The Winchesters Go To Jail in Supernatural Season 2’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’

We’re finally getting back to the Supernatural rewatch after a break for life being too damn busy – oh OG Supernatural, I have missed you! We pick up with Season 2’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, written by John Shiban and directed by Mike Rohl, which aired in April 2007. I had fallen madly in love with the show earlier in Season 2, so by the time this episode aired, I was glued to my TV screen, probably with a piece of pie and a whole lot of excitement as I sat down to watch, having shooed the kids out of the living room so I could squee to my heart’s content.

This is a great episode – it’s Sam and Dean for the entire episode, something that seems like an absolute feast after Jared and Jensen needed to share the burden of constant filming in later episodes (understandably). It’s directed and filmed beautifully, the prison scenes darkly lit, spooky and gritty just like the show itself in these early seasons. Rohl plays with perspective throughout, using it to evoke the claustrophobic feel of being incarcerated, unable to escape or even see clearly the dangers around you. And of course, the acting is incredible. Jared and Jensen were so young, and already so damn good.

The Road So Far reminds us that Agent Henriksen is onto the Winchesters, telling Dean on the phone that he knows about the desecrations and the thefts, that he knows about Sam too, and about their dad. Mention of his family is what gets to Dean, as always.

Dean: You don’t know crap about my Dad.

And then we see Sam and Dean at the end of the job that saw Henriksen almost catching them.

Dean: We are so screwed…

And… NOW

Workers in a dark eerie prison, using a blowtorch to open up an old cell block. We see their breath come out as visible steam, and uh oh. Something invisible blows by them, freaking them out. The lights flicker. All of us experienced Supernatural viewers know that’s trouble. A prisoner calls to the guards, the lights flickering, the clock on the wall stopping at 10 o’clock.

The guard tells him to cool it and go to sleep, but he keeps calling, the guard ignoring Randall’s insistence that he saw something. The lights go out and the guard goes to walk away when suddenly something slams the door on his arm and he’s attacked by something invisible, Randall watching from his cell as the guard screams.

The title card appears, and we jump to three months later as Sam and Dean break into a dark building at the Arkansas Museum of Anthropology at night. It’s a beautifully filmed typical Supernatural scene, lit by the brothers’ flashlights. The brothers are not in agreement.

Sam: I hate this plan, Dean.

Dean: I got that the first ten times I heard it.

They walk right past a motion sensor, open up a glass case and take out an artifact or two – a dagger, an axe – then put them down as they hear a noise and the command ‘Freeze! Down on your  knees now!’

As a viewer, it’s confusing because the Winchesters are never this careless, and they do make a half hearted attempt to evade capture, but then comply and get on their knees.

Sam is annoyed (which seems to make sense because who wouldn’t be annoyed while getting arrested)  but Dean actually gives him a little smile, which… huh?

Sam is cranky doing mug shots too, and again, who wouldn’t be? Though he can’t help but look handsome anyway because that’s just Sam.

Dean, however, is almost enjoying himself in a scene which is now iconic for the series.

Dean: I call this one the Blue Steel.

He purses his lips and cocks an eyebrow, and somehow because he’s Dean Winchester he still looks hot.

Dean: Who looks better, me or Nick Nolte?

A little pop culture reference of the time there.

Dean stays cocky when an agent comes in who we recognize as Henriksen, asking for a cheeseburger with extra onions. (Dean does not recognize him, having not seen his face yet).

Henriksen: You think you’re funny.

Dean: I think I’m adorable.

(He is)

Henriksen: It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Dean.

That sentence stops Dean in his tracks; he knows this isn’t good. His smile turns a little more tentative as Henriksen introduces himself.

Dean: Henriksen? Not the Milwaukee Agent Henriksen?

Henriksen: Live and in person.

I love the character of Henriksen – even before he figures out what’s really going on, he gets Sam and Dean in a way that most law enforcement did not. He never underestimates them, but he also senses their vulnerability – each other and their family.

Henriksen: Oh yeah, keep that game face on. Try and cover up how cornered you are.

They reel off all the charges against him, adding in that Sam is now a suspect in a murder case too – and that they’re both “screwed to hell”.

Henriksen says their dad taught them well to cover their tracks, that he near went nuts trying to find them.

