Directed by Kim Manners
Written by Raelle Tucker
While Sam is pretending to be a grief counselor, he says, “Grief makes people do crazy things.” Indeed. That’s what these early episodes of Season 2 are all about.
Gordon blew the lid off of some of the nastier byproducts of grief and we can see Dean and Sam still reeling in the aftermath of that experience throughout “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things.” Dean lowering the saw slowly onto the vamp’s neck in “Bloodlust” gave Sam an uneasy glimpse of his brother, of something very ugly and new. Normally, Dean keeps himself under control, and does the job that needs to be done, but isn’t a sadist about it. How he has managed that is one of the small miracles of his character. “Bloodlust” showed how easily those lines can blur, how easy it would be to go the Way of Gordon. It has its appeal.
Sam has been a pain in the ass since John has died, worry-warting over Dean as a way to deflect his own guilt and loss, but in this case, he’s onto something. Sam has extremely good instincts. He sometimes misses the mark, but in general, his worries are somewhere in the vicinity of right on target. This causes problems because nobody wants to be told “Here is how things are with you” before they’re ready to deal. The Winchester brothers are so damn on top of each other on a moment-to-moment basis that they are always facing things they’re “not ready” to deal with.
The set-up of “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” is artificial, and it surprised me a little bit on my first time watching it. It’s so artificial that there’s a line in the script alluding to it: “What, we just stumble over a hunt? Here?” Supernatural is usually more elegant.
As I’ve re-watched this episode, the artificiality still stands out. You can feel the machinations in the writer’s room, the larger arc needing to be addressed, so they can move on to the next thing. “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” wrenches us to the next conflict/crisis/revelation. “Bloodlust” was the setup, and “Children Shouldn’t Play With Things” is the next layer revealed – one must follow the other.
The ground covered here is:
1. Going deeper into Dean’s new brand of aggression which seems to Sam like it’s coming from a very worrisome place. The last scene finally addresses Dean’s unspoken “arc” (or at least a portion of it) that’s been going on since the “In My Time of Dying.”
2. The concept of “what’s dead should stay dead.” Obviously, by Season 10, nobody is arguing about that anymore. But here, it’s still a new concept. Dean should have died in “In my Time of Dying,” and as Tessa told him he was living on borrowed time as it was (see “Faith”). Dean hates death, but it is the “natural order” of things. He now sees himself as unnatural. Gordon made that inquiry worse. The fact that the case in this episode is a zombie case mirrors Dean’s overall concern that the natural order has been up-ended and that’s why everything is going to shit. (There is also the additional dovetail of what goes down in the final episode of the season, and how it loops us back to Dean’s insistence that “what’s dead should stay dead.”)
3. On the heels of that is guilt for Dean that his life has been made possible because his father probably made a deal. Hence, the acting out, the recklessness, and the casual and violent anger he shows in this episode towards innocent people, a total departure for Dean.
4. Sam is the flip-side. He remains focused on Dean almost entirely, when he isn’t focused on his own grief process, equally as complicated (maybe even more so because he has to fight with Dean about expressing grief his own way. Ugh, these guys). There is an awesome fight scene in the middle of the episode, which covers similar ground as the parking lot fight in “Bloodlust,” and the country road fight in “Everybody Loves a Clown” but is now hotter, angrier. The fight in “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” is cumulative.
What I love about Sam is his separate-ness. He is truly okay with parting ways if they need to. Dean refuses to separate and then proceeds to behave badly, bitching about how pointless the trip to Mom’s grave is. Dean’s being a brat. Sam, even in the face of that behavior, remains separate from it. He is doing what HE needs to do. He seems so complete, so himself, even in the midst of his own grief and confusion. He is trying to take care of himself. (I know it’s used for comedic purposes, and it is extremely funny, but the fact that Sam pops in some porn while Dean is gone – and yet sits on the end of the bed, totally rigid, as though he’s watching a tense football game … that says to me that Sam is healing from a lot of stuff. Or starting to. He’s not ready to do what you’re supposed to do when porn plays. No. He sits up straight, staring at the screen, tense and alert. It’s hilarious. But still: I don’t think that’s just there for comedic purposes, although it is very funny. Sam is starting to heal a little bit from Jess’ death. Probably not from his father’s death, it’s still too soon, but it’s a hopeful sign. And how awesome is it that Supernatural is so porn-positive, without being creepy. Porn is part of life for some people and these are guys who do not have regular sexual partners so, duh, it’s going to be a part of their lives. I know porn is a touchy topic for some people. I understand there is some abuse in the industry. I understand the worries about it, but I am an adult who generally considers porn to be a generous public service. So that’s where I’m coming from. In the SPN world, Sam watching porn, his libido coming back, is a healthy sign.)
There are some herky-jerky elements with the structure of the episode. Maybe it tries to shoehorn in too much. But the thing that IS well-designed about the episode is that Sam is both right and not right about Dean. Dean is both right and not right about the case. This “right/not right” thing filters down to the one-off characters caught up in the case. The father appears to be hiding something. But he actually isn’t at all. He is grieving his daughter’s death and therefore his radar is faulty and he doesn’t say to the Winchesters within 5 minutes: “Now is not a good time. Please leave my house.” Neil, the “nice guy” best friend of our zombie, tries to be a good friend to her, as we see in the teaser. He is sympathetic and caring. He is even protective, when the pissed-off boyfriend shows up at the door. All of that is good and right. But of course his secret love for Angela makes him do a crazy thing when she is killed, and he then seems like a world-class creepster. Neither of these interpretations are wrong. The “right/not right” thing happens in the same moment, which is where the Sam/Dean fighting comes from. I love the complexity of it. It makes for some great arguments.
Sam’s not just being a pain-in-the-ass New Agey counselor. Dean’s not just righteously correct. Dean IS avoiding something, and has to pull over to the side of the road to talk it out at the end. Sam IS picking up on that, even though there IS a case despite his doubts.
The only one who remains an uncomplicated cipher is Angela, the zombie in question. That may seem like an issue, but I think it says some interesting things about death and our perceptions of our dead loved ones, as well as how she was treated in life. But I’ll get to that.
In other words, the entire episode is a Grey Area episode. Gordon brought with him the appeal of hunting as a black-and-white endeavor. Supernatural hadn’t dealt with the philosophy before, although “Faith” began that conversation a long time back. “Faith” floated it out there: this isn’t just about killing monsters … we’re going to be dealing with moral and ethical issues, too.
The title, of course, refers to what I guess could be called a cult classic, the 1973 zombie horror-comedy Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things.
Maybe only a film nerd would follow that clue through to some sort of theory, but here we go:
Bob Clark directed Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things. He cut his teeth on schlocky B-movies with titles like She-Man: A Story of Fixation and Silent Night, Evil Night (which, come on, hilarious). In 1980, he directed Tribute, and Jack Lemmon got an Oscar nomination, a huge leap forward in so-called respectability. He then hit cultural paydirt when he directed Porky’s in 1982. He followed that with Porky’s II (the movie Dean Winchester would like to live in, could he choose to live in a movie.) After Porky’s II, he directed a legitimate classic, A Christmas Story (Frahh-geel-ay.) He followed that up with Rhinestone, and got his first Razzie nomination as Worst Director (there would be one more). Rhinestone was such a disaster that his career pretty much died. You can see him practically disappear in the dates on his IMDB page. He died in 2007, killed by a drunk driver. His son was in the car with him and he died as well. Horrible. But there’s a luscious grimy real-ness to his early stuff, a mix of gore and reality and comedy, and I’m not surprised that Supernatural would want to explicitly nod to him. But what I want to say is: In 2002, he directed a film called Now & Forever which was pretty much sniffed at by critics, who only like genre stuff, apparently, if it’s Tarantino doing a spin on it. Ed Gonzalez at Slant wrote a thoughtful review of Now & Forever where he addressed the film’s clear issues but also that … there’s something there, something undeniable. The troubled heroine of Now & Forever is a girl who has been dominated and abused by men her whole life, causing her to live in a state of almost-total panic. Her name is Angela. Angela, of course, is the name of the zombie in this particular Supernatural episode. It may be a stretch, but I think not, especially when we look at the “character” of Angela (or lack thereof), and how she, like the character in Now & Forever is defined COMPLETELY by the men in her life, who have nothing to say about her except how “beautiful” she is. That’s my theory, that she was named for the heroine of another Bob Clark film, and I’m sticking to it. (And Dean picks up on it, how people seem to generalize about her, in the scene with the roommate, where the roommate keeps saying Angela was “great.”)
And finally: Kim Manners directed “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things.” We’ve covered his style before, his intense closer-than-close closeups (forehead and chin cut off), surrounding those giant faces with darkness and blurry lights. His style is very emotional. It prioritizes psychology (closeups are all about psychology). He also features lots of circling camera moves, which was in overdrive in “In My Time of Dying,” but shows up in all of his episodes, “Scarecrow” being another great example. The circling camera is wonderful for “monster reveals” but also is great for putting across a sense of confusion and disorientation, as well as connecting all of the characters in the same frame, with no cuts.
But what Kim Manners is about, primarily, is Beauty. Please forgive the broken record. If it’s tiresome, I can’t help it. Blame the team of Supernatural who gave us, in Season 2, gorgeous shot after gorgeous shot after gorgeous shot. It’s overwhelming. I felt the change in the season 2 premiere, and then “Everybody Loves a Clown,” took it to an extreme level. They go even farther here. Of course each director has a different style, but people like Manners and Singer set the bar for the show. Supernatural is not about monsters. It’s about relationships, and it’s about FACES. Faces thinking and struggling and processing. With eyelash shadows. I covered my thoughts on Beauty in a pretty in-depth way in the “Shadow” re-cap.
So. We’ve got Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. A pale freckled boy and a brown boy. They look good in all kinds of lighting and contexts, but Manners continues to break it the hell down for us. Watch how he films them. It’s like a lover contemplating his beloved. You know how when you first fall in love/lust and you basically cannot get over the way they are put together? Like: Oh! So that’s how your nose is. GOD I LOVE YOUR NOSE. Or That thing you do with your mouth when you’re thinking about something … I adore it. Or I love your hair. I love your skin. I love your eyebrows. That’s how Manners films these guys. It’s a questioning and loving kind of examination.
You can almost feel Manners pondering the two boys he has to work with: “How close can I get before the shot is ruined? How much light can I blast into that face and still maintain the beauty? Where should we place Jared/Jensen so the light catches their eyes?” These are stylistic and visual choices. Manners is so good at it that it seems inevitable, like: well, of COURSE you would film these guys this way. But look at what happened around Season 7 and on … once they moved to digital, and Manners was gone, and whatever else was at play. Jared and Jensen are hot, and would be hot in a local television commercial. You see pictures of them at cons, candid shots, and they’re hot as hell. But Manners pushes it, pushes it HARD, the way Josef von Sternberg filmed Marlene Dietrich, for example. You can FEEL how OBSESSED Sternberg was with her in every frame.
Marlene Dietrich in “Shanghai Express”
And BOTH these guys in Supernatural can TAKE that kind of fetishistic objectifying and LOVING attention from a cinematographer. Not every actor could. You have to be able to FILL that frame with emotion and thought, your whole persona, in other words. Otherwise it’s just a beautiful image, flat, no internal tension.
And so every time Manners decides to go in close, it’s breath-taking. “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” is more beautiful than anything the show has done up until this point. It’s stunning. The beauty is as essential a part of these early seasons as monsters and family drama and demon deals. This is not just pandering to a certain demographic. I can’t stand that kind of commentary because it assumes that being attracted to what is onscreen is somehow not a valid response, when – huh? That’s how entertainment works. Desire. Nobody questions when women are filmed this way because male desire is seen as the default. But men being filmed this way is treated dismissively, and women are “just being silly” reacting to it powerfully and oh how embarrassing it is and all that. Thank goodness Manners doesn’t give a shit about commentary like that, neither do the fans, neither should anyone else. Cinema (i.e.: the moving image, of which television is a part) is an engine of desire. Dreams and fantasies and hopes and feelings and all that … poured onto the screen, in (hopefully) visually interesting ways that launch us, out there in the dark, into private contemplations. Beauty helps us do that.
Emotions, yes. Zombies, yes. Grief and loss, yes. Guilt, yes. But packaged in luscious almost embarrassing beauty.
Teaser
A beautiful girl (Tamara Feldman) sits at a kitchen table, and a kindly boy (Christopher Jacot) is catering to her, bringing her a beer, some chocolates, and putting on “tortured emo rock,” because she has a broken heart and he’s trying to be a good friend. I think the boy may be suffering from chronic Nice Guy (™) disease. He’s got that anxious needy look all over him. Angela is clearly a heartbreaker, just through her mere existence, an accident of nature. She is perfect-looking, with high cheekbones, black hair, and a wispy white little shirt. The colors are dark and green-black and there are no overhead lights in a 5-mile radius. This is what the show used to look like on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter that it’s a broken-heart chat, we know we’re watching a horror movie because of camera angles and shadows and mood.
