Bardic’s Descant: 6:19 Mommy Dearest: I’m Building The Perfect Beast
6.19 Mommy Dearest: I’m Building The Perfect Beast
Eve builds new hybrids;
Castiel faked Crowley’s death
All about the souls.
Episode Summary
Two young men leaving a bar at night met Eve, still barefoot in her white dress, but with a small bloody wound in her side, on her way in. The young black man flirted with her, saying Heaven must be missing an angel, and she just smiled, reached up, and trailed the backs of her fingers lightly down the side of his face as she walked past and into the bar. Where she touched him, a jagged network of veins briefly appeared, then vanished. His friend urged him away.
Inside the crowded bar, Eve locked the doors and broke off the door handles. As she made her way through the crowd, a young man spotting her bare feet and the blood on her dress asked her if she was okay. She responded she was perfect and kissed him, causing dark veins to appear on his face and then fade into his skin. When the man’s friend, taken aback, began to protest, Eve said she’d given him a gift and proceeded to walk past, stroking two more people on her way. Each of them leaped up and attacked the people around them as Eve calmly continued to the bar, where she picked up a drink and perched on a bar stool to watch the erupting chaos. Each victim bitten and left for dead rose up to attack more, and with the doors locked, no one could escape. Eve watched in silent satisfaction.
In the basement at Bobby’s, Dean proceeded to load phoenix ashes into shotgun shells, filling only five shells before the bottle of ash was empty. When Sam and Bobby observed that was more than they’d had, Dean sourly questioned whether the ashes would work at all. Explaining he’d had a mishap while filling a shell, he proceeded graphically to demonstrate what he’d learned as a result by smearing some of the ash on his bare arm to no ill effect. Sam speculated the ash might be like iron or silver, deadly to monsters but harmless to humans. Dean observed they’d have to find Eve to test it out. Bobby agreed he’d been looking, but offered it might be time for Dean to make a call. Dean protested always being the one to call Cass, objecting that the angel didn’t live in his ass and was busy, but Castiel appeared immediately behind him even before he’d finished speaking, startling him. Castiel asked if they’d made any progress locating Eve. Bobby said they’d been about to ask the angel, but Castiel said she was hidden from him and from all angels. Sam ventured that what they needed was an inside man, a friendly monster, so they pored through their records hoping to find one. Eventually, Castiel reappeared with Lenore, the peaceful vampire leader from Bloodlust, looking haggard and harried. Lenore said her nest was gone because all the vampires, constantly hearing Eve’s orders in their heads, had gone back to hunting humans. When they told her they wanted to find Eve, she laughed bitterly that Eve could be listening to them that very moment; that she could just as well be a video camera. They persuaded her to give them Eve’s location anyway , Grants Pass, Oregon , and she told them Eve now knew they were coming. Lenore demanded they kill her before they left, saying she was too dangerous; she admitted she’d fed on a girl and would do it again, because she couldn’t keep resisting Eve. The brothers refused, encouraging her not to give up, but Castiel, saying they had to move things along, touched her with his power and her soul burned out of her body.
Castiel transports the four of them to Grants Pass, where they were surprised to see a sunny, bucolic town that looked perfectly normal. Bobby said he needed a computer, and they wound up talking over lunch at Ernie’s Diner while Bobby, despite complaining the iPad Sam had provided wasn’t a computer because it didn’t have buttons, said his news checks hadn’t turned up anything unusual. Castiel said he would search the town, but found himself abruptly unable to tap any of his angelic abilities, guessing Eve might be blocking him somehow. Continuing his search, Bobby discovered a local doctor had contacted the CDC the day before reporting a patient with symptoms he couldn’t diagnose, a young black man named Ed Bright , and the driver’s license photo showed the first young man Eve had touched outside the bar.
They split up in search of the doctor, with Dean and Castiel heading to his office while Bobby and Sam visited his house. The woman closing the office said Dr. Silver hadn’t called in and she didn’t know where he was. Planning to break in and take a look around by picking the lock on the back door, Dean saw drops of blood on the ground and a smear of it on the lock of the back shed. Opening the shed, he found the dead body of Ed Bright, covered in bloody boils.
