6.01 Exile on Main St.

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S6ep1.jpg
Title Exile on Main St.
Episode # Season 6, Episode 1
First aired September 24, 2010
Directed by Phil Sgriccia
Written by Sera Gamble
On IMDB Exile on Main St.
Outline When something evil threatens Lisa and Ben, Dean starts hunting it and is shocked to discover Sam is back from Hell.
Monster Djinn
Timeline One year after the events of 5.22 Swan Song
Location(s) Cicero, Indiana
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
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Synopsis

A year after Sam sacrificed himself to stop Lucifer and the Apocalypse, Dean is living with Lisa Braeden and her son Ben. On the surface, it almost resembles a normal life: he's working construction, teaching Ben about cars, and going to barbecues with the neighbors. The Impala sits under a tarp in the garage. But we see Dean is still alert for danger, as there's a devil's trap under the rug near the front door, holy water and a gun under his bed.

After work, he has drinks with his neighbor Sid, who complains in good nature that Dean never talks about his past. Dean, after some prodding, tells him that for most of his life, he "lived on the road" and "did crap jobs that nobody else wanted." He further elaborates, saying that he worked in pest control with a partner. A cute waitress, Brigitta, strokes Dean's arm and gives him her number, which he tears up. Upon leaving the bar, Dean hears a scream and goes to investigate a nearby building site. He sees blood smears and what looks like claw marks on the wall, but finds nothing but pigeons.

The next day on the way to work, he sees the claw marks on telephone poles near his house and then on his garage door. In his garage, he is startled by a neighbor's Yorkie, but then more ominously finds some sulfur on the ground. He tells Lisa to take Ben to the movies, and starts unpacking weapons from the trunk of the Impala. From a strong box containing his leather jacket, he takes John's Journal when he is attacked by Azazel. As he passes out, Azazel is attacked from behind by none other than Sam, who drives through Azazel to thrust a syringe in Dean's chest.

Dean regains consciousness in an old house. On seeing Sam, he assumes he is dead, but Sam assures him he is alive. Sam demonstrates he is human by cutting himself with a silver blade and drinking holy water and salt. He tells Dean he doesn't know how he got out of Lucifer's Cage - he just woke up in Stull Cemetery. Sam says he tried to contact Castiel in hopes of getting an explanation, but he didn't respond to any of his prayers. To Dean's shock, Sam has been back for nearly a year. Sam explains he wanted Dean to live a normal life, and knew if he reappeared, Dean would leave Lisa and Ben.

Sam reveals he's been hunting with cousins from their mother Mary's side of the family and introduces him to Gwen Campbell, Christian Campbell, and Mark Campbell. The biggest surprise is that their grandfather, Samuel Campbell, has been resurrected.

They reveal they have been hunting Djinn who can disguise themselves as normal people, and who are pursuing Sam and Dean. The Djinn seem to want revenge for the djinn that Sam and Dean killed a couple of years ago in 2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be. They attacked Sam, dosing him with their hallucinatory poison, before they came after Dean. Sam was saved by Samuel, who has an antidote - the same antidote that Sam injected into Dean, breaking him out of his hallucination of Azazel. Johnny Campbell has gone to watch over Lisa and Ben, but he is killed by the Djinn. Luckily, Lisa and Ben are safe, and so Dean takes them to Bobby's house.

Dean is further distressed to find that Bobby also knew Sam has been back for a year, but Bobby argues as Sam had, that he wanted Dean to have a chance at a normal life. Dean tells them how much he suffered trying to deal with his grief, and looking for a way to save Sam. Dean is also distressed at the danger he has now put Lisa and Ben in, and apologizes to Lisa. She assures him the last year has been "the best year of her life" and that he is a great father to Ben.

Dean, Sam and the Campbells return to Dean's home where the Djinn are still lurking. Samuel tells Dean that over the past few months, they have been dealing with a lot of unusual supernatural activity, and argues that hunting is in Dean's blood and he needs to come back to it. Dean suggests they need to leave so the Djinn will attack.