An interesting thing about this particular teaser: There’s no monster in it. All we see is a crying girl die in a car crash. The monster is revealed through the investigation of the case, and it takes a while for the guys to figure out what they’re dealing with. They assume vengeful spirit. Raelle Tucker could have chosen to start off the episode showing Neil raising a dirt-covered Angela from out of her own grave. That could have been delightfully creepy. But she didn’t. Why I like it is that it is about death, sudden, swift, and brutal. What we see, when we meet everyone in the episode, all the ancillary characters, is the disorienting aftermath. She’s been dead only a week. Sam and Dean are walking into a grieving confused community, kinda like, you know, their own damn lives. The lack of monster in the teaser struck me immediately, on my first time watching. It’s not that I didn’t care that a girl died, and her death is pretty awful (that final closeup of her face in the steering wheel). But Supernatural cares about supernatural deaths, not just regular deaths. Usually. “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” is different, and the teaser kind of beautifully connects itself to that crazy-gorgeous last scene by the side of the road. Death working its way THROUGH the characters, destroying stuff in its path, total chaos.
A knock comes at the door, and the girl starts to panic. “It’s him.” Nice Guy (™) goes to the door and there stands a pissed-off thick-necked guy (Jared Keeso) demanding to see Angela. Neil stands in the way and the guy pushes past. Angela has flown the coop already, leaving the beers and the M&Ms on the table, leaf-shadows trembling at the nearby window.
We next see poor Angela driving recklessly down a misty dark road, sobbing. Her phone is ringing. She fumbles for it, and it’s thick-necked Matt, saying he’s sorry. She’s not having it. Her car is all over the road. She’s sobbing, but there’s a knife’s edge of rage in her voice when she says, “I’m done listening to you.”
Angela’s anger is very interesting to me. It’s not developed, but that doesn’t mean it’s not present. We’ll get into that. We could see both Sam and Dean in her distraught father, certainly, a mirror image of them dealing with their father’s sudden death. That’s there. But there’s a lot of Dean in Angela, in particular. First of all, she has become a zombie, she has returned from the dead, and so has he. He must kill her, but that means he has to think that he too should be killed. “What’s dead should stay dead.” But I also think of Dean smashing up the car with the tire iron. How no one in his family has wanted to deal with certain aspects of Dean, his anger, his boundaries, his sense of self. He was not allowed to have the full spectrum of emotions, he was not allowed to say, “I don’t like that” or “I have a problem with that.” He is objectified by everyone he meets. He is not let alone. Ever. The same is true for Angela. Nobody can even SEE her. Not even her own father. All they see is the projection of what they need from her. She has been betrayed by Matt, and he’s trying to talk to her, and she’s DONE with being “talked to.” Done done done.
In more ways than one, because she crashes the damn car and dies.
We see the cracked windshield, the smoking hood. Her cell phone lies on the seat, Matt still talking, and blood drips onto the screen. Ah, the sick-ness of Supernatural.
There are a couple of awesome blood-splatters in “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” and they all involve reflective surfaces. Don’t want to get too undergraduate-term-paper, but the symbols are there for the picking. Angela was only perceived through her looks while she is alive, and even after death, she is tormented about them. Neil brought her back to life so they could be together, finally, and he could have her all to himself. She’s not allowed to be left alone, she’s not even allowed to die properly, she’s not allowed to BE (and I think she had some sense of that dynamic while she was alive). Her existence rested entirely in other people’s perceptions of her – hence, the reflections where we see her and her death: the television, the home movie, the cell phone. And we’ll see a bit of that reflective-surface-glass-surface thing mirrored in the first scene of the episode with Sam and Dean in the car, which I will talk about …. right now.
1st scene
These car-driving scenes can get repetitive, visually, and I love the fun they have with finding ways to keep it fresh.
Here, we get your classic medium shots of each guy, taken from within the car. We get shots from the driver and passenger side, both guys in the same frame. But then, and here is where Manners/Ladouceur are sly stealth-bomb geniuses: We see Dean through the windshield, the camera on the hood of the car. Everything else is symmetrical in the scene, except for that through-the-windshield shot, only Dean gets one of those. With Sam’s closeups, we are always inside the car with him. This is a deliberate choice. Everything onscreen represents a decision somewhere along the way, a choice based on script analysis and thematic concerns. Seeing Dean through a pane of glass is a way to express where Dean is at. It also removes him from us slightly. We have to look at him THROUGH something. That choice speaks volumes.
The last scene in “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” features Dean having to pull over to the side of the road and get out of the car. Very easily that last scene could have been taken place with Dean driving. There have been plenty of confessional moments within that car. But this one? We start out the episode seeing Dean through the windshield of the car, with light arc-ing across the glass, stuff between us and him (stuff between him and himself, between him and Sam). We end the episode with Dean out in the open air, the sun BLASTING into his face, an enormous contrast, showing that he is ready to acknowledge what is going on with him for real. I mean, his dialogue says it anyway, but Kim Manners/Ladouceur show it visually.
Sam has decided to go visit Mom’s grave. Sam does not need consensus in the same way Dean does, with his “Are we okay? We good?” thing. Sam didn’t wait for consensus on whether or not he should go to college. He just fucking went. It’s a major disconnect between the brothers. Sam is okay with the fact that Dean doesn’t want to visit Mom’s grave. He’s not judging Dean or guilting him about it. Padalecki plays it with that beautiful open simplicity he sometimes has. He is not defensive, he is not trying to tell Dean that Dean should want to go visit Mom’s grave. But Dean is FEELING it that way, though. Remember: Dean is not a reliable narrator and Dean has zero boundaries. Dean is feeling pressured (for no reason, Sam is not putting pressure on him) and out of control.
He lobs arguments at Sam as to why this is stupid. There was no body left to bury. So we’re visiting an empty headstone. The headstone was put up by some uncle they’ve never even met. There is zero connection there. It’s dumb.
I love how strong and steady Sam is in the face of his brother’s obnoxious flailing. It happens a lot, and we’ve seen it in every episode in Season 2 thus far. In some cases, it is Sam deflecting and projecting (as in “Everybody Loves a Clown.”) But not here. While Dean has been having his own drama, with the car and with Gordon and with his secrets, Sam has obviously been doing some long hard solitary thinking and grieving of his own. He admitted to Dean that he was “not all right,” and so his heart/soul reached out to the thought of visiting his mother’s grave. The grave of the mother he does not remember. Dean took that death on the chin, being a little bit older, and we can see how Dean’s entire face changes any time “Mom” comes up, or “home” or “family”, these little eruptions of feeling. Talk about unholy ground and a scorched circle in the earth. That’s what losing his Mother did to Dean, and nothing has grown in that spot since. That’s his reality.
But it’s not Sam’s. He yearns to go “visit” Mom. It feels right to him.
Sam finally says, “Nobody is forcing you to come along.” Yeah, Dean, nobody is forcing you to come along. Dean wants to pick up the trail of the demon, maybe they should swing by the roadhouse and check in with Ash and Sam says, “That’s a great idea. Why don’t you head to the roadhouse and I’ll meet up with you in a couple of days.”
That’s what autonomy looks like, Dean, but no, no, no, this will not DO. Dean’s excuse is that if he’s at the roadhouse by himself, he’ll be stuck there having to “make small talk” with “those people”. It’s pretty weak. Sam does not get involved in Dean’s drama. He’s going to Mom’s grave. Come or not. It’s up to you.
That is the worst possible situation for Dean Winchester. You can SEE it happen in Dean’s eyes. Even his EYES are flailing. It’s a “You’re … dark …” kind of flail.
2nd scene
Sam kneels beside his mother’s grave and Dean is nowhere to be found. What a shock. The Winchester-family-emotion music plays. Sam is holding John Winchester’s dog tags and is digging a little hole in front of the headstone, saying to his mother, “I think Dad would have wanted you to have these.” (Side note: I absolutely love, considering where the show is going, and the kinds of stuff John Winchester was involved in, not to mention his deal with a DEMON from the pits of HELL, that his dog-tags list him as “NON-RELIGIOUS.” Ah, Supernatural props team, you never let me down.) Sam is in tears and he looks helpless and very young.
Dean’s mother issues are so clear that they vibrate off of him like a supersonic wave. Missouri Mosley sure as hell felt it. Everyone feels it. Sam never knew that love so he doesn’t give off the same frequency. But here we see the “missing” that is there for him, and how sad it is to know that she existed and that she loved him, but he has no memory of her, none at all. It’s vulnerable work from Padalecki.
In the Winchester family, and therefore in the show, separateness like this is seen as both healthy and suspicious. Their dynamic somehow cannot tolerate that level of separation, and it will cause HUGE problems, even bigger than demons and monsters. Those scenes in Season 9, where Sam repeatedly tries to tell Dean that they need to “break up,” basically … and Dean not getting it … Dean refusing to get it … his whole life falling apart at the thought of even a mild separation … We can see the strong pay-off of all that has been established throughout the show.
As Sam is doing his thing, Dean is off somewhere else in the graveyard, staring down at a random headstone, where the dearly departed is described as LOVING FATHER. Supernatural props department, as well as art direction, you have my gratitude for details like that. The camera circles around Dean’s face as he looks down at those words. He is NOT happy. That circling camera move puts us in his little cyclone of feeling.
Dean’s had enough of contemplating this LOVING FATHER bullshit and starts to walk around, in the morning light, and he looks vulnerable and smushed. He’s not really going anywhere, just basically in a state of impatient waiting for Sam, when something catches his eye.
We see a big crooked dead tree in the middle of the graveyard, and the Winchester-family-music-theme goes wonky, creepy, at the sight of it. Everything is lush and green except for that one spot. We see him approach through the tree, its black branches twisting in what looks like agony. The Impala gleams on the little road behind Dean. He touches the tree trunk, and backs up a bit to get a better look. The camera stays on him, as he looks down around him, the camera moving down, so Dean is shown from below, looking down. Then, they cut to the God’s-eye view, always a dramatic choice, and we see Dean standing in a burnt-out circle of brown grass.
Later on, Dean shouts a Pet Sematary reference in the face of the grieving father. As everyone probably remembers, Pet Sematary was a Stephen King novel and then a 1989 film with one of those terrifying children that honestly freaked me out so much I don’t want to talk about it. The burnt-out circle Dean finds himself standing in is clearly a call-out to the “seminary” in that film. The colors are an exact match.
The camera circles down on Dean as Dean circles in the circle. You got all that? It’s one big interlocking swirl of circles. Elegantly done, beautifully timed. The camera comes all the way down to earth, right into Dean’s face. Dean’s spidey-sense is tingling, he’s not sure what he’s looking at. There is a small temporary grave-marker, and beneath it lies a bouquet of flowers, all of them dried-up and dead.
Then we get a giant closeup, and here is where Beauty becomes the main reason to appreciate the show. This is where Supernatural gets almost disorienting. The way the shadows fall on the side of his face, first of all: that’s not exactly morning light shadows. That was carefully created by the team. He’s coming into the frame at a bit of an angle, so we can see the background blurred-out behind him, to create contrast and highlight him. The freckles are clearly visible. Add to that the thoughtfulness of the expression, the deep and dark shit going on inside this man, hanging out 30 feet from his mother’s headstone …
It’s one of the most beautiful closeups of the show thus far (one of my favorites still being that one in the pilot where Dean is hiding in the police station. That closeup showed the potential in Ackles’ face, that it could TAKE this kind of pushy show-offy treatment, that it was a glamorous face that could handle dramatic lighting and framing, all that. He could FILL it.)
The episode is full of moments where everything stops like that, everything says: “BEAUTY. STOP. LOOK.” Like Lana Turner’s entrance in Postman Always Rings Twice, which I used as a reference point in the first piece about Jensen Ackles.
Next we see Dean chatting with the groundskeeper who hands him a small card, obviously listing the name of the person who had been recently buried in that patch of scorched earth. He meets up with Sam, and they proceed to walk and talk, all in one take, lots of dialogue. I love the walk-and-talk stuff. Dean found out the girl buried there was named Angela Mason. The funeral was only three days ago. Sam is not getting what’s happening. Dean reminded him of that weird circle and everything dead around the grave. Sam says maybe pesticides. Dean already asked the groundskeeper about it, Nope, no pesticides.
This is the “right/not right” thing I mentioned before and why I love all the brother scenes in this episode. Sam IS right that Dean was looking for a way out of dealing with his mother’s death and “having a moment” about it. But Dean IS right that there’s something spooky going on. BOTH are true. And so they fight out their positions throughout the episode.
Later in the episode, Dean says, and you can feel his anger, real anger, not just frustration, “I know how to do my job, Sam.” And he does. The little pesticides moment is evidence of that. He has already ASKED that question. Sam, though, from his position of feeling that something else is going on with Dean cannot let it go. He is not afraid, as we’ve seen. He is not intimidated. Dean is a glowering fortress. Sam barges in anyway. You can certainly see why Dean is frustrated, but you can see where Sam is coming from too. Supernatural flat out wouldn’t work otherwise, and it’s why I get confused when some fans take an oppositional view to this primary relationship. I don’t see this as a Team Dean or Team Sam kind of show at all (except for, you know, which one of them you want “on your bench”. My view on that is: Why do I have to choose?). Sam is totally allowed to be a pushy pain in the ass, because he is concerned about his brother. And Dean is totally allowed to push back on the armchair psychologizing coming at him from his brother because it’s too much. These are very good relationship scenes.
