The Great Supernatural Rewatch Project - Something Wicked
Oct 2, 2017 20:37:48 GMT -5
Mystique and onali like this
Post by luxshine on Oct 2, 2017 20:37:48 GMT -5
I have been dragging my feet with this. Even planned to jump ahead, write a coulpe of other episodes, then come back to this and edit the count. Because this one is probably one of the most controversial episodes in the fandom, and I have my share of angry anons already. Still, if I ever want to get to season 4, let alone 11… I need to do this one.
So brace yourselves for a lot of discussion about parenting, as Something Wicked this way comes.
General stuff
I keep studying the recaps whenever Netflix lets me have the recaps, and it is interesting how they change depending of the story they want to tell. This time, is a very even and short one. John putting Sam in Dean arms, Dean telling Sam they save people and hunt things, Sam claiming he doesn’t care about that, he just wants to find Dad (and I still think that is the most unfortunate, yet appropriate, piece of editing the show has ever done). Still, given what’s to come, I wish they had at LEAST used a bit of John in Shadows. One small bit that reminded us that the boys are John’s weak spot. Because man, we’re going to need it.
It is very appropriate that the doomed character from the beginning is a child (Supernatural really knew how to make us believe children were in danger), and being taken care for by her DAD. The dialogue is even telling, when she asks about her mom. For a second, I almost believed he was going to say that mom was dead. But no, she’s at the hospital taking care of a very older sister, going by the picture that we see (BTW, interesting parallel with the Pilot, and my endless gripe about Sam not having any pictures of Dean in his house). Kid ends up alone anyway, and then creepy shadow in the window finishes the scene.
So we move to the boys, who are, surprise, surprise, arguing about John. Now, I am not going to put this particular argument on Emotional Violence since we have no idea how the argument started, who started it and it has no specifically painful jabs from either of the brothers, and it actually ends in a high note, with something that ACTUALLY sounds like friendly brother banter. So I needed to give it a note, since it is nice to notice when they’re not fighting.
I would also like to say that this will be a nice foreshadowing for the future 10 seasons the show has gone when if Dean says something it’s a bad idea, it is a bad idea. Sure, the writers may not have intended like that but right now, it makes me chuckle.
Once in town, Sam realizes that there are not a lot of people outside. In particular, despite the hour, there are almost no children in the playground. So they go to investigate. Well, actually, DEAN goes to investigate for absolute no reason. Once more, he is the one who connects with the witness of the day, a woman who is watching her daughter play, where the writers could have taken this chance to show us the empathic side of Sam.
Well, wasted opportunity.
The woman tells Dean that they are having some sort of epidemic all over town where kids get sick for no apparent reason, so the brothers go to the hospital to investigate.
We have another interesting scene where Sam is complaining about his fake ID, since it says “bikini inspector”. Why is it interesting? Well, it cements that the one who does the IDs is Dean, not Sam. While one could argue that Sam also has the skills, to this point (and in fact, all the way up to season 5, last time we saw them actually using something not FBI), he has never used them. We also know now that they don’t have ALL the fake IDs they would need and sometimes they don’t have the raw material for them. Finally, we get DEAN’s POV as of why the fake IDs work, no matter how ridiculous the names he uses are: It is all about the confidence, not about the actual ID.
Sam, of course, scoffs at that. However, Dean’s approach actually works, so this yet another case of Sam not giving Dean enough credit and just treating him as a general failure (I won’t repeat this in emotional violence, as Dean seems not to care about this particular instance but it IS a pattern as we haven’t gone one episode without this happening.
In the hospital, things are grim. Dean pauses to see the most stereotypical witch in the world and then they move to interview the doctor and the parent of doomed kid from the teaser. After they find out that the illness travels through families, and that only kids get sick, with Dean looking more and more worried at the minute as he is 100% sure that whatever that is getting the kids sick, is what John send them to investigate.
They go to the house, to check if there’s any signal of a ghost (IT was always a ghost back then. I miss that. I totally miss when it was not “demons” as the default). During the investigation, Sam notices a weird burnt mark in the shape of a hand that prompts a flashback for Dean.
And here we have the very first time we get to see how John Winchester interacted with his sons while they were growing up.
Which is very interesting as while it is from Dean’s point of view it only helps cement Sam’s version of how was their childhood.
What do I mean: We’re seeing the flashback from Dean’s point of view. At this point of the story, we know that Dean idolizes John to the point of never disagreeing –although this will take a darker turn starting with this episode. We know that Dean didn’t think there was anything wrong on the way they were raised, and that he always justified John. So anything that we see of their childhood through Dean’s eyes? It’s biased towards seeing John as a positive figure.
That is to say, Dean? Is the one brother who would edit his own memories to make John look better (And we will have confirmation that Dean edits his memories in season 8, but I am getting ahead of myself)
So it is REALLY telling that what we see is the gruff drill sergeant of a father, who just leaves his kids with no more protection than a shotgun on young Dean’s hands. That one? Is Sam’s John. Which makes me wonder what is Dean editing out of his memories of his father. Because wow, this is intense.
Now, first of all, we see that John looks at Dean like a loving parent. That is important. There’s no reproach, no insecurity. John is going to leave Dean alone to take care of Sam and has not a single tell of hesitation. Even their review of the routine seems amiable even if, as Dean says, they’ve done it a thousand of times.
Dean is 10, so Sam is 6. And like a good six year old he is glued to the TV and can’t seem to care less that his dad and older brother are talking about shooting people or that Dad is about to leave. It doesn’t seem as Sam cares much for that, Thundercats are more engaging.
The dialogue between Dean and John is complicated, so we will see it in the Emotional Violence section later on.
We end the flashback and Dean claims that not only he knows what is killing the kids, he also knows that John send them to “finish” what he couldn’t. It is noticeable that he is not happy about it and that he feels quite conflicted over the whole thing.
After a commercial break (That look really odd when watching this on Netflix), Sam hasn’t picked up on the clear signs of Dean’s distress and keeps asking about what Dean means, going from “I don’t know what is that monster you claim we’re hunting” to “and how do you know Dad let one go?”
While I don’t blame Sam for not remembering (let’s admit it, not many of us remember what was going on when we were six), we have to count yet another time of him not respecting Dean’s boundaries as his questions are relentless even when Dean obviously needs a little time to gather his thoughts.
They reach a road motel where a kid is behind the desk. The kid makes a joke about Dean asking for two Queens (out of Sam’s hearshot) and Dean just… well, it’s weird. He doesn’t react as nicely as he did in Bugs, but his reaction doesn’t either shout “how dare you think I’m gay” more like “ew, dude, that’s my brother”. And I am just pointing that out given the fact that yes, there were discussions on Dean’s sexuality all the way down to here.
Anyway, the kid is taking care of the place and his brother, which, as his mom arrives, prompts another Dean flashback.
