Recap – “Appointment In Samarra”
You know, this is the point where my ever curious mind throws out some questions. How did Dean come up with his plan to contact Death? How did Sam come up with his plan to contact Balthazar? He’s an angel on the run, how did Sam even manage to summon him when Raphael couldn’t? Oh well, he did. Balthazar naturally thinks it’s quite stupid of Sam to summon the angel that wants to kill him. You know Balthazar, if that was true, you would have done it already. It’s not like these guys are hard to find. Maybe. That whole rib thing hasn’t been answered yet.
“Desperate times,” Sam answers. I like how that’s the same answer Dean gave Tessa. Sam says he needs his help, but Balthazar is still fuming over their last meeting when Sam threatened to fry his wings extra crispy. So Sam actually tries to backpedal and call that a misunderstanding? He is soulless. Balthazar isn’t buying it. Sam asks for advice anyway. Angel advice. Balthazar raises the perfect question, why doesn’t he ask “his boyfriend.” Sam claims Cass can’t help him. Can’t or won’t? Always a sticking point with these guys.
Sam wants to know if there’s a spell or a weapon that can keep a soul out forever. Yeah, like Balthazar doesn’t want to know what this is about. Of course he does! Sam comes clean, it’s for him. Balthazar relishes in this thickening plot, wondering where Sam’s soul is. One look at Sam’s worried eyes and the answer is clear. “Good God no, it’s not still…” Oh yes it is! “My brother found a way to put it back in me. I don’t want it.” Oh yeah, Balthazar is definitely enjoying this now. He concurs, Michael and Lucy (love that nickname) are hate banging it as they speak.
Sam asks if he can help him. Balthazar says yes but the question is, will he? Hee, I like his evil mind. Evil angels are fun. “Set your terms,” Sam says. Balthazar will do it for free, as long as Sam falls in his debt. “I have to say, I’m not a fan of your brother, so screwing him would delight me.” Having Sam by the “twins” is certainly the best way to do that! It’s interesting how this little desire for revenge against Dean doesn’t bother Sam one bit. That still sits wrong with me.
Balthazar gets to the business. The spell. The ingredients are easy enough but there is one “tricky part.” He needs to scar his vessel. Meaning what? “Meaning something that so pollutes it, it renders it uninhabitable.” It’s very specific. Patricide. Sam is quick to notice his dad has been dead for years. Gee, good thing you know that. No, there’s a loophole. “To be clear, you need the blood or your father, but your father needn’t be blood. Comprende?” Sam ponders for about a second and then we see his inner lightbulb flash. No, not Bobby! You wouldn’t! Right, this is Robo-Sam. He would. Okay, I’m definitely rooting for Dean now.
Dean and Tessa are walking down the sidewalk in Vancouver and Tessa is warning Dean that people will have questions. “You mean like how did Betty White outlast me?” Hee, good one! I’d be asking that. “What’s it all mean?” is popular. Dean asks if he’s just going to magically know the answer. No, but your improvising skills are certainly funny. Tessa tells him to suck it up, it comes with the gig. She regrets this later. First case and it’s pretty cut and dried. A convenience store robbery is happening. There is a Vietnamese clerk and his young kid behind the counter and a white guy pointing a gun at him. Dean wants to know who’s getting popped and Tessa won’t tell him. He’s naturally worried about the kid. The clerk goes into the lower drawer at the insistence of this idiot robber for more cash and what do you know, that’s where the clerk pack his heat. He pushes some money off the counter and as the robber bends down for it the clerk grabs the gun and fires. Yep, douchebag is Dean’s first victim.
Of course this evil jerk is dying and suffering while Tessa signals Dean to touch him. Dean though is actually enjoying watching this guy suffer and asks for a minute. You know, I’m willing to bet Death would have done that too. Dean realizes Tessa is getting pissy and touches the guy, then suddenly stunned dead guy’s ghost is next to Tessa. He asks why. Gee, you did just try to rob a man at gunpoint with his kid next to him. That does usually evoke a harsh reaction. Dean tells him it’s mostly because he’s a dick. “Enjoy the ride down pal. Trust me, sauna gets hot.” No one should know better! Tessa just rolls her eyes and takes the guy away. Dean stands there kind of self satisfied. “That wasn’t so hard.” Oh Dean you know this is going to bite you, don’t you?
