Sunday, July 12, 2009

Supernatural: It's A Terrible Life

It's morning and a well-dressed Dean Smith gets up, has coffee and breakfast, and drives to work in an expensive car. He switches the radio from heavy metal to the financial news, then drives to the Sandover Bridge & Iron Company's office building, where he goes to his office and works as director of sales and marketing. He works through the day, talks TV and diet with his co-workers, and gets a pat on the back from his boss. That night as he gets in the elevator, he finds someone looking at him: Sam. Sam thinks Dean looks familiar but Dean has no idea what he's talking about.

Sam Wesson is taking calls in Tech Support and discussing dating with his co-worker, Ian. Ian wears a personal shirt rather than the company uniform and doesn't shave. They take a coffee break and invite their co-worker Paul Dunbar along. He says he's too busy and seems heavily stressed. Ian notes that he was called up to HR the previous day. In the break room, Ian steals some pencils then asks Sam about the dreams he said he was having. Sam is reluctant but finally admits he had a dream of saving a Grim Reaper named Tessa. Ian thinks it's hilarious. Later, Sam is dozing off at his desk and has a dream of him and someone who looks like Dean Smith killing people.

Sam gets on the elevator and notices Dean again, and stares at him intently. After everyone else gets off and they're alone, Sam asks him what he thinks about ghosts and vampires. He tells Dean about his dreams and wonders if Dean has been having them. Dean denies having any dreams and quickly gets off of the elevator.

Later, Sam is sketching out his dreams and doing a web search on vampires. Ian comes over to see what he's doing and then tells Sam that he got an e-mail ordering him up to HR. Once he leaves, Sam hears Paul complaining that he lost all the work on his computer when it froze up. Paul keeps working into the night, long after everyone has left. Once he realizes that his work is lost for good, he gets up and blankly walks into the break room, breaks the tongs off of a plastic fork, uses it to jam the microwave latch to make it appear closed, and sticks his head in. He then turns on the power and dies.

The next morning, everyone watches as Paul's corpse is taken out. Dean notices Sam looking at him again and notes to a co-worker that something seems wrong. He goes to his office and runs a check on Paul, and discovers that he was having a retirement party in two weeks. Sam has discovered the same thing and wonders why Paul would have killed himself two weeks before retirement. He tries to talk to Ian about it but Ian snaps at him and tells him that his work is important. He's now shaved and wearing a company shirt. They're interrupted when Dean calls him into his office to fill out a form. Ian starts to panic and apologizes profusely. He runs out of the office, sobbing, and goes to a restroom. Dean goes after him and notices that the room has turned colder. A red liquid starts pouring from the faucets and spilling out onto the floor. Ian takes out a pencil and stabs himself in the neck with it. Dean looks up and sees a reflection of an old man in a business suit, but can't find any sign of him in the room.

The police question Dean, but he doesn't say anything about the temperature drop, the liquid, or the strange apparition. Later, Dean calls Sam into his office and Sam explains he started there three weeks ago. Dean notes he did too, and Sam asks if he saw something in the bathroom. Dean finally admits he saw a ghost but thinks he hallucinated it. Sam thinks there may be something supernatural going on, but doesn't have anything to back up his suspicions except his dreams. He tells Dean that both Paul and Ian received e-mails from HR telling them to go to Room 1444, even though HR is on the 7th floor. They agree to check it out immediately.

Another Sandover employee is summoned to Room 1444. The door is old fashioned and inside are nothing but storage shelves. The door closes behind the employee and he can't get it open. The employee notices the temperature drop as all of the computer monitors switch on by themselves. Dean and Sam arrive outside and hear the man yelling. Sam kicks the door in and finds the employee trapped beneath some shelves. The ghost of the old man shoves aside Dean and Sam, then raises a hand crackling with electricity. He starts to touch the employee but Dean hits it with an iron wrench, dissipating it. He admits to Sam he has no idea how he knew what to do.

Back in Dean's office, Sam wonders if they've done this kind of thing before, and he has a feeling that he doesn't belong there and he should be doing something else. They do some research and Dean finds the Ghost Facers site. Ed Zeddemore and Harry Spengler have a recorded instructional video and recommend intrepid ghost hunters figure out who they're up against. Sam discovers that the founder, P.T. Sandover, was a workaholic. Further, there were a number of suicides at Sandover in the past during the Great Depression. They figure Sandover appears during times of economic depression, and drives employees to kill themselves if they fail the country. Room 1444 was P.T. Sandover's office.

Dean and Sam go back to the video where the Ghost Facers say that salt and iron work against ghosts. They mention that they hate the Winchesters, but admit they use shotguns and burn up the remains. Ed and Harry say that if you can't find the body, you have to burn any remnants that are left. Sandover was cremated so they back to Room 1444 to find any trace of him. As they search, a security guard spots Sam and takes him to the elevator. As they start to descend, the electronics go on the fritz and the temperature drops. The elevator jerks to a halt and the security guard manages to get the doors open. They're halfway between floors and the security guard climbs up. Sam is reluctant to follow him.

Dean keeps searching Sandover's old office and finds a framed picture of a bridge that Sandover helped build.

The security guard comes back to get Sam, and the elevator goes down, decapitating the man. Sam goes back upstairs and Dean tells him to meet on the 22nd floor. Among the displays are Sandover's gloves. Dean breaks open the case and the temperature drops as the ghost appears behind them. It shoves them both away and then advances on Sam. He uses salt to drive it away but it appears behind Dean. Sam tosses him an iron poker which Dean uses to dissipate the ghost. It keeps appearing and reappearing until it manages to knock them down and advances on Dean. Sam grabs the gloves and sets them on fire, and the ghost burns up.

Back in Dean's office, they both admit they've never had so much fun in their lives. Sam suggests that they do it for real but Dean is reluctant to just hit the road and fight ghosts. Sam tells him that in his dreams, the two of them fought ghosts together and were as close as brothers. He wonders if that's who they really are, and the ghost scrambled their brains. Dean insists that his life is real, but Sam asks when the last time he talked to his family was. Sam has been unable to get hold of the girlfriend he broke up with, and is sure that they're supposed to be something else. Dean insists that Sam doesn't really know him and tells him to go.

The next day, Dean and Sam are back at work. Sam finally has enough, picks up a poker, and smashes his phone. He tells everyone that he's quitting and walks off.

Mr. Adler comes to see Dean and says he's pleased with what he's hearing about Dean. He gives Dean a bonus and insists he wants to be sure that Dean doesn't go anywhere. Adler assures Dean that with eight to ten years of hard work, he could become a senior executive. Dean thanks him and then gives him his notice. Adler doesn't believe it but Dean explains that he's recently realized he has other work to do, and he's not who he's supposed to be. Adler chuckles and then touches Dean's forehead. Dean finds his memories restored and wonders why he's wearing a suit. "Adler" explains that he's Zachariah, Castiel's superior. He's not happy with Dean's attitude, and admits he set up the entire thing to show Dean that hunting is what he does. Zachariah assures Dean that he'll stop the Apocalypse, and that he has the chance to save people and change things. He tells Dean to stop whining, because there are plenty of fates worse than his. He asks if Dean is ready to stand up and be who he really is.

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