Rewatching 4-3 In the Beginning
There is so much in this episode. So much worry, so much heartache, so much awesomeness as Dean spends some time with his maternal grandparents and his parents. Not to mention time travel is a favorite genre of mine. I've just loved especially going back in time to earlier periods and seeing what life might have been like then as well as enjoying the characters discomfort and various trials from all of a sudden being dumped in a totally different situation than they are used to. Starting with the Japanese anime series Time Bokkan when I was a kid, to Quantam Leap, Back to the Future... anything with time travel in it, I'm definitely lov'in it! So what is there not to love in Dean being able to meet his young mom and dad and his grandparents and try to make a difference? Disappointing of course is that Sam is not there with Dean. Wouldn't he have just loved to be there?! But the Angels have their strategies - very complicated layers of strategies involving Sam, Dean, and even the lower angels like Castiel, and they have their reasons for Dean being on his own. So with the expectancy of seeing Sam more in our next episode I'm just going to sit back and enjoy those gorgeous Dean scenes for now because there are plenty!
MUSIC LINKS
"Ramblin' Man" by The Allman Brothers Band(plays in the diner when Dean talks with John; also played in 1.01 Pilot)
"Go for Your Self" by Kenny Smith and the Loveliters(plays when John and Mary are in the diner)
"One More Day" by Kenny Smith and the Loveliters(plays when John drops Mary off at home)
"Music" by Henry Turner's Crystal Band(plays when Dean says goodbye to Mary)- sorry, couldn't find a youtube version of this one.
The episode starts with Dean in bed. He doesn't have the bed covers over him... maybe they are not very inviting? Instead, he just has a jacket draped over himself. Sam gets up and quietly gets ready to go out.
Standing in front of the mirror, he sees Dean in the background. He peeks back at Dean one more time before he goes out the door. Ruby is there to pick him up.
RUBY:Ready?
SAM:Definitely.
We will see it in detail in the next episode but Sam's main motive here is going after Lilith. Finding out where she is in order to kill her. Now that Ruby has convinced him that he can kill Lilith with his powers, and now that he's got a taste of it, he wants to go all the way. And Ruby is not the only one that is happy with this. For the pro-apocalypse angels, this is also just as planned. Of course they should be happy with the whole "kill Lilith" thing but they also want Sam and Dean at odds with each other. Friction and distrust. And while Sam is away trying to find a way to kill Lilith, they are going to make Dean more worried about Sam and hammer in their important point about destiny. Because that's what our show is about, aye?
It could be that it was angel's work that even let Dean sleep through Sam leaving because he wakes up when he senses Cas in the room. It's probably safe to say, at least, that Cas waited until Sam was gone. Dean has been dreaming of hell. And Cas knows it. Even though there was no physical tossing and turning or moaning.
CASTIEL:Hello, Dean. What were you dreaming about?
DEAN:What, do you get your freak on by watching other people sleep? What do you want?
Cas is of course reminding Dean of what he said in our previous ep. He dragged Dean out of hell, he can throw him back in. He is reminding Dean of his power and the reason Dean is back - because they have work for him. Dean, on the other hand, is not one to give in to pressure from authority figures, no matter how powerful they are, no matter how much of a disadvantage he looks to be in - not even angels. He's defiant. Cas puts up with all the talk (He's one hell of an angel), tells Dean "You have to stop it," and puts his finger on Dean's forehead to beam him back in time.
In the next scene, Dean is sleeping on a bench with a police officer bending over him and poking him with a stick(!) Telling him he has to move. He can't sleep there.
DEAN:Okay... sleep... where?
POLICE OFFICER:Anywhere but here.
(I'm reminded of that homeless man sleeping on the bench as Marty blasts back in time.)
Dean tries his phone and finds no signal. He sees a diner across the street and decides to get some answers as to where he is. When he goes in, he sees a friendly looking guy sitting at the counter drinking some coffee and reading the newspaper. He doesn't get a very helpful answer when he asks where he is, so he tries again.
DEAN:Yeah, thanks. I mean, uh... city and state.
JOHN:Lawrence, Kansas.
Laurence... of course... (still have no idea what's going on). The guy takes pity on him and gets him some coffee. There are a few funny lines where John likens Dean's cell phone to a beamer thingy for Star Trek and Dean shocks the waiter and John by telling them that Sonny and Cher had broken up, when of course they hadn't yet. He then notices the newspaper's date: 1973. As he's mouthing that, in comes a friend of the family and calls out to John.
(Which is of course a scene from Back to the Future as well - ahhhh that was such a hilarious scene)
Naturally, John thinks Dean is out of his mind, or at least plastered. Dean, remembering what Cas said about "stopping it," gets worried that some evil monster is after John so he follows him out the diner. John turns the corner and as Dean turns... in a usual film it would be John waiting for him going "Why are you following me!" but it's not.
It's Castiel. Dean tries to get answers from him, but he is again very cryptic - actually he is so cryptic that really there is no reason for him popping up like that. Why did he? Did he want to give John a good head start? Did he want to prevent Dean from following John for some reason? Or maybe he just wanted to make sure Dean stayed on track. hmm... Well we never get the answer to that.
DEAN:Well bend it back or tell me what the hell I'm doing here!
CASTIEL:I told you, you have to stop it.
DEAN:Stop what? Huh? What, is there something nasty after my Dad?
(Cas disappears as Dean turns around to check a sound)
DEAN:Oh, come on! What, are you allergic to straight answers, you son of a bitch?!
Next scene, Dean has found John again, at the used car lot. John is looking at a van when Dean calls out to him from the nearby Impala.
