Post by luxshine on May 29, 2017 22:45:01 GMT -5
I do not like this episode. There are two scenes I can’t stand. But here I am, because it’s part of the rewatch.
And hey, it has baby Samandiriel. That counts for something.
(Yes I realize this intros are short. But you want to get to the meat of the episode, no?)
General stuff
This is a very strange episode because it feels more like an X-files episode than a Supernatural one. Part of it is the directing, Kim Manners was, after all, a pivotal part of the success of X-files, no matter how much we now act as if it was Chris Carter and him alone who managed to lift that juggernaut to legendary status.
This episode cold opening is straight out of X-files, for example. I kept waiting for the black ooze to appear… and I don’t even watch X-files.
(Also, and apropos of nothing… the surviving worker reminds me of Rob Benedict. Dunno why)
Anyway, so the worker gets his brain eaten and we’ve got a case.
And the opening scene goes straight into what I had mentioned previously in Bloody Mary and it’s that we don’t see Sam earning money, at least not in the first season. I’ll go more in detail in the Emotional Violence section (Because damn, that was a bad start for Sam) but basically we see that again, Dean is the one providing, while Sam is just there… offering commentary. Of course, this goes into the whole ‘hero vs. sidekick’ thing. After all, why would the hero bother with day to day necessities? He needs his energy for the big quest.
So they go to Oklahoma, to the worse interview with a witness so far in the show, and then to investigate the hole, were they get a lot of bugs and it’s time to investigate more.
Dean sees a sign about the models open, and there we get another glimpse into Dean’s personality by the way of reaffirming something we already know about Sam.
Now, we know that Sam has a little bit of an obsession with 'normal’, and that Dean is not that enthusiastic about it but… Dean was not talking about 'normal’. He was talking about appearances. The kind of houses they were seeing were the kind of places where you can’t do anything to your own home without asking for permission first, the kind that thrives on 'keeping up appearances’, not on being honest. SAM is the one who bring s'normal’ in the conversation, to what Dean replies, he’d rather have family. This will come back much later when Sam is stating that he’s a freak, and Dean will insist that he doesn’t care. And we know he doesn’t. Dean doesn’t give a flying fudge for 'normal’. Much less with 'appear to be normal for other people’s sake’.
Then the brothers meet Larry. This is, by the way, one of those 'Dean is bi’ scenes, and while I usually just make a note of the fact that here’s where people read Dean as bi and move on, in this case I’m going to expand a bit given that it’s a long scene between the brothers.
This is, by the way, the first time in canon that anyone implies that the brothers are a gay couple. It will become a sort of running joke, but this is the first time. And we get their reactions right away: Dean is smiling, doesn’t even pause, doesn’t change facial expression, until he gets that Larry thinks he’s with Sam, and then he just explains 'We’re brothers’. Not 'We’re not gay’, but 'We’re brothers’. It’s SAM, who takes a bit longer, with a bigger 'fake’ smile, the one who launches on the 'we have a very good heterosexual reason to buy a house together’, but it’s still not 'We’re not gay’.
Later on, when Lynda does the same speech, Dean takes it on, doesn’t give any explanations, and even plays with her perception, leaving Sam alone with her.
Now, I am almost sure that the reason why this became a running joke was because the writers WERE aware of the then only slash pairing and it’s growing popularity. But I also wonder a bit at why the College guy, the 'sensible, empathic’ brother, acts really uncomfortable at the fact that he’s taken for gay, while Dean, the 'macho, alpha male’ brother jokes about it.
Anyway, that’s for another meta, as is the fact that now, 10 years later, fandom seems to have completely forgotten these early scenes and claims that Sam 'has never been uncomfortable at being called queer’.
As the story continues we get both huge anvils with the bugs, and then the possible worst parallel that the series ever did, before season 9: Matt, also known as future Samandiriel because we repeat actors sometimes.
Sam IMMEDIATELY feels a connection to Matt because he THINKS that Larry treats Matt the way that John treated Sam. Which is honestly worrying as Matt is the first victim of the week Sam has shown true empathy for, and it’s just because he identifies with Matt. He’s not caring for MATT, he’s caring for 'young Sam’ in those scenes. And that undermines the idea that Sam is emphatic.
The real problem with the scene is how he tells this to Dean:
Now, just three episodes ago we learned that John spoke HIGHLY about Sam to random strangers. In the Pilot, we learned that even SAM thought that John would never trust Dean hunting alone. That right there, means that John and Sam’s relationship was nothing like Larry and Matt’s, given that Larry didn’t even introduced his son to his future neighbors. So here Sam? Is projecting, hard. And unfortunately, this will put a lot of things in doubt for me. That I’ll discuss in the future. For now, let’s just put in consideration that Sam's view of John directly contradicts what canon has told us so far.
Also, and this is cheating a bit, but… John might have yelled at Sam for wanting to play soccer instead of learning bowhunting, but we KNOW that Sam ended up playing soccer, won a trophy, and that John KEPT the trophy. And we learned that in season 2. It took us 9 seasons to learn that Dean did anything in his childhood that wasn’t hunting. So yes, Sam’s view of John is pretty suspect now, as we know that the reason why John never yelled at Dean is because Dean didn’t disobey orders, not because John actually favored Dean.
Note of interest, Sam is driving. That’s not that uncommon, but… we all identify Dean as the defacto driver.
They leave the barbeque and keep discussing the case, so Dean decides to take advantage of the empty houses, to Sam’s obvious discomfort. Not that Sam does more than bitchfacing him.
As a personal note, I suffer from arachnophobia. CGI Spiders or not? That scene made me have issues with my shower for months. And now, I’m back to showering with a broom at hand.
Sam makes Dean get out of the shower (An interesting trait for the future, and one that fans picked up early on: Dean is REALLY clean. The series call him at some point germophobic, but personally I think it’s more a situation of practical thinking: he can’t exactly go to the hospital if he gets an infection) and they investigate Death #2.
