Supernatural 9.01: I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here: There Ain’t No Me If There Ain’t No You
9.01 I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here: There Ain’t No Me If There Ain’t No You
Sam’s inner debate:
Fight for life, or die in peace?
Dean loads angel dice.
Commentary and Meta Analysis
Put me on the list of fans who loved this episode. I know it created controversy among fans – hell, what episode doesn’t these days, given the different lenses fans always watch through? – but it worked brilliantly for me. In this discussion, I’m going to look at angels in the human outfield; what was going on in Sam’s mind as he lay in that coma; Dean’s decisions; Castiel dealing with humanity from the inside; and the enigmatic Ezekiel.
What’s An Angel Without Its Wings?
I had many questions at the end of last season about how angels falling would actually work. The show continued in its time-honored tradition, because this episode answered many of those questions while also raising more.
I was glad to see canon preserved in terms of angels needing human vessels in order to interact with the human world, and I appreciated Hael’s comment about many angels still circling, looking for appropriate vessels. I wonder whether some angels may choose to remain incorporeal, and what powers those angels might retain; lacking physical bodies, what would limit their ability to go from place to place, or penetrate into places not warded against angels, for example? On the flip side, are they under an imperative to secure vessels within some time limit? We know from season six that human souls are a power source angels can tap. With the earthbound angels now cut off from Heaven and the power of the souls there, I wonder whether an angel who chose not to take a vessel might lose power or otherwise deteriorate over time because it was expending energy not renewed either by Heaven or by contact with the soul of its human vessel. Blocked from Heaven by Zachariah in season five because of his rebellion, Castiel gradually got weaker; will that happen to all the angels now on Earth, as they expend the power reserves they originally had and must rely on human resupply?
I was intrigued by what angels lost in the fall, as well as what they retained. Stripped of their wings, they evidently can still materialize their personal swords at will, but they can no longer will themselves physically from place to place once they have taken a vessel. They also can’t recognize each other inside the vessels they’ve assumed. We know that angels could do that before: Castiel recognized Gabriel when he saw him in Changing Channels, even though Gabriel was wearing a human vessel he had never met; Gabriel duct-taped his mouth to keep him from telling the brothers. Hael knew Castiel only because every angel had already seen him in his human guise. Ezekiel and the nameless businessman/angel knew each other for angels through their weapons, their actions, and their beyond-normal strength, but it would seem angels could now hide even from each other by simply choosing not to reveal themselves. And if angels can’t see through the human surface to recognize another angel, I wonder whether or not they’ll be able to recognize demons possessing humans the way they always did before.
Some angels who secured vessels quickly evidently chose to masquerade as their human vessels while they got their bearings and decided what to do next. The family of the businessman/angel, for example, clearly had no idea that the man sipping orange juice at breakfast was anyone other than the husband and father they expected to see, and his abrupt departure took them totally by surprise. Every angel we saw on Earth before this was always purpose-driven, with no need or desire to blend in with the life of its human vessel, so this element of acting was never on display. Now, we may encounter angels who are hiding out in their vessel’s guise, with their nature as angels not even recognizable by other angels unless they somehow betray their power. Undercover angels?
Hael’s physically deteriorating host raises more questions. We’ve only twice seen angel vessels deteriorating in ways the resident angel couldn’t heal, and in both of those cases, the angel was corrupt, suggesting that the deterioriation of the host was a symptom of the corruption of the angel. The first was poor Nick, eaten away by Lucifer and having to drink copious amounts of demon blood to stave off decay. Unlike Sam, Nick hadn’t been prepared to become a vessel for Lucifer by being infected wih demon blood as a baby, which I think inoculated Sam against the kind of deterioration Nick experienced; Nick had the angelic vessel bloodline, but not the physical ability to contain Lucifer’s unique combination of power and evil. The second was Castiel’s Jimmy body after Castiel had absorbed all the monster souls in Purgatory, including the Leviathan; Death called him a mutated angel and observed that his overstuffed vessel was going to explode.
And that makes me question why Hael’s young vessel was eroding. I suppose it’s possible that people descended of angelic vessel bloodlines may vary in their innate ability to contain an angel’s power, that the genetic predisposition might be diluted if the one ancestor who transmitted the bloodline was generations in the past, or reinforced if both parents carried the trait. That remains to be seen. But there may be another reason.
Perhaps angels who stray too far from their intended roles as the guardians of God’s creation – angels who seek power for themselves or who do evil, as Hael was planning through her attempt to dominate Castiel – are starting down the road of corruption following Lucifer’s and Castiel’s examples, and perhaps that corruption manifests in the physical condition of their vessels. If that’s the case, it may be possible to discern an angel’s true nature from the physical health of its vessel. Corrupt angels may also need to change vessels periodically.
We didn’t see any such deterioration in Raphael, Zachariah, or Uriel despite their warped natures, but all of them still had access to the full resources of Heaven and were being supported by Heaven’s bureaucracy, making them arguably still under orders on Heaven’s mission. Anna, however misguided she was in attampting to kill John and Mary in the past, was still acting to preserve what she perceived to be the greater good, attempting to avert the apocalypse and save the world; a goal not selfish or evil in itself. Now, no angel except Metatron has recourse to Heaven or its power; from what we can tell, they’re on their own. And that makes me wonder if what they do and why they do it may have more visible effect on them than ever before.
Because I’m You, And You’re You, And All Of This Is You
The most important thing to me about Sam’s internal dialogue during his coma was bearing in mind that everything he and we perceived was all Sam. Bobby and Dean – except for Dean/Ezekiel in the cabin scene – were never actually there and were not speaking or acting for themselves; they were simply giving voice to Sam’s own thoughts. That’s a device the show has used often before, including all of Sam’s delusions during When The Levee Breaks and Bobby in Death’s Door conjuring Rufus as his guide and mentor. Even Death may or may not have been there for real. (I think he was; see later.)
When he accepted the truth of the situation, Sam’s first ironic observation was that the whole reason he stopped the trials was not to die. Discovering himself dying anyway, he had no clue how to avoid it, and that’s where the argument was stacked against him from the start. All of “Dean’s” exhortations to fight rang empty because there was nothing Sam could see to fight against. How do you fight to live when you don’t know what to attack or how to do it? He couldn’t craft a mental quest to piece himself back together as he did in The Man Who Knew Too Much, picturing himself fighting and killing the separate facets of his personality and consciousness to reintegrate them into a single soul. This time, the damage was physical and pervasive, not something psychological or spiritual that he could personify and overcome. The part of Sam arguing that he should fight to survive kept using the “I’ve got a plan; I’m working on it” phrase that Dean always uses when he hasn’t the foggiest notion of what to do and is just forging ahead blindly in the desperate hope of stumbling through the right door. That repetition showed Sam’s growing frustration with not knowing anything he actually *could* do to save his own life.
On top of that, Sam’s own recent life experience has perverted his perceptions of life and death, and those perversions dominated his internal debate. Every mention of life came only with expressions of constant struggle, fighting, loss, and pain, reflecting the worst of what his life has been for years now. There was no mention of love, laughter, happiness, or achievement as being a part of that life. Death, on the other hand, promised rest, peace, satisfaction, contentment, and beers with friends in Heaven as the well deserved reward for all his sacrifice on Earth. Is it any wonder death looked more attractive? The game was rigged.
The next question is why, but I think it’s not hard to fathom a response. Sam has always been different from Dean in part because he visualizes life in terms of finishing tasks and accomplishing goals, while Dean sees an ongoing mission that will end only when its purpose ceases to exist – and for Dean, that purpose is and always has been saving people and protecting family, most especially Sam. Their definitions and choices are different because they are different. In uncertainty, Sam is a planner, someone who prefers to lay out a rational course with a logical end; Dean generally goes with his gut and intuition on the theory that action is more likely to produce a lucky effect than inaction.
I know many fans were upset with the idea that Sam would choose to die and leave Dean behind, especially knowing from prior experience that losing Sam is Dean’s own personal Hell. I heard fans protest that Sam, in surrendering to death, appeared selfish and weak. I didn’t see it that way. I saw a strong man given a terminal diagnosis and unable to find a way around it making the best of his situation by finding a way to accept dying on his own terms, including the commitment to not let anyone else – particularly not Dean – get hurt again on his behalf the way Dean had done before by selling his soul to bring Sam back. Unable to see a feasible path to survival, Sam couldn’t see any way to protect Dean from the pain of grief, but he tried to guard against worse.
And at the last, when Dean – and I do firmly believe that *was* Dean, propelled into Sam’s mind by Ezekiel – begged him to listen, said he could help, and laid the full stakes on the line by saying flat out, “There ain’t no me if there ain’t no you,” Sam stepped back from the seductively attractive, guaranteed peace of death and asked his brother, “What do I do?” In doing that, I think Sam acknowledged his own very real desire to survive as well as his understanding of how vital his life was to his brother’s continued existence, but he also displayed his helplessness, his utter lack of knowledge of any way he *could* live, and surrendered to Dean’s judgment. I maintain that was a leap of faith on Sam’s part, a leap propelled by his deep love for and abiding trust in his brother, and I can’t imagine anything more brave and loving.