Dean denies that he is following John and then tells John that he'd like to repay him for the coffee. He then proceeds to sell the Impala to him. This is such a great scene to me: Dean's love for his dad as he talks about how his dad taught him and his love for the car in his shining eyes and the way he convinces John to buy it.
DEAN:This is the one you want.
JOHN:Oh yeah, you - you know something about cars?
DEAN:Yeah... yeah, my Dad taught me everything I know.
DEAN:And this - this is a great car.
DEAN:327 four barrel, 275 horses. A little TLC and this thing is cherry.
JOHN:You know man, you're right.
Of course, John would have bought the Impala, regardless. He may have changed his mind as he waited for the salesman - without Dean's sales pitch. It's obvious that John knew the worth of the car without Dean telling him. But Dean would now probably stay in his memory - this weird trippy guy who knew a bit about cars but asked him about sulfur smells and cold spots too.
Next scene, John is picking Mary up from her house in the impala. Mary is pretty good-natured about the change in plans despite initially asking him to buy the van. Dean is watching them from a distance.
DEAN: Mom?!
He then tails them to the diner where he sees them talking at their table from outside the window.
(Sounds like he's missing Sam too.)
Mary, though, has noticed him following them (John didn't, but of course Mary is used to watching her back) and comes out to confront Dean as John stays, unaware and busy admiring the ring he's bought for Mary. Mary is a pretty good fighter and Dean has a hard time, but he finally gets her against the wall. As he cluches her wrist, he notices her charm bracelet with wardings against demons etc. It is probably silver as well aye? He finds out that Mary is a hunter. They don't show what they talk about after this so we don't know for sure, but maybe Dean tells her he is on a hunt, and that he'd like to meet her family, since he is a new hunter in town?
As John leaves after taking Mary home, Dean comes out of the bushes. Mary is not surprised he's there so, she obviously said yes to a visit. But she's still hesitant.
MARY:Dean, right? I'm not sure you should come in.
DEAN:You can trust me. I mean, come on, we're all hunters, right? I mean, we're - we're practically family.
MARY:Yeah, thing is, my Dad, he's a little, um...
DEAN:Oh, I gotta meet him.
MARY:You've heard of him?
DEAN:Clearly not enough.
When Dean says, "You can trust me," I have to grin because he sounds like the most "un-trust-able" person! "We're practically family" doesn't really cut it either, but we as watchers don't mind the reference, aye? Mary reluctantly agrees and introduces him to her dad. It is maybe a bit exciting for her to be able to see another hunter. We see later that Elkins (our colt holder) does not know the Campbells. I'm thinking the Campbells kept to themselves aye?
Samuel(grandpa) is not very welcoming of Dean but Dean's been around a few hunters before and is not surprised. After a little pop quiz on how you kill a vampire which Dean passes, Samuel tells Dean to leave. Deana (grandma) is more welcoming and insists he stay for dinner. Dean finding out that he and Sam were named after his grandparents was a cute scene. casey28 mentioned this scene in one of her posts and we had an interesting discussion on Dean's reaction to being named after grandma. Isn't it interesting that Mary would have chosen her first born's name from her mother? I'd expect the grandfather's name to be used first. Maybe she thought it was going to be a girl and just took off the "a" when she found out otherwise.
In any case the dinner table scene is again hilarious. Most admirable is Dean's handling of his grandpop, wiggling his way into ... not admiration or friendship even, but maybe at least acceptance. Deana(grandma) and Mary look at them both and grin and it is quite sweet.
(I do love those grins!)
Samuel tries to hide what he's working on too, but Mary tells Dean about the possible demonic omens at a farm nearby. Dean suggests they work together, but of course Samuel says no.
So, the next day, Dean gets the head start on questioning the farmer family. When Samuel and the reluctant Mary get there, Dean has already finished talking with the wife and is about to leave. Mary notices the son, standing by a tree outside, so she goes over to talk to him while Samuel goes up to the front door.
SAMUEL:Father, I see you beat me here.
DEAN:The Lord is funny that way. Beth Whitshire, this is my associate, our senior, senior priest, Father Chaney.
SAMUEL:Please accept our deepest condolences on behalf of the county diocese.
BETH:Thank you.
I LOVE the way Dean shows deference to his granddad... toward the lady of the house as a priest higher than him, and to Samuel himself - as the senior hunter. Samuel, of course, loves it too. While Samuel talks some more with the lady, Beth, Dean goes down to listen to the boy, with whom Mary is having a chat.
Here he finds out that it was the YED that had been here. He still thinks it was a soul deal, although the YED did not tell the boy what he wanted in ten years. Then he thinks he knows what Cas means by "stop it." That he is supposed to stop the YED once and for all so that his mom is not killed in that fire. When they get back to the Campbell residence, Dean tries to convince Samuel that this demon must be killed and that he knows how.
SAMUEL:You're gonna kill a demon? How?
DEAN:There's a hunter named Daniel Elkins. He lives in Colorado, he has Colt's gun. The Colt.
SAMUEL:Yeah, I heard about the Colt, used to tell it to Mary as a bedtime story.
DEAN:Well, it's real.
DEAN:My Dad wrote down anyone he thought ever came in contact with the Yellow Eyed Demon: who, where and when.
SAMUEL:Why?
DEAN:‘Cause the more he could learn about the son of a bitch, the more he could figure out why it killed my Mom.
John had written down all the houses attacked in the past all the way back to when he and Mary were engaged. He may have connected these to Mary's parent's strange deaths as well - although they would not have died exactly the same way. Things would have happened a bit differently.
