"The Benders"

Main Points

- A young boy witnesses a kidnapping
- Sam and Dean investigate, and Sam gets kidnapped
-Dean goes to the sheriff's office and meets Deputy Kathleen
-Dean get's caught impersonating a police officer, but teams up with her to search and rescue Sam

In a small tavern hotel in the town/county of Hibbing, Minnesota, a young boy, Evan, watches Godzilla vs Mothra. Suddenly, he hears a strange noise and looks out his window. Evan witnesses Mr. Jenkins being dragged underneath a vehicle, disappearing from sight. Sam and Dean show up at the tavern dressed as State Policeman (where do they get these costumes!). They question Ian and ask him about the events that occurred. In a funny fashion, Dean and Evan joke about Godzilla vs Mothra being their favorite Godzilla film. I prefer Godzilla versus Mechagodzilla. ;)

At the bar while throwing darts, the two are looking over the clippings in their journal, and then realize that their father marked the area after researching the county's area of missing people. Apparently, a dark figure comes out at night and snatches people from sight. Sam suggests they get an early jump on things and they head to a motel five miles back down the road. Dean goes to the bathroom and Sam heads outside where he gets startled by a cat while looking underneath a car. Dean then comes out and can't seem to find Sam anywhere. He calls out his name and asks some bar folk if they were outside recently. Nobody knows where Sam is so Dean gets worried and frantically looks around, spotting two security cameras. Aha!

Dean goes to the local sheriff's department impersonating Officer Washington working on a missing person case. This way he can get help to find his vanished brother. Dean as "Mr. Washington" states that his "cousin" Sam Winchester has gone missing. Mr. Washington......Dean, you're at it again.

Dean states that his lead was the surveillance camera and the officer wants him to fill out the missing person's report while she goes to review the surveillance tape. Dean tries to convince her to let him go with her and he wins the argument. Deputy Kathleen looks up Sam's record on the computer and it shows that
Sam's brother "Dean" died and was suspected for murder. Uh-oh.

Meanwhile, Sam is trapped inside of a steel cage where he notices another kidnapee in the neighboring cage. Kathleen reveals to Dean a photo of a rust bucket truck with new plates on it. Dean then spots a rusty van with a whining growl emitting from its engine. Back in the hick house, Sam struggles to escape. Mr. Jenkins awakens to Sam's delight and is very dismal to the notion of anyone finding them. A strange man comes down and opens the cage giving both Mr. Jenkins and Sam food to eat. They are wearing raincoats as Sam exclaims "I'll be damned, they're just people". Sam begins to yank on a coiled cable. Way to go Sammy boy!

Deputy Kathleen and Dean are traveling along a road and she notices on her laptop computer that Dean isn't who he says he is because she ran his badge number and finds out that Gregory Washington is really a black policeman whose badge was stolen. Dean jokes around with her as she stops the vehicle and attempts to arrest her. Dean pleads his case to her as seriously as he can by giving her a story about being responsible to his brother. She agrees to help him find his brother first and then arrest him later. The reason she does this is because she looks up at a picture of her beside her brother who was also kidnapped and gone missing. This was a very good and touching scene.

Mr. Jenkin's escapes after Sam manages to pull the cable loose. Sam tries to convince Mr. Jenkins to stay inside the cage because it all seemed "too easy". Mr. Jenkins promises to get out and send help and doesn't abide by Sam's pleas. The cage door re-shuts and Jenkins sneaks outside. He finds a knife nearby on the ground and begins to run through the woods. The psycho family begins to hunt him and they chase after Jenkins with long sharp staffs. He gets stabbed in the leg and then doubled stabbed to death as Sam hears Jenkins screams from a far. Yeah now this scene definitely reminded me of "WRONG TURN".

Dean finds out that the reason the officer is helping him is because her brother Riley disappeared and she feels what it's like to be responsible for someone. Dean instructs her to pull over at the first turnoff and they bicker over whether he can go along with her. Kathleen tricks him into shaking her hand and she cuffs him to the car. She goes up to the front door and knocks and a little girl appears. Kathleen questions Missy about Sam's whereabouts and if she recognizes him. Missy baits Kathleen and she gets hit from behind with a shovel by her dad. Her father instructs her to go get her brothers. Damn, Missy sure was spooky. Her voice and look creeped me out. *Shudders*

Dean struggles to reach the car antenna and in the knick of time manages to use it to pick himself free (a la McGyver) and hides from the approaching hick brothers. The two brothers take the patrol car. Kathleen is now inside of a cage and Sam asks if she's alright. She asks him if he's Sam and he agrees but she told him that his "cousin" is cuffed to his car. Dean shows up and is happy to find them both still alive. He says a funny quote "These locks look like they're gonna be a bitch!" Very amusing. They discuss what the crazy people's intentions are. Dean tells Kathleen that he saw a black mustang, which belonged to Riley, her brother.

