Supernatural S1 E7 Summary: “Hook Man”

It’s Supernatural Thursday! Zeroth was kind enough to do the summary for this episode. Cross-posted from Social Justice Wizardry. Thank you, Zeroth!

We open up at a sorority house at Eastern Iowa University. A young white woman paces nervously and asks her black roommate for clothing suggestions. Her roommate suggests a red halter top. The roommate tells the nervous woman, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” and gets in friendly rejoinder, “There’s nothing you wouldn’t do.”

Black woman sits on a bed and reads, while her roommate, a white woman in a red halter top, leaves, saying "There's nothing you wouldn't do."
Joking…

We cut to the jeep stopping underneath a bridge, and it is dark and rainy outside. There is a quick glimpse of a cloaked figure with a hook for their hand.

A blocky jeep-type vehicle parks underneath a wooden bridge at night. In the foreground is a shadowy figure with a hook for a hand.

The young woman accuses the guy driving of doing this on purpose with a smile, and he plays innocent. As they lean in to kiss, she pulls out an old-fashioned clamshell cellphone, with the call display saying her Dad is calling. She ignores the phone call. As they kiss, he tries to slide a hand under her shirt.

Swimming in Sexism: 1

The hook-handed figure ominously moves closer.

He makes an attempt to go under her shirt again, at which point the hook-handed figure starts dragging the hook across metal signs with a horrendous shriek.

A silver hook prosthesis is being dragged across a yellow warning sign that says "Dead End"
Unsubtle…

He gets out(You Bloody Fool: 1), sees an invisible figure scratching up the side of the vehicle. Then the guy disappears, leaving the woman panicked in the car. She waits for a bit, locking the car and closing the window before jumping at a loud thud from the roof of the car. Some scraping follows, and there is nothing but silence. Steeling her courage, she gets out, but not before turning around to see her date drenched in blood and hanging from the bridge above. She screams.

Blood and Gore: 1

A bloody hand hangs limply above a metal surface.
*Gasp*

Then we cut to the two Winchester brothers sitting at a coffee shop. Sam has an extravagant sugary latte, while Dean is drinking black coffee.

Toxic Masculinity: 1

Sam ticks off the things he’s checked in his search for his father, while Dean presents a possible case near to them, with the logic that their dad would go there too.

Daddy Issues: 1

The brothers pull up in front of a frat house, and claim they are transfers from Ohio(their last case).

A young male freshman stands in front of a mirror shirtless, painting himself purple.
College mascots ain’t what they used to be…

Then, we see a young freshman, shirtless, painting himself purple in front of a mirror. Dean knocks on the doorway and introduces him and Sam as new roommates. Dean throws Sam on the grenade of helping the mascot paint himself, while asking questions about the killed frat brother.

Brotherly Love: 1

We get introduced finally to Lori Sorenson, a reverend’s daughter.

Then, next is a scene in a church where the reverend is preaching about the death of the frat brother. The two brothers can’t help but immediately disrupt the sermon by letting a door slam. Sam and Lori make googly eyes at each other.

A young woman with brown hair sits in a church pew, while the preacher says, "Because I believe he died to protect my daughter."
Yeah Dad, as if she isn’t already feeling guilty enough…

Sam and Dean introduce themselves to Lori and ask some questions. Lori’s dad, the reverend walks up, and Dean distracts him while Sam asks Lori more questions in private. He encourages her to tell him what she saw, even if it seems impossible or outlandish. This gives them their first clue.

Sam gives Dean the details in a library, where Dean makes the connection to the “Hook Man” urban legend. They hypothesize that it is a spirit rather than a physical person or monster.

Two tall white men stand between book shelves in a library, facing each other, and talking.

The boys dig up the town records going back to 1851. Dean takes a moment to check out the librarian as she walks away.

Definitely Hetero Dean: 1

Two white men sit at a table with two dusty cardboard boxes in front of them. One, Dean, has turned to check out the rear-end of the departing (female) librarian.
Come on Dean…

Sam finds a record of Jacob Karns, a preacher with a silver hook for a hand, who murdered 13 sex workers in one night, and was hanged.

Swimming in Sexism: 2

Dean praises Sam with our first reference to Ghostbusters, and they hurry off to follow up on the information.

The reverend drops Lori off at the sorority house, with her reassuring him that she’ll be safe. He makes vague implications of lesbianism and orgies going on in sorority houses.

Swimming in Sexism: 3

A middle-aged man and a young woman sit in a car. The young woman is saying to the man, "I'm over 18, I can live my own life."
Lori asserts her independence.

She stomps away and walks into the sorority house. She spots a mysterious scratch on the wall, and walks on. She doesn’t wake up her roommate, and sneaks quietly into bed.

At the same time, Sam and Dean are checking out the site of the murder in the cold open, and discussing ammunition. Holding a shotgun up to some moving bushes, the brothers are ambushed by local cops. Dean attempts to throw Sam under the train by pointing out Sam had the gun.

Brotherly Love: 2

Two shadowed figures lay prostate on the ground, with a uniformed deputy standing and holding a gun on them.
Brotherly Love

Lori checks that her roommate is still alive, thus reassuring the viewers too.

We zoom in on Jacob Karns’ spirit hiding behind the door.

