The Winchester Family Business

Alice, I'm on the same page with you - all points. I thought this episode was one of the strongest of the season. Jared is just knocking my socks off. I had one small complaint, which I mentioned in my reply to Elle2's review -- I didn't quite buy Brenna (thanks, I didn't remember her name) helping Sam so much so easily. Robo!Sam wouldn't have inspired that sort of trust and while the puppy eyes are a superpower I still couldn't quite hand wave it. . . . .
Otherwise I entirely loved the episode. My poor Sammy - I sure hope he comes out the other side of this.

Hmm I just tried to post a comment and it disappeared.
Alice, I am completely on the same page with you regarding this awesome episode. Jared is just knocking my socks off. I talked a little more about it in response to Elle2's review, so I won't repeat it here. My poor Sammy. I sure hope he comes out of this OK.

First thing, I really hope next episode picks up right where this episode ends because I'm dying to know what Dean does and how Sam ends up coming back to himself. The ending terrified me!

My hope is that Sam sees this experience as a warning: He can't set everything right no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he scratches the wall, no matter how much guilt he takes on himself. Brenna wouldn't hear his apology--which was obviously painful for him--and there are undoubtedly other people Robo!Sam interacted with that will have the same issue. The best he can do now both for his own sanity (guilt-wise and for keeping the wall up) is fix things in the present rather than dwell on the past. Yeah, Sam is a dweller, we know this, but I really feel like his expression on Brenna's porch and when he told Dean he was right was something of light bulb moment.

Interesting insight about John sacrificing all for the cause--we're constantly being shown/told how Sam is very much John's son. Not to mention, John also went to Hell and came back and helped set things right (stalled Azazel enough so Dean could shoot him in AHBL2) before moving on to wherever he is now. I do wonder what other parallels might appear now.

I think you're exactly right that Dean's the only one who can save Sam from himself, both in terms of taking too much on himself and when it comes to dealing with the memories that are slipping through the cracks. Now that Sam's going to have some reference for how bad the Hell memories are, maybe he'll have more respect for the wall. I don't think it means nothing that, according to Ash in "Dark Side of the Moon," the boys are soul mates. Sam's soul is damaged, so it makes sense that it's Dean that can be the one to help him heal. No matter the angst, I don't think the boys are falling away from each other again so I think even just Dean's presence will be good for Sam's well-being. Dean's the only person on the planet--probably--that really gets what Sam is remembering, so it has to be him. And I think our protective big brother is up to the task.

And finally, I actually don't think this was a particularly favorably portrayal of Samuel. Allowing evil to happen is just as bad as doing it yourself, and that's exactly what was going on here. Samuel may not have liked what Robo!Sam was doing, but he didn't make any effort to stop it or suggest another alternative. It just made him passive and every bit as unlikable as earlier in the season for me.

Phew, that just kept going. Pardon my ramblings :)

Hi Alice, and thanks for another great review!

I quite agree with you on the flashbacks. I usually hate both amnesia stories and flashback stories. I´m not sure why, but at least part of it is that´s it´s often used as an artificial vehicle to make a story seem more interesting.

Here, they did a really wonderful job.
I loved the choice of b/w for the memories, not only because it made it easier to distinguish between the sequences, thus allowing the show to do quick switches without making it too hard on the viewers to follow.
I also loved it because the b/w images enhanced the general coldness, the drama of what happened, and also who SoullessSam was, a cold and calculating creature that saw things in black and white as well. Sammy´s warmth, even when under duress, came across more powerfully through the difference between that cold b/w and the warmer, if subdued, colors.

I´m really not much of a visual person, but I did notice the lighting and choice of angles and such during this episodes. It made for an impressive overall effect and truly enhanced the story that was being told.

I very much agree with you on the episode.
It´s complete in itself, just a really good piece of TV, as you said, top-notch directing, pacing, storytelling and acting, most obviously by Jared, but Jensen and the supporting acts as well - could be cinema, actually, a beautiful film noir - and still an episode that has all the continuity and both story and character development I have come to expect from a good SPN episode.
It has all of that in spades.

Oh Sammy indeed.
You paint a very bleak picture of Sam´s life so far and the latest development just fits in with the rest.
You´re very right of course.
It seems that this life of Sam´s is to be about trying to stem the tide, and having all of his honest and well-intentioned choices blow up in his face.
Just as it seems to be Dean´s to give his everything to keep the people he loves safe, with just as little success.

