Things I Love About SPN Season 1: Phantom Traveler (Part 3)
Continued from Part 2
Sam and Dean conclude that the demon is going after the survivors of United Brittania Airlines flight 2485 and trying to finish the job. Once they’ve contacted all the others and established none of them have plans to fly, they’re left with flight attendant Amanda who is due to return to work and has turned her phone off, so they hightail it to the airport to try to head her off. At this point there is a scene that was deleted from the aired episode where we see the car squealing into the carpark. Dean jumps out and starts heading inside the terminal but is detained by Sam who reminds him that they’re about to enter an airport. So Dean reluctantly unloads his concealed weapons into the trunk before they proceed. I don’t know why this scene was deleted. Perhaps it was time constraints, it was deemed unnecessary, or perhaps the showrunners decided it was a little on the nose, but it seems significant that, in an episode with a thematic subtext about terrorism, Dean is shown about to enter an airport carrying a gun.
Inside the Airport, Dean uses the internal courtesy phone to contact Amanda, claiming to be Dr James Hetfield from St Francis Memorial Hospital. (That name will be familiar to Metallica fans. Am I right in thinking this is the first time we see Dean using a rock alias?)
While he’s on the phone, we get a cute little moment of fraternal rivalry where Sam circles Dean desperate to get in on the action and listen to the call while Dean subtly but resolutely keeps his back turned, preventing Sam’s inclusion. It’s very reminiscent of the scene in the pilot where the brothers vied for the attention of the victim’s girlfriend while she was putting up missing posters.
I’d like to thank Casey28 for enabling the following gif. A full set of three may be viewed on her journal.
Gif credit let-me-be-your-home via https://casey28.livejournal.com/1687935.html
I’d also like to thank Casey for her observation, “it looks like Sam is orbiting around planet Dean”, which I found delightful :)
Dean tries to persuade Amanda that her sister has been in an accident but, unfortunately for him, it turns out she’s only just spoken to her sister, so he’s forced into some fancy footwork. “Is this one of Vince’s friends?” Amanda demands. Ever adaptable, Dean decides to run with it, and we watch him making up BS on the fly.
But despite his resourcefulness, he is ultimately unable to prevent Amanda from boarding her flight, and we see her pass through the check-in gate.
Yeah. That’s not ominous at all.
Sam decides their only option left is to get on the plane. And then we get the big character reveal . . .
Really? This whole episode is just a big explainer for why Dean drives everywhere?
I thought it was just because he’s cheap and credit card fraud ain’t easy! :D
Then we get this conversation which, I think, beautifully illustrates the different motivations of the two brothers:
SAM
All right. Uh, I'll go.
DEAN
What?
SAM
I'll do this one on my own.
DEAN
What are you, nuts? You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash.
SAM
Dean, we can do it together, or I can do this one by myself. I'm not seeing a third option, here.
DEAN
Come on! Really? Man...
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.04_Phantom_Traveler_(transcript)
It’s obvious Dean can see a third choice: let the freaking plane crash! But it’s not a consideration for Sam so, rather than abandon his brother, Dean man’s up and gets on the plane. And here we see the primary motivations that, at least on the surface, motivate the two brothers. Sam is the big picture person: faced with an immediate threat to the lives of 100 passengers, letting the plane crash is not an option for him. Dean, on the other hand, is all about family and, especially, protecting Sam. Letting Sam risk his life alone is not an option for him.
As the plane takes off, Dean is clearly terrified.
And typical younger brother Sam is thoroughly enjoying discovering this chink in his older brother’s armour.
Dimples!
Apparently, Jensen was gripping the armrests so hard his knuckles were white here, and Bob Singer lost a directing brownie point with him for not showing it! :D
The brothers begin to plan how to track down the demon and we learn some interesting things about possession that, unfortunately, were never developed in later episodes. Firstly, Dean reveals that it usually happens to someone with a weakness the demon can exploit, like emotional distress or addiction. Sam speculates that Amanda is a likely target since this is her first flight since the crash so she’s likely to be stressed out. Dean moves to check out the theory with holy water, but Sam suggests a more subtle test:
He proceeds to mansplain to Dean that he should say it in Latin and that, in Latin, it’s Christo, and we get another lovely example of SPN making exposition natural by turning it into a character moment:
Dean finds Amanda and manages to draw her out on her fear of flying, but it turns out she’s “the most well-adjusted person on the planet”. Although she admits to being a nervous flyer, she points out that everyone’s afraid of something and she’s decided not to let her own fears hold her back. Good advice, generally, and perhaps specifically in the post 9/11 climate of fear.
It’s an interesting shot, though. Maybe it’s an accident that her eyes look demon-black in this scene, or maybe show is deliberately creating ambiguity and playing on the idea that she may be possessed.
