Robin’s Rambles: Live Free or Twihard

Samuel is annoyed with Sam for allowing Dean to escape. “Can’t keep track of your brother now? He’s not himself! He’s a monster and he’s hungry. You’re prepared to do the right thing now.” “I told you he’d kill me when he showed up,” says Dean, abruptly appearing in the room. Sam and Samuel pull out their swords. “Did you feed?” Samuel asks. “I went to say goodbye to Lisa,” says Dean miserably, “which for the record is a lousy idea.” “Dean, answer the question?” demands Samuel, more insistently. Dean, sexy as hell, answers, “You can relax, I didn’t drink anyone.” Sam releases a relieved breath. “Thank God,” says Samuel. “But I came close,” admits Dean, taking off his jacket, “all right–do it.” “OK, if you insist,” says Samuel, “or you can just turn your back.” “What?” say Sam and Dean, but NOT in unison. “I didn’t drive all this way to kill ya, Dean, I’m here to save ya.” Samuel shows Dean his grandfather’s journal, an old “soup” recipe for curing vampirism. It’s a bad trip, but it works–as long as Dean doesn’t drink even one drop of human blood. “I got it,” says Dean sullenly. “Do ya?” asks Samuel– “because you WILL feed–it’s a matter of time.” “What else do we gotta get?” asks Dean. “Trickiest thing on the list,” says Samuel, “blood of the fang that turned ya.” “That guy was huge,” says Sam. “Nothin’ in the recipe says it’s gotta be easy,” says Samuel, “you gonna walk right into the nest?” “I’m one of ’em, aren’t it?” asks Dean–“so all I gotta do is get in there, get the guy alone and shoot him with so much dead man’s blood he’ll think he’s rushin’ a fraternity.” Samuel wants to go with, but Dean says no–“You reek. You’re like a walkin’ hamburger. I gotta do this alone.” Sam says they haven’t been able to find them yet, but Dean already knows–“I can smell ’em, they’re two miles east of town. You guys get the other crap and meet me there.” Samuel gives Dean a hypo filled with dead man’s blood–“Enough to drop a linebacker and then some. Good luck, son.” Dean exits. “What the hell is wrong with you, Sam?” demands Samuel. Sam, packing weapons, wants to know what Grandpa is talking about. “You knew about the cure,” says Samuel. “What? No I didn’t,” insists Sam. (THIS IS NOT THE SAME SAM AS THE SAM SAMUEL TOLD ABOUT THE CURE!) “We talked about it months ago,” Samuel reminds him. “Not me, it must’ve been Christian or somethin’,” says Sam. “That’s strange,” says Samuel, “because if you HAD known, it’d almost be like you LET him get turned–get a man on the inside, help us find that alpha vampire they’re lookin’ for.” (THEY, not WE.) “You serious?” says Sam–“you think I’d do something like that, risk my own brother?–what’s wrong with YOU?” (I think you DID!!!!!) They survey each other for a few long moments. “Look,” says Sam, “I’m just relieved we can fix him.” Sam leaves. Samuel looks as if he doesn’t know what to think, but he’s worried.

 

Dean enters the vampires’ lair and meets up with Robert, the Pattinson lookalike who brought Kristin into the fold. He recognizes Dean: “The guy Boris turned outside the bar. He said to look out for you. Glad you made it, man.” They bump fists. Dean follows him to a refrigerator where the confiscated blood from the van is stored. “You must be starving,” says Robert, selecting a bag for Dean, “here you go.” “I’m OK,” Dean, clearly hungry, assures him, “I killed so many people on the way over here.” “Yeah, about that,” says Robert confidentially, “company line is, we don’t just kill people–anymore–but you’ve gotta tell me what that’s like.” “Yeah, first chance I get, I’ll show you myself,” promises Dean. “Sweet,” says Robert, tearing into the bag of blood himself. Dean looks longingly at that, and the fridge filled with more, and follows Robert. “Don’t worry about them,” says Robert in reference to guys milling around the bottom of the stairs, “the recruiters get to bang all the chicks. That’s you now, bro.” “Recruiters?” questions Dean. “Yeah,” says Robert, “Big Man will explain.” “Be will you in a minute,” says Boris, dictating to Kristin, who is on a computer, “‘Your skin is the black velvet of the night.’ Nice, that stupid bitch’ll eat that up, she’ll be dying to meet.” Boris presses his lips against her hair and she cringes. “Go get yourself some blood, sweetheart, then march that little ass right back here, okay?” Dean notes pretty teenage girls locked in cells, sucking blood from bags of blood hanging above their heads. Kristin gives Dean a long look as she walks past him. “Thank goodness,” says Boris, I thought the hunter chopped your pretty head.” “Naw, I got away,” says Dean, “sorry, what’s a hunter?” “You’ll see if he finds us,” chuckles Boris, “you’ll see him inside-out. You eaten?” “Yeah,” says Dean. “Good, you’ll need your strength,” says Boris. Learning that Robert didn’t fill him in, Boris asks, “How old do I look?” “33?” guesses Dean. “You’re off–by about six centuries,” says Boris, “and these are the best days in the last 600 years to be a vampire. Dracula, Ann Rice? Please. These little brats are so horny, they’ve reinvented us as Prince Charming with a Volvo. They want a promise ring with fangs, so I give it to them. You go out and get them and you bring them home to me.” “So what’s with the cages?” asks Dean. “That’s just till they’re compliant,” says Boris, “eventually these girls will go out and fetch me boys like you–and around and around we go.” “I gotta say, I’m impressed,” says Dean, “this whole system, it’s all you?” Laughing, Boris says, “Nononononono, I just implement, make sure that you all fall in line, it’s HIS–our father’s.” He points upward to a beautiful stained glass ceiling above them. “Your father’s,” says Dean. “Aren’t you a curious one,” says Boris, chuckling. “You don’t know the half of it,” grins Dean. “In due time,” says Boris, looking at Dean lustily, moving in as if for a kiss, “you want the private tour, doncha?” “I thought you’d never ask,” says Dean. Boris gestures with his forefinger: come this way. With Boris’ back turned, Dean withdraws and uncaps the syringe of dead man’s blood. Unfortunately, one drop falls and hits the floor, alerting Boris, who grabs Dean. “You playing games with me, boy?” he demands, forcing Dean to drop the syringe. From the alpha, above, a whispered message comes, causing all the vampires to fall unconscious. Dean watches Boris drop, then the vamps in the cells. He is last to fall. We see a series of chilling images: cemeteries, crosses, a fertilized egg dividing into two, blood passing through a body, a child feeding blood to a doll, desks in a classroom, Aurora and Elgin on a map, a black man touching a bloody finger to the face of a young girl; he opens a door and twin vampire girls exit into the world.

