Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) are on a hunt. Dean uses a stun gun on the Rawhead, who preys on bad children and electrocutes himself when he crawls into some water. Sam uses a fake credit card to pay for the hospital bill. Dean under the alias of Joe, found some children in the basement. The doctor tells them electrocution triggered a heart attack and his heart is damaged. The most he has is a few weeks or months. They can only keep him comfortable, they can't work miracles. Which is what this episode is mostly about. So already they were playing havoc with our guys and putting their lives at risk and the death that stalks them with hunting is made even more real for Dean now.
Dean: "You don't actually watch Daytime TV, it's terrible." Yeah as we know that's an in joke since Jensen was in a Daytime soap, Days of Our Lives. Dean says Sam's going to leave town without him and he'd "better take care of that car or I swear I'm gonna haunt your ass." Sam doesn't find that funny. Cos even in Dean's darkest hour he still jokes and can think only of his beloved Impala being in good hands.
Dean is realistic, well as much as he can be by putting it into context for Sam, who refuses to give up on him. Dean drew the short straw and that's the nature of the job. Dean asks Sam what he means by 'he's got options', burial or cremation. Well from what we'll see, hunters are normally cremated. Dean: "I know it's not easy, I'm gonna die and you can't stop it."
Sam dials 86 69073235 and gets a voice message. He tells Dad (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) that Dean is sick and he's going to do whatever it takes to get him back. Dean checks out of the hospital, "I'm not gonna die where the nurses aren't even hot." Sam can't believe how non chalant Dean is being. Sam: "You know this whole 'I laugh in the face of death thing' it's crap. I can see right through you." Sam's been on the Net for days and calling Dad's contacts too from his journal. He says they're heading to Nebraska to see Roy Le Grange ( Kevin McNulty) a faith healer. Sam said they were going to a specialist.
A man tells everyone Le Grange is a fraud. Sam: "When people see something they can't explain, there's controversy...maybe it's time to have a little faith Dean." Cos even if Dean doesn't, Sam has enough faith for the both of them. Dean only has faith in reality. Thus bringing up the entire believing in things he can see argument, as Sam rightly questions, "how can you be so skeptic with the things we see everyday."
Dean: "Exactly, we see them we know they're real." Then comes the whole evil exists cos Dean can see it bit and people are evil which is what it's real. Sam: "If you know evil's out there, how come you don't believe good's out there too."
Dean: "because I've seen what evil does to people." Maybe God works in mysterious ways and Sam believes for them both. Dean notices hot chick, Layla (Julie Benz) which makes his face light up. Dean: "Well I bet you she can work in some mysterious ways."
Sam and Dean had to sit at the front in the tent Sam notices the cross on the altar. The Reverend Le Grange is blind and his wife, Sue Ann (Rebecca Jenkins) reads him the news Le Grange preaches. Dean mutters and Le Grange calls him to the stage. Dean comments he's got sharp ears. He's here to be healed and the Lord picked Dean, not Le Grange who picked him. Sam tells him to go. He puts his hand on Dean's head, Dean goes down on his knees and faints. When he wakes up, Dean sees a dark figure behind Le Grange.
The doctor finds there's nothing wrong with Dean's heart. A 27 year old suffered a heart attack yesterday and Sam just believes it's a coincidence. Dean can't put aside the feeling he felt wrong when he was healed. Sam believes since he's been seeing a lot of things he would have seen the 'spirit' too. Dean: "Excuse me psychic wonder, you're just gonna need a little faith on this one." Dean getting Sam back for his wanting Dean to believe, now it's Sam's turn.
Dean visits Le Grange in an attempt to make sense of what happened to him. Le Grange only had a short while to live, he was in a coma, after praying for a miracle he recovered and he was able to heal. Dean wants to know why him. He was guided by the Lord and he saw a man "with an important purpose in his life...a job to do and didn't finish." That's drawing us to the fact Dean is a hunter and he's got a lot more to do and more lives to save, especially considering how far they have to go in order to get the demon that killed Mom. Sam discovers the dead man was healthy and was running before he collapsed. Something was after him. The clock stopped at 4.17, that's when Marshall died.
Layla's mother, Mrs O'Rourke (Gillian Barber) talks to Le Grange and tells him about her brain tumour, it's the sixth time they've come but he won't be seeing anyone else. Her mother asks the same thing Dean did, why him over Layla or anyone else? Sam says sorry to Dean. Marshall died the same time Dean was healed. He checked the obits and found six people died when someone else was healed of the same symptoms. Trading one life for another. Dean is angry someone died to heal him. Le Grange heals another man, whilst a jogger in the woods is chased by the Grim Reaper (Alex Diakun). Sam didn't know and he doesn't understand how Le Grange is doing it.
