Let’s Speculate: Supernatural 10.03 “Soul Survivor”
Summary: Â The episode was written by Ross-Leming and Bruckner and directed by Jensen Ackles, who always does a superb job directing, as he did tonight.
The episode follows three threads.
Sam injects DemonDean with sanctified blood. The scenes between the brothers focus on Dean taunting Sam and we find out that Sam was Lester’s demon deal contact. The ritual seems to be killing Dean slowly and Sam is worried.
The other thread shows the aftermath for Crowley and his quasi-bromantic affair with Dean. He’s presiding over trials and a demon burns himself before residing any longer in Crowley’s hell.
The final thread is a weakened Cas trying to get to the bunker and is waylaid by Adina, who shows up to kill Hannah and Cas for killing Daniel and trying to make her go back to heaven.
The threads come together as Demon Dean escapes the trap because he had enough human juice inside him to break the trap. He stalks Sam ala The Shining while Crowley intervenes with Adina. Crowley gives Castiel the grace from the dead Adina and then charges him to go intervene with Dean, kill him if he has to. Castiel shows up just as Dean is about to kill Sam. Cut to the devil’s trap and one last injection. Demon Dean’s eyes are black and then fade to human and he jokingly says they look worried.
Final sequence shows Sam and Cas discussing Dean. Sam goes off to get food and Castiel speaks to Dean about resting and being with his brother and also reminding Dean that the mark is still an issue. Final scene shows a red head in a chair somewhere in a Tulsa, Oklahoma hotel room who has blood dripping down on her from two dead bodies on a ceiling.
Questions to Ponder:
What is the aftermath for the brothers?
What will Cas do now that he’s been powered back up like Mario?
Who is the redhead?
Where does Crowley go from here? Is that relationship with Dean done?
Jensen’s directing was great as always, don’t you agree?
So what are your thoughts, reactions, feelings? Leave them here!Â
First, AMAZING episode! Jensen was terrifying and brilliant! Second, I’m needing a hug. I wanted a Sam-and-Dean-someones-back-from-the-dead hug. Third, so glad Cas got a boost. Hated seeing him looking so awful. Finally, who the heck was the redhead??? Overall, well done! Now, I’ll just be here rewatching again and again.
Demon Dean stalking Sam in the bunker was awesome! Loved the lighting and music during that part. I thought the ending was sweet with Sam going to get Dean food, and Dean’s lingering look at the picture of him and Sam laughing together. It gives me hope for the future. :). My hope is that they are able to forgive themselves and rebuild their relationship now.
While I’m trying to process this, isn’t part of the original cure process that Sam say some words in latin to finish it? I was waiting for something a little more dramatic like they showed in “Clip Show.” I get it was too soon for a brotherly moment, but the cure part was so…anticlimactic. And they even got the continuity right in the beginning! Great chase scene in the bunker though.
Anti-climatic is thee word for it. OH HELL TO THE NO is what I said out loud. I feel cheated out of DEANMON and the cure.
We don’t usually agree, but boy do we agree here! Anticlimactic is putting it mildly. I was hoping Demon!Dean was faking so we can get him back.
I thought faking but the HOLY WATER, you cant fool that right. Maybe he will need booster shots to keep from turning. We know he has to KILL with the MoC.
AAAAAAAaaaaaH, this show, this show.
I really thought that fixing Dean would have been a lot more dramatic. I hated seeing Dean as a demon, but aren’t there like 22 or 23 episodes per season, so to have him fixed in the third episode just seems kind of weird and almost too soon for me. But, I was (sort of) losing interest and I guess I’m kind of excited that the guys can get back to a MOTW format.
I’m pretty sure the words in Latin were to complete the trial, not complete the healing. If Sam had said the words, he might have dropped dead, depending if the trials ended at the end of season eight, or if they are just on a break. In any case, better safe than sorry. Also, I’m pretty sure there was more blood injecting after Cas corralled Dean.
I think the redhead is Rowena, the witch that carver spoke of in interviews. I believe she will be a new bad for the season.
the aftermath for the brothers? healing, to which I have absolutely no doubt they will do for ea. other. 😉
I would think cas would try to open up heaven…is it still closed? are souls still trapped in the veil?
I think Crowley’s relationship with both sam and dean will return to status quo…before dean turned. that is until the boys figure out what he’s truly up to and wind up killing him one day:D
Jensen did a terrific job once again, and I thought the script was wonderful.
now my opinion: I thought this episode was fantastic. I am forever impressed by sam’s inner strength and his perseverance. jared was perfect tonight. Jensen was terrific. the hour zipped by.
in regards to sam: I do not now, in the past or in the future think sam a monster as dean tried to make sam feel tonight. as for sam using lester as bait to get to Crowley….well I was reminded of how the boys used Michael back in something wicked to kill the shtriga. dean didn’t really want to use the kid, but he knew he had to. in the end it was for the greater good. to save the lives of all the children the shtriga attacked and would attack in the future. something could’ve gone wrong, Michael could’ve gotten hurt, but dean wasn’t going to let that happen. so he took the chance he felt he needed to take.
with lester, while true that sam approached him after hearing about lester’s woes, and was prepared to use him to locate Crowley, in his heart sam never intended on sacrificing lester. lester was to simply summon the demon and then sam was going to come out and take it from there. unfortunately for sam, lester wasn’t a very nice person and decided to deal with the demon head on. sam yelled out to stop, but it was too late and lester had made the deal. that’s not on sam. lester could’ve just done what he was told and let sam do the rest. lester had evil intent and made his own bed. it never had to go down that way. sam tried to stop lester and he felt remorseful afterwards. if sam were truly a monster, as dd tried to make him out to be….sam never would’ve made the attempt to stop lester and he certainly wouldn’t be feeling guilty for what he’d done. so no, in the who’s a bigger monster, sam or dd….for me, dd wins hands down. 😉
in regards to dd who kept saying that he liked the disease and bailed and wanted to stay a demon….I think that was more about dean running away from himself and not sam. I think being a demon was easier for dean, because he loathes himself so much…as a demon it didn’t matter how much he loathed himself…he didn’t care anymore. as a human, dean still has his own issues of self loathing to deal with.
