Let’s Speculate: Supernatural 10.01 “Black”
Let’s Speculate: Season Premiere 10×1 “Black”
Written by Jeremy Carver
Directed by Robert Singer
Summary: The season nine finale ended with a demonized Dean, a desperate Sam, a dying Castiel, and a gleeful Crowley. The season ten premiere picks up with Sam torturing Dar. Sam seems desperate still. After Sam returns to the lonely bunker, we get a montage of him searching and missing Dean. He calls Castiel who we see in a cheap motel and he’s sick. They discuss Dean and possibilities. We cut to Dean having sex with a waitress and then Crowley interrupts. There’s an exchange of Jerk and Bitch to show us how far Dean has wandered away.
The episode then follows three threads. First, Sam’s search for Dean and the revelation that Dean is a demon, which leads to Sam confronting Crowley on the phone and then being captured by the new guy, Cole, who is connected to the demon Sam was torturing in the beginning. The second thread follows Demon Dean drinking and playing and Crowley trying to convince Dean to take his rightful place at the right hand of the King of Hell. Crowley brings up Sam and uses Sam to push Dean into making a choice. Dean propositions Anne Marie, the waitress, to run away with him and when she refuses (in what has to be the best intuitive decision of her life) Dean insults her and she leaves. The third story follows Castiel and Hannah as they track down rogue angels who want to stay human and have choice. The two angels, Daniel and Adina, are fugitives, basically. Hannah and Cas confront Daniel and then tangle with Adina.
The episode ends with the following set up for the threads. Dean refuses to bargain for Sam with Cole, showing us that he doesn’t care if Sam dies but he will kill Cole at some point, while Cas and Hannah continue their mission to bring the rogue angels back to heaven.
Mini-review: Yay for the premiere! We are back.
Questions to Ponder:
What do you think Demon Dean is going to do?
How is Cole connected to Dar and Dean?
Will Sam get another head injury and turn into mush?
What does Crowley want, really?
How will Cas get better? What will be the divine intervention?
Leave your thoughts and questions below and welcome back!
Crowley is delusional.
cas is dying.
dean is a monster.
sam is a righty:D
this premiere made hellutus so worth the wait.:)
I think demon dean will wreak havoc, more than Crowley can handle.
I think sam will lure dean back to the bunker. It looked in the preview for next week that sam and dean do come into contact and sam gets bested…it went so fast, did I see that correctly? anyway, sam with his hurt shoulder seems to be at a disadvantage, so I can see sam needing to deal with dean on their own turf.
angel stuff pretty boring, but I do enjoy cas.
Crowley is pitifully delusional right now…I don’t know who I feel more sorry for, him or sam:D
didn’t realize demon was connected to cole…just thought he went after sam because he knows sam is dean’s brother. guess he figures he could get dean by threatening sam….guess that plan went to crap:D
think sam will trap dean in soul survivor and save him in paper moon….and I think after the 200th ep the boys will have to face their own personal demons and conquer them once and for all….yes the healing will begin. 😉
jared was amazing…I adore him. Jensen did a super job as well.
I take it ….dean is supposed to be the “heartbreaker”?:D
really enjoyed this eppy…..so looking forward to the rest of this season. 😀
Wow! You did this so fast! Thanks for getting this up so fast! In my opinion, this is the best season premiere we have seen since season 4. The story set the table with all sorts of possibilities. The leads took the script and hit it out of the park. Dying for next week already.
As to your questions:
I do not think Dean is going to do anything to help Sam. Demon Dean does not care about him. I do think he is going to drive Crowley nuts – good.
I missed the connection between Cole and Dar completely. How did you know that? I did get the impression that Cole knows nothing about the supernatural and is going after Dean for killing someone close to him. Maybe someone Dean could not save in the early seasons?
Sam is smart – he will get out of the Cole mess.
Crowley wants Dean to help him control everything, not just hell.
Cas will get his grace back. I must confess the Cas story is the least interest to me from the premiere, but then ?I am always more interested in the Winchesters than the angel drama.
So happy our show is back!
I second (third?) the question about Cole and Dar. I was completely confused on that front. I need to watch this again–it all happened so fast I had a hard time processing. Everything was good, but I thought Sam’s slightly psychotic phone call to Crowley at the gas station was a stand out moment.
WooHoo!!! It was really good! J2 were AWESOME.
I missed the Cole connection too. Already time for a rewatch!
The scariest thing about this episode is Dean not caring about Sam. I’m tired and have to go to sleep but I just wanted to add that Jensen did a terrific portrayal of a new Dean. There was no trace of the former one at all.
I enjoyed that pretty well. Still not crazy about the direction they decided to go with DD. He just seemed, much of the time, like Dean PMS’ing.:) There were also times he was chilling, encouraging. However I am intrigued by all the threads we have going and am looking forward to the next episode. Crowley IS delusional. He and DD with triplets, I need to scrub that image out of my brain! All in all a good start to the season.
Oh and sorry, I missed the connection between Cole and the demon Sam was torturing also! ??
I do want to give kudos to all the actors for their performances. Even though I have some misgivings about the direction they went with DD, I do think Jensen’s performance was great. Sam’s desperation and frustration was wonderfully portrayed by Jared as well. He just looks so completely drained.
loved it. J2 were great, jared showed sam’s sadness and revenge pretty cool, specially with over and over saying “my brother” and when he said my brother’s dead… and I could have not imagine anything better than what Jensen’s new personality introduction and when he was talking to cool about Sam… Jensen’s cold and not caring face was enough to send the message “he’s not the Dean we knew”… he was just great…
also the the dialogs were great, specially crowley/dean and crowley/sam , although I would love that Dean punch crowley at the bar after favor bla bla…
angel stuff so boring, like a break to kill all the emotion and hard-breathing in the middle of the real show… but since I wanted to know about Cas too, I lived through that…
and of course crowley will help cas because hannah said “you need more grace”,that’s kinda obvious and Cas will go to the bunker and save Sam by stoping Dean’s attack and since cole has a wife and child and will survive until Ep 7, that’s the guess that Dean will not go atfer Sam and Sam has to find a way to scape by himself…
oh god, 7 days until next ep….
as about crowley’s goal, well I think it has to do s.th wit his humanity and what he read from the angel tablet and heaven and hell both… and it was interesting that he was feeding the mark so Dean would stay strong (or maybe wouldn’t do killing humans that would sharp hunters and etc or end up killing crowley himself)!!!
