Line #4 Recap/SupernaturalS02E16Roadkill


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4
5	'''[[Recap/{{Supernatural}} Recap]] of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''''\
6	'''Season 2, Episode 16:'''
7
8	!Roadkill
9	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phf8ohgj87geho_1_m_8268.jpg]]
10	[[caption-width-right:350:This is really what you guys do? You're like Ghostbusters?]]
11	->'''Molly:''' What happens if you burn their bones?
12	->'''Sam:''' My dad always said it's like death for spirits. But the truth is, we never know. Guess that's why we all hold on to life so hard. Even the dead. We're all just [[PrimalFear scared of the unknown]].
13
14	Written by Raelle Tucker.
15
16	Directed by Charles Beeson.
17
18	Airdate: March 15, 2007.
19
20	Sam and Dean investigate a stretch of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_41 Highway 41]] that's haunted for one night each year.
21	------------
22
23	Dean and Sam are driving along Highway 41 near [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_City,_California Nevada City, California]] when a woman runs out in front of the Impala screaming for help. Dean slams on the brakes, halting the car just before hitting the woman, and Sam rolls down the passenger-side window and asks the woman what happened. She explains that her name is Molly [=McNamara=], and she was in a car accident when she swerved to miss a man standing in the middle of the road. When she came to after the accident, her husband was missing. She started looking for her husband in the woods, but then came across the man she swerved to miss. This man had horrific wounds and started chasing her through the woods. Sam tries to convince her to let them take her someplace safe, but she will not leave until they find her husband and asks them to take her back to her car.
24
25	When they arrive at the tree where the car crashed, the car is gone. Dean convinces Molly they need to report what happened to the police, and they drive down the road in the Impala. The car radio starts playing "The House of the Rising Sun" all on its own, which is the same song that was playing when Molly's car crashed. The radio then crackles into static and a voice says, "She's mine. She's mine. She's mine." The same man who caused Molly to swerve and crash her car appears in the middle of the road in front of the Impala, but Dean speeds forward and the man dissolves in a black cloud as the Impala strikes him. The Impala's engine then sputters and dies as Dean pulls to the side of the road.
26
27	Dean opens the trunk of the Impala and starts loading a sawed-off shotgun with rock salt. Molly freaks out when she sees the weapons in the trunk. Sam and Dean explain to her that it is no accident they found her: they are hunting the ghost of [[Characters/SupernaturalGhosts Jonah Greely]], who haunts this stretch of highway each year on the anniversary of his death 15 years ago. They convince Molly to help them find Jonah Greely's body so they can put him to rest. As they start searching in the woods, Molly hears a man--who she thinks is her husband--call out for help, goes looking for him, and is caught by the spirit of Jonah Greely. Dean shoots the spirit with rock salt and rescues her.
28
29	They find the abandoned home of Jonah Greely and start searching it for any records of where his body is buried. Dean finds a hidden room which contains the dead body of Jonah's wife, Marion Greely, hanging from the ceiling by her neck. Sam and Dean cut her down and bury her body. Molly overhears Sam and Dean talking about her husband, but before she can get any information out of them, "The House of the Rising Sun" starts to play on the unplugged radio in the Greely home. The pane of glass in the kitchen door then frosts over, revealing the words "SHE'S MINE". Jonah Greely then smashes the window and drags Molly through it. Sam and Dean chase after him, but can't find him or Molly.
30
31	Sam and Dean open up a scrapbook, looking for a clue about where Jonah Greely's body is buried. Sam notices a picture of the hunting shed taken a couple of weeks before Jonah died, with Jonah and Marion standing in front of the shed in a spot where a tree now stands. Sam realizes the tree must have been planted as a grave marker, and they take off for the hunting shed. As they approach, they hear Molly screaming from inside the shed. Dean goes to help her while Sam works on digging up Jonah's body. Jonah has Molly hanging from a hook in the shed and is using his nails to rip into her skin. Dean shoots him with rock salt, but Jonah reappears behind Dean and tosses him against a wall. As Jonah approaches Dean with a knife, Jonah goes up in flames because Sam has found, salted, and burned his bones.
