Mini Review – “Dead Man’s Blood”
“Dead Man’s Blood”
–Robin’s Rambles
–Robin Vogel
With the introduction of Daniel Elkins, a hunter who showed John the ropes, comes the introduction of the Colt, the gun that (supposedly) can kill anything. This gun, created along with 13 bullets by Sam Colt in 1835 during Halley’s comet, will kill the demon who killed Mary, and John wants that gun!
John and Sam have a touching scene during which Papa W. explains why he didn’t want him going away to school”he feared Sam being alone, away from the protection of the family. He did start a college fund for both him and Dean, but spent it on ammo. He and Sam have a big laugh over that, and it seems to bring the two of them closer. Meanwhile, Dean’s been dispatched to a funeral home to pick up a jar of dead man’s blood, which renders vampires unconscious if injected into them. There is also a lot of head-butting between John and Sam, who resents being told what to do without being given reasons and details. Unlike Dean, who’s fine having John give them orders to blindly follow, Sam wants to know why they are doing what they’re doing.
Vampires! Luther insists, “We have just as much a right to live as you do.” Do they, given that they’re murdering people, turning them into vamps? John thought them extinct, Dean and Sam thought there was no such thing. These badass vamps drink hard Jack; capture their victims by stretching out in the street and playing injured victim; kill the husband they don’t like by feasting on his blood in front of his wife; have sex in front of the wife, then feed her vampire blood; kill hunter Daniel Elkins and steal the Colt from him; party hearty in subdued sunlight; sleep in hammocks; and mate for life!
John captures Kate, Luther’s mate, by striking her with an arrow coated in dead man’s blood. They capture another from the nest, and John beheads him. John tasks his sons to wipe out the rest of the nest while he exchanges Kate for the Colt. Then he wants them gone, and he will take the Colt and go after the demon alone. Losing Mary nearly killed him; he will not risk his children, too! Sam and Dean have a problem with this plan and tell him so. John, not used to mutiny from Dean, sends them on their way. John’s plan goes awry, however. When the time comes, Kate, free of both the influence of the blood and her bonds, attacks John. The Colt spins away on the street. Dean and Sam appear and subdue two of the vamps with arrows coated in DMB, but Sam finds himself in Luther’s chokehold and Dean is forced to lay down his sword. John shoots a bullet from the Colt into Luther’s forehead. It kills him slowly, with great special affects.
John reminds his sons that they ignored his direct order. “Saved your ass,” Dean reminds him. Much as he hates to admit it, Dean and Sam are all he’s got”his family”and they’ll go after the demon together. “Yes sir,” says Sam. Both brothers are smiling.
Robin – cheers, fine ramblings… I liked this episode a lot, it was quite unusual, and I liked the introduction of the vamps. If you have all kinds of supernatural creatures running around causing havoc, it’s only natural and logical to assume that vampires also exist.
I’ve always been a fan of vampire stories, in fact I’ve collected books on vampire lore and novels (if they were good – unfortunately there’s so much rubbish coming out lately, in the wake of the Meyer books) for many years. I liked that the show played with the cliché, but added its own flair to the myth.
The hurtful moments came with the boys’ encounters with John – there is so much in between the lines they don’t say, and, gosh, their hearts must have been broken so many times already in fights they had, respectively in fights Sam and John had, and Dean looking on, just lately beginning to show a glimpse of mutiny. I would like to take a look around Dean’s head and at his thoughts when he had to witness his brother and dad fight, taking no prisoners – he must have been torn, loving both dearly. Was he supposed to pick a side? Was there any pressure in regard to that? Sometimes I wish there were more flashbacks telling us about these personal issues John’s kids had with him.
Thanks, Jas
I have no doubt that Dean was the buffer in quite a few Sam/John fights. I would love to see what happened the night Sam left for Stanford, and what resulted in him and DEAN not speaking for such a long time. Or did they?
It’s certainly implied in the Pilot that if Sam called Dean, he wouldn’t have spoken to him, and vice versa, too. It appears that Dean definitely sided with John against Sam when he left the family to go away to college, which for any other young man, should have been a normal rite of passage.
Getting a full ride to such a prestigious college, given the ridiculous on-the-road life Sam was forced to lead? Miraculous. Any other father and brother would have been proud as hell, but not the Winchesters.
John probably already knew something about Sam’s fate and feared letting him out of their sight, but didn’t dare tell him. So why tell your youngest child to leave and never come back, then watch him quietly, without his knowledge? What sense does that make? John Winchester sense, I suppose, which is crazy sense in light of what happened to Mary.
Love, robin
Robin, I’m not so sure whether Dean entirely sided with John in regard to Sam’s decision to go to Stanford, and we’ve heard Dean say (in Scarecrow) that he admired Sam’s ability to stand up to John.
He might have been too much under Dad’s influence to actually act in a different way…
Now, this is something I usually don’t do, but I would love to guide you to a couple of articles I wrote a while back, concerning the matter, because I’d be very interested what you might make of it – it’s called ‘A Father, two sons and a third brother’ and ‘Sam and Dean, guilty as hell?’, filed under ‘Mystery Spot’.
This is kind of embarrassing right now, but I’ll give it a shot anyway, I’m not used to promoting myself… so forgive me.
Your opinion would mean a lot to me – and perhaps it might also add another aspect to your image of the Winchesters.
:oops:, Love Jas
To weigh in on why Dean and Sam didn’t speak while Sam was at Stanford…aside from that Dean was totally under John’s thumb at that phase in his life and probably felt compelled to follow John’s lead on the matter? I think Dean was deeply, deeply hurt by what Sam did. I don’t think SamnDean were as close as teenagers as they have been in the series, but they must’ve been a pretty tight unit all the same, relying on each other quite a bit. I always figured it must’ve cut Dean pretty deeply that Sam was apparently so indifferent to him, could walk out with the idea of never having any contact with him again and apparently be alright with that. And well, let’s not forget that Sam had just totally rejected everything Dean valued!
That said, does it ever come up in Show that Dean wouldn’t have spoken to Sam if Sam had approached him? He did comment that Sam could’ve picked up the phone. Sam, for his part, seemed to assume that Dean would follow his father’s party line and not have anything to do with him even if he did try.
Sigh, tragic.
I agree with Jesse. I think Dean was hurt by Sam’s rejection, but and I didn’t know Dean and Sam hadn’t talked for 4 years. Sam rebelled against both of his father’s but can’t see Dean never trying to talk to Sam. He cared for his bother to much for that, and I don’t think he was that much under his father’s thumb. Even if he did try to reach Sam, don’t how much good it would have done. Sam was/is very stubborn at times. 🙁
Just my penny’s worth.
I *love* this episode, wonderfully acted family angst, Dean flashing some of that renowned leadership, extra cool mythology bits, vampires that aren’t simply 2-D.
Jas, those articles were fantastic, don’t be embarrassed about promoting them. Nor should anyone here feel that way about their own stuff. 🙂
Jas, I just went over and read ‘A Father, Two Sons and a Third Brother.” What a fantastic article, and you said a great deal I agree with. However, while Dean might have admired Sam standing up to John in regards to going to Stanford, I don’t think they stayed in touch during that time. I recall a conversation they had in the Pilot, in which Sam asked Dean, “If I called, would you have picked up?” I definitely got the impression that they did not speak to each other. Truth be told, I can’t imagine Dean NOT trying to contact Sam on his birthday, or at Christmas. It really goes against his character, doesn’t it?
Love, Robin
PS – I have to start dinner now, but I definitely plan to read your other article tomorrow! You write splendidly about our show!
Robin, I’m touched, Thank you, indeed!!
I agree with your opinion, I also doubt they stayed in touch much. Perhaps sometimes (on birthdays,maybe?), which might have been desastrous. I can imagine them having fights on the phone (for Dean to know that Sam probably would not pick up, I assume they might have heard each other a few times,but not enjoyed the contact).
I’d love to see a flashback in regard to that sometime (yeah, wishful thinking, Kripke is not going to give us that).
Thanks for your acknowledgement,really. I’m always a little shy about that. Normally I have a fast tongue, but that somehow shuts me up.
Randal – you’re sweet. Thanks.
;-), Jas
Hi Robin
Thanks for the review.
I was always freaked out by Vampires and monsters growing up, thanks to those old movies with Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman. I know today they are quite mild, but they were pretty scary at the time.
I loved Dean’s comment how the word vampire got funnier every time he heard it.
My favourite scene is the one between Sam and John, finally having civil moment together and actually connecting with each other.