Let’s Speculate: Supernatural 9×19, “Alex Annie Alexis Ann”
Warning: If you have not seen tonight’s episode, “Alex Annie Alexis Ann,” then beware spoilers ahead!
Episode Summary:
This was a good old fashioned monster of the week episode written by Robert Berens and featuring my favorite guest star, Kim Rhodes aka Sheriff Mills. The episode begins with the capture and arrest of a young girl only to switch to a Twilight-esque dialogue scene. The vamp named Cody gets ganked though by our fearless woman leader in the show, Jody!!!
The case revolves around this young girl, Annie (who is called Alex by her vampire family) and her abduction at a young age by the vampire family from redneckville. This nodded toward the first season episode with the Benders, but this family here was a nest of vampires with a mother and some creepy sons who remind me of the X-Files “Home” episode. Sam and Dean appear to assist Jody and the case involves them investigating the abduction while Jody takes Alex/Annie to Rufus’s safe cabin.
Eventually Dean and Sam take one of the vamps hostage and interrogate him. He tells them that Alex is a human lure – she brings the feed back to the barn, per se. Of course they seem to like lunching on pedos and perverts so yay vampires?! Anyway, the boys try to warn Jody and then Dean goes back and takes a whack at the vampire, letting us know that MarkofCainDean is in full effect.
Alex gets re-abducted and Jody refuses to stay on the sidelines while the boys go after the girl. The three find the abandoned house where the vampires are nesting and get full up on in there only to be nabbed, because you know, we need beats in the script. So while Jody is psychoanalyzing MamaVamp, the boys are getting prepped for some vampirast level cuddling from the “toocreepytooclose” vampire brothers. While Sam is getting sucked dry (ha!), Dean awakens from his slumber because YAY DEAN GETS HIT IN THE HEAD THIS TIME INSTEAD OF SAM! Dean goes Mark of Cain hot on the vampbros and then does this dang ol’ sexy thing where he says “Look at me, bitch” and twitter lost its panties en masse.
While Dean is going all badass on the vamps, Jody is talking the mother off the cliff because Alex is about to turn herself into a vampire. Jody and Mother Vamp have a sympatico moment over the loss of a child, but Mother Vamp ain’t having none of that human emotion stuff (although she kind of did) but before she can kill FreudianJody, Alex turns back to Annie and kills her vampmama. Very sad. Or not. Jody takes some tips from both Soulless and Dark Dean as she slices mother’s head off like she’s a butcher in a New York deli.
Last five minutes include obligatory manpain talk that involves Sam being like why you all hot now, Dean? Oh, okay. He’s “concerned” about Dean’s pleasure at killing and one has to wonder where Sam has been for like, 25 years? But Berens proves he is 100000 times the writer that most of the writers are by writing the most magnificent and awesome female dialogue scene ever in the show. And that was pretty damn cool. Jody Mills for the win, internet. And also CONTINUITY!!! Alex/Annie is cured from being a vampire because the boys REMEMBERED SEASON SIX. I almost fainted. I almost did.
Thoughts:
Not a lot of thoughts this week except to point out that the exposition of the episode centered around the theme of choices and consequences. I think this theme, which was neon-lighted with Vegas level wattage, connects to the MOTW but also to Dean. Dean has made a choice and I’m wondering if it connects to last week’s episode and the Gadreel episode. I think Alex’s “I made my choice” is a significant echo for the season and I’m curious to see if it comes to some thematic fruition.
I did want to know if that woodchipper was the same one that was used in “Weekend at Bobby’s” and if so, does that mean the cute blond woman who crushed on Bobby was vampire feed or lost her house to foreclosure? Sad. 🙁
There wasn’t a lot of the boys but they were back in glory in the format of this episode. I have a soft spot for a good monster episode and I believe this was one of them.
Other than that, I want to repeat my affection for Berens’s handle on females on the show. Thank you, Bob.
Next week is the spin-off. I am curious and scared.
Share your thoughts with us!
I haven’t seen anything on Twitter about Dean’s eyes turning black for just a quick instance right before he got up off the floor. After he was knocked out! Anyone? Rewind and watch it if you don’t believe me. SCARY!!!
No, I’ve rewatch and played it frame by frame. No, his eyes still normal. Not black.
Though I’d love to see Demon dean like in DaLDoM
I’ll have to rewatch tomorrow for that!
I think SPN needs to work on its pacing. Like REALLY work on it. This episode should not have been episode 19. It provided barely any movement in the main arc / Sam & Dean storylines aside from showing us Dean is going ~dark. Which duh. We have so much to wrap up in 4 episodes – one being the spin-off, which we know with be Sam & Dean/myth arc lite. So really only 3 episodes.
I love Jody so it was great to see her shine, I just wish the writers could find a better balance between letting the secondary characters/guest stars shine without it being to the detriment of Sam & Dean. Really, the brothers were not even needed in this episode. This was 100% Jody’s episode. I think there could have been a much better balance. Kripke excelled at this. I wouldn’t even be complaining about this now/for this episode, if it hadn’t been a noticeable trend this season.
Whenever we get a Jody or a Charlie or a Garth or a Cas or a Mrs. Tran or a Megatron or really any secondary character episode (& there are A LOT of them this season), that episode becomes about that secondary character & the brothers are there providing the support. The brothers become the B-storyline. And I take a huge issue with this when we get move insight into Alex/Alexis/Anne’s POV than we do Sam’s (or Dean for that matter) POV for going on 6-7 episodes.
Secondary characters should enrich SPN, not hijack the spotlight.
Berens seems like such a nice dude, so I hate dissing on his episode. And I wouldn’t be dissing on it as much if Carver or whoever had simply allowed him to write more Sam & Dean. Like please just let them finish a convo & have an exchange (any exchange!) that does not have to do strictly with the case on hand.
Heck, even in Sam & Dean only MOW episodes, we are lacking in the bro focus with the MOW case taking center stage. When will Sam & Dean get to take center stage again on their own show?
I thought the episode was brilliant, but I agree with absolutely everything you said about this season. When will Sam and Dean get to take center stage of their own show? I personally though really just want a damned myth arc plot that has forward motion through the whole season. For that, they need to go back and watch season four and five episodes.
Thanks for commenting!
Although you wouldn’t really be able to tell from my initial comment, I actually enjoyed this episode more than any episode in while! I truly loved the dynamic between Jody & Alex/Alexis/Anne. I also really appreciated the dark, classic SPN cinematography. Like I said, I hated dissing on this episode in particular, because – aside from lacking any real Sam & Dean focus – it really was well-crafted.
I think I am so itchy for movement & resolution. Like, the writers really couldn’t give us anything more mytharc/MoC-related this episode?? How hard is to give Sam & Dean something important & relevant to do each episode? What even is Sam’s storyline right now? Aside from looking at Dean vaguely concerned every now & then, I’m not certain he has one.
