Supernatural Rewatch Recap – Season 2 – Episode 1 – In My Time of Dying

Supernatural: Season 2
In My Time of Dying

Season 2 Episode 1

The theme of this episode is sacrifice, and it comes through John and Dean, who both want to put their family first.

In My Time of Dying

We pick up right after the accident, but we don’t get to anything important until the Winchester’s arrive at the hospital.

Important Moments:

Dean wakes up in the hospital. He appears fine except for a cut on his head, that is, until he tries to talk to someone. No one hears him or sees him and then he finds his body, hooked up to machines in a hospital room.

Sam walks in and Dean is relieved to see he is okay, but frustrated that Sam, the psychic, can’t hear him. Dean hears that their father is okay, which relieves Dean, but the report on Dean’s condition isn’t reassuring. It includes terms like ‘realistic expectations,’ never a good sign.

John points out that the Colt may be their only card against the demon, and Sam tells him it’s in the trunk and that Bobby is towing the Impala back to his place. John then gives Sam a list of weird stuff that he wants Bobby to pick up for him, telling Sam it’s for protection.

Sam asks John about what the demon said about having plans for him and children like him. John tells Sam that he doesn’t know what the demon is talking about, then the camera pans back to show Dean watching the exchange from the corner, confirming what we already thought when he says, “Well, you sure know something.”

Sam meets up with Bobby, who says the car isn’t worth towing. Bobby suggests emptying the trunk and selling the car for scrap. Sam refuses, saying Dean will want to fix it when he gets better. In what is a metaphor for Dean’s condition, Bobby says there is nothing to fix. The engine is broken, the frame is a pretzel, but Sam says if there is even one working part, it’s enough. Bobby agrees to take the car. Sam then gives him the list. Bobby asks why John wants the weird stuff and when Sam tells him that it’s protection, Bobby has a look that tells Sam something is off.

John is sitting by Dean’s bedside. Dean stands over him and is upset because John hasn’t called anyone for help. To Dean, it looks like John is just going to sit and watch him die.

Dean hears a weird noise and then sees a white blur, which John doesn’t. Dean walks into the hallway, trying to figure out what’s going on. Dean sees another white blur that looks like a ghost or spirit and follows it. There’s a woman on the floor that can’t breathe. She is calling for help but no one hears her and as a spirit, there is nothing Dean can do but watch her die.

Dean tries to get Sam’s attention, but still fails and then watches as Sam throws the bag of weird stuff on John’s bed. He knows the stuff from the list isn’t for protection, but for summoning the demon. As they fight, and Sam tells John to go to hell and John tells Sam bringing him along was a mistake, Dean gets so mad that when he hits a glass, it actually falls over and breaks, catching the attention of Sam and John. Dean then starts to look like he’s in pain and doctors and nurses are running down the hall. Dean is flat lining. The white ghost thing is hovering over Dean, and he yells for it to get away. Dean charges it and realizes he can grab it, but it leaves before he can do anything else and then Dean has a pulse again. When Dean yells, Sam feels it.

In the hallway, Dean hears a girl yelling for someone to see her, just like he had been at the beginning of the episode. Her name is Tessa. She is hooked up to a machine just like Dean. Dean tells her they’re spirits of people close to death. If their bodies get better, they can get right back in them.

Dean tells Sam via Ouija board that the thing in the hospital is a reaper and that it’s after him. Realizing you can’t kill death, as Dean puts it, there is no way to stop the reaper if it’s there naturally. Sam goes to talk to their father, figuring he will know what to do. Not finding John, Sam gets his journal. Reading over Sam’s shoulder, they both read the page about reapers. Dean learns that reapers can alter human perception and realizes that Tessa is a reaper.

Meanwhile, John is in the hospital basement, a great place to hang out. He has his bag of weird stuff with him. He starts drawing symbols to summon the demon.

After Dean wakes up, the doctor tells them he can’t explain his recovery. Dean doesn’t remember anything that happened, including the reaper. When John comes in, after a short argument, John sends Sam to get some coffee.

After a conversation with Dean, John brings the Colt to someone (obviously, it’s the yellow-eyed demon) and says okay, then the camera cuts to Sam walking down the hall with the coffee. He sees John on the floor and drops the coffee. Sam and Dean then watch from the hallway as the doctors try to save John. They fail. Time of death: 10:41 a.m.

