Supernatural season 11, episode 8, “Just My Imagination,” aired tonight. Read our recap and discuss the episode with fellow fans.
Introducing Sully
In this episode, we meet Sully, Sam’s childhood imaginary friend. Only, Sully wasn’t so imaginary after all. He is a Zana, a supernatural creature that helps lost children who need guidance. They can only be seen by their kind as well as those who they want to see them.
When one of Sully’s friends is murdered, he turns to Sam for help. We learn that Sam and Sully parted on poor terms, as Sam chose a hunting life with Dean and John over the normal life Sully was prodding him toward since he seemed unhappy. Sully always considered that one of his greatest failures; however, his influence wasn’t completely gone, as Sam did eventually leave the family business for a time to go to Stanford.
Little did Sully know that he never could have truly kept Sam out of the life; his destiny was always to become Lucifer’s vessel and play a role in the apocalypse. A highlight in the episode, though, is Sully commending Sam on saving the world. So few people, including Sam himself, ever acknowledge the sacrifice he made, so that was lovely to hear.
Loss of innocence
The one behind the killings is a girl named Gracie; she and her twin sister, Audrey, were Sully’s first kids after Sam. He was playing tag with Audrey; she followed him into the street and was hit by a car. Traumatized, Sully left the field — but he also left Gracie behind to deal with the pain. To discover if Sully was real or not, she became obsessed with folklore and found a witch in Romania that cast a spell to help her see Zana and a blade to kill them. She killed Sully’s friends to draw him out.
Gracie mirrors the Winchesters in some ways. She lost her childhood innocence in a terrible way and delved into the supernatural to find answers. Luckily for her, she’s remained near the surface of what goes bump in the night. There’s a whole lot worse out there than beings who guide children.
Sully, heartbroken, offers himself up to Gracie if killing him is what she needs, but Dean talks her down. Though Dean was initially hostile toward Sully and the Zana, that hostility stemmed from a sense of guilt and even jealousy. He didn’t realize until now how alone Sam must have felt as a kid to need a Zana in his life. And he sees how much Sully truly seems to care for Sam, though it’s been years since they parted ways. He acknowledges that Sully was there for Sam when he wasn’t, and that was a pretty big admission for Dean.
This episode and season 9’s “Bad Boys” gave younger versions of the brothers opportunities to leave their lives, but they both wouldn’t leave their brothers. Dean chose Sam and Sam chose Dean over potential normal lives.
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While on the job, Sam tells Sully about the situation he’s facing with The Darkness and The Cage, and the episode ends with Sam and Sully getting a proper farewell. Sam tells Sully that he is a hero to him — even with his mistakes since heroes aren’t perfect — while Sully gives Sam a pep talk about heroes facing what scares them. It’s a sweet moment, and it’s good for both Sam and Sully to get that closure.
Sam brings up The Cage with Dean as they drive away. Dean is still against it, but Sam doesn’t see any other options.
Watch a promo for the next episode
