Bardic’s Descant: 6:16 …And Then There Were None – She Has A Message For You
The brothers arrived shortly after, having lost Samuel in the maze of cannery equipment. They all armed up and went after Samuel together, with Dean in the lead. As they walked, Sam suddenly grabbed Dean and yanked him backward, and when everyone reacted, pointed his flashlight down at a tripwire across their path, leading to an improvised antipersonnel bomb consisting of a gas can rigged with glass jars of nails for shrapnel. They proceeded forward with even more care, with a little more distance between them and Sam in the lead, and suddenly all the power went out and a heavy door slid shut between Sam and the others, cutting him off from them. Unable to get the door open again, Sam shouted that he would go around, and Dean led the others in search of a way to reconnect with him.
Alone, Sam came up behind Samuel, and ordered him to turn and keep his hands in sight. Samuel slowly started to advance on him, talking all the while, teasing him with the promise of telling him what he’d done on his summer vacation and maintaining Sam wouldn’t shoot him because he’d gotten his soul back and wouldn’t hurt his family. Sam warned him to stop and to put down his gun, but Samuel pushed slowly and steadily forward, still talking, and Sam shot him in the head. Dean, Bobby, and Rufus ran up, relieved to find Sam okay, but upon seeing Samuel dead on the ground, they had to wonder if he was still himself. Sam carefully put down his gun as ordered, saying it was in Samuel, but he couldn’t say whether anything had crawled out of Samuel’s ear after he’d fallen. To be safe, Rufus handcuffed him with a plastic zip strip, and they took Samuel’s body back to the break room. Swabbing his ears didn’t produce any of the telltale goo, and Sam was sickened to think Samuel might not have been hosting the monster when Sam killed him. Learning that Bobby had a cranial saw in the trunk of his car, Rufus advocated opening Samuel’s skull to look for the worm. Determined that none of them be left alone, so all of them would constantly be on the lookout for a worm infiltration, Rufus and Bobby went to get tools from Bobby’s car and see about restoring power and lights to the cannery, while Sam watched Samuel and Dean watched Sam.
Seeing Sam plainly troubled about possibly having killed a man, not a monster, Dean tried to assure him he’d done the right thing, but also chose to keep the cuffs on until after they’d autopsied Samuel. Sam understood Dean’s intent, but said that even though what little he could remember about Samuel wasn’t good, and even though he knew about Samuel betraying them to Crowley from what Dean had told him, he couldn’t help but wonder what their Mom would say. Dean offered that he believed she’d have said that just because you’re blood doesn’t mean you’re family; that you have to earn that.
The lights and power came up just before Rufus and Bobby walked in with the bag of tools, and Bobby, observing they were about to crack open the boys’ grandfather’s skull, told the brothers to take a breather and leave the room. Reluctant, the brothers stepped out, looking back through the glass tops of the double doors before walking a little way down the hall to wait. In the room, discovering that Bobby’s cranial saw sported bare wires sticking through a lot of missing insulation, Rufus teased him about dumpster-diving for equipment while Bobby shrugged that it still worked. As Rufus plugged in the saw and set up the equipment, Bobby tried awkwardly to return to the subject of Omaha, despite Rufus saying dismissively they’d already had that conversation. Bobby insisted on continuing, saying he’d never said he was sorry, and he humbly apologized for having caused the loss of a woman Rufus had loved. Refusing to listen and losing all pretense of good humor, Rufus cut him off cold, saying Bobby could talk all he wanted, but Rufus would never forgive him, and he warned Bobby to change the subject.
