Difference between revisions of "2.12 Nightshifter"

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|Infobox=
 
|Infobox=
 
{{InfoboxEpisode
 
{{InfoboxEpisode
|image= [[Image:2-12 Nightshifter.jpg|300px|Promotional image for Night Shifter]]
+
|image= [[Image:2-12 Nightshifter.jpg|350px]]
 
|title= Nightshifter
 
|title= Nightshifter
 
|episode= Season 2, Episode 12
 
|episode= Season 2, Episode 12
 
|firstaired= January 25, 2007
 
|firstaired= January 25, 2007
|director= [[Philip Sgriccia]]
+
|director= [[Phil Sgriccia]]
 
|writer= [[Ben Edlund]]
 
|writer= [[Ben Edlund]]
 
|imdb= [http://imdb.com/title/tt0942145/ Nightshifter]
 
|imdb= [http://imdb.com/title/tt0942145/ Nightshifter]
 
|download= [http://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/night-shifter/id207595116?i=213965762 iTunes], [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MYMQ5G/ref=atv_dp_se_2_12/102-6268956-3507308 Amazon.com]
 
|download= [http://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/night-shifter/id207595116?i=213965762 iTunes], [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MYMQ5G/ref=atv_dp_se_2_12/102-6268956-3507308 Amazon.com]
|outline= Sam and Dean investigate a string of robberies with a disturbing pattern: In each incident, a trusted employee holds up a bank and then commits suicide.
+
|outline= [[Sam]] and [[Dean]] investigate a string of robberies with a disturbing pattern: In each incident, a trusted employee holds up a bank and then kills themself.
|motw= [[Shapeshifters]]
+
|motw= [[Shapeshifter]]
|location= City Bank Milwaukee, <BR>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee%2C_Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin]
+
|location= Milwaukee, Wisconsin (City Bank Milwaukee)
|timeline= [[Season 2 Timeline|September 10, 2006]]
+
|timeline=  
 
|map= <googlemap lat="43.050827" lon="-87.878265" zoom="9" width="300" height="300" overview="yes" controls="small">
 
|map= <googlemap lat="43.050827" lon="-87.878265" zoom="9" width="300" height="300" overview="yes" controls="small">
 
43.040182, -87.91448, Milwaukee, WI, USA
 
43.040182, -87.91448, Milwaukee, WI, USA
 
</googlemap>
 
</googlemap>
 +
|prevep= 2.11 Playthings
 +
|nextep= 2.13 Houses of the Holy
 
}}
 
}}
  
 
|Synopsis=  
 
|Synopsis=  
[[Sam]] and [[Dean]] investigate a series of crimes and suicides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wherein people are behaving out of character in stealing from their place of business and then committing suicide shortly thereafter. During their investigation, they come across Ronald "Ron" Reznick, a victim who has conspiracy theories about "Mandroids". His amateur research reveals to Sam and Dean that the perpetrator of these crimes is in fact a [[Shapeshifters]], as previously seen in [[1.06 Skin (episode)|1.06 Skin]].
+
[[Sam]] and [[Dean]] investigate a series of crimes and suicides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wherein people are behaving out of character - stealing from their places of business and then dying by suicide shortly thereafter. During their investigation, they come across [[Ronald Reznick]], a victim who has conspiracy theories about "[[Mandroids]]." His amateur research reveals to Sam and Dean that the perpetrator of these crimes is in fact a [[shapeshifters|shapeshifter]], as previously seen in [[1.06 Skin]].
  
Plotting out the path of the shapeshifter in accordance with the city's sewers, Sam and Dean pinpoint the next place of attack - City Bank Milwaukee - and pose as security techs in order to view security camera footage and locate the undercover shapshifter.  
+
Plotting out the path of the shapeshifter in congruence with the city's sewers, Sam and Dean pinpoint the next place of attack - City Bank Milwaukee - and pose as security techs in order to view the bank's security camera footage and locate the undercover shapshifter. They are interrupted when Ronald comes into the bank, chaining the door closed behind him and brandishing a gun. Convincing Ronald that he believes him, Dean helps him lock everyone in the bank into the vault and they seek out the shapeshifter. Unfortunately, the shapeshifter has already changed appearance by this stage, and the tension is increased as it changes appearance multiple times, with Sam, Dean, and Ronald attempting to track it down in order to kill it. Ronald is shot and killed by a police sniper while in pursuit of the shapeshifter.
  
