The Great Supernatural Rewatch Project - Scarecrow
Aug 14, 2017 16:27:18 GMT -5
Mystique and onali like this
Post by luxshine on Aug 14, 2017 16:27:18 GMT -5
Rewatching Supernatural season 1 has been really illuminating as it’s interesting to find certain patterns that a lot of people swear that started in post Kirpke seasons are present here. And Scarecrow is a pretty important episode in general because it is the first episode of a recurring character that remained until season 8, the very first mention of the uber arc that lasted 5 seasons (Despite the change of direction in season 4), AND one of the very few instances where the brothers are separated for most of the episode (Seriously, I think we only have like, 4 episodes like this in the whole series)
With that said, lets run into the apple orchard and meet the ugly scarecrow.
General stuff
The cold opening is urban legend classic. Well, actually, it’s Stephen King’s classic if you have read his short stories like Rainy Season or You know they Have a Hell of a Band . Adorable, really warm couple helping a lost couple that leaves with a nice apple pie. The lost couple’s car breaks down in the middle of the road, so they go across a nice apple orchard to ask for help… only that they pass a scarecrow in a clearing among the trees.
And the scarecrow moves.
Man, I really love the cold openings from season 1.
Anyway, back to the Winchesters, who are exactly where we left them, namely, in a motel when Sam gets a call from John.
This call is interesting as it is the very first time we see Sam and John interact and in less than a minute, Sam is already questioning the whole thing. Yes, he does ask if John is hurt, and tells him that both he and Dean are worried for him, but the moment John tells him he can’t tell them where he is… Sam changes tone so Dean wakes up.
John asks for trust, and Sam realizes that John is looking for the thing that killed their Mother and Jess.
What do we get from this call is that both John and Sam are very revenge oriented, and that John loves Sam. Because despite the fact that John knows it’s not safe to talk to Sam, and that time is of essence… he takes a moment to tell Sam that he is sorry for what happened to Jess, and that he would have given anything to spare Sam from that pain.
Sam, however, is not having any of that. He wants to know where John is, and he wants to help catching the demon that killed Jess and Mary.
Dean takes the phone, and we don’t get to hear what John tells him, but it is probably “you are going to write these names”, since Dean gets a pen and starts writing, while Sam looks really, really angry at his brother.
Now, let’s do a small pause here and talk again about how the show’s narrative treats the brother’s differently because it is part of a very long argument that fandom has been having… well, since this episode originally aired.
We already know that the show’s narrative in this season revolves around Sam and his quest for revenge. It is the clear arc of the season together with “find Dad”. So of course, Sam is the one who gets to talk to Dad. It also goes hand in hand with the overarching theme of the series, the Family that may be broken but it’s always there to have each other’s back. John’s last words for Sam before this episode might have been “If you go through that door, don’t bother coming back”, but here, we see a loving father who is ACHING because his son had a horrible loss roughly six months ago, and he couldn’t protect him.
But he only asks once about Dean, his older son who has been at his side all his life, and who just three episodes ago had to relieve a trauma so big that he BEGGED for him to call him in a voice mail. The older son who just saw his mother’s ghost disappear. That son? Doesn’t get a “Dean, I’m sorry for what you had to go through”. That Son? Gets a “get a pen and write this”.
Which reinforces the theory that Sam is the hero, and Dean the afterthought. More importantly, it completely destroys the idea posited by Sam that John will always care more for Dean than what he cares for Sam.
After that bit of heartbreak, we go to the road. Interesting thing, Sam is driving for no real reason. This is the second time we see Sam driving, and the first time… it was kind of a big deal. This time, we get no reason. Well, there is a reason. The moment that Dean expresses admiration for the way in which John managed to track a monster through names of disappearances in Indiana, Sam stops the car, which would be impossible if they were in their usual places, with Dean at the wheel and Sam doing research. And we need the car stopping for a bit that will be a bit hard for everyone involved.
Anyway, the case is simple: A couple disappears every year, on the second week of April, in Indiana and John wants Sam and Dean to stop whatever it is before a new couple disappears.
Only that Sam is not having any of it. Sam wants to go to California to find John, and he doesn’t care at all if they’re in a deadline.
Let’s see the dialogue.
This is a horribly problematic conversation for Sam. Previously, we are told that we are in the second week of April. That a couple IS going to disappear in less than 7 days, and that it is necessary to save them. We have a very specific deadline on the job. And Sam… Sam wants to take exactly that same week to look for his father. Who is not in a specific deadline and who has explained that being together is dangerous if they want to get their revenge.
It is very similar to Wendigo, when Sam wanted to leave the two victims that were probably alive and the Wendigo hunting until someone else took care of the problem, because he wanted to find a lead on John. Only that this time, Dean is not having that. Dean reminds him clearly that going to Indiana is necessary to save lives.
And Sam doesn’t care. Which may make sense for the overall revenge arc, but contradicts horribly the informed trait that “Sam is emphatic and cares for the victims”.
It doesn’t get better from here since then Sam goes for the jugular, but we’re going to see that in Emotional Violence.
