We begin with our old pal Gordon, the overzealous hunter who has been locked up ever since he last tried to take out the Winchester boys. He’s still in prison, convincing Kubrick, a friend of his, that Sammy is a demon and has to be dealt with. They know about the events from the season finale, only further cementing Gordon’s opinion of the Winchester boys. He might not be that far off, with Sammy being part demon and all, but he’s going about it in the worst way possible. It’s interesting putting Sam and Dean at odds with non-supernatural characters, as we’ll see elsewhere in this episode, since it’s a problem with no simple shoot-‘em-with-rock-salt or burn-the-body type solutions. The Winchester boys can’t kill these humans, but Gordon and his crew won’t stop until Sammy is dead. Stormclouds. Titles.
On the road, Sam and Dean are chatting about Ruby, the blonde demon who would love to help Sammy. Obviously, Dean is suspicious and I still can’t wait until those two butt heads… or something else. Am I turning into a ‘Shipper? Still, the boys are intrigued by the idea that she might be able to help them out of the deal with the Crossroads Demon, but Dean less so. Sam argues that they still need her for her information on all of the new demons on the loose. The phone rings. It’s not Sam’s. It’s not Dean’s. It’s Dad’s, still charged in the glove compartment just in case. Apparently one of Dad’s secret storage spaces was broken into, and like that the boys are off to Buffalo to investigate.
In his mobile home, Kubrick is convincing his sidekick to gear up to help him with his Winchester hunt. Oh, and the place is completely filled with Jesus paraphernalia and semi-automatic weapons. Kubrick is literally a gun-toting Jesus freak.
Sam and Dean investigate the storage space that Dad left behind. It’s been protected against demons and humans alike and from the blood left behind, it looks like a human took a load of buckshot from the tripwire shotgun. The place is full of interesting stuff: a great cache of weapons, Sam’s soccer trophy, Dean’s first sawed-off. Who wants to bet that Pop’s pile of landmines and the rest come in handy later in the season? There’s also a whole bunch of sealed curse boxes. The place was Pop’s toxic-waste dumping ground for dangerous items. The only problem is one is missing. “Maybe they didn’t open it,” Dean hopes.
“Let’s open it,” proclaims one of two bumbling criminals. Apparently, some chick paid them a lot of money to get the box, but they figure that they can sell whatever is inside and get more. Criminal #1 doesn’t want to talk about it though, as he’s bleeding all over from Papa Winchester’s buckshot. Criminal #2 pops it open anyway. He dramatically looks inside and discovers… a rabbit’s foot. The criminals are pissed, but just then their neighbor shows up to complain about the noise. And he happens to be a former army medic. He’s going to fix up Criminal #1 because it’s his “lucky day”.
The boys track the bumbling criminals to their hideout using their license plate number, captured by cameras at the storage warehouse. The boys sneak into the apartment and confront the criminals, but since it’s their “lucky day,” it results in a bizarre series of hilarious, slapstick moves, where Sam and Dean can do no right. Dean drops his gun and his ricochet shot disarms Sam and then they bumble over each other, letting the criminals get the best of them. However, the tides turn when Sam lays his hands on the rabbit’s foot. Suddenly the criminals bumble over each other instead, knocking themselves out cold… and flinging Sam’s piece right back into his open hand. Apparently this luck is of the cartoon variety. The boys know that they’re having a lucky streak due to the rabbit’s foot and they test themselves with lotto scratchers… and instantly win twelve hundred dollars. There must be a downside though, otherwise it wouldn’t be a curse.
Back at the criminal lair, the bumblers are just coming to. Criminal #1, having lost the rabbit’s foot and having inherited the change of luck that comes with it, manages to have the worst luck possible. Just when you thought this episode was going to be nothing but light-hearted slapstick, the guy manages to slip on a beer bottle and impale himself on a barbeque fork. Through the back of the head. And out through the mouth. As Nathan Explosion would say… “Brutal.”
Elsewhere, Dean continues to win money while he learns from Bobby that the rabbit’s foot may give you great luck, but if you lose the foot, and "everybody does" according to Bobby, you’ll be dead within the week. Bobby sets to work trying to find ways to break the curse and the boys take their newly acquired fifteen grand and pop in for a bite to eat. Only they won’t need any of that cash, because they’re the one millionth customers and have just won a year's worth of free grub.