Henriksen (motioning to the other cop): Ask him.

Other cop: He near went nuts.

Dean looks at him, like huh. But Henriksen also understands that them getting tripped up on a motion sensor doesn’t make any sense, and that finally brings a smile from Dean at the grudging acknowledgement of the Winchesters’ competence.

His public defender Mara shows up just then – and endears herself to Dean by demanding to meet privately, telling Henriksen  unceremoniously, “You’re done here”. Poor frustrated Henriksen.

Dean smirks.

Sam and Dean confirm that they’ll be held at the Green River County Detention Center despite extradition papers filed from five states, because no judge in their right mind is going to grant them bail. Dean is suspiciously okay with this; Sam gives him a look.

I am distracted momentarily by Dean’s lush eyelashes. Sorry.

Cut to the detention center, Sam and Dean shuffling off the transport bus, chains around their wrists and ankles. Sam keeps looking at them, like, sheesh, how did I get myself into this?

Interesting musical choice to play the “this is amusing” music while Sam and Dean walk along and the inmates all openly admire and catcall them and I think I read this fic once. Or twice.

Inmate to Sam: You’re mine, baby!

Dean’s cockiness has returned full force.

Dean: Don’t worry Sam, promise I won’t trade ya for smokes.

Even Dean Winchester can’t be totally in control in prison, though. He calls top bunk and his cellmate promptly puts all his things on the top bunk.

Dean: Okay…

Across the hall, Sam meets his roommate who unbelievably is even bigger than he is.

Sam’s eyes go wide and he turns around as the bars close, making eye contact with Dean like WTF?

Jared Padalecki’s comedic skills are A+ in this episode. Actually both Jared and Jensen take a turn to show off their comedy chops, but I love all these little moments when Sam is like, seriously, why did I agree to this??

The boys manage to look hot even in their orange prison jumpsuits though (word is that Ackles had his tailored and damn, I think that was a good call…)

As they line up to be scanned later, Dean asks how Sam’s roommate is, saying his doesn’t say much.

Sam: He just keeps staring at me…in a way that makes me really uneasy.

Poor Sammy.

Dean jokes back that it sounds like Sam is making new friends and that it’s all part of the plan, while Sam complains that this is without a doubt the dumbest and craziest thing they’ve ever done – and that’s in a long storied career of dumb and crazy.

Eyelashes again, just a moment. Also once again, both A+ dialogue and acting in this episode.

Sam points out that Henriksen showing up wasn’t part of the plan, but Dean assures him that their escape plan will work anyway, and that there’s likely a haunting here with four innocent people dead.

Sam (scoffing) Yeah, innocent.

Dean: You from Texas all of a sudden? Just because these people are in jail doesn’t mean they deserve to die. We do this job wherever it takes us.

I wonder if that Texas jab was intended for Jared and Jensen.

Sam isn’t quite on board with doing the job for Deacon, who’s the warden here, but Dean points out that he was in the Corps with their dad and saved John’s life, so they owe him.

In the cafeteria, Dean digs into his chicken with gusto, proclaiming it not half bad. Sam takes one look at his soggy pasta and sighs, sliding his plate over to Dean. Poor Sammy.

Dean, right in character, is like a chameleon, fitting smoothly into whatever circumstances he finds himself in. Sam is all of us, not finding it so easy.

Dean says he’s pretty sure their suspect is Mark Moody, a psycho killer who died in the jail.

Sam: I’m gonna need a little bit better than “pretty sure.”

Dean: Really pretty sure.

He points out that they just recently reopened the cell block he died in, and then the murders started.

On the way out, Sam bumps into a big tattooed prisoner. (One of the most brilliant things about this episode is its almost Sixth Sense sort of feel, as we the viewer are not privy to all the times that Sam and Dean are actually working together throughout, acting the parts they need to that are part of the plan that we don’t know about. It’s so well done, so that when I watched it the first time as it aired, there kept being this sense of confusion, like oh wait, so that wasn’t an accident? It’s also a testament to how smoothly Sam and Dean work together at this point, even when they fundamentally don’t 100% agree on doing the job they’re doing. Brilliant writing!)

Prisoner: Watch where you’re going!

Sam: Yeah sure I just…

Protective big brother Dean (putting himself in between them) He said he was sorry.