Next Dean and Tessa are outside a cafe an a middle aged man is there stuffing himself with pizza. Dean guesses this is a heart attack about to happen. Hmm, another stereotype. No matter, I’m never offended by stereotypes. Man eats, man grasps chest and collaspes, Dean touches, man dies. At least Dean didn’t think this guy should suffer. Suddenly the guy is behind Dean next to Tessa asking why. Dean blamed it on the extra cheese on the pizza, and the guy agrees. But he thinks it was worth it. Gotta admire the guy’s perspective. I would have thought so too. Dean appreciates that answer too and wonders if the pizza comes from a local place. Too bad he doesn’t get his answer, I would have loved to see him chowing down on the same pizza later.
“Time to go man,” Dean says after Tessa gives him a harsh reminder of what his job is. The guy though isn’t done and wants to know what it all means. Here’s a lesson from the Dean Winchester school of improvising, go with the classic rock metaphors. Dean must have seen Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure when Bill and Ted had to share philosophy with Socrates and pulled out the lyrics to “Dust In The Wind.” If it works for Socrates, why not Death? “Everything is dust in the wind,” Dean answers. Guess what, that answer so doesn’t work. “That’s it, a Kansas song?” The man asks incredulously. I’m dying here, because I do wonder if that would be my reaction too. This also has the hints of an inside joke, since “Carry On Wayward Son” is an anthem for this show. How many people might end up asking that when this series is over? Anyway, Tessa takes away the man claiming “he’s new” while Dean wonders what was wrong with that answer.
Ooh, time for the game of cat and mouse, prey against predator, spy vs. spy, whatever. Let’s just say that the sequences between Sam and Bobby in this episode are freaking brilliant. Sam comes back to Bobby’s house and Bobby comes out, saying he woke up and Sam was gone. Considering Sam doesn’t sleep Bobby, he’s probably going to constantly get the jump on you there. Sam claims he was driving around, no big. Liar! Bobby grabs a bottle of whiskey and pours them both drinks. They exchange the glares of unease. It’s like watching Maggie Simpson and her rival, the unibrowed baby, in the supermarket.
Hi Alice
I love your recap. Reading it was like TV in my head.
But one thing: Jon didn´t made the 1st deal, Mary did with YED to get John back and condemned Sam in doing so.
Hey Alice – loved your recap, as always. This was such a great episode. So happy that Sam got his soul back and looking forward to see the end result. Didn’t think it was going to happen though, so I was pleasantly surprised.
I think the most powerful scene in this whole episode and not a word was spoken, were the looks that Dean and Sam gave each other while Dean was looking through the Panic Room door. I also felt that right then and there Dean had decided that he couldn’t let this Sam live. He had to do what his father warned him about way back at the beginning of Season 2. If he couldn’t save him, he would have to kill him. And Dean had finally come to the point where he could no longer save Sam and he was bound to do the unthinkable. He had to kill this Sam because he would continue to kill innocents, and most likely, at some point, probably Dean as well. I don’t think that Dean would relegate this task to Bobby though. This would be something that Dean would HAVE to do. Yes, I felt very badly for Dean as well. To have to kill the one person you loved more than yourself. Truly heartbreaking. And so he goes upstairs to collect himself and mentally and emotionally prepare for the task at hand. Thankfully, Death appears and changes this course of action. Yay Death! I hope we see him again. I love him. Can’t wait now to see what happens in the new year.
Great recap for a great episode. This episode merits many viewings for all the stuff that happens without a word being spoken, as well as for magnificent snark from many of the characters. After six years, I am still astounded that these boys can make the most out-there events and concepts feel so real. I’m not sure even the holidays are worth having to wait for the next step in the journey!