Dean is throwing out ideas. Demonic presence. Angela’s spirit. Sam isn’t having any of it. All he can see is his brother avoiding that headstone. He is beautifully humorous as he listens to Dean, and of course that humor makes Dean dig in even more. Finally, Sam just walks away. If Sam says what he’s really thinking, Dean will clearly – CLEARLY – hit the roof. Dean is pissed off anyway, and it’s another example of him needing Sam to be WITH him, in sync, he’s only comfortable when they’re in that zone.
They’re at the Impala now, and we get their reflections in the top, and the light is beautiful and gentle, a contrast to what’s going on between them. Sam makes the decision to say what he needs to say, and as he does so, he puts his hands on his hips. Almost gearing up for the blow-back.
“Are you sure this is about a hunt and not about something else?”
Dean, with a pissed-off “enlighten me” look on his face, already angry, leans onto the top of the car, pushing in, aggressive, it’s a dare, “What else would it be about?”
Sam sees THAT coming at him and backs off. Dean then says, “I let you drag my ass out here. The least we can do is check this out.”
It’s so fascinating to me that that is how Dean sees the situation. No, Dean, Sam didn’t “drag your ass” out here, and you didn’t “let” him. You are not a victim. You refused to go your own way, even though Sam offered it multiple times, and now you’re here, and you’re acting like you’re put-upon and Sam has bossed you into something. That’s not how it went down at all. He doesn’t even see it. It’s also kind of mean. Sam has every right to cry by his mother’s grave. It was a profound moment for Sam and Dean has no interest in hearing about it, supporting it, nothing. He’s being an asshole. Grief is isolating. We all go through it our own ways. There is no being “in sync” with grief.
Padalecki is so good at these repetitive moments when Dean overwhelms him, and he backs down. He finds so much richness there, and it’s always specific, no matter how many times we see it. Here, he takes in his brother, has a ton of shit still to say, but instead only says, “Yup. Fine.” Not pissy, not passive-aggressive. He still feels what he feels but right now it’s not worth it.
Dean, having gotten his own way, gets in the car, saying, “Girl’s dad works in town. He’s a professor at the school” and … it may be me … but he’s a little bitchy. Watch how he says it. A little swing of the head, like, “Take that, Sam. Look how much research I’ve done already. Get in the car.”
Dean exits into the car, and we’re now close in on Sam, frustrated, filled with stuff he wants to say, and, similar to the closeup of Dean at the flowers, we get this weird off-center closeup of Sam, half his head cut off, on a diagonal, with the landscape of the cemetery blurred out and beautiful behind him, basically highlighting his face. I love how it’s not head-on too. Because it wouldn’t be, right? Nothing is head-on in this episode, not yet.
3rd scene
A busy college campus, the camera starting up in the trees, swooping down and over to the left, showing a building with a sign outside: ARCHAEOLOGY & GREEK STUDIES.
Sam and Dean rap-rap on an office door and Angela’s father, Dr. Mason (Serge Houde) opens the door. Serge Houde is a fantastic actor who hails from Canada, and was a regular on Smallville. He also appeared in “Man’s Best Friends with Benefits,” the problematic Supernatural episode from Season 8. He’s wonderful and he has two terrific scenes in “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things.” There are, of course, lots of red herrings any time people investigate a case, and Dr. Mason is a red herring. Serge Houde has to play it straight as a grieving father but he also to play the fact that the character is a false lead. It has to look like both, and it does.
Sam says they are “friends of Angela” and “wanted to pay our condolences.” So sketchy. Dr. Mason holds open the door to let them in. Sam is wrapped up in acting his part, gentle, soft, and sorry, and watch Dean’s face as he walks through the door. He’s not acting a part at all.
We don’t see the introductory talk, our next shot is a closeup of an old photo album, and Dr. Mason is flipping through it, the boys looking on. Or, really, just Sam looking on. Dean is off-camera, seething, I’m assuming. There’s a picture of Dr. Mason and his daughter, smiling and happy. Sam says, “She was beautiful,” and Dr. Mason says, “Yes, she was.”
Who was Angela? What was she studying at school? What did she like to do? What were her hobbies? Did she like sports? Did she like to cook? There doesn’t seem to be a mother in the picture, which is not a surprise, since happy intact families don’t exist on Supernatural. The only one that briefly exists is in Season 6, with Lisa, Dean and Ben. But other than that? People are dead, people are abandoned, people are divorced, kids raised by one or the other. Anyway, the point is: Angela remains a mystery. This may be part of the dazed effect of grief, where subtleties and quirks of personality are lost. But it really stands out to me and it appears deliberate. You know those Missing Posters of missing girls? Their happy smiles coming out at you, and they’ve vanished off the face of the earth, and everyone says she was so nice and happy and perfect? Of course she was. She’s missing, that’s why. But it’s my theory that people did that to Angela while she was still alive. Everyone did it. Her boyfriend, her roommate, her “best friend” Neil, and her father.
We get our first shot of Dean. He stands off to the side, in shadow, the Venetian blinds making shadows on the wall, and he holds up a book, saying, “This is an unusual book.”
His voice is not friendly. Explain this book to me, sir. Dr. Mason looks up at Dean. If he picks up on Dean’s tone, he doesn’t show it. He says, “Ancient Greek. I teach a course.” Sam sits supportively next to Dr. Mason. Dean now takes over the scene. And it’s ugly.
He moves forward, and he’s saying basically the right things, he’s saying what Sam might say, but the tone is off. It has the feeling of a leading question by a trial attorney, trying to get a traumatized witness to incriminate him/herself. “So … a car accident. That’s horrible.” Dr. Mason nods, and says that “Angie” was only a mile away from home when it happened. Dean nods. “That’s gotta be rough,” he says, looking down at Dr. Mason with what seems like gentleness but is not gentleness at all. Sam senses the tone, looks up quickly. I love that quick look.
Dean, unfortunately, keeps speaking.
“Losing someone like that … it’s like they’re …. still around … like you can still sense their presence.” There’s an edge on “sense their presence.” It makes him angry just being in the presence of a man who would maybe mess with the “natural order” of things. There is zero evidence against Dr. Mason. It doesn’t matter. Dean’s instincts, usually so good, are on the fritz.
In the shadows, stark noir lighting, his eyelashes casting shadows that cross his whole damn face. He looks beautiful and he looks messed UP.
“You ever feel anything like that?” Dean asks Dr. Mason, and it’s a gentle cue, a “talk more” cue, but whatever Dr. Mason says is going to be held against him in a court of law. Watch Sam’s face. He does not like how this is going at all. Dr. Mason, not realizing he is being trapped, says that yes, he does sense her. Dean nods, his eyes open and alert, about to pounce. He looks terrifying and yet the image is destabilized because of, oh, dark shadows and soft curly girlie eyelashes. Sam intervenes, never taking his eyes off of Dean, but in his voice there is a stern warning to his brother. “That’s perfectly normal, Mr. Mason.”
Dr. Mason says he still phones his daughter. He forgets. Then he says, “Family’s everything, you know?”
Dean would actually agree with that, but here, now, he almost rolls his eyes. He’s tapped out. Family’s everything. My mom’s dead, my dad’s dead, shut up old man. Dr. Mason says, “She was everything to me and now … I’m just lost without her.”
Sam is focused on Mr. Mason, sympathetic, open, and he glances up at Dean, who has already glanced away, off to the side, bored and uninterested in the moment. It’s chilling. I mean, not necessarily a huge surprise. Dean is not really great in the “sympathize with the grieving” scenes, he usually wants to get right to the questioning. But he normally keeps himself a little bit more under wraps than he is here. Dean hates death. His mother is dead. Maybe he has a tiny bit of regret that he’s not the kind of person who can tolerate sitting by her grave and “having a moment.” Wouldn’t life be so much better if he could just do that? But there’s all the other stuff: Angela maybe “coming back to life,” just like HE did. If Angela is going to turn out to be a monster, then she’s no more of a monster than he is. He should be 6 feet under himself. And if it is true that his father made a deal with the demon in order to save Dean’s life … then that is a pure example of what Dr. Mason is saying, an end result of the “Family is everything” philosophy. But how is Dean supposed to live with that? Not to even mention the fact that before dying, John Winchester whispered in Dean’s ear a dire warning about Sam, giving Dean the responsibility of having to handle that situation should it arise. To Dean, family IS everything. What he has been asked to do, to even contemplate, is quite literally haunting him. It impacts every single second of the show until that secret is finally revealed (in Episode 9, for God’s sake!)
What is so good about Ackles’ performance in “Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things” is that the entire time, in every single scene, he is ALSO playing the final scene of the episode. What comes out in that final scene is churning around within him at every moment. And THAT is what Sam is sensing.
4th scene
Dean and Sam argue in the motel room. It’s so dark that I can’t get a good look at the decor. Sam is washing his hands at the sink, and he’s just such a hunk.
Dean is insisting something’s going on, something turned that grave into “unholy ground.” Sam is saying, “She was a nice girl who died in a car crash. You got nothing.” Dean remains adamant: “Maybe daddy doesn’t know everything there is to know about his little angel.” It’s nasty language, right? It’s shitting on the family unit they just witnessed. One does not need to be an astrophysicist to understand how dealing with a grieving family might be upsetting for Dean, and family is something he doesn’t want to get gaga-eyed about, not right now. Dean’s language gets Sam too and he comes out of the bathroom saying, “We never should have bothered that poor man.”
Dean stands out in the room, with the window behind him, glowing blue and black. Sam is against the dark shadowy background of the motel room. In “Asylum”, there was a similar scene, where the guys blend into their respective backgrounds, a chameleon-effect. That’s not exactly what’s going on here, but the look is strikingly different for each of them. They are not “in the same space.”
Sam then says what he’s been wanting to say since the graveyard. “I know what’s going on here. It’s the only reason I’ve gone along with you this far.”
I like to consider Sam’s decision-making process, which is totally different from Dean’s decision-making process. In the scene over the Impala at the graveyard, Dean says “I let you drag my ass down here …” and that’s not at all how it actually went down. Here, Sam says a similar thing, but it’s clearer, more transparent. He can sense Dean’s internal tornado in response to being near his mother’s headstone. And so, okay, in order to deal with that, Dean has “made up” a case, to distract himself. Sam has made a couple of choices to “go along” with it, because 1. he cares about Dean and 2. he knows Dean will flip out if he tries to stop the momentum.
But being in the presence of a grieving father, trying to comprehend his loss, and feeling terribly that they actually questioned him, and that Dean was being such a douche about it … No. It is not right. Sam comes clean. “This is about Mom’s grave. You wouldn’t step within 100 yards of it.” Dean laughs and says No, that’s stupid, that has nothing to do with it. Sam is brave. He always keeps going. He can be absolutely devastating in these arguments because he is not afraid to speak his truth and say what he sees or what he feels. He doesn’t play by the same rules as Dean, who needs his secrets, who protects them, who isn’t an open book (for very good reasons, I might add.) Sam says, “Look. Maybe you’re imagining a hunt where there isn’t one so you don’t have to think about Mom. Or Dad.”
Ackles takes his goddamned time with Dean’s reaction, that’s why it’s so good. He has no lines. He slowly drags his eyes towards Sam, and he looks positively lethal.
Sam seems complete, in a way that Dean does not. He is not offended by Dean looking at him like that. He is not egotistical. He gets where Dean is coming from, he gets why Dean is pissed, but he had to say it anyway. His next line is beautiful and complicated: “You want to take another swing? Go ahead if it’ll make you feel better.” He is practically gentle and understanding. And it’s also horrible because it throws Dean back onto himself, onto his need to throw punches, and there must be something wrong with Dean if he has to hit his brother repeatedly. Sam is not saying it like that. But that is what is there for Dean in the silence that follows. Sam being separate like that … it’s infuriating and destabilizing for Dean. It’s also another example of Sam calling Dean out on something before Dean is ready to deal with it. But, you know, Dean can be a slow-poke. Get cracking, pal. These characters are both so well-formed.
Dean is on the verge of attacking his brother, it’s all over his face. But he backs off, grabs his keys, and heads for the door. Sam’s tone remains gentle, understanding, and it’s not bullshit, that’s what’s so great about it: “Dean, where are you going?” He’s worried.
Dean is grown-up and separate now, removing himself from the conflict, saying to Sam, “I’m gonna go get a drink. Alone.”
And he’s off.
It’s so husband-wife. These guys can’t do one thing without having to check in with the other. Talk about being against the “natural order.” Sam can sense that. You go to the roadhouse, Dean, I’ll catch up with you later. No, no, no, we stick together, we do everything together. Couples who operate like that are a nightmare to be around.
