7.18 Party On, Garth
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| Title | Party On, Garth |
| Episode # | Season 7, Episode 18 |
| First aired | March 30, 2012 |
| Directed by | Philip Sgriccia |
| Written by | Adam Glass |
| On IMDB | Party On, Garth |
| Outline | When Garth calls Dean and Sam for help on a case, they find themselves battling a shojo, a Japanese creature you can only see when you're drunk. |
| Monster | Shojo |
| Timeline | Approx. 2 weeks after 7.17 The Born-Again Identity |
| Location(s) | Junction City, Kansas |
| « Previous Episode | Next Episode » | |
Contents
Synopsis
A teenager named Trevor McAnn is killed in the woods near Junction City, Kansas, and hunter Garth arrives to investigate it, posing as a U.S. Marshall. When he talks to two girls who were there when Trevor was killed, he learns about Jenny Greentree, a ghost rumored to haunt those woods. He digs up Jennifer's grave, salting and burning her bones without any complications, then heads back into town. He's sure that the case is closed, but as he eats a late dinner, his police scanner comes alive. Another teenager, this time Trevor's brother Ray, has been found dead on Widow's Peak.
Sam is driving their car of their week, an AMC Pacer, and Dean is on the phone with Meg, checking in on Castiel, who is still a patient of the locked psychiatric ward at Northern Indiana State Hospital. According to Meg, there's been no change in his condition, and Sam feels guilty for "passing on" his crazy to him. Dean reminds him that Cas wanted to do it, and Sam says he doesn't want to talk about it just as Dean's phone rings. The call is from Garth, and he needs their help on his case in Junction City.
When Sam and Dean arrive at the Geary County Morgue, Garth tells Sam and Dean about the case. After looking at Ray's body, Garth thinks it was a monster attack, especially since he hasn't gotten any EMF readings. When Dean scans the corpse, however, his EMF reader lights up. They're further confused because witnesses say Trevor was attacked by something invisible. Sam researches the two victims and learns that their father is the owner of a local microbrewery, so they go to question him.
At the microbrewery they meet Manager Marie McAnn, sister to Trevor and Ray. She introduces them to the co-owners: her father, Jim McAnn, and Randy Baxter. Sam and Garth question the two men, but Jim gets emotional and leaves Randy to answer their questions. They learn that Randy, though not a father himself, is the godfather of all four of Jim's children. Randy also tells them about the third partner they had, Dale Lampert. He committed suicide a few months ago and his widow is suing the company. On top of everything else, they're selling their Thighslapper Ale to a large distributor, a deal that's been in the works for a while.
That night, Jim's daughter Lillian McAnn has just made herself a screwdriver and poured a glass of plain orange juice for her daughter, Tess, when he arrives at the door. As she greets him, her daughter accidentally drinks from the wrong glass and gets drunk thanks to the vodka, allowing her to see the invisible spirit that moves through the house and sneaks up behind her mother. Jim can't see anything, so she points at it, and Lillian turns and also sees the spirit. She tries to run, but the spirit thrusts its arm through Lillian's chest, killing her while her daughter screams.
Back at Garth's motel room, Garth is working on his EMF reader, which keeps acting up, while Sam researches Dale Lampert. He learns that Dale left the company two weeks before he died, and Sam thinks he may have been pushed out because he didn't want to sell. Garth chugs an entire beer and is immediately tipsy. He proposes drinking more, but their police scanner crackles; officers are being called to the McAnn's house.
At the McAnn's house, Dean tells Garth that he thinks Tess knows something, but can't get her to talk. Garth pulls out his puppet partner, Mr Fizzles, and to Dean's consternation, Tess talks to the puppet, telling it that a monster killed her mother. She also admits that she accidentally drank a "grownup drink."
On the way back to the motel, Dean and Garth figure out that the monster can only been seen when drunk, and Dean takes a swig from his flask. Garth asks him about it, and Dean tells him that the flask was Bobby's. Garth remembers that his EMF reader acted up when Dean had his flask out and asks if it's possible that Bobby is a ghost. Dean tells him that they gave him a hunter's burial, and Garth points out that some ghosts exist despite being cremated.
Meanwhile, Sam is questioning Dale's widow, and she reveals that Jim and Randy did sell the company out from under Dale and that he sent them a gift to show that he forgave them: a bottle of Japanese sake that he wouldn't let his wife touch. Sam calls Dean and tells him to meet him at the brewery.
Sam shows Dean the box with Japanese writing that he spotted earlier in Jim's office, and they open it to find an unsealed sake bottle. Dean points out the security camera in the room, and Sam gets on Jim's computer and hacks into the video feed. They see Trevor McAnn opening and taking a drink of the sake. They don't see anything else, though, so Dean hands Sam some booze. They quickly get drunk on Jim's nice liquor and then watch the video again; this time they see the monster that appeared after Trevor opened the sake. They're still in the office, drunk, when Randy shows up. They panic, but Garth appears behind Randy and uses his taser to stun him.