Tee-hee: When I read your response to Junkerin above, I chortled – I went on at length in my show blog this time about just how extreme a violation of the natural order the Winchester brothers are! If you want to read, it’s here: http://bardicvoice.livejournal.com/71754.html
Fun recap! Not so fun hellatus … can’t wait for 28 Jan!!
Thanks for all your lovely articles over the past year, Alice; I love coming here to WinFamBusiness, and just wish I could do it more often. Happy holidays!
Just to be redundant Alice, I loved your recap!
I like how you help out a depressing episode (not that it wasn’t awesome) by giving a humourous slant to it.
Yes, Dean was left with no choice at all but to kill his shell of a brother. So glad Death has taken an interest in the boys and came through. That would have finished Dean no doubt, and probably he would have finished himself afterwards. Can’t have that!
Such a long wait for the next episode when we see the real Sam for the first time this season.
And Mary (Bardicvoice) I just want to tell you how much I enjoy your reviews and have enjoyed them for a few years now. You always make sense of everything and bring it all into perspective. So thanks to you for that. 🙂
The guys may be an affront to the natural order, but I wouldn’t want it any other way! It is hard to imagine the past 6 years without the Winchesters in my life. In this holiday season, I am thankful for this show & these characters, & all of you wonderful people who are as crazy-obsessed with this show as I am! Merry Christmas!!
P.S. Great recap Alice! I think I didn’t breath during that stare-down between the brothers at the panic room door; that moment really got to me too.
my english is not enough to post my thoughts, but i am a devoted reader.. thanks alice and all for the wonderful articles and for this amazing place! buon natale e felice 2011 😉
What would make an episode I love even better?
The recap by Alice. 😀
It has been a long time since we began an episode with one of the boys in the middle of doing something, we have no idea what is going on and have to figure it out as we go.
Also, we tend to forget that John was doing this a long time ago and it is nice to see Sam and Dean rely on one of John’s contacts. It keeps John’s memory alive, even four (five) years after his death.
Just a side question. Alice, who goes on a tour of a cereal factory??? I rather go to a chocolate factory. 😆
Honestly, if Dean had sent a ‘goodbye’ letter to the Soulless One, do you think he would have cared? When Dean was being ‘abducted by aliens’, all the Soulless One was interested in was a little nookie. 👿
When Death is bored, he hangs out with his new BFF Dean Winchester, how cool is that. 😀
SUPERNATURAL is such a cool show, that it’s secondary characters are a lot cooler than the main characters on most mainline shows. Also, what other show can bring back dead characters and nobody thinks that is strange.
Plus, what other show can bring back characters from three or four years ago, and makes fans cheer. No other show. 😀 😀
Let me go out on the limb and ask you Alice, If they created a fan club for Death, would you want to be the president? 😆
‘Dean instantly picks Adam’ 😆 I think that when Death told Dean to pick, all the fans said ‘DAH’ 😆
When it comes to Sam’s well being, Dean’s balls are as large as watermelons. 😆 😆
‘Desperate times’, I like that even though Sam and Dean aren’t seeing eye to eye (for now), they still think on the same wavelength.
The Soulless One obviously never really cared about Dean, all he cared about was himself. That is why Bobby never stood a chance against him. He was going to do whatever it took to keep his soul out. Dean had no choice, after the Soulless One went after Bobby, John’s words finally came true: save Sam or kill him. The Soulless One could not be allowed to live as is. I think that when Death showed up, Dean was steeling himself to kill Sam. If that had happened, I think that Dean would have then just told Bobby to leave the room, and Dean would have taken care of the Soulless One and put a bullet into his own head.
Usually Bobby’s scenes are the ones played for the comedy, but in this episode, Dean’s scenes are the funny ones, with Bobby in the serious life and death scenes.
I love the ‘Dead like Me’ vibe, I got from the scenes of Death!Dean. Dean had to know that it was too easy to last and that the job was going to get tougher.
