The scene opens as usual, showing us the innocent bystander who is about to be the first unlucky victim of this week’s episode. This time it’s a taxidermist setting up his rodent style Game of Thrones display. Something grabs the dog’s attention and the taxidermist goes to see what he is barking at. He finds nothing and returns to his work when he is attacked by a man in a cowboy hat with snake tongue that breaks the taxidermist in half.
Dean and Sam are in the bunker and pull up the article on the crushed taxidermist calling him a “human pretzel.” Sam convinces Dean they should go check it out even though Dean wants his brother to stay at the bunker and relax so he can heal more quickly.
The Winchesters arrive at the taxidermist’s office and see “DIE SCUM” written on the side of building with a paw print symbol cut into the spray paint. Dean talks to the guy that discovered the body while Sam checks out the rest of the scene. They discover the only thing missing was the entrails of the dead animals from the weekend and they find no signs of witchcraft or other evil spirits.
Sam does what he does best and researches the symbol they found at the scene. It leads them to an animal rights group called S.N.A.R.T. (Showing No Animal Rough Treatment). The founders of the group own a vegan bakery so they go there to talk to the proprietors of the shop.
The two are animal advocates who spray painted the death threat on the taxidermy building. They heard a hissing noise when tagging the place and were attacked by someone with mace. Sam researched the effects that attack had on their eyes which was actually caused by venom not by mace. Dean says they should call Kevin to look up what kind of monster they could be dealing with.
At the ENID animal shelter, cowboy hat man slips money to front desk guy and walks in the backroom and takes all the cats. The final one he eats, which causes him to grow claws. The front desk guy goes to check out the noise coming from the back room and is murdered by the man in the hat.
The Winchesters arrive at the animal shelter scene and see the dog from the taxidermy scene. Dean uses silver to check and make sure the dog is not a skinwalker or shapshifter. Sam calls Kevin to find a spell to speak to the dog to see what he witnessed at both crime scenes. Sam concocts a potion to make it so they can read the dog, who is named The Colonel, thoughts. Dean drinks the concoction and says the spell but nothing happens. Though later on while they’re eating he suddenly hears the dog say “change the station” and they argue about classic rock. The dog tells Dean that a guy in a cowboy hat killed his owner and the cats. Because of the potion Dean starts to act like a dog; trying to play fetch and by barking at a mailman.
They find out the spell can cause Dean to exhibit some animal behavior from mind melding with the dog. Kevin doesn’t know how long the effects will last but Dean finds out he can hear all animals after a pigeon craps on his car and he argues with it. They drive back to the animal shelter and Sam tells Dean they should just leave the dog in the car since all the windows are open but Dean refuses and takes the dog in the building with him. On the way into the building Dean checks out a poodle.
Dean interrogates all the animals about the man in the cowboy hat. One dog says he saw everything that happened but wants a belly rub in return from Sam. He tells them the sack the man had had something written on it. It said “Advant-Garde Cuisine.” Before he leaves Dean frees all the dogs.
Sam and Dean break into the restaurant and check one of the offices and find a lot of pills in one of the desks. Dean then hears little kids voices in the office coming from the rat cage who tell him to look in the fridge. Inside Dean finds animal organs and Sam finds a spell book that says if you eat an animal organ you can take on qualities of that animal for a period of time.
The boys pretend to be health inspectors and tell the workers there to leave and they go in search of the head chef. The chef ate a chameleon to blend into the wall and ambushes Sam and scratches him. Ezekiel takes over his body momentarily to heal his scratched neck. He then gives Sam back control of his body but the chef knocks him out saying “you’re my main course” intrigued by how quickly he healed himself.
Dean finds the chef in the kitchen and tries to shoot him but he avoids it and the two fight. The chef ties Dean to a pole and goes back to preparing to eat Sam. Dean figures out that the chef has cancer, which the chef admits too. He used the organs to keep his cancer at bay. Dean keeps the chef talking while he continues to try to cut the ties. Meanwhile the chef says a spell and eats a wolf heart so he can kill Dean. Dean breaks free of his chains and leads him out to the parking lot where a whole pack of dogs are waiting to attack the chef.
The dogs kill the chef and Dean goes back to the kitchen to rouse Sam. Dean takes The Colonel to the vegan bakers to let them adopt the dog. Because Dean is an “honorary dog” the Colonel wants to tell Dean why dogs are really there but the spell wears off before he can tell Dean the secret.
Sam wants to know why the chef asked what Sam was when he attacked him in the kitchen but Dean explains it away as the chef being crazy from eating all the animal organs. Sam is still accepting the lies fed to him by his big brother. How long can Dean keep up the charade of what is inside Sam?
Supernatural airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
Photo courtesy of The CW.