Supernatural nodded to classics of all types this week. Starting with the teaser, which was a stylish, spooky homage to the infamous "Psycho" shower scene. The ep, not incidentally, was directed by Cliff Bole, who directed a number of X-Files episodes, including the memorable and funny "Small Potatoes." We see the young woman's death through fogged-up glass. Supernatural knows that what you don't see is scarier than what you do.

We open, as has been usual for season three, with Sam and Dean having a difficult talk in the Impala, Dean letting Sam know he's figured out Sam went after the crossroads demon. There's a bullet missing from the magic gun. Dean thinks Sam took too much of a risk, but Sam tells Dean "no matter what you do, I'm going to try and save you." Unlike last week, the episode also closes on them having a talk in the Impala. On Supernatural, the car has always been a confessional. Sam and Dean are sometimes honest with each other there, sometimes not so much.

The plot involves a ghost ship, a mainstay of spooky legends. Anyone who sees the ship who has shed the blood of a family member, dies. In the course of investigating, they run into the mercenary Bela, introduced in "Bad Day in Black Rock." She's pulling a scam on the bereaved, elderly aunt (Ellen Greer) of the girl who died in the teaser (although the aunt doesn't seem so bereaved it stops her from hitting on Sam), and is resentful of the Winchesters' interference. Sam and Dean aren't too happy with Bela's presence either. "Can I shoot her?" Dean asks Sam, who answers tiredly, "Not in public." I loved Dean's hyperventilating panic attack when they discover the Impala's been towed. Dean has separation anxiety from his car, which isn't so weird when you remember it's the only home he's had since he was four.

In addition to the young woman in the teaser, there are two brothers who saw the ghost ship (they offed their father to inherit his multi-million dollar business). After another acidic exchange with Bela, where she takes a dig at the fruitlessness of what they do and Dean takes a dig at her soullessness, Sam and Dean try, and fail, to save the surviving brother. Despite their efforts, the man drowns in his car, killed by a damp, scruffy ghost with tangled hair and period garb (Steve Lawlor). There's a Sam and Dean Impala talk exactly halfway between their opening and closing ones, a terrific, quiet scene where they deal with the frustration of that failure. "You can't save everybody," Dean ventures. "Lately I feel like a can't save anybody," Sam says, and we all know who we should read for "anybody." The scene gratifyingly interweaves the emotional concerns of the ghost of the week with the emotional concerns of the mytharc.

Meanwhile, Bela competently identifies the ghost ship and the ghost. Bela needs the Winchesters to help her with with the security system at a maritime museum where the dead sailor's hand is encased, having been made into a Hand of Glory. Since his body was cremated, they need the hand to get rid of the ghost. In a truly shocking (and delicious) plot twist, Sam and Dean have to wear tuxedos.

The scene where Bela, dressed the nines, first sees Dean in a tuxedo, has sparks. "When this is over, we should really have angry sex," she says matter-of-factly. Dean makes a feeble attempt at being offended: "Don't objectify me." But his dislike of her doesn't stop him from smirking at the compliment, and Jensen Ackles and Lauren Cohan have great chemistry. With the Dean and Sam interaction bookending and forming the real backbone of the episode, the interaction between Dean and Bela doesn't hijack the story, and is fun to watch.

Bela is cool and calculating, the antithesis of Sam and Dean's "saving people" approach. She and Dean keep clashing in a war of words and sexual tension. There's no sentimentality to Bela's portrayal. Cohan is a skilled actress who manages to make Bela sympathetic despite her unlikeable qualities. As per her usual M.O., Bela pulls a fast one on Dean, steals the Hand of Glory for herself, and sells it for a lot of cash. When Bela sees the ghost ship herself, we find out Bela has a tragedy in her past, but not what it is. We get glimpses of Bela's sadness and fear, and she's reduced to saying "please" to get the Winchesters to help her (it's interesting that they didn't in fact immediately jump to offer). I hope that even as we do learn more about her and she becomes more sympathetic, the show resists the impulse to reform her or soften her too much.

To purge the ghost, and save Bela, Sam and Dean summon up the spirit of both the hanged man and the ship's captain who ordered his death. Surprise, the spirits are brothers. Sam chanting in Latin in the pouring rain, and the super-duper CGI work on the ghosts of the two siblings, made for some fine visuals. What further sold me on Bela was that rather than tearfully offering thanks, Bela crisply hands the boys ten thousand dollars in cash because she doesn't want to be in debt to anyone.

The last car scene between Sam and Dean is a humdinger, and both say things to each other that need to be said. But Sam, as far as we know, is still withholding the new information about their mother and what Ruby has planned. And Dean, after being somewhat candid, changes the subject by saying something irreverent. The rift is closing, and they're fairly honest with each other here, but we know there's still trouble ahead.

Fun ghost story, lots of eye candy, humor, and a satisfying shipload of Winchester complexities.

Supernatural 3x06, "Red Sky At Morning"
Writer: Laurence Andries
Director: Cliff Bole
Guest Stars: Ellen Greer, Steve Lawlor