Supernatural “Drag Me Away (From You)” was written by Meghan Fitzmartin and was directed by Amyn Kaderali. This is Fitzmartin’s first solo writing credit on the show, which begs the question of why not use more established writers as we near the end game of this series? It’s once again a fan service episode, giving us more Young Dean (Paxton Singleton) and Young Sam (Christian Michael Cooper). While there are a couple of good scenes, primarily with Jensen Ackles (Dean), the flashbacks just aren’t up to the standard we’ve seen in past episodes. It’s also really a filler episode, with Dean once again hiding the truth from Sam (Jared Padalecki) until the end of the episode.
The episode opens with Travis Johnson (Ryan Alexander McDonald) checking into a hotel and room 214– under doctor’s orders. Jerry Wanek’s set design for the motel is garishly 70s and another masterpiece. It’s not long before Travis must face his fear, which comes in the form of his younger self (Liam Hughes), which slashes his neck with a broken bottle of whiskey.
We pick up with the brothers in the car on their way to the Rooster’s Sunrise Motel. Dean is a bit surprised they are making the long trip for such an “old” friend. There’s nothing for them to do at the Bunker – Jack (Alexander Calvert) is waiting on orders from Billie (Lisa Berry) and Cas (Misha Collins) as far as Sam knows just bailed. Dean tells Sam it’s just Cas being Cas. I did love that Sam gives Dean a hard time for texting and driving when Dean looks at his phone – and it’s Cas texting. It’s a nice PSA!
I did like the fade out from adult Sam and Dean getting out of the Impala to their young versions get out of the Impala as John drops them off in January 1993 so he can go on a hunt. Dean wanted to go with John, and Sam doesn’t even want to practice his shooting. Dean discovers that Sam is hiding a book on getting into College and gives him a hard time about it. The show continues the walk down memory lane as Dean references Sam’s imaginary friend from “Just My Imagination.” Dean is also wearing the Samulet that Sam gave him in “A Very Supernatural Christmas.” Dean tells Sam he hasn’t got a chance of getting into college – they barely go to school. He tells him this is their life. And it’s a little sad when Sam – at 9 – unpacks a gun and a knife from the top of his small bag of belongings.
Dean meets Travis and his sister Caitlin (Elle McKinnon) when he’s stealing out of a vending machine. She asks to see the trick and tells him their mom cleans the hotel. There’s a little spark between her and Dean as she clearly knows cars too.
Flash to the present and they are meeting adult Caitlin (Kelsey Crane) in the hotel restaurant. She’s asked them to come and feels guilty about her brother’s death. Travis had had a hard life – drugs, unable to hold down a job – but she’d managed to convince him to seek therapy. Unfortunately, the therapist used immersion therapy. She tells them she thinks “she” is back – she got them there by asking them to come to Travis’s funeral – but that was a week ago. She reminds them that “it” came for Travis first – and we flash to a monster in the vending machine. It almost gets Travis but is interrupted by Dean and Caitlin
In the present, Dean tells her that the coroner’s report is open and shut – Travis’s fingerprints were all over the bottle. Sam can’t find a trace of anything supernatural. But Caitlin insists that Travis wouldn’t have committed suicide. Dean points out that the therapy might have sent him over the edge.
In the past, Travis is upset that Caitlin doesn’t believe him. She is surprised when Dean calls Bobby looking for his Dad, who’s two days out of range. He tells them that monsters are real and that he and his Dad hunt them. Dean asks if anything unusual is happening in town, and Caitlin tells them that children have been going missing.
In the present, Dean isn’t buying it. This “thing” only prays on kids and not kids have gone missing. He insists that he killed that “other thing.”
In the past, the kids go through newspapers and place candies on a map where all the kids went missing. Sam quickly assesses that the think is likely in an abandoned cannery. Dean is ready to go kill it – without knowing what it is. He tells Sam that he has a gun and a knife, but Sam tells him John wouldn’t like it. Dean tells him John would like it – it’s Dean taking charge. Sam offers to come, but Dean tells him to stay there and “be normal.” Caitlin also want to come but Dean tells them that none of them have been on a hunt before – he’s got this.
Caitlin follows him anyway. Dean picks the lock – though she teases him that he’s not very good at it – clearly not really believing him about the whole monster hunter thing yet. Back at the motel, Sam and Travis play a truly disturbing game of Boggle. Caitlin notices that Dean is sweating and teases him that he seems tense. Sam gets the words “kill, you, now.” Dean removes a piece of clothing and is clearly disturbed by what he sees but tells Caitlin it’s nothing – it’s not there. Travis meanwhile has the words “dead, death, kill, you, now.” Caitlin and Dean head back to the motel.
The table starts shaking, and the lights go out. The creature appears behind Travis and grabs him. Dean rushes in and slashes off her fingers before stabbing her. She goes up in smoke, leaving only her ring, which Travis apparently kept.
In the present, Dean is walking down the hallway and comes face to face with his younger self – and flashing lights in case you didn’t think something odd was happening. Young Dean tells him that he knows what he has to do – and Dean suddenly has a knife in his hands and sinks to his knees. Young Dean tells him he bailed. Young Dean tells him to say hi to Travis, but he’s interrupted by Sam. He doesn’t have anything in his hands even though it looked like he was about to stab himself. He tells Sam that Caitlin was right.
