11.07 Plush
| |
| Title | Plush |
| Episode # | Season 11, Episode 7 |
| First aired | November 18, 2015 |
| Directed by | Tim Andrew |
| Written by | Eric Charmelo Nicole Snyder |
| On IMDB | Plush |
| Outline | Sheriff Donna calls on Sam and Dean to help on a case involving people driven to murder after donning costumes. |
| Monster | Vengeful Spirit |
| Timeline | |
| Location(s) | Cottage Grove, Minnesota Lebanon, Kansas |
| « Previous Episode | Next Episode » | |
Contents
Synopsis
Stan Hinkle is watching the game while the wife washes dishes. She tries to get him to take out the trash, but he wants to wait until a commercial. Frustrated, she does it herself. While taking out the trash, she believes someone is watching her, but when she turns no one is there. Believing his wife has come back inside, Stan asks for another beer and is handed one by a guy wearing an over-sized bunny head. The bunny proceeds to smash the beer bottle over Stan’s head. As Stan's wife comes back inside, she is greeted by the sight of the bunny repeatedly stabbing Stan with a broken beer bottle, and she lets out a scream.
At the Men of Letters Bunker, Sam is kneeling in prayer, asking God for answers to his visions, when Dean walks by the open bedroom door and comments, “really?” annoying Sam. They make their way through the Bunker, snarking about whether God will become involved in this battle, since the Darkness is supposed to be his sister. Dean insists that since God didn’t get involved in the Apocalypse, God isn’t gonna care about this, but Sam isn’t convinced. As they are discussing the pre-biblical lore that Cas brought from Gaza, Dean gets a call from Sheriff Donna Hanscum.
The boys arrive in Cottage Grove, Minnesota and are greeted by a big cheerful hug from Donna. They catch up on the case at hand and meet Officer Doug Stover, who is the lead on the case. After Doug leaves the room, Dean mentions playfully that the officer seems to have a little crush on her. Donna scoffs, saying that she knows she has a type (police officers named Doug), but she refuses to be "once bitten, twice Doug'd".
Donna takes the boys to the cells where the bunny is sitting passively, no response or indication he even knows they are there. Donna explains that after he killed the man, he just turned and walked away. Officer Doug tells Donna of a call and she leaves the boys alone with the bunny. Dean tries to question him, but gets no response. When Dean gets distracted, the Bunny grabs him and pulls him into the bars with abnormal strength. Sam tries holy water, which gets no reaction. After Sam finally manages to pry Dean free, the Bunny just stands there, arms loose at his sides. His flannel has fallen open in the struggle, revealing his Minnesota Tech t-shirt and a tattoo on his left arm that reads "Kylie Forever."
With their first clue in the case, the boys arrive at the home of last Kylie listed in the area that goes to Minnesota Tech. They question her with a photo of the Bunny and she recognizes him as her boyfriend, Mike Hooks. They ask if there is any connection between Mike and Stan, and why he might have stabbed Stan. She says they bought the mask at a thrift store for an off-campus costume party. As soon as he'd put the mask on, her boyfriend had started acting very strangely, and then he'd just walked out of the store, leaving his phone behind.
Back at the station, Donna and Doug are preparing to transport the Bunny, Mike, to the hospital to get the mask cut off. Doug offers to lift him into the car as he’s been tranquilized and is a dead weight. Donna takes insult to the implication that she'd need Doug's help. She tries to do it herself, but Mike’s way heavier than he looks, and she falls. Doug then tries to help her to lift him, but before they can get him up her phone rings. She turns to take the call from Dean, and while they're distracted, Mike stands up behind them. Doug notices the movement, but before they can do anything, Mike shoves Donna aside and hits Doug. He then turns and throws the wheelchair aside and pushes Donna to the ground. He picks up her nightstick and is about to attack her, but Doug shoots him, killing him. As soon as Mike dies, the bunny head falls off.
Later that night in the woods, Donna and the boys are disposing of the bunny head. Donna shows grief over the death of Mike, who was just an innocent victim. The boys reassure her that it is not her fault, or Doug's. She is saddened by the needless loss caused by the curse and Sam tries to encourage her, letting her light the mask. They watch it burn.
In a high school weight room, a student is lifting weights while his coach, Phil Evans, spots him. Coach tells him to lay off the ‘roids, and leaves the boy to solo lift. The boy is lifting in front of the mirror with his music blaring in his headphones and doesn’t notice the frosted breath as he exhales, nor the school mascot (a jester) coming into the gym in costume, picking up a dead weight, and going into Coach Evans' office. The jester swings the weight at the coach, causing blood to splatter the room. The weightlifter hears the scuffle and tackles the jester.
Not long after, Sam, Dean, and Donna arrive at the crime scene. Coach Evans is in a coma and Officer Doug is floored by the seeming coincidence of the attacks. Donna comes up with "copycat killer" as the motive for this one. The boys question the weightlifter, Brock. He tells them the mascot was bashing the coach.
