Line #28 Recap/SupernaturalS01E18SomethingWicked


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2	Previous: Recap/SupernaturalS01E17HellHouse\
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4
5	'''[[Recap/{{Supernatural}} Recap]] of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''''\
6	'''Season 1, Episode 18:'''
7
8	!Something Wicked
9	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ridge-Canipe-Something-Wicked-the-weechesters-21147909-1280-720_3960.jpg]]
10	[[caption-width-right:350:I'm sick of [[YouSayTomato scabetti-ohs]].]]
11
12	->'''Sam:''' He'll always know there are things out there in the dark, never be the same, you know? Sometimes I wish that...
13	->'''Dean:''' What?
14	->'''Sam:''' I wish I could have [[ChildrenAreInnocent that kind of innocence]].
15	->'''Dean:''' If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could, too.
16
17	Written by Daniel Knauf.
18
19	Directed by Whitney Ransick.
20
21	Airdate: April 6, 2006.
22
23	Dean faces a creature from his childhood who got away and is now stealing the lives of children in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitchburg%2C_Wisconsin Fitchburg, Wisconsin]].
24	------------
25
26	[[Characters/SupernaturalTheWinchesters John Winchester]] sends Sam and Dean to Fitchburg, Wisconsin, where pneumonia has started to spread among the children, affecting one family at a time. For some reason, none of the kids respond to medical treatment.
27
28	During their investigations they find a handprint, which Dean remembers seeing in one of their father's photographs when they were children. It's a [[Characters/SupernaturalMonstersAndSupernaturalBeings Shtriga]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shtriga an Albanian witch]], which is draining the kids of their life force. It's only weak when it feeds, and it hides by disguising itself as a human. It's also one of the few monsters that got away from their father.
29
30	After exhausting the few leads they have, they return to the motel where they're staying and find out that the younger boy of the family who runs the place has fallen ill. While Dean gives the upset mother a ride to the hospital, Sam finds a picture in a newspaper from the 1890s of a group of doctors. One of them is the very same doctor who is currently responsible for the pediatrics ward where the sick children are treated.
31
32	While arguing with Sam whether or not to use the older brother as bait for the witch, Dean reveals that the reason their father never caught the witch in the first place was because he disobeyed their father and almost got Sam killed by the witch.
33
34	Realizing they don't have any alternative, they ask the older brother to act as bait, and he accepts because of the possibility of it saving his brother. They set up a trap and manage to kill the witch, after which all the children are cured from their illness.
35
36	!!Body count:
37	For this episode = 1 shtriga.
38
39	For the series so far = At least 133 humans; 9 ghosts; 1 god; 1 rawhead; 1 shapeshifter; 1 shtriga; 1 wendigo.
40
41	------------
42	!Tropes appearing in this episode:
43
44	* AbandonedPlayground: The first clue about what is wrong in Fitchburg, Wisconsin.
45	%%* {{Backstory}}
46	%%* TheBait: Michael.
47	* BigBad: Dr. Hydeker, a shtriga that poses as a doctor to eat the souls of children.
48	* BigBrotherInstinct: Naturally. Both Dean and Michael.
49	* CallBack: John's response to the shtriga attacking Sam was to flip out and hold his son while ignoring the escaping shrtiga, then drive his children three hours away to safety before finally going back for it, resulting in it escaping for good. [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E16Shadow This references the characters' previously-held concern that John Winchester is not always so clear-headed around his sons.]]
50	* CatchYourDeathOfCold: The illness is attributed to a window being left open.
51	* ChildEater: The shtriga.
52	* CommonalityConnection: Dean immediately sympathizes with Michael's feelings of protection towards his younger brother
53	* ConvenientComa: The children languish in a coma instead of just dying.
54	* CoverIdentityAnomaly: Sam's fake ID as Dr. Jerry Kaplan is for a Bikini Inspector.
55	* CreepyLongFingers: The shtriga.
56	* CuteResponsibleKid: Michael and Dean.
57	* DeadlyDoctor: The shtriga.
58	* EvilOldFolks: SubvertedTrope in the case of the woman sitting in the wheelchair.
59	-->'''Sam:''' An old person, huh?