I Meant What I Said At The Church
Dean is once again keeping a massive secret from his brother. Under other circumstances, I’d have been the first to complain about the show having been there and done that before, but this time, I’m fully on board with Dean’s choice. And before you pillory me, let me explain.
Was Dean high-handed and selfish in what he did, deliberately colluding with Ezekiel to trick Sam into saying “yes” without realizing that he was acceding to angelic possession? Yes, no question. Do I think it was wrong? Yes, even as Dean *knew* it was. Would I have changed it? No, no more than Dean would have, and for all the same reasons. Will Sam be pissed when he learns the truth? Yes, no question. Will he be entitled to be pissed? Yes, no question. Will he punish Dean? Probably. Will Dean accept his punishment? Yes, because he will know and feel he earned it. Will Dean think the price was worth it? Yes – because he spoke the absolute truth of his heart when he said “There ain’t no me if there ain’t no you.” Will Sam eventually forgive him? I hope so, because I do believe Sam loves his brother every bit as much as Dean loves him, and will understand that love, need, and faith were the core of Dean’s decision. Do I think the process will be easy? No way in freaking Hell.
Secrets between the brothers have never ended well, whether it was Dean hiding his soul deal, the knowledge that he’d killed Amy Pond when he’d told Sam he’d let her go, or his relationship with Benny; or Sam hiding his knowledge of Mary recognizing Azazel, his demon blood addiction, or his soullessness. I see this secret as being qualitatively different, however, because this time Dean went into it knowing exactly how and why it was wrong, and is keeping it not out of shame or fear of Sam’s reaction, but purely to keep Sam alive.
Dean’s choice was part and parcel of what he told Sam at the church: that there is nothing and no one Dean would put ahead of Sam, ever. That might seem strange in the context of Dean blatantly disregarding Sam’s own acknowledged desires – Dean knew Sam would rather die than be possessed by anything – but I think two things were operating here. First and foremost was Dean’s pathological need for Sam, the very same thing that led Dean to sell his own soul, pledge his service to Heaven, hunt for a way to free Sam from Hell, become Death to get Sam’s soul back, and fight his way out of Purgatory. He knows it’s wrong and his ultimate weakness, but Sam being alive is essential for Dean’s world to be real. Sam has to be alive for Dean to put him first. Sam *is* Dean’s world, and no matter what some fans may advocate, I believe that’s never going to change within the show; I believe it can’t change, because Sam is the weave that patterned Dean’s life since he was four. The year Dean spent with Lisa and Ben believing Sam dead and in Hell was as alien and strange to him as the alternate dimension of The French Mistake, and he became a different man to live there. To remain the self he recognizes, to feel himself complete and whole inside his skin, Dean needs Sam to be alive. Is that selfish? Yes. But it’s also the very essence of Dean as we’ve come to know him. Dean resists change.
I think the second thing driving Dean was his powerful intuition that Ezekiel was trustworthy. Dean’s intuitive judgments of people have usually been good. He’s sometimes been betrayed, and now he fears desperate wish fulfillment might be tainting his senses, but his gut-level instincts are very strong and solid. I think they were telling him Ezekiel was in earnest about being willing to help and then willing to leave, and that sense combined with his own desperate need for Sam to live tempted him beyond reason. Despite being as non-religious as they come, Dean is nonetheless a creature of profound faith in one belief: that as long as Sam is alive, they’ll find a way to make things work. In that respect, Dean is being honest about putting Sam first – but he knows exactly how duplicitous he is being otherwise, and it’s going to torment him until Sam learns the truth, exacts punishment, and – hopefully – eventually forgives him, staying alive in the process.
And had Dean chosen otherwise, we’d no longer have a show. This is the story of Sam and Dean, and it needs both of them to survive.
I’m One Of You: I Will Never Stop Being One Of You
Castiel learning what it means to be human will doubtless provide many of the season’s lighter moments, but I think it also promises a wealth of profound exploration of the human condition.
Despite having occupied a human vessel for several years now, Castiel almost never had to deal with human realities. As an angel simply using Jimmy Novak’s body as a convenience to interact with other humans, he didn’t share his host’s emotions or physicality at all. Only when he was cut off from Heaven after his rebellion did he begin to experience typically brief fragments of human sensation. He experienced pathological hunger from contact with Famine in My Bloody Valentine, but could dismiss the unpleasant consequences of overeating the same way he could undo his vessel being shot or stabbed by human weapons. Steadily losing power, he got drunk in 99 Problems, and wound up unconscious, hospitalized, in pain, and unable to transport himself in Two Minutes To Midnight. Brought back after his Leviathan misadventure with no memory in The Born Again Identity and cared for by Daphne, a religious woman who called herself his wife, he thought he was human, but he could heal people and didn’t eat. He didn’t think twice about those oddities because Daphne simply accepted both them and him as a blessing from God. I don’t think he was experiencing a true human life at the time, but he had no gauge by which to tell the difference.
Still, all of his past experiences with human limitations and human biology were isolated and brief. This really is the first time he’s fully having to appreciate what it means to be physically human not as a temporary inconvenience, but as a way of life. And it didn’t surprise me or strike me as odd that he wouldn’t accept that reality until it was forced on him by direct experience; hence his initial assertions – even after having scraped his hand and felt pain – that he didn’t drink water or eat.
Castiel still knows he was an angel, and that is so much a part of his identity – after all, he’s been an angel for longer than human beings have existed! – that I believe he will never truly think of himself as being other than an angel, no matter how powerless he is. Like Anna before him – the only other angel we know of who lost her grace and then inhabited a human body – he can still hear angels talking. He hasn’t lost his memories. He’s experiencing a forced shift in perspective, one that both opens and limits him to human senses, but he retains the ability to compare and contrast that to what he perceived before, at least to the extent his now human mind can retain and grasp the knowledge of what he was.
I think the huge challenge for Castiel will be reconciling his human limitations with his angelic sense of self and his sense of responsibility for all the actions that brought him to this point. Like Dean, Castiel carries a massive load of duty and personal responsibility; unlike Dean, who adopts way more than his share, Castiel has earned most of his sense of guilt. He always tries to do the right things, but as has often been the case with Sam, his good intentions have led him down wrong roads and resulted in unintended consequences he would never have chosen had he known they would accrue.
Now he’s determined to try to make up for his failings by helping angels and by helping the Winchesters. I think he’s viewing his humanity as his new penance, much the way he saw his sojourn in Purgatory as just but insufficient punishment for his theft of souls and insane harrowing of Heaven. And he’s already learned through his experience with Hael that nothing about his new life will be easy. All he wanted to do was help – but the first angel he tried to help threatened to end it all, and his reflexive defense response was to kill her. He’s going to be struggling with moral complexities every single day.
Despite the penance aspect of his existence, though, I think he’s also going to be enraptured by the continual process of discovery that characterizes human life. I hope he’s going to retain his capacity for perceiving and appreciating beauty, because that’s something that always endeared him to me. I’m not talking about simple physical beauty here, although that applies to his appreciation of the physical world; I’m talking about his innocent gift for seeing into hearts and valuing what he finds there. On top of having to deal with angels, he’s now going to encounter the best and the worst of how humans deal with each other, and I hope he’ll be able to retain his inclination to look for the best in people and be happy when he finds it. I fear for him encountering bullies, evil, and violence before he learns how to deal with them and protect himself without losing his capacity for trust and faith in others.
This whole arc will present an intriguing contrast to the only other long-term humanized Cas we saw: the powerless, flippant, bitter, orgiastic, stoner Cas of The End. I think there are major differences that will set the two apart; I don’t think we’ll see our current Cas giving in to the hopelessness that afflicted his alternate future self, if only because our current Cas is so aware of all the ways he brought his fate upon himself and feels so strongly the need to redeem himself by saving others. How to accomplish that without his angel powers and without being overwhelmed by the growing awareness of his human limitations will be a challenge I look forward to seeing.
I’ll also be fascinated to see how his relationship with the Winchesters changes because of his humanity. Always before, there was at least a bit of condescension on Castiel’s part, an awareness that he was an angel while they were just human. Castiel always knew he couldn’t be hurt by a human, and that colored every action he took. Similarly, the Winchesters were accustomed to calling on Castiel when they needed help; they felt an emotional link to him, but he was always also as much a resource and convenience as a potential friend and ally. Now his utility will be limited, but I expect his emotional compass will be broadened. The parameters of the relationship will change. At least for a while, the Winchesters will be the stronger part of the equation in all respects for the very first time; that’s going to take some adjustment on everyone’s part.
Purely on the physical side, I have to note that there’s a world of difference between being intellectually aware of something and actually experiencing it for yourself. Castiel has doubtless seen everything there is to see about human bodily functions, but to feel them himself, from the inside? Reading or watching a film about sex is a totally different experience from romping with a partner. Now apply your reaction to that sentence to everything else human you can think of … *grin*
Are We Creatures Of Wrath, Or Compassion? I Would Argue The Latter
I like Ezekiel, and I’m inclined to trust his goodwill. I have several reasons. One is Castiel’s smiling recognition of him as a good soldier; Castiel obviously knew him personally, while he clearly didn’t know Hael as anything more than a passing acquaintance in Heaven. The second is Ezekiel’s own demeanor. His challenge to the angel attacking Dean in the hospital garage was pointedly pro-human, and while he proved a canny fighter, not succumbing to a sneak attack, he initially was ready to welcome the businessman/angel as a brother, had the angel not played him false. That spoke to me of genuine goodness on his part, but without most of the naivete Castiel displayed when he first appeared.