Death #2 is of course, spiders, which makes Dean immediately suspect “Spider-boy” and we see that Sam already emphasizes with him, calling him by name. This is really nice, since Matt is the first VoW that Sam empathizes with, but, at the same time, it’s the beginning of a future pattern (Very obvious in Season 3 and 4) where Sam only seems to really care about the VoW that somehow remind him of himself. And here, even if it’s not the same situation at ALL, Sam has already decided that Matt’s relationship with his dad mirrors his own with John. Thus, he 'understands’ Matt. (Even if no, we know that the situations are not at all similar)
Anyway, the brothers follow Matt to the forest, where Matt is acting like a perfect red herring for like 5 seconds. And of course, while Dean is pretty forward about his suspicious, Sam is nice and understanding for a change.
However, his 'understanding’ has a very dark edge to it, and the writers don’t seem to realize it:
Again, Dean doesn’t understand why Sam is so determined to parallel their childhood to Matt’s situation. And while back when there was just one season one could side with Sam, later we know that John DID listen to Sam, and paid attention to Sam. But most importantly? Dean is right. Sam’s advice is TERRIBLE. Sam doesn’t know the full story behind Matt and his dad and he’s practically telling Matt to run away. It’d be different if he said 'you’ll be able to get out of the house, and with some distance, you and your dad might find common ground’, but no, he is saying 'do the same thing I did, just cut all ties’.
At least, that’s what his words and facial expression are saying. Not necessarily the writer’s intent.
No wonder Dean feels the need to speak up . Especially as he’s been on the other end of the equation, the not hearing from his brother for two (four) years.
Matt, by the way, hits every single stereotypical angsty teenager button when he talks about his father. Every single one. And unfortunately, on TV? This usually means that the Dad is not that bad, really, and it’s just a matter of miscommunication. Which means that Sam is even more in the wrong. And his 'freakiness' is good enough to save the brothers a LOT of research, since he shows them where the insects congregate, and thus, the brothers find the ancient native graveyard pretty easily.
(And here one sighs at the pretty obvious monster)
As the guys leave for more investigating, we get more arguing about John. And this is where I question the idea that Supernatural started piling up 'chick flick moments’ in the last few seasons, because I feel like this episode has been nothing but the brothers talking about their feelings. However, as this conversation involves Sam doing some pretty nasty language manipulation, we’ll talk about that later.
Fans of Highlander might have rejoiced at the scene with the Professor, as it was practically a Joe Dawson’s cameo. Personally, I would’ve loved to see Jim Byrnes as a constant source of information for the guys, but it might have been a bit of typecasting for him.
Then the guys go and meet a native american who tells them the true story, as well as manages to get another bit of exposition about the boys. Dean is the liar, Sam is the honest one. It is a bit funny, giving how the story will continue. And of course, we find out that this is a curse and that they have more or less 12 hours to get Larry and his family out of the house.
And here’s where the episode gets really, really weird.
See, in previous episodes, Sam was the brother trying to keep the masquerade at all costs. Being normal is his goal, and that includes lying to his friends, his fiancee and, as per Bloody Mary, his own brother. On the flip side, while Dean does keep the masquerade, he was the one pushing for 'tell the truth in emergencies, since that’s how people can defend themselves’. Here, the roles are inverted: Dean is the one telling lies left and right, anything to get Larry and Matt and Matt’s mom out of the valley, while Sam’s advice is 'tell the truth to your dad, Matt’.
Which is completely against what Sam has been saying during the whole episode. All the episode Sam is saying that he understands that Larry is never going to listen, never going to believe him… and in the moment when they REALLY need them out of the house, he goes for the Disney message of 'tell your Dad the truth’? Dean, on the other hand, has the right idea. A medical emergency would’ve gotten the family safe without any extra risk except Larry maybe not believing Matt for the rest of his life.
In a narrative sense, Sam did the right thing, as we need to fix Larry and Matt's relationship and this is a fictional show so it can happen. Practically, Dean was in the right, since keeping the family alive might not be possible in a real situation.
Anyway, the bugs arrive as the shortest night in the story of the world starts and Sam, Dean and the family run for their lives inside a dark house.
They manage to survive without any extra losses, and in the least surprising twist ever, now Matt is creeped out by bugs and he and his Dad are finally in the same page.
The episode ends with Sam realizing that he wants to find John, and he needs to apologize to him, for all the things he said. Dean is not really impressed, as he knows Sam and John will take about 5 minutes before fighting again (and he’s not wrong, by the way), and the brothers ride out the road for the next adventure.
Violence
Once again, the brothers are not violent to each other at all. I’m starting to think we might go the whole season without any more fights.
Emotional Violence
Sam starts the episode hitting hard and high. The very first scene has him judging Dean’s actions, being clearly disapproving Dean’s methods of earning money:
Now, the most interesting thing of this conversation is that while Sam starts with “we could get day jobs”, he doesn’t follow it with 'well, Dean, if you are going to stay on the fun and easy road, i’ll get a job washing dishes or something’. We know -or rather, we will know- that when left on his own, Sam is perfectly able to get odd handyman jobs here and there. But when he’s with Dean? Dean is the provider and Sam, for all he complains about Dean’s morals, doesn’t do anything to change the status quo. He’s not a kid, he could work on his own, but he chooses instead to spend Dean’s money. And it IS Dean’s money, as Dean will say later in this same scene (“Work, work, work. No time to spend my money.” )
There’s also the always present jive against John’s parenting, a subject that at this point is one of Dean’s sorest points -as Sam should remember, given what he heard in Skin. Of course, as it’s par for the series, he seems to have forgotten completely. Even worse, even if we do assume they can get a 'day job’ as dishwashers or something for a day or two -the time they stay in each town, when they’re not hunting- how is DEAN supposed to get one, if he’s presumed dead by the FBI and was accused of being a serial killer? He might have fake Credit cards and a lot of fake ids, but to get a job? One usually needs more than just a dazzling smile.