Prisoner: You talkin’ to me? You talking to ME?

Dean: Great, another guy who’s seen Taxi Driver too many times… yeah I am, trust me, let it go.

Dean thinks he’s garnered some respect for a second there – or at least that’s how it seems to us as viewers.

In season 2, Dean’s little boy smile made him look about five years old sometimes. My heart…

Instead an even bigger guy (Clif Kosterman, who has been Jared and Jensen’s bodyguard in real life for over 17 years now and counting) sends the tattooed guy over again.

He goes to punch Dean and a fight breaks out until the warden appears and breaks it up.

He confronts Dean with a baton under his chin, asking his name, then takes both of the fighters to solitary.

Not sure whether Dean is hotter smashing that guy up against the wall or with a baton under his chin. Depends on what you’re in the mood for, I suppose. Anyway, at the time it aired, we had no clue that this too was part of the plan or who the warden was, so it seemed like Dean was in a helluva lot of trouble. Still cocky though!

Dean to Sam: We having fun yet?

Tiny (aka Clif) stares at Sam, making a cut your throat gesture as Dean is taken away. Poor Sammy. And more kudos to Jared!

Dean tries to bond with cell neighbor Lucas in Solitary, and gets a “I wish I had a bat so I could bash your fricken’ head in” in return.

Dean: Well, so much for the bonding in solitary moment.

How does Ackles look that good in an orange jumpsuit, btw? Seriously.

The lights start to flicker and Dean can suddenly see his breath visible, as the clock stops in the hallway.

Dean: Oh crap. Lucas, listen to me, stay very still.

It’s too late; Lucas is attacked by something and collapses, screaming. Dean peers through the small slit in the door, a striking bit of cinematography. So the place really is haunted, that’s for sure!

All the props for the special effects that look pretty damn good even in a screencap – and it’s only 2007!

The Winchesters’ attorney turns out to be both smart and badass. She confronts Henriksen with a lot of inconsistencies about their case, including that a cop in Baltimore swears up and down that “these boys saved her life and helped her catch a killer” and a robbery victim who swears the same.

Henriksen dismisses these people as nuts (since they did probably make some wild supernatural claims).

Henriksen: All I know is, wherever these guys go, people die. It’s that simple.

Mara: I don’t know that it is. They just don’t seem cut and dry guilty to me. I think there’s more to this.

He dismisses her with ‘the grownups are trying to get some work done here’ and pisses her off even more, which turns out to be a good thing for the Winchesters.

Meanwhile, back at Green River, Sam makes conversation with another inmate, Randall, trying to find out more about what’s going on.

Randall asks why he’s inside.

Sam: ‘Cause I’ve got an idiot for a brother.

Randall: That’ll do it.

Talk about looking like you’re about five years old when you smile like that – it’s both of them in Season 2. Look how adorable and little brother Sam is then, awww. That smile lights up his whole face – who could NOT open up to him?

Randall says he was in the old cell block and was there when Moody died of a supposed heart attack.

Randall: Sure, his heart stopped right after the guard stopped using his head for batting practice.

No wonder this is a pissed off spirit!

Out in the yard, Dean wins at cards and cleans up with lots of cigarettes, much to the other prisoners’ annoyance.

Dean: It’s like picking low hanging fruit.

Sam: You don’t even smoke.

Classic brotherly banter and ribbing in this one, because Season 2 was awesome like that.

Dean tells Sam about the spirit that paid Solitary a visit last night.

Dean: Clock stopped, flickering lights, cold spot – I mean, he did everything but yell ‘Boo!’

Dean really is an empathic person in spite of his violent job – as much as Lucas was a jerk to him, he feels bad for him, the way he was screaming, saying he didn’t deserve to go out like that.

Sam tells Dean about Moody’s bloody death and they hypothesize that it’s his blood that’s keeping his spirit there. Dean wonders how they’ll get into the old cell though.

Sam: I’ve got a plan.

Dean (grinning): That’s the Sammy I know! C’mon, man, you’re like Clint Eastwood from Escape from Alcatraz!

Sam shrugs, but says it might not work because they don’t have any accelerant to burn it.

Dean: It’s a good thing I’m like James Garner from The Great Escape then.

