Supernatural Hiatus Hunting: 5.16 – Dark Side of the Moon
Ash draws a symbol on the outer door that looks more like a quadratic equation than an Enochian symbol, but hey, if it works. He warns that Zack is going to be watching every road to the Garden. Sam gives Pamela a big hug, practically swallowing her in those giant arms. She warns to watch his ass. I’ve noticed this time Pamela isn’t anywhere near as flirty. She should have at least grabbed his ass or something. Earth Pamela would have done that. Dean goes for his hug, but she reaches out and gives him a long deep kiss instead. Lord knows she’s been wanting to do that for a while. That sparks the jealously of hoards of fan girls. Yep, it’s every bit as dreamy as she imagined.
Ash’s turn for goodbyes, but I doubt he’s going to get a hug and kiss. Instead, he has some dead on accurate words. “Gentlemen. I don’t mean to be a downer or anything but uh, I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.” Dean gets a smile from Pamela and tells Ash to keep a sixer on ice for them. He opens the door and they leave. I love the visual of the scene changing from the bar to the inside of their old house just by panning across the door. Does everyone like it when I point out cool little directors tricks? It’s the dork in me.
Sam and Dean are shocked to find they’re back home. No wait, I use “shocked” too much. How about “Taken aback?””Knocked for six?” “Bewildered?” Ah, fun with a Thesaurus. Needless to say, it’s not where they want to be. They decide to look for the road again and then Mary appears. She’s in that trademark white nightgown. I wonder if Samantha Smith and Misha Collins get together at cons and share horror stories of having to wear the same outfit every appearance. I’d be griping. Anyway, Mary is playing caring mother, asking Dean why he’s up. Dean apologizes, says he loves her, but she’s not real. Real is overrated Dean. He tries to explain they don’t have time but she goes on with the “please tell me your nightmare bit.” She’s sucking him in, but he catches himself and says they’ve got to go. “Then let me tell you my nightmare Dean, the night I burned.” Uh oh, me thinks she’s an illusion.
Blood pools on her stomach and Dean and Sam are a little bothered. Okay, a lot. Dean tells Sam they should leave but Mary pulls authority. ”Don’t you walk away from me!” Poor Dean is disturbed now. “I never loved you,” Mary says, going for the mindfuck now. ”You were my burden, I was shackled to you.” Whatever she’s saying must be working, for Dean listens like his world is ending. ”Look what it got me,” and she has yellow eyes. Hey, that’s Sam’s burden! Is that the general rule of this show? Everyone close to Dean must wear the yellow eyes to taunt him? It always works.
Sam tries to get Dean’s attention, but Dean is entranced. Then the lights go green and there are bricks on the doors and walls. Oh yeah, they’re trapped. Mary loses the yellow eyes, puts on her malevolent look and goes on with her monologuing. ”The worst was the smell. The pain, what can you say about your skin bubbling off.” Now Sam is sucked in too and getting his heart crushed. ”But the smell, you know for a second I thought I left the pot roast burning in the oven. But it was my meat.” Dean backs away in horror, feeling around the brick wall while she continues. “But finally I was dead. But the one silver lining, at least I was away from you.” Ooh, she’s really digging deep. “Everybody leaves you Dean, noticed? Mommy, Daddy, and even Sam. Ever ask yourself why? Maybe it’s not them. Maybe it’s you.”
I’m not sure what it is, but she must have some sort of spell over these guys, for both Sam and Dean are just taking this in with horror and heartbreak. I guess hitting their mother is not the most appropriate thing, but it isn’t their mother, is it? I’m assuming they sensed that but couldn’t risk it. Zachariah tells her easy and Sam uses that “you did this?”accusatory tone. Who else would have??? He’s just getting started, wondering how they thought they could sneak past him into “mission control.” Sam calls him a son of a bitch, and again I wish swearing was allowed, even if it was bleeped out. You Mother****** would have been more appropriate.
Sam and Dean are suddenly restrained by two henchmen and Zachariah has an evil point. ”You know, I would say the same thing about you Sam but I have actually grown quite fond of your mother, or at least the blessed memory of her.” He kisses her neck and she loves it, making Dean wince. Me too! He goes on that they’re going to be logging a lot of quality time together and now Sam is pissed too. Interesting reaction considering he doesn’t have much of an attachment. ”I’ve discovered she’s quite the MILF.” Dean gets tough, telling him he can gloat all he wants but he’s still balding. Zachariah reveals he has six wings and four faces in Heaven, one of them is a Lion. They see his human form because they are (he strokes Mary’s arm and Sam gets disgusted), limited. You’re evil!
