Episode Review - Ater School Special

Supernatural Episode 413

Aug 15, 2009 Robert Becka

Viewers get a glimpse at the Winchesters' teenage years when one of their old high schools becomes haunted.

Throughout the series, Supernatural fans have been given glimpses into the past of the Winchester brothers. More often than not, those flashbacks were of the brothers as young children, stuck in motel rooms while their father is off hunting evil. In "After School Special," fans get to see what Sam and Dean were like in high school, and gain some insight into Sam's rebellion from the family life.

The CW Network's Supernatural Episode 413 - "After School Special"

A chubby girl is made fun of, and retaliates by killing the popular girl who teased her. As she stares at what she has done, black ooze trails from one of her eyes. The brothers investigate, and learn that the girl had been possessed. They decide to check out the school, and the show flashbacks to 1997. Teenage Dean walks with a swagger, and Sam, who has yet to hit the big growth spurt that will eventually make him taller than his older brother, is frustrated over having to always be the new kid. Dean hits on the pretty girls in his class, and Sam makes friends with the classroom nerd, Harry, and Sam challenges the classroom bully.

Coming back to today, Sam is posing as the school janitor, and Dean is the new substitute gym teacher (and loving it... "the whistle makes me their God!"). A jock loses his hand after picking on a nerd, and the brothers learn that Harry committed suicide after being on a large number of antidepressants. The show flashes back to 1997, where Dean is told by a girl that having no parents around and living out of motels must suck, and Sam allows himself to be beat up in Harry's place.

The brothers salt and burn Harry's ashes, and the show flashes back again, showing Sam pour his fears about the family business to his teacher and being told to follow his own heart. Coming back to the present, Sam is attacked by a possessed teen, proving that it wasn't Harry's spirit haunting the school.

The brothers learn that it was actually the spirit of the bully, who fell to pieces after being beaten up by Sam in front of the whole school, that has been possessing the weak in order to punish the bullies. Learning that every kid that was possessed rode the same bus, the brothers found that the bully's father drives the bus and keeps a lock of his hair in the glove compartment. They manage to stop a possessed bus driver from killing the football team on board by burning the hair, and Sam finds his old teacher to thank him for being the inspiration for Sam going to college.

The Last Word On "After School Special" Starring Jared Padalecki

It's always cool to get some insight into the Winchesters' youth. Coupled with some laughs (especially Dean introducing the gym class to dodgeball), the episode highlights Dean's insecurities growing up, shows Sam's inspiration for leaving the family business for college, and sends a nice, if gory, anti-bullying message.

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