I am in complete agreement re: mytharcs & forward motion. SPN use to be able to weave mytharcs through the seasons so seamlessly, but this crop of writers is really struggling with that. In addition, they are struggling with tying all the mytharcs & narratives togethers so that is creates a cohesive story. This season has just felt..clunky. Instead of developing mytharc stuff, I feel like the writers are more concerned with brining back fan favorites like Garth or going for cheap laughs & thrills.
I’m really reaching the end of my rope this season with SPN so I truly hope the last three episodes are completely mind-blowing.
I so desperately want to believe that this season is actually building towards something big & worthwhile.
Deleted – duplicated posts.
Sorry, somehow I ended up with duplicate posts.
I haven’t been commenting, because I really want to be able to say something positive about how good an episode was or talk about something exciting that is going on. I like Jodi’s character and usually find her episodes okay. However, these writers seem to have fallen into a pattern of dreaming up an episode just to bring an actor back and, in doing so, the Winchesters are pushed into the episode without it having any meaning to their characters or stories, and without meaning to the mytharc. That is how I felt about this one. I wanted to like the episode, but growing frustration over the non-movement of [i]anything[/i] just irritated me.
ETA: I thought I would give an example of how the episode failed in paying attention to the Winchesters. I found it OOC for both Sam and Dean to go into a house they knew was a vampire nest, an [i]unchecked[/i] house and leave Jodi downstairs by herself. Dean would have left Sam downstairs to protect Jodi, thinking that he could handle anything upstairs by himself (especially if he is getting ‘darker’). As it was, the writer only thought about separating Jodi from the Winchesters so that Jodi could have her story.
I really liked this episode too. I have been giving the pacing a lot of thought. The problem with the current crop of motw episodes is that they connect to mytharc plotting only through subtext, if that. In seasons 3-6 the motw usually reflected the mytharc directly. So we had lots of demons, angels, horsemen, monsters and alphas depending on the seasonal mytharc. This approach made the major arcs seem more urgent.
This episode had some pointed subtext about family, loyalty and choices. However vampires and jody didn’t tie back to mytharc plots and any moc drama was pretty subtle except for Sam finally getting that there is a problem. Dean who is the one that coined Saving people, hunting things…. is now saying hunting is the priority and saving is secondary. Hmmmm…
Book dal, this review had me rolling with laughter. I’m not on Twitter, so I’ll have to take your description at face value as to what happened there, but I loved this review better than the episode.
I agree with you, JJ. I love seeing Jodi. She is totally bada** but c’mon writers…Mytharc! Please! I don’t wanna start nothing, but the pacing this season is wayyyy off. And now, next week, another filler episode. The writers are obviously trying to kill me.:p
The filler eps. aren’t bad. I really like them but enough is enough. They had some great plot lines this season that they really should have paid more attention to. Or barring that they could have used the filler episodes to tie up loose ends from previous seasons, like Aaron and his Golem, the Nazi Necromancers, or some more Men of Letters stories.
This whole season has been pretty Dean centric and there have been a Dean centric episodes.
Slight correction. It was not Rufus’ cabin. It belonged to Jody’s family for a very long time. She stated that she used to go there with her family and then later with her husband but she never finished that statement. Jody’s cabin is in South Dakota, Rufus’ cabin was in Montana.;)
Great to see Jody again and that they didn’t kill her off. Thank you writers. Dean is getting very scary looking and a little more dialog between Sam and Dean on that little episode would have been nice but we’ll take what we can get at this time. Awesome episode though, no complaints on this end.
Now I have to go back and do a third viewing to see if his eyes really were black. That really scares me if that is the case.
Can we appreciate or be afraid for the fact that Dean cut off the vamps head with the dull side of the knife? Yikes!
I didn’t notice that. Once again I think that it’s awesome.
I buried this in one of my posts but I am pretty sure that knife has a blade side and is serrated on the other side. There is a photo in the promo shots that show the knife a little more clearly.
It was hard for me to see, just the way Dean was holding the knife his hand was around the back side of the blade. Either way the look on Dean’s face was devoid of emotion. He didn’t look like he was enjoying it so much as just pure rage. Dean is very scary!
When I first saw that knife awhile ago I thought (Sam was using it then, I think, or one like it) he was holding it backwards! It is a nasty looking weapon, and when scary Dean is wielding it *gulp*.:)
No, I’ve rewatch. Dean turned the sharper edge of the knife towards’s the vamp’s neck. So, Sam still win with his wire cutting of Gordon’s neck.
Though I love badass Dean too. 🙂
Great episode! Thank you, Robert Berens for writing such strong female characters plus a good, well-paced story. And how amazing to have all of the characters, no matter how small, three dimensional!
Thanks also to the director Stefan P. for a really great episode – and not drowned in music!
Kim Rhodes is a rock star and she shone this week and Kat Ramdeen was brilliant and a welcome addition to the SPN family.
I hear what everyone’s saying about the mytharc stall, but when it is for an episode this good I am perfectly happy to wait a week 🙂
Also? Bookdal: “Dean goes Mark of Cain hot on the vampbros and then does this dang ol’ sexy thing where he says “Look at me, bitch” and twitter lost its panties en masse” = ahahahahahahaha!!!!!!:)
And finally: Robbie Thompson and Robert Berens are keepers #SavetheRobertsSavetheWorld 🙂
I think this was a good episode. I am antsy to get on with the mytharc. But if the forward motion had to be interrupted with a MoW, this one was pretty entertaining. A Jody Mills appearance always appreciated. She is getting pretty bad ass herself! Cheryl, I have noticed that some of their knives have a blade on one side and serrations on the other side. Not sure if this is the case here. It is getting frustrating that when the boys seem on the verge of talking it gets interrupted.
Oh and Alice, the site seems less glitchy today.:)
Thanks bookdal for the speculation article, as usual.
Wow. Was Bookdal drunk when they wrote this review? Anyway, so the MoC made Dean go all crazy on the vampires? So what made him go all crazy on vampires before he got the MoC? I know people want to see the MoC being responsible for everything he does, but come on. He’s a hunter. He’s supposed to go all crazy on monsters. Whats next? He eats a bacon cheeseburger and someone breathlessly says the MoC made him do it?
I actually agree with this (not the “was bookdal drunk” part, hoping that was a joke). Dean has always shown a propensity to enjoy the killing of the monsters. To paraphrase, when are beheadings not his thing?:) However I do think it was particularly sadistic in this episode and for that reason I am editing my comment to say that even though Dean has displayed a seeming enjoyment of beheadings in the past I do think he is being influenced by the MoC. This was brutal, even for Dean.
Yup. He’s always had fun killing monsters. I don’t think the MoC came into play in this ep.