Zachariah snaps away Mary and it’s time for the physical torture part of our program. Dean talks smart about the bald guy getting him to say yes and Zachariah punches him in the stomach. He announces he’s cleared his schedule, orders them to get Dean up and he hits him again. Now Zachariah goes through the “evil villain scorned” speech. “I was on the fast track once, employee of the month every month forever. I’d walk these halls and people would overt their eyes, I had respect!” Uh oh, evil villain on the edge. Not cool Zachariah.
He pulls himself together. Then he was assigned to them. “Now look at me. I can’t close the deal on a couple of pathetic flannel wearing maggots?” Wasn’t overconfidence considered a weakness in Star Wars? Zachariah does have an Emperor Palpatine thing going right now. Everyone’s laughing now and they’re right to do it. He doesn’t care what Sam and Dean’s answers are anymore, he’s going to take it out of their asses. It’s personal now and he warns the last person they want in the history of creation of their asses is him. “Lucifer may be strong, but I’m petty.” Or pity, I honestly couldn’t tell which. Petty makes more sense. He promises to be that little angel on their shoulder for the rest of eternity. Well that sucks.
A gentle voice interrupts. Zachariah pulls the douchy “I’m in a meeting line,” and that makes me really mad now, touching off the memories every arrogant prick manager I’ve ever worked with. Trust me, there have been many and they’re all like that. The other man respectfully asks to speak to Sam and Dean, but Zachariah can only muster an “excuse me?” Asshole. This soft spoken black man knows Zack’s busy but is afraid he’ll have to insist. Zachariah, being in full-on dick mode, tells him he doesn’t get the right to insist jack squat. The man agrees, but “the boss” does. His orders. “The boss” must be code for “God” among the angels. Sam and Dean are flabbergasted over this and Zachariah gets scared, pulling a “you’re lying.” Now why would he do that? Of course this man, who we presume to be Joshua, says “I wouldn’t lie about this.” “Look, fire me if you want, sooner or later he’s going to come back home, and you know how he is with that whole wrath thing.” Gotta love the quiet guy that gets to use threats if he has to. Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Zachariah and his henchmen disappear, leaving a disconcerted Sam and Dean alone. Joshua stares at them and then one camera swipe later they’re in a garden. It’s a weird looking jungle inside a greenhouse type building. ”This is Heaven’s garden?” Sam asks, still not full of surprises. ”It’s nice-ish, I guess,” Dean says, trying to make the most of it. Joshua tells them they see what they want to there. ”For some it’s God’s throne room, for others its Eden, you two I believe it’s the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. You came here on a field trip.” Ha! Another shameful Ohio mention. I love it. That’s the way to work a budget.
Sam smiles at the memory and then figures out he’s talking to Joshua. Yes, he is. He talks to God? Mostly God talks to him. Sam tells him they need to speak to God, its important. Dean wants to know where he is. On Earth. ”Doing what?” ”I don’t know,” Joshua answers honestly. He doesn’t know where he is either. ”We don’t exactly speak face to face.” Well, this is going well so far. Dean doesn’t understand. If God’s not talking to nobody then”¦”Why is he talking to me?” Joshua finishes. Wow these Heavenly beings are certainly good at finishing sentences. ”I sometimes think it’s because I can sympathize, gardener to gardener.” He also confesses between them he thinks he gets lonely. “Well my heart’s breaking for him,” Dean says in a sarcastic tone. Watch out Dean, remember, smite first, ask questions later.
Sam wants to at least “get him a message for us.” Joshua admits God actually has a message for them. Back off. Huh? ”He knows already. Everything you want to tell him. He knows what the angels are doing. He knows that the apocalypse has begun. He just doesn’t think it’s his problem.” Wow, this has Milton written all over it. Dean gets mad so Joshua gives him a stern reminder. ”God saved you already. He put you on that plane. He brought back Castiel. He granted you salvation in Heaven (turns to Sam) and after everything you’ve done too. It’s more than he’s intervened in a long time. He’s finished. Magic amulet or not, you won’t be able to find him.” Well, that’s a spirit breaker.
