The CW’s The Winchesters season one episode two opens in Topeka, Kansas 1972. Hippies dance in a small clearing in the forest, living their best lives. A young man named Barry tells his girlfriend, Maya, he’s done living under his dad’s thumb. The couple head into the woods alone, and Barry suddenly sees his dad. Barry confronts his father who, as it turns out, isn’t actually there.
Instead, he’s under the spell of some sort of tree monster.
But before we carry on, wayward sons, let’s take a super brief look back at what we learned in episode one. We met John Winchester (Drake Rodger) as he returned home from Vietnam after serving two years in the Marines. John’s first encounter with Mary Campbell (Meg Donnelly) occurred when he literally bumped into her on the street. From there, things really took off, with Mary confirming monsters exist and John learning his dad was a member of the Men of Letters.
Episode one also introduced the season’s big bad: the Akrida. The Akrida aren’t from this world and are set on wiping out all humanity (and other assorted creatures, including demons). Mary’s dad, Samuel, was searching for a box that could kill them when he went missing.
And now we move on to episode two. Spoilers ahead – you’ve been warned!
Jensen Ackles’ voiceover as Dean reminds us that there comes a time for all children (even those raised by monster hunters) to break from their parents and make their own way. He says this as the Scooby gang – John, Mary, Carlos (JoJo Fleites), Ada (Demetria McKinney), and Latika (Nida Khurshid) enter a Men of Letters warehouse full of dead zombies.
It appears the trail for Mary’s dad has gone dead again, but she wants them to check the Men of Letters’ files for anything useful on the Akrida. Unfortunately, all the file cabinets are empty. However, a spent shotgun shell proves to Mary her dad was there and escaped alive. (He always signed his shotgun shells.)
A zombie attack briefly interrupts the group’s discussion, but they quickly dispatch the undead. John’s a little grossed out because some got in his mouth. (This seems to be a recurring season one joke.)
Mary thinks her dad deliberately left the shells behind to send her a message. Another message was left in the form of a newspaper article about Barry’s disappearance. Carlos isn’t sure Mary’s dad meant for them to chase after a missing hippie; they’re supposed to be hunting for info on the Akrida.
Mary’s got a stubborn/bossy streak and is set on heading to Topeka, certain the article was left by her dad so she’d know where to go next. She instructs Ada to get busy working on the mysterious Akrida-killing box while the rest will question Barry’s dad.
The Scooby gang isn’t thrilled with Mary’s dictatorial attitude, but Mary doesn’t care.
On the road to Barry’s dad’s place, John confesses he’s worried his tracking skills aren’t what they should be. They’ve been striking out for weeks which is super disappointing, given that he was a scout in the military.
Mary reminds him it takes time to learn to be a hunter. He didn’t learn to be a scout overnight.
They make a pitstop so John can check in with his very angry mom. Millie’s upset he’s just like his father and worries his life will be reduced to a box of possessions – just like his dad. John leaves, mad.
They arrive at Barry’s dad’s house and John confesses he likes the “less talkie, more punchy” part of being a hunter. Carlos made them fake IDs – John’s Mick Fleetwood and Mary’s Christine McVie – so they better hope the dad isn’t into Fleetwood Mac!
They introduce themselves as friends of Barry’s from school.
Meanwhile back at their motel room, Carlos confesses he doesn’t like giving over the lead vocals spot to Mary all the time, especially since she’s stuck singing the same song about her missing dad. But that discussion will have to wait as Mary and John return with a Barry update. Maya took Barry to a commune and then watched a monster take him. Barry’s dad logically assumes the monster was actually a drug-induced hallucination.
Carlos and Latika get all giddy over the idea of a commune and a monster and break out singing “Age of Aquarius.” (It’s worth noting Carlos is handling the lead vocals.) The Scooby gang’s mood has improved 100%.
The gang slips into hippie clothes to go undercover at the commune. Carlos wants to take a deep dive into commune life, complete with hallucinogens, but that has to wait. Business first, party later.
Maya explains Barry thought he was talking to his dad but instead it was some “creepy old thing.” Maya’s sure it was just the drugs, and Clyde – the commune leader – is telling everyone he thinks Barry ran off to California.
Clyde welcomes the foursome into the community, a commune for people to break free of anyone who controls them – especially the people who hurt them. For him, that person is Sister Bernadette.
After he walks away, Mary reveals she’s seen the symbol on Clyde’s necklace before.
Back at the Winchester Garage, Ada introduces herself to Millie Winchester (Bianca Kajlich) and assures her John will come back when he’s ready. Ada reveals she used to work with Henry, but she sees a lot of Millie in John. She provides Millie with the info on where John’s staying now – just for peace of mind.
Ada asks for a piece of the vine growing around Millie’s shop. Millie says Henry planted it and it just seems to thrive, and Ada explains it’s jasmine for protection.
Once more to Topeka we go and Latika finds the symbol from Clyde’s necklace in a book. It’s a Celtic symbol for transformation. They may have a shapeshifter on their hands, which only sort of narrows down the creature who took Barry.
