9.07 Bad Boys
Title | Bad Boys |
Episode # | Season 9, Episode 7 |
First aired | November 19, 2013 |
Directed by | Kevin Parks |
Written by | Adam Glass |
On IMDB | Bad Boys |
Outline | A new chapter in Dean's past is revealed when he gets a phone call from an old friend regarding a possible haunting. |
Monster | Ghost |
Timeline | |
Location(s) | Lebanon, Kansas Hurleyville, New York (1995 & 2013) |
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Contents
Synopsis
Three boys are playing hide and seek at night in an old barn. When Jack the caretaker comes in to enforce curfew, his flashlight flickers, the air grows cold, and a tractor roars to life and kills him.
In the bunker, Dean gets a call from Sonny Michaels about the caretaker's death, and he agrees to take the job. In 1995, John Winchester had been on a rugaru hunt, Dean had disappeared, and John sent Sam to Bobby Singer's house for a while, telling Sam that Dean was lost on a hunt. In truth, Dean had gambled away the food money, been arrested for stealing food to feed Sam, and served time at Sonny's Home for Boys, which John felt was just punishment.
The Winchesters drive to Sonny's, where Dean recalls his first meeting with Sonny.
1995
Young Dean sits handcuffed on the couch, while a deputy with a black eye recounts Dean's theft to Sonny. When Sonny notices marks on Dean's arms, thinking they were from the fight with the deputy, but Dean off-handedly claims a werewolf did it, and Sonny believes him. Dean is loathe to admit why he stole the food, and Sonny explains how the boys' farm teaches discipline as a substitute for jail.
Present Day
Sonny recounts Jack's death and other strange occurrences, flickering lights, rattling doors, and Dean asks to search the barn while Sam checks the house. Noticing some hoodoo carved into a bedpost, Sam finds Dean's old bed, and talks to Ruth about whatever haunts the farm. Meanwhile in the barn, Dean's EMF meter gives a high reading, and he meets Timmy Conroy. Timmy shows off his action figure, and admits that Jack yelled at the kids a lot, and that he was playing in the barn when Jack died. The original farm owner had wanted to kill Jack for allegedly sleeping with his wife, murdered his wife, got a lifelong prison term, and died recently. Ruth believes the farmer's ghost killed Jack in revenge, so the Winchesters go to salt and burn the farmer's bones. However, the next day Ruth is drowned in her own bath, the door sealing shut so that Sonny is unable to rescue her.
Dean insists on eating at Cus's Place, where Robin is their waitress.
1995
Sonny takes young Dean out to eat at Cus's Place, offering Dean a permanent home at the farm since Dean is making friends, excelling in school, and made the wrestling team. Sonny asks Dean about the occult symbols on his bedpost and the salt around his bed, and Dean leaves it at "It's a family thing." Sonny shares his own story about being in a gang that landed him a prison sentence, and questions Dean's loyalty to family, just as a young Robin takes their order.
Present Day
Robin takes their order, and Dean asks if she remembers him. She appears not to know him, and, embarrassed, Dean rushes out of the diner. Sam knows they had some connection, but just then Dean gets the call about Ruth's death, and they drive back to the farm. Sonny says Ruth's rosary beads went missing, and Sam goes to look through employee records while Dean talks to the other kids. Dean breaks up a fight between Timmy and two bullies, who insist they're innocent of Ruth's death. Later, the two bullies are doing yard work, and one of them nearly loses a hand when trying to remove Ruth's rosary beads from the lawnmower. Timmy is seen watching the whole incident from the second story window, where a black hand rests on his shoulder.
Sam sees Dean's wrestling award. After Dean confirms that the bully will recover, Sam reports that Timmy had been found abandoned in a warehouse, and thus far is one of the few people unharmed on the farm. They suspect a ghost possession. Sam investigates the barn, where he finds an attic filled with Timmy's drawings outlining his mother's death. There had been a car wreck, and the mother had pushed Timmy from the burning car.
Dean walks in on Robin about to give Timmy a guitar lesson.
1995
Young Dean and young Robin sit on the couch, where Dean admits he doesn't enjoy the family business, but that John expects him to follow in his footsteps. Robin commiserates, not liking the idea of taking over the family diner, and Dean confesses his love of cars, and how he'd like to be a mechanic. Touched by his words, Robin kisses him, and though Dean is bemused, they kiss some more.
Present Day
Dean asks Robin to leave, insisting she's in danger for reasons he can't explain, and she admits that she'd never forgotten him.
1995
Young Dean and Robin are kissing, making plans for the school dance, and Dean claims he'll never leave her.