 

Dean and the other vampires awaken. Boris is freeing all the vamps from their cells. As if he, too, received a message from the stained glass above them, Dean pulls out his sword and begins a killing rampage. As promised, he shows Robert how he kills in a wonderful scene where he lops off his head and we watch as it tilts to one side and falls over, the headless body sliding to the ground. Next, three of the freed girls come at him, but he swiftly dispatches him with his sword, too, their blood splashing the walls.           

Sam and Samuel pull up in front of the warehouse. “This must be the place,” says Samuel. “Shhhh,” says Sam. There’s a loud thump, and an upside-down vampire appears right in front of the driver side window, smashing it.

 

Dean continues to fight his way out of the warehouse, cutting a swath of vampires as he goes.

 

Sam beheads the vamp on top of the van. “So much for undercover,” opines Samuel. “Let’s go,” says Sam, and they head inside.

 

Dean leaps down over the railing to the fist floor (damned impressive, too, this whole scene has been turning me on)! “You stop at nothin’, you know that?” says Boris–“this is much bigger than you and me.” Dean stands with his sword, ready. Boris beckons him.

 

This scene, scored with spine-tingling music and dark, perfect lighting, deserves kudos all by itself.

 

Sam and Samuel enter a room filled with dead vamps. “Looks like your brother has some Campbell in him after all,” mutters Grandpa. They stand on the top floor, over the clock, looking down at Dean. “You OK?” asks Sam. “Yeah, I’m good,” answers Dean in a gruff voice. He’s holding the bloody sword in bloody hands. Propped under his foot is Boris’ bloody head, several feet from the body, with a thick blood trail across the carpet from its source. They quickly head downstairs to Dean.

 

Samuel adds Boris’ blood to the curative Campbell “soup.” “If this works, it’s not gonna be a kiddie ride, ya know that,” warns Samuel. “That’s great, light ‘er up,” says Dean. “So what’d you see in there?” asks Sam anxiously. “What?” asks Dean, not comprehending. “In the nest,” persists Sam. “I can’t hear you, your blood is so freakin’ loud,” complains Dean, “just back off!” Samuel pours the medicine. “Now give me the damn cure!” orders Dean, and picks up the coffee cup. He recoils at the smell, gasping, but says, “L’Chaim” with a grimace and downs it all. Samuel watches him sharply. Dean spits. “I don’t think it w–” begins Dean, then turns away and begins to vomit what looks like every single drop of fluid in his body into a garbage pail. “Is it working?” asks Sam. “Either that or he’s dying,” says Samuel. Dean, kneeling, tilts his head back. His eyes are red; his fangs are fully exposed. Scenes of his experiences as a vampire flash through his memory, including what happened with Lisa–and that Sam watched Boris turn him. Dean awakens to realize the sound of a siren is no longer unbearable. Sam helps him sit up, smiling in joy and relief, and slaps Dean on the chest in victory. Dean doesn’t return the smile.

