Sofia’s Review: Supernatural 9.19, “Alex Annie Alexis Ann”
Anyone else feel like they just stepped into a time machine? “Alex Annie Alexis Ann” was the epitome of a classic episode of Supernatural. Not only did we have monster(s) of the week, but we had both Winchesters getting knocked out, Sam was tied to a chair, and Dean took joy in cutting the head off a vamp. It was all very reminiscent of “Bloodlust” all the way back in season two. Not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I love a good classic episode every now and then.
It was also a lot of fun to see Jody again. Every time she comes back, I’m worried this will be the episode where she gets killed. I mean, this is Supernatural after all. Thankfully, she dodged another bullet, or in this case a set of fangs, and was actually kind of a badass. Jody has always been a really strong character, she doesn’t need Sam and Dean to save her. In fact, she’s often the one saving their butts. This episode proved to be no different. When they entered the nest I wasn’t overly worried about their chances. It was three against four. Those are better odds than we’re used to.
But I quickly began to lose faith as they searched the nest and found no sign of life. Silence is never a good sign on this show. And sure enough, Dean, Sam and Jody were all taken out pretty quickly. Then, I got really worried. Sam and Dean find themselves in this situation a lot. But for me, the urgency is heightened when they have a third person to look out for. I know they would never kill Sam or Dean in this kind of an episode. (Not that they haven’t killed them loads of other times.) So while I was worried, it was more that I was worried about how Sam and Dean were going to get out rather than if they were going to get out. And I wasn’t entirely sure that they would be bringing Jody out alive. Thankfully, I was wrong. Jody switched into badass mode and pretty much saved the day.
We’ve known for a while now that Jody had a tragedy in her family, and it’s clear that the loss weighs heavy on her. It’s why she does what she does. And while she’s a hunter of sorts, she’s not nearly as immersed in the life as Sam and Dean. She only hunts the things that come into her path which means she still gets to live a somewhat normal life. I think this shred of normalcy is the thing that made her see the potential in Alex that Sam and Dean had written off completely. I don’t blame Sam and Dean, the facts were there. Alex had the potential to be extremely dangerous. But Sam and Dean couldn’t see that she was just a lost girl trying desperately not to disappoint her family. Jody saw it though, and she saw it with a mother’s eyes. And being the stubborn woman she is, she didn’t give up on Alex.
Loss has been a recurring theme on Supernatural since the pilot. Loss makes people do crazy things. Hell, it’s been the catalyst behind every hunter we’ve met so far. And we all know being a hunter is crazy! So it’s not strange to think that a vampire would feel the loss of a child so deeply that she would seek to fill that hole with someone else’s child. I mean, real-life people do this kind of thing every day. So while it wasn’t the twist I was expecting, it certainly made a lot of sense. And it made even more sense that Jody would have picked up on it.
Well, that was pretty much the episode. It was a lot of fun to watch but there wasn’t too much to pick apart. These monster of the week episodes often parallel Sam and Dean in some way, but this one really focused in on Jody which was an interesting change. The only real movement we got on any of the season story archs was that Dean is still in a strange and angry place and he’s still not ready to talk about it.
Now let me take a moment to freak out about next week’s episode. I have been waiting for this since I first caught wind of a Supernatural spin off. I am really crossing my fingers that it’s going to be successful because I love Supernatural and I love Chicago. Dear CW, please do not ruin these things for me!
So what did you all think of this episode? Are you a classic Supernatural fan? Do you wish the episode had focused a bit more on Sam and Dean? Are you bored of vampires? Sound off below!
There were a couple of moments worth mentioning.
So everyone has a super-remote family cabin, right?
Can we talk about how no one on this show turns on their damn ringer? Do you know how many times people have missed an important call on this show because their phone was on vibrate? Too many times.
Dean: “With hunting monsters comes harsh truths. This is a clean up mission. It’s not a rescue.”
Jody on motherhood: “It ain’t about forcing her to become you the second she becomes inconvenient.” Wise words!
Sam: “Dean.”
Dean: “Yeah, I know. You wouldn’t have done the same for me.”
I did get this quote right, didn’t I? I listened to it a couple of times and I am pretty sure Dean was being snarky.
Sam: “Nice work back there. ‘Look at me, bitch’?”
Dean: “Hey, you got another snappy one-liner, I’m all ears.”
Sam: “What I’m saying is, it looked to me like you were enjoying it. Maybe too much.”
Dean: “And? Sorry for not putting on the hair shirt. Killing things that need killing is kind of our job. Last I checked, taking pleasure in that’s not a crime.”
Fun fact: I had no idea what a hair shirt was so I had to look it up. Here is the definition:
noun
1. a shirt of haircloth, formerly worn by penitents and ascetics
adjective
1. austere and self-sacrificing.
Sam: “We were wrong about the girl.”
Jody: “No, you were right about me. My judgement was clouded. Working this case brought feelings back. Feelings I’ve been trying to bury for years. I buried it under work, religion, even dating. We know how that worked out. But, you know, it’s still there underneath. The grief. Don’t know what that means for me. Just that I’ve been fooling myself to think that I could ignore it.”