Clyde escorts a member of the commune into the woods and sees Sister Bernadette. Of course, it’s not actually the nun. And, obviously, Clyde isn’t the shapeshifter.
John continues to worry that he’s not cut out to be a hunter.
A short while later, Mary spots green blood by where Clyde was taken and declares they’re up against a mimic. She’s fought one before and they can be killed by copper, which is the only metal Carlos doesn’t have in his van. John thinks they can use the hotel’s plumbing, but Latika points out the blood looks more like sap.
Carlos wonders if they’re dealing with a tree monster, confirming what I wrote in paragraph one. Yeah, me!
Mary refuses to accept anyone else’s opinion and insists it’s a mimic. Latika pulls up a strange flower anyway and calls Ada to find out what it is. Ada says it sounds like a rare flower from Colombia and Latika’s sure she can take it from there. She packed a ton of books – it must be in one of them.
Ada brews a tea made with a leaf from the jasmine Henry planted. She takes a sip and goes into a trance, writing on a pad she placed in front of her.
John returns to the hotel and rips out the plumbing under the sink. They are definitely going to have quite the bill when they check out!
Carlos has had it with Mary’s attitude and finally gives her a piece of his mind. (#TeamCarlos) She’s treating everyone just like her dad did and she needs to start listening. He suggests she embrace her inner David Crosby from CSNY (that’s Crosby, Still, Nash, and Young for you youngsters) and allow the group to sing in four-part harmony.
Latika rushes up with the news she’s discovered what they’re really hunting (with an assist from Ada). It’s a La Tunda, a creature who chopped up her children to feed her flower garden. The flowers had an insatiable thirst for blood and used dark magic. She now listens for disobedient children, drags them into the woods, and feeds on them over months.
Mary figures out John is its next victim since La Tunda most likely heard him complaining about his mom.
John’s by himself ripping up copper pipes when his mom stops by his motel room. They argue over whether Henry ever believed in John, with Millie insisting he didn’t or else he would have taught him how to be a hunter.
“I know it’s painful knowing that you were the reason he left, thinking about what could have been,” says Millie.
John catches on to the fact Millie isn’t Millie when she brings up Sam training Mary. He knows he never told her about Mary. John surmises she’s the mimic but is shocked when she’s easily able to stop him from hitting her with copper.
La Tunda confirms to her latest victim she’s not a mimic.
The gang arrives too late and only a bed of purple flowers remains to mark La Tunda’s visit. Mary shocks Carlos and Latika…but especially Carlos…by apologizing for not listening. She admits she’s been too focused on finding her dad and unwilling to listen. Mary even allows Latika to come up with a plan.
John, Clyde, and Barry are all in La Tunda’s lair being fed on while Latika explains the only thing that can kill her is piercing her heart with magic as strong as she is. She thinks they can use La Tunda’s own leg to stab her in the heart.
“It’s sick and twisted enough it might just work,” says Carlos, adding, “I love that deeply weird side of you.”
La Tunda turns her attention to feeding on Barry and John frees himself while it’s occupied. He also frees Clyde and then returns to help Barry. La Tunda, in Millie form, and John fight but she’s too strong.
Meanwhile, Latika, Carlos, and Mary have been following the trail of flowers. They arrive at the creature’s lair and Carlos and Latika work on freeing Barry while Mary concentrates on La Tunda.
“Hey, Poison Oak, feeding time is over,” quips Mary.
La Tunda tosses Mary aside like a ragdoll, but Mary’s able to instruct John to go for the leg. He breaks it off and La Tunda screams in pain. Mary grabs the leg and stabs the creature in the heart. Green sap spurts out and hits John in the face before La Tunda’s body disintegrates into the earth.
Mary and John deliver Barry back to his house and watch from the van as Barry and his dad have an emotional reunion.
John’s the next to return home and this time he introduces Mary to his mom. Millie tells Mary that her car’s fixed and it’s on the house since she brought John home safely.
John admits to his mom he was angry at his dad, so he took it out on her. Millie swears she believes in him and reveals that whenever she and Henry fought about the Men of Letters, they made a deal to always find a way afterward to say “I love you.”
The last fight they had they didn’t say it and that’s the last time she saw Henry. She promises she’s never going to let John go without telling him she loves him.
John meets up with the Scooby gang at the Men of Letters clubhouse and explains that he and his mom made up. Ada emerges from a secret door with a little update of her own.
She explains that she brewed a potion, tapped into her subconscious, and accessed the echo of any remaining portion of the demon that possessed her. Her demon’s dead but he knew the demon that attacked the gang – and both demons knew about the mysterious box – so if they find that demon, they might get at least some of the answers to their questions.
The episode is almost over as the gang munches on pizza while Millie looks through Henry’s box of possessions with a smile.
Oh, but we can’t have a happy ending without a majorly creepy twist, can we? Nope.
A hooded figure enters La Tunda’s cave and uses magic to pull any lingering magic from the flowers into a vial. Hundreds of bizarre-looking bug-ish creatures follow the hooded figure as it moves through the forest.
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