Nothing. No flinching demon, just a confused flight attendant. And, just like that, we are assured that Amanda is demon free.
That was easy.
Now let’s never use that trick again.
Dean reports back to Sam then the plane starts shaking and he has a minor meltdown. Sam tries to calmly talk him down at first, but then he has to get tough:
DEAN
Come on! That can't be normal!
SAM
Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence.
DEAN
Sam, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I'm friggin' four.
SAM
You need to calm down.
DEAN
Well, I'm sorry I can't.
SAM
Yes, you can.
DEAN
Dude, stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap, it's not helping.
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.04_Phantom_Traveler_(transcript)
Notice how Sam’s ready to take charge the moment Dean shows some vulnerability. This also fits well with the idea that Sam and Dean represent the mind and body of the same person: panic is a physiological response to fear that can be mentally controlled with some well applied self-talk. Sam and Dean are dramatizing a textbook case of mind over matter.
Sam has found a suitable excorcism, the Rituale Romanum. Yes, it’s a real thing, and the full text does include an excorcism. Kudos for authenticity, show. But first they have to find the demon, so Dean checks out the passengers and the earlier conversation about the home-made EMF metre comes into its own. Since it just looks like a beat-up old Walkman, it raises a few eyebrows but no security alarms.
The monitor shows no readings until the co-pilot comes out of the toilet, then it lights up like Christmas. Dean Cristos the guy and his eyes go black, so then our boys have to do some fast talking to get Amanda to help them.
Now, in fairness, I don’t think this struck me the first time I watched the episode but on subsequent re-watches I found elements in the exorcism scene that didn’t make a lot of sense. Specifically, this:
When Sam and Dean pour holy water on the co-pilot, it has a corrosive reaction.
And Amanda’s response is . . .
Now, I don’t know about you, but if I saw someone pouring some liquid on a guy (she doesn’t know it’s holy water) and it had that reaction. I wouldn’t be asking what was wrong with him. I’d be: “oh my God! Why are you pouring acid on the co-pilot!”
Maybe it’s a directorial/editing problem and what was needed was a shot, POV Amanda, of the demon’s eyes turning black just before she says this, so her comment and subsequent actions would make more sense, but we didn’t get it. According to the J2 commentary, this scene was shot a couple of months after the rest of the episode, so maybe that explains why it doesn’t track so well.
Another tidbit we get from the commentary is that Jared was coached in ancient Latin for this scene. Jared did basic Latin at school, but the ritual was apparently written in a particular archaic form and they hired a specialist to get the pronunciation right. So, more points for authenticity.
And then, finally, we get the moment that explicitly connects the demon to the season story arc:
Sam freaks momentarily but pulls it together enough to keep reading, expelling the demon, which proceeds to escape into the plane causing it to nose-dive. Then it’s Dean’s turn to freak!
Is it my imagination, or is his hair standing on end more than usual here? o_O
But, all’s well that ends well; Sam sends the demon back to Hell, the plane lands safely, and the boys get a ‘thank you’ from the girl. But before they move out, Sam brings up the subject of the demon’s revelation about Jess, and Dean assures him it means nothing: “Sam, these things, they, they read minds. They lie. All right? That's all it was.” Thus establishing the lore that will become a recurring mantra in the show: demons lie.
In the final scene Jerry thanks the boys for their help and we learn that he got Dean’s number from John, or more accurately from a voicemail message set up so recently the brothers weren’t aware of it, and the episode ends with them listening to the message.
The scene contrasts beautifully with the earlier phone conversation where Dean was blocking Sam’s efforts to hear the call. This time he deliberately leans over so they can both listen to the message.
And over all the jaw clenching we hear the haunting refrain of “Tears in Their Beers”.
So, after the introduction of the soldier theme in the previous episode, and now employing the demon theme in this one as a political allegory for the War on Terror, the show has set the stage for its central moral agenda for the next five seasons: an examination of the long term effects on a culture and its people of living in a psychological state of warfare. It does this through a critique of the hero myth - a story that has been used for centuries as a propaganda tool to persuade young men to go to war and sacrifice their lives for ‘the greater good’, on the promise of reward, renoun and immortality - and through a close observation of two brave and valiant young men who believe in it. Over the coming seasons we will see the effects of that belief, and watch as the pursuit of revenge for an original violent act gradually corrupts their values, damages them as people, and destroys their own lives and those of the people closest to them. As Dean would put it: we see what evil does to good people.
And that’s why I loved the show so much in its early seasons. It was so much more than just an action adventure and a piece of frivolous entertainment. It was doing something that the horror/sci-fi/fantasy genre at its best has traditionally always done, and that is to use its metaphorical underpinning as a means of examining important real-life issues, and critiquing the social and political milieu of its day.
Because it was the little show that could.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed my analysis of this pivotal episode. As always, I welcome your comments, and I look forward to hearing what y’all think.