Instead of answering to a very clear attack from Sam (short version: Sam declares that Dean’s pain is nothing compared to his own), Dean tries to keep things logical, working on the information they both have on the demon and on the disappearing couples
Again, Sam seems to forget that in Skin he learned that Dean does question John, and actually has a lot of pent up anger to the fact that he didn’t get the chance to choose his own path. And yet, even when he did go under the belt with his own insults (again, check Emotional violence, but he basically weaponized Dean’s pain of losing Mary against his brother), Dean only defends himself from the attacks without insulting Sam.
Until Sam leaves the car, making it perfectly clear that no, he is not going to save that innocent couple in Indiana.
It is very interesting that even when Dean does call Sam names (selfish bastard), up until Sam starts walking away, Dean seems to think that Sam is not serious, that he is only letting out some steam (again, it is curious that Dean apparently thinks that getting his own pain thrown to his face is acceptable from his family), and he doesn’t try to leave until he realizes that yes, Sam is not coming back, and Sam is not going to help him save the people that is in danger.
It is also a very strange scene, when Dean tells Sam he will leave because that’s the kind of threat a parent gives a child in the middle of a tantrum. This, again, proves that Dean’s actions towards Sam are those of a parentified sibling, who sees Sam as someone who needs protection (the issue is not “we’re in the middle of nowhere”, the issue is “it’s the middle of the night”, for example) and Dean DOESN’T get back on the car UNTIL Sam smiles and tells him “That’s (leaving me) what I want you to do.”
In other words, Dean leaves Sam because SAM told him it was ok to leave.
See? Sam is still calling the shots, even when Dean disagrees with him.
And of course, this sets the tone since as I mentioned in the intro, we get the very first episode where the brothers are separated.
We follow Dean into the exact same town where our doomed intro couple was. He is not happy, but he immediately goes into hunter mode, using his classic rock aliases and looking for the last couple missing.
Sam, on the other hand, is hitchhicking and meets a blonde girl on the road. She doesn’t seem to trust him, and gets a ride with a truck driver that comes around. Sam seems a bit insulted that she trusts the trucker and not him, but lets her go.
Back to Dean, he finally gets a lead when the daughter of the couple that gave the doomed pair an apple pie remembers the guy’s tattoo. Interesting thing, five seconds before, the couple insisted they hadn’t seen the doomed pair, which of course makes them suspect #1 to us viewers.
Dean leaves town, looking for his missing couple when his amazing homemade EMF reader (yep, I miss that thing) starts beeping. Right in front of the Apple orchard where we last saw our doomed couple.
His steps take him to the ugly scarecrow, where something calls his attention. So he grabs a ladder to check, and realizes that the scarecrow has the missing guy’s tattoo. So now he knows that yes, people get killed, and he has to figure out what happened which means whatever it is, happened in the town.
While Dean is doing that, we move back to Sam, who is at a bus station trying to get a bus to California and meets again with the blonde from the road, who introduces herself as Meg. Since the next bus doesn’t leave until the next day, Meg convinces Sam to stay with her for the night.
Back on town, Dean realizes that the townspeople are not that friendly with him as a single person, but are really nice to a couple that is passing through. He realizes that the townspeople are “helping” the couple with the car and tries to make them leave before nightfall, and fails. Unfortunately, his attempts to help put him in the viewfinder of the sheriff who, literally, runs him out of town.
And we go back to romance hour between Meg and Sam where Meg is telling Sam that she left her family because they “loved her but didn’t care for what she wanted”.
Now, I am not going to go into what we already know about Meg in the sense of this being a rewatch, but as a small note, let’s consider what Meg tells Sam about herself.
The day before, Sam was telling Dean that there was absolutely no way that Dean knew how he felt given the time difference between Mary’s death and Jess’s death. This also reflects on Sam, he has never been able to understand Dean because he doesn’t believe Dean’s experiences are at all like his own. Despite the fact that they had the exact same troubled childhood due to having the same father. But here this girl comes, and tells him how her life is JUST like he believes his to be, and they connect immediately. There’s a rapport not because Sam puts himself in her shoes, but because she tells Sam exactly what Sam wants to hear regarding his own situation: that he is not a “Selfish bastard” for doing what he wants to do, rather than what his father wants him to do (never mind that what John wants him to do is save lives)
Back to the Ochard, it is night and yes, just as Dean feared, our new couple is being chased by something among the trees. Luckily for the couple, Dean is also there, and he manages to save them from the scarecrow using his shotgun. IT is here when Dean realizes that the scarecrow doesn’t leave the orchard, which means, the problem are the trees.
Finally, we get Dean and Sam talking. Now, we get the call media res, and we had a short scene of BOTH brothers thinking about calling the other. Which means, we really don’t know who called who. It could have been Dean to ask for help, or it could have been Sam to make sure his brother was still alive. BOTH possibilities are open.
Well, at least, both were open until they finish discussing the case, and thus… well, we will analyze the whole text in the apology section.
Anyway, the conversation ends with Dean, very clearly, telling Sam goodbye. Sam is free to do whatever he wants with his life, Dean won’t stop him.
Both Jared and Jensen act this scene beautifully. We really believe that maybe the brothers will be separated for good.
