Supernatural – American Nightmare

By: Stacy Miller

People attend church for answers and guidance. A woman named Olivia Sanchez (Mariessa Portelance) enters a church and walks towards the altar with bloody feet and lashes from an invisible whip become very visible on her back. She suddenly drops dead and the mystery of how she dies opens up questions.

Fortunately, there are two priests that arrive that will be able to provide some answers. Well, after they complete their investigation. And oh yeah, Father Penn and Father De Niro aren’t really Men of the Church. They are Men of Letters and Men of Hunting. It’s Sam and Dean (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles)! The Winchesters arrive at the church in Mason City, Iowa as the headline of “Priest Claims Demons Walk Among Us” grabbed their attention. The priest insists that he is not lying as he watched Olivia get frayed alive and that she was speaking in tongues before she died. Of course, Sam and Dean ask their standard questions about black smoke and sulfur.

They leave the church and talk the case. No black smoke means no demon. The next theory is a rogue angel. Dean calls Castiel (Misha Collins) who tells him that all is quiet on angel radio. Dean tells Sam the scoop on Castiel and Crowley (Mark Sheppard). The angel and the demon are working together to stop Lucifer who jumped into the body of rocker Vince Vincente (who Sam used to like but Dean thought was a douche) and now Rowena (Ruth Connell) has trapped Lucifer (Rick Springfield) at the bottom of the ocean. Thanks boys for giving us a Cliff’s Notes version since Castiel, Crowley and Rowena won’t be making an appearance in the episode.

Sam confirms that Olivia was speaking in Armenian and saying “Save me, Oh God.” Then, it’s a visit to the morgue. They tell the coroner Carl that they won’t need his help so they can have some alone time with Olivia’s body. Sam is worried about Dean’s mood, which is just to dive right into the case (something he does when he’s upset). Dean didn’t even want to make a pit stop before coming to the morgue. “So your tiny bladder is my problem?” Dean asks Sam sarcastically before reading the coroner’s report on Olivia. The lashes on her back and holes punctures in her hands and feet are definitely evidence of stigmata. Also, her skull was filled with a goopy mush, adding to the weirdness of the case. “What can do all that?” Dean wonders and adds, “Maybe we should focus more on the case and less on the Dr. Phil crap.” Yes Sam, Dean doesn’t want to be all sharing about how he’s feeling about Mary (Samantha Smith) leaving!

Sam and Dean question Beth Roberts (Aliza Vellani) who now has Olivia’s job. She is a wiccan. Beth tells Sam and Dean that Olivia could have made enemies because Child Protective Services make decisions that don’t always win popularity contest. “Well that was easy,” Dean says after they leave Beth’s office. He reasons that Beth used some black magic to kill Olivia to get her job. It’s a plausible theory, but Sam isn’t entirely convinced of Olivia’s guilt. They take the box of Olivia’s case files back to their motel room for further research. Meanwhile, Ricky Copeland (Daniel Jeffery) who is a bag boy at Joe’s Market suffers the same fate as Olivia.

The Winchesters learn about the Petersons from Beth. It seems that their oldest daughter Magda (Paloma Kwiatkowski) got pneumonia and because the overly religious family refused to let a doctor treat her, the girl died. “So, weird creepy, Child of the Corn people. I’m in,” Dean says after they end the call with Beth. It’s off to the Petersons. Dean climbs over the No Trespassing gate, but Sam walks through the side. The long trek to the Peterson’s house gives Sam time to ask Dean about his feelings on Mary leaving. Sam and Dean are so occupied with their conversation that they fail to notice the man on the motorcycle watching them. Once they arrive at the Peterson house, Sam and Dean tell the couple about Olivia’s death. Mrs. Peterson liked Olivia better than Beth, who didn’t approve of their religion. She asks Sam and Dean whether they believe in God. “We’re besties,” Dean answers. Nice Dean, I’m sure Chuck would appreciate that!

Mr. Peterson (William MacDonald) asks Dean’s help to fix his car. While they work, Mr. Peterson explains that he used to be a computer programmer, but got tired of the commercialism tied with the world of technology so he left that life to give his family better values.

Sam is having lemonade with Mrs. Peterson. She tells him how she was in a serious car accident when one day she heard God’s voice who told if her she lived a life of simplicity her pain would go away. He then questions her about Ricky Copland, the grocery delivery boy who died. When Mrs. Peterson makes a comment about God’s plan, Sam angrily says that her daughter didn’t die because of God but because of her refusal to seek medical treatment. Mr. Peterson enters the room and tells Sam and Dean that they have to leave.

The brothers now have two different theories on what they are dealing with. Dean thinks witch (Beth) while Sam believes vengeful spirit (Magda). Besides, Sam reasons that Beth didn’t know the delivery boy. So, the brothers decide to work their own leads. And as any viewer of Supernatural knows, Sam and Dean separating is never a good thing.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Peterson goes down to the basement where we see that daughter Magda is alive. Mrs. Peterson accuses her daughter of “letting the Devil out” and makes her pray for forgiveness which includes self-lashing. Sam witnesses this cruelty from the window. Magda’s brother Elijah (Gig Morton) tells his father that his mother is hurting her. Abraham Peterson defends his wife Gail, explaining to his son that she is doing God’s work. “Magda is our cross to bear,” he says.

Dean is at Beth’s office ready to blow her away until he talks with her and learns that she hates her new job and never wanted it. There’s goes her witch motive. He calls Sam to tell him that he was right about the ghost thing, but Sam tells Dean that Magda is alive. Their call is interrupted when Elijah points a rifle at him and then Abraham knocks him unconscious (You know you are watching Supernatural when Sam gets knocked over the head!).

After their call goes dead, Dean drives off in the Impala to get to his brother. Sam wakes up in the basement with Magda. Once he sees her move an object with her mind, Sam tries to convince her that she’s not the Devil, but that she is a psychic. He tells Magda that he used to be able to move things with his mind, too. Elijah and Abraham come downstairs to take Sam and Magda up to dinner. It turns out to be a deadly meal as Gail Peterson has poisoned the meal with rat poisoning. Abraham eats the food and drops dead. Mrs. Peterson tells her son to eat, but Sam pleads with Elijah to not eat the food. Magda screams “no” and the spoon goes flying from Elijah’s hand. Gail Peterson calls her “devil” and lunges for Magda with a knife, but Elijah jumps in front to protect his sister and gets killed instead. “I’m not the Devil, you are,” Magda tells her mother. She angrily uses her ability to get Gail to turn the knife on herself, but Sam stops her from killing her mother.

The police arrest Gail Peterson who shouts, “She is the Devil,” as she is led away. Magda tells Sam and Dean that Beth called her aunt in California and Magda will be staying with her. Sam gives Magda his number and tells her to call him if she needs anything. As Sam and Dean are walking back the Impala, Dean finally gets an answer to his text to Mary in which he wrote “Hi Mom, just checking in. Is Mom still okay or weird? Should I call you Mary?” The response which Mary wrote, “I’ll always be Mom. Tell Sam I love you boys,” gets a smile from Dean and then he gets in Baby and drives off.

Magda’s on a bus to Santa Cruz. When she gets off to use the restroom, the man on the motorcycle who was watching Sam and Dean earlier at the Petersons puts a silencer on his gun and shoots her. He is Mr. Ketch and tells the man who calls him, “I cleaned up the Winchesters’ mess. As expected, they couldn’t finish the job.”