32
33	Dean and Sam then convince Molly to leave with them in the Impala, saying they'll take her to see her husband. They pull up to a house and see David drinking coffee in a bathrobe as another woman kisses him. Sam and Dean explain to [[Characters/SupernaturalGhosts Molly]] that she died in the car accident 15 years ago and that Jonah tortured her for one night every year because she was the one that killed him. Molly wants to talk to her husband, but Sam and Dean convince her that he has moved on and now it is time for her to move on. Molly accepts this and dissolves into light as the sun rises.
34
35	!!Body count:
36	For this episode = 2 humans and 2 ghosts, although the ghosts that die are also the same 2 humans that died in the teaser.
37
38	For the series so far = At least 180 humans; 14 ghosts; 5 vampires; 2 shapeshifters; 1 demon; 1 god; 1 rakshasa; 1 rawhead; 1 shtriga; 1 wendigo; 1 zombie.
39
40	----
41	!Tropes appearing in this episode:
42
43	* AbsurdlySharpClaws: Jonah Greely uses his bloody fingernails to slice open Molly's skin.
44	* AnswersToTheNameOfGod: Dean.
45	-->'''Molly:''' Oh, thank God.
46	-->'''Dean:''' Call me Dean.
47	* BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts: The variation where the ghost appears in front of a moving car.
48	* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: When Jonah drops his knife as he goes up in flames, the blade ends up buried in the floorboards of the shed.
49	* BloodFromTheMouth: Jonah Greely when he turns around in the teaser.
50	* BookcasePassage: Dean finds a hidden room which contains the body of Jonah Greely's wife.
51	* ChekhovsGun: The disappearance of Molly's car and husband.
52	* ClosedCircle: Jonah's spirit is attached to the location where his body is buried, which is why he will not permit Molly to leave the area.
53	* CobwebOfDisuse: Jonah's home is full of cobwebs.
54	* CommonalityConnection: Sam says he "knows how that goes" when Molly says she and David only really fought when they were "stuck in the car" together, but Dean gives Sam a look which suggests he does not appreciate Sam's remark.
55	* CueTheSun: The sun rises as Molly realizes she must move on and face her new fate.
56	* CynicismCatalyst: Jonah Greely was lost in a desire for revenge when his death causes his wife's suicide.
57	-->'''Molly:''' It's a love letter he wrote her. My god, it's beautiful. I don't understand how a guy like this can turn into that monster.
58	-->'''Sam:''' Spirits like Greeley are, uh...like wounded animals. Lost. In so much pain that they lash out.
59	* DangerousWindows: Jonah smashes the window next to where Molly is standing and pulls her through it.
60	* DeadAllAlong: Molly does not know she is dead.
61	* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: Dean shoots Jonah with rock salt.
62	* DestinationDefenestration: After Jonah smashes the window and escapes with Molly, Sam and Dean both jump through the smashed window trying to catch them.
63	* DirectionlessDriver: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Molly.
64	-->'''Molly:''' Come on. Isn't this argument a little archaic? Men can ask directions these days.
65	-->'''David:''' No, we can't. It's against our genetic code. Look, I know exactly where we are.
66	* DisappearsIntoLight: Molly transforms into light as the sun rises.
67	* DramaticThunder: A rumble of thunder is heard as Molly approaches the hunting shack in the teaser.
68	* DrivenToSuicide: Jonah Greely's wife hanged herself after his death.
69	* DriverFacesPassenger: SubvertedTrope, with Molly's teasing and glances towards her husband contributing to the accident. Too bad she didn't have Dean's skills, who manages quite a few prolonged glances towards Sam while driving.
70	* DueToTheDead: Sam insists they bury the body of Jonah Greely's wife.
71	* ElectromagneticGhosts: Jonah Greely has a thing for playing "The House of the Rising Sun" on the radio. He can also talk over the radio and kill the Impala's engine.
72	* EstablishingShot: After the car crashes in the teaser, a shot is shown of the car in the snow-covered woods from above through the branches of the trees. Then the camera spirals downwards to show the smashed windshield and Molly's face.
73	* FaceFramedInShadow[=/=]HollywoodDarkness: Molly and David's faces are clearly illuminated despite driving along a rural road without the internal car lights on. Molly and Jonah get the same treatment in the hunting shed, which is lit by a single candle. This continues throughout the episode, with most of it taking place in dark woods or an abandoned house with two flashlights as the only light sources.
74	* FaceRevealingTurn: When Molly enters the hunting shed, Jonah has his back turned towards her. He turns around to reveal his fatal wound.
