Rewatching 2-14 Born Under A Bad Sign
Hi Everyone! I am back for my rewatch review of Born Under a Bad Sign. Sam was awesome as Meg in this episode. We had some great scenes and also good reminders of Devils Trap aye? Boy was it a hard episode to write about though. The good parts of the episode for me were the great expressions by Sam and the way he acted throughout his dialogue... not necessarily the meaning behind the dialogue. Dean's reaction was expected and consistent throughout - his insistence to himself and to Meg/Sam that it "wasn't Sam," and his refusal to kill Sam. Jo's expressions and reactions to Meg/Sam and his revelations and to Dean later were potent and great to watch. We get a little bit of new information, about how Jo's dad really died, the fact that Sam and Dean will now be warded against demons, and I guess that Meg is now out from Hell and she doesn't really care about her "dad's" plan.
First the music!
MUSIC
"Ashes to Ashes" by Tarbox Ramblers
(plays when Demon!Sam enters the bar)
"The Crystal Ship" by The Doors
(plays while Demon!Sam talks to the tied up Jo)
"Back on the Road Again" by REO Speedwagon
(plays at the end of the episode, while they talk about everything that has happened)
The first scene - we find Dean, wet from rain, under a bridge, calling Ellen. Sam is missing. O-oh... Reminds us of when he went off on his own in Hunted... But this time he has been gone for a week and Dean has not been able to find him.
It's like my dad all over again.
And we are reminded of abandonment issues and all the heartache he went through with that. But, he gets a call from Sam while still talking with Ellen. Sam seems upset and confused. Dean tells him to stay where he is and is off to collect.
Sam (who we as rewatchers know is not really Sam but Meg...) is sitting on the bed, his knuckles bloody. Dean's going down the hallway of the motel, looking for Sam's room. When he knocks and calls out for Sam, there is no answer but the door is open... so he goes in. He sees the blood, and is worried that Sam is hurt. Meg/Sam tells him, "I tried to wash it off, but it won't come off." And, he says he doesn't remember anything since more than a week ago.
Dean goes to check with neighbors and the staff and finds there have been no unusual noises etc. from Sam's room. There is a funny line about Sam's alias, Richard Sambora, and Dean's "shock" at finding Sam to be a Bon Jovi fan. Meg/Sam brings up the possibility that maybe he has gone darkside like dad warned but Dean will not consider it.
Dean finds bloody finger prints all over the window lock so off they go to investigate. Outside, they come to a sort of parking or storage facility and Meg/Sam leads them to one in particular, for which he happens to have a key in his pocket. When they open the door, they find a really old bug? and Dean makes a comment on Sam's taste in cars but when they look in side they find blood on the wheel and on the knife lying under the backseat.
Sam: You think I used this on somebody?
Dean: I'm not thinking anything.
Does this phrase by Dean remind you of Nightmare? When Sam asks if Dean is worried, and Dean's like, "No, I'm not worried." Haha... He finds the pack of menthols and tells Sam "This couldn't have been you."
Sam's found a receipt for a Gas 'n Sip two towns over so they go check it out. The clerk wants to call the cops when he sees Meg/Sam walk in. Dean gets Meg/Sam to reluctantly wait by the car while he asks a few questions.
You saw him smoking?
Dean finds out that Sam had been stinking drunk, smoking up a storm, threw a bottle at the clerk and then and took "Oh, now I remember, two packs" of menthols before leaving.
After a bit of bribing, the clerk tells Dean that Meg/Sam had gone north so they head down. Meg/Sam has another one of his "dejavu vibes" so they turn into a side road leading to the house of who they find out later is a hunter. The house alarm wires have been cut, the house is a mess and the hunter himself is dead on the floor with his throat cut. They watch the video footage together.
Dean's face as he watches "Sam" killing the hunter...
He looks at Sam like he doesn't know him. But as Meg/Sam feins remorse for having killed a "fellow" hunter who had a daughter in college, Dean quickly recovers and smashes the computer to destroy evidence.
When they get to their motel, Meg/Sam starts trying to convince Dean to kill Sam. Dean denies that it is Sam's doing. He either just won't believe it, or knows deep down that something is not right. That this is not Sam.
Dean: Yeah, but it wasn't you! All right? I mean, yeah, it might have been you, but it wasn't you.
Meg/Sam uses the fears that Sam has already expressed before and pleads with Dean. The scene reminds us of Playthings and Croatoan before that.
