The Usual Suspects - Recap

In Baltimore, Maryland, Detective Peter Sheridan is at the station house taking a call and receiving a fax from St. Louis. He and his partner, Detective Diana Ballard, lead a team to a motel and arrest the occupant: Sam Winchester. Later, Sheridan talks to one of his captives and notes that he tortured a young woman, but supposedly died. He notes that Karen Giles is the last victim that the captive will kill. Dean just watches him.

Ballard comes to see Sam in a separate interrogation room. Sam is surprised to learn that Dean is being held on a murder charge, and she explains that they can hold him and Dean for 48 hours as suspects. Ballard reads his file to him and notes that Dean was supposed to be dead and Sam disappeared after his girlfriend Jess died in a fire. Sam claims that he went on a road trip with Dean, but Ballard says that they got over a dozen hits on Dean's fingerprints. She wonders what they'll find with his prints, but Sam isn't impressed. However, Ballard warns that the authorities in St. Louis are exhuming "Dean"'s body, and Sam's best bet is to fill in some missing pieces since they captured Dean at the Karen Giles murder scene. She offers to make a deal with the DA for him, and Sam starts talking about John Winchester and Karen's husband Tony were old friends in the service, and they came to check it out when he was reported dead with a slit throat.



Dean and Sam have coffee, and Dean tells his brother about Tony’s death, and they note that there was no sign of forced entry on the security cameras. They figure it's a spirit.

Sam explains that Dean wasn't in town when Tony died.

The brothers went to see the widow, Karen, claiming to be insurance investigators. She explains that Tony called and said that he had to work late due to computer problems, and she has no idea who might have killed him. Dean asks if Tony mentioned anything unusual in the days before his death, and Karen says that Tony had a nightmare of a woman standing at the foot of his bed, a few days before he died. She doesn't understand why the brothers want a description of the nightmare woman, but says that the woman was pale and had dark red eyes.

Sam claims that he told Karen to call him and that's the end of the story. Ballard says that they have an eyewitness who reported two men matching the brothers' description breaking into Tony's office. Sam claims that Karen called and asked them to get some stuff from Tony's office.

The brothers break into Tony's office and find the blood from his death. Dean finds a printout with the name Dana Shulps typed repeatedly, and other pages of paper with the same name typed repeatedly. Sam notices the woman's name on the glass desk, and they go through Tony's files. There's no mention of Dana Shulps in Tony's files or in the city records. Sam needs thirty minutes to hack Tony's computer, and his brother quickly grows impatient waiting. He goes to see Karen again to see if she's remembered anything.



Sam says that he went back to the motel room, and Ballard explains that they traced him there from a matchbook they found on Dean when they arrested him. She wants to know why they separated, and figures that Dean went to kill Karen. The detective says that Karen made a 911 call and said someone was in the house.

Karen is watching TV when she sees the pale woman at the patio window. She turns on the light but the figure has vanished. Karen panics and runs upstairs, and then calls 911. The line goes dead after she reports someone in the house, and the lights flicker. The computer printer starts producing pages covered with the name "Dana Shulps." Karen goes into the close to get a flashlight, turns, and comes face-to-face with the spirit.



Dean knocks on the door but gets no answer. He breaks in and discovers that the lights are out. Going upstairs, Dean finds Karen dead on the floor, her throat cut. He also finds the paper with the name "Dana Shulps" on it. As Dean kneels to examine the corpse, two policemen enter and arrest him.

Ballard talks to Sheridan, who admits he's not getting anywhere with Dean. They realize that the brothers' stories match, and that they have to get Sam to flip on his brother to have any chance of a conviction. There's no motive and no murder weapon. Sheridan tells her that she might have reasonable doubt, but he doesn't. Ballard notes that Tony was a friend of Sheridan's, but Tony knew criminal types and one of those might have killed him. Sheridan dismisses her concerns and when they're alone, they kiss.

In their separate rooms, the brothers try to work out the significance of "Dana Shulps." They both realize that it's an anagram. DA Jeff Krause comes in and introduces himself as Dean's lawyer. Dean borrows a pen to work out what "Dana Shulps" means, while Krause explains that the police have no evidence, but he was found with blood on his hands. Dean is more interested in the anagram, and asks Krause to take a look at the combinations. The lawyer recognizes "Ashland" as a street name not far from the station, and Dean asks him to give the information to Sam.

Ballard is working on her computer when "dana shulps" starts appearing on the screen no matter what she types. After a few seconds, it clears.