Crowley is up to something no doubt about that. did he want dean dead and that’s why he saved cas? he said cas owes him one…so maybe he needed an iou from cas. I think Crowley has given up on the notion that he and dean would ever be besties….but I gotta wonder what he might want with cas? is it more than just cas getting rid of demon dean?
cas is on borrowed time once again….thinking he might try to find a way to get his own grace back.
i’m not worried about sam and dean because I know that they will, in time, heal ea. other and accept who they are and be ok with that. I also think that in time they will find cain and dean will get rid of the moc.
the question I have and what concerns me a wee bit…..
sam didn’t use his own blood to cure dean, why? was it because he thought it would weaken him and he needed what little strength he had? or did sam do something and his blood is no longer pure? did he figure that if he tainted himself with demon blood, he might get his powers back and have the strength to deal with demon dean without having to hurt him? did he poison himself once again only to find out it didn’t work and his powers no longer exist? I really hope they explain that….I would think dean would be curious as to why sam needed blood from a blood bank…hope he asks, cuz i’d love to know the answer. 😉
I wondered about the blood too. Was it because with Crowley, Sam’s blood was being purified through the trials? And now it isn’t? He just has tainted demon blood again? It seemed to me that the whole “curing” thing was modified quite a bit from what we were originally shown…in Clip Show? Was that the episode?
SAM SAID HE GOT DEAN’S BLOOD TYPE. I JUST FIGURED HIS AND DEAN’S TYPE ARE DIFFERENT
i’m not sure that matters. the priest in clip show…..they never clarified whether he was the same blood type as that guy who had the demon in him. the only thing that seemed to matter was that the blood was purified and that the priest had confessed. so I don’t know. 😮
I always thought that it had been established that Sam and Dean were the same blood type. But maybe I got that from fanfic. Sometimes the lines get a little blurred 😉
Brothers from the same family would both have the same blood type, typically the same as their mothers.
Not true! My sister and I do not have the same blood type. You will inherit either your father’s or your mother’s blood type. i got Mom’s. She got Dad’s. If the blood type doesn’t match either parent, then it was the mailman.
Huh! I always thought that genetically, girls got their blood type from their father and boys from their mother. In my family me and my sisters are all A like my dad and my brother is O+ like my mom. …..? Biology was never my strong subject! 😉
LOL, the poor mailman always get the blame! According to this it is possible for a child to have a different blood type from their parents. Eye color is another complicated genetic issue, just look that one up sometime. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/childrenshealth/203121.html
I’m not going to worry too much about the blood type issue, I am not even sure why it was brought up unless it was to clear up any fears of blood incompatibility issues. If Dean is immortal (?) due to the MoC it wouldn’t be a problem anyway would it? 🙂
Otherwise known as a tangent…..:D:p
🙂 I meant brought up by the show, they did seem to make a point of it. Maybe to head off one discussion but they created another.:D
Still a tangent! or perhaps a non-sequitur! :D:p;)
I loved the episode. I only have one problem with it: I wanted it to be Sam and only Sam who saved Dean. But it seems as if Sam would have lost if Cas hadn’t interfered. I’m pretty tired of the unequal treatment the brothers get from the writers. Still, the chasing each other in the hallways was great and I’m hoping for some emotional scenes in the next episode. I want them to really talk it out for once and just be one front again. The acting of both actors was great, but especially Jared is so good at the hurt and tortured look with his puppy eyes. I’m curious how they are going to deal with the mark of Cain from now on.
Jensen is a good director and excellent actor. jared had done the best acting I have ever seen.
I really hope DEANMON shows up again. WE WERE CHEATED.
Redhead is ABADDON’s lil sis. who the hell knows.
I did not like the ending, but everything else WENT TO FAST 😀
THAT MAY JUMP TO MY FAVORITE EPISODE. SO GOOD. MY HEART WAS RACING THROUGH THE WHOLE THING. GOING TO MISS DEMON DEAN. HOPEFULLY WE GET SOME FLASHBACKS & GET TO SEE MORE OF HIM. DEAN REMEMBERING THINGS. LOVED THE CAS/DEAN SCENE WITH THE EYES.
I WAS SURPRISED THEY DIDN’T SAY THE LATIN AT THE END MYSELF. EVEN DEAN MENTIONED IT LAST WEEK. BUT, I LIKED THAT THE “TALK” WAS WITH DEAN AND CAS THIS WEEK. DEAN ASKING IF SAM WANTS A DIVORCE. THAT WAS GREAT! THAT WAS A CLOSE TO PERFECT AS TV CAN GET!!!
Loved this episode. The scene with Sam in Dean’s room looking at pictures with that beautiful, haunting music was amazing. Then the parallel scene with Jensen. JP was incredible. Directing very well done.
I loved the scene with Sam going through the pictures too. It provoked thoughts of how alone Sam may have felt in his struggle to cure Dean and not knowing if he was killing him and brought the spirit of past family members into the scene. Agree- the parallel scene with Jensen going through the pictures of family was great; tied the brothers and whole family together.
The fan in me enjoyed it, but the TV critic in me saw some flaws. I’ll let the two sleep on it and will have a review out tomorrow! In the meantime, I’m calling it a night.
😀
I’m looking forward to reading your insights. The critic in you often catches things that I miss. I tend to watch this writing duos episodes with a bit of trepidation anyway… I pretty much assume there will be construction problems somewhere. How sad is that?
I loved this episode! I don’t know why but it didn’t feel that anti-climactic to me. I am willing to trade few moments of drawn out “cure” drama for the absolutely terrific extended bunker stalking scenes. That bunker showdown scene was so great. The long corridors, the lighting. The tension. Wow.
The acting was more than stellar! Jensen did an awesome job of directing. Is it just me or is the pacing this season much better??
I had NO problem with Sam using Lester as bait to lure a demon. It was clear he didn’t intend to let Lester go through with the deal but Lester was too fast for him in his hurry to have his wife killed. I am glad it was DD who flung the accusation at Sam about who was the bigger monster not anyone else. Anything DD said was said to screw with Sam and throw him off. Sam wasn’t thrown. He was amazingly stoic. I have no problem at all with Cas coming in at the last second to lend an assist, Sam gets 100% credit by me for saving his brother.
Just curious if Lester was at work how did he know what his wife was doing on the kitchen with said tattooed man?
lester caught them together and probably either before or after again.