I remember VampDean was the same badass level as this one. And that’s my fav badass Dean so far. VampDean was more powerful and he could hack on the whole nest without tiring because he had a vampire power. But really if we’re talking about daring, season 3 scene when he lured a vamp by cutting his own arm was also daring and reckless. Sam also cut through VampGordon with only a wire and Sam only went on ‘saving my brother’ instinct not any other super power. So, yay! baddass Sam.
sorry double post
sorry double post
I think you’re right. I remember Dean went badass when he was a vamp too. If we talk about daring, Dean cut his own arm to lure vampire in season 3. That’s pretty daring to me. And Sam managed to kill VampGordon with only a wire. So, yay badaas Sam. There’s nothing different on the level of badassness between this MoC Dean and the previous vamp killing by the brothers. Despite having had a Vamp bff, Dean enjoyed killing them, probably more than killing other monster. After John died he even kill a Vamp by a saw machine.
“Look at me bitch!” is just one phrase but it supposed to describe the Moc effect on Dean. I don’t know. I can imagine if that dialogue is used in previous season it won’t mean a thing other than depicting Dean’s usual badass way. One liners can’t represent an idea. Sam said Dean enjoyed it too much? Well, how about this, “Smells good don’t I? Taste even better.” (S3 Bloodlust) I think Dean will always, ALWAYS enjoy killing vampire no matter what. Maybe throw a different monster that Dean previously felt uncomfortable in killing… then… we’ll really see the true effect on Dean.
Soulless Sam didn’t really enjoy killing. He just did, no feeling at all. So, this MoC is not making Dean act like souless. He won’t be angsting in Mothers Little Helper if he’s souless. So, I’m still trying to grasp what the writers concept of the MoC effect on Dean. It’s still a vague idea and its not translated well on screen. It’s not making him souless, not making him take too much pleasure in killing monster since Dean’s always enjoyed it like previous seasons. What???
Dean will not go dark not in the true sense of the word they will never do a Sam to him they do not have the guts , they cannot even have him be honest where Sam’s possession and feelings are concerned he just come’s out with snidey remarks .
it’ll be interesting how dark they go with this. I remember reading an article a while back that Kripke’s original intent in S3 was to have Sam go completely dark side, with Dean saving him, but the writers strike happened so they had to rework things.
I think that Sam was supposed to have gone darkside and save Dean from hell. I think that season 4 was supposed to be Dean saving Sam’s soul. So the writers strike was a happy accident. I really do think they are going to go there. SPN hasn’t taken a big risky move since SS. It’s about time.
This episode was brilliant, brilliant! I think one of the article writers last week described Metatron’s writing as a play, but for me the writing in this episode was poetry. Every line and word was carefully selected to have more than one meaning, to remind us of something or someone else or past scenarios, to make us think differently about what we might have previously accepted. Or to make us think about the future. In one interpretation, Sam is Alec/Annie; wanting to be accepted, doing things and being someone family didn’t approve of, not wanting to stay in the family business, wanting him to change to be like them etc etc. In the other Dean is Alec/Annie; ready to become a monster, doing whatever is necessary for ‘family’, even killing, needing someone to talk him down (if he even wants to be talked down. He was reminded of this purity in Purgatory, that’s liberating.) Who will be the mother figure? Will it be a Jody type (who trusted) or a Redhead Vampire type (who pushed)? At the end of the episode Alec/Annie choose herself, not ‘family’. Is this another step towards Sam and Dean redefining family and focusing more on the importance of self?
I’m not even too pushed that Sam and Dean weren’t centre stage for the episode. All the secondary characters were parallels to Sam and Dean. Their story, their motivation, their formulative experiences were told to us, rand reminded us, through the words and actions of other characters. It’s still Sam and Dean’s story; identity, self, acceptance, loss, expectation, family, grief, sacrifice etc etc but when we see that same story happening to someone else, we often look at it differently. I think we often need to have a recap of who the characters inherently are before we move into the final stages because how we see the characters will influence how we see their actions.
Dean’s ‘I know, you wouldn’t have done the same thing’ (or that’s what it sounded like to me) shows just how much the MoC is also messing with Dean’s logic and beliefs and recollection. He’s misremembering what was said and acting (and justifying his actions) based on that. However, the MoC doesn’t create, it merely enhances. It didn’t make Dean violent; it just enhanced what was already there. It’s like the demon blood in that regard. The powers were always there, the blood is what Sam felt he needed to get them out. People keep saying that what Dean did isn’t exactly OCC, and it’s not. What he has done here, he has done before but very sporadically and only in exceptional circumstances, often when he couldn’t rein it in. Would Dean’s violence be this overt without the MoC? Probably not, and he certainly wouldn’t have taken as much pleasure from it. He wouldn’t have demanded that a vampire looked him in the eye while he beheaded him. (It raises the question as to what makes a monster? Is it killing or is it taking undue pleasure in it?) Like Sam, he’s used to keeping parts of himself locked up for fear of what will happen if it gets out. Like the demon blood, the MoC ‘freed’ the Dean he’s been locking away for a long time now. Maybe that’s the Dean who was created in hell, or when his father made the deal, or when he made his first kill etc. Or maybe it was always Dean.
If someone like Garth got given the MoC, would they react in the same way? I don’t believe so. So Dean misremembering something that he feels justifies his actions etc isn’t something that happened when he got the mark. We saw it again last season in Sacrifice when he faulted Sam for things that weren’t entirely his fault, including one thing that was solely Dean. Maybe that line (the girl in the tenth grade) was written for laughs, but I don’t think so. I mean, how many times much Dean have argued that situation with himself before he gradually came to believe it wasn’t his fault, it was someone elses fault. We often justify what we do by blaming someone else. It’s like a defence mechanism to help us cope. That’s not an attack on Dean, by the way. That’s just human psychology. For a long time Sam blamed what he did in season 4 on Ruby and the blood etc, but then he came to realise that it was him.
I would love beyond words to get some backstory on Cain and Abels relationship. I mean, it ties in with the above paragraph. Cain believed that Abel was going to fall under Lucifer’s spell. Perhaps he believed wrongly. Perhaps he misremembered situations that he then used to justify his actions.
Sam was all pretty tied up…… And he showed that his first thoughts are usually with the welfare of others, not himself That’s Sam all over.
Okay, the episode wasn’t all fab. I hate the use of the word ‘bitch’ in this context (to suggest weakness and demand submission). The phone being on silent. (God almighty, turn up the volume on your phone!) I really dislike Jody’s hair. I’m finding Dean’s increasingly deeper voice harder and harder to hear. (If he goes full on darkside then he’ll need someone beside him with subtitles.) Okay, the pacing of the season is ridiculous and I can’t remember what happened in most of it but I think the bulk of the storylines (this year and last years) won’t find true resolution until next season. I’ve dibs on Gadreel and Castiel working together to get heaven working (but Gadreel will die to do it thereby making him the hero and having Castiel reassess his poor opinion of him, and Sam curing a demon (Dean).
Excellent point about some more back story to Cain and Abel. After all, we’re going on what Cain has told us as fact; only he and Abel know what actually happened. And you’re right, we’ve had a few “perception” issues in S8/S9; one of the more obvious ones was when Dean thought he left Castiel behind in Purgatory when in fact Castiel chose to stay behind.
Hi, Tim! I love it when you comment. I’ve missed it. You make excellent points! I loved that you wrote about the parallels between A/A and Sam and then Dean. Thank you for making me think a lot more!
