2.07 The Usual Suspects
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| Title | The Usual Suspects |
| Episode # | Season 2, Episode 7 |
| First aired | 9 November, 2006 |
| Directed by | Mike Rohl |
| Written by | Cathryn Humphris |
| On IMDB | http://imdb.com/title/tt0859555/ |
| Outline | Sam and Dean investigate the murders of a lawyer and his wife who, right before they died, claimed to have seen a ghost. |
| Monster | Death Omen, Vengeful Spirit |
| Timeline | |
| Location(s) | Baltimore, Maryland |
| [[{{{prevep}}}|« Previous Episode]] | [[{{{nextep}}}|Next Episode »]] | |
Contents
Synopsis
In Baltimore, Sam and Dean investigate the murder of a lawyer, Tony Giles, who was killed in his office, although the security cameras show no-one either entering or leaving the room.
They interview his wife Karen, who reports that he had a nightmare or vision of a woman the night before he died. Breaking into his office, Sam and Dean find a printout with “danashulps” printed repeatedly on it, which they assume to be a name Dana Shulps. Sam stays to hack into the computer while Dean decides to return and ask Karen whether the name means anything.
At her home, Karen sees a ghostly figure and rushes to call 911. When Dean arrives, he finds her dead in a pool of blood with a pile of paper near her which also has “danashulps” printed on it. As he bends over to examine bruises on her wrists, the police burst and arrest him.
Sam is arrested at their motel room, and back at the police station Dean and Sam are interrogated separately. A lengthy police record has been uncovered for Dean, including suspicion in the murders in St Louis, where he was reported as dead (Skin).
Detective Diana Ballard interviews Sam, and he spins her a tale about Tony being an old friend of their father. Detective Ballard reveals she knows a lot about Sam’s history as well, and tries to get him to admit Dean’s involvement in the murders.
Detective Ballard leaves to confer with her colleague Detective Pete Sheridan, with whom she is having a relationship. Sheridan is convinced of Dean’s guilt, he appears particularly invested in the case because Tony Giles was a friend of his.
Dean’s lawyer, Jeff Krause, arrives but rather than speak to him, Dean borrows a pen and tries to work out if “danashulps” is an anagram. His lawyer helps by pointing out that one word it forms “Ashland” is a nearby street. Dean gets Jeff to pass a coded note to Sam, which passes on the information and tells him to escape.
Dean announces that he wants to confess, thus diverting all the police attention on to him. He doesn’t confess to the murders, but says that he thinks a ghost is responsible and that the word “danashulps” is a message from her. Predictably, the police believe he is wasting their time, which he has been in order to allow Sam time to escape. Dean is cuffed and put in a cell.
Meanwhile the word “danashulps” appears on Ballard’s computer screen, and she sees the ghostly figure of a woman with her throat slit. When she returns to speak to Dean, he see bruises have appeared on her wrists similar to those he saw on Karen. He suspects she has seen something supernatural and tells her to go to Sam for help.
Together, she and Sam identify the woman she saw as Claire Becker, a heroin dealer who had worked as a police informant. She disappeared eight or nine months years ago, but was last seen at 2911 Ashland Street. Sam explains to Diane that they need to find her body and salt and burn it in order to stop the killings.
While Sam and Diane are searching a building on Ashland, Claire appears again and points them to where they find her body hidden in a wall. Sam is bemused as to why the ghost would lead them to her body. Diana sees that Claire is wearing a distinctive necklace which is identical to one Pete Sheridan has given her. Sam deduces that Claire is not a vengeful spirit, but a death omen who is trying to warn people who are about to be murdered.
Diane tells Sam that a couple of years ago some heroin went missing from the police lock-up. She suspects that Pete stole it and used Claire to fence it. They suspect Pete is the murderer. Pete has taken Dean from the police station and driven out to the woods intending to kill him. Sam and Diane track the car via its lo-jack and arrive just as Pete has a gun to Dean. He admits that he killed Claire because she was going to turn him in, and then killed Tony, who had been involved in laundering the money, and was getting nervous, and Karen because he suspected she knew too much.
Pete tries to convince Diane that he can pin the crimes on Dean, but as he is about to shoot Dean, Diane shoots him. Claire appears again, and as Diane kills Sheridan, Claire disappears. Diane agrees to let the boys go, telling them she will feel safer knowing they are out there fighting the supernatural.
Characters
- Dean Winchester
- Sam Winchester
- Detective Diana Ballard
- Detective Pete Sheridan
- Claire Becker (death omen)
- Jeff Krause - boys' lawyer
- Tony and Karen Giles (victims)
Definitions
Music
None
Quotes
Sam: I'm not Scully, you're Scully.
Ballard: How's that going for you?
- Added by Jensen in ADR (automated dialogue replacement) session.S2Com, p. 52