Samuel stops a bit when he hears the reason that Dean's father had taken all these information down. He seems to show sympathy with regard to Dean's mom's death. But that does not change the fact that he thinks Dean is nuts for insisting that this IS a demon, and insisting that the colt exists, and he is also probably pretty spooked by Dean's list - even though Dean explains that his dad can "see the future." So Dean decides to do this alone. He goes up to say his goodbyes to Mary who is thumbing through records and humming along to music - awesome scene.
He tells her he has to leave, and Mary sounds disappointed. "Already?"
DEAN: Hey, I wanted to - to tell you, you know for what it's worth. Um... it doesn't matter what your Dad thinks, I like that John kid.
MARY:You do?
DEAN:Yeah. Yeah, I think you two are meant to be.
(softly) Hell, I'm depending on it.
(That again is a reference to BTTF)
Dean then asks her what John is like. He doesn't know the John that Mary knows, does he?
DEAN:What's he like? John.
MARY:Why do you ask?
DEAN:Just curious.
MARY:I don't know. He's sweet, kind. Even after the war, after everything, he still believes in happily ever after, you know? He's everything a hunter isn't. (beat) No offense.
(And that all changed when Mary died...:( )
She confides in him, that John is going to propose to her, probably tomorrow. And she really looks so happy and very young and hopeful. She goes on to say that she wants to get out of the hunter's life and be safe, that the worst thing she can think of is for her children to grow up in a hunters' home just like her.
MARY:I wanna get out. This job, this life, I hate it. I want a family, I wanna be safe. You know the worst thing I can think of? The very worst thing? Is for my children to be raised into this like I was. No, I won't let it happen.
Dean's emotions get away from him a bit as he thinks of Mary's death and how her children and husband are forced to change into something she would have never wanted to them and he gets a bit teary eyed. Mary looks concerned and asks him if he's ok. He says he is fine, but feels the need to warn her about that night.
DEAN:Yeah, no, I'm - I'm fine. Hey, uh, Mary, can I tell you something?
MARY:Sure.
DEAN:Even if this sounds really weird. Will you promise me that you will remember?
MARY:Okay.
DEAN:On November 2nd, 1983, don't get out of bed. No matter what you hear, or what you see. Promise me you won't get out of bed.
This is quite a heartbreaking scene, but it made me wonder just now if he somehow knew that he would not be able to change history.
Mary takes in his message with questions in her eyes, bewildered by the sudden confession. She doesn't know how to react.
(Here is an interesting thing I noticed during our Season 3 review quizzes. Dean doesn't cry in any of the episodes of Season 3 - he's too busy being stoic about going to hell - so this is the first cry since Season 2)
The next scene is of Dean on the way to Daniel Elkin's house to get the colt. Cas suddenly appears in the seat next to him and Dean just about has a heart attack.
DEAN:So what? God's my co-pilot, is that it?
....
DEAN:Well, you're a regular Chatty Cathy. Tell me something. Sam would have wanted in on this, why not bring him back?
CASTIEL:You had to do this alone, Dean.
DEAN:And you don't care that he's tearing up the future looking for me right now?
CASTIEL:Sam's not looking for you.
DEAN:Alright, if I do this, then the family curse breaks, right? Mom and Dad live happily ever after, and - and, Sam and I grow up playing little league and chasing tail?
CASTIEL:You realize, if you do alter the future, your father, you, Sam - you'll never become hunters. And all those people you saved, they'll die.
DEAN:I realize.
CASTIEL:And you don't care?
DEAN:Oh, I care. I care a lot, but these are my parents. I'm not gonna let them die again. I can't. No, not if I can stop it.
So finally Dean is able to ask Cas why Sam is not there with him. Cas tells him that he had to do this alone. Well, if he think of what he is doing - trying to stop the YED, he doesn't really have to do that alone. Naturally Cas is talking of what they are trying to teach Dean. And here we have to remember that the angels are trying to teach Dean a lesson through this trip. It's not about stopping the YED. It's about the fact that no matter how hard you try, you can't change destiny - no matter how hard he tries, he's not going to be able to save his family. He's not going to be able to save Sam.
Dean sneaks into the safe and is taking the colt out when Elkins comes up behind him with a rifle. Dean explains his situation - that he has to have the gun to save his family - and dares him to kill him. Elkins, a good man and seeing the sincerity in Dean, lets him take the gun. Dean tells Elkins to come and get the gun at the Campbells... but I'm puzzled by how Dean got it back to the Campbells at the end there. Anyway, we have an awesome Dean-turning-around scene at the end when Dean realizes Elkins is not going to shoot him.
DEAN:There's some hunters in Lawrence, the Campbells.
DANIEL:Never heard of them.
DEAN:That's where she'll be.
While that's happening, Grandpa is cleaning his weapons with Mary and Mary asks about where Dean is going.
Samuel tells Mary that Dean says he's going to kill a demon at the Walshes - another farm nearby. This time her friend is involved and Mary cannot leave her to the demon's mercies even if she DOES want to get out of hunting. She tells dad they have to go and help, and Samuel seems puzzled.
SAMUEL:I mean, she wants to hunt, she doesn't want to hunt, is this some female time of month thing?
They get to the Walshes first, just as the YED (as the family doctor) is putting the finishing touches on a deal.
LIDDY:What do I have to do?
DR. BROWN:Nothing. Just in ten years, I'm going to come to you and ask for something then.
LIDDY:What?
DR. BROWN:Nothing you'll miss.
