“…And Then There Were None” — A Visual Review
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted one of these! Â In fact, I didn’t visually review the last seven episodes, and wouldn’t you know it? Â We have seven weeks left until the season premiere! Â So why don’t we take a trip down memory lane and see where the end of season 6 took us, shall we? Â This episode was directed by Mike Rohl, a veteran TV director and master of the helm 8 times for “Supernatural,” including one of my personal favorite episodes, “On the Head of a Pin.”
1.
If this shot doesn’t just scream ominous, I don’t know what does. Â I love the angle with the shadows on the ceiling above him as he contemplates killing his wife. Â It feels very Norman Bates in “Psycho” to me.
2.
There’s nothing special going on in the foreground of this shot, really. Â But I adore all the boats and masts and tower cranes and all sorts of things that are happening in the background here. Â It’s just really cool-looking.
3.
I like the way this shot is framed, with Bobby and Rufus working on their dead body with another one in the foreground.
4.
Please excuse me while I drool all over this shot as it contains a number of my favorite things. Â Streaming light? Check. Â Cluttered foreground? Check. Â Flashlight-fu? Â Check. Â A softly silhouetted Dean barely visible behind a shelf? Check. Â I didn’t even know how much I liked that last one until I saw this shot.
5.
I cannot get enough of this room and the lighting and I LOVE IT! Â But this also reminds me of the poem that’s in the Agatha Christie novel “And Then There Were None,” “Ten Little Indians.” Â Here we have four little Indians all in a row, going to investigate. Â If you’re not familiar with it, the modern version of the poem goes:
One little, two little, three little Indians
Four little, five little, six little Indians
Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians
Ten little Indian boys.
Ten little, nine little, eight little Indians
Seven little, six little, five little Indians
Four little, three little, two little Indians
One little Indian boy.
6.
Okay, I’m sorry, but this just made me laugh, so I wanted to include it. Â I mean, starting with Dean and moving left, let’s just look at the gang’s reaction to possible danger, shall we? Â Dean: serious business. Â Rufus: serious business. Â Bobby: slightly off-put but ready for business. Â Sam: male model face…
7.
…two shots in a row! Â I cannot stop laughing at how amazingly ridiculous that is! Â Oh, Sam, your inappropriate male model faces amuse me so. Â Dean’s just like, “I am a badass mofo.” Rufus and Bobby haven’t moved at all. Â Sam is like, “Hey, everyone, come see how good I look!” Â Priceless.
8.
Really, this location is just gold. Â I demand that they film all episodes there in the future. Â This is such a cool lighting shot with Sam’s eyes visible and part of his face completely obscured by shadow. Â Fantastic.
9.
I know some people don’t like rats, but I’m not one of those people. Â I have nothing against them. Â So sorry if you don’t like them, but I happen to think this shot is really cool.
10.
This is an amazing standoff right here. Â I love the symmetry of this shot, with two then one then two, but you can still see them all in between each other. Â And the red undertone to some of the lights just give the scene such a sinister feel. Â Really cool. Â Also, bonus flashlight-fu! Â Lastly, can I just say how great I think it is that Rufus brought a massive shotgun to a pistol fight?
11.
This right here is classic Dean. Â He’s sitting back, feet up on the table in what otherwise would seem like a very relaxed body posture, but one look at this face and you just know he’s killing Samuel in his mind over and over and over. Â I don’t blame Samuel for getting up and leaving because I sure as hell couldn’t sit there and let Dean stare at me like that. Â (Except maybe I could because it’s kind of hot, don’t judge me.)
12.
Dean has his turn with the awesome flashlight-fu silhouette shot, and now Sam gets his. Â Really, these are just amazing. Â I love silhouette shots.
13.
This is either the worst game of “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” or the best game of “hear no evil, hear no evil, hear no evil, hear no evil” ever. Â I really have nothing else to say about this shot except that it’s hilarious.
14.
I love this shot. Â I think cemeteries have such a dignified beauty to them, especially in Autumn, and this one is no different. Â It’s nice to see a Jewish cemetery, too, because you don’t often see those on TV. Â And if you look closely, you can see stones on top of some of the graves, in keeping with Jewish tradition. Â I’ve always really liked that tradition and practice it myself whenever I’m able.
And there we have it! Â Kind of a short review this episode, only 14 shots in all, but there was a lot of dialogue and closeups and not a whole ton of opportunity for amazing establishing shots and things like that. Â Of course, I probably could have posted 30 shots just in that warehouse alone, but I’m probably the only person interested in looking at that. Â So, my three favorite are 4, 12, and 14. Â What were your favorites?
It’s so good to have you back, Ardeospina!!!
You have no idea how much I loved this article. I mean, for one, I was kinda missing this, and second, this episode has a beautiful visual, LOVE the location and the light on every scene!