Shut up, Sam
And just as he couldn't do it in Croatoan, he cannot do it here. After Dean puts down the gun that Sam gave him, Meg/Sam picks it up and makes as if to kill himself but as Dean comes close to stop him,
Dean: I can't. I'd rather die.
Sam: No. You'll live. You'll live ..... to regret this.
Meg/Sam hits Dean on the head and Dean falls to the floor unconscious.
Dean wakes up to the pounding on the door. The manager is there with a "couple" who need a room. Dean bribes his way to the computer and search for Sam. Here's a funny scene...
Hi, uh, so sorry to bother you, but uh, my son snuck out of the house last night and, uh, went to a Justin Timberlake concert. ... What? Yeah. No, Justin is quite the triple threat.
He gets the coordinates from Sam's GPS and is on his way.
Sam, on the other hand, has arrived at Jo's bar and asks for a beer. She's not very happy to see him. They didn't exactly part on good terms.
Meg/Sam toys with Jo. Tells her that he is not his dad. He cares! What about Dean? Jo answers. Meg/Sam catches on to Jo's feelings for Dean and while telling her he is not telling her to hurt her (of course not!) Dean does not have romantic feelings for her(laugh). No. He just cares for her like a school girl. Like a little sister. I, on the other hand... grabs her arm and scares Jo...
Sam: I can be more to you, Jo.
Meg/Sam's expressions throughout this scene are just incredible. When Jo tells him he should leave, he pretends to, and then grabs her from behind.
Oh Jo, Jo, Jo...
And she gets hit on the head too. "It didn't have to be this way. Maybe it did." Evil Meg grin...
When Jo wakes up, she's tied to the post. They have a very interesting conversation about Jo's dad and how he had really died. We find out that he had not died from injuries by the "hellspan" (Was that Meg??It was definitely a demon aye?) but that John had shot him so he would not suffer anymore.
And here one of our favorite lines:
Then Jo is gagged to wait for Dean, because she was bait from the beginning. As soon as Dean comes in, Meg pretends to be Sam again and pleads with Dean to kill him and again, Dean refuses. Meg/Sam baits Dean saying, "What the hell's wrong with you, Dean? Are you that scared of being alone that you'd rather let Jo die?" (Does that remind you of Season 9? hmmmm. could be possession...) But this time Dean has a flask of holy water to test Meg/Sam with.
As Meg/Sam jumps out the window,Jo asks Dean "He was possessed?!" Dean doesn't answer but goes after Sam. They have a bit of a stand off in the warehouse. Dean cannot get Meg to tell him a name. Dean quietly puts away his gun and gets ready the holy water but he hears the door closing and he goes out too. Looking around the dock, he turns around to find Meg/Sam and gets shot. Down he falls.
Meg looks down and not seeing him come up from the water, assumes he is dead.
Sam is gone when Jo comes looking for Dean, using his cellphone as a guide. She finds him half out of the water and helps him inside and tends his wound.
Dean: God, you're a butcher.
Jo:You're welcome.
Jo has a lot on her mind. She has heard a couple of disturbing things from the demon - 1. that Dean thinks of her only as a little sister... 2. that John had shot her dad to put him out of his misery. Which do you think she was bothered about more? I'm betting numero uno.
Jo:I know demons lie, but ... do they ever tell the truth too?
Dean:Uh, um, yeah, sometimes, I guess. Especially if they know it'll mess with your head. (Another swig.) Why do you ask?
Jo tries to go with Dean as he gets ready to leave. Dean tells her he would strap her to the pillar himself if she tried. "This is my fight. I'm not getting your blood on my hands. That's just how it's gonna be." Dean is probably not only saying that because he doesn't want to get her hurt - or to anger Ellen - but because he doesn't want to get her killed like his dad had (as far as he knows) gotten her dad killed. Jo accepts it, and gives him some pain killers to take along.
I'll call you later, ok?
(No you won't.)
(That's another scene that reminds me of a scene in Season 9.)
