After the more light-hearted fare of last week’s Ghostfacers, we return to the issue most at stake for the Winchesters: finding a way to get Dean out of his deal. But this wasn’t a myth-arc centric episode, no, this was a classic episode where the main plot was intertwined with the family issues that raise Supernatural above the typical monster-of-the-week show.

This week’s teaser starts out with a situation that seems fairly commonplace -- the phone won’t stop ringing. But unlike most situations when it’s a simply an annoying telemarketer, these phone calls involve a spirit that drives a man to suicide.

When we meet up with the Winchesters, Dean is agreeing to take the case that Bobby has dug up in Ohio. But Sam’s not so eager. He tells Dean that they already have a case -- Dean’s. Less than two months now until Dean’s deal runs out and we find out that the Winchesters have been going to every ‘witch, soothsayer and two-bit carny act we can find in the lower 48,’ none who know anything that could help break the deal Dean’s made.

Sam wants to summon Ruby but Dean finally lets him in on the secret that he’s kept since episode nine, that Ruby can’t save him either. Sam’s angry that Dean kept that knowledge to himself but as Dean points out, Sam hasn’t exactly been Mr. Forthcoming himself in regards to secrets. The strain between the boys is easy to pick up on, with the normal snappy banter having a bit of rougher edge. This is the first conversation of many in the episode where you can tell it’s getting to them. And I’m betting it’ll only get worse as the countdown to Dean’s last day begins.

Milan, Ohio. The Winchesters do their usual impersonating-police-officers-slash-other-false-identities, finding out a lot of weird phone calls were made to the house we saw in the teaser. The dead man’s wife lets us in on the fact that when she listened to her husband’s phone calls, no one was on the other line. It turns out that the man was talking to his dead high school sweetheart. Also interesting? The number calling was one that hasn’t been in use for more than a hundred years.

A quick trip to the phone company reveals that 10 other houses have had phone calls from the same number. Heh, and bustyasianbeauties.com makes another appearance as Dean attempts to connect with Stewie, the phone company’s man who does the tracing.

Later on, Sam gets to do some connecting of his own when he finds out that the dead have been communicating in another home, this time with a teenage girl getting calls from her mother. Ah, no one can refuse the power of the Sam Winchester puppy eyes and sincere, ‘trust me’ face. But what I especially loved about the scene here is that it’s a teenager who finally calls the Winchesters out on their poor blending-in skills when it comes to identity theft.

With all these calls from the dead going around town, it’s only a matter of time before the Winchesters get one of their own, right? And one guess on who Dean gets a phone call from. Yes, John Winchester phones in an appearance beyond the grave and creates even more tension between Sam and Dean.

In a way, it’s a return to the brother dynamic we saw in Season One and early Season two, with Sam accusing Dean of blindly accepting and following their father’s orders and Dean accusing Sam of disagreeing just to butt heads with John. But it also shows just how scared and desperate the boys are getting as the clock ticks down. Dean wants to believe that the solution to his deal is one that his father can give him. And Sam wants to let Dean believe it, but at the same time he plays the role he’s always played in his family– the skeptic who wants to be sure.  

Of course, it turns out that it’s not really John on the other end. The supernatural villain this week- a Crocotta who eats souls, preys on the discord between the brothers, getting them to split up, which as anyone who’s ever watched the show before knows is a bad idea. I thought there was a bit too much monologuing from the Crocotta to be believable before he tries to kill Sam, but the tale of how it adapted to modern life was pretty cool, and very much in the style of Supernatural-  merging the old myths and new urban legends.

And oh, how heartbreaking was the scenes between Dean and the firefighter dad who thinks he’s about to get revenge on the man who killed his daughter? I thought that played out very well.

And then we get to the final, understated scene, where we see that despite the strain between Sam and Dean, they’re still in this together. And will be, no matter what happens next.

Only two episodes left, and the clock is ticking on getting Dean out of his deal.

Supernatural 3x14, "Long Distance Call"
Writer: Jeremy Carver
Director: Robert Singer  
Guest stars: Jeffery Dean Morgan, Tom O’Brien, Anjul Nigam, Cherilyn Wilson