Recap / Supernatural S01 E15 "The Benders"

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Recap of Supernatural
Season 1, Episode 15:

The Benders

Alright, you wanna play games? We'll play some games.

You know, with...our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people, they're just crazy.

—Dean

Written by John Shiban.

Directed by Peter Ellis.

Airdate: February 14, 2006.

Sam is abducted by a family in Hibbing, Minnesota, who enjoy hunting the most dangerous game.

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The Winchester brothers investigate a disappearance of a man in Hibbing, Minnesota. Before they get far, Sam is kidnapped from the parking lot of a bar. Dean enlists the help of a policewoman, Kathleen, who had a brother who previously went missing, along with many other people in this county. They track a vehicle to an isolated rural area, where they find a family who hunt humans as a family tradition.

Body count:

For this episode = 2 humans.

For the series so far = At least 131 humans; 9 ghosts; 1 god; 1 rawhead; 1 shapeshifter; 1 wendigo.

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Tropes appearing in this episode:

• Action Survivor: Kathleen is a little out of her depth, even being a cop, when it comes to dealing with murderous hillbillies, but she manages to get through the episode just fine.
• Actor Allusion: At one point, Dean looks at a jar of teeth and makes a face. Jensen Ackles played cloned twin genetically engineered supersoldiers Ben and Alec on Dark Angel, and the former of the two was a Serial Killer who removed his victims' teeth.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: Conceptually, the episode is very similar to the Torchwood season 1 episode "Countrycide", which also involves human rural cannibals as the Monsters of the Week on a normally supernaturally-driven show where the protagonists mistake the killings for the work of non-human monsters at first.
• Ax-Crazy: The Benders take too much glee and fun out of hunting, torturing, killing and eating people.
• Badass in Distress: Both the boys at various points during the episode.
• Battle Trophy/Creepy Souvenir:
  • The bones hanging from the ceiling and jars full of organs and teeth.
  • The photos of the victims' corpses posed as if they were deer or other game.
• Big Bad: Pa Bender, the patriarch of the cannibalistic Bender family.
• Big Brother Instinct:
  Dean: Sam's my responsibility. And he's comin' back. I'm bringin' him back.
  • Kathleen had this towards her brother, as her main motivation for helping Dean was so she could finally figure out what happened to him, as she'd spent years searching for answers since his disappearance (in similar circumstances to Sam). She's clearly devastated when Dean informs her he found her brother's long-lost car in the Benders' lot and delivers the killing blow to Pa Bender when he taunts her about his death.
• Bird Caged: Sam and Jenkins are kept in small metal cages.
• Blatant Lies: Kathleen runs Dean's police badge and tells him what she found:
  Kathleen: It says here your badge was stolen. And there's a picture of you. [she turns the computer to reveal a heavy-set African-American man]
  Dean: I lost some weight. [laughs nervously] And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease...
  • When Kathleen claims she had to kill the father because he tried to escape.
• Brother–Sister Incest/Kissing Cousins: Referenced:
  Pa: Only reason I don't let my boys take you right here and now is that there's somethin' I need to know.
  Dean: Yeah, how 'bout 'It's not nice to marry your sister'?
• …But He Sounds Handsome: After Kathleen mentions that Sam's brother was suspected of murder and died:
  Dean: Yeah, Dean, kinda the black sheep of the family. Handsome, though.
• Call-Back: The database reminds us that Dean is officially dead.
• Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: Dean.
  Dean: Alright, I'll meet you outside, I gotta take a leak.
• Cannibal Clan: The Benders, named after a real family of murderers.
  Pa Bender: Tell me, any other cops gonna come lookin' for you?
  Dean: Eat me. Oh, no-no-no, wait-wait-wait, you actually might.
• Catchphrase: We have two uses of "son of a bitch" by Dean.
• Cat Scare: Sam looking under the car.
• Children Are Innocent: Horribly subverted. Little Missy is just as willing to kill people as the rest of her family, but uses her child appearance to trick people into assuming she's harmless. When Dean runs into her while creeping around the house, he even tries to reassure her, believing she's just a scared little kid.
  Dean: It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you.
  Missy: (pulls out knife) I know. (attacks Dean)
• Continuity Nod:
  • A deer's head is seen on the wall of Kugel's Keg. This deer's head was also seen in the motel in "Nightmare" (S01, E14).
  • Dean references his Paperclip Lockpick escape in the pilot:
    Dean: I gotta start carrying paper clips.

• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They may be murderous sickos, but the Benders do care for each other.
• Evil Feels Good:
  Pa: But the best hunt is human. Oh, there's nothin' like it. Holdin' their life in your hands. Seein' the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive.
• Evil Old Folks: Pa Bender is old enough to have a granddaughter and is still engaging in hunting down people.
• Eye Scream: Pa threatens to take out Dean's eye with a white-hot poker.

• The Family That Slays Together: Sam and Dean investigate a murder, which they discover is the work of a crazy redneck family that has been hunting people for the ultimate hunting experience. Even the granddaughter, who's only thirteen, enjoys it!
• For the Evulz: "Because it's fun."
• Freudian Excuse: A positive example in Kathleen, who agrees to help Dean find Sam because her brother went missing years ago and she never found him.
• Frying Pan of Doom: How Dean is subdued by Pa.
• Girl of the Week: A subversion in Kathleen. She's not there to serve as a love interest to either boy and is much older than the typical girl of the week would be.
• Great Big Book of Everything: Dean knows something is wrong when he finds John Winchester's journal left behind on the hood of the car.
• Hillbilly Horrors: Played straight as they are the villains of the week.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Well, monsters are the real monsters, but at least you expect them to be cruel.
  Dean: Demons I get. People are crazy.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game
  Pa: I've hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I've hunted deer and bear—I even got a cougar once. But the best hunt is human.
• Idiot Ball: Kathleen is holding one when she goes to investigate the Bender farm after her and Dean spot the turn-off into their property. She doesn't call for back up or report in to headquarters what her location is, handcuffs Dean to the car so that he's trapped if anything happens to her, and fails to constantly check her surroundings even when talking to Missy. Even after she spotted the truck which clearly matches the one on the traffic cam video, she keeps going instead of quickly withdrawing and calling for backup. All of which are completely counter to standard police procedure.
• I'll Kill You!: Dean, giving his opinion on the Bender family's favorite way to spend time together.
  • The father when he's injured.
• Impending Doom P.O.V.: The shot of Sam's feet from under the car.
• Impersonating an Officer: For once, Dean gets caught doing this when Kathleen runs his badge and discovers it was stolen.
• Insistent Terminology: Also a Continuity Nod to "Pilot" (S01, E01).
  Sam: Don't...call me...Sammy!
• Just Between You and Me: Pa tells Dean about his family's crimes when they have him tied to the chair:
  Pa: We give 'em a weapon. Give 'em a fightin' chance. It's kinda like...our tradition, passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy.
• Kids Shouldn't Watch Horror Films: Double Subverted Trope: Evan was wrong about the monster, but right about the whining growl.
• Mercy Lead: Kathleen gives one to Dean at the end.
• Messy Hair: How we know not to trust Missy from the start.
• Minnesota Nice: Subverted Trope. The villains of the week are murderous psychopathic hillbillies.
• Mundanger: Nope, nothing supernatural going on here, just hillbillies. Not any less dangerous.
• Omniscient Database:
  • Kathleen types "Winchester, Sam" into the police database and gets:
    Record ID DF-23094
    Name: Samuel Winchester
    Born: May 2, 1983
    Place of birth: Lawrence, Kansas
    Physical description: 6'4" Height 180-190 lbs. Brown Hair, Brown Eyes
    No distinctive markings or tattoos
    Relevant links: Dean Winchester (deceased) - brother of subject
  • When she clicks on the "Dean Winchester" link, she gets:
    Record ID DF-23094
    Name: Dean Winchester
    Born: January 24, 1979
    Died: March 7, 2006
    Place of birth: Lawrence, Kansas
    Place of death: St. Louis, Missouri
    Physical description: 6'4" Height 175 lbs Brown Hair, Green Eyes
    No distinctive markings or tattoos
    Subject was prime suspect in multiple homicide investigation in St. Louis area prior to his death
    Relevant links: Sam Winchester - brother of subject.
• Right Red Hand: Pa's teeth are all gnarly and messed-up.
• Sadist: All the Benders qualify, even little Missy. They all revel in the suffering they cause and prolong the "game" for no other reason than their disgusting amusement and pleasure. They even keep twisted "souvenirs" of their hunts to remember their victims by.