.
Sam and Dean conclude that the demon is going after the survivors of United Brittania Airlines flight 2485 and trying to finish the job. Once they’ve contacted all the others and established none of them have plans to fly, they’re left with flight attendant Amanda who is due to return to work and has turned her phone off, so they hightail it to the airport to try to head her off. At this point there is a scene that was deleted from the aired episode where we see the car squealing into the carpark. Dean jumps out and starts heading inside the terminal but is detained by Sam who reminds him that they’re about to enter an airport. So Dean reluctantly unloads his concealed weapons into the trunk before they proceed. I don’t know why this scene was deleted. Perhaps it was time constraints, it was deemed unnecessary, or perhaps the showrunners decided it was a little on the nose, but it seems significant that, in an episode with a thematic subtext about terrorism, Dean is shown about to enter an airport carrying a gun.
Inside the Airport, Dean uses the internal courtesy phone to contact Amanda, claiming to be Dr James Hetfield from St Francis Memorial Hospital. (That name will be familiar to Metallica fans. Am I right in thinking this is the first time we see Dean using a rock alias?)
While he’s on the phone, we get a cute little moment of fraternal rivalry where Sam circles Dean desperate to get in on the action and listen to the call while Dean subtly but resolutely keeps his back turned, preventing Sam’s inclusion. It’s very reminiscent of the scene in the pilot where the brothers vied for the attention of the victim’s girlfriend while she was putting up missing posters.
I’d like to thank Casey28 for enabling the following gif. A full set of three may be viewed on her journal.
Gif credit let-me-be-your-home via https://casey28.livejournal.com/1687935.html
I’d also like to thank Casey for her observation, “it looks like Sam is orbiting around planet Dean”, which I found delightful :)
Dean tries to persuade Amanda that her sister has been in an accident but, unfortunately for him, it turns out she’s only just spoken to her sister, so he’s forced into some fancy footwork. “Is this one of Vince’s friends?” Amanda demands. Ever adaptable, Dean decides to run with it, and we watch him making up BS on the fly.
But despite his resourcefulness, he is ultimately unable to prevent Amanda from boarding her flight, and we see her pass through the check-in gate.
Yeah. That’s not ominous at all.
Sam decides their only option left is to get on the plane. And then we get the big character reveal . . .
Really? This whole episode is just a big explainer for why Dean drives everywhere?
I thought it was just because he’s cheap and credit card fraud ain’t easy! :D
Then we get this conversation which, I think, beautifully illustrates the different motivations of the two brothers:
SAM
All right. Uh, I'll go.
DEAN
What?
SAM
I'll do this one on my own.
DEAN
What are you, nuts? You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash.
SAM
Dean, we can do it together, or I can do this one by myself. I'm not seeing a third option, here.
DEAN
Come on! Really? Man...
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.04_Phantom_Traveler_(transcript)
It’s obvious Dean can see a third choice: let the freaking plane crash! But it’s not a consideration for Sam so, rather than abandon his brother, Dean man’s up and gets on the plane. And here we see the primary motivations that, at least on the surface, motivate the two brothers. Sam is the big picture person: faced with an immediate threat to the lives of 100 passengers, letting the plane crash is not an option for him. Dean, on the other hand, is all about family and, especially, protecting Sam. Letting Sam risk his life alone is not an option for him.
As the plane takes off, Dean is clearly terrified.
And typical younger brother Sam is thoroughly enjoying discovering this chink in his older brother’s armour.
Dimples!
Apparently, Jensen was gripping the armrests so hard his knuckles were white here, and Bob Singer lost a directing brownie point with him for not showing it! :D
The brothers begin to plan how to track down the demon and we learn some interesting things about possession that, unfortunately, were never developed in later episodes. Firstly, Dean reveals that it usually happens to someone with a weakness the demon can exploit, like emotional distress or addiction. Sam speculates that Amanda is a likely target since this is her first flight since the crash so she’s likely to be stressed out. Dean moves to check out the theory with holy water, but Sam suggests a more subtle test:
He proceeds to mansplain to Dean that he should say it in Latin and that, in Latin, it’s Christo, and we get another lovely example of SPN making exposition natural by turning it into a character moment:
Dean finds Amanda and manages to draw her out on her fear of flying, but it turns out she’s “the most well-adjusted person on the planet”. Although she admits to being a nervous flyer, she points out that everyone’s afraid of something and she’s decided not to let her own fears hold her back. Good advice, generally, and perhaps specifically in the post 9/11 climate of fear.
It’s an interesting shot, though. Maybe it’s an accident that her eyes look demon-black in this scene, or maybe show is deliberately creating ambiguity and playing on the idea that she may be possessed.
Nothing. No flinching demon, just a confused flight attendant. And, just like that, we are assured that Amanda is demon free.
