Bardic’s Descant: 6.22 I’m Not Leaving My Brother Alone Out There
Production Notes
I can’t fully judge this episode until I see the next one, because this story paused right in the middle – but I loved what I saw. My hat is off to writer Eric Kripke, director Robert Singer, and the entire production team.
I particularly loved the way the script and the production design combined to hint to us right from the beginning that we were inside Sam’s mind, traveling through a construct cobbled together from Sam’s memories. Visual touches, which might either have been mentioned in the script or worked out early on in the production design discussions, included the prominent use of the sign for Castle Storage, the place where the brothers had discovered John’s storage room in Bad Day At Black Rock (although we didn’t learn the name and see the sign until Sympathy For The Devil) – a place, not coincidentally, that stored memories of their childhood as well as weapons and supernatural artifacts; and the Nite Owl Hotel, the place the brothers had stayed in Live Free Or Twi-Hard (incidentally, they’ve used that motel name and sign before, notably in season five’s Fallen Idols, but that location was the 2400 Motel; this one was the Victorian, the same real location used in the vampire episode). Sam’s fake ID’s used rock musician names the show has used before. Every piece of set dressing in both the bar and the hotel had a familiar feel; I’d bet every single piece – well, except for the newspaper article on Dr. Visyak – had been used in earlier episodes. Another subtle telltale was the pretty bartender never introducing herself. Introductions are always mutual, but this one wasn’t – and when we saw Sam’s recovered memories, that made sense, because soulless Sam, never caring about her, probably never even learned her name. According to IMDB, her name in the script was Robin, but I’m pleased they never used it.
I also appreciated the way the script called back to previous events, such as Dean’s reference to “dreamscaping” Sam’s noggin – clearly a reference to Dean being tempted to enter Sam’s dreaming mind as they’d entered Bobby’s and Sam had entered Dean’s in Dream A Little Dream Of Me – being countered by Bobby’s warning that they couldn’t know what was going on in Sam’s mind and he couldn’t afford to be deprived of both brothers when so little time remained to stop the opening of the door into Purgatory. I was glad to see that potential being recognized and blocked by a rational reason. Dean putting the needs of the mission ahead of his personal need to abandon everything else to try to save Sam also reflected the growth he demonstrated back in Good God, Y’All when he consciously forced himself to see to the needs of the group rather than charging off half-cocked to Sam’s rescue. He had to let Sam fight this battle on his own, and – however much it hurt – he did, hoping and praying Sam would win.
Ivan Hayden’s visual effects crew clearly had to put in some overtime on this one. I was particularly impressed with the demon and angel assault swallowing and flipping the Impala; that was a great purely visual effect sold by having a real car upside-down, headlights burning, when it ended. And it’s a good thing the production has held on to all of its Impalas, including the one they wrecked at the end of season one! They weren’t about to put the hero car upside-down! I also loved the swirling silver light effect in Balthazar’s eyes as he died; to me, it called back to the light we saw in Death’s ring when Dean and Death put it on during Appointment In Samarra. I could wish we’d seen more creative evidence of what specifically happened to Sam in Hell than simply the same image we saw in Unforgiven of Sam burning alive, but I can appreciate both that they needed a visual shorthand to readily convey “this is Sam suffering a Hell flashback” and that burning alive forever, without respite, represents pretty much the worst and most painful fate anyone is likely to be able to imagine.
The sound crew gets a call-out for this episode as well. I enjoyed the way they played up significant sounds in Sam’s dreams, including the bartender’s voice melding into Dean’s, the Stones song crossing from the panic room into the car, and the sounds of Sam cocking the guns when he pulled them out of the trunk to go after soulless Sam. Sounds had an echoing dream-like quality inside the dream they didn’t have outside. The approach and assault by the demon cloud was sold as much by the sound as by the visual.
I have to call out one continuity error, just because it struck me. When Sam fled his soulless self in the woods, he paused early in the run, brushed his hand back under his jacket, came up with his handgun, then started moving again – but in all the following scenes where we saw him continuing to run, he had nothing in his hand, up until the very last scene in the run where he jumped down toward the riverbank, gun in hand. Oopsie! My guess is that editor Anthony Pinker put the gun-draw earlier in the final sequence of scenes than the script or director Singer had originally intended because one or both of them decided it flowed better there, but all the running scenes had already been shot without the gun in hand because they’d intended the draw to come later. Maybe someday we’ll get the chance to ask!