My third reason is his care for his first vessel. The man he’d been inhabiting prior to transferring into Sam was understandably confused when confronted by the doctor, but apart from his lack of memory appeared perfectly intact. That was worlds away from Raphael having left his discarded vessel a drooling idiot in Free To Be You And Me, and I can’t imagine that Zachariah or Uriel, in their contempt for humans, would have dealt any more fairly with their vessels.
Finally, I’m swayed by Ezekiel’s compassionate understanding and willingness to leave Dean and Sam alone when Dean confirmed that Sam would rather die than be possessed by anyone. That could have been just a cleverly calculated ploy to push Dean over the edge, but I don’t think it was. Angels can be Machievellian – I remember Zachariah vividly – but I just don’t get that vibe from Ezekiel. If I’m proven wrong, I’ll print and eat these words, but I don’t think I’ll need to do that. I think Ezekiel’s a good guy.
I do wonder how he was injured during the fall, when we haven’t yet seen any other angel similarly hurt. His vessel didn’t appear wounded at all until after the fight with the businessman/angel, so I think the critical damage was to Ezekiel’s angelic form and essence before that enounter, as Castiel was hurt in Heaven by Naomi’s probes. I believe Ezekiel could have healed himself in his first vessel over time as Castiel always did; I don’t think he needed to possess Sam specifically to accomplish that. But why was Ezekiel hurt, when other angels appeared uninjured? Did he perhaps resist Metatron, or oppose others seeking to dominate humans? Was he injured before the fall, opposing Naomi? I look forward to learning his backstory.
I’m eager as well to learn what Ezekiel’s position will be on the broader issue of dealing with Heaven and the fallen angels. Whether or not he already knows that the Winchesters possess the angel tablet and are working with the prophet who can translate it, he will know that in very short order. Even if he genuinely believes in his mission to be a conservator of God’s creation and a protector of humankind, how will he perceive that mission in connection with his current exile from Heaven? Will he be more focused on protecting things as they are, or driven to pursue regaining Heaven from Metatron and restoring the normal function of the creation God left behind? Which mission will take priority: saving Sam, or saving Heaven and the angelic host? Was that broader picture the ulterior motive behind his decision to answer Dean’s prayer in the first place?
I’m also very curious about the balance Ezekiel will have to strike to keep Sam alive and functioning, but unaware of his internal angel. I suspect Ezekiel is going to find it harder than he thinks to walk the line. Dean will hate every moment he sees anyone but Sam looking out of his brother’s eyes, both because it will remind him of his transgression against Sam’s free will and because it will bring bad memories of Sam soulless, insane, possessed by Lucifer, or jonesing for demon blood. Dean will fear every single time he sees or hears Ezekiel instead of his brother that he made the wrong choice and that his brother will curse him for it forever. I wonder what will happen the first time they encounter angel warding and Sam can’t walk through. And I wonder how long it will take Ezekiel to heal the massive amount of damage Sam suffered during the trials, including the changes Castiel said in Goodbye Stranger had damaged him in ways even Castiel couldn’t heal. Is Ezekiel going to discover it impossible to heal Sam all the way? If some part of the trial damage is permanent, what would that mean for Sam? When Sam inevitably learns about Ezekiel’s presence, might he possibly have to choose between not just life and death, but between life as he’s known it versus life handicapped in some way?
The challenge of giving the Winchesters an angelic ally has always been limiting that angel’s power in order not to overshadow the brothers’ human skills and heart. Putting Ezekiel inside Sam and obliging him to remain hidden from his host is a fascinating twist on that theme, and I look forward to watching it play out.
Production Notes
I’m a bit out of practice and this is taking longer than I planned, so I think my production notes are going to be a bit shorter than I would otherwise have wished. But here goes!
First off, I loved the script by showrunner Jeremy Carver! I definitely did NOT see the twist of Sam’s angelic possession coming (bravo for Nightsky, who did!), and while I’ve still got some questions and issues about the whole falling angels thing, I am on tenterhooks to see how this season plays out. This episode sucked me in on all levels, and I didn’t come up for breath until it ended. Visually, it was stunning, and the performances, direction, and editing all brought it home and punched my heart. And closing with “We’ve got work to do” was perfect!
Okay: as is my custom, let me get my nitpicks and criticisms out of the way first. As I mentioned earlier, I was glad to see canon largely preserved with regard to the whole thing about angels needing to find human vessels, and I loved the way the show called back to previous episodes with angel voices shaking buildings and shattering glass in the process. However, I still have major metaphysical headaches over Metatron having made Castiel human simply by taking his grace. Does Castiel now have a human soul? How could that even come about, since souls are – judging by My Heart Will Go On, anyway – generated through human conception? If he doesn’t have a soul, what makes him, him? And what happened to Jimmy Novak? The show has been silent on Jimmy through the past couple of Castiel resurrections. Castiel certainly appears to be alone in his body, unless Jimmy is going to manifest along the way as a split personality disorder. (I don’t believe that for a second, by the way.) Anna’s graceless angel self apparently took the place of a human soul in a child conceived the night she fell, making her the only angel in a body not technically a vessel with residence negotiated from its human owner; when she reappeared in On The Head Of A Pin wearing a copy of that body after the original was destroyed by her re-powering, she said she had called in some favors to get the body back. Is the body Castiel is wearing now just a copy of Jimmy’s? My head hurts!
I had three little chuckles over some art department items. First off, I haven’t seen regular gas below $3.00 a gallon anywhere for a long time, so that Long Peak, CO gas station would be a mecca for fuel bargain hunters! And second, I know Dean is a tall guy, but I swear some of the angel warding symbols on those hospital room walls would have required even Dean to use a step-stool! Finally, East Coast TV and radio stations have call signs beginning with “W,” not “K.” 🙂
Enough on the critique side. I know many fans hated both the idea that Sam would choose to die and the whole concept of Dean dismissing his brother’s free will to subjugate him to an angel. I’ve already talked about both of those things in my meta pieces, but I have a few more things to say on the subject. First off, I am profoundly glad that the writers didn’t choose to wave away the consequences of Sam having undertaken the trials. From early on, it was clear they were having a profound adverse physical effect on Sam; it would have been cheap and very wrong to wipe that all away simply by abandoning the trials before completing the last step. Dean facing Sam’s death yet again and still not being able to accept it didn’t undo for me all the growth Dean has experienced over the years, because all the while he’s been learning to give Sam his space and accept his decisions, he’s also grown more dependent on having Sam at his side. That co-dependence is part and parcel of these characters, dyed in their psychological wool over more than thirty years, and that’s a structural element of the show; if it ever went away, so would Supernatural.
I also didn’t have a problem with the idea that Ezekiel would be able to conceal his presence from Sam’s awareness, at least for a while. We’ve seen victims of demonic possession wake up with no idea and no memory of what was happening to them; most times when they knew what was going on, it was because the demons deliberately made them watch as another way to torture them. Unlike demons, angels need the permission of their hosts, but Sam saying “yes” fulfilled that requirement for the moment, even though he did it without full knowledge of what he was agreeing to.
I do not doubt that such angels as Zachariah, Uriel, and Raphael were much less than fully truthful with their vessels in order to gain their access. I also suspect that as soon as they were in residence, they deliberately closed off their hosts from conscious awareness to prevent them from changing their minds and evicting the angels. In The Rapture, Jimmy said he didn’t remember much of his experience as Castiel’s host, but he likened it to being chained to a comet. Still, he didn’t evict Castiel, and I think that may have been due in part to never really having had the opportunity to consciously consider and protest what was happening to him, and in part to not having the concentrated strength of will to shout down the angel. Once Sam gave his consent in Swan Song, we saw Lucifer able to muzzle and suppress him, until Sam finally managed to retake control.
Ezekiel noted that his position inside Sam would be precarious in part because he himself was much weaker than normal, but I think it’s also due to Sam – unlike every other vessel we’ve ever met – being left fully conscious and in the driver’s seat, not squashed away safely in a sequestered corner of his mind mostly insulated from his body’s experiences. And Sam already has the experience of battling Lucifer for the sanctity of his mind; if it came to a fight, my money’s on Sam.
I loved the new “burning wings” title card by the VFX crew, and George Thorogood’s “Who Do You Love” was a great musical selection for the recap. The VFX crew also did a wonderful job making people disappear in Sam’s dream world.
I was delighted by a lot of director John Showalter’s choices, and all the work in camera, editing, and post played them up brilliantly. I especially loved the off-kilter angles applied to shots in the dream Impala, with the image tipping forward or back as “Dean” and Sam talked. That rolling image was the first visual clue to things not being what they seemed. And Sam’s “Enough, both of you! I can’t hear myself think!” line made me laugh out loud, since their entire conversation was Sam thinking!
