Bardic’s Descant: 6:14 – I Had To Deal With My Past Year, You Gotta Deal With Yours
Production Notes
This episode felt oddly unfinished to me when I first saw it. There were many things about it that I loved, particularly all the interactions between Sam and Dean and among Dean, Lisa, and Ben, but the monster-of-the-week storyline really didn’t cut it for me. This is still one I’ll rewatch for all the good things, however, so don’t think I marked it as a total failure in my book!
As usual, though, let me get my criticisms out of the way, and I’ll admit this time they’re pretty sharp. All of them concerned the script by Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder, the new writers on staff who gave us You Can’t Handle The Truth earlier this season. While the animated mannequins were certainly creepy, I found the MOTW storyline ultimately unsatisfying because it was far too arranged. For example, making Jonny peculiarly enamored of a mannequin girlfriend just so he could conveniently be killed by the ghost in his apartment above the bar strained my normally willing suspension of disbelief. How would his factory friends, who were so quick to make fun of Rose, not have known about and ridiculed him for having a doll girlfriend? That was just silly to me.
The resolution of Rose’s tale is what really irritated me, however, because it felt pointless and lazy. Having Rose’s ghost be linked to the kidney she’d donated to her sister Isabel provided a potentially interesting ethical and tactical dilemma for the Winchesters, but it was wasted before we even had a chance to explore a solution. Rose possessing the Impala to go after Dean, when she’d only ever animated mannequins before and attacked the men who’d humiliated and killed her, stretched the show’s established lore of ghosts following set patterns. The car’s crash killing Isabel through the fluke flight of a random shard of broken storefront window glass and the ghost destroying herself out of regret for the unintended consequence of her actions were both empty and contrived. I was disappointed the brothers never even suggested trying a séance with Isabel to attempt to convince Rose to give over her vengeance, for example. They’d seen other cases where a ghost, rather than being destroyed, had been persuaded successfully to move on: just think of Father Gregory in Houses Of The Holy or Molly in Roadkill. Admittedly, those ghosts hadn’t been specifically vengeful, but they at least demonstrated the potential that ghosts could be approached and influenced with the right leverage, and the extremely close relationship between Rose and Isabel an obvious echo of the codependency we’ve always seen in the Winchester brothers might have been an adequate fulcrum, with Isabel’s distress about what Rose was doing, once she learned about it, as the necessary lever. In addition, that might have played up the importance of the human empathy and compassion Sam so recently reacquired by illustrating how they could be used as the solution to a hunt. Instead, I got the sense Charmelo and Snyder had written themselves into a box and used the handy, instant ghost M.O. change accompanied by bizarre coincidences to provide a fast, easy way out, because anything else such as the séance idea would have taken too much time to execute and explain in the few minutes left to a 40-minute episode, and wouldn’t have had the visual impact or compelled humor of the action scene of Dean being chased by his possessed car. Even understanding those likely reasons for the choice just didn’t make the solution work for me. And the cheap sense that the sisters’ interdependency might have been intended as a parallel and caution to the Winchester brothers against blinding themselves to the consequences of saving each other since Rose having saved Isabel by donating a kidney led later on to Isabel accidentally dying because of Rose’s actions didn’t work for me either.
The other thing I didn’t like was the story cutting away from Dean both times he was asked to realize and confront a truth head-on, first when Lisa asked him what he wanted from her and Ben, and second when Ben challenged him to acknowledge he was abandoning his family. We saw the impact of the words on Dean when they were spoken, but both times, we were denied his response. What he said next to each of them was left to our imaginations, and I didn’t want it to be; I felt it was something vital for us to know. We were left to infer his farewells just from seeing him in the car driving away, painfully reliving all his now only bittersweet memories of having been with them. That broke my heart, but also left me feeling cheated. It was also one of the rare times where an original musical cue in the show didn’t work for me; Jay Gruska’s piece under the montage of Dean’s memories simply didn’t have the feel or the power of the themes he’d created before to capture Dean’s love for or loss of family. I can understand using a different theme than the one associated with the three Winchester men, but the melody he came up with here didn’t seem to fit the show’s overall musical vibe.