Family Moments/Arguments:

When Dean is frustrated by what the doctor is telling Sam, he implores Sam to “find some whodoo priest to lay some mojo on him,” a phrase Sam then repeats exactly to John when he is telling him about Dean’s condition.

John also tells Sam to temper his expectations, and then follows that up by asking Sam where the Colt is, causing the beginning of an argument.

Sam is mad that John is planning a “macho showdown” with the demon, though John tells him that he has a plan. Sam accuses John of caring more about the demon than about Dean. Dean is yelling for them to stop, but of course, no one can hear him and they keep yelling. John tells Sam that he is summoning the demon for Dean.

After Sam tells John that he thought he felt Dean, John tells him that he won’t hunt the demon until they know more about Dean.

When Dean answers Sam on the Ouija board, his relief is indicative of the connection the brothers have formed over the past year, overcoming their differences.

After Dean wakes up, John comes into the hospital room and Sam immediately gets mad at him for not being there the previous night. John asks Sam if they can stop fighting. He admits he’s made mistakes but says he did the best he could.

Action Moment:

The action in this episode is more psychological that physical action. Dean talks to the reaper who explains she took on the form of a human because Dean flipped out when he saw her in her true form, that of the white spirit. She tells Dean that it’s his time, but he isn’t having it. He refuses to go. She tells him that he is right, that he has a choice and he can remain and wander the Earth for decades and that he may become angry and violent, turning into the very thing he hunts. She tells Dean that it’s the moment of truth and he has to decide. Before he can verbalize his decision, which he seemed to have made internally, the lights start blinking. Dean thinks the reaper is doing it but she isn’t and she starts yelling and then becomes possessed by the yellow-eyed demon, who touches Dean, who then wakes up suddenly in his hospital bed.

The Grand Bargain:

Meanwhile, John has summoned the yellow-eyed demon in the basement. He pulls the Colt on it. He makes a deal with the yellow-eyed demon that he will give him the Colt if he will bring Dean back. The demon agrees, but wants more than just the Colt.

Best Moments:

Sam is talking to Dean about how he has to keep fighting, and Sam isn’t sure if Dean evens hears him. He tells Dean he can’t leave, not when they are just starting to be brothers again.

John tells Dean that he made him grow up too fast and spend his time taking care of both Sam and John, never complaining. This scene is so sad, but still beautiful, especially when John tells Dean he’s proud of him, and this time it’s truly John saying it and when Dean tells John that he’s scaring him, he’s seems like such a little boy again.

Foreshadowing:

The yellow-eyed demon asks John if he knows the truth about Sam and the other children like him. John says he has known for a while.

At the end of the episode, John whispers something to Dean. For rewatchers, we know what he said, but the payoff doesn’t come for many episodes, but it is a set-up to a big moment.

The Third Death:

Dean is supposed to die in this episode, but is saved by John’s trade with the yellow-eyed demon, making this his third almost death.

Impersonation of the Week:

The three of them are Elroy McGillicuddy and “his two loving sons,” on their health insurance.

Funniest Moments:

Sam, realizing Dean might be around, tells Dean not to make fun of him, but he thinks there’s a way that they can talk. He pulls an Ouija board out of a paper bag. Dean responds, “Oh, you gotta be kidding me.” (It works, though! Go Sam!)

State of the Week:

South Dakota

Inside Joke:

The doctor paged during a code blue is Dr. Kripke. The creator of the show is Eric Kripke.

Best Lines:

“Your son is dying and you’re worried about the Colt?” – Sam

“Dean is gonna be pissed.” – Sam

“Dude, I full on Swayze’d that mother.” – Dean

“You see me messing with crystals or listening to Yanni?” – Dean

“I feel like I’m at a slumber party.” – Dean

“Yeah, you can’t kill death.” – Dean

“Thanks for not giving up on me, Sammy.” – Dean

“I want to make a deal.” – John

“I think I’ll pass on the 72 virgins, thanks. I’m not that into prude chicks, anyway.” – Dean

“There’s no such thing as an honorable death. My corpse is going to rot in the ground and my family is gonna die.” – Dean

“You can stay. You’ll stay here for years, disembodied, scared, and over the decades, it’ll probably drive you mad. Maybe you’ll even get violent.” – Reaper

“It’s your lucky day kid.” – Yellow-eyed demon

“I want you to know that I am so proud of you.” – John

Supernatural: Season 2
Supernatural: Season 1
In My Time of Dying

RIP John Winchester:







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