Supernatural’s “Halt and Catch Fire” offers a twenty-first century take on the traditional ghost story. Written by Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, and directed by John F. Showalter, the episode opens in Spencer, Iowa. Two people – driver Billy and companion Janet – are using a navigational app to find a restaurant; Billy, at least, is buzzed and in need of greasy food. The navigation system instructs Billy all the way to a construction roadblock, and then orders Janet from the car. Terrified, she gets out, but Billy’s trapped. His truck plunges through the barrier and over the unfinished bridge.
Post opening credits, Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) is munching on a “croissookie” when his brother Sam (Jared Padalecki) returns from an apparent meet-up with Castiel. He reports that their friend has discovered riverboat gambling and is closing in on Cain. Dean’s resistant to the news, questioning that if the Mark of Cain could be removed, wouldn’t Cain have done it himself? Sam starts to give Dean another pep talk, but the eldest Winchester cuts his brother off with, “There is a case.” He shows his brother an article about Billy’s mysterious death.
The Winchesters arrive at Kasem College, and this is where the episode takes a turn for the worse. Dean, who last episode engaged in an actual conversation with Tina without any underlying skeeviness, blatantly checks out the college students around him. If my calculations are correct, Dean’s 36 years old, which means he’s old enough to be the father of a teenager. After watching the episode twice, I’m still not sure if this behavior is a side effect of the Mark or of inconsistent characterization.
They interview Janet, who tells them, “The truck had a mind of its own.” When she mentions the nav app, Dean doesn’t get the reference, and there’s an awkward moment where Sam makes excuses for Dean, saying that he’s behind on technology and just learned to “poke” on Facebook. Do I really need to list all the episodes where Dean’s demonstrated his computer prowess, starting with Frank Devereaux giving him computer tips in season seven? Both Sam and Dean are very intelligent, though they demonstrate that intelligence differently; why dumb Dean down here? Janet realizes that Dean’s “Gen X,” which seems pointed. She’s the same demographic as the students Dean’s been ogling, and the age difference is obvious to her. This gap is further established when Janet doesn’t get Dean’s reference to Christine.
The Winchesters learn that Billy’s brother, Joey, was in the military and died in Afghanistan as a result of an IED. Janet says, “[The truck] was his pride and joy. Billy got it when [Joey] died. And, you know, it’s a thing.” Dean understands this, but Sam doesn’t. After Janet leaves, Sam asks, “What’s a thing?” And Dean sort of explains, offering that you “honor the deceased” by driving their car before suggesting, “Why don’t you Google it?”
The brothers break into a salvage yard, find the truck, and discover that the seats are covered in ectoplasm; their EMF reader is also going off the charts. Dean deduces, “So big brother didn’t get along with little brother, was pissed that he was driving his Baby. I get it.” Sam then asks, “You’re saying if you died and I drove your car, you’d kill me?” Okay, this exchange makes no sense to me because Dean has died – more than once – and Sam has driven Baby, and Dean did not kill him. Here, though, Dean says, “If you stunk her up with taquitos? Probably.” They proceed to salt and burn the truck, and Dean watches the fire intently.
In a dorm room, two roommates banter about studying for grades vs. sleeping with the teaching assistant and say things like, “hashtag slut.” Really? Overall, this episode’s portrayal of college students is an unflattering one. Delilah (Ali Milner) leaves to study, and Julie proceeds to take selfies and online chat with an unknown person, PrincessElsa8, who soon messages “810,” “I know,” and “You’ll pay.” Freaked out, Julie deletes the convo, but the screen reappears; she then unplugs the computer, and we can see her breath because the room’s gone cold. The scene resembles the eerie case involving “Dana Shulps” (2×7), and the similarities increase when the numbers 810 fill the unplugged computer screen, forming a large 810. Julie tries to leave but the door locks, and she can’t. Her charger cord sneaks up behind her and attacks, wrapping around her neck and choking her to death.
Meanwhile, Dean complains to his brother, “I’m not going to make it.” Sam sighs heavily, telling him to focus, but Dean remains hyper-aware of nearly everyone he encounters, including a male forensic technician. The female detective, who at most is a few years older than Dean, mentions that she has two teens and the only way to find out about their lives is through social media. Despite the early jab at Dean and Sam’s different intelligences, they brainstorm their way through the case together. It’s Dean who notices the two deaths so far are “machine-related kills,” and it’s Sam who steals Julie’s laptop. Next, they interview Julie’s roommate, Delilah, and she kills the Joey theory because she didn’t even know Billy had a brother. According to Delilah, Julie was “really popular, super sweet.” Dean doesn’t believe her, and the girl protests, “I’m not lying, agent. There’s just nothing else to tell.”
