2.07 The Usual Suspects
| Promotional image for The Usual Suspects | |
| 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 | |
| Timeline | |
| Location(s) | Baltimore, Maryland |
| [[{{{prevep}}}|« Previous Episode]] | [[{{{nextep}}}|Next Episode »]] | |
Contents
Summary
Sam and Dean investigate the murders of a lawyer and his wife who claimed to have seen a ghost right before they died. However, after local detectives Ballard (guest star Linda Blair) and Sheridan (guest star Jason Gedrick) uncover the Winchesters' records, they arrest the brothers for a double homicide before they are able to find the ghost. When the ghost begins to visit Ballard, she begins to wonder if the tale Sam and Dean are telling her could be true, and if she might be the next to die.
Characters
- Dean Winchester
- Sam Winchester
- Detective Diana Ballard
- Detective Peter Sheridan
- Claire (death omen)
Music
Quotes
Dean: Did she look familiar to you?
Sam: No, why?
Dean: I don't know. Anyway, are you hungry?
Sam: No.
Dean: For some reason I could really go for some pea soup. (Referring to Guest Star Linda Blair --> The Exorcist)
Dean-My favorite kind. What do you think, Scully? You wanna check it out?
Sam-I'm not Scully, you're Scully.
Dean-No, I'm Mulder. You're a red-headed woman.
Sam-I needed some time off. To deal. So I'm taking a road trip with my brother.
Ballard-How's that going for you?
Sam-Great. I mean... we saw the second largest ball of twine in the continental US. Awesome.
Dean-My name is Dean Winchester. I'm an Aquarius. I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women. And I did not kill anyone. But I know who did. Or rather what did. Of course it can't be for sure, because our investigation was interrupted. But our working theory was that we're looking for some kind of vengeful spirit.
Ballard-Excuse me?
Dean- You know, Casper the bloodthirsty ghost? Tony Giles saw it. I'll bet you cash money Karen did too. But see, the interesting thing is the word it leaves behind. For some reason it's trying to tell us something. But communicating across the vale, it ain't easy. You know, sometimes the spirits, they, they get things jumbled. You remember "REDRUM". Same concept. You know, it's, uh, maybe word fragments... other times, it's anagrams. See, at first we thought this was a name, Dana Shulps. But now we think it's a street. Ashland. Whatever's going on, I'll bet you it started there.
Later…
Sheridan-You murdered them in cold blood just like that girl in St. Louis.
Dean-Oh, yeah. That wasn't me either. That was a shape-shifter creature that only looked like me.
Pad of Definitions
Additional definitions provided by fans
Trivia
References
- The title of this episode is a reference to the movie The Usual Suspects.
- Dean and Sam fight over who is "Mulder" and who is "Scully" - Mulder and Scully being the leading duo of The X-Files.
- At the end of the episode, Dean's mention of feeling in the mood for "pea soup" is a reference to The Exorcist, the film guest star Linda Blair is best known for.
- Dean's note to Sam - addressing him as "Hilts" and signing off as "McQueen" is a reference to The Great Escape - Steve McQueen played the lead character, Captain Hilts.
- Sam and Dean's practice of picking the first motel in the yellow pages and signing in as "Jim Rockford". Jim Rockford is a fictional private investigator from the 1970s TV series, The Rockford Files.
- Dean referred to The Shining twice - when he was 'confessing' he talked about messages from spirits being jumbled, a la 'Redrum'. When he and Sam were looking at a page of 'danashulps', Dean said "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
- Both Sam and Dean jokingly call their lawyer "Matlock". Matlock was a TV legal drama that ran in the late 1980s-early '90s, 'Matlock' being the name of the defense attorney the series focused on.
