County Cork, Ireland – 30 Years Ago
A man, Padraic, puts a record on the player and listens. His wife Maura comes in and asks what he's doing, and Padraic insists that their baby loves the song. Padraic reminds his wife that it's their song, and he says that he's crying. The baby screams and something screeches that only Padraic can hear. He clutches at his head and his eyes start to bleed. Maura runs out to the kitchen and mixes several ingredients together. Meanwhile, a ghostly female figure--a banshee--appears in the main room and flies at Padraic, who slams his head against the wall until he passes out. The banshee floats over to him, and Maura comes out with a bowl and yells at the banshee to get away from her husband. It knocks her across the room with a gesture, and then lunges at the baby. Maura cuts her hand with a shard of glass and supplies the final ingredient to her mixture. The banshee disappears and the badly injured Maura crawls over to her baby and says it will be okay before she dies.
Now
In the bunker, Sam tries to sleep and remembers what Lucifer told him about not being strong enough to defeat Amara. He finally goes out to check his weapons, and Dean finds him there. Dean points out that Sam hasn't left the bunker in days, and says that he's found them a case. A retiree, Harold Miller, was found in the room at his retirement home with his head bashed in. His doors were locked from the inside and there were no signs of forced entry. Sam wonders about the Darkness and points out that they haven't heard from Castiel, and Dean figures that the angel will be fine.
Lucifer, possessing Castiel, is feeding gulls at a pond and watching children play. A nervous angel, Nithael, sits down nearby, and Lucifer casually walks down a nearby nature trail. Nithael follows him, drawing his angel-killing dagger, and advances on Lucifer from behind. Lucifer turns to face him and says that he saw him earlier, and insists that he's their only hope of killing the Darkness. He assures Nithael that he doesn't need to be afraid and is there to save them all. Nithael insists that the Darkness can't be destroyed and lunges, and Lucifer disintegrates him with a snap of his fingers.
Sam and Dean drive to the retirement home in Oak Park, and the manager--Arthur--says he heard Harold yelling to get "it" out of his hand. Sam checks the room and checks for EMT, while Arthur tells dean that nobody was in or out of Harold's room all day. A resident, Mildred Baker, comes by and smiles at Dean. Once she leaves, Arthur tells Dean that he's been working left because his wife left him. He wishes that she'd call him back, and Dean asks if Arthur has noticed any strange sounds, smells, or cold spots. When Dean asks about enemies, Arthur admits that Harold had quite a few.
Sam continues checking Harold's suite and finds several bottles of Viagra. Back at their motel, Sam shows the bottles to Dean and says that Harold was stealing them from the other residents. He got EMT all around the place but not in Harold's room. Arthur has given Dean the files on the residents, and one of them shows a complaint that resident Jake Townsend filed against Harold for stealing and cashing his pension checks. After Jake died, the case got caught up in the courts and never went to trial. The brothers figure that Jake stuck around as a vengeful spirit and dig up Jake's grave that night. Dean takes a break and talks about the possibility of them retiring. He figures that Sam anticipates them dying again, and Sam says that being close to Lucifer brought stuff up that he thought he forgot about. Dean assures him that Lucifer is sealed away, and they salt and burn Jake's bones.
At the retirement home, Arthur is talking with Mildred when he hears a high-pitched screeching noise in his head. Mildred doesn't hear it, and the lights flicker. He stares as the banshee advances down the hallway, but Mildred doesn't see it. Arthur's ears and eyes start bleeding, and he slams his head into the window and then breaks through, falling to his death. Mildred looks down and sees the banshee feeding on Arthur's head. It looks up at Mildred, who screams in terror.
The next day, Sam and Dean return to the retirement home. Mildred describes what happened and what she saw, and says that she saw a ghost ten years ago. Dean says that she believes her, and Mildred takes his hand. Meanwhile, Sam notices a cleaner. Dean pulls his hand away, and Mildred describes the banshee that she saw. Sam excuses himself and goes over to the cleaner, Marlene. She's deaf, and she says that she wasn't working the previous night or the night that Harold died. Sam tries to sign back and Marlene appreciates him trying.
Sam goes back to Dean and they figure that they're not dealing with a ghost. Marlene watches them and reads Dean's lips as he talks about stopping the banshee before its next feeding.
The brothers call the coroner and confirm that part of Harold's frontal lobe was missing. There are malevolent banshees that drive their victims crazy. The victims break open their heads and the banshees feed on the brains. Only the victims can hear the banshees' screams, and the banshees prey on the vulnerable. Banshees hunt a place until it's cleaned out, and can be killed with a gold blade. Dean heads back to the bunker to get a gold blade and Marlene watches him go.
At the bunker, Dean hears someone moving. He investigates and finds "Castiel" in the room. Lucifer pretends to be Castiel and says that he's looking for a spell to draw Amara out. He says that he had Amara in his sites and should have ended it, and Dean admits that actually striking is difficult. Lucifer wonders what he means, and Dean says that he's had two chances to kill Amara and couldn't do it. Intrigued, Lucifer asks for more details.
