8.02 What's Up, Tiger Mommy?
Title | What's Up, Tiger Mommy? |
Episode # | Season 8, Episode 2 |
First aired | October 10, 2012 |
Directed by | John Showalter |
Written by | Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin |
On IMDB | http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404088/ |
Outline | Kevin convinces Sam and Dean to check on his mother before they retrieve the Word of God tablet, but she's surrounded by demons and the tablet isn't where he left it. |
Monster | Crowley Plutus |
Timeline | |
Location(s) | |
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Contents
Synopsis
Dean and Sam need Kevin Tran to lead them to where he hid the Word of God tablet he stole from Crowley; however, Kevin wants to check on his mother, Linda Tran, first. Dean is convinced that Linda will be fine, but under surveillance by demons and likely a trap. Despite Dean's misgivings, Kevin insists, so they drive out of their way to Neighbor, Michigan, to check on her.
When they arrive, Sam and Dean notice the demons surveilling the Tran house. They quickly kill them using Ruby's Knife, and Kevin rings the doorbell. His mother is ecstatic to see him, but Sam and Dean still splash holy water on her to make sure she isn't possessed. As they hug, Sam smells sulfur and he and Dean rush inside to see a demon smoking out of one of Linda's neighbors. Before it can escape and alert Crowley, Sam recites an exorcism backwards, trapping the demon in its meatsuit, and Dean stabs her with the knife.
After Linda witnessed her neighbor's death, Sam, Dean, and Kevin explain what has been going on for the last year. They tell her that a demon named Crowley kidnapped Kevin, and that he wants Kevin because he is a prophet who can read the word of God. When she learns about the tablet they're going to get, she insists on going with them. They try to dissuade her by telling her that she and Kevin will need to get anti-possession symbols tattooed on their bodies, but she doesn't flinch, saying it won't be her first tattoo. At the tattoo parlor, she remains stoic while Kevin cries out in pain.
They arrive at Laramie Station in Laramie, Wyoming, and check the locker that Kevin stowed the tablet in, but it's gone. When Sam and Dean question the head of security, they learn that the station lockers were broken into frequently over a period of time by the previous head of security, Clem Smedley, who is now in county lockup. They go to question him about the tablet, and as Sam talks to Clem about the possibility of making a deal for his information, Dean flashes back to his time in Purgatory.
Benny and Dean are questioning a creature, and Dean is certain that it knows something about Castiel's whereabouts. He holds his primitive weapon to its neck and gets it to talk: Castiel can be found if they follow a nearby stream. Dean smiles and then kills the creature while Benny silently stands by.
Meanwhile, in the interview room, Dean has choked Clem with his tie and thrown him up against the wall. Sam tries to talk him down, but Dean ignores him, putting Ruby's knife to Clem's neck. Afraid for his life, Clem tells Dean that he sold the tablet to a pawnshop.
At the pawnshop, Dean and Sam get nowhere with the clerk, Lyle. Thankfully, Linda Tran is knowledgeable about cars and tax laws, and she threatens to notify the proper authorities about Lyle's unregistered Ferrari F430 Spider parked in front of the pawnshop, which would cost him $10,000 in fees since she assumes he acquired it in a trade. To avoid an audit, he gives them the pawn slip for the tablet.
The pawn slip has a motel room listed as the address, but nobody answers when they knock on the door. They're about to leave when they're approached by a man who calls out Kevin's name. He knows who they are and that Kevin is a prophet, and he gives Kevin an invitation to his auction, where he'll be selling the tablet. Dean tells him that Kevin won't be going alone, and the man assures them that there is a "no casting, no cursing, etc." policy at the auction. His boss, Plutus, has warded the premises. Still, he adds Dean, Sam, and Linda to the invite. After he leaves, they consider what they can bid, and Sam looks at the Impala. Dean shoots him down and then Sam mentions that at most auctions they display the items to the bidders beforehand. If they can get Kevin close enough to the tablet, he can translate it and memorize the spell they need to close the gates of Hell.
They go to the auction, and Dean is forced to give up all of his weapons, including Ruby's knife, before he can enter. Once inside, they find the God tablet, but it is covered so that it can't be read before the auction. Crowley is also in attendance, and he gives Kevin insincere condolences for his girlfriend, Channing. Linda punches him in the face and tells him to stay away from her son, and Crowley threatens her. Before things can escalate further, the start of the auction is announced and everyone proceeds to the bidding area. Dean is held back, however, by an angel named Samandiriel, who tells Dean that he knew Castiel. He's at the auction to bid on the God tablet as well, but he wants to know what happened to Castiel. Dean tells him that they were trapped in Purgatory after killing Dick Roman. When Samandiriel asks him if Castiel escaped, too, Dean just shakes his head. The angel then tells Dean that he always thought Castiel had too much heart.
Dean flashes back to when he and Benny found Castiel in Purgatory. He hugged Castiel, happy to see him, but Castiel seemed worried that Dean had found him. He was no longer insane from Lucifer, and Benny asked him why he abandoned Dean after they arrived in Purgatory. Castiel told him that he'd stayed away from Dean because the Leviathans were after him and it wasn't safe for him to answer Dean's prayers. He told Dean to leave him alone, but Dean insisted that he and Benny had a way out of Purgatory and that he wouldn't leave without him.
Back in the present, the auction is starting. Sam, Dean, Linda, and Kevin gather what money they have and Crowley mocks them, saying the tablet isn't worth their trouble if it will only blast demons back to hell: he'll just make more. Sam answers with "we'll see," and Crowley looks intrigued. When the bidding starts at 3 tons of Dwarven gold for an amulet, however, they realize they may be out of their league: they only have some hacked credit cards, $2,000, and a Costco membership card between the four of them. Dean gets up from his seat and sneaks off to find where the auction items are being held. He pickpockets one of the guards and gets a key to a storage locker, but when he opens the door to it, there are more guards inside. He leaves quickly and goes back to the auction, where he tells Sam that "Plan C" failed.
Characters
- Sam Winchester
- Dean Winchester
- Kevin Tran
- Linda Tran
- Crowley
- Castiel
- Benny
- Plutus - the God of Greed
- Beau - his assistant
- Samandiriel
- Mr Vili
Definitions
Music
- The Devil's Chasing Me by Reverend Horton Heat
Quotes
Sam: Pretty simple Dean. They're all monsters.
Dean: Are you one of them?
Dean: Well we got our hacked credit cards, about two thousand dollars and a...CostCo membership.
Crowley: Maybe you should try Plan "D" for dumbass.
Crowley: Yeah, I claimed it for Hell. You think a man named Buzz gets to go into space without making a deal?
Trivia & References
It was in 3.12 Jus in Bello that Sam and Dean revealed that they have had Anti-possession symbols tattooed on their chests as a precaution following Sam's possession by Meg. After the episode Sera Gamble said: "I'll be convinced we're truly a cult hit when a fan gets the same tattoo."
Little did Sera know, that fans had been getting tattoos since early on in the Show's run. You can see many of these in the Fan Tattoos gallery. The anti-possession tattoo is one of the most popular designs.Crowley: Listen to Moose, Squirrel.
- Crowley has long used Moose as a nickname for Sam. Here he calls Dean "Squirrel", referring to the cartoon duo of Bullwinkle (the moose) and Rocky (a squirrel).
Crowley: Yeah, I claimed it for Hell. You think a man named Buzz gets to go into space without making a deal?
- Crowley is referring to Buzz Aldrin, a member of the Apollo 11 crew and the second man to set foot on the moon.