Dean believes something else is behind the healings. Deep down he knew it, there's only one thing that can give and take a life like that, a reaper. Sam asks if he believes it's the Grim Reaper like the Angel of Death, that collects your soul. Dean corrects Sam it's not THE reaper, it's A reaper. There is a reaper lore in every culture. Reapers stop time and they're only seen when they come after you, so Dean saw him. Sam believes it's controlled using the cross as seen on the Tarot card. More exposition on how in early Christian era when priests used magic, some went to the dark side, necromancy.
Dean says they're using black magic to control the reaper. Sam tells Dean they can't kill Le Grange. Dean: "Sam, the man's playing God, he's deciding who lives and who dies, that's a monster in my book."
Sam: "We're not going to kill a human being Dean, we do that we're no better than he is." Here's the first time Sam comes up with this argument to counter Dean always wanting to kill first and ask questions later. Sam always wants to find an alternative method before they resort to killing. Sam says if a black spell is being used they need to work it out and how to break it. They return to the service and Dean thinks maybe there's a spell book. Sam takes a look at the book, an Encyclopedia of Christian history back at the house, whilst Dean stalls Le Grange. He finds it hidden behind this book, clippings of a gay man, an abortion worker. He's choosing Vics he thinks immoral.
Dean must stop him, just as Layla is chosen to be healed. Dean stops her from going on stage as something bad will happen. The reaper goes after a man outside. He and Sam run. Dean shouts 'fire' to evacuate the tent. Le Grange isn't behind it, but Sue Ann. Dean spots her medallion and she hides it. He's not a healer. It's not fair on Layla, he can't explain but Le Grange is not the answer.
Le Grange agrees to see Layla in a private session. Le Grange really believes he can do this. The book has a binding spell for trapping the reaper using a black altar, human bones and blood. Sue Ann crossed the line. She was desperate and wanted to save her dying husband. Sam says she's forcing the reaper to kill people she thinks deserve it. Dean: "God save us from the people who think they're doing God's work." Need to find the cross and destroy the altar. Dean tells Sam about Layla being picked and Sam is adamant they can't let someone else die, even if it's not nice.
Sam: "You said it yourself Dean, you can't play God." Sam finds Sue Ann's altar with an 'X' marked on Dean's photo. She gave Dean life and she can take it away. He knocks over the altar and she traps him in. Dean is wicked he deserves to die. Dean sees the reaper after him again. Sam breaks her medallion cross and nothing happens to Layla. The reaper comes for Sue Ann. A pity Sam broke her cross as Layla would've been healed, considering the reaper was going to kill Sue Ann anyway. That was a waste of a life.
Dean says sorry to Layla. She tells him you have to have faith when miracles happen and even when they don't. God works in mysterious, which was said earlier on. Dean isn't much for praying but he'll pray for her. Layla calls that a miracle. Dean had his moments in this episode, first he was going to die and coming to terms with that, but he didn't really since he just laughingly brushed it aside so he didn't have to go into the whole touchy/feely talking aspect of it with Sam. Then he's saved, by some miracle, which turns out to be evil at work. Then meeting someone who deserved to be saved more than him in Layla. But what made him think that since Le Grange told him he's got to work to do. Then he feels guilt at being saved at the expense of someone else's life.
This episode highlighting the differences between Sam and Dean's beliefs. Sam believes in God and has unquestionable faith, even in things they can't see, whereas Dean is more into believing evil things as they've seen those time and again. Could signify the good and the bad in them both, which will make sense in the future when we get the reveals about Sam and the demon that Killed Mom. Or put it simply, Sam was the one who believed in good, thus will have his faith tested at every outset especially when Dad tells Dean what he knows about Sam. Dean believed more in evil and so he remains good throughout. Sam was like Scully (Gillian Anderson) in the X Files always maintaining her faith throughout.
With hindsight, after watching the later seasons, there are plenty of themes in this episodes which became future episodes in their own right. There was more on reapers, then the Tarot cards which we got in season 4.12 Criss Angel is a Douchebag,as well as the necromancy aspect too. Great to see Julie Benz too. All the time I was typing this I had George Michael's 'Faith' going through my head! No film references in this episode and also Dad doesn't show up again, not even to see his son before he dies. This was Eric Kripke's fave episode from season 1 as he realized there was more to this show; such as "is your life worth more than someone else's life. It's a metaphysical and moral study of the boys' universe" as he told the season 1 companion to the show.
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