The performances were golden. Erica Cerra, whom I recognized as Jo from Eureka, had great chemistry with Jared Padalecki’s Sam, playing the nameless bartender. As the only memory drawn from his soulless year, she was the first voice inside him arguing against Sam’s quest to find himself and uncover the truth; I loved the way she was used to speak for Sam while at the same time presenting a real and striking individual character. It was a real gut-punch learning the truth when Sam said he remembered everything he’d done, and we saw how he remembered her. Somehow, I knew that was coming the moment I saw him walking back to meet her at the car, but the impact was all the more profound because Cerra played the role so effectively.
I will miss Sebastian Roche as Balthazar! I loved the character – he reminded me of Gabriel in terms of independence and snark, but was even more amoral and self-centered in an oddly delightful way – and how well he stayed true to himself. It didn’t escape my notice that despite all the main action taking place in the same room where Balthazar died, we never saw either his body or the ash shadows of his wings. I suspect that was a purely practical choice – since scenes aren’t shot in script or story chronological order, but are arranged for maximum efficiency, it would have been a continuity nightmare during the shoot to ensure that scenes in the room taking place after his death included the wings while previous scenes didn’t – but there may be an argument for Castiel – or God! – being able to restore Balthazar if he thought the angel had been sufficiently chastised by his death.
I’m glad Mark Sheppard will have the chance to be back as Crowley someday. Castiel leaving him alive made perfect sense to me – use the devil you know, after all – and I think he could make a worthy occasional adversary in the future. I suspect he’ll be keeping his head down for a while, though, not to have it taken off; after all, having lost his latest protector in such spectacular fashion, he’s probably going to be occupied with stabilizing his power base in Hell and avoiding attention from Heaven. Crowley has become a signature role for Mark Sheppard, and I can’t imagine a better demon either in the story or real life.
Misha Collins gave us a whole new Castiel here. He was sad and pensive early on as he clearly contemplated what he was about to do, resolute as he renegotiated the deal to cut Crowley out, dismayed and afraid when Raphael threw in with Crowley, briefly cunning as he figured a way out – and then spooky as Hell in the final confrontations, full of confidence, radiating control, and smiling with the calm assurance of absolute God-like power – and absolutely, hideously wrong. His Castiel really embodied the essence of the point that just because you can do something – he did manage to contain the souls without blowing up, after all, so his plan worked that far – doesn’t mean you should.
Incidentally, I am not freaking out over the news that Misha will not be a series regular in season seven. That doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t see Castiel during the season beyond the season opener. For my part, I expect we will. The major difference between a regular and a guest star isn’t how often they appear, but how they are paid. A regular gets a salary for a guaranteed number of episodes whether he or she is used or not; it’s the kind of contractual relationship that gives a studio a priority claim on an actor’s time. Remember when Supernatural couldn’t get Sterling K. Brown, who played Gordon, more than twice in season three, for Bad Day At Black Rock and Fresh Blood? That’s because he was a regular at the time on Lifetime’s Army Wives, and Lifetime dictated his availability. Because Supernatural couldn’t get him for more episodes, they shortened his original character arc; that was something Eric Kripke talked about at the first L.A. Supernatural convention. Naming an actor a regular for a season is a pricey thing for a studio because the regular gets a pre-approved salary even if you don’t use him as much as you expected to, so choosing not to name an actor as a regular may be a purely budgetary decision. You’ll note we didn’t actually see a lot of Misha as Castiel this season, despite Misha being a regular; the story design just didn’t wind up involving him that much, because the nature of the story called for Castiel’s role to be a hidden one. Similarly, a guest star – like Jim Beaver, who has declined to be named a regular precisely because he didn’t want to commit to that much time away from his daughter in L.A. or to limit his options – might even wind up being used more than a named regular, depending on the demands of the story.