Kubrick and his sidekick are off doing all they can to find Sam and Dean, but coming up with a whole lot of nothing. They decide to take a bit of a nosh break and the sidekick wants to convince Kubrick to try out one of his favorite eating holes. He brings up the website for the place so he can show Kubrick their “wide menu”. Back at the diner, Sam and Dean are still reveling in their luck… and their grub, when Sam is approached by a waitress wearing the worst wig known to (wo)man. After a little flirtation, Sam clumsily drops coffee in his lap and shoves a waiter with a full tray of food to the floor. That’s not good luck at all! Sam checks his pocket only to find that the waitress made off with his rabbit’s foot! Outside, we see the waitress with the rabbit’s foot (which she is careful not to touch) ditching her horrendous wig. The boys pursue, but Sammy’s already a mess of bad luck, stumbling and tearing up his knees. And now that their luck has changed, it turns out that the diner has uploaded the photo of the boys winning their free grub to their website just in time for Kubrick and his buddy to scope it out… along with their deep fried onion. Kubrick takes it as a sign from his own personal Jesus.
Back at the criminal layer, Criminal #2 is saying goodbye to his friend Compton style. Sam and Dean show up to get information on the tricky woman who stole the rabbit foot right out from under them. Dean plays the tough guy, while Sam plays Chevy Chase playing Gerald Ford. Dean “reads” the guy and convinces him that in spite of everything, he is not a killer. And if he doesn’t help, he’ll be condemning his brother to death. The guy breaks.
Meanwhile, Kubrick is still on the Winchester hunt and even though the trail has gone cold, he’s convinced that “a higher power” will lead them straight to the boys.
Dean chats up Bobby, who oddly enough knows all about the chick with the wig: Bella. She’s far from a hunter, but she knows the territory and Bobby knows how to track the girl down. And Sammy has turned into a retarded child and loses his shoe in the sewer. Dean plunks Sam down in a motel to try to keep him safe, but it happens to be right where Kubrick and pal are bunking down for the night. Dean’s on his way to Queens to track down Bella and the rabbit’s foot. She’s a dealer in supernatural antiquities, stealing from the hunters on the prowl and selling the objects to the highest bidders. Without even needing any fake luck, Dean sneaks into Bella’s apartment and gets the drop on her.
Back at the motel, Sammy can’t even sit still without falling into bad luck. The air conditioning unit shorts out and catches on fire. Sammy tries to put it out, only to catch his own arm on fire. He tries to put it out with the curtains, only to fall back, knocking himself out, and tearing down the curtains to reveal Kubrick and his buddy waiting on the outside. Kubrick thanks his god for smiling on him.
Dean and Bella hold each other at gunpoint, which somehow seems like foreplay to both of these two. How long before these two get together in a love/hate kind of way? Bella knows all about the truth, just like the Hunters, but rather than pick the side of good or evil, she simply steals and profits. How many more sides can there really be in this conflict? But every new one complicates the situation, so I love this show that much more. Dean tells Bella to give the foot back, and she’s willing… if Dean will pay her 1.5 million. She found her way to the foot through a (an?) Ouija board. It’s amazing what the spirits will tell you if you ask the right questions. Bella tries to take a shot at Dean, but he’s snagged the foot while she was distracted. The boy cannot be hit. Bullet ricochet around the room, while Dean makes his escape unscathed.
At the motel, Kubrick has Sammy tied up and levels with Sammy that its no longer just Gordon sending him after the Winchester boys, but God himself. Kubrick is convinced that Sammy knows all about the demons’ plans for the world and let them out of the gate on purpose. Kubrick can’t deny all the luck that’s happened to them and is convinced that it is God telling him to take Sammy out. But Dean (with his newfound luck) shows up in just the nick of time. When ordered, he gladly lowers his gun… and disarms Kubrick with just ballpoint pen, thrown expertly right into the barrel of his gun. The sidekick does them a favor and just knocks himself out, while Dean brains Kubrick with a precisely thrown remote control. “I’m Batman,” he proclaims.
Dean and Sam are ready to cleanse themselves of the curse by burning the rabbit’s foot in a graveyard, when Bella shows up, ready to take her prize back. Dean calls her bluff and proclaims that he can “read” her, just like Criminal #2 before. But just as he tells her that she’s not going to shoot anybody, she puts a cap into Sam’s shoulder! She can’t ever hit Dean, but with Sammy she can never miss. Dean gets the drop on her again, by throwing the rabbit’s foot at her, forcing her to catch it and become cursed. Now Bella doesn’t have any choice except to destroy the talisman. They part ways and while this week’s episode has been a horrible experience, at least they still have their $46,000 in lottery winnings. That is if Bella hadn’t stolen the tickets from them. Sigh.
Back at prison visiting Gordon, Kubrick is a changed man. He’s so convinced that Winchester needs to be taken down, that he even freaks Gordon out. They may have different reasons, but they have the same goal. They plan to break Gordon out of jail, because, you know… Sam Winchester must die.
|