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Dean has a lot more to fear than fear itself in yet another superb episode.

The episode begins with Dean once again on the run from Hell Hounds. Crashing into a nearby bum, Dean regains his footing, while the homeless man looks down at Dean’s pursuer – a cute little puppy, complete with pink bow. Inexplicably, Dean runs off screaming, being chased by the puppy.

Forty-three hours earlier, Sam and Dean are in Colorado investigating a seemingly healthy man’s death by heart attack. Posing as FBI agents “Tyler” and “Perry”, the two brothers convince the coroner to run an autopsy. They discover the victim has bruises up and down his hand – but no clogged arteries indicative of this kind of heart attack. They next speak to the Sheriff, who insists they take off their shoes and constantly rub anti-bacterial on his hand. Learning little from the quirky cop, Sam and Dean interview Frank’s snake-obsessed neighbor, who confirms Frank was a bully with plenty of grievances across town. Despite this, Frank was irrationally afraid of everything just hours before his death.

The conversation does bring one clue to light – Frank’s wife Jesse died twenty years earlier of suicide. Afterwards, however, Dean begins acting strangely - namely he drives the speed limit and obeys the rules of the road. As the EMF goes off, Sam suddenly realizes his brother is haunted – with ghost sickness. The ailment is a strange affliction which causes victims to experience irrational fear over the next day or two before they themselves die of heart failure. To prevent this from happening to Dean, they must salt and burn the body of the ghost before it’s too late.

The next morning, Sam finds Dean in the car – trying (unsuccessfully) to pump himself up with “Eye of the Tiger” – while revealing he can’t go into the hotel, since he’s afraid of heights and they are on the fourth floor. Things go from bad to worse as Dean begins to hallucinate, as the book in his hands begins to read words of his impending death and the clock grows louder and louder. Sam returns later to find the clock smashed into pieces and Dean choking on a wood chip in his beer – a perfect clue.

The Winchesters decide to check out the abandoned wood mill, but Dean is hesitant to enter – and downright refuses to take a gun, agreeing to “man the flashlight instead.” Checking out a weird noise, Dean panics at the sight of a cat in one room. In another, they find drawings of Jesse all over the mill – and a lumbering ghost watching them. Dean flees while Sam dispatches the ghost with a blast of rock salt.

At the Sheriff’s Office, they identify the ghost as Luther – though Dean isn’t much help, having rendered himself drunk after trying to cool his nerves with alcohol one too many times. As they leave, the Sherriff is hiding in his office on edge, suffering from the same sickness and afraid of what they’ve learned. The Winchesters speak to Luther’s brother – despite Dean’s fear of being exposed as frauds – and learn the whole story: Luther was a hulking but gentle janitor at the wood mill (think Lenny from Of Mice and Men). He had a crush on Jesse, but when Jesse went missing, Frank believed Luther responsible and killed him by dragging him along the road with his truck. Only later was it revealed that Jesse killed herself, and even afterwards, no charges were pressed – haunting both Frank and the Sheriff. They soon realize all the victims are reliving Luther’s violent roadside death hour by hour. To make matters worse, Luther’s body was so badly torn burning the remains are next to impossible.

Dean has another panic attack afterwards, leaving Sam – and running into the aforementioned adorable puppy. When Sam finally catches up with him at the hotel, Dean is distraught, but Sam isn’t sympathetic Dean might himself in Hell again. If anything, he’s glad as he reveals himself to be a demon. But this is another hallucination, preying on Dean’s fear of his brother’s powers. Dean snaps out of it while Sam calls on Bobby to concoct a crazy plan – scare Luther’s ghost back to the afterlife.

Sam lures in Luther’s ghost, who first takes no action against Sam – until Sam begins tearing up Luther’s pictures. Meanwhile, the Sherriff attacks Dean, believing the agents are here to expose him. Though Dean repels the Sherriff, the frantic officer dies moments later. But Dean has bigger problem – Lilith, real or imaginary, is right next to him, exciting he will be returning to her.

Roping an iron chain around Luther’s neck, Sam signals Bobby to punch the gas of the Impala. Ghosts – as we saw in the second episode of the season – are particularly vulnerable to iron, and Luther’s spirit is dragged into the sunlight, dissipating into smoke as Bobby accelerates – and ending the threat on Dean’s life. Afterwards, the Winchesters part with Bobby and Sam asks Dean what he saw towards the end of the horrific experience. At first, Dean saws “howler monkeys”, but then honestly admits “the usual – nothing I can’t handle” – though his hardened expression right before the credits suggest otherwise.

While shows like “Heroes” are having trouble finding solid footing, Supernatural has never been better. This episode was as drop-dead hysterical as the last – and in fact there’s even a clip of Jensen Ackles lip-singing to “Eye of the Tiger” for that added blooper effect. This episode could be seen as a counterpart to “Bad Day on Black Rock”, with Dean instead of Sam in the hot seat.

The appearance of Lilith was truly effective. We really aren’t sure if that was a hallucination . . . or if that really was Lilith! His view of Lilith lacks the jittery “fear-view” we see throughout the episode, suggesting Lilith could plausibly be either hallucination or entirely substantial. When Dean asks her if she is real or imaginary, Lilith curtly replies “Does it matter?” Both cases are equally sinister – and the ambiance surrounding either possibility makes the episode all the most frightening.

There are a few moments where Dean acts a bit too out of character for my tastes, ghost sickness aside. For example, his fear of heights is exemplified in the Phantom Traveler episode in the first season and his conflict over his life as a hunter significantly dealt with throughout the series. On the other hand, it’s highly unlikely a terrified Dean would refuse a gun or fear being exposed as a fraud even if he was extremely stressed by the sickness. Like “Bad Day at Black Rock”, I guess you just have to suspend your disbelief – even Supernatural style – to truly enjoy the episode.

Overall, this was another brilliant episode from a season which keeps getting better and better. Next week is another Halloween episode (as if Monster Movie wasn’t enough), and features the Winchesters facing off with the spirit of Halloween himself – and I’m not talking about Jack Skeleton!

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