'Supernatural' Recap – Episode 7.19, "Of Grave Importance".
After three and a half months of waiting, ‘Supernatural‘ finally gives us the return of our favorite father figure; Bobby Singer.
…never mind that he’s still dead, we’ll take what we can get.
Our episode starts off with a call from a lady named Annie, who apparently knew Bobby when he was alive and wants to meet up with the boys to give them some of his old books. Dean, ever the ladies’ man, agrees. Though, of course, Annie, as a hunter, has to make an obligatory stop at a haunted house–arriving to two bloody bodies of an adventure-seeking couple.
When her flashlight flickers, she does what any sensible hunter would do and pulls out some salt to defend herself.
Just kidding! She suddenly seems very lost and confused, so all we get is a dramatic close-up before the title sequence turns her into Schrödinger’s victim. The next thing we know, Sam and Dean are making small talk at the rendezvous restaurant. And by “small talk”, I mean they’re discussing Dick Roman, who’s apparently funding another archaeological dig–whatever that means. What’s he planning, huh? (My guess is he’s looking for the primordial hill.)
In any case, Annie isn’t showing up, which is very out of character for her, as we get informed. Oh, and by the way, she and Bobby had a “thing”.
And, uhh, so did her and Dean. And…and Sam, too.
Awkward…
So, anyways, Sam and Dean decide to find out where Annie’s gone while Bobby follows them around dejectedly, trying to rock flasks and move curtains in an attempt to alert the Winchesters to his ghostly presence, thus far unsuccessfully. Eyes are rolled and ‘idjits’ are uttered.
The Winchesters, sharp as ever, manage to find the house that Annie disappeared in. And in said house, invisible to their eyes, are dozens and dozens of stagnant ghosts. The brother’s EMF meter goes off like crazy, but instead of actually finding any spirits, they find Annie’s phone. Bobby, however, does find Annie. Which is not exactly a good sign, but she takes the news of her death fairly well, and begins discussing the case with Bobby. As far as she knows, the “big” ghost killed her.
Sam and Dean find a ghost message on Annie’s phone, and our ghostly hunter duo takes Telekinesis 101. (Ghosts in Supernatural–can sit on a couch, falls right through a chest. It’s a sad afterlife.) Bobby also has the shocking realization that if he stays in spirit limbo, he’s going to deteriorate into an empty shell of an empty shell, and be no use to Sam and Dean at all. (Though apparently that can be staved off for at least 80 years. It shouldn’t be anything to worry about…right?)
Speaking of our favorite Winchesters, they decide to split–and along with them goes Bobby’s flask. So Bobby flickers out in the middle of the only conversation in this episode that was getting somewhere, leaving Annie with a ghost named Victoria.
We get some explanation in the form of a museum visit, which Bobby constantly bemoans, having seen all of the people mentioned as ghosts in the house already. The house’s owner, Van Ness, died there, and hired a violent murderer as groundskeeper. How could it possibly go wrong?
Obligatory shower scene–so Bobby can use the steam to write stuff in the mirror, of course. But also, hey, you can’t really go wrong with naked Dean.
Through mirror talk, the Winchesters finally realize that Bobby is haunting them, and after a small ghost freakout, they hurry back to the Van Ness house. But not in time to save the two boys that were videotaping there, which, in a massive plot twist, get killed by Van Ness himself!! The groundskeeper was just trying to warn the guys, wow, don’t you feel bad now for stereotyping just because he was a big guy and a convicted murderer?
No?
Oh, okay.
In any case, Annie gets Victoria on her side, conspiring against Van Ness and grabbing the boy’s camera. They get out of the way in time to not get caught by the murder ghost, getting warned by a creaky floorboard. Apparently not even spirits can escape the curse of old flooring.
Our Winchesters show up, and Victoria tosses them the camera, which reveals to them that Annie is a ghost–so they stand in the middle of the room for a while calling her name for a bit. Victoria shows up instead and explains the situation, but bursts into flames before finishing! Luckily, Sam and Dean heard enough and run to burn the bad guy’s bones. Unluckily, the bad guy follows them to the graveyard. Oh no!! But he seems to be behaving himself, at least. You know, for a murderer.
Bobby and Annie do a little investigating of their own, and manage to find…a room full of corpses. Not usually what you’d consider a good thing, but hey, Supernatural.
Van Ness finally decides to take care of the brothers, appropriating the car’s steering wheel and trying to run them off the road at 80 mph. But the Winchesters
prevail, sending the ghost back to the house, and it’s a race to the corpse–Van Ness is now after Bobby and Annie, who’re trying to send his ghost pets to the after-afterlife (wherever that is). Will they make it??
Oh no, the dude gets Bobby! Whatever will we–oh. Sam and Dean burn the corpse halfway through the very shiny absorption process, and the town drunk is spared. And when they get back to the house…surprise! Bobby is now visible! We get a reunion that adds yet another mark against Dean’s early set “no chick-flick moments” rule.
Until, of course, we get Dean’s obligatory speech against any sort of supernatural creature. Natural order, this that–as if him and his brother aren’t walking contradictions to that rule.
Who says Team Free Will can’t include a ghost sidekick anyways?
Author of this post: Amelia Merritt