Now, this part of the scene can be debated. It can be emotional violence -as Sam is not only is critizicing their means of surviving, but also obviously expecting Dean to both provide and to conform to Sam’s moral comfort- but I’m sure there will be someone who will point out that morally speaking, Sam is right and would say that to anyone in Dean’s shoes.
Not so much with the next bit of the scene.
DEAN Yeah, says you. We got a new gig or what?
SAM Maybe. Oasis Plains, Oklahoma - not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob.
DEAN Huh?
SAM Human mad cow disease.
DEAN Mad cow. Wasn’t that on Oprah?
SAM You watch Oprah?
DEAN, embarrassed, can’t think of anything to say.
There’s no reason for Sam to start giving off the scientific name of the human mad cow disease except to show off how smart he is compared to Dean. It’s a bit of classicism that by now we can consider one of Sam’s worst traits: he views people without college education as lesser than him. And he does this even more when talking to Dean. He even sighs exasperated when he has to explain. Not only that, but when Dean connects it to something he knows, his immediate reaction is to embarrass Dean, and Dean? just shuts up. Looks away, changes the subject, just as he did with his homemade EMF.
Now, this episode has been a lot about Sam’s feelings about John. Dean, in a very deep contrast to his reactions when Sam spoke about Mary in the pilot, has kept his defense of John to one sentence, then change the subject. But then, right after they find the graveyard, we have this scene
First of all, Dean IS talking about Matt. Not about Sam. It’s Sam the one who brings up John, and in the moment he does, Dean backs down and apologizes. But now Sam is in a roll, and he continues talking, over Dean’s offering to change the subject.
Dean’s question here is important because first, we know from the past episodes that John spoke highly of Sam (hell, Sam himself knows, as he heard the people said so), and second, because in the future we’ll realize that Dean KNOWS that he’s always been a disappointment to John. Always, from the day he left Sam alone for a few hours back when he was a kid.
We also see that Sam’s very fixiated in the idea of normal. He NEEDS to be normal, and Dean gives him that. By comparing Sam to Marylin, he’s not only saying that yes, Sam is normal to society, that the Winchesters are the freaks, the monsters. What one can also infer? Is that Dean is telling Sam that it doesn’t matter. Marylin was not shunned by Herman and Lily, they loved her, even if they didn’t understand her. And thus, Dean is saying 'yes, you are different, but it doesn’t mean Dad doesn’t love you’.
(we will not go into the very telling fact that when Sam insists he wants to be normal, he completely ignores that what his family does SAVES people’s lives)
This part is pure acting gold by Jensen. His face is very expressive, and you can tell he’s remembering that fight, and that he’s not happy about it. It’s a painful memory, the day his family broke. And so we know that Dean was present, that Dean was not on John’s side, and that he obviously feels very strongly about it.
Also of note is that at first, we had no reason not to believe Sam’s version of the fight. But as we get to the end of the Season… we know that the thing is that Sam simply doesn’t listen to anything once he has decided he’s right. Also, by knowing that there was a fight, we know that it was not simply that John 'threw Sam out of the house’. With the knowledge of Season 4? We can even imagine it was Sam’s decision to leave, and John told him not to come back if he left that minute. (Although, given how John is? It is equally possible that yes, John told him to leave and not come back before Sam even moved a foot in the door’s direction)
Also, I have to say, top acting on Jared’s part. In future Seasons, this scene would’ve gotten a bitchface. Here? We can see that he IS hurt that Dean doesn’t think that John was completely to blame for that argument.
Still, what he says next, seems to have very little connection to what we’ve seen in the series.
Sam, by now, knows that John has praised him to strangers. Has read John’s journal, that, thanks to adjacent canon, we know includes John’s feelings about both Sam and Dean. And that he has written that he loves Sam. So… why does he say this? Part of it, is because the writers want to push the 'odd man out’ angle really far. The other part, is to get this reaction:
In Dean’s eyes -and given what we know from Skin, and what we will know in Something Wicked- we can see the unspoken 'Dad was disappointed in me’. And Sam…doesn’t see it. Sam is so into his role as the angsty teenager (that doesn’t fit a 24 year old) that he’s even smirking, as Matt does when talking about Larry. In Matt, is understandable, in Sam? Not so much.
It comes out as Sam wanting to force Dean to say that yes, John was wrong, John was a bad parent, Sam was justified in leaving and closing all contact. In a word? Sam is manipulating Dean into propping Sam up. And that? Is pretty much emotional blackmail. However, it backfires a little. When we get the end of the conversation:
Again, we have a lot of subtext in Dean’s lines, as well as new information about John. Despite what Sam thinks, John cared about him and never wrote him off. The 'freaks’, the man who 'was always disappointed’, didn’t act the way Sam expected him to, and even respected the boundary Sam himself set. On the other hand, since Dean has been hunting alone? We have had no sign that John has even cared to find out how Dean is doing, something that the next episode will challenge a bit, but Faith will cement as truth.
And here we get to the reason why I put this on the emotional violence section. Because know we have canon confirmation that Dean DID call, and Sam picked up the phone OR that Sam never tried to call, didn’t even care what happened to his family, while John and Dean did check that Sam was safe. There’s also that Sam looks ANGRY during the whole conversation even when Dean’s voice is breaking and at no point Sam apologized or tried to change the subject as Dean did at the beginning. And thus, a scene that was probably planned to make Sam realize that he was being a bit unfair to John, comes out as Sam being disappointed that he wasn’t told that he was right.
Secrets, Lies (and their consequences)
I already talked about the strange change of heart of both brothers regarding lies, but in this episode they didn’t lie to each other. Which is good.
