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Supernatural Season 2 Episode 7

The Usual Suspects

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8.8

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/9/06

Sam and Dean investigate the murder of a lawyer and his wife, who claimed to have seen a ghost before they were killed. However, local authorities arrest the Winchesters after looking into their past.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (59)

Me likey likey!

9.5

By ZaleIsBackAgain, Nov 19, 2011

Still follows the same case of the week formula, but with a twist; for all the times Sam and Dean are committing illegal activities and posing as government authorities, this time they actually get caught and have to solve the case while being locked up. Really added a twist to the whole episode as we see the case unfold and see what went wrong. During the middle it slowly transforms into its usual break and enter investigations with co guest star, this time it's Linda Blair who plays a detective named Diana, whose acting was excellent. Although if you've been watching Supernatural regularly, you could have guessed what would happen next, but the unique twist in how the case was being unraveled, along with some excellent acting, is what really defined this episode.moreless
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The episode was dull.

7.1

By tvfem76, Mar 03, 2011

I like how they tried to tie this together with the Skin episode but this episode was not scary. It was just boring. This is not Law and Order forget the interrogations stick with the Supernatural element. Maybe this episode is due to Jared breaking his wrist. I hope that is the case. The death omen was not enough to make this episode even remotely interesting. Pairing Sam with Linda Blair for most of the episode made for a boring pairing. The best part of the episode was the end. I hope that next week's episode is better than this one.moreless
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Sam and Dean arrested.

8.5

By -xXx-aimz-xXx-, Jul 24, 2010

In this episode Sam and Dean are after a ghost that they think is a vengeful spirit but turns out to be a death omen. I thought the was Sam found out where the body was was too easy. I mean just because there was writing on her back. Dean and his sarcasim always make me laugh!

I liked the episode and was glad they got the bad guy! I also like the good cop being a female! And I was also really happy that she let them go but it's not like she could keep them and explain to everyone how they were involved in the case...moreless
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this was a good ep

9.0

By cube2k8, Jun 12, 2010

in this ep of the show supernatural dean and sam are investgating this case were a lawer and his wife were murderd but it seems they saw a ghost right before they died and they end up getting arrested for the things they did in there past this was a very interesting ep and it was intense with the killing that were happening and it was like redrum from the shining and i thought that was cool and that is why i gave it a 9 for being interesting and intense and relating back to cool things that happen to horror moviesmoreless
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Supernatural does their own version of "redrum."

9.1

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Apr 14, 2009

It's always an interesting concept when the writers of Supernatural make it so Sam and Dean are forced to face off against normal humans, and are aided by the supernatural beings. It happened before in Bloodlust, and once again, in this episode, we find a vengeful spirit who, despite being responsible for multiple deaths, ends up simply wanting justice for those who murdered her. It's something anybody could understand, especially those who have suffered tragedy at the hands of someone who gets away with something.

This episode was filled with plenty of twists and turns and enough of Dean's sarcasm to keep me satisfied. I feel like the introductions to the episodes are getting better and better, and the writers keep finding creative ways to make a storyline flow. I also love the fact they brought back the doppelganger storyline. I was always wondering how Dean was able to walk the streets across America and never get caught. It was also cool to see Linda Blair as Detective Ballard. Overall, this was a very solid episode.

The one thing I was confused about was how easily the case was solved. I'm not saying it should've been harder, but the fact that Pete was responsible for Claire's death didn't seem as realistic to me. It seemed like something that came out of nowhere, and the way his character was portrayed in the beginning made him out to be someone who was genuinely interested in getting the Winchester's to go down for the murders.

Either way, I really liked the episode. I want more of the yellow eyed demon though!moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Jared Padalecki	Sam Winchester
Jensen Ackles	Dean Winchester

