Memorable Moments: Supernatural 11.09 – “O Brother Where Art Thou?”
Welcome to “Memorable Moments”. Each week I will visually recap what I felt were the best and most memorable moments from that episode. The list may vary from week to week, depending on what has transpired in that particular episode.
Best Broment
Intense discussion about Sam going to the cage. ‘Lucifer would know how God ended the Darkness. He was there’
Brother’s in Unison
Coming into the room to confront a captured Rowena.
Best Sam Moment
Sam and Lucifer discussing the Darkness
Best Dean Moment
Dean stabbing Amara
Best Crowley Line(s)
‘Clearly if Sam enters the cage he’s gone. Yes he’s on my bucket list, but now’s not the time to be selfish.’
‘Goodness Mommy, loosen the grip.’
‘Stow it you lying bitch.’
‘Mother you’re drooling. Get a hold of yourself.’
Best Rowena Line(s)
‘ It’s not easy being a parent. Never knowing when to hug your child and when to kill him.’
‘And I promised Lincoln a fun night at the theater, things change!’
Scariest Moment
Sam getting trapped in the cage with Lucifer.
Grossest Moment
The burned bodies.
Creepiest Moment
Lucifer and his red eyes
“What the…?” Moment
Rowena suppressing her laugh when learning about Lucifer.
Amara appearing to take Dean’s soul but hesitates and kisses him instead.
Best CGI/VFX Scene(s)
Lightning bolt hitting the preacher.
The flames around Lucifer’s cage.
Cloud formation before striking.
Best Camera Shot(s)
The opening close-up shot of Sam…..
and of Dean.
Best Angle Shot(s)
There were a lot of interesting angle shots in this episode.
some looking up…
some looking down
and some with a overhead view.
Most Chilling Moment
Lucifer revealing that it was him sending Sam the visions.
‘It wasn’t God inside your head, Sam. It was me.’
I hope you enjoyed this week’s “Memorable Moments” review! Please share what your picks would be for these categories, or offer categories of your own!
For me this season appears to be big on VFX and I’m loving it. It adds so much to the story but still leaves enough to the imagination. I know over the yrs they have had budget restraints, but they did a wonderful job with what they had. Through various interveiws and articles written on SPN I have learnt that computor techniology and more equipment has become somewhat cheaper to use ? and the experience and knowledge of the VFX department has become vast. They don’t have the budget of a hollywood movie company or all the vast equipment, but for a little show that could the visual department adds suspense beautiful scenes to catch the eye and imagination — and queit often I think WOW how did they do that.
Loved the long walk to the edge of hell loved the fire around the cage, loved the lightning strikes and the gathering onimus clouds, and don’t forget Lucy’s red eyes WOW great season.
And a great review Thanks for pointing out your favourites as well The VFX department they need to be acknowledged they help a show become a show
Hi Jen
Totally agree with you, the VFX department has been awesome this year and I have loved being able to acknowledged those great moments.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for your articles. It is so much fun to look back at all the wonderful visuals of each episode. These shots were fantastic.
Hi Cheryl42
I’m so happy you’re enjoying these. I’ve been lucky so far being able to find the pics of the moment I need. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Brrr those red eyes of Lucifer were definitely creepy! 😮
Hi YellowEyedSam
When they showed his glowing red eyes I actually got goose bumps.
Thanks so much for your comment.
Wonderful job as always Karen. I had issues with this ep, but all of the scenes and lines you highlighted were parts of the ep that worked for me. I agree with Jen that the VFX have been awesome this season, especially in this ep. But I also agree with YES. When Lucifer’s red eyes appeared, I actually gasped. Such a small effect had a fantastic impact.
I also loved your choices for funniest Crowley and Rowena lines, especially Rowena saying you never know when to hug or to kill your child, and Crowley saying that Sam’s death is on his bucket list.
Hi samandean10
It’s amazing how one small effect can be so empowering.
I really enjoyed the Crowley and Rowena banter this episode.
Thank you again for your comments.
Nice job. The VFX department has been awesome this year and this episode was over the top. Big “job well done”, congrats and thank you VFX!!!!
I think its time I watched the Sam trapped in cage bit again. Its just so damn good! ARGH! This wait will be worse than Hellatus!
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE9btj-cR7w[/video] You mean this part?:o
Thanks for posting this Cheryl. IMO it was the most outstanding 3 minutes of the ep and maybe of the season. I’ve already watched it quite a few times. So much easier than fast forwarding through the ep.
Wonderful! 😀
The more I watch this the more I think: Rowena expected the spell to fail; she just stood there with a knowing smile while Lucifer looked pleasantly surprised; Lucifer is lying about sending Sam the messages; and they need to ditch that music. You guys are crazy…. all I want to do is look away and say ahhh tell me when its over!!!!!
I think Rowena did expect the warding to fail. I agree that Lucifer didn’t send all of those visions. Maybe the cage visions but not the Impala one. And I so agree that the over dramatic music was too much. SPN usually lets the actors carry the scene with the score playing subtly in the background (unless it is rock than blare away!). That was a tough scene to watch but so intensely riveting. Like a train wreck, you don’t want to watch but you can’t look away.
Hi spnlit
I’m also suspicious about Rowena and the spell failing. I’m just not sure if it was deliberate or she simply wasn’t sure if it was strong enough to hold Lucifer. But she sure as hell left in a hurry once she knew it failed. Why she took Crowley with her is another question. Did she not want Crowley to rescue Sam or was she actually protecting him.
As for the messages being sent by Lucifer, I’m leaning to believing it was Lucifer and not God. Sam’s first vision was of him being ‘ tortured’ in the cage. It seems to be more of an image that Lucifer would have sent from his memories of Sam, than what God would have been privy to. However like cheryle42, maybe the vision of the young John could have been God interjecting. Just not 100 percent sure yet.
spnlit, I can’t decide about Rowena. Now that I’ve watched this clip quite a few times I think she looked a tiny bit surprised when the warding failed, although immediately thereafter she calmly collected Crowley and left. But I don’t think Lucy looked surprised at all. As soon as Sam said no and the smirk slowly faded from Lucy’s face he moved his hands and the warding failed. It seemed like he could have done it all along but he just waited to see if Sam was going to agree to be a vessel. I agree that the music was AWFUL- something MUCH more understated was in order in that scene, but even the music couldn’t diminish the intensity of the scene and the fantastic acting by Jared and Mark. It was simply gripping. Now, all of that said, I’m really hoping that God had some hand in Sam’s visions and that Lucifer was just seizing the opportunity to claim credit for all of them. I’m nervous about the way Sam will be portrayed in the next ep. I want to see a strong, triumphant Sam who is at least somewhat vindicated in the course he has pursued regarding the cage. Just once, I want Sam’s faith to be recognized and rewarded! It will truly be a Christmas (post Christmas?) miracle!
Maybe we’ll get those torture visions, but Sam resists them and comes out top!
I could live with that!:)
Samandean10, My video playback must be flawed because I never see Lucifer move his hands. So you may be right; he may have done it himself. I share your hopes about God having a hand in this because for me in order to move forward with the story and Sam’s carefully plotted characterization this season, his faith needs to be as you stated recognized and rewarded. At a minimum, the young Dad dream/vision has to be from an emissary from God. It was so different from the flashbacks to hell. Also the burning bush. So putting aside the DAD/ dream and burning bush, if Lucifer sent all the visions/ flashbacks from hell then Sam has a bigger problems and it raises more issues. Lucifer can now always screw with Sam’s head so when will he ever stop? And if Lucifer sent him the vision of Sam being in the cage calm while Sam was praying it meant that Lucifer can hear Sam’s prayers AND he knew the warding would fail because he showed Sam a scene from the future. OR God gave Sam the vision of being calm in the Cage to show him he will be okay, he knows this will happen and Lucifer just took credit for it. What do you think?
spnlit, I plead guilty to a bout of senioritis. Lucifer did not move his hands after Sam refused him, but the way he looked down and moved his head as the warding disappeared clearly indicated (IMO, anyway) that he was the one who got rid of the warding. The hand gestures were when he brought Sam into the cage. And after another 5 viewings of the clip, I’m convinced that Lucy was very much in control of what happened because he displayed absolutely no surprise at the failure of the warding. I also still think that Rowena actually looked a bit surprised, although it is certainly possible that she had some role in what happened. Like you, I still cling to the idea that some of Sam’s visions were from God and Lucy is just toying with Sam by claiming credit for them. I like your theory that God sent Sam a vision of being calm in the cage (although I don’t recall that we ever saw that vision, or did we?) and that Sam will figure that out and take strength from it, enabling him to prevail against Lucifer in some way. It will be a crushing disappointment if instead it’s revealed that Lucy was behind all of the visions, and if a frightened, defeated Sam needs to be rescued from the cage by Dean, or by anyone for that matter. This whole story line will ultimately make no sense if God does not somehow play a role in what unfolds. Even if he does not make an actual appearance (and that would have to be done very delicately to avoid being laughable) he should have some hand in helping the brothers defeat the darkness, even if that assistance is given by his emissaries. I am so anxious to see the next episode, and I’m hopeful that we’ll see a continuation of the strong, faithful, determined Sam that we’ve seen thus far this season, as well as a clear sign that his faith was warranted.
I agree with you that it looked like Lucifer was the one that erased the warding. He definitely looked like he was in control. Just before Sam saw the burning bush (I think that is when it was) he had a vision of Lucifer touching his face and Sam’s reaction was of calm and almost relief. Lucifer’s expression was also calm and almost caring. That was how Sam convinced Dean to go ahead with the plan. He described his last vision of calm like God was telling him it would be alright.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01HHdkJcgD0[/video] like this
Jeez Cheryl, I really do have senioritis because I completely forgot this scene. In my defense, the last few weeks have been insane and I haven’t had time to rewatch the whole ep, just the above clip that you so kindly posted. It sure does make it seem like two different beings are sending the visions. This one and the John one are so calm and reassuring, the other cage ones so terrifying and awful. Also, Lucifer said the fissures in the cage enabled him to “talk” to Sam through visions, but the burning bush goes way beyond talking, so how could that possibly be Lucy? Unless that also was merely a vision he sent Sam. Anyway, I do like the idea that the last vision was God countering the previous cage visions and telling Sam that he should visit the cage, because it ultimately will be OK. 3 more weeks until we find out!
[quote] I really do have senioritis because I completely forgot this scene. In my defense, the last few weeks have been insane [/quote]
Perhaps, you just have a case of holidayitis, nothing to worry about! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you too spnlit! I look forward to comparing notes on the next episode and seeing if our wishes have been fulfilled.:)
Exactly, thanks!!!!!
Samandean, Cheryl42 posted the scene I was talking about (thanks). If Lucifer sent the vision of Sam being calm in the cage with him then it means: Lucifer can hear Sam’s prayers, and Lucifer saw the future and he knew the warding on the cage would fail or he knew he would have control of it. It also means that Lucifer can cause things to happen on earth like striking fire to a bush. SO the question is, does Lucifer have all this power? I am hoping that the answer is no and it was God’s emissary.
Our posts must have crossed! I agree completely. If Lucy can now affect events on earth, there’s no way he would be limiting his efforts to messing with Sam’s head. It would make sense that he sent some of the traumatic visions to Sam just to torment him. Because why on earth would he think that those visions would induce Sam to return to the cage? If anything, they would send Sam fleeing as far as possible in the opposite direction. And I agree that canon regarding prayers (up to this point, anyway) seems to be that prayers to specific angels or to God can only be heard by that being. So I’m with you on this- there’s no credible reason why Lucifer should have the power to intercept Sam’s prayers to God, or to cause things to happen on earth. So I truly hope there is a different explanation for all of this, like “the hand of God.”