Robin’s Rambles – “Hello Cruel World”
Back at Bobby’s, Sam gets a phone call from Dean: “We’re positive for ick–same kinda stuff that came outta Cas, and two of the swim kids were missing, they stole one of their parents’ cars.” Lucifer is sitting there, reading something trashy, and tosses the paper aside, remarking he thinks Prince Waylon has found the right girl. Sam asks Dean if he thinks these creatures jump into people, like Eve did. “I dunno, it makes sense, right?” asks Dean–“anyway, State Troopers got surveillance cam on the kids about six hours old, they’re gassin’ up just south of the Dakota line, so I’m headin’ back your way, just track ’em from Bobby’s.” “Sounds good,” says Sam. “How ya doin’?” asks Dean. “OK,” says Sam, sounding sincere. “Hang in there,” urges Dean. “Just OK?” asks Luci, stabbing a knife into the table. “I’m havin’ a GREAT day!”
Jody, wearing hospital gown and wheeling along her IV pole, heads hurriedly down the corridor. She peers through the window on a door and watches in horror and disgust as Dr. Gaines devours her roomie’s liver. Holding her own stomach in, Jody turns to flee, running into her nurse. “Miss Mills, what are you doing out of bed–are you OK?” Jody faints.
Jody’s nurse tucks her back in bed. “You gave us quite a scare,” she tells her. Dr. Gaines comes in, wiping his mouth as if after a meal. He wants to know why she was wandering the corridor. She babbles that her stitches were itching and she got up to find out if that was normal; she feels fine now. She could have ripped open her stitches after a fall like like, he tells her. “Don’t make me go back in there,” he warns. Noting the nurse is giving her a sedative to help her sleep, Jody assures them she’ll sleep just fine, but Gaines insists–“Doctor’s orders. I’ll see you later.” That’s the LAST thing Jody wants, of course, and the second they’re out of the room, she says, “Kiss my ass, Dr. Monster Face.” “She exits bed and yanks out the IV with an ouch. She feels faint. “Oh no,” she mutters.
Bobby’s – Finding Lucifer practicing his golf swing, Sam suggests, “If this is a dream and you’ve got power over it, why don’t you just end it?” “End it? This?” asks Luci–“your not knowing what’s real, the paint slowly peeling off your walls, c’mon, man, this is the sweet spot, why would I end it? Not like we got HBO in the pit. All I got is you, floatin’ over the coals, with half a hope that you’re going to figure it all out–there’s only one way to figure it all out, Sam–it’s up to you–it ends when you can’t take it anymore. I think that’s maybe why we were cleaning our guns.” “Shut up,” whispers Sam. Luci shakes his head mockingly at him. “I SAID SHUT UP!” shouts Sam. “Hey Sam,” says Bobby, joining him, “you have a little bag lady moment?” “Sorry,” says Sam. Bobby hands him a beer and Sam thanks him and says, “You know, after everything, all these years, all that we’ve been through. . .” “You’ve beat the devil before, kid,” Bobby reminds him. “It’s kinda different,” says Sam, staring at Luci, who is holding a long, deadly knife over Bobby’s shoulder. “You’ll get a handle on this, too,” Bobby assures him, “you will. You’re not in hell anymore–you’re here with us.” Luci shakes his head and shoves the knife through Bobby’s back until it comes out through the very center of his chest. “Ya hear me, Sam?” asks Bobby gently. Sam can’t take his eyes off Bobby’s pierced chest, even as he calmly replies, “Yeah, I hear you, Bobby.” The phone rings. “That’s my local,” says Bobby, and answers. It’s Jody. “Bobby Singer, my surgeon is a monster,” she whispers. “Come again?” says Bobby. “He took my roommate and he ate her liver,” explains Jody, “listen! His face, his mouth was this horrible. . .” “Who is this?” demands Bobby. “Jody Mills,” she says, “SHERIFF Mills!” “Gotcha,” says Bobby. “I can’t exactly call a deputy here,” she says, “when you and I killed zombies that one time, I KNOW you handle this kind of thing, please get your ass to Sioux Falls General before he eats me, Singer!” She hangs up. Bobby stares at the phone a second before he does, too. (And I remembered anew why I LOVE this show so damned much.) “Either Sheriff Mills is having an Obama care insured opium dream, or somethin’ is eatin’ people down at Sioux Falls General Hospital,” explains Bobby, grabbing his jacket, “I don’t wanna bruise your ego or anything, but. . .” Sam urges him to go, he’ll watch the phones. Right after Bobby leaves, Lucifer appears. “So, just you and me, huh,” says Luci with a joyous grin.