Speaking of Jim, I loved the teaming of Jim Beaver’s Bobby and Jensen Ackles’ Dean. These actors work so well together; I never question the reality of their characters. Their interactions here were all powerful, especially Bobby keeping Dean grounded when he couldn’t do anything to help Sam. Jensen’s Dean pleading with Sam to wake up and then reluctantly but resolutely departing on the mission just hurt my heart. And watching the two of them realizing that Castiel was essentially insane and trying to figure out how to approach him without setting him off was chilling. Humoring him was the only available option to let them scope out the territory, but once Castiel called on them to worship him, well – don’t see that happening.
Jared Padalecki did a wonderful job playing four different aspects of Sam: memory-wiped dream-narrative Sam, soulless Sam, Hell-Sam, and imperfectly reintegrated real-Sam. He succeeded in making them all distinctly different, and yet all Sam. They all walked, talked, and moved differently, and to accomplish that in the course of a single episode was an acting tour-de-force. I wonder whether we might see partial echoes of the different Sams in the new season as he tries to balance all the memories and sort out who exactly will be in charge; whether there may be crisis moments when soulless Sam or Hell-Sam manage to take the lead, for example, or if real-Sam will always manage to keep hold of the reins. Real-Sam was in charge at the end, holding on by sheer grim determination, but I wonder how long he’ll be able to keep that up. I do trust he will endure and triumph in the end; I still believe that hope is what Death held out when he told Dean in Appointment At Samarra that the human soul was stronger than he knew.
I can’t stress enough that, despite being the season finale, this was an incomplete story, intentionally so. Even though Supernatural hadn’t yet been renewed when this episode was written and shot, it was pretty clear, speaking just from business terms, that the show would be renewed, so the production team took the reasonable gamble of cliff-hanging the hell out of this tale on the assumption they’d be back in the Fall to write the next chapter and resolve the crisis. It may be frustrating in the extreme to us fans, but it’s the current nature of the business to employ suspense to bring an audience to the Fall premiere, and I accept that. I won’t conclude my thoughts on season six until I’ve seen the start of season seven.
I do promise to take some time during the hiatus to look back on season six and to speculate on season seven. I’ll say up-front that I suspect I liked season six better than many folk did. It was darker than I think most people were expecting the story to be at this point, after the extreme night of the apocalypse, and the noir nature of the storytelling, because it deliberately hid and made mysteries of so many things, demanded more patience than I think a lot of fans were willing to extend, but I suspect that folk who watch it again now knowing what was going on will have more appreciation of how the season was designed as a whole. I don’t think it worked quite as well as its creators hoped precisely because it demanded too much of a willingness to wait for the curtain to be pulled back – and speaking as a fan of the brother bond, it was really hard to watch an excruciatingly long half-season of soulless Sam working with off-balanced Dean rather than seeing the brothers finally truly together again after the extended trauma of seasons four and five. And it ended on such a dark and jarring note, leaving so much for the next season to illuminate, that I think a lot of fans stumbled over it.
For my part, though, I think season six will stand up well on re-viewing. I’m guessing this was the first season where the actors were cued in to what was going on from the beginning, because they had to know in order to play the number of layers required to convey not just the apparent surface story, but the real one – Sam being soulless, Castiel pulling unseen strings – playing out in the depths. That was ambitious and audacious in the extreme for any TV series, and I hope fans will give it a re-watch with that in mind.
And isn’t it September yet?
I loved your review and I look forward to your analysis of the overall season. Like you I enjoyed this season more than many people. I think the writers may have been a tad too ambitious, leading to some dropped plotlines (The Campbells, the Weapons of Heaven), but I think it hangs together in an interesting way and that when rewatched it will be much easier to see how earlier elements of the story fit into the entire narrative.
I do put Castiel’s final descent earlier than you do. At the very least, breaking Sam’s wall was an act of cruelty that wasn’t necessary, in as much as Cas had the power to teleport Sam. Dean and Bobby to the middle of nowhere in Europe to keep them from bothering his final move toward Purgatory. I also think his decision to fight with and kill Rachel who was only fighting for the morality that they both had been raised with was an indication he had gone off the rails. I can also make the argument that once Balthazar threw in with Castiel, gave him ALL the weapons of heaven and agreed to change history to give Cas a working advantage in souls that Cas no longer needed the Purgatory souls. If he was going to break the deal, that was the time to do it.
