Time Is On My Side - Recap

In Erie, Pennsylvania, two men leave a health club for the night and head for home. One fumbles in his trunk as a figure comes up behind him, and then grabs him and chloroforms him unconscious. Later, he staggers into a hospital, bleeding from an incision in his stomach before collapsing dead.

Sam and Dean are using holy water and a devil's trap to interrogate a captive demon, who refuses to speak because of its fear of the demon who holds the contract on Dean's soul. They exorcise the demon, killing the host body, and then get a call from Bobby about the dead man in the hospital. It turns out he was covered in bloody fingerprints that belong to Doc Benton, a man who supposedly died in 1981. Sam suggests that zombies are involved and convinces Dean they should check it out. they go to Erie and talk to a suspicious doctor who nonetheless confirms that the incision in the victim's stomach was made by a skilled surgeon using a scalpel. He also directs them to another victim, Mr. Beetle, who survived but had his kidney removed. Beetle doesn't have anything to contribute other then that he was attacked from behind and never saw the man who took his kidney, stitched him back up, and left him in a bathtub filled with ice.

Sam researches the case and discovers that Beetle's sutures were made of silk, which haven't been used by doctors since the 19th centuries. Trying to gross Dean out in the middle of his meal, Sam notes that surgeons in that period used maggots to "cure" patients and consume dead flesh. Dean is unimpressed and keeps chowing down. Going over John's journal, Sam realizes that their father fought and supposedly killed Benton, removing his heart. According to the journal, Benton always set up near bodies of water so he could dump his surgical wastes, and removed organs from his victims to maintain his own life indefinitely.

A jogger is out for a run and stops near a lake. When he takes a break, Benton chloroforms him and takes him back to a cellar where he removes the man's still-beating heart.

The guys are preparing to check out hunting cabins near the lakes when Bobby calls to let them know he's tracked down an ex-hunter Rufus Turner, who lives in Vermont and was contacted by Bela. Dean wants to track down Bela to recover the Colt. However, Sam wants to find Benton, hoping they can use his surgical techniques to keep Dean alive: if he never dies, he never loses his soul. Dean refuses, noting that if he doesn't lose his soul then Sam's is forfeit per the deal that Dean made. He leaves on his own, although he tells Sam to be careful. He goes to Vermont and manages to get on Rufus' good side by presenting a bottle of Scotch. As they share a drink, Rufus says that even if Dean manages to get out of the deal, he'll end up dead some other way, or a washed-up drunk like Rufus. Nonetheless, Rufus has managed to identify Bela by her ears and provides Dean with files on her that he got from England where she lived. He also has information that she's staying at the Canaan Hotel.

Sam finds a cabin in the woods with a cellar. Checking it out, he finds the dead jogger and a still-living female victim being treated with maggots. He manages to get her out just ahead of Benton when the "doctor" returns. They get to the car but Benton catches up to them and Sam runs him over to make their escape. Benton, a patchwork stitched-together figure, snaps his broken neck back into place and stares at the escaping Sam through damaged bleeding eyes.

In Canaan, Dean ambushes Bela but she claims to have sold the Colt to a buyer and Dean can't find it. He then confronts her with the fact that Bela was originally named Abby, and inherited millions when her parents died in a suspicious car accident. Bela remembers her father molesting her but only notes that her parents were a loving couple that Dean would have liked. She stares down Dean as he considers shooting her but he says she isn't worth it and walks away. As he leaves, he notices a herb tied above the door. After he's gone, Bela examines a receipt she slipped from his pocket, a receipt for his hotel in Erie. She then calls someone and says she knows where Dean and Sam are.

Dean calls Sam for an update, admitting that with the Colt gone there's nothing he can do. Sam reveals that he stole Benton's journal and there's no magic involved: Benton uses science to keep himself alive. However, Benton has located Sam and chloroforms him and takes him to his cellar lair. He knows who Sam is, having read John's journal. Since Sam damaged his eyes earlier, Benton prepares to take Sam's as replacements. Fortunately, Dean arrives and manages to distract him, but he's unable to kill Benton with bullets because of his immortality. However, Dean manages to stab him with a knife dipped in chloroform and renders him unconscious. They tie Benton to his own crude operating table and wonder what to do with him. Benton begs for his life, offering them the secret of immortality. However, Dean refuses to sacrifice anyone else to keep himself alive and chloroforms Benton. The brothers then securely lock Benton up in an old refrigerator and bury it, leaving him to spend out the rest of his immortal life imprisoned.

Bela goes to the brothers' hotel room in Erie, sneaks in, and shoots them dead. However, they've used blow up dolls under blankets to lure her in. Dean calls her and says that he saw the herb and recognized it as devil's shoestring, which is used to repel the hell hound that are sent to recover souls. He figures that since it's been ten years since Bela killed her parents, she made a deal with Lilith to kill her parents in return for the money, but the deal was only good for ten years. Bela remembers how Lilith made a deal with her, and admits to Dean that Lilith changed the deal and required her to kill Sam. Dean says that if she had come to them, they could have worked something out but now it's too late. With only three minutes left, Bela says that Lilith is the one who holds the contract on Dean... and all the other humans who have ever made a demonic pact. She wishes her luck in killing Lilith and Dean says he'll see her in Hell before hanging up. The clock strikes midnight and Bela looks out the windows as the hell hounds move in to collect her soul.

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