Recap – “All Dogs Go To Heaven”
Sam inexplicably watches the house and sees the dog turn into the man. Now he’s finally surprised over something. The man puts on clothes and goes walking outside. Sam follows the guy to the park, where he meets with someone and has some words. Like in the other guy chews him out. This scene of course is so much more suspenseful than how I describe, but hey, that’s why we watch these episodes. Sam lurks in the shadows with his silver bullet gun ready to fire, but can’t get the clean shot. In the meantime Lucky man senses something is up, for he can smell Sam, and runs away, going into dog mode in the process.
Sam pursues and sees that the guy has ditched his clothing. He keeps chasing but sorry, even my little daschund can outrun humans. Dogs are fast. The dog runs and a mini van comes approaching. Uh oh. We know what happens at night with loose dogs and mini vans. Luckily, they are very careful to show no dogs harmed in this episode, for not only would we have protested, but that was likely a big deal breaker for dog lover Jared as well. We just hear the van slam on its brakes. Next thing Sam sees from afar the van owners loading the injured dog into the car and are desperate to find a vet. Sam shouts “that’s my dog” but the van has already moved on. All I can think about is that very strange Six Feet Under episode of the same name. You don’t forget that episode.
Back at the motel and it’s Dean sitting alone, staring at his phone. He’s got his contact list selector on Lisa (anyone notice Gwen is the name before that?) Poor guy. Not only did he lose her, but look what he’s stuck with? Man did he get shafted. You do wonder when he’ll catch a break. Needless to say, he doesn’t call but just that long look on his face shows the difficult though process that went into that decision. I do love how Jensen can say so much doing so little. He goes to get some coffee (whew, at least it’s not whiskey) and Sam calls. He doesn’t seem to be to thrilled over the call, but he answers anyway.
Dean instantly says he’s got “bupkis” but Sam sure has something! Not a werewolf. Guess what they’re up against? A skinwalker. How cool! We’ve never seen one of those before. Dean asks “as in?” “As in the family dog seriously needs a neuter,” Sam replies. “Wow,” Dean says, now actually interested. He hasn’t heard of a skinwalker in years and is rusty on the profile. Luckily Sam has already done his call to command central, aka Bobby. They can change anywhere anytime, they can infect with a single bite, they’re a werewolf cousin. “Silver will drop them, they chow hearts like snausages.” Great, next time I give my dog that snack I’ll never be the same.
Dean wants to know if he caught him. Nope, but he has an idea where to find him. Onto the Erie County Animal Hospital. Dean is in charge of the greeting this time. “Hiya Lucky. Bad dog.” Ha! You see, he gets it. That works on brothers too. Dean pulls out his gun and shows off the silver bullets. “Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.” I love the POV of Dean from the dog’s eyes, all black and white with distorted view. Dean tells him it’s time to go. “We either do this the easy way (shows off a jacket) or the hard way (raises a spiked choke collar).” So Sam, who’s in the background tossing a ball, laughs. Dean gives him a strange look. “What, soul or not, that’s funny.” Lucky barks, obviously thinking not like the rest of us. Oh, so soulless means a warped sense of humor too. Good to know.
Back at the motel and Lucky is now a man tied to the chair, restrained by ropes laced with a silver chain. Sam gets to play bad cop now while Dean listens on the bed. “Well I gotta tell ya Lucky, you got us stumped. I mean, why shack up with the family? Is it a kinky thing? Do you like to play with your food?” Come on Dean, hit him, send him out of the room, sick Lucky on him, do something! I’m okay if Sam’s being funny, but he’s being the biggest asshole ever. Unfortunately, Sam gets to go on. “Rollover Lucky, speak.” So Lucky finally tells him what we’re all thinking. “Go to Hell.” “Already been,” Sam answers. “Didn’t agree with me.” I’m sure Lucifer couldn’t stand you being an asshole and tossed you out. Sam then goes for the silver knife and threatens to carve up some dog.
“You do what you gotta do,” Lucky says, so Sam is more than ready to get started. NOW Dean intervenes. He doesn’t have to tell Dean why he went with the family. He gets it. Lucky doesn’t believe that. “You killed every threat that came near them. You care about them. In your own wackadoodle kind of way. It’s obvious.” Whew, the guy with the soul gets it. Too bad the tall jerk is still over there giving the mean stare down. What Dean wants to know is who was the guy he was talking to earlier. Is he a skinwalker too?
Lucky can’t say anything, even though you can tell he wants too. So Dean mentions that if he doesn’t, he’s going to be putting the girl and little boy in danger. “Sooner or later all this crap is going to come for them.” Yeah Lucky, listen, this guy speaks from the utmost experience. “Look, we don’t give a rats ass about you,” Dean says. “We want to help them. That’s our angle, that’s it.” Then he looks at Sam, who’s trying to go for fake sincerity again. Hmm, let’s see, what rhymes with “shut up Sam?”