Dean goes to a professor in the University, and does find about a pagan good named the Vanir. Unfortunately, he didn’t count with the fact that apparently the sheriff and the professor are in cahoots and thus, ends up unconscious and tied up in a cellar with Emily, the only person friendly to him in town, to be the new sacrifice in exchange of the couple that Dean let go. Fortunately, he does know how to kill the scarecrow, the Vanir, by simply torching the sacred tree.
We get the reveal, by the way, that the whole town is on it, they all are sacrificing the couples for a better harvest and the greater good. Years later, Hot Fuzz will do something similar without pagan Chucks but with a lot more sacrifices.
Sam gets worried when Dean doesn’t answer his cell again –he hasn’t answered in three hours, he says, and that is not like Dean-, and decides that he has to go and find out what happened to Dean and help him. Meg tries to stop him, and becomes really angry when he doesn’t follow her to California, but lets him go anyway.
Now, I won’t complain at all that Sam decided to come back, but given that Dean’s goodbye message wasn’t a “I think I am going to get killed, so I am saying goodbye” but more a “hey, I get your life is yours to do whatever you want with it, so we’ll see each other at some point”, it IS strange that Sam hit the panic button after only three hours.
In any case, what is important to note is that Dean let Sam go , told him to do whatever he wanted to his life in a very positive note (I am proud of you, Sammy), and SAM choose to come back. It is important because it is very common to see the myth that “Dean forces Sam to stay at his side” repeated as if it was canon.
Sam arrives to save Dean and Emily, but they’re surrounded by the townspeople. Unfortunately for them, the scarecrow is pretty pissed at having his original meal interrupted, so instead of chasing Dean and Emily, picks Emily’s grandparents and disappears.
The next day, the brothers accompany Emily to burn the marked tree. Dean mentions that once they do so, the community will probably die (showing that he does worry for those innocents that had no idea their prosperity was due to human sacrifice), but Emily doesn’t care, thinking they all deserve it for what they did.
Up until here, the episode seems like a very MoTW focused on Dean, even as they take Emily to the bus station so she can go to Boston. Dean even offers to drop Sam somewhere if he wanted, but Sam tells him he’s staying because “Jess and Mom are gone, Dad is Chuck knows where, and you and I are the only ones left.” Beautiful, in a way, but again, establishes that SAM is the one that calls the shots on the relationship and puts the rules in place.
The episode ends showing that this was actually an ARC episode, focused on Sam, as we see Meg with yet another trucker. However, instead of being the innocent “want to live as myself” girl that she claimed to be, she kills the trucker, pours his blood on a demonic chalice, and contacts “her father” to ask why she had to let them go, if she could have taken Sam… or both, implying that she was there to keep an eye on Sam.
Violence
Thankfully, there’s no violence between the brothers on this episode. It was heavy enough as it was.
Emotional Violence
This is not a very good episode for those who claim Sam never, ever abuses Dean emotionally, as it doesn’t take less than 10 minutes for Sam to clearly state that Dean’s pain is nothing compared to his own.
Back in the pilot I mentioned how Sam had been very clear that he didn’t have any emotional tie to Mary as he didn’t remember her so he didn’t care at all for John’s quest for revenge. And how he used Mary specifically to hurt Dean and to force him to do what Dean wanted. Here, he is repeating the pattern, but, as Jess died (something that hadn’t happened the last time Sam weaponized Mary against Dean), now he makes it clear that HE is suffering more than Dean, because HIS loss, which is far more important, was closer in time to now.
Conveniently forgetting that less than a month ago, Dean saw Mary disintegrate herself to save Sam. Which, if we were to believe that time scales make a hurt more or less valid, makes Dean’s loss far more important than Sam’s loss… See how that doesn’t really work?. And Dean is not telling Sam that. Dean is telling Sam that he understands Sam wants to get his revenge… but that shouldn’t mean that they can leave two innocent people to die. Dean is trying to save people, be empathetic to his brother’s pain, and gets a metaphorical punch to the stomach for his troubles.
Even at the end, Sam not only still calls the shots on how their relationship is going to be, but he, between jokes, reminds Dean that he thinks he is “a pain in the ass”.
Secrets, Lies (and their consequences)
No secrets or lies of importance between the brothers here. Sure, Sam doesn’t tell Dean about Meg, but since Sam doesn’t know Meg is in the habit of killing truckers for satanic phonecalls, it is not really a “Secret”.
Speeches and Apologies
There’s something called a non apology, that I harp about a lot. When you say the words “Sorry” or something similar to them, but couch them in a way that makes it obvious that no, you are not really sorry. Or makes it so that you are apologizing for a completely different thing.
This is very important because after what I thought was a great scene that had left a possible apology very ambiguous, we have this bit of dialogue.
Let’s take this by small parts.
We start with something that, left alone and without context, could look really bad on Dean.
Here, we can get the impression that Dean is trying to force the words “I am sorry” just because he wants to ask for Sam’s help. And Sam is being really nice by admitting that he also had a part on the fight. If the scene ended there? Sam would be the one that apologized, and Dean the heel. HOWEVER, Dean continues talking, ignoring Sam’s interruption.
Now, Dean doesn’t say the words “I am sorry”, but says something even more important for Sam. He says “You were right” (Which implies, of course, that Dean was wrong. And given that Dean’s whole point was that they were supposed to save people? That’s pretty big). Not only that, but he keeps on by telling Sam that he admires him, and what everyone wants to hear from our parents: “ I am proud of you.”
