Peace of Mind Recap

Charming Acres, Arkansas:
The scene opens at night. We see a young man (Conrad Martin) running through the main street of a small town as if something or someone is chasing him. He runs to the door of an ice cream shop called “Harrington’s”. The shop is closed, so the door is locked. Conrad knocks anxiously on the door. When a young waitress answers the door, they embrace.

The girl tells Conrad that he must leave, but he says he doesn’t want to leave without her. The girl says she can’t leave because she made a promise. She urges Conrad to leave without her. Reluctantly, Conrad kisses her goodbye, tells her he loves her, and runs off.

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A few moments later, we see Conrad still running and he has reached an area about five miles outside of town. He bursts into a convenience store/gas station and hurriedly asks the clerk (Griffin) if he can use the phone. As he’s talking, Conrad holds his head and groans loudly as if he’s in a great deal of pain. We can hear a ringing noise that he presumably can hear inside his head.

The clerk steps slightly closer to see if Conrad is alright, and vomits when he sees what has happened.

EPISODE:

At the bunker, Castiel stops by Jack’s room to talk to him and sees Jack playing with the snake. Jack insists (apparently not for the first time) that he’s alright. But Castiel says that since the hunters’ funerals and other recent events, he doesn’t believe him. When Cas tries to change the subject and asks how the snake is doing, Jack says he’s not doing well and won’t eat. Cas suggests the snake may be missing his previous owner, and explains that the snake has experienced a lot of change very quickly. The way Cas is talking, it’s apparent that he’s talking about Jack and trying to get him to talk about his feelings.

When Cas asks Jack if he has his powers back after killing Michael and eating his grace, Jack demonstrates by using telekinesis to pick up a pencil, and make it hover and spin in mid-air. He explains that he feels “different” than when he had his powers before. When Cas asks Jack about his soul, Jack lets the pencil fall to the floor. Cas believes that Jack may have burned off too much of his soul killing Michael, but Jack says he doesn’t know how much of his soul he has left.

Cas leaves Jack alone to go talk to Dean, who is in the kitchen eating a sandwich. Dean says he recently spoke with Rowena, who is alive and coping, but not “great” after being possessed by Michael. When they discuss how Sam and Jack are doing, we learn that they both say they’re fine, but nobody believes it.

Out in the war room, we see Sam returning from a hunt. He puts his gear bag down on the map table and takes out his laptop to search for a new case. As he looks around the room, he has flashbacks to the murders of the other hunters. He is clearly distressed as he sees their bodies strewn about the room and he can hear their screams.

Moments later, Sam comes into the kitchen where Cas and Dean are still talking to announce that he has found another case. Dean laments that they’ve been hunting non-stop for days and he wants a few hours of sleep. Undeterred, Sam announces that he’s leaving in ten minutes and then he leaves the room. Dean and Cas have a brief discussion during which Cas agrees to work the case with Sam, while Dean reluctantly stays behind to try to get Jack to talk. Dean doesn’t think Jack will talk to him any more than he was willing to talk to Cas, but Cas insists that Dean has “experience” with soullessness because of the time when Sam was soulless.

CASTIEL and SAM:

Cas and Sam (dressed as feds) arrive at the convenience store where Conrad died to interview Griffin. Sam is clearly tired, but brushes off Cas’ recommendation to get some rest when this case is over with. Sam insists that the monsters aren’t going to stop coming, and now they have fewer hunters to deal with them.

The interview with Griffin doesn’t provide much new information. However, when Sam asks Griffin if he knew Conrad, Griffins says “no”, but suggests that Conrad probably lived in a nearby town called Charming Acres. Griffin tells Sam that Charming Acres is five miles up the road, but warns him that the place is “weird”.

Cas and Sam arrive in Charming Acres and are surprised to find a town that seems locked into an idyllic version of the 1950s. All the residents are dressed in very conservative clothing from that era, and aside from the modern cars parked along the main street, all the shops and décor look like the town got stuck in that era.

Sam tries to call Dean, but realizes that his cell phone has no service in town. Cas and Sam park the car and get out to interview some residents along main street. The first couple they encounter (Justin and Cindy Smith) seem unreasonably polite and impressed to be talking to federal agents.

Justin says he doesn’t know about anyone dying, but directs Sam and Cas to Harrington’s ice cream parlor, suggesting that someone in there might have information. As the group is talking, Justin notices Sam’s cell phone and asks what it is. Sam tells Justin it’s a cell phone, and he seems surprised that Justin has never seen one.

When Cas and Sam enter the ice cream parlor, they find more of the same – a 50s era song playing on the juke box, old-style furnishings, and people dressed in old-style clothing. They are greeted by Sunny (the waitress we saw with Conrad the night before) and her father (Chip Harrington), who owns the shop and is also the town’s mayor.