You want Dean to do something, don’t tell him it is ‘destiny’, because he will just do the opposite of what you want him to.
Does Bobby only have one closet in that whole house? Even though, it now has a handy nearby trapdoor. 😀
Hey Soulless One, Bobby did not get old and grizzly by being stupid. 😀
It all comes back to ‘what am I supposed to do’, and it always end with a death or near death of a Winchester.
Alice, I agree completely with you, at the end hearing Sam yell, I felt bad for Dean and Bobby. You know that Dean was dying inside hearing Sam yell, but he had to be strong knowing that this would bring his Sammy back.
Goodbye Soulless One, don’t let the door hit you in the ass as you leave. 😀 😀
I’ve said it before, I LOVE THIS EPISODE, and I love this recap. 😀 😀
Reading your reviews are fun. I mean really fun. All kinds of excitement and love for the SPN is breathed into these, and reminds me all over again why I love this show.
Getting rid of RoboSam and getting back SoulSam was my one wish before hellatus set in. As such, I’m not feeling the fever as usual. Sammy is back, in one form or another, and this pleases me.
Now I’m going to break my resolution (again) and speculate a bit. It’s not a new idea, I’ve read it from some other commenter’s, but I think that Sam may not have been as flayed as we’re being led to believe. Why?
Well, it’s 90% wishful thinking. I don’t want SoulSammy to have been made the torture toy of two arch angels. 9% comes from the writers not taking the path they’ve hinted at (in this case screamed) in the past. Though they have been (often) known to take the path they tell us they will take. Dean going to hell for instance. How many actually believed it when the show told us again and again that there was no way out of the deal for Dean? Umm, right, trying to sell my theory here, not undermine it. Onward.
The last 1% of my speculation comes from what little we know about Michael. Sure, it makes perfect sense that he’d involve himself in a furious and eternal beat down of SamSoul. I buy it. BUT…yes, but. What little we know of Michael (other than the fact that he’s a destiny driven dic) is that he characterizes himself as the good and obedient son. It is who he is, how he defines himself. Lucifer rebelled and became the bad son, and therefore Enemy Number One.
Now, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, Michael finds himself in hell’s cage. Well blast! Major suckage. Now what? He’d probably be more than willing to throw Sam on the rack, but that was doubtlessly Lucifer’s first move. Maybe, just maybe Michael decided to protect Sam (and Adam) just to keep himself differentiated from Lucifer. “You are the bad son, I am the good son. This is my Father’s creation and I will protect him from you because that is all I have left.†Micheal seemed pretty dead set on the idea that he and Little Bro were supposed to duke it out. Why wouldn’t he carry that determination with him into the cage?
Now, I can’t imagine, if this is the case (oh how I hope!), that it would be any picnic for Sam (and Adam) to find themselves in the midst of a tug-o-war between two powerful and absolute creatures. But it certainly beats the alternative.
This theory, as weak as it is, would open up a whole new set of angst for Sammy. I mean, we all know (or I could be assuming, sorry if I am putting words/thoughts in others mouths) that Sam is going to scratch at that wall. So the wall comes down and he recalls Michael battling madly to keep him from Lucifer’s clutches. (I’m picturing a sort of angel-esque Gandalf moment of “YOU SHALL NOT PASS?!†happening.) Which would turn Michael into a sort of protector/big brother/battle buddy for Sam. Now I’m getting way ahead of myself, but I’m not wanting Sam to have spent the past…what would it be? Well over a hundred hell-years, being worked over. I just don’t want it to be?!
And this ran long again. I need to learn how to write in Cliff Notes.
Thanks again for the review Alice!
Yvonne, I think you may be on to something. Nobody knew what went on inside the cage except for Lucifer!Sam, and Michael!Adam. I like the idea of Michael deciding that enough is enough, and putting himself between Lucifer and Sam’s soul & Adam.
Even though it may be wishful thinking, even Death thought that Sam’s soul was a wreck, that is why he came up with the whole ‘build a wall’ idea.
