On Valentine's Day in Hudson, Ohio, Dan and Melissa Harper are preparing to go out. They kiss and the doorbell rings. Melissa complains that the babysitter, Staci Altman, is going to wake up their daughter Teagan. Dan answers the door and Staci apologizes for ringing the bell. Once Staci confirms that they're alone, she kisses Dan and then asks if he's going to tell Melissa that he's going to leave her. Dan points out that it's Valentine's Day and it would be heartless to break up with his wife. Staci is tired of waiting, and Dan points out that he can't uproot his entire life on short notice.
As Staci starts to threaten Dan, Melissa comes in. The couple leaves and Staci make a snack... unaware that someone is watching her through the window. She sits down and flips through the channels, and the man watching her comes in and puts his hands on her shoulders. Staci turns, startled, and then realizes who it is. The man massages Staci's shoulders and then punches his hand through her chest, pulling out her heart.
The next morning at the bunker, Sam is reviewing an Internet story on Staci's death. Dean comes in and Sam notices the hickey on his neck. His brother points out that it was Valentine Day and he was entertaining the ladies. Sam shows Dean the case, and Dean is intrigued enough to check it out... once he takes a shower.
The brothers drive to Hudson and talk to Dan. He tells them what happened and how they found Staci in a pool of blood when they came back. Melissa insists that nobody would want to hurt Staci, and Dan says that anyone who met her fell in love with her. Sam wonders if anything was stolen, and Melissa says that the nanny cam in the living room disappeared. Outside, the Winchesters agree that Dan was acting strangely. Dean goes to talk to Dan privately at his office while Sam goes to the morgue to check the body. At the morgue, the coroner tells Sam that Staci was conscious when her heart was ripped out. She admits that she's never seen a death like Staci's, and Sam takes a photo of it.
Dan is at his office looking at Staci's Facebook page when his secretary Gladys brings Dean in. The husband quickly turns off his computer, and Dean says that needs him to be straight with him. He figures that Dan was having an affair with Staci, and threatens to talk to Melissa if Dan isn't forthcoming. Dan finally says that he can't be straight with him because it's too weird. Dean says that he'll believe him, and Dan takes out the nanny cam. He admits that he was having an affair with Staci, and took the nanny cam because Staci kissed him in front of it. Dan plugs the flash drive into the computer and says that he was going to erase it until he saw what was on it. He shows Dean the footage, which shows Dan killing Staci and then walking out. Dan insists that it wasn't him and that he was with Melissa the entire time. Dean says that he believes him and takes the flash drive, and tells Dan to keep a lid on it for the time being.
Dean returns to the brothers' motel room and shows Sam the footage. They figure that it's a shapeshifter.
Gladys leaves for the night and checks in with Dan. She suggests that he go home to his family, and he says that he'll be fine. Gladys goes to the elevator and the doors open…z and a woman shoves past her. The woman goes to Dan's office and he looks up... and is surprised to discover that it's Staci. She says that she wants Dan to give her his heart, corners him, and rips out his heart.
The next morning, the Winchesters arrive at the office and talk with Gladys. She describes the girl who walked past her, and Sam shows her a photo of Staci. Once Gladys confirms that it's Staci, they figure that Melissa is the shapeshifter. They go to the Harper house and Melissa says that Teagan is with her mother. Sam asks her if she knew Dan was having an affair with Staci, and Melissa admits that she did. However, she insists that she still loved Dan and thought that they had a chance. Dan hands her a silver pen and has her write down her number, and she does it without flinching. Outside, Dean says that he's going to drop Sam out and hit the bars, and see if he can get lucky again.
Once the brothers leave, Melissa runs to a closet and takes out a box filled with hex tokens. She feeds them into the garbage disposal and then calls someone and leaves a message that something went wrong. Later, Melissa looks at the living room couch where Staci died and drinks some wine. There's a knock at the front door, and Melissa peers out the peephole. It's Dan, who asks Melissa to let him in. She backs away, shocked, and "Dan" punches through the door and lets himself in. He advances on her and she stumbles back into the kitchen and runs out the patio door.