Speeches and Apologies
This episode marks the very first time a brother apologizes to the other since the Pilot. Dean apologizes to Sam for bringing up a subject Sam was not comfortable with, and does so with the exact words:
This is important just because a lot of people seem to be under the impression that Dean never apologizes to Sam. And yet, here’s a clear one. Dean realizes he is making Sam uncomfortable, apologizes and backs off. And it’s a very different apology to Sam’s apology since here the order is clear, unlike Sam’s 'About what I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I’m sorry’.
Also, Sam says he wants to apologize to John, but it isn’t until Dean prompts him to continue when he says what’s he’s going to apologize for. This continues the trend of Sam giving general apologizes as part of his personal way of speaking. Which is good characterization wise, not so good in general about how he will apologize in the future.
Final Tally
This episode is always on the running as one of the worst of the whole series, and I wonder why, as there are worse to come. However, there is the fact that everything seems at odds with what we already know about the characters, especially Sam, right up until the very end when he realizes that he might have been unfair to John. Not that it’s bad that he comes to that realization, but in general, it feels as artificial as every parallel given in season 9. Dean goes from being very judgmental to being the voice of reason for no other apparent reason than the fact that he is Dean -no, seriously, at first his attitude towards Matt is wrong, judgmental even. But as the episode continues, it’s HIS original advice “respect your Dad” (which includes telling the truth, no matter how crazy it is) and “stick with your family” the one that Matt ultimately follows and the one that fixes the family’s issues.
This is also another thing that will become more prominent as the “show” and “tell” sides of the scripts end up at odds. We’re told that Sam is the smart brother, the one who is the moral compass (As we started with him stating obvious things like 'stealing is wrong’) but we’re SHOWN that Dean is the one who is ultimately right (Only to being told later, that no, Dean is always wrong). No wonder there are fights within the fandom, with such huge contradictions between script and end result.
(For the sake of logic I want to remind you, the 'times a brother has been caught in a lie’ refers to lies to EACH OTHER, not to VoW, or both brothers would already be scratching the first 20)
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 / 0
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 / 3
Times Dean forced Sam to do something : 0 / 0
Times Sam forced Dean to do something: 0 / 3
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 / 1
Times Dean has apologized with words to Sam: 1 / 1
Times Sam has apologized with words to Dean : 0 / 1
Times Dean has respected Sam’s boundaries and/or rules: 1 / 5
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 / 5
Times Dean has made fun of something Sam does or has: 0 / 4
Times Sam has made fun of something Dean does or has: 1 / 14
Times we focus on Dean’s needs: 0 / 0
Times we focus on Sam’s needs: 0 / 2
Arc episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 2
Filler episodes dedicated to Sam: 1 / 4
Arc episodes dedicated to Dean: 0 / 0
Filler episodes dedicated to Dean : 0 / 1
Arc episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none) : 0 / 1
Filler episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none) : 0 / 0
Dean’s Dropped Plotlines : 0 / 1
Sam’s Dropped Plotlines : 0 / 1
And hey, it has baby Samandiriel. That counts for something.
(Yes I realize this intros are short. But you want to get to the meat of the episode, no?)
General stuff
This is a very strange episode because it feels more like an X-files episode than a Supernatural one. Part of it is the directing, Kim Manners was, after all, a pivotal part of the success of X-files, no matter how much we now act as if it was Chris Carter and him alone who managed to lift that juggernaut to legendary status.
This episode cold opening is straight out of X-files, for example. I kept waiting for the black ooze to appear… and I don’t even watch X-files.
(Also, and apropos of nothing… the surviving worker reminds me of Rob Benedict. Dunno why)
Anyway, so the worker gets his brain eaten and we’ve got a case.
And the opening scene goes straight into what I had mentioned previously in Bloody Mary and it’s that we don’t see Sam earning money, at least not in the first season. I’ll go more in detail in the Emotional Violence section (Because damn, that was a bad start for Sam) but basically we see that again, Dean is the one providing, while Sam is just there… offering commentary. Of course, this goes into the whole ‘hero vs. sidekick’ thing. After all, why would the hero bother with day to day necessities? He needs his energy for the big quest.
So they go to Oklahoma, to the worse interview with a witness so far in the show, and then to investigate the hole, were they get a lot of bugs and it’s time to investigate more.
Dean sees a sign about the models open, and there we get another glimpse into Dean’s personality by the way of reaffirming something we already know about Sam.
DEAN Growin’ up in a place like this would freak me out.
SAM Why?
DEAN Well, manicured lawns, “How was your day, honey?” I’d blow my brains out.
SAM There’s nothing wrong with “normal”.
DEAN I’d take our family over normal any day.
SAM Why?
DEAN Well, manicured lawns, “How was your day, honey?” I’d blow my brains out.
SAM There’s nothing wrong with “normal”.
DEAN I’d take our family over normal any day.
Now, we know that Sam has a little bit of an obsession with 'normal’, and that Dean is not that enthusiastic about it but… Dean was not talking about 'normal’. He was talking about appearances. The kind of houses they were seeing were the kind of places where you can’t do anything to your own home without asking for permission first, the kind that thrives on 'keeping up appearances’, not on being honest. SAM is the one who bring s'normal’ in the conversation, to what Dean replies, he’d rather have family. This will come back much later when Sam is stating that he’s a freak, and Dean will insist that he doesn’t care. And we know he doesn’t. Dean doesn’t give a flying fudge for 'normal’. Much less with 'appear to be normal for other people’s sake’.
Then the brothers meet Larry. This is, by the way, one of those 'Dean is bi’ scenes, and while I usually just make a note of the fact that here’s where people read Dean as bi and move on, in this case I’m going to expand a bit given that it’s a long scene between the brothers.
LARRY Sam, Dean, good to meet you. So, you two are interested in Oasis Plains?
DEAN Yes, sir.
LARRY Let me just say - we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or… sexual orientation.
SAM and DEAN realize what he is trying to say.
DEAN We’re brothers.
LARRY seems slightly embarrassed.
SAM Our father is getting on in years, and we’re just lookin’ for a place for him.
LARRY Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in.
DEAN Yes, sir.
