In the ninth episode of the second season of Supernatural, Dean and Sam investigate another one of Sam’s visions, and A WHOLE LOT OF NOPE HAPPENS. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Supernatural.
So, to start things off, I figured out what episodes of The X-Files that “Croatoan” reminded me of. I was correct about the season one episode “Ice.” The season two episode was called “Blood,” (not “Bloodless”; I accidentally combined it with “Sleepless,” the episode that follows it). And it also bears a few similarities to “Wetwired” near the end of season three. Admittedly, though, this episode falls fairly in line with a lot of horror canons that address infection and disease, and it’s not until the end that we see just how much the writers twist the trope. Well, that’s not quite right. “Croatoan” is both a possession tale and an infection story all wrapped in one, which is pretty unique for the genre. Of course, it’s the emotional weight of what’s happening here that makes “Croatoan” memorable, not the genre bending.
It’s with this that the writers take a bit of historical lore – surrounding the lone word carved into a tree at the site of Roanoke Colony – to examine the claustrophobic terrors of infection scenarios amidst the backdrop of a small city. While the show does a lot to do convincing worldbuilding for its own supernatural lore, this is one of those few episodes that really nails down the feel of small town Oregon. It’s not perfect, but the glimpses we get of River Grove felt like how I remember the small towns I visited as a kid. Everyone knows everybody else; there’s only a small medical clinic; the town itself is eclipsed by heavy greenery and trees; there’s only a single road out of town. It’s really the only setting in which a scenario like this can play out, you know? Of course, I had no idea that this was intentional, but I’ll speak to that at the end of this. The residents of this sleepy town are used to a certain idyllic sense of peace, so in that sense, the chaos wrought on them reminded me of the same contrast found in “Home,” the rather infamous The X-Files episode in season four. (Come on, half this show is vets of that one; I’M GONNA REFERENCE IT ALL THE TIME.) Crime on this scale only happens in urban environments, at least in their understanding. So it’s unfathomable that violence at this level would ever appear in River Grove!
Of course, this is all within the framework of Sam’s vision, and that’s one of the main sources of tension. We get a short glimpse of the four people in that clinic during the cold open, and it becomes more and more stressful as they keep assembling in that room. OH NO, SAM’S VISION IS GOING TO COME TRUE. On top of that, the actual reason for Sam’s vision is purposely hidden from us. What the hell does this have to do with the yellow-eyed demon? Why show Sam that Dean is going to possibly kill an innocent person? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
It becomes increasingly frustrating, then, to see Dean so blindly rushing into the face of danger. After narrowly avoiding death by possessed/infected citizens, he then decides that fulfilling Sam’s vision is a VERY GOOD IDEA. Even worse, he locks Sam in another room. This is all tempered by the fact that earlier in this episode, Dean had killed Beverly Tanner himself. In that case, he was much more certain that Beverly was not herself, that she was infected by the strange demon disease. However, why was he so desperate to prove that he was right? Why was he risking the death of an innocent kid? Why couldn’t he wait?
A lot of Dean’s behavior in this episode is a further sign that the whirlwind of events in the past half year have hit him way harder than he’s let on. We already knew that Dean was struggling with the absence of his father as well as his own consuming guilt over John’s death. But this is the first time that Dean ever talks about stopping. After Sam is infected by Nurse Pamela, he GIVES HIS IMPALA TO SARGE. DO EACH OF YOU REALIZE HOW GODDAMN SERIOUS THIS SCENE IS. Wait, of course y’all do. I FEEL LIKE WE ARE ON THE SAME PAGE HERE. That is the exact moment I knew Dean was thinking of some serious shit, that he was truly giving away his life. And I don’t want to take away from the fact that Dean clearly could not live without his brother. Obviously, he’d be willing to do anything for him. Hell, if there was a way he could trade places to save Sam’s life, I’m even more certain he would have done so. That’s also because Dean finally admits that he’s tired by his life. He’s tired of saving the day, of saving his brother, of fighting and killing and worrying. Y’all, it’s such a huge deal that he even admits this. Granted, it’s during a moment where he swears that it’s all coming to an end, and it’s UNFAIRLY HEARTBREAKING. And then he is MERE SECONDS AWAY from revealing what it is he’s been carrying with him since John died at the beginning of this season.
However, everything becomes wrong. The townspeople disappear in the most literal sense. There is no one left. Not only that, but Sam appears to be immune to the infection. Which also disappears from the previous blood samples. HOW DOES IT ALL VANISH SO INSTANTANEOUSLY??? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??? I mean, clearly I was uneasy as hell in the video once I could tell that something was deeply not okay. No resolution aside from some bizarre deus ex machina? Hell, could it even be called that, given that the solution here is that all of the antagonistic energy just POOFS OUT OF EXISTENCE?
AND THEN DUANE IS MAKING A CALL AND OH GOD, SARGE IS DEAD, AND OH MY GOD, IT’S PROBABLY THE SAME POSSESSION AS MEG, OH MY GOD. IT WAS AN EXPERIMENT. For what, I’m not sure, but clearly, the yellow-eyed demon lured Sam to that town to test whether or not he was immune to that virus. BUT WHY? Is the yellow-eyed demon searching for a weakness in Sam? What the hell is going on?
But y’all, the end of “Croatoan” is truly the most unfair part. I WAS SO CLOSE TO FINDING OUT WHAT JOHN SAID. How long can Dean keep this a secret from Sam? At what point is keeping this from his brother going to backfire? How much more time can I last without my questions answered?Â
I enjoyed “Croatoan.” I also appreciated that the show’s commitment to emotional continuity at this point of the season elevated this episode from being standard fare in terms of the tropes used! Bravo, Supernatural. You’re getting better and better.
The video commission for “Croatoan” can be downloaded right here for just $0.99.
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