My favorite one is number 4, no doubt, just stunning, I could watch it all day. Also love 5 and 8. And well, 6, 7 and 13 are just to funny 😆
Thank you so much Arde, really needed something like this right now! 🙂
Hi Ardeospina
I just loved your picks.
My favorites are 2,4,11,13 and 14.
I can’t help but notice in pic’s 6 and 7 that the double head arrow for ‘Extreme Caution’ is pointing to both Sam and Rufus 😆
Hurrah, they’re back and as awesome as ever. Me likes:
No. 8: The eyes, the eyes, the eyes. All the focus is on the eyes and they’re pure Sammy eyes. Joy.
No. 10: I love that you can see where the loyalties lie here. No way is Sam pointing a gun at Dean, Khan worm or not. And Bobby won’t point his gun at anyone. (Plus, in a moment we’ll get the violation of Dean’s ear by Rufus. It’s good to know how far buying Dean a drink will get you!)
No. 11: Vintage Dean. To anyone who dares doubt how badass Dean was in Season 6, take a good long look. Dean could be knitting tea-cosies right there but with that face, and that pose….. He doesn’t need weapons to be dangerous, all he needs is ‘the look’ and he’s the most badass person around.
Thanks Ardeospina.
Well, No. 4, of course. When I watched this episode, I liked how Dean was in the lead and Sam covering everyone’s back, but when danger was encountered, Sam moved in front of Bobby and Rufus to cover Dean’s back.
And then there’s No. 11, of course. I love a mean Dean, and when I watched the episode the first time, I loved how the camera panned from Sampa, to Sam, and then to Dean’s stare. Very effective in showing the tension in the scene.
Yes, I love cemetery shots, and this was a wonderful one. Agree with you on the cannery, too. That was a great location.
Wonderful piece. Thanks.
Love these reviews btw, thanks for continuing them.
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how Dean likes to threaten and make angry face at everyone but very rarely follows through? The term ‘all mouth and no trousers’ comes to mind at times which is why I dont find it threatening or dangerous in the least-now if I were a supernatural creature?!
[quote]Love these reviews btw, thanks for continuing them.
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how Dean likes to threaten and make angry face at everyone but very rarely follows through? The term ‘all mouth and no trousers’ comes to mind at times which is why I dont find it threatening or dangerous in the least-now if I were a supernatural creature?![/quote]
I’ve noticed and posted that Dean huffs and puffs and threatens to blow a house down, but it never goes anywhere (Sampa, Roy and Walt). The show TELLS us Dean is dangerous, but doesn’t show it. Well, there was the YED with John’s help, and there was Ruby with Sam’s help; there was the 1-episode WOB, which was his win; there was the 3-episode Mother of All, also a win, and there was Zach, a big win.
The show also TELLS us Dean is a womanizer, but Sam gets more action than him (and I kind of think Bobby does too).
The show TELLS us Dean is a hustler and a gambler, but implied it only once back in S2 (or maybe that was S3). We’ve seen Sam hustle and we’ve seen Sam win poker against the 600-year old man witch.
Yeah, some of us have noticed there’s a lot of telling, but very little showing. That Dean, I think, is not the Dean of today, so it’s probably a moot point anyway.
So glad you’re back with these, I was starting to miss these and was going back to look at past ones. I do love the lighting in the cannery, so I think 5,9 and 12 would be my favourites. I’ve always said Serge Ladouceur is a genius. I think my fav is 11 though, I love the “I’m going to kill you” look. He may not follow through that often, but I wouldn’t want to find myself on the other side of it!
Gosh, Flamey, how I love your visual reviews! thanks again for great entertainment – and for the compliment you’re paying the departments responsible for these amazing shots!
Take good care, mom-to-be 🙂 , love Jas
Ardeospina, anything that makes these last weeks go by faster is good news in my book. 😆
Regarding Sam in #6 and #7, can someone say ‘blue steel’? 😆
Ginger, Dean is a BAMF. Did you not see ‘Bloodlust’, ‘Live free or twihard’… etc. And then there are the instances where Sammy is in danger (look out): ‘Skin’, ‘Jump the Shark’, ‘Benders’, ‘Something Wicked’..etc.
When Dean gives you his ‘I am going to kill you’ face, it should make you poop your pants.
NancyL: All of the episodes you mention were from S2, 3 and 4, except Twi Hard, where Dean was a supernatural thing. Being a monster doesn’t count as BAMF Dean to me (although I liked that episode). I’m just saying that canon for Old Dean cannot be counted on as canon for the New Dean (S5 and S6) and that the Show tells us Dean is many things, but they don’t often take the time to show it. Let It Bleed, where he took out five or six demons is an exception. Actually, though, I was addressing threats to humans that tick him off, not monsters and demons.
I love Dean’s “I am going to kill you face,” but after so many seasons of no follow-through, there’s no tension there that he will do anything other then huff and puff. An example: When Dean threatened Sampa in Caged Heat, I knew Dean wasn’t going to be the one to kill him, didn’t you? Actually, I figured Crowley would off him. I didn’t guess that monster-possessed Sam would. Dean’s mean face is a scary visual, though. I’ll give you that.