I think the mark is bring out Deans purgatory side which he enjoyed killing there because basically he could and he could enjoy it because no repercussions. And also the torture from hell side the way he was torturing Gadreel in the last eps. What threw me is the fact that out of the blue Sam is now telling Dean he enjoyed it to much really?? I mean to me as long he is killing monsters let him enjoy it. Its when an innocent person gets hurt I would be concerned. I think all that Dean has kept hidden is coming out finally. He tried to bury what he did in hell; and not sure he should have buried purgatory but sam wasn’t really intrested what he did there to survive. I also found it funny that as Dean is untying Sam how he made the comment “I know you wouldn’t have saved me” type thing I heard it wrong until someone posted it and I was like really he said that wow MOC is really affecting his way of looking at Sam. I mean either Dean will have to stop himself from doing harm to whomever when the mark goes into full effect or cas will get him out of it because if this is sam’s redemption saving dean not sure if they have not resolved their brotherly issue sam won’t be doing dean any favors I think cas will save dean. But I enjoyed your commentary of the eps also just adding two cents.
I think it goes back to before that, suebsg9. Dean enjoyed torturing souls in Hell and Alastair did make reference to how great a pupil he was. Prior to that we saw him go a bit over the top in some kills ie beheading a vampire with a saw etc. in this episode it wasn’t just that he should feel bad for the kill or whatnot but the fact that he wanted the vampire to look in his eyes while he killed him. That’s not about enjoying the job, that’s about power. Back in the day I argued that Dean getting enjoyment from torturing souls wasn’t hugely surprising. It was natural. After so long on the receiving end who could blame him for wanting to dish it out’? Who could blame him for wanting power when he was powerless for so long? Ditto for Sam. Demons ruined his life, they took everything from him so it’s not unnatural that he’d want to take everything from them. He wanted power because the power gave him control. I think the same applied for Cain and applies for Dean. However, power corrupts. Dean was rescued in time the last time round’. Will he be this time?
I believe Sam did ask Dean about Purgatory. Dean refused to talk about it, possibly to conceal Benny, or possibly because he didn’t particularly like the freedom he found in killing and so wanted to keep it from his brother.
I must be honest, I find the idea that Sam wouldn’t save his brother or ‘do him any favours’ because of what happened between them to be incomprehensible. I find the idea that Sam wouldn’t save anyone he could because of a personal issue to be incomprehensible! Jeez’, they’d have to rewrite more than 9 years to try and sell it’, as well as redefine Sam as a man! It might work for you but of all things I think well never see on the show, Sam not trying to save Dean because of their differences on an issue is one.
Now if all other options were exhausted I could see Sam killing Dean in order to save him, as Sam asked Dean to do in the early seasons. He didn’t, but would it have been better for Sam if he did? I think that’s the sort of bittersweet ending the show could give us.
Btw, apologies for the possible atrocious formatting, spelling and possibly nonsensical words. (It keeps bringing up Adam when I type Sam!) I’m on the ipad and it seems to not like this site!!
Cain made it pretty clear that whoever got the Mark had to be “worthy”, which was never really defined. I do suspect that someone like Garth would never be worthy of the Mark. I think that some amount of anger, resentment and violence are part of the “worthiness” of the Mark.
I really do like your view of this episode Tim. I think Sam having to cure a demon Dean would be fantastic. I have toyed with the idea that Dean will actually kill Sam, that the Cas/Metatron storyline will end with the logjam into heaven being broken. Sam will go to heaven, find peace and then sacrifice that to come back to life and save Dean. I’m hoping the end of last season on Sam being willing to die but living for Dean and the emphasis on Sam being willing to die will play out with Sam living for Dean again. For Sam living and giving up peace is far more of a sacrifice than dying for Dean, IMHO.
(If he goes full on darkside then he’ll need someone beside him with subtitles.):D
I enjoyed the episode, but agree 100% with the pacing problem the show has this season. I feel I would have loved it so much more had it been placed elsewhere in the lineup. Is anyone else getting tired of the same paralles being drawn in every non-arc episode? There always seems to be one character who wishes to leave their dangerous circumstances for a normal life (parallel!Sam) and another character who, with a variety of intentions schemes, tricks or forces said character to stay against their wishes (parallel!Dean). I long for the days when Sam and Dean’s relationship was not reduced to that already resolved cliche. We get it writers, no need to keep hammering that home. I also was quite taken aback by Sam’s little lecture at the end. His (non)reaction to the MofC has been baffling so far, but his surprise at Dean’s behavior now, seemed out of place. That said, I loved seeing not only Jody Mills in fine form, but also some other good performances by guest actors. Robert Berens knows how to write female character and that’s not always the case on our show. Again, if this episode had aired earlier in the season, I would have quite loved it. Thanks for your quick and funny recap Bookdal. Your thoughts are always appreciated!
This was an awesome episode… and I loved it! I’m so glad Jody Mills survived (what are the odds) and she is actually becoming quite a proficient hunter. By the way, you don’t have to go back to season 6 for the boys remembering the vampire cure; they used it is season 8’s Freaks and Geeks.
I would like to make a point that I think will put me in the minority, but I really don’t mind the pacing of this season. Also, this is a 3-year arc (by Jeremy Carver’s initial comments when he became showrunner) and I personally think threads throughout season 8 and 9 will come into play in season 10.
This show has successfully balanced myth-arc and standalones for 9 seasons. It isn’t about to change its formula now. If you look at the early seasons you’ll see that it was the same as this season.
In season 1 we had episode 18 Something Wicked and 19 Provenance (both standalones) before the final three where the boys were reunited with John.
In season 2 we had episode 18 Hollywood Babylon and 19 Folsom Prison Blues (both standalones) and you could possibly even include episode 20 What Is And What Should Never Be (which was a monster of the week, but also very relevant to the mytharc and the entire series) before the two-part finale.
In season 3 we had episode 13 Ghostfacers and 14 Long-Distance Call (both standalones) before the final two for that season (admittedly cut short due to the writer’s strike).
Season 4 and 5 are exceptions – and Eric Kripke did say that the combination of mytharc and standalone episodes fell together almost perfectly in season 4.
In season 6, episodes 18 and 19 did drive the myth-arc (Frontierland and Mommy Dearest) but they dealt with Eve, who ended up being the false ‘big bad’.
In season 7, we had episode 18 Party on Garth and episode 19 Of Grave Importance (both standalones) before the final 4 episodes.
In season 8, we had episode 18 Freaks and Geeks and episode 20 Pac-Man Fever (both standalones) before the final 3 episodes.
My point is that I keep hearing that people complaining about standalone episodes disrupting the flow of the mytharc. But only the other day I spoke to someone who’d stopped watching in season 5 because he missed the monster-of-the-week episodes. It is what it is… and I personally love the balance between myth-arc and standalone episodes… especially when we get more character development for a character like Jody.
