Recap – “Point Of No Return”
Sam takes over. “Just uh, keep going.” The angels came out of nowhere and told him he’s chosen. For what? To save the world silly. Dean wants to know how he’s going to do that. You haven’t figured it out yet Dean? Adam smugly announces he and an archangel are going to kill the Devil. Which one? Duh, Michael, who else? “I’m his sword, or vessel, I don’t know.” Dean thinks that’s insane but Castiel sees the merit in the plan. “Maybe they’re moving on from you Dean.” Dean doesn’t think that makes sense. Castiel makes his pitch, he is from John Winchester’s bloodline, Sam’s brother. Ah, maybe he’s the brother that would actually kill Sam. It’s not perfect but possible. Sam wonders why they would do this. “Maybe they’re desperate,” Castiel says and then turns his attention to Dean. “Maybe they’ve wrongly assumed Dean would be brave enough to withstand them.” “You know, blow me Cas,” Dean says irritated. Something is really wrong with Dean if he can’t take biting angel sarcasm.
Sam starts using logic since the others are sniping. “After everything’s that happened, all that crap about destiny, suddenly the angels have a plan B. Does that smell right to anybody?” Hello everyone, LISTEN TO THIS MAN. He’s the only one figuring out this is a scheme to trick Dean. Adam gets up, concluding this is a real moving family reunion, but he’s got a thing. Sam stops him and tries to talk sense into him. He even uses the please with puppy dog eyes. Sam tries to explain the angels are lying to him but Adam can’t believe angels would do that. “They tell you they were going to roast half the planet?” They did mention the fight would be hairy but it’s the Devil and they’ve got to stop them.
Sam insists there’s another way. Adam is cool with that and wants to know what it is. “Well, we’re working on the power of love,” Dean says being a real smartass. Sam gives Dean the power bitchface now, the one we all know and love. What’s funny is that’s exactly what saves them! Adam wants to know how that’s going. “Not good,” Dean answers, obviously not taking this seriously. Sam goes for another angle, admitting Adam doesn’t know him from a hole in the wall, but he’s begging him to trust him. Adam needs one good reason. Cut to Bobby, whose darned curious to see what that is too. “Because we’re blood.” Dean has a “give me a break” look on his face, and Adam just gets angry.
“You’ve got no right to say to me.” Bobby tells him he’s still John’s boy. “No, John Winchester was a guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. I don’t have a Dad.” Wow, that’s a total 180 from the fake Adam in “Jump The Shark.” “So we maybe blood, but we are not family. My mom is my family, and if I do my job, I get to see her again. No offense but she’s the one I give a rats ass about, not you.” No offense taken Adam. It’s not like your brothers are part of the John Winchester fan club either. Dean has nothing to say, but Sam isn’t done. “Fair enough. But if you have one good memory of Dad, just one, then you’ll give us a little more time. Please.” You’ve been saying that way too much lately Sam. It hasn’t been working so well either. Adam keeps a pissed off look on his face but says nothing. So does this mean he does have one good memory of John, or he too is falling for the pleading puppy dog eyes?
Adam eats a sandwich, or should I say winces at a sandwich. He sees Bobby in the other room distracted and takes his opportunity to go for the door. Not so fast, the middle brother is right behind him asking if he’s going somewhere. Adam wants to go for a beer, but Sam declares they’ve got beer and for him to have a seat. Adam isn’t happy with that offer. “You know, you pitch this whole ‘dewy-eyed bromance’ thing, but the truth is I’m on lockdown aren’t I?” You’re just now figuring that out? Love the bromance line though! It’s about time they worked it into an episode, and Jeremy Carver is the perfect guy to do it.
Sam delivers the beers and they sit down at the table. Sam tries to bond, starting with telling Adam that John was trying to protect him. “Yeah, well I guess the monster that ate me didn’t get that memo.” Sam is sad that he remembers that and Adam responds “Oh yeah,” rather bitter. I suppose being bitter over dying in a gruesome way is allowed. They really did a number on Sam too. So Sam goes for the John Winchester hating angle, trying to change the subject. “Trust me, the one thing worse than seeing Dad once a year was seeing him all year.” Adam tells Sam he’s full of crap, because his upbringing involved his mother working the graveyard shift and he cooked his own meals and put himself to bed. Sam had that upbringing too! Come on Sam, tell him all about it. You’re really sucking at the bonding here. Share horror stories. At least Sam had Dean. “You can say what you want about our Dad but I would have taken anything.” Come on Sam, tell him what a horrible Dad he was and how he wasn’t there for Christmas and disappeared weeks at a time. Oh right, only 40 minutes and this episode is loaded enough.
Sam tries to tell him if had they known they had a brother (Adam snips back that they didn’t) they would have found him. “Look I can’t change the past, but if I could…” “What, we gonna hop into the Family Truckster, pop on down to Walley World?” That’s from one of my favorite movies, National Lampoon’s Vacation. I even nicknamed my soccer mom van the Family Truckster. Cool reference! Adam is so a carbon copy of oldest brother Dean. Plenty of attitude and a short fuse for the painful situations. That’s a big switch from “Jump The Shark” when fake Adam bonded easier with Sam. It was kind of nice to see Sam play big brother for a change. Anyway, Sam backs off, telling Adam that with attitude like that, he’d fit right in around there. In other words, he’s Dean 2.0.
Now for Sam to get a ton of crap from the other end, because this poor boy just doesn’t have enough strife in his life. This time it’s going to hurt WAY more. Families just suck sometimes. Dean is in a cleared out panic room and Sam and Castiel open the door. Cas is leering at Dean in disgust and Dean definitely notices. “Well Cas not for nothing, but the last person that looked at me like that, I got laid.” Hmm, angry sex. I hope it wasn’t Bela. Sam suggests to Castiel he keeps an eye on Adam and Cas slams the door with his angry angel wave after he throws one more glare at Dean’s way and Dean winks at him. Mr. Carver is definitely having fun with the slashers.
Dean wants to know if being locked in the panic room is really necessary. Sam is feeling the frustration. “Well, I mean we’ve got our hands full Dean. A house full of flight risks.” I know Sam. Keeping a leash on one hard headed Winchester is hard enough but two of them? Dean isn’t letting him do it and Sam agrees he won’t let Adam do it either. Dean tries to tell Sam he isn’t getting him, but Sam claims he is perfectly. “But, I’m not letting you do it either.” Dean takes a dramatic pause and again points out the “Kid’s not taking a bullet for me.” Sam tries to argue but Dean’s serious. “Think of how many people we’ve gotten killed, Sam. Mom, Dad, Jess, Jo, Ellen.” He stops there. Oh come on Dean, you’ve gotten WAY more than that killed. Right, 40 minutes.
I think that’s what really tore me up during this fight scene, Dean saying “Please” to Cas in such a desperate tone…
Alice, did you keep your emotional stability? Watching this episode I had trouble with that, and reading your fabulous recap did the same to me.
Yeah, Zachariah… hate his guts. But Kurt Fuller is marvellous in his scenes, in the bar at the beginning and trying to nail Dean to the wall. He was a great villain, but as we’re killing off the angels now, he had to go. I would have loved to help Dean with that. I went YES! As stabbed the Mr Arrogance du jour.
It was pretty painful to see how Dean was spent and hurting the people he loves most deliberately – shoving into Sam’s face that he was not hopped up on demon blood (slap!) and Bobby that he was not his father (slap, slap)… He can’t control this anymore. He’s living and breathing fatalism and sarcasm. The expression on Bobby’s face was … oh, God, he didn’t deserve that. And Bobby’s confession that he thinks of killing himself everyday… Kleenex….
I agree that Sam did his best with his face to tell Dean how wrong he was saying that, no matter how desperate his older brother might be. And later in the panic room scene.. I was a mess after that, just like you put it here, Alice. I couldn’t believe Dean would go there, but knowing the show and Dean lately, I expected it, too. My heart sank with Sam. In a fight long ago my mom said something like that to me, to hurt me, as she later admitted. I still remember how devastatingly painful it is to hear something like that. You don’t do that to your family.
I agree with Lynn’s theory wholeheartedly.
The following scenes are so rich, bad-ass Cas, Adam returning, angels having a plan B? They expect them to buy that? The big fight of Dean and Cas, Adam and Zach.., gosh… I hate this episode as much as I love it.
I really miss some of the pop culture references since some of it was just not an item over here (perhaps I should have gotten myself a catalogue in that department of the Smithsonian, eh, Alice, and studied that a bit more…)
That scene with Sam and Dean in the panic room is indeed an instant classic – and, I agree, one of the best in this show! How much I loved Sam here I can’t describe.
Thanks so much for the series of screencaps covering that big scene in the green room, Dean saying yes and then killing Zach, the whole dialogue that went on without saying a word… You are so great, dear. This scene was as painful and yet hopeful as it gets.