Admittedly, I am one who doesn’t care if Castiel can be redeemed, or even if he should. I have viewed Cas in a more negative light than many fans since the beginning and I truly believe that he was only a loyal friend during season five and therefore this fall has been in the making since his introductions. In some ways I think his part in the storyline parallels Ruby’s. He was a supernatural being that started out as untrustworthy and his race was shown to be either disinterested or actively hostile to humans. The angels as a whole saw humanity and the Winchesters as things to be used in their prophecies and human casualties were not a consideration. Knowing this, Dean came to trust one member of an untrustworthy race and remained blind to Cas’s “regrettable actions” until he was brought face to face with them after trapping Cas in the ring of fire.
The Message of Supernatural is that non-humans should not be given unreserved trust. Sam broke this rule with Ruby, who appeared to be doing helpful things for the world right up until the end. Similarly, Dean broke the “don’t trust the Supernatural” rule with Castiel because of a year of support and loyalty, which followed a year of deceit and betrayal as Cas played his part in helping to permit Sam to break the final seal. In the end Cas was like taming a tiger. It may look as if they are under your control, but in reality they are a different species and can lash out at any time and revert to their inbred natures.
I am also less certain than you, that Castiel didn’t realize that taking in all those souls would give him godlike power. The initial deal included a 50/50 split with Crowley and that might have left him non-godlike. Raphael immediately recognized that taking in all those souls would give him godlike powers and although Castiel has been portrayed as being “not the sharpest knife in the drawer” previously, I can’t believe that he didn’t recognize exactly what taking in that much power would do.
I want to say, you have been a great addition to this site. I have followed you on lj and I am glad to see you posting your thought provoking articles here.
Percywowner, I’m a long time admirer of your cogent and pertinent writings. I totally agree that Cas’ descent started early, hinted when he refused to answer soulless Sam’s prayers. In “Family Matters” Cas made it clear that it was impossible to rescue Sam from the cage, which of course we all know that Cas in fact tried already and was partially successful. One would think after being empowered with 50,000 more souls that Cas could have gone back for the rest of Sam, but instead he tried very hard to convince Dean in “Caged Heat” to leave Sam to be tortured for eternity, and then got royally pissed off that Dean rescued Sam from Hell and yelled at Dean that he should have killed Sam instead.
Then in his final act of cruelty, Cas shattered Sam and put a conditional on saving Sam only if Dean didn’t interfere. And since Dean didn’t, Cas had no intention of saving Sam. Thankfully, Sam was stronger than Cas gave him credit for and saved himself.
I also agree that Cas did not need the purgatory souls to win the war as he controls an army and the heaven weapons, forcing Raphael into retreating. Even IF Cas didn’t realize taking the souls would make him godlike, he definitely knew when Raphael said it would. It was the umpteenth opportunity for Cas to turn back, but he didn’t.
It always grated me since season 4 that Cas never took personal responsibility or accountability, so it was of no surprise to me that Cas wanted to equate himself with God. Why should he own his misdeeds and culpability when he is convinced of his own superiority? Malignant narcissists are constant liars, convinced that the worlds revolves around them and everybody else are bit players created for the sole purpose of loving the narcissist.
Overall I really enjoyed how season 6 coalesced by the finale. Most of SPN’s finales are incomplete stories, this one is just less traumatic than the others.
Thanks, [b]percysowner[/b]! Glad you’ve enjoyed!
We disagree a bit on Castiel simply because I don’t believe he ever consciously intended to take on the mantle of God. I do think he was unconsciously seduced by the power as he approached it, thinking of what he could/would do with it, but I don’t believe he intended it. I do agree that what he chose to do was wrong, particularly as he became monofocused on one single strategy and discounted all other opportunities (uniting other angels, employing the power of the Heaven weapons – although I had my own issues with those!) that might have worked to counter Raphael. But I really don’t think Castiel anticipated experiencing the arrogance that ingesting all those souls brought with them.
