Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things: Supernatural Episode Review

[sylvia_bond]

You can read my review of the Supernatural episode "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" at pinkraygun.com. Thank you!

An excerpt:

Sam, of course, knows better, and back at the motel, the boys have a major dither as Sam calls his brother to task. I’m sure it must be getting old for him trying to make Dean talk, trying to make him admit that the

Comments

[meluivan_indil]

Hon, I'd have to say that I'm with you on this one. Zombies interest me not at all. Never actually have. Vampires and Werewolves have always been my big thing. Mostly Vampires though.

For that very reason the first time I watched this episode I only half watched it glancing up whenever Dean and Sam were together without the extras.

I'm not actually gonna comment on any of the whole Angela Zombie, Neal, Matt, blah, blah, blah stuff. As I said didn't really watch much of that.

But I shall make comments about the Dean and Sam moments. First off in the graveyard when Sam was with his mother's grave and the such, I guess I pretty much related with Dean. I'm the type of person who doesn't even want to be buried and I don't want a final resting spot even. I don't want anyone to come and cry over a headstone. Throw my ashes out to Sea or in a Lake, just get rid of them and forget that my body ever existed. If you want to remember me, remember my spirit, remember what I stood for, remember the moments we had, and the laughter and love that we shared. But back to the episode, I know that in many ways Dean is seriously in denial but when he said her body isn't even in there it just got to me. Going by my own beliefs he's absolutely right and I woudn't want to be there either but again I know that's not what The Show was trying to get at, just my own way of relating to him.

Then there's the grave digging scene. Oh you so don't know how much a man that is comfortable digging in a graveyard just turns me on. Even with my dislike of the whole concept of burying the dead, I still enjoy graveyards. Yeah, sounds strange I know. I used to visit them in my younger and wilder days and read the headstones wondering what the people were like and in some cases making up my own little stories concerning their lives and deaths. Maybe it was a morbid fascination but I've never felt uncomfortable in a graveyard before. And what might be more strange is that the scenes in any of the episodes where the guys are digging up graves just make me love these guys even more. They don't think about what they are actually doing and what society would think about it. They just know that it's part of their job and important to saving lives and putting tormented souls to rest.

Sam and Porn!!! My oh my, what can I say? Not at all what I expected from Sammy. And Dean's reaction. Honestly I half expected for him to ask if Sam wanted him to step out for a while so he could finish. So how much do we think that Dean's unsavory habits are wearing off on Sammy, or is it just that Sammy has a whole nother side that we didn't know about?

Let's back up to the scene right before that. Sam and Dean argueing over how Dean treated Angela's father. I do get Dean's anger and the whole 'Things That Are Dead Should Stay Dead' thing. I understand it and I feel his pain but when he started to leave and Sam asked him where he was going and Dean said to get a drink 'alone' I honestly thought I'd sob. I hate to see the boys so emotionally at odds with each other. And that 'alone' hurt so much for both of them. Sam because Dean was pushing him away and Dean because he felt that he had to.

Next post will be the rest of my comment since lj said it was too long!!!! Huh!

[meluivan_indil]

Now to the rest of my comment. *Sticks tongue out at lj*

Now lets skip ahead to honestly my second most favorite scene of all three seasons. You guessed it, that last scene on the hillside. I'd have to say that I'm right with you there on how awesome it is to see Dean cry. The first time I watched it I didn't catch the tear in his eye until he turned towards Sammy and then back again and I thought I'd fall off my bed trying to get to the remote to back it up and watch it again. I thought 'that was a tear, a real tear, and the best man crying scene I'd ever seen in my entire life' That one tear just blew me completely away. Then once I calmed myself enough to listen to his words I was crying right along with him. Because as you and Dean both said "What can Sammy say to make that alright?" I begged and I pleaded with Sammy just to come up with something anything that would lessen his pain and I still do everytime I watch the scene, even if I do know that there is nothing he can say or do.

Before you ask my favorite scene in all three seasons is Sammy's death scene. Yes, I know, I'm so cruel to the boys but seeing Dean in so much pain just gives me the shivers and well that's just the way the story goes.

As I said before, I love your reviews, and look there I even gave you my own mini review. Imagine that. And I thought I didn't have the patience for such a thing.

[sylvia_bond]

You have tons of patience and a very thoughtful way of looking at the eps! I was struck by your idea of picking your favorite scene in ALL three seasons...I gawp at your ability to narrow this down! I love it though, the one you picked, for Dean's suffering, like you say, and the boneless heap that Sam is in his brother's arms. Someone got it right because Sam's lips are almost white - they're white at the edges and still red in the middle becuase that's what happens when you bleed a lot. Excellent stuff!

So then I had to think about my favorite scene...and I couldn't do it! I could do it like...my favorite Dean by himself scene (which, I think, is the scene from Home, when Dean calls his Dad...or the scene in the Ginn episode, right as Dean's stabbing himself...or...yeah, it's hard), my favorite Sam by himself scene (when he's in the motel room in Faith, and trying to figure out what to do about Dean, he's so scared and alone there), Dean with another character (with Michael, in something Wicked, I love the way he talks to him), Sam with another character (the bar scene with Jo in BUABS!), and then finally, Sam with Dean (ANY scene from Hell House or Tall Tales!) See? It's too HARD!!! I gotta have categories!!!

As for the mantear, there ain't been nothing like it before or since. It's glittery and painful and Dean's on his last rope. I don't blame Sam for having nothing to say, because Dean is right, what could you say? Overall, everyone at SPN had their Wheaties that morning, because the whole of that scene, from the location to the camera angles and the placement of the boys was PERFECTION.

