Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Recap / SupernaturalS02E12Nightshifter

Go To

1[floatboxright:
2Previous: Recap/SupernaturalS02E11Playthings\
3Next: Recap/SupernaturalS02E13HousesOfTheHoly]
4
5'''[[Recap/{{Supernatural}} Recap]] of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''''\
6'''Season 2, Episode 12:'''
7
8!Nightshifter
9[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/800px-Ron3_6925.JPG]]
10[[caption-width-right:350:Yes, yes, [[Series/DoctorWho we see the magazine cover too]].]]
11-->'''Dean:''' ''[about the bank security guard]'' I like him. He says "okey dokey."
12-->'''Sam:''' What if he's the [[{{Shapeshifter}} shifter]]?
13-->'''Dean:''' We follow him home, put a [[SilverBullet silver bullet]] in his chest.
14
15Written by Ben Edlund.
16
17Directed by Philip Sgriccia.
18
19Airdate: April 19, 2007.
20
21Dean and Sam end up trapped in a hostage situation in a bank in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] with a former bank security guard who believes a half-man, half-robot is responsible for a string of robberies.
22------------
23
24Sam and Dean are investigating robberies of a jewelry store and a bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which appear to be committed by long-term, trusted employees who then killed themselves right after the robberies. The brothers question [[Characters/SupernaturalOtherHumans Ronald Resnick]], a security guard who was beaten unconscious by the teller who robbed the bank. They find out that Ron believes a "half-man, half-robot", which he terms "mandroid", is taking other people's forms, killing them, and committing the robberies. He points out glowing eyes on the bank security tapes, which he believes are laser eyes, as evidence that the robber was a "mandroid".
25
26The Winchester brothers realize that Ron has accidentally discovered a [[Characters/SupernaturalMonstersAndSupernaturalBeings shapeshifter]] and that the City Bank of Milwaukee is located on the sewer between the two prior robberies. The brothers infiltrate the bank disguised as repairmen for the surveillance cameras just as Ron, on his own, enters the bank with a rifle and holds everyone hostage to try and flush the shapeshifter out, starting a police siege of the bank. After Dean is identified by the police and the [=FBI=] are called in, it's revealed that a detail led by [[Characters/LawEnforcement Agent Victor Henriksen]] has been charged with apprehending Dean and have been chasing him since the [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E06Skin incident with the shapeshifter the year previously]]. During the siege, Ron wanders into the sights of a police sniper and is killed. Just as the brothers manage to track down and kill the shapeshifter, [=SWAT=] storms the building. Sam and Dean escape by stealing [=SWAT=] uniforms and slipping away in the chaos.
27
28!!Body count
29For this episode = 3 humans and 1 shapeshifter.
30
31For the series so far = At least 173 humans; 11 ghosts; 5 vampires; 2 shapeshifters; 1 demon; 1 god; 1 rakshasa; 1 rawhead; 1 shtriga; 1 wendigo; 1 zombie.
32----
33!!Tropes appearing in this episode:
34
35* AlienAbduction: One of the titles on the cover of the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times Fortean Times]]'' Ron shows Sam is "Alien Exchange Program: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_objects_proposed_in_religion,_astrology,_ufology_and_pseudoscience#Serpo The Planet Serpo Project".]]
36* AlienAutopsy: Another of the titles on the cover of the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times Fortean Times]]'' Ron shows Sam is "Alien Autopsy: Real ET caught on camera".
37* AllMenArePerverts: Dean uses the security camera to [[MaleGaze zoom in on a woman's behind]] as she leans over.
38* BaitAndSwitch: After Sam finds Sherry's corpse, he and Dean pull her out of the vault and take her to the corpse, believing she's the shapeshifter. Sherry, in turn... faints. As it happens, ''the corpse'' was the shapeshifter playing dead.
39** After killing the shapeshifter, a man in a SWAT getup walks in on Dean. It's actually Sam in the getup.
40* BaldOfAuthority: Agent Victor Henriksen.
41* BankRobbery: While the {{Shapeshifter}} perpetrated one bank robbery and was casing the City Bank of Milwaukee, Ron was very clear when he entered the bank with the rifle that "This is not a robbery!"
42* BloodFromTheMouth: Ron.
43* BodyHorror: For some reason, the skin comes off the shapeshifter's arm while it is in a fight.
44* BoomHeadshot: Helena shot Edgar, the night watchman, in the face.
45* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld[=/=]MakeTheBearAngryAgain: Ron is worried that China and Russia are ahead in "mandroid" technology.
46-->'''Ron:''' Chinese have been working on 'em for years. And the Russians before that.
47* ConspiracyTheorist: Ron, who seemed obsessed by a connection between Cheeseheads and aliens before he decides to start hunting "mandroids".