Sofia, I love your explanation of why Jody believed in Alex and why the brothers didn’t. The writers do a great job with Jody in my opinion, maternal & female without being too motherly or girly. I’m still waiting for the brothers to run across a couple of strong, female hunters in the style of Jody & live happily ever after 🙂
mary9930, We can always hope for a happy ending, right? Whether or not we get one is another story!
The Dean and Sam exchange about Dean enjoying killing the vamp (too much?) got me thinking a great deal. Are we supposed to be worried about Dean and the Marc of Cain? Or are we supposed to be going all “hell yeah!” when Dean kills? I can’t tell at all what we are supposed to be feeling/thinking. Based on reading opinions around the internet its part we should be worried but mostly Sam is being a buzzkill and Dean is simply doing the Job.
It would help if the writers had allowed Sam to interact with Jody….share concerns…thoughts…feelings. Get some advice. sam should be talking to SOMEONE. Cas…Jody…anyone. Dean when the shoes are revedrsed gets to talk to Bobby, benny, Castiel, Charlie or random bartenders and gets advice or a sounding board.
I liked Jody and Alexis’ interactions though it was hard to see Alexis as some distraughte, desperateate runaway with how artfully her make up was applied. She looked like she was ready for the runway. Love mamma. the actress…as well as the entire vamp family was supurb. They brought the scary &n dangerous back to vampires after SN was invaded by the twilight vampires. No sparkling here!!
Good question. So far I’ve been very torn about how to feel too. Bamf! Dean is one of my favorite versions of him. I just love to see him act that way. At the same time I’m being given the message that there’s something wrong with him, there’s a part of me yelling” go darker!”:D
I’m still not sure how I feel about this episodes though. It was okay ,I couldn’t find anything structurally wrong and I love Jodi (and her shorter and shorter hairdos. Next time we see her, will she just go Ripley on us?) but I’m not happy after watching it. Why am I not happy with it if there’s nothing wrong with the episode?
It was a good episode, thanks for the review Sofia. I think there is a fine line between bad-ass Dean and sadistic Dean. I think this line was crossed pretty clearly in this episode. I have never been comfortable with that aspect of Dean’s personality. I love this character very much but his occasional obvious joy in killing (especially vampires) always made me squirm a little. So this display, in this episode was disturbing. Not sexy, not to be admired. I realize the MoC is affecting Dean, that he is becoming what he has always feared he was, a cold killer. I worry that he is embracing it. The worse part is, it will only get worse.
Jody, what can I say? Love her. Her spunk, her bravery, her bad-assery, the way she has bonded with the brothers, especially Sam. But yeah, I hold my breath every time she comes on. I think the show has shell-shocked us.
Yes to that Leah. I don’t think we are supposed to be cheering this behavior in Dean. I think what the show and Jensen is trying to show is that Dean is losing his humanity. He wanted to see the fear in the vamps eyes, he wanted to watch him die. That is not the Dean I know. However when he saw that Sam was in trouble he dropped his knife immediately and after he killed the vamp his first thought was Sam not Jody. Little glimmers of hope that Sam will still be able to reach Dean.
For some reason I never feared for Jody. I don’t know why but I didn’t think they would go there.
Okay thanx for the perspective guys! I was a litle unclear how I was supposed to feel. I’ve been waffling back and forth with hoping he’d go darker and feeling deeply disturbed while watching him do it. Okay, I’m supposed to feel disturbed then and these are just action sequences. In other words contrast this fight with the one we saw In First Born, where I was actively cheering for him to win and this one where I wasn’t cheering for him but it wasn’t particularly bothering me either until he told the vampire to lok at him. That made me kind of perk up a bit as Ive never noticed Dean saying thingsl iek that before.
And your’e righ Cheryl: I never really feared for Jodi. I was more afraid for Sam being bled like that (but I have issues.)
Hi Ikeke35, I am kinda with you. We are used to pulling for our heroes yet sometimes they do things we are conflicted about and disturbed about. You are not alone. I wish I could stop being worried every time I see Jody but after Bobby, I know no one is safe.
I don’t think there is a particular “way you are supposed to feel.” People feel what they feel. Since I discovered online SPN fans, I have noticed a disturbing trend of fans checking online to see what everyone else is feeling and then trying to blend in! Or fans mentioning that they don’t think/feel what “everybody” else is thinking/feeling. There are ka-jillions of people thinking/feeling the same thing you are. They just aren’t commenting.
On the other hand, if a person is trying to figure out what an episode is trying to show us, then they should definitely go online, discuss and try to figure it out.
Feel whatever feelings you have, and own them!
PS: What I felt about BAMF!Dean saying, “Look at me,” was “Wow, he’s hot,” and [i]at the same time[/i] “YUCK and OMG.” I don’t mind my mixed feelings one bit. 😀 I own my mixed-up-ed-ness!