So instead of an apology , Dean completely eats his words and tells Sam how damn proud he is of his younger brother, and his attitude, and his way of tackling life. THAT is an apology, even if the word sorry is never said.
And puts the ball back on Sam’s territory. What does Sam do?
Tells Dean goodbye.
Unlike Dean’s apology, that makes perfectly clear that Dean doesn’t think that Sam is selfish, and that he WANTS Sam to keep living the way he wants to live (Which, incidentally, marks the third time just this season that Dean pretty much tells Sam that he can stop hunting if he wants), Sam just said the perfunctory “I’m Sorry” and never took back the fact that he thinks that Dean mindlessly obeys John. Something that he said last episode, and that we know is always true. So really, Sam is just saying “I’m sorry” because it was part of the etiquette for the call, not because he’s actually apologizing to his brother for what happened (And thus, this is why Dean’s apology gets counted and Sam’s prefunctory “I’m sorry” doesn’t.)
Final Tally
This is a very strange episode. While the meat of the action is focused on Dean, and Sam’s scenes are apparently escapees from a romcom… the truth is that the Mytharc side of the episode is completely centered on Sam, while Dean’s scenes are a MotW that, in the end, has no real importance to the general story.
There’s also a lot of seeds for the future interactions with the brothers, specifically how Sam returns to Dean, not because Dean asked, but because “we’re all that’s left” (meaning, Sam can’t be without Dean, directly contradicting the fanon and Sam’s speech in season 9 that Dean must have Sam in his general vicinity at all times to function)
Other than that, as the count continues, it is very clear that Sam did not respect Dean’s feelings or boundaries since early season 1.
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: 1 / 5
Times Dean forced Sam to do something : 0 / 0
Times Sam forced Dean to do something: 1/ 5
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 / 2
Times Sam has apologized with words to Dean : 0 / 1
Times Dean has respected Sam’s boundaries and/or rules: 1 / 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 / 8
Times Dean has made fun of something Sam does or has: 0 / 4
Times Sam has made fun of something Dean does or has: 0 / 15
Times we focus on Dean’s needs: 0 / 0
Times we focus on Sam’s needs: 0 / 3
Arc episodes dedicated to Sam: 1 / 4
Filler episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 5
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
With that said, lets run into the apple orchard and meet the ugly scarecrow.
General stuff
The cold opening is urban legend classic. Well, actually, it’s Stephen King’s classic if you have read his short stories like Rainy Season or You know they Have a Hell of a Band . Adorable, really warm couple helping a lost couple that leaves with a nice apple pie. The lost couple’s car breaks down in the middle of the road, so they go across a nice apple orchard to ask for help… only that they pass a scarecrow in a clearing among the trees.
And the scarecrow moves.
Man, I really love the cold openings from season 1.
Anyway, back to the Winchesters, who are exactly where we left them, namely, in a motel when Sam gets a call from John.
This call is interesting as it is the very first time we see Sam and John interact and in less than a minute, Sam is already questioning the whole thing. Yes, he does ask if John is hurt, and tells him that both he and Dean are worried for him, but the moment John tells him he can’t tell them where he is… Sam changes tone so Dean wakes up.
John asks for trust, and Sam realizes that John is looking for the thing that killed their Mother and Jess.
What do we get from this call is that both John and Sam are very revenge oriented, and that John loves Sam. Because despite the fact that John knows it’s not safe to talk to Sam, and that time is of essence… he takes a moment to tell Sam that he is sorry for what happened to Jess, and that he would have given anything to spare Sam from that pain.
Sam, however, is not having any of that. He wants to know where John is, and he wants to help catching the demon that killed Jess and Mary.
Dean takes the phone, and we don’t get to hear what John tells him, but it is probably “you are going to write these names”, since Dean gets a pen and starts writing, while Sam looks really, really angry at his brother.
Now, let’s do a small pause here and talk again about how the show’s narrative treats the brother’s differently because it is part of a very long argument that fandom has been having… well, since this episode originally aired.
We already know that the show’s narrative in this season revolves around Sam and his quest for revenge. It is the clear arc of the season together with “find Dad”. So of course, Sam is the one who gets to talk to Dad. It also goes hand in hand with the overarching theme of the series, the Family that may be broken but it’s always there to have each other’s back. John’s last words for Sam before this episode might have been “If you go through that door, don’t bother coming back”, but here, we see a loving father who is ACHING because his son had a horrible loss roughly six months ago, and he couldn’t protect him.
But he only asks once about Dean, his older son who has been at his side all his life, and who just three episodes ago had to relieve a trauma so big that he BEGGED for him to call him in a voice mail. The older son who just saw his mother’s ghost disappear. That son? Doesn’t get a “Dean, I’m sorry for what you had to go through”. That Son? Gets a “get a pen and write this”.
Which reinforces the theory that Sam is the hero, and Dean the afterthought. More importantly, it completely destroys the idea posited by Sam that John will always care more for Dean than what he cares for Sam.