Dean is trying to call Bobby to warn him, but we see Meg/Sam is already there, cutting the telephone line. Bobby looks happy to see Sam, but he is well prepared for any eventuality. He puts some holy water into Sam's beer and is not very surprised to find that he's a demon. "Don't try to con a conman." And Meg is again strapped to a chair under the big devil's trap with Dean slapping her awake. This time he is a little better prepared for demon torture. Has a bucket of holy water ready. He's not going to hurt the precious meat suit. But when they try to exorcise Meg, she shows that she has got a few tricks up her sleeve this time. I'm not sure what the incantation is... I thought it must be the exorcism because she does kind of get forced out of Sam after Bobby destroys the binding spell, but it does break the devil's trap too so maybe not. During all this, however, Meg tells Dean that she is not interested in the YED's "master plan." She just wants revenge. Which is interesting considering she is his daughter, right? And she's been doing his bidding up until now. Maybe hell changed her. In any case, she is free of the devil's trap and starts on her plan to torture Dean slowly, like plucking the wings of an insect.
Meg/Sam: You know there's a reason for that. Hell is like, um ...Well, it's like hell. Even for demons.
It's a prison, made of bone and flesh and blood and fear. And you sent me back there.
She not only hurts him physically but taunts him saying she couldn't hurt him more than he was hurting himself inside, because of his guilt for not being able to save his dad, and feelings that he was not going to be able to save Sam. "They were better off without you." She says. Kind of reminds us of the YED in Devils Trap and Crowley's words in Season 9 (and of course numerous episodes in between).
While having her little fun, she's forgotten about Bobby who sneaks up from behind, grabs her arm and burns the spell with a poker. Suddenly Meg flies out of Sam's mouth and Sam slumps to the floor.
There is a cute little scene at Bobby's where Sam is telling Dean he looks like shit and Dean tells him right back at ya - then we have Bobby warning them that they shouldn't say anything about the hunter's death to anyone and giving them charms to stop demons from possessing them.
Then they are on their way, with REO Speedwagon in the background. Dean asks if Sam is ok but Sam is feeling down and discouraged from his possession. Now again bringing up the possibility of him going darkside. And the fact that Dean wasn't able to kill him when Meg told him to, so what about the next time? But Dean's got an answer for him this time.
Dean:Sam, when Dad told me ... that I might have to kill you, it was only if I couldn't save you. Now, if it's the last thing I do I'm gonna save you.
I guess this is the most important line in the whole episode. Sam and Dean both have been in turmoil over what dad said and what they see as YED's plan for Sam until now. Sam has continually told Dean he has to kill him if he ever turns darkside, and Dean had continually told Sam to shut up about it. But here, he firmly decides that he will save Sam, whatever the cost, because he just cannot kill him. He finally tells Sam this decision and I think Sam moves on too. I am pretty sure he stops telling Dean to kill him and starts believing in Dean... because what other choice is there??
Of course, after all that heavy talk, Dean's got to make a joke to make Sam feel better and lighten the mood...
Dean: Dude, you -- you like, full-on had a girl inside you for like a whole week. That's pretty naughty.
First the music!
MUSIC
"Ashes to Ashes" by Tarbox Ramblers
(plays when Demon!Sam enters the bar)
"The Crystal Ship" by The Doors
(plays while Demon!Sam talks to the tied up Jo)
"Back on the Road Again" by REO Speedwagon
(plays at the end of the episode, while they talk about everything that has happened)
The first scene - we find Dean, wet from rain, under a bridge, calling Ellen. Sam is missing. O-oh... Reminds us of when he went off on his own in Hunted... But this time he has been gone for a week and Dean has not been able to find him.
It's like my dad all over again.
And we are reminded of abandonment issues and all the heartache he went through with that. But, he gets a call from Sam while still talking with Ellen. Sam seems upset and confused. Dean tells him to stay where he is and is off to collect.
Sam (who we as rewatchers know is not really Sam but Meg...) is sitting on the bed, his knuckles bloody. Dean's going down the hallway of the motel, looking for Sam's room. When he knocks and calls out for Sam, there is no answer but the door is open... so he goes in. He sees the blood, and is worried that Sam is hurt. Meg/Sam tells him, "I tried to wash it off, but it won't come off." And, he says he doesn't remember anything since more than a week ago.
Dean goes to check with neighbors and the staff and finds there have been no unusual noises etc. from Sam's room. There is a funny line about Sam's alias, Richard Sambora, and Dean's "shock" at finding Sam to be a Bon Jovi fan. Meg/Sam brings up the possibility that maybe he has gone darkside like dad warned but Dean will not consider it.
Dean finds bloody finger prints all over the window lock so off they go to investigate. Outside, they come to a sort of parking or storage facility and Meg/Sam leads them to one in particular, for which he happens to have a key in his pocket. When they open the door, they find a really old bug? and Dean makes a comment on Sam's taste in cars but when they look in side they find blood on the wheel and on the knife lying under the backseat.