Rufus applied the saw to Samuel’s forehead, but to their shock, the man’s eyes opened and he swung off the table, throwing both Rufus and Bobby backward. Smashing a table, he shoved a table leg through the handles of the double doors to bar them even as the brothers ran toward the fight. Turning back to the older hunters, he slammed Rufus into the bank of lockers hard enough to knock him out. As Dean freed Sam’s wrists and the brothers assaulted the barred doors, Bobby and Samuel grappled, with Samuel lurching up backward against the pillar where the cranial saw was plugged into the wall. Hitting the exposed wires, Samuel was electrocuted, and the shock flung Bobby away from him to land stunned against another pillar. As the boys watched Samuel’s body jerking from the electrical charge, they saw gooey liquid oozing from his nose and ears, and then a worm skittered out of his ear and swiftly down his body, out of sight on the ground. The brothers smashed through the doors and ran to check Rufus and Bobby, both of whom woke up a little disoriented. Not knowing where the worm had gone, they all checked their ears, coming up goo-less, but Dean thought the thing might have figured out how not to leave a trail. Bobby observed they knew what tickled it now, it clearly hadn’t liked the electrical charge, and Sam stripped the insulation from another cord to create a tester. Dean volunteered to be shocked first, and then Sam shocked himself before Dean could take the cord away from him. Dean approached Rufus, who demurred at first, saying he had a pacemaker news that came as a surprise to Bobby, but he accepted being shocked and came through it just fine. Taking the cord from Dean, Rufus turned to Bobby, who said the thing wasn’t in him so he could just go ahead, but Bobby kept backing away from the wire. When Rufus challenged him as the monster, Bobby stabbed him in the heart with the dagger he’d been hiding behind his back. Sam caught Rufus and lowered him to the floor, and Dean moved to block the doors to prevent Bobby’s escape. Sam feinted against the dagger and grabbed Bobby, and Dean knocked him unconscious.
Worm-possessed Bobby woke duct-taped to a chair, and Dean touched the exposed wire to the back of his neck, bringing goo oozing from Bobby’s nose, warning that they’d sealed off the room so the worm couldn’t escape. Speaking in a voice totally unlike Bobby’s, the worm said it was comfortable where it was, and taunted them with being unable to kill it without also killing someone they loved. The worm volunteered it had nothing to hide and had actually been waiting for them to ask it questions. It said they didn’t have a name for it yet, because it was new, something cooked up specially by Eve. It described Eve as the mother of all monsters and the end of all humans, saying by the time she was done there would be more creatures than humans, and humans would be kept in pens with their young served up like veal. The worm said it hadn’t been created to mess with a couple of cannery workers, but had simply used them to lead the hunters to it, because it had a message for them from Eve: she was back, she was pissed, and they were all going to die; it would be nothing but pain for them from here on in. Angry, Dean’s response was to hold the wire to Bobby’s neck again, shocking him to the point where Sam protested and more goo trickled from his nose and ears. The worm in Bobby gloated that they couldn’t kill it without killing Bobby too, and Dean said they would just have to do what Bobby would want. In perfect if reluctant accord, Sam wrapped duct tape over Bobby’s mouth and ears and part of his nostrils, leaving him room to breathe but not enough room to allow the worm to escape. Telling Bobby to hang on, Dean applied the wire again, and held it in place this time until Sam had to turn away, unable to watch, and black goo streamed out of Bobby’s nose and ears. When Dean removed the wire, Bobby simply slumped. Sam pried the tape away from his face, realizing Bobby wasn’t breathing, and the worm, well cooked, oozed out of Bobby’s ear to flop dead on the floor.
The brothers stood at the foot of a grave in a Jewish cemetery, joined after a moment by Bobby. When Dean said he hadn’t taken Rufus for a religious man, Bobby reminisced about him definitely not keeping kosher, but using the “can’t work on the Sabbath” card whenever he could to get out of burying a body. As they all remembered Rufus, Bobby volunteered that in the beginning, he’d just been a job: Rufus was the hunter who turned up to help when Bobby’s wife had been possessed. He saved Bobby’s life, exorcised the demon, and then proceeded to save Bobby from being locked up for murder. He told the brothers that he and Rufus had teamed up and worked together for years just like the Winchesters. When Sam asked what had happened o separate them, Bobby said it was Omaha, and his fault, and Rufus had never been able to let it go. Dean said Rufus had been wrong, and when Bobby objected that Dean didn’t even know what he’d done, Dean said it didn’t matter. He said in the end, they’d been family, and their lives were too short to be wasted in hand-wringing over mistakes. He told Bobby and Sam that when his guts got ripped out, they should know they were all good, blanket apologies all around for whatever shit any of them had pulled. Sam hesitantly offered that some of them had pulled a lot of shit, but Dean held steadfast, saying it was a clean slate. After a moment, Sam agreed. Bobby pulled a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue out of a bag and poured some on the grave. As the brothers turned and left, Bobby drank a toast to Rufus from the bottle, his eyes thoughtful and sad.