They are interrupted when Ron Reznick comes into the bank, chaining the door closed behind him and brandishing a gun. Convincing Ron that he believes him, Dean helps Ron lock everyone in the bank into the vault and helps him seek out the shapeshifter.
+
Meanwhile, the police are stationed outside, and they manage to see Dean's face as he leads an ailing hostage out to an ambulance. Once Dean has been identified, the FBI come in, and it's revealed that an agent has been tracking the Winchesters for some time and knows some details about their history and childhood. SWAT teams infiltrate the building while Dean fights and finally kills the shapeshifter. Sam and Dean escape the building by stealing and wearing SWAT team uniforms.
 
 
Unfortunately, the shapeshifter has already changed appearance by this stage, and the tension of the episode is increased as it changes appearance multiple times, Sam, Dean and Ron attempting to track it down in order to kill it. Ron is shot and killed by a police sniper while in pursuit of the shapeshifter.
 
 
 
Meanwhile, outside the police are stationed, and manage to see Dean's face as he leads an ailing hostage out to an ambulance. Once Dean has been identified, the FBI come in, and it's revealed that an Agent has been tracking the Winchesters for some time, and knows some details about their history and childhood.
 
 
 
SWAT teams infiltrate the building while Dean fights and finally kills the shapeshifter. Sam and Dean escape the building by stealing and wearing SWAT team uniforms.
 
  
 
|Characters=  
 
|Characters=  
 +
* [[Sam Winchester]]
 
* [[Dean Winchester]]
 
* [[Dean Winchester]]
* [[Sam Winchester]]
+
* [[Victor Henriksen]]
 
* [[Ronald Resnick]]
 
* [[Ronald Resnick]]
 
* [[Sherri]]
 
* [[Sherri]]
* [[Special Agent Victor Henriksen]]
 
* Lieutenant Robarts
 
  
 
|Pad_of_Definitions=  
 
|Pad_of_Definitions=  
* [[Mandroid]] <sup>[[PoD]]</sup>
+
* [[Acting in Unison]]
* [[Terminator 2]] <sup>[[PoD]]</sup>
+
* [[Aliases]]
* [[Morph]] <sup>[[PoD]]</sup>
+
* [[Cameras]]
* [[Skinwalker]]
+
* [[Costumes & Disguises]]
 +
* [[Dean's Amulet]]
 +
* [[Donuts]]
 
* [[Doppelganger]]
 
* [[Doppelganger]]
 +
* [[Impala]]
 +
* [[Law Enforcement Officers]]
 +
* [[Mandroid]]
 +
* [[Monsters]]
 +
* [[Morph]]
 +
* [[Silver]]
 
* [[Shapeshifters]]
 
* [[Shapeshifters]]
 +
* [[Star Wars]]
 +
* [[Table of Death]]
 +
* [[Terminator 2]]
 +
* [[Werewolves]]
  
 
|Music=  
 
|Music=  
*"[[Renegade]]" by Styx  
+
* "[[Renegade]]" by Styx  
: ''(plays when the boys get into the car at the end of the episode in their SWAT outfits)''
+
:''(plays when the boys get into the car at the end of the episode in their SWAT outfits)''
  
