2.11 Playthings

Title	Playthings
Episode #	Season 2, Episode 11
First aired	January 18, 2007
Directed by	Charles Beeson
Written by	Matt Witten
On IMDB	Playthings
Outline	Sam and Dean investigate two strange deaths at a small Connecticut inn run by a single mom whose young daughter plays with an imaginary friend.
Monster	Ghost
Timeline
Location(s)	Peoria, Illinois Pierpont Hotel (Cornwall, Connecticut)
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Synopsis

Sam and Dean investigate a series of mysterious deaths at the Pierpont Inn. The inn is run by a single mother (Susan) who is planning to sell the inn. Also living at the inn is the manager's young daughter (Tyler), Susan's mother (Rose), and the elderly bellboy (Sherwin). Tyler has an imaginary friend named Maggie.

While they are there, another murder causes Sam intense guilt, and he gets drunk and makes Dean promise to fulfill John's final order - to kill Sam should he turn evil.

While investigating, Sam and Dean at first suspect Rose of engineering the murders using Voodoo, after discovering voodoo symbols on the property and evidence that she had come in contact with such folklore. However, when they sneak into the upper levels of the inn to speak with Rose, they discover she has suffered from a stroke and therefore doesn't possess the faculties to practice Voodoo. Discovering Sam and Dean in her mother's room, Susan demands they leave the inn.

Sam and Dean return to the inn in secret, however, saving Susan's life and convincing her there is something supernatural going on when she nearly becomes a victim herself. They discover that Maggie is in fact a ghost of Susan's aunt, Margaret, who drowned in the inn's pool when she was a girl. The mysterious deaths started occurring when Rose had a stroke, and thus was no longer able to keep Maggie's ghost from the inn using Voodoo protection.

Maggie's motives appear to be that she doesn't want the family to leave the inn, as it means she will no longer have Tyler as a play mate, and to keep Tyler with her together, attempts to drown Tyler in the inn's swimming pool. Before she can complete the murder, Maggie is called away from the pool by Rose, who trades her life for Tyler's, offering instead to stay and be a ghost and playmate for her sister instead.

Sam rescues Tyler from the pool, and shortly thereafter they discover Rose dead, having made the deal with Maggie.

Characters

• Dean Winchester
• Sam Winchester
• Tyler Thompson
• Maggie Thompson
• Rose Thompson
• Susan Thompson
• Sherwin

Definitions

• Quincunx ^PoD
• Poppets ^PoD
• MILF
• Toys
• Alcohol
• The Shining

Music

• "Voodoo Spell" by Michael Burkes

(plays when Sam is looking for Ava)

Quotes

Dean: Of course, the most troubling question is why do these people assume we're gay?
Sam: Well, you are kind of butch. They probably think you're overcompensating.

Sam: You're bossy.

Dean: What?!
Sam: You're bossy. And short... (chuckles)
Dean: Are you drunk?

Sam: Yeah! So? Stupid.

Dean: You know, she could be faking.
Sam: Yeah, what do you wanna do, poke her with a stick? (Dean nods) Dude, you are not gonna poke her with a stick!

Susan: I don't believe this.
Dean: Listen sister, that car didn't try to run you down by itself. OK? I mean, I guess it did, technically, but the spirit can...

Trivia & References

Jared Padalecki stated that he and Jensen Ackles were somewhat freaked out by the room of blank-staring dolls in this episode. They kept daring each other to "poke" one particular eyeless doll in the eye sockets or to stand alone in the room. The pranks escalated slightly when Jared put a few of the dolls in Jensen's trailer "just to freak him out".

There are multiple references to The Shining throughout the episode. Dean and Sam stay in room 237, the twin girls, the low tracking throughout the inn's halls are redolent of similar cinematography, and the scene in which Dean wanders into the inn bar to talk to Sherwin is reminiscent of a scene in the film. The room number 237 was also referenced in 1.18 Something Wicked.

Many of the low tracking shots of the inn's halls are reminiscent of cinematography used in The Shining

This is the last episode in which Sam is seen wearing the cast for his broken wrist, which was first seen in 2.05 Simon Said.

Dean: Old school haunted houses, you know? Fog and secret passageways, sissy British accents. Might even run into Fred and Daphne while we're inside. Mmm. Daphne. Love her.

Scooby-Doo - A long running cartoon series about four friends and a dog called Scooby-Doo who hunt down ghosts and the supernatural. Daphne was a sexy red-head.

The cinematography used in the scenes involving Rose (the grandmother) in the upper story of the hotel is highly reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

Dean: You know there's a really good hangover remedy, it's a greasy pork sandwich served up in a dirty ashtray.

The line “How 'bout a nice greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray?” is one of the most famous lines from the 80's movie Weird Science.

Maggie: We can have lots of tea parties. Forever and ever and ever.

Reminiscent of the twins' famously creepy line in The Shining, "Come and play with us, Danny. Forever and ever and ever."

Cornwall, Connecticut is also the location of Dudleytown, an abandoned settlement that is considered one of the most haunted locations in the US. The land is currently owned by the Dark Entry Forest Association and is strictly off limits to outsiders. Source

This is the third episode in which the brothers are mistaken for a gay couple. The others are 1.08 Bugs and 1.18 Something Wicked

Sam: Everyone around me dies!

Dean: Well, I'm not dying, OK? And neither are you.

Dean, wrong on both counts. See Dead...or are they?.

Dean's credit card has the surname Mahogoff. "Jack Mahogoff" is a wordplay related to wanking used in pranks (sound it out real slow!), according to Urban Dictionary. This is the same alias as Dean's mobile phone account in 2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign.

Minutiae

The Deer's Head appears in this episode - in Sam and Dean's hotel room.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

• 2.11 Playthings (transcript)
• Shooting Script for Playthings

Promotion

• Episode Stills
• Episode Promo: 2.11 Playthings
• Cut You Down. A promo clip set to Johnny Cash's "Cut You Down" was released over the Christmas hiatus in the lead-up to the screening of 2.10 Hunted on January 11, 2007. Produced in black and white, and set to the Johnny Cash's "Cut You down", it contained scenes from upcoming episodes 2.10 Hunted, 2.11 Playthings, 2.12 Nightshifter and 2.13 Houses of the Holy. In June 2007, this promo won two awards at the annual Promax/BDA Promotion and Marketing Awards : a gold award for Use of Library Music for a Promos and a silver for Drama Program Promotion.