I am a bit unsure about where to talk about this particular scene since it helps a lot to show how Dean grew up to be the ball of issues we know and love, but at the same time, given Sam’s age, I hesitate to give him any kind of malicious intent. After all, children ARE selfish unless taught otherwise.
And herein lays the problem. The scene is simple, and short. After John has been alone for a while, Dean is taking care of Sam, and serving him dinner (Which by the way will be important much, much later, when in season 8 Sam looks surprised that Dean can actually cook. Given that apparently he forgot that he was feed by his older brother since childhood).
The dialogue goes as follows:
YOUNG SAM
When’s Dad gonna get back?
YOUNG DEAN
(Grabbing a pot from the stove) Tomorrow.
YOUNG SAM
When?
YOUNG DEAN
(pouring from the pot into a bowl) I dunno. He usually comes in late though. Now eat your dinner.
YOUNG SAM
I’m sick of scabetti-ohs.
YOUNG DEAN
Well – You’re the one who wanted ‘em!
YOUNG SAM
I want lucky charms!
YOUNG DEAN
There’s no more lucky charms.
YOUNG SAM
I saw the box!
YOUNG DEAN
Okay, maybe there is but there’s only enough for one bowl and I haven’t had any yet.
SAMMY gives puppy dog eyes. DEAN sighs, dumps out SAM’S bowl in the trash and thumps the cereal box on the table instead. SAM reaches into the box and grabs the toy.
YOUNG SAM
(holding it toward DEAN) D'you want the prize?
Now… this has a lot of implications (I have to give props to Daniel Knauf who managed to put so much in such a short scene). First and foremost: John has been gone for longer than a day. This is important as there has been some arguments about how long did John leave the kids alone when they were kids. So it’s been long enough for Sam to wonder when is Dad coming back AND to get sick of Scabetti-os, which are the easiest meal for a kid to prepare. Now, it is very possible that with John around they also ate Scabetti-os, but when we put the two lines together, it tells us that Dad has been absent for a while.
Now, here’s a funny thing about the Scabetti-os. Sam says he’s sick of them, just as Dean answers “you’re the one who wanted them”. That tells us that Dean, even in an age when kids tend to be selfish, was putting Sam wishes first. Because he doesn’t answer “That’s all we got” or “Well, I wanted them so…” but “you’re the one who wanted them”.
Sam doesn’t budge. He wants Lucky Charms, and the well known puppy eyes make an early appearance (we’ve seen them before, but this is the first chronological time he uses them), and Dean –despite not having had any for himself, despite having been saving that one last bowl – caves in and gives it to his brother. Now, we have no idea what did Dean ate, as he threw out the Scabetti-os (maybe that was a sign of John’s parenting? The old “if you don’t eat it, it will go to waste”?), nor Sam cares. He, in a very child-like manner, offers the price to Dean –who is now standing at attention, watching Sam eat. We don’t see Dean take it, or even smile at the offering, and the flashback ends.
And the problem here is that we see that early on? Dean was already giving in to every request Sam had. Even the ones that would be against Dean’s own wishes. We know, thanks to Skin, that Dean holds a lot of things in his head, that he wanted to do a lot of things that he didn’t do and most of them were so he would be available to take care of Sam and John (And boy, that will be even clearer in season 9). Thing is? We’re getting the sense that Sam never got the same kind of education. Yes, in Asylum, he claims he’s tired of following Dean’s orders but then we had no idea of what he was talking about (given that, as the recap has shown, Sam has been giving orders far more often than Dean). Now, however, we can extrapolate that if during all their childhood and teenager hood Sam had the chance to be raised as normally as the hunting life allows (say, like Kristy would later show), and got used to “Dean will always do what Dad wants, or what I ask him to as long as I don’t contradict Dad” then the moments when Dean has taken shotgun and actually gave orders can be terribly annoying for Sam… which ends up with Sam pointing a gun to Dean.
So we can pretty much chalk a lot of Sam’s attitude to John’s attitude towards Dean as a child soldier.
(By the way, given Sam’s age, I am not tallying this up as Sam forcing Dean to do something)
In any case, we get back to the present, where Sam is researching the Shtriga. After a bit of dialogue that we will review later on, they decide to go down to the hospital as the Shtriga has to be the old creepy woman with the upside down crucifix.
We have a funny but pretty useless scene when they go to the woman’s room and it ends up being just a creepy old woman. It is useless since they know the Shtriga can only be hurt when feeding, and at the time, the woman wasn’t feeding, but it helps everyone laugh. Unfortunately, the Shtriga attacks the motel while they are in the hospital.
When they come back, they find out the younger of the motel owner’s kids is in the hospital with pneumonia. Michael, the older brother, is blaming himself and Dean immediately latches on him, telling him not to do that, that he is not responsible for what happened. He offers the motel owner a ride, and tells Sam that they’re going to kill that thing, so Sam goes to the library to a much needed research session where he finally finds out the identity of the Shtriga, which is not old, nor a woman: It is the doctor who is taking care of the kids. Who was careless enough to let himself being photographed back in 1893.
Dean doesn’t kill the doctor right there and then (Who is conveniently creepy caressing the hair of the youngest kid from the motel), even as he manages to smile as the doctor talks to him.
Back in the motel, Sam and Dean discuss the situation. Sam is also surprised that Dean didn’t shot the Shtriga right there, but Dean reminds him that the Shtriga can only be hurt when feeding (And he wasn’t carrying his gun). While they argue, Dean decides that they should use Michael as bait, which Sam immediately rejects because they’re not going to use innocent kids as bait –and one wishes he retained that particular outlook later on- and in the ensuing discussion, Dean admits that he is responsible for all that has happened and that their father sent him to finish the job. Him, not Sam. Sam is completely confused by this.
Dean is not willing to tell him, but Sam insists and this time, Dean shares what happened in Fort Douglas with a new flashback, that explains exactly why he feels responsible for the whole mess.
They go and talk to Michael, since Dean wants to give the kid a chance to decide if he wants to help or not. Michael is, at first, not really keen on the plan, but after a fake out, Michael decides to go in and help.
Here Michael (and man that name and the parallels make me wish that I could believe the writers knew what they were doing. But if they knew, then the bait and switch in the future would be more painful) asks the questions that we know define Dean, but it’s interesting since while here, at this point in time, it’s possibly Dean’s best attribute (according to the writers), a couple of seasons on the road it will become first his crutch, and then, a little longer down the road, his worst vice.
Ouch indeed.
In any case, the brothers hook a security camera on the room, and get ready to ambush the Shtriga with a very nervous Michael working as bait.
After a dialogue between the brothers that I will review later, the Shtriga, looking less like a good CGI effect and more like an actor under a blanket, comes in to attack Michael, and Dean and Sam come in with their guns, making sure that it is filled with holes. We get a nice jumpscare where the Shtriga manages to get Sam, trying to get his lifeforce, which is the exact moment where Dean, finally getting some closure, manages to kill the damn thing by shooting it in the mouth.