Dean is off. I hope he got drunk, and I hope he got laid. Or, at the very least, made out with some bar-hopping broad, pressed up against the Impala. The guy needs it. Meanwhile, back in the motel, Sam discovers that there is a porn channel on the TV, and he starts to think about maybe watching some of it. He reads the little promo card on the TV. He thinks more about it, considering, analyzing the pros and cons of watching some porn. Maybe he notices some bad grammar on the promo card, and gets distracted. God, I hate it when people split infinitives … thinks Sam. The bad grammar is the clincher. He doesn’t turn on the porn. He goes to bed. I like making up scenes.
5th scene
Thick-necked Matt sits slumped on his couch, watching a home movie of him and Angela. The camera slowly moves in on him, from below, so we see him through the line of small house plants on the coffee table below him. What thick-necked college boy keeps plants? And who keeps plants on a coffee table on which you want to prop up your feet? Those who need to be alerted of a zombie presence, that’s who.
We hear the home movie before we see it. We hear Angela laughing, saying, “Get that camera out of my face!” She’s laughing, and she’s alive and it’s happy times, but he’s sticking a camera in her face as opposed to, you know, being with her. We see some of the footage. She’s running around a big tree, hiding from the camera. She’s laughing. Matt is saying, off-camera, “You’re crazy about me, you know it!” Matt gets up off the couch and exits to go get a beer or something, and we see those little house-plants wilt. He comes back, drinking his beer, and we see Angela on the television screen, in the same little wispy white shirt we saw in the teaser. She’s alone in the frame, laughing, and we hear Matt say to her, “You’re beautiful, you know that?”
Yes, yes, we know. She’s beautiful. But WHAT ELSE IS SHE?
He pauses the video, to stare at her big beautiful face on the television screen, and suddenly, he sees a figure materialize in the reflection. A figure in white.
He turns, gasps in horror, and then we get our second awesome blood splatter, with blood flying up onto Angela’s frozen face on the television screen and then dripping down over her features. Which, have I mentioned that they’re beautiful? Did you get the “Angela is beautiful” memo yet?
6th scene
We next see Dean breaking into someone’s home, using a credit card. It’s morning. So he’s hung over, but bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (to quote my Dad), and continuing to work his case. Sam is not with him. So I am picturing Dean crawling out of bed and tiptoeing off to do this on his own, leaving Sam out of it. It’s gotta be 8 o’clock in the morning. The girl he encounters in the house is in pajamas. While the lighting and what he looks like are not highlighted as starkly as they were at the graveyard (and as they will be in the last scene, as well as the fight scene on the sidewalk), there’s something so beautiful about this shot. It’s all in one, he’s come into the house, looked around, closed the door. The shadows hit his face in a way that feels chosen rather than accidental. The colors are non-existent. It’s practically a black-and-white image.
He moves into the house, the camera now following him. Watch for that camera operation: it goes where he goes, looks where he looks, but then circles back onto Dean, so we see his face. Classic Kim Manners. Elegant and swoopy. We get a glimpse of the kitchen, and a box being packed on the kitchen table. Dean looks around and sees some photos on a nearby shelf. We’re still in the same shot. He goes over and picks up a framed photo of Angela. He looks down at it, and the Beauty here is almost deeper and more contemplative than the shot at the graveyard.
We see Angela in her frame, and then suddenly, a figure appears in the reflection, the motif of the episode. It is Lindsey (Leela Savasta), Angela’s roommate, who is justifiably freaked out to see a gloomy man standing in her living room staring at her photographs. Dean whirls around, she races back into her room, slamming the door, screaming that she’s calling 911. Dean rushes to fix the situation, saying that he is Angela’s cousin, “Alan Stanwyk”, and he does this little thing where he shrugs with his face. He’s done it before, most hilariously in “Phantom Traveler.” But here it is again. He pulled that name out of his ASS.
Alan Stanwyk, of course, was the villain in …
Lindsey has clearly never seen Fletch. She’d be too young. Just like “Scotty” in “Scarecrow” said to Dean, “Isn’t that the drummer from Led Zeppelin?” I’d say, “Isn’t that that bad guy from Fletch?”
Angela, tentative, opens the door, and Dean smiles in what he hopes is a friendly way, but that never goes over with Dean. He’s soft at the weirdest times, the most inappropriate times, and then when he TRIES to be soft, he doesn’t quite make the grade. He shows her his key ring: “I have the key to your place,” and it’s such malarkey! Especially the small pantomime of awkward laughing that follows. But she obviously buys it, because the next moment we see a closeup of her hand pulling out a Kleenex from a box on the table, and the two of them are now sitting in the living room and she is sobbing. This is Sam territory, not Dean. In a funny way, though, Dean’s separate-ness from his “role” as grief counselor may be a bit cold, but it also provides him with perspective, a view on things that might be lost if you got all caught up in Lindsey’s sobbing. Good investigators can’t get involved. He’s listening on another level, for the odd, the off-beat, the moment when someone gives themselves away.
He says, not really easing into it, “I’m sure you got a view of Angela that none of the family got. What was she really like?”
Lindsey, all verklempt, says Angela was “great.” Still upset, she says, “She was great. I mean, she was so ….” and she trails off, and we see Dean listening. Waiting. Freckled. And then knowing the word she is looking for. Because he’s already heard it two times in a row. He fills in her blank, “Great.”
Lindsey bursts into sobs, and Dean, kind of grossed out, hands her a Kleenex. It is such a funny gesture. It’s like he’s Phil Donahue. But without the personal charm. The funniest thing is that he doesn’t look at her as he hands her the tissue. Bodily fluids. Gross. Hopefully she doesn’t have snot and tears on her hands. He’d have to Purell himself to death later.
Listen. You’re either funny or you’re not. Every moment represents a choice, and it’s flat out funnier the way he does it than if he were looking right at her. Having a comedic gift is like having perfect pitch. One can remember these immortal words from Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Ackles is a very strong actor, but he’s also a very delicate actor. He’s got perfect pitch.
Dean is asking leading questions (“You two must have been really close”), but I am distracted by how beautiful the shots are. I have to force myself to listen to what he is saying. Sorry, Dean. Manners cuts off the forehead and the chin, and places the head off to the side of the frame. That’s what he does. That’s what he likes as a film-maker. It’s beautiful to look at, but from an acting standpoint it’s also just fantastic, because these repeated closeups (the whole scene is a closeup of him) are all about behavior. Behavior and Beauty. Elia Kazan used to talk about how psychology was revealed through behavior. Not language. Genius actors know that instinctively. They tell us everything through behavior. There’s a reason why John Wayne would sit down with every new script he got and cut 75% of his dialogue. Smart. And so Dean listening to Lindsey talk is a cornucopia of behavior. He’s listening, he’s also thinking. He’s also having opinions. He’s having feelings. He’s playing a part. But over and over and over again, Manners goes back to that face. It tells the story for us.
Angela says that one of the worst things about it is “Matt.” Dean is confused. Who the hell is that? Lindsey is confused that “Alan Stanwyk,” wouldn’t know the name of his own cousin’s boyfriend. Lindsey tells Dean that Matt killed himself last night, he slashed his own throat. “Who does that?” pleads Lindsey. Dean is so on high alert that he practically wants to run out of the house then and there, but Lindsey keeps talking. Matt had been broken up about Angela’s death and kept telling Lindsey that he “saw” Angela. Dean tries to talk her out of it, playing devil’s advocate – “I’m sure that’s normal …” but she reiterates, “No. He saw her. Like an acid trip or something.” Dean has been looking for a case. Now he’s found it.
7th scene
Humor. We definitely need it in this episode. Sam sits on the edge of the unmade bed. Fully clothed. Watching porn. It is, of course, Casa Erotica, a joke that will play out repeatedly. Season 9 brings Casa Erotica into the real world. It’s like there’s no other porn on the planet besides Busty Asian Beauties. If you like porn, those two options had better work for you because there are no other! Sam might as well be watching MacNeil/Lehrer, you’d never know from his posture. That’s what’s so funny about it. And he looks totally intent, like: “Let me watch this porn and think about what to do about it.”
Dean has probably been gone all night. Certainly gone all morning. And now is the moment when he chooses to walk through the door. Sam quickly grabs the remote and shuts it off. It’s so perfect! Busted! Grown-men busted in their own perfectly normal sexual activities! I’ve written before how I can’t help but wonder about pesky little things like masturbation in their current non-stop-togetherness setup, as well as when they were growing up and hitting puberty. Privacy is so important during those years. Yes, because you are becoming an individual, but also because you need sexytimes every other minute with yourself. I’m not making a joke! Okay, I am, but I’m also not. I love Sam’s “hey man what’s up” behavior, hoping that Dean will pretend he hasn’t seen what he just saw. It’s so human and vulnerable.
But of course Dean, being Dean, has to draw it out. Acknowledge it. He steps into the room, taking in the scene before him, sort of nodding to himself, but with his head lifted up.
It’s the head lifted up, so he can fully take in Sam’s shame, that is so funny. And how he draws out the pause. Sam, still acting innocent, says, “What?” Please do not reference what you just saw. Come on, man. Don’t go there. Dean still just stands there and then says to himself, and to Sam, “Awkward…”
Dean lets it go, finally, and comes into the room, Sam asking him, changing the subject, “Where have you been?” Dean says, “Working my imaginary case,” and then catches a glimpse of the XXX card on top of the TV, and has a momentary reaction to it, the porn is basically taking over the room right now.
I mean, look at this shot.
Supernatural in a nutshell.
Dean is now going to punish Sam for the comment at the Impala and the armchair psychobabble. He is going to set Sam up for that punishment because Sam deserves it.
Both guys play this next scene great.
Dean says, “You were right. I didn’t find much. Except that … Angela’s boyfriend died last night. Slit his own throat. But, you know. That’s normal. Let’s see. What else. Oh. He was seeing Angela everywhere before he died. But you know, I’m sure that’s just me transferring my own feelings.”
It’s quite a performance. Even Sam is impressed. He smiles. Okay, okay, Dean, you were right.
See, this is the thing, this is the thing that makes me love Sam and Padalecki’s playing of him. Often Sam is put in the position of having to react to Dean. Dean is the “star,” not of the show, but of so many of the moments because … well, he is who he is. And Padalecki, hats off to him, does not get sick of playing all of the varieties possible in these reaction moments. (He’s no dummy. John Wayne said he didnt consider himself an “actor,” he considered himself a “RE-actor”.) Sam knows he had this one coming so he lets Dean have his fun for a little bit.
Manners frames Dean’s blowup (“I know how to do my job”) with Sam’s chin jutting into the frame. It’s so weird, but it connects the brothers. Dean doesn’t get his own closeup here, or his own anything. Sam is present, at all times. Sam, on the other hand, as you will notice, is isolated in his own shots. It’s a perfect representation of the emotional states!
Dean is so pissed off that Sam adjusts. Time to let it go and work the case. As Jessie has mentioned in the comments sections: what is so attractive about this stuff is their competence, and I thank her for continuing to clarify that. Competence is sexy. They may be a mess, they may want to watch porn and can’t deal with it yet, they may punch each other out, but they still are competent at their jobs. Equal in competence. It’s a great set-up. Sam moves into competent mode and says, “We should go check out the boyfriend’s apartment,” and Dean, naturally, has just come from there. He sits down to take off his shoes, and again, with the curtains, and the white drapes, and the dark wall, and the T-shirt and the skin revealed …
Casual yet deliberate beauty. Nothing distracts, it’s soft and perfect.
Dean says he saw dead plants and a dead goldfish but he’s still “not getting that angry spirit vibe” from Angela. Competence, again, right? Sam listens to his brother, and he is literally surrounded by blackness. This is what the show used to do like no other.
This was how these guys were highlighted, diamonds in a jewelry store window. It’s startling, artistic, emotional, and, frankly, has Beauty as its main objective. And yet the scene keeps playing, we’re not stopping to revel. But once you slow it down, moment to moment, you realize just how beautifully it is put together, frame by frame by frame. How carefully it is shot and art-directed. Supernatural is not a high budget show and you would never know it from what it looks like. These people are artists.
Dean pulls out Angela’s little diary, which he clearly swiped in between handing tissues to Lindsey. Sam is shocked to see it, but also laughing. (This scene is almost an exact replica of the one seasons later with the dragons and the virgins. Sam got his soul back and is shocked to see that Dean stole a young girl’s diary, and Dean is so RELIEVED that Sam has a moral compass again, even though, yeah, he stole the diary. But being scolded by Sam is part of his “natural order” and he is relieved.) Dean thinks Angela seems a little bit “too nice,” which is the sense I have been getting too. Dean’s energy here is light, a little bit arrogant, because he just won the fight with Sam, and he’s been right about everything. Sam tolerates it because … well, what else are you gonna do. Reading Angela’s diary, Dean now knows who is her “bestest friend in the whole wide world.”
Tosses the diary at Sam and walks off. Score two points for Dean. Maybe even five.
