1.01 Pilot

In Lawrence, Kansas, 22 years ago on November 2nd, 1983, Dean Winchester, a 4-year-old boy, says goodnight to his 6-month-old baby brother, Sam, along with his mom and dad. Mary is lying in bed when she hears Sam crying on the baby monitor. She goes to investigate and sees someone standing over Sam's crib. She assumes it is her husband, John. She sees the hall light flickering; heading downstairs, she realizes John is actually sleeping in his chair by the TV. Mary runs back to Sam's nursery. John is awoken by her scream and runs to Sam's bedroom, but the baby is alone. Blood splatters from above on John's hand as he reaches for Sam. He looks up to see his wife pinned to the ceiling, bleeding from her stomach, by some unknown entity. Her body bursts into flames and the horrified father grabs Sam, gives him to Dean, orders Dean to take Sam outside as fast as he can, and then rushes back to try to save his wife. He is too late, however, and the flames completely consume the room, forcing John to flee the house as Sam's room explodes moments later.

Present day shows a grown up Sam going to a Halloween party at Stanford University with his girlfriend Jessica Moore, and a friend, Luis. There they talk about how well Sam is doing in school, and an interview for law school he has on Monday morning. His family does not know, because they are not close.

Later that night Sam is in bed with Jess when he hears someone break in. He fights the shadowy intruder until he realizes it is his 26 year old brother, Dean. Dean has not asked Sam for anything in two years, but he explains that he needs Sam's help to find their dad because he is missing after going on a "hunt". Sam excuses himself from Jess, and the two brothers head outside to talk. They talk about how they were raised - melting bullets, fighting evil - as warriors.

Sam finally asks what their dad was hunting; Dean opens his car trunk and shows Sam the newspaper clippings. He explains ten men vanished from their cars on Centennial Highway over the past twenty years, before playing a voicemail from Dad that says that something big is about to happen and they all are in danger. After cleaning up the EVP, the garbled message Dean plays in the background says, "I can never go home." Sam agrees to help, but only if he is back in time on Monday for his law school interview, and goes inside to pack. Jess wonders what is up with Sam's family and reminds him about his interview, but he makes an excuse his dad being drunk and assures her he will just bring Dad back. Plus, he will be back in time for the interview.

That night in Jericho, California, a teenager is driving down the road when he sees a woman in white standing alone in the dark. He pulls over and she gets in. She acts seductively, teasing the guy and asking him to go home with her. He says, "Hell, yes" and heads where she directs him. When they arrive the house is derelict and she tells him, "I can never go home," before vanishing. He gets out and looks around, but gets spooked and jumps back in his car and drives away. When he looks in the rearview mirror, she is in the back and he freaks, crashing through a barrier onto a bridge. The car stops, Troy screams, and blood splatters in the windshield.

The next morning sees Dean and Sam stopping for gas. Sam mentions the credit card scams to pay for their "hunting", which Dean shrugs off. Sam mentions Dean's choice in music - old, cassette tapes. They drive off, passing a sign for Jericho. Ahead, they see the bridge where the guy's car crashed the night before and lots of cop cars. Dean pulls up, takes out a fake ID, and they question the cops posing as US Marshals. The cop says he knew the latest victim, named Troy, and that his girlfriend is putting up missing posters downtown, but they have no leads. Dean and Sam find Amy, Troy's girlfriend and the cop's daughter, to tell her they are looking for Troy too. They find out Troy spoke to her on his cell right before he disappeared, and a local legend about a girl who died on Centennial Highway whose ghost hitchhikes and the drivers who pick her up who disappear.

Dean and Sam search the net for more information, finally finding an article about Constance Welch who committed suicide by jumping from a local bridge back in 1981, after her 2 kids drown mysteriously. They go back to check out the bridge that night, since Troy's car was found there. They talk about where Dad might be, chasing the same hunt, Sam wanting to be normal - away from this life, and he would not even know his Mom. She is dead, not coming back. Dean gets mad at Sam, shoving him against a bridge tower. Constance appears, and then jumps from the bridge ahead of them. The next moment Dean's car, a black '67 Impala, starts on its own to try to knock them down. They jump off the side. Sam catches himself but Dean dives off the bridge. Sam worries and calls out. Dean calls back that he is super, as he is crawling up out of the river into the mud.

Checking into a motel to clean up, they find their dad's room and check it out. There is a salt line in front of the door, with pictures stuck to the walls and an uneaten burger left behind. After confirming the ghost Dad was hunting was Constance Welch, a "woman in white", they debate what their dad did and what to do next. After Dean cleans up, he heads out for food but cops show up. He warns Sam by calling him first, but they arrest Dean for impersonating a US Marshal.

Sam escaped the police before visiting Constance's husband Joseph Welch and asking him questions. John was there three or four days ago; Constance's grave is at their old house. Sam fathoms out Joseph was unfaithful and suggests she had temporary insanity, that Constance killed her kids and herself when she found out. Thus she became a "woman in white", who kills unfaithful men on the highway. Joseph grows upset and asks Sam to leave.

As Dean is interrogated, he is told he is a suspect in the men's disappearances. The sheriff throws John's journal down in front of Dean, demanding to know what some numbers mean. Dean seems surprised to see it. The interrogation is interrupted by an emergency call, so Dean is left cuffed to the desk. He picks the lock easily with a paperclip and escapes, calling Sam, knowing that Sam called in the fake emergency call.

They exchange information - Sam confirming the woman in white, while Dean tells Sam about Dad's journal leaving coordinates for them to follow. Before they can discuss more, the ghost appears in front of Sam's car and he drives right through her. He yells, and Dean knows something is wrong. The next minute, the woman in white is in the car with Sam, asking to be taken home. When he refuses, she takes control of the car and it drives on its own back to her house. The car stops; Constance says she can never go home. She jumps on Sam, but he refuses her seduction so she begins to hurt him. Dean comes to the rescue, shooting her. Sam figured she is too scared to enter, so while she is distracted Sam drives the car into the house taking her with him. Dean pulls Sam out, but they are pinned to the car with a desk by the ghost. The dead kids show up, and they take her spirit back with them to the netherworld as all 3 apparitions vanish into a pool of water on the floor. Dean and Sam push free, and leave.

Sam figures out Dad is in a place called Blackwater Ridge, but insists on being taken back to Stanford for his interview. Dean is not happy about it, but drops Sam off. Sam comes in late at night, finds cookies Jess left for him, before laying back on his bed to the sound of a shower running. Blood splatters on him. Sam looks up, horrified to see Jessica pinned to the ceiling in the same way as his mother. She bursts into flames as Dean appears at the right moment to rescue Sam. As the fire is doused down by the fire engines, Dean and Sam pack their stuff into the car. Sam ends by saying, "We got work to do."