Recap: "Faith"

15 Jun 2009

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Created on Monday, 15 June 2009 21:52

Last Updated on Sunday, 09 June 2013 22:44

Written by Alice Jester

It's time to go into the tent, where there's security cameras and prime seats upfront, both making Dean very uncomfortable. Rev. LeGrange, who's blind, speaks about corrupt and evil blah, blah, blah and Sam notices a strange cross on the altar. Keep that in mind for later. Dean makes an offhanded comment that the reverend hears. Uh Dean, the dude's blind, so his hearing is better than most. Just a note for next time.

The reverend calls Dean up to the stage, and while Sam is excited Dean refuses, saying he should pick someone else. "I didn't pick you Dean, the Lord did." That REALLY bothers Dean. He goes up after Sam insists. As Dean gets up there, he gives Sam a look telling him he feels like an idiot, and Sam looks back with an "it’s worth a shot" expression. Even this early in the series, these two say so much to each other with so little.

Dean tells the reverend he isn't a believer and is told "You will be, you will be." Sorry reverend, but Dean here even questioned the existence of God and angels when one pulled him out of Hell and brought him back to life. He's got trust issues. The reverend raises his hands and opens them up. Sam watches with anticipation and Dean watches like this is total bullshit. That is until the reverend touches Dean and he gets woozy. Then he sinks to his knees.

Now Sam is worried. Then Dean collapses to the ground. Sam rushes up to help while everyone claps. Yay, he's dead! Sam shakes Dean and he suddenly wakes up with a huge gasp. He's disoriented, then sees a ghoulish figure in a nice suit next to the reverend before disappearing into thin air. Well that's a story for the grandchildren.

Dean's at a doctor. He's fine, no sign his heart was ever damaged. Sam is overjoyed, Dean is pretty disturbed. Then the doctor, using the 'you never know' analogy, mentions a supposedly healthy 27 year old man suddenly dying of a heart attack yesterday. After the doctor leaves, Dean doesn't think that's a coincidence. Sam wants to believe it is, but Dean can't shake his bad feeling. His healing felt wrong, he felt cold, and he mentions the spirit.

Sam claims that if it was there, he'd be seeing it too. He's been seeing a lot of things lately. "Excuse me psychic wonder, but you just need a little faith on this one." Okay, so being brought back from the brink of death makes Dean testy. Who knew? Sam sees his point, so he'll check out the heart attack guy while Dean sees the reverend.

This scene turns out in time to be quite a pivotal one, at least for season four. Dean is talking with reverend and Mrs. LeGrange (a rather pious and annoying Sue Ann) and tells them he feels great, but is trying to make sense of what happened. Sue Ann calls it a miracle, and they seem to happen a lot around Roy. Okay, if that's what you want to call it.

Dean wants to know when they started happening. The reverend woke up one morning stone blind. He had cancer and only had a month. So, as all religious types do, they prayed for a miracle. Sure, "pray" and "black magic" mean the same thing. He went into a coma, woke up against doctors expectations, and the cancer was gone. He discovered afterward he could heal people.

Dean has one last question. "Why, why me? Out of all the sick people why save me?" Reverend LeGrange's answer still
packs a punch to this day. His heart stood out from all the rest. What did he see? "A young man with an important purpose, a job to do. And it isn't finished." Interesting how that compares with Castiel's "we have work for you."

Sam talks to a guy at the pool. Heart attack guy was healthy, swam everyday, didn't smoke. The guy was running and freaking out before he collapsed, saying something was after him. They didn't see anything. While leaving Sam notices the busted clock. It stopped at 4:17. The same time the guy died. Now that's no coincidence.

Dean leaves and Leila comes in, asking how he's feeling. Sorry, but this chick is just way too sweet for him. Dean feels good, except for the whole being bothered over getting saved thing. Leila's there to see the reverend, but Sue Ann appears and says he's resting right now and they can't see him. Leila's mother, who really rubs me the wrong way, gets all snippy, and wants to see him now. Sue Ann gives them a smile and a "have faith" line. Bitch.

Leila's mother, who is not only annoying but a really bad actress, looks at Dean with pure scorn, wondering why he's still there. Leila objects but mom goes into a fit about how they've been to every single service and he keeps picking strangers over her. Strangers that don't even believe. Hey, give Dean a break! He's feeling guilty enough. Dean wants to know what's wrong. Mom steps in with even more terrible over-the-top dramatic acting, going on about inoperable brain tumor, six months to live, blah, blah, blah.

She looks at Dean with hatred and asks "Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?" Duh, Leila is obviously lacking that important purpose. Plus her mom is a bitch. Needless to say, this doesn't leave Dean with warm fuzzies. You know, this scene might have worked if it wasn't so overwrought and poorly acted. The mom is such a bad actress, she sucks the life out of Jensen! That's pretty bad. In the end, a potentially touching scene comes off as contrived and forced.

However, the next scene rocks, and it's my favorite of the episode. That's because it sticks to the formula that works; Jensen, Jared, and some awesomely placed classic rock. Dean exhaustively enters the motel room looking unhappy, and Sam's at the computer looking unhappy. Aww, sad Winchesters. Dean dares to ask Sam what he found out. "I'm sorry," Sam solemnly says. Uh oh, it's not good news.

Marshall Hall (dead swimming guy) died at 4:17, the exact time Dean was healed. So Sam cross checked everyone that was healed with the local obits. Everytime someone was healed, somebody else died. Each time the victim died of the same symptom LeGrange was healing. Yeah, that sounds fishy. Now a healthy woman is running in the woods. The middle guitar riff to "Don't Fear The Reaper" comes on and while the woman in the woods knows something is wrong, the voices of Sam and Dean discuss how a life is being traded for a life over top of that. Back to Sam and Dean, in which Dean figures out Marshall Hall died to save him. Sam points out the guy would have died anyway for someone else, but that doesn't make Dean feel better.

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