8th scene
It’s a quick cut then, to Neil’s confused face, and he’s saying, “I didn’t realize the college employed grief counselors,” which, I’m sorry, makes me roar. Grief counselors. These two guys. Bad. Idea. They’re standing on Neil’s porch, and the light has that grey almost greenish tint to it that was so prevalent in “Dead In the Water”, the first real grief/trauma episode.
Dean, who is now in charge of himself again, and does not give a shit about Neil, bullshits his way through a monologue about grief that I don’t know how he could possibly even say without laughing. “You talk. We listen. Maybe throw in a little therapeutic collage. Whatever jumpstarts the healing.”
Stop talking, Dean. Immediately.
But even funnier is Neil’s hesitant response to that bullshit. “Uh. No. I think I’m okay.”
I’m still laughing.
Sam takes over because honestly how much further could this possibly go? “We just wanted to make sure you were okay – considering what happened to Matt.”
Here is yet another casual work-of-art shot just thrown into the mix.
You know. Whatever. Beauty. Everywhere you look, in every frame.
Sam, saying to Neil what he wants to say to Dean, “Grief makes people do crazy things.” Neil, caught, looks at Sam, and then looks at Dean, and this is what he sees.
Dean, stop it. But he does not care. He’s right not to care because Neil is so self-involved he’s not really paying attention anyway, and Dean counts on that. Neil then blurts out that Matt didn’t kill himself out of grief. Matt felt responsible for Angela’s death. Neil can’t stop being a White Knight, can he. You can see him faced with these fearsome-looking male specimens on his doorstep, the real deal, and suddenly, when he starts to talk about Matt and Angela, another kind of strength comes out of him. It’s self-righteous. Almost prissy. HE’S the one who really understood Angela, the “beautiful” “great” girl everyone supposedly loved. HE’S the one who knew what was REALLY going on.
As he talks, we get two enormous closeups of the brothers. I keep pointing these out, mainly in mourning for the look of the show now, but because it’s a great example of just how specific and A-game Supernatural was. I mean, you could pick it out of a lineup: Yup, Kim Manners did that. Putting both guys against a lush green and yellow background, in contrast to the scorched earth and dying plants that crowd the screen in the rest of the episode … it’s good stuff, and it’s the look of the fight on the sidewalk too. All green leaves behind them, trees, flowers, life.
Neil is all Hero now. “She really loved that guy. The night she died she walked in on him with another woman. That’s why she crashed.” You can see antennae practically rising up out of Sam and Dean’s heads, and Neil gently turns down their offer for “therapeutic collage” (honestly: I would love to see Neil say YES to that and then have to watch Dean pull that one out of his ass), leaving the brothers on the porch.
As they stroll back to the car, Dean, just talking out loud, says maybe they are dealing with a vengeful spirit after all. “I mean, hell hath no fury …” he tosses out there, leaving the “like a woman scorned” unsaid. It’s from the Restoration playwright William Congreve, whom we had to study in college. The line from The Mourning Bride (1697) actually reads: “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” It’s a great line, one of a couple of his that made it into common everyday usage (do not “kiss and tell” being another one).
Sam wonders if it all might be over now, since Angela got her revenge on Matt. The camera circles Dean as they both get in the car (this has all been “in one” thus far, which makes me happy and helps me sleep at night.) Dean is still in that insouciant nothing-bugs-me mood he’s been in since he won the fight with Sam. Everything else might suck, and it does, but there are clear next steps here (and black-and-white thinking, let’s not forget) that helps you get through the day. Dean says there’s only one way to be sure it’s over, and that is to “burn the bones.”
Sam does a double-take. “Burn the bones? Are you high?”
Dean actually takes a second to think about that last question. It’s so funny. “Uhm, let me see. Am I high right now?” I love that it’s ambiguous whether he is or not. This is clearly not a network where your lead hero is going to be popping speed all day, or whatever the hell else. But there are enough hints to suggest that Dean has a history with drugs, uses them when he wants to or has to – you know, like when he has to drive through the night. He’s a practical man. He likes to drink, obviously, but even there we see an almost casual relationship to alcohol (which will change, and I love it that it changes). There are little references to bongs and bong hits and “this brings back memories” and Dean also producing bottles of “medicine” out of his pocket to hand to Sam, or Kevin Tran. “Do I want to know how you got these?” “Probably not.” It’s fun to think about. This is just a guess, but I think Dean’s little thinking-to-himself moment, actually considering whether or not he is high right now, was all Ackles. It might have been a suggestion from Manners, a funny beat Manners didn’t want to miss, but that feels like an instinct from Ackles to me, his sense of comedy and character.
Sam reminds Dean: “There aren’t going to be any bones. There’s going to be a ripe rotting body in there …” and thanks, lost my lunch. Dean is completely unconcerned. He is going to burn up a young girl’s flesh and bones and “not even blink.” Dean says, “Since when are you afraid to get dirty?” Turns the car on, chug-chug-chug, Sam staring at Dean with perplexity. Dean’s lack of hesitation in the situation may be causing alarm bells to ring again for Sam, but I am more struck that Dean’s perception of Sam is that Sam is a person “not afraid to get dirty.”
9th scene
In the dead of night, Dean and Sam dig up Angela’s grave. You can see the ghostly circle of the unholy ground. The camera pans in on them, and it looks criminal, disgusting, and so beyond the pale. I know we become used to the image of heroes digging up dead bodies at midnight but it’s still funny to me to remember how weird their lives are. Both guys are heaving shovelfuls of dirt out, and they’re hating life. They probably hate this part the most.
And remember: we don’t even know what the case is yet. We’ve seen Angela as only an apparition, through a reflected surface. I like how they “bury the lede” with this one. They “sting” the audience, in other words. We’re already used to seeing rotting skeletons in the coffin, so it’s good to not get too complacent about all that (although there is humor in the complacency as well). Dean tries to jam the coffin open and can’t do it. Says to Sam, “Ladies first,” which, Brat. Sam is annoyed, and there’s basically an adolescent eye-roll from him. Why me? Seriously? Dean, I guess, feels like he’s been doing the heavy lifting for the entirety of this hunt. Let Sam pick up the slack.
All that changes when Sam jams the coffin open and we see no body inside.
10th scene
Anyone who has seen a zombie movie will now know what has happened. I love the point made later when Sam is trying to research zombies: there is too MUCH lore on zombies for any of it to have any use. Humorously, the other night a bunch of my girlfriends and I went out to dinner, and we ended up talking, 100% seriously, about the inevitability of a zombie apocalypse and how we would handle it. We were talking about Ebola, and other virus scares, and how “what if one day a virus came that turned people into zombies” and then we were off to the races. We are adults. We discuss zombies. We plan for what to do when they arrive. You should do so as well.
Nice Guy Neil is now seen jamming back a big bolt on a door in his creepy dark horror-movie college-guy’s apartment. He descends a dark narrow stairway into a creepy terrible cellar. We see him look into the greenish-tinged sickly-lit space, and there, sitting on a little cot, is Angela, in her wispy white little shirt, making her look both angelic and nasty at the same time.
And honestly, even though she is a zombie and all that, the way the scene is shot, the basement setting, makes it look as though Neil is a serial killer who keeps girls in a dungeon in his own home. She’s not flitting about wearing an apron in the kitchen (no, that would be Bobby’s dead wife). She is locked up in a basement. His little private plaything. Suddenly, we’re watching Criminal Minds. I think that connection is deliberate. Neil had a crush on her. Neil could not act on the crush. Angela clearly preferred the thick-necked jock who objectified her and then cheated on her with her best friend. She got trapped. She was angry. She could not lash out because nobody around her could tolerate Angela as anything other than a beautiful wispy-white-shirted angel. And so now, she is the “other side” of those Missing Persons posters. And Neil is suddenly no longer a Nice Guy, but a Creep of the Highest Order who keeps a woman locked up in order to keep her with him.
But the phrase “Careful what you wish for” comes to mind (something made even more explicit in the “wishing well” episode with a similar type of couple). He has her. She is HIS. But she is deteriorating, first of all, and there is something literally uncanny about her that he finds disturbing. She is her, but not her. And now she loves him. But it’s a terrible kind of love.
She gets up and walks to him. The light is so low that she can barely be seen. The only way we can even perceive her is that she is wearing white. She greets him with “I missed you” and kisses him, which has to be a pretty strange experience for him, cold skin, rancid breath. But for the time being, he macks away.
11th scene
Back in Angela’s grave, Dean and Sam are trying to get their heads around the fact that the coffin is empty. They see some scratching on the side of the coffin and crouch down to investigate, giving us one of those ridiculous and beautiful shots where they are crammed into the same frame, both holding flashlights, and it’s so Dark Side Hardy Boys that I am happy forever.
Dean recognizes the symbols. He’s seen them before.
12th scene
Quick cut to Dean banging on the door of a home. Sam says, quietly, “Dean. Take it easy.” Sam can feel the rage seething, he can feel that his brother might be about to act out. I love the moment. The relationship is so there. These actors, you guys. Come on. The thing is, Dean is so naturally appealing because of that vulnerability and the whole mess of his personality. If Padalecki weren’t ALSO as appealing as he is, the show would be The Dean Winchester Show and it wouldn’t work. Besides, Dean can only be highlighted properly when he has obstacles, when he is forced to explain himself, or defend, or deflect. Padalecki is a great obstacle, a great counter-weight. The “Take it easy” here is a perfect example.
Dr. Mason opens the door. It is ominous that Dean and Sam would show up at his home and not his office. When they first knocked on the door, I didn’t really register that the porch was different and assumed they had put it all together and knew Neil was the one. Another red herring, they’re still following Dr. Mason. He looks alarmed when he sees them there, especially because their energy is different. Sam still looks sympathetic but Dean is blunt: “We need to talk.”
Dr. Mason looks like he knows what they want to talk to him about. He lets them in. If he were not grieving his daughter’s death, he might have the wherewithal to say, “You know what, fellas? Now is not a good time. My daughter just died. Leave me the hell alone.”
The scene that follows is nasty, even nastier when you know Dr. Mason did nothing wrong. It’s horrible. He is completely traumatized by the end of it. And Dean and Sam end the case, leave town, and there is no denouement where they “make it right” with him. So picture what happens for Dr. Mason. He has no idea that this whole zombie drama has occurred. Neil will end up dying another mysterious death. But nobody will put it together because nobody is looking for zombies. Who knows, maybe Dr. Mason will wonder: I wonder if those two weird guys had anything to do with Neil’s death? He will never know his daughter was summoned out of her grave because she’s put back into it eventually. All he will know is that those guys showed up at his door … TWICE … intruding on his private family grief, asking questions, and shouting accusations at him. It’s horrifying.
But for now, he answers their questions, conceding their dubious right to ask questions.
Dean holds out a copy of the symbols and asks Dr. Mason to explain them. He is in total Bad Cop mode. “I don’t understand …” says Dr. Mason, and Dean says, “Humor me.” Sam stands by, silently, witnessing. Dr. Mason looks at the symbols and says they’re part of a divination spell. Dean, seething, says, “Used for necromancy, right?” Then comes some babble about the legends and the research they did and how these spells were used to rise people from the dead, “full on zombie action,” says Dean. Sam tries to calm Dean down, or at least adjust his tone, but no way is that going to happen.
Here, in this scene, we see the result of not dealing with stuff. I stuck up for Dean in “Everybody Loves a Clown,” and I stand by that. Working on the car is a perfectly valid way to work through grief. Probably more “healthy” than talking about it. But that’s just me. One size does not fit all. But we are two episodes later now, and Gordon messed things up, opened up that gateway to the void, and now we see the result of “not dealing”. Dean flips out on Dr. Mason. Dean is roaring in the man’s face, with no filter, and what he is yelling about is his own loss, his own rage, and his own terror that his father did what Dr. Mason did and rose him from the dead. From this point on, the final scene becomes inevitable. The cat is out of the bag.
Once that motor starts running in Dean, it can’t be stopped. “What gives you the right …” he says, and he is quivering with anger: “What’s dead should stay dead.” Finally: “Haven’t you seen Pet Sematary?” He’s totally accusatory. It’s hilarious. If you had SEEN Pet Sematary, then you would KNOW that NO GOOD CAN COME FROM THIS.
Dr. Mason runs to call the police and my heart aches for him. Dean is after him though, screaming, “Where is she?” Imagine how insane he looks to Dr. Mason. Sam pulls Dean back, shouting about all the “beautiful living plants” in the house, which must now make SAM look completely insane to Dr. Mason.
When Dr. Mason tells the story later to his therapist, he will describe two strapping hunks who barged into his house and shouted the following things at him:
“YOUR DAUGHTER’S A ZOMBIE.”
“LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY FLOWERS!”
… before leaving suddenly. He will spend thousands of dollars in counseling to work out why this would happen to him.
Dean wrenches his arm away from Sam and storms out, Sam hustling after him, apologizing to Dr. Mason, who is obviously shaken.
