Threads: Supernatural 10.17 “Inside Man”
I loved “Inside Man”. The writing was sharp and the plots got some traction. Even though I have truly enjoyed most of season 10, this episode tugged at my heartstrings and pulled me in so deep that I felt the “oneness” I have so often felt with Supernatural. I fell in love with the show all over again.
The simple things I loved about “Inside Man”:
The whole nightmare scene – Dean calling out to Sam while in the grips of the nightmare. Bedhead Sam running down the hall in bare feet. Hearing Sam’s footfalls on the cold tile floor. Did you notice that Sam sleeps with two lights lit in his room? Yeah, I’d be afraid of the dark too if I’d lived his life. I also never realized that the brothers’ rooms are so far apart. It was an endearing scene that showed how much these brothers love each other.
Another hunter was handling a case – I have often wondered why multiple hunters don’t show up to the same job when the boys hit the road moments after reading a weird news item. I appreciated the acknowledgement that other hunters exist. Referencing a world outside the bunker makes everything more believable and realistic. THAT is tight writing.
Sam and Dean each acknowledged things that had happened before, as if they actually remembered their own histories. Sam mentioned all their other attempts to find a cure for the MoC – “Charlie’s gone radio silent. Everything else we’ve tried has been a dead end.” Dean acknowledged that Crowley had indeed changed and that it may have been from the trials:
Crowley: She says I’ve gone soft.
Dean: You have. What? Maybe it’s all that human blood Sammy pumped into you…
Again, continuity that acknowledges the show we see, a continuous series of events versus isolated chapters that maybe have one line of transition. Having the characters realize that their past affects their present lives made Sam, Dean and Castiel’s lives more believable because in reality they would talk about what happened yesterday, the day before, the week before.
Castiel’s slow-motion action jump into Heaven’s elevator! Great shot!
Crowley and Dean taking a drink at exactly the same moment when they each were confronted with the truth that punctured straight through the stories they had been telling themselves. It was funny yet symbolic of their kinship.
Bobby.
The important things I loved about “Inside Man”:
The brothers acting like brothers –
Sam: “Stay out of my room”
Dean: “Totally”
..then Dean being the mischievous big brother messing with his little brother. This seemingly insignificant comedy returned the show to its roots by adding to the revered line of pranks the brothers have played on each other over the years. It’s what makes them real. The fans needed to see the boys tease each other so we could fall in love with them again.
Legitimate, substantial plot progress – Rowena was honest with both Dean and Crowley; Crowley and Dean laid it all on the table; and Hannah and Bobby both cut through Castiel’s pretenses about his visit to Heaven.
The truth was refreshing and allowed real progress in the characters’ relationships and in their individual stories instead of wasting time with tiresome manipulations and inane misdirects. The characters were themselves again, not shallow caricatures who don’t express themselves or, worse yet, whine incessantly. They were smart, the plots assumed they were smart, and the dialogue granted the audience the courtesy of acknowledging that we are smart, allowing for substantive movement in the storylines.
All of our heroes received positive affirmation of their goodness, or at least their intentions – Rowena, of all people, reminded Dean of his goodness:
Rowena: “You’re a good influence on [Crowley]! That’s why you need to die… I think you’re a hero. You could have killed those men, but you didn’t because they’re innocent. You’re the good guy and you want them to live.”
Sam got his much needed encouragement from Bobby’s letter:
“So, this is weird huh. Look, I just wanted to say Cas told me what you’re doing for Dean and I’m not asking you to stop, but maybe going behind his back is not the best idea. Your brother, he can be stubborn, but I think he’d understand. And I know it’s the life, doing a little bad so you can do a lot of good, but sometimes the bad’s real bad, and the good, it can come at one hell of a price.
I ain’t there on the ground and whatever you do, I know you’ll make the right choice. You’re a good man Sam Winchester, one of the best and I’m damned proud of you son. I was content up here, but getting a call from you, it’s the happiest I’ve been in forever, no matter what it costs. So stay safe, keep fighting and kick it in the ass.
Bobby”
…and then we got a single tear from Sam.
These boys sorely needed to have their badly bruised opinions of themselves reinflated. Even Castiel received some reassurance:
Castiel: Dean has given up
Bobby: and you idgits haven’t.
Castiel: Would you?
Bobby: Hell no”
In short, this episode excelled because of good, tight writing.
The characters were real and their actions were smart (e.g. Dean stopped himself from killing the college kids and Crowley finally ousted his mother). There were no sudden, unexplained devices that made the characters annoying and the plots gapingly simplistic. They called each other on their choices (Hannah recognizing that Castiel was desperate), and they acknowledged their feelings (Bobby’s letter). The boys said and did small things that showed their love for each other (teasing, pranking and protecting each other) and they all acknowledged recent events and the world that has been built around them. We love Supernatural because it is smart television. It engages us with complex situations and intelligent people. In returning to that, this episode joins the ranks of classic Supernatural.
So how did the plots advance?
MoC
All prior evidence was that the bearer of the Mark wouldn’t turn into a demon until death, but two things in this episode contradicted, or rather clarified, that canon. Bobby was the first to provide more exposition on the MoC’s effect:
Bobby: You’ve got to figure out a way to get the MoC off Dean before it turns him back into a demon
Then Dean’s eyes turned black for just a second after his mean-spirited pool hustle. Together, these incidents corroborate that Dean’s soul is being corrupted very quickly and that he can turn into a demon without dying. The first time down this road, Dean was resurrected as a demon after being killed by Metatron, so it was reasonable to assume that he could forestall the Mark’s complete domination of his body and soul if he could stay alive. The truth, though, is that he is already part demon and his time is running out faster than we thought. I believe we have to correct our assumption that death is the transition point for Dean.
Dean’s momentary eye flash was also a reversal of Sam’s eyes turning black when he used his demon blood to kill Lilith in the season 4 finale. I hadn’t put the two storylines together before now, but Sam was unknowingly turning himself into a demon by increasing the amount of himself that was demon blood. He would soon have been, if he wasn’t already, a living demon version of himself.
Similarly, Rowena’s blinding-light-death-spell bounced off Dean just like Lilith’s death ray bounced off Sam.
Rowena: The spell I cast should have ripped him apart, but…
Crowley: …it was like Dean was protected, from on high. It’s the Mark of Cain. Never lets its host die easy.
Again, a parallel and reversal of the brothers’ paths. Each brother was immune to attack because there were just as much demon as human, and were supernaturally protected for a greater evil that awaited them.
Rowena’s reaction to the revelation about the mark then provided a new, major opening for a possible cure:
Rowena: the mark? It’s just a curse. The first curse, but still it can be removed.
Crowley: How?
Rowena: I’ll find a way.
Crowley: You do that.
The cataclysmic line of the episode, though, was also about a path to a cure and was another parallel to seasons 4 and 5:
Sam: How do we get rid of the mark?
Metatron: I don’t know. It’s old magic. God level magic, or Lucifer level, but you can’t ask him exactly, can you?
Anyone who was following my live tweets knew my jaw hit the floor with that line. THEY REINTRODUCED LUCIFER INTO THE STORY. Some of you had speculated about Sam rechanneling himself as Lucifer’s vessel to get the answer. I never, ever thought the show would go there. Some of the tweeters still aren’t convinced. The continued parallels to the season 4 and 5 plotlines have been blatant, though, and they are getting stronger. Bookdal pointed out that the Michael/Lucifer story is nothing more than the Cain/Abel story played out in heaven. Again with the “brother against brother” fate.
Almost as if on cue, Jensen used the word “vessel” during Seattle’s convention when asked about Dean’s fate in the finale. I was particularly struck by the interaction between Jensen and Jared during that answer just as much as by what they said. When Jared started to talk about filming the finale, Jensen told him to be careful (or to shut up). Jared said the season ten finale would be “the most intense episode since the season 5 finale”. He specifically had season 5 in his mind. Then Jensen tried to answer the question diplomatically yet vaguely, but he specifically used the word vessel instead of body. The boys were just hours away from filming the finale. They had read the script and prepared themselves to play out the final gut-wrenching scenes, and Jared mentioned season 5 and Jensen mentioned vessels! These 2 guys do not lie directly to fans. They were trying to honor their contracts while still honoring their honesty with fans and we get “trauma, season 5 and vessel” as our clues!
So if Dean doesn’t have to die to become a demon and Lucifer is now in play, what about the prior cures the boys had been chasing (and we had been discussing)?
Castiel: What about the tablets?
Metatron: No, there’s nothing in them about the mark.
Sam: So when you said the river ends at the source…
Metatron: I was just making up crap. Trying to buy time until I could screw you over. What? It worked before!
Castiel: He’s telling the truth.
Sam: What??
I agree with Sam. WHAT?? Really? That dialog gave me whiplash!
Metatron was lying before and he knows nothing about the curse? He had me fooled. Saying “he’s gone nuclear” and “you’re only going to get worse Dean” sure sounded like he knew what he was talking about. The tablets don’t have anything about the mark so forget chasing them (and bringing back Kevin’s ghost), and there is no river to trace back to its source? I never, ever would have believed this drastic change in the direction of the plot if Castiel hadn’t said “He’s telling the truth”. It really seems like the River/Source idea that could have ended in the brothers breaking the curse by being stronger than Cain/Abel was suddenly discarded for a much, much larger myth arc. Someone please ask Andrew Dabb or Jeremy Carver if this episode was written after they knew they were renewed for season 11 and the writers had the license to make the plot much bigger than before. I am truly struggling with accepting that we just forget many of our prior theories and every clue Sam and Castiel have been chasing for 6 months. I feel…..duped? We still have the witchcraft, though. That one stuck. It’s also very possible that the curse breaker that Rowena will find is still that the brothers must choose to do something differently than Cain and Abel. Maybe Dean refuses to kill Sam, as we suggested. More likely, now though, is that the reversal theme is seen through to its end and Sam does what Dean did during the Season 5 finale – Sam chooses to die with Dean rather than let him die alone. We also have that troubling suicide thread that has invaded several recent episodes.
As dire as this sounds (I’m already hyperventilating thinking about it!), the episode made a concerted effort to balance the evil in Dean with Rowena’s speech testifying to his humanity. It also offered Bobby’s testament to Sam’s goodness to offset the desperate acts he is committing or contemplating. So maybe it was trying to give us hope alongside the death knell.
The Truth
Ironically, a primary thread running through this episode was truth. When Dean had a knife to Rowena’s throat, she who had done nothing other than lie and manipulate her son told the truth about why she was trying to kill Dean. The previews had insinuated that she was going to lie again and say that she was working on Crowley’s orders (which was going to be extremely annoying). Then when Rowena presented her battered self to Crowley, she again told him the truth about why she went to Dean.
Crowley: I assume you had a reason for this little suicide run of yours.
Rowena: The best reason. You. Those Tumshies have you on a leash. I thought if they were gone…
Crowley: I know what you thought. I know that you were wrong. I have Sam and Dean exactly where I want them. What do they say? Keep your friends close ; your enemies closer.
Crowley and Dean were then brutally honest with each other, even deflating the stories each had told themselves and others to avoid painful truths:
Dean: Look, I’m not saying I didn’t want to slice and dice the witch. I’m just saying that’s not how it went down.
Crowley: So she’s a liar.
Dean: Must run in the family.
Crowley: Mother says that mark is just a curse. It can be removed. ‘course she doesn’t know how.
Dean: Figures. But I’m good. Thanks.
Crowley: Who’s the liar now?
The entire bar conversation between Crowley and Dean was fantastic. It was one of my favorite scenes in the episode. Crowley was smart and honest. He checked Rowena’s story with Dean, he told Dean about a possible cure for the Mark and he called Dean out for lying about his condition. In turn, Dean called Crowley out for holding onto the illusion of a family where none existed. The two enemies who had become pseudo-friends were talking again, comparing notes about the battle they were each waging on different fronts. They were honest with each other, frankly more honest than Sam, Dean and Castiel are being with each other. I accept the trio all know how much the truth will hurt and they are protecting each other. Crowley are Dean are two old soldiers, though. They don’t have to carry each other’s pain or give each other hope. They could share the honesty that we sometimes hear from friends when family can’t bear to, or afford to, give up hope.
There is still the possibility that Crowley is playing the long con. After all, he told his mother that he has the brothers exactly where he wants them. He could be acting sappy and weak to keep the MoC demon from turning against him with all his might. Still, at least so far, I completely believed Crowley’s sincerity when he asked Dean about turning “soft”. There was also their reflection on getting old and “never saw that coming”. Jeremy Carver said he was going to transition the brothers from their immature, fast and loose ways. This contemplation about how age changes the way one looks and reacts to things was a transparent advancement of this objective.
The episode also asked us to believe that the other ultimate liar and manipulator, Metatron, suddenly told the truth and spewed a string of important information simply because he was rendered fallible:
Sam: So when you said the river ends at the source…
Metatron: I was just making up crap. Trying to buy time until I could screw you over. What? It worked before!
Castiel: He’s telling the truth.
Metatron: No, no. Your grace. I wasn’t lying about that. There’s still some left. I’ll take you to it.
The truth was even endorsed from the heavens via Bobby’s letter:
Cas told me what you’re doing for Dean and I’m not asking you to stop, but maybe going behind his back is not the best idea. Your brother, he can be stubborn, but I think he’d understand.
What a kind, fatherly way of saying “I’m not going to make your choices for you, but you’re making a mistake lying to Dean.”
The irony was that after we saw the leader of all demons, the slimiest angel and a scheming witch all tell the truth, both brothers continued to lie to each other. That has to be important, but I don’t yet know why. They trust each other with their lives unquestionably. Isn’t it time they trusted each other with their feelings? Boys, two arch enemies were honest with each other. It’s time you were too.
Monsters and their Families
In an obvious portrayal of the family theme, Sam turned to his family, Bobby and Castiel, to keep Dean from becoming a monster. This season has given us several examples of human families being able to pull their loved ones back from the brink (e.g. Hannah’s vessel’s husband), so this is another hopeful thread as we march toward the dreaded MoC arc’s climax. In contrast, we’ve also seen people pretending to be family to protect themselves (Randy/Claire), and countless examples of families destroying their own, especially if some or all were already monsters. Crowley’s story started in this vein:
Dean: What the hell are you doing here?
Rowena: Saving my son.
The thread of saving the people we love that was so prominent in “The Things They Carried” was used by Rowena as possibly a testament to some true feelings for her son. Dean was the wise “old” friend, though, when he helped Crowley understand that his family was dooming him, not saving him:
Dean: What is it, huh? Why are you letting mommie dearest tie you into knots?
Crowley: Because we’re family. We’re blood.
Dean: Well that’s not the same thing. A wise man once told me, Family don’t end in blood. But it doesn’t start there either. Family cares about you. Not what you can do for them. Family’s there – through the good, bad, all of it. They got your back, even when it hurts. That’s family. That sound like your mother?
In that moment, Dean was more family to Crowley than Crowley’s own mother. In banishing her, Crowley said he was choosing himself, not the Winchesters, so is his story reflecting his human side that will be “saved” by Dean or his monster side that will be destroyed by Rowena?
Curiosities
Did Sam steal a truck just for a short jaunt to meet Castiel? Really? They need a second car! Sam can’t be committing grand theft auto every day of the week in his home town! I get that the cars in the bunker’s garage might not be inconspicuous enough to go under the local folk’s radar, but this car situation has gone too far!
Sam doesn’t even get to drive when he’s with Castiel. Passenger seat once more. How funny.
Rowena greeted the college kids with “Hello, boys.” Must run in the family!
It’s about time Crowley and Rowena got nick names from cartoons!
Crowley: Squirrell.
Dean: Boris. Where’s Natasha?
Hilarious!
“The Bobby’s are surly”. Another hilarious line!
So…
This episode pulled me in tight and held me there. I said I loved this episode because the characters were smart again. Fans revolt when the characters are stupid or blind to what’s happening around them. This week we got the characters we expect and want to see. As I said in a tweet: #BobbysBack #BigBrotherDeanIsBack #SamIsBack #CasIsBack #CrowleyIsBack. When all I needed to say was:
#SupernaturalisBack…to being the show we all love so very, very much. Thank you Andrew Dabb.
What did you think of “Inside Man”? How about the possibility of Lucifer coming back? Do you think Metatron is actually taking Castiel to his grace? What do you think “cost” awaits Bobby? Are you giving up on “the river ends at the source” and the tablets? Let me hear from you!
Screencaps courtesy of www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk
My jaw didn’t quite hit the floor when Lucifer was mentioned but my eyes were certainly raised in shock. “Did they just hint at Sam contacting Lucifer?”
Interesting observation about Jensen and Jared talking about the season finale, and the fact Jensen said “vessel”. I swear if after all this Lucifer doesn’t make another appearance (voice only I’d be happy with) I’ll be hugely disappointed and tempted to re write the finale!
EDIT: I would like to give evidence Sam contacting Lucifer could be a thing. It happened with Abel did it not? 😉
[quote]but Sam was unknowingly turning himself into a demon by increasing the amount of himself that was demon blood. He would soon have been, if he wasn’t already, a living demon version of himself. [/quote]
Thats an interesting thing to bring up. Would Sam have gone full Demon like Demon Dean? aka behavior wise? That would of been interesting to see. Though to this day it still puzzles me why his eyes didn’t turn yellow instead. Can he do both? If Jake’s eyes can flash yellow then why not? Also remember Yellow Fever? The demon Sam that Dean hallucinated was NOT Azazel but Sam having fully given in to his demon blood. When Jake gave in a little to his powers his eyes flashed. If he had lived and went further down his dark road he would of become a full Azazel demon with yellow eyes.
[quote]Would Sam have gone full Demon like Demon Dean?[/quote] I think Sam’s fate was to completely lose himself to Lucifer. I don’t think there would have been any of Sam left.
I always thought the purpose of the demon blood was to make Sam’s body (vessel) strong enough to take in Lucifer. I still don’t know how Lucifer would have gotten consent because even as addicted as he was Sam still thought he was doing the right thing. After he killed Lilith Sam was pretty much back to being Sam.
Dean is losing himself or at least starting to.
That reminds me. Sam was only back to being Sam after god cured him of being addicted. I always find that part of the plot daft that god did it.
Probably, but not necessarily. Sam was mostly back to Sam once he shot his load with Lilith. Both boys were transported by an undefined power, presumably God, into the plane and Sam lost the craving for blood. Whatever power transported them did a rapid detox to stop the physical need for the DB, but anything else could have been because he fulfilled his destiny and released Lucifer and used all his power in one shot.
HI Nightsky – agreed; a tightly written, very good episode. Everything moving forward with no exposition heavy scenes and a lot of those small touches that you brought up which really rounded out the episode. I loved the scene with Dean and Crowley in the bar; in the hands of a lesser writer and actors that could have gone wrong in a lot of ways, but turned out pitch perfect.
So glad we got to see Castiel the warrior angel back this episode. Still not sure what’s up with Crowley, though; I guess it’s the after effects of all that human blood. And, some long overdue and welcome Sam POV in this episode as well. Was that Sam’s first single man tear? They do need to get him a nicer car. I do hope that Bobby’s letter will encourage Sam to come clean with Dean, and vice versa.
Dean was able to resist the MoC and not kill the college twerps. But I’m not entirely sold on the fact that “Demon Dean” is hiding below the surface, and the black eyes in the mirror weren’t just a flashback or hallucination, at least yet. My theory on that is that the MoC will ultimately gets its way and, the more Dean fights against it, the more it fights back, to the point where it will consume Dean the person; whether that involves taking over Dean’s vessel or turning him in to a demon to get its way remains to be seen.
There have now been multiple episodes where Sam has been referred to as a good man, good guy ethics, etc. Do we still think they are setting him up to go dark (witchcraft) or do you think this is a misdirection? Lucifer was brought up this episode as well; I just can’t see them going there, can you?
[quote]But I’m not entirely sold on the fact that “Demon Dean” is hiding below the surface, and the black eyes in the mirror weren’t just a flashback or hallucination[/quote] Given that the eye flash was right after Dean was a jerk, it could have been his guilty conscience, but taken together with the nightmare, I’m going to give the Mark the benefit of the doubt. We’ll see if the next few episodes follow through to clarify.
Nightsky. Check out the episode again where pool bar douce slams Dean up against the wall it looks like Deans eyes flash black quickly and then back to normal. Second time happens when Dean throws his first punch at the same guy. This was after the bathroom scene where there were definite black eyes shown. I slo-moed and watched frame by frame although you can see it really fast during the fight scene. I’m thinking it was intentional. I think DemonDean was in control off and on during that bar scene – the pool game with the needless cruelty of taking the watch, egging three guys on for a confrontation and definitely when he was sitting with Crowley. Deans mannerisms, the way he drank, poured his shot, the relaxed pose when he told Crowley he was waiting for him…so much just screamed DemonDean to me. I’m even wondering when he reported back to Sam that he just shot pool and it was boring, how much he is actually remembering. I could be wrong but I’m thinking not. It looks to me as if Dean is losing control faster and faster and isn’t even aware of it. I’ve always been of the mind that the cure never fully worked and DemonDean has been dormant. Since the killing of Cain, he’s coming out to play.
Nightsky – did you see my post where I talked about the black eye flashes besides the one in the restroom? If you get a chance, take a peek (no pun intended) and let me know what you might think. Great thoughts from you as always!
I haven’t been able to do a rewatch yet, but I’m glad you reminded me! I’ll look for it. I just went through all the screencaps of the fight scene, though. Dean’s eyes were very dilated for that whole sequence so there was a lot of black and very little green, but the whites of his eyes were still definitely there in every screencap. I compared to DemonDean eyes, which were completely black (no white). The screencaps all missed the bathroom/mirror Demon eyes, though, so I’ll double check on DVR rewatch and let you know.
I rewatched last night but the fight scene was just too fast. I couldn’t see black eyes but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there! Could anyone else see them?
I finally got around to rewatching the episode last night and went frame by frame thru the fight scene. I didn’t notice Dean’s eyes go black, other than the preceding scene in the bathroom.
There have been hints all along that the cure wasn’t a 100% deal. Both Crowley and Dean became hybrids, the difference being the Mark keeps pushing Dean closer to the supernatural extreme. I have been noting hints about demonic Dean not being gone in my reviews on TVFTROU.
I am not surprised about the Lucifer reveal. 8 have been expecting it because Metatron’s machinations have all been to royally screw with the righteous man, seventh of heaven and Michael sword and TFW and to undo their great works. He destroyed the Winchester Gospels by burning it. Now he’s destroying them by undoing their greatest achievement.
The Apocalypse didn’t happen because Dean loved Sam so much that he refused to play heaven’s game and TFW managed to put Lucifer back in the pit. Now Dean has the bloody Mark of CAIN, an emblem of a brother that chose to kill his brother! When witchcraft doesn’t pan out… And I am sure that 8 won’t because Subtext! … Sam will be desperate enough to do the unthinkable.
I personally think this season is too soon for Lucifer. I would think Dean needs to go off the rails for Sam to consider that a viable option.
I also think that the Mark won’t necessarily make Dean want to kill Sam; however contacting Lucifer probably will. It strikes me that Cain’s psychosis was that he saved individuals from their inner badness by killing them. Dean is right when he says he is nothing like Cain. His psychosis is saving people by killing the evil outside of them. The Mark amplified this which is why he might brutally beat down a random tough guy for funsies, he never killed them. He killed demons and Lester once he saw the guy was really into killing his wife. I Don’t think he will want to kill Sam unless he sees Sam doing something very bad like bringing EVIL unto the world.
Even when Cain lost it he followed his code. I expect Dean too as well.
Cain was cursed with the MOC by Lucifer to raise an army of First Knights. Their mission was to destroy mankind. Cain was able to put that aside after presumably thousands of years when he met Collette. Jensen did tease that Dean’s body may be a vessel (thank you Leah) but for who? If your theory is correct and Sam tries to free Lucifer then Michael would also be freed. So the big fight would be back on. Neither angel has any love for mankind. Their only mission was to battle each other on earth wiping out half the population and creating paradise on earth (something God evidently didn’t want to happen which is why he chose the Winchesters to stop it). So if this is where the story is going it would be a complete rehash of the first 5 seasons and I think would need to be handled very carefully. I also think it would take away from the fresh new story of the MOC. As I said in your review this is all going to boil down to Crowley. He is once again playing a long con on the Winchesters. At some point the brothers bond will save them but I think we will be in for a very bumpy ride until then.
We don’t know Lucifer’s motivations, only what he had Cain do.
I disagree about Crowley. If anyone is pulling a long con it is, Metatron whom hlwas, introduced as a Kaiser Soze character (The Usual Suspects). I would not be surprised if we learn Metatron dropped hints for Crowley to pick up that Abaddon could only be killed with the First Blade, as well as making sure Cain learned that another Marked Blade wielder could kill him.
Yes I imagine that Michael would be released too. That doesn’t necessarily mean Dean would, say yes in his current form… although I suspect only Much would have incentive to cure Dean to use him for a vessel. Ironic considering Gadreel cured Sam for Dean.
I don’t see it as a, negative to revisit this storyline in a new context. Especially since there will likely be twists. For instance in many respects the storyline is reversed.
Yes Jensen ‘ s vessel slip is interesting.
Ah but we do know his motivations. He has said it more than once. Daddy brought home the hairless little apes and asked his angels to bow down before them. Lucifer made it his mission to corrupt man (in Eden, Gadreel after all let him in) and then when he had risen his mission was to wipe out mankind altogether and create his own paradise.
As Crowley told Rowena he has the Winchesters right where he wants them. As we have seen in the past Crowley is always the problem. Not that Metatron doesn’t have his own agenda. He wants to be the new God but I think he really wants to screw with Cas, the angel who locked him up. Angels and the Winchesters are very much on his to do list (and now since Sam shot him I would bet Sam is just as high on the hit list as Dean).
As I said in your other review I just don’t have faith that this group of writers, who even though I am loving this season really don’t have the talent to honor what has gone before or the capability to enhance that storyline without rewriting canon and mythology. The fandom would explode!
[quote]I also think that the Mark won’t necessarily make Dean want to kill Sam; however contacting Lucifer probably will. [/quote]
That actually would be a perfect fulfillment of Cain’s prophesy. Dean’ story would end precisely where Cain ‘s began – with the brother contacting Lucifer. Consider if the brothers were working together and had a plan. Freeing michael would also free Adam, who coincidentally is another brother that could be killed. Michael would surely purge the mark, so all 3 brothers would be free. Then there’s just that apocalypse problem!
Yes. Adam is the obvious way to avoid Dean killing Sam and there was the Adam shout out in FF.
But isn’t Adam the vessel of Michael? So why would Michael care about Dean when he has Adam. Lucifer still doesn’t have Sam so he would had no vessel since Nick was pretty used up. I just don’t see how freeing Lucifer and Michael/Adam would help the Winchesters remove the Mark. But we shall see…..
Dean is the Michael sword ie. Michael’s one true vessel. Adam is a less ideal vessel as Nick was for Lucifer.
I am not saying that Lucifer or possession would be a cure really … except it does work as a mirror for Gadreel/Sam.
Metatron through Lucifer out as a possibility in a fake nonchalant way because he wants to undo the Winchester Gospels in my opinion.
Queen Sera Sera. ..
[quote]This week we got the characters we expect and want to see. [/quote]
Amen to that. It doesn’t seem too much to ask, but episodes where this is true have been few and far between this year.
Like you I adored this episode and how they brought Bobby to it. I have a bad feeling that he is now in heaven’s jail or worse. It is Supernatural way. I actually jumped on the mention of Lucifer. It felt like it was meant to jump us but will they go there. It is 50/50 atm.
[quote]So if Dean doesn’t have to die to become a demon and Lucifer is now in play, what about the prior cures the boys had been chasing (and we had been discussing)?
Castiel: What about the tablets?
Metatron: No, there’s nothing in them about the mark.
Sam: So when you said the river ends at the source…
Metatron: I was just making up crap. Trying to buy time until I could screw you over. What? It worked before!
Castiel: He’s telling the truth.
Sam: What??[/quote]
Well, those choices were busted but I think it was nice they made us think about them and also maybe guide us away from the real solution “dun-dun-duuun”. We also got witchcraft and that the mark is a curse. The solution maybe that or also a trick from Rowena to get it worse or use that to hurt the Winchesters. I may even consider that Rowena said that to Crowley so that she knew he would say it to Dean. To what end I don’t know. Maybe that she can kill Dean or she has other motives.
In one of our discussion groups actually all are slightly freaking out because we are thinking the solutions and what we will have in the final. Sugarhi is actually trying to calm me and others down with her own views and I hope it is like she says or next hellatus will be torture after this one. Like this episode and the rest of the season has made me think and ponder more because things have been subtle. My husband has also liked that and that the end actually will bind everything together and surprise us. It feels like that at least for me and well… Soon we will see is our predictions right. Totally wrong or half right.
Thank you for your review. It was thought provoking like always. Are you going to do the visual review as this one had some great shots (and of course the significance of Dean’s attire). And others you might have noticed.
– Lilah
[quote]Are you going to do the visual review as this one had some great shots (and of course the significance of Dean’s attire). And others you might have noticed.[/quote]
Yes, but…
I’m saving the visual reviews for hiatus. I’m hoping that the CW reairs most of the season during hiatus. Then each week I will do the visual reviews for the episodes I haven’t already covered.
I am also hoping that our usual screencap websites resume coverage of Supernatural. We have lost our 2 best sites without any explanation. Our current choices are not as comprehensive nor are the pictures as clear or crisp. For ex., we couldn’t get a pick of Dean’s black eyes or Castiel’s jump through the gate for this ep! There were also several shots that were very blurry. I need to look into this. (If anyone has a new source for screencaps, please let me know. We found this week’s out of the UK, and that took a lot of digging!)
Good to know! All of the visual reviews have been great so can’t wait. 🙂
– Lilah
[i]Again, a parallel and reversal of the brothers’ paths. Each brother was immune to attack because there were just as much demon as human, and were supernaturally protected for a greater evil that awaited them.[/i]
I slightly disagree with this. When Sam was “immune” to the attack by Lilith in No Rest For the Wicked. At that time he had one drop of demon blood, fed to him when he was six months old in his system. If that makes him more demon than human, then he will NEVER be human and that bothers me. Plus, we later learn that the whole plan involved Sam NOT dying so I’m not sure he was immune to Lilith’s attack so much as she wanted him to believe he was immune. Just my opinion. I’m also not sure Dean is more demon than human, yet. Certainly the Mark is moving him that way, but right now I’m counting him as more human than demon. Otherwise we are in agreement on this episode, possibly the best of this season.
I actually asked a doctor friend of mine about how blood grows in the body as a baby grows. I have always wondered if that “one drop” of blood didn’t reproduce itself a million times over as Sam’s body grew (like cells reproducing). I never got a clear answer so I’m unsure if he had one drop or one drop X 1Million to get a baby from their small volume of blood to the volume needed for a 6 foot man. Maybe medical people can help here?
Regarding Lilith’s death ray, she seemed genuinely stunned that it didn’t work on Sam. You are right that that is inconsistent with her needing him alive. I’ve never gone back to analyze her facial expression to see if she could have been faking it.
I think Dean is fighting to hold onto his humanity. I wonder if he’s 50/50 by now. The demon eyes (if real and not imagined) imply that at that moment he was at least 60% demon/40%human, but he wrestled it back. Do you think he went back to majority human? I’m betting it’s an even split if Demon eyes are poking through now and then.
What is the consensus on whether or not Death can kill someone with the Mark of Cain? Just wondering if Dean is going to end up calling on him, maybe bribe him with some fried pickle chips?
If Death can reap God I imagine he can kill someone with the MOC.