Sam: You think I used this on somebody?
Dean: I'm not thinking anything.
Does this phrase by Dean remind you of Nightmare? When Sam asks if Dean is worried, and Dean's like, "No, I'm not worried." Haha... He finds the pack of menthols and tells Sam "This couldn't have been you."
Sam's found a receipt for a Gas 'n Sip two towns over so they go check it out. The clerk wants to call the cops when he sees Meg/Sam walk in. Dean gets Meg/Sam to reluctantly wait by the car while he asks a few questions.
You saw him smoking?
Dean finds out that Sam had been stinking drunk, smoking up a storm, threw a bottle at the clerk and then and took "Oh, now I remember, two packs" of menthols before leaving.
After a bit of bribing, the clerk tells Dean that Meg/Sam had gone north so they head down. Meg/Sam has another one of his "dejavu vibes" so they turn into a side road leading to the house of who they find out later is a hunter. The house alarm wires have been cut, the house is a mess and the hunter himself is dead on the floor with his throat cut. They watch the video footage together.
Dean's face as he watches "Sam" killing the hunter...
He looks at Sam like he doesn't know him. But as Meg/Sam feins remorse for having killed a "fellow" hunter who had a daughter in college, Dean quickly recovers and smashes the computer to destroy evidence.
When they get to their motel, Meg/Sam starts trying to convince Dean to kill Sam. Dean denies that it is Sam's doing. He either just won't believe it, or knows deep down that something is not right. That this is not Sam.
Dean: Yeah, but it wasn't you! All right? I mean, yeah, it might have been you, but it wasn't you.
Meg/Sam uses the fears that Sam has already expressed before and pleads with Dean. The scene reminds us of Playthings and Croatoan before that.
Shut up, Sam
And just as he couldn't do it in Croatoan, he cannot do it here. After Dean puts down the gun that Sam gave him, Meg/Sam picks it up and makes as if to kill himself but as Dean comes close to stop him,
Dean: I can't. I'd rather die.
Sam: No. You'll live. You'll live ..... to regret this.
Meg/Sam hits Dean on the head and Dean falls to the floor unconscious.
Dean wakes up to the pounding on the door. The manager is there with a "couple" who need a room. Dean bribes his way to the computer and search for Sam. Here's a funny scene...
Hi, uh, so sorry to bother you, but uh, my son snuck out of the house last night and, uh, went to a Justin Timberlake concert. ... What? Yeah. No, Justin is quite the triple threat.
He gets the coordinates from Sam's GPS and is on his way.
Sam, on the other hand, has arrived at Jo's bar and asks for a beer. She's not very happy to see him. They didn't exactly part on good terms.
Meg/Sam toys with Jo. Tells her that he is not his dad. He cares! What about Dean? Jo answers. Meg/Sam catches on to Jo's feelings for Dean and while telling her he is not telling her to hurt her (of course not!) Dean does not have romantic feelings for her(laugh). No. He just cares for her like a school girl. Like a little sister. I, on the other hand... grabs her arm and scares Jo...
Sam: I can be more to you, Jo.
Meg/Sam's expressions throughout this scene are just incredible. When Jo tells him he should leave, he pretends to, and then grabs her from behind.
Oh Jo, Jo, Jo...
And she gets hit on the head too. "It didn't have to be this way. Maybe it did." Evil Meg grin...
When Jo wakes up, she's tied to the post. They have a very interesting conversation about Jo's dad and how he had really died. We find out that he had not died from injuries by the "hellspan" (Was that Meg??It was definitely a demon aye?) but that John had shot him so he would not suffer anymore.
And here one of our favorite lines:
Then Jo is gagged to wait for Dean, because she was bait from the beginning. As soon as Dean comes in, Meg pretends to be Sam again and pleads with Dean to kill him and again, Dean refuses. Meg/Sam baits Dean saying, "What the hell's wrong with you, Dean? Are you that scared of being alone that you'd rather let Jo die?" (Does that remind you of Season 9? hmmmm. could be possession...) But this time Dean has a flask of holy water to test Meg/Sam with.
As Meg/Sam jumps out the window,Jo asks Dean "He was possessed?!" Dean doesn't answer but goes after Sam. They have a bit of a stand off in the warehouse. Dean cannot get Meg to tell him a name. Dean quietly puts away his gun and gets ready the holy water but he hears the door closing and he goes out too. Looking around the dock, he turns around to find Meg/Sam and gets shot. Down he falls.