You are forgetting the Mother of All, the Phoenix, several skinwalkers and… a fairy 😀
In S6, since he got his soul back, Sam didn’t kill so many things, too: Grandpa, a dragon, an arachne. I don’t count SoullessSam as the “real” Sam, because he was purposefully showed as the most BAMF of all the BAMF (and a real SOB in being so…)
In fact, in S6 the boys didn’t kick many major asses…
Yes, I agree that in S6 neither of the brothers accomplished much of anything of significance. Not one person or family saved, if I recall correctly.
Dean did get the legendary Phoenix — in an AU. The Mother of all was a 3-episode wonder; which I don’t consider an offing of any significance (but he was Old Dean smart in taking her out). The skinwalkers?…oh, the ones he was shooting with the sniper rifle while Sam charged into the warehouse guns blazing? Yeah, I think there were three of those. Again, minor kills. And, if I recall, wasn’t it Sam that offed the fairy?
Again, I was talking about his huffing and puffing to humans, such as Sampa and Roy and Walt. I do expect both Sam and Dean to get a few monster/demon kills in per season. It would be hard to believe they were hunters if they didn’t.
And, let me correct something that I misspoke. After viewing Caged Heat, I thought that Crowley would off Sampa. I didn’t think that it would be Sam killing a possessed Sampa.)
The Phoenix was not an AU: the episode was set in the past, but in the real world, so his killing was legitimate monster-kill.
In “Clap your hands”, Sam defeated the leprechaun, but Dean… ehm… “pizza-rolled” a tinkerbell in the microwave… 😀 😀
And in “All dogs go to heaven”, Dean did enter in the warehouse, and even shot a skinwalker from short distance because his rifle was stuck in the metal grid.
I suppose that the fact that we never see Dean pursuing his threats towards humans is just because the creators of the show don’t want him to be a real killer (despite what he can think of himself), because they want us to empathize with him, wanted to make him the emotional and affective heart of the story.
On the contrary, they showing Sam being badass, especially if killing humans, or killing coldly without second thought, usually is to show how he’s slipping on the dark side: think of his killing of Jake in AHBL2. From then on I can recall Sam being a BAMF, not before. I think it is meaningful. I think it is because the creators of the show wanted to make him the “tragic hero” and wanted us to follow his path to redemption.
Ginger, How do we know that Dean, with or without Sam, didn’t go after Roy and Walt? Over at fanfiction.net, search for the story ‘Payback’s a Winchester’, the title says it all.
Maybe Bobby and Rufus got Roy and Walt? Search for ‘My worst nightmare’ and ‘They think no one cares’, both by Morgona07. The first story is Rufus telling Bobby about the ‘deaths’ of Sam and Dean. The second story is Bobby’s revenge.
Ginger, Sam was not monster-possessed in aTTwN, Gramps was.
Season 5 Dean, was trying to get over the betrayal of Sam with Ruby. Also he was having to deal with being the vessel for Michael. But as you said, the BAMF did come out and take care of Zach.
Season 6 Dean, was just a mess. He was trying to deal with a dead Sam, and then a soulless Sam. But once Sam got his soul back, he become the Dean of old.
Don’t you think?
Dean vs the sword in LaV?
Sheriff Dean in Frontierland?
Smart Dean taking out Eve in Mommy Dearest?
Ardeospina,
Thanks so much. 🙂 I usually don’t take time to notice the lighting etc. when I am watching the show; too caught up in the guys and the plot. But I know set, lighting, and composition create a lot of the mood and the meaning- much of it subconsciously. So thanks for helping me focus in on that amazing part of the show.
For lighting, my favorite is #5 and for gorgeous subject matter my favorite is #11. 🙄
You also mentioned that stones on top of graves are a Jewish tradition; could you elaborate?
Hi, Marilyn!
About the stones: I myself didn’t know the tradition, actually. I just picked it up when visiting Jewish cemeteries in Poland with a tour group whilst in college. However, I looked it up for you, and it seems that while it’s been a tradition for a long time, no one is really sure where exactly it came from. Here’s a good article describing some possible origins: http://www.templesanjose.org/JudaismInfo/time/Life_Cycle/pebbles.htm
Basically, though, it seems to be a way of saying, “I was here to see you, and you are not forgotten.”
Great review, Ardeospina! I especially loved the note on the cemetery. It’s a beautiful image.
Hi Arde,
I have missed your reviews too.
You have really converted me to all the dark shadowy images, they can be so beautiful, when I see them now I find myself thinking, `I know who will be enjoying this one`
I loved numbers 4 , great lighting and shadows, 6/7, wonderful facial expressions, 13, I loved the `checking for goo` scene, but shockingly Number 11 was my own personal favourite 🙂
Thanks for these, looking forward to the rest
Love Ju