As Samuel comes in with his (useless) rifle, the YED flings him to the other side of the room. Mary comes in with a knife but all that does is amuse the YED and give him another idea - how could he resist having a child of this feisty, healthy young girl.
YED: Where the hell have they been hiding you? I like you. You got a lot of spunk.
Dean comes in and points the colt at the YED and he escapes from the doctor's body. We can assume though that he put himself into Samuel soon after - while Dean and Mary are outside talking about what the demon had said to her.
When "Samuel" comes out, he congratulates Dean - while Dean apologizes that he could not get a single shot in. It sort of reminds me of how the YED congratulated Dean when he was possessing John in Devil's Trap. Dean is worried about Mary and Mary is also obviously scared out of her wits. He doesn't notice anything different in Samuel. He tells Samuel they have to talk alone, while Mary goes off and tells John to take her away - she can't take the life any longer. This is just too much.
Back at home, Dean explains to Samuel how he is really from the future, that he is Mary's child and that Mary is going to die unless they stop the YED.
Azazel is of course dying to get a hold of the gun, so as he finds out who Dean is and why he has the colt, he urges him to give him the gun - again just like he did as John. Dean doesn't give him the gun, but nor does he think grandpa has been possessed either. He is unprepared when the YED tells him that it is he Dean is trying to kill and shows his yellow eyes. Dean gets plastered to the pillar.
YED I only know one thing that's got the juice to swing something like that. You must have friends in high places. So, I kill your Mommy? That's why you came all this way? To see little old me?
(Azazel recognizes that the angels are behind Dean coming back in time.)
YED: Hey, wait a minute, if that slut Mary's your Mommy, are you... are you one of my psychic kids?
And he comes close to sniff Dean - again interesting! That means he knows his psychic kids by smell! The smell of his own blood?
YED:No, not you. Maybe you got a sis, or a bro. (Dean looks up with hate)That's terrific, means it all worked out. After all, it's why I'm here.
DEAN:So that's what this is about, these deals you're making. You don't want these people's souls.
YED:No, I just want their children. I'm here to choose the perfect parents, like your Mommy.
DEAN:Why her? Why any of them?
YED:Because they're strong. They're pure, and they eat their Wheaties. My own little master race - they're ideal breeders.
YED:Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. No one’s breeding with me. Though, Mary? Man, I'd like to make an exception. So far, she's my favorite. (Again this talk of favorites - so I guess Sam was partly his favorite because of Mary...)
DEAN:So why make the deals?
YED:I need permission.
YED:I need to be invited, into their houses, I know, I know, the - the red tape'll drive you nuts, but in ten short years, it'll all be worth it. ‘Cause you know what I'm gonna do to your sibling? I'm gonna stand over their crib and I'm gonna bleed into their mouth. Demon blood is better than Ovaltine, vitamins, minerals - it makes you big and strong.
Here Dean finally finds out what Sam already knew at the end of Season 2... Sam never told him, did he?
DEAN:For what? So they can lead your discount demon army? Is that your big plan?
YED:Please, my end game's a hell of a lot bigger than that kid.
DEAN:End game? What end game?
YED:Like I'm gonna tell you, or those angels sitting on your shoulder. No, I'm gonna cover my tracks good.
It may not have been in the Angel's plan to have the YED telling Dean about all of this... but it probably was. They knew about the demon blood and wanted Dean to know too - as Cas says later.
When Dean tells Azazel that he's going to be the one to kill him - either now or in the future, Azazel gets angry and proceeds to kill Samuel and then Deane. He then disappears to do his magic on John and Mary. Dean is finally released (I guess Azazel is too scared of the Angels to kill him?) and is able to go to Mary and John but comes up just in time to see Mary kissing the YED.
Mary's face here as she looks back at him in sadness and maybe a bit of defiance?
Sort of reminds me of Dean after his deal to bring Sam back, and then I remember John as well. So, Mary was actually the first one in the Winchester family to make a deal to bring someone back aye.
As Dean looks on in disbelief, Cas comes up and taps Dean gently on his shoulder. This is the first time Cas shows sympathy to Dean (except if you count the times he's been super patient). When Mary turns around again, there is only a car with headlights blaring. Cas has taken Dean back. (What about the colt?!)
Dean wakes up, again, in his motel room and Cas is standing there at the foot of the bed.
DEAN:I couldn't stop any of it. She still made the deal. She still died in the nursery, didn't she?
CASTIEL:Don't be too hard on yourself. You couldn't have stopped it. Destiny can't be changed, Dean. All roads lead to the same destination.
And this - I think - is the real theme of this episode. If they knew he couldn't change it to begin with, why would they tell him to change it unless to show him he could not, no matter how hard he tried? Dean would have sacrificed the lives of everyone he had saved as a hunter to save his family, and yet he could not change anything.
DEAN:Then why'd you send me back?
CASTIEL:For the truth. Now you know everything we do.
This is of course also true. Sam has been keeping the demon blood a secret from Dean and now he knows. This will make a big difference as to how he sees Sam in the future - at least the Angels are probably hoping that now Dean will start to see Sam as a monster.
DEAN:Where's Sam?
CASTIEL: We know what Azazel did to your brother. What we don't know is why - what his endgame is. He went to great lengths to cover that up.
DEAN:Where's Sam?
CASTIEL:425 Waterman.
CASTIEL:You brother is headed down a dangerous road, Dean, and we're not sure where it leads. So stop it. Or we will.
Dean asks Cas two times where Sam is. The second with more urgency. He is getting more and more worried about what Sam might be up to.
