602: Two and a Half Men, part 2
I find it really interesting that the Alpha shifts into Samuel, Sam, and Dean, and not any of the other hunters. Besides the obvious mirror imagery that it brings up (which well hello there new title card), it also means that whoever is behind these monsters or even just the monsters themselves want to learn more about the Winchester-Campbell family line.
Every time a shifter takes a shape it absorbs the memories of that person, and the Alpha is ignoring all the third cousins and the something -somethings twice removed, and it's going straight to the core of the opposing family tree. Knowledge is power, in war especially, and this Alpha is doing his homework. *shudder*
If he just wanted the baby back and wasn’t after information, he could have just come downstairs as Samuel, told Sam and Dean they killed the bastard to get their immediate cooperation, and walked out. I can’t think of another reason for him to intentionally expend the energy to shift three times.
Also, remember what I said earlier about Sam confiding in the Campbells, and Gwen knowing so much about Dean? THE CAMPBELLS ARE DOING THE SAME THING THE SHIFTER JUST DID, only they are spacing out their knowledge-gleaning enterprise over time.
Dear Sam,
Hope that helps.
~T
*more battle music*
I wonder if, when it took Dean's form, it remembered all the shifters that Dean has killed. I wonder if it saw Dean kill a shifter with Dean's face on it and wondered if it was the future, lol. At any rate - odd that the Alpha only killed Mark, who tried to kill him first, and left everyone else alive.
(And 2 redshirts, but idk about them)
Just like at the grocery store, as soon as the shifter has the baby, it quiets down. Coincidence? I think not.
As for the mirror imagery, it's not just the Samuel/Samuel, Sam/Sam and Dean/Dean in this one scene, it's the whole episode.
(Something comes after the baby at 6 months, born into a life with no choice but to be a hunter monster, nature versus nurture - “A little more tequila, a little less demon hunting, and we would’ve had Max's childhood. “)
The family cycle of the monsters is mirroring Sam and Dean’s family cycle, which begs the question - which line is the monsters? The shifter certainly seemed to care about the baby much more than the Campbells seemed to care about Mark. Is it because they don't care, or is it because their family never seems to stay dead?
Here is more of that closed POV again with the camera angle. This time it's really obvious.
Samuel flat out looks to Sam for permission before answering Dean's question, and Sam nods yes. It's already been clear that they are taking Sam's lead for the most part on dealing with Dean, but from Samuel and Dean's little side-by-side last week, it's also clear that Samuel is willing to press Dean into accepting his invitation to the group whenever he gets the chance.
I know it looks like Sam is lying to Dean. And he is. But I don't think it's out of a sense of shame of whatever he's been up to. I think it's more that Sam is keeping Dean on a need-to-know basis, because whatever they are doing is so huge, Dean will have no choice but to come back into things and Sam doesn't want that to be a decision Dean made out of obligation. If Dean wants back in, he's in, but not until then.
HOWEVER.
Sam did not suggest taking to baby to Samuel until he knew it was a shifter, and Dean just heard Samuel tell an enthusiastically nodding Sam that now they know that the Alpha wasn't a myth. Samuel also convieniently let it slip that there was tons of lore on the fact that the Alpha can sense the others. I was all ready to defend Sam and say I don't think he was using the baby as bait, but now I'm not so sure. But I WILL point out that Dean used a kid as bait once, to save a bunch of other kids, and really I don't see much difference.
Yeah, there is something Sam's not telling us.
And there is a BIGGER something Samuel isn't telling ANYONE. Even Sam.
Samuel,
THREE of your people? You already lost a guy last week. How many guys do you HAVE? How many wives and kids live on the compound? How many of them are ‘family’, too? *narrows eyes*
ARE YOU ON THE PHONE WITH JOHN!?
Suspiciously yours,
~T
Do you guys think that they are trying to collect the Alphas of every species, only they can't be killed so they are putting them in Bobby's magic containing boxes so they can't make anymore new ones, thus obliterating all monsters from the face of the earth? And if so ... are we okay with that?
And wouldn't anyone in the Winchester line count as someone who could bring forth monsters, considering the Apocalypse is only on hold and not necessarily canceled forever and ever? In which case Sam and Dean could end up in a box?
O.o
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen ...
Dean has finally come to terms with the fact that he can't just stay there without feeling torn in two. This isn't because he wants to be hunting. Bobby was hunting without him this whole time, and he never felt like he needed to go so badly. No, this is because he wants Sam, and Sam is with people he doesn't trust, and he's afraid if he doesn't go and back him up, he won't be there when it matters, and he can't lose him again. It would kill them both.
Lisa may have had a couple of weeks with the fake Dean back in the day, but the man she took in to her home, the man that saved her son, the man that she watched nearly destroy himself with grief after saving the whole damn world, is a hunter. And she knows it - she always has. She's ready for Dean to see it for himself.
She gives him an option he's never considered before - why not try both? I SWEAR she is exactly like the Jess-In-My-Head. Ngh. I will be SO UPSET when/if she dies.
Dean has to go. And it's not because there is a case, it's not because he's bored, it's not because he hates swinging a hammer. It's because Sam is waiting for him. It's because it's been long enough.
*heart picks up speed*
AHHHHHHH. SHOW ACTUALLY GOT SMOKE ON THE WATER.