SIOUX FALLS GENERAL HOSPITAL – Edgar shows up at admitting with the two high school swim team kids who devoured the other three. The same nurse who helped Jody (and is still normal) insists they must fill out forms before seeing Dr. Gaines, but the latter shows up with forms. “These youths obviously require immediate care,” he insists, and whisks them inside. Edgar exchanges a look with the nurse and gives a tour. “This is where they bring their bodies to be fixed, but the truth is, often they die here, instead–and they never question it!” Dr. Gaines tells Edgar. We can feed discretely. A few of us in the right position, we can feast every single day. I’m thinking the Head Nurse and the Staff Administrator first.” They come across the latter, struggling, tied to wheelchairs. “I have to hand it to you,” exults Edgar, “this is exactly what the boss asked for.” “Iron box thinking,” brags Dr. Gaines. “You’re off the swim team, boys,” says Edgar, “time to pursue a career in medicine.” The two kids move to attack the two prisoners. “OK, check-in,” says Edgar. “You won’t stay?” asks Dr. Gaines, “I would LOVE to grab us a good anesthesiologist.” “He asked me to check into some other business in the area,” says Edgar, “seems you’ve got things well in hand.” Noting silence from the victims, Edgar asks, “Why can’t they scream?” “I severed their vocal chords, of course,” says Gaines, “a delicate procedure, but very doable.” There’s more blood spatter as another Leviathan takes over the Head Nurse’s body.
Sam is timing himself as he takes his gun apart and puts it back together. Dean meets him at the door and grabs the beer Sam had intended for himself. Dean followed the swim kid Leviathans back here to town and thinks there’s more than one. Bobby’s working his own case, Dean needs back-up and that means SAM! “I know, you’re bonkers,” says Dean, “but luckily I just need you to keep the engine running and wait by the back door. And don’t let Satan change my pre-sets.” (Ed. note: The breezy manner in which he speaks set off instant alarms with me. What about you?)
Bobby hurriedly wheels Jody out of the hospital in a wheelchair and into a cab. She’s worried about Mrs. Hackett, who never came back. “You get some rest,” orders Bobby, “I’ll come back for you later.”
In the Morgue, Bobby checks on Mrs. Hackett, who died this morning, was supposed to have foot surgery, has already been autopsied, and looks awfully sloppy inside. “What the hell?” he wonders.
Driving together, Dean asks, “How you doing, Sam, devil still riding shotgun?” “Not right now,” answers Sam, “but yeah.” Dean suggests professional help. Sam isn’t interested in being stuffed full of pills; they’ll figure out some other options. “What ARE your other options?” asks Dean, “you remember when Martin took his nosedive and started shootin’ at nothin; he started to unravel fast.” “I’m not Martin,” Sam reminds him. “You are crazy,” Dean reminds him, “that don’t wash out, you get that, right? You are never going to be OK, Sam.” (I remember thinking to myself that Dean would never say these cruel things to Sam, that this had to be Luci talking. What about you? Especially when I saw the hurt and betrayal in Sam’s eyes.)
Dean returns to Bobby, ALONE, calling Sam (and still Sammy, notice)? He receives no response. “Aw, crap,” he says. (As do I, but more explicitly.)