The things Charmelo and Snyder definitely got right, however, were the reestablished connection between Sam and Dean and the scenes we did get among Dean, Lisa, and Ben. I loved the brothers’ discussion in the aftermath of Sam’s seizure, with Dean refusing to be put off or to allow Sam to minimize what had happened. I loved Sam pushing back to make Dean answer his phone and then go off to deal with Lisa and Ben, and I loved Sam and Dean staying in close touch by phone as Sam worked the case alone. And finally, I loved Sam at the end trying to encourage Dean by emphasizing the bright side, promising that what they did was worth what they gave up to do it, and saying honestly and with feeling that he had Dean’s back, and Dean acknowledging and appreciating that. That real emotional support, so commonly handed back and forth between the brothers during the first three seasons, has been missing far too long, and it’s a joy to have it back where it belongs with the sense it’s here to stay, rather than just being an isolated flash.
This was the first Supernatural episode by director Jeannot Szwarc, but he has a distinguished TV resume extending back to 1968. Shows I actually remember him from include It Takes A Thief, Alias Smith And Jones, Kojak, The Twilight Zone, JAG, Heroes, Smallville (including three episodes from the season Jensen Ackles spent on the show), Bones, and Fringe. I really enjoyed the way he shot the mannequins to emphasize their presence and heighten their creepiness, and how he covered the passage of time across Sam’s interviews in the factory. The blocking of the two-shots featuring Dean with Lisa and Dean with Ben, with the characters side by side but carefully not touching at all as they talked, brought home both the closeness and the gulfs between them, adding to the heartache of the scenes.
We did get a little rock in this episode, but this was one time the choice pushed the wrong button for me. While Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” fit the insipidity of Jonny with his mannequin girlfriend, it felt scathingly trite to be following what happened between Dean, Lisa, and Ben. But that’s just me. It still stays on my Supernatural master playlist; just not quite so close to Dean’s pain.
Jensen Ackles brought the funny interacting with the mannequins and fleeing from his possessed car (and yes, considering his relationship with his car, it’s the closest thing to a sex doll for Dean!), but the best parts of his performance in my eyes were his serious scenes with Lisa, Ben, and Sam. He brings a depth of feeling that makes my heart ache for Dean even as I want to shake him. It was great to see Jared Padalecki’s Sam fully back on form, focused and intense on the case, but compassionate with Isabel and supportive and honest with Dean. Watching Sam trying to cheer Dean up at the end warmed my heart after the chill of the first half of the season. While it was a little overly convenient that the crack in Sam’s memory wall apparently scabbed over on its own, and I have to wonder how often more fissures are going to open, dropping Sam to the floor, hopefully not too often, or it will lose its punch. I appreciated Jared’s take on Sam in the aftermath, first being disoriented and then, while honestly admitting his discomfort, still trying to downplay it. I love the way Sam is making the effort to walk the line of being himself and standing on his own while also giving Dean the honesty he needs to feel comfortable having his brother back again.
I know many fans would not agree with me on this, and that’s fine, but I really hope we haven’t seen the last of Cindy Sampson as Lisa and Nicholas Elia as Ben. These aren’t simple characters; they have depth and scope and they’ve grown since we first met them. I continue to enjoy what they bring to the table and bring out in Dean. I loved Dean’s realization of Ben’s ploy and Lisa’s instant understanding of the parent trap, and I adored the way they simultaneously told Ben to go to his room. Oh, yes: these people lived together for a year and forged a family in the process. And I’m certain this reflects my own bias, but I’d love to see them genuinely try to make a hunter’s family work as a family, rather than the cold military unit we’ve seen from the contemporary Campbells. And I want to see Dean learn from Ellen’s example with Jo that trying to stifle a child’s interest in being like Dad is apt to blow up in a parent’s face; better to approach Ben with understanding than automatic rejection.