Sam and Dean take the box with the sake bottle to a Japanese restaurant and pay a waiter to translate the text on it. He says that according to the box, the sake bottle inside contains a shojo, an alcohol spirit. It also says, "What you took will be taken from you." They head back to Garth's motel room, where he's restrained Randy in the bath tub, and tell him about the shojo. After some research, they learn that the shojo can be controlled if it's contained in a spell box. Dale saw the brewery as his baby, and so he chose a spell box that would make the shojo kill his ex-partners' children and godchildren. The only thing that can kill a shojo is a samurai sword blessed by a Shinto priest, so Dean heads to a few pawn shops while Sam watches Marie, the only one of Jim McAnn's children still alive.
Garth waits until Randy is awake and accuses him of hiding something. He’s checked and confirmed that Randy cut the janitor some slack, and his mom was Randy’s receptionist decades ago. Randy admits that he had an affair and Garth warns him that the shojo will go after the janitor, who has no idea who his biological father is.
At the brewery, Lee the janitor is unaware that the shojo is watching him. Meanwhile, Dean manages to find a sword and gets the chef from earlier to bless it while he pours bottled water over it in lieu of a stream. Garth, drunk with mini liquor bottles from the bar, calls to tell him he’s heading for the brewery.
As Garth finds Lee, he spots the shojo and tells Dean that it’s there. He then grabs the janitor and hustles him out. Dean calls Sam and tells him to get to the brewery.
The shojo grabs and tosses Garth away and closes the door to keep Lee from escaping. Sam arrives and tries to get Lee out, but the shojo hits him. Dean tries to attack it, but is too sober to see it. It knocks the sword out of his hand, sending it sliding across the floor. As Dean tries to reach it, it suddenly slides back to him. Sam tells him where to swing and Dean manages to stab the creature and kill it.
The next day, Garth hugs the brothers and tells them to call whenever they need help. Dean admits that things have been happening around Bobby’s flask. Sam figures that it’s just a normal reaction to losing a loved one and points out that his tests have proven that Bobby’s spirit is not around. He figures the shojo was trying to grab the sword and made it slide. They leave the motel room unaware that Bobby's ghost is watching them. Dean goes back in before they leave to get the flask and does not see Bobby, who calls him an idjit and fades away.
Characters
- Sam Winchester
- Dean Winchester
- Bobby Singer
- Garth
- Mr. Fizzles
- Jenny Greentree
- Randy Baxter
- Jim McAnn
- Marie McAnn
- Tess McAnn
- Dale Lampert
- Lillian McAnn
- Lee Baxter
Definitions
Music
- "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe
- (plays when Garth drives up to the burger joint, after he burns Jenny Greentree's bones and when he drives away near the end of the episode)
Quotes
Garth: Is that a stripper or a beverage?
Garth: I don't even usually drink beer. It messes with my depth perception - especially when I skinny dip.
Dean: Shut up.
Trivia & References
- A reference to the 1986 movie movie Top Gun, in which Tom Cruise's character "Maverick" wears aviator sunglasses.
- Sam is referring to the 2002 movie The Ring, which was a remake of a Japanese horror movie Ringu. The films feature a videotape that will result in a person's death in seven days, unless someone else watches the tape within that time.
- The shojo was reminiscent in look to the ghost — wearing white, with long black hair — from the movies. She is known as Samara (English version) or Sadako (Japanese version).
- Translation: I am being deployed to Afghanistan soon.
Sam: No!
Dean: No — coffee for you Tara Reid.
- Tara Reid is an actress known for partying with celebrities such as Paris Hilton and being caught on video in various stages of undress and inebriation.
- Kahlúa is a brand of coffee liqeur.
- This line is a quote from the Terminator series of movies, and is used by a character in each of the movies.
- It is also a quote from the movie Snakes on a Plane. Samuel L. Jackson says it to Nathan Phillips at the beginning of the movie and Phillips calls it back at the end.
- Sayonara is Japanese for 'goodbye'.
- Kemo sabe is supposedly a Native American term meaning 'trusted friend'. It was popularized by the Lone Ranger franchise where the character Tonto calls the Lone Ranger 'ke-mo sah-bee'.
- Dean is referring to Patrick Swayze in the movie Ghost who, as a spirit, moved objects to achieve his ends. Dean speculates that if Bobby were a ghost, with his knowledge, he would similarly make his presence known. Dean previously referenced the movie in 2.01 In My Time of Dying and 4.15 Death Takes a Holiday.
Minutiae
- Headspinner amber ale
- Hard Head imperial stout
- Hair Raiser light lager
- "It's as much drinking as the CW's standards and practices will allow us!"
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
Promotion
- Episode titles 7.13 to 7.19
- Title and synopsis by ksitetv
- Sera talks about the episode and teases about the season finale by Marissa Roffman.
- promo images from ksitetv
- Episode promo
- Webclip
- Bob Singer introduces the episode
- Behind the scenes of the Guanaco Food Truck scene
- Winchester Radio's podcast for this episode
