Supernatural "Family Remains"
First Supernatural review of the New Year! Appropriate that this is also my first review on LJ. Last night’s episode scared the crap out of me, and I was watching it in broad daylight (I wasn’t home last night and had to record it and watch this morning). Follow the cut to read my thoughts. This probably won’t be like previous reviews, and I doubt it will be in chronological order. It’s been a while and I have to get back into the groove again.
This episode picks up one month after the end of “Heaven and Hell.” Dean has revealed his secret to Sam and is now hunting non-stop, trying to run from what he told Sam. At least, that’s what Sam accuses Dean of and I’m pretty sure he’s right. As long as they’re focused on a hunt Sam won’t really have time to try to get Dean to discuss his feelings. And we all know how much Dean hates that.
Dean finds a job they believe is a haunted house so they go check it out, only to discover that the house has been sold and they now have to protect the new owners as well. To throw in an extra twist, the ghost isn’t actually a ghost, but an actual human girl who’s been imprisoned beneath the house. Add one more twist, she has a brother that we don’t discover until nearly the end of the episode.
Oh, and dare I forget to mention, these kids are the children of the previous house owner and his daughter. “Ripped from the Austrian headlines” as Dean so aptly put it. (I'm so glad I had actually read that news story so I got that reference.)
As soon as we figured out the “ghost” was actually human, I was immediately reminded of “The Benders.” Another episode that had nothing to do with the supernatural itself, but was still extremely freaky.
Throughout this entire episode Dean is hell-bent (no pun intended, I swear!) on getting through this night without any casualties. Unfortunately he is unsuccessful when, evil-Nell attacks Uncle Ted in the confined space between the walls (did that part of the set remind anyone else of “No Exit”?). You could really see the pain in Dean’s face as he told the rest of the family what happened.
“Where’s Ted?”
“He’s outside.”
“Why doesn’t he come inside?”
“Because I had to carry him out. I’m sorry.”
“We were in the walls when she attacked, and I couldn’t get to him in time.”
“You’re saying Uncle Ted is dead?”
“I shouldn’t have left him alone. I’m sorry.”
Later, Brian asks Dean why he cares so much, and I almost wish I could have heard what answer Dean was going to give him, but Sam interrupts them. At the end of the episode we learn that it’s his guilt over what he did in hell that’s has him so determined to save people, though he doesn’t feel he could ever make up for it. (Side note: Have any of you checked out that Neil Gaiman story I mentioned? I thought of it again during this last scene.)
However, in this case he does manage to save the kid. But kills evil-Nell’s brother in the process. He looked almost as upset about that as he did about getting Uncle Ted killed. As he tells Sam, he could sympathize with those two, though Sam tells him he shouldn’t because they were barely human. To which Dean replies, “I was worse.”
One point to ponder, did anyone else think it was very odd Sam and Dean went running into the house completely unprepared? I mean, I guess if they had just pulled up they decided they didn’t have time to grab the guns, but I think it was very odd that they hadn’t grab some weapons before running into a house they know is haunted. Of course, I guess they didn’t expect the girl to take the guns.
I loved the little “know-it-all” moment. Even though you can almost see the weight on Dean’s shoulders, he’s still able to have a few light moments, teasing his brother. I really loved the brief little smile at the end of that scene.
Other favorite moments:
“We could tell them the truth”
“Really?”
“No, not really.”
“Rent Juno and get over it.”
“You smell that?”
“Every day.”
It’s so good to have Supernatural back! I already can’t wait until next Thursday!