I hope we get the chance to see that happen.
Great recap. I’m one of those who also liked Lisa and Ben. They were important,as you said they made Dean see the side of himself he didn’t know existed.
“Knowing they have each other to lean on if they need the support makes each of them stronger, not weaker” getting back to the “We are Stronger as a Family”
Thanks, Laura! We are family … 🙂
I’m with you on the MOTW. While I liked the anatomical dummy, especially w/the creepy smile. The white dummies didn’t scare me at all. It would have been better it if the security guard had been stabbed multiple times by the dummy with the scissors and then have had the scissors found in the dummies hand at least IMO. I would have loved seeing the cops trying to figure that one out.
And a sex doll, seriously? Forgive my naiveté but I didn’t get that right away until it was mentioned later on. I just thought it was odd that he had a really ugly looking mannequin in his bed. Silly me.
The one scene I really had a problem with was the car chase scene. It seemed too humorous considering what happened only moments after wards. An THATS how they choose to get rid of the ghost? The sister with the ghost kidney dies so the ghost sister disappears? And the expression on her face…I couldn’t tell if she was sad or what. It just didn’t seem like an expression some one would have had, having just accidentally killed the one person you so obviously loved or you wouldn’t have donated your kidney to, would have had. I blame it on direction of the scene.
I know the director has scores of experience directing TV shows in the past but he has never directed an episode of SN before and I think it showed. Combined with the fact that the writers had only written one other episode before, made it a rather medium episode in my book. Definitely filler. Enjoyable for the most part, one I will probably watch again, but filler.
For the record, I love the idea of Lisa and Ben. I think Dean needs them almost as much as he needs his brother. To me they keep a little light lit in the darkness of his life. I think they help keep his “monsters” at bay. While the reality of his life means he has to give them up he still got to live that life with them even if it was for a short time. It might just be enough to get him through the times when he thinks he’s not gonna make it, emotionally, mentally, or whatever.
One the the other things I loved was that they started right where they left off with Sam in the middle of his seizure and Dean freaking out. It totally appealled to the angst junky in me. Bad I know, but I’m in recovery. Its a 22 step program. One episode at a time.
I also liked that casting once again chose regular looking actors to play the smaller roles. Very realistic.
Of course I loved the Dean/Ben and the Dean/Lisa scenes, but lastly I loved that the brothers are back together again. Its about time.
Thanks, sn_chills! I’m right with you in being DELIGHTED they began this episode precisely where the last one ended; I really needed to see Dean distraught and Sam waking up. Loved that!
I would put most of the episode’s problems at the writers’ door; I thought Szwarc did a nice job with the direction overall. When you’re given a “funny Impala chase scene” you srt of hve to roll with it … didn’t do it for me either, obviously, for the same reasons it rubbed you the wrong way. Oh, well – other moments were GREAT, including the brothers being back on the same wavelength!
This was a great recap and I agree with you. I liked Lisa and Ben, too. I hope this is not the last that we see of them. I think it would be fascinating to see this family work. I believe that it can. Jo and Ellen gave us a peek at a successful hunter family that they shared with Bill. Also, when we were first introduced to Mary Campbell’s family, Samuel and Deanna seemed to have a warm family relationship with their daughter and themselves. The whole family was in on the hunt. So, I believe it’s possible.
Thanks! I do think there could still be hope for a hunter family: with you, I saw that promise in the pre-demon Campbells. I hope Dean and Sam could find that for themselves … 🙂
It is interesting how people view Deans needs to Sams. And how the show presented so differently the boys individual desire for normal.Sam was done negatively with selfish being used commonly in both word and how scenes were presented Dark side of the Moon being a prime example but Deans presented has he deserves it and needs it.