It´s truly a miracle to me how they keep going, the amazing strength they have to find in themselves and each other, and in the conviction that trying, doing your best is worth it, over and over and over again.

I don´t really think Sam sees death as an option. As long as he feels that he´ll be able to make amends by continuing to help people, he´ll do just that.
Which doesn´t mean he wouldn´t accept death if this is how a hunt went.

As for RoboSam being a part of Sam, yes, I´ve always thought that too, and I was sure Sam would see it this way.
What I was not expecting but what makes a lot of sense is what you pointed out: that through the flashbacks, Sam gets to have look at RoboSam and to recognize several traits that he knows he has: a certain arrogance amongst others and the need to take control ("Family slows you down" - Sex and Violence comes to mind).
These are his weaknesses, and without a soul (or with a weakened soul as in S4)to balance them out they bring pain and sometimes destruction to him and to others.
So, more than before, he´ll see RoboSam as a him, and feel responsible.
And I agree with you, he will be lost without Dean now, so I´m all the more happy that they are on the same page now.

I think that their relationship has moved from dependency to a healthier kind of love. That doesn´t mean they don´t still need each other.
They very much do so, since life won´t give them a break, and not many people will either.

As for Samuel, yes, I was thinking the same thing. I can really see now how he ended up thinking selling out his grandsons to a demon wasn´t actually a bad thing. It also sheds a new light on that scene with Samuel "wanting forgiveness" and Dean having him "go see a priest". Samuel did feel bad about Dean. He didn´t know Dean and probably didn´t reallly give him a chance, but selling out was first about Mary and second about Sam. Dean just got caught up in it.
One thing has not changed in my assessment of Samuel: I still see him as an essentially weak person. All he has done so far, including this episode, speaks to me of a slightly self-indulgent person too weak to make a stand. Sorry, I still don´t like him much.
That´ll make for an interesting reunion. Looking forward to that.

BTW, I loved that picture of Sam in Hell you put into your review.
Somehow I can´t stop looking at it, it´s beautiful, disturbing and touching at the same time.

Well, thanks again, Alice, I´ve enjoyed this!

Alice, obviously Sera and Co read your articles.
This episode was fun.

I liked the contrast of Sammy with the Soulless One. It just makes the Soulless One seem even colder against the genuine article.

Dean even though he won't, owes Sam a huge 'I told you so'.

Let us not forget that Gramps never met hunter!John. He would probably had pissed his pants if he had. Alice, maybe you can put that plot into an article, a meeting of John and Gramps (hello return of JDM ).

Places never to mention again;
Cold Oaks, South Dakota; Broward County, Florida;and now Bristol, Rhode Island.

Next week: possessed Impala.

The ones who foud that this episode "led nowhere" seem to think that this episode was about RoboSam, but it wasn't: it was about SAM, and his struggle to get a grip on himself. The guy has amnesia, and amnesiia eat away at you, steal your personality, your story, at what essentially you are. You have to fix this thing, if you want to be whole again.

What is tragic in this episode is that Sam come to understand that the very thing that can make him whole again, is just the thing that can destroy him. That, and the fact that, quoting Dean, "no matter how many people I save, that (the ill deeds he did) doesn't change". That actions and choices have consequences, and those consequences cannot always be controlled or fixed or repaired (and this was the lesson at the end of AIS). You just have to face them and carry their weight.

Dean, in the end, had to face them and carry their weight. He couldn't go back to hell and make amend for what he did. Maybe what Sam has to learn is just that, and Dean is the one who can teach him that. Sam was scared of himself since season one, and he hoped that his sacrifice in Swan Song could redeem him. Now he's searching again redemption for what his soulles self did. But maybe you can't always find redemption, sometimes you can only ask for forgiveness.

I’d be a wee bit like you, Alice, in that I wanted a peek behind the wall (I didn’t need the beatdown though.... ) I just wanted confirmation as to where Sams soul was because there were so many theories floating around; heaven, hell, stuck in the amulet (?) etc.

To be honest, as soon as I saw the fire my first reaction was ‘Is that Purgatory?’ In a (sick, twisted) way, it makes sense to me. Fire, the great purifier, cleansing Sam of his ‘sins’ before a decision is made on his soul (though I do admit, there are about 40 reasons I can think of as to why that theory is crap!)

