Season 8 Countdown: Jeremy Carver Episode Reviews, “Death Takes A Holiday”
Up today in our Carver episode review series is “Death Takes A Holiday.” Alice did a hidden gems article a little bit ago, and I have to say, this one is on my list. I really like this episode, but I kind of forget how much I do until I see it again. So I’m excited to review it! Let’s do this!
- I totally sympathize with the guy walking out of the bar that’s talking about fantasy football. I have a team in my husband’s work league, and I obsess over it, too.
- Dean vs. the Jukebox. Aw, he just wants to hear a song.
- I don’t know why, because it should be gross, but I find it endearing when Dean talks with his mouth full.
- Flooredbythelord.com! AMAZING.
- When Sam and Dean go to the cemetery to do the ritual over Cole’s grave, it’s obviously really cold because they’re wearing gloves. But they still have their thin jackets on. Someone get those boys some warm clothing, stat!
- I really like this shot. Typical night in the lives of the Winchesters.
- Interesting, too, that Sam and Dean have a conversation about the natural order and dying. Dean points out that all they do is ditch death, which is pretty much the same thing Death himself says a season later.
- I love that they can’t come up with a good excuse when they get caught at the cemetery. Because, well, there really isn’t one! But it doesn’t matter because it’s Alastair. Which is much worse, but still.
- Man, it is hard to watch Sam when he gets all powered up. It’s impressive and scary all at the same time.
- Dean is the worst at laying on beds. What is this position he’s in? Not that I’m complaining, mind.
- Sam’s in a hoodie! Aw, hoodies.
- PAMELA! Man, I really liked her. Why did they have to go and kill her? Not cool, Jeremy Carver!
- I love the dramatic color change that happens right as Pamela finishes the incantations and Dean sits up. It goes from washed-out normal to blue-washed out. Very clever.
- Oh, Dean. Don’t ever change.
- Tessa! I really like her, too. Ooh, but I’d forgotten that Dean didn’t remember her at first.
- I’m sure there were easier ways for Tessa to give Dean his memories of her back, but when you can kiss him, why the hell not go for it?
- I just ADORE the fact that Cole has random oars in the corner of his room. What young boy doesn’t have oars in his room, I ask you?
- I know Sam thinks he’s doing the right thing, and that getting the location of the demons is important, but it’s really hard to watch him lie to Cole about being able to stay with his family forever.
- Dean’s little heart-to-heart with Tessa is painful. I’m always glad when Dean can open up to someone, it’s just sad that it’s never the people he should be opening up to.
- WHO’S MR. MIYAGI?!?!?! Bad Cole! Bad!
- Dean’s “I’m concentrating” face! Reminds me of his “I’m Dean pretending to be Jensen pretending to be Dean” face from “The French Mistake.”
- That was a pretty clever trap, Alastair. Pretty clever indeed.
- First Alastair then Crowley have Death’s sickle. I wonder how Crowley got it after Alastair dies.
- The whole part with Pamela and the demon coming in to kill her reminds me of this terrifying movie called “Wait Until Dark” with Audrey Heburn and Alan Arkin. Hepburn plays a recently blinded woman, and Arkin is a criminal who comes to her apartment because he thinks she has a doll of his that’s stuffed full of heroin. That description doesn’t do it justice, but it’s an awesome movie.
- It’s super badass when Cass lightning zaps Alastair and traps him. But it’s even more badass when he says “guess again,” and then is looking off into the distance so he can dramatically turn towards Dean. That guy sure knows how to present himself in a theatrical manner. He also knows how to really rock the sex hair look.
- Dean: “If you wanted our help, why the hell didn’t you just ask?” Castiel: “Because whatever I ask, you seem to do the exact opposite.” And Dean’s like, “okay, you got me there.”
- One of the things I like best about Tessa is she doesn’t bullshit Dean. She listens to him, hears what he doesn’t say, and then gives him good advice, sternly but not meanly. That’s usually the best way to handle Dean. Just tell it like it is.
- Meep. Pamela, no!
- And then it gets even more sad because this is the episode with the Kim Manners tribute after it! Man, that is depressing. I miss Kim Manners!
Despite the death of Pamela and the Kim Manners tribute, I still really like that episode. It’s a good one, no? Next up, it’s the Jimmy Novak special “The Rapture.”
I was sad when they killed Pamela, I liked her. It still bothers me that she tells Sam that his INTENTIONS are bad. If she had said that he thought he was doing the right thing but was wrong, I would have been fine. But she said “I know you think your intentions are good, but you’re fooling yourself,”. It was part and parcel of the Sam is bad theme in season four and it flat out stated that Sam wanted to do EVIL deep down inside. I suspect they were trying to hint at the addiction, but all it did was make Sam wrong not only in deed, but in thought as well.