After they leave, Dean asks Sam about his time in Hell, but Sam doesn't want to talk about it. Just then they see the neighbors (Sid and his wife) being attacked. Dean rushes over despite Sam's protestations, and is attacked himself. As Dean's getting another, more powerful dose of the Djinn's poison, Brigitta tells him, "That's for our father." He starts hallucinating that Lisa and Ben are attacked by Azazel in a parallel to what happened on the night Mary was killed - with Ben being made to drink the demon's blood, and Lisa being burned on the ceiling. Sam takes on the other Djinn with help from Samuel and then rescues Dean. Samuel, with help from the other Campbells, overpowers Brigitta, placing a bag over her and taking her away.

Afterwards, Sam argues that Dean needs to return to hunting, and that he needs Dean and his compassion, with him. But Dean refuses, saying he needs to keep Lisa and Ben safe. He offers the Impala for Sam to take, but Sam declines, saying that he already has his car set up the way he likes it, before driving off.

Characters

Definitions

Music

  • "Beautiful Loser" by Bob Seger
(plays during the opening montage of Dean's "new" life)
  • "Neighbors" by Swank
(plays while Dean and Sid talk at the bar)

Quotes

Sid: So I been buying you beer for a year. And I think that means you owe me a couple of gory details.

Dean: Oh, no. There's not much to tell, you know? It's, uh... I lived on the road... Took, uh, crap jobs that nobody else wanted.
Sid: Like?
Dean: Like... Pest control.
Sid: Really? Pest control.

Dean: Yeah. You get to work with a partner. You get to help people. You have no idea what's in some people's walls. It could eat 'em alive.
Lisa: So, I just ran into Sid. Did you almost shoot a Yorkie?
Dean: Technically.
Azazel: Yeah, kiddo. The big daddy brought your pal Cas back, right? So why not me? Add a little spice to all that -- that sugar. Really? After all we've been through together? You know, you got a great little life here. Pretty Lady -- real understanding. Hell of a kid. And how do you keep your lawn so green? I mean, come on, Dean. You never been what I'd call brainy, but did you really think you were gonna get to keep all of this? You had to know that we were coming for you sometime, pal. You can't outrun your past.
Sam: Hey, Dean. I was expecting, uh... I don't know, a hug, some holy water in the face -- something.
Dean: So I'm dead? This is Heaven? Yellow Eyes killed me, and now --
Dean: You been back practically this whole time?! What, did you lose the ability to send a friggin' text message?!

Sam: You finally had what you wanted, Dean.
Dean: I wanted my brother, alive!

Sam: You wanted a family. You have for a long time, maybe the whole time. I know you. You only gave it up because of the way we lived. But you had something, and you were building something. Had I shown up, Dean, you would have just run off. I'm sorry. But it felt like after everything, you deserve some regular life.
Gwen: Hey.

Dean: Hi.
Gwen: My god, you have delicate features for a hunter.

Dean: Excuse me?
Samuel: Oh, I know a few things. Stick around, I'll show you tricks your daddy never even dreamed of.
Bobby: Well, it's nice to finally meet you two. Mi casa es su casa. Maybe you want to just go upstairs. TV's broken, but there's plenty of Reader's Digest. Just don't touch the decor, okay? Assume it's all loaded.
Dean: That woman and that kid -- I went to them because you asked me to.

Bobby: Good.

Dean: Good for who? I showed up on their doorstep half out of my head with grief. God knows why they even let me in. I drank too much. I had nightmares. I looked everywhere. I collected hundreds of books, trying to find anything to bust you out.
Lisa: Yeah, well, the guy that basically just saved the world shows up at your door, you expect him to have a couple of issues. And you're always so amazing with Ben. You know what I wanted, more than anything was a guy that Ben could look up to like a dad. So, you're saying it's all bad, Dean? 'Cause it was the best year of my life.
Sam: You just went. You didn't hesitate. Because you care, and that's who you are. Me? I wouldn't even think to try.

