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'''[[Recap/{{Supernatural}} Recap]] of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''''\\
'''Season 1, Episode 11:'''

!Scarecrow
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sn111__0009_9281.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:I hope your apple pie is freakin' worth it!]]

->'''Dean:''' How'd you get here?
->'''Sam:''' I, uh...stole a car.
->'''Dean:''' That's my boy!

Written by John Shiban and Patrick Sean Smith.

Directed by Kim Manners.

Airdate: January 10, 2006.

Sam and Dean argue, and Sam decides to take off on his own hitchhiking to find their father in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California Sacramento, California]], while Dean investigates the disappearances of couples driving through [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed Burkittsville]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana Indiana]].
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The brothers get a phone call from their dad. A fight over whether they should follow their father's orders results in the brothers splitting up: Dean heads to a small town to help solve the disappearances of young couples, while Sam continues searching for their father. While hitchhiking, Sam runs across a young woman named Meg and they strike up a friendship. Meanwhile, Dean discovers that the couples are being sacrificed to [[Characters/SupernaturalGods a Vanir]] by the townsfolk and is chosen to be the next sacrifice along with a local girl. Having had a change of heart, Sam returns in time to rescue them, and they burn down the sacred tree that kept the Vanir returning. At the end, it's revealed to the audience (though not to the brothers) that Meg is more than she seems: after accepting a ride from a trucker, she slits the man's throat, collects his blood in a goblet and uses it to communicate with an unknown supernatural being.

!!Body count:
For this episode = 5 humans and 1 god.

For the series so far = At least 120 humans; 8 ghosts; 1 god; 1 shapeshifter; 1 wendigo.

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!Tropes appearing in this episode:

* AFeteWorseThanDeath: The victims in the town are shown kindness and given a last meal "on the house" each year to fatten them up for the Vanir to feast upon.
* AmbiguousSituation: In retrospective:
-->'''Meg:''' You were right. That guy was shady. He was all hands. [[HarsherInHindsight I cut him loose]].
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The "trees" in the orchard are not apple trees. Instead, the plants are actually hazelnut trees.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Harley and Stacy Jorgeson, Scotty, and Meg.
* BigBad: The Vanir, a Norse fertility god which kills people for the nearby town.
* BloodMagic[=/=]SlashedThroat: Meg uses it to contact her "father".
* BookEnds: The episode starts with the brothers getting a call from their father; it ends with Meg contacting hers.
* BreakingTheFellowship: The first but not last instance of the boys fighting hard enough to split up temporarily, though Sam comes back before even the end of the episode has happened.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Without Sam by his side, Dean is called out on his false alias, and when he starts asking questions, he is run out of town by TheSheriff.
* CelebrityParadox: Despite ''Series/TheXFiles'' being referenced several times in the series, Dean doesn't bat an eye at a guy who looks exactly like the Cigarette Smoking Man.
* ChekhovsGun: Vince's tattoo.
* DeadpanSnarker: Dean.
-->'''Dean:''' ''[to unsmiling Scotty]'' Scotty, you got a smile that lights up a room. Anyone tell you that? ''[Scotty stares]'' Ah, never mind.
-->'''Dean:''' ''[to scarecrow]'' Dude, you fugly.
* DealWithTheDevil: The Vanir protects the town in exchange for the sacrifices.
* DistressedDude: Dean, about to be sacrificed.
* TheDutifulSon: Dean is this to John.
* ElectromagneticGhosts:
** Cars and cell phones don't work by the orchard.
** Dean's EMF detector starts going off when he drives by the orchard.
* GardenOfEvil: The orchard.
* GirlOfTheWeek: Emily for Dean and Meg for Sam, at least at [[BitchInSheepsClothing first glance.]] Though it's clear at the end of the episode that Meg was GenreSavvy enough to play with the trope to get close to Sam while actually being far more than she appeared at first glance.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: Or in this case sacrifice badly. A couple sacrificed each year keeps the blessings going.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: If you've been sacrificing married couples to a fertility god annually, maybe you and your husband shouldn't go walking in his woods at the same time the sacrifices got away.
* {{Homage}}: The portrayal of old gods transplanted to America and still requiring bloody sacrifices recalls Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', while the appearance of a demon recalls ''Literature/GoodOmens''. These elements become more frequent in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' and [[WordOfGod Eric Kripke]] has reported Creator/NeilGaiman has been an influence on the series.
* HooksAndCrooks: The scarecrow uses a sickle as a weapon.
* HumanSacrifice: One needs to be made every year to keep the bounty going. When it goes awry, the townspeople end up sacrificing Dean and one of their own members to fulfill it.
* KarmaHoudini: The townspeople (aside from Emily's aunt and uncle). But the god's destruction won't be good for the town.
* KilledMidSentence: Harley.
* KillItWithFire: Though the monster scarecrow is ''not'' an example as one might think. It takes burning down the sacred tree of the Vanir to destroy it for good.
* OhCrap: "What scarecrow?"
* OldGods: The first example of one on the show, in this case one of the Norse gods.
* OminousLatinChanting: Meg over the goblet of blood.
** ''Te requiro pater me audi'' = I demand that you hear me, father.
* PhysicalGod: The Vanir can possess the scarecrow and use it at will. It also has a physical link tying it to the town in the form of the giant tree.
* PlotSensitiveItems: The victims have [[MyCarHatesMe their car breaking down]] and [[CellPhonesAreUseless no cell phone reception]]. Possibly justified as the townspeople deliberately made sure the former happened and likely would have worked to ensure they ended up in a dead zone for the latter.
* PuppyDogEyes: Dean admits Sam is more convincing with this.
* TheReveal: What killed Jess and the brother's mother is a demon, and Meg Masters works for him. He knows the Winchesters are after him, but wants to do something with them before killing them.
* SacredHospitality: SubvertedTrope, with the "pie on the house" only helping to set the couple up for the sacrifice.
* ScaryScarecrows: Yep.
* ScreamingWoman: Holly Parker.
* TheSheriff: One is a supporting antagonist who runs Dean out of town and ambushes him in the professor's office.
* ShoutOut:
** When Vince sees the scarecrow, he says, "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz If I only had a brain]]".
** Emily is also the full version of "Auntie Em's" name in the Wizard of Oz and she's being raised by her aunt and uncle just as Dorothy was in the books and movie.
* ThemedAliases: Dean tells Scotty that he's [[Music/LedZeppelin John Bonham]] and is [[BlatantLies caught in the lie]]. Maybe he should have stuck with guitarists?
-->'''Dean:''' Hi, my name's John Bonham.
-->'''Scotty:''' Isn't that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?
-->'''Dean:''' ''[taken aback]'' Wow. Good. Classic rock fan.
* TownWithADarkSecret: They're sacrificing people to a pagan god for good fortune and bountiful harvest.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The way they see it, even sacrificing their ''own relatives'' is worth keeping the town alive for.
* ViewerFriendlyInterface: The book Dean reads from in the professor's office has a HUGE font to facilitate the audience reading it.