I love that look on Sam’s face in the last scene in the car. He hasn’t had that kind of brotherly love in a long time and he has been so hungry for it. You didn’t make it without losing it ? Alive, me neither. Can you please quit making these great recaps, I don’t know how I’m gonna survive the last three of this season… Kidding. Give it to me. I’m a plain masochist.
Sniff, Jas
Thanks Alice, what a great job. I especially liked that remark about Dean 2.0.
What I haven’t realized watching the show I did now looking at your picures. (Did you actually do the following on purpose?)
On page 2 of your recap right after Dean asks Bobby about the bullet you have one picture of Sam. And there in bottom right hand corner above the CW logo you can read “You are watching supernatural 100th episode”
The picture right below with Bobby starting to deliver his suicidal speach reads: “Pay attention”
And again well done.
With our boys living through so many unreal moments that seem real to all of us don’t you feel like Alice in Wonderland?
Great recap!
I too absolutely loved Sam in this episode. The best way to motivate someone to do their best is to demonstrate faith in them – as Sam did here. His was also the only approach that worked. Bobby’s words had little effect; Cas’ fists even less. It was indeed “The Power of Love†that saved the day… 😉
Awesome episode.
Sam’s “you’re my big brother” & Dean’s “if you’re grown up enough to have faith in me…” just really got to me.
I didn’t even realize the Impala wasn’t in this one until the rewatch, I was so caught up in everything else that happened, but she should definitely have been there!
That was a great recap Alice, and I loved those screenshots in the Green Room. How those two do that is just awesome!
The utter despair up until that wink was almost unbearable.
Sam was so great in this one and I could have jumped for joy when Dean changed his mind.
Bye bye Zach! You were a great villain indeed!
Don’t know if I will survive the next three as Kripke is bound to do something dreadful before season end.
All I can think of is save Bobby, save Cas please please please! 😮
Good 100th episode! And good recap Alice. Loved the pictures of Sam and Dean in the green room!
I have to say, I can’t help but think part of the episode was for Sam to understand how deeply he had hurt his brother, and to make amends for it. And he did, first by telling Dean he was wrong all those time he ran away, and second for trusting Dean, and actually having faith in him, which I’m not convinced he ever had before… not a deep faith anyway, or he never would have followed Ruby in the first place.
Sam’s taking Dean with him was the only chance Sam had, and he knew it. He was on the verge of losing Dean, and had to hope Dean would still choose him over anything else. Lucky for him, good habits die hard, and the old Dean was still there.
I loved Adam’s return too. Too bad he didn’t stay around, but they didn’t actually say he was dead, so maybe he’ll show up in season six. Although can we handle two Deans? might blew up the TV! 😀
I have to disagree with you on one point though. I just don’t think what Cass did when he found Dean was right. Dean was certainly not Dean, but Cass made his own decision to follow Dean; he chose that path of his own free will. And, for all intents and purposes, Cass is just as responsible for the apocalypse as Dean and Sam. He let Sam out of the room, and although Dean doesn’t know it, Cass does. The writers have seemed to gloss that over, but it is still a fact in the story. I really don’t think Cass was right in taking all his anger out on Dean, and to me, that’s what it looked like he was doing. Dean always considered Cass a friend, and I felt very sorry for Dean at that point. Dean needed understanding from Cass, not a beating. Guess that’s just the sentimentalist in me. Sorry. :cry::
The look on Sam’s face at the end was awesome. I think it’s the first time he has REALLY seen his brother, and he likes what he sees. 😉
Just my 1 and a half cents worth!
I cannot begin to describe how much I loved this episode ( and your recap Alice , it`s like re-living it again ,Thank you )or how many times I have watched it .
It demonstrated perfectly exactly why we all love this show so much . It had everything ( except The Impala ) in there , one of the saddest scenes ever , just imagine being able to fit all your worldly possessions into such a small box , moments of such angst they were almost painful to watch , the panic room scene especially , moments of humour , loved the line about `the power of love` and we had a promise kept when we finally got to see Zach stabbed in the face, the final scene with all the restored hope and determination , and yes , i know we are all being built up for a huge fall but let`s just enjoy this feeling while we can.
My favourite scene from the episode though and what I think could become one of my favourites ever , is the big one in the green room. So many emotions and wonderful nuances portrayed in a scene with no dialogue. What a testament to the wonderful actors we have here .Thank you so much for the series of screencaps which demonstrated this so perfectly