Rewatching 2-1 In My Time of Dying
Thank you everyone for your participation in the poll. This episode - it is just so heavy and combined with the new episode we just saw.... If I didn't have you to keep me going I don't think I could have done it.
Music Links
(edited - will open in different window now!)
"Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent
(plays during recap of previous events)
"Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
(playing on the radio immediately after the car accident)
First the recap of Season 1 to the sound of Stranglehold. All those cool monster scenes - spirits, windego, scarecrow god, vampire and last but definitely not least - demons. We are going to be seeing a lot more of them in the seasons to come.
The crash - the demon getting out of the truck to finish them off, Sam sensing something coming as he wakes from unconsciousness. The opening of the car door and Sam with the colt aimed at the demon.
The music... Bad Moon Rising... could there be anything more fitting?
This demon escape is one of my favorites along with YED's escape from John.
Then Sam, calling "Dad!" No answer... "Dean!".... "DEEEEAN!"
At the hospital, Dean wakes up, gets out of bed and starts looking for his family but finds that no one can see or hear him. Something clicks in this mind, he rushes back to his room and finds himself lying in bed, in a coma.
Sam comes in to stand by the bed and gaze at Dean lying there. The doctor comes and tells him Dean has sustained serious injuries including his head. He may not wake up. Dean denies this in the background, then pleads with Sam to go to some voodoo priest and lay some mojo on him. Sam seems to sense what Dean is saying and he repeats the exact same phrase to dad when he goes to see him. Sam is obviously glad to see dad is OK and assures him they are going to find a way to save Dean. Dad is not so sure. We may not be able to find anyone this time, he says. Sam feels like dad has given up on Dean already. He can't understand when dad starts talking about the colt and how it may be their only leverage... Dean doesn't either. We as rewatchers know though that he is not talking about getting rid of the demon. He is already planning how to make a deal with the demon to save Dean - because he sees no other way, and even if they lose their only way of killing the demon, still, Dean must be saved.
Here is dad without Sam's accusations in the middle...
I'll check under every stone.
Where's the Colt?
We're hunting this demon, and maybe it's hunting us too. That gun may be our only card.
i.e., If the demon wants them and the colt, he can be bargained with.
Sam always so intent on believing that all dad cares about is the hunt/revenge. He can't figure it out and dad is sure not going to tell him what he plans.
Sam, on his way out to tow the car and get dad the stuff he asked for, asks dad about the reason the YED is after Sam and the other kids. Dad plays dumb but Dean can see in his face after Sam leaves that he is hiding something.
Sam and Bobby at the scrap yard. They are looking at the broken form of the impala. Dean's going to be pissed, Sam says. There's nothing worth salvaging, says Bobby.
But to Sam, giving up on the impala equals giving up on his brother.
"If there's only one working part, that's enough. We're not just going to give up on..."
"Okay. You got it."
Dean is still with Dad - who is now in his room gazing at Dean's inert form.
Dean can't understand why dad's just sitting there, not calling anyone for a miracle. He's always done everything dad asked. Doesn't he care at all?
"Are you just going to sit there and watch me die? What the hell kind of father are you?"
But we know what is running through John's head. How he is going to try to make a deal with the demon to save his son's life with the colt. It is also very probable that dad can sense Dean and his words. That as he thinks of Dean, the words that Dean says are going through his mind and making his resolve more firm. All those things he says to Dean later, they are the same things that Dean says to him as he sits here and I am sure also what he is thinking as he gazes at Dean. We also know of his earlier resolve to pass the job onto his boys in Salvation; sacrificing himself for a little more leverage. I think he also may have known more than he ends up telling Dean... maybe he knows for them to succeed it has to be the two brothers. Sam cannot be left without his brother to look out for him. If Dean lives, they will have a chance at saving Sam in the end. It's more than just the colt or the YED. It is about the grand plan of... well ... everything.
Sam comes back and accuses John of trying to go after the demon with the summoning spell. John counters, "I'm doing this for Dean!" but Sam just can't hear his dad properly. He is too angry. (Sam! Wake up!)
