Recap – “My Bloody Valentine”
Warning, this is a really long one. In the past when recaps have gotten this long I’ve broken it up into two parts. This time I didn’t do that. So, I’m hoping this will be killing some uber time at work for you. Enjoy!
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Okay, I’ve taken enough recovery time after several days of staring at a blank document unable to comprehend how to tackle the recap for “My Bloody Valentine.” So, with a glass of wine (and a few beers) and myself in a locked room, time to try this. It’ll only take a few days.
The episode opens in a quaint older neighborhood complete with tree lights, and a smiling couple returning from what is likely a dreamy date. The woman has stars in her eyes and a fuzzy pink winter hat to go with her red hair. Oh that’s so wrong. As a red head, trust me, that hat color does not do a redhead justice. Dark grey or a chocolate brown works better. The guy, whose not half bad looking, has that same doughy-eyed look. Judging by this serenity the message is clear, these aren’t the types that hop into the sack. They’re all smiles as he says the obvious, “first date.” I smell a cupid! Most first dates are a wee bit more disastrous than this. Oh wait, Edlund’s writing this, isn’t he? Never mind.
She says she had a really good time. Then he calls her Alice. Alice?? A redhead named Alice?? Hmm, that has to be a coincidence. Edlund doesn’t read boards, does he? DOES HE? Oh, that’s right. I met him at Comic Con. The red hair does stand out. Still, it could be a coincidence. Like Damian and Barnes. Anyway, the dude wants to see her again. Sunday maybe. He doesn’t want to be alone on Valentine’s Day, again. So that must be Sunday. She smiles, he kisses her, and anyone who watches this show knows that this adorable little love story is so going south. They both give each other big smiles and kiss bigger this time. She pulls away, not wanting him to think she’s that kind of girl. He tries to apologize, but she jumps him. I would call that some pent up lust.
They’re inside in the kitchen all over each other, ripping clothes off. These guys are REALLY repressed. Then they start talking really dirty to each other. It’s always the supposed innocents that shock us the most. I love it. Then she takes a big bite out of him. Huh? He cries out in pain, looks at her bloody mouth, and is more turned on than ever. So how graphic do you want this scene to be recapped? Those of you with weak stomach just skip ahead a paragraph, for this gets really gross.
Ugh, here we go. She goes for another bite, and now blood is dripping off her chin, and he starts knawing on her arm. She desperately wants more. “I want you, all of you, inside me.” She must be a virgin, for she’s taking that cliché a little too literally. Oh, his chin is dripping with a disturbing amount of blood too. Her wide open mouth goes for another chunk. He again cries out and is more turned on than ever. She pulls on a rubbery chunk of his flesh in her mouth and eats it! Can I stop here to tell Ben Edlund he’s a sick bastard? Oh yeah, he knows that. I also need to stop because I’m fighting back some barf right now…. Okay, better. He goes for his bite, blood is now everywhere and they start pulling off chunks of skin. Can I mention the squishing and crunching sound effects going on in this scene? They’re going all out. He bites her stomach next and the camera pans to a Valentine’s Day card on the refrigerator spattered with blood. Yeah, I do believe a new low was achieved. Or a high, depending on your point of view. I’m just trying to figure out how that passed the network censor. Oh yeah, The CW.
Title card. The blood seems kind of appropriate, doesn’t it?
Sam is looking at the bloody postcard and he’s in his G-man suit. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, he’s too pretty for a G-man. He’s talking to the girl that found the bodies. She says there was blood everywhere and other stuff. I’m so glad we didn’t get that far. I had trouble recapping what I did! Sam’s funny faces back me up on that one. While packing things away she says that Alice was already dead. It’s the curse of the pink hat I’ll tell you! Sam asks if Russell wasn’t. She thinks he was, but he was still…chewing. Yuck, enough already! She doesn’t understand how two people could do that, eat each other. Sam thinks that’s a good question. Oh, you’re about to find out the hard way Sammy! Sam wants to know if Alice was acting erratic the last few days. Was she aggressive or hostile? No, she never drank, never swore, and was a “nice girl.” She still had her promise ring. See, she was sick! No healthy grown woman is like that. For those that missed the sly reference, Sam asks if she was a virgin. Oh yes. More funny faces from Sam. The woman doesn’t know how she did it, or not do it. She wasn’t right, that’s how. It was her first date in months. It’s my guess her other dates went howling for the hills later after realizing they weren’t passing first base. She was so excited. “Apparently they both were pretty excited,” Sam says. Once again, Sam doesn’t sugarcoat.
