Free to be You and Me
My thoughts on last Thursday's episode! And my blog on this week's episode probably won't be up until sometime Monday.
As many of you heard, my CW affiliate pre-empted Supernatural on Thursday night to play the Phillies game. I of course was very upset, and therefore could not watch the show until I got home from work on Friday, around 4 p.m. I quickly decided it was entirely worth the wait, because this was a REALLY good episode. I feel like I say that about every episode, but it’s always true.
I knew this was going to be a good episode almost from the beginning, when I heard Lynyrd Skynyrd being played. In some ways this season feels like season 1 or 2, because we’ve been getting some great songs in just these first three episodes. It feels great to have classic rock back in the show. And the montage with “Simple Man” was nearly perfect. I love seeing the contrast between Sam and Dean’s current situations. Of course, seeing Sam burning all his fake ids made me a little sad inside.
I could probably talk forever about how hilarious it was to see Dean hunting with Castiel. When I first saw previews for this episode and saw Cas riding in Sam’s seat, I was a little concerned. While I love Cas, it just didn’t feel right to have him taking Sam’s place. But I think the writers did a really great job with this. It was clear that Cas could never take Sam’s place, he can’t even hold a badge the right way! I loved the scene with them questioning the cop, it was just hilarious. And the “den in iniquity”? Oh my gosh, I nearly died at the look on Castiel’s face. That scene was too funny. And I gotta admit, it was good to see Dean laugh.
“Tell me something, you keep saying we gotta trap this guy, but isn’t it kinda like trapping a hurricane with a butterfly net?”
“No. It’s harder.”
Raphael was a little terrifying, but I don’t really believe his claims that God is dead. That just doesn’t feel right. Previous episodes before they even introduced (like “Houses of the Holy”) have suggested there is a God, and Dean has even come to accept He exists, so it seems a little out of place to have Him be dead. However, I love how Dean tried to encourage Cas at the end.
“Look, I’ll be the first to tell you this little crusade of yours is nuts, but I do know something about missing fathers.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean there were times when I was looking for my dad when all logic said he was dead, but I knew, in my heart that he was still alive. So who cares what some ninja turtle says, Cas. What do you believe?”
“I believe he’s still out there.”
“Good. Then go find him.”
Oh, and Dean? Don’t try to lie to us. We know you’re not really happier without Sam. Sure, you may have had a few laughs with Castiel, but in the long run you’re still not happy. You’re still worried about Sam and you hate being alone. Say whatever you want, but that glance over to the empty passenger seat, not once but twice, told us exactly how you’re really feeling.
Now on to Sammy. He’s trying hard to be normal, and I hate to agree with Jessica/Lucifer, but he never will be. He’s a hunter. He proved it by calling Bobby after seeing the news. Sure he didn’t do anything himself, but he still couldn’t just sit back and ignore it. He can’t be normal. He can’t even go a week without coming face to face with who he really is.
I must say, I found the Lindsay girl kind of annoying. She really just wouldn’t leave Sam alone, and all he wanted was to be left alone. It’s her own fault those two desperate hunters used her to get to Sam. She practically threw herself at him.
I must say I’m proud of Sammy for holding his ground and not taking the demon blood, even when it was poured into his mouth he wouldn’t swallow it. I would think that means he’s passed the test and doesn’t have to worry about that one any more. I mean come on, if your not going to take it in a case like this, are you really ever going to do it? I guess maybe if something bigger was at stake he would consider, but I really think he proved he was done with it.
I do have to say though, this confrontation with those hunters made me very worried for Sam. We all know word travels fast through the hunting world. Look how quickly news of John’s death spread. So what’s going to happen when these two hunters go back and start spreading the news that Sam Winchester started the apocalypse and drinks demon blood? Sammy better start watching his back, because soon demons aren’t going to be the only ones coming after him.
As for Jessica, I kind of knew she would turn out to be Lucifer. That’s the exact same way he roped Nick in, by pretending to be his dead wife. So why wouldn’t he use Jessica against Sam?
“Why do you think you were in that chapel? You’re the one Sam, you’re my vessel. My true vessel.”
Over the summer a lot of you were saying that you thought Sam would turn out to be Lucifer’s vessel. I thought this was crazy, because obviously the writers would not make Sam be Lucifer for the season. Obviously I was wrong (about the vessel, not about Sam actually being Lucifer … I hope). The only question is, how long will it take Sam to inform Dean? Or is Dean going to have to find out for himself? (I have seen next week’s previews, so I think I know the answer to that question).
“Why me?”
“Because it had to be you, Sam. It always had to be you.”
I’m thinking it can’t be a coincidence that Sam is Lucifer’s vessel when Dean is Michael’s. Whatever special blood thing makes someone compatible to be a host must be in both brothers. I wanted to go back and rewatch “In the Beginning” before writing this, because I wanted to see again what exactly Azazel says to Mary, but I never got the chance. I’m thinking there must have been something special in Mary’s blood, which is why Azazel chose her, and she passed that on to her children. Maybe the addition of Azazel’s blood is what made Sam a vessel for Lucifer, while Dean, who remained pure from the demon blood, is an angelic vessel instead. Purely speculation of course, however I do think this was Azazel’s plan all along. He was looking for the perfect host for Lucifer. He didn’t expect the winner of his little contest to lead an army by himself, he expected him to be host to the leader of the army.
Which leads me to my next point, and back to Raphael’s claims that God is dead. I still believe it had to be God who save Sam and Dean and resurrected Castiel. Because from what Lucifer told Sam he wanted Sam in that room so that he could try to possess him right away; and he probably didn’t know as he was coming up that the person who freed him wasn’t a willing host. He probably assumed that whoever freed him was willing and would be waiting at the top to be possessed. However, that wasn’t the case and he had to look for a temporary replacement. Since it sounded like he wanted Sam in that room, I have trouble believing he would have put them on that plane. And sure, Cas is a rebellious angel, but he’s still trying to do God’s will, not Lucifer’s, so how on earth could resurrecting him really help Lucifer? Especially when Cas is determined to find God and stop Lucifer? No I still think it was really God who saved them all.
Small sidenote: I love the continuity and attention to detail with their tattoos. Not only do they make sure they’re visible when Sam and Dean’s shirts are off, near the end, when Sam is wearing the V-neck you can still see the tattoo sticking out from the collar.
I was actually surprised by how much I liked this episode. I thought I would hate having Sam and Dean apart for an entire episode, without one single scene together, but I didn’t. I think I’ve come to accept that this is a necessary step for them. It also helps that last week I realized that, without reading any spoilers, I actually know for a fact approximately when Sam and Dean get back together, thanks to our little adventure in Vancouver. I can’t believe it took me a whole week to put that together.
This week’s episode looks really good too! I can’t wait for Thursday! (and hopefully there won’t be any baseball games on!)