He stands up holding two hands full of cigarettes, asking the other inmates, “hey fellas, who’s ready to deal?”

Oh Dean. He’s got a plan because of course he does. I’m always a little in awe of how eager the Winchesters are to get physical if it’s what they need to do. The brothers switch places for this next phase of the job as far as being sure about the plan, amusingly.

Dean: You sure about this?

Sam: Pretty sure.

Dean: Well considering the circumstances, I’d like a little better than pretty sure.

Sam: Okay, really pretty sure.

So Sam and Dean start a fight in the cafeteria, after Dean cheekily tells the server “I’d like my spaghetti al dente” and then walks right up to Tiny and provokes him.

Tiny: (glaring)

Dean: Hey I wanted to ask you, cause I couldn’t help but notice that you are two tons of fun, just curious – it it like a thyroid problem or some deep seated self esteem issue? Cause you know they’re just donuts, they’re not love…

Tiny punches him in the face, Dean punches him back repeatedly to no effect whatsoever then headbutts him as the guards intercede.

It somehow is even funnier now, rewatching in 2023 when I know Clif pretty well and he knows Jensen and Jared very very well indeed. Also props to that guy still holding his book unperturbed while people are being thrown around the room.

The warden finally breaks it up, grabbing Dean by the face.

Warden: If we’d waited any longer, you’d be dead.

Dean: Yeah well, you waited long enough…

The warden hits him in the stomach with his baton and Dean doubles over.

“Don’t talk,” the warden warns, and orders him taken to the infirmary.

That was a great fight scene – it was the days of stunt coordinator Lou Bollo, who did an amazing job, just as Rob Hayter did after him. We were so lucky to have such talented people working on Supernatural, who all cared so damn much. And I’m sure Jensen and Clif enjoyed doing their parts.

Meanwhile, Sam slips into the kitchen unnoticed and grabs a salt shaker, climbing into a vent to escape. He climbs down a tiny dropway in his cute little sneakers (yes, this cap is just here for the sneakers…) and makes it to the old cell and finds a blood stain under the mattress, salting and burning it.

Dean and Tiny sit in adjacent cells in the infirmary and Dean apologizes for goading him, saying he can’t say why but he had to get him angry.

Tiny: Truth is, I do have low self esteem issues. My old man treated me and my brother like crap, right up til the day he died.

Dean asks how he died.

Tiny: My brother shot him.

Dean: Okay…

And then the clock stops and a ghost appears.

The scary was so well done in the early days, looking so much like a horror movie on the 35mm film they shot on. It’s not Moody after all, but a long dead nurse, who walks right through the wall with jerky otherworldly movements, not seen too clearly – scary as hell!

She throws Dean against the wall and crouches over him as he fights to get free, grimacing.

He finally manages to grab a salt shaker and throw it at her and she finally lets him go as he groans in pain, clutching his chest.

Dean hears Tiny screaming and is legitimately upset, yelling for the guard, but it’s too late.

Poor Tiny.

The next day he tells Sam the bad news that it wasn’t Moody.

Dean: Poor Tiny. Poor giant Tiny.

Sam thought they were done and called Deacon, though – they’re getting out that night so they have to do some quick research to figure out who the ghost really is. Dean bribes Randall with his hard-won cigarettes, balking when Randall wants more.

Sam: Give it to him.

Dean (petulant, adorably so): I earned these.

Sam (bitch face No. 12): DEAN.

He complies, and Randall identifies the nurse, a sadistic nasty woman who worked there in the 70s. Randall says there are stories of people going to the infirmary with a cold and leaving in a body bag, lots of heart attacks. The Winchesters put together a theory that the nurse is going after anybody who breaks the law – like Dean.

Dean: I did hear in the yard that guard wasn’t exactly squeaky clean…

Sam: You “heard in the yard?” Dean, does it bother you at all how easily you seem to fit in here?

Dean is nonplussed.

Dean: No, not really.

I love the dynamic between the brothers at this part of Season 2, and going back and rewatching it now (as it has just turned 2023) makes me miss them and watching the show at this time in its run so damn much.

Sam reminds Dean that they don’t have much time; they’re leaving tonight.

Sam: No, don’t give me that look, don’t give me that “we gotta see this thing through” look. We’re leaving tonight no matter what!