You will notice the words Cas uses he used before in the beginning - "stop it." Very interesting... that seems to mean, "you can't stop it" to me... what do you think?
Dean hears Cas' warning just as he's about to go out the door to find his brother. He turns around to give Cas a look. It's one that seems to have lots of meanings. One might be wariness of the angels - Cas and his power to throw Dean back into Hell, another might be defiance - toward someone who is telling him what to do... another also anger at Sam being threatened, but another also worry that Sam might still turn into the monster they had feared he'd become in Season 2.
MUSIC LINKS
"Ramblin' Man" by The Allman Brothers Band(plays in the diner when Dean talks with John; also played in 1.01 Pilot)
"Go for Your Self" by Kenny Smith and the Loveliters(plays when John and Mary are in the diner)
"One More Day" by Kenny Smith and the Loveliters(plays when John drops Mary off at home)
"Music" by Henry Turner's Crystal Band(plays when Dean says goodbye to Mary)- sorry, couldn't find a youtube version of this one.
The episode starts with Dean in bed. He doesn't have the bed covers over him... maybe they are not very inviting? Instead, he just has a jacket draped over himself. Sam gets up and quietly gets ready to go out.
Standing in front of the mirror, he sees Dean in the background. He peeks back at Dean one more time before he goes out the door. Ruby is there to pick him up.
RUBY:Ready?
SAM:Definitely.
We will see it in detail in the next episode but Sam's main motive here is going after Lilith. Finding out where she is in order to kill her. Now that Ruby has convinced him that he can kill Lilith with his powers, and now that he's got a taste of it, he wants to go all the way. And Ruby is not the only one that is happy with this. For the pro-apocalypse angels, this is also just as planned. Of course they should be happy with the whole "kill Lilith" thing but they also want Sam and Dean at odds with each other. Friction and distrust. And while Sam is away trying to find a way to kill Lilith, they are going to make Dean more worried about Sam and hammer in their important point about destiny. Because that's what our show is about, aye?
It could be that it was angel's work that even let Dean sleep through Sam leaving because he wakes up when he senses Cas in the room. It's probably safe to say, at least, that Cas waited until Sam was gone. Dean has been dreaming of hell. And Cas knows it. Even though there was no physical tossing and turning or moaning.
CASTIEL:Hello, Dean. What were you dreaming about?
DEAN:What, do you get your freak on by watching other people sleep? What do you want?
Cas is of course reminding Dean of what he said in our previous ep. He dragged Dean out of hell, he can throw him back in. He is reminding Dean of his power and the reason Dean is back - because they have work for him. Dean, on the other hand, is not one to give in to pressure from authority figures, no matter how powerful they are, no matter how much of a disadvantage he looks to be in - not even angels. He's defiant. Cas puts up with all the talk (He's one hell of an angel), tells Dean "You have to stop it," and puts his finger on Dean's forehead to beam him back in time.
In the next scene, Dean is sleeping on a bench with a police officer bending over him and poking him with a stick(!) Telling him he has to move. He can't sleep there.
DEAN:Okay... sleep... where?
POLICE OFFICER:Anywhere but here.
(I'm reminded of that homeless man sleeping on the bench as Marty blasts back in time.)
Dean tries his phone and finds no signal. He sees a diner across the street and decides to get some answers as to where he is. When he goes in, he sees a friendly looking guy sitting at the counter drinking some coffee and reading the newspaper. He doesn't get a very helpful answer when he asks where he is, so he tries again.
DEAN:Yeah, thanks. I mean, uh... city and state.
JOHN:Lawrence, Kansas.
Laurence... of course... (still have no idea what's going on). The guy takes pity on him and gets him some coffee. There are a few funny lines where John likens Dean's cell phone to a beamer thingy for Star Trek and Dean shocks the waiter and John by telling them that Sonny and Cher had broken up, when of course they hadn't yet. He then notices the newspaper's date: 1973. As he's mouthing that, in comes a friend of the family and calls out to John.
(Which is of course a scene from Back to the Future as well - ahhhh that was such a hilarious scene)
Naturally, John thinks Dean is out of his mind, or at least plastered. Dean, remembering what Cas said about "stopping it," gets worried that some evil monster is after John so he follows him out the diner. John turns the corner and as Dean turns... in a usual film it would be John waiting for him going "Why are you following me!" but it's not.
It's Castiel. Dean tries to get answers from him, but he is again very cryptic - actually he is so cryptic that really there is no reason for him popping up like that. Why did he? Did he want to give John a good head start? Did he want to prevent Dean from following John for some reason? Or maybe he just wanted to make sure Dean stayed on track. hmm... Well we never get the answer to that.
DEAN:Well bend it back or tell me what the hell I'm doing here!
CASTIEL:I told you, you have to stop it.
DEAN:Stop what? Huh? What, is there something nasty after my Dad?
(Cas disappears as Dean turns around to check a sound)
DEAN:Oh, come on! What, are you allergic to straight answers, you son of a bitch?!
Next scene, Dean has found John again, at the used car lot. John is looking at a van when Dean calls out to him from the nearby Impala.
Dean denies that he is following John and then tells John that he'd like to repay him for the coffee. He then proceeds to sell the Impala to him. This is such a great scene to me: Dean's love for his dad as he talks about how his dad taught him and his love for the car in his shining eyes and the way he convinces John to buy it.
DEAN:This is the one you want.
JOHN:Oh yeah, you - you know something about cars?
DEAN:Yeah... yeah, my Dad taught me everything I know.
DEAN:And this - this is a great car.
