Zombie with skills ... Dr. Quinn, Medicine Zombie.

Supernatural – Time Is On My Side
Sam and Dean investigate zombies in a small Pennsylvania town, where they find a doctor with a sinister agenda. Meanwhile, Bobby learns where Bela is hiding, so Dean confronts her, leaving Sam to deal with the doctor alone.

We open in Erie, PA which for some reason makes me think of the old show Eerie, Indiana. I loved that show; it was the preteen version of shows like Buffy and Supernatural. Anyway, a man is attacked and thrown in the trunk of his car. Later he appears at a hospital, covered in blood and begging for help. A nurse tells him she’s seen everything, but when he opens his coat she screams her head off.

Meanwhile, Sam & Dean interrogate a demon, trying to find out which demon holds Dean’s contract. This demon won’t talk; the only thing he’s afraid of is the demon holding Dean’s ticket. Besides, there are plenty of demons in hell that are dying to meet Dean Winchester.

In other news, Sam finds a case. The guy at the hospital was covered with the fingerprints of a man who died in 1981. Dean is irritated, as usual: “You’ve been on soul-saving duty for 3 months, and now you’re up for some hot zombie action?” The man’s liver was missing – not ripped out, but removed surgically. Sam realizes that John had hunted this zombie: it’s Doc Benton, who was obsessed with alchemy, especially eternal life. As his parts wear out, he just replaces them.

A man is jogging at night and gets attacked. He wakes up strapped to a table with a freaky ass doctor bent over him. Ah, this is the guy in the promo photos that caused so much hubbub on the web. He does kinda look like Dean. Fucking hell! Just the idea of using a rib spreader on someone who is conscious makes me shudder!

Bobby calls to say that he’s heard Bela is in Vermont. Dean wants to go after her and the Colt; Sam wants to finish the case. He thinks chasing immortality is what’s going to save Dean. Dean says he won’t let Sam stay, and Sam says “How you gonna stop me?” Wow, Sam’s asserting his newfound strength and independence. The boys separate. Again!

Dean goes to see Rufus, the hunter who told Bobby about Bela. Rufus is stubborn, unhelpful, and awesome. Dean sways him with scotch. Rufus wants to know why Dean is wasting the three weeks he has left chasing Bela. I love when the hunters on this show give speeches; they’re always so dark. Rufus says no peashooter is going save Dean. It’s the job. Even if he manages to get out of this one, there’ll be something else down the road. There ain’t no happy ending in this life. “I’m what you’ve got to look forward to if you survive.”

When Dean finds Bela, she claims she has sold the Colt. We learn that Bela killed her parents when she was 14 and inherited millions. There is a quick B&W flashback to Bela’s childhood that implies that she was abused. She doesn’t tell Dean that, though. He is about to shoot her when he sees something on the wall above her and says she’s not worth it. After he leaves, Bela calls a number and says Dean found her, but Sam wasn’t with him.

Sam tracks down the doc. He calls Dean and says he found the doc’s lab book, and his formula. Its not black magic; it’s just science. Dean can use it, and Sam can use it too. And then Sam is attacked. He wakes up with his eyelids taped open. The doc starts to scoop out Sam’s eyeballs, but Dean arrives and shoots him. It doesn’t work. Dean stabs him. Doesn’t work. But Dean has dipped the knife in something – I think a sedative of some kind – which apparently does work. The dying doc says he can help them with the formula. Sam’s all for it, but Dean says no. He won’t be a monster.

Bela goes to a motel and shoots two sleeping figures. Who are not Sam and Dean. They are blow up dolls. The phone rings and it’s Dean. He knows Bella is trying to hold hell hounds at bay. She didn’t kill her parents; a demon did her dirty work and now her bill is due. She stole the Colt to save her soul, but the demons changed the deal. She begs and cries, but Dean says she should have told them the truth, and asked for help sooner. Bela says the demon that holds her contract is the same as the demon that holds his: Lilith. Dean hangs up. And the hell hounds come for Bela.

I cannot wait for the season finale. I think Dean has to go to hell, even if only for a short while.