[meluivan_indil]

My, I'm imagining how much fun it would be to go back and pick out my favorite scenes from every episode going by the criterias you just laid out. Oh my, I'd be in heaven. Honestly I choose my favorite scene by how many times I've went back and rewatched it. Sammy's death I have seen more times than I can ever think of, on my discs, on Youtube, on anywhere I can find it. This scene is real close but not quite so much.

Let's see other scenes, from Devil's Trap where Dean begs his father not to let the demon kill him. In ELAC, where Sam tells Dean that neither of them are all right. And the subsequent Impala abuse. Hell House, the cafe and itching powder. Heart, Dean offering to kill Madison for Sam and all the wonderful tears that follow on both boys. Croatoan when Dean tells Sam that he's tired of it all. I could go on forever and forever. Oh not to mention almost every scene in Mystery Spot, my absolute favorite overall episode from all three seasons.

I'm seriously gonna have to watch some more tonight. I can't go a single day without watching something SPN.

[sylvia_bond]

Well, you have to have some sort of criteria, otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy trying to pick a favorite! And, as well, there are other criteria besides mine....and many many awards that could be given out: best kiss, best hug, best smile, best....you get the idea. : D The "I'm not alright, but neither are you" at the end of the clown ep is one of my favorites too!

And Mystery Spot, YEAH! oh my WORD, that was a terrific ep - all the way around, for what it showed us about Sam and Dean, to the funny bits, and the angst. I think that was the best of season three, with the Christmas ep following soon after.

[meluivan_indil]

Oh, and I almost forgot, Born Under a Bad Sign. You know, I may be off but I just love Evil Sam and Jared plays it so awesomely. I think my favorite part is when Dean gets to the bar and Sam begs him to shoot him. I know it was Meg talking but part of me wonders how much it might have been Sammy too, since he wouldn't want to be that way. And the fact that Dean just couldn't do it no matter what. God I love that man.

[sylvia_bond]

Oh, I LOVE that ep too! I can't wait to review it. I love dark Sam, and I love how easily he becomes dark. You don't get the sense at ALL that Sam is fighting the demon. And it's such a cleverly done ep too, because Sam is giving off all kinds of signals that he's possessed, but it's only when you know that you can see the signals.

[meluivan_indil]

Oh the one signal that caught me the most was the sound of his voice when he said "No, you'll live... To regret this." There was nothing Sammy at all in that phrase.

[sylvia_bond]

No :::shiver::: there wasn't!

[sylvia_bond]

Yes, let's stick to what matters! I've long been a fan of the boys in graveyards, walking around with shovels on their shoulders, digging dirt, getting DIRTY - and for just the reasons you say, that the boys don't think anything of this. It's probably the easiest part of their jobs, dangerwise, and for them it signals the end of a job, which must feel pretty satisfying. But it's the whole image of them, just trottng around, being there, working. Manfully. I'd have to say that as a whole, the gravedigging part is my favorite theme, the whole salt and burn ritual.

And re the scene where Dean won't go visit his mom's grave...not within a hundred yards. Why? Simply because there's no body there? That doesn't really make sense, and later, in the Ginn ep, he visit's The Dad's grave so...it always confuses me, the difference here, but I feel for Deany-O, I really do. Poor baby. Some emotions are just too much for him.

Sam and porn: I think there's a whole nother side to Sam. He hides it from Dean AND himself, and it comes out at odd moments and freaks everyone out! Or puts Sam in a difficult position because he's suddenly got to look his brother in the eye after who knows how many hours of porn....

As for Dean drinking alone...definately a poignant moment there. Not just that he's doing it, which he surely has done before, but because he's announcing that he's going alone. It's got to have been hard for him to acknowledge that he needed some down time, let alone telling Sam, because that makes him even more vulnerable in his brothers eyes!

Tons of wonderful stuff in this ep, and I love your insights! Thank you for reading and enjoying and commenting!

[meluivan_indil]

Honestly, you won't believe how often I mention Salt and Burn in my real life since starting to watch this show. My oldest daughter and I talk about it all the time. I keep telling her she'll have to salt and burn me when I die, which she readily agrees to. This coming from an eleven year old, sort of ironic. But she's as addicted as I am.

I honestly don't think that Dean not going to that grave had anything at all to do with Mary. It was all about Papa Winchester and the whole death of a parent issue. Not to mention all the guilt he felt over Papa's death. I think I'd feel a little hypocritical visiting my mother's grave after being the cause of my father's death. But that's just me seeing things in my own twisted way.

As far as the Alone I felt like it was more of him telling Sammy that he didn't want his company, which was mean of my boy, but no one is perfect all the time, so I'll allow him the hurtful gesture. Then again I'd allow Dean almost anything.

[sylvia_bond]

I'd allow both boys pretty much anything, since they're so brave and giving of themselves in saving the world. Not to mention, they're beautiful, both of them.

Interesting point about why Dean wouldn't visit Mary's grave - maybe it's a little of both, in that he feels guilty about The Dad and it's just too emo for him to go and kneel there at Sam's side.

My mother wants her ashes tossed among the Rocky Mountains while a lone bagpiper plays Amazing Grace. Illegal? Yeah, the tossing part. Am I going to do it? You bet.

[meluivan_indil]

Yeah, we did something similar with my father in law's ashes. Illegal, yes. Oh well. But that's what I want for myself too.