Yes, he admits the big guy in the park is a “whatever it is I am.” That’s sad he was turned without being told what he was. There are others out there too. How many? Around 30. They were all recruited. He was living on the streets and he was told with one bite he’d be strong and fast. “Sniffing people’s butts, yeah that’s a real step up,” Dean says. “Well it was for me,” replies Lucky. You know, he’s onto something. If I could come back to this world as something else, it would most definitely be the family dog. They’re so easy to love.
Where is their gang? Everywhere. They find families to take them in and they lay low. What does that mean? “Well, we’re waiting for the word,” Lucky answers. What word? Once they get settled they get the signal and all of them turn on their families. They change them all in one night. 30 becomes 150. Dean’s pretty horrified by this. It’s a sleeper cell. Even Sam looks slightly worried, but dammit I can’t tell with him anymore. “Well that’s one way to say it,” Lucky says. Sam, who’s now being reasonable, wants to know who organized them. There’s a pack leader. “Your alpha?” Sam asks. Lucky doesn’t know what an alpha is. Yeah Sam, layman’s terms for the dog please. “The first skinwalker, the strongest.” He’s plenty strong but Lucky doesn’t think so. “I’m pretty sure there’s guys like him in other towns. We’re not the only pack out there.” Ooh, now that’s a creepy plot.
Dean tells Lucky he can help them stop him. This freaks out Lucky for nothing can go after these guys. They’re ruthless. Sam stops being reasonable since he’s all over the map and goes back to jerk mode, pulling out the ball and whistling at Lucky. He throws it and tells Lucky to go fetch. “Sam, not helping,” Dean says. I suppose that’s something. “Fetch this dick,” Lucky says. Now that’s better! Sam looks somewhat insulted and he should be. Dean goes for the humanity appeal since that concept is totally lost on Sam. “What are you going to do to that family, really? You gonna to put your jaws around that little boy’s throat, clamp down, listen to him cry for his mom? So I’m going to guess that these are the only people who in your pathetic life have ever showed you any kindness. So it’s either that, or you can help us stop it.” All it takes is a teary look from Lucky to confirm he’s on board. Score one of the human soul!
I already knew I had a warped sense of humor, so I’m not surprised that I’ve been enjoying a snarky Sam who get to say things we might think but not dare say. Plus, Jared’s never looked better, not a bad hair day yet!
Hi Alice , picking up a subtle vibe that you found this recap a little tricky.
Can I have a geek out moment , I think that Holt and Wilson are in fact members of a pretty obscure early `70s British band `Warhorse`. They were a bit in the Deep Purpleish mode.
There were some pretty hard bits to watch in this one and I have already rambled on about it after Jas` article but briefly, again I cannot understand how some people find Robosam funny I find his comments cold mean and cruel. I thought the dog who `played` Lucky was absolutely beautiful ( and so are your adorable kittems) and the last shot of him wandering off alone was so sad.
Now to be totally shallow , thank you for the sleeping and sniper shots, they were very much appreciated, and I dont think I will be alone there 😀
Still keeping the faith it will all be Ok in the end !
I just hope that now Cas is big boss with extra powers when we do eventually re unite Sam and soul he has the clout to wipe all the bad memories away – I know what show have I been watching — no chance, but I am happy with my vain little delusion . thanks again Ju
Loved the recap, Alice.
Loved the idea of a (r)ejecter seat in the Impala. 😀
Not loving the soulless Sam.
Now that he has stopped pretending to have feelings, he has become a major dick.
I wanted a happier end for Lucky. Maybe a car passes by and picks him up.
What I really want is Sam to get his soul back and spend the rest of the season feeling some major guilt.
Here’s an idea: time travel Sam from season three to now, and let him kick soulless!Sam’s ass. 😀 😀
I too loved your recap Alice. And everything you wanted done to Sam I can remember yelling at the TV. Bite him Lucky! Shoot him Dean! And I love your idea of Dean smacking him on the nose with a newspaper. You were so in sync with me that I laughed all the way through reading your recap. Its either that or keep weeping over robo/Sam.
I too don’t find any of his snark or remarks amusing in the least and his “I don’t care about you” was the lowest.
I found Lucky utterly endearing in comparison with robo/Sam and his mean cruelty. I was wishing Dean could send Sam away like Mandy did to poor Lucky. Is this thing that Dean has wasted his life with raising and protecting and loving what is left of his Sammy? It cannot be. I won’t believe the writers would rip down that awesome relationship forever. There has to be a pay off in the future. Just hope it doesn’t last all season as I can’t take much more depression watching it.
I like nancyL’s idea. Bring season 3 Sam back to kick this soulless/Sam’s ass. Somebody kick his ass, please! 👿
I’m thinking this was the most difficult recap you’ve had to write yet, eh Alice? I was definitely bummed out by the end of this show and Sam’s callous remark about how he didn’t care at all about Dean really did me in. But that said, I’m feeling a more optimistic that we’ll have our re-souled Sam back in the not too distant future from a tweet that Jim Beaver made on Twitter. Faint hope on the horizon…
On a trivia note, I was happy to see Canadian actress Janet Kidder in the role of Mandy. She is the niece of Margot Kidder (alias Lois Lane of the Superman movies).
In the meantime, chin up. We got that reprieve we were all looking for in “Clap Your Hands if You Believe”!