"Playthings" Recap
It was a fabulously creepy episode, complete with sinister dolls and a dead gal.
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Welcome to the Pierpont Inn, which is old, creepy-looking and closing down. Susan, the owner, seems resigned to it, but the two little girls playing on the landing aren't so happy. Tyler, the brunette girl, plays with a dollhouse that's an exact replica of the hotel. But what's this? One of the dolls she just put to bed is now lying at the bottom of the stairs, his head turned 180 degrees. Cue the screaming – the guy Susan hired to move boxes is now in the same position in the real hotel, lying in a pool of his own blood.
The guys have been searching for clues into Ava's disappearance for a month, and they've got nothing to show for it. Sam wants to take a non-Ava job. Dean's surprised Sam's not going to sit around being angsty about Ava, but he's fine with getting on with the job. He's even happier when they arrive at the hotel – an old-school haunted house! Dean's set to do some ghost busting when Sam sees a hoodoo symbol scratched into an urn by the doorway. Maybe it's not a ghost at all.
The guys visit Susan, whose private office features row upon row of creepy antique dolls. Susan is very accommodating, until Tyler brings up Grandma Rose. No way will the guys be able to talk to her, she says. The guys split up to do some research –Dean going into town, Sam staying put to check the internet. Meanwhile, Tyler's having an imaginary tea party. She stops pouring tea to look at the dollhouse, where one of the dolls is hanging from the ceiling fan in his room – just like that nice man Susan just tried to sell the hotel to.
Dean gets back in time to see the body taken away. When Dean gets back to the room, Sam is slouched in a chair, drunk. He takes a turn for the angsty – I should have found a way to save the guy! The more people I save, the more I can change my destiny! He begs Dean to promise he'll kill Sam if he turns evil. Dean reluctantly agrees, then puts Sam to bed. Dean goes down to the creepily lit, Shining-esque bar and chats with the bartender, who agrees to tell him about the history of the house. Dean sees a picture of Rose as a young girl with her nanny – the nanny is wearing a hoodoo charm. Looks like Rose is the culprit.
The next morning, Sam is in serious hangover-induced pain, and Dean thinks he remembers nothing of their conversation the night before. The guys break into Rose's room, but she isn't talking. She can't. She's had a stroke, and can't speak or move. Susan is horrified to find the guys terrorizing Rose, and kicks them out of the hotel. Later Susan yells at Tyler for not packing. But Maggie says we have to stay! Tyler says. Maggie, the blond girl, agrees. Enough with the Maggie – she's imaginary, and I won't play along anymore! Susan replies. Oops. Now you've pissed off the imaginary friend. When Susan goes out to the car, the playground equipment starts moving on its own. The car turns on and tries to run Susan down. Sam tackles her out of the way at the last minute. Looks like the guys didn't go far.
The guys fill Susan in – something's haunting the inn. They figure out that the deaths started just after Rose had her stroke – seems Rose was performing protective hoodoo rituals to safeguard her family. When she was incapacitated, the angry ghost could roam free. That ghost is Maggie, Rose's sister, who drowned in the pool when she was young. Maggie taunts the helpless Rose that she's going to keep Tyler forever, and there's nothing Rose can do about it.
Maggie takes Tyler to the swimming pool and tries to convince her to jump in. The guys and Susan run after her, but they're locked out, and the pool house has surprisingly shatterproof glass. As the guys try to batter their way in, Maggie pushes Tyler, then holds her under. Suddenly, voice calls for Maggie, and she leaves. Sam breaks in, then jumps in the pool and fishes Tyler out. She coughs up water – she's ok.
Maggie's up in the attic with Rose, having a one-sided conversation. We can't hear Rose's words, but apparently she's bargaining for her granddaughter's life. Maggie agrees to let them go. When Susan gets upstairs, Rose is dead.
Everyone regroups outside. Sam apologizes for not saving Rose, but Susan will hear none of it. She thanks Sam and Dean for saving them (but only Sam gets a hug). Dean jokes that Sam could have hooked up with her, but Sam has other things on his mind. He reminds Dean what he promised. The guys drive off in silence, as upstairs, two little ghost sisters play in an empty house, doomed to stay there forever, watched over by the vacant eyes of dolls.
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