Fake-Dean (FD) drives Sam to an office building with plenty of windows and five people upstairs. “Damnit, there’s five of them,” says FD. “Are you sure?” asks Sam. “Yeah,” says FD, “and when we get up there, you gotta keep it together.” Sam realizes he’s holding a gun in his bandaged hand and assures him he will. “Because if you’re seeing Lucifer, you could be seeing all kinds of crap, you just don’t know,” FD says quickly. “How is this helping?” asks Sam nervously. “I’m just sayin’, Sam, you’re outta control,” says FD. “I’m dealin’ with it the best I can,” Sam says defensively. “Dealing?” chuckles FD–“sorry, that’s just funny, how can you deal?–you think this is an office building, right? Sorry. Wrong.” FD opens the office building door (Morning Star Endeavors Ltd.) to let Sam in. “Where the hell are we? the latter asks. “You think I’m me?–riight,” FD grins cruelly, and morphs into Lucifer: “You poor, clueless son-of-a- bitch.” “Stay the hell away from me,” orders Sam, backing away, running. “Your world is whatever I want it to be, understand?” calls Satan. “JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” screams Sam, firing twice at. . .no one in an empty warehouse. “Now we’re getting there,” says Luci, re-appearing, “Pinocchio’s seeing his strings.” “Shut up,” commands Sam, whirling around, aiming at him. “It’s the big crescendo.” “I said shut up!” shouts Sam, firing again. “Wanna point that gun at someone useful?” suggests Luci, appearing elsewhere–“try your face.” Advancing on Sam, he says, “Wanna know the truth? Wanna skip to the last page of the book?” He places his finger against the underside of his throat like a pistol and makes a clicking sound. “You know where to aim, Cowboy.” Sam, breathing heavily in fear, confused, terrified, ponders it.
[b]1. Do you think the Leviathan faces are scary or kind of silly?[/b]
Oh, definitely scary….I jumped when I saw the Dr.’s face turn into that monster face.
[b]2. Do you think we will ever see Cas again? It seems they fixed it so anyone can be a Leviathan. Do you think Cas will just appear as “The Boss�[/b]
I really believe that we will see Cas again in his old body. Anna was able to use her old one again after it was destroyed. Why not Cas?
As for Cas appearing as “The Boss”, I’m not sure about that. How about a reboot of Zachariah for that one? I really found him quite creepy.
[b]3. How did you feel when Dean fished Cas’ trenchcoat out of the water? Did it make you feel like it was a sort of burial for Cas?[/b]
Gosh, I was upset and very sad. I just can’t believe he’s gone. I want to wait and see. Maybe God will step in and sort this whole mess out and give us back Cas. And yes, that scene did feel like a sort of burial for Cas.
[b]4. What did you think of the humor in this ep, like the Dr. Sexy references and Mrs. Hackett’s story about doctors who don’t know the difference between an appendix and a vagina? I love the continuity and how they again mention Biggerson’s. Wonder how many free meals Sam and Dean collected there.[/b]
Changing Channels is one of my favorite episodes and so I loved hearing those Dr. Sexy references. As for Mrs. Hackett’s stories, those kind of point back to old hospital legends. I’m sure everyone has heard about cases where things were left inside although no one ever seems to know who was actually involved. Kind of an urban legend on its own in a way.
As for Biggerson’s, Dean would definitely be in pie heaven. Not so sure about Sam. He seems to be more of a healthy eater. Dean’s the bacon cheeseburger, pie and beer/whiskey kind of guy.
[b]5. “I can’t. . .if you’re gone. I swear, I’m going to strap my Beautiful Mind brother into the car and drive us into the pier.” This line choked me up. What about you?[/b]
Oh my. I teared up so much on this…Dean can’t lose Bobby, too. It would be too much. I believe he couldn’t handle it and that Sam would have some company in the psych ward.
[b]6. Are we going to see Bobby again? What about Cas?[/b]
Yes, we’ll see them again. We have to.
[b]7. Now That Lucifer has vowed to keep torturing Sam, what are the chances of his survival, mentally or physically? I sure hope Dean doesn’t think he’s won the war for Sam. [/b]
I think that Sam will overcome, but he will never be the same, just as Dean isn’t the same as he was before he went to Hell. I also think that Dean knows that it will be a long road. That’s why he told him “one stone at a time”.
I really loved this episode and I give it a score of 9 out of a 10. Also, Robin, you wrote a great article. Thanks. 😆
[b]Do you think the Leviathan faces are scary or kind of silly?[/b]
No I didn’t, but I do get the throwback idea of it.
[b]Do you think we will ever see Cas again? It seems they fixed it so anyone can be a Leviathan. Do you think Cas will just appear as “The Boss�[/b]
Yes I do! I’m thinking he is “The Boss” but I’m not so sure he’ll be himself again. He might, that could be the end him regaining control and killing all of the Leviathan underlings…?
