Two boys are running from someone and they run into a barn to hide. A boy their age walks in after them saying the barn isn’t allowed during hide and seek. One of the caretakers of the boys comes after them telling them it’s “lights out.” He gives them ‘til the count of ten to come out but as he starts counting it gets cold and his flashlight dies, sure signs that paranormal activity is about to take place. The tractor in the barn starts on its own and heads toward the man, running him over.
Sam is in the bunker looking for Dean and Kevin but he can’t find them so he settles down to read The Marvelous Land of Oz. Suddenly Dean’s phone begins to ring, and when Sam answers it the person on the other end is looking for someone named “D-Dog”. Dean comes in and takes the phone having a short conversation. Sam asks what the phone call was about and Dean tells Sam the story of when he was sent to a boy’s home for stealing food when they were younger. Sonny, the man who runs the place, needs help on a case.
The Winchester’s arrive at Sonny’s Home For Boys. A woman named Ruth goes to get Sonny for them while they wait inside. While waiting, Dean flashes back to when he was first brought to the home by a cop. Dean aggravates the cop and he leaves, which Sonny tells him he shouldn’t have done because he left with the key. Sonny takes the spare key to un-handcuff Dean and asks about bruises on Dean’s wrists which Dean says he got from a werewolf.
When Sonny comes to greet Sam and Dean he tells him about the tractor running over Jack, the caretaker. They split up, Dean checking out the barn and Sam checking out the house. Sam checks out Dean’s old bedroom and hears a voice coming from the next room. He goes to investigate to find Ruth praying. She was praying for the ghost that haunts the home to leave.
Dean enters the barn and immediately gets a hit with his EMF reader. He hears voices coming from further inside the barn and when he goes looking for them he finds a young boy fighting “monsters.” The boy introduces himself as Timmy and weakly shakes Dean’s hand. Dean teaches him how to shake hands properly and then asks him about Jack. Timmy tells Dean he and the other boys were playing in the barn when Jack had his accident and that all he remembers was that it got very cold.
Ruth tells Sam about the people who use to own the house, Howard and Doreen Wasserlauf, when Jack first worked on the farm. Howard thought Jack and Doreen were having an affair. Howard killed his wife but Jack got away. Howard went jail but died there a year ago. Dean and Sam go and dig up Howard’s body and salt and burn the bones thinking he’s the cause of the odd happenings at the house.
Ruth is taking a bath in the house and we see the lights flicker and a drop in temperature. The shower curtain falls down and suffocates her. Sonny hears the commotion and tries to go in and help her but the door won’t open.
Dean and Sam are at a restaurant Cus’s Place when Dean flashes back to when Sonny took him there. Sonny asks him about the occult symbols carved into his bed. Dean tells him it’s a family thing and he can’t talk about it. Sonny retorts with “same family that left you here.” Sonny tells him about the “family” that got him locked in a prison. The waitress shows up and it flashes back to the present where the same waitress, Robin, comes to help them. After a short conversation they leave and get a call from Sonny.
Sonny tells them about how he tried to save Ruth but he couldn’t get in the bathroom, even though there are no locks on any of the doors. He also tells them her rosary beads are missing. Dean interrogates two of the boys asking where they were, but they weren’t in the house. He asks if they’ve seen anything weird. They ask “beside Timmy?” Dean yells at them telling them if they touch him he’ll go “Guantanamo” on them. They run away and Dean turns to Timmy telling him to stand up to them and they’ll stop picking on him.
The two boys are doing their chores when something gets stuck in the mower, Ruth’s rosary beads. The one boy goes to pull them out and the mower starts back up and cuts the boys hand.
The boys needs stitches but will be fine. Sam asks if the boy was bullying Timmy before the accident. Sam pulls Timmy’s file that says he was found in an abandoned building about a year ago. No parents showed up and he kept running away from child services so Sonny took him in. Dean asks if it’s demon possession but EMF rules that out. Sam says it’s probably ghost possession.
Sam goes searching the barn and finds a room in the attic that Timmy plays in. He finds a drawing Timmy did of a car crash that caused a car to catch on fire.
Dean goes searching the house and runs into Robin. He flashes back to guitar lesson in past when she asks about his travels. He says his dad does it for work, his boring job, but he has to follow in his dad footsteps. He says he’d rather be a rock star or a mechanic. Robin leans in and kisses him.
Robin notices Dean standing there and he asks if she’s seen Timmy. She hasn’t but he should be there soon for his guitar lesson. Dean says they have to cancel that and they have to get out of there. She asks why and he says she just has to trust him. Robin asks why she would do that again, admitting that she does remember him. Dean said there were reasons he had to leave and he tries to get her out of the house but all the doors and windows lock. Timmy says he can’t stop it and he can’t control her.
Sam says it’s his mom causing everything and asks Timmy to tell them about the fire. Timmy tells about the car crash him and his mom got in. The car caught on fire and she pushed him out before the car exploded, with her in it. He ran to an abandoned building where he cried for his mom and she came to him. Timmy says his mom gave him that action figure and the mom appears when Sam asks it and shoves him. Dean snatches the action figure and burns it on the stove but they soon realize that it wasn’t what was anchoring her in the house; it was Timmy. The mom is protecting him from all threats, even though she can’t tell the difference between real and fake threats.
Robin tries to run away but Dean goes to stop her. They are ambushed by the mom who then moves on to Sam when he is trying to talk to Timmy. While she’s trying to kill Sam, Dean is convincing Timmy to get the mom to leave. Timmy tells his mom that she has to leave and that he’ll be ok without her. The mom’s burned skin vanishes and we see the mom as she was before her death smiling at Timmy. He says “Love you too,” before she vanishes.
Sonny and Dean say goodbye. Sam asks Dean how he knew that having Timmy tell his mom to leave would work. Dean says he just got lucky. Sam says Dean got lucky getting to be at this place. He asks why he left? Dean says it didn’t feel right and he couldn’t wait to get out.
Young Dean is getting ready for a school dance but Sonny comes in tells him that his dad is outside and Dean has to leave because he has a job. Dean is on the verge of tears as Sonny is telling him about how the place has given him a second chance and Sonny will fight for Dean to stay if that’s what he wants. He looks out the window when he hears the car horn and sees Sammy playing with a toy out the car window which makes him laugh. Dean thanks Sonny for everything and says he has to go.
Present Dean gets in the car, and Sam thanks him for always being there for him and that he knows it wasn’t always easy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dean says and they drive away.
Supernatural airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
Photo courtesy of The CW.