Sam is running the lore at the motel when Dean returns. As they talk, Melissa pounds on the door. Dean lets her in and she locks the door behind her. She tells the Winchesters that Dan tried to kill her and it's all her fault. Melissa insists that she loved Dan a little too much, so she got some advice from her hairdresser about the affair. The hairdresser calls herself a white witch and gave Melissa a return-to-love spell. Melissa gives them a copy of the spell, and Sam looks it up. He finally discovers that it's an Aramaic curse, not a spell. It translates as "kiss of death," and there's no lore on it. Dean remembers that Dan kissed Staci, so the curse is transmittable. Sam assures Melissa that it's all on the witch, and Dean wonders why Staci died first but was kissed second. They figure that the person is safe if they pass the kiss on, but if the person dies then the curse comes back to the original curse.
The Winchesters promise that they won't let Melissa die... just as Dan bursts in through the window. He shoves aside and shrugs off the silver bullets when Dean shoots him. Realizing that he doesn't have a choice, dean kisses Melissa and Sam knocks Dan down with a chair. They run to the Impala and drive off.
The Winchesters finally pull over and Sam insists that Dean doesn't have to be the martyr. Dean says that he'll be fine as he gets weapons from the trunk, and they tell Melissa that they're hunters. Melissa says that the white witch is Sonja and has no idea where she lives. Sonja gave her the spell in the basement of her salon.
The brothers drive to the salon and have Melissa lock herself in the Impala. They give her a knife in case Sonja shows up, and remind her that Sonja killed Dan. Inside, the Winchesters check the basement and find a cabinet with witch supplies. There's a book there and Sam finds a reference to a Qareen. It takes the form of the victim's deepest desire, and they have to kill it by stabbing it in the heart. The person who possesses the Qareen's heart controls it, which means Sonja has the creature's heart.
Sam goes upstairs to look for the heart and finds a case in a drawer. He opens it and fids the heart inside, just as Sonja comes in and pins him to a chair with a spell.
Dean is checking the basement and hears someone come in. It's Amara, and she says that she feels the same longing in his heart that he does. Dean realizes that it's the Qareen and starts to walk toward his knife. The Qareen moves to block him and he says that he knows what it is.
Sonja puts the heart back in the case and figures that she's a hunter. She admits that she's punishing men who get away with it.
The Qareen asks Dean who he is, and says that she can see inside of his heart. His love is cloaked in shame, and tells him not to fight what he feels for her form.
Sonja says that hundreds of heartbroken women come to her but they never learn. Now her curse not only punishes the cheaters but the women who want them back. The witch tells Sam that he's next.
Dean says that the Qareen is nothing but a cheap imitation of Amara. He blocks her first punch with a panel.
Sonja casts a spell on Sam, choking him. Melissa comes in with the knife and breaks Sonja's concentration as she tells him to stop.
Dean manages to get to his knife, but the Qareen catches his wrist as he tries to stab her.
When Melissa tells Sonja to stop, Sam manages to grab his gun and shoots the witch dead. He then stabs the Qareen's heart just as it tries to punch Dean in the chest. It stops and then disappears, screaming. Sam comes down and Dean says that he's fine.
The next morning, the Winchesters are at the motel packing. Sam asks Dean what form the Qareen took, and Dean finally admits that it looked like Amara. Dean is surprised when Sam isn't surprised, and insists that Amara can't be his deepest darkest desire. Sam tells him that he never had a choice in the matter because Amara is the sister of God. He's not going to blame or judge Dean, and doesn't see any pint in beating Dean up over something he can't control. Sam asks how bad it is, and Dean says that he wants to kill Amara then and there... but he can't do it when he's near her. He insists that it isn't desire or love, but figures that he's screwed because he doesn't think he can kill the Darkness. Sam says that he's got it, and the brothers drive off.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 11, 2016