DEAN:327 four barrel, 275 horses. A little TLC and this thing is cherry.
JOHN:You know man, you're right.
Of course, John would have bought the Impala, regardless. He may have changed his mind as he waited for the salesman - without Dean's sales pitch. It's obvious that John knew the worth of the car without Dean telling him. But Dean would now probably stay in his memory - this weird trippy guy who knew a bit about cars but asked him about sulfur smells and cold spots too.
Next scene, John is picking Mary up from her house in the impala. Mary is pretty good-natured about the change in plans despite initially asking him to buy the van. Dean is watching them from a distance.
DEAN: Mom?!
He then tails them to the diner where he sees them talking at their table from outside the window.
(Sounds like he's missing Sam too.)
Mary, though, has noticed him following them (John didn't, but of course Mary is used to watching her back) and comes out to confront Dean as John stays, unaware and busy admiring the ring he's bought for Mary. Mary is a pretty good fighter and Dean has a hard time, but he finally gets her against the wall. As he cluches her wrist, he notices her charm bracelet with wardings against demons etc. It is probably silver as well aye? He finds out that Mary is a hunter. They don't show what they talk about after this so we don't know for sure, but maybe Dean tells her he is on a hunt, and that he'd like to meet her family, since he is a new hunter in town?
As John leaves after taking Mary home, Dean comes out of the bushes. Mary is not surprised he's there so, she obviously said yes to a visit. But she's still hesitant.
MARY:Dean, right? I'm not sure you should come in.
DEAN:You can trust me. I mean, come on, we're all hunters, right? I mean, we're - we're practically family.
MARY:Yeah, thing is, my Dad, he's a little, um...
DEAN:Oh, I gotta meet him.
MARY:You've heard of him?
DEAN:Clearly not enough.
When Dean says, "You can trust me," I have to grin because he sounds like the most "un-trust-able" person! "We're practically family" doesn't really cut it either, but we as watchers don't mind the reference, aye? Mary reluctantly agrees and introduces him to her dad. It is maybe a bit exciting for her to be able to see another hunter. We see later that Elkins (our colt holder) does not know the Campbells. I'm thinking the Campbells kept to themselves aye?
Samuel(grandpa) is not very welcoming of Dean but Dean's been around a few hunters before and is not surprised. After a little pop quiz on how you kill a vampire which Dean passes, Samuel tells Dean to leave. Deana (grandma) is more welcoming and insists he stay for dinner. Dean finding out that he and Sam were named after his grandparents was a cute scene. casey28 mentioned this scene in one of her posts and we had an interesting discussion on Dean's reaction to being named after grandma. Isn't it interesting that Mary would have chosen her first born's name from her mother? I'd expect the grandfather's name to be used first. Maybe she thought it was going to be a girl and just took off the "a" when she found out otherwise.
In any case the dinner table scene is again hilarious. Most admirable is Dean's handling of his grandpop, wiggling his way into ... not admiration or friendship even, but maybe at least acceptance. Deana(grandma) and Mary look at them both and grin and it is quite sweet.
(I do love those grins!)
Samuel tries to hide what he's working on too, but Mary tells Dean about the possible demonic omens at a farm nearby. Dean suggests they work together, but of course Samuel says no.
So, the next day, Dean gets the head start on questioning the farmer family. When Samuel and the reluctant Mary get there, Dean has already finished talking with the wife and is about to leave. Mary notices the son, standing by a tree outside, so she goes over to talk to him while Samuel goes up to the front door.
SAMUEL:Father, I see you beat me here.
DEAN:The Lord is funny that way. Beth Whitshire, this is my associate, our senior, senior priest, Father Chaney.
SAMUEL:Please accept our deepest condolences on behalf of the county diocese.
BETH:Thank you.
I LOVE the way Dean shows deference to his granddad... toward the lady of the house as a priest higher than him, and to Samuel himself - as the senior hunter. Samuel, of course, loves it too. While Samuel talks some more with the lady, Beth, Dean goes down to listen to the boy, with whom Mary is having a chat.
Here he finds out that it was the YED that had been here. He still thinks it was a soul deal, although the YED did not tell the boy what he wanted in ten years. Then he thinks he knows what Cas means by "stop it." That he is supposed to stop the YED once and for all so that his mom is not killed in that fire. When they get back to the Campbell residence, Dean tries to convince Samuel that this demon must be killed and that he knows how.
SAMUEL:You're gonna kill a demon? How?
DEAN:There's a hunter named Daniel Elkins. He lives in Colorado, he has Colt's gun. The Colt.
SAMUEL:Yeah, I heard about the Colt, used to tell it to Mary as a bedtime story.
DEAN:Well, it's real.
DEAN:My Dad wrote down anyone he thought ever came in contact with the Yellow Eyed Demon: who, where and when.
SAMUEL:Why?
DEAN:‘Cause the more he could learn about the son of a bitch, the more he could figure out why it killed my Mom.
John had written down all the houses attacked in the past all the way back to when he and Mary were engaged. He may have connected these to Mary's parent's strange deaths as well - although they would not have died exactly the same way. Things would have happened a bit differently.
Samuel stops a bit when he hears the reason that Dean's father had taken all these information down. He seems to show sympathy with regard to Dean's mom's death. But that does not change the fact that he thinks Dean is nuts for insisting that this IS a demon, and insisting that the colt exists, and he is also probably pretty spooked by Dean's list - even though Dean explains that his dad can "see the future." So Dean decides to do this alone. He goes up to say his goodbyes to Mary who is thumbing through records and humming along to music - awesome scene.