Now comes the fight scene on the sidewalk I’ve already mentioned. It’s a fight that is about the accumulation of frustrations, as well as the accumulated frustration that they have already covered this ground in former episodes. Why I treasure the scene (what a shocker) is because of The Beauty Factor. I have no idea how they do what they do. I am not that technically proficient. I know it is a combination of lighting, blurring out the backgrounds, awesome location scouting, as well as the new no-makeup look of Season 2. Dean’s freckles are ABLAZE. He is Anne of Green Gables.
I have many many freckles. All over my damn body. I am not in love with them but I accept their presence. I have had men fetishize them before. I am not used to being fetishized, I’m just not that type, so I do enjoy it somewhat, the novelty of it, but it does get tiresome and finally it’s like, “I know. I know. I have these little dots all over my face. Stop mentioning them please.”
Freckles are not flaws, not really, but they are certainly seen as such by makeup artists. Joan Crawford was a red-haired freckled girl. Yeah. You weren’t getting that at ALL from her screen persona.
She was still HER, but freckles wouldn’t be in vogue until, what, Sissy Spacek? And what’s her name, Keith Richards’ wife, Patti Hansen, who was a supermodel in the 70s … she was gloriously freckled on the cover of Vogue and Seventeen and everywhere else.
But even then, they are still treated as a novelty. If you are freckled, you will know what that feels like, even if you’re not a supermodel. A good friend of mine has the most adorable dimples, huge dents in her cheeks when she smiles, and they are to die for. People are so struck by them they mention them almost immediately, even on first meeting her. My friend has learned to be gracious about it but at the same time it kind of gets to her, like, “I know, I know, my dimples are crazy, please stop.” It’s a weird thing, but it happens.
You just don’t see freckles that much in cinema. And on a man, almost never. Not a lead anyway. It makes him HIM.
So let’s break it down. It’s a pretty simple scene with a ton of words, maybe too many on Sam’s side. It’s extremely on the nose. But it needs to be because it’s setting up, for good, the final scene.
They exit the house and they’re shot from the next lawn. They are literally DROWNING in lush greenery. Greenery presses in from all sides, an awesome contrast to the dead tree, the dead plants, the scorched earth, their scorched lives.
They walk down the sidewalk, Sam yelling at Dean, Dean being douchey and cold in response, basically warning Sam with his body language to back off. I’m just picturing people having mint juleps or whatever on their porches and watching those thugs stalk by shouting at each other.
The camera follows them from the side, Sam leaning in on Dean, arms flailed out, shouting in his brother’s face. Then we switch perspective and see the two of them approaching the camera. Then we’re back in to the medium shots, with Sam and Dean against those gorgeous complex blurry backgrounds, different on each side, Sam’s has a lot of white light in it, and trees, Dean’s background is more complex, with blurry geometric patterns from the house across the way.
Then we go in really really close, and we’ve got freckles galore and TONS of AWESOME behavior that cannot be captured in screen-grabs. Finally, the scene ends, on one of those rare moments when they actually comment on how weird their lives are, the tension breaking with humor (great choice) and Dean exits the frame, leaving Sam alone in it, a big hulk of a guy, all diagonal-ish and cutting into that green-y warm behind him.
I just love every shot of this sequence. It’s pretty traditionally done: long shot, medium, close-up, But it’s the WAY it’s done, and it’s the colors, and the blurriness behind them, and the sense of homes all around them, and trees, and life … these gloomy-gus guys battling it out in broad daylight.
The adrenaline of the fight in Dr. Mason’s house basically propels them down the street. Dean’s forbidding attitude (“Don’t be overdramatic, Sam”, and his hand clenches up into a fist at one point, he’s threatening to take a swing) makes the situation worse.
The Tough Love Sam attempted in “Everybody Loves a Clown” felt too soon for me, and I went into why in my re-cap there. Give Dean space, Sam. Working on the car IS Dean dealing with Dad’s death. But now, two episodes later, the Tough Love feels appropriate. Gordon made this clash inevitable. Dean is WAY off his game and Sam needs to give him a reality check. That’s love. That’s intimacy.
Sam is pissed, yes, but he’s more pissed that Dean is shutting him out, than that Dean is being aggro. “You won’t let me help you,” he says at one point. “I can take care of myself, thanks,” Dean says with a tight little smile, and Sam says, “No. You can’t. And you know what? You’re the only one who thinks you should have to.”
It’s an extremely moving line. Dean keeps trying to warn Sam off. Don’t go there, man. Stop now. I’m warning you. But, you know. Sam doesn’t scare easily. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, remember? Sam actually breaks through to his brother. I mean, this is how high maintenance Dean is. Sam has to scream at him to be heard. Maybe it’s when Sam says, “Please … please …” twice, basically begging Dean to stop and consider what he is saying. That seems to crack through, it’s irresistible to Dean the protector. Sam has lost his Mom, Dad, Jessica … Please, Dean, don’t make me lose you too.
That’s language Dean understands. There’s this flash of sadness in his eyes in those big closeups as he listens, the misery underneath the rage.
But the best part of the scene is the ending. A bad show would have them hug it out. But here, Dean gives in, saying, “Look, I hear you. I’m being an ass. But right now we’ve got a freakin’ zombie running around and we have to find a way to kill it.” Sam starts laughing. Dean is searching Sam’s face, watch how Ackles does that, looking up at his brother, searching, and there’s his familiar “Are we okay now? We good?” thing. I get it, you’re totally right, but can we back-burner this?
Sam’s humor feels like all Padalecki, too, who is an extremely funny human being. They both are. Sam, as I said, could be played as a too-serious drip by a less sensitive actor. He’s written that way in the pilot. But very early on these other elements came into play because obviously Padalecki could not only handle it, but it comes easily to him.
I love that scene so much.
12th scene
Angela, who is basically a zombie version of this song …
… sits primly and sweetly on the couch looking up at Neil, asking, “Is something bothering you, honey?” Having someone’s sole focus be you sounds good. Until it happens. Neil is legit freaked out now. Also, he may very well have lost his virginity to a corpse. Add to that the fact that Matt slashed his own throat. Neil is wondering if … did she do that? He stands across the room from her. He looks clammy. He tries to bring up Matt and she says sweetly, “Haven’t we wasted enough time on Matt?” Neil has dreamt of her saying something like that to him. Now she has. And it doesn’t feel like it should. Her skin is starting to flake off. She looks ghostly and chalky.
Angela plays him like a violin. “Do you think I could do something like that?” Young pretty girls are under-estimated. One of the good things about horror movies is that it allows young pretty girls to have some darkness, some rage, some survival instincts, to fight back, to lash out, to run. Yes, also to die, there is that. But it’s a welcome change from teenage sex comedies where they have no inner life whatsoever and are only there to be objectified and ogled. Angela’s life WAS a teenage sex comedy until she entered a zombie movie, and the zombie movie has set her free.
She straddles Neil, whispering, “I realize now that you’re the only one who ever loved me. You proved that. You brought me back. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”
Yes. It is.
13th scene
Back in the motel room, which we now can see a little bit more of, the crazy patterned bedspreads, stiff and uninviting, dark shadows, some weird artwork on the walls. It’s a dump. Sam is wearing one of those hot patterned shirts he sometimes wears, a more dressy look, and against the background there is a hell of a lot going on.
Dean asks Sam if they can “waste it with a head shot” and Sam jokes, “Dude. You’ve seen way too many Romero flicks.”
Who hasn’t? If the zombie apocalypse comes, Romero would be the one I’d turn to for intel.
I think I love the lore scenes so much because they are repetitive and it doesn’t matter what the lore is – what matters to me is watching Padalecki (for the most part) make it new, fresh. He has said before that he loves these types of scenes best, when the brothers talk about a case, decide to work a case, talk about the lore, make a decision on how to move forward. It says a lot about who he is as an actor that these are his favorite types of scenes.
He’s reading out loud from Dad’s journal some of the wacky theories about how to kill zombies.
Take a moment to look. Because, you know, Beauty. Sam being in a white shirt makes the frame pop. It connects him visually to the white of the curtains, and then your eye scoots to the left to Gloomy Dark Dean, loops around the darkness at the bottom, connecting to the darkness on the right-hand side. At least that’s how that image works for me. Sam is light, Dean is dark. It’s beautifully constructed.
A lot of the lore says kill them with silver, and Dean runs with that. But first, they need to figure out who “brought her back.” And Dean, who has been acting out and needing to be reined in, suddenly shows his competence again, saying that he thinks it might be “that guy Neil.” Nobody has mentioned Neil since the grief counseling scene. They have been too busy chasing the red herring of Dr. Mason. Sam looks surprised, as though the thought had never occurred to him. Dean pulls out Angela’s little pink diary and, in a sing-song voice, reads one of her passages of writing about how “understanding” Neil is. Dean is great here. Subtle, triumphant, analytically acute … “It’s got unrequited Duckie love all over it.”
Dean referencing Pretty in Pink and Pet Sematary within 5 minutes of each other is just one of the many many ways that this show pleases me.
That’s still a bit vague to Sam. Sure, Neil may have been Duckie, but could he have the balls to do what needed to be done to raise a girl from the dead? Dean, all certainty and competence now, says that Matt is also Dr. Mason’s TA, which means: Access to Spooky Books.
14th scene
Dean and Sam are the heroes of the show. And here, they are filmed like assassins as they walk into Neil’s home. The angle is diagonal, there are no lights, they look scary.
It’s so funny to me that the show keeps them in such deep darkness, and is one of the many stylistic ways it keeps its bearings and remembers what it is. These guys are not anti-heroes but every single thing they do could be construed as criminal. They dig up bodies and set them on fire. They scam other people via credit card. They hot-wire cars. They break into people’s private homes.
Dean throws a bone to the rules of civilized society and calls out, “Neil? It’s your grief counselors. We’ve come to hug.” All as he’s pulling out his gun loaded up with silver bullets “enough to make her rattle like a change-purse,” says Dean. Brill.
They start skulking through the house. Sam takes note of the line of dead plants along the windowsill. They come across the dark door with the big lock on it. Dean gestures at it with his head, looking at Sam. “Unless this is where he keeps his porn,” says Dean. Second porn reference. There will be more. And more. And more. Sam does not justify that comment with a response; instead, he reaches out, quickly pulls back the bolt, whips open the door, and Dean jams himself onto the top step, gun drawn, and it’s so bad-ass and Miami Vice-ish.
They sneak down into the dark green-black lair. They see the rumpled bed. The whole thing screams “zombie pen” except where is Angela. “Do you think she’s going after somebody?” asks Sam. Dean sees a nearby grate that has come unhinged. He moves the grate back, looking into the duct stretching off, then turns to Sam and says, “Nah. I think she went out to rent Beaches” and I’m dying laughing at the image of Angela watching Beaches in her current state, as well as Dean’s absurdity.
Sam snaps, “Look, smartass, she might kill someone. We gotta find her.” I love it when the brothers lose their sense of humor. I mean, it’s annoying that they’re both so touchy but it sure makes for comedy.
Dean thinks a bit. Rubs his head.
It’s verging on Rembrandt territory.
He’s putting it together. He talks it out. “Angela clipped Matt because he was cheating, right? Well, it takes two to … you know. Have hardcore sex.” He almost seems embarrassed for a split second. Look for it. He hesitates. There’s humor there too. Sam is confused. What the hell are you talking about, would you get your mind out of the gutter? (Sam, you were the one watching Casa Erotica with a stick up your ass.) Dean elaborates, fumbling a bit, “I don’t know … it just seems that Angela’s roommate was … broken up over Matt’s death. I mean, like … really broken up.”
The line reading. He’s flashing us back to his tissue hand-over. That scene was played for comedy but it struck an alarm bell in Dean, something he had probably been thinking about ever since. Something wasn’t right there.
15th scene
Cut to a closeup of another photo, and a happy smiling picture of Angela and Matt. Lindsey, the crier, sits in her dark blue-lit living room, staring down at it, and you are half expecting to see Angela materialize in the glass. Instead, there is a creak in the other room, startling Lindsey. She should know a zombie is coming with lighting like this.
Lindsey is freaked. Her “best friend” is dead and now her paramour is dead. She wonders if she’s going to be targeted next. She flings open the front door and sees nothing. When she turns around, though, there, of course, is Angela, and Angela grabs her in a rage, snarling, “Hi, Lindsey, I’m ho-ome!”
Angela is quoting I Love Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’s typical greeting to his wife when he returns home …
… which then, of course, was parodied disturbingly by William Macy in Pleasantville.
What happens when no one answers?
I love that that’s what she says. She is just a stay-at-home little wifey, isn’t she, that’s what everyone wants from her, to be beautiful and waiting for them when they get home, ready and available. Well, the tables are turned now, aren’t they? I’M RICKY RICARDO NOW, BITCH.
I guess I have some sympathy for Angela, huh?
Lindsey runs into the house screaming and Angela pursues, roaring with rage, picking up scissors which just happen to be lying on the counter because, you know, it’s a horror movie.
Lindsey kicks Angela off of her and Angela falls on her face and there’s a gross crunching-squishing sound. Lindsey, panic-struck, rolls Angela over and the scissors are embedded in Angela’s chest. It’s a great effect. Angela’s eyes flash open and she draws the scissors out, slowly, the blood dripping off of them. (The music, by the way, is awesome slashing horror-movie music, orchestral and psychotic.)