Back at the station, Sam, Dean, and Donna are in the holding area cell with the jester. They use the EMF meter and determine ghost possession. Donna is flustered, and wants to know how you can unpossess someone. Dean explains that ghosts hate iron and salt, telling her they they can get the mask off by hitting the possessed with some salt. When Donna pulls out a small container of salt from her bag, Dean instead pulls out a shotgun loaded with salt pellets and shoots the mascot, which sends the girl flying back and ejects the spirit from her body.
With the girl cuffed at the desk for questioning, Donna again expresses frustration that this girl is a victim, too. Sam tells her to let her go. Dean suggests saying she was a drifter who overpowered Donna and escaped. Donna’s not happy with how incompetent she’ll look but agrees that she can't book the poor girl for attempted murder. They talk with her a bit and learn that the mask overtook her as soon as she put it on. She knew Coach Evans but doesn’t remember attacking him, and didn’t wish him any harm. She tells them the mask had been donated to the high school.
The next day, Donna and the boys pay a visit to Rita Johnson. Donna takes her son, Max, out to look at the cruiser while Sam and Dean go inside with Rita. The boys learn the masks belonged to her brother, Chester Johnson. He was a performer for kids' parties. Rita explains that Chester was depressed, and he'd killed himself by jumping from a bridge a few months back. Max had begged her to keep his uncle’s costumes, as he was close to his uncle and liked them, but she was sad and got rid of them, to the thrift shop, schools, etc... The boys ask for a list of all the costumes, and whether Chester had any history with Stan Hinkle or Phil Evans. She says no, he didn’t even know them.
Donna tells Sam and Dean she remembers Chester’s suicide and wonders how to stop these possessions. They explain that usually you burn the bones, but Chester was cremated. Donna asks if they are up a creek, but Sam explains that it seems Chester is tied to the costumes, so if they can gather all the costumes and burn them, that should stop the deaths. Donna is happy as she already has Doug gathering the other costumes from the high school. Sam gives her the list of all the donated costumes and she and Doug are to gather them all. Dean says he and Sam will try to find out what Chester’s beef was with Stan and Coach Evans, as usually ghost possession is powered by revenge, or unfinished business. Sam leaves for the hospital to check on Evans and Dean says he will check on Stan’s widow.
At the hospital, a man in a clown mask and costume, holding a bouquet of balloons, slowly makes his way into Phil Evans' room. The clown pulls out a knife and slashes the comatose man's throat, stands there watching him suffocate, then calmly leaves the room. The clown walks down the hall of the hospital, covered in blood splatter, knife dripping in his hand. He pushes the elevator button and there is Sam, who tenses at the sight. The Clown gets in the elevator with Sam and selects a floor. He turns to face Sam, who takes a deep breath, visibly centers himself, and attacks the clown. The clown fights back and begins to overpower Sam. Sam pulls an iron railroad spike from his pocket and presses it to the Clown’s neck, causing Chester to be ejected from the body. Sam turns back to the clown and removes the mask, revealing a shaken and confused old man.
As Phil Evans' body is being carted away from the hospital room, Sam enters with the clown mask, and explains to Donna that the old man had put on the costume for his granddaughter’s party and didn’t even know how he’d gotten to the hospital. Sam admits the old man "escaped" too, and Donna moans she is so losing her job. Doug enters the room, saying that he had got the call about Coach Evans while on his way to pick up another costume. He is not buying the "copycat killers" story, but goes off to get the other costume. Sam confronts Donna with not giving Doug a chance, and she tells him to mind his own beeswax.
Meanwhile, Dean is at the widow’s home. She tells him that Stan and the coach were best friends and like brothers. He asks if they knew Chester. She is disgusted at the mention of him and tells Dean how she despises him. After speaking with the widow, Dean calls Sam, who informs him of the killer clown. Dean tells Sam that the victims had accused Chester of crossing the line with their kids. They went to confront Chester on their own instead of going to the police, but Rita was the one that answered the door and told them to leave him alone. After hearing about what they were accusing him of, before they could confront him, Chester killed himself, leading to his now vengeful spirit. Dean wonders if maybe it wasn’t suicide.
Later that night, Dean shows up at Rita’s door, but Max answers. He tells him his mom isn’t home, but invites Dean in to wait for her. Dean notices Max playing with cards, practicing magic tricks his uncle Chester taught him. Max was close to Chester, and tells Dean what the men said about him wasn’t true. Rita comes storming in, followed by Sam, angry that Dean is with Max without her there. Sam tells her they know the victims accused Chester. She replies angrily that it doesn’t matter and has nothing to do with anything. Sam tells her those men were murdered, and like it or not, Chester is connected. She asks how that could be if he killed himself. Dean asks if she is sure about that.
The boys tell her she and Max may be in danger. Finally, Rita reveals the story. She tells them Chester was like a dad to Max and that she told Stan and Coach Evans to go to the police and leave them alone. But they had no evidence. However, after they left, she began to have doubts. Chester was different: sweet, caring, and he loved kids. She began to worry, wondering if maybe he was too close to Max.