A shadowy figured hides behind a door that has construction paper with a flowery "Lori & Taylor" on it.
DUN DUN DUN

As Lori wakes up, she sees a puddle of dripping blood coming from her brutally murdered roommate. The camera turns from the body to a bloody message scratched into the wall, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light” with a symbol scratched into the wall below it.

A pool of blood coagulates.
Mmm, chocolate syrup…

Blood and Gore: 2

After Lori screams, the camera switches to Sam and Dean walking out of the police station, with Dean bragging about talking the sheriff down to a fine, with the excuse it was a frat hazing prank. Suddenly, the deputies run out and squeal off in their cars. The brothers look at each other and follow the sirens.

Lori is being cared for by emergency services, while the sheriff talks to the reverend. He thinks Lori is a suspect now.

The brothers sneak into the sorority house around the back. Dean takes a moment while sneaking around to check out a couple of PJ-clad sorority girls.

Definitely Hetero Dean: 2

Then he asks about naked pillow fights.

Definitely Hetero Dean: 3

An eager-looking white man with short brown hair asks, "Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?"
PORN IS NOT REALITY, DEAN.

(Dean has a persistent problem confusing porn for reality.) They sneak into a second-floor window, and check out the crime scene.

They note a strong scent of ozone, and notice that the symbol is the same as the one on Karns’ silver hook. They now have confirmation that it is Jacob Karns.

Bloody message inscribed on a wall says, "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light."

Definitely Hetero Dean: 4

At a frat party, Dean asks Sam if this was his college experience. Sam doesn’t answer and instead starts explaining the connection between Karns and Lori. That’s where we get one of the greatest phrases ever spoken in Supernatural: “hippie rampage”. He pointed out that there were past people of religion who openly preach against immorality, who then become convicted of the crimes they claim an invisible person did.

Sam thinks that Reverend Sorenson is summoning or controlling the spirit of Jacob Karns somehow, and that’s why the murders are happening.

They split up duties, Sam is keeping an eye on Lori and the Reverend, while Dean digs up Karns’ body to salt and burn it. Dean is distinctly unhappy with this turn of events.

A sweaty white man with short brown hair digs a grave.

Dean finds the unmarked grave in the cemetery, while Sam overhears Lori and the Reverend in the middle of a fight.

Dean digs up the body while complaining about Sam getting the better job.

Lori comes out to talk to Sam. Lori discusses her fears and concerns. Dean salts and burns the bones.

Image shows Dean standing in a dark graveyard, looking down. He's lit from below by a fire that's out of the frame.
Salty charcoal tonight.

She expresses her anger over her father dating a married woman, and her anger takes on a bit of a religious take, that it goes against what she was taught by her father. Seeking comfort in Sam, they begin kissing softly. Sam breaks the kiss, just before the Reverend calls her in.

And then Karns materializes and drags the Reverend inside the house. Sam races up the stairs and stops Karns before he can kill the reverend. Next, Sam is telling a sanitized version of the story to the sheriff, while giving his innocent puppy eyes.

Image shows a hospital room. In the background, a young woman stands by a prostrate figure in a hospital bed. In the foreground, outside of the room, Sam stands talking to an older white man.

Sam meets up with Dean and tells him his hypothesis about Lori being the one to control, subconsciously, Karns’ spirit. Dean is confused, because he burned everything in the coffin, but Karns is still around, murderizing people.

They realize the hook was missing, and that’s why Karns has not gone poof yet. They track down the hook as given to the church, and melted down into stuff for the church.

They head over to the church and the Sorenson house, to burn anything that’s silver. Dean tells Sam not to go through Lori’s underwear drawer, and Sam gives him a look.

Definitely Hetero Dean: 5

Swimming in Sexism: 4

Image shows the interior of a basement with a small, grubby window. Sam is standing in the dark room, looking intent.
Uh oh…

As they start the process, they realize someone is in the church. Sam runs upstairs, and finds Lori sobbing in the pews. Talking to Lori, he finds that she thinks she is at fault for all of the murders. Lori comes to the conclusion that she deserves to be punished, which summons Karns to attack then.

Dodging the first attack, Sam fights with Karns and protects Lori from his attacks.

At one point, Sam is knocked flying and a bookshelf falls on him.

What Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?

Sam: 3 4

Image shows Sam lying face-down on a persian rug. There is a jumble of books and papers around him.
What CTE?

As Sam groggily wakes up, Dean comes running, and yells, “Sam, drop!” and shoots Karns in the back with rock salt. Karns disappears, and Sam realizes that the remaining silver is around Lori’s neck as a necklace. Sam rips it off, tosses it to Dean, who tosses the shotgun and rock salt ammo to Sam.

As Karns comes in for his next attack, Dean throws the silver necklace into the furnace, and Karns’ spirit burns before Sam and Lori’s eyes.

Image shows a ragged male figure with a hook hand raised high. The figure's clothes are beginning to catch fire.

In the morning, Dean tries to explain lie to the sheriff about what happened, with no effect. Sam and Lori talk to each other and Sam says goodbye to her.

Dean watches on with a small smile, and offers Sam the choice of staying. He says no.

Brotherly Love: 3

They drive off into the distance as a classic rock song plays about leaving your woman behind.

Image shows the round rearview mirror of the Impala. An ambulance with a young dark-haired woman standing by its doors are reflected in the mirror.
A moment of synchronicity…

Cumulative Counts:

What Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?

Sam: 4

Dean: 3

Dean’s Man Tears: 4

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Supernatural S1 E7 Summary: “Hook Man”
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