Michael is safe, the kids are getting better in the hospital, and it all gets nicely tied up. Sam gets philosophical about how it’s bad that now Michael knows that there are monsters and wishes that he could have that innocence, while Dean agrees that yeah, Sam should be that innocent. And with that somber line, they ride off to the next monster of the week.
Violence
No violence between the brothers, which is to be expected (really, the real violence between them started long after, around season 3 I think) . And it’s really welcomed as this episode was heavy enough as it was.
Emotional Violence
When I started this, I was planning on only counting the emotional violence from one brother to the other. However, when I got to this episode, I realized that it can’t be that strict. Especially with the constant pro-John/Anti-John fights that crop from time to time. So let’s talk about the John flashbacks a bit more, since it will also shed some light on how Sam and Dean relate to each other (and to what I’ve already touched on about how there’s some subtle emotional manipulation in play at all times)
Just as an aside? It is really telling we haven’t gone ONE episode without someone belittling Dean’s intelligence. It usually is Sam the one who does it, but this time is John. And this is one of the few times when Dean talks back about it. And the end result of this whole sequence explains why he doesn’t stand up for himself more often.
As loving as John SEEMS… he’s still going to leave a 10 year old in charge of a 6 year old (at best, Dean may be 9, but Sam seems tall for a 5 year old) for DAYS. How many days is not said, but it’s obviously not Saturday (As if it was, he’d have said “If I’m not back Tomorrow night” instead of “If I’m not back Sunday night), so that leaves us from the bare minimum of 3 days (Friday to Sunday) to a maximum of 7 (Monday – Sunday). It can’t be more than one week as then he’d have said “Next Sunday”) And that is a clear sign of neglect. There’s no excuse for this, as it is not as if Dean has any grownup he can go in case of an emergency (that is near. We have no idea how far Pastor Jim is, but he can’t be in the same town as if he was, John would’ve left them with him). Obviously, Dean is not going to go to school on those days (Which lends to the 3 day theory… or to the possibility that Dean didn’t go to school until Sam was old enough to go himself), and there’s no one who may check on them (hence the “don’t open the door to anyone”) At 10 years old, Dean is left as the father figure of a 6 year old. There’s no way that won’t cause issues for BOTH brothers.
And then we have this:
JOHN
Lock the doors, the windows, close the shades. Most important….
YOUNG DEAN
Watch out for Sammy.
They both look to SAMMY, sprawled on the couch watching cartoons on TV.
YOUNG DEAN
I know.
JOHN
All right. If something tries to bust in?
YOUNG DEAN
Shoot first, ask questions later.
JOHN
(taking his shoulder) That’s my man.
I’ve said for a long time that Dean was Stockholmed into caring for Sam, and this scene showcases it perfectly. The one touch, the one SMILE, Dean gets through all this, is when he recites what he will do to keep Sam safe. Not a hug, but a “well done guy-son” pat on the shoulder. The one time Dean gets positive reinforcement from his Dad, the one person he admires over everyone else, is when he is ready to protect Sammy. And we will have more on this later.
There’s something sad about the exchange when Sam is confirming the Shtriga’s story on the internet, and it is that as in every other episode that requires him to research according to Dean’s memory of a monster, Sam simply doesn’t believe his brother’s words. It is starting to become a pattern, with Sam rolling his eyes at Dean or showing surprise when Dean knows something Sam doesn’t, even when there’s a good reason for that difference in knowledge such as:
Now, one could say that Sam is annoyed that Dean is keeping a secret, except Dean is not. Sam was around for the whole Shtriga, and while he wasn’t aware of what was going on at the very least he should remember that there was that one time when his Dad came back and took them to Pastor Jim’s and seemed angry at Dean. Dean is not willing to share about that at the moment, but annoyance at that (especially when not long ago Sam had insisted that he had the right to keep some things secret) and the fact that he just doesn’t trust his brother counts. At this point, Dean has never lied or withheld information about a hunt, so the pause and the staring is Sam pretty much indicating that he is not believing Dean, and of course, pressing Dean to share something he doesn’t want to share (Which Dean ends up sharing at the end of the episode), which is of course, normal behavior for Sam and which would be considered normal if it wasn’t so frequent with things that are obviously painful for Dean. And, to add to the constant eye rolling and demeaning of Dean’s intelligence, we have this exchange:
There’s really no need for that particular comment and laugh at Dean’s comment, since again, so far Dean hasn’t been wrong in his suspicions during a hunt (He is about the old lady, but Sam doesn’t know this at the time of the conversation). And yet, the fact that it comes right after Dean refused to give in to Sam’s insistence on why he’s not sharing more about the original Shtriga case marks once again the pattern: Sam doesn’t get his way, Sam insults Dean somehow.
And it is not a nice pattern that has held without exception during the whole series so far.
The last flashback of the episode, however, is the worst. First, we have spoken confirmation that John left them alone for three nights. Dean, being a kid, was bored and left to play videogames for a while and when he came back, the Shtriga was predictably feeding on Sam.
Dean picks up the shotgun behind the door, and is about to shoot when John comes in, guns blazing and shoots the thing, that escapes. And then we have this particular exchange:
John entered the house, guns blazing, as Dean was lifting his shotgun (Which could have, theoretically, killed the Shtriga had John not startled him) but at no time we see John worried about Dean. There’s not a bit of understanding regarding the fact that Dean is a 10 year old that was left with way too much responsibility, nor question of why he left (It could’ve been an emergency)
And while one could defend John and claim that at the moment of the scene he had reason to be far more worried about Sam than about Dean (After all, Sam had been Shtriga food a second ago), Dean’s narration makes it clear that there was never a second conversation about the incident, which could’ve eased Dean’s guilt over it.
Instead, we get proof that John used the incident to cement Dean’s parentification. From then on, Dean had a very traumatic event to remember and had no choice but to obey John’s orders or Sam would die. And thus, we have the grim foreshadowing that yes, Dean considers that Sam’s wellbeing is the most important thing in the world and nothing is worth more than keeping Sam safe.
Of course, there’s one last thing. And it is John’s very well timed entrance. It has been said, by many fans, that John was using his own kids as bait. And while it IS possible to read that, given the parallels between Michael and Dean (man that’s weird to write) and how the Shtriga is finally killed… that theory forgets that while Dean has been shown to be expendable to John (especially in this episode), Sam isn’t. And this is before Sam knew about monsters in the dark, so it is really unlikely John would’ve risked Sam for a hunt. Not if he didn’t really trust Dean (and we can see that no, he didn’t)
Secrets, Lies (and their consequences)
No lies, and no secrets. Well, Dean hadn’t told Sam about this particular hunt before, but one gets the idea that it was more because Sam didn’t ask about Dean’s hunts and childhood, more than Dean trying to hide what happened.