Dean doesn’t understand, God could stop it, stop all of it. Joshua admits he could, but he won’t. “Why not?” Dean commands. ”Why does he allow evil in the first place? You could drive yourself nuts asking questions like that.” Dean is furious, wondering how God will sit back and watch everything burn. Oh Dean, there you go driving yourself nuts again. Joshua knows how finding God was important to Dean and he’s sorry. Dean reacts by going into one of his bitter rants. “Well forget it. Just another deadbeat Dad with a bunch of excuses, right? I’m used to that. I’ll muddle through.” Joshua gives him a huge look sympathy while he says all this, and now I see why God talks to this dude. He cares. He’s no ordinary angel.
“Except you don’t know if you can this time. You can’t kill the devil. And you’re losing faith, in yourself, your brother, and now this. God was your last hope. I wish I could tell you something different.” I don’t know what it is, but this part crushes me. We see Dean’s last bit of hope slip away. Sam sees the truth and it really hurts, and Joshua is oozing with sympathy even though he has to deliver the bad news. If I’m not a heaping mess by here, this does it.
Sam asks how he knows he’s telling the truth. Joshua doesn’t like the implication he would lie. No, but he’s not the first angel they’ve met. ”I’m rooting for you boys. I wish I could do more to help you, I do. But, I just trim the hedges.” Dean wants to know what now. They go home again. ”I’m afraid this time won’t be like the last. This time, God wants you to remember. Joshua holds up his hand and Sam and Dean are bathed in white light. Yep, total wreck. It’s going to take me a few minutes to get to the final scene, and that’s even worse! Damn you all.
Back to the motel room of carnage and among the beer can litter are two blood spattered Winchester corpses. I know this is gruesome, and obviously disturbing, but I can’t help but be captivated to the shots of these two guys dead in such an awful way. So, if you can’t stand the sight, look away and the next two screenshots.
Sam is the first to wake with a violent gasp of air, which is fair since he died first. Dean then pops up with a far less violent gasp. Both brothers are way beyond freaked out. There aren’t words. Sam asks Dean if he’s alright. Dean asks to define alright. I believe in this context, alright means breathing. In that case yeah, he’s good. Sam examines his completely bloodied and torn apart shirt, and Dean gets up and makes a call on his cell phone.
I laugh hysterically over this, because I’m so emotionally spent I just need a good laugh. On the back of Dean we can see the exit holes where the bullets went right through him. That’s likely correct when firing a rifle into a body at close range, but it’s so funny they paid attention to that amount of detail. Kudos to the director for giving us a small bit of relief. I do mean small.
The brothers are packing while leaving the bloodstained sheets where they are, and poor poor Cas is leaning against the room divider looking like his world just ended. Probably because it did. ”Maybe Joshua was lying,” Cas says, the shock of it all hitting him harder than the Winchesters. Sam way in the background tells him he doesn’t think he was and he’s sorry. Dean especially watches Castiel with crushing concern, like he feels every single bit of his angel friend’s pain. Probably because he does.
First we see Castiel from the perspective of the Winchesters, which is the back of him looking up toward the sky. “You son of a bitch. I believed in-” Whoa, he has taken after Dean. Speaking of, Dean watches like he wants to give up too. This is really hurting him. Then the camera shows Castiel’s face from the other perspective and this angel has just lost all faith. A faithless fallen angel? One who now likely believes he sacrificed all for nothing? How depressing.
Cas turns around and fishes out of his pocket the amulet. Dean’s prized possession. ”I don’t need this anymore.” He tosses it to Dean. ”It’s worthless,” he says with all hope gone. ”Cas, wait,” Sam says, ready to offer some comfort but Castiel flies away too quickly. Sam’s frustrated and declares with some spirit, “We’ll find another way.” Dean is staring at the amulet at a loss for words or fighting spirit. ”We can still stop all this Dean,” Sam says. “How?” Dean asks, out of hope just like Cas. Sam doesn’t know. ”You and me, we’ll find it.” Dean looks at Sam vacantly, grabs his bag and heads for the door. He stops, sees the trash can by the door, and somberly drops his precious amulet into the trash.
