Supernatural Un-Book Club: The Benders

[oceantriana]

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

Comments

[panns]

Since I loaned out my S1 DVD :-(, I'm going to have to do this from memory.

Ocean, great job!! I loved the way you approached this. How this episode fits into the theme of the show and the season. And how awesome is the dialogue in this one?

I’ll share the thing that gets me each time in this epi. One of the creepy family (I don’t remember which one) asks Dean if they should hunt the boy or the girl. You see the struggle in Dean’s face. It goes completely against his grain to put Sam in any kind of danger, but he knows that Sam is better equipped to handle himself. Finally he tells them to hunt Sam hoping and trusting that Sam will be resourceful enough to survive.

Interesting parallel. Here are two families that live outside the societal norm. Two families that have honed certain hunting skills in their “boys”. And yet such different outcomes.

[oceantriana]

The dialogue in this episode is awesome. I hadn't really thought much about it, but then Tana over on TVG mentioned that there were so many great one-liners in this episode so I really paid attention.

It goes completely against his grain to put Sam in any kind of danger, but he knows that Sam is better equipped to handle himself.

Exactly! Dean knows that Sammy probably has the better chances to kick their butts, but he doesn't want to put him in that position. But choosing Kathleen instead goes against their motto of "saving people".

Interesting parallel. Here are two families that live outside the societal norm. Two families that have honed certain hunting skills in their “boys”. And yet such different outcomes.

That is very interesting. So really, things could have turned out very differently for our boys if they would have had Pa Bender as a dad. :)

[zofia27]

Great job Ocean!! I don't think I have anything new to add. I've always liked this episode. I like how Dean first went into panic mode and they did the same type of pacing scene with him like in BUaBS. But then it was all business. Sam on the other hand, never really panicked. He knew Dean would find him so there was no need to freak out. Similar to him in AHBLpt1.

We also see Dean bested by a girl...again. Is that some kind of subliminal thing with him that they always have him getting beat up or beaten by a girl? Maybe subconsciously he doesn't feel it's right to hit a woman? Now that I'm thinking about it, the only one I can remember that he really hit was Meg in Devil's Trap. OK...now I'm just babbling!

[sammyluvsme]

OMG i'm sooo late...but GREAT review! Ditto to everything. :D

i LOVED this eppy cuz I felt it was really the first time we see just HOW MUCH Sam means to Dean. Like, the way he worries about him, REALLY feels that responsibility, it hits me hard in this one. I love it. :D