At the college’s food court, Dean goes for the smorgasbord approach to lunch. He loves the idea of “serve yourself froyo” and declares, “College is better than Vegas.” We’re then treated to a cringe-y scene of Dean messily eating noodles; Dean’s eating habits have often been exaggerated, usually when he’s torturing Sam for some reason. But that’s not the tone of this scene, where Sam’s working and Dean’s just eating. There’s no reason that this mid-thirties, debonair-when-he-wants-to-be, man can’t eat noodles without them hanging down his face. While Dean “eats,” Sam’s searching Julie’s deleted files. Another slippage happens here when Dean asks, worried, “You can do that?” Sam informs his brother, “Nothing ever really gets deleted from the Internet.” Dean looks surprised, and somewhere, Frank Devereaux cries.
Sam discovers the PrincessElsa8 chat, and they begin speculating about the meaning of “810.” When an online search reveals three addresses in the area with the number, they head out. Sam determines that PrincessElsa8 is a little girl whose account was hacked. At 810 Downs Drive, they see a woman, Corey (Barbara Kottmeier), collecting flowers from a memorial. They learn that Corey Silver and her husband, Andrew, were newlyweds when he was killed in a car crash at that site. Sam asks about strange disturbances, but Corey only offers that a teenage girl with long red hair has been bringing the flowers. The brothers immediately recognize Delilah from the description. While Dean works through yet another tray laden with food, Sam does some research. Andrew Silver was in a car accident that left his body burned beyond recognition; according to the report, he was killed upon impact. Dean observes, “No bones, and he’s not tethered to any object that we know of.”
The next scene is Delilah talking to a student named Kyle; they’re in his room in the STD fraternity house. She says it’s “karma” that Billy and Julie have died; Kyle argues it’s “crappy coincidence” and threatens her if she doesn’t keep quiet. Upset, Delilah leaves, and Kyle gets a text from QtPie proposing a hook-up. There’s a knock at his door, but no one’s there. He comes back into his room, and the door slams shut. Kyle’s phone rings, and when he answers, someone asks, “What time is it?” Kyle looks at the clock, and it says 8:10; he winces at the increasing volume of his extremely large speakers. Liquid begins oozing from Kyle’s eyes, but he still stands there, arms spread. (Why doesn’t he at least attempt to leave?) The volume increases and it’s as if Kyle’s brain and eyes liquefy; he collapses to the floor, dead, his eye-sockets gory and bloody mess everywhere.
Sam’s with Delilah in her room when Dean arrives with the news that Kyle experienced “death by decibel.” Delilah finally confesses that the “car accident wasn’t exactly an accident.” In a flashback, we see Billy, Kyle, Julie, and Delilah in the truck. Billy and Kyle are tweeting; Julie and Delilah are taking selfies. Billy’s driving and he gets distracted by his phone and veers into the other lane. An oncoming driver swerves and hits the pole; it’s Andrew Silver. Billy slams on the brakes, and Delilah says to call 911, but no one does. They watch as an electrical line falls on the car and starts a fire. Andrew is obviously trapped and very much alive, but the students don’t try to help him; instead, Billy drives away. Delilah, horrified, begins to call 911 herself, but Billy takes her phone, arguing that he already has a DUI, and if he’s found driving on a suspended license, he’ll go to jail. Kyle says nothing, and Julie backs Billy up: “It’s not our problem, D. Someone else will call the cops.” By the time Delilah’s finished with her story, Dean’s pouring salt, and they put her in a salt circle. The Winchesters can’t figure out what Andrew’s tied to, so Dean stays with Delilah while Sam goes back to the accident site.
Delilah’s tearful, and Dean offers her the box of Kleenex, throwing it over his shoulder after she takes a tissue. She tells him that she studies all night “to avoid nightmares” and is “miserable.” Dean relates and shares, “I have made more mistakes than I can count, ones that haunt me day and night.” She asks how he deals, and Dean’s answer is telling: “Whiskey. Denial. I do my best to make things right, whatever that may be. For you maybe it’s coming clean. You know, finding a way to ask for forgiveness…real forgiveness. You can’t just bury stuff like this. You’ve got to to deal with it.” Dean gives Delilah good advice, but can he do this himself?
