Category:Supernatural

Show: Supernatural 

Episode: S2E09, "Croatoan"

Character: Sam Winchester

Whump Factor: 2

In "Croatoan," the episode starts off with Sam having another vision about his brother, Dean, killing a man. As he wakes, he finds himself fallen out of bed and on the floor, visibly shaken and panting. A moment later, Dean enters the room and asks with concern what's wrong. Sam is unable to answer.

As the episode progresses, the Winchesters eventually find themselves trapped in a town marked with the word "CROATOAN," and plagued with a disease transferred through the blood which makes you turn demonic. Eventually boarded down inside a hospital with a doctor (Dr. Lee), a nurse (Pam), and two men (Mark and Duane), Dean expresses that he wants to kill Duane, who might be infected with the virus, but Sam protests, wary of his vision coming to life. Dean isn't convinced, and goes as far as hurling his brother against the wall and trapping him in a room. However, Dean is unable to kill Duane and ends up releasing Sam.

The next scene is when the whump really starts. While getting supplies from the supply room, Sam is followed in by the nurse, Pam, who locks the door behind her. When Sam asks why she's there, she says she's been waiting to catch him alone this whole time. Suddenly, she lashes out and knocks him to the ground, beating him and slapping him across the face. She is infected with the virus. Outside the room, Dean and Mark hear the commotion and arm themselves. Sam struggles as Pam gains on him, when she gets a scalpel in one hand and slices it across his chest before across her own palm, placing her wound over his. Sam is now infected.

A moment later, Dean kicks the door open and shoots Pam three times in the back. She convulses and falls to the floor. Panting in pain, Sam reaches out a hand to Dean, who, concerned, starts to lean over to take it. Mark pulls him back, however, saying that Pam bled on him and now Sam has the virus. Sam pulls his hand back, realizing it's true. Dean is stunned.

The next scene, Sam is sitting on the stool, a bandage pressed to his chest. His eyes are down, and he looks near tears. The others surround him, with Dean pacing angrily and frantic with worry. He demands for the doctor to check his wound again, but the doctor says there's no way of checking for the virus before it turns you. At this, Mark says that they know what they have to do, but Dean makes it clear that "Nobody is shooting my brother." As they argue, Sam finally speaks up and says to give him a gun so that he can do it himself. Dean is unconvinced, but Sam insists that he doesn't want to become one of those "monsters." Mark agrees, but Dean threatens to kill him if he makes one move against his brother. He then tells the others to take his car - the most precious object he has - and get away from there. He'll stay with Sam. However, Mark and Duane end up taking another car, leaving Sam, Dean, and Dr. Lee behind.

After they leave, Dean tries to cheer Sam up but Sam's eyes only fill with tears and he says that this is "the stupidest thing Dean has ever done" and that he should go. Dean disagrees, even after Sam's persistent arguing. They share a moment.

The next morning, the doctor checks Sam's blood and finds him surprisingly healed from the virus. As she checks the other blood samples, no traces of the virus are found in theirs, either. Sam and Dean head back out to their car where the town is now mysteriously empty, and the brothers both question why Sam was immune. However, they decide not to push it any further, both just relieved that Sam is alright.

In another scene, Duane, who is now possessed, kills Mark and uses his blood to talk to his "master", telling him that the Winchester boy is definitely immune, as they expected. No further explanation is given, but it is definitely a plot key for future episodes.

In the final scene, Sam and Dean are parked on the side of the road overlooking a river, both drinking beer as they talk. Dean mentions that he's tired of the hunting life and Sam senses something is wrong. He asks what it is. Eventually, Dean reveals that their late father's last words to him were something about Sam. Based on his troubled expression, it isn't good.