60	-->'''Dean:''' Yeah.
61	-->'''Sam:''' In a hospital? Whew, better call the Coast Guard.
62	* LifeDrinker: An immortal creature called a shtriga drains the life force from people, mostly children.
63	* LightIsNotGood: The light from the shtriga's throat.
64	* LiteraryAllusionTitle: From ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'':
65	-->'''Second Witch:''' By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes!
66	* MistakenForGay: A RunningGag, which was [[ContinuityNod previously seen]] in [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E08Bugs "Bugs" (S01, E08)]].
67	-->'''Michael:''' ''[checking Dean in at the motel]'' King or two queens?
68	-->'''Dean:''' Two queens.
69	-->'''Michael:''' ''[looks at Sam waiting outside]'' Yeah, I bet.
70	-->'''Dean:''' What'd you say?
71	-->'''Michael:''' Nice car.
72	* MonochromePast: Dean's flashbacks are shown in very muted tones.
73	* MyGreatestFailure: Dean sees his failure to protect Sam properly at age ten as this, despite the fact that even if he'd been there the whole time, he probably wouldn't have been able to do much.
74	* NoOntologicalInertia: The children are healed when the shtriga is killed.
75	* NotQuiteDead: Sam and Dean have difficulty determining whether or not they've killed the shtriga. The shtriga clears this up quickly, however.
76	* NowILayMeDownToSleep: A variation emphasizing angels instead of death is used, but either version fits well with ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''s themes.
77	-->'''Little girl:''' Now I lay me down to sleep/I pray the Lord my [[OurSoulsAreDifferent soul]] to keep/May [[GuardianAngel angels]] watch me through the night/And keep me safe 'til morning's light. Amen.
78	* PromotionToParent:
79	** Young Dean when [[ParentalAbandonment their father]] goes [[ParentalNeglect hunting]].
80	** Michael taking care of Asher.
81	* ProphetEyes: SubvertedTrope, with the old woman just having cataracts.
82	* RedHerring: The shtriga can take just about any human form when it's not feeding, but the most common one is that of an old woman. An old woman has a room not far down from the pediatric unit. Not only is she ''incredibly creepy'', but she has an [[HollywoodSatanism inverted]] [[CreepyCrosses cross]] hung on the wall of her room. Turns out she's just an old lady who happens to look rather creepy due to cataracts and who keeps complaining to the staff about the crucifix on her wall that got loose and is now hanging the wrong way.
83	* RegularlyScheduledEvil: The shtriga appears in a new town every 15-20 years.
84	* ShoutOut:
85	** During Dean's {{flashback}}, Sam is watching ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats''.
86	** Dean tries to explain away their father not killing the shtriga by saying he didn't get his [[CerealInducedSuperPowers Wheaties]] that morning.
87	** The towns Sam explains were recently struck by the shtriga include Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook. These are the same towns plagued by the monorail in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E12MargeVsTheMonorail "Marge vs. the Monorail"]].
88	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: The shtriga. Its first recorded appearance was in 1893, 113 years before it came to Fitchburg, and its human form looked the exact same back then.
89	* ShapeshifterDefaultForm: The shtriga usually appears as an innocuous human, often an old woman, but in this case a pediatrician.
90	* SteelEarDrums: Acknowledged--the boys make a note of telling Michael that the gunshots will be louder than in the movies, and to cover his ears.
91	* ThemedAliases: Sam's alias as Dr. Kaplan may refer to guitarist Ira Kaplan of Music/YoLaTengo.
92	* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: Branches scratching on the windowpane that turn into long weathered fingers as the little girl hides under her covers in the opening scene.
93	* ThroatLight: The shtriga.
94	* TooDumbToLive: An immortal monster that's completely invulnerable unless feeding. What does it do after the ambush is sprung? Feeds so it can take a bullet.
95	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Young Dean with the shotgun.
96	* VampireDoctor: The MonsterOfTheWeek is a shtriga that uses its sinister powers to hospitalize and feed upon the life force of various children while posing as a doctor trying to cure them.
97	* WickedWitch: The shtriga.

Context Recap / SupernaturalS01E18SomethingWicked