Dean: I just don’t wanna let Deacon down, that’s all. We do owe him.

Sam: Yeah, but we don’t owe him our lives, Dean.

In response, Dean goes to visit their lawyer – and tells her she needs to find out everything she can about the nurse, including how she died and where’s she’s buried.

Mara (incredulous): Are you nuts? Do you have any idea the kind of trouble you’re in here?

I love outsider pov in fanfic, and this episode gives us some of that same perspective with the character of Mara. Sam and Dean DO seem insane to anyone looking in from the outside. And at the same time, if you’re paying attention, you can also sense the heroism – and Mara does. These are not bad guys. She can sense it.

She asks Dean to explain and he says he’s sorry but he can’t, that she has to trust him on this. Mara rightly points out that why should she, since Henriksen says he’s a monster.

Dean (laughing): I’m a monster? I’m… well, he’s wrong, okay? I’m not what they say I am.

Mara rightly (again) points out that everybody says that.

Dean: Yeah, look, if you’re as smart a PD as I think you are, then you can tell with just one look whether or not your clients are guilty, okay, just like that. So I want you to look at me – really look – and you tell me, am I guilty?

She stares at him.

Dean: We’re not the bad guys.

But we don’t know if she believes him or not, which is damn good story telling.

Sam asks if she went for it and Dean admits no, not so much, but has hope that maybe she’ll come around. The brothers argue about leaving anyway, Dean worried about letting more people die. Once again, we’re easily fooled as viewers, because they’re smart enough to make their planned argument about very real disagreements they’re having.

Sam: Don’t give me that, all right? This was your stupid plan. I went along with it, but we’re sticking to the plan, Dean!

Dean: Okay, you leave, I’m gonna stay.

Sam: Don’t you turn away from me!

Dean: Screw you.

Sam: Screw you!

The brothers start to fight, and the guards and the warden grab them to stop what looks very convincingly like a real squabble.

Deacon: All right, hard case, I see the usual methods ain’t gonna work with you.

(And to Sam) You too, sweetheart.

They get taken inside, and Deacon sends the guards away, saying he wants to handle this alone.

The guard assumes the warden is gonna beat the crap out of these two, and Sam and Dean look like they’re worried about the very same thing.

Deacon approaches Dean, looking like he’s gonna beat the crap out of him – then breaks into a smile and pats his face instead, uncuffing both of them.

Dean complains that he actually was beating the holy hell out of him; Deacon says sorry, I thought I was going easy on you – trying to make it look real.

Dean: Well, mission accomplished!

They tell him the bad news that it wasn’t Moody after all, and that they think it’s the nurse, Dean saying he thinks they should still stick around, Sam saying no. They start to argue again, then Deacon interrupts them.

Deacon: GUYS!

Sam and Dean in unison: WHAT?!

Me: I love it when they talk together like that…

Deacon gives Dean an envelope that Mara left for him and Dean smirks.

Dean: Well would you look at that… man, I am freaking velvety smooth.

Sam: You wanna maybe open it up after, you know, you’re done patting yourself on the back?

Apparently there was an inmate uprising and the nurse got caught in the middle and got her head bashed in. They know where she’s buried now, though, and Dean assures Deacon that they’ll take care of it. Deacon thanks them, saying their daddy raised them right.

Sam: Well, we owed you.

The brothers exchange a look, full of meaning, back on the same page.

Deacon hugs them both, says he hopes to see them again – but not in jail.

In those early seasons, when the brothers were so isolated and disconnected from anyone else, it felt important to meet Deacon, someone who knew who they really were and respected them for it. Someone connected to their dad, who they missed so much.

Dean to Deacon: Where do you want it?

He points to his cheek, says “make it look real, son.”

Dean perhaps enjoyed that a bit too much after Deacon took the realism of roughing Dean up fairly seriously.

Dean punches him and the brothers escape up the loosened vent in the room to a dark alley where Baby is waiting for them. Iconic Supernatural scene –  I’ve visited some of those alleys they filmed in over the years and stood there fangirling. This was an emotional moment when the brothers were reunited with the Impala.

Dean: Oh man, you are a sight for sore eyes.

He runs his hand over her affectionately, and says he almost wishes he could see Henriksen’s face. Sam disagrees, reminding Dean that they’re not out of the woods yet.