it’s a theory that since cain was first demon, maybe there is a way to purify all demons and sending them to heaven which is related to mark (humanized crowley would want that)…
Well I have to say Dean was all over the place in emotions. But his last scene with Ann Marie was so much better than the first. The things he said to her were horrible and nothing that Dean would ever say. Which set up the convo with Cole. He really doesn’t care about Sam but Cole just gave Dean another kill to focus on. By the end of the episode Dean was just about as cold and scary (even scarier because HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT SAM!) as any big bad demon we have ever seen. Sam is going to have to do some quick thinking to talk his way out of his situation. It looks like the beatings continue next week as well. I wasn’t expecting for Sam to discover that Dean was a demon so soon. Was he looking for demon signs to find more demons to interrogate? Or signs of Crowley? Why not just summon Crowley again? I am never sure about the summoning rules. Castiels story is a little slow and confusing. Cas sure didn’t put up much of a defense for the rogue angels. Having been recently human I thought he would have strongly empathized with there plight. So Crowley said he was feeding demons to Dean so he wouldn’t become a demon? Or did I hear that wrong. Why would Crowley need a companion to rule hell? He never needed one before. To get control of Abaddons followers? Without a leader (Dean maybe) shouldn’t they be disorganized? I actually loved this episode way more than I thought I would. Pleasantly relieved….
I think Crowley wrote note. I think dean is truly gone. Ther will lie crowleys problem. He thinks they are the same but no. Crowley is a demon addicted to humanity. Dean has no humanity. Crowley wants a friend. Dean will never be one. Crowley doesn’t need dean to help him run hell, he wants it..dean doesnt. Crowley confessed to wanting and needing someone to love..most likely unloved as a kid, thus unable to love his own. Look how he gloated to Sam. Crowley is delusional though, dean is incapable of giving Crowley what he now needs..friendship.
Funny how with all dean has done and will do, for me, I didn’t use the word monster to define him until I saw that he had no love for Sam. Screw humanity, how can dean not love sam..he is a monster:D I jest, but I think that’s what carver was telling us..that the dean Sam and us know and love is no more. He’s gone.:( fear not Sam will get him back.
As for Sam getting sucker punched, it makes sense. Firstly we got one of the best lines..secondly, Jared can’t use right side, so Sam can’t. Makes sense to illustrate that and remind us of the disadvantage Sam has. It could play into how dean ends up at bunker. I still think sam will lure him there to get dean on even playing field.
My question…with a garage full of awesome cars why is Sam driving that piece of crap:D
I think Crowley wrote note. I think dean is truly gone. Therein lies crowleys problem. He thinks they are the same but no. Crowley is a demon addicted to humanity. Dean has no humanity. Crowley wants a friend. Dean will never be one. Crowley doesn’t need dean to help him run hell, he wants it..dean doesnt. Crowley confessed to wanting and needing someone to love..most likely unloved as a kid, thus unable to love his own. Look how he gloated to Sam. Crowley is delusional though, dean is incapable of giving Crowley what he now needs..friendship.
Funny how with all dean has done and will do, for me, I didn’t use the word monster to define him until I saw that he had no love for Sam. Screw humanity, how can dean not love sam..he is a monster:D I jest, but I think that’s what carver was telling us..that the dean Sam and us know and love is no more. He’s gone.:( fear not Sam will get him back.
As for Sam getting sucker punched, it makes sense. Firstly we got one of the best lines..secondly, Jared can’t use right side, so Sam can’t. Makes sense to illustrate that and remind us of the disadvantage Sam has. It could play into how dean ends up at bunker. I still think sam will lure him there to get dean on even playing field.
My question…with a garage full of awesome cars why is Sam driving that piece of crap:D
Obviously Dean still has some humanity because he is still operating as a human and not a demon. He is boozing, brawling, banging, singing, playing, enjoying life on the road with his new brother. He can still be hurt… Cue Ann Marie break-up and skank comment. He is colder, harder, pretty much all about Dean for a change. He and Crowley are friends and for now Crowley has completely replaced Sam. Get used to it. Carver yelled the paradigm shift with the bitch/jerk exchange , with Crowley calling out Sam for not looking and hitting the dog, and by Dean not feeling that Sam was f’ing responsibility anymore. Oh and Sam is taking a page from Dean’s book for a change despite his monologue from the high horse he was on last season in the Purge. Dean doesn’t want Sam’s help but he’s going to get it. The thing is, it’s an ensemble now so it will be a group effort including Crowley (who obviously cares for Dean enough to try to preserve the vestiges of humanity left in him) and Castiel. We know that Crowley goes to Cas for help and I predict that the chance to save Dean again gives Castiel the reason to live and to restore his grace so he might restore Dean. They save each other because of that unbreakable profound bond.
Of course Sam will help and the fact that he has to do it without Dean to save him will restore something broken and his self respect.
By all accounts the brothers are back together fairly quickly. And by all accounts it is Sam that does the saving. Crowley has no love for Dean (hello Demon) he is using him too gain control of Hell. And yes Crowley knows just how to push Sam’s buttons. The B/J moment does show how far gone Dean is. Dean Winchester best friends with the King of Hell? Not my Dean. Even Crowley doesn’t really believe that. Even now he can’t control Dean. He is definitely in over his head. According to EK, JC, RS, JA, JP,MC and MS it is all about the brothers. They have all gone out of their way to reinforce that dynamic as the most important in the show. Not that the characters don’t have other allies and friendships but they aren’t the core of the show according to TPTB. If the show doesn’t focus on them then the show doesn’t work. No matter what their current conflict might be their bond is the profound one. Last season a great deal of screen time was devoted to Sam being able to break through the haze of the MOC to get to Dean. No one else could. I think that was important for saving Dean this season.
I can totally buy Sam being the one to make a connection. I think it will be a team effort. They are brothers. That doesn’t change. The point of this is to get them to a different place. This is season 10. The brothers individually and their relationship are never going to be the way they were. Sammy is going to get exactly what he wanted. Dean will never be all about him again. Thank you Carver.
I think you are underestimating Crowley and the writers. Dean is good friends with an angel, a vampire and a demon. Sam and fans should get used to the reality. The old paradigm is too restrictive for the actors and the writers. The point of all of this is character growth for everyone, not just Sam and to keep the world building and the plot opening up from here.
obviously this is just my opinion. Carver always tells us where the season goes in his premieres in terms of character arcs. He laid it out for four characters. Growth. Not regression or stagnation.