You know, that priceless symbol of strength, family, and hope. The treasured gift given to him by Sam when he was twelve. Other than the Impala, his most cherished possession. Sam watches all this with the same grave concern that Dean just gave Castiel. Dean leaves without saying a word, and final shot is on Sam, who’s using everything he’s got to hold it all together and figure out what next. Welcome to the status Sam of being the only person in this group of four warriors that hasn’t lost hope.
Well, there you go, the saddest ending I’ve ever seen on the series. I don’t think Dean was rejecting Sam necessarily by throwing away the amulet. I think he was rejecting everything that mattered to him. God, the need to save the world and yes, family. It wasn’t going to take much to push Dean over the teetering edge and this was more than enough to just completely crush his spirit. I’m most intrigued over what Sam’s going to do about this. Will he continue to fight? Will he pull Dean out of this? Or will they go their separate ways? The next six episodes are going to kill me!
I really enjoyed this review alice. thank you .
I had just rewatched this episode a few days ago coincidentally and as I watched the ep once again, it really connects to the current episodes we are seeing now. I’ve said it before, ea and every episode flows into ea other and is one continued story.
I really thought this episode revealed a lot about dean, which makes sense as to this situation now. it seems to me, from watching, that dean can’t fail. he has a very hard time with what he deems to be failing. he believes that people leave him, even though they don’t leave him. mom didn’t leave dean, she died. dad was an absent father, but he didn’t leave dean, he never left the boys in his heart, it’s just that his journey was taking him to his revenge. sam never thought of it as leaving dean. dean was always sam’s salvation, as he so wanted to leave the horror that was their life. sam left a world of danger, a world that killed his mother and is taking his father away from them…he ached for normal and safe. I truly believe he wasn’t even thinking about dean, not in the way dean imagined. I really believe sam was just thinking about getting away from the life. it was really the wish of a child. a wish and fear he held onto. one that he really only recently let go of…but still has hope to have for both of them one day.
so dean has this notion that people leave him. Zach knew this which is why he had mary say it. Zach was playing on dean’s issue of self loathing and was using it to break his spirit…to break him, so he would say yes…and it worked..practically;) it seems to me that dean thinks everyone he loves leaves because of him personally. so dean does everything it takes to ensure that doesn’t happen. he’s the good soldier, the responsible brother …he cannot fail because if he fails the people he loves, they will leave him. a very sad notion so far from the truth….and something dean really has to come face to face and deal with.
I think this attitude speaks volumes of his actions towards sam and his inability to face his crap. it’s one of the reasons why he buries everything. it’s one of the reasons why he can’t face up to his mistakes. ( for example, amy. dean shouldn’t have killed amy. since he did, he damn well shouldn’t have hid it from sam. this was a mistake on dean’s part. when sam finds out, he’s devastated. firstly because dean killed his friend. secondly after lying about it. then dean gets all defensive and tries to turn it on sam. telling sam not to be a bitch. dean’s number one defense mechanism, turning the situation around so that he’s not the one who’s wrong. so he isn’t the one who failed. because if he fails, sam will leave. I can only imagine how scared dean was when sam needed that time away. it didn’t surprise me one bit, when dean brought out the big gun, to convince sam that dean was right.) it’s one of the reasons, not the only, but part of the reason why Sammy does not die while he walks the earth. 😉 it’s this inability in dean which has ultimately led him to becoming a demon.
carver continues to play on this ongoing issue with dean. actually, as i’m so very happy to see, carver is finally dealing with this issue of dean’s…he got that ball rolling with s8. look at how s8 went down. dean was in purgatory, where he found peace and a bit of pleasure in that he could kill freely without guilt or conscience. benny said it…he said to dean he wished he appreciated purgatory the way he had. if sam were with him in purgatory, do you suppose dean would’ve come out the same way? would he have appreciated the killing? not that they both wouldn’t have killed for survival, but with sam, do you think dean would’ve been able to find the pleasure in it? as he had been able to with benny? I don’t believe so. with that dean connects to benny. he appreciates benny because they are the same. this is not a relationship built on love or trust. it’s built on a mutual attitude. and in the end, dean brings this monster with him to earth, deluding himself into thinking benny is the exception to dean’s very own monster rule, which he so eloquently glorified to amy before he ganked her. thus dean’s hypocritical status blooms into the weed that it is. but dean has to believe in benny, because if he’s wrong about benny, as we learn he is..then dean is a monster like him instead of benny being the monster who’s human. dean creates this fascade. having sam believe benny is good. benny could be trusted. benny is like a brother. but in reality benny was a vampire who killed humans while atop because that’s what vamps do. he was true to himself. yes there was a bond, I don’t deny it…but it was a bond based on what they believed to be a kindred spirit. dean ultimately recognized this. when dean sent that text, and saw the lengths he went to to keep the façade of benny alive…that he hurt his brother so much, that sam couldn’t take it anymore, he told dean he had to decide, dean knew he had to cut benny loose. dean building up benny so that he doesn’t feel like the monster he’d become in purgatory was having the opposite affect. I believe dean didn’t want to fail sam, to let sam know the truth about benny and what they really did down there and dean’s contentment with it all….so dean creates a benny that isn’t real….but in trying to keep up the charade, he nearly destroys his relationship with sam…and that too is failing his brother. so dean has to decide which failing is one he can live with…and so he chooses sam over benny…privately living once again with the belief that he’s truly no good. he’s just a killer. all of this could’ve been avoided if dean had been honest with sam. but dean’s inability to face failing or what he deems to be failing….is the bane of dean’s existence and it’s what eventually leads to his fall.
we see dean totally try to make up for everything in the second half of s8. he even does a whole 360 in his attitude about wanting sam to have normal. funny because the whole first half he made sam feel guilty to the point of rather killing himself instead of disappointing dean again…which is a whole sam thing that you will be pleased to know I won’t be getting into. i’m sure I already have at some point already.:D dean was the one who felt he needed to atone so badly that it was he who wanted to do the trials. (sam felt the same which is why he took them over, oh those boys) sam taking over, all dean could do was be by sam’s side and make sure he got through it. not that dean wasn’t still a busy guy. cas needed dean to get metatron.
this leads to s9 and dean’s inability to let sam go and the method in which he used to keep him. sam dying…that would be dean’s biggest failure and that ain’t happening, not while he’s still walking the earth. of course when kevin dies and sam finds out the truth, and not in the way he should have….yikes. dean can’t even face sam. he runs away. this was a failure too big for dean to handle so he didn’t handle it at all. not only did he run away from sam, but he saw fit to punish himself in a way that sam would never have. of course the sad thing is that I don’t think dean understands that. when he has the opportunity to simply tell sam he was sorry, he couldn’t do it. he couldn’t say the words, I believe because it would be admitting he failed his brother. thus his big bravado about doing it all again…and in dean’s attempt to ignore his mistake, he inadvertently made things worse by leading sam to believe that dean only saved sam because he didnt’ want to be alone. and here we have the rest of s9 and the continued misunderstanding between the boys.
this of course ultimately leads us to where we are now. it all started on that fateful day when dean was only four years old. 🙁
but there is a bright spot…because s10 is finally dealing with dean’s issue. at least we’re well into the process. I really do believe, that when dean finally rids himself of the mark, I think he’s finally going to understand what truly motivates him and why. my hope is when he comes to this realization he’ll be open with sam about it. I believe he will be. as I’ve stated before, I think season ten is the year that both of these boys will finally deal with their personal demons and come to accept who they are. they will come to understand ea. other’s perspective for the first time ever….and their bond will be stronger than it ever was before…because now they truly accept ea. other…it’s going to be amazing, I have no doubt. 🙂
and of course, this is jmo 😉
This is one of my favorite episodes. The visuals are stunning and it was exciting. I know it was controversial in the fandom for various reasons but the scene of young Sam and adult Dean in the pasture with fireworks was so lovely I’ll always hold this one close. I personally never thought the amulet tossing was as much about sticking it to Sam as it was Dean being at the end of his rope and feeling hopeless and defeated. I am glad that Dean got to atone in a tiny way for his impulsive decision to toss it by hanging it (the play version) on the mirror in the 200th. Even if it disappeared in the next episode. 🙂 I liked the moment. Thanks for the look back Elle.
Thanks for this review. It’s nice to have a look back and remember past episodes. Unfortunately, in light of what we’ve seen in the last three seasons this episode now leaves a really bitter taste in my mouth. When Sam and Dean do die is this what Sam will spend an eternity facing, Dean crapping all over Sams happy memories while Sam has to stand in the corner and watch memories of Dean that he himself is not a part of that, cause him pain. I’d have hoped that heaven would be an escape from all that and not merely an extension of it.
I agree with SinBin. I hated this episode with every fiber of my being. Dean was a complete ass to Sam and throws away the brothers relationship along with the amulet. He begrudges any happy memories that Sam has that don’t include him. But Sam doesn’t do the same thing to him. Their relationship in a nutshell. And it’s only gotten worse since then.
leah,
I agree. I never thought of dean tossing the amulet as a way of sticking it to sam. dean stated to sam in the ep that God was the last hope of a desperate man, and he just found out that God didn’t care. It wasn’t his problem. Little did dean realize that he didn’t give up on him, that he gave him sam. God saved them both. He granted both salvation into heaven, for he knew the end result. God was never far away from the boys, as we’ve seen chuck has been there til the end…and judging from fan fiction, he’s still close by watching over the Winchesters. 😉
I always saw the moment dean tossing the amulet as the moment he gave up. the moment he decided he was going to say yes. and thinking on it as I just rewatched the eppy, it was probably something easier for him to do without the reminder on his neck of the trust sam put in him and what he was about to do. also looking back to ponr, and watching fan fiction…it’s easy to see why dean was so surprised at how marie looked at the amulet and dean’s response in kind: I don’t need a trinket to remind me of how I feel about my brother. watching ponr, sam comes into the panic room, and this is after dean’s gut wrenching speech to sam, sam walks in with key in hand, unlocking the cuffs and telling dean he’s taking him with. with that, dean flat out asks if that’s a good idea and sam says both bobby and cas don’t think so, but does. dean tells him they’re right. that it’s a trap to say yes and he will. and sam looks him in the eyes and tells him no..when push comes to shove, dean will do the right thing. dean’s response is so simple…I don’t get it, why are you doing this? and sam’s response is so matter of fact and obvious…because you’re still my big brother. and not too long after, when cas tells dean he doesn’t have faith in him like sam does and is willing to die because he knows dean will fail….dean goes in that room and is about to say yes as sam is lying bloody on the floor and he looks at sam….and that’s it…he gives sam a wink and a minute later Zach is dead on the floor….sam asks what made him change his mind….dean’s answer is perfect…I didn’t want to let you down….and all this without the amulet around his neck….because when it comes down to it, amulet or no, dean loves sam …always has and always will.
but I do so love the fact that now dean understands how others view the amulet and thus hung it in the impala.
That was a great analysis of both of those episodes. I hadn’t looked at it quite that way before. I loved DSOTM it is one of my favorite episodes from S5. Even the painful ending was perfect in the story telling as to where Dean was at that moment. And it was so obvious, even though I didn’t see it at the time that Dean still loved Sam and didn’t let him down even without the amulet. And what Dean said to Marie was true but the deeper truth was that when Dean hung the “Samulet” in the car he was telling Sam again thank you for still believing in him no matter what he did or became.
I love these looks into the past episodes. Thank you Elle these are fun.
thanks Cheryl…. I know I kind of went rather into deep analysis into dean in the post above that….I let my thoughts run away with me. I just can’t help it….I get so angry at dean sometimes…half the time I want to punch him right in his very cute nose…so I actually have to try to understand him so that he’s less frustrating….see I don’t get that with sam. I don’t know why, but I understand sam completely..
anyhoo I totally agree with you regarding the deeper truth in dean not only taking the amulet but hanging it in the impala…even though we only saw it for that moment…I think in the eps that have followed dean has been more open with sam than he’s ever been….an open dean is a trusting dean…I really feel dean starting to put all of his faith in his brother this season…seeing sam as the capable man he’s always been. 😉 that’s just me of course.
Yay we can reply again! Yes Sugarhi15 thank you for articulating much of how I feel about Dean. I am often angry at him myself. I have rarely been angry at Sam. However I do try and see below all the defensive layers to the good man that he is and yet doesn’t believe himself to be. I think Dean threw away the amulet primarily for other reasons then being upset with Sam about not being in Sam’s version of heaven. Though I believe it was a factor. Dean was without hope at that moment felt abandoned by God. He had turned it over to Cas to be used for the purpose of finding God. That’s what it was being used for when Dean tossed it. He equates taking care of Sam with love, not a necklace. It did mean a lot to Dean, Sam gave it to him, he loved it. But he didn’t need it to know how he feels about Sam or to continue to love or protect Sam which is what he has always done. I think it hurt Sam but he knew how defeated his brother felt at that moment. He is hopefully coming to a place where he can let Sam be a grown man and equal, not his little brother who need to always be protected and “saved”. I do see signs of that this season. 🙂
I totally agree. 😉
A great episode from S5. Given the lead up to this episode, with Sam taking out Famine in 5.14 My Bloody Valentine, Dean’s mindset and reaction at the end of the episode make a lot of sense. He’s not giving up on Sam, he’s pretty much giving up on everything by this point.
I’ve gone back and forth on whether Sam’s memories/”greatest hits” were planted or at least picked out by Zachariah or not. In either case, given what the hunting life has meant to him, losing both parents, his demon blood addiction, taking out Lilith to release Lucifer, and lastly, being THE vessel for Lucifer, it always made sense to me that his fondest memories would be his time spent away from, or getting away from, his life as a hunter.
This was good episode which gave insight into Sam.But I was sad that rather than Dean learning anything about Sam he berated Sam.This made me feel sorry for Sam as this is what he has to look forward to after Death.His (their) heaven where he should be happy will not be so as Dean will judge every memory that Sam has.This is what sam’s eternity is going to be like.depressing thought.This is pattern I have seen whereas sam always is open to learn about Dean even when it is revealed (less than flattering) that he was playing with an aeroplane *barf*, Dean cannot even muster a pretense of understanding or even try to understand.This episode ended with Dean throwing the amulet and when the camera showed Sam, I got to see how it devastated Sam.Many people commented that they wanted Sam to have retrieved it from the trash can and they wanted Sam to return it to Dean.I wanted Sam to have retrieved it and want to keep it with him and when Sam dies I want someone to find it among his possessions.Dean no longer deserves it as he could not muster an apology to Sam in s09 or s10.
The hiatus re-review of this episode coupled with what has happened on the show after this episode has made me strengthen my thoughts that
1) Sam has to be shown driving another car ..I had always hated the” driver pics music….”line and it has gone too far (I want to punch Dean when i listen to this dialogue now) ..Sam could not even put an ipod jack…I really really hope the writers show Sam driving a new car..not Dean’s home ..but a car for sam.
2) Amulet should never be returned to Dean .
and a new one
3) Sam’s heaven experience is going to be hell because of Dean.
Dean might love Sam but that does not preclude the way he abuses him both physically and mentally. He just doesn’t care how Sam feels about anything. He’s made that abundantly clear.
I don’t think I can agree with that. now mind you, I don’t deny at all that dean can be a real pratt at times…and Chuck knows there were times where it was all me me me…but I don’t think I can agree that dean doesn’t care how sam feels about anything. I’ve seen many many examples of dean caring what sam thinks and feels. there were times that sam’s feelings have swayed dean’s opinions and actions. i just don’t always think that it’s about dean not caring how sam feels, sometimes i think it’s about dean being afraid of what sam feels.
jmo of course. 😉
I agree with sugarhi, for what it’s worth. Dean often shows he cares how Sam feels. In this instance, though, he is showing that his feelings are hurt that he and/or family were not included in Sam’s dreams. He always needs time to process before he reacts anyway.
After I’ve watched this episode a zillion times, I always notice how Sam has to “figure out” why he was in the Thanksgiving dinner scene. [i]Oh, heaven? My first formal Thanksgiving. Maybe our greatest hits…[/i] Interesting.
Actually I kind of got it. You have to realize, that for the first four years of his life, dean got to have dinner every night with his mom and dad, in a house where he was safe, getting tucked in every night. Sam never got to personally experience that. he was a baby. He has no memories of a mom or dinners or getting tucked in. The only family life he has seen was on tv. Probably the Brady bunch as he noted once his family wasn’t the Brady’s. For the first time in his life Sam got to witness first hand what it’s like to have a normal family and he had the chance for the first time ever to experience what every other kid he’s ever known including his brother takes advantage of . So yes I could see this being a moment Sam would treasure as he most likely never had it again….at least as of now…..what’s important to remember is that when Sam gained control from lucifer..it was his current memories of his brother and his love for him that flashed through his mind;)