Lisa seem to resent Sam and I dont believe she would of welcomed him so if Dean went with Lisa? how much do you think Mary that Sam would be part of Deans new life ?. I dont have a issue with Dean wanting normal or him and Lisa if that is what he truly desired but where would that leave Sam? who would he have? Bobby nope I dont believe in the Sam / Bobby relationship. Dean? how often . Dean would naturally put his new family first and if Lisa was receptive towards Sam then that closes the door.Sam pretty much as it stands is in a no win situation anyway which sums up most of his life but Dean has avenues that Sam simply doesnt have. Would I lie to see the writers give Sam a friendship he can forge outside of Dean ? that doesnt leave him alone if something ever happened to Dean or Dean does decide to see if he and Lisa can have a life ?I would love it . Sadly I dont think they will .
If Dean did go back to Lisa and Ben I would wish him good luck because I agree he derserves it but I would also feel sorry and sad for Sam because out of the two he really is the one trapped .
Totally agree. I don’t begrudge Dean his happiness, if he wants to quit hunting and go play happy families then so be it. There is nothing and no one stopping Dean from doing so other than Dean himself IMO. He uses Sam as an excuse when he doesn’t want to admit the truth to himself.
I highly doubt Sam would ever stop Dean from going to do his own thing, he knows Dean and I think he’s fully aware that Dean wants out and if Dean had called and told Sam he was staying with Lisa/Ben I think Sam would have been happy for him. Shame he never got treated the same when he wanted something other than the hunting life?!
I highly doubt the show will ever bother giving Sam someone in his life outside of Dean/away from Dean who isn’t evil/going to betray him/die. I never realised how truly alone Sam is until this season.If anything were to happen to Dean or Dean left hunting to peruse his own happiness where would that leave Sam? I imagine Sam has long since resigned/accepted his life as a hunter, he either doesn’t want normal any more, knows/thinks he cant have it or doesn’t think he deserves it. I get the impression that he feels he fells like he needs to redeem himself (still/again) and he equates that to hunting things and saving as many people as he can. Either way all it leaves him with is hunting, most likely alone and most likely till he dies a bloody death.
Gladiator, I disagree with you in one respect: I don’t believe Dean is using Sam as an excuse not to admit to himself that he wants to quit hunting. I think we saw Dean’s truth in [i]You Can’t Handle The Truth[/i], and it’s that he wants [b]both[/b]: he wants to save people by hunting with his beloved brother at his side, and he also wants to have a woman and child who love and welcome him. I can’t fault him for that.
Sam is as screwed up as Dean by thinking he doesn’t [i]deserve[/i] a normal life any more. I hope Sam’s ongoing story might become one of finally learning to accept that the things others did to him – Azazel feeding him demon blood, Ruby deceiving him into breaking the last seal releasing the apocalypse – didn’t render him either non-human or irredeemable, and that the sacrifice he made at the end of season five really did amount to redemption for his errors. And I hope Sam’s story will include Sam finding more to life than hunting, including love.
I have faith.
You know, Ellie, I think how we saw things in the show always depended very much on whose eyes we were seeing them through. I never Sam as selfish; every time we were given that impression, it came when we saw things from Dean’s perspective. Dean’s focus was always family, and understandably so, I think: the formative event in his life was losing both his mother and the loving warmth of his father when he was just a child. Sam’s focus was different, because he’d never known Mary and had always known John only as a driven, uncompromising, demanding man. Dean, I think, was always very aware of what he’d lost; Sam, on the other hand, was always aware of what more there could be, what more they could have. And when we saw things through Dean’s eyes, we saw him giving up uncertain things in order to cling to what little he had, while Sam – to Dean, anyway – appeared to be abandoning what he had in order to pursue things meaningless to Dean.
I don’t think Dean would ever have chosen Lisa and Ben over Sam, and I think that is also what Lisa saw. She obviously knew from Dean that Sam had died; her shock at seeing him back started with knowing he’d been dead, and continued with knowing that, given the relationship between the brothers, Sam would always come first with Dean. I don’t think Lisa’s reaction was resentment of Sam nearly as much as it was simply knowing that this unnatural development would totally disrupt the balance she, Ben, and Dean had achieved through a year together.