Then when Sam pokes holes in the wall (and we all know that he will) and memories of Hell leak out, they won’t be as painful as everyone said that they would be.
Is it January 28th yet??????????
I thin the’ll be painful, yes (just for the drama), but Sammy will find that he’s more resistent than he thought, because Death mentioned the strength of souls.
BTW, how are you supposed to scratch something that is inside your mind??
Oh my, sorry for the typing mistakes. 😳 My English is not wonderful, but it’s not THAT bad either. 😯 I guess I’m just too excited for my own good.
Thank you for this very enjoyable recap. 🙂
I love Sam to pieces but I want Sam went through to be real no matter how hard it is. One reason is in times past on the show Sams trauma has been fobbed off . What Sam did has to mean something , he ended up Souless because of that sacrifice . Now he is whole again and I DONT want another fob off by the show. It is heartbreaking to think of Sams soul being in there and suffering but it would be a change for people to be heartbroken on Sams behalf . I would not be impressed if the show after what they have established and honestly I dont think Michael would be the slightest bit interested in protecting Sam that they turned round and did something different .
I dont’ think Michael is so much protective and kind. He’s basically a d*ck, like almost all the angels we have known, he thinks only to fulfill the “prophecies”. And he’s an archangel, the “most powerful and terrible force of the universe”, so I guess his wrath is not something to be dismissed easily.
Now, we know he wanted, with all of his strenght and heart and mind, to battle with Lucifer, to kill his little brother and to establish the heavenly (= God’s, in his mind) victory once and for all, even if this would cause a “disruption on global scale”, just to quote an (in)famous author.
BUT this has been stopped. HE has been stopped. So, in his mind, Heaven’s (God’s) victory has been forbidden to happen. And WHO is the responsible for that? Sam Winchester, of course (and Dean too). Somehow I don’t think Michael is too happy for that. Somehow I don’t think that his thoughts about Sam, down there in the Cage, are all of care and protection.
Sam Winchester provoked the WRATH of TWO ARCHANGELS. TWO, not just one. HIs time in the Cage mustn’t have been a pleasure holiday.
Oh dear, it seems that I have managed a miscommunication. My apologies! I never meant to posit that Michael was not angry at Sam or that he wasn’t a dic or that he has suddenly turned into someone nice. No. Nononono! Eee gads!
My 1% speculation rests on him being in need to keep his identity as a ‘good’ son. The only avenue now allowed for him to do this is to act differently than Lucifer. Michael has two roads left; 1.anger/revenge against Sam 2. Anger/fight against Lucifer. In this case, he may choose one above the other. I wasn’t thinking of him as wanting to protect Sam, but foil Lucifer.
‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’.
Ah, blimey, Alice, I am soooooooooo late to this! It was a great joy again to read your recap. I am too sleepy right now to put any coherent thoughts together, so I’m just going to leave it at that: it calmed my mind, I think finally I can find sleep in a night that’s been chasing away any chances of sleep at all so far (just to be sure: I don’t mean that your recap bored me to sleep, eh? ;-), ah, but you know that!)
Cheers, Jas
Hot diggity nancyL, well said. Now where and how can I get my hands on the “how to make a point in under 10 words” manual that you’ve put to such lovely good use? 🙂
@Yvonne
No problem! I was just underlining my view about Sam’s time in the Cage. But it’s just MY view… 😉
Gah, late again, bloody holidays … This is probably rubbish but I’m wondering if the show’s going to pull a Buffy on us and it’ll turn out Sam’s soul wasn’t in the cage at all but somewhere a rather less fraught ( although by the sound of it Heaven’s a bit of a demiliterized zone at the moment … ) I know Death, Crowley, Old Uncle Tom Cobbly and all said that’s where it was but the man said Trust No-One … Hmmn?
@Brynhild
And I’m thinking that your view will be the right one. Mine is me just over-excersizing my protective instincts over the boys. Haven’t they been through enough? I mean really. 🙂