I have yet to be disappointed in Serge Ladouceur’s lighting, but it was especially good throughout this episode. The dark colors and stark contrasts in the dream Impala played up the conflict between Sam and “Dean,” while the rich, deliberately heavenly lighting in the “Bobby” woods promised peace and serenity as an irresistible counterpoint, and carried over into the masculine comfort of Death’s cabin. The hospital – a gorgeous set by Jerry Wanek and his crew – was deliberately sterile, offering stark reality with nothing of comfort or reassurance. Major props to the set design and stunt crew for all the exploding glass in the scene with Dean – in the body of Jensen’s stunt double Todd – running down the corridor; that was wild!
The casting directors for this show continuously find the most amazing people to play in it. I was delighted by the return of Jim Beaver as Bobby and the mesmerizing Julian Richings as Death. I ran out of words to describe how very good both of them are long ago; every time I see them on my screen, I simply lose myself in the reality of who they are. I’m inclined, by the way, to think Death was really there; I debated it, but came down in favor of reality if only because Dean – the real Dean, assisted by Ezekiel – interacted with him, and to me, Death’s nod to him marked Dean as himself, not the mental construct Sam had previously dismissed. And if you need proof that the Bobby of Sam’s coma was a construct rather than the real thing, just remember this: while Bobby’s ghost told the brothers to go when it was their time in Survival Of The Fittest, his rescued soul in Taxi Driver told Sam that he wasn’t the retiring type, and he invited the brothers to find a way to spring him clear of Heaven. I had a lot of issues with Taxi Driver, but that moment wasn’t one of them.
Tahmoh Penikett – a favorite of mine since his time on Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse – obviously sold me on Ezekiel being genuine, and while I look forward to Jared Padalecki elaborating on the distinctive character Tahmoh created, as he did so well in the courtyard scene with Jensen Ackles, I hope we eventually get to see Ezekiel back in his original vessel and interacting with both Winchester brothers. I can’t wait to see Sam confronting Ezekiel directly; that’s going to be worth the price of admission, with two intense actors rocking the scene! Grace Phipps did an effective job as Hael going from uncertain angel to scheming threat. Even minor players like the good Samaritan pickup truck driver and the biker on the phone were note-perfect.
By this point in their careers, I think Jensen and Jared could inhabit Dean and Sam almost without thinking about them, but their gift is they never do it by halves. The “Dean” of Sam’s coma was a version of Dean, not the real thing, and it showed in Jensen’s performance. The anger, humor, passion, and conviction were there, but not the gentleness, not the absolute, accepting love that wrapped Sam in Dean’s arms in the church. Sam’s perceptions were being filtered through the debate he’d set up in his mind, and since the side in favor of life was hampered by Sam’s lack of knowledge about how he could survive, the Dean presenting the argument was necessarily incomplete. The complete Dean was present in the hospital, the courtyard, and the final scene with Sam in the car.
Jared did a wonderful job not only displaying Sam’s confusion, loss, desperation, and resolve, but also embodying Ezekiel in Sam’s body. He mirrored Tahmoh’s mannerisms with perfection. I know he relishes the challenge of playing a non-Sam character in Sam’s body; I’m looking forward to seeing it!
I have to give a call-out to the sound design people. If you’re watching on television with non-surround speakers, you might be missing details; I always notice additional things particularly about the depth of the sound field when I put on my headset and watch the download from iTunes. This time, pieces that really leapt out were the intrusion of hospital sounds and Sam’s heartbeat into the dream Impala and the dimensional nature of Castiel’s auditory hallucination of angel voices. I know I’m more sensitive to the sound aspects these days simply because sound has become my profession; I would love to meet or chat with Don Painchaud and his entire sound crew someday!
In his internal debate about living or dying, Sam unconsciously stacked the deck against his own survival by emphasizing all the things that make human life hard: struggle, conflict, anger, pain, loss. All too often, I think we, like Sam, lose sight of the very things that make even the hardest life worthwhile: love, concern for each other, generosity, acceptance, forgiveness. Sometimes, we need to take a leap of faith and place our trust in someone else to find our way back to ourselves. Every time we do that, we take a risk – but don’t you think life and love are worth a risk?
What a great review!
I really enjoyed it, especially your take on Sam and Dean.
Thanks for an enjoyable read!
I always love your ‘well-rounded’, reviews, and this one is no acceptation. Thanks for all your insights on this amazing episode. Looking forward to a great season!
Loved your analysis. It was very insightful and thought provoking. Thank you for pointing out the technical (light & sound) aspects of the show. It made me enjoy the episode more when I watched it again.
The only thing I had a concern with was your analysis of Dean and Sam’s decisions. I may have misunderstood it but you seemed to make it sound like Sam was noble but Dean was totally selfish. I find that hard to agree with. What Dean did was out of love. U make it sound like Dean wanted Sam to live only becos he couldn’t live without him. I think part of Dean’s motivation was becos Sam kept telling him whole of last season about how he saw light at the end of the tunnel and how he WANTED to live. U don’t seem to factor that into this discussion. I think Dean’s motivations are noble too. His action (angelic possession) may not have been so but his desire to bring Sam to life is not becos he was selfish. I love both Sam and Dean. So I don’t think Dean wanting Sam to live was anymore selfish than Sam wanting to die and leave Dean alone.
I’m sorry if this post sounded too critical or harsh. Its not meant to be that way. I used to love this site as it was one of the more balanced and neutral sites around. But lately (esp since last season) it seems to be a bit against Dean. I may be imagining it. But its the way I (and I know a lot of other fans too) feel this way.
I hate Sam vs Dean stuff and so I want to reiterate that my post has nothing to do with people praising / appreciating Sam’s character. I do too. I only wish the same for Dean. To me they are both flawed and both heroes. Not one being noble and the other selfish.
I did not walk away feeling there was a noble / selfish line being drawn but a attempt to reason why the boys would act in a certain way. Sam has had alot of IMO unfair grief over his wanting to die and leave Dean and has he tends to get the selfish mantle thrown at him , it was nice to see a reasoned approach to each boy’s actions.
I have said in other posts I understood why Dean did what he did and I suppose understanding Sam because of seeing beyond the surface understood why Sam felt the way he did .
Hello Bardicvoice, what a lovely review about the brothers, but Ezekiel hmm… I don’t know. Only because Castiel said he’s OK, therefore to believe that Ezekiel is a “friendly” Angel is imo too partial. I would like to show you an other point of view, a military psy-war tactical opinion.
“…and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand…”
KJV 4.Moses 22:31
Angels are righteous worriors and messengers, there are not good or bad. We humans differentiate between good & bad but these feathered entities are morally upright without guilt or sin. Remember Uriel, he had no problem wiping out a city because some humans were interfering without knowledge with demons. He acted righteous. Castiel on the other hand is a confused entity, he is trying desperately to be human, because he loves the humans to the bottom of his heart, and that is why he always gets in trouble with his feathered brothers in arms and humans. His opinion is clouded by his believes. Therefore when Castiel said “Ezekiel is a good soldier”, what precisely did he say? Because “good” can mean all or none.
Now all(!) Angels have fallen on earth, the worse cause scenario has happened. Shock & awe! Don’t forget only the Angels that disobeyed have been cased out of heaven, the ultimate penalty. The order of creation is no more, only total mayhem. Now to say Ezekiel “is a good soldier” has actually no meaning anymore, because he was once “good” when everything was in place, but now? What are his motives? All is fair in love and war. Just because he “saved” Dean from his confused feathered companion, doesn’t say anything. Or his eloquent speech, “Are we creatures of wrath or compassion? I would argue the latter.” In whoms manner compassionate? Dean and the viewers heard what they wanted to hear, because of there “good & bad” perception. But Angels are warriors, such a situation when Dean got beaten up, is a classic tactical opportunity to gain the trust of your opponent. Also showing the impression of weakness is a tactic to gain trust. Almost all humans react automatically with sympathy if “someone” is injured. Now Dean is not a “normal” human he is like the Angel a warrior. To gain his trust isn’t that quite easy, but in that traumatic situation, Deans intuition were off guard, like he once said Sam is his Achilles’ heel. Deans reaction showed the best of humanity, the strong believe in good and sympathy for the weak. And that is from a tactical pov the weak spot of humanity in general.
Yet the vessel issue, I agree with the bloodline argument and assume also that some humans are useful vessels and others not. But for example Castiels vessel was/is a strong believer therefore predestinated to accept a lower grade heavenly creature. But Sam & Dean were by definition extra created by heavenly destiny to contain the highest heavenly entities of all, the Archangel Lucifer and Michael. But to get these high class vessel in charge, heaven needed their consent, only with the code word “yes”, the earthly ultimate weapon “The Sword” could get ignited.
And now one of “The Sword” is laying without conscious in reach, the opportunity to change the course of war. Because don’t forget the Angels on earth are at war and now with this ultimate weapon to gain heaven back, only a fool wouldn’t take action to get this weapon of mass destruction. I know it sounds cruel, but to be in war your only goal is to be victorious.
Therefore I would say Ezekiel as a warrior did the right thing by surreptitiously gaining Deans trust to get hold of his brother Sam the ultimate weapon, “The Sword”.