Just my two cents worth 😀
KG SPN – You are totally correct! Every season has MOTW episodes this late in the season. I am so lucky I enjoy them as well as mytharc episodes. :p
I loved this episode! Even though it was kind of a standalone monster of the week and so late in the season. But it had an old school feel to it and it had kickass Jody in it and I loved the story. Annie is a great character, I hope we see her again.
Even though it was a standalone, it still tied to the overall story – I agree with Bookdal, the notion about choices and consequences was a big element of the episode. Jody’s comment to Annie in the police department (“You killed my brother” – “Because of a choice you made”) made me listen up – it seemed pretty important and set the tone for the rest of the story. And I love how we see the growing MoC influence on Dean. Sure, Dean always killed monsters with enthusiasm, but this was something different. Dean’s “Look at me. Look at me bitch!” when killing the vampire was pretty telling, in my opinion. (And personally, I thought that Dean’s snippy comment to Sam when he was untying him (“I know, you wouldn’t do the same for me”) was another sign of the Marks influence and Dean’s f**ed up headspace right now, ’cause I don’t think that Dean really believes that about his brother.)
Some random thoughts:
I found it kinda funny when the vampire asked Dean if he ever had a teenage sister, dragging her feet and criticising the life they lead. Was I the only one who thought about Sam there?
And I LOVED the fact that they cured Annie in the end, because I was on the edge of my seat from the moment she was turned. All I could think of was: Don’t feed! Don’t feed or they won’t be able to cure you!
All in all it was a good episode whith a gripping story, lots of action and great characters. Great job by all involved!
Great review Bookdal. Right down to the X-Files reference. I was watching a mini marathon of X-Files just before Supernatural came on. Thanks El Rey Network. You can watch almost any episode & see parallels to Supernatural. Then there’s the steady parade of Supernatural guest stars. Good Times 🙂
Thanks Bookdal!
I loved Bob Behrens nuanced characters, his dialogue and his great use of canon (Jody’s history, the vampire lore). Here’s my wish for next season: they give him a Sam-and-Dean-centric episode (I’m not sure if it’s sad or just plain weird that I’m asking for the stars of the show to be the focus of a story 😮 ) to write; maybe then the brothers will have a meaningful, in-depth conversation that doesn’t involve interruptions and incomplete sentences.
Behrens said on Twitter he “sucks at writing action” – maybe that’s why my only real quibble with the episode was the ease with which the brothers were captured.
The episode looked great in the hands of first-time SPN director Stefan Pleszczynski; he’s a keeper.
I’ll second (third, fourth…) concerns over season-long pacing and the placement of this episode. Had it appeared mid-season, I think everyone would have enjoyed it for what it was; a solid standalone–but this close to the end of this season it just seemed to reiterate what we already know re the MoC and offer little-to-no progression on the (many) outstanding mytharc threads.
Random thought: Given how spoiler-phobic the showrunners of SPN are, I’m surprised they released the photo used at the top of this piece (Dean pressing the blade to the vamp’s throat) before the episode aired. It was pretty easy to figure out what was going on in the photo and as a pivotal moment in the episode, you’d think that would be one they’d prefer to keep under wraps. Strange….
tim I think i’m in agreement with what you say. but as to the moc making dean misremember what sam said, I’m not sure that’s the case, although I do agree that the mark is causing dean skew his vision of a lifetime with sam. dean has a history of misinterpreting sam’s actions/words. I feel dean has always had a bit of selective hearing when it comes to sam. sam tells dean he wouldn’t save him in the exact same way had the situation been reversed, but all dean heard from sam was that he wouldn’t save him. I don’t think that had to do with the moc as much as it has to do with dean’s own issues. he’s done this in the past. in dsotm for example when he believed that sam was only happy when he ran away from him, instead of listening to sam when he told dean, he was a kid, and it was his first holiday with a family. a regular holiday like a regular kid. all those moments were when sam was a kid. sam told dean he didn’t think of it as dean did, running from him. for sam it was never that, it was running from the life and dad. but again, dean didn’t listen to sam. he did the same thing again in s8, when sam told him he thought he was dead and all dean heard was there was a girl and then there wasn’t. sam told dean he’d been driving aimlessly for months. he told him the girl had nothing to do with sam not hunting. but dean again never really listened to what sam was saying. again, stemming from his own issues of his own feelings towards himself.
I don’t feel the moc is causing dean to misremember what sam actually said. I just don’t think dean was really hearing what sam was saying due to his personal issues about how he sees himself. what I do think is that the moc is enhancing his inner darkness which I believe he’s always feared and is one of the reasons why having sam with him is so vital to him. not the only reason, but in part what sam said had basis and dean does fear being alone. I think dean is forgetting all the times sam has saved his life and all the times sam was willing to die in his stead. dean has always had this darkness in him, but has managed to keep it under control. he’s always kept his humanity and sam has a lot to do with that. they keep ea. other human. i think the moc is taking dean’s control away and the darkness within is taking over. the moc is actually not making dean stronger as sam thought the db did for him…it’s making him weaker and he’s succumbing to the darkness…..
but i don’t think the moc is stronger thnt his love for his brother. sam will reach out to dean. he will save him. sam is the light at the end of the tunnel. but it will be action that proves that to dean….i don’t think anything sam could say to dean will get through,even if he tried talking to him,……sam will show dean. i just can’t wait to see how ….
One of the better MOTW episodes in a very long time; solid work all around. Always great to see Sheriff Mills and vamp-mom and her band of merry vamps was creepy in the same way the family in the Benders was. No issues with the placement of this episode; they’ve done many MOTW episodes at this point in the season. However, like many others, not thrilled with the pacing of the mytharc, or lack thereof, in S9. Let’s get on with it already!
So it looks like the MoC gives Dean uber strength when he’s amped up and pissed off. And, given his snarky comment to Sam (“I know, you wouldn’t have done the same thing”), this continues Dean’s season long self loathing, self pity party arc. To borrow a phrase from Bobby in 4.22 Lucifer Rising, Dean sounds like a whiny brat. I didn’t find Sam voicing his concern about Dean’s actions jarring or out of place; he has subtly shown growing concern over the past couple of episodes and finally voiced those concerns this week.
I thought this’d was a great monster of the week episode. And Bookdal, you made me spit my morning coffee all over the table with your wittier panty line. Too funny!
Question. – during the recap segment at the beginning it sounds like. Dean’s voice talking about vampires. But I swear that is dialogue spoken by. John in Dead. Man’s Blood. Am I mis-remembering?
Anyway, loved the episode and look forward to a re- watch to catch some things mentioned in the review (black eyes) and in light of some of the double meanings pointed out by the review and Tim. Thanks everyone – great show and great site to share it.
Grace, I remember Dead Man’s Blood the same way you do! That used to be John’s voice. But I pretended (even the first time I saw it) that Dean was talking to Jodi to fill her in. oops bad grammar. you know what I mean…
I thought that Dean was kind of needling Sam when he said I know you wouldn’t do the same for me. If not it was an odd time to say it, after all Sam was just about dead. Add to that Sam has either saved of tried to save Dean’s life several times since the dreaded speech. I loved that Sam’s first coherent thought was for Jody. This is definitely a re-watchable episode for me. I agree with Tim this episode was full of parallels.
