‘Supernatural’ Episode 16 Recap: Sam and Dean Revisit Their Childhood, Billie Pops In
After Castiel learned of Billie’s plan for Jack in episode 15 of Supernatural, he shared it with Dean. The question is whether he’ll tell Sam or keep it a secret until the last minute. With Earth’s clock winding down and Jack’s mission dangling above their heads, it’s anyone’s guess.
Rolling into episode 16, “Drag Me Away,” the Winchesters know they’ve gotten through to Amara but what’s next? Things are put on pause for a moment as they revisit their past in this one.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Supernatural Season 15, episode 16]
A death calls Sam and Dean to their past
A man named Travis Johnson pulls up to the Rooster’s Sunrise Motel with a reservation. He nervously takes the key for the room number he requested: 214. He takes a deep breath, sits, and takes a sip of liquor. He receives a text from a Caitlyn but ignores it. Travis utters to himself, “It wasn’t real.”
A little boy’s ghost steps out of the wardrobe and kills him with a broken bottle. Dean and Sam know the guy from their childhood and are driving back to the town. They discuss Jack and Cass but Dean doesn’t tell Sam about the secret.
A flashback shows Sam and Dean at the motel as young teens. They’re in the hunting world but Sam has a college study guide on him. Dean teases him and tells him he’ll never get in. In the room, teen Sam sulks and looks at his weapons.
Teen Dean is at the vending machine when he’s approached by two kids: Caitlyn and Travis. Their mom cleans the motel. Dean bonds with Caitlyn.
Adult Dean and Sam meet Caitlyn at a local diner. She explains Travis had a hard life but she finally convinced him to go to therapy. Things went left after his doctor forced him to face an event from the past that involved room 214. Caitlyn reveals she lured the Winchesters there because she believes “she’s back.”
A flashback shows a woman entity grabbing Travis through the vending machine. Young Dean and Caitlyn arrive and find him shaken.
The Winchesters investigate
Flash forward. Sam and Dean sweep the room and can’t find any irregular activity.
Back in time, the Winchesters call their Dad for help but he can’t come. They explain to the siblings monsters are real and they’re hunters. They ask for weird occurrences and learn children have been going missing in the town.
Dean doesn’t believe the monster returned, but Caitlyn does. He said he killed it and a flashback scene shows how the kids tracked it down to an abandoned cannery. Dean insisted on going alone Caitlyn sneaks herself on the hunt. He freaks out after finding something traumatic and they hurry back.
While they search the place, kiddie Sam and Travis are at the motel playing Boggle. The game is spelling out words about killing and death and the entity attacks the boys. Dean runs in stabs her and she dissolves into dust, and a ruby ring shines on the floor.
The scene flips to adult Dean walking down the motel hall and a young, scary Dean approaches him and tells him he failed. A blade appears in his hand and Dean drops to his knees, about to stab himself. Sam appears around the corner and snaps Dean out of it. The monster is back.
They regroup at a bar with Caitlyn. They realize it knows how to take anyone’s form. Dean shares that he found its nest when they were teens and there were kids’ bodies in it. Sam and Caitlyn leave to research.
Billie shows up with a stern warning
Billie pulls up on Dean at the diner and scolds him about working a case. She warns that Chuck just burned through one last world, and theirs is the only one left.
He verbally spars with her about Jack being a weapon. Billie says it’s the last time they’ll see her because it’s how Chuck’s book is written. She tells him to clean up any loose ends and make sure Sam is on board. It’s tense.
Sam and Caitlyn find lore for Baba Yaga, the hag witch. They figure out she has a connection to the ruby ring that the Johnsons’ mother found in a vacuum. Travis used it as a lucky charm.
Caitlyn rambles and wanders out to the car alone to look for it in Travis’ belongings. It’s missing because the ghostly Baba Yaga/Travis has it. The spirit attacks Caitlyn.
Dean returns from the diner and finds Sam panicking. They split up to look for Baba Yaga’s nest. Dean finds it in 214 and the door slams behind him. He’s in an illusion of the cannery and the monster attacks him.
As he’s trying to fight her off, Sam bursts in and stabs her in the back. She throws him across the room and strangles Dean but he rips off her ring and knocks her off of him. He crushes the ring with his gun and she burns up.
In a last flashback, teen Sam and Dean make up. Grownup Sam and Dean are in the car. On the ride home, Dean confesses to Sam that Cass won’t be answering the phone. He tells him about Billie and her plan for Jack. Sam is upset and they get into an argument about the way things have to be.