I flailed. Right off the couch. I really did.
*gratuitous Impala!porn*
(: Hi, Dean! :)
Every time a shifter takes a shape it absorbs the memories of that person, and the Alpha is ignoring all the third cousins and the something -somethings twice removed, and it's going straight to the core of the opposing family tree. Knowledge is power, in war especially, and this Alpha is doing his homework. *shudder*
If he just wanted the baby back and wasn’t after information, he could have just come downstairs as Samuel, told Sam and Dean they killed the bastard to get their immediate cooperation, and walked out. I can’t think of another reason for him to intentionally expend the energy to shift three times.
Also, remember what I said earlier about Sam confiding in the Campbells, and Gwen knowing so much about Dean? THE CAMPBELLS ARE DOING THE SAME THING THE SHIFTER JUST DID, only they are spacing out their knowledge-gleaning enterprise over time.
Dear Sam,
Hope that helps.
~T
*more battle music*
I wonder if, when it took Dean's form, it remembered all the shifters that Dean has killed. I wonder if it saw Dean kill a shifter with Dean's face on it and wondered if it was the future, lol. At any rate - odd that the Alpha only killed Mark, who tried to kill him first, and left everyone else alive.
(And 2 redshirts, but idk about them)
Just like at the grocery store, as soon as the shifter has the baby, it quiets down. Coincidence? I think not.
As for the mirror imagery, it's not just the Samuel/Samuel, Sam/Sam and Dean/Dean in this one scene, it's the whole episode.
(Something comes after the baby at 6 months, born into a life with no choice but to be a hunter monster, nature versus nurture - “A little more tequila, a little less demon hunting, and we would’ve had Max's childhood. “)
The family cycle of the monsters is mirroring Sam and Dean’s family cycle, which begs the question - which line is the monsters? The shifter certainly seemed to care about the baby much more than the Campbells seemed to care about Mark. Is it because they don't care, or is it because their family never seems to stay dead?
Here is more of that closed POV again with the camera angle. This time it's really obvious.
Samuel flat out looks to Sam for permission before answering Dean's question, and Sam nods yes. It's already been clear that they are taking Sam's lead for the most part on dealing with Dean, but from Samuel and Dean's little side-by-side last week, it's also clear that Samuel is willing to press Dean into accepting his invitation to the group whenever he gets the chance.
I know it looks like Sam is lying to Dean. And he is. But I don't think it's out of a sense of shame of whatever he's been up to. I think it's more that Sam is keeping Dean on a need-to-know basis, because whatever they are doing is so huge, Dean will have no choice but to come back into things and Sam doesn't want that to be a decision Dean made out of obligation. If Dean wants back in, he's in, but not until then.
HOWEVER.
Sam did not suggest taking to baby to Samuel until he knew it was a shifter, and Dean just heard Samuel tell an enthusiastically nodding Sam that now they know that the Alpha wasn't a myth. Samuel also convieniently let it slip that there was tons of lore on the fact that the Alpha can sense the others. I was all ready to defend Sam and say I don't think he was using the baby as bait, but now I'm not so sure. But I WILL point out that Dean used a kid as bait once, to save a bunch of other kids, and really I don't see much difference.
Yeah, there is something Sam's not telling us.
And there is a BIGGER something Samuel isn't telling ANYONE. Even Sam.
Samuel,
THREE of your people? You already lost a guy last week. How many guys do you HAVE? How many wives and kids live on the compound? How many of them are ‘family’, too? *narrows eyes*
ARE YOU ON THE PHONE WITH JOHN!?
Suspiciously yours,
~T
Do you guys think that they are trying to collect the Alphas of every species, only they can't be killed so they are putting them in Bobby's magic containing boxes so they can't make anymore new ones, thus obliterating all monsters from the face of the earth? And if so ... are we okay with that?
And wouldn't anyone in the Winchester line count as someone who could bring forth monsters, considering the Apocalypse is only on hold and not necessarily canceled forever and ever? In which case Sam and Dean could end up in a box?
O.o
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen ...
Dean has finally come to terms with the fact that he can't just stay there without feeling torn in two. This isn't because he wants to be hunting. Bobby was hunting without him this whole time, and he never felt like he needed to go so badly. No, this is because he wants Sam, and Sam is with people he doesn't trust, and he's afraid if he doesn't go and back him up, he won't be there when it matters, and he can't lose him again. It would kill them both.
Lisa may have had a couple of weeks with the fake Dean back in the day, but the man she took in to her home, the man that saved her son, the man that she watched nearly destroy himself with grief after saving the whole damn world, is a hunter. And she knows it - she always has. She's ready for Dean to see it for himself.
She gives him an option he's never considered before - why not try both? I SWEAR she is exactly like the Jess-In-My-Head. Ngh. I will be SO UPSET when/if she dies.
Dean has to go. And it's not because there is a case, it's not because he's bored, it's not because he hates swinging a hammer. It's because Sam is waiting for him. It's because it's been long enough.
*heart picks up speed*
AHHHHHHH. SHOW ACTUALLY GOT SMOKE ON THE WATER.
I flailed. Right off the couch. I really did.
*gratuitous Impala!porn*
(: Hi, Dean! :)