They start getting into a blame fight - again very painful for Dean and us rewatchers to hear. Dean has had enough. After shouting at them for a bit, he swipes at the glass of water and it flies to the ground.
Sam: Go to hell. (Sam... how can you say that?)
John: I should have never taken you along in the first place. I knew it was a mistake, I knew I was wrong -
Dean: Dude, I full-on Swayze'd that mother.
But as we know from future episodes, this use of power makes spirits weak, and Dean who is not actually dead yet, comes pretty close.
Dean sees some kind of monster hoovering above him, seemingly trying to kill him.
"I said get back!"
He shouts, grabs it and it turns around, looks at him and leaves. But we see that Sam may have actually heard Dean that time. And as Dean tells Sam that he's going to kill whatever it is because if he can grab it he can kill it, he hears a girl shouting and goes to investigate.
Tessa.
Dean explains to her that she is in the same situation he is in, a spirit of a person close to death. She seems to take it extremely well and says it's all fate but Dean disagrees.
"You always have a choice. You can either roll over and dye or you can fight..."
Here he is interrupted again. He sees the same thing that was over him, now touching a child in cardiac arrest. As it does, the child stops breathing. This touch we are going to see again.
During this time, Sam has been talking to dad about how he feels Dean is close: "It felt like Dean, like he was there just out of eye shot." Desperately wanting to talk to his brother, he goes out to get a talking board after dad promises him that he will not "hunt this demon" until they knew Dean was alright. (Well he's not lying...)
Dean is back at his room after his enlightening experience - he now knows it is a reaper taking these people - Sam comes in with the talking board and they are able to talk.
Sam is just so happy to be able to talk to his brother but when he hears that a reaper is after Dean, he gets discouraged for the first time.
"Is it after you?"
Even then, he snaps out of it quickly. He is not going to give up on Dean. As Sam gets dad's journal (dad is not in bed...) Dean thanks Sam for not giving up on him (he maybe thinks dad has). As they read the journal together, Dean realizes that Tessa had been the reaper all along and goes to talk to her.
Tessa is pretty convincing, and although Dean puts up a good fight, he finally decides to give in when he realizes that he is never going to get better and he is going to become the same thing he hunted if he does not choose to go with her. Just as he is about to say yes, dad's deal kicks in.
"It's your lucky day kid."
[Spoiler for Season 9 (click to open)]I am adding this a few days later, but I've been seeing similarities between this episode and Season 9:Dean not giving up on Sam, of course, but also that Sam and Dean were both talking with death (Dean with a Reaper and Sam with Death himself) and at the very brink of saying yes. Neither consented to their "resurrection" either. Dean would not have agreed if he had known dad was going to sell his soul, just as MAYBE Sam would not have agreed to being possessed by an angel. It was out of their control.
Dean wakes up in bed choking on his tubes and Sam calls for help. Interesting quote by doctor, "You've got some kind of angel looking over you." People are going to think - not angel, demon. Actually, not angel - father.
A scene reminiscent of Faith,
...this pit in my stomach. Sam, something's wrong.
As they are talking, dad comes.
"Hey, Dean"
Dean - looks so happy to see dad and dad... so relieved to see Dean.
You can see the tears in his eyes and his voice. But Sam starts to argue again. Where were you?! Dean almost died! John, with only a few more minutes to be with them, doesn't want to argue anymore.
His last words to Sam: "I've made some mistakes, but I've always done the best I could." These words will make a lasting impression on Sam.
Getting Sam to go out to get some coffee - now his last words to Dean:
"You know when you were a kid...I'd be wrecked. ... You'd say it's OK dad. ... Dean, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to say that to me. I put too much on your shoulders. You didn't complain. Not once. I just want you to know, I'm so proud of you." We find out later that Dean was taking care of his family from even before his mother died. That was the kind of child he was from the start.
and finally those words...
"I want you to watch out for Sammy alright?" as he always does.. then a whisper...
