‘Supernatural’ Review: “Of Grave Importance”

‘Supernatural’ season 7 makes a friendly ghost out of  its nineteenth episode of the season, as Sam and Dean investigate the disappearance of their hunter friend Annie, while Bobby adjusts to his new ghostly form and struggles to make an impact

Last time’s ‘Supernatural’ “Party On, Garth” saw fellow hunter Garth (DJ Qualls) returning to the fold in investigating a Japanese spirit, while we ultimately learned that Bobby's spirit survived, even if the boys couldn't see it, so what will the latest episode bring?  Like, is Castiel still in the nuthouse?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Supernatural’ “Of Grave Importance!”

As Sam and Dean indulge in some local tacos, dean fields a call from their old hunter buddy Annie (Jamie Luner), who’s got work for them investigating a local haunted house.  Meanwhile, some amorous youths find their way into the house to fool around, but wind up scared by Annie's headlights in the driveway.  In their effort to escape, they encounter the ghost of a heavyset man who growls that they shouldn’t have come.  Annie herself finds the corpse of the teens, when the lights flicker and her own flashlight goes out!

The next day, the boys sense something is amiss when Annie doesn’t show for lunch, awkwardly realizing that between the two brothers and Bobby, they’ve all hooked up with Annie.  Of course Dean still drinks like a fish from Bobby’s flask, the very same Bobby whose ghost continually tries to grab Sam and Dean’s attention to no avail!

Sam and Dean head to the site of the Bodega Bay house, unknowingly with Bobby’s ghost in tow, and while they search the place, Bobby sees dozens of other ghosts of all ages and sizes littering the house.  Sam and Dean manage to find Annie’s cell phone, but Bobby learns the real truth, that Annie herself has died, and is now among the ghosts of the house.  She and Bobby swap stories of how they arrived at their separate fates, lamenting that they don’t seem to have a handle on how to interact with objects, or even make themselves visible to the living.

Thankfully, they manage to find some help from an elder-era ghost named Pascal, tho extolls that ghosts can only interact through objects in one of two pays: pure zen telling the object what to do, or white hot anger that will inevitably lead to the breakdown, and vilifying of spirits as they’ve so commonly faced in life.  Bobby fails at first, but he and Annie find themselves distracted by a mysterious ghost woman named Victoria who seams to want to help them.  Before they can make any headway however, Bobby disappears from the scene, as the boys have given up and left, taking Bobby’s flask with them.

A little research teaches Sam and Dean that the house was owned by a man named Whitman Van Ness (A man Bobby witnessed yelling at Dexter, the portly ghost who seemingly killed the teens).  Dexter supposedly murdered Whitman’s fiancée and after fleeing, returned to kill a number of others inside the house.  Meanwhile, two more live teens poke around the house, and Dexter appears before them.  However, Dexter is revealed to have been the one attempting to shoo the living off the premises, while Whitman Van Ness was the actual killer!  As Annie watches, Whitman somehow absorbs the entire essence of Dexter into his own ghostly form.  Meanwhile back at the hotel, Bobby finally manages to communicate with the boys, writing in their steamed bathroom mirror that Annie remains in danger at the house, and that he has been with them after all.

After arriving back at the house, Bobby manages to sneak his flask out of Dean’s pocket for control purposes, while Annie coaxes the ghost Victoria out of her apathy into helping them bring down Whitman, who’s been leading people to the house and killing them to absorb their ghost forms for years now.  The boys manage to find proof of Annie’s existence by examining the video camera the two teens carried, when Victoria appears to explain the situation, speaking for the invisible Bobby and Annie.  However, Whitman torches Victoria’s remains, eliminating her ghostly form, and places his own spiritual key in Dean’s pocket to tether his presence to them.  As the boys drive away to Fry Whitman’s remains, Annie and Bobbie watch helplessly as Whitman smirks from the backseat of their car.

Taking advantage of the time to search they’ve been given, Bobby and Annie manage to find where Whitman’s been stashing the bodies of his victims, including Annie herself.  Distraught by the sight of her own corpse, Annie muses about what happens to spirits after they're torched, insisting that Bobby be the one to end her after they've settled this current job.

On their way to the mausoleum, Dean finds the car possessed, and the boys run off the road where Whitman attacks them.  Dean realizes he must have some kind of item on them, finds Whitman’s key, and shoots it.  Unfortunately, breaking the tether only has the effect of snapping Whitman back to his own house.  Better get a move on to the cemetery, boys!  Back at the house, Whitman arrives furious at Bobby and Annie, starting to absorb Bobby’s essence before burning up himself, as Sam and Dean managed to torch his bones just in time.  Sam and Dean race back to the house where Bobby’s only just regained consciousness, now in a visible form to them.

While everyone is cheerfully (if ghost-fully) reunited, Dean criticizes Bobby for his choice to remain on Earth as a ghost rather than take his reward in Heaven, knowing full-well how spirits inevitably deteriorate and turn malevolent.  Hurt by his lack of gratitude, Bobby disappears, however when Dean shares his concerns with Sam later on the road, Bobby’s spirit of course remains in the backseat, secretly listening in.  Probably should have thought of that one, Dean.

Well, at least we've gotten confirmation that Bobby can stick around as a ghost, but for how long?  Is Jim Beaver not long for 'Supernatural?'  And what of Castiel, still rotting away in that mental hospital from "The Born-Again Identity?"  Only a few episodes left until the end of the season, so we'd better get moving on that Leviathan plot, too!  And hey, how about some Felicia Day next week?

Did you get your fill of ‘Supernatural’ action?  What did you think about the episode? Join us next week for an all-new episode recap of ‘Supernatural’ spooker “The Girl with the Dungeons & Dragons Tattoo” on The CW!