Thanks:)
Great episode. Just marvelous.
With the blood I was thinking more of the lines that Sam didn’t want to get weak from blood loss if the going would get tough. And also as Dean was not possessed and he is “Knight’s of hell demon” he might need loads of purified blood to get cured. Sam was just being smart on my book. And curing him for me was not anti climatic. He was not possessed so what the priest did on the other episode wouldn’t have worked the same way. Hell, Sam was not even sure if the blood would work. And yeah, like someone pointed out earlier, the latin was for the trials not for the curing of a demon.
These three episodes was clear that Sam was saving Dean and I loved that Cas came and saved Sam. That he was there to help Sam do it. People seem to forget that Cas is Dean’s friend too so him not being there to help Sam would fight against what Cas is to both of the boys.
I still don’t trust Crowley. Loved the bottle with the skull cork like the trident in episode 2. I also think the woman is the one that was mentioned in the interviews. The brothers will never get a break now do they? And Cas should know better that when things seem calm. That is what you should really be scared about. 😉
– Lilah
The priest in Clip Show had to say the Latin words that had the word cleanse in it. Since we didn’t see the whole cure we don’t know if Sam said the Latin phrase or not (I will assume he did since it was part of the ritual). The priest wasn’t trying to close the gates of hell he was just trying to cure a demon.
Let’s just assume Sam said them off screen! 😀
Works for me…;)
Ditto:)
I think you and leah are right about why sam didn’t use his own blood. I was thinking the same thing but then my mind starting to run away with me:D. it just doesn’t make sense to me that sam, after 31 years and knowing that he was finally normal would taint his own blood, especially given that he would have to use it. but then they kept showing those books on demonic possession…I wonder if he found out something. anyway, after thinking on it some more and reading yours and leah’s opinions, and maybe some others too….I do agree that it was more about sam needing his strength or perhaps not having enough blood for the job. dean was no ordinary demon as he kept boasting about….not to mention that sam was still at a total disadvantage….having a sling on his right arm and unable to fight how he normally would be able to…against a maniacal demon no less……
so just as a bit of a guessing game….sam was looking through the pics and I believe he chose one to bring with him to dean…as much as I was hoping it would be of the two of them, which is still very possible, I was also thinking that he brought with him the pic of his mom….I know we never got to see and we’ll never really know….but any guesses as to which one he brought?…I’m leaning towards mom’s pic…you know sam could’ve used the old what would mom think of you now line of questioning to try to get under dd’s skin. 😀
I agree that dd for three eps was plenty. he was actually a demon for a lot longer than that and i’m sure we will get flashback eps of both boys during that time. 😉 demons aren’t all that interesting, with the exception of Crowley, and people would’ve tired of dean’s antics. it’s smart to move the story along and get to the true heart of the matter….the aftermath and the healing that comes with what happened and the quest to get rid of the moc.
I didn’t find anything about this episode anticlimactic. we got to see a good portion of the cure in progress and it was more exciting to see dean escape than it would have been for sam to continue with needles why dd does his own needling….I didn’t need to see a few lines of latin and a bloody fist sandwich:D. I liked what we got. sometimes less is more and I got that impression here. I was much more touched in the end and thus went to bed with a great big smile on my face. it was real too you know. sam was living on cornflakes and no sleep for months. he was just emotionally beaten with a verbal baseball bat. he was hurt and tired and yet never stopped. he never gives up….my favorite quality about sam. so him just wanting to call it a night….knowing that there’s still the moc, but just for the moment…he wanted to bask in the success of getting his brother back, welcome his brother back with some good old fashioned cholesterol disguised as a burger with extra onions most likely and a well deserved night of drinking himself stupid. I thought it was too soon to have that brother moment, that moment of regret and being sorry….there’s plenty of time for that….I think they both deserved the night off and I loved that cas was there to reassure dean that sam was going no where. 😉
i’m sure next week we’ll get some of those bro moments. 😀
I think Cas is anxious to “put things in order” now that he got a grace extension. I think he doesn’t want Dean to aggrevate the Mark by getting into situations where he’d need to fight. I’m not sure from what they showed, how much Dean remembers-typically vessels don’t have memory of what happened while they were possessed, but is it the same since he actually was a demon?
Dean wasn’t possessed; it was his soul that got twisted into a demon so his memories should be intact.
I felt it was a hit. That is 3 episodes in a row that have hit the mark (at least with me). The cat and mouse in the bunker was so well done, as was Dean messing with Sam’s head. The big shocking evil deed that Sam did was not so big or shocking. Sam was more stupid than evil. I thought that Jensen did an incredible job with his portrayal of DD from the first episode to this one. I am looking forward to the affects of the MOC in the boys future. Jared acted his socks off in this episode as well. He was scared, almost defeated but he never gave up and he did what had to be done. I loved every minute of the J’s on screen. The biggest fail was the ending scene (wasn’t she the witch that Mrs Tran found on craigslist? Looked about as menacing). All in all the episode kept me glued to the show for the entire hour. I enjoyed it.
I agree that the curing of Dean was too big of an event to end the episode with a transition scene to the witch. Would have rather a parting shot of Dean sitting alone in his room with a look that gave us a window to his thoughts.
I agree that Sam couldn’t have given the amount of blood needed to cure Dean. He had a cooler full it seemed. Plus Sam is obviously physically drained himself with all his efforts to find Dean.
SPOILER below (possibly, maybe) *********************************************************
Redhead= Scottish witch I presume.
Maybe Sam couldn’t do it without completing the trials or he didn’t want to risk it. That’s the only reason I can think of.
Also using his own blood made him very weak… so maybe he decided that it was easier to get a priest to bless a whole bunch of blood rather than risk being weekend by using his own. Although….the ritual DID say blood purified by confession; Sam had to go through the wringer and confess his greatest sin to get his blood purified enough for the ritual with Crowley and just using a priest after the fact doesn’t seem like the same level of sacrifice to me. I am assuming all those people who donated their blood at the blood bank hadn’t gone to confession to confess their greatest sins before giving blood; using the priest was a bit of an end run around the dictates of the ritual I guess.