Chip addresses them and comments that they’re the feds he’s been hearing about. This is odd, because the couple Sam and Cas met on the street wouldn’t have had time to tell anyone else they’d arrived, or that they’re feds. When Cas asks how Chip knew they were feds, he replies that “it’s a small town”. Chip further comments that he knows their town seems old-fashioned, but says that people take care of each other.

When Sam asks about Conrad Martin, Sunny seems distressed, but doesn’t say anything. Meanwhile, Chip continues talking, saying the local police say Conrad died from a brain aneurysm. When Castiel corrects him and says Conrad’s head exploded, everyone in the shop turns around suddenly to look at them, and Chip seems surprised by the news. Sam quickly adds that they just want to learn what they can about Conrad, so Chip sends them to the boarding house where Conrad was staying.

Cas and Sam arrive at Dowling’s Boarding House and are greeted by the owner, Ms. Dowling, who addresses them as “agents” before they introduce themselves. When Sam and Cas seem curious about how she knew they were feds, her reply is the same as Chip’s – “small town”. She invites them inside and shows them Conrad’s room. She comments that Conrad was a “nice” young man who had only been in town for a few weeks, and she’s saddened by what happened to him.

When Sam asks if the boarding house gets many visitors, Ms. Dowling corrects him and says she only rents to men because it’s inappropriate and immoral for a young woman to be living alone. Sam asks for some coffee as a pretense to return downstairs with Ms. Dowling so Cas can search Conrad’s room. During his search, Cas finds a set of steamy love letters from Sunny, Harington’s daughter, to Conrad.

When Sam returns to the room with his coffee, he suggests that they question Sunny about the letters, but advises that they do it the next day, since it’s getting late. Cas seems confused (based on the amount of sunshine, it seems to be mid-or late-afternoon), but Sam says Cas was right earlier about his needing rest, so he suggests they stay at the boarding house for the night and pick up the case the next day.

Elsewhere in town, Cindy and Justin Smith are preparing to have dinner, but Justin is looking through the house for his cell phone. Cindy pretends that everything is normal, but Justin is distracted and confused. He says he remembers buying a cell phone for his daughter when he lived in Houston. Then, he remembers his daughter’s name is Rose and he seems to snap out of some sort of trance. He suddenly turns to Cindy and asks who she is. Looking around the room, he realizes that he’s not in his own house and doesn’t know where he is. Cindy continues to pretend that nothing is happening. Suddenly, Justin grabs his head as if he’s in tremendous pain. We hear the same loud ringing we heard right before Conrad died. Justin runs outside, calls for help, and tries to run away, but he only makes it a few yards before his head explodes.

DEAN and JACK:
At the bunker, Jack is still trying to feed the snake (who seems sad and has thus far refused to eat) when Dean suggests they take a drive. Later, night has fallen and Dean and Jack are driving with the snake in a container in the back of the Impala. They have an awkward conversation about snakes, during which Dean says snakes are cool when he’s clearly fearful of the snake in the car.

Dean and Jack arrive at Donatello’s house the next morning. It’s clear that they’ve been driving all night.

Jack seems confused that their road trip was to see Donatello. But then Dean explains to Jack that Donatello doesn’t have a soul, so he might be able to help Jack navigate what’s happening to him. Dean waits outside with the car while Jack and Donatello go into the house to talk.

Over coffee, Jack asks Donatello how he lost his soul, and Donatello replies that god’s sister ripped it out of him. During further discussion, Donatello says not having a soul feels like there’s a black hole inside him where something else used to be. He feels bright and shiny on the outside, but empty on the inside. When Jack asks if that feels bad, Donatello replies that he feels nothing. Donatello goes on to say that losing your soul doesn’t make you bad or good or anything else; it’s a lack of empathy, pity, and humanity. When Donatello asks Jack how he feels, Jack’s reply is he doesn’t know; but he also doesn’t want Dean, Sam, and Cas to worry about him. He says he needs time and space to figure things out for himself, but right now there’s always someone there. During further discussion, Jack reveals that the Winchesters are the best people he knows, so Donatello advises that the next time Jack realizes his “family” is worrying about him, he should ask himself what Dean and Sam would do, and try to do that.

Jack and Donatello leave the house and meet Dean, who has been waiting outside. Jack gets in the car, leaving Dean and Donatello alone for a moment. When Dean asks Donatello if Jack has a soul, Donatello replies that if Jack seems alright, he probably is, but he’d keep an eye on him just the same. He adds that Jack is the most powerful being in the universe, so what’s going on inside his head is anyone’s guess.

CASTIEL and SAM:
At the boarding house he next morning, Cas knock’s on Sam’s door, but there’s no answer. When he opens the door, Sam isn’t inside and the bed looks like he didn’t sleep there. Cas searches the boarding house for Sam, but can’t find him. He finds Ms. Dowling vacuuming the floor and asks if she’s seen Sam. She tells him that Sam said he was going for a walk and a milkshake. Cas surmises that Sam went to Harrington's, so he goes there looking for him.