However, now that the show has confirmed that Sam wasn’t anyplace nice and sunny (though it was hot!), there’s no need to be showing me any more of it, ok? 6 seconds of hell was more than enough. I’ll let my 'Timagination' (see what I did there? I’m so witty!) take over now, thanks very much. I’ve seen hell twice now and I know the score, no more breaking The 10 Commandments for me. The ending left me numb and more than a little shaken (and bursting with anticipation).

Rather selfishly, I enjoyed that it was a Sam-centric episode. I know I shouldn’t endorse such a thing but Dean has had a few now, Bobby had one, Castiel (kinda) had one so Sam was due one. (It also means there’s only one guy left that an entire episode can be centred on... Go, Papa John! Cue ratings going through the roof!)

I love that it was a character driven episode. The majority of the action we’ve seen before; decapitation, jail cells, hook-ups, co-ordinates etc etc but this time it was like we saw them all with fresh eyes. We finally got a glimpse as to what motivates Sam, what drives him to do what he does (that pesky soul) and we can relate to him more for that. Think of what we would have thought about Sam in this episode if it was shown from Dean’s POV (probably Sam = dickhead!) What Sam did was stupid, stubborn, selfish, inordinately risky and in the end, pointless. It achieved nothing bar more heartache but because we saw the reasons why he did what he did, we don’t think about that because we’re more concerned with the who, as opposed to the what.

To be honest, if future ‘minimum story, maximum character development’ episodes are as gripping as this one, the next 9 episodes can show Sam and Dean writing about their feelings in their respective diaries and I’ll be happy!

Magichappening brought up a very good point; nobody’s hands are clean in this story. Everyone has muddied them. Yet Sam seems intent on trying to get clean (He can’t fecking let things go! Wonder if they do Herpexia for the mind?) Maybe because he feels he’s either (a) much dirtier than everyone else or (b) was born dirty therefore he feels he needs to make the effort to get clean, be pure. Perhaps Sam is thinking about his next (and hopefully final) death and wants to have as few obstacles as possible in the way between himself and the pearly white gates (and after both he and Dean experienced hell, who can blame him!)

In relation to the constant fail of Sam’s life, it’s the reason I like him. He doesn’t know how to give up. It’s the reason I wasn’t as cut up about Sam going to hell as I am him reliving hell (yes, I’ve already acknowledged I’m sick in the head...) Sam won against Lucifer. The prize might have sucked but he still won. However, now we realise that even though he won it all, it’s looking inevitable that he’s going to lose it all.

I don’t know much about Theodore Roosevelt but I love his ‘Not the critic’ speech because it could be written for the boys. "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, if he wins knows the triumph of high achievement, and who, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

One thing the boys souls will never be is cold and timid. It’s the reason hell couldn’t crush Dean. It’s the reason Sam’s soul, despite decades in the Pit, was still glowing when Death took it out of his bag.

I wondered a bit about Sam’s ‘It will or it won’t’ attitude in relation to the wall falling. I think Sam believes in destiny, in fate, now. If it’s fate for the wall to fall then maybe he believes nothing will prevent it. Will he accept this or will he fight it? Last time he was fighting for his death, this time he’s fighting for his life. (How cool!) How he’s going to cope with that in the coming weeks is going to be interesting.

In terms of the execution of the episode, I (still) don’t fully understand what film noir is but all I could think of while watching this was ‘L.A Confidential, L.A Confidential’ (a classic...) Don’t trust who you think you can trust because you don’t know anyone. It’s always the last person you suspect etc. The acting was amazing. I know they had the black and white to differentiate Soulless Sam and Souled Up Sam but I don’t think they even needed it, such was the difference between the two characters. (If I wasn’t typing right now, Mr Padalecki, I’d be applauding)

The memories didn’t need to make sense; they were as disjointed as bedamned, just as Sam himself if right now. At this moment, he’s still a whole lot of different pieces shoved back into one (fine) body. It feels like these pieces haven’t been given time to settle into their rightful place yet.

Samuel and his (various) comments make much more sense now and his personality is also taking shape. He doesn’t know what Sam is. And I’m sure he would find the fact that he’s related to someone he would have difficulty in equating as human, a little disconcerting. It also shows why he somewhat deferred to Sam in Two and a Half Men. I imagine a bit of Samuel is scared poopless of Sam. Might also explain why he had no ‘last words’ for Sam in Caged Heat.


On an aside, it’s good to finally know why John brings home a new toilet every day. I thought it was just a fetish thing but it turns out he’s just ultra hygienic! (Hygiene is such a turn on...)