Reviews That I Missed: Supernatural 9.11, “First Born”

Can you say, “parallels galore”?  That’s what “First Born” brings to the table, a twist on an old testament biblical story that always had Sam and Dean in mind when the Supernatural saga unfolded. Sure, Sam and Dean’s story wasn’t quite Cain and Abel, but thanks to the genius of Robbie Thompson, it became that way!  

For those that may not be bible literate (even I have a lot of trouble here and there), in the Book of Exodus Cain slew his brother Abel because of jealousy for being God’s favorite. Considering they were the sons of Adam and Eve, they turned out to be one pretty f**ked up family.  Kind of fitting for this show, huh?  Cain of course was punished by God by being cast out into the wilderness, left to wander alone, and marked so that no one would kill him.  In other words, he was banished to a life of misery.  

Enter Robbie Thompson’s twist of events.  Because Cain committed the “first murder,” he became “Father Murder” and the highest order of demon, the original Knight of Hell.  He built an high demonic order of knights and trained them all to be efficient killing machines.  How nice.  Eventually though, Cain found love, and decided it was time to leave this life of murder.  It was he that slaughtered most of the knights, not the archangels, when his wife Collette was kidnapped by them to prevent him from leaving. Abaddon possessed Collette and before Cain could save her, Abaddon snapped her neck.  Cain swore to his dying love that he would live a clean life, so he’s living a quiet life in exile as a beekeeper, retired from all the killing. 

On the flip side, Dean and Sam just had their really nasty split, due to Dean screwing Sam over big time with the whole angel possession thing.  It may have saved Sam’s life, but it got Kevin killed and brought harm to many others, so it’s that whole unintended consequences thing that Dean is beating himself up over.  Dean at this point was raw, angry, and looking for his next fight.  So naturally, Crowley, the brilliant opportunist, decided to give Dean what he was looking for.  He knew way they could kill Abaddon.  The first blade.  There’s only one way to find it, a tracking spell.  They’re off to find Tara, the hunter that can do that for them.  

Crowley in this episode proved exactly why he’s the King of Hell.  He’s a master manipulator, and a really good actor.  This is Crowley at his most crafty, most scheming, most devious and it’s brilliant.  When they arrive at a quiet and remote farm that came up on the tracker, as soon as Crowley realized it was Cain that they found, he feigned fear and terror, suggesting they leave, but Dean kept pushing to find this weapon.  The con was on.  Crowley knew that Dean wouldn’t back down, and he didn’t have to do much to Dean in his state to push him in the right direction.  When Sam is not around, Dean is vulnerable to make some bad choices.  It is a crafty parallel from season four when Sam was in a similar position with Ruby.  These demons know how to push their buttons!  

Cain went to run errands and told them to leave and never come back, but Dean being the stubborn jerk, decided to go back and search the house for the weapon while Cain was gone.  Oh Dean, you’re such an ape.  Hasn’t he had enough experience to know that plan never works?  Especially a powerful being like Cain that wasn’t born yesterday?  Crowley had the good sense to point out what a bad idea that was, but they went back anyway.  Cain showed up angry, and so did some demons from Abaddon’s entourage, who got wind who Dean and Crowley found.  Crowley conveniently disappeared into the front room and Cain, refusing to fight, just sat and watched Dean take on the demons all on his own.  I love this piece of dialogue between Cain and Dean:

Dean:  I’m gonna barricade the entrances. Get ready for a fight.
Cain:   Well, good luck with that.
Dean:  What?
Cain:   You exposed my home. You exposed me.
Dean:  Well, boo-hoo!
Cain:   Brave, but impulsive. You truly have lived up to your reputation.
Dean:  I can’t say you’ve lived up to yours.
Cain:   What can I say? I’m retired. If you survive, you’re welcome to join me for the last meal I will eat in this house before I disappear again. It’s the least I can do.

Dean was a total badass BTW and in some spectacular fight choreography, one of the best in the series, took on numerous demons at once and killed them all, save a small kill from Crowley.  This scene was easily the most awesome of the episode, and it got Cain’s attention in exactly the way I’m sure Crowley intended.  

When it was all done, Dean correctly assumed this was some kind of test.  Cain was impressed with  Dean, calling them kindred spirits and they are very much alike.  Dean pointed out the one striking similarity between them, he chose not to kill his brother when they took on Lucifer.  “Because you never give up on family.”  Of course, Cain pointed out the obvious, where’s your brother now?   He may not of killed Sam, but he has severely damaged their relationship to the point where it might not be saved.  Or at least that’s probably the way he feels right now.  The straw that broke the camel’s back perhaps?  

Dean jumped into uber macho jerk mode and demanded Cain hand over the blade.  Cain didn’t have it.  The spell brought them to the source of the blade’s power, not the blade itself.  He then flashed the Mark of Cain.  He told the real story behind why he killed Abel.   It was not because of God, but because of Lucifer.  Abel was being tempted by Lucifer, so Cain made a deal.  He would take Abel’s place and serve Lucifer for eternity if Abel was assured a life in Heaven.  Of course, Lucifer’s conditions for that to happen was Cain had to kill Abel right away.  After he killed his brother he was brandished with the Mark of Cain, but it came from Lucifer, not God.   That weapon that Dean and Crowley are seeking can only be powered by the person bearing the mark.  

So guess what, just like Lucifer did to him, Cain can transfer the mark to a worthy being. A killer.  Uh oh Dean, run!  Cain tried to tell him the horrible price that came with it, but Dean just heard “blah, blah, blah, kill Abaddon” and he accepted the mark without question.  Actually, his exact words were, “Yeah, well, spare me the warning label. You had me at ‘kill the bitch’.”   So the transfer was done.  Dean, you impulsive moron.  Cain said that he dumped the blade in the deepest ocean.  Find it and Dean can use it.  Cain also made Dean promise, one day he will call on him and when that happens, he has to use the first blade on him.  Why?  Because Cain was about to kill again.  As Crowley and Dean leave, Cain locked the rush of demons inside the house with him and there was a huge flash of light.  Those suckers were toast!  

Whew, that’s a lot to take in!  BTW as they were leaving Dean called out Crowley on his treachery and how he planned all of this.  His actions led to the death of Tara when Abaddon’s goons slaughtered her looking for them.  Dean threatened to kill Crowley after he takes out Abaddon, but Crowley isn’t phased.  I love how he treated this more like a buddy comedy instead of a real threat.  He’s having too much fun.  Dean needs him to find the blade in the ocean, so Crowley for now is important.  

On the flip side, the Castiel and Sam scenes were pretty damned hokey and a way too much filler compared to the main story.  I did appreciate them bonding after the whole Ezekiel incident and lord knows Sam needed a friend, but geez, could they get more wimpy?  The platitudes in Sam’s lines were especially vomit inducing.  I get he’s been through a lot, but he was ready to throw his well being away just on a hope of finding Gadreel?  Castiel was at least wise enough to show him otherwise, unlike Crowley with Dean.   I did appreciate the bonding between Sam and Castiel.  I guess that goes along the lines of Sam and Dean switching roles from this point forward.  

Dean’s Reckless Actions

It’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room, what in the world had Dean gotten himself into?  

The outright self loathing and recklessness of Dean Winchester can be dangerous when gone unchecked as it did here.  Crowley absolutely nailed it with this comment, “Nobody hates you more than you do.”  It’s that knowledge of Dean’s massive weakness that gave him what he needed to push Dean into this direction.  Still, it wasn’t Crowley and convinced Dean to take on the mark.  That was Dean himself.  

Was it that Dean in his self loathing decided that he deserved this horrible this burden, or at the time he was so raw and full of hurt he didn’t care what happened to him?  I guess technically that could be both.  Still, wouldn’t Dean have connected the dots?  By taking on the mark, he has basically set himself up to become a demon too.  The one thing he hates the worst.  Was he thinking that far ahead, or could he have thought, “that will never happen to me.”  I’m guessing he wasn’t thinking at all, just overwhelmed by all that bloodlust.  He just wanted that revenge, he wanted Abaddon dead, because killing evil is the only way he can justify his existence.  The end justifies the means.  

The theme of The Winchesters has always been together they stand, divided they fall.  But I’m a stunned by this vulnerable version of Dean.  He has been known to be reckless at times, particularly when he’s in an out of control situation.  His demon deal in “All Hell Breaks Loose Part II” was a great example of that.  There might also be a deeper psychological issue of misplaced anger and how it’s a coping mechanism, but I’ll spare the pop psychology since I’m not an expert in these sort of things.  All we know is from this entire MOC mytharc is that Dean bit off more than he could chew, and this time Sam was the one that had to save him from himself.  

Random Thoughts

When this episode came up on my reviews that I missed list, I couldn’t remember it that much.  I’m not sure why given it’s significance.  I know it kicked off the whole Mark of Cain arc and it involved one wickedly awesome guest star, but the rest was fuzzy.  When I did the rewatch, it was better than I remembered.  It was a pretty even episode and kept my interest. Still not perfect, but for this point in season nine, an improvement for sure.  

The casting of Tim Omundson as Cain was nothing short of inspired.  He elevated this guest character into someone that we never forgot, even though Cain was in a total of two episodes.  He has turned out to be one of the best loved actors of the series.  

Dean Winchester is a real jerk when he’s in self loathing, man pain mode.  Sadly, they took that trend all the way to season fifteen.  I thought that choice always took something away from his character, and not in a good way.  But hey, one opinion.  

Overall grade, a B+.  A great and elaborate twist on the brotherly bond, not to mention the kickoff of a whole new mytharc, but the weak Sam and Castiel story hurt the grade.  Coming up next, “Sharp Teeth,” another episode that came out favorably on the rewatch.  Watch for the review to find out why!