At Dr. Silver’s house, Bobby found a photo of the doctor, his wife, and their two young sons, but the whole family was missing even though nothing had been packed and the car was still in the driveway. As Bobby and Dean were leaving, they were stopped by the local sheriff, who said he was checking up because the doctor was a friend and hadn’t shown up or called in to work. Bobby and Sam bluffed, saying they were FBI and reporting the doctor missing, and Bobby urged the sheriff to put out an all-points bulletin on the doctor, offering to come to the station to compare notes. The sheriff agreed, and they went their separate ways, with Bobby and Sam rejoining Dean and Castiel outside the house Ed Bright shared with a group of friends. Castiel spotted a perfect double of Ed inside through the window, and they speculated they were dealing with shifters. Sam and Dean went in to discover all five of the guys inside looking exactly like Ed. Four of them were already dead, and the last one , whose driver’s license identified him as Marshall Todd, the blond guy who’d been with Ed when he met Eve , was dying. He told them Ed had felt bad so he’d taken him to the doctor, but now all of them were sick. When they pressed him, he said he and Ed had met a girl in white outside a bar on Eighth Street.
The hunters wondered why Eve was making monsters who were sick and dying, but had no theories. They went to check out the bar, and discovered everyone inside dead, showing the marks of bloody monster attacks. Bobby wondered why the sheriff hadn’t noticed so many people missing. Examining the bodies, Dean found a woman with vampire fangs who also had the wrist spike characteristic of a wraith, like the one they’d killed in Sam, Interrupted, and they realized all the bodies were hybrid monsters Eve made. Dean promptly christened the hybrids “Jefferson Starships,” mocking the band (Because they’re horrible and hard to kill). Bobby observed they all appeared to have died from raging fever, like Ed Bright. Dean crouched down by the bar to examine another body just as the sheriff and two deputies burst in. The lawmen arrested and cuffed Sam, Bobby, and Castiel, but missed Dean as he hid behind the bar.
At the police station, Sam caught a glimpse of the security monitor screen and saw the eyes of the cop behind him glowing like a shifter’s eyes. He broke free and attacked, calling to the others that they were Jefferson Starships, and Castiel and Bobby also tried to fight back despite being handcuffed. Dean, having followed them from the bar, appeared in the nick of time to save Castiel by beheading a monster with a machete, and Castiel returned the favor by killing the one on Bobby. Dean flung the last one away from Sam, but Sam stopped him from killing it, knowing they needed information on Eve’s whereabouts. Bobby interrogated the thing, threatening it with a silver knife, but it gloated they were stupid human cattle. The brothers heard a noise from elsewhere in the station and went to investigate, expecting more monsters, but finding Dr. Silver’s two young sons, Joe and Ryan, handcuffed and gagged in a cell. They freed the boys and reassured them the cops wouldn’t be back. Joe, the older brother, told them Ryan hadn’t spoken since they’d been taken. Dean promised to get them out of the handcuffs, but noted they’d first have to find out if the boys were who and what they appeared to be, saying there were a few dozen tests they’d have to run. Afterward, they brought the boys into the main area of the police station, declaring them human, and while Ryan nibbled on a chocolate bar, Joe said they hadn’t heard anything about a mother or Eve, that he and Ryan had been alone in the cell. When Dean asked about their parents, Joe said the cops had told them they would be next, they would be food. Dean asked if they had any other family, and Joe said they had an uncle in Meritt, a town 15 miles down the road. Dean promised to get them there. Castiel drew Dean aside, protesting they had to find Eve and there were millions of lives at stake, not just two. Dean retorted he was getting sick and tired of greater purposes, and said what he really wanted to do was save a couple of kids. He said they would catch up, and he and Sam escorted the boys out to the Impala. Watching as Joe protectively drew Ryan in to curl up against him in the back seat, telling the younger boy he should get some rest, the Winchesters saw an echo of themselves, and enjoyed a moment’s peaceful satisfaction in one thing going right. That was simply reinforced when they saw the boys’ uncle welcome them with hugs.
Wow.
This was a very enjoyable – and insightful article. 🙂
Just let me add a few quick thoughts.
[b]Why didn’t Eve simply turn the brothers and Bobby and have done, rather than trying to persuade them to cooperate with her?[/b]
I suspect that the Winchester brothers and Bobby would have been better hunters if they were not tampered with (i.e. turned); and perhaps Eve thought so as well. This could have been important since Crowley was (in her view) difficult to find.
I think the bigger gap in logic (as another writer has pointed out) is why didn’t Eve simply summon Crowley the way Bobby did in “Weekend at Bobby’s”, or procured someone to do it, instead of trying to get hunters (or “turned” hunters”) to get Crowley ?
[b]So how did Dean not get infected from his contact with Ed’s blood?[/b]
Perhaps the consumed ash had something to do with it (if he had ingested it by then) ? No idea really.
[b](T)he script’s blatant fan service to slash fandom.[/b]
While I did feel a bit uncomfortable with the “slashy” bits, I do think that they were fine (i.e not overdone), and if truth be told, a little funny (even with the discomfort) – they were at most one or two throw away inconsequential lines. And if those few lines help to generate more viewership for Supernatural …
A quick thought about Crowley’s fake death in “Caged Heat”. Why was Megan able to detect it at that time ?