After that bit of heartbreak, we go to the road. Interesting thing, Sam is driving for no real reason. This is the second time we see Sam driving, and the first time… it was kind of a big deal. This time, we get no reason. Well, there is a reason. The moment that Dean expresses admiration for the way in which John managed to track a monster through names of disappearances in Indiana, Sam stops the car, which would be impossible if they were in their usual places, with Dean at the wheel and Sam doing research. And we need the car stopping for a bit that will be a bit hard for everyone involved.
Anyway, the case is simple: A couple disappears every year, on the second week of April, in Indiana and John wants Sam and Dean to stop whatever it is before a new couple disappears.
Only that Sam is not having any of it. Sam wants to go to California to find John, and he doesn’t care at all if they’re in a deadline.
Let’s see the dialogue.
SAM: We’re not going to Indiana.
DEAN: We’re not?
SAM: No. We’re going to California. Dad called from a payphone. Sacramento area code.
DEAN: Sam.
SAM: Dean, if this demon killed Mom and Jess, and Dad’s closing in, we’ve gotta be there. We’ve gotta help.
DEAN: Dad doesn’t want our help.
SAM: I don’t care.
DEAN: He’s given us an order.
SAM: (firmly) I don’t care. We don’t always have to do what he says.
DEAN: Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it’s important.
SAM: Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I’m talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge.
DEAN: We’re not?
SAM: No. We’re going to California. Dad called from a payphone. Sacramento area code.
DEAN: Sam.
SAM: Dean, if this demon killed Mom and Jess, and Dad’s closing in, we’ve gotta be there. We’ve gotta help.
DEAN: Dad doesn’t want our help.
SAM: I don’t care.
DEAN: He’s given us an order.
SAM: (firmly) I don’t care. We don’t always have to do what he says.
DEAN: Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it’s important.
SAM: Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I’m talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge.
This is a horribly problematic conversation for Sam. Previously, we are told that we are in the second week of April. That a couple IS going to disappear in less than 7 days, and that it is necessary to save them. We have a very specific deadline on the job. And Sam… Sam wants to take exactly that same week to look for his father. Who is not in a specific deadline and who has explained that being together is dangerous if they want to get their revenge.
It is very similar to Wendigo, when Sam wanted to leave the two victims that were probably alive and the Wendigo hunting until someone else took care of the problem, because he wanted to find a lead on John. Only that this time, Dean is not having that. Dean reminds him clearly that going to Indiana is necessary to save lives.
And Sam doesn’t care. Which may make sense for the overall revenge arc, but contradicts horribly the informed trait that “Sam is emphatic and cares for the victims”.
It doesn’t get better from here since then Sam goes for the jugular, but we’re going to see that in Emotional Violence.
Instead of answering to a very clear attack from Sam (short version: Sam declares that Dean’s pain is nothing compared to his own), Dean tries to keep things logical, working on the information they both have on the demon and on the disappearing couples
DEAN: Dad said it wasn’t safe. For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don’t, so if he says to stay away, we stay away.
SAM: I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it’s like you don’t even question him.
DEAN: Yeah, it’s called being a good son!
SAM: I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it’s like you don’t even question him.
DEAN: Yeah, it’s called being a good son!
Again, Sam seems to forget that in Skin he learned that Dean does question John, and actually has a lot of pent up anger to the fact that he didn’t get the chance to choose his own path. And yet, even when he did go under the belt with his own insults (again, check Emotional violence, but he basically weaponized Dean’s pain of losing Mary against his brother), Dean only defends himself from the attacks without insulting Sam.
Until Sam leaves the car, making it perfectly clear that no, he is not going to save that innocent couple in Indiana.
(SAM, angry, gets out of the car. DEAN also gets out and watches SAM unloading things from the trunk.) You’re a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don’t care what anybody thinks.
SAM: That’s what you really think?
DEAN: Yes, it is.
SAM: Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California. (He puts on his backpack and starts walking away.)
DEAN: Come on, you’re not serious.
SAM: I am serious.
DEAN: It’s the middle of the night! Hey, I’m taking off, I will leave your ass, you hear me? (SAM stops walking and turns around.)
SAM: That’s what I want you to do. (They stare at each other for a few seconds, waiting.)
DEAN: Goodbye, Sam. (He closes the trunk, gets in the car, and drives away. SAM watches him leave, then starts walking away.)
SAM: That’s what you really think?
DEAN: Yes, it is.
SAM: Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California. (He puts on his backpack and starts walking away.)
DEAN: Come on, you’re not serious.
SAM: I am serious.
DEAN: It’s the middle of the night! Hey, I’m taking off, I will leave your ass, you hear me? (SAM stops walking and turns around.)
SAM: That’s what I want you to do. (They stare at each other for a few seconds, waiting.)
DEAN: Goodbye, Sam. (He closes the trunk, gets in the car, and drives away. SAM watches him leave, then starts walking away.)
It is very interesting that even when Dean does call Sam names (selfish bastard), up until Sam starts walking away, Dean seems to think that Sam is not serious, that he is only letting out some steam (again, it is curious that Dean apparently thinks that getting his own pain thrown to his face is acceptable from his family), and he doesn’t try to leave until he realizes that yes, Sam is not coming back, and Sam is not going to help him save the people that is in danger.