Loved the episode.
Would I have loved to see more of the Mytharcs? Of course, but then I would have missed this episode and that would have been a shame. Can’t have it all.
Oh, and it does seem like Dean’s eyes were black for a really short moment that I could make out. But it is a very short moment and it can also be the camera playing tricks with the lighting. Even in slower speed it is hard to see so good luck for anyone to do gif or take a snap shot. 😉
Dean, for whatever reason, has always shown a somewhat disturbing relish for beheading vampires. Rewatch the killing of the vamp in ‘Bloodlust’ when Dean uses a large saw and the scene when Dean was beheading a vamp on the back of the car in ‘Free to Be You and Me’. I do believe the mark is affecting Dean but they are going to have to show me more than Dean getting pleasure from killing a vampire to illustrate how far gone he is. I do think the MoC is tapping into that. I think that is one of the things about himself that Dean is most worried about, that at his core he is nothing more than a killer.
In both of those episodes Dean was dealing with emotional trauma, first with the death of his Dad (and the awful secret) and the other with separating from Sam. Dean’s coping mechanism seems to be violence. Right now it’s towards monsters but I fear for Sam. I think the MOC is just enhancing the disconnect that Dean is feeling with Sam. At some point I think it will take over completely and maybe even Sam won’t be able to bring him back. I think that is starting to dawn on Sam. This might be something he won’t be able to help Dean control.
my favorite vampire kill was when Sam beheaded Gordon with a razor wire. Good times….
Mine too. That whole scene was so well acted, directed and shot.
Sam beheading Gordon was FABULOUS!!! And the outtake where Jared just had to laugh during the shot. So great. My favorite too.
Ya gotta love this fandom. Discussing our favorite vamp kill/beheading!! Bye the way I agree.:D
I think the moment Sam wanted to be business partners at first it was hard for Dean and then the Mark has been making it easier and easier. The disconnect is already present. I mean Sam can voice concern but you have to wonder how Dean will take that concern from Sam. I am not sure they will be able to nip it in the butt the problem between them and if this is suppost to be sam walking in deans shoes and also saving dean I am not sure he will be able to do it. Unless because cas is following script and hopefully not dooming angels to follow to take down metatron and die trying. I would hope that cas would be there to help pull dean back if dean can’t fight it or sam can’t do it. I do think that the mark will go into season 10 be intrested if dean will go back and kill cain? if we will see cain in season 10? and you got to wonder who will live when dean holds the blade will crowley run hell or will abaddon be able to turn dean and have him kill corwley? so much to think about.
No way will Cas be the one to get through to Dean, if Sam cant then there is no hope for Dean at all and to tell you the truth if Sam cant save Dean from this then Dean will be heading into the rest of the series as a bad guy which completely changes the dynamics/concept of the show. While I dont care if Sam and Dean are together or even on the same side I dont think the show will suddenly have their hero/POV turn bad guy.
I agree Cheryl, he does use violence to cope. Well said.:)
I think that the brothers have bigger issues right now than the brother spat. As I said it looked like Dean was needling Sam a little. I think that Cas has got enough on his plate with restoring the angels to heaven. It has to be Sam or the whole season won’t make a lot of sense. Dean, Sam and Cas have separated almost the entire season it wouldn’t make a very good story for Cas to swoop in at the final moments to save Dean. Sam and Dean have barely been separated it wouldn’t make any sense if all of sudden Sam learned nothing and wasn’t the one to save his brother. It might not be this season (I see a horribly long summer ahead of me) but it does have to be Sam.
agreed… I think Dean’s MoC arc will ultimately tie in to a redemption arc for Sam, where he has to step up and save Dean.
Sam’s redemption from what?
Oh god does that mean we have a whole season of Dean redemption/ angsting next season?
😀 you’d have to check the season 9 Dean angst-ometer (the length of his beard).
Redemption from Sam’s perspective, letting his brother down all the time.
It will take Dean, Sam and Cas to open the stairway to heaven all the arcs are coming together. I think wild cards are going to be dean with the mark and gadreel unless Metatron has for seen that Gad will help out Cas, Dean and sam to try to obsolve him of some of the wrong he did or he can get dean to kill him so he doesn’t have to suffer anymore in prison. I always wonder if dean will come close to killing sam and stop and maybe do like cain and hide where no one can find him. Figure that sam and cas are better off without him and just not be found. Dean suffers with the mark and figures sam will not save him or look for him so he has nothing to worry about it will be up to sam to bring dean back. Of course will crowley make it out of the ending entact and running hell and what about abaddon and who will be running heaven metatron or cas?
I’m just surprised that no one jumped on the fact that Dean called Sam Sammy and Sam was playful back. Issues temporarily squashed. And Tim, after the first watch, I always put the captions on because I swore Dean was mumbling a lot, so it’s good to see someone else thinks the same thing. I needed the captions to see that he said you “wouldn’t” have done the same thing. It sounded like he said “would” at first and I was going to be annoyed because we already had that discussion. But I wasn’t hearing correctly – because he’s a low talker. Somebody call Seinfeld!
Loved the ep. This is what I call a quiet ep, which usually means I have to pay closer attention to what is being said (and turn on my captions). I could see parallels all over the place, but not in that really obvious way they did with the Ghostfacers. Can’t wait for my third watch tonight.
So glad I’m not the only one having trouble with Jensen’s mumbling, I have to watch the show with subtitles on just to understand what he’s saying sometimes.
Cain wants Dean to kill him. He said that Dean was worthy. We don’t know what he is worthy of. Is he worthy enough to take Cain’s place? If so what does that mean? Will that mean that Dean will become a demon like Cain? or does it mean that Dean will have the strength through the love of his brother to overcome the effects of the Mark. It took Cain’s love of Collette to break the hold of the Blade. Right now Dean thinks he got the Mark to kill Abbadon. I think that Cain meant something very different. And what does that mean for Sam? Will he sacrifice himself to save his brother? We know he would do that but will he kill his brother to save his soul. Cas told Sam to watch out for Dean. He knows that Dean did something really stupid. I think the reason he tasked Sam with watching out for his brother is because he decided at that moment to lead the angels back to heaven. Other than possibly Castiels story (and that is only if Misha is coming back next season) I don’t see any happy endings this season. It’s like Jensen said and VegasCon someone needs to open a window.
Dean could always sacrifice himself he thinks he deserves hell on earth for what he did to sam, cas, kevin and list goes on so he may want to end it all and have sam have his happily ever after if heaven is open and kevin can get there. cas running heaven. dean in hell and sam a men of letters. but make sure he takes some people with him like abaddon and crowley maybe on that list. i think dean would sacrifice himself before sam has to again.
That certainly wouldn’t sit well with Sam.