Also, Megan would have presumably known that Crowley wasn’t really dead at some point in time thereafter – why didn’t she attempt to reestablish her alliance with the Winchester brothers after “Caged Heat” ?
Thanks – and I’m glad you enjoyed the piece, because I definitely had fun writing it!
I could see the brothers possibly being better hunters with all their human instincts intact; let’s say that’s why Eve left them human. Keeping them human definitely works for me! 🙂
On the question of why Eve didn’t just summon Crowley, or have someone do it; I don’t think we’ve ever been given a solid reason to believe, in [i]Supernatural[/i], that summoning a demon forcibly compels it to appear, at least not if it’s a really powerful one. I’m guessing that, for the top echelon of demons, it’s not a compulsion so much as it is an invitation, with the demon able to choose whether to pick up the phone or not. (And I wonder whether that may also apply to angels; whether the reason Rachel wasn’t already visible and present in the warehouse to which she summoned Castiel in [i]Frontierland[/i] was simply because she didn’t want him to know she was the one who summoned him, and spiked his curiosity by popping out to make him answer the call to the seemingly empty warehouse in order to learn who had called him.) If that’s the case, then Azazel, Ruby, and Crowley chose to respond when they were called because they wanted to, not because they absolutely had to; and I could see that being the case every time, given the nature and timing of their various summonses. I could also see Crowley being able to take a peek at the setup and deciding not to answer if Mommy Dearest was in the neighborhood.
Or, it could be something completely different … let me go away and think for a while!
Heh: I also like your explanation for Dean avoiding infection from touching the blood with his finger. Let’s call him temporarily inoculated! *grin*
On the slashiness, I’ll admit I chuckled a little for Cass appearing immediately behind Dean on the “not living in my ass” line, but there was still a lot of fatigue in my reaction to the humor, especially by the time we got around to the “ointment” lines. Slash is just such an easy target for cheap laughs; I’m tired of it, if only because it’s so very vocal.
On Crowley’s fake death – I don’t think Meg did detect it. She had wanted Crowley to die for having betrayed Lucifer; all I saw on her face in [i]Caged Heat[/i] was pleasure for Crowley being destroyed, followed by determination to escape. As for why she didn’t get in touch with the Winchesters when she learned Crowley was actually alive, well; there really was no love lost there. I think Meg was perfectly well aware that both Sam and Dean meant to kill her after she took down Crowley, so teaming with them again wouldn’t have been in the cards unless she could have seen some way to protect herself from them in the process.
I strongly suspect we’ve going to see Meg again someday, if only because she has to be in the forefront of the opposition to Crowley in Hell. But when, where, and doing what – I haven’t a clue!
Thanks again for engaging, especially since I’ve been notoriously absent from the dialogue thing. Glad to be back!!
[quote]Given Eve’s comment about souls being fuel, little nuclear reactors that when combined produce the sun, I wonder whether the ultimate purpose of creating humans may have been to power Heaven, setting up a self-replicating engine that freed God to move on to other things. Wouldn’t it be ironic – especially for Zachariah and the other angels who chose deliberately to bring about the apocalypse – if all that Heavenly power angels can draw on and channel is generated by the presence of human souls dwelling in and generating bliss in Heaven, and relies on the steady arrival of more souls to replace the power being consumed? If human souls reliving their bliss power Heaven and angels, then I would guess that human souls in torment in Hell provide the power for all we’ve seen demons and Lucifer able to do.[/quote]
Interesting that you say that because I believe Cas wants these souls only because he knows they are the only way he can heal himself and his fellow angels. Didn’t he tell Dean once that their “numbers are not unlimited” If they are wounded in battle, siphoning a human soul might be the only way to save them. I think he might be doing what ever it takes to keep what few angels he has on his side alive. Also, I don’t believe for an instant that he is doing this for evil purposes. Misguided maybe, but not evil. Perhaps in his mind the end justifies the means. If this is the only way he can win the war then, he’s gonna do what he thinks he has to do even if it means hooking up with Crowley and stretching the boundaries of his ethics.
Learning to do questionable things out of desperation, even for all the right reasons, would certainly be something he would have picked up hanging around the Winchesters all this time. Too bad he didn’t pick up that those decisions usually don’t end well.
I hope we get definitive answers tomorrow night and I hope that one of them isn’t that Cas is their new enemy. It will break my heart if that is the case.
Another great review Bardic.
Oooh; nice thought on Castiel seeking souls because siphoning power could save angels who otherwise would die. Me likey!