Now with such power in a righteous hand, do you really believe Ezekiel is going to let go of Sam? I personally doubt it. Because yet at the same time risks and dangers are always present in large-scale systems and of course power does corrupt or at least skews the vision of those who wield it. And “absolute power corrupts absolutely” is a Biblical based insight.
But like I said this is only my personal opinion, and I would be happy to see that I’m totally wrong and Ezekiels intentions are good and all is going to end well but as an (educated^^) historian I don’t trust this handsome Angel.
@Sharon – I admit I probably read more into it than necessary. I also do not like Sam being called selfish for his decisions (both last season and now). He has done enough for Dean to prove his love. So I agree with you. My point being both brothers don’t deserve the name calling 🙂
But my feelings on this article were based on an entire paragraph repeatedly stating this was a selfish decision becos Dean could not live without Sam. All I’m saying is that based on what happened in Season 8 I didn’t think that was the case.
Last season Dean was ok if Sam chose to walk away from the life to live with Amelia. So I don’t think his only motivation to keep Sam alive was becos he had a selfish requirement. I feel Dean did what he did from a place of love not from a place of need or want. That part of the equation was not explored here. Dean probably wanted to keep Sam alive becos of : the promise he made in Trial & Error (he wanted Sam to live a long life), the fact that Sam too wanted to live and expressed it before, the fact that Sam saw happiness and the light at the end of the tunnel and most importantly becos Dean saw himself as the guilty cheerleader. It should have been Dean dying and not Sam from Dean’s perspective.
I just felt that this article didn’t address those reasons. Again these are just my opinions. I agree I could be wrong. I apologize if I have offended anyone in the process.
I know my prev post seemed like I was critical of this article. Contrary to that I actually loved it. It was well written and provided a lot of analysis. I just wanted to highlight a few points that I thought were missed.
Thanks Bardicvoice. I liked every aspect of the review but it was particularly refreshing to get a good spin on Ezekiel. I can’t believe that Castiel and Samandriel are the only angels who seem to have a moral compass. I liked Sabath68’s thoughts on angels but if Castiel could be more than just a warrior, couldn’t other angels?
I would love if Sam heals quickly (give Jared a couple more episodes to play Ezekiel for brief periods). Ezekiel would find his old vessel and work with the brothers. We can have short lived brotherly antagonism about what Dean did. Sam accepts that he unquestioningly placed the reigns in Dean’s hands and Dean acknowledges he knew Sam would only assent if he didn’t know the plan. Then they let it go. It could happen, right? 😉
Really nice review! I love all of your technical analysis, light, sound, staging, editing etc… I too was struck by how beautiful this episode was, but I must say, I missed the sound elements; I’ll have to go back and have a listen! 🙂
About the angel vessel situation: it did occur to me that Hael was perhaps deteriorating because her vessel was in fact rejecting her. It’s been canon for a while now that Angels must receive permission from their host to function adequately on earth, but Ezekiel made it clear that the host can reject the Angel if necessary. I wonder if that is what Hael’s vessel was doing which was then causing the deterioration. It could also have something to do with strength as well; clearly Sam was designed from birth to hold Lucifer, so him containing an average strength Angel shouldn’t be much of a problem. I am very excited to see where this goes!
[quote]@Sharon – I admit I probably read more into it than necessary. I also do not like Sam being called selfish for his decisions (both last season and now). He has done enough for Dean to prove his love. So I agree with you. My point being both brothers don’t deserve the name calling 🙂
But my feelings on this article were based on an entire paragraph repeatedly stating this was a selfish decision becos Dean could not live without Sam. All I’m saying is that based on what happened in Season 8 I didn’t think that was the case.
Last season Dean was ok if Sam chose to walk away from the life to live with Amelia. So I don’t think his only motivation to keep Sam alive was becos he had a selfish requirement. I feel Dean did what he did from a place of love not from a place of need or want. That part of the equation was not explored here. Dean probably wanted to keep Sam alive becos of : the promise he made in Trial & Error (he wanted Sam to live a long life), the fact that Sam too wanted to live and expressed it before, the fact that Sam saw happiness and the light at the end of the tunnel and most importantly becos Dean saw himself as the guilty cheerleader. It should have been Dean dying and not Sam from Dean’s perspective.
I just felt that this article didn’t address those reasons. Again these are just my opinions. I agree I could be wrong. I apologize if I have offended anyone in the process.
I know my prev post seemed like I was critical of this article. Contrary to that I actually loved it. It was well written and provided a lot of analysis. I just wanted to highlight a few points that I thought were missed.[/quote]
CJ….i think its not the article that didn’t explore the isssues you brought up but SHOW itself. I think Bardic saying Deans actions are selfish comes from what DEAN wants. He wants Sam alive even though he has seen Sam tell Death he wanted to die Dean SAID Sam would rather die then be possessed. Isn’t that selfish to a degree?
BUT…..show in no way had Dean say like you did how much Sam was fighting to live last year. How Sam promised to lead Dean to the light (isn’t dying in a way leading to the light since the light is usually referenced as peace within death?
As per usual the writers ignored one whole side of the story so they can have the charectors go in the path they want.
I think Sam will alwasy equate living with misery and pain ..etc…etc simply because as Brady said in The Devil You know…His life is his own personal Hell on Earth. There hasn’t been a year where sam is simply Sam. There is always something wroing with hhim or he’s possessed by demons or Angels or ghosts or souless or has mental walls and crazy hallucinations and yeah, bad decsions leading to the world in peril.
When was the last time Sam hadn’t been manipulated by friend/ally or enemy? Or used as a tool agaiinst Dean by the enemy (or a friend)?
Death is PEACE…the light at the end of the tunnel. Death is none of that stuff. Its peace and peace with friends. Death is Safety
i loved your post and i agree with most of it.i too am of the belief that ezekiel is on the up and up. i think that the war between the angels has been brought to earth, and that there will be a need for an angel on the side cas was on, which was following their true mission guarding humans. i think zeke will play a major role in getting the angels back to heaven, and when dean offered his services for an angel’s help, well cas pointed out that he was a good soldier, and as a good soldier, zeke would need very strong allies and the winchesters in his corner would be the smartest move an angel could make. i also agree that he had a compassion in him that i was taken to, unlike hael who i knew instinctively was off. in regards to angels, it seems i was on the right track, wrong train in my thinking…but i think i agree more with your view, it makes much more sense. i was thinking that the reason hael’s vessel was rejecting her was because she never got consent. i figured there are so many angels falling who need vessels, they were just invading people, breaking angel rule, and as a safety measure for human’s , God insured that if an angel ever broke that rule, the human would be able to reject the angel, much like fighting off a disease and eject it. that’s why i don’t have any fear of zeke taking over sam, i thought carver made it pretty clear that an angel will be ejected if rejected, unlike the demon’s ability to take control simply by invasion.
i’ve posted this elsewhere so i won’t go too much into it, but in regards to sam’s anger when he finds out. well i don’t doubt there will be anger, and hurt and then understanding, that’s how sam usually reacts in situations that have dean keeping secrets from him. what i think will be different this time is the way the boys handle it. carver has gone through painstaking trouble to bring these boys to the point where they have finally reached a clarity and understanding of ea. other they never had before. (see the great escapist & sacrifice). unlike in the past, sam knows for certain where he stands in dean’s eyes, the love he has for him, as was confirmed by dean in a rare and emotional outburst in sacrifice. in the past sam’s anger at sam touched on his trust issue. his own misperception that dean didn’t trust in him to tell him the truth. now it’s different. sam knows, despite his own perceived notion of failing his brother, dean’s trust in sam never waivers and nobody, past or present comes before him. not ever. so it’s my feeling that sam won’t be coming from that same place anymore. that dean keeps the secret because he didn’t trust in him. i believe sam will understand dean’s decision to be what it really was all about, fear of his brother dying. so sam will be angry of course, but i think he will understand. i think carver has brought these boys to a new level of maturity in their relationship and i think he will continue with that maturity. i think unlike in the past, the boys will talk it out this time, really listen, deal with it head on and not push it under the rug, and proceed to move on from it without feelings of doubt and misperceptions of lack of trust. that i think will be the difference. in the end, as i’ve posted elsewhere, the only feeling that i feel will linger with sam, is his fear and concern for dean and what this favor might end up being. there will be no resentment, like when dean sold his soul, just sam’s natural reaction based on love for his brother. because the one thing that i dont think will ever change, is the unending/never compromising/codependent love these boys have for ea. other….their most endearing quality and the one i rely on most of all and the reason i adore them so much. 😆
i’m very excited to see how it all plays out. i’m wondering if we’ll get insight into sam’s head through zeke. i also wonder, as zeke is in there, if he learns that dean and sam have the angel tablet, if that will play later when he leaves sam and continues with whatever his plan might be to possibly get back into heaven. 😮 i certainly can’t wait for crowley’s return….i think we are all going to be very pleased with this season….yep that’s what me thinks. 😉
i just noticed i blundered and couldn’t get back to edit…i meant sam’s anger at dean…not sam’s anger at sam…
😳
“I’ll also be fascinated to see how his relationship with the Winchesters changes because of his humanity.”