Dean isn’t the only one who thinks himself unworthy to have a normal life; you’re dead right that Sam began suffering from the same problem all the way back in season one, when he began having visions that started with Jess’s death. Learning that he’d been fed demon blood as a baby and was the focus of demon plans really screwed him up, and his later demon blood addiction, seduction by Ruby, and unintentional triggering of the apocalypse just made it worse. He hasn’t managed yet to come to terms with that, or to properly weigh in the balance the selfless sacrifice he made at the end of season five to imprison Lucifer again. Right now, he’s still trying to make amends not only for what he did before, still seeing fault and responsibility in his own eyes, but for what his soulless self did while his soul was still in Hell. I don’t believe for a moment that he deserves all the blame he’s putting on himself, but until he learns to forgive himself for not having been at the controls, he’s still going to be as screwed up for outside relationships as Dean is.
I think they BOTH deserve more than just each other. But I also think we need to have patience, because it’s going to take a lot of time for them to come to the acceptance we’re already ready to grant them.
And that’s where I come down on this. 🙂
I meant if Lisa was not receptive to Sam it closes the door.
I agree with you that presently the one with no escape is Sam. And me too, I would like to see him find some friendship or love interest for himself.
But in a way it seems to me that he, despite what we see or learn about him in S1, in the end embraced hunter’s life with less regret than Dean. For Sam family never meant as much as for Dean, he was always more independent. When he walked away from his family to go to Stanford, or when we see him in that house in “Dark side…” it seems to me that he wasn’t dreaming a family of his own, i.e. loved and loving people around him, someone to care for and be cared by, but rather a more “normal” life, a “safer” life, like he said to Dean in the PIlot. Also, he tried to distance himself from his father and from the life he forced on his sons, a life that Sam refused, not only per se, but because it was forced. He hates to be forced, he always was and always will be.
Since the start we see Sam frightened to be “different”, the “freak”, the abnormal, both for his family and for the society. So I think that his attempt to find a normal life was not because he needed a “family life”, but because he was trying to be accepted at least in the society, since his father apparently didn’t accept him.
When he learned that he had demon’s blood in his veins, he convinced himself that he [u]really [/u]was a “freak”, so he had no escape. He was “cursed”. There could be no way out, no happy ending for him. So in a way he embraced the one life that’s was left to him: to be a hunter. He gave up any thought of a normal life and since then he never seemed to turn back to watch what he left behind. From which came his new womanizing attitude in S4 and (as soulless) S6, his new developed “hardness”, and his attempt to draw even Adam in the “life”, while Dean would let and secure their half-brother the chance of a normal life.
When Sam told Dean to go find Lisa and live with her the “apple pie life” that Dean dismissed so sarcastically in the Pilot, I think it was a sort of “transfer”: he transferred on Dean his old desires of a normal life, not only because he was going to die, but because that was a life he could never have (so he thought), no matter what.
Now, it seems to me that since S5 “redemption”, “righting the wrong done” (and in a way, so was in S4, but more in the meaning of “drawing the good from the evil”) has become the new main issue for Sam, instead of “being normal” (since he isn’t)or “living normal”, so he doesn’t seem too eager to find a love or a family for himself. While for Dean since S3, and mainly since his encouter with Lisa and Ben, this has become more and more an issue, or at least a wishful thinking, a secret regret.
Excellently put, Brynhild – I agree!!
Great recap. I agree with every word. I would just add that Dean was unable to stay with Lisa once he knew Sam was back. As soon as he realised Sam was alive, his life with Lisa – previously his only option other than suicide – turned into a choice between Sam/hunting and Lisa and Ben/domesticity/suburbia. At that point all his doubts, depression, drinking etc that he had been ignoring came to a head. If Dean has to choose he is always going to choose Sam. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love Lisa/Ben, but Sam will always come first. Realising that was hard for Lisa I think, and even harder for Ben.