I’m both impatient for and afraid of tomorrow night; what lines will we learn Castiel had already crossed? And is one of them his Rubicon, that can’t be crossed back again, to change his fate?
I would hate to see Dean so badly hurt by this surprise and this betrayal that he would consider Castiel beyond the pale. Dean found forgiveness for Sam, even after expressing extreme reservations about and distrust of him at the end of [i]Sympathy For The Devil[/i]; I hope he can do the same for Castiel, and not reject him out of hand in the first blush of discovering how far he has fallen.
Is it Friday yet?
And thanks for the praise!
Thanks for another wonderfully written and insightful review!
I am also worried about what Cas is up to working with Crowley. Also a bit concerned about the “nothing” that Sam tried to dismiss at the end-was it really nothing or some memory/crack?
When we were discussing this episode, a friend of mine brought up one of the early season 6 promos – “Trust No One”. Looks like another layer of meaning has been added to that one.
Thanks, m’dear – glad you enjoyed!
Sam seems to have been remembering more little snatches, as indicated by his discovery of the Campbell family library in [i]Frontierland[/i]. What’s really not clear is how much he’s indicating to Dean and Bobby about [u]remembering[/u] rather than [u]deducing[/u]: if he’s pretending deduction to explain things he’s actually recalling, it’s going to be a rude awakening for his brother and Bobby.
I am [i]so[/i] afraid of what remains of this season; I know it will break my heart.
This summer is going to be one hell of a hellacious hiatus …
Oh, such a good review, especially on your thoughts about the storylines and meaning and purpose of souls. Unfortunately, as you say, it’s too big, too impersonal to the brothers, and I gave up even thinking about it all a long time ago. Mostly, I think, the bigness has put a stop to character focus for the brothers. Sure, they get screen time, but the story isn’t focused on them, IMO.
I’m glad you gave Adam Glass and John Showalter credit. For the first time this season, I felt Mr. Glass gave us Old Dean back…loved the appearance of reckless, simple and effective, have a Plan B Dean after such a long time…and I appreciated that. His portrayal of the brothers was perfect and enjoyable. And, you know what? I’ve always liked the locker room humor for our tough, blue collar, fringe of society guys.
Loved the Dean’s reflection in the glass of the interrogation room, and the mirror shots in the car. I’ve always liked John Showalter’s work.
I love Mark Sheppard and, yes, what professionalism. The only thing with Crowley this season is that instead of an adorable rat fenemy, he is now just a rat. Boo hoo. I hope he doesn’t become a Bela, with no redeeming qualities. I kind of liked the adorable rat. Killing Crowley off way back was good, because I did not like the show having Sam/Dean working for him. It just seemed so wrong for Dean, and made him look dumb in that he worked for Crowley for months without thinking of hunting up Death sooner. Crowley returning now, I feel, once and for all takes death off the table for any character, demon, monster, or angel. It’s a twist that I fear will weaken any suspense in further seasons. I mean, we already knew death was off the table for the brothers, which takes a lot of the suspense out of the show period, but now everyone and everything is fair game. I’m not sure I like that move, despite my pleasure of not having Mark gone from the show.
Let me just say that I loved this episode and anything I have said is nitpicky and didn’t take anything away from how much I enjoyed it.
Season-wise, though, I still do not see the brother’s investment in the mytharc and various stories. Why did Eve want the Winchesters specifically to work for her? Why did Death want the brothers working for him? Why does Cas feel a need to lie to the brothers about what he is doing in Heaven? Why was Dean left out of the picture for a year? Why were the Campbells brought into it? Why did Crowley make them his attack puppets (when he had legions of demons to do his work)? Why was Sam resurrected w/o a soul and why did he hook up wit the Campbells? I’m just not seeing what investment the brothers have in the saving of the world business? Because the world would be lost if Cas loses? Not personal enough for me. I guess that puts me in the ‘I’m getting tired of all the greater purposes’ camp, yet am so happy to have enjoyed everything in the episode.
I love that this show makes me actually think about what I believe Heaven & Hell & Purgatory to be, & what really is a soul & its purpose, & what is the meaning of all this (I only wish my philosophy classes back in college could have been so interesting!). Fascinating stuff!
However, what I really enjoy are the personal things, the relationships among this small group of characters that I’ve grown to love so fiercely. Boy, did my heart ache for Sam & Dean when they realized that they hadn’t saved the Silver brothers. I am also cringing at how devastated Dean will be to learn of Castiel’s “dirty little secret”. I still can’t figure what Castiel’s motivation for working with Crowley truly is. I hope we find out tonight.
As always, this was a wonderful & thought-provoking review!