I’m disappointed you weren’t quite fascinated enough to include any reference to one of the most important Dean-Cas interactions in this episode: the moment when Dean prayed to Cas, when it was clear he was concerned for Cas’s safety and also was reaching out to reassure his friend he bore no hard feelings for what has happened. Can we please get a bit of acknowledgment at this site for how important this relationship is to Dean and to Cas? Or are you going to continue to erase any mention of that relationship and their scenes from your reviews?
Great well-rounded review, Bardicvoice. When speculating as to how they were going to “fix” Sam, my first thoughts were having Death intervene, Dean making a deal with Crowley, or given all of the angels falling, some sort of angelic intervention/possession. Was hoping they didn’t go the angelic intervention route but, after having watched it, I really liked the way it was done. Everything Sam and Dean did was consistent and in character for them and did not feel at all contrived.
And I agree – Sam didn’t want to die; he simply saw no other option and made peace with it. This is a lot different than wanting to die. Nice to see Sam deal a little with his self esteem issues thru his version of Bobby in his mind, finally acknowledge to himself that he’s done an awful lot of good in his life, saving people, saving the world. Have mentioned this on some other reviews – I don’t think Sam is going to be as upset about the angelic-pacemaker thing but will be livid about having his memory wiped. Given everything Sam’s been through, can’t really blame him. He’s already raised some suspicions, as to why Dean drove around with him passed out in the front seat for over a day. Sam now gets to play another version of himself, which is something JP seems to both enjoy and excel at.
Likewise, can’t blame Dean either – he did what was necessary to save his brother, the one he’s been looking after since he was 4. It will be interesting to see how this weighs on Dean as the season goes on; he really has no one to confide in about this; Bobby’s gone, Benny’s gone, and Castiel has got his plate full. Charlie is like a little sister to him but I can’t see him confiding in her about this.
So glad they finally gave Castiel a storyline that’s more than just comic relief or the magic fix for the Winchesters. I wonder how much interaction Castiel will have with Sam and Dean in the early part of the season; given Sam and Ezekiel’s condition, I would think having Castiel around will pose a great risk to them. I’m with you on Ezekiel; for now I’m going to believe his intentions are honest and pure; things will get awfully messy if he isn’t.
i think i agree with you njspn fan. i also liked the part where he kind of stuck up for himself, if even in his own mind. i thought it was cute that bobby yelled at dean acknowledging that sam saved him from hell…i just thought it was nice for sam to give himself a little pat on the back. i laughed..actually thought that was funny. a yay for sam moment. 😆
i too think that zeke is as of now on the up and up. there was something about him that was endearing to me. i’m not ready to jump on the he’s an angel so he must be bad. there’s a war going on and they all can’t be bad..there has to be good too. i think zeke was sincere in his desire to help both boys. i also believe it’s beneficial for him to help sam in more than that he gets better too. as a good soldier, as indicated by cas with a fond smile and a peacefulness, it would be wise to have not only one, but two winchesters as allies in his fight, if it’s as he says, as a follower of cas who believes in his mission, to guard humanity, to get back into heaven. dean and sam winchester as allies is a tactic any smart soldier would want if he wants to win this war.
but it is possible that the more time zeke spends in sam, the more he will learn about not only sam and dean but about demons, other angels, monsters and everything else. there’s a lot of info in that mol bunker…and lo and behold there’s a prophet there as well. so while zeke does fully intend to hold up his end of the bargain….the kicker could be what he wants when he leaves sam, and i have no doubt he will leave sam as i don’t believe angels can stay in their vessels if rejected. i think that’s a safety clause for humans by God so angels cannot act like….well demons. it could be that when the time comes that zeke calls in his favor, he’s not going to like it. like perhaps being in sam, zeke will learn that the angel tablets are in the boys possession. the boys also have a prophet. zeke could want dean to give them up. or as i’ve pondered on another site, zeke could want cas..to use him as a vessel, to be his trojan horse to gain into heaven. cas being human, getting a love interest, might not want to give that up…so zeke calls his chit on dean.
if zeke turns on the boys, there are so many different ways it could go …except one, staying in sam..i think carver made it clear that cannot happen. i think we’ll be seeing tahmoh again as zeke and he will be a major player in the second half of the season… 😆
nappi815 – I think you’re kind of right on the angelic possession thing but it becomes a technicality in most cases because most angels won’t allow the person they are possessing to “bubble to the surface” or otherwise give them an opportunity to let their opinion on the matter be known. In Ezekiel’s case, he is both in a weakened state, and is going to allow Sam to stay in control, so to speak.
Njspnfan, I’ve thought about that. See that’s why I think hael’s vessel was rotting..the vessel was rejecting her, like fighting off a sickness, expelling the parasite. If she invaded this girl and girl doesn’t want it, I think her body will simply reject the invasion. Hope that makes sense. i think its a safety measure God created so that angels can’t just run amok in humans whenever they saw fit to.
see i think carver is adding on to the angel canon much like he did with the reaper canon in taxi driver. adding a rogue reaper into the mix. see i think by ezekiel oversharing a piece of info that we’ve never really had before regarding angels, he ensured that sam can’t be taken over. we all new from past canon that an angel needed consent. but carver went a step further this time. he had zeke explain to dean that if a vessel rejects an angel’s presence the vessel can reject it. we haven’t heard that until now. then to add creedence to what carver added, he had the girls vessel reject hael, which is why she demanded cas let her in. i just don’t think she realized that she was being rejected. i think the angel just figured her vessel wasn’t strong enough. that’s my thinking anyway.
Bardicvoice,
For someone who claims they’re out of practice, you nailed this beautifully!
Unlike some of the other contrived conflicts between the brothers — Girl Next Door springs very much to mind — this conflict of angelic possession is spot on. I agree with all your points above: Dean’s struggle over allowing it, Sam’s eventual sense of betrayal and yet acceptance and so on. This conflict has purpose similar to Dean’s selling of his soul in AHBL Part 2.
Also, I firmly agree with you: Death and Sam and Dean/Ezekiel was all real. Death was there as was Dean/Ezekiel. It was critical for Sam to say yes or else Ezekiel could not take possession. That was shown by the way Dean/Ezekiel leaped upon a comment of Sam and asked: “Is that a yes?” To which Sam shakily assented.
Also, I agree, Death nodded at Dean in acknowledgement of Dean’s presence. They directly interacted in ways that were distinctly different than the Dean and Bobby — which were all manifestations of Sam. I also do not believe this to be an instance of Sam cheating Death, for when Dean looked at Death and stated that it wasn’t Sam’s time, Death merely said that it was up to Sam. If it had truly been Sam’s time to die, Death would have been much more insistent. Remember Tessa was firm in her stance with Dean in IMTOD that while Dean did not have to go with her, he was not getting back inside his body. Here, Death merely left the decision to Sam.
Like you, I am curious as to just what it is that damaged Ezekiel. All I saw was him struggle with a fellow angel and get slammed into a car. Shouldn’t be enough to weaken him so. Also, I am unsure how an injured angel can simultaneously heal himself and a severely damaged Sam simply by inhabiting him. However, I will ride the train and see the journey; thus far the set up is quite excellent.
Jared really did nail his Ezekiel performance. It is clear he paid attention to Tahmoh’s work and then brought it to life perfectly. Also, as you stated Jensen was deft in his portrayal of Sam’s perception of Dean. It was Dean and yet it wasn’t. Like you, I noted the lack of compassion and those parts that make Dean his big brother, not the hardened hunter that he also is. It was an incredibly nuanced performance that even after nine years of inhabiting the same character, has not lost its way. Jensen and Jared never do anything by halves. that was a great line you wrote!
Lighting, sound, sets, direction…so much goodness. I enjoyed this opener greatly. I am eager for the return of MOL bunker and moving on with the season. Should be quite fun, and if this is an example of the quality, we’re in for one great season. Hopefully I won’t have to eat those words!
🙂
[quote]Njspnfan, I’ve thought about that. See that’s why I think hael’s vessel was rotting..the vessel was rejecting her, like fighting off a sickness, expelling the parasite. If she invaded this girl and girl doesn’t want it, I think her body will simply reject the invasion. Hope that makes sense. i think its a safety measure God created so that angels can’t just run amok in humans whenever they saw fit to.
see i think carver is adding on to the angel canon much like he did with the reaper canon in taxi driver. adding a rogue reaper into the mix. see i think by ezekiel oversharing a piece of info that we’ve never really had before regarding angels, he ensured that sam can’t be taken over. we all new from past canon that an angel needed consent. but carver went a step further this time. he had zeke explain to dean that if a vessel rejects an angel’s presence the vessel can reject it. we haven’t heard that until now. then to add creedence to what carver added, he had the girls vessel reject hael, which is why she demanded cas let her in. i just don’t think she realized that she was being rejected. i think the angel just figured her vessel wasn’t strong enough. that’s my thinking anyway.[/quote]
[quote]Njspnfan, I’ve thought about that. See that’s why I think hael’s vessel was rotting..the vessel was rejecting her, like fighting off a sickness, expelling the parasite. If she invaded this girl and girl doesn’t want it, I think her body will simply reject the invasion. Hope that makes sense. i think its a safety measure God created so that angels can’t just run amok in humans whenever they saw fit to.
see i think carver is adding on to the angel canon much like he did with the reaper canon in taxi driver. adding a rogue reaper into the mix. see i think by ezekiel oversharing a piece of info that we’ve never really had before regarding angels, he ensured that sam can’t be taken over. we all new from past canon that an angel needed consent. but carver went a step further this time. he had zeke explain to dean that if a vessel rejects an angel’s presence the vessel can reject it. we haven’t heard that until now. then to add creedence to what carver added, he had the girls vessel reject hael, which is why she demanded cas let her in. i just don’t think she realized that she was being rejected. i think the angel just figured her vessel wasn’t strong enough. that’s my thinking anyway.[/quote]
Nappi, I dont understand this. Why would the girl reject an angel that she gave permission to possess her?