He tells her he has to leave, and Mary sounds disappointed. "Already?"
DEAN: Hey, I wanted to - to tell you, you know for what it's worth. Um... it doesn't matter what your Dad thinks, I like that John kid.
MARY:You do?
DEAN:Yeah. Yeah, I think you two are meant to be.
(softly) Hell, I'm depending on it.
(That again is a reference to BTTF)
Dean then asks her what John is like. He doesn't know the John that Mary knows, does he?
DEAN:What's he like? John.
MARY:Why do you ask?
DEAN:Just curious.
MARY:I don't know. He's sweet, kind. Even after the war, after everything, he still believes in happily ever after, you know? He's everything a hunter isn't. (beat) No offense.
(And that all changed when Mary died...:( )
She confides in him, that John is going to propose to her, probably tomorrow. And she really looks so happy and very young and hopeful. She goes on to say that she wants to get out of the hunter's life and be safe, that the worst thing she can think of is for her children to grow up in a hunters' home just like her.
MARY:I wanna get out. This job, this life, I hate it. I want a family, I wanna be safe. You know the worst thing I can think of? The very worst thing? Is for my children to be raised into this like I was. No, I won't let it happen.
Dean's emotions get away from him a bit as he thinks of Mary's death and how her children and husband are forced to change into something she would have never wanted to them and he gets a bit teary eyed. Mary looks concerned and asks him if he's ok. He says he is fine, but feels the need to warn her about that night.
DEAN:Yeah, no, I'm - I'm fine. Hey, uh, Mary, can I tell you something?
MARY:Sure.
DEAN:Even if this sounds really weird. Will you promise me that you will remember?
MARY:Okay.
DEAN:On November 2nd, 1983, don't get out of bed. No matter what you hear, or what you see. Promise me you won't get out of bed.
This is quite a heartbreaking scene, but it made me wonder just now if he somehow knew that he would not be able to change history.
Mary takes in his message with questions in her eyes, bewildered by the sudden confession. She doesn't know how to react.
(Here is an interesting thing I noticed during our Season 3 review quizzes. Dean doesn't cry in any of the episodes of Season 3 - he's too busy being stoic about going to hell - so this is the first cry since Season 2)
The next scene is of Dean on the way to Daniel Elkin's house to get the colt. Cas suddenly appears in the seat next to him and Dean just about has a heart attack.
DEAN:So what? God's my co-pilot, is that it?
....
DEAN:Well, you're a regular Chatty Cathy. Tell me something. Sam would have wanted in on this, why not bring him back?
CASTIEL:You had to do this alone, Dean.
DEAN:And you don't care that he's tearing up the future looking for me right now?
CASTIEL:Sam's not looking for you.
DEAN:Alright, if I do this, then the family curse breaks, right? Mom and Dad live happily ever after, and - and, Sam and I grow up playing little league and chasing tail?
CASTIEL:You realize, if you do alter the future, your father, you, Sam - you'll never become hunters. And all those people you saved, they'll die.
DEAN:I realize.
CASTIEL:And you don't care?
DEAN:Oh, I care. I care a lot, but these are my parents. I'm not gonna let them die again. I can't. No, not if I can stop it.
So finally Dean is able to ask Cas why Sam is not there with him. Cas tells him that he had to do this alone. Well, if he think of what he is doing - trying to stop the YED, he doesn't really have to do that alone. Naturally Cas is talking of what they are trying to teach Dean. And here we have to remember that the angels are trying to teach Dean a lesson through this trip. It's not about stopping the YED. It's about the fact that no matter how hard you try, you can't change destiny - no matter how hard he tries, he's not going to be able to save his family. He's not going to be able to save Sam.
Dean sneaks into the safe and is taking the colt out when Elkins comes up behind him with a rifle. Dean explains his situation - that he has to have the gun to save his family - and dares him to kill him. Elkins, a good man and seeing the sincerity in Dean, lets him take the gun. Dean tells Elkins to come and get the gun at the Campbells... but I'm puzzled by how Dean got it back to the Campbells at the end there. Anyway, we have an awesome Dean-turning-around scene at the end when Dean realizes Elkins is not going to shoot him.
DEAN:There's some hunters in Lawrence, the Campbells.
DANIEL:Never heard of them.
DEAN:That's where she'll be.
While that's happening, Grandpa is cleaning his weapons with Mary and Mary asks about where Dean is going.
Samuel tells Mary that Dean says he's going to kill a demon at the Walshes - another farm nearby. This time her friend is involved and Mary cannot leave her to the demon's mercies even if she DOES want to get out of hunting. She tells dad they have to go and help, and Samuel seems puzzled.
SAMUEL:I mean, she wants to hunt, she doesn't want to hunt, is this some female time of month thing?
They get to the Walshes first, just as the YED (as the family doctor) is putting the finishing touches on a deal.
LIDDY:What do I have to do?
DR. BROWN:Nothing. Just in ten years, I'm going to come to you and ask for something then.
LIDDY:What?
DR. BROWN:Nothing you'll miss.
As Samuel comes in with his (useless) rifle, the YED flings him to the other side of the room. Mary comes in with a knife but all that does is amuse the YED and give him another idea - how could he resist having a child of this feisty, healthy young girl.
YED: Where the hell have they been hiding you? I like you. You got a lot of spunk.
Dean comes in and points the colt at the YED and he escapes from the doctor's body. We can assume though that he put himself into Samuel soon after - while Dean and Mary are outside talking about what the demon had said to her.
