Supernatural – Safe House

By: Stacy Miller

It’s often said that you never realize how much you miss old friends until you see them again. Such was the case with Bobby Singer (Jim Beaver) and Rufus Turner (Steven Williams) on Supernatural. When I heard the old school hunters would be making an appearance this season, I was giddy with anticipation. I wondered how the writers would pull it off. The answer, brilliantly as witnessed in the episode Safe House.

The teaser shows a young mother, Naoki scrapping wallpaper of the wall when she hears her daughter, Kat scream. Naoki tries to convince Kat that there’s nothing to be afraid of, but no sooner than her mother leaves the room than Kat hears footsteps outside of it. She hides under the bed, but that doesn’t stop the creepy monster hand from pulling her out. Kat screams again and we see the “Supernatural” title card.

In the Men of Letters Bunker, Sam reads about a young girl (Kat) who’s in an unexplained coma. Sounds like a hunt. They take off to Grand Rapids, Michigan to check it out. I guess they reason they might as well work on a case as answers to Amara/Castiel/Lucifer problem is not happening.

The Winchesters go to the hospital and talk with Naoki (Jane McLean). They learn about flickering lights and cold spots in the house as well as see bruises on Kat’s body from where the monster touched her. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) then go to the house where after talking with the nosy neighbor lady about the FBI always coming to that house, they realize that Bobby (Jim Beaver) and Rufus (Steven Williams) hunted same thing several years before. Cue the flashback to several years before where we see Bobby asleep in his car when Rufus scares the living daylights out of him prompting him to pull out his gun. Bobby and Rufus engage in their bantering/arguing, which is always fun to watch. You can feel the affection between them, but with each set in their own way, their disagreements are amusing instead of annoying.

Bobby and Rufus walk to the same house that Sam and Dean are investigating and the nosy neighbor, several years younger, wants to know the nature of the FBI’s business. “It’s none of your damn business,” is Rufus ever charming response.

Bobby questions Rufus on why they are wasting their time on a ghost hunt with the Apocalypse looming. So, we learn the timeline of the flashback is around later Season 4/early Season 5. Bobby is preoccupied, worried about the fate of “his boys” Sam and Dean. Aw! I know I wasn’t the only viewer touched by this line. What I like about “Supernatural” is that even a gruff hunter like Bobby can be touchy feely when it comes to his love for Sam and Dean.

Sam and Dean go into the house and the EMF meter is going nuts, definitely signs of paranormal activity. In the past, Bobby and Rufus talk with the owner of the house and learn that her son screamed, but was unconscious when she got to his room where there was flickering lights and it felt extremely cold. Bobby and Rufus head to a cheap motel to work on their investigation.

Sam learns about the hotel where Bobby and Rufus stayed so he and Dean stay at the same place. They also use some of Bobby’s old hunter journals to aid them in their research. Sam tells Dean about the deaths in the house, one where a guy choked on a chicken bone and another guy shot his wife. You have to love Sam and Dean, they always first assume it’s a vengeful spirit until proven otherwise. After burning bones they are eager to get back to bigger fish to fry (Amara/Cass/Lucifer). C’mon guys! Do you really think it’s that easy? What show are you watching?

Back to several years ago, Rufus insists it’s not a ghost. Bobby disagrees insisting it’s a ghost and they need to burn some bones. Despite the arguing back and forth, Bobby and Rufus go to the cemetery. As this is “Supernatural,” you know we have to get a “talk about your feelings” scene. Bobby tells Rufus he was sleeping in his car because he’s been burning the midnight oil trying to find a way to stop the Apocalypse because he has to save Sam and Dean. Rufus reminds that even if they do stop the Apocalypse, everybody won’t be saved.

Sam and Dean go to the cemetery, dig up the graves and find ashes. So, it’s not a ghost. What the heck are they hunting then?

Back at the house, Naoki is attacked by the same creature as her daughter and winds up in a coma, too. Sam and Dean talk with Dr. Richards, who tells them about Mary Henderson and her son Will who lived in the house. Both ended up in a coma, but eventually did wake up. Sam and Dean speak with Mary, who explains that when she was in a coma she had a dream about being trapped in the house where she saw some strange things. She ended up selling the house after coming out of the coma because of bad vibes. Mary (Holly Elissa) also explains that when she woke up, the FBI agents warned her not to touch the wall paper.

Both Bobby and Rufus and Sam and Dean’s investigations reveal they are dealing with a Soul Eater, a creature existing in another world, but takes up residence in a house in our world to feed off the souls of people inside. The Soul Eater then creates a “nest,” an illusion in the mind of its victim so they believe they’re still at home. Both sets of hunters learn the sigil needed to trap the Soul Eater, but the sigil needs to be drawn in the real world and the nest one. That means one hunter has to be the Soul Eater’s victim – Bobby and Dean are both the baits.

In their dreams/nests, Bobby sees Sam and Dean dead while Dean sees Sam dead. Bobby meets young Will and Dean sees Kat. They both glimpse the Soul Eater’s other victims. Meanwhile, Sam and Rufus are working on the sigils. The Soul Eater enters Dean and Bobby’s bodies to stop Sam and Rufus. The Soul Eater arrives as Dean tells Sam he can protect him from The Darkness. Sam and Rufus win their respective fights with the Soul Eater and Will (in the past) and Kat (in the present) are both saved.

At the hospital, Naoki tells Sam and Dean that she’s selling the house. In the past, Bobby finds a bottle of whiskey from Rufus when he gets a call from Dean that they have a lead on Lilith in Maine.

Safe House was a great “Supernatural” episode that showed how much Bobby and Rufus are needed in the show’s universe. Here’s hoping we see them again…