Supernatural Review: Welcome To Psychic Town, U.S.A.

Lily Dale is a real town in the western portion of New York, boasting the largest center of spiritual development and practice. It was also the setting in this week’s episode of Supernatural and the Winchester brothers find themselves up to their necks in mediums, psychics, and spoon benders.

With Sam’s anger towards Dean for killing Amy still going strong, the two hunters find themselves working the same case after two mysterious killings happen in Psychic Town, U.S.A. The first one was killed with her own crystal ball while the planchette of an Ouija board did in the second one.

In a town full of mystics the brothers have to wade through the fakes and ones who could be the real deal. Along the way they get some ominous advice about their tense relationship and even some messages from beyond the grave that would give anyone the heebie-jeebies.

Their investigation leads them to Melanie, the granddaughter of the second psychic who was killed. After another one is killed, a Russian spoon bender who was impaled upon his own cutlery, Melanie tells the Winchesters that her grandmother had left her a voice message on the day of her death, saying that she had had a vision of her own demise. It turns out so did the Russian.

Soon after Melanie’s friend Camille (another local psychic) gets a vision of her own death. Through a hidden camera in Camille’s house, Dean, Melanie and Camille are able to see a ghost behind her. They learn the ghost is Kate Fox; she along with her sister Margaret founded Lily Dale.

Sam and Dean then head to the cemetery to burn Kate’s bones, thus exorcising her ghost. Before that happens though, Kate angrily asks why anyone isn’t listening to her. As the brothers head out of town, Melanie frantically calls them as Margaret’s ghost appears in Camille’s house, intending to kill the psychic. The boys get there too late and now must find another set of bones.

Turns out that Jimmy Tomorrow, the local pawnshop owner was a real psychic who had bound Margaret’s ghost and together they worked to kill off the fake mediums. He had angrily explained to Sam that he and Margaret were the ones with true power but when shown to people it had frightened them. He lived in poverty because he didn’t have the theatrics that the others had, so in revenge he was killing them off one by one.

Sam ends up shooting him and burns Margaret’s bones (creepily located in the pawnshop owner’s bed) before the ghost is able to kill Melanie.

By the end of the episode, Sam is able to understand Dean’s reasoning for killing Amy. Visiting Lily Dale was indeed a blessing in disguise because it helped the brothers confront their trust issues and their relationship. Dean finally tells Sam that he believed killing Amy was the right thing to do because no matter what she had killed innocent people. He understood Sam’s anger but he also knew that Sam couldn’t do it because he knew her and that if she were any other monster Sam would have done the same thing. Sam in turn tells his older brother that he needs to come clean when something is obviously wrong. Dean admits that he has been having a hard time trusting anyone after Cas and that his recent actions have been because he doesn’t like lying to Sam. Awwww how touching.

My favorite part of this week’s episode though had to be the visit at the local museum. Sam and Dean learned about different sibling acts and how it never went well for them because of the strain of working together and being around each other all the time. That is except for the Campbell brothers, who weren’t really brothers at all but used it as a cover for their alternative lifestyle. Hehe. Oh Supernatural, these little tidbits to satisfy the Wincest fans really make the show extra awesome.

Season 7, Episode 7: The Mentalist (original aired November 4, 2011)

Fridays at 9/8c on The CW

Photos courtesy of Michael Courtney