Recap – “My Bloody Valentine”
Castiel has his hand of power out when Sam and Dean get there. He says he’s tethering the Cupid. Cas does his little Enochian chant and…nothing. Suddenly Dean is grabbed from behind by a large naked man. “Here I am!” He joyfully announces, squeezing the stuffing out of Dean. Needless to say, Dean’s bothered and Sam watches befuddled. Dean calls for help so Cupid swings him around a bit. “Help-is-on-the-way.” Oh, this is good! Then he drops Dean when he spots Castiel. “Hello you!” He bear hugs Cas next who can hardly breath. Then Cupid turns around to Sam. “And look at you!” Sam gets really scared and tries to run but Cupid is too fast. He hugs him next, and it’s interesting how this Cupid can get his arms around such a giant man. He does though! It’s so funny to see Sam manhandled like that.
Dean asks Cas if they should be fighting. Cas lets him know that’s their handshake. “I don’t like it,” Dean says. “Nobody likes it,” Castiel replies. Cupid finishes with Sam (who looks like he wants to take a shower now) and cheerfully comes over to ask Cas what he wants. Ah, what a sweet angel. Castiel wants to know why he’s doing this. Cupid doesn’t get it. Doing what? Cas tells him his marks are slaughtering each other. Cupid is shocked to hear this. So, Dean, who is the Winchester with the anger issues this week, unloads on Cupid, accusing him of popping people with his poison arrow. Then Cas joins in, wanting to know why. Cupid’s face falls over such harsh accusations and in true diva form, bursts into tears. Needless to say, none of them expected that. I think it’s hilarious.
Cupid goes off to the side to have his meltdown, while Dean, Castiel and Sam congregate. They’re feeling a bit uncomfortable. Sam suggests that somebody go talk to him, although he’s giving the signal to Cas. Dean joins in with Sam’s body language suggestion. Cas squeamishly goes over and tries to talk. “We didn’t mean to, uh…” he rolls his eyes and looks at Sam and Dean, who give him enthusiastic shows of support. Oh, this is good. I love how all three of these guys interact so well. They’re quite the team anymore. Drama, comedy, you name it, it’s all good. Cas goes back and finishes his sentence. “…hurt your feelings.” Cupid whips around and hugs him for comfort. “I love love, I love it! And if that’s wrong I don’t want to be right.” Wow, Cupid is a giant marshmallow.
Castiel tries to be supportive, patting him on the back and everything, but then admits he has no idea what he’s talking about. Both Sam and Dean are watching in the background so completely…oh how do I describe it? Think giant teddy bear reaction. They’re spooked. Cupid claims he was just on his appointed rounds. Whatever his targets do after that it has nothing to do with him. He begs Cas to read his mind. Cas does and finds it’s the truth. I hope that mind reading thing only works on other angels. And with permission. “Jiminy Christmas, thank you!” Cupid says writing off the teary act. A bizarre character, this must be an Edlund script.
Dean wants clarification. Cupid was following orders. From whom? Why Heaven of course! “Why does Heaven care if Harry meets Sally?” Most of the time they don’t, but there’s certain bloodlines, certain destinies. “Like yours.” Sam and Dean are now bothered. “Yeah, the union of John and Mary Winchester, very big deal upstairs. Top priority arrangement.” Dean confirms that what he’s saying is he fixed up his parents. No, not him, but yeah. We see Dean fuming and Sam looking disturbed as Cupid goes on. “Oh it wasn’t easy. They couldn’t stand each other at first but when we were done with them, perfect couple.” Cupid is all giddy over the whole thing and Dean is…not. Oh come on Dean, respect the guy. It’s obvious he loves his job.
Dean of doesn’t care if they were the perfect couple because they’re dead. Not really Cupid’s concern, since the order was specific. Sam and Dean had to be born. “Your parents were just…meant to be.” He laughs and sings while doing jazz hands, “A match made in Heaven.” I love what this actor, Lex Medlin, is doing with this role. He’s so cheery its fun! So not this show. Of course Dean is being a grumpy gus as established earlier and punches cupid. Dean obviously forgot what happens when you punch an angel. Nothing happens to the angel and his hand is wrecked. Dean shakes off the pain, Cupid frowns and then disappears.
Standing in the background are a completely incredulous Sam and Castiel, both wondering what the Hell has gotten into Dean. Sam even has the hands of exasperation going. Dean wonders where he went. “I believe you upset him,” Castiel says, not exactly pleased. “Upset him?” Dean asks ready to go off on a rant. Sam jumps in and tells him enough. Dean doesn’t get it. “You just punched a Cupid.” Yeah Dean, you punched only the happiest creature alive. Dean defends himself, saying he punched a dick. Um, no Dean, that would be you. “Um, are we going to talk about what’s been up with you lately or not?” Sam asks. Dean gets even more pissed. “Or not!” Dean answers storming off, leaving Sam to give the camera his worried puppy dog look of doom. Oh, just wait Sam. This is about to get much worse.
Not wasting anytime on the getting worse, Sam is back at the coroner on his own. Another unusual case has popped up. Ben Edlund isn’t done making us sick. I should also note this weird outfit change for Sam. He’s got a new gray suit which actually looks okay, but the silky blue gray shirt and gray striped tie ages him about twenty years. I want my hunks young and current! He looks like he lifted the outfit from an insurance agent. Anyway, the really cool coroner shows a dead guy with one bloated stomach. He hands Sam his records. The man used to weigh about 400 lbs and got one of those gastric bypasses. I think those things should only be for people that dangerously overweight. Too many others are doing that for irresponsible reasons. Oh, you didn’t want my opinion? Okay, moving on.
Anyway, the man decided to go on a twinkie binge. He blew out the band on his stomach and when he could no longer swallow, he jammed the cakes down his gullet with a toilet brush. “He was ramrodding a cannon.” Sam takes the news with a squirm and an adjustment of the collar. “So what do you make of it?” Sam asks. “I think it was a peculiar thing to do,” the doctor answers before swigging his whiskey. I’m with you doc! Sam leaves the morgue and tells Dean on the phone what’s going on. Whatever’s up, it isn’t Cupid. Dean, who’s in his normal suit, tells Sam there have been eight suicides since Wednesday and 19 ODs. “That’s way out of seasonal batting average.” It all depends how you look at it. After all, in middle America, aren’t we killing ourselves every day? You see, now Edlund’s got me all pessimistic!
Sam, who’s monochrome outfit looks really bad in natural light, comes to the conclusion it’s bigger than they thought. Then Sam gets a headache. Uh oh, that’s usually a bad sign for Sammy. Of course he also figures out something’s amiss when mystery man with the briefcase walks out of the morgue and Sam can hear his heartbeat a mile away. And smell him. You know, I remember in “Lazarus Rising” that one demon said she could smell Sam’s soul a mile away. You think this is a new ability surfacing from Sam or is this just the spell? I guess we’ll find out one way or another. Sam gives the man his menacing look of gruesome peril to come.
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.