But cain pointed out to Dean that he keeps saving Sam and Dean may think Sam is better off without him in his life. I get this is wearing each others shoes. And Sam may have to face fact he maybe won’t be able to save Dean from this and let Dean go no matter what happens. Sam does not need to be Able in this story. Sam isn’t talking to Lucifer anymore. But Dean has to figure his life is worth nothing. Sam and him aren’t family. And sam might be safer without him in his life. So if Dean can be as powerful as Cain he be best to stay away from Sam so he won’t hurt him anymore. I get that the fight is going into S10 it probobly won’t be resolved until whatever happens with Dean and the mark. But Sam has to see if its as easy as he says not saving Dean and letting him go. Just thinking outside the box.
I think what Cain asked Dean is where is your brother now when Dean said he would never kill or abandon his brother. I don’t think it matters what Dean may think, unless it means that Dean is going to be worse off alive than dead (which is essentially what Sam said) Sam will save his brother up to and including sacrificing his own life. Or maybe it won’t be as easy a decision as he thinks. He isn’t going to make that mistake again. I don’t think the brother rift is what is going to last through the season finale ( I may be wrong) it is the ramifications of Dean taking on the MOC. That may take a while to resolve.
I think its pretty clear that for Dean to believe Sam loves him like he loves Sam/to get over his self worth issues that Sam is going to have to make a grand/showy gesture of love and either die to save Dean or do something reckless that Dean wouldn’t approve of which may result in the death of others. I think Sam is willing to die to save Dean but I dont think he’s willing to risk others to do it but then again i this season is heading towards another Dean is always right situation then Sam may have to just say screw it and risk other peoples live regardless.
I would hate that I know it will not happen but it would be nice for the writers to stand behind Sam for a change and support his justified view point. I do not think I can cope with Dean much longer let alone him being correct.
Sorry double post
I think you’re right. I remember Dean went badass when he was a vamp too. If we talk about daring, Dean cut his own arm to lure vampire in season 3. That’s pretty daring to me. And Sam managed to kill VampGordon with only a wire. So, yay badaas Sam. There’s nothing different on the level of badassness between this MoC Dean and the previous vamp killing by the brothers. Despite having had a Vamp bff, Dean enjoyed killing them, probably more than killing other monster. After John died he even kill a Vamp by a saw machine.
“Look at me bitch!” is just one phrase but it supposed to describe the Moc effect on Dean. I don’t know. I can imagine if that dialogue is used in previous season it won’t mean a thing other than depicting Dean’s usual badass way. One liners can’t represent an idea. Sam said Dean enjoyed it too much? Well, how about this, “Smells good don’t I? Taste even better.” (S3 Bloodlust) I think Dean will always, ALWAYS enjoy killing vampire no matter what. Maybe throw a different monster that Dean previously felt uncomfortable in killing… then… we’ll really see the true effect on Dean.
Soulless Sam didn’t really enjoy killing. He just did, no feeling at all. So, this MoC is not making Dean act like souless. He won’t be angsting in Mothers Little Helper if he’s souless. So, I’m still trying to grasp what the writers concept of the MoC effect on Dean. It’s still a vague idea and its not translated well on screen. It’s not making him souless, not making him take too much pleasure in killing monster since Dean’s always enjoyed it like previous seasons. What???
I think pinetree3 is right. I remember Dean went badass when he was a vamp too. If we talk about daring, Dean cut his own arm to lure vampire in season 3. That’s pretty daring to me. And Sam managed to kill VampGordon with only a wire. So, yay badaas Sam. There’s nothing different on the level of badassness between this MoC Dean and the previous vamp killing by the brothers. Despite having had a Vamp bff, Dean enjoyed killing them, probably more than killing other monster. After John died he even kill a Vamp by a saw machine.
“Look at me bitch!” is just one phrase but it supposed to describe the Moc effect on Dean. I don’t know. I can imagine if that dialogue is used in previous season it won’t mean a thing other than depicting Dean’s usual badass way. One liners can’t represent an idea. Sam said Dean enjoyed it too much? Well, how about this, “Smells good don’t I? Taste even better.” (S3 Bloodlust) I think Dean will always, ALWAYS enjoy killing vampire no matter what. Maybe throw a different monster that Dean previously felt uncomfortable in killing… then… we’ll really see the true effect on Dean.
Soulless Sam didn’t really enjoy killing. He just did, no feeling at all. So, this MoC is not making Dean act like souless. He won’t be angsting in Mothers Little Helper if he’s souless. So, I’m still trying to grasp what the writers concept of the MoC effect on Dean. It’s still a vague idea and its not translated well on screen. It’s not making him souless, not making him take too much pleasure in killing monster since Dean’s always enjoyed it like previous seasons. What???
No, I’ve rewatch and played it frame by frame. No, his eyes still normal. Not black.
Though I’d love to see Demon dean like in DaLDoM
I thought this was a really interesting and well written episode. I would have liked the guys to be in it more since it was so well written but I loved the space it gave to Jody and A4. I don’t at all see it as not moving the MoC storyline forward, I think it was just trying to outline some of the shows major themes by using characters in parallel.
However, and I know I am in a minority here since no one seems to really have a problem with it but Dean’s murder of the vampire was one of the nastiest things ever on the show. Not because something got killed but because of the attitude to it. It wasn’t a parallel to Sam and Gordon – because Sam was cornered into that and he was fighting for his life and he didn’t ‘enjoy’ it. Even years later when Dean commented approvingly on it Sam wasn’t happy with his reaction.
Dean was in charge in this instance and he could have killed the vampire quickly, but he didn’t, he forced him to look at him so he could enjoy doing it – he wanted to look into the eyes of someone he was killing and watch him die. Actually Dean, to answer your question I think you could call that a crime… it certainly isn’t healthy.
I am really amazed that the show is pushing Dean into being this dark of a character. I know it doesn’t seem much worse than the vampire kill in season 2 but it really is, since Dean was talked down from that ledge. How is the show going to bring Dean back from this? I mean if you feel that he “does this dang ol’ sexy thing where he says “Look at me, bitch” and twitter lost its panties en masse.” and that works for you then that is great, but it doesn’t work for me, and it wouldn’t if it were any of our other heroes either…
Here endeth my party-pooping, sorry.
I am not surprised that they are doing this at all, eilf. I think it is very calculated. Stripping Dean of sympathy and humanity. He has shown in the past he is very capable of enjoying killing things especially vampires. I think his actions this episode were meant to be shocking and disturbing. If you look at those earlier violent vamp killing scenes in Bloodlust and Free To Be You and Me, he was very close to the place he is in now, IMO, only this time ramped up a degree or two by the MoC to sadistic. His past actions were in times of emotional turmoil and stress. Not much different now, except he is slowly losing himself completely to the marks influence. I think Dean will get much darker before they are done. I think Sam will reach him eventually but it won’t be easy and there may be a high cost.
Or I could be completely off base on all of this, who knows? 🙂 I have way too much free time on my hands this week!
IDK there had better be an epic hug somewhere in our future.