Meanwhile, Sam’s investigated the pole Andrew crashed into and notices the wires and the wifi tower. He calls with the news that Andrew’s gone online: “We’re all a bunch of electrical impulses, right, so whenever Andrew died, his impulses just transferred to another current.” He instructs Dean to turn off the routers and get Delilah somewhere safe. Dean quips, “Sure, Sammy, we’ll just kill the internet.” Neither Dean nor Delilah know where the routers are, and before they can decide anything else, Andrew appears on the computer and phone screens. Dean smashes everything with an iron crowbar. Sam goes to the Silvers’ house, and when Corey answers the door, she asks, “It’s my husband, isn’t it?” The plot thickens.
In the dorm, Dean grabs his duffel, and they head to the basement because Delilah says the signal’s terrible down there. Dean pours salt, hypothesizing aloud that without wifi, Andrew shouldn’t be able to bypass its anti-ghost properties. At the same time, Corey’s confessing to Sam that after the accident, Andrew contacted her online. At first, she didn’t believe it, but then realized the truth: “I knew he was a ghost or something, but I didn’t care. He was my husband.” However, then Andrew changed, disappearing for long periods of time and returning focused on revenge. Corey had worried that Andrew might be killing the co-eds, but didn’t know who to talk to. She also acknowledges, “I just didn’t want to face the truth because I knew it was revenge that brought him back, and I knew that if I tried to stop him, he might go away, and I didn’t want to lose my husband again.”
Back in the dorm basement, Dean hears a vibrating noise and tracks it to the couch; there’s a phone in the cushions, and it’s ringing. With wifi access, Andrew appears and hits Dean before going after Delilah. She begs him, “Please don’t kill me.” She apologizes and tries to explain, but she can’t get through to the ghost. Dean swipes at Andrew with the iron bar, making him disappear, and quickly texts Sam “911” from the stranger’s phone. As he texts, Dean tries to reason with Andrew, “Take it from me, the more you kill, the crazier you’ll get. The blood fuels the rage.” Sam does get the 911 from the unknown number. While waiting for his brother’s help, Dean tells Andrew that he can keep killing and become “something you don’t recognize or you can move on – because that is the only thing that’s going to give you peace…Up to you, man, pain or peace.”
Andrew’s immediate answer is pain, and he appears behind Dean and chokes him. Suddenly, Corey’s voice fills the room. Delilah’s holding the phone, and Corey’s on videochat. She tells her husband, “Revenge – It’s hollow, and it’s pointless. It won’t bring you back…I couldn’t let go. But it’s time for me to let go and for you to do the same. Please. I’m begging you.” Corey does get through to her husband, and Andrew releases Dean, listening intently. Corey pleads, “Do this for me. Do it for us.” Andrew nods, finally choosing peace and crossing over.
The Winchesters drive Delilah to the Silvers’ house, and Dean asks, “You sure you want to do this?” Delilah is; “Yeah, I should’ve done this along time ago.” She gets out and goes to the door; Corey answers, smiles, and lets her in. Corey’s friendly welcome is a surprise, all things considered, until Sam points out, “Looks like Andrew wasn’t the only one who chose peace.”
Dean tells his brother, “I think I’m going to follow his lead too… My peace is helping people, working cases. That’s all I want to do.” Sam asks if this is about the Mark, and Dean says, “I’m done trying to find a cure, Sammy.” Sam doesn’t want to hear this, pointing out, “Cas is so close.” “To what?,” Dean asks. “We don’t even know if there is a cure.” Sam accuses Dean of giving up, tells him they can’t stop fighting, and Dean responds, “The answer is not out there. It’s with me. I need to be the one calling the shots here… So I’m going to fight it, till I can’t fight it anymore… And when all is said is done, I’m going down swinging.” Dean’s decision here isn’t a positive one. What’s left unsaid in his declaration is what he and Cas discussed about him going darkside (10×9). Dean knows that when he can’t fight the Mark anymore, Cas will be there to take him out. Essentially, Dean’s resigned himself to his impending death.
Sam’s facial expressions speak volumes here; he doesn’t have any intention of accepting Dean’s resignation, and neither does Cas. As the preview and sneak peek from the upcoming “The Executioner’s Song” reveal, both are still doing everything they can to find Cain – and I can’t wait to see how the long-awaited confrontation finally unfolds. Supernatural airs Tuesdays at 9 pm ET on the CW network.