15.16 Drag Me Away (From You)

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SPN-1516.jpg
Title Drag Me Away (From You)
Episode # Season 15, Episode 16
First aired October 22, 2020
Directed by Amyn Kaderali
Written by Meghan Fitzmartin
On IMDB Drag Me Away (From You)
Outline After an old childhood friend dies, Sam and Dean realize they are dealing with a creature they thought they had killed when they were children.
Monster Baba Yaga
Timeline January 1993 (flashback)
Location(s) Wadsworth, Ohio
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Synopsis

Travis Johnson walks into Rooster's Sunrise Motel and asks to rent room 214, telling the receptionist it was "doctor's orders." When she asks, he tells the receptionist he's been there before, a very long time ago. He walks into the room, telling himself "you can do this." Travis sits anxiously on the bed, drinking whiskey straight from the bottle and holding on to a ring on a chain around his neck, saying to himself "it's not real, it was never real." Suddenly, a small boy appears. Travis scrambles off the bed, dropping the bottle and yelling that the boy isn't real. The boy picks up the jagged bottle and points it at Travis, who screams as the bottle stabs into him.

After learning of Travis's death, Sam and Dean travel for what they believe is the funeral. As they're driving, Dean wonders aloud why they're going to the funeral of a friend they haven't seen in 25 years. Sam suggests they have nothing else to do, which leads him to question why Cas just left, but Dean denies knowing anything about it.

Sam and Dean meet up with Travis's sister, Caitlin. They talk about the issues Travis had in his life and how he seemed to be getting better with therapy. Kaitlyn tell them that his doctor suggested he go back to the hotel and "face his fears". She tells them that the funeral already happened, and that she called them back because she believes that "she's back". Dean refuses to believe her, telling Caitlin he killed her.

January 1993
John drops Sam and Dean off out front of the Rooster Sunrise Motel and drives away. Before checking in, Dean notices Sam has a book. After wrestling it away he sees it's a guide for colleges, and he makes fun of Sam for thinking he could get into college. After checking in, Sam goes to room 214 and begins unpacking while Dean goes to get/steal a candy bar from the vending machine, where he meets a boy and girl, Travis and Caitlin.

Later, in the hallway, Travis is alone and trying to get a candy bar from the vending machine the way Dean showed him. He pushes the two numbers and bangs the side of the machine, but the candy doesn't drop. As he starts to walk away, he hears the whirring of the coils in the vending machine and the candy drops. He goes back to put his hand into the slot to retrieve the candy, when a hand with a red ring grabs him. As he screams for Caitlin, he looks up into the vending machine; all the candy begins to fall and reveals a witchy-looking woman inside the machine. He screams again and as the others come running the woman disappears and all the candy is back in place in the machine as if nothing happened.

Back in their room Sam and Dean talk with Travis about what happened. After learning that John is two days out of contact, Dean tells Travis they believe him and ask if any strange things have been happening in the motel or in the area, and learns that three children have gone missing recently. Sam and Dean investigate and think they've found the central location where the thing might be hiding -- its nest.

At a deserted cannery, Dean comes across the nest, and the bodies of the missing children, but hides this from Caitlin. At the motel room, Sam and Travis stay in the room and play Boggle. As they are playing all the words that come up are related to death. The letter cubes begin to shake and erupt all over the room as the lights go out and the woman appears behind Travis and grabs him. Dean and Caitlin happen to come into the room and Dean shoots at it. When there is no effect, he grabs his knife, cutting off her fingers and sending them flying under a table. He then stabs her in the stomach, and she vaporizes. The fingers also vaporize, leaving her ring on the floor under the table.

In the present, Dean is walking down the hall in the hotel and is confronted by a dead-looking version of himself when he was at the motel as a kid. Dead-kid-Dean tells adult-Dean, "We've been waiting for you. You know what you have to do," gesturing to Dean's hand, which is now holding a knife. Dead-kid-Dean also tells Dean he failed. Dean drops to his knees, turning the knife towards his stomach. Sam comes across Dean, alone, kneeling knifeless on the floor and Dean now realizes that Caitlin was right.