When Cas arrives at the ice cream parlor, he finds Sunny setting up tables for the day. When he questions her about his partner’s whereabouts, she tells Cas that Sam had come by earlier, but he left when she told him there’d been another death in town and Justin Smith is dead.

Cas heads to the Smith’s house, and is greeted by Cindy Smith, who invites him inside. Initially, Cas asks Cindy if she’s seen his partner, but she pretends to not know what he’s talking about. She also acts like nothing is wrong, so Cas assumes she doesn’t yet know about her husband. When Cas tells her that Justin is dead, she laughs, telling him that her husband is fine. As they’re talking, Sam enters the room wearing clothes like to the clothes Justin was wearing, including the same horn-rimmed glasses he was wearing. Sam introduces himself as Justin Smith and seems to not know who Cas is.

Initially, Cas thinks Sam is pretending to be Justin as part of the case, but during their brief discussion it becomes obvious that something is wrong with Sam, and he truly believes he’s Justin Smith. When Cas tries to convince Sam that he’s under some sort of spell or curse and urges him to “Snap the he** out of it”, Sam politely escorts him from the house for using profanity.

Later that night, Cas returns to the ice cream parlor to talk to Sunny. He accuses Sunny of being a witch and brainwashing the entire town – including Sam.

When Sunny denies everything, Cas shows her the letters he found in Conrad’s room. Apparently, Sunny begged Conrad to leave town; Cas demands to know why. When Sunny refuses to talk, Cas threatens to rip the information from her mind, and his eyes flash blue to reveal his angelic power.

Before Cas can do anything, Sunny tells him that someone else is behind the deaths and what happened to Sam, and “he’s out of control”. Suddenly, Cas turns around and Chip is standing behind them with Sam and two other men.

During the exposition that follows, Chip reveals that he is a powerful psychic and he’s controlling the entire town. He explains that when the local mill shut down, the town started to die. Then, Chip’s wife died and his life seemed to get worse. Many people in town moved away, or turned to drugs and alcohol. Chip saw his town dying and he blamed modernization for many of its problems. He also started to hear voices in his head screaming for things to get better. He started wishing for things to get better, and realized that his thoughts could influence other people, so he gave everyone new lives and new identities, and decided to make a place where people would be happy. When Cas confronts Chip with the fact that he murders people who try to break away, Chip insists that he’s just protecting his home.

When Castiel asks about Sunny’s role, Chip says his mind control doesn’t work on Sunny, because she’s too much like him, so she simply plays along. When Chip comments that his mind control doesn’t work on Castiel, either, Cas reveals that he’s not human.

Sunny runs out of the room, clearly upset. Chip goes after her, and Sam and the two other men attack Castiel. Cas easily overpowers the two men, and tries to convince Sam to fight the mind control. Sam says he doesn’t want to fight, because he’s happy in this place. Cas tells Sam that he knows what it’s like to lose an army of people who counted on you and how that makes you feel like a failure. But he tells Sam that if he gives in, he will fail everyone else in his life, too, including Dean. Sam snaps out of his trance and stops fighting with Cas.

Outside, Sunny screams at Chip for killing Conrad, but Chip insists that once Sunny told Conrad the truth and he ran, Chip was left with no other choice. Chip insists Sunny killed Conrad when she chose to tell him the truth. During a heated argument between Sunny and Chip, Chip says Sunny didn’t even try to stop him from killing Conrad, and she chose to stay. Sunny retorts that she promised her mother that she’d stay with Chip, but now she realizes he’s a monster.

As they’re arguing, Cas and Sam rush outside. Chip uses his powers to fling Castiel across the pavement. When Chip realizes Sam is no longer under his control and uses his powers to attack Sam. Sam sinks to his knees in pain and his face starts to get red and swollen, like his head is about to explode. Sunny sees what is happening and uses her own powers to attack Chip. Her attack stops Chip from killing Sam, but leaves him in a vegetative state where he’s happy inside his own mind.

EPILOGUE:

Back at the bunker, Jack and Dean return first. Jack takes the snake and heads to his room.

Soon after, Sam and Cas return. After a brief discussion about the case, Cas goes to check on Jack, leaving Dean and Sam alone in the war room to talk. During their discussion, Sam confesses that he hates the bunker now because he sees the faces of the dead hunters everywhere he looks. That’s why he’s been taking them on so many hunts lately – so he doesn’t have to stay in the bunker surrounded by bad memories. He admits that the bunker is their home, and he can’t keep running.

Jack thinks he’s alone in his room when Cas approaches and watches Jack through the open door. Jack talks to the snake, saying that he believes the snake is unhappy because he wants to join his master in heaven. He says Dean and Sam would figure a way to help the animal, so he will, too. Without emotion or hesitation, Jack turns the snake to ashes, killing it, as Castiel looks on from the doorway.