Family Remains (15 Jan. 2009)

The Winchesters try to stop a family from moving into a haunted house.

Director:

Philip Sgriccia

Writers:

Eric Kripke (creator), Jeremy Carver

Stars:

Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Helen Slater

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Jared Padalecki	...	Sam Winchester
Jensen Ackles	...	Dean Winchester
Helen Slater	...	Susan Carter
David Newsom	...	Brian Carter
Bradley Stryker	...	Uncle Ted
Alexa Nikolas	...	Kate Carter
Dylan Minnette	...	Danny Carter
Mandy Playdon	...	Lizzie
Gerry Rousseau	...	Bill Gibson
Mark Wynn	...	The Boy
Karin Konoval	...	Mrs. Curry

Storyline

Dean reads on the newspaper about the mysterious death of a man that was slaughtered inside a locked room in a farm in the countryside of Stratton, Nebraska and the Winchester brothers travel to the place considering a ghost case. They expect to find the house empty but meet the Carter family that has just moved to the country expecting to rebuild their lives after a tragedy. They discover that the victim had lost his wife in the delivery and his daughter that hanged herself in the attic twenty years ago. When the family is attacked by the freak creature, the brothers protect the family with a circle of salt; but she crosses the protection and they realize that she is not a ghost and they question whether she might be human.

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Plot Keywords:

haunted house | salt | for sale sign | moving van | doll's head | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kripke Enterprises, Warner Bros. Television, Wonderland Sound and Vision

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Dean says, "ripped from an Austrian headline," he is referring to the 2008 case of Josef Fritzl who held his daughter captive in a secret corridor in his basement for 24 years.

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Quotes

Danny Carter: You hunt ghosts?
Dean Winchester: That's right
Danny Carter: Like Scooby-Doo?
Dean Winchester: Better...

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Connections

References Deliverance (1972)

User Reviews

Condemned to Agony

Despite the "Then" recap featuring only myth-arc moments, this episode is more of the monster-of-the-week type. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but the "Then" recap is a bit misleading. And even though the more standalone episodes can be just as excellent as the myth-arc ones, they usually are of lower quality. Not necessarily bad, just not great either. In this case, we have a good, solid episode, with some nice twists.

Except for the final scene, there are no real great character moments for the Winchesters and there really aren't any groundbreaking plot ideas (there are, after all, several nods to Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs), but the script does play with the viewers expectations. Then again, without that it would be just a stereotypical 5/10, wouldn't it? Minus points come from one character who is an example of the Too Stupid to Live trope, and some clichéd twists among the genuinely surprising ones. Plus points, in addition to the above-mentioned ones, from effectively spooky mood throughout, Dean's usual witty dialog, and Mandy Playdon's truly scary performance. However, among the first one hundred or so episodes, this just doesn't measure up against the stand-out ones, but is a 7/10 instead.