While he's out at a diner ordering food, Billie visits Dean and advises him that Chuck has destroyed the last world and that they need to be ready for the fight soon. She also says that she visited Jack and gave him his orders for his final task and that this is the last time she will visit until the end. When Dean asks how she talked Jack into killing himself, she tells him she told Jack the truth – that the only way Dean would forgive him is by killing Chuck. She asks him if he is okay with that.

While doing research with Caitlin, Sam finds out that they are dealing with Baba Yaga. When he shows Caitlin the lore, she recognizes the ring that Baba Yaga wears – the source of her power – as Travis's ring that he wore around his neck which he had repaired shortly before returning to the motel. As Sam realizes that Baba Yaga's defeat in 1993 was down to Dean damaging her ring when he cut off her fingers, Caitlin goes out to her car to retrieve the ring but can't find it. As she closes the trunk a dead adult Travis appears in front of her, holding out the ring right before he attacks her.

When Dean returns with the food, Sam alerts him that Caitlin is missing and they are dealing with Baba Yaga. Sam and Dean separate and search around the motel for the nest, hoping to find Caitlin. Dean goes back to room 214 and the door swings open. As he enters, the door slams behind him and the room is now the Baba Yaga’s nest from 1993 where a dead Travis / Baba Yaga is waiting for him. Dean shoots him but nothing happens and a struggle ensues between Dean and Baba Yaga. As Sam enters the room (which is now a motel room again) he sees Caitlin lying unconscious and Baba Yaga choking Dean. Sam stabs her in the back. She stands up and throws him across the room. Dean takes advantage of the distraction and pulls her ring off her finger, throwing her across the room. He then smashes the ring with the end of his gun and the Baba Yaga bursts into flames and evaporates.

Dean and Caitlin are walking across the motel lobby, talking about what just happened and what happened when they were kids. Caitlin asks if Dean was scared, to which he replies he always is. Caitlin is surprised as the Dean she remembers wouldn't have admitted that, and they hug.

January 1993
Caitlin thanks Dean in the motel lobby with a hug. He gives Caitlin their number in case she needs their help again; she tells him she hopes she never has to use it before saying bye to Dean and Sam. As John pulls up, Dean attempts to apologize for making fun of Sam wanting to go to college, but only ends up telling Sam they make a good team. Sam agrees, and they head to the Impala.

While Sam and Dean are driving back home, Dean tells Sam about his visit from Billie and that God will be here soon. During this discussion, Dean also tells Sam about Jack dying in the process of killing God and Amara. Sam figures out that Dean has known about this for a while and gets mad, telling Dean that he thought they were past this kind of thing. Dean tells him that he withheld the information because he didn't think Sam could handle it and that Sam would try to alter the plan. The boys argue some more. Dean tries to apologize but Sam doesn't want to hear it.

Characters

Definitions

Music

  • "If I Didn't Care" by The Ink Spots
(playing in the motel as Travis is checking in)
  • "Gone Again" by Robin Loxley & Smudge Mason (Extreme Music)
(playing in the bar where Sam, Dean, and Caitlin get a drink and talk)

Quotes

Sam: This is different. It's not like we have much else to do. Chuck is off-world, Jack is in the Bunker waiting for Billie's orders, and Cas? Cas just bailed, I guess. He didn't say anything to you about why he left?

Dean: Not really.
Sam: And you guys didn't get into a fight or something?

Dean: It's just Cas being Cas.
Young Dean: Dad should've let me go with him. You don't need me -- I was babysitting you when I was your age.
Young Sam: Pretty sure that's illegal.
Young Dean: Monsters are real. Me, my dad, we hunt them. It's kinda the family business.
Billie: I told him the truth. Jack killed your mother, and all he wants is your forgiveness. And I surmise the only way he can get that is ending God, and freeing you from the -- what did call it? Hamster wheel. Was I wrong?
Caitlin: Don't you ever want to be, I don't know? Normal?
Sam: Well, we help people, you know? Save them. Just sorry we couldn't save Travis.
Caitlin: Were you scared?