Just in case we didn’t know it was around Valentine’s Day, we get to see this week’s motel room card which reminds us. I read an interview from Jerry Wanek, Head Set Designer, who said they put one of those cards in every single motel room but it’s not often shown. So we’re lucky this time. “Valentine’s special. Free champagne, this week only. Dial 9 for room service. I’m presuming Dean already had it. Who would turn that down? Sam comes in with a bag of fast food and drinking a drink? That’s right, this episode is all about the strange behavior.
Dean wants to know how it went. No EMF, no sulfur, ghost possession and demonic possession out. Dean wonders what then, for things were pretty horrifying at the coroner’s. They started eating and just kept going. Just in case we don’t get the point, Dean gets even more graphic. “Their stomachs were full, like Thanksgiving dinner full.” They just won’t quit, will they? Sam accepts they can’t do more tonight, takes the laptop and says he’ll go through some files. Dean better get going.
“Sorry?” Dean asks all confused. “Go ahead, unleash the kraken,” Sam says. Hee, a Sam funny. I like those. He’ll see him tomorrow morning. Dean still doesn’t get it. “It’s Valentine’s Day. Your favorite holiday, remember? What do you always call it, unattached drifter Christmas?” Dean isn’t smiling which is too bad because I am. Instead, he goes for another beer. “I’m just not feeling it this year.” Sam is confused. So he doesn’t want to go to bars full of lonely women? “I guess not,” Dean says with complacency. Sam is really worried and Dean doesn’t know why. “It’s when a dog doesn’t eat. That’s when you know something is really wrong.” Dean doesn’t appreciate Sam’s concern. “Remarkable patronizing comment. Dually noted.” Yeah Sam, your recent blue funks have been no picnic either. Dean wishes to get back to work. Sam gives him another look to be sure, then goes back to his laptop. So, is this the sign of a spell, or is Dean actually feeling this way? At first I thought it was the craziness going on in the town, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe the events of the last several weeks are catching up with him.
Alice Jester is the founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, programmer, web designer, site administrator, marketer, and moderator for The Winchester Family Business. She is a 30 year IT applications and database expert with a penchant for creative and freelance writing in her spare (ha!!) time. That’s on top of being a wife, mother of two active kids, and four loving (aka needy) pets.
Even the recap of this episode made me cry. The ending is just too much. Poor Dean. Wonderful job on the screen caps. Their expressions are just amazing. Especially the one of Sammy with the blissed out bloody smile, so very very creepy.
I had the same reaction to Cas eating the “White Castle” burger. Wrong wrong wrong. It’s not like they couldn’t have used the publicity. lol
Great job on the recap! It’s going to be a painful couple weeks til Hellatus is over.
Hi Alice
I love the humour you bring to your reviews, it helps lighten those heavy hearted ones.
Although this episode had some light moments, I have to admit this one left me rather depressed.
My heart just breaks for both Sam and Dean. I just wish they could get a break.
I knew this year was going to be quite the emotional roller coaster and would get very dark, but it still kills me to watch them go through all this heartache.
I too, don’t believe for a moment that Dean is dead inside, just severely depressed.
I still think all these D**ks (Lucifer, Zack, Michael etc..) are just trying to beat down Dean’s spirit and Free will. If they can get him to believe that there is no free will and only destiny then he will give up and say Yes to Michael.
As for Sam, whether he is addicted to the blood or the power, it is still an addiction.
I’m worried that it can still be used as a vice to manipulate Sam into saying Yes.
That’s a good recap!…I agree, it’s one of the best episodes this season :-)…keep up the good work to give more great reviews!
Your recaps are too short. Where are all the little details, the nuance? Aside: I hope you realize that your recap for the season finale is going to be 37 pages. 😎
Wait, there’s a White Castle open that late?
Black comedy is the best and Edlund is the master. Firearms to work? Hey, those things cost money. Far cheaper to drown one’s sorrows in booze, no?
I loved this coroner and couldn’t help think of his total opposite, the weak-stomach in From Hell. As for Sam’s swanky threads, insurance agent blends in so much better than male model. Don’t want to attract too much attention. Sorry, ladies. Muah.
Re: stupid demon. I’m probably overthinking, but perhaps Famine’s power extends to his minions and can make them extra one-track-mind. Or, more likely, he’s just really stupid. There’s gotta be *some* demons who passed the SAT, right?
Re: souls. More geek fan nitpicking/curiosity, but the coroner’s soul was still there. What’s the time frame from death to when it goes flying to the Happy Hunting Grounds or Elysium or Valhalla or the South Pacific?
Re: demon blood. I’m on board with your theory. It’s not physical, it’s completely psychological. He doesn’t need it in the respect that our organs need oxygen carried by the circulatory system. Complete mind/soul gig. And that’s the rub: when will SAM get that, climb that hill to where HE is the master of his abilities, known and yet to be discovered.
Re: seeing is believing. Yes! Most notably in 2.13, but other places as well, this is why Dean just didn’t get it. Sometimes I get the vibe that fans have expected Dean to know what we know. It’s one thing to knock off Samhain, but to incapacitate a freaking Horseman? In the immortal words of little Ben, that’s *epic.*
Dead inside would mean ennui, absolute zero. He’s not dead, just as lost as a man whose car broke down in the middle of the Gobi desert without a map to tell you that the nearest road is 100 miles that way.
Alice, thank you, what a wonderful recap, it`s like watching all over again, not that I have not already watched so many times that I have lost count, as have so many of us I imagine.
Saw one review for this episode which said it was the sickest hour of tv the reviewer had ever seen and also one of the most wonderful,how right they were. Ben Edlund is a genius– A very twisted sick genius — but a genius.
At the end I find myself yelling at the tv Deans own words from Devils Trap, when Meg tries to convince them that John is dead, HE`S NOT DEAD,HE`S NOT, HE CANT BE. No one dead inside could now be in so much pain. I think that the last straw was that he finally saw the full on super vamped up Sammy (Oh Sammy!) let`s face it that would be a bit of a shock for anyone , did it not shake us up a bit.
Was anyone else totally freaked out by Famine? Not since Bloody Mary crawled out of that mirror has any thing given me chills like he did.
Damn these stupid Hiatus things, why on earth cant we just keep going! They break our boys and then just leave them and leave us to fret and suffer for weeks. We need to band together people for mutual support.
Alice, well, as I’m not at work I don’t mind killing time with this awesome recap.
This episode is so full, I can hardly breathe… from all the tears and the thoughts running through my head. It had some fine one-liners (personal fave: ‘He’s not incontinent’), a lovely MacGuffin in Cupid and the heart-wrenching that followed he encounter with him. I guess the Edlund only needed Cupid to get the heartbreak going, and boy, it happened…
Do we really believe that Sam eats mostly salads? Unless they are spiced up with some Croatoans (forgive me Randal, this was too tempting not to give in…) I can’t imagine how he got that big. You need protein to build up muscle, ah, wait, all that demon blood… When we think of how much Jared need to eat to keep up that form (as he stated in an interview once), we should be allowed an image of a eating Sam – you know, the occasional steak, preferably rare (my favourite, come on)… apart from that, a person who loves to eat can be quite sexy… okay, gutter-time again.
I concur with your thesis that Sam’s hungry for power and that he doesn’t need the blood to work his mojo. We’ve heard it before: ‘You didn’t need the feather to fly’ which one might read: You didn’t need the blood to be powerful.
He said himself in GoodGod,Y’all, I believe, that he missed being powerful. After all, if we look at growing power as an equivalent of growing up and becoming your own person that would be something Sam wanted to feel early on. He left home to pursue his goals; he turned to Ruby to get away from Dean who wouldn’t let him grow up. Having that kind of power he was given by YellowEyes distinguishes him from his brother and the family business, makes him unique, but he never wanted to stand out.
Sam obviously has not understood yet that he is the powerful one, not the blood. Judging from the degree of fear that has been poisoning the Winchester minds for some time now, he might be just too afraid to accept the fact that he, indeed, is way more different than he is (still) ready to accept. That he is more than human. A freak, one of his biggest and earliest fears.
And fear, as we know, is a most powerful weapon. Sam still uses it against himself, shying away from the person he might be. Nelson Mandela once said ‘our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.’ Well, if that doesn’t apply to dear Sammy, I’m an idiot.
Jared played out those scenes with the vigour and emotionality we love him for – and, gosh, he would make such a fantastic vampire in another show or film…
And Dean, my God, of course he is not dead… But, let’s face it: can anyone blame him? After all he’s been through? Anyone would crumble down one way or another. He doesn’t eat as he used to, he drinks way more and his libido is a mess, I don’t need to get all shrinky here, do I? Dean’s spirits have been down for a while now, and he has not yet managed to get them back to his usual cheerful strength. Right now, I believe, his strength is mere discipline, countenance and posture. If he doesn’t find a way to get out of that dark pit he fell into, he will say yes to Michael.
Whatever he does, however much he fights, right now it appears to him that it’s all destiny anyhow. From his point of view, he must feel like he can’t win. He can’t save his brother, again. My heart breaks for him, as it has for both brothers countless times ever since I was watching the show.
One of the best episodes to date. The cruellest one, no doubt. Did I mention before that I hate being confronted with a hiatus once again?
Thank you Alice. These long recaps are to be savoured and relished, which I do.
Love Jas
Wow Alice. You really outdid yourself in this one. I love it to bits! And all the pretty screencaps didn’t hurt either 🙂
This is without a doubt one of THE best eppies ever, the best of Ben Edlund for sure. I’m so at awe, he should def. play God if they ever go there. I mean, that title wouldn’t be so far off 😉
Hi Alice
This recap was long? I thought it was a little bit too short. LOL! Really, the longer the better along with all those great screen caps.
Poor Dean isn’t dead inside. If he was he would be a much happier shell. He has been crushed to the quick, the poor boy. How I yearn to help make him all better. (really missing happy bossy hungry sexy Dean)
Good for Sammy to come clean with his hunger for blood. That’s a step up from the sneaking around of last season. And its a good thing that Dean has seen with his own eyes exactly how strong his Sammy really is. Hopefully Sam can realize that he doesn’t need the blood to be strong and will accept who he is and then perhaps that strength can be used to help TEAM FREE WILL in their impossible fight.
A terrible place to leave us in a hiatus. Sam screaming in pain and withdrawal and Dean completely broken in his despair. They’ve gotten so low that surely there is no way to go but up for both of them.
🙁
It’s funny that you mentioned this Alice “It’s fascinating how watching Sam in the scene really shakes him to the core.” Then we have Dean go outside and ask God for help. The only other time we’ve seen him do this was back in MATEOTB when he wanted help in getting Sam out of Lillith’s path. Here, he is lost and doesn’t know how deal with the Sam he has just witnessed coupled with his feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. Sam was the end of that rope he was holding at bay.
I’ve always been fascinated by how much the brothers are the only one’s who can push each other’s hidden and most painful and earth shattering buttons that it defines them. The death of the other, i think is up there and the aftermath. I firmly believe that if the brother’s ever contemplate saying yes, it would have something to do with each other. Whether it be negative or positive is what i’ll like to know.
Great recap, Alice, as always!
I really liked this episode a lot. It was gory and funny and terrifying and heartbreaking and just really great. I hope the rest of the season stays at this high level.
I also don’t think Dean is really dead inside, but I do think that he believes he is, which is just as bad. Hopefully, he gets some help because he, and Sam, really, can really use a break.