Supernatural - Phantom Traveler

 Though this episode has some sketchy airplane special effects (we've come a long way since 2005), I was glad "Phantom Traveler" finally gave us a little bit on the main arc regarding this "demon mist" (that's the best way I can describe it as it is like this black, sulfuric mist that has some texture to it moving about and possessing folks who are passengers of or pilot planes this entity (or legion?) crashes)  causing mischief and mayhem. There is this moment that Dean dismisses as the demon using Sam's anguish against him while speaking through a possessed pilot on a plane endangered -- at the end during an exorcism, through Latin written in Sam and Dean's dad's diary/guide -- that it knows what murdered Jessica (Sam's murdered girlfriend from the first episode), also remarking that she's still suffering. I guess Dean could be right, that the demon can read Sam's thoughts and knows his weaknesses, using them to throw him off the exorcism. 

Dean having to combat his fear of flying and contend with wearing a men-in-black faux government suit as a disguise in the same episode makes for some fun highlights, and I think you get some really good character development for Sam as he is losing sleep, dealing with nightmares about Jessica's murder and the dangers they have encountered, and not being able to find their father. I like how Padalecki conveys that, too. You see that inability to get a good night's sleep. You see the weight of such loss and the ache involved in not knowing where your father is. And I think the brothers wondering why their father has distanced himself from them is also emphasized episode to episode...Dean tries to hide it behind this tough guy veneer while Sam is more sensitive and wears his feelings. I like that you have a difference in these two brothers, too. Sam suffered a profound loss while Dean is more of a horndog who would just fuck and drive on to the next town in search of demons and ghouls to hunt and hopefully vanquish.

This episode also shows us a past Dean had with his father as they are contacted by someone (Markinson's Jerry Panowski, who runs an airport with a plane that crashed) they once helped, Sam learning this on a visit to discuss investigating what brought down his plane. Panowski mentions how Dean and his dad cured his home of a poltergeist. I grin at the thought of Negan and Dean taking out poltergeists before Sam and Dean went on their own missions that make up fifteen seasons of "Supernatural." 3/5