut greying hair and wearing a track suit.
Jon and Ciaran plan on going to the police for information, but Ciaran and Scott get stoned/sleepy from their lunch. It's addictive - they will have a harder time resisting its effects in the future. They do a couple calls to ask other Hunters about anything in food that's been weird, and they get the confirmation that the Winchesters have just started spreading the word about corn syrup being doped up (but to let them follow the trail for now.)
At 7-Mart, a clerk named Jenny Rush confirms that her 2001 Black Honda Civic was stolen, and she has, you guessed it, this Michael person on camera doing flagrant GTA. She already filed a report with the police that morning but they hadn't been by yet.
An unfortunate person named Michael is attempting an escape, but also leaving breadcrumbs. He needs help and to run fast. He is being pursued by Broken Nose and Tracksuit.
The Hunters travel to Oak Ridge as it may provide clues to where Michael is heading or what happened. On the way, they stop at the most amazing sweets shop, Uranus (Indiana) Pack Your Fudge. Can't make this shit up.
In Oak Ridge, Homeland Security has really set-up, but other orgs are all investigating too, and it's clear it must be be very interesting and high level for interagency collaboration like this. Jon finds out the Deputy Secretary of DHS is there, too, name of Nicholas Lawrence Smith.
Ciaran flirts and learns from a scientist what might have happened, as she compares it to Centralia. In Centralia, there is a slow ever emitting leak of gasses, posing a danger and eternally emitting until the gas pocket runs out. Here, it seems to have built up, and she explains how gas pressure could rupture in such an explosion, sending either carbon monoxide or dioxide over a vast area, leaving a wide radius of death from suffocation.
Scott, ever amorous, gets all the tinfoil hat theories, but also a witness from the evacuation zone shares that the water turned red - both outside and in the pipes. (This is legit - it's iron, and they inspect it later). While Scott manages his hook-up, Marcus hustles pool, earning $83.
After picking up a local historical map for walking tours, the Hunters notice a similar (but not the same) names on the map - Denton vs. Benton. Bingo!
Scott cons his way into getting Hazmat suits at the checkpoint at the evac zone border. They just don't seem to care as much. Having good IDs pays off to get in! They check out the creek, see the remains of iron, and hypothesize about the origin of the blast. On the map, they also see that water is everywhere - eight springs had simply been covered with copper, diverting their natural flow back up and into the system for a bigger line, like closing off unused sewers - it works so long as the main line can flow, but they should be accessible should pressure build-up.
Full of gumption and bullshit, Scott straight up walks to the HQ tent but finds a nest of plotting Leviathan inside. They are worried about a missing immortal, and their food source. The immortal's name is Dr. Benton.
Out of everyone, Aine has had the hardest time: with all the iron flowing through the springs, its like choosing stepping stones to cross a stream.
The Hunters visit Dr. Benton's office and find it is squeaky clean. His home, #18 on their map, has family photos showing a younger Michael but way in the past, like he was just entering his 20s 30 years ago. Dr. Benton hovers in the back like an uncle or a close friend of the family. With the house clean on top, the Hunters realize the horrors must be in the basement.
In the basement they find cages, a pristine surgery unit with enough plastic sheeting to supply Dexter for a full season, fridges, freezers, and David Hale, a very hungry vampire locked in one of the cages. David insists it must be safer in here and does not run into the Leviathan. He tells how Doc Benton experimented on him to find techniques to use on Michael - the kid slipped away during the gas event. David Hale, however, is more than happy to give the Hunters the scoop on Doc Benton since he's a worse monster than David could ever be.
According to David Hale, Benton is a "revenant." In 1818, Benton figured out a secret to immortality, but it started to wear thin - he needs to continually replace body parts as they slowly decay. John Winchester even took out his heart once with a chainsaw. The Winchester boys buried him alive, which did starve his organs of oxygen, leaving him a dying monster. He is trying to perfect his work on Michael to avoid the pitfalls of his own existence. He also wants Michael to accept his legacy and knowledge. Michael is his closest direct descendant. Benton is both Frankenstein and the Monster. But he has an assistant (a plastic surgeon from Miami) and David believes he will stop at nothing to track Michael down. Looking for clues upstairs for where Michael would go, they find postcards from Michigan.
Unfortunately, the Hunters try to help David by giving hm a person doped up on the corn syrup to feed on. Even though he does not take much, it is like acid to him and he dies an agonizing death in front of them. After some analysis from Airy, the Hunters learn from this dramatic end that the corn syrup, while intoxicating for humans, is lethal to those who feed on humans, at minimum the vampires. (It will get called Vampironite.) They make a few calls again to spread the word within that community as well as Hunters - right now everyone is on the same side against the Leviathan who just want to eat everyone else.
They dispose of Hale in the sunlight.
Ciaran steals a 2010 Mercedes S class in Iridium Silver.
Who is Michael in contact with, or trying to get to? What happened to his family? What will happen this Thanksgiving Feast?!?