15.16 Drag Me Away (From You)
Title | Drag Me Away (From You) |
Episode # | Season 15, Episode 16 |
First aired | October 22, 2020 |
Directed by | Amyn Kaderali |
Written by | Meghan Fitzmartin |
On IMDB | Drag Me Away (From You) |
Outline | After an old childhood friend dies, Sam and Dean realize they are dealing with a creature they thought they had killed when they were children. |
Monster | Baba Yaga |
Timeline | January 1993 (flashback) |
Location(s) | Wadsworth, Ohio |
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Contents
Synopsis
Travis Johnson walks into Rooster's Sunrise Motel and asks to rent room 214, telling the receptionist it was "doctor's orders." When she asks, he tells the receptionist he's been there before, a very long time ago. He walks into the room, telling himself "you can do this." Travis sits anxiously on the bed, drinking whiskey straight from the bottle and holding on to a ring on a chain around his neck, saying to himself "it's not real, it was never real." Suddenly, a small boy appears. Travis scrambles off the bed, dropping the bottle and yelling that the boy isn't real. The boy picks up the jagged bottle and points it at Travis, who screams as the bottle stabs into him.
After learning of Travis's death, Sam and Dean travel for what they believe is the funeral. As they're driving, Dean wonders aloud why they're going to the funeral of a friend they haven't seen in 25 years. Sam suggests they have nothing else to do, which leads him to question why Cas just left, but Dean denies knowing anything about it.
Sam and Dean meet up with Travis's sister, Caitlin. They talk about the issues Travis had in his life and how he seemed to be getting better with therapy. Kaitlyn tell them that his doctor suggested he go back to the hotel and "face his fears". She tells them that the funeral already happened, and that she called them back because she believes that "she's back". Dean refuses to believe her, telling Caitlin he killed her.
January 1993
John drops Sam and Dean off out front of the Rooster Sunrise Motel and drives away. Before checking in, Dean notices Sam has a book. After wrestling it away he sees it's a guide for colleges, and he makes fun of Sam for thinking he could get into college. After checking in, Sam goes to room 214 and begins unpacking while Dean goes to get/steal a candy bar from the vending machine, where he meets a boy and girl, Travis and Caitlin.
Later, in the hallway, Travis is alone and trying to get a candy bar from the vending machine the way Dean showed him. He pushes the two numbers and bangs the side of the machine, but the candy doesn't drop. As he starts to walk away, he hears the whirring of the coils in the vending machine and the candy drops. He goes back to put his hand into the slot to retrieve the candy, when a hand with a red ring grabs him. As he screams for Caitlin, he looks up into the vending machine; all the candy begins to fall and reveals a witchy-looking woman inside the machine. He screams again and as the others come running the woman disappears and all the candy is back in place in the machine as if nothing happened.
Back in their room Sam and Dean talk with Travis about what happened. After learning that John is two days out of contact, Dean tells Travis they believe him and ask if any strange things have been happening in the motel or in the area, and learns that three children have gone missing recently. Sam and Dean investigate and think they've found the central location where the thing might be hiding -- its nest.
At a deserted cannery, Dean comes across the nest, and the bodies of the missing children, but hides this from Caitlin. At the motel room, Sam and Travis stay in the room and play Boggle. As they are playing all the words that come up are related to death. The letter cubes begin to shake and erupt all over the room as the lights go out and the woman appears behind Travis and grabs him. Dean and Caitlin happen to come into the room and Dean shoots at it. When there is no effect, he grabs his knife, cutting off her fingers and sending them flying under a table. He then stabs her in the stomach, and she vaporizes. The fingers also vaporize, leaving her ring on the floor under the table.
In the present, Dean is walking down the hall in the hotel and is confronted by a dead-looking version of himself when he was at the motel as a kid. Dead-kid-Dean tells adult-Dean, "We've been waiting for you. You know what you have to do," gesturing to Dean's hand, which is now holding a knife. Dead-kid-Dean also tells Dean he failed. Dean drops to his knees, turning the knife towards his stomach. Sam comes across Dean, alone, kneeling knifeless on the floor and Dean now realizes that Caitlin was right.