Present Day
Dean grabs Robin and tries to leave, but the front door shuts and Timmy appears, apologizing for being unable to control his mother's ghost. She's been haunting Timmy since her death to protect him from perceived threats. Dean manages to stall the ghost with iron, and Sam makes a salt circle around Robin. Dean burns the action figure, thinking it's the last link between Timmy and his mother, but it fails to stop her, and the salt ring breaks. Dean convinces Timmy to drive his mother's ghost away, and when Timmy tells the ghost to leave, she reverts to her original form and vanishes.
Robin and Dean part on friendly terms. Sam asks Dean why he left the farm when he was obviously so happy there, and Dean insists he didn't fit in.
1995
Young Dean dresses for the school dance, when Sonny walks in saying John is waiting outside to take him home. Sonny offers to tell John no, but Dean looks out the window and sees young Sam in the Impala, and tearfully tells Sonny he has to go back.
Characters
- Sam Winchester
- Dean Winchester
- John Winchester
- Sonny Michaels
- Robin
- Timmy Conroy
- Timmy's Mother
- Ruth
Definitions
- Dean's Amulet
- EMF
- Flashbacks
- Get this
- Ghosts
- Hugs
- Impala
- Iron
- Law Enforcement Officers
- Men of Letters Bunker
- Nicknames
- Pentagram
- Redemption
- Rugaru
- Salt
- Sammy
- Werewolves
Music
- Ellens Gesang III, D. 839, Op. 52: No. 6, Ave Maria by RFCM Symphony Orchestra
- (plays on the radio as Ruth is being killed)
- "Stone in Love" by Journey
- (plays when young Dean and Robin are making out)
Quotes
Dean: Oh, no. He found me. He found me quick. But he left me here 'cause I lost our money.
Sam: You were 16. You made a mistake.
Sonny: Deputy do that? What, your old man? Well, then, how'd you get it?
Young Dean: Werewolf.
Timmy: Fighting monsters.
Dean: What kind of monsters?
Timmy: All sorts, with Bruce the Monster Smasher.
Sonny: What, 'cause we're not chest-deep in weird already, boys?
Young Robin: Being a mechanic seems rough.
Robin: Mm... I don't know about that. You look pretty rockin' to me, Dean Winchester.
Dean: Never felt right.
Sam: Really?
Young Dean: Thank you. You know, uh... I've never actually been to one of these school dances before.
Sonny: Yeah. Look, about that, Dean, your old man's outside... and, man, he's really something. I tried to tell him what a big night it was for you, Dean, and ask him if he could come back later, but he just said to tell you he had a job, said you'd know what that means... You know, after I got out of jail, this place gave me a second chance, and it's done the same for you, too... So if you want, I'll stick my neck out for you, and I'll fight for you to stay.
Dean: I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
Trivia & References
- Five-finger discount is a slang term for stealing.
- The title character in the famous cartoon series Casper, the Friendly Ghost which was created in the 1950s.
- Kung-Fu Grip was a feature introduced in G.I. Joe action figures in the 1970s, which allowed the hands to grip objects like weapons and climbing ropes.
- A reference to the nursery rhyme, 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm'.
- A reference to Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where the U.S. government holds suspected terrorist without charges.
- Damien is a character appearing in the The Omen and its sequels. He was the Antichrist — the son of Satan and a jackal.
Minutiae
- The Works of Victor Hugo: One Volume Edition (Published by Black's Readers Service Company - 1920s)
- The Red and the Black by Stendhal (Published by International Collectors Library - 1949)
- Jew Süss by Lion Feuchtwanger (Published by Martin Secker, Ltd. - 1920s)
- Essays In Criticism by Matthew Arnold (Published by MacMillan, Co. - Early 1900s)
- The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Published by Reilly & Britton - circa 1914)
- Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad (Published by International Collectors Library - 1920)
- Sermons by Phillips Brooks
The ghost of Timmy's mother is played by two actors: Alika Autran who appeared in the disfigurement makeup, and Jennifer Oleksiuk who plays the character just before she vanishes. It took 3 hours to apply the ghost makeup to Alika each day - and 3 hours to remove it by Mike Fields and Geoff Redknap of Lindala Schminken FX Inc.
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
- 9.07 Bad Boys (transcript)
- Bad Boys Script (Writer's 2nd Draft)
Promotion
- Title and Character information by Spoiler TV
- Promo pics by ksite
- Official Synopsis by the CW
- Interview with Blake Gibbons (Sonny) by Examiner
- Promo
- Sneak peek
- CHCH promo
- Listen to Winchester Radio's discussion of this episode
Episode Meta
- Chan, Suzette. 2014. Supernatural Talk: Tarts talk about 9.07: Bad Boys. Sequential Tart, January 20; archive link
- Scott, Lyda. 2013. TV Review: 'Supernatural' - 'Bad Boys.' Blogcritics, November 24; archive link