Recap / Supernatural S 04 E 06 Yellow Fever

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Recap of Supernatural
Season 4, Episode 6:

Yellow Fever

It's the eye of the tiger

It's the thrill of the fight

Written by Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin.

Directed by Phil Sgriccia.

Air Date: October 23, 2008.

Dean contracts a ghost sickness in Rock Ridge, Colorado that makes him terrified of everything, so Sam and Bobby go after the ghost who is causing it.

Body count

For this episode = 1 human and 1 ghost.

For the series so far = At least 271 humans (of which 3 were witches), 14 demons, 25 ghosts, 10 vampires, 6 changelings, 3 gods, 3 shapeshifters, 2 werewolves, 1 crocotta, 1 djinn, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shtriga, 1 wendigo, 1 zombie, 1 rugaru, and 1 dog.

Tropes

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• Blatant Lies
  Deputy Linus: Is he drunk?
  [Dean sways in background]
  Sam: No.
• Breather Episode: Subverted. The episode has a lot of humor but there is a lot of seriousness in it and we get the first explicit hints that something really bad happened to Dean in hell.
• Cat Scare: Sam and Dean open a locker in the warehouse and... there’s a cat!
• Chain Pain/Off with His Head!
• Credits Gag: The end credits feature Jensen Ackles lip-syncing and dancing to "Eye of the Tiger".
• Creepy Child: Lilith is back.
• Drives Like Crazy: Dean's lack of this is one of the first signs he isn't in his right mind.
• The End... Or Is It?: Sam's eyes flash yellow one last time AFTER Dean is supposed to be cured.
• Find the Cure!: Sam and Bobby race to cure Dean's escalating ghost sickness before it causes his heart to fail, and they do this by destroying the ghost that infected him.
• Flat Scare: The Ghost Fever has Dean so on edge that things that normally wouldn't even register for the seasoned hunter have him screaming his head off or running away in abject terror.
• Gentle Giant: Luther Garland. He's even shown tenderly holding a kitten to make it as obvious as possible.
• Hallucinations: Victims of ghost sickness start hallucinating after awhile.
• Heart Beat Soundtrack: Used in the later stages of Dean's illness to remind us of the threat of his heart attack.
• How We Got Here: The episode begins with Dean running in terror from...a tiny dog with a pink bow on its head.
• Ironic Echo Cut: The screen pans directly from Sam telling Dean that they have a great plan to Bobby telling him that this is a terrible plan, and Sam agreeing.
  • The scene changes directly from Dean telling the sheriff that it was probably just a heart attack to him telling Sam that it's "definitely not a heart attack".
• Informed Flaw: Sam figures that even if directly exposed, infection only occurs in aggressive individuals who used fear to hurt or control others. While Dean's a hothead, this doesn't really fit his prior characterization, which is anything but a bully. Subverted when four episodes later, he comes clean about the things he underwent in Hell...and the things he did to others.
• Laser-Guided Karma: The theme of this episode's ghost, who inflicts fear on those who use it on others.
• Liquid Courage: After Dean runs screaming out of the factory, Sam finds him crouched behind the Impala guzzling liquor to calm his nerves.
• Noodle Incident: When he's ranting about how insane their lives are, Dean mentions a truck-stop waitress with a bizarre rash.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The first few signs that Dean is infected with the ghost sickness are: he drives the speed limit, turns down food, and refuses to carry a weapon.
• Running Gag: Sam and Dean using the names of band members as aliases. In this case, they're Tyler and Perry. Like Aerosmith.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Believe it or not, Dean did this.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!/I Need a Freaking Drink
• Shoutout:
  • Sam and Dean's rock star aliases this time are Tyler and Perry. When Dean starts showing symptoms, he doesn't like the look of some teenagers, and suggests they "walk this way" instead.
  • The snakes are named Donny And Marie, which is presumably a shout out In-Universe as well.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Dean's fear of Sam turning dark-side like Azazel wanted manifests as Sam trying to kill him while flashing Azazel's trademark "Uh-Oh" Eyes.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Dean when he is worried about pretending to be FBI.
  • Later, when Bobby jokes about him being scared:
  Dean: I'm fine. Do you want to go hunting? I'll hunt. I'll kill anything.
  Sam: Awwwww.
  Bobby: He's adorable.
• 10-Minute Retirement: Dean wants to stop hunting when cursed, but he gets better in the end.
• Terrified of Germs: Sheriff Britton, later revealed to be a symptom of the ghost sickness.
• The Stinger: Jensen Ackles lip-syncing "Eye of The Tiger".
• "What Do They Fear?" Episode