[b]How did you feel when Dean fished Cas’ trench coat out of the water? Did it make you feel like it was a sort of burial for Cas?[/b]
Sad, oh so really sad! It was like they were putting the nail in the coffin, and I thought the black goo spreading out (but I know it was the Leviathan’s) might have even looked a bit like the angel wings… 🙁
[b]What did you think of the humor in this ep, like the Dr. Sexy references and Mrs. Hackett’s story about doctors who don’t know the difference between an appendix and a vagina? I love the continuity and how they again mention Biggerson’s. Wonder how many free meals Sam and Dean collected there.[/b]
I thought the old woman was perfect, annoying as all hell! LOL The Dr. Sexy reference was pretty funny, would have been cute even if the little girl hadn’t been actually good at being so creepy!
[b]”I can’t. . .if you’re gone. I swear, I’m going to strap my Beautiful Mind brother into the car and drive us into the pier.” This line choked me up. What about you?[/b]
Oh God I thought it was brilliant, I was near tears, it was so perfect! The most award winning moment for Jensen imo was Dean telling Sam about Hell. This scene was right up there with it. I do agree with someone else though who mentioned it would have been better with a close up.
[b]Are we going to see Bobby again? What about Cas? [/b]
Hell yeah for Bobby! Cas probably as the Leviathan, as himself I’m still in doubt.
[b]Now That Lucifer has vowed to keep torturing Sam, what are the chances of his survival, mentally or physically? I sure hope Dean doesn’t think he’s won the war for Sam.[/b]
I don’t think Dean would underestimate something like that. *crosses fingers behind back*
I thought this episode was absolutely great and the season is definitely off to a good start!
I love your recap. It is just so full of detail! (:
[b]Do you think the Leviathan faces are scary or kind of silly?[/b]
I didn’t think scary of them at all, but I saw the references to the sea monster Leviathans in there. I kinda hope they’ll do something more with that down the road instead of only using human bodies.
[b]Do you think we will ever see Cas again? It seems they fixed it so anyone can be a Leviathan. Do you think Cas will just appear as “The Boss�[/b]
That’s kinda what I was thinking when I heard them talking about the Boss. And I know they can’t just dismiss Cas’ character just like that the way they did. He has to come back somehow! Even if it’s the end of the season, I dunno.
[b]How did you feel when Dean fished Cas’ trenchcoat out of the water? Did it make you feel like it was a sort of burial for Cas?[/b]
I had a slight hope maybe the vessel was still in there, but when I saw the overcoat it was a slight conclusion to me. But ya never know, I’m hoping he’ll be back. They can keep it a secret like they did with Mark Pellegrino.
[b]What did you think of the humor in this ep, like the Dr. Sexy references and Mrs. Hackett’s story about doctors who don’t know the difference between an appendix and a vagina? I love the continuity and how they again mention Biggerson’s. Wonder how many free meals Sam and Dean collected there.[/b]
I enjoyed the humor a lot (as I do with every episode) and picking up things that others don’t is a bonus. I love Dr. Sexy’s 3rd (am I right? at least 3) mention. Appendix from vagina—hilarious old lady!
[b]”I can’t. . .if you’re gone. I swear, I’m going to strap my Beautiful Mind brother into the car and drive us into the pier.” This line choked me up. What about you?[/b]
It kinda gave me relief because Dean was admitting he was far from okay but sad at the same time [i]because[/i] he’s not okay. And I love the Beautiful Mind reference.
[b]Are we going to see Bobby again? What about Cas? [/b]
Well we already know Bobby is in the next episode. Maybe he regrouped with Jody. Anyway, Bobby won’t be goin’ anywhere that I know of since all Jim Beaver’s comments on the season are “we find Bobby getting closer and closer to the boys”.
[b]Now That Lucifer has vowed to keep torturing Sam, what are the chances of his survival, mentally or physically? I sure hope Dean doesn’t think he’s won the war for Sam.[/b]
I think he’ll be fine because that’s how the writers are, giving the main characters only a couple episodes of Hell grief and it’s over with. But I don’t know, I haven’t seen ANY Lucifer in ANY spoilers from now on so he may go away in the next episode? Just a thought, we never know. I mean what happens when the only cure to it is pain? Rofl that can’t be good.
I loved this episode overall, though. The writing was brilliant as well as the acting. It will keep its new place on my list of faves. (: