Extended Recap – Supernatural 11.04 – “Baby” Part 1

It’s also at this point I notice that there’s no score in this episode.  The only music is the classic rock itself.  Otherwise, the only noise in the background as the brothers speak is road noise.  That choice makes this road trip feel very authentic and real, like we’re just spending some casual time with the brothers.  I just love this and want more in future episodes.  Dean isn’t done with the fact that Sam got laid in the back of his car.  Sure he’s needling him, but he’s also proud.  Sam smiles as he admits he needed that.  You certainly did Sammy.  It’s been since season 8.  Three years?  Wow, that had to feel good.  I didn’t catch this until recently, but I didn’t know why Dean was saying he was a virgin.  Then I was reminded (thanks Supernatural Wiki) that they became “born again” virgins in season nine’s “Rock and a Hard Place.”  Wow, Sam actually ended up keeping that vow?  Dean trashed it about an hour after he made it.  These boys really need to get out more.  I just love the whole piece of dialogue.  Heck, I just love that the brothers are laughing and smiling.  

Dean:  And hey, look at that, you’re finally not a virgin anymore. But you know what? I think it was time. I respect the fact that you, uh, you know, you wanted to stay true and pure and waited.
Sam: Yeah, you know what? You — you’re an idiot.
Dean: Even put a blanket down. Buddy, classy and thoughtful as always.
Sam: I tried to give her my number. You know what she said?
Dean: “We got tonight. Who needs tomorrow”?
Sam: Is everything a Bob Seger song to you?
Dean: Yes. Well . . . 

Sam says her name was Piper.  Dean was seeking another one night stand with Heather.  Dean is in awe that they can still get that at all.  Sam the ever romantic hopeful though emerges, wondering if his brother ever hopes for more.  Dean reminds him of what exactly I was thinking, they’ve got one very lousy record in the domestic life department.  Sam isn’t talking marriage, just maybe something with another hunter, someone who knows the life.  You mean someone who will die on you Sam? 

You know, the idea of the brothers settling down brought a smile to my face.  I know that I would have hated that a few seasons ago, but come on, Dean is pushing 40, Sam is in his mid-30’s and their lives continue to be life on the road, one dangerous hunt after another?  Remember when the Men of Letters first surfaced?  Remember the notion that they could settle down as Men of Letters, leaving the dangerous stuff to someone else?  I still hope that for them, especially Sam.  I mean, where else can the guys go at this point?  Life changes, that’s just what life is.  To do the same old thing until they die seems rather morbid and stilting from a character perspective.  Of course it would all have to happen when this show is over because I’m sure domestic bliss and routine life will get rather boring fast. 

For now though can’t you picture it? Sam and/or Dean cozying up every once in a while in their rooms with a female?   Wouldn’t it be great to see them getting it on with someone in their rooms?  I know a partner will eventually become the regurgitated plot device of killing someone else close to Sam and Dean, but I’d like the idea those two having deep connections with someone else who isn’t each other or Castiel.  Hey, a girl can dream, right?  Of course, I’m also fearful  that Toni from the season finale is a Sam love interest, but I’ll digress on that for now. 

Back to the brotherly chat, Dean notices Sam is tired and should get some sleep.  So he does, and wakes up in the passenger seat to a rather obscure song by Judy Collins, “Someday Soon.”  He wonders what Dean is listening to but wait a second, that’s not Dean.  It’s young John Winchester!  It’s Matt Cohen!  Wow, they did a great job of keeping his appearance a secret.  John tells him Mary used to long that song.  Aww, even as a warped vision he still loves Mary.  Sam is spooked to all Hell, telling “John” his father is dead. “When has death ever stopped a Winchester?”  Touche fake John, touche.

Sam’s no dummy, he knows John isn’t real, especially since John is all zen and happy to be behind the wheel of Baby, acknowledging Dean has taken very good care of her.  He’s also commending Sam and Dean for turning out okay.  Oh yeah, that’s a big warning sign.  John easily admits he could never fool Sam, although it is kind of obvious since it’s young John Winchester, aka John when he was the same age as Sam.  Sam is connects this with his strange visions in the hospital.  As soon as “John” says “Dream, vision, call it what you want, the message is still the same,” I’m thinking this is Lucifer.  His smug grin through this whole scene channels the dark one let alone that comment.  However, I’m going to pretend to enjoy the mystery for now because when we get the answer a few episodes down the road, it doesn’t exactly play out well.  

So what wise message does John have for Sam?  Why of course The Darkness is coming and only he and Dean can stop it.  Except that eventually by the end of the season turns out to be farthest from the truth, but hey, it sounded ominous here.  Dean kind of sort of stopped it by backing in sideways.  Sam asks for help instead of visions of dead people.  John has the answer that…really amounts to nothing.  “God helps those who help themselves.”  Yep, time to chew on that for a while.  Sam does one more skeptical glare and asks, “Who are you?” 

“Welcome to the Winchester Motel. We don’t have cable, but we do have room service.”  I want to stay at the Winchester Motel!  Dean, cozy in Baby’s front seat, hands Sam a beer, who wakes up a little worse for wear in the back seat. 

 

Sam, being the grown adult he is, uses this opportunity to be straight forward and honest with Dean!  Wow, this is the best episode ever.  I know some people thought this scene was a little long in terms of dialogue but this isn’t a normal setup.  I love the fact that this scene shows us what Sam and Dean do during these long road trips and long hours in the car, they talk.  They talk a lot.  This is when they share with each other things that we assume take place off camera, like Sam telling Dean all about his experiences in “Mystery Spot.”  It’s so exciting to get a glimpse into these types of conversations, because if we saw them all the time they would really drag down the episodes.  There’s only 42 minutes! 

Anyway, Sam comes clean.  He’s having visions.  He just saw John but he didn’t think it was John.  It was someone pretending to be him.  Why?  Well, for one, he told him everything he wanted to hear.  “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like Dad,” Dean answers.   Sam gives him the “God helps those who help themselves” line and thinks that maybe the visions are coming from God.  Oh hell no, Dean ain’t buying that!  So Sam FINALLY tells him what happened in the hospital in “Form and Void.”  Gee Sammy, it took you long enough.  You only wait for intimate road trips to share these sort of things?  I swear Baby is really a confessional booth.  

Dean’s reaction is on target.  “Well, I’m sure whatever is kicking around in your head right now is a side effect from the infection that you failed to tell me about.”  Dean, proving that he is a rather smart dude, gives us a lesson that the helping themselves quote is from Aesop, not the Bible.  God hasn’t been around for them in years, why start now?  Well, since they haven’t done the God’s sister reveal yet, I would buy that logic.  But what I love is that when Sam’s back was against the wall and he was in his darkest hour, he turned to God.  He did that back in season two.   The fact that this incident has gotten him back in touch with his faith is inspiring.  And when we see how it all played out, I can’t believe this golden opportunity of exploring Sam’s faith was so squandered.  At least they touched on it here.   

All this leads up to a nice conversation about what Sam and Dean regularly dream about.  For Dean, it’s their Dad and life is normal.  No shotguns, monsters, duty to save the world, etc.  He’s teaching Dean to drive when he’s 16, not when he actually learned to drive.  That is so sad but at the same time so awesome.  Can you imagine a 10 year old Dean learning how to drive?  Sam dreams about the normal life too, but it involves his mother.   I find that really strange considering he never knew her.  I guess all those ghost encounters was all he needed to picture her.  

But when you really think about it, would either Sam or Dean know a normal life when faced with it?  I remember an old interview with George Harrison where he was asked would he have preferred having a normal life as a teen instead of being famous?  He didn’t know.  He didn’t know what a normal life would be like since he never experienced it.  Sam looked for that normal life by going away to college and again between seasons 7 and 8 when he gave up hunting, but even in those circumstances something felt off.  Dean couldn’t hack a year of domestic life either with Lisa and Ben.  It’s funny to see them still yearning for that normal life even though they both believe it’ll never be a reality.  It goes back to what I talked about earlier, where else do these guys go in their lives?  If they yearn for connections in their dreams, at what point do they decide to try that as a reality?  Will there be a breaking point that pushes them beyond, “This is the life I’ve always known?”

Unfortunately, Dean stops all this talk by going back realist mode.  They aren’t getting any help with The Darkness.  It’s on them.  And there’s that Winchester over-sense of responsibility.   The thing that dooms them from those happy lives in their dreams.  They know what’s out there and they still think they’re the only ones to stop it.  Heck, Sam and Dean were essentially chosen by God to do this.  Except Dean has decided that God isn’t sending Sam the visions.  So sad he’s right.  Nuff said, it’s time to sleep.  

SAM: Goodnight, jerk. 
DEAN: Night, bitch. 

Yes, its fan pandering, but I still love it.  

Coming up in Part 2, things get really crazy in Oregon.