Speeches and Apologies
Here we have a very interesting apology from Sam. And by interesting I mean weird. While they are waiting for the Shtriga to attack, we have this exchange
First, you have no idea how glad I am that I was wrong about Sam never saying the words “I’m sorry” until season 10. Seriously, this is the one time I am happy to eat my words.
However… there’s still the fact that it is a weird conversation. Sam never says why he thinks Dean obeyed John (although it is obvious it was for Sam), and the moment Dean shows that he is uncomfortable with the situation, Sam laughs. And then… the subject is dropped. Not only dropped, but forgotten as not two episodes later Sam will be, again, complaining that Dean always obeys John no matter what and he’s just Dad’s soldier. So that undermines this apology, as we never see a follow up.
Here Sam has a very important epiphany, one that he shouldn’t need as he knew as early as Dead in the Water that Dean had sacrificed everything for him, that he got confirmed in Skin, and this becomes a very circular event in Sam’s life.
And, unfortunately, given the repetition of this particular apology, even if it is sincere here… it becomes empty as we see that no, Sam is not sorry.
(hell, one could even argue that not only he is not sorry but due to his line at the end of the episode, Dean ended up feeling as if Sam was blaming him for Sam’s lost innocence. Sure, that is just interpretation, so it won’t go in the tally, but given later episodes… it is really strange)
Final Tally
This was a really heavy episode. However, the tally is very clear and while Sam finally gets some positive numbers… it is still very uneven. This marks the first episode where we focus on Dean’s needs and, very surprisingly, the fourth episode that is completely focused on Dean. At 3 episodes before the finale and I think we can’t deny that the season is very Sam-centered. (Btw, I am marking it as focused on Dean needs because even if the apparent focus is on the “brother bond”, the truth is that it centers on Dean, even going as far as giving him Dean closure on his own storyline. Sure, it is a monster of the week storyline, that only lasts for one episode, but it is a lot more that he will get with other stuff in the future)
Numbers (or the TL;DR summary)
(Episode/Total so far)
Times Dean has lied to Sam or to a loved one: 0 / 0
Times Sam has lied to Dean or to a loved one: 0 / 3
Times Dean has been caught in a lie: 0 / 0
Times Sam has been caught in a lie: 0 / 1
Times Dean has hit Sam in anger: 0 / 1
Times Sam has hit Dean in anger: 0 / 3
Times Dean’s lies or secrets have caused someone’s death: 0 / 0
Times Sam’s lies or secrets have caused someone’s death: 0 / 1
Times Dean has abandoned (Or wanted to abandon) a hunt in the middle for his own needs: 0 / 0
Times Sam has abandoned (Or wanted to abandon) a hunt in the middle for his own needs: 0 / 6
Times Dean forced Sam to do something: 0 / 0
Times Sam forced Dean to do something: 0 / 6
Secrets kept by Dean: 0 / 1
Secrets kept by Sam: 0 / 1
Times Dean has blamed Sam for something: 0 / 0
Times Sam has blamed Dean for something: 0 / 3
Times Dean has apologized with words to Sam: 0 / 3
Times Sam has apologized with words to Dean: 1 / 2
Times Dean has respected Sam’s boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 6
Times Sam has respected Dean’s boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 0
Times Dean hasn’t respected Sam’s boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 0
Times Sam hasn’t respected Dean’s boundaries and / or rules: 1 / 11
Times Dean has made fun of something Sam does or has: 0 / 6
Times Sam has made fun of something Dean does or has: 2 / 29
Times we focus on Dean’s needs: 1 / 1
Times we focus on Sam’s needs: 0 / 4
Arc episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 6
Filler episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 5
Arc episodes dedicated to Dean: 0 / 0
Filler episodes dedicated to Dean: 1 / 4
Arc episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none): 0 / 1
Filler episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none): 0 / 2
Dean’s Dropped Plotlines: 0 / 1
Sam’s Dropped Plotlines: 0 / 2
So brace yourselves for a lot of discussion about parenting, as Something Wicked this way comes.
General stuff
I keep studying the recaps whenever Netflix lets me have the recaps, and it is interesting how they change depending of the story they want to tell. This time, is a very even and short one. John putting Sam in Dean arms, Dean telling Sam they save people and hunt things, Sam claiming he doesn’t care about that, he just wants to find Dad (and I still think that is the most unfortunate, yet appropriate, piece of editing the show has ever done). Still, given what’s to come, I wish they had at LEAST used a bit of John in Shadows. One small bit that reminded us that the boys are John’s weak spot. Because man, we’re going to need it.
It is very appropriate that the doomed character from the beginning is a child (Supernatural really knew how to make us believe children were in danger), and being taken care for by her DAD. The dialogue is even telling, when she asks about her mom. For a second, I almost believed he was going to say that mom was dead. But no, she’s at the hospital taking care of a very older sister, going by the picture that we see (BTW, interesting parallel with the Pilot, and my endless gripe about Sam not having any pictures of Dean in his house). Kid ends up alone anyway, and then creepy shadow in the window finishes the scene.
So we move to the boys, who are, surprise, surprise, arguing about John. Now, I am not going to put this particular argument on Emotional Violence since we have no idea how the argument started, who started it and it has no specifically painful jabs from either of the brothers, and it actually ends in a high note, with something that ACTUALLY sounds like friendly brother banter. So I needed to give it a note, since it is nice to notice when they’re not fighting.
DEAN
Well maybe he’s going to meet us there.
SAM
Yeah. Cause he’s been so easy to find up to this point.
DEAN
You’re a real smart ass you know that?…. Don’t worry I’m sure there’s something in Fitchburg worth killing.
SAM
Yeah? What makes you so sure.
DEAN
Cause I’m the oldest, which means I’m always right.
SAM
No it doesn’t.
DEAN
It totally does.
Well maybe he’s going to meet us there.
SAM
Yeah. Cause he’s been so easy to find up to this point.
DEAN
You’re a real smart ass you know that?…. Don’t worry I’m sure there’s something in Fitchburg worth killing.
SAM
Yeah? What makes you so sure.
DEAN
Cause I’m the oldest, which means I’m always right.
SAM
No it doesn’t.
DEAN
It totally does.
I would also like to say that this will be a nice foreshadowing for the future 10 seasons the show has gone when if Dean says something it’s a bad idea, it is a bad idea. Sure, the writers may not have intended like that but right now, it makes me chuckle.
Once in town, Sam realizes that there are not a lot of people outside. In particular, despite the hour, there are almost no children in the playground. So they go to investigate. Well, actually, DEAN goes to investigate for absolute no reason. Once more, he is the one who connects with the witness of the day, a woman who is watching her daughter play, where the writers could have taken this chance to show us the empathic side of Sam.
Well, wasted opportunity.