It is also a very strange scene, when Dean tells Sam he will leave because that’s the kind of threat a parent gives a child in the middle of a tantrum. This, again, proves that Dean’s actions towards Sam are those of a parentified sibling, who sees Sam as someone who needs protection (the issue is not “we’re in the middle of nowhere”, the issue is “it’s the middle of the night”, for example) and Dean DOESN’T get back on the car UNTIL Sam smiles and tells him “That’s (leaving me) what I want you to do.”
In other words, Dean leaves Sam because SAM told him it was ok to leave.
See? Sam is still calling the shots, even when Dean disagrees with him.
And of course, this sets the tone since as I mentioned in the intro, we get the very first episode where the brothers are separated.
We follow Dean into the exact same town where our doomed intro couple was. He is not happy, but he immediately goes into hunter mode, using his classic rock aliases and looking for the last couple missing.
Sam, on the other hand, is hitchhicking and meets a blonde girl on the road. She doesn’t seem to trust him, and gets a ride with a truck driver that comes around. Sam seems a bit insulted that she trusts the trucker and not him, but lets her go.
Back to Dean, he finally gets a lead when the daughter of the couple that gave the doomed pair an apple pie remembers the guy’s tattoo. Interesting thing, five seconds before, the couple insisted they hadn’t seen the doomed pair, which of course makes them suspect #1 to us viewers.
Dean leaves town, looking for his missing couple when his amazing homemade EMF reader (yep, I miss that thing) starts beeping. Right in front of the Apple orchard where we last saw our doomed couple.
His steps take him to the ugly scarecrow, where something calls his attention. So he grabs a ladder to check, and realizes that the scarecrow has the missing guy’s tattoo. So now he knows that yes, people get killed, and he has to figure out what happened which means whatever it is, happened in the town.
While Dean is doing that, we move back to Sam, who is at a bus station trying to get a bus to California and meets again with the blonde from the road, who introduces herself as Meg. Since the next bus doesn’t leave until the next day, Meg convinces Sam to stay with her for the night.
Back on town, Dean realizes that the townspeople are not that friendly with him as a single person, but are really nice to a couple that is passing through. He realizes that the townspeople are “helping” the couple with the car and tries to make them leave before nightfall, and fails. Unfortunately, his attempts to help put him in the viewfinder of the sheriff who, literally, runs him out of town.
And we go back to romance hour between Meg and Sam where Meg is telling Sam that she left her family because they “loved her but didn’t care for what she wanted”.
Now, I am not going to go into what we already know about Meg in the sense of this being a rewatch, but as a small note, let’s consider what Meg tells Sam about herself.
MEG: I love my parents. And they wanted what’s best for me. They just didn’t care if I wanted it. I was supposed to be smart. But not smart enough to scare away a husband. (SAM smiles.) It’s just…because my family said so, I was supposed to sit there and do what I was told. So I just went on my own way instead. (SAM stares at her.) I’m sorry. The things you say to people you hardly know.
SAM: No, no, it’s okay. I know how you feel. Remember that brother I mentioned before, that I was road-tripping with? (MEG nods.) It’s, uh, it’s kind of the same deal.
MEG: And that’s why you’re not riding with him anymore? (SAM shakes his head. MEG raises her beer bottle.) Here’s to us. The food might be bad, and the beds might be hard. But at least we’re living our own lives. And nobody else’s. (SAM taps his bottle against hers and they both drink.)
SAM: No, no, it’s okay. I know how you feel. Remember that brother I mentioned before, that I was road-tripping with? (MEG nods.) It’s, uh, it’s kind of the same deal.
MEG: And that’s why you’re not riding with him anymore? (SAM shakes his head. MEG raises her beer bottle.) Here’s to us. The food might be bad, and the beds might be hard. But at least we’re living our own lives. And nobody else’s. (SAM taps his bottle against hers and they both drink.)
The day before, Sam was telling Dean that there was absolutely no way that Dean knew how he felt given the time difference between Mary’s death and Jess’s death. This also reflects on Sam, he has never been able to understand Dean because he doesn’t believe Dean’s experiences are at all like his own. Despite the fact that they had the exact same troubled childhood due to having the same father. But here this girl comes, and tells him how her life is JUST like he believes his to be, and they connect immediately. There’s a rapport not because Sam puts himself in her shoes, but because she tells Sam exactly what Sam wants to hear regarding his own situation: that he is not a “Selfish bastard” for doing what he wants to do, rather than what his father wants him to do (never mind that what John wants him to do is save lives)
Back to the Ochard, it is night and yes, just as Dean feared, our new couple is being chased by something among the trees. Luckily for the couple, Dean is also there, and he manages to save them from the scarecrow using his shotgun. IT is here when Dean realizes that the scarecrow doesn’t leave the orchard, which means, the problem are the trees.
Finally, we get Dean and Sam talking. Now, we get the call media res, and we had a short scene of BOTH brothers thinking about calling the other. Which means, we really don’t know who called who. It could have been Dean to ask for help, or it could have been Sam to make sure his brother was still alive. BOTH possibilities are open.
Well, at least, both were open until they finish discussing the case, and thus… well, we will analyze the whole text in the apology section.
Anyway, the conversation ends with Dean, very clearly, telling Sam goodbye. Sam is free to do whatever he wants with his life, Dean won’t stop him.