Sam goes to Mildred's suite and notices a poster of her on the wall showing her as a singer. He explains that he and Dean are brothers that hunt monsters, and Mildred says that they're too cute to be FBI agents. Sam shows her a picture of the banshee, and Mildred confirms that's what she saw. He points out that Mildred has an atrial fibrillation and she's vulnerable, and promises to protect her. Since the banshees only hunt at night, Sam assures Mildred that she's safe for now and tells her to get some rest until they come back that night. As he goes, Sam asks Mildred about Marlene. Mildred says that Marlene is a staff member but on vacation.
Marlene is in the hallway and Sam spots her. she abandons her cart and goes into a laundry room, and Sam goes in after her and finds a sigil inscribed on a cabinet. Marlene cuts her hand with a gold blade and slaps her hand on another sigil, trapping Sam against the first one. She figures that he's a banshee and advances on him, Sam insists that he and Dean are hunters. He lets Marlene cut him and nothing happens, and she breaks the sigil trap. Sam introduces himself and "Marlene" says that her real name is Eileen Leahy. The banshee they're hunting killed her parents, Padraic and Maura, and drove her deaf from its scream. A hunter, Lillian Leahy, found Eileen in her crib and saved her. She then trained Marlene as a hunter and died of cancer, and Eileen has been on her own ever since. Maura's father was part of a secret organization, the Men of Letters, and Sam explains that he and Dean are legacies like Eileen.
After Dean tells Lucifer what happened, Lucifer suspects that there's an attraction between Dean and Amara. Dean admits that he connection scares him and he doesn't know if he can resist it, and Lucifer promises that they'll find it out and may be able to use it to draw Amara out. Sam calls Dean from Mildred's room and has him look up Edward Durbin II in the Men of Letters files. Dean does so and confirms that the banshee they're hunting is the same one that killed Eileen's parents. Sam figures that they can use Eileen's spell to trap the banshee when it comes for Mildred. They don't like using Mildred as bait but figure that they don't have a choice. Once Dean hangs up, he makes Lucifer promise not to tell Sam what he said. Lucifer assures dean that the next time he faces Amara, he won't be alone.
At the retirement home, Sam paints the sigil in Mildred's suite. He and Eileen settle in to wait, and Sam warns Eileen that revenge won't bring her parents back. She says that she never met them and shows Sam a photo of her parents, and admits she has no idea what she'll do once she gets her revenge. Sam talks about how he and Dean have been hunting ever since he was at Stanford, and Dean has had his back even when he let Dean down.
Dean comes in and gives Sam a golden blade. Mildred comes in and is pleased to see Dean, and takes Dean to show him something in the next room. She has him sit down and shows him the view of the sunset, and tells Dean that he's gorgeous. Mildred asks him when he last watched a sunset without waiting for a monster, and tells him to try it sometime. She wonders if they can rally kill the banshee with the sigil, and Dean gives her a gold blade and assures her that everything will be fine. He asks what she did before she retired, and Mildred says that she was in a Patsy Cline tribute band. She doesn't miss life on the road, and says that the secret to a long and happy life is following one's heart.
Dean hears a scream but Mildred doesn't, and Dean call to Sam as the lights flicker. The banshee arrives and then disappears only to appear behind Eileen. It knocks her across the room and Sam manages to slash it before it knocks him into the next room. Dean starts banging his head on the wall, and Mildred tries to stop him. As the banshee advances on Dean, Eileen gestures to Mildred and then the sigil. She cuts her wrist and traps the banshee, and Eileen stabs it to death. Sam and Mildred make sure that Dean is okay, and Sam signs "thank you" to Eileen.
The next day, Eileen tells Sam that it just felt like another kill, and nothing will bring her parents back. She says that she's going to continue hunting, and Sam tells her to drop him a line if she needs anything or just wants to hang out. Meanwhile, Dean and Mildred say their goodbyes, and Mildred figures that it wouldn't have worked out between them because Dean is pining for someone else. She tells him to follow his heart, and Dean says that he might come back for Mildred. Mildred and Eileen watch them walk away.
Back at the bunker, Dean confirms that Lucifer is gone. He says that there was a little off about the angel, and Sam points out that there's always something off about their friend. Sam then says that Dean was right and getting back on the job was what he needed. He explains about how Lucifer showed him his biggest failures, and admits that he should have looked for Dean when his older brother was in Purgatory. Sam has never forgiven himself for stopping, and Dean says that he has. He tells Sam that all that matters is that they're together. As Sam goes, he wonders why the banshee went after Dean when the creatures target the vulnerable. Dean says that it acted out of self defense
Sam goes back to his room and puts a flyer for Oak Park in with his other mementoes.
Dean goes to his room and tries to sleep.
Sam lies down and dozes off.
Dean can't sleep, and stares off into the night.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 28, 2016