She called Stan and the coach back and told them where Chester was doing a show at the elementary school in a deer costume. They ambushed him and took him out to the bridge to "scare" him. But instead, things went bad as Chester struggled and he fell from the bridge and died. Stan told Rita that if she reported it, they would all go to jail and she couldn’t risk Max losing her after he’d already lost his dad and now his uncle.
Sam’s phone rings. It's Donna, calling to tell him they have tracked down and are burning every costume. Just then, Max enters the room, wearing the deer head, and he throws Dean into the wall. The possessed Max begins approaching Rita. Sam tries to take him, but he tosses Sam into the china cabinet. Dean comes to as Rita is being choked and he rushes Max, pressing his railroad spike against the boy’s back, ejecting Chester's spirit.
Sam jumps up from the broken glass and Dean tosses him the mask to go burn outside. Sam rushes out to the Impala while Dean gets Rita and Max into a salt circle in the living room. Outside Sam gets gasoline from the trunk, when Chester comes from behind and knocks him out. Back inside, Dean tells Rita and her son to stay inside the circle, explaining that Chester is a ghost, before Chester comes up behind him and throws him into the other room.
Chester begins stalking towards Dean. Max calls out to him, causing Chester to pause, but then he pushes Dean against the wall and begins choking him. Outside, Sam has regained consciousness and douses the deer head in gas, and torches it. Inside, Chester suddenly stops choking Dean and begins to become consumed by flames before finally disappearing.
Later, Donna and Doug arrive at the scene. Donna tells them to come back for better reasons some time. She sympathizes with Sam and Dean, trying to tell who is possessed and who isn’t -- “Your life’s one big poop storm.” Dean tells her that was spoken like a true hunter. She is surprised, but Sam agrees: with three cases under her belt now, she’s earned it. Elated, she gives them two big bear hugs. Dean grins and the boys make their way out.
Officer Doug approaches her and Donna apologizes for the recent way she’s treated him. Doug says he understands, and that everyone has baggage. He offers to let her call him by his middle name, Lonnie. But she says Doug is just fine.
Back on the road, Sam tells Dean he is praying because he doesn't even know if God is the one giving him the visions, but if it is, he doesn’t know what to do with the info he’s getting. Dean asks what he’s seen and Sam admits it’s the cage. He says he is scared -- what if it means he has to go back there to get the answer, to beat this? Dean tells him no, that is suicide. “No, just not gonna happen.” Sam reluctantly agrees with an “okay.”
Characters
Definitions
- Acting in Unison
- Aliases
- Alcohol
- Clowns
- Drugs
- EMF
- Fingerprints
- Ghost
- Ghost Possession
- Holy Water
- Hugs
- Hunters
- Incredible Hulk
- Iron
- Men of Letters Bunker
- Possession
- Prayer
- Salt
- Sam's Bedroom
- Table of Death
- Unconscious
- Vengeful Spirit
Music
- "Hell to Pay" by Five Finger Death Punch
- (playing on Brock Buckner's iPod)
- "In House" by Peter Fenn (De Wolfe Music Library)
- (playing in the elevator with Sam and the clown)
Quotes
Sam: Yeah, we did, Dean. But why's it so hard to believe God could be sending me visions about the Darkness?
Dean: Damn social media.
Dean: Right. So, whoever possesses the object...
Dean: They hate iron and salt, so all we gotta do is spook the spook with a little salt and, uh, maybe we could pry it off.
Sam: No Dean, I'm joking. Because clowns are really funny to me.
Dean: Spoken like a true hunter.
Dean: What?
Sam: The Cage.
Dean: Lucifer's Cage?
Sam: Yeah. What if He's telling me I have to go back, what if He's saying that's where the answer is to defeating the Darkness?
Trivia & References
- "Wild hare" is a pun on the term "wild hair," which refers to a person who does something sudden or unexpected. It is derived from the expression "to have a wild hair up one’s ass" or various variations of the phrase.
Donna: He is! But he's a cop... named Doug. I mean, clearly, I have a type, but no, thank you, ma'am. Won't be once bitten, twice Doug'd.
- A reference to the idiom, "once bitten, twice shy."
- "Wascally wabbit" is a catchphrase used by Elmer Fudd.
- "What's up, Doc?" is a catchphrase used by Bugs Bunny.
- "Molly" is a slang term for MDMA or ecstasy.
- A reference to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- CrossFit is an exercise program that combines aerobics, calisthenics, and weight lifting.
- "Hulking out" refers to the transformation of Bruce Banner into the Incredible Hulk, as well as a person reaching a level of anger where they are liable to do something rash.
- Bozo the Clown was a popular TV clown during the 1960s.
- Multi-instrumentalist singer-song writer Prince is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Cheese curds are a regional delicacy in the Midwestern United States.
Minutiae
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
- 11.07 Plush (transcript)
- Plush Script (Final Draft)
- Plush Call Sheets: Days 1-8
- Plush Script (Yellow Collated)
- Plush Call Sheets + Sides in Filming Order
Promotion
- Synopsis via ksitetv
- Photos via ksitetv
- Promo
- CHCH Promo
- Sneak Peek
- Sneak Peek #2 via EW
- Producer's Preview