Both Jared and Jensen act this scene beautifully. We really believe that maybe the brothers will be separated for good.
Dean goes to a professor in the University, and does find about a pagan good named the Vanir. Unfortunately, he didn’t count with the fact that apparently the sheriff and the professor are in cahoots and thus, ends up unconscious and tied up in a cellar with Emily, the only person friendly to him in town, to be the new sacrifice in exchange of the couple that Dean let go. Fortunately, he does know how to kill the scarecrow, the Vanir, by simply torching the sacred tree.
We get the reveal, by the way, that the whole town is on it, they all are sacrificing the couples for a better harvest and the greater good. Years later, Hot Fuzz will do something similar without pagan Chucks but with a lot more sacrifices.
Sam gets worried when Dean doesn’t answer his cell again –he hasn’t answered in three hours, he says, and that is not like Dean-, and decides that he has to go and find out what happened to Dean and help him. Meg tries to stop him, and becomes really angry when he doesn’t follow her to California, but lets him go anyway.
Now, I won’t complain at all that Sam decided to come back, but given that Dean’s goodbye message wasn’t a “I think I am going to get killed, so I am saying goodbye” but more a “hey, I get your life is yours to do whatever you want with it, so we’ll see each other at some point”, it IS strange that Sam hit the panic button after only three hours.
In any case, what is important to note is that Dean let Sam go , told him to do whatever he wanted to his life in a very positive note (I am proud of you, Sammy), and SAM choose to come back. It is important because it is very common to see the myth that “Dean forces Sam to stay at his side” repeated as if it was canon.
Sam arrives to save Dean and Emily, but they’re surrounded by the townspeople. Unfortunately for them, the scarecrow is pretty pissed at having his original meal interrupted, so instead of chasing Dean and Emily, picks Emily’s grandparents and disappears.
The next day, the brothers accompany Emily to burn the marked tree. Dean mentions that once they do so, the community will probably die (showing that he does worry for those innocents that had no idea their prosperity was due to human sacrifice), but Emily doesn’t care, thinking they all deserve it for what they did.
Up until here, the episode seems like a very MoTW focused on Dean, even as they take Emily to the bus station so she can go to Boston. Dean even offers to drop Sam somewhere if he wanted, but Sam tells him he’s staying because “Jess and Mom are gone, Dad is Chuck knows where, and you and I are the only ones left.” Beautiful, in a way, but again, establishes that SAM is the one that calls the shots on the relationship and puts the rules in place.
The episode ends showing that this was actually an ARC episode, focused on Sam, as we see Meg with yet another trucker. However, instead of being the innocent “want to live as myself” girl that she claimed to be, she kills the trucker, pours his blood on a demonic chalice, and contacts “her father” to ask why she had to let them go, if she could have taken Sam… or both, implying that she was there to keep an eye on Sam.
Violence
Thankfully, there’s no violence between the brothers on this episode. It was heavy enough as it was.
Emotional Violence
This is not a very good episode for those who claim Sam never, ever abuses Dean emotionally, as it doesn’t take less than 10 minutes for Sam to clearly state that Dean’s pain is nothing compared to his own.
DEAN: Alright, look, I know how you feel.
SAM: Do you? (DEAN seems shocked at SAM’s tone.) How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?
SAM: Do you? (DEAN seems shocked at SAM’s tone.) How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?
Back in the pilot I mentioned how Sam had been very clear that he didn’t have any emotional tie to Mary as he didn’t remember her so he didn’t care at all for John’s quest for revenge. And how he used Mary specifically to hurt Dean and to force him to do what Dean wanted. Here, he is repeating the pattern, but, as Jess died (something that hadn’t happened the last time Sam weaponized Mary against Dean), now he makes it clear that HE is suffering more than Dean, because HIS loss, which is far more important, was closer in time to now.
Conveniently forgetting that less than a month ago, Dean saw Mary disintegrate herself to save Sam. Which, if we were to believe that time scales make a hurt more or less valid, makes Dean’s loss far more important than Sam’s loss… See how that doesn’t really work?. And Dean is not telling Sam that. Dean is telling Sam that he understands Sam wants to get his revenge… but that shouldn’t mean that they can leave two innocent people to die. Dean is trying to save people, be empathetic to his brother’s pain, and gets a metaphorical punch to the stomach for his troubles.
Even at the end, Sam not only still calls the shots on how their relationship is going to be, but he, between jokes, reminds Dean that he thinks he is “a pain in the ass”.
Secrets, Lies (and their consequences)
No secrets or lies of importance between the brothers here. Sure, Sam doesn’t tell Dean about Meg, but since Sam doesn’t know Meg is in the habit of killing truckers for satanic phonecalls, it is not really a “Secret”.
Speeches and Apologies
There’s something called a non apology, that I harp about a lot. When you say the words “Sorry” or something similar to them, but couch them in a way that makes it obvious that no, you are not really sorry. Or makes it so that you are apologizing for a completely different thing.
This is very important because after what I thought was a great scene that had left a possible apology very ambiguous, we have this bit of dialogue.
DEAN: I know. I’m actually on my way to a local community college. I’ve got an appointment with a professor. You know, since I don’t have my trusty sidekick geek boy to do all the research. (SAM laughs.)
SAM: You know, if you’re hinting you need my help, just ask.