 
|Quotes=  
 
|Quotes=  
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Dean:''' [impersonating FBI agent] Well, thanks, Franny. I think that's all I need.<br>
+
'''Ronald:''' Cops said it was some kind of reflected light. Some kind of "camera flare." Okay? Ain't no damn camera flare. They say I'm a post-trauma case. So what? Bank goes and fires me, it don't matter! The Mandroid is, is still out there. The law won't hunt this thing down -- I'll do it myself. You see, this thing, it, it, it kills the real person, makes it look like a suicide, then it sorta, like, morphs into that person. Cases the job for a while until it knows the take is fat, and then it finds its opening. Now, these robberies, they're, they're grouped together. So I figure the Mandroid is holed up somewhere in the middle, underground, maybe. I dunno, maybe that's where it recharges its, uh, Mandroid batteries.  
'''Franny:''' Really? I mean... 'cause I got more... you know, if you wanted to interview me.... Sometime... In private<br>
+
}}
'''Dean:''' Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a good idea. You're a true patriot. Why don't you write your number down there for me?}}
 
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Dean:''' I like him. He says "okey dokey."<br>
+
'''Sam:''' Okay. I want you to listen very carefully. Because I'm about to tell you the God's honest truth about all of this. There's no such thing as Mandroids. There's nothing evil or inhuman going on out there. Just people. Nothing else, you understand?<br>
'''Sam:''' What if he's the shifter?<br>
+
'''Ronald:''' ...The laser eyes.
'''Dean:''' We follow him home, put a silver bullet in his chest.}}
+
}}
 +
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 +
'''Dean:''' Nah, I just think it's a little creepy how good of a Fed you are. I mean, come on, we could have at least thrown the guy a bone. He did some pretty good legwork here.<br>
 +
'''Sam:''' Mandroid?<br>
 +
'''Dean:''' Except for the Mandroid part. I liked him. He's not that different from you or me. People think we're crazy.<br>
 +
'''Sam:''' Yeah, except he's not a hunter, Dean. He's just a guy who stumbled onto something real. If he were to go up against this thing he'd get torn apart. Better to stay in the dark, and stay alive.
 +
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Ronald:''' I knew it, as soon as you two left. You aren't FBI. Who are you? Who are you working for, huh? The Men in Black? You working for the Mandroid? <br>
+
'''Sam:''' Shapeshifter. Just like back in St. Louis. Same retinal reaction to video.<br>
'''Sam:''' We're not working for the Mandroid!}}
+
'''Dean:''' Eyes flare at the camera. I hate those friggin' things.
 +
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Dean:''' Ron! Out of the light!...''[laughs]''}}
+
'''Dean:''' I like him. He says 'Okie-dokie.'<br>
 +
'''Sam:''' What if he's the shifter?<br>
 +
'''Dean:''' We follow him home, put a silver bullet in his chest.
 +
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Dean:''' Ron's game plan was a bad plan, I mean it was a bit of a crazy plan, but right now crazy is the only game in town, OK?}}
+
'''Dean:''' Okay, let's get something straight. It's, it's not a Mandroid. It's a shapeshifter.<br>
 +
'''Ronald:''' Shapeshifter?<br>
 +
'''Dean:''' Yeah. I mean, it's human, more or less. Has human drives -- and in this case it's money. But it generates its own skin, it can shape it to match someone else's features, you know, taller, shorter, male-
 +
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Henricksen:''' Well, you're not the typical suspect, are you, Dean? I want you and Sam out here, unarmed, or we come in. And yes, I know about Sam, too. Bonnie to your Clyde.}}
+
'''Dean:''' Yeah, Ron's game plan was a bad plan, I mean, it was a bit of a crazy plan, but right now crazy's the only game in town, okay?
 +
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Henricksen:''' I know about your dad.<br>
+
'''Henriksen:''' I don't give a rat's ass what you do, you can go get a donut and bang your wife for all I care. What I do need is your SWAT team locked and loaded.  
'''Dean:''' You don't know crap about my dad.<br>
+
}}
'''Henricksen:''' Ex-marine, raised his kids on the road, cheap motels, backwood cabins, real paramilitary-survivalist type. I just can't get a handle on what type of wacko he was. White supremacist, Timothy McVeigh? Tomato, tomahto.<br>
 
