4.19 Jump the Shark

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Promo pic for 4-19 Jump The Shark.jpeg
Title Jump the Shark
Episode # Season 4, Episode 19
First aired April 23, 2009
Directed by Phil Sgriccia
Written by Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin
On IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1222605/
Outline Sam and Dean meet a young man who reveals himself to be their brother.
Monster Ghouls
Timeline
Location(s) Windom, Minnesota

<googlemap lat="43.933506" lon="-95.107269" zoom="11" width="300" height="300"> 43.87403, -95.117714, Windom, MN, USA </googlemap>

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Synopsis

One of John's Cell Phones that Dean has kept rings. It is a young man called Adam Milligan looking for John, and claiming to be his son.

Sam and Dean travel to Windom, Minnesota. John's Journal confirms he visited there in 1990, but the following pages have been ripped out.

Dean is initially skeptical and assumes Adam is a supernatural creature, however Adam doesn't react to Silver or Holy Water and he and Sam come to believe that Adam is human, and their brother. In January 1990, Adam's mother met John Winchester in Windom, Minnesota when he came into the hospital where she worked as a nurse, when he was injured during a hunt. Adam was born on 29 September, 1990 although he didn't have any contact with John until he was twelve.

Adam's mother Kate Milligan has gone missing, which is why Adam was trying to contact John. At Kate Milligan's house, Dean finds scratch marks leading to a vent under her bed, and in the vent finds human remains. Sam checks local papers and finds out that in 1990 John Winchester was in town investigating the 17 grave robberies in the town. In the old news photo, John can be seen n the background. Recently the grave robbing has recommenced along with the disappearance of Kate and a local man - Joe Barton, who was a police officer on the case 17 years ago. Together they killed the ghoul responsible for the robberies.

Dean is envious of the time John spent with Adam, but when he recognises that John tried to shield Adam from hunting, he clashes with Sam who is keen to train Adam as a hunter. Dean goes to investigate the graves while Sam starts to train Adam.

While crawling deep into the crypts, something traps Dean. While trying to escape, he find the bodies of Kate and Adam Milligan.

Adam and his mother were killed by Ghouls in revenge for the killing of their parent Ghoul by John Winchester. One of the ghouls took on Adam's form and memories in order to lure John to the town, only to find out that he died. The ghoul had decided quickly to kill Sam and Dean in John's place.

The ghouls attack Sam and start to drain his blood. Dean returns and blasts the head of one ghoul and beats in the skull of the ghoul that looks like Adam.

Dean insists that the real Adam is given a hunter's send off in the form of a funeral pyre similar to that given to John by his sons.

Characters

Definitions

Music

A Lttle Btty Tear by Burl Ives plays while Dean is at the bar.

Quotes

Dean: Why do you think Dad never told us about this kid, Sam? Why do you think he ripped out the pages? ... Because he was protecting him. ... He didn't want Adam to have our lives and we're gonna respect his wishes.
Adam: You hunted it down? Got revenge?

Sam: Dean killed it.
Adam: So, it's over?

Sam: It's never over.
Sam: Being a hunter isn't a job, Adam. It's life. You're pre-med, you've got a girlfriend, friends? Not anymore, you don't. If you're really gonna do this, you can't have those kinds of connections. Ever. They're weaknesses. You'll just put those people in danger, get them killed. It's the price we pay. You cut 'em out and you don't look back. There's only one thing we can count on. Family.
Dean: Y'know, I finally get why you and Dad butted heads so much. You two are practically the same person. I mean, I worshiped the guy, I dressed like him, I acted like him. I listened to the same music. But you are more like him than I will ever be. And I see that now.

Sam: I'll take that as a compliment.

Dean: You take it any way you want.

Trivia & References

The title of this episode is a reference to the colloquialism, "jumping the shark", refers to the point at whch a show resorts to dramatic plot changes, novelty casting or similar devices in a desperate attempt order to reinvigorate the show, while ironically signaling that the show has probably passed its use-by-date. The term comes from an episode of "Happy Days" in which The Fonz actually jumped over a tank of sharks on his motorcycle.

In a TV Guide interview Eric Kripke sad of the episode title:

"When we were breaking the story about the third Winchester brother, we knew the fans would scream that we had jumped the shark. Of course, adding a new sibling or relative to an established series is a classic and cherished shark jump, Cousin Oliver being the patron saint of the practice. . Anyway, it became clear that we should beat the fans to the punch and title the episode, 'Jump the Shark.' Though rejected titles included: 'When Leo Joined Growing Pains,' or 'The Raven Symone Episode.'
"For fans who are worried that we are truly jumping the shark... watch the episode, decide for yourself. Personally, I don't think we're gassing up the motorcycle quite yet, but you tell me. And stay tuned for next season, when the boys take trips to London and Hawaii (haunted Tiki dolls!) and Sam and Ruby get married. And Ted McGinley joins the cast as the thoughtful (but hot!) college professor."

See also

The boys meet Adam Milligan at a cafe called Cousin Oliver's. Cousin Oliver was a young kid added to the cast of The Brady Bunch]] in its last season. Adding a young kid to a cast is called doing a Cousin Oliver and is often seen as a sign of the show jumping the shark.
Kim.png
In a tribute to Kim Manners, Sam and Dean were staying at a hotel called Kim Manor. A display card in the room advertises happy hour n the Sonny Buono lounge and features a pic of a mustachioed Kim. At the Salute to Supernatural L.A. 2009, Jensen and Jared mentioned that in honour of Kim the crew had undertaken a mustache growing competition.
Dean uses the alias Agent Nugent, a reference to rocker Ted Nugent
An Entertainment Weekly article (beware of spoilers) said of Jake Abel: "The actor playing the new sibling is a Wincest buff's dream — he looks so much like Padalecki and Ackles he could be their magical gay offspring."

Minutiae

Sides, Scripts & Transcripts

Promotion

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