Supernatural S4E6: Yellow Fever

“He’s even afraid of PEZ dispensers, with their dead little eyes.”

The Winchester boys investigate the mysterious death-by-heart-attack of Frank, an incredibly healthy marathon runner. He is not the first person in town to die of fright, so they know something is up. They do some interviews and learn that the dead man was kind of a dick, though his behavior improved after his wife’s suicide. Dean starts to get a little jumpy. The boys learn that what affected Frank, and is now affecting Dean, is “ghost sickness,” which kills within 48 hours. Sam points out that all the infected were dicks. Dean replies, “You’re a dick too.” And Sam says, “Apparently, I’m not.” Ha!

It is pretty funny to watch Dean being afraid of everything – he won’t drive over 20 mph, he won’t carry a gun in case it goes off, he won’t stay on the fourth floor of a hotel because it is too high up. Not so funny is his fear of returning to hell, and his hallucination of a yellow-eyed Sam trying to kill him. While exploring the local mill, the boys come face to face with the ghost of Luther Garland, and they eventually learn that he used to have a crush on Frank’s wife. Wracked with grief after her death, Frank decided that Luther had something to do with it and murdered the man by dragging him behind his truck (apparently there is a term for this, and it’s “road-hauling”). The sheriff, who also happened to be Frank’s friend, didn’t pursue the case. And they can’t burn Luther’s bones, because his remains are spread all over the stretch of road he was dragged down.

Bobby arrives to help, and he and Sam return to the mill while Dean stays in their hotel room drinking and watching cartoons. But then he hallucinates Lilith, who says horrible things about how he remembers every moment of being in hell and it’s time to go back. Meanwhile, Sam manages to wrap an iron chain around Luther’s neck and Bobby road-hauls the ghost, who dissipates. Dean immediately returns to his former cocky self (“I’m still alive, so … go team”), but when Sam asks what his hallucinations were, he lies. As usual. Does it never occur to these boys that telling each other the truth might actually help them do their job better?

And then, in something you normally only see in DVD special features, there is a short bit that shows Jensen Ackles lip-syncing “Eye of the Tiger” while the crew laughs in the background. He really hams it up, at one point even sticking his leg out and strumming it like a guitar. It was fabulous, and you can see it on YouTube here.