Just then the alarm sounds and lights flash. The boys jump into the Impala and drive away.

Later that night, Henriksen questions Deacon, skeptical that he let the Winchesters get the drop on him and desperate to know where they’re headed. He gets in Deacon’s face, demanding to know if they had any visitors, and Deacon has to tell them that yes, their lawyer visited.

Henriksen then confronts her too, threatening her with aiding and abetting, demanding to know what they talked about, but badass Mara insists it was a private conversation.

Cut to Sam and Dean in a dark graveyard, flashlights searching out the nurse’s grave.

Sam: We gotta move it, if he gets to the lawyer…

Dean says he thought Mara couldn’t say anything because of lawyer-client privilege. Sam says that she has to talk, that privilege doesn’t apply.

Are they screwed after all? We see Mara admit that she told Sam and Dean where the nurse was buried.

Henriksen: Tell me.

This is such a masterful ending because WE don’t know right up til the very last seconds – are Henriksen and his men right on their tail?? It sure looks like it!

We see Henriksen and a bunch of cop cars arriving at Mountainside Cemetery…

Sam and Dean salting and burning a grave…

Henriksen and the FBI leap out of the cars and start searching…

Dean stands over a grave with a flashlight illuminating the headstone of Nurse Glockner, Sam digging until he reaches the coffin.

Sam looks up at Dean.

Sam: Got her.

Back at the prison, the clock on the wall stops and the lights flicker. Deacon’s breath fogs as the ghost of the nurse appears, sending him flying across the room.

Sam and Dean pour lighter fluid on the corpse, as the ghost attacks Deacon and he screams…

Henriksen and his men run through the cemetery, a great soundtrack playing, flashlights combing the gravestones… “Ain’t found a way to kill me yet, my body’s reeling…”

Sam lights a match as Deacon screams, shaking, the ghost accusing him of letting “those two go”…

Sam and Dean watch the corpse burn, and just in time the ghost goes up in flames, Deacon coughing but okay, now alone in the prison bathroom…

The FBI agents comb the cemetery, flashlights illuminating only gravestones.

Henriksen is frustrated: You sure this is the right damn cemetery?

The other agent says yes, that the lawyer said Mountainside.

Cut to Sam and Dean, flashlights in hand as they walk away from the burning coffin, leaving Green Valley Cemetery….

Mara smirks as she walks to her car…

The music plays that great Alice in Chains song… “Yeah, they came to snuff the rooster…”

The music was SO good back then, it really made the impact of a scene like this so much more powerful.

But though they escaped, at this point in Season 2, the Winchesters were still in deep shit with Henriksen on their tail.

Sam: You thought we were screwed before?

Dean: Yeah I know, we gotta go deep this time.

Sam: Deep, Dean? We should go to Yemen.

Dean: I’m not sure I’m ready to go that deep…

Sam smirks at Dean over the roof of the car.

The Impala carries her boys away, glistening in the moonlight, rock music playing.

It’s the perfect ending shot that we got in so many episodes in the early seasons.

Occasionally, when I haven’t done a rewatch in a while, I almost forget just how AMAZING Supernatural is, especially in these early seasons. This episode is a great reminder. There’s a reason Henriksen appears in fanfic a lot, and this episode really makes it clear. What a fabulous, fascinating character, and an amazing performance by Charles Malik Whitfield.

We chatted with Malik while Kathy and I were writing “Fangasm! Supernatural Fangirls” back in 2008, and he was such a genuinely great guy too, and very interested in fandom.  He asked us almost as many questions as we asked him! He made Victor an unforgettable character who I was sorry to see go – but this is Supernatural, so if there’s ever a revival? Who knows! You can read our chats with Malik in that book, order links on the home page – it will take you right back to the time this season was airing and the conventions that were starting up too. Seems like a long time ago now!

Stay tuned for our next episode in the Supernatural rewatch coming soon! It’s a great way to keep celebrating this little Show we all love and miss so much, especially now that The Winchesters prequel is airing too.

Gorgeous caps by raloria/spndeangirl

-Lynn

You can read all the Supernatural actors’ chapters

on fandom and the show they brought to life

(including Jared and Jensen) in Family Don’t End

With Blood and There’ll Be Peace When You

Are Done – links for info at: