Sam makes his pitch that what he’s doing is saving lives because he isn’t killing the victim. He’s saved more people in five months than they usually do in a year. Dean isn’t convinced it’s a good idea, probably because it’s Ruby’s. “It’s gonna get darker, and darker, and God knows where it ends.”
Sam replies, “I’m not going to let it go too far,” and Dean responds by whacking a lamp across the room. Wrong answer!
This part is where my jaw hit the floor. Dean, complete with steely glare and tough guy stance that he usually reserves for the worst of the monsters he faces tells Sam, “If I didn’t know you, I would want to hunt you.” That causes the tears to pool in Sam’s eyes. Mine too.
Sam defends, “You were gone, I was here. I had to keep on fighting without you. And what I’m doing, it works.”
Dean’s got a better argument. “Then why’d you lie about it to me? Why did an angel tell me to stop you?” Sam’s weepy eyes go to panic. “That means that God doesn’t want you doing this. So you just going to stand there and tell me everything is all good?” Dean’s got tears in his eyes now too, and Sam’s despondent now. Me too, and this week’s TiVo pause for a meltdown happens only seven minutes in.
Somehow Sam manages to answer the phone, even though his voice is so broken he barely gets the words out. He takes down the info, and we’re onto the freak of the week. I’m not going to focus much on Jack for while his story fit the monster MO this show does so well, there are too many other emotional elements of greater importance. In summary, Jack can’t eat enough and his bones are changing.
The Impala zooms to Carthage, Missouri and here’s another great moment for brothers to share info. This episode is a character development dream! Dean tells Sam about his trip back in time, revealing Mary was a hunter who could kick ass and how hopeful and full of life she and John were until that night of horror. Sam doesn’t get the whole tragedy. “Our whole family murdered and for what, so Yellow Eyes could get in my nursery and bleed in my mouth?” Dean gets that puzzled “wait a second” reaction, hinting he never mentioned that to Sam. Then he says it. “I never said anything about demon blood.” Busted! Sam admits he’s known about it for a year. He apologizes, but it’s way too late for that. Dean’s offended and lets him know in a biting way. Sam wants to explain, but backs off. At least Dean can’t punch him right now.
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Article comments
1 - Tigershire
I very much agree with you. If it were that easy for Sam to stop using his powers, well the show should end with this episode.
Steven King said it best in his book on writing - "Kill your darlings."
And Kripke has done that in spades. I don't expect this season to be any different. Grin.
2 - Elle
Another excellent review!
Can I just say, this was the most disgusting episode, in my opinion, to date. Pretty much any scene with Jack had me wincing, cringing and eye-covering. Moving on...
You are so right in your grade of the Sam/Dean scenes as A+, Alice. The Dean and Sam confrontation was exactly what I wanted and I felt Dead was totally justified in his anger (even the punches). Jensen, once again in a suberb acting job, conveyed piss off and overwhelming sadness in that low, grave tone that was heartbreaking. The range of emotions - man, episodes should be rated for their ew-factor and tissue requirement. [sidenote related to the hotel scene - even though Misha Collins wasn't in this episode (tragedy, if you ask me, he should be in EVERY episode), Dean called him "Cas" - ah! I loved that part. ] I breathed a huge sigh of relief when, finally, ALL the Winchester secrets (at least between the boys) had been revealed. The secret keeping was making me anxious.
I do agree that Ruby 2.0 was better (though I still miss KC) however, it irked me a little bit that Dean didn't figure out who she was right off the bat. Also, I loved how Dean's absolute rage lead to flinging Sam off him and nailing Ruby against the wall - awesome! That's the Dean we know and love!
On that note - I loved the entire "long-pig" exchange, including the pleased look Dean got on his face everytime he worked it into a sentence. I'd bet the bloopers for the "rescue" scene in the apartment are great too.
Looking forward to your treats for next weeks episode. I have a feeling I know what your special surprise might be (but I'll keep that to myself).
3 - Tigershire
Not all the Winchester secrets have been revealed. Dean still hasn't told Sam about his nightmares of Hell.
4 - cassi
Great review Alice!
I loved this episode because it was my usual dose of SPN Monster of the Week combined with amazing brother moments!!!! And Jack was really one gross and cool monster! Loved his scenes! The food scenes were also amazing, the close-up of his mouth was so disgusting, Kim Manners you're a genius! I loved the little bloodstream flashes he used to emphasize the evil inside Jack!
The brother moments were fantastic as always! The episode feeled like the first SPN episode that dealt with the brothers relationship using Sam-Dean discussions since NRFTW.
5 - Alice Jester
Tigershire - Good point about Dean not telling Sam about his flashbacks, but I'm sure he doesn't know what it means yet. I wonder when they get worse (notice how I said when) if he'll share that with Sam. He didn't when he was getting the hallucinations in NRFTW, but then again, he might be learning from Sam that lies aren't the best thing.
Elle - yeah, I could have said something about the "long pig", but I'll admit, cannibalism is one of those topics I turn away from with sour stomach. This one was pretty gross, but I think last year's "Malleus Maleficarum" was worse.
I also agree, need more Castiel. I get why he wouldn't be in this one though, for he gave the brothers room to work things out. I can't wait to see what happens when Sam and Castiel cross paths.
Cassi - You're so right! How did I miss the blood pumping thing? That's another great example of the parallels. What's happening to Jack is happening to Sam too. Thanks for mentioning that.
6 - Tigershire
Alice - I agree that Dean doesn't know yet what they mean (although he knows what they are as referenced by Castiel - "what were you dreaming of?") but I don't think either of them get much figured out until the 11th hour (which is what makes good television, right?)
Actually that brought me to an interesting thought. Have you noticed that, so far, Dean only dreams of Hell right before Cas shows up?
7 - vichi
Alice, great as always! I was focused on the brothers and Jack's story was for me more as a parallel for Sam's story, because after all, in this episode, Sam is the one who got metamophosised (I don't know if the word exist, I think I just made it up:).
Funny thing, I too saw again BUABS and Bedtime stories, and with me the fried who is staying at me for a couple of weeks. She got converted to SPN and now, every night she watch one or two episodes of SPN:)
the title and the action of the episod made me think about Franz Kafka's novel "The Metamorphosis", his only novel I liked:) Did you notice that at some point the license plate was the original one, from season one? I read somewhere that they reused a scene from an early episode and that's why the plate was back. I was glad to see it again:)
8 - Liz
Great review. And I totally agree, Jared deserves tons of praise for this episode. He was absolutely fantastic!! And it was SO good to see Sam back.