LARRY Let me just say - we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or… sexual orientation.
SAM and DEAN realize what he is trying to say.
DEAN We’re brothers.
LARRY seems slightly embarrassed.
SAM Our father is getting on in years, and we’re just lookin’ for a place for him.
LARRY Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in.
This is, by the way, the first time in canon that anyone implies that the brothers are a gay couple. It will become a sort of running joke, but this is the first time. And we get their reactions right away: Dean is smiling, doesn’t even pause, doesn’t change facial expression, until he gets that Larry thinks he’s with Sam, and then he just explains 'We’re brothers’. Not 'We’re not gay’, but 'We’re brothers’. It’s SAM, who takes a bit longer, with a bigger 'fake’ smile, the one who launches on the 'we have a very good heterosexual reason to buy a house together’, but it’s still not 'We’re not gay’.
Later on, when Lynda does the same speech, Dean takes it on, doesn’t give any explanations, and even plays with her perception, leaving Sam alone with her.
Now, I am almost sure that the reason why this became a running joke was because the writers WERE aware of the then only slash pairing and it’s growing popularity. But I also wonder a bit at why the College guy, the 'sensible, empathic’ brother, acts really uncomfortable at the fact that he’s taken for gay, while Dean, the 'macho, alpha male’ brother jokes about it.
Anyway, that’s for another meta, as is the fact that now, 10 years later, fandom seems to have completely forgotten these early scenes and claims that Sam 'has never been uncomfortable at being called queer’.
As the story continues we get both huge anvils with the bugs, and then the possible worst parallel that the series ever did, before season 9: Matt, also known as future Samandiriel because we repeat actors sometimes.
Sam IMMEDIATELY feels a connection to Matt because he THINKS that Larry treats Matt the way that John treated Sam. Which is honestly worrying as Matt is the first victim of the week Sam has shown true empathy for, and it’s just because he identifies with Matt. He’s not caring for MATT, he’s caring for 'young Sam’ in those scenes. And that undermines the idea that Sam is emphatic.
The real problem with the scene is how he tells this to Dean:
SAM Remind you of somebody? (DEAN looks over at LARRY, who is yelling at MATT. He looks back at SAM, confused.) Dad?
DEAN Dad never treated us like that.
SAM Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case. You don’t remember?
DEAN Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line.
SAM (scoffs) Right. Right, like when I said I’d rather play soccer than learn bowhunting.
DEAN Bowhunting’s an important skill.
SAM (rolling his eyes) Whatever. How was your tour?
DEAN Dad never treated us like that.
SAM Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case. You don’t remember?
DEAN Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line.
SAM (scoffs) Right. Right, like when I said I’d rather play soccer than learn bowhunting.
DEAN Bowhunting’s an important skill.
SAM (rolling his eyes) Whatever. How was your tour?
Now, just three episodes ago we learned that John spoke HIGHLY about Sam to random strangers. In the Pilot, we learned that even SAM thought that John would never trust Dean hunting alone. That right there, means that John and Sam’s relationship was nothing like Larry and Matt’s, given that Larry didn’t even introduced his son to his future neighbors. So here Sam? Is projecting, hard. And unfortunately, this will put a lot of things in doubt for me. That I’ll discuss in the future. For now, let’s just put in consideration that Sam's view of John directly contradicts what canon has told us so far.
Also, and this is cheating a bit, but… John might have yelled at Sam for wanting to play soccer instead of learning bowhunting, but we KNOW that Sam ended up playing soccer, won a trophy, and that John KEPT the trophy. And we learned that in season 2. It took us 9 seasons to learn that Dean did anything in his childhood that wasn’t hunting. So yes, Sam’s view of John is pretty suspect now, as we know that the reason why John never yelled at Dean is because Dean didn’t disobey orders, not because John actually favored Dean.
Note of interest, Sam is driving. That’s not that uncommon, but… we all identify Dean as the defacto driver.
They leave the barbeque and keep discussing the case, so Dean decides to take advantage of the empty houses, to Sam’s obvious discomfort. Not that Sam does more than bitchfacing him.
As a personal note, I suffer from arachnophobia. CGI Spiders or not? That scene made me have issues with my shower for months. And now, I’m back to showering with a broom at hand.
Sam makes Dean get out of the shower (An interesting trait for the future, and one that fans picked up early on: Dean is REALLY clean. The series call him at some point germophobic, but personally I think it’s more a situation of practical thinking: he can’t exactly go to the hospital if he gets an infection) and they investigate Death #2.
Death #2 is of course, spiders, which makes Dean immediately suspect “Spider-boy” and we see that Sam already emphasizes with him, calling him by name. This is really nice, since Matt is the first VoW that Sam empathizes with, but, at the same time, it’s the beginning of a future pattern (Very obvious in Season 3 and 4) where Sam only seems to really care about the VoW that somehow remind him of himself. And here, even if it’s not the same situation at ALL, Sam has already decided that Matt’s relationship with his dad mirrors his own with John. Thus, he 'understands’ Matt. (Even if no, we know that the situations are not at all similar)
Anyway, the brothers follow Matt to the forest, where Matt is acting like a perfect red herring for like 5 seconds. And of course, while Dean is pretty forward about his suspicious, Sam is nice and understanding for a change.
However, his 'understanding’ has a very dark edge to it, and the writers don’t seem to realize it:
MATT Believe me, I’ve tried. But, uh, Larry doesn’t listen to me.
SAM Why not?
MATT Mostly? He’s too disappointed in his freak son.
SAM (scoffs) I hear you.
DEAN You do?
SAM turns and gives him a look.
SAM Matt, how old are you?
MATT Sixteen.
SAM Well, don’t sweat it, because in two years, something great’s gonna happen.
MATT What?
SAM College. You’ll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad.
DEAN What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family.
SAM sighs and glares at him.
SAM Why not?
MATT Mostly? He’s too disappointed in his freak son.
SAM (scoffs) I hear you.
DEAN You do?
SAM turns and gives him a look.
SAM Matt, how old are you?
MATT Sixteen.
SAM Well, don’t sweat it, because in two years, something great’s gonna happen.
MATT What?
SAM College. You’ll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad.
DEAN What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family.
SAM sighs and glares at him.
Again, Dean doesn’t understand why Sam is so determined to parallel their childhood to Matt’s situation. And while back when there was just one season one could side with Sam, later we know that John DID listen to Sam, and paid attention to Sam. But most importantly? Dean is right. Sam’s advice is TERRIBLE. Sam doesn’t know the full story behind Matt and his dad and he’s practically telling Matt to run away. It’d be different if he said 'you’ll be able to get out of the house, and with some distance, you and your dad might find common ground’, but no, he is saying 'do the same thing I did, just cut all ties’.
At least, that’s what his words and facial expression are saying. Not necessarily the writer’s intent.
No wonder Dean feels the need to speak up . Especially as he’s been on the other end of the equation, the not hearing from his brother for two (four) years.
Matt, by the way, hits every single stereotypical angsty teenager button when he talks about his father. Every single one. And unfortunately, on TV? This usually means that the Dad is not that bad, really, and it’s just a matter of miscommunication. Which means that Sam is even more in the wrong. And his 'freakiness' is good enough to save the brothers a LOT of research, since he shows them where the insects congregate, and thus, the brothers find the ancient native graveyard pretty easily.
(And here one sighs at the pretty obvious monster)
As the guys leave for more investigating, we get more arguing about John. And this is where I question the idea that Supernatural started piling up 'chick flick moments’ in the last few seasons, because I feel like this episode has been nothing but the brothers talking about their feelings. However, as this conversation involves Sam doing some pretty nasty language manipulation, we’ll talk about that later.
Fans of Highlander might have rejoiced at the scene with the Professor, as it was practically a Joe Dawson’s cameo. Personally, I would’ve loved to see Jim Byrnes as a constant source of information for the guys, but it might have been a bit of typecasting for him.
Then the guys go and meet a native american who tells them the true story, as well as manages to get another bit of exposition about the boys. Dean is the liar, Sam is the honest one. It is a bit funny, giving how the story will continue. And of course, we find out that this is a curse and that they have more or less 12 hours to get Larry and his family out of the house.
And here’s where the episode gets really, really weird.
See, in previous episodes, Sam was the brother trying to keep the masquerade at all costs. Being normal is his goal, and that includes lying to his friends, his fiancee and, as per Bloody Mary, his own brother. On the flip side, while Dean does keep the masquerade, he was the one pushing for 'tell the truth in emergencies, since that’s how people can defend themselves’. Here, the roles are inverted: Dean is the one telling lies left and right, anything to get Larry and Matt and Matt’s mom out of the valley, while Sam’s advice is 'tell the truth to your dad, Matt’.
Which is completely against what Sam has been saying during the whole episode. All the episode Sam is saying that he understands that Larry is never going to listen, never going to believe him… and in the moment when they REALLY need them out of the house, he goes for the Disney message of 'tell your Dad the truth’? Dean, on the other hand, has the right idea. A medical emergency would’ve gotten the family safe without any extra risk except Larry maybe not believing Matt for the rest of his life.
In a narrative sense, Sam did the right thing, as we need to fix Larry and Matt's relationship and this is a fictional show so it can happen. Practically, Dean was in the right, since keeping the family alive might not be possible in a real situation.
Anyway, the bugs arrive as the shortest night in the story of the world starts and Sam, Dean and the family run for their lives inside a dark house.
They manage to survive without any extra losses, and in the least surprising twist ever, now Matt is creeped out by bugs and he and his Dad are finally in the same page.
The episode ends with Sam realizing that he wants to find John, and he needs to apologize to him, for all the things he said. Dean is not really impressed, as he knows Sam and John will take about 5 minutes before fighting again (and he’s not wrong, by the way), and the brothers ride out the road for the next adventure.
Violence
Once again, the brothers are not violent to each other at all. I’m starting to think we might go the whole season without any more fights.
Emotional Violence
Sam starts the episode hitting hard and high. The very first scene has him judging Dean’s actions, being clearly disapproving Dean’s methods of earning money:
SAM You know, we could get day jobs once in a while.
DEAN Hunting’s our day job. And the pay is crap.
SAM Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It’s not the most honest thing in the world, Dean.
DEAN Well, let’s see honest. (He holds out one hand.) Fun and easy. (He holds out the other, and gestures that “fun and easy” outweighs “honest”.) It’s no contest. Besides, we’re good at it. It’s what we were raised to do.
SAM Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked.
DEAN Hunting’s our day job. And the pay is crap.
SAM Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It’s not the most honest thing in the world, Dean.
DEAN Well, let’s see honest. (He holds out one hand.) Fun and easy. (He holds out the other, and gestures that “fun and easy” outweighs “honest”.) It’s no contest. Besides, we’re good at it. It’s what we were raised to do.
SAM Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked.
Now, the most interesting thing of this conversation is that while Sam starts with “we could get day jobs”, he doesn’t follow it with 'well, Dean, if you are going to stay on the fun and easy road, i’ll get a job washing dishes or something’. We know -or rather, we will know- that when left on his own, Sam is perfectly able to get odd handyman jobs here and there. But when he’s with Dean? Dean is the provider and Sam, for all he complains about Dean’s morals, doesn’t do anything to change the status quo. He’s not a kid, he could work on his own, but he chooses instead to spend Dean’s money. And it IS Dean’s money, as Dean will say later in this same scene (“Work, work, work. No time to spend my money.” )
There’s also the always present jive against John’s parenting, a subject that at this point is one of Dean’s sorest points -as Sam should remember, given what he heard in Skin. Of course, as it’s par for the series, he seems to have forgotten completely. Even worse, even if we do assume they can get a 'day job’ as dishwashers or something for a day or two -the time they stay in each town, when they’re not hunting- how is DEAN supposed to get one, if he’s presumed dead by the FBI and was accused of being a serial killer? He might have fake Credit cards and a lot of fake ids, but to get a job? One usually needs more than just a dazzling smile.