Dean: Always am.
Caitlin: You have changed. The old you never would have admitted that.

Dean: Well, I'm not sure that's a good thing.
Young Dean: Sam, about the college thing. I don't know, but, we do make a good team. Right?
Young Sam: Yeah, we do.
Dean: Jack's gonna die. Apparently, it was always part of Billie's plan. Jack's known this whole time. And he's ready to sacrifice himself. So in order to kill God and Amara, Jack has to die.

Sam: Wait. So... Billie just told you this while you were grabbing burgers?
Dean: No. Cas did, before we left. Before we even got the call about Travis.

Sam: So you've been sitting on this. What the hell, Dean? I thought we were past stuff like this.
Dean: 'Cause I know you couldn't handle it! You didn't trust Billie's plan, and then, when we found out about Amara, you... you... you started second-guessing. You raise these... these "ethical questions."
Sam: I shouldn't? Jack's gonna kill himself, and I should just shut up about it?
Dean: This is how we end Chuck, okay?! This is the only way we'll ever be free! So I'm sorry, Sam! You don't get a choice! We don't get a choice!

Trivia & References

The title "Drag Me Away (From You)" is from the lyrics to the song "Africa" by Toto, which is a favorite of the episode's writer Meghan Fitzmartin, the full line being:
"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you. There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do."
Dean: This ain't the friggin' Goonies. None of you has been on a hunt before. Just... stay. I got this.
The Goonies is a 1985 movie about a group of kids who call themselves "the Goonies" who find an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure.
Caitlin: We saw your car when you checked in. Who's your dad... Knight Rider?
Knight Rider was an '80s TV show about Michael Knight who solved crimes and drove a car with an A.I. called KITT. The car was, as Caitlin correctly identified, a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
Sam: Come on. L-Let's Boggle.
Sam and Travis play Boggle, a game where players try and make words out of letters on adjacent dice.
In traditional folklore, Baba Yaga is seen as a sort of boogeyman for children who misbehave. In "Drag Me Away (From You)", Travis Johnson is targeted by Baba Yaga when he tries to steal some candy from a vending machine.
Dean: Okay. So, we track her down, junk her Precious, and game over?

Sam: I think so, yeah.

"Precious" is what Gollum called the powerful One Ring in the fantasy novel and later film series The Lord of the Rings. Like in this episode, the One Ring had to be destroyed in order to permanently defeat its owner, Sauron.

Minutiae

Ryan Alexander McDonald, who plays Travis Johnson, previously played Demon Trucker in 9.11 First Born.
The episode takes place in a motel called "Rooster's Sunrise"
In the flashbacks, Dean is wearing his amulet. Dean is about to turn 14 and Sam is 9. It is two years since the events of 3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas when Sam first learned about monsters and hunting. The writer, Meghan Fitzmartin, said the intention was for Dean and Sam to be 15 and 10 respectively, with the events set after those in the flashbacks shown in 11.08 Just My Imagination set in 1991 and before those in 9.07 Bad Boys set in 1995.
Dean: I thought your imaginary friend told you it was bad to steal?
As revealed in 11.08 Just My Imagination, Sam's imaginary friend is the zanna Sully.
The other children who went missing in 1993 were Sean McGee, Tony Raymonds, and Britt Wilcox. They are named after Supernatural crew members.
Billie reveals that Chuck is done destroying alternate universes and will soon be back. Also, according to Chuck's book in Death's Library, Billie's role is now over and it is up to Dean.
Dean reveals that Castiel had told him the truth about Jack's destiny at the end of 15.15 Gimme Shelter.
Baba Yaga is the fourth monster defeated years before that the Winchesters have had to come back to finish for good. The first was the shtriga in 1.18 Something Wicked, the second was the demon in 7.15 Repo Man (though it's revealed that the killer is Jeffrey who lured the Winchesters back to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to use Dean's blood to successfully summon the demon back), and the third was the Soul Eater in 11.16 Safe House (though the Soul Eater was an old case of Bobby's and Rufus's and not the Winchesters).

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

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