Now real Sam is back the choice is even tougher for Dean, because he genuinely has back the relationship he has been desperately missing.
I don’t think Dean is capable of living a domestic life while his brother is hunting on his own. If Dean is ever to make a life with Lisa and Ben while Sam is alive, I believe Sam will have to give up hunting too and move in down the street. Sam wouldn’t be in danger and would also be on hand to help Dean protect Lisa and Ben. If the real Sam had come back this is what he would have done to help Dean keep the life he had built, rather than the non-sensical decision not to tell him that soulless Sam made.
As you rightly say, Dean also needs to believe that he is worthy of Lisa and Ben’s love, and that he can be good for them. That is probably the toughest nut to crack.
Great analysis. Thanks.
Thanks, geordiegirl! I agree that Sam will always come first with Dean; Sam’s part of his hard wiring, but that doesn’t make his feelings for Lisa and Ben any less real or less important to him. Rock, meet hard place.
You know, I think there still might be a third possibility: that Sam and Dean could still hunt together, but eventually have home ports to which to return. That’s evidently what Bill Harvelle did, up until his death, and it appears to be what Samuel Campbell did after Deanna got pregnant and had Mary. Their ladies would have to be able to accept them as hunters, as Ellen and Deanna did, but given the right ladies, I don’t see that as insurmountable.
Then again, I am an incurable romantic, despite being in my 50’s with no significant other … *wry grin*
Hi Bardicvoice
I loved the Brotherly and Lisa/Ben moments in this episode.
I so agree with you about having the brothers talking and being honest with each other, finally seeing two grown men working as a team. This is what I had expected to see in the beginning of the season and I have to say I’m ecstatic that it has finally come.
I really do like Lisa and Ben and feel they are good for Dean. I just feel so sorry for Dean, wanting both worlds but not believing he can or deserves having both.
I think that Lisa and Dean do love and care for each other, but are not head over heels, madly IN LOVE with each other. I believe that during ‘The Kids are Alright’ a strong connection or bond was established not only between Dean and Ben but between Dean and Lisa as well and it’s something neither one will ever be able to shake off.
I do hope when this show does come to an end that they will have Dean reunite with Lisa and Ben. And I hope Sam some how reconnects with Sarah from Provenance or at least finds his own happiness.
With what both these two have endured they deserve some kind of happy ending or at least a peaceful life.
As for the motw, I was intrigued by the ghost inhabited mannequins and by the kidney angle but I really believe they tried to fit too much into this episode and that the final confrontation with Rose was rushed.
I had thought that maybe they should of saved the motw for another episode and just focused on the relationship side of things.
Instead of working on a case, they could have had the brothers go to Bobby’s. This would have been a great opportunity for Sam and Bobby to reconnect while Dean was at Lisa’s.
Or maybe that would have been too boring…:zzz
Oh well…thank you for your wonderful review.
Thank you, Karen – and WORD on everything you said about Sam and Dean and the brothers having enduring relationships with others!
Given the nature of television, I think they needed an adventure – but I do wish they’d done something more interesting with the MOTW. Said enought about that in the commentary, though, I think … *grin*
Awesome recap & analysis! I think Dean has always wanted that idealized family too, no matter how he tried to ignore those desires or rationalize the impossibility of them in the life he was living. The earlier season episodes you mentioned clearly suggested that IMO.
As many times as he was shown contemplating calling Lisa, I was surprised to learn that she had called him & disappointed initially that he had not returned her calls. It did change my perception of Lisa & actually made me like her even more, but it was classic Dean avoidance technique again at play. I really wanted to see his response to both Lisa & Ben & agree that those scenes were cut short. I think it does leave the door open for their continued part in Dean’s life, & hopefully one day when the show ends, that they can be together. (And yes, I think Sam would have to live close by with a family of his own too for Dean to ever be satisfied with at least partially settling down. Let’s have Uncle Bobby close by too…. ok, just my dream for a totally sappy happy ending to the show someday, but a girl can dream…)
I am thrilled to have the brotherly dynamic back! I loved how Sam sent Dean off to check on Lisa & Ben & worked the case himself, yet kept in touch with Dean. The trust & support of each other is back. I think it was also a nice touch that they were back at Bobby’s, back with the family that doesn’t end with blood, by the end of the episode.
We are on the same wavelength, BagginsDVM! Welcome to my couch for uncurable romantics … 🙂
Oh Mary, I loved your recap. You express my feelings so perfectly that I am unable to do nearly as well.
I just loved the Dean/Lisa/Ben scenes and that Sam had persuaded Dean to go to Lisa.
The scenes between Sam and Dean I have been waiting for 2 and a half years to see. I have been angsting for the understanding and love to return to these two guys it seems like forever! Please I hope they don’t get torn apart again!
As for the MOTW, that is a secondary concern to me as the relationships were what I was so very interested in. Mind you, dummies do creep me out, so not too disappointed in that area, but would have liked more time spent on the relationships.
Like others here, when the series ends, I would love to see Dean, Lisa and Ben happy ever after and Sammy down the street with Sarah, and Uncle Bobby visiting often to interact with the kids. I don’t care if its shmoopy and cheesey, it’s what would satisfy me at the very end. Don’t need any tragedies to end this saga! 😥
Thank you, Bevie!
I really would love to have the series end someday on the note of the brothers still having work to do, but also having families to come home to, with the suggestion that ther sons and daughters might become hunters less broken than their fathers were. Saving people, hunting things: the Winchester family business, incorporated.
I’d draw up those business papers!
Yume, I agree! Nicely put. 🙂 And rather more briefly than I managed …
Thanks for another great review. I also hope that we have not seen the last of Lisa and Ben and I hope that Dean and Lisa can work things out. I had missed the parallel between the sisters and the Winchesters but that probably was due to the MOTW being so uninteresting. I did like the scenes between Sam and Dean but I too felt cheated in the scenes between Dean and Lisa and Ben and Dean. The audience should have seen Dean’s response.
Thanks, Marlana! I hope that we – and others who loved the Dean/Lisa/Ben relationship – get the chance to see more of it!
Great analysis as usual, Mary. Overall I enjoyed this episode, mostly for the scenes between Dean and Sam and between Dean and Lisa/Ben.
The MOTW storyline was okay, right up until Jonny’s sex doll was revealed and my mouth literally dropped and I thought WTF?! That was so out of left field and from then on the story got quite bumpy, especially how the writers tied up the possessed kidney problem. Too easy, too contrived.
That said, I have to disagree with one point you made … “the ghost destroying herself out of regret for the unintended consequence of her actions were both empty and contrived” … I don’t think the ghost killed herself. Her bones had been salted and burned and now the last remaining piece of her was destroyed when her sister died so there was nothing left for her to hang onto in this world. And off she went to wherever it is that vengeful spirits end up!
I enjoyed reading everyone’s comments about where they hope Sam and Dean finally end up when the show ends and I for one am firmly in the camp of having a happy ending though with this show we’ll probably get a twist on that too!
Thanks again, Mary. Can’t wait to read your review on The French Mistake. That one ranks up there as one of my all time favourites!
Cheers!
Thanks, Rose! My review on The French Mistake is finally done and up; I hope you enjoy it!
My reason for believing the Rose-ghost destroyed herself was that her kidney was still physically in existence; while her sister died, her body was physically there, including Rose’s kidney, so technically, Rose wasn’t destroyed. But that’s a nitpicky detail I won’t insist on! *grin*
[i]What did work for me was the overall message that both the Dean/Lisa/Ben storyline and the MOTW storyline had:
We give all we have, and sometimes it´s not enough. And I like how this double-message is sandwiched by Dean being there for Sam at the start and Sam being there for Dean in the end.[/i]
WORD, especially for this! Thanks, Yume!
Heh: guys are guys. You’re definitely right there!