Now, this part of the scene can be debated. It can be emotional violence -as Sam is not only is critizicing their means of surviving, but also obviously expecting Dean to both provide and to conform to Sam’s moral comfort- but I’m sure there will be someone who will point out that morally speaking, Sam is right and would say that to anyone in Dean’s shoes.
Not so much with the next bit of the scene.
DEAN Yeah, says you. We got a new gig or what?
SAM Maybe. Oasis Plains, Oklahoma - not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob.
DEAN Huh?
SAM Human mad cow disease.
DEAN Mad cow. Wasn’t that on Oprah?
SAM You watch Oprah?
DEAN, embarrassed, can’t think of anything to say.
There’s no reason for Sam to start giving off the scientific name of the human mad cow disease except to show off how smart he is compared to Dean. It’s a bit of classicism that by now we can consider one of Sam’s worst traits: he views people without college education as lesser than him. And he does this even more when talking to Dean. He even sighs exasperated when he has to explain. Not only that, but when Dean connects it to something he knows, his immediate reaction is to embarrass Dean, and Dean? just shuts up. Looks away, changes the subject, just as he did with his homemade EMF.
Now, this episode has been a lot about Sam’s feelings about John. Dean, in a very deep contrast to his reactions when Sam spoke about Mary in the pilot, has kept his defense of John to one sentence, then change the subject. But then, right after they find the graveyard, we have this scene
DEAN Yeah. Maybe this is a haunting. Pissed off spirits? Some unfinished business?
SAM Yeah, maybe. Question is, why bugs? And why now?
DEAN That’s two questions. (SAM ignores him.)
First right off we have Sam completely ignoring Dean who is talking about the job. Dean then switches gears and talks about what seems to be bugging Sam, pardon the pun.
DEAN Yeah, so with that kid back there… why’d you tell him to just ditch his family like that?
SAM Just, uh… I know what the kid’s goin’ through.
DEAN How 'bout tellin’ him to respect his old man, how’s that for advice?
SAM Dean, come on. (They stop walking.) This isn’t about his old man. You think I didn’t respect Dad. That’s what this is about.
DEAN Just forget it, all right? Sorry I brought it up.
SAM Yeah, maybe. Question is, why bugs? And why now?
DEAN That’s two questions. (SAM ignores him.)
First right off we have Sam completely ignoring Dean who is talking about the job. Dean then switches gears and talks about what seems to be bugging Sam, pardon the pun.
DEAN Yeah, so with that kid back there… why’d you tell him to just ditch his family like that?
SAM Just, uh… I know what the kid’s goin’ through.
DEAN How 'bout tellin’ him to respect his old man, how’s that for advice?
SAM Dean, come on. (They stop walking.) This isn’t about his old man. You think I didn’t respect Dad. That’s what this is about.
DEAN Just forget it, all right? Sorry I brought it up.
First of all, Dean IS talking about Matt. Not about Sam. It’s Sam the one who brings up John, and in the moment he does, Dean backs down and apologizes. But now Sam is in a roll, and he continues talking, over Dean’s offering to change the subject.
SAM I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough.
DEAN So what are you sayin’? That Dad was disappointed in you?
SAM Was? Is. Always has been.
DEAN Why would you think that?
SAM Because I didn’t wanna bowhunt or hustle pool - because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked-out family, made me the freak.
DEAN Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters.
DEAN So what are you sayin’? That Dad was disappointed in you?
SAM Was? Is. Always has been.
DEAN Why would you think that?
SAM Because I didn’t wanna bowhunt or hustle pool - because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked-out family, made me the freak.
DEAN Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters.
Dean’s question here is important because first, we know from the past episodes that John spoke highly of Sam (hell, Sam himself knows, as he heard the people said so), and second, because in the future we’ll realize that Dean KNOWS that he’s always been a disappointment to John. Always, from the day he left Sam alone for a few hours back when he was a kid.
We also see that Sam’s very fixiated in the idea of normal. He NEEDS to be normal, and Dean gives him that. By comparing Sam to Marylin, he’s not only saying that yes, Sam is normal to society, that the Winchesters are the freaks, the monsters. What one can also infer? Is that Dean is telling Sam that it doesn’t matter. Marylin was not shunned by Herman and Lily, they loved her, even if they didn’t understand her. And thus, Dean is saying 'yes, you are different, but it doesn’t mean Dad doesn’t love you’.
(we will not go into the very telling fact that when Sam insists he wants to be normal, he completely ignores that what his family does SAVES people’s lives)
SAM Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride? Proud. Most dads don’t toss their kids out of the house.
DEAN I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases comin’ out of your mouth.
DEAN I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases comin’ out of your mouth.
This part is pure acting gold by Jensen. His face is very expressive, and you can tell he’s remembering that fight, and that he’s not happy about it. It’s a painful memory, the day his family broke. And so we know that Dean was present, that Dean was not on John’s side, and that he obviously feels very strongly about it.
Also of note is that at first, we had no reason not to believe Sam’s version of the fight. But as we get to the end of the Season… we know that the thing is that Sam simply doesn’t listen to anything once he has decided he’s right. Also, by knowing that there was a fight, we know that it was not simply that John 'threw Sam out of the house’. With the knowledge of Season 4? We can even imagine it was Sam’s decision to leave, and John told him not to come back if he left that minute. (Although, given how John is? It is equally possible that yes, John told him to leave and not come back before Sam even moved a foot in the door’s direction)
Also, I have to say, top acting on Jared’s part. In future Seasons, this scene would’ve gotten a bitchface. Here? We can see that he IS hurt that Dean doesn’t think that John was completely to blame for that argument.
Still, what he says next, seems to have very little connection to what we’ve seen in the series.