Dean leaves to search for the key to the cages. As he is looking about, he sees a jar full of brains, organs and other body parts. There are photographs of tortured victims everywhere. Mr. Jenkins is in one of the pictures. Dean heads upstairs and a creepy 1930's piano tune on a record is playing. He bumps into some teeth and jaws hanging and tiptoes about the room. Dean grabs a hoe and spies the keys on a desk. He is very quiet to not let the father notice him because the father is in the nearby room sawing up god knows what. Dean takes the keys, picks up a jar full of teeth and turns around to be surprised by Missy. He says that he won't hurt her and she replies "I know" and then stabs him with a knife. Dean pulls the knife out as she calls for Daddy. A fight escalates between Dean and the brothers. Dean fights as hard as he can but is overwhelmed and tossed around the room like a rag doll by the brothers. Another hilarious quote by Dean "I'm gonna kick your ass first, then yours". As soon as he said this, he was knocked unconscious courtesy of the father with a frying pan. Ouch. That's gonna leave a bruise.

Dean is tied up in a chair and he questions the psycho hicks about their hunting game. Dean is shocked that these people actually hunt humans as well as many animals. "The best hunt is human. There's nothing like it. Holding their life in your hands. Seeing the fear in their eyes just before they go dark, makes you feel powerful alive." "You're a sick puppy" replies Dean. The hunting game was a sick twisted pastime. The father asks if Dean is a cop. Dean answers "If I tell you, promise not to make me into an ashtray?" He is then punched immediately by one of the sons. "How about it's not nice to marry your sister" "Eat me....no no no, you actually might." Once again Dean is sarcastic as can be in serious situations. The family plans a hunt tonight but Dean has to choose between Kathleen and Sam. The father prods him with a hot iron stick and makes Dean wither in pain. Dean chooses the cop as the brother goes to shoot Sam and Kathleen instead. Shoot the guard instead! Nice call Dean, I mean, impersonating a cop is bad enough and now you want one to die? Bad boy.

The hick-son, Lane, unlocks the cage door and pulls out his rifle. Kathleen distracts him but Lane shoots anyway. Sam fights with Lane and Dean swears that if Sam is hurt then he would kill all of them. Sam knocks out Lane but the father and Jared head downstairs to find that Kathleen and Sam escaped from their cages. Jared and father with rifles in hand try to corner Sam and Kathleen, who hides in a wooden cupboard. Jared shoots it but finds nothing inside as Kathleen jumps him from above. Sam distracts Jared as he accidentally shoots his father and then Sam punches him until he is knocked out. Both Jared and father are KO'ed as Deputy Kathleen takes the rifle. Sam tosses Jared into the cage locking it shut as Kathleen keeps guard on the father at gunpoint. Sam heads upstairs and Kathleen asks the father why he killed her brother Riley. He maniacally replies while laughing "because it's fun". Dean locks Missy into a closet and Kathleen says she shot the father while he was "trying to escape". Sure he was. ;)

Unfortunately the dynamic duo's car is back at the police station. Kathleen warns that the real state police and FBI are on their way and that the boys should get out of town immediately. She declines their request for a ride and tells them to start walking. Dean apologizes for the loss of her brother. Kathleen say's she thought it would be easier knowing what happened but she still wasn't satisfied. Dean and Sam start walking and Sam jokes that Dean got sidelined by a 13 year old girl. This was pretty comical and nice to see the episode finish on a high note with the boys bantering lovingly.

End of episode. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed "The Benders". It reminded me of a cross between “Wrong Turn" and a true story that happened in Ohio, much similar to what happened in this episode. It also reminded me somewhat of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre". I was pleasantly surprised by the flow of this episode. Everything was smooth and natural, especially the sarcasm of Dean. He has so much charisma and charm but likes to show it during the gravest situations. The main reason I liked this episode was because Supernatural finally displayed how the Winchester brothers would handle a human enemy. I knew previous episodes teased at this notion so it wouldn't be long before they face off against psychotic human beings. The "psycho hicks" as I like to call them were true hillbilly rednecks but liked to kill people because I know real rednecks don't do that sort of thing. Basically, Sam and Dean stuck together and avoided being arrested for the one millionth time although I did feel that Dean was in big trouble after he got caught by Kathleen. At least we know now how the boys get the cop ID's, badges and uniforms! That continuity was shown very well. I also liked the darkness of this episode. Most episodes of Supernatural occur at night which is uber creepy and gives it the eerie aura of the show. The Benders was written exceptionally well and was equally directed well too. I give this episode a pure 5/5 rating because it showed me versatility, continuity, sarcasm and creepiness.

In two weeks: Looks like Megan is back in town stirring up trouble, and wherever the boys end up, they finally find their father. Yep that's right; Big Daddy Winchester is back in town! I'm definitely excited about the previews and am looking forward to the new episode. It will expand on the central storyline of the paranormal death of Dean and Sam's mother. Plus Megan is a cutie pie and I like her as a new character. Very intriguing! Stay tuned kids, Supernatural just keeps getting better!

Added: February 15th 2006

Reviewer: Noah (aka Runezo)
Score: 5/5