Angela grabs Lindsey by the neck and that’s when shots are fired from the doorway. Sam and Dean loom there, in complete shadow. Dean has fired. Lindsey is right there, behind Angela, and it’s a hell of a risk to shoot Angela when the two of them are in that clumped-up position. Dean doesn’t miss. But the silver bullet doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do. He shoots her again. She seems shocked, but then leaps out the window like some feral creature in wispy white. Dean runs off in pursuit, Sam comforts Lindsey, but Dean crawls back in through the window, saying, “Damn, that dead chick can run.”
16th scene
On their way to “have a little chat” with Neil, the Impala roaring into view on a lonely road. It’s one of those insert shots, done by a second unit, probably weeks beforehand, or whenever, and these Impala scenes help. They launch us out of one moment, segues us into the next. Texture.
Sam and Dean are talking about how the silver bullets didn’t work. They clearly hurt her but did not take her down. Sam is on Research Patrol, looking through the journal. Dean needs information, they’re about to interrogate Neil, they need a plan.
Sam has one of those nerdy mini-monologues, handled so gracefully by Padalecki. He’s flipping through the pages saying that a couple of sources mention “nailing the undead back into their grave site … it’s probably where the whole vampire staking-lore comes from.” Thank you for that primer, Sam Winchester.
(Side note: Zombies will return. Big-time. The “Croatoan virus” basically turns people into zombies, which is what my friends and I were discussing the other night. What if there was some kind of flu strain or something that made people go all zombie? What would we do? Here the brothers are wading through the lore, trying to figure it out. They will use this information in later episodes.)
Once again, like the first Impala scene, we have that asymmetrical filming of the two of them. Dean is filmed through the windshield, the reflections of the street lamps whizzing over his face, Sam is filmed from within the car. Keep that visual motif going. It works on us in invisible ways. We still don’t get to “get in there” with Dean until the final scene when he exits the car, no more glass between us and him.
17th scene
They’ve already been to Neil’s and seen the empty zombie lair. Clearly they go to find him at the college, where he sits in Dr. Mason’s dark office. He’s working. With one teensy tiny lamp on. Sam and Dean enter, and they look as terrifying as they’ve ever looked in their lives.
This is a good scene because it still hides stuff from us, and yet we can see Dean operating at peak level, coming up with his own plan, in his own mind, Sam being confused, but trusting that Dean knows what he’s doing. See how that shift has occurred over the course of the episode? It’s elegant, beautiful. I suppose you could make an argument that they assumed Angela would be with Neil and they went into this interaction with the plan already set up, but I think Dean’s behavior suggests otherwise, as well as Sam’s reaction. Dean has a hunch, runs with it, and Sam follows. That fight on the sidewalk cleared the air. They’re together again.
Dean opens with an emasculating comment: “I’ve heard of people doing some pretty desperate things to get laid, but you. You take the cake.”
All kinds of subtext in there. “I’ve heard of people …” implying: “I myself have never had to do anything desperate to get laid. And I get laid all the time, pal.”
Neil is no match for Sam or Dean. He lies badly. “We know what you did,” says Sam. “You’re crazy,” says Neil. More emasculation from Dean, “Your girlfriend’s past her expiration date, and we’re crazy… When someone’s gone, they should stay gone. You don’t mess with that kind of stuff.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” says Neil. Dean is around the desk in a flash, grabbing Neil to his feet: “This blood is on your hands,” says Dean, and it is Dean at his very best. He is firm, urgent, and has the potential for violence, yet it’s under control. It’s scary as hell. Neil caves, apparently, and says, “She’s at my house,” which is obviously a lie, and that is when Dean sees the dead plants on the windowsill, and turns to give Neil another look. The zombie is basically here. Right here. “You sure about that?” asks Dean, and Neil nods, glancing at Sam, glancing off to the side, and he clearly has had no Special Ops training.
Dean caught the glimpse to the side, and glances that way himself. There’s a door there. Now he knows. Dean changes tactics and becomes practical. He lets Neil go and moves back over towards Sam saying they’re going to have to perform a ritual now, and then he throws a bogus list of ingredients over at Sam as though Sam is this individual.
Sam is confused, but it’s a game of improv. He doesn’t say “No” to it. The #1 rule in improv is “say Yes” to everything.
Dean is working. Let him work.
Dean says Neil should come with them for the ritual. Neil refuses. He refuses, though, like a pouty toddler. It is his knee-jerk reaction to such strong certain GROWN-UP behavior coming at him from these 6-feet tall men. You can almost feel bad for him. Not quite, but almost. Dean insists. He knows there’s a pissed-off zombie in listening distance. “I’m serious. Come with us.” Pouty toddler shakes his head. No. Sam just watches and waits. It’s the Dean Show. Dean knows it too and he leans into a macho noir closeup, his eyes in shadow, tremendously fierce, his voice plunging to a deadly whisper, “Listen to me. Get out of here as fast as you can. But most of all, be cool. Don’t make her mad.”
Then, they’re out of there, as quickly as they came, leaving the toddler alone with his wifey, who is hiding in the closet. There’s another Rembrandt as we see Neil come to the door.
Serge Ladouceur, stop being so brilliant.
Angela stands there, the wound in her chest on display, blood on her wispy white. She is now a damsel in distress, she now looks to Neil to be her white knight. Those guys are trying to kill me. We have to go to the cemetery and stop them. She is all helpless and dewy-eyed, albeit with a clammy dead aspect. He’s openly afraid now. Kill those two guys? “So it’s true then … Matt and Lindsey …” he breathes. “They hurt me,” says Angela.
“Okay. God help me, but okay,” he says. “I’ll go get the car.” He nervously and slowly leaves the room, Dean’s words echoing in his ears, not taking his eyes off of her.
Neil heads to his car outside and he is a nervous wreck, hyperventilating and almost in tears. You know he’s about to peel out of there and Angela knows it too because she suddenly appears and, gruesome, snaps his neck. I hate snapping-neck scenes and this one is particularly graphic.
18th scene
Bogus ritual time at the cemetery, Dean lighting a line of candles by the open grave. Boy, they dug up that grave again quick, didn’t they?
“You really think this is gonna work?” asks Sam. Dean says, “No, not really, but it was the only thing I could come up with.” A very human moment. It’s the little things, you know? It’s the little things that help it feel real, that keeps the supernatural grounded in the very real relationship. And that’s all on Ackles and Padalecki to create and keep in operation. The script helps and the closeups help. The brothers sense something out there in the darkness and share a look. Sam draws out a silver pistol from the back of his pants and for a second it gleams in the light and I get to have my gun fix.
Sam charges out into the little grove of trees, gun drawn. There’s shadows, and misty shafts of light, and blueness through the trees. We can’t see him, not really, until he moves into a gloomy closeup and then, gorgeously, the Zombie in White appears in a blur over his shoulder. He whirls around, gun on her, and she pleads with him, and her comments are very interesting, especially when we consider their connection with Dean’s experience and being brought back: “Wait. It’s not what you think. I didn’t ask to be brought back. But it’s still me. I’m still a person.”
He shoots her in the head.
Nothing happens. The blood congeals instantly from the hole in her forehead.
He turns tail and runs back towards the grave, with Zombie Girl in hot pursuit. Look at that dead chick run! You hear her heaving and grunting as she runs, and seriously, how fun is such a role for an actress like this one? How often is she given a chance to play ugly and ferocious? We see them running through the woods, out into the open when she tackles him from behind and they fall to the ground together (slamming Sam onto his hand, which he then supposedly breaks. He will wear a cast for the next couple of episodes. Padalecki actually broke his hand in “Bloodlust” so they had to deal with that and write it in and give Dean a line about “we’ll go have it looked at” which is pretty funny considering that they probably usually set their own broken bones, and sew up their cuts with dental floss drenched in whiskey. But never mind.) She straddles him, and grabs his head again, ready to snap it, when Dean, like Burt Reynolds in Deliverance, shoots her with a crossbow. At least I think that’s what’s going on, it’s too dark really. Nice shot, grumpy pants!
She reels off Sam, and Dean shoots her again. And again. With each shot she stumbles backwards until she tumbles back into the grave. Very good physical work from Feldman. Ackles then shows off his tremendous athletic ability by running to the grave, dropping to his knees, sliding on his damn knees through the wet grass, and falling into the grave on top of her. All in one. It’s clearly him doing it. It’s thrilling. He then plunges the stake into her, nailing her back into her coffin, all as she screams up at him in protest. It’s brutal.
He’s righted the natural order. In doing so it calls into question his entire existence. Coming back from the dead is not right. He is not right. That’s what’s been there beneath the entire episode.
The final point of view of the scene is from within the grave. He should be down there but he’s not.
19th scene
After digging up her grave … twice … Sam and Dean pile the dirt back in and by the time they finish it’s dawn. Mist rises from the grass. The trees are still in shadow. They’re filmed from below, giving them such iconic stature, making them seem 10 feet tall. Sam says to the grave, “Rest in peace,” and Dean says, as though Angela is right there before him and she’s being a naughty teenager, “For good this time, okay?”
They start back for the car.
Winifred Optican was clearly a pillar of the community. I thought it said “Optician” for a brief moment.
Winifred made sure everyone in the town had yearly eye exams. She will be sorely missed.
The scene is a red herring in that it feels like the final scene. The wrap-up, the wind-down. But it’s not the last scene. Sam is basically complimenting Dean on his plan on luring Angela to the cemetery with a fake ritual. “Did we have to use me as bait, though?” Ah, the bait issue. Let’s take turns being bait. Dean likes it when someone else gets to be bait for a change. Dean’s comment reveals the sexual undertones of any conversation having to do with baiting monsters: “I figured you were more her type. She had crappy taste in guys.” It’s a joke but it’s also acknowledging the reality. Dean factored Sam-as-bait into his plan. Just the way these guys work. They don’t question it.
As they get near the Impala, Dean glances back, and watch how Ackles is suddenly flooded with vulnerability and something that looks like anxiety.
He’s a little boy right there. It’s a long moment.
Then we get this perfectly set-up shot which is juuuuust slightly over-the-damn-top, where it should be. Car. Sam. Dean. Tools. Mist. Trees. Jawlines. Hair. Freckles. Pain. And Manners, as always, cutting off the top of their heads:
Sam waits, and then asks, “Want to stay for a while?” and I love how Ackles looks down, not back at Sam, but down … the look-down acknowledging that Sam has spoken, he’s hearing the words, but he doesn’t look. It’s an eloquent gesture, gentle, the kind of thing that only works where the camera is that close.
No, Dean doesn’t want to stay. They head to the Impala, throwing the tools in the trunk. The mournful Winchester music is back now. The car looks like a million bucks, doesn’t it.
Slowly but surely, shot by shot, they’re building the iconography of the show. It’s certainly “set” by now in Season 2, but now it’s becoming more conscious. Season 1 was introductory, floating out themes, motifs, ways of doing things … Season 2 settles in. The Impala has never looked shinier, more glamorous, more deadly. The guys are in the same frame, dawn-lit, freckled and vulnerable, they’ve got tools and guns in the back, and now everyone is filming them as mythically as possible. The style is gelling.
20th scene
… which is perfect because now comes the REAL final scene, when all of that is thrown out the window, and we are given a scene that looks like nothing else in the series thus far. And the look will not show up again. It is completely unique. It is a visual signal: This is new. We’re leaving this First Arc of the season behind and moving into the next one. Pay attention. This is new. It is also as beautiful as the show has gotten (and almost will ever get). It’s certainly a high water-mark. And it’s all done out in broad daylight. They’re on the side of a mountainous road. The sun is setting (it looks like sunset to me, even though it seems like it’s supposed to be sunrise in the timeline – it doesn’t matter) and so you get that intensity and the long shadows. It is a classic “magic hour” look. There’s a reason film-makers and producers plan their entire shoots around “magic hour” because it does 95% of the work for you. There are glimmering – literally – glimmering huge tears – trembling on Dean’s lower eyelid, so huge you want to pop them like a balloon, gathering up limpidly over the abyss of his face, and then more tears, and then Dean is crying. We’ve not seen Dean cry before. Not like this. If Dean were crying as they barreled the Impala along the road, it would have been touching because both actors are so good, but they needed to stop the episode in its tracks and say: LOOK. Not just FEEL. But LOOK. It’s a super show-off-y scene on the part of Manners and Ladouceur and scout location and all that. They’re going for the brass ring, for the mythic thing, for the big big emotions, filmed big-ly (big-ly? sorry). The scene warrants big treatment. It can take it.
Best of all is that we may have sensed it coming. I sensed something coming. But not really this. Not the way it pans out. Not the vulnerability that happens. The final scene blind-sided me the first time I saw it.