SAM You know, truth is, when we finally do find Dad… I don’t know if he’s even gonna wanna see me.
Sam, by now, knows that John has praised him to strangers. Has read John’s journal, that, thanks to adjacent canon, we know includes John’s feelings about both Sam and Dean. And that he has written that he loves Sam. So… why does he say this? Part of it, is because the writers want to push the 'odd man out’ angle really far. The other part, is to get this reaction:
DEAN Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was scared.
SAM What are you talkin’ about?
SAM What are you talkin’ about?
In Dean’s eyes -and given what we know from Skin, and what we will know in Something Wicked- we can see the unspoken 'Dad was disappointed in me’. And Sam…doesn’t see it. Sam is so into his role as the angsty teenager (that doesn’t fit a 24 year old) that he’s even smirking, as Matt does when talking about Larry. In Matt, is understandable, in Sam? Not so much.
It comes out as Sam wanting to force Dean to say that yes, John was wrong, John was a bad parent, Sam was justified in leaving and closing all contact. In a word? Sam is manipulating Dean into propping Sam up. And that? Is pretty much emotional blackmail. However, it backfires a little. When we get the end of the conversation:
DEAN He was afraid of what could’ve happened to you if he wasn’t around. But even when you two weren’t talkin’… he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. (SAM’S smirk fades.) Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe.
SAM What?
SAM What?
Again, we have a lot of subtext in Dean’s lines, as well as new information about John. Despite what Sam thinks, John cared about him and never wrote him off. The 'freaks’, the man who 'was always disappointed’, didn’t act the way Sam expected him to, and even respected the boundary Sam himself set. On the other hand, since Dean has been hunting alone? We have had no sign that John has even cared to find out how Dean is doing, something that the next episode will challenge a bit, but Faith will cement as truth.
DEAN Yeah.
SAM Why didn’t you tell me any of that?
DEAN Well, it’s a two-way street, dude. You could’ve picked up the phone. Come on, we’re gonna be late for our appointment.
SAM Why didn’t you tell me any of that?
DEAN Well, it’s a two-way street, dude. You could’ve picked up the phone. Come on, we’re gonna be late for our appointment.
And here we get to the reason why I put this on the emotional violence section. Because know we have canon confirmation that Dean DID call, and Sam picked up the phone OR that Sam never tried to call, didn’t even care what happened to his family, while John and Dean did check that Sam was safe. There’s also that Sam looks ANGRY during the whole conversation even when Dean’s voice is breaking and at no point Sam apologized or tried to change the subject as Dean did at the beginning. And thus, a scene that was probably planned to make Sam realize that he was being a bit unfair to John, comes out as Sam being disappointed that he wasn’t told that he was right.
Secrets, Lies (and their consequences)
I already talked about the strange change of heart of both brothers regarding lies, but in this episode they didn’t lie to each other. Which is good.
Speeches and Apologies
This episode marks the very first time a brother apologizes to the other since the Pilot. Dean apologizes to Sam for bringing up a subject Sam was not comfortable with, and does so with the exact words:
DEAN Just forget it, all right? Sorry I brought it up.
This is important just because a lot of people seem to be under the impression that Dean never apologizes to Sam. And yet, here’s a clear one. Dean realizes he is making Sam uncomfortable, apologizes and backs off. And it’s a very different apology to Sam’s apology since here the order is clear, unlike Sam’s 'About what I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I’m sorry’.
Also, Sam says he wants to apologize to John, but it isn’t until Dean prompts him to continue when he says what’s he’s going to apologize for. This continues the trend of Sam giving general apologizes as part of his personal way of speaking. Which is good characterization wise, not so good in general about how he will apologize in the future.
Final Tally
This episode is always on the running as one of the worst of the whole series, and I wonder why, as there are worse to come. However, there is the fact that everything seems at odds with what we already know about the characters, especially Sam, right up until the very end when he realizes that he might have been unfair to John. Not that it’s bad that he comes to that realization, but in general, it feels as artificial as every parallel given in season 9. Dean goes from being very judgmental to being the voice of reason for no other apparent reason than the fact that he is Dean -no, seriously, at first his attitude towards Matt is wrong, judgmental even. But as the episode continues, it’s HIS original advice “respect your Dad” (which includes telling the truth, no matter how crazy it is) and “stick with your family” the one that Matt ultimately follows and the one that fixes the family’s issues.
This is also another thing that will become more prominent as the “show” and “tell” sides of the scripts end up at odds. We’re told that Sam is the smart brother, the one who is the moral compass (As we started with him stating obvious things like 'stealing is wrong’) but we’re SHOWN that Dean is the one who is ultimately right (Only to being told later, that no, Dean is always wrong). No wonder there are fights within the fandom, with such huge contradictions between script and end result.
(For the sake of logic I want to remind you, the 'times a brother has been caught in a lie’ refers to lies to EACH OTHER, not to VoW, or both brothers would already be scratching the first 20)
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 / 0
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 / 3
Times Dean forced Sam to do something : 0 / 0
Times Sam forced Dean to do something: 0 / 3
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 / 1
Times Dean has apologized with words to Sam: 1 / 1
Times Sam has apologized with words to Dean : 0 / 1
Times Dean has respected Sam’s boundaries and/or rules: 1 / 5
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 / 5
Times Dean has made fun of something Sam does or has: 0 / 4
Times Sam has made fun of something Dean does or has: 1 / 14
Times we focus on Dean’s needs: 0 / 0
Times we focus on Sam’s needs: 0 / 2
Arc episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 2
Filler episodes dedicated to Sam: 1 / 4
Arc episodes dedicated to Dean: 0 / 0
Filler episodes dedicated to Dean : 0 / 1
Arc episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none) : 0 / 1
Filler episodes dedicated to both brothers (or to none) : 0 / 0
Dean’s Dropped Plotlines : 0 / 1
Sam’s Dropped Plotlines : 0 / 1