Dean: Yes, you would.

Sam: No, Dean. I'm telling you, it's just better with you around. That's all.

Trivia & References

"Exile on Main Street" – the episode’s title – is also the name of a double LP released by the Rolling Stones in 1972. It is an album that features songs that represent the genres that Sixties rock could be deconstructed back to -like blues, gospel, soul - a return to its roots. It was also recorded over a period of change and personal upheaval for the band although during the time Jagger also married and had a child. This is the third Supernatural episode named after a Rolling Stones song or album, the other two being 3.15 Time Is on My Side and 5.01 Sympathy for the Devil.
Dean: I just-- I, uh, I got this... I don't know, Spidey-sense.
A reference to one of the Marvel superhero Spider-Man's superpowers. His Spidey-sense enables him to sense danger before it can be perceived by others.
Dean: Are you sure? I'll tell you what -- just because, you know, I have an OCD thing about this, why don't, uh, why don't you and Ben go to the movies, hit The Cheesecake Factory -- you know, hang out with the teeming masses, and I'll do one last sweep just to be 100%.
The Cheesecake Factory is a cheesecake distributor as well as restaurant chain.
Dean: No more doornails coming out of that door, is there?

Sam: As far as we know, it's Samuel and it's me.

Dean's referring to the age-old phrase: "Dead as a doornail". For the phrase's history and speculation on its origin, see this article.
Jensen at the Paley Celebrity Golf Classic in June 2009.

Sam: Golf? Really?
Dean: It's a sport!

The golf reference is an in-joke - Jensen Ackles is an avid golfer.

Samuel: You don't know what you're part of, Dean. You know, you had ancestors hacking the heads off vamps on the Mayflower. What I'm saying is that we're your blood. And we're out there dying, trying to get in front of whatever this is. Maybe not the best time for golf.
The Mayflower was the ship that bought the Pilgrims from England to North America in 1620.

Minutiae

This was the first episode with new showrunner Sera Gamble.
This was the second episode filmed for the season. the first was 6.04 Weekend at Bobby's which was filmed first to allow Jensen, who was directing it, to prepare.
In the tradition of Supernatural, this season features a new Title Card.
Despite the fact that it's supposedly been a year since Sam trapped Lucifer in his cage in May 2010, we can clearly see on the receipt Dean holds up in the bar that the date is "10/09/2010" (9th October, 2010). For an explanation on this, see the page on canon discrepancies.
Dean, Lisa and Ben are living in a different house than the one seen in 5.17 99 Problems and 5.22 Swan Song, which was different to the one in 3.02 The Kids Are Alright.
The bar Dean and Sid are drinking in is called “Jonesy’s Bar & Grill.”
The construction site Dean enters after leaving the bar has a number of posters on the door saying "DJ SAM," very possibly foreshadowing Sam's return.
While under the Djinn’s influence, Dean is scared by a Yorkie in the Glickmans' garage. In 4.06 Yellow Fever while affected with ghost sickness that heightens fear, Dean is chased by a Yorkie that he imagines is a hellhound. And back in 1.22 Devil's Trap when Sam and Dean let off the fire alarm in an apartment building in order to rescue John, Dean tells a fireman "I’ve got a Yorkie upstairs and he pees when he’s nervous...."
Factual Error: Dean tries to explain to Sid why he almost shot the neighbor's dog by saying he thought it was a possum. However, there are technically no possums in the US (though they are commonly referred to as such). The Western Hemisphere version is called an opossum. Also, rabies is extremely rare in opossums.
When we see Dean take his leather jacket out of a chest in his garage, this is the last time we see the original leather jacket. It was stolen when it was being flown from Vancouver to L.A. for season 6 promo shoots.(source)
Following the airing of the episode, audience reaction lead to "SPN" becoming a trending Topic on Twitter.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

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