Yellow Fever - Recap

Tvrage

Dean, wearing a suit, is running down a street as the sound of hellhounds in pursuit echo behind him. He yells a warning to a homeless man, stumbles and falls, ten turns to see his pursuer behind him: a small dog with a pink ribbon. Dean scrambles to his feat and runs away from it.

Forty-three hours earlier, Dean and Sam arrive in Rock Ridge, CO, and investigate the case of Frank O'Brien, the third of three men who have died of heart attacks despite being relatively young and in good health. Pretending to be Federal agents, they talk to the coroner who claims Frank died of natural causes. However, he conducts an autopsy with the brothers present. As he proceeds, Dean notices that O'Brien used to wear a wedding ring, and Sam spots abrasions on the corpses arms. The coroner says the abrasions are a natural result of someone falling to the ground. Removing the heart, the coroner determines that there was no arterial blockage and no other indicators of a heart attack.

Dean and Sam go to the sheriff's office. The sheriff, Al Britton, brings them into his office after having them remove their shoes, and compulsively scrubs his hands with liquid cleaner. He notes that Frank recently started acting oddly, becoming frightened and jumpy of everything. He holed up in home and after he refused to answer calls, Britton sent men over and found him dead.

The guys head out and go over their notes. The other two dead men also had abrasions on their forearms. Something supernatural is involved but they're not sure what. Dean starts acting oddly, detouring around a group of teenager because he thinks they look threatening. They go to the home of Mark Hutchins, Frank's neighbor, who tells them he saw Frank acting oddly and seemed scared of everything. As they talk, Dean becomes increasingly edgy around Mark's collection of lizards. Mark notes that Frank used to be a bully in high school, but mellowed after his wife Jessie died 20 yeas ago.

That night, the guys get back together after some investigation. Dean has learned that Frank's wife, Jessie, was a manic-depressive who committed suicide. Frank was working and had an alibi, and there's no indication he murdered her. Sam has searched Frank's place but didn't find anything. They head back to their hotel but Dean drives the speed limit and refuses to make a left-hand turn. Sam scans him and picks up EMF meetings. The next morning, Sam comes back with breakfast and discovers that Dean slept in the Impala all night: he was afraid to go up to their fourth floor room. Sam's called bobby and they've determined that Dean is infected with a "ghost sickness." It's a contagious disease and they figure Frank caught it and then it was passed on to the other two dead men, who he played softball with. Dean caught it from the corpse during the autopsy. Dean wonders why Sam didn't catch it, and Sam notes that all the victims were dicks that scared people. Dean points out that Sam scares people just like him, but Sam doesn't know why he failed to catch it. They figure they have to burn the ghost's remains to stop the disease, and that Frank's wife is the ghost responsible.

Sam goes out to investigate while Dean reads up on ghost sickness. As the lock on the wall ticks relentlessly, he starts to hallucinate, seeing someone "talk" to him by leaving messages in the book. Dean finally smashes the clock and starts drinking. Sam comes back and reveals that Jessie's body was cremated, so she couldn't have come back as a ghost. Dean seemingly chokes on his beer but clears his throat and finds he has a wood chip in his throat. Sam figures that it's a clue and they go to the towns only lumber mill. Dean is reluctant to take any weapon, claiming it's too dangerous. He starts drinking again and finally volunteers to hold the flashlight. They go inside but the EMF detector only detects Dean because of the infection. They find Frank's wedding ring and then a cat, the latter causing Dean to scream in terror.

Looking further, they find a small room with sketches of Jessie all over the place, and an employee badge belonging to a Luther Garland. Dean spots a large bald man standing in a corner. The man turns and it's Luther, his face covered in abrasions. He advances on them and Dean runs off screaming. Sam realizes that Luther is a ghost and dissipates him with a shotgun blast of rock salt.

The brothers return to the station and try to check out Luther's file. While Sam goes over the file, Dean continues drinking to cope with his fear. The file indicates that Luther died of non-specific "physical trauma." The deputy says that Britton was sheriff at the time and might know more, but he's gone home sick. After the brothers leave, the deputy calls Britton at home and tells him that the brothers are investigating Luther's death. Britton is scrubbing his hands to the point of drawing blood. He starts hallucinating voices telling him that they know what he did.

Dean and Sam go to a hospital to visit Luther's brother, John. John is reluctant to talk but eventually tells them that Luther was a kindly man who worked as a janitor at the lumber mill. However, his hulking appearance made him the town freak. He had a crush on Jessie, who worked as a receptionist at the mill. When Jessie disappeared in the days leading up to her suicide, Frank assumed that Luther was responsible. Frank beat Luther and then killed him by chaining Luther to his car and dragging him around the lumber mill pavement until he janitor was ripped apart. John tried to get Frank prosecuted but Frank was a pillar of the community and everyone refused to believe he was guilty.


Sam and Dean figure that the abrasions are from Luther being road-hauled, and the janitor swallowed wood chips when he was beaten in the lumber mill. Dean, and the other victims, are reliving Luther's death in slow motion. Dean figures they can burn Luther's body to destroy the ghost, but Sam warns that since Luther was ripped to pieces, there's no way they can find and destroy every piece. An increasingly distraught Dean snaps at Sam, saying their lives are too dangerous and there's no way Sam can stand to be around him. Dean leaves only to be chased down by the dog with the ribbon.

Back in the present, Dean goes back to the hotel room. They have less than four hours left until he dies. Sam starts taunting him about how Dean is going back to Hell, and then his eyes turn yellow. Dean figures Sam is possessed but Sam says he's been a demon all along. He starts to choke Dean... who snaps out of his hallucination.

Bobby arrives and reveals he's discovered a book describing a buruburu, a ghost that infects victims with fear. There's only two ways to destroy it: burn the entire body, or kill it with fear. Sam comes up with a plan and calls Dean to tell him to just relax. Bobby and Sam go to the lumber mill while Dean hallucinates the hellhounds. They seemingly break in the door... and Sheriff Britton comes in, gun drawn, demanding to know why they're investigating Luther's death. Britton says that he protected Frank, who didn't deserve to go to jail for Luther's death after making a mistake. The two men struggle and Dean manages to knock Britton to the floor. Britton's heart start to race and then he dies of a heart attack.

To lure the ghost out, Sam starts ripping up the sketches of Jessie. The mill machinery comes to life and then Luther appears to attack Sam.

Dean is contemplating a Bible when he seemingly hallucinates Lilith appearing on the bed next to him, in her young girl form. She tells him it's time to come back to Hell and have some more "fun." Dean's heart starts to speed out of control and he wonders why he was infected and Sam wasn't. She says that he can figure it out if he just listens to his heart, and starts counting off Dean's increasing heartbeat.

Sam struggles with Luther's spirit and manages to grab a chain and wrap it around Luther's neck. He yells to Bobby, who starts up the Impala outside... with the chain fastened to it. Bobby hauls the terrified Luther across the pavement, recreating his death, and the ghost disappears just in time. Dean's heart stops pounding and he discovers the abrasions are gone.

Later, dean is back to his old self and the three of them are drinking beers. Sam explains that they used an iron chain inscribed with a magic word to contain Luther long enough to road-haul him to his (second) death. Bobby heads out and Sam wonders what Dean hallucinated. Dean lies and says nothing he couldn't handle.


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