You’re right that I failed to point out Castiel’s deliberate decision to break Sam’s wall purely to distract Dean as the earlier crossing of a line; that was brutal, and not something Dean will find easy to forgive … although since Sam found his way home afterward, Dean might forgive where he otherwise never would have. Hurting Sam will always be the fastest way to gaining Dean’s enmity!
Your point about [i]Supernatural[/i] having a theme of NEVER trusting the supernatural is definitely a worthy one to contemplate. Thanks for that!
Another great review. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
The parts about the brotherly bond were the ones that impressed me most. Like you, my heart also melted when Sam chose to face his private hell rather than leaving his brother alone. I never doubted that everything to Sam is about Dean, like everything to Dean is about Sam. Even Sam’s descent into darkeness was about Dean. The explanation for his descent is complex and involve more than one reason but I believe that, deep down, he wanted to prove to Dean that he was not just some freak; he wanted to show that he could do something good out of his freakness. One scene that comes to my mind is when Sam hallucinates about Dean in WTLB; he was desperate when fake Dean told him that he was a monster and that he, Dean, didn’t care about him.
This is a love story unlike any others, and that’s why this show is so special to me. I’m looking forward to seeing how the brothers will deal with this new challenge – Sam’s condition – in Season 7. September can’t come soon enough!
Thanks, [b]AndreaW[/b]! I’m right with you in believing these brothers have always been about each other. And I can’t wait to see where season 7 takes both us and them!
What a great article! I appreciate your insight into these episodes. I love SPN so much that I don’t take time to analyze it, that’s why I keep coming back to the WFB every day to see what the writers have posted.
I agree with you about the season being much better than what a lot people have said about it. I’ve watched the season over from beginning to end a few times already, and I love the progression. I love deep and dark, but when I’ve had enough pathos, I start all the way back in season one. Yes I am a true fan! It nearly broke my heart when Sam said he couldn’t leave his brother alone out there, but then again, I expected nothing less of him. This is what keeps me coming back to the Winchesters over and over, the love that these two brothers have for each other. I know I would willingly die for one of my siblings if they were in mortal danger. You can’t choose your family, but when you have a good one, you better do the utmost to keep it.
Again, thank you for the great article, I’ll be looking forward to Hellatus now just to read what else you have to say!
Thanks, [b]Sylvie[/b]! I will try to have worthy things to say over the summer hellatus!
This show always has been and always will be about the brothers; and that’s what keeps me invested in it to the point of writing hours of analysis every week!
Aw rats! The site ate my post! 😕
So I’ll just reiterate how much I enjoy your thoughtful deep reviews and am looking forward to your season 6 review.
I loved season 6 more than 4 or 5 just because the brothers are back together like they should be, on the same page and loving as in seasons 1, 2 & 3. Although the horror was what brought me to check out this series it was the love between them that keeps me watching and I’ll be watching til the bitter end. (the talk about Butch and Sundance is making me a little nervous as I do so hope the series ends with some deserving rewards and a lot of hope for the boys and not a dramatic leap to the death together) 😥
Thanks, Bevie!
Isn’t it funny that, however far apart our reasons for watching the show in the first place, we almost all come back precisely because of the bond between the brothers? Unlike you, I watched the premiere [i]despite[/i] it being styled as a horror story; as a rule, I hate horror films, if only because the characters pretty much have to choose to do the dumbest possible things in order to keep the story from ending when reason would otherwise dictate it should. *grin* That wasn’t the case with Supernatural, and I was hooked on the brothers from the start.
And I’m with you in hoping the guys don’t go out in the end in a freeze-frame, black-screen blaze of glory. Give me one last iteration of “We’ve got work to do” as they toss weapons in the Impala’s trunk and drive off into the sunset … perhaps to appear on the big screen later!
[i]”Jared Padalecki did a wonderful job playing four different aspects of Sam: memory-wiped dream-narrative Sam, soulless Sam, Hell-Sam, and imperfectly reintegrated real-Sam. He succeeded in making them all distinctly different, and yet all Sam. They all walked, talked, and moved differently, and to accomplish that in the course of a single episode was an acting tour-de-force.” [/i]
I agree with this so much. In the season premiere, before we knew about Robo!Sam, Jared’s performance was so textured that we knew [i]something[/i] was amiss. He was Sam . . . .but Not!Sam.