When "Samuel" comes out, he congratulates Dean - while Dean apologizes that he could not get a single shot in. It sort of reminds me of how the YED congratulated Dean when he was possessing John in Devil's Trap. Dean is worried about Mary and Mary is also obviously scared out of her wits. He doesn't notice anything different in Samuel. He tells Samuel they have to talk alone, while Mary goes off and tells John to take her away - she can't take the life any longer. This is just too much.
Back at home, Dean explains to Samuel how he is really from the future, that he is Mary's child and that Mary is going to die unless they stop the YED.
Azazel is of course dying to get a hold of the gun, so as he finds out who Dean is and why he has the colt, he urges him to give him the gun - again just like he did as John. Dean doesn't give him the gun, but nor does he think grandpa has been possessed either. He is unprepared when the YED tells him that it is he Dean is trying to kill and shows his yellow eyes. Dean gets plastered to the pillar.
YED I only know one thing that's got the juice to swing something like that. You must have friends in high places. So, I kill your Mommy? That's why you came all this way? To see little old me?
(Azazel recognizes that the angels are behind Dean coming back in time.)
YED: Hey, wait a minute, if that slut Mary's your Mommy, are you... are you one of my psychic kids?
And he comes close to sniff Dean - again interesting! That means he knows his psychic kids by smell! The smell of his own blood?
YED:No, not you. Maybe you got a sis, or a bro. (Dean looks up with hate)That's terrific, means it all worked out. After all, it's why I'm here.
DEAN:So that's what this is about, these deals you're making. You don't want these people's souls.
YED:No, I just want their children. I'm here to choose the perfect parents, like your Mommy.
DEAN:Why her? Why any of them?
YED:Because they're strong. They're pure, and they eat their Wheaties. My own little master race - they're ideal breeders.
YED:Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. No one’s breeding with me. Though, Mary? Man, I'd like to make an exception. So far, she's my favorite. (Again this talk of favorites - so I guess Sam was partly his favorite because of Mary...)
DEAN:So why make the deals?
YED:I need permission.
YED:I need to be invited, into their houses, I know, I know, the - the red tape'll drive you nuts, but in ten short years, it'll all be worth it. ‘Cause you know what I'm gonna do to your sibling? I'm gonna stand over their crib and I'm gonna bleed into their mouth. Demon blood is better than Ovaltine, vitamins, minerals - it makes you big and strong.
Here Dean finally finds out what Sam already knew at the end of Season 2... Sam never told him, did he?
DEAN:For what? So they can lead your discount demon army? Is that your big plan?
YED:Please, my end game's a hell of a lot bigger than that kid.
DEAN:End game? What end game?
YED:Like I'm gonna tell you, or those angels sitting on your shoulder. No, I'm gonna cover my tracks good.
It may not have been in the Angel's plan to have the YED telling Dean about all of this... but it probably was. They knew about the demon blood and wanted Dean to know too - as Cas says later.
When Dean tells Azazel that he's going to be the one to kill him - either now or in the future, Azazel gets angry and proceeds to kill Samuel and then Deane. He then disappears to do his magic on John and Mary. Dean is finally released (I guess Azazel is too scared of the Angels to kill him?) and is able to go to Mary and John but comes up just in time to see Mary kissing the YED.
Mary's face here as she looks back at him in sadness and maybe a bit of defiance?
Sort of reminds me of Dean after his deal to bring Sam back, and then I remember John as well. So, Mary was actually the first one in the Winchester family to make a deal to bring someone back aye.
As Dean looks on in disbelief, Cas comes up and taps Dean gently on his shoulder. This is the first time Cas shows sympathy to Dean (except if you count the times he's been super patient). When Mary turns around again, there is only a car with headlights blaring. Cas has taken Dean back. (What about the colt?!)
Dean wakes up, again, in his motel room and Cas is standing there at the foot of the bed.
DEAN:I couldn't stop any of it. She still made the deal. She still died in the nursery, didn't she?
CASTIEL:Don't be too hard on yourself. You couldn't have stopped it. Destiny can't be changed, Dean. All roads lead to the same destination.
And this - I think - is the real theme of this episode. If they knew he couldn't change it to begin with, why would they tell him to change it unless to show him he could not, no matter how hard he tried? Dean would have sacrificed the lives of everyone he had saved as a hunter to save his family, and yet he could not change anything.
DEAN:Then why'd you send me back?
CASTIEL:For the truth. Now you know everything we do.
This is of course also true. Sam has been keeping the demon blood a secret from Dean and now he knows. This will make a big difference as to how he sees Sam in the future - at least the Angels are probably hoping that now Dean will start to see Sam as a monster.
DEAN:Where's Sam?
CASTIEL: We know what Azazel did to your brother. What we don't know is why - what his endgame is. He went to great lengths to cover that up.
DEAN:Where's Sam?
CASTIEL:425 Waterman.
CASTIEL:You brother is headed down a dangerous road, Dean, and we're not sure where it leads. So stop it. Or we will.
Dean asks Cas two times where Sam is. The second with more urgency. He is getting more and more worried about what Sam might be up to.
You will notice the words Cas uses he used before in the beginning - "stop it." Very interesting... that seems to mean, "you can't stop it" to me... what do you think?
Dean hears Cas' warning just as he's about to go out the door to find his brother. He turns around to give Cas a look. It's one that seems to have lots of meanings. One might be wariness of the angels - Cas and his power to throw Dean back into Hell, another might be defiance - toward someone who is telling him what to do... another also anger at Sam being threatened, but another also worry that Sam might still turn into the monster they had feared he'd become in Season 2.