Recap of Supernatural
Season 7, Episode 11
Adventures In Babysitting
Written by Adam Glass.
Directed by Jeannot Szwarc.
Air Date: January 6, 2012.
Still reeling after what happened to Bobby, Dean becomes dangerously obsessed with finding a way to take down Dick Roman. Meanwhile, Sam decides to help a teenage girl look for her father, a hunter who has gone missing. Sam traces his last steps to a truck stop where the help turns out to be not-so-friendly.
Body Count:
For this episode = 2 humans and 2 vetalas.
For the series so far = At least 771 humans (of which 6 were witches), 89 demons, 55 angels, 36 ghosts, 36 Jefferson Starships, 26 vampires, 19 zombies, 14 gods, 9 hellhounds, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 shapeshifters, 4 ghouls, 3 djinn, 2 Arachnes, 2 dogs, 2 kitsunes, 2 vetalas, 2 werewolves, 1 crocotta, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 Khan worm, 1 lamia, 1 Leviathan, the Mother of All, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 reaper, 1 rugaru, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 wendigo, 1 whore of Babylon, and 1 wraith.
Tropes
- Bait-and-Switch: The Monster of the Week appears to be the hooker, but it's actually the waitress. Then it happens again when Sam comes on the scene — turns out both the waitress and the hooker are vetalas.
- Camera Spoofing: Rather than evade the extensive surveillance set-up, Frank just taps into it so they can use the cameras to do their job for them.
- Child Soldier: Krissy is fourteen, yet a trained Hunter, with one kill under her belt by the end of the episode.
- Continuity Nod: A newspaper clipping on Dean's demon-tracking wall shows that Biggersons has announced a recall of 'contaminated meat'.
- Forced to Watch: Krissy watched her mother get torn apart, and nearly witnesses her father's death too.
- Hairpin Lockpick: Dean is smart enough to demand Krissy's lockpick after cuffing her to the steering wheel, but she gets free using a bobby pin.
- Handshake Substitute: Krissy is not impressed by Dean's offer of a fist bump, especially when Dean uses it to cuff her. At the end of the episode, she offers her own.
- Hard-Work Montage: Subverted; it's actually a mourning-and-work montage, so involves a lot of drinking, staring into space, and not much communication between the brothers.
- Harmful to Minors: Dean gives Krissy a worried look at the sight of a prostitute chatting up a trucker. When Krissy asks why a waitress is climbing into the truck's cabin, Dean snaps that he's not going to explain the "R-rated" stuff, but it turns out to be the demon getting rid of the evidence.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: The episode opens with a Hunter being taken down by a demon. When Sam goes to investigate, he ends up a Distressed Dude himself. Not willing to see Dean disappear as well, Krissy forces him to take her along.
- Impairment Shot: Lee after his drink is spiked by the waitress.
- Impostor-Exposing Test: Frank and Dean cut themselves to prove they're not Leviathans, though Dean has to talk Frank out of shooting off his foot.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Sam tells Krissy to get coffee while looking for Lee Chambers demon-tracking wall. Dean just tells her to leave the room, but it turns out Krissy knows all about The Masquerade anyway.
- It's Personal: Krissy is avenging the death of her mother. Even Frank, ostensibly a mercenary, is in the business after the death of his family.
- I Shall Taunt You: Sam does this so the Vetala will feed on him instead of Lee, who's almost been drained past the fatal point.
- I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Meghan Ory, who plays Sally the Vetala, played Rachel Berrisford in Dark Angel, the Lost Lenore of Jensen Ackles's character Alec McDowell.
- Kid Sidekick: Much to Dean's exasperation.
- Oh, Crap!: Frank is checking out the Sinister Surveillance cameras when he sees one pointed right at them.
- Little Miss Badass / Little Miss Snarker: Krissy
- Little Stowaway: Krissy memorized and burnt her father's demon-tracking map so Dean would be forced to take her along.
- Mouthy Kid: Krissy.
- Poor Communication Kills: Almost — Dean is asleep when Sam calls, so can't tell Sam that Vetala work in pairs. Turns out he hunted a couple while Sam was in college, and never got round to passing on that information.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: A muted version, but Dean has every intention of hunting Roman down and killing him.
- Shout-Out: The title to, well, Adventures in Babysitting.
- Stepford Smiler: Frank is revealed to be one. Krissy has a touch of this too, as her father instructed her to pretend all was normal about their lives.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: At first. They bond by the end of the episode.
- The Un-Smile: In a heartbreaking example, Dean at the end of the episode.
- Trojan Prisoner: Krissy ends up being this, as she's hiding a silver knife on her.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Vetala hold Krissy hostage, forcing Dean to drop his knife. Then they announce they'll kill her anyway to Leave No Witnesses. Fortunately Krissy can dish it out as well.
- You Can Never Leave: Discussed Trope; the Winchesters urge Lee to get out of the hunting business for Krissy's sake, even though they don't know any Hunter who has left the business. "Freaks and Geeks" reveals their attempt to do so was unsuccessful.