Sam, Dean, and Caitlin regroup over beers. Dean apologizes for not believing her, and he clearly feels responsible for not killing her and Travis’s death. Dean tells them that she can take on other people’s shape. Dean also tells them that she keeps a nest. He finally comes clean about what he saw in 1993 – the dead bodies of the missing kids. Sam asks why Dean never told him, and Dean tells him because he’d never seen anything like it before. He tells them that after he thought he’d killed it, he called the police with an anonymous tip – and then shoved it “down the old memory hole.” He confesses that he had nightmares about it for a long time. Dean apologizes for not saying anything, and Sam excuses him. He was just a kid and back then they kept a lot of secrets from each other – oh, the irony! Dean goes for food, while Sam goes for the lore.
I did love how pleased Dean was that the diner didn’t have kale or arugula! Dean is joined by Billie who isn’t happy that Dean and Sam seem to have lost focus. Billie just came from the Chuck’s destruction of the penultimate world. Chuck’s on the way back and when he gets there, there won’t be a moment to lose. Jack has the last step of his transformation. She convinced him by telling him the truth. The only way he can get forgiveness for killing Mary is by dying to kill God and thus freeing Dean from the hamster wheel of his existence. Dean doesn’t tell her she’s wrong.
Back at the motel room, Caitlin asks Sam if this is his life now – doesn’t he ever just want to be normal? Oh, the irony. Sam tells her that they help people, save them. He’s sorry they couldn’t save Travis. Sam discovers the legend of Baba Yaga – a witch that feeds on the fears of children and her ring is the source of her power. Caitlin recognizes it as Travis’s ring, which she has in her car.
Billie tells Dean that they won’t see her again until the end, according to Chuck’s book, she’s not in this part of the story. It’s all on Dean now. She asks him if they have a problem. He tells her no. She’s not happy that he’s been hiding it from Sam. She needs to know that he’s got his house in order.
As soon as Caitlin pulls out the chain, Travis is there with a slit throat and the ring. By the time Dean gets back, Sam is frantic that he can’t get hold of Caitlin. He quickly fills Dean in, who just as quickly references Lord of the Rings, calling the ring the Baba Yaga’s precious that has to be destroyed. Sam points out that all the attacks have happened at the motel, so the Baba Yaga is likely close.
Sam gets a nice red herring with the bong-smoking receptionist Gwen (Bernadette Beck). Dean meanwhile goes back to the vending machine and room 214. The door opens on its own and then slams shut after Dean is in. And he’s suddenly back in the cannery and the nest from 1993. This time when he pulls the cloth back, it’s a dead Sam. Then he’s accosted by adult Travis.
Dean asks if he isn’t a little old for the Baba Yaga, and she tells him that he’s starving. Sam comes in and finds the Baba Yaga on Dean and Caitlin unconscious on the bed. He stabs the Baba Yaga and she flings him across the room, but it’s enough of a distraction for Dean to get her ring off and destroy it. The Baba Yaga goes up in a nice green flame.
Caitlin thanks Dean for what he did for her and Travis. She asks him if he was afraid, and he admits that he always is. She tells him that he has changed – the old Dean never would have admitted that. He’s not convinced that’s a good thing. She remarks that getting older, you tell the truth more because you know that lies don’t make anything better. The hug in the present flashed back to the goodbye in the past.
Young Caitlin thanks him for being there. Dean tells her that if anything else ever happens to call – and gives her the number. Sam asks if Dean ever found the other kids, and Dean denies it. John drives up and Sam wonders what they’ll tell him. Dean tells him that they’ll tell John that he handled it – with a little help from Sam. Dean back peddles a little about the “college thing” but points out that they do make a good team. It’s clear that he just didn’t want to lose Sam.
Back on the road, Sam tries to call Cas and Dean tells him to hang up. Dean tells Sam about Billie’s visit. It’s go time. He also tells him that Jack’s going to die – no sugar coating from Dean, he just rips the band-aid off! He tells Sam that Jack’s known the whole time and he’s ready to sacrifice himself. Dean tells Sam that in order to kill Chuck and Amara, Jack has to die. Sam asks if Billie told him all this while he was grabbing burgers. Dean also admits that Cas told him before they left. Sam is pissed that Dean didn’t tell him.
Dean tells him he didn’t think he could handle it. Sam didn’t trust Billie’s plan and wasn’t on board with the Amara plan either. Sam second guesses everything, bringing up ethical questions. This is the only way to kill Chuck – they don’t get a choice. And right there, the alarm goes off. If they don’t have a choice – where is their freewill and how is this getting off the hamster wheel? Sam ends the argument by telling Dean not to talk and to just drive. It’s the lamest end to a conversation ever.
This was just a meh episode for me. It had lots of nice nostalgia. If this wasn’t so close to the end of the final season, it might have been a pretty good filler episode. However, having Sam and Dean fighting over a secret again – aren’t we long past this? And the naming the episode off a writer’s favorite song is a Supernatural tradition, but the song generally has something to do with the episode, and I’m not feeling that with this choice. What did you think of the episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
