Wishful Thinking - Recap

A woman, Candace Armstrong, is taking a shower at a women's health facility in Concrete, Washington. She's unaware that a mysterious teenage boy is stalking her, fading in and out of visibility. She finally tosses a towel toward a rack and hits him instead. Thinking he's a ghost, she screams and he tries to apologize.

The guys are eating at a restaurant and Sam questions Dean about why Uriel thought Dean remembered his time in Hell. Dean again denies remembering anything of his four months in Hell and note that Uriel was a dick. Sam drops the matter and checks sightings, but doesn't find a whole lot except for a report of a ghost in a women's shower that threw a woman down a flight of stairs. Dean immediately insists on going to investigate. They arrive in town and while Dean goes to check out the healthy facility, Sam meets with Candace at a Chinese restaurant. He claims to be a writer doing research on the supernatural and gets her to describe the encounter. She explains that she accidentally fell down the stairs and the ghost tried to help her, and then asked her not to tell his mother. As they talk, a homely looking guy and a beautiful woman flirt at the next table.

Afterward, Sam meets up with Dean who hasn't found any EMF traces, but has found a newspaper article on a lucky lottery winner. Sam thinks the whole thing is some kind of crazy hoax but the guys notice a hunter talking to the local sheriff, saying he saw Bigfoot. As they walk over, they see a boy, Todd, being chased by bullies. The guys flash fake FBI badges and get the hunter to tell them where he sighted Bigfoot, then go to investigate. They find giant footprints and follow them to a grocery store where they find that someone has stolen the booze and porn magazines. They also find a piece of fur. As they go outside, they see a young girl on a bicycle riding by. She drops a porn magazine and then drops off a box with the rest of the magazines and alcohol at the grocery store, with a sign saying "Sorry."

The guys follow the girl, Audrey Elmer, back to her house. They talk to her and ask if she's seen Bigfoot, and she says he's a teddy bear and he's sick. The guys claim to be teddy bear doctors and Audrey takes them upstairs. Her man-sized teddy bear is drinking and getting depressed watching violence on the news. Audrey explains that all she ever wanted was a big teddy bear and she made a wish at a wishing well to get one. Her parents wished they were in Bali and disappeared, leaving her alone. The guys tell her to stay with a family friend and get directions to the wishing well.

The wishing well is at the Chinese restaurant, and Todd is making a wish as they arrive. Dean tosses a coin in and makes a wish, and a few seconds later a deliveryman arrives with a foot long sandwich with jalapenos. They eat at the restaurant and notice the same homely-looking man and beautiful woman flirting at a table. They figure he made a wish to get the girl but aren't sure what to do. When the waiter comes over to tell Dean he can't bring in outside food, they pretend to be health inspectors and get the waiter to close the restaurant and get everyone out. As they check out the wishing well, Dean asks Sam if he'd wish for his old life back but Sam says that they've moved on, and he'd rather have Lilith dead. They discover an old coin in the wishing well but can't pull it up even using a crowbar and a hammer. Sam gets an imprint of the coin and gives it to Dean to research, while he realizes what's happening at the women's shower. He goes there and catches the "ghost": an ordinary teenage boy with the power to turn invisible. Sam tells him to put some pants on, stay visible, and go home.

As Dean finishes his research, he sees Todd, who is now chasing after the bullies who were picking on him earlier. He gets to the motel room and starts vomiting, and explains to Sam when he arrives that all the wishes turn on the wisher. The coin is from ancient Babylon and is cursed by priests of the serpent Tiamat, God of Chaos. The only way to remove the coin and stop the wishing is to have the first wisher take it out.

The giant teddy bear, depressed, tries to kill itself with a shotgun but only blows out some stuffing.

Dean is dreaming about hotel when he wakes up. He starts drinking and Sam says that he knows Dean is remembering his time in Hell. Dean ducks the issue and Sam can't find anything on the Internet to tell them who the first wisher was. However, Dean spots an engagement announcement for Wes Mondale and Hope Casey, the couple in the Chinese restaurant.

At Wes' house, Hope is doting on her boyfriend and fixing him huge snacks. She insists that she loves him and refuses to do anything for herself even when he tells her to. The brothers arrive and pretend to be florists. As Hope goes to get her wedding planner, the guys notice Wes' coin collection and ask him if he made nay wishes. He says he didn't but when Hope returns they quickly realize that Wes wished for her love. She goes to the kitchen and Wes explains that he inherited the coin from his grandfather, who said it could be used to make wishes but warned never to use it. Wes did anyway and wished for Hope to notice him and fall in love. When he refuses to undo the wish, Dean draws a gun and forces Wes to go to the restaurant with them. They're unaware that Hope has overheard them from the kitchen.

As the Winchesters take Wes back to the restaurant (and unwittingly hit the invisible kid), Wes complains about how it's easy for them to get girls because of their good lucks. The guys say they've never had anything easy in their lives. They warn that as the wishing gets out of hand, chaos will destroy the town. Wes doesn't believe them... until they arrive at the restaurant and see Todd using super strength to flip over a car where the bullies are hiding. Dean tries to stop him and tells Sam to get Wes into the restaurant. He tries to bond with Todd, who throws him into some garbage cans. As they go into the restaurant, Wes wonders why they just can't get what they want from wishing. Sam shrugs and says that's how life is... and gets hit by a lightning bolt out of a clear sky. He's killed instantly.

Realizing what's happened, Wes goes into the restaurant and finds that Hope has made her own wish: to stop Sam from breaking them apart. Meanwhile, Todd attacks Todd without success and the boy starts choking him to death. Wes tries to convince Hope what he's doing is for the best but she insists she loves her. He reaches down and takes the coin out of the well. All the wishes are undone and Todd loses his powers. However, Dean fakes being afraid of him and warns the bullies to stay away from him. Sam is restored to life and Hope doesn't remember anything that happened, or even who Wes is. Wes gives the coin to Sam and walks away, going back to his normal life.

As the guys prepare to leave town, they read an article that the lottery winner got a phony ticket. Audrey's parents are back and her teddy bear is back to normal except for a head wound. Sam has melted the coin down, destroying it once and for all. As they go, Dean apologizes to Sam for lying. Sam offers to hear whatever Dean has to say, but Dean insists there's nothing to talk about. He was tortured for four months in Hell and nothing he says or Sam can listen to will change what he went through.


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