While he's out at a diner ordering food, Billie visits Dean and advises him that Chuck has destroyed the last world and that they need to be ready for the fight soon. She also says that she visited Jack and gave him his orders for his final task and that this is the last time she will visit until the end. When Dean asks how she talked Jack into killing himself, she tells him she told Jack the truth – that the only way Dean would forgive him is by killing Chuck. She asks him if he is okay with that.
While doing research with Caitlin, Sam finds out that they are dealing with Baba Yaga. When he shows Caitlin the lore, she recognizes the ring that Baba Yaga wears – the source of her power – as Travis's ring that he wore around his neck which he had repaired shortly before returning to the motel. As Sam realizes that Baba Yaga's defeat in 1993 was down to Dean damaging her ring when he cut off her fingers, Caitlin goes out to her car to retrieve the ring but can't find it. As she closes the trunk a dead adult Travis appears in front of her, holding out the ring right before he attacks her.
When Dean returns with the food, Sam alerts him that Caitlin is missing and they are dealing with Baba Yaga. Sam and Dean separate and search around the motel for the nest, hoping to find Caitlin. Dean goes back to room 214 and the door swings open. As he enters, the door slams behind him and the room is now the Baba Yaga’s nest from 1993 where a dead Travis / Baba Yaga is waiting for him. Dean shoots him but nothing happens and a struggle ensues between Dean and Baba Yaga. As Sam enters the room (which is now a motel room again) he sees Caitlin lying unconscious and Baba Yaga choking Dean. Sam stabs her in the back. She stands up and throws him across the room. Dean takes advantage of the distraction and pulls her ring off her finger, throwing her across the room. He then smashes the ring with the end of his gun and the Baba Yaga bursts into flames and evaporates.
Dean and Caitlin are walking across the motel lobby, talking about what just happened and what happened when they were kids. Caitlin asks if Dean was scared, to which he replies he always is. Caitlin is surprised as the Dean she remembers wouldn't have admitted that, and they hug.
January 1993
Caitlin thanks Dean in the motel lobby with a hug. He gives Caitlin their number in case she needs their help again; she tells him she hopes she never has to use it before saying bye to Dean and Sam. As John pulls up, Dean attempts to apologize for making fun of Sam wanting to go to college, but only ends up telling Sam they make a good team. Sam agrees, and they head to the Impala.
While Sam and Dean are driving back home, Dean tells Sam about his visit from Billie and that God will be here soon. During this discussion, Dean also tells Sam about Jack dying in the process of killing God and Amara. Sam figures out that Dean has known about this for a while and gets mad, telling Dean that he thought they were past this kind of thing. Dean tells him that he withheld the information because he didn't think Sam could handle it and that Sam would try to alter the plan. The boys argue some more. Dean tries to apologize but Sam doesn't want to hear it.
Characters
Definitions
Music
- "If I Didn't Care" by The Ink Spots
- (playing in the motel as Travis is checking in)
- "Gone Again" by Robin Loxley & Smudge Mason (Extreme Music)
- (playing in the bar where Sam, Dean, and Caitlin get a drink and talk)
Quotes
Dean: Not really.
Sam: And you guys didn't get into a fight or something?
Young Sam: Pretty sure that's illegal.
Sam: Well, we help people, you know? Save them. Just sorry we couldn't save Travis.
Dean: Always am.
Caitlin: You have changed. The old you never would have admitted that.
Young Sam: Yeah, we do.
Sam: Wait. So... Billie just told you this while you were grabbing burgers?
Dean: No. Cas did, before we left. Before we even got the call about Travis.
Sam: I shouldn't? Jack's gonna kill himself, and I should just shut up about it?
Trivia & References
- "It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you. There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do."
- The Goonies is a 1985 movie about a group of kids who call themselves "the Goonies" who find an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure.
- Knight Rider was an '80s TV show about Michael Knight who solved crimes and drove a car with an A.I. called KITT. The car was, as Caitlin correctly identified, a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.
- Sam and Travis play Boggle, a game where players try and make words out of letters on adjacent dice.
Sam: I think so, yeah.
- "Precious" is what Gollum called the powerful One Ring in the fantasy novel and later film series The Lord of the Rings. Like in this episode, the One Ring had to be destroyed in order to permanently defeat its owner, Sauron.
Minutiae
- As revealed in 11.08 Just My Imagination, Sam's imaginary friend is the zanna Sully.