Recap – “All Dogs Go To Heaven”
Sam is still in pursuit and the doberman silently charges, but Sam is a quick shot and takes him out. Dead man on the ground. Yeah, he um, had it coming! Lucky gets up, determined to protect Mandy and Aiden. He looks at Mandy and realizes he has no other choice. He goes into dog form. Mandy is quite stunned to say the least. Don’t think she’ll ever own a dog again. Big guy doesn’t want to do the dog fight thing and instead shoots Lucky. Hmm, he doesn’t turn into a man. Must not be dead. Lucky the dog squeals wounded on the ground while the big guy goes to finish him off with a silver bullet. Naturally, that pushes him into the wide open and Dean takes him out with the sniper shot. Bad guy all done!
Sam enters and there are dead men everywhere. Whew, as long as it’s not dogs. He sees Lucky in dog form wounded on the ground and goes immediately to help him, right? No, this is robo-Sam. He checks to see if he has any silver bullets left. Yep. You bastard. After Lucky did the right thing and everything. Sam moves through the warehouse, whips around the corner and Lucky is gone. Thank heavens. Take that you unfeeling bastard. I just…it’s just…crap I’m hugging the cat and dog again. Even Mandy looks at him with condemnation. I’m assuming it’s confusion over what he was considering doing. Maybe that’s when Sam realizes something is wrong with him? That could be it, except Sam’s expression doesn’t say either way. It shouldn’t though. He’s soulless, remember. How can we freaking forget!
Okay everyone. For those of you with any type of razor blades, scissors, knives, or just sharp objects in general nearby put them away now. Far away. Blunt instruments too. This is the “slit your wrist” part of the program and I have an obligation to assure your safety before going through it. There’s a knock on Mandy’s door. It’s Lucky, in human form. Mandy sees him and gets creeped out immediately. Lucky backs away, promising he won’t try anything. He tries to tell her she and Aiden were the only family he ever had and that just disgusts her more.
“I know what I am, but no one has never been so nice to me before. So, thank you.” So Mandy gets all weepy and gives him a hug, right? Right, what show are you watching? “Get away from this house you psycho. And if you ever come near me and my son again so help me.” He tries to explain with the “I know I probably deserve that” explanation, but Mandy slams the door on him before he can finish. Lucky walks away in pure loneliness and devastation and changes into dog form, wandering away without a home. I hold out hope for Lucky. Maybe he’ll be one of those monsters that won’t turn on his masters and will continue to fight the good fight. I hope the bitterness of rejection doesn’t turn him bad. How freaking sad. I’m drinking plenty when this is done.
Of course you’ve got Dean here on the other side, dealing with his own monster. Now he can do what Mandy just did with Lucky, send Sam away alone knowing there’s a risk he’ll be harmful to society. Sam though, he realizes Dean is losing patience. So, is he being honest or manipulative here? Let’s go through it.
Sam and Dean are in a park with their lunch and watch a woman run by with her dog. “I’ll never look at a dog the same,” Dean says. I swear, they should have Lucky ride along in the back seat. Their freak side kick dog. That would be cool. For about two episodes. Dean wonders how many packs are out there waiting for the signal. Sam just starts with his speech.
“So, I was thinking, you were right. I’m not your brother. I’m not Sam.” Cut to Dean who wonders where that came from. “All that blah, blah, blah about being the old me, crap. Like Lisa and Ben, right? I’ve been acting like I care about them, but I don’t. I couldn’t care less.” So Dean says what all of us are shouting at the TV right now. “Is this supposed to make me feel better?” No. That’s the trouble. Apparently we’re all supposed to feel miserable over this. It’s only been 8 episodes. There’s plenty more left to foster that sick feeling inside.
“You wanted the real me, this is it.” No, I really don’t want the real you Sam. Go back to pretending. At least that was a bit more palpable. “I don’t care about them. I really don’t care about you.” Yes, that was a chunk of the fandom going into convulsions. The rest of us are writing fan fics in which Dean says “I’ve had enough” and walks away. Okay Sam, let’s see how else you can make us feel miserable. “Except that, I need your help and you’re clearly not going to stick around for much longer unless I give it to you straight, so…I’ve done a lot worse than you know. I’ve killed a lot of innocent people in the line of duty, but I’m pretty sure it’s not something the old me could have done. Maybe I should feel guilty, but I don’t.” Dean again repeats what several of us are shouting right now. He knows us so well. “Sam, get to the punch line.” It’s killing him to hear this as much as us.
“Look, I don’t know if how I am is better or worse. It’s different. You get the job done and nothing really hurts. It’s not the worse thing. But, I’ve been thinking, I was that other Sam for a long time. And it was kind of harder. But there are also things about it that I remember that I-. Let’s just say I should probably go back to being him.” Just look at Dean. He isn’t convinced! His blank “That’s very interesting” proves that. He probably thinks Sam is once again telling him what he wants to hear. His lack of emotional response is not encouraging. How did Sam reach this conclusion? A memory? Was it really just that vague look from Mandy? That’s a pretty big leap on one vague look. Was it Dean’s speech? It’s so hard to play connect the dots anymore. Maybe that’s one reason why I’m feeling emotionally disconnected with this plot.
“It’s a step,” Dean acknowledges. Sam asks “So?” for he’s not sure where Dean is on this now. “We do what we gotta do. Then we get my brother back.” So, does that mean they keep working for Crowley? I’m not sure it matters, for I’m so despondent by the end of this I just don’t want to guess anymore. We’ll find out someday. Maybe. I’m just not sure anymore. All I know is Dean is tired and frustrated and so am I. I’m just going to leave this as is and look forward to next week’s fairies. Thanks show for the major bum out!
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”!