 

Dean exits the bathroom to find Sam and Samuel packing up. “So what did you see?” asks Sam. (Like a dog with a bone!) “What?” asks Dean. “In the nest, what did you see?” asks Sam. “I’m still trying to work through it,” says Dean, “but I’m pretty sure they’re not workin’ out anything on their own, they’re gettin’ their orders from top, where to go next and everything.” “Top is?” asks Samuel. “Their alpha,” says Dean, “at least that’s what I think it is; they’ve got some sort of psychic thing going, he sends them messages.” “Sayin’ what?” asks Sam. “Honestly?–recruitment drive,” says Dean, “their alpha’s building an army.” “That’s comforting,” says Samuel. “That’s not the worst,” says Dean, “we don’t scare them anymore.” Sam, Dean and Samuel exchange looks on THAT bad bit of news, and they leave. Outside by the Impala, Dean tries Lisa and gets her voice mail. All he gets out is “Hey, Lis.” He shuts the trunk and Sam is there, asking how it went with Lisa. “It didn’t,” says Dean. “I’m sorry,” says Sam (but I didn’t believe him, did you)? “Yeah,” sighs Dean, “at least you got my back, no matter what happens, I can always count on you, right, Sammy?” “Yeah, of course, Dean,” replies Sam, but Dean’s crooked smile and eyes belie his words.    

   

Stream of consciousness – I am not a fan of today’s vampires. I don’t watch VAMPIRE DIARIES and haven’t seen any of the TWILIGHT flicks. This didn’t keep me from howling with laughter over the scene between Kristen and Robert (for Pattinson?) and their silly dialogue straight out of the current crop of movies. She wants that bite, he wants to read her overly-romantic bad poetry, he can’t bite her, not for romantic reasons, but because he has to bring her back for the boss! So very funny–until he brought her back to Boris and she realized that being turned into a real vampire was nothing like the books she had read or the fantasies she had had. Poor Kristen. So well done for us, the viewers! By the way, the last vampire I lusted for was Barnabas Collins, in 1967! Poor Kristen! Be careful what you wish for! Imagine if vampires really DID exist today? How easily they could scoop up romantic little girls like Kristen. Like Boris said, it would be so good for them right now!   

 

So Sam and Dean have to work a bit to figure out Kristen’s password, but Sam gets it. Hilarious. Silly Dean suggests the actor who plays a werewolf?

 

Why doesn’t Dean share his happiness over going to see Lisa with Sam? He thinks he’ll disapprove?

 

You got Efron, I got Bieber. I nearly laughed myself sick! A lot less funny was watching Sam watch that fat, ugly vampire turn Dean without doing anything to help him–indeed, watching him ALLOW it to happen! At Sam’s creepy smirk, the first thing that popped into my head was, that’s not Sam, that’s effin’ LUCIFER!!!!!

 

Gordon treasured being a vampire. He loved his newly sharpened senses, but to Dean, they were terrible. Sam is eager to know about how it feels–why?

 

Dean goes to Lisa and nearly harms her, but as it is, he might have irreparably harmed his relationship with her and Ben. How could he possibly tell her he had been turned into a vampire–and put her and Ben in danger? Will she take him back now?

 

SAM WAS TOLD ABOUT THE CURE! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIM?? IS HE REALLY SAM? SERA, TELL US SOON!

 

So today’s vampire thing i’s all a business and this is the best time in 600 years to be a vamp! Prince Charming with Volvos, LOL! That Boris was attracted to Dean was gross. He’s not pretty enough for our pretty Dean. Go away, creepy Boris. I thought a beautiful woman was going to turn Dean, not you. We never did see you bite him, did we?

 

Was the black man the alpha? The twins? What was all that about, anyway? It was a very creepy and effective scene for sure! The hottest thing about Dean as a vamp was watching him shove Lisa against the wall and his killing rampage with the sword. He had too many teeth for a vamp, at least IMHO.

 

OK, so Dean knows Sam does NOT have his back, at least not this Sam. Now he has to figure out what has happened and what he’s going to do about it. Since he might have lost Lisa for good, he needs his brother more than ever. The monster world is all gaining alphas, vampires, too, so the hunters have their work cut out for them.

 

I watched the cure for vampirism with amusement, thinking back to DARK SHADOWS, Barnabas Collins and Dr. Julia Hoffman, who had her own cure for vampirism that didn’t work quite as quickly as Samuel’s. Barnabas was turned by a bat, which might have made getting the blood a bit difficult.

 

Back to SUPERNATURAL, I want our old Sam back, ASAP. Dean does, too!

 

1..It occurred to me that if I were a fan of TWILIGHT, I’d have found this ep insulting. Or was it just good-natured teasing? What do you think?

 

2. Were you concerned when Dean popped up at Lisa’s? Did you believe he went there to say goodbye, or for more nefarious reasons?

 

3. Were you disappointed not to see Dean feed off someone? I actually harbored a secret hope he’d go after Sam. Big part of the sexiness of a vamp is the bite. Not getting to see Dean bite anyone was disappointing. Then again, the sword fight was very sexy, too, and that scene with Dean and Boris, the head under his foot. . .very hot! Do you agree?

 

4. Did this ep give you any clue about Sam? I was thinking, is Sam the Alpha Human? Has he been hypnotized, changed somehow, so he’s still Sam, yet not the Sam Dean and we know and love? Because what he did was so COLD, man! Letting Dean become a vampire, which Sam had to know would cause Dean enormous suffering. Sending him into the nest, which would be very dangerous. Putting him through the cure, which looked just horrible.

 

5. Imagine Sam churning out babies as the alpha? I’d be happy to view the movie.