Swap Meat - Recap

At a bar, Sam comes in and loudly tells the bartender that he's 26. After showing the man his ID, Sam orders a banana daiquiri and talks to the woman next to him, Crystal. She compliments him on his good looks and Sam admits that she's right. When Crystal offers to go somewhere with him, Sam seems more interested in staying and drinking until he realizes she's talking about sex. Sam. Sam is eager to have "the sex" with her. However, as they go, "Sam" checks himself in a mirror, where he looks like a high school kid.



In Housatonic, Massachusetts, 36 hours earlier, Sam and Dean arrive to visit with their old babysitter, Donna. She explains to her daughter Katie that she worked as a motel maid and John left the boys with her while she went off to work. Donna knew what John did and called in the boys because they're being haunted by a ghost. Her husband explains that a month or two after they moved, strange activities began. It started with bumps and knocks, but then the poltergeist cut the words "murderd chylde" on Katie's stomach. Dean promises them that everything will be fine and suggests they take a little vacation.

The guys go to a diner to discuss the case, and Dean admits that Donna is doing well. He asks Sam if he might want to settle down and have a family, but Sam says he doesn't. He checks the Internet and learns that the house was once owned by an Isaiah Pickett. Pickett hung a woman, Maggie Briggs, in his backyard after accusing her of being a witch. As they try to figure why an angry witch ghost would be haunting the family, the counter boy watches Sam intently: it's the boy from the bar, Gary Finkel.

That night, they split up to check the records but come up empty. As Sam comes back, he hears someone following him. Before he can investigate, the person shoots him with a tranquilizer dart.

Sam wakes up later and discovers that he's wearing a counter boy's uniform from the diner. As he walks along the road, a police officer pulls over and calls him Gary, and says his family is worried about him. Confused, Sam gets in with him and the officer takes him to a house. A man and woman come out, concerned, but when Sam doesn't recognize them, they ask if he's drunk. Sam finally realizes that they believe they are his father and mother. Sam looks in the mirror and sees Gary's face, and realizes something has happened.



At the motel, Gary checks out his impressive new body. Dean comes in and has no idea that anything is wrong. Gary claims that he was out getting food and tells him that the maid freaked out about the guns on the bed and they have to hit the road. Dean agrees and goes to the bathroom, and Gary tosses out all of his cell phones so Sam can't call his brother. Gary convinces Dean to let him drive the Impala, but smashes backward into a sign. Dean gets back in the driver's seat and they leave.

Sam tries to call Dean without success. He then calls the hotel and discovers that Dean already checked out, and that he checked out with someone in his body. Sam goes through Gary's belongings and discovers he's a smart kid who likes science fiction and fantasy... and is a virgin. He also finds a mystic dagger and a pentagram. Gary's mother calls him down for breakfast and Sam has no choice but to play along. Gary's father, Leonard, demands to know how being drunk falls into Gary's plan to get into MIT on a full scholarship. Sam initially insults him but then backs off and then tries to find out if Gary has been doing anything strange recently. Leonard figures that he's taking drugs but Mrs. Finkel insists that Gary is clean. Sam then eats a piece of toast, and Gary's mother warns him that he's allergic to wheat gluten.



After throwing up, Gary's sister Sydney warns him not to mention the book. He asks where Gary kept the book.

Gary probes for information on their case, and realizes that they're looking for Maggie Briggs. He explains that Maggie bore Pickett's illegitimate child, so he killed her and buried her corpse in the basement. Dean is surprised and mildly impressed, and even more so when Gary asks him to turn up the rock music.

At school, Sam leaves another message for Sam. Gary's friends Trevor and Nora come over and wonder if he's still drunk. He gets Gary's locker number from them and picks the lock. Inside is the book and Sam realizes that it's a very bad book.



Dean and Gary go to the basement and find the grave. As Dean digs up Maggie's bones, Gary prepares to shoot and kill him from behind. However, Maggie's ghost attacks and knocks him back before he can pull the trigger. It then goes after Dean and moves in for the kill... and bursts into flames and disappears as Gary salts and burns her bones.

Sam tries to slip out of school and Trevor and Nora offer to help. When he refuses, Trevor shoots him with a tranquilizer dart and admits that he didn't know what else to do.

Gary and Dean go to a bar and drink. When Dean orders a bacon cheese burger with a fried egg, Gary decides to have the same. Dean jokingly wonders who he is. Gary tries to cover and admits it was an awesome day. Dean wonders why he's so impressed by a relatively normal ghost hunt and notes that Sam isn't usually in such a good mood these days. Gary talks about how his future is all set out and it's good to do some ass-kicking, and then admits that he's drunk. Dean agrees with him and they drink a toast. He's surprised that they're drinking together, and Gary says that he's a good guy. Later, Dean notices Gary leaving with Crystal and figures something is up.



Trevor and Nora take Sam to Trevor's house and tie him up. They call Gary, who admits he hasn't killed Dean yet. Gary admits that he's building up to killing him, and Trevor explains that Sam ended up in Gary's body. Gary figures that nobody will believe anything Sam says, but Trevor tells him to hurry up. Trevor figures that Gary isn't going to do it, and explains to Sam that Dean is Hell's most wanted. Sam warns that they don't know what they're doing, but Nora explains that they goofed around with the book and Gary went into a trance. He drew a picture of Lucifer and relayed the message that the demons had a price on Dean. Gary then came up with the plan to cast the spell from the book to switch bodies with Sam and get close enough to kill Dean. Sam warns that it's a demon deal and Nora has second thoughts, and Trevor prepares to summon a demon to kill Dean.



Gary comes back to the motel after sex, grabs a pistol, and prepares to shoot Dean. Dean is waiting for him and asks who he really is.

Trevor prepares to cast the spell over Nora and Sam's objections. The boy goes ahead with the ritual but nothing happens. The demon enters Nora's body and Trevor tells it that they have Dean at the motel. It recognizes Sam inside of Gary's body and realizes that someone else must be in Sam's body. Trevor asks for his reward and the demon tells him he's lucky to get its gratitude. When Trevor insists, the demon pays up by ripping his chest open.

Dean finally checks his messages and finds out what Sam has been trying to tell him all along. Gary tells him where Sam is but Dean is suddenly slammed into the wall by the demon and knocked out.

At Trevor's house, Sam tries to break his bonds without success.

The demon frees Gary and offers him anything he wants. He asks for real power and the demon agrees, but says that first he has to meet Lucifer. Gary has second thoughts but the demon says that Lucifer will want to meet him and get Gary to agree to one thing. Dean wakes up and tries to attack the demon, but it easily subdues him. As it beats Dean, Gary starts chanting in Latin. The demon realizes that he's trying to exorcise it and attacks the boy. Dean recites the next part of the ritual, and when the demon turns toward him, Gary recites his part. Working together, they banish the demon from Nora's body.



Later, Gary performs the body-swapping ritual again and restores Sam to his body. Dean points out that a simple apology ain't going to cut it and tells him to straighten out, or they'll be back to kill him. The brothers drop the two kids off and Sam tells Gary that life ain't that bad. It's his life and Gary needs to rebel a little bit. He also points out that Nora is into Satanism because she likes Gary, and he should do something about it. Sam admits he wishes he had Gary's life and tells him to go home. Once the boy is gone, Sam admits to Dean that he lied, and Gary's life sucks.

As they go, Sam notes that all of the normal life stuff is way too stressful. Dean wonders if it really is, or if they don't know what they're missing. Sam tells him to turn down the music, and Dean figures he's really back.



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