Recap of Supernatural
Season 1, Episode 3:
Dead In The Water
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker.
Directed by Kim Manners.
Airdate: September 27, 2005.
Sam and Dean investigate mysterious drownings in Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin
.
Sam and Dean investigate a series of mysterious drownings in Wisconsin after coming across the obituary of an 18-year-old girl, Sophie Carlton, who was a varsity swimmer that drowned in the lake. They meet the Sheriff Jake Barr and his daughter, Andrea, and grandson, Lucas. Lucas has not spoken since his father, Bill Carlton's godson, died on the lake, but he has started drawing pictures. Sophie's brother then dies by drowning in a sink, and they realize that the drowning victims are all related to Bill Carlton. Dean asks Lucas to draw what happened, and Lucas draws a picture that they realize is Bill Carlton's house. Bill Carlton drowns in the lake before the Winchesters can question him. Dean asks Lucas for more help, and Lucas draws another house next to a church. Dean and Sam find this home and an older woman who lives there tells them about how her son Peter Sweeney disappeared 35 years ago. When the Sheriff finds out that Dean and Sam are not the Wildlife Service officials they pretended to be, he tells them to leave town. However, Dean is unwilling to leave town without making sure Lucas is okay, and when they reach Lucas' house they find that his mother, Andrea, is being attacked by something in the bath water. Sam manages to pull her out of the water. Then Lucas leads them to a buried bicycle. Dean sends Andrea and Lucas back to the house as they dig up the bike, but Andrea returns when she sees her father, the sheriff, approach with a gun. The Winchesters confront the sheriff with killing Peter while he holds them at gunpoint. The sheriff confesses when he sees his daughter, and admits Peter's body sunk into the lake. In the meantime, Lucas has wandered to the side of the lake and reaches into the lake to get an army man. Peter Sweeney's ghost grabs Lucas by the wrist and pulls him down into the lake. At this point, the sheriff sees Peter's ghost and, while Dean and Sam are diving to find Lucas, Sheriff Jake climbs into the lake and offers himself to Peter. The sheriff is pulled down, and Dean eventually emerges from the water with Lucas.
Body count:
For this episode = 4 humans.For the series so far = 10 humans; 3 ghosts; 1 wendigo.
Tropes appearing in this episode:
- Accidental Murder: Jake and Bill, who habitually bullied Peter, ended up accidentally drowning him.
- Big Bad: Peter Sweeney, who is seeking vengeance for his murder by drowning the loved ones of his killers.
- Big Dam Plot: The lake will no longer exist once the dam is destroyed.
- Bonding over Missing Parents: Dean and Lucas.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Lucas' drawings (the red bike, the boat in the lake, and the house).
- Lucas playing with army men, which are later spotted in Peter's home—and Peter uses one to lure Lucas into reaching into the lake.
- Continuity Snarl: Sophie is said to drown the week before the Winchester brothers start investigating, but her memorial in the obituary Dean circles is for August 12, 2005 and the brothers did not start working together again as hunters until November 2, 2005.
- Creepy Child: Lucas and Peter.
- Cute Mute: Lucas.
- Deadly Bath: Andrea takes a "relaxing" bath.
- Deadly Prank
- Deadpan Snarker:Andrea Barr: Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line.
- Disappeared Dad: Both Lucas and the Winchester brothers are dealing with this.
- Elective Mute: Lucas doesn't even talk to his mom until around the end of the episode.
- Fanservice with a Smile: Wendy the Waitress in the restaurant. Lampshaded by Dean.Wendy: Can I get you anything else? [Dean looks up and grins around the pen he's chewing on]Sam: Just the check, please.Wendy: Okay. [walks away, revealing super short shorts]Dean: You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while. [points to Wendy] That's fun.
- Foreshadowing: An early line about how the initial drowning victim was as safe in the lake as in her own bathtub.
- Friend to All Children: Dean, although he can't have had much practice.
- Ghostly Goals: Peter's spirit seeks revenge, but is also still a child and wants playmates ("Come play with me...").
- Girl of the Week: Andrea for Dean.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Jake has to do this to appease Peter's soul.
- Hollywood Drowning: Averted, but discussed:Sam: [asking Sophie's brother about her drowning] So, no splashing? No signs of distress?Will: No, that's what I'm telling you.
- Impending Doom P.O.V.: The shots of Sophie swimming seen from someone under the water.
- It Came from the Sink: The episode's ghost, who is bound to the lake his body was hidden in after his murder, attacks and nearly drowns Andrea in the bathtub before Dean manages to rescue her.
- Kids Are Cruel: Jake and Bill bullied Peter by holding him under the water.
- Meaningful Echo: The clue that the Monster of the Week is targeting Bill and Jake's children.Bill: My children are gone. It's...it's worse than dying.[later]Peter's mother: Losing him, you know, it's...it's worse than dying.
- Making a Splash: Peter's ghost can manipulate water to drown people even in the safety of sinks.
- Mangst: "We don't have to hug, do we?"
- Name One: Dean fails entirely at this.
- Never Found the Body: Subverted Trope for Sophie and the other victims who are presumably Killed Off for Real despite no bodies turning up. Peter is also dead, but his vengeful spirit has become connected to the lake where his body lies.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: Lucas' black spirals and pictures of figures in water.
- No Guy Wants an Amazon: Defied Trope.Will: All these workouts, Soph, I don't know. Guys don't like buff girls.Sophie: Yeah, well, girls don't like guys who still live at home.
- Outliving One's Offspring: A recurring theme and consequence brought up in this episode.
- Parting-Words Regret: Hinted at with Will and Bill, given the No Guy Wants an Amazon talk Will and his sister had, and lack of words for their father, who was busy and didn't really acknowledge Sophie as she said goodbye.
- "Psycho" Shower Murder Parody: The Bathtub Scene.
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- Redemption Equals Death
- Shout-Out:
- The shots of Sophie swimming shot from under the water recall the first scene of Jaws.
- Sheriff Jake Devins points out no large carnivores live in the lake and jokes that it might have been the Loch Ness Monster. Sam later rules Nessie out as a suspect.
- Andrea refers to Dean talking to her son as a Jerry Maguire thing.
- After the Sheriff says he can lock them up or they can leave town, Sam says, "Door Number Two sounds good".
- Dean teaches Lucas about Led Zeppelin.Dean: Alright, if you're goin' to be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it back to me one more time.Lucas: Zeppelin rules!Dean: That's right, up high.
- The water sound effect is the same as the sound of going through a Stargate.
- Sins of Our Fathers
- Smooch of Victory: Andrea kisses Dean at the end to thank him for saving her son's life.
- Take Me Instead: Jake plays this card to save Andrea's son.
- Themed Aliases: Agent Ford and Agent Hamill are a departure from the typical guitarist/rock-star aliases, and are the first of many Shout-Outs to Star Wars. Eric Kripke has said Sam and Dean are based on Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.
- You're Insane!