75	* FinallyFoundTheBody:
76	** Dean finds the body of Jonah Greely's wife, who disappeared in 1992.
77	** The body of Jonah Greely is under a tree his wife planted in front of the hunting shed on the 1000 acres of land they owned.
78	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The bit of proof Molly gets to realize she's a ghost? Her being informed that it's 2007, not 1992.
79	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
80	** When Molly asks them what they're hunting, Deans says "Ghosts." ''Plural'', rather than "a ghost," which would be the expected line if they were only after Jonah Greely.
81	** A small example. At the beginning when Molly rushes onto the street, and Dean nearly runs into her, note that the camera only focuses on Dean and his reaction to Molly in the street, we don't see Sam's. At the end of the episode, [[OnceMoreWithClarity it's shown]] that Sam, at that moment, was surmising that Molly doesn't know she's dead.
82	** Dean is uncharacteristically distant around an attractive woman like Molly.
83	* [[ZombieAdvocate Ghost Advocate]]: Sam argues that ghosts deserve sympathy.
84	-->'''Sam:''' Well, they weren't evil people, you know? A lot of them were good. Just...something happened to them. Something they couldn't control.
85	* GhostlyChill: Jonah Greely frosts over the glass pane in the door, and the words "SHE'S MINE" appear in the frost.
86	* GoIntoTheLight: Molly after coming to terms with her unfinished business.
87	* GuttedLikeAFish: Jonah has a large gaping abdominal wound from being struck by the car.
88	* HauntedHouse: Jonah Greely's home, which is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Dean.
89	-->'''Dean:''' You know, just once I'd like to round the corner and see a nice house.
90	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: Molly [=McNamara=] crashes her car and dies on her 5th wedding anniversary.
91	* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: "The House of the Rising Sun" by Music/TheAnimals plays on the car radio, first when Molly is driving before the accident, and again when Sam and Dean are driving. It also plays on the radio in Jonah Greely's house, even though the radio is unplugged.
92	* LetMeGetThisStraight: The presence of Molly allows Sam and Dean to provide exposition about their roles as [[HunterOfMonsters ghost hunters]], salting and [[KillItWithFire burning a ghost's remains]], the power of [[WeaksauceWeakness salt]], and [[GhostlyGoals ghosts' motivations]].
93	* ALightInTheDistance: Molly sees the candle in the window of the hunting shack.
94	* LogicalWeakness: Ghosts' susceptibility to salt is explained, turning a WeaksauceWeakness into a logical one. Turns out that salt, as a symbol of purity, repels the impure, like ghosts and demons. According to Sam, it's for much the same reason as throwing salt over your shoulder.
95	* LoveLetter: Jonah's letters to Marion are kept in a scrapbook with photos of the couple. One, which is on a wrinkled sticky note under the photo that shows the hunting shed without the tree, reads, "Marion, I love you [[SickeninglySweethearts XXX OOO]] more as I write this than I did last night when we spoke with deep and tender love. Jonah".
96	* MindOverMatter: Jonah's spirit is able to toss Dean against the wall with the gesture of his hand.
97	* MrExposition: Sam serves this role yet again. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Dean:
98	-->'''Dean:''' You're like a walking encyclopedia of weirdness.
99	* MyCarHatesMe: Jonah is able to kill the Impala's engine. Dean tries to restart the car, but the engine only sputters.
100	* NightmareFace: After Jonah Greely turns around in the trailer, his face seems to rot away.
101	* NoisyNature: After the car crashes in the teaser, we hear StockSoundEffects of crickets chirping and owls trilling.
102	* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Molly does not want to leave the site of the accident without her husband.
103	* NoSenseOfDirection: David [=McNamara=] has managed to get them lost despite having a map. He believes they are on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_99 Route 99]] when they are actually on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_41 Route 41]].
104	* OhCrap: Dean has an epic one on his face when Molly runs in front of the Impala and he's trying to stop before hitting her. Justified in that it's late at night, the road is icy, she came out of nowhere, and he's driving a 3500-pound muscle car that doesn't have anti-lock brakes.
105	* OminousFog: The fog along Route 41.
106	* OminouslyOpenDoor: After knocking on the door of the hunting shed in the teaser, Molly tries turning the door knob and finds it is unlocked.
