Supernatural Recap — Episode 9.05, "Dog Dean Afternoon."

This week featured another filler episode, but again, another great filler episode. I have been bemoaning the tendency of Supernatural nowadays to stick to the tried-and-true creatures; demons, angels, vampires every now and then, instead of following through with their previous reputation of showing some lesser-known (in the Western sphere, at least) folklore. And while “Dog Dean Afternoon” didn’t introduce a new type of adversary, it at least put a new twist on an old one.

Sam finds out a dude died in a mysterious manner and cajoles Dean into letting him hunt, despite Dean’s knowledge of Sam’s condition being…not great, and Dean not wanting Ezekiel to have to get involved. But, they show up to the scene, a taxidermy shop, and it turns out the only witness to the murder was the victim’s dog, the Colonel. So, dead end.

But, while they’re there, another murder happens, this time in an animal pound, and when the cops show up, all the cats are missing. Also, the only witness to this murder were the animals in the cages. One, being the Colonel. Dead end again? No, the Winchesters refuse to be beat. They call Kevin about a spell to talk to dogs, and Dean ends up ingesting the necessary ingredients and reciting the spell. But it turns out, it’s a two way road. Dean can talk to the dog…but Dean also ends up with some very dog-like traits, like yelling at the mailman and attempting to fetch things that Sam threw away. It’s pretty funny.

Anyways, with Dean’s newfound ability to actually talk to any animal, they go back to the pound and interrogate the animals. One dog, in exchange for a belly rub, gives Dean the info that the murderer had a bag that said “Avant-Garde Cuisine” on it, which turns out to be a restaurant in town. So, they go to that restaurant in the night and investigate the kitchen.

They find a book of spells that tells the reader how to gain animal’s powers through eating their organs, and also the organs of a bunch of animals. So they discover that the chef there is a witch who’s gaining these powers, and they wait around for him. But, of course, they split up to search the restaurant, and when the chef shows up, he attacks Sam first. But, “Sam” miraculously heals himself and the chef decides he wants that power, and knocks Sam out so he can eat him. Why can’t Ezekiel wake Sam up after this and kick the chef’s ass? Who knows. It’s not conducive to the plot, I guess.

Dean of course finds Sam on the floor and goes to attack the chef, who ties Dean up instead of killing him so he can give his villain speech, in which it turns out the chef actually has cancer and is trying to eat these organs to heal himself. But he’s also very obviously killing people who get in his way and doesn’t feel too bad about that. The chef decides to eat a wolf heart so he can kill Dean, but Dean escapes and runs outside, pursued by the chef…but then Dean whistles, and his entire pack of dog buddies come and viciously tear apart the chef. Yay.

In the end, they end up giving the Colonel to a loving family and Dean somehow convinces Sam to stop wondering about how he healed himself of a mortal wound in the middle of a fight. How miraculous.

Catch the next episode of Supernatural on the 12th at 9/8c, only on the CW!