And if its (the rejection) on a subliminal level would the same thing happen to SaM?
Nappi815, yes, in earlier seasons, a lot was made of bloodlines and angelic possession, particularly for archangels. In fact, the deterioration of the vessel isn’t all that new (Nick and Lucifer). Don’t recall a plain old angel having this issue but there are thousands of angels around now, desperate to find a vessel, any vessel, so I guess it’s not a surprise that some of those being possessed are not up it.
I love how gentle Death was with Sam. I think Death was real and I think that Dean in the cabin was also real. The lighting on Dean was brighter in that scene. Sam knew that was Dean also. That is why he trusted him. I always get the feeling that God and Death are manipulating the natural order. It is like there is a broader lesson here for Sam and Dean to learn and they haven’t learned it yet. I really loved this episode. They have set up a conflict that isn’t going to be resolved easily. I can’t wait to see how it is handled.
[quote][quote]Njspnfan, I’ve thought about that. See that’s why I think hael’s vessel was rotting..the vessel was rejecting her, like fighting off a sickness, expelling the parasite. If she invaded this girl and girl doesn’t want it, I think her body will simply reject the invasion. Hope that makes sense. i think its a safety measure God created so that angels can’t just run amok in humans whenever they saw fit to.
see i think carver is adding on to the angel canon much like he did with the reaper canon in taxi driver. adding a rogue reaper into the mix. see i think by ezekiel oversharing a piece of info that we’ve never really had before regarding angels, he ensured that sam can’t be taken over. we all new from past canon that an angel needed consent. but carver went a step further this time. he had zeke explain to dean that if a vessel rejects an angel’s presence the vessel can reject it. we haven’t heard that until now. then to add creedence to what carver added, he had the girls vessel reject hael, which is why she demanded cas let her in. i just don’t think she realized that she was being rejected. i think the angel just figured her vessel wasn’t strong enough. that’s my thinking anyway.[/quote]
[quote]Njspnfan, I’ve thought about that. See that’s why I think hael’s vessel was rotting..the vessel was rejecting her, like fighting off a sickness, expelling the parasite. If she invaded this girl and girl doesn’t want it, I think her body will simply reject the invasion. Hope that makes sense. i think its a safety measure God created so that angels can’t just run amok in humans whenever they saw fit to.
see i think carver is adding on to the angel canon much like he did with the reaper canon in taxi driver. adding a rogue reaper into the mix. see i think by ezekiel oversharing a piece of info that we’ve never really had before regarding angels, he ensured that sam can’t be taken over. we all new from past canon that an angel needed consent. but carver went a step further this time. he had zeke explain to dean that if a vessel rejects an angel’s presence the vessel can reject it. we haven’t heard that until now. then to add creedence to what carver added, he had the girls vessel reject hael, which is why she demanded cas let her in. i just don’t think she realized that she was being rejected. i think the angel just figured her vessel wasn’t strong enough. that’s my thinking anyway.[/quote]
Nappi, I dont understand this. Why would the girl reject an angel that she gave permission to possess her?
And if its (the rejection) on a subliminal level would the same thing happen to SaM?[/quote]
I don’t think the girl gave permission….i still think..as per new info from Zeke, even subconsciously if a body no longer wants to be possessed it will reject the vessel…as I stated this is a new twist on angel canon added by carver..imo to let us know Sam cannot be taken over if he doesn’t want it..on any level…thats why Zeke made sure dean knew it which led to mindswipe…
[quote]I don’t think the girl gave permission….i still think..as per new info from Zeke, even subconsciously if a body no longer wants to be possessed it will reject the vessel…as I stated this is a new twist on angel canon added by carver..imo to let us know Sam cannot be taken over if he doesn’t want it..on any level…thats why Zeke made sure dean knew it which led to mindswipe…[/quote]
I’m not entirely sure about that, at least yet; I still think angels, unlike demons, need permission, but, as Zachariah showed in S5, angels aren’t above using deception, extortion, manipulation, torture, or other nefarious means to gain that permission. They are dicks, after all 😉
Hi, folks! Thanks for coming and commenting! Glad I’ve managed to snag a few moments to respond a bit …
This is one instance where I regret we no longer have threaded comments; it’s hard to respond in a blast to all without missing things. Let me see what I can address.
First off, and this is important: I will never, EVER, bash any member of the Winchester family, whether blood or affiliation binds them. I love both Sam and Dean; I also love John, Mary, Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Castiel, Adam, Garth, Kevin, Charlie, and the host of others who own pieces of the brothers’ hearts. I always seek to understand what drives them and prompts them to make decisions. I try to explain what I think I understand, and I offer comparisons not to say that any one of the characters is more right than another, but only to help illustrate why they may choose differently and further, why they may not understand or agree with another’s choice. Sometimes the language I use is necessary to address a reaction or judgment I’ve heard from someone else; that doesn’t mean I share that judgment. Like Death, judging’s not my bag.
So if my discussion of selfishness in the context of decisions made by Sam or Dean seemed to reflect adversely on either of them or extol one as more virtuous than the other, that was emphatically not my intent. If I was not clear, that is on me, so [b]CJ[/b], don’t worry about stating your reaction to what I wrote; you’re helping me know where and why someone may be misreading me, and that’s a good thing I appreciate knowing. 🙂
On love, selfishness, and brothers, a few added thoughts. Dean loves Sam absolutely, and vice versa; no question. They both want to live and want each other to be alive. Indeed, Sam’s prime reason for wanting to do the trials instead of Dean was that Sam could see Dean thought from the outset they would be a suicide mission and he didn’t want Sam to die on yet another quest, while Sam knew going in with the mindset of expecting to die would likely contribute to Dean getting killed. Self-fulfilling prophecies, and all that. At the start, Sam didn’t assume the game was rigged to end that way; he went in believing they could both survive and wanted to give Dean that same hope and confidence. It didn’t work out that way, but that was his intent. It dovetailed nicely with his other goal of proving himself to Dean.
Dean, for his part, did conclude last season that he would accept whatever decision Sam made concerning life and hunting. And he meant it. If Sam decided to quit and become a beach bum in Aruba, Dean would tease him about it (“Aruba? Really? [i]Aruba[/i]?”) and be sad to be alone, but he would let Sam go because he loves his brother and wants him to be happy. But for Sam to go and be happy, even if he did so apart from Dean, he would first have to be [i]alive[/i], and that’s where things got gnarly here.
Sam didn’t *want* to die. He talked himself into accepting it, but that’s a world away from desiring it. At the same time, however, Dean knew Sam would NEVER agree to be possessed, not even to save his own life. Dean tricked Sam into saying yes to keep him alive despite knowing Sam would never have agreed to that price – and it’s a price [i]Sam[/i], not Dean, will have to pay. In that respect, Dean was selfish; he imposed his own desire on Sam in direct contradiction of Sam’s known wishes. What follows is on Dean, but Sam’s the one with an angel manipulating his controls. If it turns out well – if Sam is healed and Ezekiel departs in peace as promised – Sam may eventually be grateful, but after a lifetime spent trying to be in control of his own life, he’s not readily going to forgive Dean having tricked that away from him. And if things go awry – if Ezekiel can’t fully heal Sam, or if he decides to pursue his own angelic agenda – all the guilt for screwing Sam up will be on Dean, and he knows it.
I do think the brothers are at a place where, when the truth comes out, they are much more likely to be able to understand where they each were coming from and work through to forgiveness than they were in the past. I don’t expect to see the old pattern of an anger blowup followed by a separation followed by more escalating misunderstandings until they come to the cliff they need to pull themselves back from falling over. Last season was painful in many ways, but they both grew up a lot in the process and learned not just to listen to each other, but to hear beneath the words. [b]nappi815[/b], I think you’re bang-on there!
[b]Sabath68[/b], interesting thoughts on Ezekiel as possibly a cunning warrior playing a strategy! We’ll have to wait and see where things go as the season develops. My definition of “good” in angel terms is an angel loyal to God’s intent as expressed in the show, which would seem to be a conservator of creation and generally well-disposed to humanity. The Old Testament God was into a lot of force and punishment when it came to people who didn’t toe the line and angels were his implacable enforcers, but they were executing his orders, not being cruel, greedy, or prideful on their own. As the Lucifer story goes, Lucifer’s crime of disobedience was his prideful refusal to bow before humans when commanded by God, and the show posited his further crime of spite being to warp human souls into demons to prove his point that humans were flawed and thus lesser than angels. So to me, angels who set themselves above humans and pursue their own agendas without regard for their effects on creation are in the bad camp, while those who adhere to the good of all creation are in the good camp. Despite his missteps in the past, I put Castiel in the good camp, along with such angels as Samandiriel.
