Supernatural – Recap & Review – Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

photo: the cw

Supernatural
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

Original Air Date: Mar 25th, 2010

Nicola – Associate Staff Writer
nicola@thetwocentscorp.com

Not everyone in this cemetery has quite resigned himself to eternal sleep. A man digs his way out of a grave in a storm, slowly, painstakingly. Nearby, a mullet-clad trailer-dweller watches a nature show in his trailer, before a grave-coated zombie breaks in and kills him.

Well, he probably deserved it. Come on, he had a mullet!

The boys are in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, attempting to get a hold of Bobby. They’re working a case in his town, interviewing a man by the name of Digger who claims to have seen the dead Clay Thompson rise from the grave and break into Benny Sutton’s trailer. Clay might want a bit of revenge as Benny was the one who put him in the grave in the first place.

Enter the local badge, Sheriff Jody Mills. She seems a bit skeptical of the FBI agents interviewing the locals and asks to talk to their supervisor. She seems to recognize the voice on the other line… that’s what happens when your “boss” lives in town. Bobby, you can’t pull the wool over them local cops’ eyes.

The boys head over to Bobby’s house as they haven’t heard from him in awhile. He seems… well-groomed. And unconcerned about the job in his town. He says he’s looked into it and it’s nothing. He doesn’t seem very happy to see Sam and Dean, and they seem a bit insulted.

On their way out of town they decide to take a look at the undead cemetery. Clay’s grave is definitely disturbed. They decide to go to his house to do a bit of poking about and are almost attacked by the dead man himself! He’s very lucid for someone whose brains should be mush. He admits to killing Benny – after all, he rises from the dead and he’s not supposed to get revenge? The boys are all for taking him in, but the Sheriff comes around and doesn’t seem too bothered by the zombie in the front yard. Curiouser and curiouser.

Back at Bobby’s, Dean and Sam partake in some of Karen Singer’s excellent cooking. It seems awhile in the ground hasn’t hindered her in the kitchen. Bobby refuses to believe that she’s anything but his wife. Interestingly enough, she was cremated. But she was buried in the graveyard, just like the twenty or so others that rose, including Clay and Sheriff Mills’ son. They all just popped up out of the ground during the storms. It looks like Death is behind it – the biggest, baddest horseman of them all. But Bobby’s trying to look on the bad side of death – maybe the dead rising is one of the good things about the apocalypse. Either way, he begs the boys not to do anything to his wife.

Dean’s all for taking her down ASAP, but Sam wants to do a little more research. Typical. Dean stakes out Bobby’s house to watch for when Karen gets the munchies while Sam goes to watch over the other risen.

Karen entices Dean with pie – a whole lot of pie. She’s been baking since she got back – she doesn’t even sleep anymore. But she knows why Dean and Sam are there, to protect Bobby. She remembers everything that happened but won’t tell Bobby, because she wants to protect him as well.

Sam goes to the Jones house to check up on the dead people and finds a sick old lady who wants to tell him something. When he gets closer (bad idea), she lunges for him and spews slime all over him. He manages to blow her head off, but I guess that tells them something about how these bitches go bad.

Sam and Dean confront Bobby about Old Lady Jones, who was the first one to come back, and the first one to go rotten. Bobby doesn’t want to face facts, so he kicks the boys out (well, escorts them out with a shotgun. He can’t really kick).

Game plan: Dean’s going to go back and gank Karen while Sam saves THE ENTIRE TOWN. At the Sheriff’s house, her son’s feeling a bit under the weather. He’s got a high temperature and is very hungry. Somehow the doctor is supposed to know what to do. Jody sends her husband in with some soup. But it’s not soup her son wants. He eats his daddy and is about to turn on Mommy when Sam comes in. She seems much more easily persuaded that the zombies are bad now and agrees to help Sam. He takes care of her son first.

Back at the Singer household, Karen’s not doing so well. She’s starting to face facts and wants Bobby to be proactive, but he won’t kill his wife. Not again. She finally tells Bobby that she remembers everything. She also tells him that when she came back she saw a skeletal man that told her to tell Bobby something.

Dean’s had enough of this waiting around and enters the house to the sound of gunshot. Bobby’s done the right thing.

Sam’s rallying the troops at the jail, telling them to aim for the head! They’re all a bit reluctant to be following the town drunk. Bobby and Dean are heading out to do their part too. It looks like they’re about to be under siege.

Bobby kicks some zombie ass – metaphorically speaking. He and Dean retreat to the house, but the zombies keep on coming. They need to get to the Winchester! Instead they take refuge in a closest (which are thankfully wheelchair accessible), where they discover that zombies have the ability to pick locks. They look they’re going to be overrun, but Sam and Jody show up and blow up some heads.

It’s all over and it’s time to burn some corpses. Bobby tells Dean and Sam why death came to Sioux Falls. He came for Bobby, because he’s been helping the Winchesters.

It’s about time we got Bobby a bit of action. He’s always been such a sympathetic character for me, and since they put him in his chair I feel he’s been underused. But if there were ever a way to get to the boys, giving Bobby a reason to turn away for them is it. I don’t think he would, not when it seems like they’re all he has left in the world, but there’s obviously going to be some resentment that they’re the ones who have the power in this situation.

Also, Bobby as the town drunk? My heart broke just a little.

But what a little tease this episode was. Death in the vicinity, and we don’t even get to see him? What a gyp. I’ve got to say… I kind of wish the boys would just give in to Lucifer and Michael and get it over with.

But all in all, zombies? How cool is that?