  Dean: (sees the family shrine) Like I said, monsters I get. People are crazy...

• Sadistic Choice: For Dean.
  Pa: Looks like we’re gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys. [to Dean] And you get to pick the animal. The boy or the cop?
  • What makes it even more sadistic is that Pa Bender plans to just kill Kathleen and Sam outright, no hunt involved. Of course, he didn't mention that until after Dean picked Sam, presumably figuring his brother could fight his way out of it. Which he does anyway.
• Serial Killers: The Bender family.
• Shout-Out:
  • Dean and Evan discuss Godzilla:
    Evan's mother: Tell the officers what you were watching on TV.
    Evan: Godzilla Vs. Mothra. [Dean smiles]
    Dean: [excitedly] That's my favorite Godzilla movie. It's so much better than the original, huh?
    Evan: Totally.
    Dean: Yeah. [He nods towards Sam] He likes the remake.
    Evan: Yuck! [Sam glares at Dean and clears his throat]
  • Sam mentions Spring-Heeled Jack and Mad Gassers as examples of phantom attackers.
  • We get a few cultural references from Alvin Jenkins about his concerns about being raped.
    Sam: Waitin' for what?
    Jenkins: Ned Beatty time, man.
    Sam: I think that's the least of your worries right now.
    Jenkins: Oh, yeah?
    Sam: Yeah.
    Jenkins: What do you think they want, then?
    Sam: Depends on who they are.
    Jenkins: They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if you ask me. Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.
  • Dean requests that the Benders not make him into an ashtray.
• Shovel Strike: How several of the victims in the episode go down when the Benders subdue them.
• Take That!: Dean isn't a fan of the 1998 Godzilla.
• Tap on the Head: Dean is knocked out by a pan.
• They Call Him "Sword": Lampshaded by Kathleen.
  Kathleen: Alright. What's his name?
  Dean: Winchester. Sam Winchester.
  Kathleen: Like the rifle?
  Dean: Like the rifle.
• Torture for Fun and Information: Pa with the white-hot poker.
• Town with a Dark Secret: Sam says St. Louis County has more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in Minnesota, although in Real Life this does not seem to be the case.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • Dean just has to tease Sam, even when Sam is locked in a cage:
    Sam: Dude, they're just people.
    Dean: And they jumped you? Must be gettin' a little rusty there, kiddo.
  • Sam gets Dean back later:
    Sam: So, you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?
    Dean: Oh, shut up.
    Sam: Just saying, you're getting rusty there, kiddo.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Dean seems to differentiate between killing a human and killing supernatural beings. Although it could just be that some of the things he hunts (ghosts, demons, zombies...) aren't really alive in the first place.
  Pa: You ever killed before?
  Dean: Well, that depends on what you mean.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: While the brothers and Kathleen are more than willing to beat up the Bender family to escape and subdue them, all that happens to Missy is being shoved into a closet off-screen.

• You Said You Would Let Them Go:
  Dean: What? I thought you said you were gonna hunt him. You were gonna give him a chance.