Houses of the Holy (Supernatural)
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| “Houses of the Holy” | |
|---|---|
| Supernatural episode | |
 Sam and Dean investigating the cellar of a victim. |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 13 |
| Guest stars | Dennis Arndt (Father Reynolds) |
| Written by | Sera Gamble |
| Directed by | Kim Manners |
| Production no. | 3T5513 |
| Original airdate | February 2, 2007 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Nightshifter" | "Born Under a Bad Sign" |
| List of Supernatural episodes | |
"Houses of the Holy" is episode thirteen of the second season of the television series Supernatural. It is also known as "Touched".
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
In this episode that bears the title of a Led Zeppelin song, Sam and Dean investigate murders carried out in the name of religion in Providence, Rhode Island. The perpetrators are from the seedier side of life - a prostitute and an alcoholic - who are suffering from extreme depression. They are instructed and their targets chosen for them by a bright glowing figure which they believe to be an angel. They commit the murders cheerfully, fully trusting that they are being offered redemption by carrying out God's will.
Sam interviews Gloria, the prostitute killer, who says that the man she stabbed was "guilty to his deepest foundations". Dean, after his bank robbery related overexposure in the previous episode, is laying low in the brothers' burlesque themed motel room. Bored stiff, he is discovering the intimate thrills vended by his vibrating bed. Sam returns with Gloria's angelic tale but Dean is profoundly skeptical. Sam, on the other hand, is willing to give Gloria the benefit of the doubt. They sleuth around the house of Gloria's victim and find a skeleton buried in the cellar, leaving them to speculate that Gloria's "angel" is knowingly targeting the truly evil. Soon, another stabbing victim turns up. The deceased is a pedophile who is executed just before he can harm a young girl. The Winchesters make the connection that all the victims and killers are parishioners of the local Catholic church.
Sam and Dean meet Father Reynolds, the priest-in-charge at the parish church. They find out that the murders started after another priest, Father Thomas Gregory, was fatally shot during an unrelated robbery two months earlier. Dean believes that the "angel" is Father Gregory's restless spirit but Sam still wants to believe that it is a heavenly avenger. Sam, while inspecting the tomb of the murdered priest, meets the "angel" for himself and is given a mission in the form of a person to slay in return for "redemption". The younger Winchester, who prays daily, is deeply moved by this vision, which he sees as the spiritual solution to the internal turmoil he is experiencing over his own potentially evil destiny.
While purchasing supplies (upsidedown Spongebob placemat for altar cloth) for a séance to get conclusive proof of the real nature of the "angel", Sam spots his target who is back lit by a glowing luminous light. To prevent his brother from using violence in his dubious quest, Dean orders Sam to conduct the séance while he follows the target in the Impala. Dean, trailing the target, becomes convinced the man is not doing anything wrong; that he is merely on a date after Dean sees him giving flowers to a young lady. She gets into the target's car and they drive off, with Dean in pursuit. However, Dean loses sight of them after they turn a corner and seemingly vanish.
Sam is in the middle of the summoning ritual at the church's crypt when Father Reynolds walks in and questions his odd behavior. As the priest is escorting Sam out of the room, Father Gregory's ghost appears, just as he did to Sam and the killers. The spirit justifies his actions, based on the false belief that he has transformed into an angel and has received the word of God. He rationalizes that he is leading the lost back to the path by giving hope and redemption to them to carry out God's will.
Father Reynolds reasons with Gregory that "men cannot be angels" and that misguiding the innocent to attack others is not what they are meant to do. Murdering people, no matter how evil they are, is vengeance and goes against God's true will in the commandment of "thou shall not kill". Father Reynolds wants to give the dead priest his Last Rites so that Gregory's spirit may be at rest. Gregory seems unconvinced and scared until Reynolds begins reciting the Rite. Gregory starts to disappear and then kneels to accept that he is not an angel, but a spirit. He then fades away in a bright light, gone apparently to the after-life.
Meanwhile, Sam's target stops in a deserted street and the woman with him becomes uneasy. He leans over and kisses her forcefully. She pulls back, trying to get him to stop but he slaps her. He then begs for her forgiveness but when she attempts to open the door to leave, he locks her in. Getting angrier, he takes out a knife and threatens her.
While the two are struggling, Dean arrives. He smashes the target's window and pulls him off the woman before knocking him out on the steering wheel. Dean unlocks the doors so that the woman can escape and asks her to call 911. The man wakes and drives off. With the older Winchester giving chase, the target flees frantically through the streets. At an intersection, a pickup truck carrying long metal pipes swerves to avoid a collision with a third car. One of the pipes escapes its straps and pierces the target's windshield with great force, impaling him through the chest and killing him. Dean is speechless, awe-struck by the uncanny timing and the unambiguous message of bloody retribution.
The brothers debrief each other over Dean's whiskey flask. Sam acknowledges that his judgment was clouded as he had clung to the hope that there is a higher power that might deliver him from his fate while the dramatic comeuppance he witnessed in the target's death has so shaken Dean that he thinks he saw God's will at work. Whether Dean is saying this to denote a new level of faith or simply to bolster his younger brother's belief is unclear.
[edit] Trivia
The episode's name was changed to "Touched" when made available for purchase on the iTunes online store.
[edit] Featured music
[edit] External links
| S U P E R N A T U R A L | |
|---|---|
| Main | |
| Episode Guide | |
| Main Characters | |
| Dean | Sam | |
| Secondary Characters | |
|
Ash | Bobby | Ellen | Gordon | Jo | John | Mary | Meg | Missouri | The Demon |
|
| Show Specific Elements | |
| The Colt | The Impala | Harvelle’s Roadhouse | Singer Salvage Yard | |
| Official Site | |
| Official CW Supernatural page | |
