Supernatural Un-Book Club: The Benders
As I was sitting down to write my review of The Benders, I got stuck.
I picked this episode because it is one of my favorites of Season 1. It has everything a true Supernatural fan loves: brotherly moments, great one-liners, aliases, creepy-ass monster of the week. Plus, it's set in Hibbing, Minnesota and for this Minnesotan - that is just plain awesome.
But my dilemma remained: What do I focus on? What do I write about? After several viewings of the episode, all I had jotted down in my notes was a bunch of quotes. Page after page of quotes. But I couldn't just list them all out for you folks to read, now could I? I was still stuck.
So then I went back to the basics - what is this whole show about? It's about the relationship between these two brothers. And how does this seemingly stand-alone episode tie into that theme? By separating these brothers and then showcasing their relationship with one another:
Sam's confidence in Dean -
At the beginning, Sam (to Jenkins): My brother's out there looking for me.
At the end:
Dean: Don’t ever do that again.
Sam: Do what?
Dean: Go missing like that.
Sam: You were worried about me.
Dean: All I’m saying is you vanish like that again, I’m not looking for you.
Sam: Sure you won’t.
Sam knows that Dean will do anything for him...no matter what it may cost Dean. It is unwavering...no matter the circumstances.
Dean’s willingness to sacrifice himself for the ones he loves -
Dean (to Kathleen): You can take me to jail, but can we please find Sam first?
All Dean wants is to make sure Sam is okay and to find him. He'll do whatever it takes to look out for his litle brother.
What else is this show about? At this point, it’s about finding their dad. Even though John isn’t in this episode, his presence is felt through the training his sons went through at a young age. This invaluable training ends up saving Sam’s life. Dean used what his dad taught him to solve Sam’s disappearance, which ends up solving many other disappearances that had plagued this county for generations. This was something that the state patrol wasn’t able to solve, but yet a demon-hunting felon could figure it out. Amazing.
With that, I’m going to mention some of my favorite moments and lines from this episode - feel free to add anything that I may have missed.
Details, details, details - I thoroughly enjoyed looking for the Minnesota items in this episode - from the license plates to the patch on the state patrol’s uniforms.- Oh how I miss the boys hanging out in bars - the normalcy of it makes me smile.
- Sam getting nabbed. Seriously. How can a big guy like that get pulled underneath a car so easily?
- Dean searching frantically for Sam, hollering: Sam! Sam!! Sammy!!! and then finally a quiet Sam as he stands alone in the middle of the road. I just want to give the poor guy a hug.
- I really enjoyed Kathleen and thought Dean interacted very well with her.
Sam? 2 beers and he’s doing karaoke.
Yeah, Dean, kinda the black sheep of the family. Handsome, though.
Sam’s my responsibility and he’s coming back. I’m bringing him back.
Sam’s surprise: I’ll be damned…they’re just people.
Don’t *grunt* call me *grunt* Sammy. Poor Jenkins - he doesn’t know that only Dean gets to call him that.
Did you catch how hard it was raining when Jenkins tried to make a run for it? This was my first time of really noticing.
Mmmm…handcuffs. With a little Ring!Porn tossed in for fun. ]:)
This is completely out of character for me, a card carrying DeanGirl - but I absolutely adore how deep and clear Jared’s voice is when he asks Kathleen, You alright? If you never noticed it, I’ll pause this blog while you go listen….
*pause*
*still pausing*
Ok - you’re all back now? Good. What did you think?
And then our boys are reunited. Damn it’s good to see you. A brief emotion and then it’s back to the brotherly banter - Dude, they’re just people. And they jumped you? Must be getting rusty there, kiddo.
I’ll say it again - Demons I get, people are crazy.
Did you notice that creepy-ass music playing in the house, accented by the sound of Pa Bender sharpening his knife? Makes me shudder just thinking about it.
Dean’s snarkiness in this episode is spot-on:
I’m going to kick your ass first, and then yours.
If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray?
How about it’s not nice to marry your sister?
Eat me…no, wait, you actually might.
So you got sidelined by a 13-year old girl - just saying, you’re getting a little rusty there kiddo.
And so it ends…with the two brothers, together again, walking and talking. Just how I love to see them.