'''Dean:''' You got no right, talking about my dad like that. He was a hero.}}
 
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Dean:''' We are so screwed.}}
+
'''Dean:''' We are so screwed.
 +
}}
  
 
|Trivia_References=
 
|Trivia_References=
[[Image:Hansolofbi.jpg|thumb|200px|Sam's fake FBI ID signed as 'Han Solo']]
 
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
On the [[Official Site]], the title of this episode is spelled "Night Shifter".}}
+
[[Image:Hansolofbi.jpg|right|200px]]
 +
[[Sam]]'s FBI ID names him as "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_solo Han Solo]," a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_wars ''Star Wars''] reference. Dean's FBI ID names him as either "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Bauer Jack Bauer]" from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_%28TV_series%29 ''24''] or "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_%28Tom_Clancy%29 Jack Ryan]" who is a fictional character created by the novelist Tom Clancy.
 +
<br clear="all" />
 +
}}
 +
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 +
Ronald brandishes ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times Fortean Times]'', on which the cover story is an article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberman Cyberman], a reference to the popular television series [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who ''Doctor Who''.]
 +
}}
 +
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 +
'''Ronald:''' Chinese've been working on 'em for years. And the Russians before that. Part men, part machine. Like the Terminator. But the kind that can change itself, make itself look like other people.
 +
'''Dean:''' Like the one from T2.
 +
:''Ronald likens his theoretical [[Mandroids]] to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-1000 T-1000] from [[Terminator 2]].''
 +
}}
 +
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 +
'''Dean:''' Just let me do the talking. I don't think he likes you very much, Agent Johnson.
 +
:''A possible reference to the FBI agents in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard Die Hard.]''
 +
}}
 +
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 +
'''Ronald:''' I knew it, as soon as you two left. You aren't FBI. Who are you? Who are you working for, huh? The Men in Black? You working for the Mandroid?
 +
'''Sam:''' We're not working for the Mandroid!
 +
:''In popular culture the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_in_Black Men in Black] are thought to be government agents to threaten and harass people who have seen UFOs.''
 +
}}
 +
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 +
'''Officer:''' Another day in paradise.
 +
:''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Day_in_Paradise "Another Day in Paradise"] is a 1989 song by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_collins Phil Collins.]''
 +
}}
 +
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 +
'''Dean:''' Well, you weren't exactly a smooth criminal about this, Ron. I mean, you didn't even secure the security guard. He probably called them.
 +
:''A reference to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-WVpQ0ZG8Q the Michael Jackson song of the same name.]''
 +
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
Ronald brandishes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times Fortean Times], on which the cover story is an article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberman Cyberman], a reference to the popular television series [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who Doctor Who].}}
+
'''Dean:''' God, it's like playing the shell game. It could be anybody.
 +
:''A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_game shell game] is a game of skill which requires the bettor to guess which of three small cups (or shells) a pea-sized object is concealed under after the person operating the game rapidly rearranges them.''}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
''' Henriksen:''' And yes, I know about Sam, too. Bonnie to your Clyde.
 
''' Henriksen:''' And yes, I know about Sam, too. Bonnie to your Clyde.
:''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow] were notorious robbers and criminals who traveled the central United States during the Great Depression. The line "He's the Bonnie to your Clyde" was originally in the script for [[The Usual Suspects]], but never made it to the final cut.''}}
+
'''Dean:''' Yeah, well, that part's true, but how'd you even know we were here?<br>
 +
'''Henriksen:''' Go screw yourself, that's how I knew. It's become my job to know about you, Dean. I've been looking for you for weeks now. I know about the murder in St. Louis, I know about the Houdini act you pulled in Baltimore. I know about the desecrations and the thefts. I know about your dad.<br>
 +
'''Dean:''' Hey, you don't know crap about my Dad.<br>
 +
'''Henriksen:''' Ex-marine, raised his kids on the road, cheap motels, backwood cabins. Real paramilitary survivalist type. I just can't get a handle on what type of whacko he was. White supremacist, Timmy McVeigh, to-may-to, to-mah-to.<br>
 +
'''Dean:''' You got no right talking about my Dad like that. He was a hero.<br>
 +
'''Henriksen:''' Yeah. Right. Sure sounds like it. You have one hour to make a decision or we come through those doors full automatic.
 +
:''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow] were notorious robbers and criminals who traveled the central United States during the Great Depression. The line 'He's the Bonnie to your Clyde' was originally in the script for [[The Usual Suspects]], but never made it to the final cut.''
 +
:''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Houdini Harry Houdini] was a famous magician and escape artist.''
 +
:''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_McVeigh Timothy McVeigh] was an American terrorist convicted and executed for his part in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing Oklahoma City bombing] in 1995.''
 +
}}
 +
 
 +
|Minutiae=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
Sam's FBI ID names him as '[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_solo Han Solo]', a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_wars Star Wars] reference.}}
+
'''Filming Locations:''' [https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1kBWSFeaoV_37WCU_oGN-IaQtn7TPV7vt&usp=sharing Map of known filming locations.]
 +
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
Dean's FBI ID names him as either '[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Bauer Jack Bauer]' from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_%28TV_series%29 24] or '[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_%28Tom_Clancy%29 Jack Ryan]' who is a fictional character created by the novelist Tom Clancy.}}
+
On the [[official site]], the title of this episode is spelled "Night Shifter."
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
+
}}
Ron likens his theory of [[Mandroids]] to those in [[Terminator 2]].}}
 
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Dean:''' You weren't exactly a smooth criminal about this, Ron.<br>
+
[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0687999/ Roman Podhora], who played Lieutenant Robarts, also played the Sheriff in [[6.19 Mommy Dearest]].
:''A reference to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-WVpQ0ZG8Q the Michael Jackson song of the same name].''
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Dean:''' Just let me do the talking. I don't think he likes you very much, Agent Johnson.<br>
+
Although the [[shapeshifter]] had been dressed as a man, when the shifter turned into a woman, somehow it acquired a woman's slip without having taken the actual clothes from its likeness.
:''A possible reference to the FBI agents in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard Die Hard].''
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
 
{{TriviaQuote |Text=
'''Officer:''' ''(to Detective)'' Another day in paradise.<br>
+
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3VL2BTmY9E Video showing how the special effects] in this episode were done.
:''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Day_in_Paradise Another Day in Paradise] is a 1989 song by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_collins Phil Collins].''
 
 
}}
 
}}
|Minutiae=
 
  
 
|Sides_Scripts_Transcripts=
 
|Sides_Scripts_Transcripts=
 
* [[2.12 Nightshifter (transcript)]]
 
* [[2.12 Nightshifter (transcript)]]
 +
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kHP7f97Jkihcbj90fLJbLd1dL_YqNAL0/view Night Shifter Network Outline]
 +
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FgQmMNxH0zXhhbZqxnlNrebO-rMVPDk1/view Nightshifter Script] (Blue Draft, Acts 1-4 only)
 +
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yEKmabqKB_FQiskguvSv3DXpcPZICRwF/view Casting Sides for Agent Henriksen]
 +
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LFBJ1LUXAfYHq1_aqbvOAmhH8xxs_bqt/view Casting Sides for Ronald]
  
 
|Promotion=  
 
|Promotion=  
* [http://supernatural.tv/gallery2/promos/s2/nightshifter/index.html Episode Stills]
+
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb2EIublL6k Promo]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb2EIublL6k Episode Promo: 2.12 Nightshifter]
+
}}
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVEEblzahxs 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''.
+
==Episode Meta==
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3VL2BTmY9E Video showing how the special effects] in this episode were done
+
*[[SPN Heavy Meta]] Season Two Meta Index
 +
*[https://bardicvoice.livejournal.com/8347.html 2.12 Nightshifter: We Are So Screwed …] by bardicvoice (January 2007); [https://web.archive.org/web/20190816011142/http://bardicvoice.livejournal.com/8347.html archive link]
 +
*Bond, Silvia. 2008. Requiem for Ronald Reznick: "Nightshifter" Season 2, Episode 12. ''Pink Raygun'', August 5; [https://web.archive.org/web/20120326112136/http://www.pinkraygun.com/2008/08/05/supernatural-nightshifter/ archive link]
  
|Categories=[[Category:Canon]][[Category:Episodes]][[CAtegory:Season 2]]
+
[[Category:Canon]][[Category:Episodes|0212]][[Category:Season 2]]
 
 
}}
 

Revision as of 16:04, 24 November 2022


2-12 Nightshifter.jpg
Title Nightshifter
Episode # Season 2, Episode 12
First aired January 25, 2007
Directed by Phil Sgriccia
Written by Ben Edlund
On IMDB Nightshifter
Outline Sam and Dean investigate a string of robberies with a disturbing pattern: In each incident, a trusted employee holds up a bank and then kills themself.
Monster Shapeshifter
Timeline
Location(s) Milwaukee, Wisconsin (City Bank Milwaukee)
« Previous Episode | Next Episode »

Synopsis

Sam and Dean investigate a series of crimes and suicides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wherein people are behaving out of character - stealing from their places of business and then dying by suicide shortly thereafter. During their investigation, they come across Ronald Reznick, a victim who has conspiracy theories about "Mandroids." His amateur research reveals to Sam and Dean that the perpetrator of these crimes is in fact a shapeshifter, as previously seen in 1.06 Skin.

Plotting out the path of the shapeshifter in congruence with the city's sewers, Sam and Dean pinpoint the next place of attack - City Bank Milwaukee - and pose as security techs in order to view the bank's security camera footage and locate the undercover shapshifter. They are interrupted when Ronald comes into the bank, chaining the door closed behind him and brandishing a gun. Convincing Ronald that he believes him, Dean helps him lock everyone in the bank into the vault and they seek out the shapeshifter. Unfortunately, the shapeshifter has already changed appearance by this stage, and the tension is increased as it changes appearance multiple times, with Sam, Dean, and Ronald attempting to track it down in order to kill it. Ronald is shot and killed by a police sniper while in pursuit of the shapeshifter.

Meanwhile, the police are stationed outside, and they manage to see Dean's face as he leads an ailing hostage out to an ambulance. Once Dean has been identified, the FBI come in, and it's revealed that an agent has been tracking the Winchesters for some time and knows some details about their history and childhood. SWAT teams infiltrate the building while Dean fights and finally kills the shapeshifter. Sam and Dean escape the building by stealing and wearing SWAT team uniforms.

Characters

Definitions

Music

(plays when the boys get into the car at the end of the episode in their SWAT outfits)

Quotes

Ronald: Cops said it was some kind of reflected light. Some kind of "camera flare." Okay? Ain't no damn camera flare. They say I'm a post-trauma case. So what? Bank goes and fires me, it don't matter! The Mandroid is, is still out there. The law won't hunt this thing down -- I'll do it myself. You see, this thing, it, it, it kills the real person, makes it look like a suicide, then it sorta, like, morphs into that person. Cases the job for a while until it knows the take is fat, and then it finds its opening. Now, these robberies, they're, they're grouped together. So I figure the Mandroid is holed up somewhere in the middle, underground, maybe. I dunno, maybe that's where it recharges its, uh, Mandroid batteries.
Sam: Okay. I want you to listen very carefully. Because I'm about to tell you the God's honest truth about all of this. There's no such thing as Mandroids. There's nothing evil or inhuman going on out there. Just people. Nothing else, you understand?
Ronald: ...The laser eyes.
Dean: Nah, I just think it's a little creepy how good of a Fed you are. I mean, come on, we could have at least thrown the guy a bone. He did some pretty good legwork here.

Sam: Mandroid?
Dean: Except for the Mandroid part. I liked him. He's not that different from you or me. People think we're crazy.

Sam: Yeah, except he's not a hunter, Dean. He's just a guy who stumbled onto something real. If he were to go up against this thing he'd get torn apart. Better to stay in the dark, and stay alive.
Sam: Shapeshifter. Just like back in St. Louis. Same retinal reaction to video.
Dean: Eyes flare at the camera. I hate those friggin' things.
Dean: I like him. He says 'Okie-dokie.'

Sam: What if he's the shifter?

Dean: We follow him home, put a silver bullet in his chest.
Dean: Okay, let's get something straight. It's, it's not a Mandroid. It's a shapeshifter.

Ronald: Shapeshifter?

Dean: Yeah. I mean, it's human, more or less. Has human drives -- and in this case it's money. But it generates its own skin, it can shape it to match someone else's features, you know, taller, shorter, male-
Dean: Yeah, Ron's game plan was a bad plan, I mean, it was a bit of a crazy plan, but right now crazy's the only game in town, okay?
Henriksen: I don't give a rat's ass what you do, you can go get a donut and bang your wife for all I care. What I do need is your SWAT team locked and loaded.
Dean: We are so screwed.

Trivia & References

Hansolofbi.jpg

Sam's FBI ID names him as "Han Solo," a Star Wars reference. Dean's FBI ID names him as either "Jack Bauer" from 24 or "Jack Ryan" who is a fictional character created by the novelist Tom Clancy.


Ronald brandishes Fortean Times, on which the cover story is an article on Cyberman, a reference to the popular television series Doctor Who.
Ronald: Chinese've been working on 'em for years. And the Russians before that. Part men, part machine. Like the Terminator. But the kind that can change itself, make itself look like other people.

Dean: Like the one from T2.

Ronald likens his theoretical Mandroids to the T-1000 from Terminator 2.
Dean: Just let me do the talking. I don't think he likes you very much, Agent Johnson.
A possible reference to the FBI agents in Die Hard.
Ronald: I knew it, as soon as you two left. You aren't FBI. Who are you? Who are you working for, huh? The Men in Black? You working for the Mandroid?

Sam: We're not working for the Mandroid!

In popular culture the Men in Black are thought to be government agents to threaten and harass people who have seen UFOs.
Officer: Another day in paradise.
"Another Day in Paradise" is a 1989 song by Phil Collins.
Dean: Well, you weren't exactly a smooth criminal about this, Ron. I mean, you didn't even secure the security guard. He probably called them.
A reference to the Michael Jackson song of the same name.
Dean: God, it's like playing the shell game. It could be anybody.
A shell game is a game of skill which requires the bettor to guess which of three small cups (or shells) a pea-sized object is concealed under after the person operating the game rapidly rearranges them.
Henriksen: And yes, I know about Sam, too. Bonnie to your Clyde.

Dean: Yeah, well, that part's true, but how'd you even know we were here?
Henriksen: Go screw yourself, that's how I knew. It's become my job to know about you, Dean. I've been looking for you for weeks now. I know about the murder in St. Louis, I know about the Houdini act you pulled in Baltimore. I know about the desecrations and the thefts. I know about your dad.
Dean: Hey, you don't know crap about my Dad.
Henriksen: Ex-marine, raised his kids on the road, cheap motels, backwood cabins. Real paramilitary survivalist type. I just can't get a handle on what type of whacko he was. White supremacist, Timmy McVeigh, to-may-to, to-mah-to.
Dean: You got no right talking about my Dad like that. He was a hero.
Henriksen: Yeah. Right. Sure sounds like it. You have one hour to make a decision or we come through those doors full automatic.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were notorious robbers and criminals who traveled the central United States during the Great Depression. The line 'He's the Bonnie to your Clyde' was originally in the script for The Usual Suspects, but never made it to the final cut.
Harry Houdini was a famous magician and escape artist.
Timothy McVeigh was an American terrorist convicted and executed for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

Minutiae

On the official site, the title of this episode is spelled "Night Shifter."
Roman Podhora, who played Lieutenant Robarts, also played the Sheriff in 6.19 Mommy Dearest.
Although the shapeshifter had been dressed as a man, when the shifter turned into a woman, somehow it acquired a woman's slip without having taken the actual clothes from its likeness.
Video showing how the special effects in this episode were done.

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

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