The woman tells Dean that they are having some sort of epidemic all over town where kids get sick for no apparent reason, so the brothers go to the hospital to investigate.
We have another interesting scene where Sam is complaining about his fake ID, since it says “bikini inspector”. Why is it interesting? Well, it cements that the one who does the IDs is Dean, not Sam. While one could argue that Sam also has the skills, to this point (and in fact, all the way up to season 5, last time we saw them actually using something not FBI), he has never used them. We also know now that they don’t have ALL the fake IDs they would need and sometimes they don’t have the raw material for them. Finally, we get DEAN’s POV as of why the fake IDs work, no matter how ridiculous the names he uses are: It is all about the confidence, not about the actual ID.
Sam, of course, scoffs at that. However, Dean’s approach actually works, so this yet another case of Sam not giving Dean enough credit and just treating him as a general failure (I won’t repeat this in emotional violence, as Dean seems not to care about this particular instance but it IS a pattern as we haven’t gone one episode without this happening.
In the hospital, things are grim. Dean pauses to see the most stereotypical witch in the world and then they move to interview the doctor and the parent of doomed kid from the teaser. After they find out that the illness travels through families, and that only kids get sick, with Dean looking more and more worried at the minute as he is 100% sure that whatever that is getting the kids sick, is what John send them to investigate.
They go to the house, to check if there’s any signal of a ghost (IT was always a ghost back then. I miss that. I totally miss when it was not “demons” as the default). During the investigation, Sam notices a weird burnt mark in the shape of a hand that prompts a flashback for Dean.
And here we have the very first time we get to see how John Winchester interacted with his sons while they were growing up.
Which is very interesting as while it is from Dean’s point of view it only helps cement Sam’s version of how was their childhood.
What do I mean: We’re seeing the flashback from Dean’s point of view. At this point of the story, we know that Dean idolizes John to the point of never disagreeing –although this will take a darker turn starting with this episode. We know that Dean didn’t think there was anything wrong on the way they were raised, and that he always justified John. So anything that we see of their childhood through Dean’s eyes? It’s biased towards seeing John as a positive figure.
That is to say, Dean? Is the one brother who would edit his own memories to make John look better (And we will have confirmation that Dean edits his memories in season 8, but I am getting ahead of myself)
So it is REALLY telling that what we see is the gruff drill sergeant of a father, who just leaves his kids with no more protection than a shotgun on young Dean’s hands. That one? Is Sam’s John. Which makes me wonder what is Dean editing out of his memories of his father. Because wow, this is intense.
Now, first of all, we see that John looks at Dean like a loving parent. That is important. There’s no reproach, no insecurity. John is going to leave Dean alone to take care of Sam and has not a single tell of hesitation. Even their review of the routine seems amiable even if, as Dean says, they’ve done it a thousand of times.
Dean is 10, so Sam is 6. And like a good six year old he is glued to the TV and can’t seem to care less that his dad and older brother are talking about shooting people or that Dad is about to leave. It doesn’t seem as Sam cares much for that, Thundercats are more engaging.
The dialogue between Dean and John is complicated, so we will see it in the Emotional Violence section later on.
We end the flashback and Dean claims that not only he knows what is killing the kids, he also knows that John send them to “finish” what he couldn’t. It is noticeable that he is not happy about it and that he feels quite conflicted over the whole thing.
After a commercial break (That look really odd when watching this on Netflix), Sam hasn’t picked up on the clear signs of Dean’s distress and keeps asking about what Dean means, going from “I don’t know what is that monster you claim we’re hunting” to “and how do you know Dad let one go?”
While I don’t blame Sam for not remembering (let’s admit it, not many of us remember what was going on when we were six), we have to count yet another time of him not respecting Dean’s boundaries as his questions are relentless even when Dean obviously needs a little time to gather his thoughts.
They reach a road motel where a kid is behind the desk. The kid makes a joke about Dean asking for two Queens (out of Sam’s hearshot) and Dean just… well, it’s weird. He doesn’t react as nicely as he did in Bugs, but his reaction doesn’t either shout “how dare you think I’m gay” more like “ew, dude, that’s my brother”. And I am just pointing that out given the fact that yes, there were discussions on Dean’s sexuality all the way down to here.
Anyway, the kid is taking care of the place and his brother, which, as his mom arrives, prompts another Dean flashback.
I am a bit unsure about where to talk about this particular scene since it helps a lot to show how Dean grew up to be the ball of issues we know and love, but at the same time, given Sam’s age, I hesitate to give him any kind of malicious intent. After all, children ARE selfish unless taught otherwise.
And herein lays the problem. The scene is simple, and short. After John has been alone for a while, Dean is taking care of Sam, and serving him dinner (Which by the way will be important much, much later, when in season 8 Sam looks surprised that Dean can actually cook. Given that apparently he forgot that he was feed by his older brother since childhood).
The dialogue goes as follows:
YOUNG SAM
When’s Dad gonna get back?
YOUNG DEAN
(Grabbing a pot from the stove) Tomorrow.
YOUNG SAM
When?
YOUNG DEAN
(pouring from the pot into a bowl) I dunno. He usually comes in late though. Now eat your dinner.
YOUNG SAM
I’m sick of scabetti-ohs.
YOUNG DEAN
Well – You’re the one who wanted ‘em!
YOUNG SAM
I want lucky charms!
YOUNG DEAN
There’s no more lucky charms.
YOUNG SAM
I saw the box!
YOUNG DEAN
Okay, maybe there is but there’s only enough for one bowl and I haven’t had any yet.
SAMMY gives puppy dog eyes. DEAN sighs, dumps out SAM’S bowl in the trash and thumps the cereal box on the table instead. SAM reaches into the box and grabs the toy.
YOUNG SAM
(holding it toward DEAN) D'you want the prize?
Now… this has a lot of implications (I have to give props to Daniel Knauf who managed to put so much in such a short scene). First and foremost: John has been gone for longer than a day. This is important as there has been some arguments about how long did John leave the kids alone when they were kids. So it’s been long enough for Sam to wonder when is Dad coming back AND to get sick of Scabetti-os, which are the easiest meal for a kid to prepare. Now, it is very possible that with John around they also ate Scabetti-os, but when we put the two lines together, it tells us that Dad has been absent for a while.
Now, here’s a funny thing about the Scabetti-os. Sam says he’s sick of them, just as Dean answers “you’re the one who wanted them”. That tells us that Dean, even in an age when kids tend to be selfish, was putting Sam wishes first. Because he doesn’t answer “That’s all we got” or “Well, I wanted them so…” but “you’re the one who wanted them”.
Sam doesn’t budge. He wants Lucky Charms, and the well known puppy eyes make an early appearance (we’ve seen them before, but this is the first chronological time he uses them), and Dean –despite not having had any for himself, despite having been saving that one last bowl – caves in and gives it to his brother. Now, we have no idea what did Dean ate, as he threw out the Scabetti-os (maybe that was a sign of John’s parenting? The old “if you don’t eat it, it will go to waste”?), nor Sam cares. He, in a very child-like manner, offers the price to Dean –who is now standing at attention, watching Sam eat. We don’t see Dean take it, or even smile at the offering, and the flashback ends.
