Rewatch S1: Ep 09 & 10
I wrote up a little bracelet!fic today, but I'm going to leave it another day or so before posting, just to see if it requires any major editing after I look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow.
I woke up at 2pm today. A little better than 3pm, but it's going to kill me when I have to get up at 8am on Thursday. Tomorrow I'm going to try for 10am and see what happens. Anyway, much like yesterday, I find myself with not much to do but watch Supernatural (and write fanfic!). I like posting these two at a time though, since I can be quite long-winded and I think more than two would be too much for anyone to read :P
Today I watched Home and Asylum, both awesome explorations of the boys' father-issues...or rather, Sam's father issues and Dean's heartbreaking sadness.
Be warned that I do mention things in passing that are foreshadowy elements for later seasons and episodes. I don't go into detail (that much), but I will point them out.
Home
Oh, now we are getting into the good stuff. I think this episode is an awesome showcase of Jensen's acting talent. His reaction to Sam telling him the truth about the nightmares, brilliant. I love how he's so thrown off by Sam and the prospect of having to return to their old house, that you can see him visibly trying to catch his breath. You can practically hear Dean's panic and discomfort for the whole first half of this episode.
And of course there's the phone scene. It is one of my all time favorite Dean moments, possibly the all time favorite Dean moment. Jensen does it so well, the way he starts off the conversation trying so hard to be casual and just slowly breaks down, and by the end he is practically begging his Dad to come help him, and the heartbreaking thing is that I think deep down that Dean knows he isn't going to come...it gets me everytime, how Jensen can pack that much heartbreak into so few lines.
Missouri is awesome. I really wish they would have her in the show more. I love that actress, but more on her later.
There is crossroad dirt in the hexbags that Missouri makes up...
Oh man, the way Sam flops onto Dean's shoulder after Dean rescues him from the lampcord...
I love how Sam repeats his father's words from 22 1/2 years earlier word for word - "Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don't look back!" And Sam couldn't have possibly known, because he only just found out a couple of days before that Dean was the one who carried him out of the fire. Sam and his Dad are so much alike, it's why they don't get along at all.
It breaks my heart that Mary doesn't say more to Dean than just his name. It's even more heartbreaking after Dean's breathless "Mom..." that he utters again after she disappears, where the last "m" is almost silent. I know it's important that she apologizes to Sam, and I LOVE that bit of mystery this early in the game. I love that Kripke likes to answer questions right away, don't get me wrong, it's part of the reason I watch the show, but I really do like that he'll put in these little things that don't get answered until seasons later. Why does she apologize? Why does Missouri apologize in the very next scene...
Before I get into that, I just have to mention that I love Sam's voice when Missouri tells him that there's no spirits left in the house and he says "not even my Mom?"...it's so perfect, the way he says it. For two minutes that night, Sam had a Mom for the first time in his life, and now she's gone again.
And now we get back to Missouri, because she completely lies to him. When Sam asks her what's happening to him, she responds "I don't know", yet you have to wonder if they instructed the actress that it was a lie, because it sure looked like they did. Her voice is off and her eyes look everywhere but Sam. She is so lying. How can you be Missouri Mosley and not know at least part of what is happening to Sam? Seriously, watch that scene and try to tell me I'm wrong.
And then there's the very last scene, where we get to see John for the first time in the series since Mary's death. I always thought John looked the most like Dean, in the way he carries himself (or the way Dean carries himself). I'm going to return to Sam's daddy-issues here and say that Sam couldn't sense him, because Sam has always been so estranged from his father. I don't think his father is actually a familiar person to him. Maybe at one time he was, but not anymore, not after what I'm assuming was a very rough teenager-hood and four years of complete estrangement.
Deleted Scene Goodness:
There's a deleted scene of the boys talking to John's old garage-partner, in which he tells them that he called Social Services on John, because John had sold him his half of the garage and used the money to buy a bunch of guns, and that's when John left town with the boys. Dean gets all attitude-y and tells him that "maybe you should have stuck by your friend!" and then Sam quickly thanks the guy and drags Dean out of the garage before things get worse.
I liked that scene, because it was a glimpse of what John looked like to outsiders once he had discovered what was really out there...like he had gone off his rocker.
There was another deleted scene that was just a different take of one of the poltergeist-activity scenes. It was only SLIGHTLY different, you couldn't even tell, I'm not even sure why they included it, quite honestly.
Asylum
Well, now that it's been six months since Sam hit the road with Dean, all the old issues are coming back up. Don't you notice that this happens with people? Like, you'll meet up with old friends and for the first couple days everything will be cool, and then you'll slowly start remembering what drove you absolutely crazy about them? Anyway, basically what I'm saying is that the honeymoon period for Sam and Dean is officially over.
Oh hey, Dean actually told Sam about how he had tried to call their Dad in Lawrence. Dean's always pretty honest with Sam, I like that about him. He never keeps secrets for long. I think his record is 10 episodes in S4.
Personally, I love the unexplained coordinates as communication between the father and sons. It's so...Marine Corps. :P I really like the slight military mentality of Hunters, and the Winchesters in particular.
For random useless facts: the text from their Dad comes in at 9:52pm, and, according to Sam, John is not good with electronics ("Dad can barely work a toaster"). The boys aren't in Lawrence anymore either, but they also aren't in Illinois...so who knows where they are.
Haha - Sam's comment about "method acting" when he pushes Dean really hard in the bar. Like I said, all the old issues coming to the surface. Ellicot has a pretty easy job of it when it comes to Sam - kid's always had a hard time with his temper.
I think all the arguments in this episode are old ones. Arguments that Sam and Dean have had millions of times, or that Sam's had with their dad, or both. Sam's reluctance to follow orders, Dean's faith in their father despite constantly (at least recently) being disappointed by the man...
Shrink: This brother of yours...how exactly do you feel about him?"
*scene break*
Dean: You were in there forever! What the hell were you talking about?!"
Sam: Just the hospital....
Oh man! Golden. The street runs both ways with our boys...because this is the same as the Shapeshifter reading Dean's thoughts and telling Sam "He has a lot of issues with you..." in Skin. Dean and Sam are so tangled up in each other psychologically...for both good and heartbreakingly bad.
Off topic - I really like Gavin's jacket.
Kid: So how do you know about this stuff?
Sam: It's sort of our job.
...
Kid: And Dean? He's your boss?
Sam: No.
Hehehe...adding straws to the camel's back, kids!
Another great Dean line: (After he destroys Ellicot and Sam wakes up rubbing his jaw, and Dean asks if Sam is going to kill him and Sam says no) "Good, because that would be awkward."
I was debating whether or not Dean expected Sam to pull the trigger really. I mean, he had given him an emptry gun, so he knew it was a possibility...but part of me still wonders... in anycase, I have a feeling that the things Sam shouted at Dean while under Ellicots influence, where probably very similar things to what he shouted at John during the infamous fight about Stanford.
Sadly, no DVD extras on this one.
I will most likely watch two more episodes tonight, but wait until tomorrow afternoon to write up my thoughts on them. Though, I do actually have a spot of work tomorrow...yay money!