(shock)
The big burden that dad had been carrying is passed on to Dean to do what he will.
Sam goes to give dad his coffee..
Music Links
(edited - will open in different window now!)
"Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent
(plays during recap of previous events)
"Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
(playing on the radio immediately after the car accident)
First the recap of Season 1 to the sound of Stranglehold. All those cool monster scenes - spirits, windego, scarecrow god, vampire and last but definitely not least - demons. We are going to be seeing a lot more of them in the seasons to come.
The crash - the demon getting out of the truck to finish them off, Sam sensing something coming as he wakes from unconsciousness. The opening of the car door and Sam with the colt aimed at the demon.
The music... Bad Moon Rising... could there be anything more fitting?
This demon escape is one of my favorites along with YED's escape from John.
Then Sam, calling "Dad!" No answer... "Dean!".... "DEEEEAN!"
At the hospital, Dean wakes up, gets out of bed and starts looking for his family but finds that no one can see or hear him. Something clicks in this mind, he rushes back to his room and finds himself lying in bed, in a coma.
Sam comes in to stand by the bed and gaze at Dean lying there. The doctor comes and tells him Dean has sustained serious injuries including his head. He may not wake up. Dean denies this in the background, then pleads with Sam to go to some voodoo priest and lay some mojo on him. Sam seems to sense what Dean is saying and he repeats the exact same phrase to dad when he goes to see him. Sam is obviously glad to see dad is OK and assures him they are going to find a way to save Dean. Dad is not so sure. We may not be able to find anyone this time, he says. Sam feels like dad has given up on Dean already. He can't understand when dad starts talking about the colt and how it may be their only leverage... Dean doesn't either. We as rewatchers know though that he is not talking about getting rid of the demon. He is already planning how to make a deal with the demon to save Dean - because he sees no other way, and even if they lose their only way of killing the demon, still, Dean must be saved.
Here is dad without Sam's accusations in the middle...
I'll check under every stone.
Where's the Colt?
We're hunting this demon, and maybe it's hunting us too. That gun may be our only card.
i.e., If the demon wants them and the colt, he can be bargained with.
Sam always so intent on believing that all dad cares about is the hunt/revenge. He can't figure it out and dad is sure not going to tell him what he plans.
Sam, on his way out to tow the car and get dad the stuff he asked for, asks dad about the reason the YED is after Sam and the other kids. Dad plays dumb but Dean can see in his face after Sam leaves that he is hiding something.
Sam and Bobby at the scrap yard. They are looking at the broken form of the impala. Dean's going to be pissed, Sam says. There's nothing worth salvaging, says Bobby.
But to Sam, giving up on the impala equals giving up on his brother.
"If there's only one working part, that's enough. We're not just going to give up on..."
"Okay. You got it."
Dean is still with Dad - who is now in his room gazing at Dean's inert form.
Dean can't understand why dad's just sitting there, not calling anyone for a miracle. He's always done everything dad asked. Doesn't he care at all?
"Are you just going to sit there and watch me die? What the hell kind of father are you?"
But we know what is running through John's head. How he is going to try to make a deal with the demon to save his son's life with the colt. It is also very probable that dad can sense Dean and his words. That as he thinks of Dean, the words that Dean says are going through his mind and making his resolve more firm. All those things he says to Dean later, they are the same things that Dean says to him as he sits here and I am sure also what he is thinking as he gazes at Dean. We also know of his earlier resolve to pass the job onto his boys in Salvation; sacrificing himself for a little more leverage. I think he also may have known more than he ends up telling Dean... maybe he knows for them to succeed it has to be the two brothers. Sam cannot be left without his brother to look out for him. If Dean lives, they will have a chance at saving Sam in the end. It's more than just the colt or the YED. It is about the grand plan of... well ... everything.
Sam comes back and accuses John of trying to go after the demon with the summoning spell. John counters, "I'm doing this for Dean!" but Sam just can't hear his dad properly. He is too angry. (Sam! Wake up!)