And the problem here is that we see that early on? Dean was already giving in to every request Sam had. Even the ones that would be against Dean’s own wishes. We know, thanks to Skin, that Dean holds a lot of things in his head, that he wanted to do a lot of things that he didn’t do and most of them were so he would be available to take care of Sam and John (And boy, that will be even clearer in season 9). Thing is? We’re getting the sense that Sam never got the same kind of education. Yes, in Asylum, he claims he’s tired of following Dean’s orders but then we had no idea of what he was talking about (given that, as the recap has shown, Sam has been giving orders far more often than Dean). Now, however, we can extrapolate that if during all their childhood and teenager hood Sam had the chance to be raised as normally as the hunting life allows (say, like Kristy would later show), and got used to “Dean will always do what Dad wants, or what I ask him to as long as I don’t contradict Dad” then the moments when Dean has taken shotgun and actually gave orders can be terribly annoying for Sam… which ends up with Sam pointing a gun to Dean.
So we can pretty much chalk a lot of Sam’s attitude to John’s attitude towards Dean as a child soldier.
(By the way, given Sam’s age, I am not tallying this up as Sam forcing Dean to do something)
In any case, we get back to the present, where Sam is researching the Shtriga. After a bit of dialogue that we will review later on, they decide to go down to the hospital as the Shtriga has to be the old creepy woman with the upside down crucifix.
We have a funny but pretty useless scene when they go to the woman’s room and it ends up being just a creepy old woman. It is useless since they know the Shtriga can only be hurt when feeding, and at the time, the woman wasn’t feeding, but it helps everyone laugh. Unfortunately, the Shtriga attacks the motel while they are in the hospital.
When they come back, they find out the younger of the motel owner’s kids is in the hospital with pneumonia. Michael, the older brother, is blaming himself and Dean immediately latches on him, telling him not to do that, that he is not responsible for what happened. He offers the motel owner a ride, and tells Sam that they’re going to kill that thing, so Sam goes to the library to a much needed research session where he finally finds out the identity of the Shtriga, which is not old, nor a woman: It is the doctor who is taking care of the kids. Who was careless enough to let himself being photographed back in 1893.
Dean doesn’t kill the doctor right there and then (Who is conveniently creepy caressing the hair of the youngest kid from the motel), even as he manages to smile as the doctor talks to him.
Back in the motel, Sam and Dean discuss the situation. Sam is also surprised that Dean didn’t shot the Shtriga right there, but Dean reminds him that the Shtriga can only be hurt when feeding (And he wasn’t carrying his gun). While they argue, Dean decides that they should use Michael as bait, which Sam immediately rejects because they’re not going to use innocent kids as bait –and one wishes he retained that particular outlook later on- and in the ensuing discussion, Dean admits that he is responsible for all that has happened and that their father sent him to finish the job. Him, not Sam. Sam is completely confused by this.
Dean is not willing to tell him, but Sam insists and this time, Dean shares what happened in Fort Douglas with a new flashback, that explains exactly why he feels responsible for the whole mess.
They go and talk to Michael, since Dean wants to give the kid a chance to decide if he wants to help or not. Michael is, at first, not really keen on the plan, but after a fake out, Michael decides to go in and help.
Here Michael (and man that name and the parallels make me wish that I could believe the writers knew what they were doing. But if they knew, then the bait and switch in the future would be more painful) asks the questions that we know define Dean, but it’s interesting since while here, at this point in time, it’s possibly Dean’s best attribute (according to the writers), a couple of seasons on the road it will become first his crutch, and then, a little longer down the road, his worst vice.
MICHAEL
You said you were a big brother.
DEAN nods. Yeah.
MICHAEL: You’d take care of your little brother? You’d do anything for him?
DEAN
Yeah I would.
MICHAEL
Me too. I’ll help.
You said you were a big brother.
DEAN nods. Yeah.
MICHAEL: You’d take care of your little brother? You’d do anything for him?
DEAN
Yeah I would.
MICHAEL
Me too. I’ll help.
Ouch indeed.
In any case, the brothers hook a security camera on the room, and get ready to ambush the Shtriga with a very nervous Michael working as bait.
After a dialogue between the brothers that I will review later, the Shtriga, looking less like a good CGI effect and more like an actor under a blanket, comes in to attack Michael, and Dean and Sam come in with their guns, making sure that it is filled with holes. We get a nice jumpscare where the Shtriga manages to get Sam, trying to get his lifeforce, which is the exact moment where Dean, finally getting some closure, manages to kill the damn thing by shooting it in the mouth.
Michael is safe, the kids are getting better in the hospital, and it all gets nicely tied up. Sam gets philosophical about how it’s bad that now Michael knows that there are monsters and wishes that he could have that innocence, while Dean agrees that yeah, Sam should be that innocent. And with that somber line, they ride off to the next monster of the week.
Violence
No violence between the brothers, which is to be expected (really, the real violence between them started long after, around season 3 I think) . And it’s really welcomed as this episode was heavy enough as it was.
Emotional Violence
When I started this, I was planning on only counting the emotional violence from one brother to the other. However, when I got to this episode, I realized that it can’t be that strict. Especially with the constant pro-John/Anti-John fights that crop from time to time. So let’s talk about the John flashbacks a bit more, since it will also shed some light on how Sam and Dean relate to each other (and to what I’ve already touched on about how there’s some subtle emotional manipulation in play at all times)
JOHN
All right. You know the drill, Dean. Anybody calls, you don’t pick up. If it’s me, I’ll ring once, then call back. You got that?
YOUNG DEAN
Mm-hmm. Only answer the phone unless it rings once first.
JOHN
Come on, dude, look alive. This stuff is important.
YOUNG DEAN
I know, it’s just…we’ve gone over it like a million times and you know I’m not stupid.
JOHN
I know you’re not, but it only takes one mistake, you got that?
All right. You know the drill, Dean. Anybody calls, you don’t pick up. If it’s me, I’ll ring once, then call back. You got that?
YOUNG DEAN
Mm-hmm. Only answer the phone unless it rings once first.
JOHN
Come on, dude, look alive. This stuff is important.
YOUNG DEAN
I know, it’s just…we’ve gone over it like a million times and you know I’m not stupid.
JOHN
I know you’re not, but it only takes one mistake, you got that?
Just as an aside? It is really telling we haven’t gone ONE episode without someone belittling Dean’s intelligence. It usually is Sam the one who does it, but this time is John. And this is one of the few times when Dean talks back about it. And the end result of this whole sequence explains why he doesn’t stand up for himself more often.
JOHN continues gathering his things.