Better episode than the previous one.I kind of hated the previous one after Dean sent Sam away.
I liked how Sam was not derailed by dean’s snide comments.
Jody did not die.So a plus point to the episode.
The utter disregard that Sam was a ‘tapped keg’..so not done.I am admiring Sam more and more as each episode.I would like Sam POV but this is somewhat OK.
But overall a better episode.
I liked this episode as well. It’s been a while since some one-off guest characters were written in a way that made me care about them. I liked A4 (ha! eilf), she was a very well constructed character, and so was Mamavamp. Mama’s monster monologuing at the end of the episode was so much more effective than the monster monologue from the Garth episode. And the character parallels here were so much less ham fisted and obvious than in the Ghostfacers episode. It’s amazing how the quality of the writing can take the viewer from dodging anvils in one episode to appreciating nuances in another. Congrats to Mr. Behren’s for a terrific script. And, yeah Jody! You just get more and more awesome every time we see you. I think that there is room for her in the bunker. She should just move in with the boys. I could actually see her as a full time character; I think that they could get her to fit in with very little difficulty at all. My one complaint in the episode was the lack of connection on a personal level between Jody and the boys, and with Sam in particular; it would have been nice for them to connect more, but that’s a trivial complaint in an otherwise excellently written episode, so I’ll let it go.
And I agree with eilf and Leah about how vicious Dean seemed when killing the vamp in this episode. Yes, we’ve seen him be tough before, but this kill seemed particularly brutal and he seemed to like doing it just a little too much. When Dean killed the vamp with the saw in season 2, it was brutal, but he didn’t relish that kill. This one, he clearly did. It gave me chills to see him act so cruel and then think nothing of it when Sam expressed his concerns. Ah, Dean, what’s happening to you?
And I agree with others here who feel that the PTB are setting up a Sam save. At least I hope that they are. It would be a long time coming if this actually ends up happening. My biggest concern though, is what will Sam have to do that Dean will acknowledge, especially now that he (once again) thinks so little of Sam? It’s no accident that we’ve heard the “Sam won’t sacrifice himself to save you” trope in two episodes in a row; last week it was reiterated by Gadreel who has inside knowledge into all of Sam’s ‘true’ thoughts, and again in this episode by Dean as a snarky side comment of the kind that he always uses against Sam when he’s unhappy with him. Dean may have told Gadreel that he understood what he was doing when he was using Sam’s words to goad Dean, but I feel that Dean’s aside to Sam when he was tied up is confirmation that he believes what Gadreel said to him; that Sam won’t save him and that Sam has always felt that Dean wasn’t worth saving. Selective hearing for sure, because that is not what Sam said or what he meant or how he feels. But Dean’s done that before, misinterpreting Sam’s words, so it’s not a stretch for him to do it again IMO. And yes, the MoC may be making Dean more susceptible to suggestion, more reactive and violent, but his current thought process is certainly nothing new. And as Leah and nappi have said on several occasions, Dean’s belief that Sam doesn’t love him probably has as much or even more to do with Dean than it does with Sam. And while I don’t disagree with that idea and while it does make me very sad for Dean, Sam is still the one who must suffer the consequences of Dean’s belief, and it is Sam who is left to try and fight against Dean’s beliefs to the point where he ends up sacrificing himself just to prove to Dean that he does indeed love him and would do anything for him. It happened in season 5 when Sam threw himself into the pit, and it almost happened again during the trials last season. Neither one of those past displays of brotherly love and devotion seemed to prove to Dean how much Sam loves him though, so I wonder what he’ll have to do this time? And will Dean believe it if Sam does either save Dean or sacrifice himself for Dean?
So, as much as it grates on my last nerve to have to hear Dean say these things to Sam and to see that Dean is right back to believing the worst about Sam just like in season 4 and 5 and 8, I think it’s being done very specifically in this case in order to set up the big save to come (I hope!). Ash48 brought up a really great point on another site about this whole situation. She believes that the brother conflict must continue in order for Sam’s save to be seen as truly selfless and for Dean to really see the love in it. If the brother’s mend their fences then the save won’t mean as much and Dean will still have room to doubt. But, if Dean fully expects Sam to let him go or to let him down and then Sam turns around and saves him or sacrifices himself, then he will have to see how all of his current perceptions about Sam (perceptions he’s been carrying around since returning from Purgatory and maybe even going back to season 4) are wrong. He’ have to see that not only does Sam truly love him, but that Dean himself might be worth enough as a person to merit being saved. I am so hopeful that this is the direction that the writers might actually go. I have been disappointed countless times before and may be again, but I have been waiting for something like this to play out since season 4. Maybe it will finally happen? What do you all think?
I certainly hope so E. I can’t imagine this could be going anywhere else. Those voices in Dean’s head that tell him he isn’t important to Sam and that he isn’t worth much beyond “taking care of Sam” are hard to shake. They are pretty ingrained. We all have those voices to one degree or another. I do agree that this conflict needs to build up until it seems insurmountable for Sam’s actions to have an impact. What I fear is that it will spill over into much of next season. While I enjoy a certain amount of angst as much as the next person (named E:)) I am very weary of Sam and Dean having such deep and serious issues. They will always butt heads, they are as opposite as two people can get but I want this to culminate in some kind of believable understanding of each other. The foundation of the show is their relationship and if it continues to crumble I just won’t enjoy it anymore. I do, however, note that the mutual devotion is shown consistently on the screen to us but it is not as apparent to each of them. *sigh* The MoC will derail the brother healing for now I think but will eventually lead to Sam being Dean’s lifeline IMO.
Ah yes… I loves me some angst!:D
Jared said it was all going to be ok…Jared said it was all going to be ok…
LOL. Everybody now, “Jared said it was all going…….
Good mantra Cheryl! Love ya.
🙂
Yay!! I can read the comments again. *Is happy*
Great episode, much better than last week’s. I didn’t enjoy last week’s episode as I am just so bored with angel storylines but “Alex Annie…” was highly entertaining. Loved seeing Jody back although I was a smidge disappointed that we had no scene with her and Sam, I do love their friendship and I’d been hoping for some Sam POV/insight possibly coming from them talking. But that quibble aside I thoroughly enjoyed it all especially the bit of Limp!Sam that we got, the poor boy looked ghastly, and Dean helping Sam down the stairs. Loved that we got a ‘Sammy’ from Dean too. Although Dean’s comment when he was untying Sam was like a knife to the heart. All those misperceptions of his are starting to fester badly deep in his heart and mind. 🙁 It does make me worry about how dark Dean is going to go and what might happen. I think Castiel’s words to Sam about keeping an eye on Dean were double-edged and that they also contained a warning for Sam to be careful, just like John’s ‘watch out for Sam’ way back in IMTOD.
LOL! That is an excellent mantra, Cheryl. I think that is going to be rattling through my brain on a loop the next few weeks. 🙂 I have everything crossed that the rift in the brothers’ relationship is mended as I don’t think I can take any more brotherly conflict.