48-->'''Ron:''' I knew it, as soon as you two left. You aren't FBI. Who are you? Who are you working for, huh? TheMenInBlack? You working for the mandroid?
49-->'''Sam:''' We're not working for the mandroid!
50* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Ron may be paranoid and unreasonable in his claims that a "mandroid" is responsible for the robberies, but he ''is'' onto something with seeing the pattern of attacks and spotting the [[GlamourFailure flared eyes]] of the shapeshifter's forms on camera.
51* CurseCutShort: Dean doesn't quite finish his CatchPhrase, when Ron answers his door.
52-->'''Dean:''' Son of a b-
53* DiesWideOpen: Ron Resnick.
54* DressingAsTheEnemy[=/=]MuggedForDisguise: Sam and Dean escape dressed as SWAT team members.
55* EyeBeams: Ron thinks the glowing eyes of the shapeshifter are "laser eyes", which prove he is a "mandroid".
56* FaintInShock: Sheri faints when Sam and Dean confront her with what appears to be her own corpse.
57* FreezeFrameBonus / RewatchBonus: Pay close attention to the SWAT officer who clears the room for Agent Henriksen and stands in the doorway. [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail There's a brief closeup as he lowers his weapon]], and you can see it's Dean's eyes.
58* GlamourFailure: The {{Shapeshifter}}'s glowing eyes on film.
59* GroinAttack: The shifter delivers one to Dean.
60* GrossUpCloseUp: The shed skin of the shifter.
61* HiddenWeapons: When frisked, Dean is found to have a knife hidden in his boot.
62-->'''Dean:''' I'm not just gonna walk in here naked!
63* HollywoodHeartAttack: The "okey-dokey" security guard.
64* HostageSituation: Ron is surprised when the police call and ask for his demands.
65-->'''Ronald:''' ''[on the phone to the police negotiater]'' What? What do you mean, demands?
66* {{Humanshifting}}
67* TheHunterBecomesTheHunted: The shifter experiences this when the Winchesters appear, and the Winchesters experience this when Agent Henricksen shows up.
68* IdiotBall: Sam and Dean big time in their initial dealing with Ron. Instead of a succinct "we believe you, but let us handle it", they blatantly tell Ron that he's imagining things, which drives him to believe that, as the only one who really knows what's going on, it's up to him to stop the shifter. This gets him killed.
69* InspectorJavert: Agent Henricksen.
70-->'''Agent Henricksen:''' It's become my job to know about you, Dean. I've been looking for you for weeks now. I know about the murder in St. Louis, I know about the Houdini act you pulled in Baltimore. I know about the desecrations and the thefts.
71* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: Ron explains he is not a bank robber.
72-->'''Ronald:''' ''[on the phone to the police]'' No, I--I'm not a bank robber, I'm--kind of a crime fighter, I guess.
73* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: Sam and Dean pose as {{FBI Agent}}s yet again.
74** Dean adds some {{melodrama}} to his portrayal, when talking to Frannie at the jewelry store.
75-->'''Dean:''' Well, it's dangerous. And the secrets we've gotta keep, oh. God, [[KeepingSecretsSucks the secrets]]. But mostly it's--it's lonely.
76-->'''Frannie:''' I ''so'' know what you mean.
77** Despite Sam's non-academy hair style, he was convincing enough to remand the security tapes from Ron.
78-->'''Dean:''' I just think it's a little creepy how good of a Fed you are. I mean, come on, we could have at least thrown the guy a bone. He did some pretty good legwork here.
79-->'''Sam:''' "Mandroid"?
80-->'''Dean:''' Except for the mandroid part.
81* InMediasRes: The teaser shows [[SuperDickery Dean involved in a hostage situation]], holding a gun on a security guard as he exits a bank. The next scene goes back a day to [[HowWeGotHere explain what happened]].
82* JurisdictionFriction: Local cops vs. FBI.
83-->'''Detective Robards:''' Let me guess. You're lead dog now, but you would just love my full cooperation.
84-->'''Agent Henriksen:''' I don't give a rat's ass what you do, you can go get a doughnut and bang your wife for all I care. What I do need is your [=SWAT=] team locked and loaded.
85* LaserSight: Sam sees the laser sight on Ron's back before he is shot.
86* LockedInAFreezer: The hostages locked in the vault start to suffer from lack of fresh air.
87* LyricalColdOpen: [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic "Renegade"]] by the Music/{{Styx}}, which plays during the last scene.
88* NeverSuicide:
89** Helena, the employee at the jewelry store, appears to kill herself by [[ElectrifiedBathtub dropping a hairdryer in the bath]].
90** Juan Morales, the teller at Milwaukee National Trust, also appears to commit suicide.
91* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], but it's pretty clear by now to the viewer that Sam isn't going to be able to simply go back to school.
92-->'''Dean:''' We are so screwed.
93* NotSoDifferentRemark: Dean thinks this of Ron.
94-->'''Dean:''' I liked him. He's not that different from you or me. People think ''we're'' crazy.
95* PlayingPossum: Shifter Sheri.
96* PoliceAreUseless: DiscussedTrope.
97-->'''Dean:''' Friggin' cops.
98-->'''Sam:''' They're just doing their job, Dean.
99-->'''Dean:''' No, they're doing our job, only they don't ''know'' it, so they ''suck'' at it.
100* {{Portmanteau}}: Mandroid = Man + Android.
101* ProperlyParanoid: Ronald turns on a flood light when Sam and Dean knock at his front door. He then asks to see their badges. Ron also made copies of all the security tapes from the bank because he thought the police would bury them.
102* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Robarts. Unfortunately he loses {{jurisdiction| friction}} to Henriksen.
103* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Ron believes the employees were [[ActuallyADoombot replaced by "mandroids"]] who committed the robberies.
104-->'''Ron:''' The thing I let into the bank...wasn't Juan. I mean, it had his face, but it wasn't his face. Uh, every detail was perfect, but too perfect, like, you know, like if a dollmaker made it, like I was talking to a big Juan-doll.
105* RoomFullOfCrazy: The drawings, news-clippings, and pictures of [[TheGreys aliens]] and [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Greenbay Packers]] on the walls of Ron's home. Among these is a wooden plaque that says, "God's peace be in our house", and a painting of a sailing ship.
106* ShellShockSilence: When Ron is shot.
107* ShoutOut:
108** When Sam and Dean present their fake FBI badges for Ronald to inspect, Sam's badge has the name [[Franchise/StarWars Han Solo]], and Dean's reads Literature/JackRyan. Creator/HarrisonFord has played both characters.
109** Ron has a hand-drawn poster on his wall with pictures of people wearing [[CartoonCheese cheesehead hats]] with yellow lines leading to a hovering mothership that says, "They are among us in Wisconsin (See Chart)" and "[[FanCommunityNicknames Cheeseheads]] are potent mandroid spies".
110** The "mandroid" on the [[http://www.flickr.com/photos/combomphotos/5600549027/sizes/l/ cover of the issue]] of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times Fortean Times]]'' Ron shows Sam is actually a Cyberman from ''Series/DoctorWho''. The headline at the bottom of the cover reads "BIRTH OF THE CYBERMEN".
111** One of the headlines on the cover of ''Magazine/ForteanTimes'' is "''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' on Trial: Exclusive Report".
112** Another headline on the cover of ''Magazine/ForteanTimes'' is "The World's Hairiest People: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedor_Jeftichew Jo-Jo the Dogfaced Boy]] and other Hirsute Humans".
113** Ron compares the "mandroid" to the Franchise/{{Terminator}}.
114-->'''Ron:''' Part men, part machine. Like the Terminator. But the kind that can change itself, make itself look like other people.
115-->'''Dean:''' Like the one from ''[[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay T2]]''.
116** Ron thinks Sam and Dean may be working for the Film/MenInBlack.
117** Dean tells Ron he was not a "[[Music/MichaelJackson Smooth Criminal]]".
118** Dean refers to Sam as [[Franchise/DieHard Agent Johnson]].
119** Agent Henricksen compares Sam and Dean to Film/BonnieAndClyde.
120-->'''Agent Henricksen:''' I want you and Sam out here, unarmed, or we come in. And yes, I know about Sam, too. [[OutlawCouple Bonnie to your Clyde]].
121** Agent Henricksen compares John Winchester to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_McVeigh Timothy [=McVeigh=]]].
122* ShowWithinAShow: The [[ThisJustIn Breaking News 8]] segment in the teaser interrupts [[PreviouslyOn The Road So Far]], as it might if it was RealLife breaking news.
123* SilverHasMysticPowers: Dean finds a silver letter opener to use as a weapon against the shifter.
124* SlashedThroat: The shifter as Sheri.
125* SlipperySkid: Ron falls on the shed skin of the {{Shapeshifter}}.
126* SlowMotionFall: Ron falls forward after being shot through the back.
127* SoundtrackDissonance: ZigZaggedTrope: "[[Music/{{Styx}} Renegade]]" playing (specifically the slow, quiet opening of it) over Dean and Sam sneaking back to the Impala in the SWAT outfits actually ''is'' thematically appropriate, but after a pause:
128-->'''Dean''': ...[[ThisIsGonnaSuck we are so screwed]].
129-->''[[MoodWhiplash (scream) The jig is up, the news is out, they've finally found me!]]''

Top