Krause gives Sam Dean's message, and then insists on discussing the case. Ballard comes in and calls Krause back to see Dean, who has agreed to confess. Krause advises against it, but Dean ignores him and says that he knows who killed Tony Giles: a vengeful spirit. He explains that ghosts get things jumbled when they communicate across the veil, and shows them the anagram "Dana Shulps." Ballard recognizes it from her computer screen, but Sheridan takes offense and insists that the Giles wee good people. He attacks Dean, slamming him against the wall, and Ballard stops him.

Sheridan and Ballard go to Sam's room and discover that he's slipped out the third-story window, even though there's no fire escape. Ballard finds Dean's note and realizes he sent him a message to make his escape. She goes to the restroom and the faucets turn on by themselves. The steam from the hot water condenses on the mirrors, and an invisible hand draws "Dana Shulps." When Ballard wipes the mirror clean, she sees the ghost woman behind her, its throat cut. It approaches Ballard and tries to speak.

Ballard goes to see Dean and ask for more information. He explains that a spirit is created by violent death and then come back to hurt the people who killed them. Dean notices bruises on her wrists and realizes that she's seen the spirit, and that Karen had the same bruises on her wrists. He tells her how to find Sam, and says that she needs to find him so he can save her life. Ballard finds Sam, who asks exactly what she saw. She wonders if she's losing her mind, and then describes the pale spirit and how it tried to speak but couldn't. Sam has stolen photos of all the women that disappeared or came up dead on Ashland Street, and shows them to Ballard. She recognizes one woman who Dean identifies as Claire Becker. She disappeared 8-9 months ago, and was arrested twice for dealing heroin. Ballard admits that she and Sheridan narcotics, but doesn't remember busting Claire. There was no sign of her at the building on Ashland street where she was last seen. Sam explains that they have to find the body, salt the bones, and burn them.



At the Ashland St. building, Sam and Ballard search the place and split up. Claire's ghost approaches Ballard, who cries out for Sam. He comes running but Claire has disappeared. Ballard points out the window where she saw Claire next to, and they realize that the letters on it spell "Ashland" and then "Sup---" with the rest rubbed out. The light through the window shines the letters on the wall, Sam checks for EMF readings to locate Claire's body and gets a reading from the wall. As he breaks through, Sam wonders why the spirit wants them to find and destroy its remains. They pull out a bag containing Claire's corpse, and discover that its wrists were strapped together before Claire died. There's a necklace on the corpse, and Ballard explains that it's custom-made. She shows Sam the same one she has, and explains that Sheridan gave it to her. Sam realizes that Claire is a death omen, trying to warn the two victims. He asks Ballard what she knows about Sheridan, and she explains that a year ago some heroin went missing from lock-up. They never found out who died it, but the cop who did it would have needed a heroin dealer like Claire to fence the stolen product.



Sheridan takes Dean out in a transfer van, claiming that he's transporting Dean to St. Louis. Dean realizes that something is wrong.

Ballard checks and Discovers that Sheridan has left the station with Dean. Sam figures that the county vehicle must have a lojack, and they need to activate it.

Sheridan pulls over on a deserted country road and hauls the handcuffed Dean out. He informs Dean that he's going to die trying to escape and draws his gun. Dean tells him to wait, and Ballard arrives with her gun drawn. She tells him to put down the gun, but Sheridan figures he can kill Dean before she can shoot him. He tells Ballard that he had to kill Claire before she turned him in, Tony scrubbed the money and wanted to come clean, and Sheridan figured that he told everything to Karen. Sheridan claims that he panicked, and suggests that they pin the entire thing on Dean. She starts to lower her gun, but then shoots him. He tackles her and grabs her gun despite his wound, and prepares to shoot them all. However, Claire's spirit appears behind him. It smiles... and a gunshot rings out as Ballard shoots Sheridan with her spare gun.



The next morning, Ballard wonders what happens to Claire, and Sam figures that the spirit will be at rest. They ask what she'll do next, and she says she can get both of their cases dismissed so they can continue hunting. However, she can't help them with the St. Louis murder charges. However, Ballard suggests that they walk away when she turns her back, despite the risk to her career. However, she warns them that the authorities will be looking for both of them now that they know Dean is alive. Before they go, Dean confirms where the Impala is, and Sam says that they'll improvise. As the brothers walk away, they wonder why Ballard looked so familiar...



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