🙂 Hi l2b, love it. Your “mixed-up-ed-ness”. You go girl! I usually put my first impressions down in the speculation thread as soon as I finish watching. But sometimes after a little process time I feel differently. I would never change my basic impressions to “blend in” but often a review or someone’s comment might give me some angle I hadn’t considered. So basically I agree with you, you should feel what you feel. And be open to the insight of others if you are conflicted. I admit I have mixed feelings about this episode and Dean’s actions. It was so close to his usual behavior yet very upsettling in it’s differences. It doesn’t mean I love Dean less, I am aware of his dark side but this was ‘beyond’ and I attribute it to the mark taking advantage of this side of Dean.
Hi, l2b; I had mixed feelings too! It was sort of “ooooh” and “bleh” at the same time. But I think you are absolutely right. Feel your feels girls, feel ’em. I think you actually higlighted what the main problem is. It’s not the mixed feelings that are in question here, it’s what is the show trying to tell us about Dean and the MoC and his transformation into…. well…..whatever he’s transforming into. Where we are going with the whole MoC is still not clear so some people feel that Dean is just being his awesome BAMF self and others are a little squicked out by his level of ruthlessness. It’s all still pretty subtle. I am really hoping that this show has the cajones to go all the way into dark with Dean. TPTB have never had much trouble showing Sam making wrong choices or showing him in a completely unflattering light for the sake of the plot; but for some reason they have never gone there with Dean before. If the MoC is changing Dean, eroding his humanity, burning out his soul then lets see it! Lets see Dean go completely off the deep end, completely commit to his darker side and do awful things; turn on Sam, turn on Cas, become a loose canon wrecking havoc over the land, just like they did with season 4 Sam and SoullessSam. Make Sam really have to “save or kill him” for the betterment of all society like in season 4 when the plot was in reverse. I fear that the PTB will tip-toe around the Dark Dean concept to make sure that Dean doesn’t do anything TOO awful or TOO ruthless or end up looking TOO bad, which in turn will ruin the entire plot line IMO. For me the whole Gadreel possession was along those lines; Dean DIDN’T make a decision to override Sam’s consent, he was forced into it by circumstance in a way that make it impossible to blame him. Then sentiment was beefed up for Dean in bad boys, reminding us of how selfless he is and has always been, especially for Sam so that if he later does something bad, we won’t blame him as much. Sam was never given even half that consideration in season 4 while he was going down his dark path. If the current plot line is Dark Dean, then I want TPTB to actually go there….make Dean a true Big Bad, make Sam really be in the position to have to save him or kill him. We won’t end up hating Dean for the things that he does while under the influence of the MoC; he will feel terrible after, he will be desperate to atone, and we will forgive him, the same as we did for Sam. I just don’t want the writers to write a ‘well, he’s kinda bad, but not too bad’ wishy-washy half job. That’s the perfect way to destroy the momentum and the drama.
Hi E, maybe it is because I am Dean leaning but I always felt that Dean was often shown in an unflattering light since day one. He was often a jerk to Sam. He threw punches at Sam. He disregarded Sam’s feeling’s fairly often. He tortured in hell and LIKED it. He killed, and sometimes seemed to enjoy it a little too much. He has lied and gone behind Sam’s back. He is stubborn, hotheaded and prone to bouts of wallowing in self loathing and self pity. I won’t even get started on S8 🙂 He was soundly raked over the coals for taking away Sam’s agency at the start of this season (not undeservedly). His imperfections have been well documented. But I adore this character in spite of his shortcomings. He is awesome in a million ways but never portrayed as perfect. Even when Sam was drinking demon blood, I felt that what he was doing was not evil but trying to avenge Dean’s death by killing Lilith and exorcising demons in general, without killing the host. When he was soulless he wasn’t really ‘Sam’ but a guilt free/soulless version of Sam who did not come off evil at all to me just confident and unencumbered by emotions. Jared did a great job of portraying those versions of Sam. I don’t think it was the show showing Sam unsympathetically, I think it was the fans who interpreted things in a negative way. In S8 for example, Sam fans felt that the show screwed him over and Dean fans felt that his character was portrayed in a negative way. What can ya do? 🙂
So I agree E, they should not back away from letting Dean go completely dark. But not because I don’t think Dean has never been shown in an unflattering light but because it is the right way to go in the story and will be more effective when Sam reaches out to pull him back from the abyss <----------------I am sticking to that 🙂
Dean killing the vampire with “Look at me” so intense. Reminded me of Sam’s kill of Gordon with a chain and his bare hands. Is Dean’s soul compromised? Also like the line when Dean sees the vampire disposing of the human corpse and the hand is sticking out of the wood chipper.,”Need a hand?” just enough time for Sam to whack the vampire. Also like the line” How did you get stuck doing the dishes?” The vampire replies,”everyone has his role to play.” Now, how many times have we heard that one? Uriel, Gabriel, Metatron, Ezekial and how many times has a Winchester changed the role? Episode proves that the original format before angels still works.