[b]Very well written!!! 🙂 [/b]
Good one.
I’m sorry to lose Roops and Grandpa too. The formers back-story with Bobby was starting to look really fascinating and Ol’Eyebrows and his mysterious-but-definitely-dodgy hidden agenda was the most entertaining thing about this season so far.
I can’t work up much interest in Eve … Standard SPN issue decorative monologing murder minx. I hope she dredges up some hidden depths soon or the rest of the run’s going to be a bit short of properly hissable baddies!
Bravo! This was well written and very enjoyable to read. I agree with your assessments. I hope that the Campbell history is not lost. Samuel’s journal and his grandfathers must hold a wealth of knowledge that Bobby, Dean and Sam could use. Someday, I hope that we get to know more about John and his family.
Another excellent article. You are so positive, even in your criticisms. I hope you are right about some explanation about the Sampa; why was he brought back, why and maybe even how he hooked up with Sam…some kind of explanation as to why the Campbells were even in the season. As it was left, it appears as of now that this was a lost opportunity to flesh out an interesting story.
I’m still disappointed that Rufus was killed, especially since death of any kind is no longer a surprise or suspenseful event in SPN. The show has taken death as something surprising or shocking off the table by bringing everybody and their grandfather back.
I did like the episode…especially dark Dean, who is oh so much scarier than that silly Eve…and sweet Sam…and the brothers working together. Two episodes of that now, but that is probably not going to last much longer.
Excellent review. I always love them.
“One of my absolute favorite memories from this episode will always be the four men meeting outside the cannery at night to hunt together; it’s been a long time since we saw such smiles and perfectly shared happiness”
I’m so glad you mentioned it! It was my favorite scene of the episode. It seemed so natural, like they were actually having a good time, even if it was just for a second.
Wonderful review, as always! See ya in two weeks! 😉
Loves your assesement. But I wonder about the Khan worm’s confession. I wonder if it told the boys what it did while there is something far more insideous. The trap set for the hunters inside that cannery…what if Eve set it up so she could see how Hunters; specifically the Winchesters acted when no one could rely on each other,knowing that any moment one of them could be possessesed; manipulating the others. And what if Eve was psychically linked to the khan worm? She could see how easily humans mistrust each other in the face of the unknown. Of course she might be discounting these 4 hunters experience and personal history.
Also…when Sam got seperated and he and Dean shouted out each others names several times it was like their own version of MArco Polo and their own way of letting the other know they were there and not alone.
Amy
Hi Bardic!
Your analysis of Rufus & assessment of his backstory made me love his character & mourn his loss as part of the extended Winchester family even more. I will truly miss him!
I mourn too for the relationship the guys could have had with their grandfather & the Campbell clan. Samuel certainly did destroy that with his obsessive desire to get Mary back. He was a pawn of demons, yet he used his grandsons & all of his extended blood family as pawns also. How did seemingly all the current members of the Campbell clan readily accept the reappearance & leadership of a man they had believed dead for decades? I agree that we need to see more of the Campbell clan; the history of a centuries-old family of hunters is too tantalizing a carrot to dangle before fans, then simply drop it without further mention.
I think your explanation of Dean’s definition of family is spot-on. His speech at the cemetery made me think about how trivial are some of the squabbles I’ve had with my loved ones, & how my own family doesn’t end with blood either.
Dawn
Wow Mary, well worth the wait! I think this is your best, most insightful review yet. And that’s saying a lot because I’ve enjoyed every single one of your reviews. Your analysis of Dean’s speech at the cemetery has me thinking of my own families and how I want to interact with them. Thanks for that, m’dear!
Cheers, Rose