“He’s got something evil inside of him”
Jack gorges on raw meat and Sam and Dean watch, just to work in the ick requirement. After all, this is a horror show. New motel room and there’s Travis, the ill fated hunter for the week. Why does almost every hunter that runs into Sam and Dean end up dead? I wouldn’t be calling them for a favor, thus making Travis the stupidest hunter ever. We learn the monster is a Rugaru, starting to turn in some sort of metamorphosis. There’s the dual meaning for the title. Travis killed Jack’s dad and didn’t realize until it was too late he had a kid.
From here on out, it’s parallels galore. “They feed once, they’re a monster forever.” Hmm, unleash dark powers and… Jack’s in a bar, looks in the mirror, and even though the reflection is normal, his eyes see a monster inside. This is important for later. Sam wants to save this guy because there’s hope that even though he’s starting to turn, he may never take the final step. Hmm, unleashing dark powers inside doesn’t mean… As Travis points out though, “It’s pure base instinct…You think he can stop himself because he’s nice?” Whoa, who exactly are they talking about here? Sam refuses to kill Jack unless he does something to get killed for.
Here it is. Despite all the explosive stuff we’ve gotten so far, this is not only my favorite scene of the episode, but one of my favorites of the series. We FINALLY learn why Sam has been acting so deceptive. It starts with another discussion in the Impala and Dean doesn’t like the plan. He wants to be sure Sam can kill Jack when push comes to shove and passes another one of his heavy handed comments in the process. “Nice dude but he’s got something evil inside of him, something in his blood. Maybe you can relate.” Sam in a fit of anger demands Dean stop the car, now. Dean pulls the car off to the side, Sam gets out and starts going off on Dean. The brothers airing grievances in front of the Impala. It feels so right.
“You want to know why I’ve been lying to you Dean? Because of crap like this. The way you talk to me, the way you look at me like I’m a freak. Or even worse, like I’m an idiot, like I don’t know the difference between right and wrong.” Dean comes back with his “strolling a dark road” stuff, thus making Sam madder. “You have no idea what I’m going through, none!” Dean demands to be enlightened. Okay Dean, just remember, you asked.
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.