Totally agree Cheryl, I think it is vital that Sam be the driving force that saves Dean. Dean has always had friends and will continue to have friends but when they ever overshadow the relationship in any permanent way this show will be over for me and many others. Dean has lessons to learn about letting go and letting Sam be his own person but that shouldn’t alter the core relationship and love that these brothers have for each other.
Leah, did you miss the fact that Dean left the note that reads “SAMMY LET ME GO! ” and Sam is ignoring it?!!! This plot line is about everyone growing NOT fixing Dean to be a better companion for Sam. It is now a show about four characters.
Which makes my point. He still cares for Sam or why would he bother? Did you miss the fact that Dean is a demon? He won’t think and act like Dean would. It is about 4 characters but in spite of it being an ensemble the core relationship is Sam and Dean and if that changes it won’t be the same show.
ETA: Even if Crowley wrote that note that still, to me, doesn’t change the fact that Dean, not Demon Dean cares for his brother above all others and I think there may be a minuscule piece of Dean buried there somewhere in his demon body. And in that perhaps single cell he will still put Sam first.
Did you miss the “Sammy” part. That spoke volumes.
…..
Dean has been ”fixing” Sam for a while but I never quite thought of it to be a” better companion” so why would Sam fixing Dean be seen as that . Sam ignoring what Dean said is not really a argument anybody should be making after what happened with Sam’s possession and is not Sam doing what it takes something alot have wanted including Dean. I mean the irony of Dean asking Sam to let him go is not lost on me after season 8.
I agree with cheryl42 and Leah, The core of this show is the relationship of Sam and Dean, their life story in the midst of this supernatural world which traverses heaven, hell, purgatory and earth. All other characters have to be a PART of their story. I hope Sam keeps his word as set out in this first episode, save Dean and kill Crowley.
I am not exactly sure what you meant by “get used to it” but this situation is temporary and there is no way that Sam will ever be replaced in Dean’s affection by Crowley, Cas or any other being. Profound bound or not. Of that I am sure.
What I mean is the brotherly bond was dysfunctional and unnatural. Previous show runners have made fun of the epic love story of the brothers. I think Carver is a realist. Grown men and brothers can love each other and have other people in their life. In fact having other people is normal. I don’t think Carver is saying that it will be the way it was. What Carver sees as a brotherly relationship is more or less what he has shown us. Sam is a man now, as is dean. They’re not life mates or soul mates. They’re not in a relationship. They are brothers with really different world views and haven’t understood each other all of the time. I imagine that there might be understanding at the end of this and hopefully more tolerance and acceptance. But they are not lovers and not really very much alike. They are probably going to be spending healthy time apart as well as working cases together. Like real people do.
Obviously Dean likes hanging with Crowley and vice versa otherwise he wouldn’t. It’s pretty simple.
I can agree with some of this. “Dean” doesn’t like hanging with Crowley and I am not sure Demon Dean does either. I think atm they have a few things in common don’t you think? They are not going to be bosom buddies. Ever. Allies sometimes, maybe.
I am not actually sure that Dean’s actions last season to keep Sam alive supports your view. While I would be all for Sam to have a single character that is there for him at the moment one does not exist and as far as I know one is not being written in so in that sense it would not be of any benefit to Sam to be off by himself. I might not be in love with the brothers relationship but at the end of the day that is what will drive the story and the show and neither do I believe if Dean was not a ‘demon’ he would be running around with Crowley .
I am not a fan of Jeremy’s idea of what the brothers relationship is or should be to be honest esp after last season .
The brothers relationship has always been unhealthy for them and the planet. The decisions they make and the lengths that they will go to to save each other has almost always had disastrous consequences for everyone around them (Kevin). That is why we love them. The show wouldn’t be the same without that tangle in their relationship. Maybe Carver has a plan to get these two to the point where they quit making snap decisions (Trials, MOC) that jeopardizes everyone and everything including themselves but how boring would that show be.
i disagree. a demon is a soul that’s been twisted so much that it’s humanity burns away. thus the appearance as black smoke…but when the demon possesses a person, it’s still a demon. in the magnificent 7, Isaac died in a bar filled with demons who were boozing and drinking and bragging and enjoying their freedom from hell. the person they occupied was trapped inside, true…but it was the demon who was manipulating the body…look at ruby who went into coma girl and took over the vessel. didn’t make ruby any less a demon and she wasn’t human in the least. she just occupied a human body. every act she commited, saving dean, saving anna…it was all to manipulate sam so that Lucifer could be set free. demons might show loyalty to their lord and master, but no demon on this show has ever shown love for humanity or mercy. dean wasn’t hurt by ann marie…he didn’t get what he wanted from her….she realized the truth about him, not the demon part, but that he didn’t beat on her ex for her or her honor but because he wanted to beat the crap out of him…she realized dean was cruel and capable of hurting someone, really hurting them and she called him on it….he wasn’t hurt…he doesn’t care what she thinks. he called her a skank because that’s what this demon considers this human to be.
I highly doubt that dean is capable of friendship at this time either. I don’t think friendship is possible for a demon. dean isn’t only a demon, he’s a demon with the moc so it’s double worse….Crowley is going to end up with more than he can handle with dean. it’s why he goes to cas. dean doesn’t care what Crowley wants…he cares about nothing and no one.
i think sam wants to believe dean is merciful because in the promo he thinks dean could’ve killed and didn’t. i don’t think that’s about mercy…i think dean kills when the mood hits him and doesn’t when the mood hits him…but as long as sam believes it, i think it’ll benefit him…it’ll give him the strength not to give up on his brother. as for sam….dean will most likely try to kill him. sam is demon’s dean biggest threat. sam is the one person who can kill him. demon dean will want to kill sam as a means of survival, not unlike soulless sam’s willingness to kill bobby so that they couldn’t put his soul back. soulless sam was willing to do what was necessary to survive..i think it’s the same for demon dean.