JOHN
All right, if I’m not back Sunday night…?
YOUNG DEAN
Call Pastor Jim.
JOHN
All right, if I’m not back Sunday night…?
YOUNG DEAN
Call Pastor Jim.
As loving as John SEEMS… he’s still going to leave a 10 year old in charge of a 6 year old (at best, Dean may be 9, but Sam seems tall for a 5 year old) for DAYS. How many days is not said, but it’s obviously not Saturday (As if it was, he’d have said “If I’m not back Tomorrow night” instead of “If I’m not back Sunday night), so that leaves us from the bare minimum of 3 days (Friday to Sunday) to a maximum of 7 (Monday – Sunday). It can’t be more than one week as then he’d have said “Next Sunday”) And that is a clear sign of neglect. There’s no excuse for this, as it is not as if Dean has any grownup he can go in case of an emergency (that is near. We have no idea how far Pastor Jim is, but he can’t be in the same town as if he was, John would’ve left them with him). Obviously, Dean is not going to go to school on those days (Which lends to the 3 day theory… or to the possibility that Dean didn’t go to school until Sam was old enough to go himself), and there’s no one who may check on them (hence the “don’t open the door to anyone”) At 10 years old, Dean is left as the father figure of a 6 year old. There’s no way that won’t cause issues for BOTH brothers.
And then we have this:
JOHN
Lock the doors, the windows, close the shades. Most important….
YOUNG DEAN
Watch out for Sammy.
They both look to SAMMY, sprawled on the couch watching cartoons on TV.
YOUNG DEAN
I know.
JOHN
All right. If something tries to bust in?
YOUNG DEAN
Shoot first, ask questions later.
JOHN
(taking his shoulder) That’s my man.
I’ve said for a long time that Dean was Stockholmed into caring for Sam, and this scene showcases it perfectly. The one touch, the one SMILE, Dean gets through all this, is when he recites what he will do to keep Sam safe. Not a hug, but a “well done guy-son” pat on the shoulder. The one time Dean gets positive reinforcement from his Dad, the one person he admires over everyone else, is when he is ready to protect Sammy. And we will have more on this later.
There’s something sad about the exchange when Sam is confirming the Shtriga’s story on the internet, and it is that as in every other episode that requires him to research according to Dean’s memory of a monster, Sam simply doesn’t believe his brother’s words. It is starting to become a pattern, with Sam rolling his eyes at Dean or showing surprise when Dean knows something Sam doesn’t, even when there’s a good reason for that difference in knowledge such as:
SAM
It’s a thought. you know she takes your vitality maybe your immunity goes to hell, pneumonia takes hold. Anyway, shtrigas can feed off anyone but they prefer…
DEAN
Children.
SAM
Yeah. Probably because they have stronger life force. And get this. Shtrigas are ’…invulnerable to all weapons devised by Chuck and man.’
DEAN
No, that’s not right. She’s vulnerable when she feeds.
SAM
What?
DEAN If you catch her when she’s eating you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron. Ahhh… buckshots or rounds I think.
SAM
How do you know that?
DEAN
Dad told me. I remember.
SAM
Oh. Huh. So uh, anything else Dad might have mentioned?
DEAN
Nope, that’s it.
SAM keeps staring at DEAN.
DEAN
What?
SAM
Nothing.
It’s a thought. you know she takes your vitality maybe your immunity goes to hell, pneumonia takes hold. Anyway, shtrigas can feed off anyone but they prefer…
DEAN
Children.
SAM
Yeah. Probably because they have stronger life force. And get this. Shtrigas are ’…invulnerable to all weapons devised by Chuck and man.’
DEAN
No, that’s not right. She’s vulnerable when she feeds.
SAM
What?
DEAN If you catch her when she’s eating you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron. Ahhh… buckshots or rounds I think.
SAM
How do you know that?
DEAN
Dad told me. I remember.
SAM
Oh. Huh. So uh, anything else Dad might have mentioned?
DEAN
Nope, that’s it.
SAM keeps staring at DEAN.
DEAN
What?
SAM
Nothing.
Now, one could say that Sam is annoyed that Dean is keeping a secret, except Dean is not. Sam was around for the whole Shtriga, and while he wasn’t aware of what was going on at the very least he should remember that there was that one time when his Dad came back and took them to Pastor Jim’s and seemed angry at Dean. Dean is not willing to share about that at the moment, but annoyance at that (especially when not long ago Sam had insisted that he had the right to keep some things secret) and the fact that he just doesn’t trust his brother counts. At this point, Dean has never lied or withheld information about a hunt, so the pause and the staring is Sam pretty much indicating that he is not believing Dean, and of course, pressing Dean to share something he doesn’t want to share (Which Dean ends up sharing at the end of the episode), which is of course, normal behavior for Sam and which would be considered normal if it wasn’t so frequent with things that are obviously painful for Dean. And, to add to the constant eye rolling and demeaning of Dean’s intelligence, we have this exchange:
DEAN
(grabbing a map) Check this out. I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now these are the houses that have been hit so far, and dead center?
SAM
The hospital.
DEAN
The hospital. Now when we were there I saw a patient, an old woman.
SAM
An old person huh?
DEAN
Yeah.
SAM
In a hospital? Phew. (shaking his head and sniggering) Better call the Coast Guard.
DEAN
Well listen, smart-ass, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall.
(grabbing a map) Check this out. I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now these are the houses that have been hit so far, and dead center?
SAM
The hospital.
DEAN
The hospital. Now when we were there I saw a patient, an old woman.
SAM
An old person huh?
DEAN
Yeah.
SAM
In a hospital? Phew. (shaking his head and sniggering) Better call the Coast Guard.
DEAN
Well listen, smart-ass, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall.
There’s really no need for that particular comment and laugh at Dean’s comment, since again, so far Dean hasn’t been wrong in his suspicions during a hunt (He is about the old lady, but Sam doesn’t know this at the time of the conversation). And yet, the fact that it comes right after Dean refused to give in to Sam’s insistence on why he’s not sharing more about the original Shtriga case marks once again the pattern: Sam doesn’t get his way, Sam insults Dean somehow.
And it is not a nice pattern that has held without exception during the whole series so far.
The last flashback of the episode, however, is the worst. First, we have spoken confirmation that John left them alone for three nights. Dean, being a kid, was bored and left to play videogames for a while and when he came back, the Shtriga was predictably feeding on Sam.
Dean picks up the shotgun behind the door, and is about to shoot when John comes in, guns blazing and shoots the thing, that escapes. And then we have this particular exchange:
JOHN
What happened?
DEAN
(Hesitating) I – I – I just went out.
JOHN
What!?
DEAN
Just for a second. I’m sorry.
JOHN
I told you not to leave this room. I told you not to let him out of your sight!
What happened?
DEAN
(Hesitating) I – I – I just went out.
JOHN
What!?