107	* OnceMoreWithClarity: The scenes of Molly's accident and her interactions with the Winchesters are replayed at the end of the episode, but these scenes are interspersed with scenes of Sam and Dean researching and discussing the case with each other.
108	* PartingWordsRegret: Molly becomes tearful as she recalls arguing with David and calling him a jerk just before the accident.
109	* POVCam: The teaser has a few shots from the viewpoint of someone inside the car, including the headlights on the wet asphalt, the car radio dial, the trees through the windshield as they careen off the road, and the smashed wind shield.
110	* QuietingTheUnquietDead: Molly is a rare case of a ghost peacefully and voluntarily moving on. When the Winchesters help her understand that she died in the car crash but her husband is safe, she DisappearsIntoLight.
111	* RaceAgainstTheClock: Sam and Dean have until sunrise to wrap things up. If they fail, they will need to wait another year.
112	* RulesOfTheRoad: The episode opens with a close-up on road sign showing a vehicle tipping over.
113	* RustproofBlood: The red blood staining the table in the hunting shed.
114	* ScareChord: Used when Molly gets out of the car and starts calling for her husband. These increase as she approaches the hunting shack.
115	* ScreamingWoman: Molly [=McNamara=].
116	* ShortcutsMakeLongDelays: David insists they are not lost and the route they are taking is a shortcut.
117	* ShoutOut:
118	** Molly compares Sam and Dean to the Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}.
119	--->'''Molly:''' Is is really what you guys do? You're like ''Ghostbusters''? \
120	'''Sam:''' Yeah.\
121	'''Dean:''' Minus the jumpsuits.
122	** Dean makes a reference to ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'':
123	--->'''Dean:''' Follow the creepy brick road.
124	** Dean compares Sam to Melinda in ''Series/GhostWhisperer''.
125	--->'''Dean:''' Sammy's always getting a little [[Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt J. Love Hewitt]] when it comes to things like this.
126	** Dean calls Sam "Haley Joel" [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E10Asylum again]], referring to the character he played in ''Film/TheSixthSense''.
127	* SmashToBlack: After the car smashes into the tree in the teaser, there's a black screen, which is followed by seeing the crashed car from above. After Molly sees Jonah Greely's abdominal wound and his face rot away in the teaser, there's a cut to a black screen.
128	* SnowMeansDeath: The snow along the sides of the road where the car crashes.
129	* SuperSmoke: When Dean drives the Impala through Jonah Greely or shoots him with rock salt, Jonah dissolves into black smoke.
130	* SuperWindowJump: Jonah Greely smashes through the window to snatch Molly.
131	* TemptingFate: After they drive through Jonah Greely, Sam says, "Don't worry, Molly. Everything's gonna be all right." Of course, the Impala's engine dies after this, and Dean says, "[[LampshadeHanging Spoke a little too soon]], Sammy."
132	* TitleDrop: Dean refers to Jonah Greely as "Farmer Roadkill".
133	* TomatoInTheMirror: Molly.
134	* UndeathAlwaysEnds: Sam and Dean admit that they don't know what happens to ghosts after they burn their bones.
135	-->'''Molly:''' You hunt these things, but you don't know what happens to them? \
136	'''Dean:''' Well, they never come back. That's all that matters. \
137	'''Sam:''' After they let go of whatever's keeping them here, they...they just go. I hope someplace better, but we don't know. No one does.
138	* UnfinishedBusiness: Molly is bound to the earth by her concern for her husband.
139	-->'''Sam:''' Well, there's some part of them that...that's keeping them here. Like, their remains, or, um...unfinished business.\
140	'''Molly:''' Unfinished business? \
141	'''Sam:''' Yeah. It could be revenge. Could be love. Or hate. Whatever it is, they just hold on too tight. Can't let go. So they're trapped. Caught in the same loops. Replaying the same tragedies over and over.
142	* WallOfWeapons:
143	** The walls of Jonah's hunting shack are lined with tools, including knives and meat hooks.
144	** Molly freaks out when she sees the armory in the trunk of the Impala when Dean opens the trunk and pulls out a sawed-off shotgun.
145	* WrongGenreSavvy: Molly assumes Dean and Sam are serial killers or something along that line when she sees all the weapons in the trunk of the Impala, but is fairly easily convinced that they're ghost hunters by Dean's blunt explanation with Sam's gentler additions.

Context Recap / SupernaturalS02E16Roadkill