2.09 Croatoan
| Promotional image for Croatoan | |
| Title | Croatoan |
| Episode # | Season 2, Episode 9 |
| First aired | December 7, 2006 |
| Directed by | Robert Singer |
| Written by | John Shiban |
| On IMDB | http://imdb.com/title/tt0878590 |
| Outline | |
| Monster | |
| Timeline | |
| Location(s) | River Grove, Oregon |
| [[{{{prevep}}}|« Previous Episode]] | [[{{{nextep}}}|Next Episode »]] | |
Contents
Synopsis
Sam has a vision of Dean killing a man tied to a chair, leading them to River Grove, Oregon, where Sam recalls the story of the Roanoke Colony when he stumbles across the word CROATOAN carved into a pole.
Sam and Dean seek out the man in Sam's vision, and discover increasingly violent people, who appear to be controlled by some kind of "demonic virus". They discover that all lines of communication - radio, phone, cell signal - has been cut off from the town, and when he attempts to leave via road, Dean discovers a roadblock, made up of 'infected' locals who fire upon him.
Dean and Sam hole up in the local medical centre, with the local doctor, a nurse and 'Sarge' (an ex-marine). The doctor studies the blood of an infected person, noting that there appears to be traces of sulphur in the blood, leading Sam to further suspect demonic intervention. The virus is transmitted via exchanging blood, but the sulphur does not manifest in the blood until four hours after infection. Sam speculates that it could be related to a theory in John's Journal, that 'Croatoan' is the name of a demon associated with plague and pestilence, and calls what's going on "demonic germ warfare".
Duane Tanner, the man Sam saw in his vision and whose family Sam and Dean first encountered exhibiting signs of infection, turns up at the medical centre, claiming to have been out of the town fishing and just returned. The medical centre occupants suspect he might be infected, and they restrain him by tying him to a chair.
Recognising the scene from his vision, Sam tries to convince Dean not to kill Duane, as they don't know yet whether he's infected or not. Dean locks Sam in a room to stop him from preventing the killing, but Dean is unable to follow through anyway.
Sam and Dean use medical supplies to build explosives, building an arsenal to help them escape the town, as the infected townspeople are milling about outside. The nurse of the medical centre attacks Sam, deliberately cutting her hand and his chest to exchange blood and ostensibly infecting him. Dean kills the nurse. Believing Sam to be infected, the remaining people in the medical centre decide to leave in the Impala. Dean elects to stay with Sam, and seems to be on the cusp of sharing some innermost thought when the doctor returns with the news that the rest of the townsfolk have disappeared.
Five hours later, the doctor announces that there is no trace of the virus in Sam's blood either, therefore he wasn't infected. This leaves both Sam and Dean uneasy. The team in the medical centre go their separate ways, Duane riding in Sarge's truck.
Duane asks Sarge to pull over because he "has to make a call", and draws out a goblet and knife. Slitting Sarge's throat, Duane catches the blood in the goblet. When he swirls, it starts whirlpooling, and Duane speaks into it as if he's communicating with someone (though we only hear one side of it), saying, "I don't think any more tests will be necessary... The Winchester boy, definitely immune as expected." Duane's eyes then turn black, indicating that he's probably possessed the entire scene reminiscent of one of Meg's in 1.11 Scarecrow.
Sam and Dean end up on the shore of a lake (possibly Crater Lake, a poster for which Sam saw in his vision), drinking beer and talking. Dean is on the cusp of revealing the big secret John told him in 2.01 when the episode ends.
Characters
- Dean Winchester
- Sam Winchester
- Duane Tanner
- Pamela (nurse)
- 'Sarge' (Marine)
Music
Original soundtrack music by Christopher Lennertz only in this episode.
Trivia
- The title of this episode seems to cause some difficulty for a number of folk. On imdb it's listed as 'Croatian', on the Official Site, 'Croatan'.
Quotes
Pad of Definitions
Additional definitions provided by fans
"I've been pawing through Dad's journal, I found something about the Roanoke Colony. Dad always had a theory about 'Croatoan'. He thought it was a demon's name, sometimes known as 'Deva', sometimes 'Resheph', a demon of plague and pestilence." - Sam
For research and speculation on the significance of these names, see The Demon.
References
- Sarge's neighbour is called "Mr Rogers". Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers.
- Dean says, "I feel like Chuck Heston, the Omega Man." Omega Man is a film about a man (played by Charleton Heston) being the sole survivor of an apocalyptic plague that turns the rest of the world's population into mutant monters.
- Night of the Living Dead is a zombie film directed by George Romero.
- "Schoolhouse Rock!" is a series of 46 educational short films featuring songs about schoolhouse topics, including grammar, science, economics, history, and politics. Originally conceived by Thomas G. Yohe in 1972, the shorts were broadcast on the ABC television network between 1973 and 1986; they were then broadcast infrequently during the 1990s and 2000s." source