I loved the episode. I think the pacing this season is greatly improved. Jensen’s directing was impeccable and notice that this time he was heavily involved in the acting, as well. This was no “Weekend at Bobby’s.” When Sam went into Dean’s room and was looking over the family photos, they played that one piece of music that always slays my heart … doesn’t it have a name now? Does anyone remember what it is? I was disappointed that Sam didn’t cry OPT (one perfect tear) … so I cried one for him. I’m really enjoying the cliffhangers that are being tacked on at the end of the episodes. I like that the writers are doing that, although it does seem to be a very typical CW plot device. I’ll humor a little manipulation – so far.
The music piece is the middle part of “Americana” by Jay Gruska. It’s the brothers theme on the show!
Thanks for that. Never knew it had an official release.
I enjoyed the episode tremendously, and while it’s true that the cure happened pretty quickly, I don’t know if I would have liked to have seen the brothers duke it out any more than they already have. I’m also of the camp that thinks 3 episodes of Demon Dean is fine; I’m looking forward to the brothers being together again and doing the Family Business as best they can under the circumstances.
I wonder if a lot of the disappointment and sense of anticlimax was because of hyped-up this episode was due to the spoiler screenings. If we hadn’t already seen the stalking scenes in the bunker, the smashing of the door, the hammer (not ax?)-swinging moment…. if the CW hadn’t released the sneak-previews of the harsh things that Demon Dean said to Sam about Mom and Dad…. would we have viewed this episode differently? I’m genuinely curious; did anyone here watch this episode entirely spoiler-free for the first time tonight? What did you all think?
Kind regards, ~N
NICK, you are on point. far away eyes says she never sees spoilers of any kind. thanks
gGuessing they might have gotten more physical if Jared wasn’t recovering from his shoulder injury-as it was I thought it was quite heroic with one-armed Sam threatening amped-up DemonDean, knowing he was WAY out-gunned under the circumstances, but refusing to back down nonetheless. 🙂
Wow. How are you people so pleased with this episode? I’m not trying to troll, but this episode sucked.
I want to blame the writers, but it’s not their responsibility to shape the direction of the show. That’s the show-runner’s, and the current one hasn’t got a clue.
So we’re back to the trope of Sam:[i] “it’s your fault Mom’s dead. You killed her”[/i]. When is this show going to have the balls, to give Sam the balls, to turn around an say [i]”you know what? I didn’t kill Mom, Dean. You did. If you want to believe in fate, then I guess you can blame God and the Angels, as they said it was destined and out of our hands – we were just Muppet’s along for the ride. However, since I know for a fact you don’t believe in fate – kind of the point of you resisting Michael and me taking on Lucifer head to head – it was actually your fault. You killed Mom. You went to the past; you made them aware of a yellow-eyed Demon, and you put Mom & Dad in his cross-hairs. And then after that happened, after yellow-eyes killed Dad, it was Mom that made the deal. She sealed my fate. She’s the reason yellow-eyes came to my room, and put our family through all of this. So fuck her, and fuck you!”[/i]
But no. We got another episode of emo-Sam, and douche-bag-Dean. Because that ‘s something we haven’t been privy to enough.
>>> and then there’s the music. That sweet scored piece that you knew meant what you were watching mattered – like the first time we saw Bobby after he passed. The kind of thing we’d only get once or twice a season due to wistful reverence. Now? Now we get it twice an episode – during two scenes, neither of which earned it.
Russ,
[quote] it was actually your fault. You killed Mom. You went to the past; you made them aware of a yellow-eyed Demon, and you put Mom & Dad in his cross-hairs. [/quote]
I don’t think I understand what you said here. You think Dean killed Mary? He caused Mary’s death? IMHO that’s even more bizarre than DD’s accusation to Sam that Sam had caused Mary’s death. I mean Azazel was making deals with her neighbors. That’s why Samuel Campbell pretended to be a priest. With Mary’s stubborn streak, sooner or later she would stumble upon the demon. Lucifer told Azazel to free him and to talk to Lilith because Lilith was the first demon and she knew about the seals. In order for Lucifer to rise he needed vessel. The perfect vessel. There’s only ONE perfect vessel for Lucifer. BUT the demons including Azazel didn’t know who was the perfect vessel was. So, here’s what he did.
1. Recruiting possible candidate, infusing babies with his blood hoping that one day these children will rise and hoping that one of them was the true vessel.
2. Made a virus just to test the children. We only see one episode with The Coratoan virus epidemi in S2 but I’m sure in other cities the other children were also being tested. Just to see if they survived the virus, like Sam.
In conclusion, Azazel had been honing on the Campbell’s family when he was hanging around the area. It didn’t matter if Dean went back in time or not because as it was fated, Sam was Lucifer’s perfect vessel. He was the ONE and sooner or later Azazel will find him, through machinations and manipulations. Azazel made a deal with Mary but at the time he didn’t say that it will be her second son that would be infected. Why not Dean, then? Why not?? Because Angels had worked together with demons to bring the Apocalypse. It was possible that the higher-ups angels forbid Azazel from infecting him because Dean was saved for Michael.
So, Mary’s death was not Dean’s fault as well as it wasn’t Sam’s fault. Their fate as the perfect vessel was sealed ever since the beginning. Because it’s from their bloodlines.
I understand that everyone are entitled to their own opinion. But IMHO DemonDean just behaving like a demon, taunting, spewing vile words and lies. That’s what demons do. The scene just shows how far Dean has fallen. But what I love more is how strong Sam has been. How resilient he was against the odds, against the onslought of distress and evil.
I love Sam so much this episode. nappi85 was right, we may lost Dean but we have found Sam.
It all comes down to destiny. If they believe in God’s will, neither Sam nor Dean are at fault. Destiny is destiny. nothing they do could have changed anything. But that’s not how it happened.
They changed fate/destiny, therefore they’re responsible. Dean can’t say “I don’t believe in fate or destiny” and then turn around and say it was Sam’s fault for his Mother’s death. It’s one or the other. And Sam (via lame-arse writers) refuses to acknowledge it.
Azazel was in the area of the Cambell’s, yes … but it was Dean’s presence that insisted they go to the farm (and the fact he had the journal as reference) – that put the Cambell’s in Azazel cross-hairs. The only reason they went to that farm, or had an inkling something was up, was because Dean insisted. Dean forced the confrontation, setting the Samuel & Deana death/John death/Mary deal/Sam’s demon blood ingestion into motion.
If Dean insists destiny/fate is hog-wash, and he truly has free will, then everything that has happened to his family is his fault.
Mary made the deal to unwittingly give up Sam to Azazel to save John before Dean ever went back in time; it happened in actuality in the Winchester’s lives BEFORE Dean went back to see what happened, he was merely a witness to what had already occurred or what was destined to occur (orders from heaven). His going back in time did not change the original event and his presence ended up being of no consequence to how things played out because it played out that way it was supposed to. Dean being there or no it would have been the same result. So, no, Dean was not responsible for Mary’s death… Mary was.
I agree that neither sam nor dean was responsible for Mary’s death. whether it was just the norm for the campbells in general or not. a deal was made to save a Winchester. maybe it happened in the past. who knows. cupid did say the arrangement of mary and john was priority….so there was something about them to begin with. mary made a deal of her own volition. she could’ve accepted john’s death, but didn’t. whether sam was born or not, I’ve always been under the impression that when the ten yrs are up, you deal to the devil comes due. so it’s my feeling yed would’ve returned those ten years later and took a soul.. either john’s or dean’s had a child not been there to fulfill yed’s true need. when push comes to shove, mary died because of mary…because she couldn’t let go….a lesson that neither john nor dean has learned..because they too made the same deal as mary:(. ironically the only one who’s never messed with the natural order, though he did try to deal at some point, was sam.
what I think….I think it’s possible that dean feels responsible for Mary’s death because he went back and I think it’s totally possible that he believes he changed things. wouldn’t be the first time dean has thought the worst of himself only not to be true. i don’t think dean holds sam responsible for mary and never has. but dean knows that sam does feel responsible and it makes total sense that dd would use that against sam.
truth be told, i think both boys feel they’re responsible for what happened to their family and what’s so sad is….neither one is. i think letting go has more to do with their personal demons than actually letting go of ea. other.
Wow, nappi815. You’ve said it better than me. 🙂
I think the writer mostly hit the mark with writing Dean as a Demon. He shows all the attribute of demons, taunting, arrogance, but with more twist of healing power and strength. Demons are known to fuck with human’s mind. And since DemonDean knows Sam, he knows what to say to hit Sam where it’s the most painful.
😉
RUSS, I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS…….
Mary made the deal. PERIOD
NEXT
RUSS, I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS…….
Mary made the deal. PERIOD
NEXT
RUSS, I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS…….
Mary made the deal. PERIOD
NEXT
RUSS, I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS…….
Mary made the deal. PERIOD
NEXT
RUSS, I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS…….
Mary made the deal. PERIOD
NEXT
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Since the rest of the cure/treatment happened off camera and Dean had alluded to the procedure in the last episode we can probably assume that Sam completed the ritual Latin words, bloody fist and all. I agree there is probably more to the demon Dean story than was shown in this episode. I think Sam is still going to have his hands full. I kind of agree with the meandering road trip for Cas and Hannah. Sam’s alone with the most powerful demon….oh wait that happened in the church with Crowley. Evidently Sam and Dean needed to work out some issues alone. I don’t know why the trials needed to be brought up they weren’t trying to close the gates of hell. Maybe that is why Sam (or Dr. Sexy) decided to use someone else’s blood. Just in case, Sam didn’t want to drop dead after curing a demon. I really liked this episode but there was a lot of wasted story that could have been used to show the rest of Dean’s cure. And how did Cas get in the bunker didn’t Sam lock it down?
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My understanding of the trials was that the demon they were going to cure had to be cured by the purified blood of the one doing the trials, not just any old purified blood. To just cure a demon without the trials attached, I think its just purified blood. I know I am extrapolating and that what they’ve shown us is not that clear, particularly when it comes to just curing a demon. But I thought for the third trial that it was pretty clear that the blood had to be from the person doing the trial as the power generated to slam the gates was through the blood. Probably one of the reasons Sam did not use his own blood to cure Dean (if he DID cure him, I am getting those hinkey “somethings going on here” vibes from the cure).
As for the blood thing. Well they were pumping red cells into Dean to make him human. Considering Sam said he’d grabbed Dean’s blood type and he’d grabbed O it is important to grab the right group. If Dean turned human and he’d been given the wrong blood group it could kill him without immediate medical help.
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Basically if it hasn’t been crossmatched and isn’t O then yes. O blood can be given to people in emergencies.
The make up of blood means that if you get an immune response if the wrong antigens placed into you. O blood is the universal giver. It doesn’t have A or B antigens on the red cells so it is other antigens on the blood that can cause a reaction and they tend to be less immediate, but still something you don’t want. But that means people who are O can only receive O blood. I kind of went on this tant when they had Benny drinking AB blood – its rarer but those with AB blood can receive all other groups, they are universal receivers so really no patient would have to wait for a transfusion as they can receive O A and B blood. On the other hand Sam snagging a lot of the O in that hospital meant patients who couldn’t receive any other blood group would have to be delayed in receiving transfusions even in emergency situations as O neg is first choice then O pos.
As for Dean in fact it could be argued that Dean’s pain and sweating and anger compared to Crowley’s could be due to a phentoype immune reaction. He has been transfused before probably due to the amount of injuries the man has had so it isn’t completely beyond imagination that the pain he was experiencing could be because one of the bags of blood that Sam was using contained cells with naturally occuring red cell antigens that Dean’s body had become immunised against. In fact the only thing that would be keeping him from having a transfusion reaction was the demon in him.
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njspnfan think you aren’t getting me. Sam isn’t a medic, he isn’t going simply intramuscular or subcuteanous. He’s randomly jabbing needles into Dean’s arm full of blood, it would illicit the same response as a transfusion as the blood would end up in Dean’s system and the immune response would occur it just isn’t direct like an intravenous transfusion because in both those methods anything you deliver ends up in the blood stream. But in then end Sam had a lot more than one pint to inject into Dean so more than one unit went in so the quantities pumped into Dean would be equivalent to that of a transfusion just that there wasn’t a bag or a giving set.
As for a phlebotomist they take blood out of people, they don’t put blood in, clinicians have to do that. As for the rest of it you don’t simply give blood in the manner shown as Sam did in the real world, it is given in controlled transfusions so the way the reactions are talked about is in terms of transfusion reactions when blood from one person is given to another.
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Seriously? Look people are getting hung up on the blood type because if you get the wrong type put into you through someone jabbing a large syringe into you full of blood or hanging a bag attacked to a intravenous transfusion the same thing happens – pain and probable death. The show isn’t real but the science of ABO is known to a lot of people, they get incompatible blood hurts people so turning a demon back to a human with a lot of incompatible blood in them would be a lot of problems.
As for injecting large amounts of compatible blood type into someone it wouldn’t cause harm as it wouldn’t cause an immune response. It is an incompatiable blood that causes the problems just then a hell of a lot more in blood than the ABO type and those parts need to be correct too. Hence why blood is crossmatched. Typing is a lot more complicated than the big A B O and AB on the front of the bag.
As for phlebotomists doing transfusions, where??? They take blood for medical testing and yes may start the venepuncture that starts a donation (not in the UK though) but they don’t spike the vein to start a transfusion – the process where a patient receives blood. They don’t have the training to deal with any complications that can occur, just like they don’t give drugs and blood like drugs have to be prescribed by a medic for a patient receive it. I work in transfusion and have never heard of phlebotomists being the ones to set up a transfusion to a patient in receipt of the blood we send.
As a person who has had over 20 blood transfusions [I stopped counting after 20] I hope I can put this to rest. Phlebotomist have always TAKEN my blood and only RNs or IV SPECIALIST RNs could start up a transfusion. At least here in NEW ORLEANS, LA.:)
Thank you.
Though at least 20 blood transfusions. Jesus.
Hope you are okay.
I was left wanting after this episode.
The action scenes with Dean chasing Sam through the bunker were absolutely terrifying and riveting and flawless, and I have no complaint with that part.
But the episode lacked an emotional punch. At the end Sam said he was exhausted, but I didn’t [i]feel[/i] that exhaustion. Yeah, he had just been chased and nearly killed by his brother, but . . . when Same was curing Crowley, [i]that[/i] was exhausting and emotionally draining and intense, and we, the audience, could [i]feel[/i] that. It was a high stakes, give your all, fight to the death, excruciating experience. I wanted it to be that way with Sam curing Dean. An intense emotional experience. But it was not. The sneak peek clip scene was great but not enough. Something was just lacking.
And I don’t appreciate this whole demon trilogy focusing (as it should have) on Dean and Sam and Sam giving everything in him to save Dean, but at the last moment, it’s Cas who swoops in and saves the day and [i]robs[/i] the brothers of the final scene together.
Action great, everything else – not so much. I wish Andrew Dabb could have written this whole trilogy. If episodes #1 and #3 were anywhere near the power and perfection and resonance of episode #2 . . . wow. It could have been a great something. Potential lost.
I agree with this somewhat. Because Sam wasn’t using his own blood to cure his brother, I didn’t expect for him to be that wrecked while curing Dean; part of what made Sacrifice so riveting was the tole the cure was taking on Sam because he was draining himself of his own blood and because of the ‘trial juice’ that was running through his veins. Physically Sam wasn’t that committed this time around (although emotionally, that’s another story!). I do agree though that Dean should have looked way worse than he did. He was still model gorgeous with not a hair out of place even though he claimed several times that the cure was causing him pain. Jensen was playing that, but the makeup didn’t reflect that. And when they were deep into the cure, when Dean was actually becoming human enough to get out of his demon cuffs and walk out of a devils trap (although Crowley couldn’t in Sacrifice) he still seemed as cool and unhurried as ever and as demonically as strong as he was before. To say it’s all because he’s a MoC demon is a little cheap. If the cure was working on him then we needed to see it. Unless of course this is all a HUGE ruse, maybe something he and Crowley set up to get Dean inside… and he’s not cured at all? Sam did say that the cure wasn’t working like before with Crowley; that could be because Dean is a MoC demon or because it wasn’t working at all. Ooooh. That would be awful and awesome!
tole? um… toll
I loved this episode, but as is often the case with this show, so many questions are left unanswered. I need to re-watch, because I get so caught up in the show on the first watch, I don’t have time to process the details, but…
Did the look on Dean’s face as the cure finally took hold bother anyone? He looked pissed? Or something? I expected tears at the end, but no, just a weird look at Sam. I’m sure the MOC will be a continued problem as well, since Dean’s still stuck with that. Hopefully, the absence of the Blade will halt the ‘least best better’ issue.
And Lester. Did Dean kill him because he knew Sam was the instigator of that deal and wanted to spare Sam the guilt of delivering Lester’s soul to Crowley? Or just because Lester insulted him and he couldn’t care less about Sam’s feelings? I’m pretty sure Sam didn’t use his blood because he felt he couldn’t purify his blood after what he did to Lester, OR maybe he felt too drained to give up that much blood, Or he WAS afraid of restarting the trials. So many questions! This show drives me crazy and I love every minute of it. ?
And Crowley. So now Sam, Cas and Hannah probably all owe their continued existence to his timely rescue. I have no doubt DD was mad enough to kill Sam and Adina was certainly going to kill Hannah and then Cas. I’m sure that marker will be called in at some point. Probably if the red haired woman, most likely Rowena?, tangles with him or even turns out to be his mother, as has be speculated.
I know I’m going to spend the day gulping down every review and comment I can find (I know, bad employee) but I need intel! Please, more thoughts people.
I really liked the episode. Sam was curing a demon, not doing the Trials so smart not to use his own blood and weaken himself. DD was cold and snarky trying to bait Sam. Lester was obviously happy with his deal or he wouldn’t have shown up to see his wife killed. No sympathy over his demise or blame on either brother. Glad Hannah survived the episode and Cas finally not in weakened condition. That was getting old. I enjoyed the more subtle ending. A big bro moment would have seemed too cheesy so soon. Loved that Sam was glad to get his brother back and Dean was concerned about how Sam was reacting to it all. That was enough for me for one episode, especially since we’re only on the third episode.
Great acting and good writing and directing.
I thought this episode was very nicely done. It wasn’t an entry into the top ten of all time list great, but it was a nice solid episode overall; and with these writers I’ll count this one as a win because their success is spotty at best. The cat and mouse in the bunker was awesome and Jensen’s directing was great as usual. I was a little confused by what Crowley is up to. Why save Cas? Why help Cas save Dean? I mean, Crowley’s plan to have a bestie to help him run hell failed, so you’d think he’d rather seen Dean dead than alive. And after the events of season 6, Crowley has no love for Cas either. You’d think Crowley would rather have him be dead too. But no… he went and saved Cas knowing that Cas would then do everything in his power to save Dean. Hmmm. No… that sneaky bastard is up to something bigger; something the requires Cas to be alive and maybe the MoC too… so Dean also needs to be alive. I am thinking that red-haired Rowena, the scottish witch is going to be a distraction for what Crowley’s up to or maybe part of something he set in motion. Maybe she’ll relate back to Gavin in some way. But overall I think Crowley is once again going to be the big bad, but that that may not be revealed until the end of the season and be a set up for season 11. I think Rowena and Metatron will be set up as distractions from the true plot of whatever the hell Crowley is up to. That’s my spec anyway.
I didn’t find Sam’s ‘monstrous’ deed all that monstrous… not nearly as questionable as draining a nurse dry of her demon blood. Sam’s guilty of being an opportunist and calculating… many of the qualities he showed as Soulless Sam, but he’s not responsible for Lester being a moron and a vindictive SOB; that’s on Lester. I hope that they don’t go making mountains out of mole hills with this either. Lets move on from this ‘nothing’ of a plot point shall we. Sam wasn’t’ set up to be a “true monster” and TPTB didn’t really explore that in any meaningful way…. so, moving on!
I am in the camp that didn’t think the cure was a let down at all. It was quietly done rather than with a lot of overt, over the top drama. I liked it. I liked the SVX of Dean’s eyes returning to normal. My only complaint is that DD didn’t look more wrecked the way Crowley did in Sacrifice. They kept saying Dean “looked terrible” and I thought “who are you kidding, he looks amazing!” they could have roughed him up a bit to show the stress and trauma the cure cost him a little more IMO, but that’s a minor quibble. And I also agree with several others here who feel that 3 eps of Demon Dean was plenty and that it was time for him to go. The story of DD had a natural arc and was closed out appropriately, so that story wasn’t cheated in any way. What were they supposed to do with DD from this point on? The way that character was building DD WOULD have been slaughtering kittens and putting out babies eyes by episode 5, so he had to go.
[quote]The episode was written by Ross-Leming and Bruckner and directed by Jensen Ackles, who always does a superb job directing[/quote]
Bookdal, this made me laugh out loud. There has to be a name for the rhetorical trope of making your opinion clear of one element by omitting to ascribe to it the quality you ascribe to the other element.
I haven’t seen the episode but I can’t help but feel reading about it that for most fans, their personal opinions about Cas and the brothers will influence what they think about how Dean is cured. That was certainly true of every comment I read on twitter last night. At least what we didn’t get was ‘the brothers knock back a beer together in the bunker and exchange meaningful looks and a few comments that show everything is resolved or (a la season 9) one of them still hates the other’. Maybe that will be given a lot more space in a future episode(s).
Meanwhile there are all kinds of interesting parallels. Sam and Cas talking about Dean in place of the many times Dean has talked to someone else about Sam. Cas doing what Bobby used to do and giving Dean advice about his brother and his own issues. Ending with Cas back in the bunker after the series 9 episode where he had to leave. Sam going off to get food with lots of echoes of other times he’s done that – e.g. season 7 when Dean was on the couch with a broken leg – and the usual bunker situation of Dean caretaking Sam in the past.
Carver always said he had a three-season arc and some of my frustrations with him have been that three seasons is too long to wait but I am hoping that he is going to start bringing all these paralells and unresolved issues back.
Interviews have said that Dean won’t spend the rest of the season beaten up by guilt about being a demon. I will be interested to see how that plays out.
I don’t even have the words to express my disappointment in the squandered potential of S10. I would give the acting/directing a 10 and the rest of the episode a 2, just because of throwing out all the potential that I saw for S10 erased in one quick episode.
I see no storyline for either Winchester coming up — just the brothers are back together and a rebooting of the characters back to the supposed “brother bond.” It may be that they help Crowley with his Hell problem, since they are all best buddies now; but honestly, at this point, I don’t know why the Winchesters just don’t quit and give Crowley the planet. He’s smarter than them. He manipulates them every year. He always gets what he wants. He is stronger than angels. can easily kill angels, and can easily handle angel grace. I would suggest it’s time for the Winchesters to cut bait and go look for that normal suburban life. There does not appear to be any stories for them left in the writers’ well of creativity.
Don’t give up hope yet Ginger; I am not at all convinced that we are through with the demon Dean storyline. The more I think about it the more I think we saw some major red flags go up in the episode. Sam’s comments that the cure wasn’t going the same way that it had been with Crowley…the fact that demon Dean looked as fresh as a daisy after begin subjected to the cure. I am wondering if this is some type of long con begin perpetuated by Crowley and Dean together to get at Cas and Sam and maybe at whatever is in the bunker. Maybe this is wishful thinking and they are just going to go back to the way things were (which would be a big disappointment) but maybe not… we can always hope and watch until we know.
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I would love this to be a long con by Dean or by Dean and Crowley. They have said the MOC would be the long term issue, but they have been known to misdirect before.
SOMEBODY’S PLAYING THE LONG GAME that’s for sure.
Crowley, most definitely Metatraon is trying.
I don’t think its a con at all and I definitely don’t think Crowley and dean are scheming to get back at Sam. If dean wanted something from the bunker he could’ve easily killed Sam at any time prior to this eppy. hell, dean was avoiding all contact with Sam. I think dean is dean again and I agree with njspnfan that the rest of deans arc has to do with dealing with the moc and trying to get rid of it. I don’t think dd story was meant to be a redo for Sam. I think the dd story and the rest of the season is about dean finally dealing with his own personal issues. The fact that dean would rather be a demon so that he could essentially run away is quite telling of how messed up dean is and how it is time for him to deal with his personal demons. And that’s not only true of dean but Sam as well. This storyline is about both winchesters. It’s their journey to reconciling who they are. It’s accepting who they are and each other as well. It’s about them supporting and healing and being a family and seeing themselves as the heroes they are. This is the story to unfold and with that the brothers will hunt evil and save people, because that’s what they do. It’s going back to basics only this time without the dysfunction. Hell this is the story I’ve been waiting for and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.
On a sidenote, did anyone else giggle as dean was going on about how it was SAMs fault he got loose? I was listening to dean give a play by play and started flashing back to Hollywood Babylon. When the suit was going on about how demons in hell can hear them and mcg turned to the writer who offered to put in an explainer:D
I was laughing about Dean going on about how it was Sam’s fault he freed himself for a different reason. It was like EVERYTHING was Sam’s fault! Like he was compulsively nagging Sam and was just so full of himself he could not stop talking.
I don’t have the words to express my disappointment in this episode and how it erased all the potential for S10. In the end, DDean wasn’t a Dean story at all. It’s sole purpose, IMO, was to redo Sam not looking for Dean in S8. I will say that I thought the acting was excellent, and the directing was good for a script that held no potential for tension. I did like the Dean stalking scene and the lighting in it. Other than that, I would put the episode below Bloodlines and below Bitten.
I really liked the episode! The acting was superb and Jensen’s directing was top notch. The cat-and-mouse scenes in the bunker where Dean chased Sam were great, and I loved the parallels to the Shining.
I agree with some of the opinions that the ending felt a bit anticlimatic. The healing felt a bit too fast, and we didn’t even see Sam and Dean together after Dean was cured. But I guess that could mean that there’s more “curing” underway – the Mark of Cain is still affecting Dean, after all! I’m curious how this is gonna work out. I loved the fact though that Sam went to buy food for Dean to then “stuff it in his face himself” and Dean’s question if Sam wanted a divorce was hilarious. They really are like an old married couple!
I think the redhead is Crowley’s witch Mom….
What a great start to season 10! I honestly think the Js could read a recipe for man n cheese and make me feel every bit of it, these two are so good. I only have one problem with the ep: Pie in Dean’s room. hasn’t it been 6-8 weeks since he’s been in his room (unless they stopped there before being tied up for the cure)? shouldn’t that pie look…I dunno…green?
of course I meant “mac n cheese” duh! Try being funny only to typo! gah
Well,
on one program I saw they had 5 year old Swiss roll and it hadn’t gone bad. It was actually eatable. So if you remember what Sam said about the pie and Dean’s answer…
9.03 I’m No Angel
Sam: Look at these chemicals. Do you even read the label?
Dean: No. I read “pie.” The rest is just “blah, blah, blah.”
With those chemicals it might last that long. 😀
– Lilah
There are pies that are shelf stable and non refrigerated at the store. Not sure they would last 6-8 weeks, though. 🙂 The joys of preservatives. Homemade pie would not last that long. For 2 reasons!
I was going to say the same thing…. poor Dean gets the store chemically induced pie most of the time….. he has to hit a mom and pop diner to get the real deal; all the bakers in his life are gone. Maybe Sam should learn to bake.;)
I loved this episode beginning to end and I found it to be unusually suspenseful. The scene with Dean stalking Sam along the hallways was terrific directing and visually exciting. I may miss Demon Dean but it was time to say goodbye since the story was told. Sam really did do something BAD and I’m shocked because it was worse than Dean!! Cass reminds me of Sheldon in his relationship with Hannah. He left her in the car which is what Sheldon would do with Amy. He’s also missing all her signs. Really Cass, you were human, take a hint. I actually feel sorry for Crowley and his missing Dean and saying he’s not sentimental. Who believes that? He’s fairly confident that Dean won’t die once Cass gets there with his new grace. This should be called the Demon Dean trilogy since these episode go together. It was a three part season opener.
who is Sheldon and Amy….
Characters on the show The Big Bang Theory.:)
“This episode follows 3 threads”
In a nutshell, it’s my problem with the show since season 10 started. I don’t think that any of the stories are being told with the depth necessary to make them engrossing, though I think that the second episode was really good.
I also think that this episode would have been better if shot after the first two. There’s was a definite progression with Dean coming into his own as a demon and Sam’s exhaustion and despair from episode 1 to 2, and then comes episode 3, Sam looks strong and healthy (and gorgeous), and Jensen hadn’t quite grown into his new role as a demon yet. The result was a little flat, to me at least. Jensen was also let down as a director with a sub-par script, no thought given it seems about proper make-up for both Sam and Dean for continuity’s sake and to make the cure more emotionally wrenching, as someone up thread mentioned. I also think that the lighting in the cure room didn’t help things. Maybe it should have been darker? All I know is the the Crowley cure was way more fun to watch.
So I feel let down. I so wish that this episode had been written by Dabb! Dean’s demonic cure deserved a whole episode, without any distractions. Cas should have been in the bunker earlier, as a sounding board and support for Sam. I also think that way more could have been done with Demon Dean and “dark” Sam. Sam’s ‘monstruous” deed seems like a footnote more than anything. I’m pretty sure that today people aren’t wondering who’s the monster between Sam and Dean. Who cares? And, more importantly, WHAT NOW?
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I agree, I would have liked to see DD suffer a bit more in his transition…. he did not look as if his blood was boiling. I thought at first DD was faking being cured and was just taking his time to bust out. Sam should have looked more exhausted… with the sleep deprived ravaged despair look he had in ep 1& 2.
I liked the Sam and Dean parts of the episode a lot. I was left wanting more after the “cure,” but I don’t want everything wrapped up in one episode. They can leave me hanging and maybe it will come up again – like the long con mentioned above. That would be exciting!
The angels did not interest me much. I just wished Cas had gotten some mojo back sooner.
I thought Jensen did a great job directing, especially in the hallway scenes. Wowie! And both J’s acting was completely believable to me. And then, the first thought in my head when I saw Sam in his white coat and stethoscope was, “DR. SEXY!” So much sexier than the CC’s Dr. Sexy! So hot! Jeez! And I think think they had Dean walk around looking healthy swinging a hammer (instead of weak from being halfway cured) is because HE looked so damned gorgeous! I thank the show for that. Gorgeous brothers… mmmmm…….
Well stated summary of the ending of the episode. I agree. I am also glad that Sam saved his brother and Cas came in to lend a hand to Sam…. great nod to their history and friendship. Loved the conversation between Cas and Dean…. they needed a moment. Enjoyed the thank you from Dean to Cas. Great way to voice Dean’s concern about Sam…. Loved Dean asking if Sam wants a divorce!!!