They start getting into a blame fight - again very painful for Dean and us rewatchers to hear. Dean has had enough. After shouting at them for a bit, he swipes at the glass of water and it flies to the ground.
Sam: Go to hell. (Sam... how can you say that?)
John: I should have never taken you along in the first place. I knew it was a mistake, I knew I was wrong -
Dean: Dude, I full-on Swayze'd that mother.
But as we know from future episodes, this use of power makes spirits weak, and Dean who is not actually dead yet, comes pretty close.
Dean sees some kind of monster hoovering above him, seemingly trying to kill him.
"I said get back!"
He shouts, grabs it and it turns around, looks at him and leaves. But we see that Sam may have actually heard Dean that time. And as Dean tells Sam that he's going to kill whatever it is because if he can grab it he can kill it, he hears a girl shouting and goes to investigate.
Tessa.
Dean explains to her that she is in the same situation he is in, a spirit of a person close to death. She seems to take it extremely well and says it's all fate but Dean disagrees.
"You always have a choice. You can either roll over and dye or you can fight..."
Here he is interrupted again. He sees the same thing that was over him, now touching a child in cardiac arrest. As it does, the child stops breathing. This touch we are going to see again.
During this time, Sam has been talking to dad about how he feels Dean is close: "It felt like Dean, like he was there just out of eye shot." Desperately wanting to talk to his brother, he goes out to get a talking board after dad promises him that he will not "hunt this demon" until they knew Dean was alright. (Well he's not lying...)
Dean is back at his room after his enlightening experience - he now knows it is a reaper taking these people - Sam comes in with the talking board and they are able to talk.
Sam is just so happy to be able to talk to his brother but when he hears that a reaper is after Dean, he gets discouraged for the first time.
"Is it after you?"
Even then, he snaps out of it quickly. He is not going to give up on Dean. As Sam gets dad's journal (dad is not in bed...) Dean thanks Sam for not giving up on him (he maybe thinks dad has). As they read the journal together, Dean realizes that Tessa had been the reaper all along and goes to talk to her.
Tessa is pretty convincing, and although Dean puts up a good fight, he finally decides to give in when he realizes that he is never going to get better and he is going to become the same thing he hunted if he does not choose to go with her. Just as he is about to say yes, dad's deal kicks in.
"It's your lucky day kid."
[Spoiler for Season 9 (click to open)]I am adding this a few days later, but I've been seeing similarities between this episode and Season 9:Dean not giving up on Sam, of course, but also that Sam and Dean were both talking with death (Dean with a Reaper and Sam with Death himself) and at the very brink of saying yes. Neither consented to their "resurrection" either. Dean would not have agreed if he had known dad was going to sell his soul, just as MAYBE Sam would not have agreed to being possessed by an angel. It was out of their control.
Dean wakes up in bed choking on his tubes and Sam calls for help. Interesting quote by doctor, "You've got some kind of angel looking over you." People are going to think - not angel, demon. Actually, not angel - father.
A scene reminiscent of Faith,
...this pit in my stomach. Sam, something's wrong.
As they are talking, dad comes.
"Hey, Dean"
Dean - looks so happy to see dad and dad... so relieved to see Dean.
You can see the tears in his eyes and his voice. But Sam starts to argue again. Where were you?! Dean almost died! John, with only a few more minutes to be with them, doesn't want to argue anymore.
His last words to Sam: "I've made some mistakes, but I've always done the best I could." These words will make a lasting impression on Sam.
Getting Sam to go out to get some coffee - now his last words to Dean:
"You know when you were a kid...I'd be wrecked. ... You'd say it's OK dad. ... Dean, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to say that to me. I put too much on your shoulders. You didn't complain. Not once. I just want you to know, I'm so proud of you." We find out later that Dean was taking care of his family from even before his mother died. That was the kind of child he was from the start.
and finally those words...
"I want you to watch out for Sammy alright?" as he always does.. then a whisper...
(shock)
The big burden that dad had been carrying is passed on to Dean to do what he will.
Sam goes to give dad his coffee..