as for Crowley …i don’ t think he’s trying to preserve anything in dean, because there is no humanity in dean. he’s a demon. demons don’t have humanity….the only reason Crowley does is because a certain Moose got him addicted to human blood. unfortunately now that Crowley is tainted with humanity , he has feelings that he never had before, including the desire to be needed/loved and jealousy. if Crowley were to miraculously loose his humanity and dean went back to being dean again….dean and Crowley certainly wouldn’t be friends. ……but i don’t think Crowley can lose the humanity he’s been tainted with and i think he’ll remain a demon with traces of humanity….will dean still be friends with Crowley when he returns to normal? given that Crowley knew what would happen to dean and led him to cain and the moc in the first place…i doubt they’ll be on the same bowling team.:D
i don’t think cas will have his grace this soon. it won’t be cas who saves dean. i was kind of under the impression that Claire might have something to do with cas getting his grace back…it certainly seems from the interviews that cas dying will be a longer story line than demon dean’s storyline.
i agree with you Cheryl;)
i disagree. a demon is a soul that’s been twisted so much that it’s humanity burns away. thus the appearance as black smoke…but when the demon possesses a person, it’s still a demon. in the magnificent 7, Isaac died in a bar filled with demons who were boozing and drinking and bragging and enjoying their freedom from hell. the person they occupied was trapped inside, true…but it was the demon who was manipulating the body…look at ruby who went into coma girl and took over the vessel. didn’t make ruby any less a demon and she wasn’t human in the least. she just occupied a human body. every act she commited, saving dean, saving anna…it was all to manipulate sam so that Lucifer could be set free. demons might show loyalty to their lord and master, but no demon on this show has ever shown love for humanity or mercy. dean wasn’t hurt by ann marie…he didn’t get what he wanted from her….she realized the truth about him, not the demon part, but that he didn’t beat on her ex for her or her honor but because he wanted to beat the crap out of him…she realized dean was cruel and capable of hurting someone, really hurting them and she called him on it….he wasn’t hurt…he doesn’t care what she thinks. he called her a skank because that’s what this demon considers this human to be.
I highly doubt that dean is capable of friendship at this time either. I don’t think friendship is possible for a demon. dean isn’t only a demon, he’s a demon with the moc so it’s double worse….Crowley is going to end up with more than he can handle with dean. it’s why he goes to cas. dean doesn’t care what Crowley wants…he cares about nothing and no one.
i think sam wants to believe dean is merciful because in the promo he thinks dean could’ve killed and didn’t. i don’t think that’s about mercy…i think dean kills when the mood hits him and doesn’t when the mood hits him…but as long as sam believes it, i think it’ll benefit him…it’ll give him the strength not to give up on his brother. as for sam….dean will most likely try to kill him. sam is demon’s dean biggest threat. sam is the one person who can kill him. demon dean will want to kill sam as a means of survival, not unlike soulless sam’s willingness to kill bobby so that they couldn’t put his soul back. soulless sam was willing to do what was necessary to survive..i think it’s the same for demon dean.
as for Crowley …i don’ t think he’s trying to preserve anything in dean, because there is no humanity in dean. he’s a demon. demons don’t have humanity….the only reason Crowley does is because a certain Moose got him addicted to human blood. unfortunately now that Crowley is tainted with humanity , he has feelings that he never had before, including the desire to be needed/loved and jealousy. if Crowley were to miraculously loose his humanity and dean went back to being dean again….dean and Crowley certainly wouldn’t be friends. ……but i don’t think Crowley can lose the humanity he’s been tainted with and i think he’ll remain a demon with traces of humanity….will dean still be friends with Crowley when he returns to normal? given that Crowley knew what would happen to dean and led him to cain and the moc in the first place…i doubt they’ll be on the same bowling team.:D
i don’t think cas will have his grace this soon. it won’t be cas who saves dean. i was kind of under the impression that Claire might have something to do with cas getting his grace back…it certainly seems from the interviews that cas dying will be a longer story line than demon dean’s storyline.
i agree with you Cheryl;)
except i don’t think dean wrote the note. Crowley knows that dean calls sam “Sammy”. i think, now that Crowley has humanity, i think he was writing what he thought dean would say….not unlike how gad knew what to say to sam to get him to say yes. sorry, i know you and leah believe that there’s still a trace of humanity in there that only sam can draw out….but i don’t think so. i think demon dean sees sam as nothing more than a threat to his existence and he has to go. i do think that the power of love will save dean…but i think that love will come from sam…despite the fact that he can’t reach dean…he won’t give up and he will succeed….and i think that will be very important for when dean becomes dean again. 😉 that’s just my thinking of course;)
sorry for double post…i posted from ipad.
Hey nappi, I don’t disagree with anything here. In fact the note may have been written by Crowley. I guess my point is that Demon Dean is not Dean. He would not hang with Crowley and carouse and he is not an example of Dean having character growth and that hanging with Crowley is not “Dean” choosing to have some fun with his new best bud.:D The implication was that Dean wanted all this and this is now the going to be the new direction of the show and we should get used to it. So yeah I agree that there are few vestiges of Dean left in DD and he is all about self preservation. I also wanted to make the point that when Dean does come back, he will still place Sam above all in importance no matter what. The only reason I believe Dean is still there waaaaaay down inside is that Jeremy C alluded to that a bit in the interviews but also said it was all open to interpretation. So who knows?:p
I agree that demon dean is not dean as well. the way I see, Jensen has to play dean as a demon…so he has to maintain dean’s habits and attitude. but he’s a demon.. his soul is “black”. there is no light. he doesn’t love and doesn’t care. Jensen needs to convince us that the old dean is gone, but yet he’s still dean Winchester per se. it’s not an easy task, but I think Jensen is doing a fine job. I really find demon dean quite similar to soulless sam in some ways. 😀
I watched again and noticed some stuff that I wondered about….maybe you’ve noticed as well and have some speculations?
1. first off, I didn’t even notice sam’s haircut until he was talking to the kid at the store and the camera was on the back of his head:D
2. why would Hannah feel awkward at seeing a naked human? I mean after all, we started out without clothes didn’t we?:p
3. is cole a human? he’s married and has a kid so he seems to be a family man. but his wife got all upset when she asked…is it him? now is dean responsible for the death of cole’s child ? I mean if he’s not a human then it could be reasonable to presume dean hunted them and killed someone they both loved…or
was she just upset that they found dean, the man responsible for her husband being perhaps obsessed all these years?
cole mentioned he had a brother…could he be who dean killed? cole also said that dean was a monster many moons ago and now he’s the prey…
4. who sent cole the fax? was it Crowley? did he do it because he knew sam would be trying to find them and on the phone Crowley admitted to staying on with sam too long, knowing he would head to the black spur…did he do it so cole would go after sam? did he do it for the same reason he sends demons? did he do it at all?
5. does sam look out of sorts to you? kind of like he did when he started the trials? that unhealthy glow? I know he got skinny from his injury and lost all his muscle…but the suit he was wearing, he was swimming in it.. he looked like a 5yr old trying on his dad’s suit. do you think it intentional? that he was given a large suit jacket on purpose to make sam look small? thin? do you think that sam could possibly have done something to himself on this quest to find dean? cas said something to sam….he said that he couldn’t be blamed for what happened to sam’s shoulder…then he said…sam you were out…..then sam interrupts….what was cas going to say? sam you were out of control? you were out of your league? you were out of your mind?
5. one more thing, who is Dar? I watched the entire episode up close on the computer and there is no mention of anyone with that name?:p
Oooh some good questions and I was just trying to go to bed but I can’t resist!:)
1. Didn’t notice!
2. I thought that was odd too. Most angels seem uninterested in anything carnal and how many millennia have they been observing us so why the embarrassment?
3. Puzzling for sure. I thought he might be a supernatural trying to live straight as it were but Cheryl says it was made clear that he is unaware of the supernatural. It is obvious that it is painful for Cole and maybe (?) by extension his wife (or partner). Cole, if a hunter, would probably have brought more than guns along. He didn’t SEEM prepared for running into any supernatural beings.
4. That ones got me stumped.
5. Oh yes! He looks SO drained and unhealthy I am so sad for him. It may be partly Jared’s recuperating from a painful injury and surgery but he looks beat to hell. Plus some sterling acting. As for the Cas convo I am sure there is a lot more to that, Sam is definitely driven and focused as he was in in MS so who know what he might have done or in what crazy frame of mind he was in.
5. Yes there were two fives.:D I very carefully worded my comment so I didn’t use that name because I missed that too, I thought it was just me. But several posters have used that name so beats me!;)
I was wondering what you meant by two fives….:D sorry it was late when I started pondering these questions….I meant 6…:D;) thanks for your opinion though….it’s the little things I usually try to catch on rewatch, which is why I watch a second time on the computer.
I would think that is Dean’s hand writing. I’m sure by now Sam would recognize it. But you could be right that Crowley might have written it.
if dean wrote it, then i’d bet you a steak dinner that Crowley told him to write the letter, why to write the letter and how to write it…..
again, that’s just my gut feeling;)
What exactly are we going to have to get used to? Dean is going to be cured of being a demon and go back to hating Crowley and being Sam’s brother just like always by episode four. Nothing much to get used to really.
😀 I had that same thought about the car. Come on Sam pick out a cool car.
…..
He wrote it with his hand, but I still think Crowley told him to leave the note and how to write it….doesn’t really matter though…I don’t think the Sammy signifies anything here….by definition, dean is a demon and incapable of loving, caring or feeling sentimental….it’s no longer in his nature to be able to do so…I think that’s easily forgotten because Crowley now has traces of humanity so he has feelings he’s never been capable of having before. Sam is deans biggest threat. Sam is truly the only one with the know how and capability to kill him. It’s a game of survival for demon dean and he knows it…it’s a case of him or Sam and he will try to kill sam. I don’t think he has some deep hidden love buried, he’s not capable of it. SAMs love will save dean yes. He won’t give up. SAMs love will trump demon deans evil. It won’t be til dean is saved that he will be able to once again express his love and appreciation for Sam.;)
Nappi, do you see Dean as vastly different from Cain? You mentioned that you don’t think Dean is capable of loving, caring or feeling sentimental. But Cain loved Collette & even agreed to stop killing for her. I wonder if the mark of Cain makes you a different kind of demon. I don’t know the answer but I tend to think there’s still some kind of humanity in Dean just like in Cain.
Cole is not related to Dar. He’s looking for Dean because of some unknown backstory. The flask is key I suspect.
I wouldn’t say Crowley was gleeful. I think he was profoundly changed by the cure much as Dean was changed by the mark. They both are a mix of human and demon. Crowley wanted Abaddon dead and he wanted to be shotgun beside Dean. The first goal was about survival and the later was influenced by his humanity. He wanted a friend. He wanted Dean as his BFF. For me Crowley and Dean were the characters to watch last season and tonight. Their stories are paralleled. Sam is paralleled with Cole for now. They are opposites. Cole has planned his life methodically to achieve revenge yet I doubt he will resort to torturing Sam to get a leg up. He’s laser focused on Dean.
I can see the hype about Sam possibly going darker than Dean. Dean always said that Sam kept him human but I think it was the other way around. Sam has lost his humanity.
Yes according to previous information on Cole he has no knowledge of the Supernatural. I would guess Dean killed someone he cared about because that person had turned into some sort of monster. Some of the promo pics show Cole doing more damage to Sam but he clearly doesn’t get too carried away. He wants to kill Dean not Sam. Just watched it again other than the angel parts it was a good beginning to the season.
That’s what I assumed until I saw the flask with the cross. What’s clear is that he blames Dean for someone’s death.
That was Sam’s bag.
Oh. Ha. I will have to rewatch. Thanks for the heads up. That makes the character a bit less interesting. The missing link is probably skin or the bank robbery episode (brain glitch about the title). Those are the two where Dean would be prominently blamed.
I got the feeling that it was maybe when Sam was in college. Sam didn’t seem to know Cole.
…..
I forgot to mention that I understood Crowley to be feeding the mark to prevent Dean from becoming even more demonic and dark. Call it part self preservation and part protective of his fan.
Fan should be friend. Oops.
Sam has lost his humanity? Your’re joking, right? I have to take exception to this comment. A demon is not human. Sam is. He didn’t lose his humanity in season 4 and hasn’t now. What are you basing this on?
…..
Okay, I was confused by the DAR comment too. I didn’t think Cole was connected to the demon either. And I’m curious as to who sent him the picture of Dean.
I have to admit that while I loved Sam and his intensity, I’m a little on the fence about Dean. Jared really nailed Sam’s anxiety and anger and fear so well. But I’m a little confused by Demon Dean. Crowley was feeding him demons to keep from actually becoming a demon? Or something? And as much as I think Jensen did a good job, I’m not sure how I feel about DD’s idea of fun is to stay in one place, sing karaoke and hook up with one waitress.
And I have to admit that I got really pissed that poor Sam is paying for something that Dean did, intentionally or not (we don’t know yet), and that Dean’s not around to care. I know that’s the purpose, but I surprised myself at how infuriated I got when Cole had Sam.
So many threads to clear up…..
I really liked this opening. It was understated as opposed to some of the previous ones: no one was saved and nothing calamitous was saved, but it did a great job setting the tone and setting up new story lines going forward. I think there were tiny traces of Dean, first, the note to Sam (although Crowley definitely could have written it, and likely did), but if it was Dean, then he used Sammy; two, when he noticed the girl being accosted while playing foosball, there is a hint of Dean (only a hint) as he goes after the guy, third, he only kills those trying to kill him, the guy at the gas-n-sip, and the guy that ambushed him, but the guy at the gas-n-sip who was doing his job, he left alone and he didn’t kill the guy at the roadhouse.
I too think Jensen did a terrific job, and he also is right, what’s scarier than a guy who just doesn’t care, doesn’t care about having a mission in life — saving people, hunting things, the family business, but chooses to drink, sing and play darts all day and night; and the fact that he doesn’t care about Sam, but obviously will kill the guy who kidnapped him is interesting. Does Dean remember Cole, or is he just angry that the guy bothered him and tried to threaten him and thus will kill him just on that principle? Don’t know. I like the mystery there.
As for Sam, I love this Sam. I love Sam who is committed and relentless in his pursuit. He’s piecing together the tiny threads and reaching out to whatever contacts he has in his relentless pursuit. It’s a callback to earlier seasons, not only of John and his relentless pursuit of the yellow-eyed demon, but also Sam in his pursuit to find the thing that killed Jessica.
IF, huge IF, they stay true to what Jeremy Carver has been saying in his recent interviews, a more personal story line into each character and a drawing of lines and the realization that I am what/who I am, then for me, this will be a great season. I enjoy the characters discovering aspects of themselves and then reconciling to that, either adapting to be different (when Dean realized that everything they hunted might not have been bad in Bloodlust) or accepting that their lives are strange, i.e. Sam’s commitment to hunt in Season 2 after dad died.
Also, while DD might not be around that long, the Mark will persist. That is something J&J purportedly said the brothers would deal with together. Cool! (I say purportedly because I got that from someone’s recent con report and I couldn’t find video of it to confirm. I think it was in a M&G and thus only typed up general notes afterwards.
I liked it, and thought Pat Benatar and Heartbreaker and interesting, and good, choice for the opening. Different than I expected, but the lyrics fit anyway.
Accepting that I’m in the minority, I don’t think that Dean cares nothing about Sam. As elle2 mentioned, he called him Sammy in the note. That may seem trivial but even the message “Let me go” acknowledges their relationship. If he didn’t care, Dean would say something like “I’m done” or “It’s over.” For me Dean is acting like he was at the end of last season where he seems more connected to the blade than Sam. Sam is probably WAY down the list but I don’t believe Dean doesn’t care at all about Sam. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t kill Sam if he got in Dean’s way and Sam has his job cut out for him to get through to Dean on any level.
I found Crowley’s line about not turning Dean into a demon far and away the most interesting part of the episode. It makes me wonder ….
Hi mary9930, I agree with you in your assessment of DD’s feelings about Sam. The note, the ‘Sammy’. If he didn’t care something for him he would have just up and left. Or slit his throat and left. Dean isn’t completely gone.
…..
IS DEAN A DEMON OR NOT? In the interviews, Carver and Ackles state Dean as a person is gone and Dean IS a Demon. But in the show itself, the script, , it was clearly stated that the MOC must be fed or Dean will become a Demon. This is seriously confusing. Audience should not have to go to interviews to understand the show. I do not know what they are doing. It is off to an ambiguous start. Maybe writers are backing off the whole Dean IS a demon. But after much thought, which I should not have to do as a viewer, I think they are simply trying to tell the audience that Dean can be saved that he is a demon but the MOC is keeping Dean from becoming permanently and irreversibly a Demon.
DOES DEMON DEAN HAVE ANY TRACE OF HUMANITY? I would like to read the views of others on this question. Again off to an ambiguous start. Interviews by Carver and Ackles say no. Did Dean in the note addressing his brother as Sammy, do so as rote habit or does it really signify the vestige of the brother relationship? Whatever it is, I think the site of the name Sammy was used to give the audience hope (cause us to yearn for the good old days) and as a clue that Dean can be saved.
WILL SAM PREVAIL IN SAVING DEAN? IF I may I would like to do something more than speculate. My hope is that Sam keeps his word. I hope Sam will save Dean and kill Crowley. Sorry Crowley fans, but he needs to die for what he did to Dean- the grand manipulation (Ruby died) and every other heinous act of evil he committed- like killing Sarah, manipulating Castiel, trying to keep Bobby’s soul and sending him to hell, and plunging Dean & Castiel into purgatory. Aside, I absolutely love Jared’s portrayal of Sam this season. Jared made me believe that Sam is tortured, driven, and desperate. WOW!!!
WILL CASTIEL BECOME HUMAN OR REMAIN AN ANGEL? The question has been set up. Castiel listens to and completely understands the angel who wants to remain human but kills him anyway… a sign of his angel soldier mentality? I cannot predict because quite frankly I do not know if the show runner has even made a decision on that one yet. But, Castiel’s struggle has been real and interesting.
IS THIS REALLY GOING TO BE A FOUR MAN ENSEMBLE CAST? I hope not. This is Sam and Dean’s story, period. All other characters have to be a part of the brother’s story. IMO Castiel has blended well in the fabric of their lives. For reason’s stated above Crowley has to be destroyed.
1) It’s possible if Dean goes darker he will be a direct threat to Crowley’s leadership and not so BFF with him.
2) I think Crowley could have written that note and used “Sammy” because that’s what Dean affectionately calls him.
3) It looks like DD is looking for an excuse to fight which is why he beat up Ann Marie’s boyfriend. As she said, there is something else going on.
4) I also agree that Dean must have killed a demon who possessed a loved one of Cole’s
It makes me laugh that the (presumably) auto-generated ad I get on this webpage is ‘Become a Lord or Lady with Highland titles’. Someone is targeting Crowley I think.
I have a thought about the second episode being ‘Reichenbach’: what happened in The Final Problem wasn’t just that Sherlock Holmes encountered Moriarty, but that Watson thought Holmes had perished, only to find out that he had faked his death and came back, much to Watson’s surprise, a few years later. Is there going to be a connection along those lines – is someone – Dean? Crowley? – playing a trick on Sam and/or on the viewers with whatever happens?
I like Jensen and the writers’ choices about Demon!Dean are good. To some extent the show has always given us Dean the unreconstructed id to Sam’s super-ego so it’s not as if Dean has far to go in terms of being the ‘I don’t care, I’ll let it all hang out’ guy – what’s changed is that he has stopped being the instintively good-hearted guy who has a compulsion to help or try to make other people feel better. Just compare the much-maligned ‘those were the good dreams’ to Susie last season with calling Ann-Marie a ‘skank’.
I’ve always liked the show playing with characters and again it’s given us those twists almost from the start with the switch from Sam as the normal conformist and Dean the rebel to Dean desperate for parental approval and Sam with strange powers. So ‘which of these two is [i]really[/i] the darker, the one who became a demon or the one who stayed human?’ is what I watch for. Even if I would also watch ‘the reason why Demon!Dean is chasing Sam through the bunker in episode 3 is because he’s discovered that Sam hasn’t been keeping the place neat and tidy and has been throwing chewing gum wrappers on the floor.’
I liked the episode but, like some others, wish there could’ve been more action. But it does set up some pretty interesting potential storylines — I’m especially curious about who (or what?) Cole is, and why he’s after the brothers.
Meanwhile, I’m surprised nobody has commented on the new title card. I really like it. Any thoughts on what it could represent?
Wrote this last night after the show & I’m posting it un-edited now that our computer connection is back up despite it’s probable irrelevance in the discussion at this point:
I’m not sure what Demon Dean is going to do, but I’m pretty sure that being Crowley’s bitch is not on his “post-bucket” list. I really enjoyed Sam’s “back to the brotherhood” determination. Not gonna lie-the back end of S9 got tough with all the Sam on Dean rejection. It was refreshing to see a goal-oriented Sam. It seemed like he lost a lot of his ambivalence toward Dean and returned to that bond. In all honesty I saw an anger in him that I thought we’d see in Demon Dean. I had expected to see more senseless violence from Demon Dean as a result of the Mark and more recreational cruelty (he had confessed after hell that he found himself “enjoying” the pain and torture he was doling out). Dean was so guilt-ridden before that it was kinda nice to see him kicking back. I think there was a good chunk of truth in Crowley’s comment about Sam being jealous that he and Dean were cutting loose and having fun. It was interesting to see what of Dean was “essentially” Dean and how he changed as a demon.
He was scarier at the end when he wasn’t having much fun any more and was aware that he had to move on but I have no idea what Crowley thinks he needs him for-especially with Abaddon (currently) dead.
My guess is that Cole occurred somewhere between when Sam left for college and when Dean brought him back in. Cole didn’t seem to have any expectation that Sam would recognize him. My impression was that Dar was a miscellaneous demon Sam managed to catch for interrogation (maybe one of several demons he’d questioned??) and unconnected to Cole. Guessing Cole may try to use Sam to track Dean so he won’t want to kill him, but if he lets Sam go, he’ll probably follow him in hopes Sam has a better chance of finding where Dean would go.
I love Castiel. In the history of unexpected and perfect interpretations (like Johnny Depp’s maverick take on Captain Jack) he’s gotta be in the top 20 currently on TV. He also puts Sam & Dean into perspective in so far as where they fit in the mythology of the planet. I don’t mind him having a female acolyte but they’ve got to quit introducing characters as a “love interest” and give the old “friendship/co-worker” a few seasons to grow. Have they never watched “Castle” or “The Mentalist”?
God loves Castiel-he put him on an airplane. So God may also just hit the reset himself-which would give Cas a greater sense of purpose (as it did before): presumably chasing down rogue angels who have had enough of Heaven’s corrupt political atmosphere that they really need to go back to Heaven. That could be fun considering that he apparently doesn’t really believe that and convincing them would be 80% convincing himself. It probably won’t be that clean though and will no doubt include enough strings to crochet a decent-sized throw blanket.
I’m disappointed that demons and angels in general have become so… ordinary. None of them appears threatening, or scary anymore. Not Crowley, not Cas, and certainly not Demon!Dean. They’re simply all dicks. As the retrospective reminded us, when they first appeared, they had “presence”….That introduction of Cas was Powerful! Crowley was Obnoxious!
Now I find them boring.
Cas seems to have totally lost his way – free will? humanity? angels having doubts and making their own decisions? Why would Cas defend an angel like Hannah over one like Daniel? Do I care?
Even Crowley has become more snark, less threat. He’s practically huggable. “Bitch/Jerk”? That implies teasing – not evil! While I love Mark Sheppard, I just want him to be a REAL problem – BE the King of Hell! Be scary! Be demonic! Yell a little, ffs!
For an episode called “Black”, it just didn’t seem all that dark to me.
I enjoyed seeing Sam looking for his brother, frightened – and frightening – but how did the change occur from S8 Sam, who had no one to contact, to S10 Sam who had hunters on the phone? What made that difference?? (Kind of like the back door into Purgatory in S9, it made Sam look pretty lame).
Sam also continues to be a plot device. Knocked out (seriously, an injured hunter stopped on dark road wouldn’t be slightly better prepared? Really?), tied up and used as a means to threaten Dean. That one is so old it has lost all its teeth. Happily (for the plot), it didn’t work this time, but Dean’s threat to find and kill Cole seemed inconsistent with his callousness about Sam’s predicament. Why does he need to track Cole down? The fun of the chase? Does the MOC seriously care about anything other than the need to kill? This doesn’t seem to fit.
All in all, this episode was ok. Better than I’d feared. Not as good as I’d hoped.
Hurry up, Carver, and get back to the brothers, fighting real, urgent danger, together. That, as apparently everyone of TPTB agrees, is what makes the show work.
I didn’t find this episode particularly interesting. Demon Dean is just Dean on speed. Sam is again just a plot device to further Dean, Cas and Crowley’s stories. HO HUM
Mary, different circumstances.
Cain didn’t like being a demon as far as I know, it was his punishment. Demon dean is very happy in the state he is in. Collette wasn’t a threat to cains existence because he never wanted to exist as a demon. Sam is a threat to demon dean. Sam is the only true threat to his very existence.
Demon dean wants to stay as he his. Dean will have no love or sentiment for Sam..judging from the end of black, next weeks promo and the clip of a dean trying to kill Sam because he likes the disease…I don’t see dd having a sudden heartfelt moment…SAMs going to have to knock him out or trap him..dean won’t be dean until Sam is finished doing whatever he plans to do to save him…after that I expect a Sam and dean love fest:D
After having watched this episode an obsessive number of times I am getting a different read on Dean now. I am not sure how “happy” Dean is. There were moments with Ann Marie after she left the room the look on Dean’s face was of a little regret. When Cole called him Dean’s first question was is he alive. Why would Dean care if Sam was alive or not? Jensen’s performance is subtle but even the drinking didn’t look like it was giving him any pleasure. Maybe that is what the carousing is all about for Dean right now he is looking for anything that resembles the pleasure and emotions he used to get out of life. In the end he certainly didn’t look very happy. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
…..
I didn’t get the sense of regret from dean….more like a flicker of memory of how he used to feel if he cared. Being a demon allows dean not to care. As for asking if Sam was alive, well if he wasn’t then it would save him the task of doing it himself. Besides don’t think he’ll be a demon long enough for any of it to matter:D
As for cole…remember how pissed lucifer was when cas molotaved Michael….nobody messed with his brother except him…..think dean will go after cole because he went after Sam and nobody is going to kill sam but him;)
Basically deans inquiry felt more like a fact finding mission…
Like I said, dean won’t be a demon long enough for all this evaluating:D. Plenty of time for that once he’s been saved;)
I don’t know if Dean wanted Sam dead all he had to do was tell Sam where he was and let him come to him. Sam would have been no match because he didn’t know what had happened to Dean. Also Dean referred to Sam as his brother. I just think it is all going to play into how Sam saves/cures Dean.
someone said it….carver is being purposely ambiguous just to keep us guessing:D…he’s doing a damn good job.
look how you could look at it:
dean could’ve killed sam before he left.
then why would he have to, sam was not a threat to him because dean believed sam would never find him.
dean left a note…why bother at all? could somewhere buried so down deep be a flicker of dean who wants to be saved?
or was dean walking out the door ready to howl at the moon and crowley, because he has friggen feelings now, told dean to leave sam a note and told him what to say in it.
dean refers to sam as his brother…but that’s technically what sam is…his brother. lucifer referred to michael as his brother, but that didn’t stop him from trying to kill him. but for a moment, lucifer tried to get michael to stop the fight…but then again, when michael refused to see things lucifer’s way, all bets were off.
dean could lure sam to him, but at this point sam hasn’t found him, so is it more of a thrill for dean to taunt sam with a game of cat and mouse, knowing eventually he would kill him….remember yed in devils trap….” i could’ve killed you a hundred times today, but this, this was worth the wait.”….demons do so enjoy the taunt.;)
dean asks if sam is still alive? does it matter to him really? or is simply a fact finding mission because if cole kills sam, then dean won’t have to. it’s not like dean ran off to rescue sam….he was pretty content with leaving sam right where he was at.
so was dean angry at cole because he threatened to kill sam? or is it more because cole threatened to kill dean? could it be that sam is dean’s toy to play with and cole is messing around with dean’s stuff?
see….we can all be right or wrong here. i don’t know if this is a case where we will ever get an answer….
what we do know….dean doesn’t seem too eager to rescue sam from cole, so i’m guessing he basically could care less if sam lives or dies. at the bunker, dean tries to kill sam and he does say he likes the disease.
whether demon dean is smothering the tiniest trace of dean or whether he’s taken over completely and dean no longer exists and fans are reading into what isn’t there… bottom line is that demon dean tries to kill sam…because whatever happens in the next couple of eps….dean now considers sam a real threat and time for playing and taunting is over. 😮
you do have a valid point though and i agree that we need more information because the scenes we saw in soul survivor…. they are out of context…we don’t know what happens before or after. 😉
so for now…i think we need more info before we can conclude what’s really up with dd. and maybe it’ll be ambiguous until he’s saved..:p dean ends up in that bunker…and you could be right in the how and why he ends up there could very well be important in saving him.
Anyway I hate to admit this, but dean has bigger problems than being a demon. I saw the writing on the wall but I just didn’t want to believe it to be true. I fear I can’t deny it any longer….I have to face the truth no matter how horrible it is…..dean Winchester is a closet pop/soft rock fan:o and not only that, he has the cheesiest taste ever….:p:D
Sorry, couldn’t resist. Getting back to business though, see what i did….i went around in a complete circle and ended up back where i started….not really having a concrete idea yet what’s truly going on in dean’s head right now… wonder if the writers will be kind enough to actually let us know:p:D
I loved the episode like I also loved the season nine one. Black was still better in my mind.
It raised up a lot of questions and different paths to go. I actually want to know more. It felt like it had a cliffhanger ending even if it was the first episode. I am driven, no I want to find out more.
Even if the start was slow it got me curious and wanting more. On to the questions:
[b]What do you think Demon Dean is going to do?[/b]
Well, kill Cole and trying to kill Sam as nobody knows better than Dean how dangerous Sam is to his new way of life. Nothing good anyway. I loved Jensen’s performance so much that I actually really want good Dean back. 😛
[b]How is Cole connected to Dar and Dean?[/b]
Not saying spoilers but to Dar I think he has none. Dean has wronged him a really bad way. On a side note. Boy that man has muscles…
And Cole is actually a new thing I want to know more about.
[b]Will Sam get another head injury and turn into mush?[/b]
Probably. It’s Supernatural.
[b]What does Crowley want, really?[/b]
It’s Crowley. He is juicy and awesome and so much in trouble with Sam. We never know what he is planning but it is never anything good.
How will Cas get better? What will be the divine intervention?
That stays still a riddle. I know spoilers and have few ideas but leaving it out for now. 🙂
– Lilah
I needed to mention the most gut wrenching scene of the episode for me was when Cole was holding up the phone for Sam to say something to Dean. The look on Sam’s face just killed me. Every fiber of his being wanted so badly to say something to his brother that he hasn’t seen or talked to in months. Dean was only inches from his face but he knew he couldn’t say anything, he was trying to protect Cole. He didn’t know what Dean was saying to Cole he just knew he couldn’t be used as bait because Dean would tear Cole apart. Jared just nailed it.
Did I mention how much I loved this episode and the more times I watch it the more I love it.