DEAN
Just for a second. I’m sorry.
JOHN
I told you not to leave this room. I told you not to let him out of your sight!
John entered the house, guns blazing, as Dean was lifting his shotgun (Which could have, theoretically, killed the Shtriga had John not startled him) but at no time we see John worried about Dean. There’s not a bit of understanding regarding the fact that Dean is a 10 year old that was left with way too much responsibility, nor question of why he left (It could’ve been an emergency)
And while one could defend John and claim that at the moment of the scene he had reason to be far more worried about Sam than about Dean (After all, Sam had been Shtriga food a second ago), Dean’s narration makes it clear that there was never a second conversation about the incident, which could’ve eased Dean’s guilt over it.
DEAN
Dad just … grabbed us and booked. Dropped us off at Pastor Jim’s about three hours away, but by the time he got back to Fort Douglas the shtriga had disappeared, it was just gone. It never surfaced until now. You know, Dad never spoke about it again, I didn’t ask. But he…ah…he looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn’t listen, I almost got you killed.
Dad just … grabbed us and booked. Dropped us off at Pastor Jim’s about three hours away, but by the time he got back to Fort Douglas the shtriga had disappeared, it was just gone. It never surfaced until now. You know, Dad never spoke about it again, I didn’t ask. But he…ah…he looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn’t listen, I almost got you killed.
Instead, we get proof that John used the incident to cement Dean’s parentification. From then on, Dean had a very traumatic event to remember and had no choice but to obey John’s orders or Sam would die. And thus, we have the grim foreshadowing that yes, Dean considers that Sam’s wellbeing is the most important thing in the world and nothing is worth more than keeping Sam safe.
Of course, there’s one last thing. And it is John’s very well timed entrance. It has been said, by many fans, that John was using his own kids as bait. And while it IS possible to read that, given the parallels between Michael and Dean (man that’s weird to write) and how the Shtriga is finally killed… that theory forgets that while Dean has been shown to be expendable to John (especially in this episode), Sam isn’t. And this is before Sam knew about monsters in the dark, so it is really unlikely John would’ve risked Sam for a hunt. Not if he didn’t really trust Dean (and we can see that no, he didn’t)
Secrets, Lies (and their consequences)
No lies, and no secrets. Well, Dean hadn’t told Sam about this particular hunt before, but one gets the idea that it was more because Sam didn’t ask about Dean’s hunts and childhood, more than Dean trying to hide what happened.
Speeches and Apologies
Here we have a very interesting apology from Sam. And by interesting I mean weird. While they are waiting for the Shtriga to attack, we have this exchange
SAM
Hey Dean I’m sorry.
DEAN
For what?
SAM
You know, I’ve really given you a lot of crap, for always following Dad’s orders. But I know why you do it.
DEAN
Oh, Chuck, kill me now
Sam laughs softly. They sit in silence for a moment.
Hey Dean I’m sorry.
DEAN
For what?
SAM
You know, I’ve really given you a lot of crap, for always following Dad’s orders. But I know why you do it.
DEAN
Oh, Chuck, kill me now
Sam laughs softly. They sit in silence for a moment.
First, you have no idea how glad I am that I was wrong about Sam never saying the words “I’m sorry” until season 10. Seriously, this is the one time I am happy to eat my words.
However… there’s still the fact that it is a weird conversation. Sam never says why he thinks Dean obeyed John (although it is obvious it was for Sam), and the moment Dean shows that he is uncomfortable with the situation, Sam laughs. And then… the subject is dropped. Not only dropped, but forgotten as not two episodes later Sam will be, again, complaining that Dean always obeys John no matter what and he’s just Dad’s soldier. So that undermines this apology, as we never see a follow up.
Here Sam has a very important epiphany, one that he shouldn’t need as he knew as early as Dead in the Water that Dean had sacrificed everything for him, that he got confirmed in Skin, and this becomes a very circular event in Sam’s life.
And, unfortunately, given the repetition of this particular apology, even if it is sincere here… it becomes empty as we see that no, Sam is not sorry.
(hell, one could even argue that not only he is not sorry but due to his line at the end of the episode, Dean ended up feeling as if Sam was blaming him for Sam’s lost innocence. Sure, that is just interpretation, so it won’t go in the tally, but given later episodes… it is really strange)
Final Tally
This was a really heavy episode. However, the tally is very clear and while Sam finally gets some positive numbers… it is still very uneven. This marks the first episode where we focus on Dean’s needs and, very surprisingly, the fourth episode that is completely focused on Dean. At 3 episodes before the finale and I think we can’t deny that the season is very Sam-centered. (Btw, I am marking it as focused on Dean needs because even if the apparent focus is on the “brother bond”, the truth is that it centers on Dean, even going as far as giving him Dean closure on his own storyline. Sure, it is a monster of the week storyline, that only lasts for one episode, but it is a lot more that he will get with other stuff in the future)
Numbers (or the TL;DR summary)
(Episode/Total so far)
Times Dean has lied to Sam or to a loved one: 0 / 0
Times Sam has lied to Dean or to a loved one: 0 / 3
Times Dean has been caught in a lie: 0 / 0
Times Sam has been caught in a lie: 0 / 1
Times Dean has hit Sam in anger: 0 / 1
Times Sam has hit Dean in anger: 0 / 3
Times Dean’s lies or secrets have caused someone’s death: 0 / 0
Times Sam’s lies or secrets have caused someone’s death: 0 / 1
Times Dean has abandoned (Or wanted to abandon) a hunt in the middle for his own needs: 0 / 0
Times Sam has abandoned (Or wanted to abandon) a hunt in the middle for his own needs: 0 / 6
Times Dean forced Sam to do something: 0 / 0
Times Sam forced Dean to do something: 0 / 6
Secrets kept by Dean: 0 / 1
Secrets kept by Sam: 0 / 1
Times Dean has blamed Sam for something: 0 / 0
Times Sam has blamed Dean for something: 0 / 3
Times Dean has apologized with words to Sam: 0 / 3
Times Sam has apologized with words to Dean: 1 / 2
Times Dean has respected Sam’s boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 6
Times Sam has respected Dean’s boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 0
Times Dean hasn’t respected Sam’s boundaries and/or rules: 0 / 0
Times Sam hasn’t respected Dean’s boundaries and / or rules: 1 / 11
Times Dean has made fun of something Sam does or has: 0 / 6
Times Sam has made fun of something Dean does or has: 2 / 29
Times we focus on Dean’s needs: 1 / 1
Times we focus on Sam’s needs: 0 / 4
Arc episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 6
Filler episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 5
Arc episodes dedicated to Dean: 0 / 0
Filler episodes dedicated to Dean: 1 / 4
Arc episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none): 0 / 1
Filler episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none): 0 / 2
Dean’s Dropped Plotlines: 0 / 1
Sam’s Dropped Plotlines: 0 / 2