DEAN: I’m not hinting anything. Actually, uh—I want you to know….I mean, don’t think….
SAM: Yeah. I’m sorry, too.
DEAN: Sam. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life.
SAM: Are you serious?
DEAN: You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I—anyway….I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy.
SAM: I don’t even know what to say.
DEAN: Say you’ll take care of yourself.
SAM: I will.
DEAN: Call me when you find Dad.
SAM: (sadly) OK. Bye, Dean. (They hang up. MEG wakes up and moves next to SAM.)
SAM: You know, if you’re hinting you need my help, just ask.
DEAN: I’m not hinting anything. Actually, uh—I want you to know….I mean, don’t think….
SAM: Yeah. I’m sorry, too.
DEAN: Sam. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life.
SAM: Are you serious?
DEAN: You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I—anyway….I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy.
SAM: I don’t even know what to say.
DEAN: Say you’ll take care of yourself.
SAM: I will.
DEAN: Call me when you find Dad.
SAM: (sadly) OK. Bye, Dean. (They hang up. MEG wakes up and moves next to SAM.)
Let’s take this by small parts.
We start with something that, left alone and without context, could look really bad on Dean.
DEAN: I know. I’m actually on my way to a local community college. I’ve got an appointment with a professor. You know, since I don’t have my trusty sidekick geek boy to do all the research. (SAM laughs.)
SAM: You know, if you’re hinting you need my help, just ask.
DEAN: I’m not hinting anything. Actually, uh—I want you to know….I mean, don’t think….
SAM: Yeah. I’m sorry, too.
SAM: You know, if you’re hinting you need my help, just ask.
DEAN: I’m not hinting anything. Actually, uh—I want you to know….I mean, don’t think….
SAM: Yeah. I’m sorry, too.
Here, we can get the impression that Dean is trying to force the words “I am sorry” just because he wants to ask for Sam’s help. And Sam is being really nice by admitting that he also had a part on the fight. If the scene ended there? Sam would be the one that apologized, and Dean the heel. HOWEVER, Dean continues talking, ignoring Sam’s interruption.
DEAN: Sam. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life.
SAM: Are you serious?
DEAN: You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I—anyway….I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy.
SAM: Are you serious?
DEAN: You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I—anyway….I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy.
Now, Dean doesn’t say the words “I am sorry”, but says something even more important for Sam. He says “You were right” (Which implies, of course, that Dean was wrong. And given that Dean’s whole point was that they were supposed to save people? That’s pretty big). Not only that, but he keeps on by telling Sam that he admires him, and what everyone wants to hear from our parents: “ I am proud of you.”
So instead of an apology , Dean completely eats his words and tells Sam how damn proud he is of his younger brother, and his attitude, and his way of tackling life. THAT is an apology, even if the word sorry is never said.
And puts the ball back on Sam’s territory. What does Sam do?
SAM: I don’t even know what to say.
DEAN: Say you’ll take care of yourself.
SAM: I will.
DEAN: Call me when you find Dad.
SAM: (sadly) OK. Bye, Dean.
DEAN: Say you’ll take care of yourself.
SAM: I will.
DEAN: Call me when you find Dad.
SAM: (sadly) OK. Bye, Dean.
Tells Dean goodbye.
Unlike Dean’s apology, that makes perfectly clear that Dean doesn’t think that Sam is selfish, and that he WANTS Sam to keep living the way he wants to live (Which, incidentally, marks the third time just this season that Dean pretty much tells Sam that he can stop hunting if he wants), Sam just said the perfunctory “I’m Sorry” and never took back the fact that he thinks that Dean mindlessly obeys John. Something that he said last episode, and that we know is always true. So really, Sam is just saying “I’m sorry” because it was part of the etiquette for the call, not because he’s actually apologizing to his brother for what happened (And thus, this is why Dean’s apology gets counted and Sam’s prefunctory “I’m sorry” doesn’t.)
Final Tally
This is a very strange episode. While the meat of the action is focused on Dean, and Sam’s scenes are apparently escapees from a romcom… the truth is that the Mytharc side of the episode is completely centered on Sam, while Dean’s scenes are a MotW that, in the end, has no real importance to the general story.
There’s also a lot of seeds for the future interactions with the brothers, specifically how Sam returns to Dean, not because Dean asked, but because “we’re all that’s left” (meaning, Sam can’t be without Dean, directly contradicting the fanon and Sam’s speech in season 9 that Dean must have Sam in his general vicinity at all times to function)
Other than that, as the count continues, it is very clear that Sam did not respect Dean’s feelings or boundaries since early season 1.
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: 1 / 5
Times Dean forced Sam to do something : 0 / 0
Times Sam forced Dean to do something: 1/ 5
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 / 2
Times Sam has apologized with words to Dean : 0 / 1
Times Dean has respected Sam’s boundaries and/or rules: 1 / 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 / 8
Times Dean has made fun of something Sam does or has: 0 / 4
Times Sam has made fun of something Dean does or has: 0 / 15
Times we focus on Dean’s needs: 0 / 0
Times we focus on Sam’s needs: 0 / 3
Arc episodes dedicated to Sam: 1 / 4
Filler episodes dedicated to Sam: 0 / 5
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