Recap – “Jump The Shark”
Adam wants to know what has his mom, and Sam and Dean aren’t sure. Dean points out there’s a long list of monsters out there. Is his mother alive? Judging by Sam and Dean’s silent and somber glares, that’s likely a no. Adam wants to help. Dean tells him he can’t, but Sam doesn’t mind the idea. “He lost his mother, maybe we can understand what that feels like.†Sam, while that’s a good argument, you’re the only Winchester in the room that didn’t know his mother. Revenge in that context doesn’t work for you.
Dean won’t hear of it, and points out while going into a tizzy that there’s a reason John didn’t tell them about Adam, to protect him. He doesn’t need their lives. While Sam argues that John’s dead and Dean comes back that they need to respect his wishes, Adam asks if he gets a say in this. “No!†Both Sam and Dean say at the same time. Dean has his little diva hissy fit and storms out of the room, slamming the door. “Is he always like that?†Adam asks. “Welcome to the family,†Sam replies. Really Adam, you should see Dean at parties. He’s a hoot.
Sam pulls out his gun, and decides to teach Adam a few things. “Uh, Dean said-“ and Sam knows what Dean said, but he knows what it’s like to want revenge. Come on Sam, how has that revenge thing been going for you? How did it work for John? This time, I’m going with Dean on this one. Sam hands Adam the gun, and that looks even more absurd as they sit in the Minnesota river. Everyone had to have had a blast shooting this scene.
Meanwhile, Dean has put on the suit and has decided to work the case. He’s in a spooky family tomb with a spooky caretaker. “Tell me Agent Nugent (yeah, Ted Nugent!), have you thought about where you’d might like to spend eternity?†“All the damn time,†Dean deadpans. Ding, ding, ding, there’s the line of the episode!
Three bodies are missing, and judging by the embalming fluid left behind, the corpses were opened up. How lovely! Dean is in a bar next, and the bartender gives him a free beer, since first beer is on the house for cops, and feds too. Hee, Dean is pretty convincing now. He’s got that “law and order†vibe. I suppose if you play a role long enough, you start believing it’s real. He tells the woman bartender he’s looking into the disappearance of Joe Barton. Lucky for Dean, he happens to be talking to the man’s wife. Man, what a break.
Same story, Joe disappears without a trace. Dean sees the pictures on the wall, Joe used to be a cop. Dean puts two and two together, and asks if he worked the grave robbery case back in 1990. Yep, that was him. It seems Joe got help from a “specialist,†and there’s the newspaper headline on the wall of the story with John hiding behind the tree. I guess specialist is one word for John. They never caught the guy, but Joe mentioned they took care of what done it. Or so he thought.
Back to Sam and Adam in the motel room with the guns, and Adam wants to know what killed dad. “Demon,†Sam admits. Adam wonders if they hunted it down, got revenge, and Sam tells him Dean killed it. “It’s over for you,†Adam says. “It’s never over,†Sam coldly replies. Oh Sam, there is no hope for you, is there? Lights go out, Sam goes on alert. He takes the shotgun and checks the bathroom, nothing’s there. Then he hears something in the vent. He rushes himself and Adam out of the room, and go to Adam’s truck. Adam throws Sam the keys, but before Sam can open the door (those older cars without remotes to unlock the car door suck for a fast getaway), something grabs his ankles and starts dragging him under the truck.
Luckily Dean pulls up in the Impala just in time and storms in to save the day. Adam pulls on Sam, eventually winning the tug of war while Dean picks up the shotgun, shoots first, and asks questions later. Sam and Adam try to catch their breaths on the ground. That’s a good shot of adrenaline!
They pull away the truck and sure enough, there’s a sewer grate underneath. Dean inspects, there’s blood, so he clipped it. They figure out there’s a pattern. It’s going after all the people involved in the case. Joe Barton, Adam’s mother, and now Adam. Adam also figures out whatever this thing is, it wants revenge. You see Sam, nothing good can come from that.
They go to Adam’s house, and the idea is for Adam to get his stuff together before they hit the road. Sam manages to bring up his objections about leaving while bandaging his apparently injured ankle. The plan is to drop Adam off at Bobby’s and then they’ll come back and hunt the thing. Sam thinks it’s a better idea to use Adam to draw the thing out. “You want to use to use the kid as bait?†Dean asks, not believing what he’s hearing from his heartless baby brother. Sam’s logic is simple, Adam must be trained to defend himself. Even if they kill the thing that’s after him now, there are tons of other freaks out there that will want revenge. Adam should be ready.
Adam hears the conversation, and sides with Sam. He wants to learn. So, for once, Sam actually gets to become mentor. Aww, showing little brother the ropes. Kind of chokes you up, doesn’t it? It’s like a dream come true for Sam, sort of. Congrats Sam on now having the title of awkward middle child.
Sam takes target practice with Adam, and looking pretty damned hot doing it. He’s also a great shot. I love the shot Phil Sgriccia shows from the perspective of the first bullet hole of Sam firing and Adam watching. It’s so unique! Sam gives the gun to Adam, and for his first time ends up also being a great shot. Sam beams in pride, proclaiming Adam a natural. Dean stands from afar watching all this while leaning on the Impala, not happy about this at all.
I just love your photographic recaps Alice. The shots you choose just add a great dimension to the article.
Now, for the episode. I really liked this one. I also really liked Adam…well Ghoul Adam anyhow. We know the Ghoul had Adam’s memories but his personality is another matter. Maybe the real Adam would not be likeable at all. Oh well, I guess we’ll never know.
The one thing about this episode that has me scratching my head is why they bothered to lift the mattress off the frame. Earlier shots showed there was lots of room on the other side of the bed, why didn’t they just slide the bed over? It seems like such a silly thing to even notice but for some reason I noticed right away. Funny the things once notices.
I am really looking forward to your and Elle2’s thoughts on “The Rapture”.