I don’t think she’s saying he wants to do evil. I think she’s pointing out that he’s not only drinking demon blood to kill Lillith. He’s also doing if because it makes him feel powerful ( also pointed out in “Monster at the end of the book” by Chuck) and feeds his ego. Ruby has told him exactly what he wants to hear… that he’s the only one strong and brave enough to do what needs to be done. It really is a Supernatural take on Greek tragedy.
Unfortunately, your description of Sam is far more evil and wrong than my initial impression. Different strokes and all. You have managed to convince me that JC is, in fact, planning on throwing Sam under the bus this year.
[quote]I don’t think she’s saying he wants to do evil. I think she’s pointing out that he’s not only drinking demon blood to kill Lillith. He’s also doing if because it makes him feel powerful ( also pointed out in “Monster at the end of the book” by Chuck) and feeds his ego. Ruby has told him exactly what he wants to hear… that he’s the only one strong and brave enough to do what needs to be done. It really is a Supernatural take on Greek tragedy.[/quote]
I agree with this. And unlike percysowner, I do not think it makes Sam “evil”. I think it makes him HUMAN, just like Dean – Dean, who is quite bloodthirsty, cruel, and savage when he wants to be. Dean, who has tons of his own character flaws and has made many choices of his own that have been driven by less-than-pure intentions. I don’t know where this “throwing Sam under a bus” thing is coming from [it’s in the comments of like every article I read here, lol]. Sam isn’t without character flaws. Neither is Dean. They’ve both done terrible things while trying to ultimately do good. That makes them equal in my mind.
I remember Death Takes A Holiday aired here for the first time the day before my birthday, so I considered it a bit of a present and I absolutely loved it! This would also be one of my hidden gem episodes, I think. Man, all these reviews and stuff are making me seriously think a full rewatch is in order. Oh, to find the time…Does anyone think my bosses might accept “Supernatural-induced withdrawal symptoms” as an excuse not to go to work?
As this is in s4 – a season I NEVER rewatch – I had forgotten a lot of this. Thanks for the reminder.
It is a shame that s4 made up such a big chunk of JCs time with the show. It makes it harder to judge how he will deal with the boys relationship because the overall arc for them in this season was so disfunctional (in an unnecessary, contrived and ooc way IMO – but that is the subject of another debate, and wasn’t JCs decision).
I absolutely love this episode. Pamela dying had me in tears, I was so freaking bummed out to see her go. Again, it was one of those episodes that propelled the mytharc along so beautifully and brings us into the great “On the Head of a Pin” (probably my favourite in season 4).
It’s funny that you brought up “Wait Until Dark”, because that’s exactly what I was thinking when Pamela is trying to get away and catch the demon at the same time. It’s one of my all time Audrey Hepburn flicks. It’ll never make it to the pantheon of great films, but it’s a great suspense.
The sad note about Kim Manners at the end got me balling even more. He directed some of my favourite X-Files episodes. Anytime I saw his name as director I would get very excited, and he never let me down. He is still missed to this day.
This was another great episode, but I hate that Pamela died. Really if they hadn’t seen her in heaven being okay, I would consider her death the one they should feel most guilty about. She got blinded because of them (although Bobby did tell her to stop) and then she got dragged back into the fight and got killed because of them. Tragic. I liked her from the get go.
Wait Until Dark is a fabulous movie. I haven’t seen it in years, Think it’s time for a rewatch, wonder if its on Netflix.
“Death Takes a Holiday” is a hard one for me to watch because I personally hated the way Tessa spoke to Dean the second time in that episode. Some people have validly suggested she was just being a straight-shooter, but to me it felt like ripping hope away and shredding into a million pieces, lol. I guess looking back, Dean needed to rebuild his self-worth on something more stable than the fact that an angel plucked him from the pit. Whether he actually did or not, I doubt. The way Pamela died was also hard to take. Great recap!
This is such an incredibly exciting time of the year! Knowing that Supernatural starts tomorrow, and knowing that Carver is back in charge makes it even better! I have been watching this show for years and I finally just got my coworkers at DISH to get into it. I am going to record every episode this season with my Hopper, so that I can re-watch them all after it airs, and not make a mistake like this year and wait for the DVD release. I can’t wait to see what can happen this season, and I really hope that the tension between the brothers doesn’t last too long!