To me Jared’s work has been wonderful all season. Robo!Sam, to me – mileage may vary – injected an unpredictability that was interesting and exciting. And what I loved about the reintegration is that now, Robo!Sam isn’t behind the wall anymore.
[i]”I wonder whether we might see partial echoes of the different Sams in the new season as he tries to balance all the memories and sort out who exactly will be in charge; whether there may be crisis moments when soulless Sam or Hell-Sam manage to take the lead, for example, or if real-Sam will always manage to keep hold of the reins. Real-Sam was in charge at the end, holding on by sheer grim determination, but I wonder how long he’ll be able to keep that up. I do trust he will endure and triumph in the end”[/i]
I so, so hope that this is what we see in S7. I’ll be greatly disappointed if Cas ‘fixes’ Sam quickly and easily.
Thank you for all your insights, Mary. I have really enjoyed S6 very much and I think theme-wise and in structure its a much stronger season than S5.
Thanks, Melanie!
I emphatically agree that Jared did a bang-up job this season. I’m betting Sam won’t be simply or easily “fixed” come season 7; there’s just so much story potential in his reintegration that I can’t see this writer’s stable ignoring that. I know I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next!
Bardic, amazing review.
I hadn’t thought of Soulless Sam being tentative about killing Narrative Sam. It makes sense. Who is to say that if he had successfully done it that he would have ended up in control? When he figured he had talked Narrative Sam down, complete with a taunt out of Lucifer’s book no less, I think then he felt confident enough, hence shooting the jacket thinking he had made a kill shot.
I think, in terms of the next season, Sam will have to deal with this on his own. I don’t see Cas as he is in this current state actually helping him in any meaningful and beneficial way. And if Cas should end up losing his new God-like powers, he probably won’t be able to do so, either. It’s beyond him to actually fix. I think he simply said he would because of his hubris and crazy power trip. At that stage, Cas believed he could do anything and what would fixing one man’s damaged psyche be to him?
I wonder if we’ll see Sam’s many sides warring with him—if sometimes Hell!Sam or Soulless Sam will find a way to drive the meat suit at times. I think it could be a fascinating avenue if they pursue it correctly.
The line that made me pump my fist, outside of Narrative Sam’s big line about not leaving Dean outside was actually Hell!Sam’s line that Narrative Sam wouldn’t be able to handle those memories. Hell!Sam is just as much Sam as the others that he fractured into, and as we all know, Sam is STUBBORN. Give him a challenge and tell him that he CAN’T do something and he’ll go out of his way to prove you wrong. I think Hell!Sam said it deliberately, knowing it and Dean would be the strength that Sam would need to endure what would happen next. Hell, even Lucifer found out the hard way just how stubborn Sam can be and lost. Sam is far too stubborn to simply go to a vegetable state.
Having restarted the season (I just saw the Third Man), I got the hints that we might actually get to deal with Dean’s trip downstairs—and now that Sam actually remembers, we’ll deal with his issues as well. We can certainly hope, since Dean has never truly talked about—and what struck me is how hard he tried to draw it out of Soulless Sam—albeit he didn’t realize at the time that Sam had no soul. Dean seemed actually open to discussing it. Let’s hope he’ll still be that way in the next season.
No matter what Cas’s powers are or will be in season 7, this is something both brothers must do THEMSELVES. I think and hope that’s what we’ll get.
Thank you, Far Away Eyes!
Like you, I don’t see Castiel “fixing” Sam in season 7; I doubt he’ll have the juice, and even if he does (though I really don’t see him continuing with the God-thing), as you point out, he wouldn’t have the incentive. I think this one’s going to be on Sam, with whatever help and support Dean and Bobby can give him. And doing that would necessarily involve Dean dealing with his own issues as well.
I can’t wait to watch!
And I loved your point about Hell-Sam deliberately inciting Real-Sam to the stubborn determination to succeed precisely to prove wrong the assertion that he couldn’t! Definitely a red flag to wave in front of the Sam-bull … *grin*
It’s always been both Sam’s biggest strength and weakness. He takes being stubborn to a whole new art form, really.
And yeah, is it September already?
I’ll settle for July, though. I get to go to my first convention and as it gets closer the more nervous I get.
“I so, so hope that this is what we see in S7. I’ll be greatly disappointed if Cas ‘fixes’ Sam quickly and easily.”
That would be terribly disappointing, no doubt. I love Sammy and I’m no sadist, but he made a choice and was told that there would be consequences. So seeing how he deals with those consequences promises great drama. And if both boys get to share their mutual experiences, it gets better.
I really, really hope they won’t have Castiel to fix things in a clumsy attempt to redeem him or show him as a benevolent god. Maybe he does it because he can, just to show his newly gained powers. That would suck. Sera, if you’re reading us, don’t even think about it!
Wonderful review, as usual! Your reviews are the only ones I read now, as I can rest assured that they will be clear-eyed, insightful, and unvitriolic. Like you, I enjoyed season 6 very much. I love challenging stories that twist and turn. I hope you plan to share more of your thoughts with us over the Hellatus. 🙂
Thanks, Kayo! I definitely plan to be writing things over the summer; I think I’ll be looking back over past seasons for character and thematic things. And I’ve been working on a meta about guilt, blame, and proximate cause … that will probably incite some comment when it goes up!
Hi Mary, and thanks for this interesting read.
The style of narration chosen in this episode had quite an impact on me, and to me (based on personal professional experiences with a patient suffering from dissociative identity disorder) the story of Sam here read like various personalities that emerged based on his traumatic hell experience.
No worries, I’m not going to repeat it here, since I’ve given it a lot of thought in my review and you’ve probably read that and thereby know what I mean.
What was fascinating to me, though, was the ‘battle’ for dominance within Sam’s head. Usually, with that specific disorder, there is one persona in charge who also knows about all the others (while the others often have no knowledge of one another).
Here the only persona having cognizance of the other ‘parts’ was Soulless Sam. He had been in charge quite a while, before the soul got ‘crammed back in’ and messed his dominance up.
So, I would like to congratulate you on your correct assessment in regard to this matter – it was not about actually ‘killing’ Soul Sam, but taking charge. Or, well, taking it back. This is an important distinction.
To me it would be wonderfully fascinating, if the writers were to pick that up. What if Sam truly emerged as a multiple personality, with several pieces… Sure, according to psychological research this is not possible in adulthood, but who says creative licence wouldn’t work?
It would give Jared great moments to play against himself. He is always utterly amazing in those scenes, and I’m sure he would welcome the challenge.
But, of course, that’s not for me to decide. However, I’m very curious, very, where season seven will lead us.
Be well, Jas
Thank you VERY much, Jas! I’m glad you’re validating the observations I’m hatching out of my very-long-ago psych classes!
I’m finally catching up on everyone else’s reviews; that’s the hardest part about mine taking so bloody long to write! I always appreciate your very professional take on the psychological underpinnings of the characters. I love the depth the Winchesters have; it’s extraordinary!
From a writing perspective, I would think the idea of playing with Sam’s fragmented psyche almost impossible to resist, so I’m with you in hoping we might see that as an aspect of season 7, and a new challenge for Jared to play.
Be seeing you here this summer!
You bet! 🙂
Hi Mary
I just checked the callender it´s first of June, so I belive we have to wait.
I liked season 6 and I hope for season 7 it doesn´t get toooo dark.
Oh, rats – you mean we really do [i]have[/i] to wait? Shucks!
Thanks, Junkerin!
I loved S6. In fact I’ve loved each new season better than the last. That can’t be said with many shows. But this is a journey, more like reading a good book.
S6 was uncomfortable – and that’s not a bad thing to me. I enjoyed that things weren’t right out there (I also enjoy the parts left to our imagination – I don’t want every little question answered.) S5 we knew exactly what they were up against from the jump, and the mystery was how would they get out of it. S6 was more “what’s going on?†and I really enjoyed the ride.
For S7 opener it’s “How are they going to get out of this situation?†As with any good story, there are things I don’t like, but that doesn’t make the story bad, it only adds to the story itself. Castiel is a great character, Misha is a great actor, but how do you move the story along when the angel friend keeps popping in to Save the Day? Actually I wondered how they would pull it off in S6, but I shouldn’t have worried.
This show excels at so many levels and this S6 finale really was beautifully done. Cast & Crew deserve the highest praise – as usual.
Thank you so much for your review, I do so enjoy reading the articles from this site. I’m always seeing things from a different view point and whether I agree or not, I am happy to find articles about the show and not about the… hmmmm…how do I say that?
Keep up the good work!
Thanks, miggymom58!
I’ve loved every season of this show for different reasons. Well, always for the brothers, of course, but to me, each season has had something particularly to recommend it. Season one was a spectacular start, and we got to see the brothers beginning to realize who their adult selves truly were after a period of separation. Season two made things spectacularly deeper as we saw the brothers dealing with John’s death and their own perceptions of their roles. Season three, although truncated by the writers’ strike, gave us Dean facing not just mortality but damnation, and Sam desperately determined to save him. Season four – the most tightly scripted of the seasons, I think, although season six shared a lot of that pre-planning – brought Dean back with new realizations about himself and ran Sam down the Hell-bound road of good intentions. Season five wrapped the first story arc in a way different from Kripke’s initial idea (Dean having to kill Sam) precisely because the brothers had developed beyond the simple good/evil story engine he had initially envisioned; thus, we saw Sam finally achieving redemption through sacrificing himself, while Dean matured to accept Sam as an adult empowered to make his own decisions. Season six took us down a new path without discounting or forgetting where we’d been, but did it in a whole new way, and in the process, reestablished the full depth of the brother bond.
I suspect we won’t see angels popping conveniently in and out in season seven; while I think Heaven and Hell will always be part of the overall story, I’m guessing they’ll shift to more off-screen developments that now only occasionally impact our brothers directly. If I were to guess, I’d think Castiel would lose his godlike powers and have to deal with fixing what had gone awry in Heaven, while Crowley concentrated on cementing his power base in Hell – and while both those things would intersect with the brothers’ activities on Earth, they wouldn’t be the focus of them as they were in seasons four through six.
But that’s just my guess … *grin*
“while Dean matured to accept Sam as an adult empowered to make his own decisions.”
I always had trouble with this Kripke’s claim. It’s “easy” to accept somebody when they are about to commit suicide to save the world. It’s a deathbed kind of thing.
In a way I thought that RoboSam was necessary for Dean, he had to experience a Sam who truly didn’t care about him and compare this Sam to the other Sam who did love him but due to Dean’s nearly impossible high expectations, fall short of “proof” in Dean’s eyes.
I love this interpretation. Dean, due to his understandable abandonment issues always viewed Sam’s need for independence and control over his own life as indicating that Sam didn’t love Dean. Soulless!Sam showed Dean a Sam that really didn’t love, like or even care about Dean. I hope this helps Dean to view his relationship with Sam in a more healthy light. I hope he can see that Sam wanting his own life had everything to do with Sam and nothing to do with how he felt about Dean.
Same here, percysowner! I always thought Dean needed something drastic to shake him out of his abandonment issues regarding Sam. And along comes RoboSam who doesn’t care one iota about Dean but returns to Dean nonetheless and sticks with him. Classic case of being given what you need and not what you want.
It’s been more than 2 weeks since the finale aired & I am still thinking about it daily. No other show does this to me!!
Jared was just amazing playing all the “pieces” of Sam plus the reintegrated Sam, & I really do hope that the writers give him the chance to explore that territory further next season (and in turn, let Jensen show his skill in revealing more of Dean’s story too).
My initial, knee jerk reaction to Castiel’s declaration of godhood was “Oh no, they didn’t just go there! Not my beloved Cas!” And Misha really sold that too, leaving me feeling very cold toward the angel that had broken my heart with his fervent prayer to his Father just 2 episodes earlier. However, your thoughts about the direction his character could take next season have left me hopeful for his redemption.
Jensen & Jim were awesome as usual! I am delighted that Crowley is still out there so that we’ll likely see Mark again. I’m going to miss Balthazar, but am excited that I’ll get to meet Sebastian in Vancouver come August.
I think I’ve enjoyed this season as much as any of the others, but we indeed need to see how this story arc concludes in season 7 before we can really judge this one overall.
Thanks for a fantastic review!
Dawn