That was easy.
Now let’s never use that trick again.
Dean reports back to Sam then the plane starts shaking and he has a minor meltdown. Sam tries to calmly talk him down at first, but then he has to get tough:
DEAN
Come on! That can't be normal!
SAM
Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence.
DEAN
Sam, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I'm friggin' four.
SAM
You need to calm down.
DEAN
Well, I'm sorry I can't.
SAM
Yes, you can.
DEAN
Dude, stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap, it's not helping.
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.04_Phantom_Traveler_(transcript)
Notice how Sam’s ready to take charge the moment Dean shows some vulnerability. This also fits well with the idea that Sam and Dean represent the mind and body of the same person: panic is a physiological response to fear that can be mentally controlled with some well applied self-talk. Sam and Dean are dramatizing a textbook case of mind over matter.
Sam has found a suitable excorcism, the Rituale Romanum. Yes, it’s a real thing, and the full text does include an excorcism. Kudos for authenticity, show. But first they have to find the demon, so Dean checks out the passengers and the earlier conversation about the home-made EMF metre comes into its own. Since it just looks like a beat-up old Walkman, it raises a few eyebrows but no security alarms.
The monitor shows no readings until the co-pilot comes out of the toilet, then it lights up like Christmas. Dean Cristos the guy and his eyes go black, so then our boys have to do some fast talking to get Amanda to help them.
Now, in fairness, I don’t think this struck me the first time I watched the episode but on subsequent re-watches I found elements in the exorcism scene that didn’t make a lot of sense. Specifically, this:
When Sam and Dean pour holy water on the co-pilot, it has a corrosive reaction.
And Amanda’s response is . . .
Now, I don’t know about you, but if I saw someone pouring some liquid on a guy (she doesn’t know it’s holy water) and it had that reaction. I wouldn’t be asking what was wrong with him. I’d be: “oh my God! Why are you pouring acid on the co-pilot!”
Maybe it’s a directorial/editing problem and what was needed was a shot, POV Amanda, of the demon’s eyes turning black just before she says this, so her comment and subsequent actions would make more sense, but we didn’t get it. According to the J2 commentary, this scene was shot a couple of months after the rest of the episode, so maybe that explains why it doesn’t track so well.
Another tidbit we get from the commentary is that Jared was coached in ancient Latin for this scene. Jared did basic Latin at school, but the ritual was apparently written in a particular archaic form and they hired a specialist to get the pronunciation right. So, more points for authenticity.
And then, finally, we get the moment that explicitly connects the demon to the season story arc:
Sam freaks momentarily but pulls it together enough to keep reading, expelling the demon, which proceeds to escape into the plane causing it to nose-dive. Then it’s Dean’s turn to freak!
Is it my imagination, or is his hair standing on end more than usual here? o_O
But, all’s well that ends well; Sam sends the demon back to Hell, the plane lands safely, and the boys get a ‘thank you’ from the girl. But before they move out, Sam brings up the subject of the demon’s revelation about Jess, and Dean assures him it means nothing: “Sam, these things, they, they read minds. They lie. All right? That's all it was.” Thus establishing the lore that will become a recurring mantra in the show: demons lie.
In the final scene Jerry thanks the boys for their help and we learn that he got Dean’s number from John, or more accurately from a voicemail message set up so recently the brothers weren’t aware of it, and the episode ends with them listening to the message.
The scene contrasts beautifully with the earlier phone conversation where Dean was blocking Sam’s efforts to hear the call. This time he deliberately leans over so they can both listen to the message.
And over all the jaw clenching we hear the haunting refrain of “Tears in Their Beers”.
So, after the introduction of the soldier theme in the previous episode, and now employing the demon theme in this one as a political allegory for the War on Terror, the show has set the stage for its central moral agenda for the next five seasons: an examination of the long term effects on a culture and its people of living in a psychological state of warfare. It does this through a critique of the hero myth - a story that has been used for centuries as a propaganda tool to persuade young men to go to war and sacrifice their lives for ‘the greater good’, on the promise of reward, renoun and immortality - and through a close observation of two brave and valiant young men who believe in it. Over the coming seasons we will see the effects of that belief, and watch as the pursuit of revenge for an original violent act gradually corrupts their values, damages them as people, and destroys their own lives and those of the people closest to them. As Dean would put it: we see what evil does to good people.
And that’s why I loved the show so much in its early seasons. It was so much more than just an action adventure and a piece of frivolous entertainment. It was doing something that the horror/sci-fi/fantasy genre at its best has traditionally always done, and that is to use its metaphorical underpinning as a means of examining important real-life issues, and critiquing the social and political milieu of its day.
Because it was the little show that could.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed my analysis of this pivotal episode. As always, I welcome your comments, and I look forward to hearing what y’all think.
.