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Linda Blair	Det. Diana Ballard	Guest Star
Jason Gedrick	Det. Peter Sheridan	Guest Star
Keegan Connor Tracy	Karen Giles	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (8)
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- "Occurrence" is misspelled "Occurrance" on the computer report that Ballard files, when "Dana Shulps" appears on her computer screen.
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- On the police report that Ballard files, it says that Anthony Giles' business address and phone number are the same as his home number. However, as is clearly shown earlier, he has a separate business office. In fact the business address is listed at the top of form under "Location of Occurrance." The Business Address field should match it.
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- When the detectives interrogate Sam and Dean, there is no lawyer present.
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- When Sam and Ballard are in the motel room, just before they are about to leave Sam is seen putting his arm into his jacket then having his jacket in his hand again.
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- When Sam and Ballard are in the place on Ashland Street, they move a shelf and they see 'Ashland Sup' on a window, and then follow it to where we see it shadowed on a wall. However, the wrong parts are shadowed. If the letters are solid, like they appear on the window, everything else around it would be lighted, not the letters, like they appear on the wall.
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- When Sam brings Dean coffee, Sam sits down and takes a sip of the drink. In the next scene the cup is no longer at his mouth but on the table.
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- When the female cop is reading Sam his file, Sam leans against the wall and crosses his arms, but in the next scene, he crosses his arms again.
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- Trivia: This is the first episode where Dean does not refer to Sam as Sammy.
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QUOTES (13)
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- Ballard: How did you get those? Those are from crime scenes and booking photos.
  Sam: You have your job, I have mine.
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- Dean: Pee break? So soon? I think you might wanna get your prostate checked.
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- Sam: Wow, I'd say we've officially crossed over into weird.
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- Ballard: Unless... I just happened to turn my back, you walked away, I could tell them the suspects escaped.
  Sam: Wait, are you sure?
  Dean: Yes, she's sure, Sam!
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- Sam: You know, I think this is bothering me.
  Ballard: Well, you are digging up a corpse.
  Sam: No, not that. See, it's pretty par for the course, actually.
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- Ballard: Sam, you seem like a good kid. It's not your fault Dean's your brother. We can't pick our family.
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- Krause: I'm with the public defenders office. I'm your lawyer.
  Dean: Oh, thank God. I'm saved.
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- Dean: What do you think, Scully, want to check it out?
  Sam: I'm not Scully, you're Scully.
  Dean: No, I'm Mulder. You're a red-headed woman.
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- Krause: Do you understand how serious these charges are?
  Dean: I'm handcuffed to a table. Yeah, I get it. Humor me.
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- Sheridan: Talk directly into the camera, start by stating your name for the record.
  Dean: My name is Dean Winchester. I'm an Aquarius, I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women.
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- Sheridan: We can pin the whole thing on him. No trial, nothing, just one more dead scum bag.
  Dean: Hey!
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- Sam: Anthony Gyles' body was found right about here. (reads) "Throat slit so deep, part of his spinal cord was visible."
  Dean: (whistles) What do you think? Vengeful spirit, underline "vengeful"?
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- Sam: I needed some time off. To deal. So, I'm taking a road trip with my brother.
  Ballard: How's that going for you?
  Sam: Great. I mean, we saw the second largest ball of twine in the continental U.S. Awesome.
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NOTES (3)
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- Dean's line "I could really go for some pea soup," which can be heard at the end of the episode, wasn't originally in the script. It was recorded during a looping section in the ADR van.
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- International Air Dates:
  Denmark: January 14, 2007 on TV3
  UK: March 18, 2007 on LIVING
  Portugal: April 23, 2007 on AXN
  France: October 1, 2007 on TF6
  Germany: February 4, 2008 on Premiere Serie
  Italy: July 22, 2008 on Rai2
  The Netherlands: January 18, 2009 on NET5
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- Linda Blair is credited as Special Guest Star.
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ALLUSIONS (10)
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- Title:
  Referencing the 1995 film The Usual Suspects, a mystery thriller with Stephen Baldwin and Kevin Spacey. As in this episode, much of the events are related in flashback as a detective interrogates a suspect in a police station.
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- Dean: ...I could really go for some pea soup.
  
  Referencing the 1973 movie The Exorcist, in which guest star Linda Blair starred as a young girl possessed by a demon. During her exorcism, she "puked" pea soup on the priest.
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- Dean: No, I'm Mulder. You're a red-headed woman.
  Dana Scully and Fox Mulder were the two main characters in the cult hit TV show, The X-Files. They were FBI agents who investigated the paranormal and the unexplained.
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- Dean: Time-Life: Mysteries of the Unknown. Look it up.
  Referencing the popular series of books released by Time-Life chronicling all manner of supernatural and unexplained phenomena, including scientific and psuedo-scientific theories.
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- Dean: I'm not joking, Ponch.
  Referring to the TV show CHiPS, which ran from 1977 to 1983, and followed two motorcycle officers. One of the main characters was Frank "Ponch" Poncherello.
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- Dean: Go to the first motel listed in the yellow pages. Look for Jim Rockford, that's how we find each other when we're separated.
  Referencing the TV series The Rockford Files, starring James Garner as private investigator Jim Rockford.
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- Dean: You remember "redrum."
  A reference to The Shining, the original 1977 Stephen King novel and the two subsequent movie adaptations. In it the boy Danny tries to write out the word "murder" but scrambles it as "redrum."
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- Dean: You know, Casper the Bloodthirsty Ghost.
  Referencing the child-ghost created by Joe Oriolo and Seymour Reit in the early 40s. He appeared in early animated films and then was sold to Harvey Comics where he has enjoyed a long career. He has had several TV shows and live-action movies.
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- Dean: Thanks for the law review, Matlock.
  Referencing the long-running TV series Matlock (1986) starring Andy Griffith as a wiley Southern defense attorney.
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- Dean: Well, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
  A reference to Stanley Kubrick's movie adaptations of The Shining. One of the supernatural occurrences has these words appearing over and over again in various forms, just as the words Dana Shulps do here.
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