One more purely story-practical reason I’m inclined to think Ezekiel is likely to be “good” in those terms is simply that with all angels expelled, we’ll be experiencing all factions, good, bad, and in-between. Since Castiel has lost his grace and is now powerless, the Winchesters will need at least some allies among the angels to avoid being overpowered.
[b]Claire S[/b], I’m sorry I couldn’t include discussion of every point in this show in my commentary. I never manage to say everything! If you read my past articles, however, you’ll discover that I’ve always had a LOT to say about the relationship between Dean and Castiel. I loved Dean trying to reach out to Castiel for help through prayer, expressing worry and promising the angel they could work things out. I also loved the concern Castiel immediately expressed on the phone for Sam’s welfare, and his automatic assurance that he would come to help as quickly as he could. Dean’s order that Cas get himself to safety instead, to take precautions against being a target, showed he understood the situation much better than Cas did, while Castiel’s focus stayed on his perceived duty to set right all the things his errors let go wrong.
Castiel becoming human and being totally stripped of his angelic power – well, apart from his ability to eavesdrop on angel radio – is going to mean major shifts in how he interacts with everything and everyone, however, and for this first outing, I wanted to look at that larger picture. Fear not, I’ll be talking about Cas and Dean as the season progresses. 🙂
However, anyone looking for a Destiel interpretation won’t find it here.
Must go now. But I’ll be back!
This premiere was amazing and I loved it for all the reasons you laid out. I even felt compassion for Cas again, which is a minor miracle in itself.
One thing i hadn’t caught was angels not recognizing each other- I wondered if Dean was going to have to keep Cas and Sam separated, so that Cas doesn’t let the cat out of the bag. It will be FASCINAting to see how Sam and Dean deal with this situation. What if Sam is on a hunt, and gets a mortal injury, then heals right away. Will Zeke keep wiping Sam’s memory?
[quote][quote]I don’t think the girl gave permission….i still think..as per new info from Zeke, even subconsciously if a body no longer wants to be possessed it will reject the vessel…as I stated this is a new twist on angel canon added by carver..imo to let us know Sam cannot be taken over if he doesn’t want it..on any level…thats why Zeke made sure dean knew it which led to mindswipe…[/quote]
I’m not entirely sure about that, at least yet; I still think angels, unlike demons, need permission, but, as Zachariah showed in S5, angels aren’t above using deception, extortion, manipulation, torture, or other nefarious means to gain that permission. They are dicks, after all ;-)[/quote]
other than lucifer, i cant recall another angel that used actual manipulation to gain permission to enter a vessel. but i do not disagree that the angels are in fact dicks, who are not shy of using, torture or manipulation to get their way. now in sam’s case he wasn’t aware of what he was saying yes to, so if this were a legal case, sam’s contract would not be binding as he was mislead. so zeke did get in on a technicality but i don’t think he will be able to stay in sam whether at full power or in a weakened state, if sam rejects him. in sam’s case he never gave “knowing consent”. i think ezekiel is fully aware of this which is why he felt such urgency in convincing dean to have sam’s mind erased. i still don’t think it’s necessarily because zeke is up to no good. it could very well be as he called it, if he’s rejected, he’s ejected and sam dies. given the choices, dean had no way out but to mindswipe sam. dean isn’t stupid or that devious, he knows he will eventually have to pay the piper on this and tell sam…but for now, all that matters is that sam lives.
Great review Bardicvoice,
I’ll reiterate a few things I said to Sweetondean, and add a bit of new info. It is, and always will be SamandDean. It is their strength and their greatest weakness. It’s their strength in the sense that it’s the love they have for each other that keeps them fighting the good fight. I think after all they’ve been through, it’s probably the reason they get up in the morning. But, it’s also their weakness because they can not envision a world without the other in it, and so they make desperate choices to ensure that never happens.
Certainly there’s an element of selfishness in Dean saving Sam. He wants his brother alive. He said it himself. If Sam ceases to exist, then so will he. But he also was saving Sam so that Sam could do all those things he dreams of. I don’t think it was Sam’s time to die. I don’t think Sam really believed it was his time to die. The trials aren’t a natural end for him.
But, I think it’s also worth pointing out that way back In My Time of Dying, Dean was willing to go with Tessa, if that was for the greater good – meaning protecting Sam from having to kill a venegeful spirit Dean. Again, Sam is willing to die for the greater good – meaning protecting Dean from doing something dangerous to try & save him again.
I kind of expected the angelic possession. I think Sam is going to start having suspicions about what’s going on. Then, I think it will come to a head when he is suddenly able to save a terribly injured Dean. When the truth comes out, it is going to be so, so messy and painful.
I did a little bit of research and found some interesting information. In real world, as opposed to Supernatural world, theology, Ezekiel was a prophet not an angel. But he is credited with advocating for individual responsibility, rather than just going along as part of the group. Does that suggest Team Free Will to anyone but me? And he is known as a rescucitator of the dead. Hmmm. Rather intriguing given his current role.
I tend to agree that being a “good soldier” does not necessarily mean being a WInchester ally. Often times being a good soldier just means following orders without question. But it would be refreshing if Ezekiel is mostly helpful. (Plus I’d love to see more of Tahmoh Penikett. He’s an awesome addition).
I wonder if this is all somehow going to circle back to Dean as Michael’s vessel. It was Michael’s fall, through the aborted Apocalypse, that really set Heaven tumbling out of control. Perhaps the Angel Tablet will have something to say about restoring that order, with or without Michael. (And who knows? Maybe it’s possible to free Michael without freeing Lucifer?)
I’m eager to see how all this plays out!
Pragmatic Dreamer
Great review, as always! I’m really interested to see what happens the rest of the season … although I think if Sam is mad at Dean at all it will be more because he’s kept the truth from him and Dean spent a good deal of the last of the season trying to get Sam to be honest with him about his health while he was going through the trials. In Deans defense he didn’t have much of a choice other than letting his brother go, and that won’t happen so I hope they get past it. They will, of course, seems there’s always something every season that drives a wedge between them for a bit but they always come though it so not worried.
Cas, poor guy, I mean, to a certain degree I saw human Cas coming since I heard they’d signed Misha on as a series regular again but never thought it would come at the cost of inadvertently helping Metatron kick the angels out of Heaven, causing him to be hunted and a danger to the Winchesters. But, then again, I know what show I’m watching so it could never be that easy or simple. I am glad he still has the ability to hear angel radio, because Anna could before she got her grace back, and I’d heard he had none of his old powers. Yeah, flying and healing were not going to be on the table, but angel radio might come in handy. I do wonder though if he might end up being part of the solution to take out Metatron though … The other angels had their wings burned off but since he had his grace taken and was put back on Earth before they all fell I wonder if he can get his grace back if he’ll still have his wings and be able to go back to Heaven and kick out the bookworm who tricked him.
Beautiful review, Mary.
I loved your takes, and I think we largely fall in line with one another in our thoughts on this one. I think you nailed it with Sam and Dean’s story.
I, too, see that Dean and Death were really there in that cabin, and not just more constructs. It makes what Sam decides much more real. He was choosing between the Real Death and the Real Dean, and as always he chose the Real Dean.
As for Castiel, I think his story is perhaps one of the most intriguing we’ve seen yet for him. I don’t quibble as much about the grace being ripped out, but I can see how it can be an issue. I do think it’ll be intriguing to see just how frustrated he becomes while being a human being and just how that issue will be fixed. Do I think he’ll remain a human forever? Not likely.
I so want to trust Ezekiel, but don’t know that I can just yet. He got Sam to say yes, and while that may be to save Sam’s life, I wonder when push comes to shove and it’s time for Sam to take off the training wheels if Ezekiel will relent. I, too, would love to see the two face off with Ezekiel in his original vessel.
As for production notes, my goodness you make me happy with those. And sad. Mostly my CW makes me sad, but even so, I know what to look for when I watch next time on proper Blu Ray.
Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful thoughts, Mary.
Thanks to all the writers on this site who have such amazing insights and deep thinky thoughts! You all expand my thinking about this show in such immeasurable ways!
And, thanks to everyone involved with Supernatural – writers, cast, crew, fans – for creating and supporting a show that celebrates the bonds of love, of family, of caring when so much of what else is on television focuses on the opposite.
Case in point – who didn’t love Dean’s speech to Kevin on tonight’s episode?! 🙂
Thank you for this. I do agree with most, while wary still on Ezekiel (probably because of the epi’s title).
Re Castiel and the angels in SPN stories — always intrigued and awed me about how the creators show angels to us. For a while, before SPN, I thought none recognized that earth life came easy for angels because they’re angels. They’re divine, hence really above the way we humans experience earth life. … Forgive me, it’s just I got tired of listening to people telling me that “if the angels can do it, so can we humans”.
Through Castiel’s humanity, the angelic host will, hopefully, learn some lessons about what it means to be human.
Mary, outstanding review! It is such a pleasure to read your work. I always learn something new.