Meg looks down and not seeing him come up from the water, assumes he is dead.
Sam is gone when Jo comes looking for Dean, using his cellphone as a guide. She finds him half out of the water and helps him inside and tends his wound.
Dean: God, you're a butcher.
Jo:You're welcome.
Jo has a lot on her mind. She has heard a couple of disturbing things from the demon - 1. that Dean thinks of her only as a little sister... 2. that John had shot her dad to put him out of his misery. Which do you think she was bothered about more? I'm betting numero uno.
Jo:I know demons lie, but ... do they ever tell the truth too?
Dean:Uh, um, yeah, sometimes, I guess. Especially if they know it'll mess with your head. (Another swig.) Why do you ask?
Jo tries to go with Dean as he gets ready to leave. Dean tells her he would strap her to the pillar himself if she tried. "This is my fight. I'm not getting your blood on my hands. That's just how it's gonna be." Dean is probably not only saying that because he doesn't want to get her hurt - or to anger Ellen - but because he doesn't want to get her killed like his dad had (as far as he knows) gotten her dad killed. Jo accepts it, and gives him some pain killers to take along.
I'll call you later, ok?
(No you won't.)
(That's another scene that reminds me of a scene in Season 9.)
Dean is trying to call Bobby to warn him, but we see Meg/Sam is already there, cutting the telephone line. Bobby looks happy to see Sam, but he is well prepared for any eventuality. He puts some holy water into Sam's beer and is not very surprised to find that he's a demon. "Don't try to con a conman." And Meg is again strapped to a chair under the big devil's trap with Dean slapping her awake. This time he is a little better prepared for demon torture. Has a bucket of holy water ready. He's not going to hurt the precious meat suit. But when they try to exorcise Meg, she shows that she has got a few tricks up her sleeve this time. I'm not sure what the incantation is... I thought it must be the exorcism because she does kind of get forced out of Sam after Bobby destroys the binding spell, but it does break the devil's trap too so maybe not. During all this, however, Meg tells Dean that she is not interested in the YED's "master plan." She just wants revenge. Which is interesting considering she is his daughter, right? And she's been doing his bidding up until now. Maybe hell changed her. In any case, she is free of the devil's trap and starts on her plan to torture Dean slowly, like plucking the wings of an insect.
Meg/Sam: You know there's a reason for that. Hell is like, um ...Well, it's like hell. Even for demons.
It's a prison, made of bone and flesh and blood and fear. And you sent me back there.
She not only hurts him physically but taunts him saying she couldn't hurt him more than he was hurting himself inside, because of his guilt for not being able to save his dad, and feelings that he was not going to be able to save Sam. "They were better off without you." She says. Kind of reminds us of the YED in Devils Trap and Crowley's words in Season 9 (and of course numerous episodes in between).
While having her little fun, she's forgotten about Bobby who sneaks up from behind, grabs her arm and burns the spell with a poker. Suddenly Meg flies out of Sam's mouth and Sam slumps to the floor.
There is a cute little scene at Bobby's where Sam is telling Dean he looks like shit and Dean tells him right back at ya - then we have Bobby warning them that they shouldn't say anything about the hunter's death to anyone and giving them charms to stop demons from possessing them.
Then they are on their way, with REO Speedwagon in the background. Dean asks if Sam is ok but Sam is feeling down and discouraged from his possession. Now again bringing up the possibility of him going darkside. And the fact that Dean wasn't able to kill him when Meg told him to, so what about the next time? But Dean's got an answer for him this time.
Dean:Sam, when Dad told me ... that I might have to kill you, it was only if I couldn't save you. Now, if it's the last thing I do I'm gonna save you.
I guess this is the most important line in the whole episode. Sam and Dean both have been in turmoil over what dad said and what they see as YED's plan for Sam until now. Sam has continually told Dean he has to kill him if he ever turns darkside, and Dean had continually told Sam to shut up about it. But here, he firmly decides that he will save Sam, whatever the cost, because he just cannot kill him. He finally tells Sam this decision and I think Sam moves on too. I am pretty sure he stops telling Dean to kill him and starts believing in Dean... because what other choice is there??
Of course, after all that heavy talk, Dean's got to make a joke to make Sam feel better and lighten the mood...
Dean: Dude, you -- you like, full-on had a girl inside you for like a whole week. That's pretty naughty.