Dean and Sam ride in silence. (Please note that the camera is now outside the windshield, and we go from Sam to Dean, in one take, both of them shot through the front window. It’s the first time Sam has been filmed through the windshield as well; up until now it has only been Dean. They’re about to get into the same space. Dean is about to let Sam in.) Sam senses something is very wrong. Dean’s face is seemingly stoic, but it’s obviously full of whatever it is he’s not saying.
Without a word, Dean pulls over to the side of the road. They are up in the mountains. Pine trees cling to the slopes. It’s a stunning location. There’s a great Two-Lane Blacktop kind of shot: the camera low, ground-level, as we watch the car approach, and then the car crosses lanes, the camera scooting over to follow on a dolly track or camera slider, zooming in forward to meet the car, as the car pulls to a stop in the side of the road. So the camera goes from this …
to this …
Nice work, team.
Dean gets out. Sam doesn’t, he’s looking out at his brother, wondering what is happening. Something wrong with the car? Is Dean stopping the car to … talk about his feelings? To say that this is not like Dean is an understatement. Sam doesn’t even know what universe he’s in anymore. Dean isn’t going off to take a walk and be by himself. He leans on the front of the car and waits. Sam gets out, never taking his eyes off of Dean.
Watch Padalecki listen. I’ve spoken about Padalecki’s listening before, as well as his mastery of “playing objectives” (like in “Nightmare”). You can have all the emotional power in the world, but if you can’t listen to your fellow actor, then you’re not a real actor. I wrote a whole post about Joseph Cotten’s relatively thankless role in Gaslight and how Ingrid Bergman flat out could not shine as bright as she does in that final scene if Cotten weren’t listening to her as intently and urgently as he was. I would show that scene to acting students to show them what it means to REALLY listen. You can’t wait for your lines as the other person speaks. You can’t ACT like you’re listening. You have to ACTUALLY listen. Some things can be faked in acting and audiences are none the wiser. You can have glycerine tears put on your face, you can fake punches. But listening? Good listening can’t be faked. (This is why actors are sometimes the most generous people on the planet, and way way better listeners than most. The cliche that actors are self-absorbed and selfish is completely untrue. You want selfish and self-absorbed? Hang out at a happy hour on Wall Street.) Ackles does some of his best work in the following scene and he couldn’t do any of it without the power of Padalecki’s listening.
Notice how the whole first section of the scene is done in one take. That gives the actors room to breathe, to play the scene out. Listen, talk, pause, think.
Dean apologizes. Even after all the fighting of the episode, Sam looks startled, and asks, “For what?” It makes me want to cry. The unconditional love of siblings.
When Sam finally moves to join Dean against the hood, the camera “counters” in response, moving to capture the two of them, and then the camera keeps going, swooping around behind them so they are highlighted against the mountainous scenery. Sam might be afraid to shatter the moment if he says something wrong, because with Dean you never know, so he sits and waits.
Suddenly we jump in close to Dean’s face and we go into beauty overload and I start to feel the need for an oxygen mask. There are eyes catching the light, blazing translucent, and white teeth, and stubble, and breath high in his throat (a mix of emotion and altitude, I’m thinking). It’s overwhelming. Dean apologizes for the way he’s been acting, and also “for Dad. He was your Dad too.” Sam never takes his eyes off Dean and Dean barely looks at Sam. It’s a private moment for Dean, practically, he’s speaking to Sam but he can’t look.
The scene is about guilt.
Sam can’t assuage Dean’s guilt. He tries, but Dean cuts him off. “You can’t tell me there’s not a connection,” between Dad dying and Dean’s miraculous recovery. Dean is pretty calm and articulate but the feelings are building. You can hear it on “It was a miracle.” If he weren’t trying to hold it together he’d burst into tears. What does his life mean? How can he be happy he made a miraculous recovery? How can he enjoy anything at all if his father had to die for him to be here?
Dean doesn’t actively resent being “forced” to share his secret. At least that’s not what he’s present to in the moment, the last line of the scene, said right to Sam, notwithstanding. It’s that it’s a secret, and he knows Sam has been thinking it too. Guilt and shame. Something that keeps them separate and as we know separation is bad news for Dean. When Sam tries to intervene, Dean whispers as a plea to stop, “Sam …” and it’s heart-breaking. Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to yourself. At least live in truth. And this is my truth. Don’t make me not say it, don’t make me not feel it. Because you know it’s true.
The feeling overwhelms Dean for a second, especially when he turns to look at Sam. You can see Ackles fill up even more when the two make eye contact. He has to look away. The intimacy between these two actors, to be able to sit in such a scene, and quietly create it together, is an inspiration to me.
I mean, it’s La Boheme, for God’s sake.
We’re only in Episode 4. We have a long way to go. We are about to launch the second Arc of the season, that of the “Psychic Children,” i.e. The Creepy Breakfast Club, set up with Max in Season 1, an Arc that doesn’t quite play out. I mean, everybody dies. Right? There are also a couple of one-offs coming up, the Linda Blair episode (which I love for multiple reasons which we’ll get to), as well as the Jo-in-Philadelphia episode, which is mainly about character-building and character development.
But endings need to happen as well as beginnings: Dean reveals something here, and it is filmed within an inch of its life.
We know there’s more that he is not saying. WHAT DID YOUR DAD WHISPER TO YOU? is what we may be thinking. Dean does not bring it up, and he won’t, not for a while.
Other bread crumbs have to be thrown down to make Season 2 what it is. We need the psychic kids, we need Ellen and Jo, we need Sam and Dean to pick up the demon trail again for revenge purposes.
But BEFORE we get into all that…
We need this moment. So badly, do we need it. They need it too.
It is a reminder of the psychological stakes for these people.
What the hell though with this episode, seriously. From Rembrandt to Bouguereau via Walt Disney. Messes with my head. It’s not my favourite episode but some truly crazy stuff goes down and the character interaction and direction is just gold. That tipping point almost exactly halfway through, when Dean gets ANGRY, is so unsettling.
Great write-up. I love how you talk about Angela and her rage and how empty people’s conceptions are of her. “She was so pretty”. What other show would draw so many unapologetic connections between its male hero and its female victim-villain? And then kill himself/her?
I also connect her to two other women. One is the “girlfriend” of Ted Raimi in the wishing episode. So creepy and gross. I wish that character had had a chance to rage. The other is Sarah Shahi in the pilot — yes I will take any excuse to think about Sarah Shahi — Angela is essentially identical, in casting hair and makeup, to the Woman in White. Melancholia replaced by wrath. Something there about assimilating into roles I think.
Perhaps that visual connection to the pilot also hits for me because I’m chuffed to see Sam back at uni — his hair the first time they interview the dad is hysterical.
Speaking of costumes — Dean is not wearing enough in that cemetery scene. And in the motel. And Sam is starting to wear those v-necks. And he is so pretty after they talk over the Impala roof. Everyone is so over the top in this episode.
Ok then, Beauty. Don’t stop talking about it. Beauty and cinematography and access to the characters. There are some very strange reversals, some counter-intuitive stuff happening here that plagues me. This also kind of sparks off of what mutecypher said re: polysemy in the previous episode; I’ve said that the readability of the show is one of its chiefest pleasures for me. These are the gaps, the ellipses, the elisions that the show presents us with (like Sam thinking about porn, ha ha!); there is the unspeakability of so many of its traumas, monster-of-the-week and personal and familial; and then there is the fact of the screen. The irreducible distance there.
That hits with some characters harder than others. Sam, despite his Otherness, is knowable to us in a way that Dean and John are not. In this episode and so many others, he is so open and working so hard at it it hurts. It’s its own kind of Beauty.
John is dense, opaque. We talked about this a lot in his episodes, particularly IMTOD. Polysemy: every shot of him contains multitudes.
Dean is different again. There are shots in this episode when he’s working the Disney princess aesthetic when he seems almost transparent. We’ve talked about his lack of boundaries; even the windshield you astutely point out this episode is ultimately a futile exercise (like that wall he builds himself with his hand in Golem and the Guy) and how, you know, he’s like a gas or something, he expands to fill the volume of whatever container he’s in, it hits over and over again. But then, and this is the magic of cinema, and you’ve also talked about this — how beauty like that twists you up, it attracts and repels simultaneously. Shots like the ones in this episode that create a need for consumption and deny it at the same time. You wanna get there but you can’t. That transparency, it’s a lie — but it isn’t– but it is. Burlesque is such a perfect way of describing the show and how it treats or makes Dean — hats off, Sheila, big time, and thanks for another great read.
// It’s not my favourite episode //
Me neither. What, in your opinion, is missing here? I think the trip to Mom’s grave is excellent – but somehow it feels artificial and imposed the way it’s set up. I don’t know – there’s something missing there for me in HOW it goes down. I like the opportunities the trip gives to explore grief further – but somehow it doesn’t quite gel for me.
// What other show would draw so many unapologetic connections between its male hero and its female victim-villain? And then kill himself/her? //
NICE point. Exactly. I think the thing SPN does so well is making those connections without being too explicit about it. It leaves so much room out here for us to discuss and think about.
// One is the “girlfriend” of Ted Raimi in the wishing episode. So creepy and gross. I wish that character had had a chance to rage. //
Definitely. That was such a terrible (in a good way) storyline – the situation was just so skeevy and they didn’t soft pedal it at all. And the destabilizing factor that Ted Raimi HATED that kind of mindless love once he actually had it. There’s a pretty good point made right there.
// Melancholia replaced by wrath. //
Nice. Yes. It’s perfect that Angela is all in white. Visually it calls us back to the pilot as well.
// Dean is not wearing enough in that cemetery scene. And in the motel. //
hahaha I know. And the V-neck T-shirt (which I don’t like on him) reveals too much of him. Cover up, please, Princess, I’m concerned you’ll catch cold.
// I’ve said that the readability of the show is one of its chiefest pleasures for me. These are the gaps, the ellipses, the elisions that the show presents us with (like Sam thinking about porn, ha ha!); there is the unspeakability of so many of its traumas, monster-of-the-week and personal and familial; and then there is the fact of the screen. The irreducible distance there. //
Yes. It all flows together in very disturbing ways. And yet, as you say: gaps. It doesn’t fit together perfectly – which is where we are allowed to pour into that space and fill it with our own projections. I’m trying to think of another show that does that so consistently and I’m coming up with nothing.
// he’s like a gas or something, he expands to fill the volume of whatever container he’s in, //
Fabulous. Mutable. And that mutability adds to our worry for him – that concern audiences have about him – is he okay? Look at how vulnerable he is. All as he’s shooting zombies with a freakin’ crossbow. That is all just Ackles’ special genius relationship with the camera. You cannot write a character that way. It’s totally organic to Ackles – I saw it in his performance in Smallville too – and that wasn’t nearly as well written a character.
// Shots like the ones in this episode that create a need for consumption and deny it at the same time. You wanna get there but you can’t. That transparency, it’s a lie — but it isn’t– but it is. //
RIGHT. And the other thing about burlesque is so important: it’s entertaining as hell. I have more fun watching this show than I have had in years watching television. Or, it’s a different kind of fun. It’s a tease, a flirt, there’s an almost light-hearted now-ya-see-it-now-ya-don’t thing going on – even with the over-the-top gorgeous filmmaking and framing that turns these guys into Icons.
Super fun.
//Winifred Optican was clearly a pillar of the community. I thought it said “Optician” for a brief moment.//
Me too. Optican is the kind of name that makes you think you need glasses in the first place.
Talking of which, I’ve just (finally!) got a new laptop with a very fancy screen and oh my god it makes everything 1000 times more beautiful so just try and imagine watching Season 2 on that. It’s like an seeing an old master after a good clear. Like getting new eyes, let alone new glasses.
Fabulous recap! I have rather complicated feelings about this episode, but while I think about those a few of things I love are:
the dad (great performance in just two short scenes – really felt for him)
the face shrug and the kleenex moment
the ‘awkward’ moment
Sam’s general awesomeness. He really seems the big brother in this episode.
That little rocking shudder Ackles does as he looks for the first? last? only? time at Mary’s grave
The gleaming Impala sliding off the screen and out of the cemetery
And of course the final scene
Helena – Yay for new laptops!!
// I have rather complicated feelings about this episode, //
Could you elaborate on that?
// Sam’s general awesomeness. He really seems the big brother in this episode. //
I know! I love him through this whole thing. “You won’t let me help you!” Oh, Sam. I love you.
Sheila, you may have shared this before, sorry if it’s a repeat. All the talk about extreme closeups reminds me of this story Don Murray tells about working with Marilyn Monroe on Bus Stop,”Director Joshua Logan wanted a two-head close-up for Bus Stop, one of the first in CinemaScope. She broke me up when, in one of the frames, the top of my head was missing. ‘The audience won’t miss the top of your head, Don,’ she said. They know it’s there because it’s already been established.”
She was so beautiful… (and funny with the dumb blonde act).
Good thing we’ve had a season and a quarter at this point to establish that Sam and Dean have complete heads.
Jessie, it’s funny to me that you would mention Bouguereau in an episode that references porn – so much of his stuff seems like porn for wealthy patrons, to me. Nothing wrong with that. Does he strike you that way also?
In the Halo games, Optican is the name of a maker of medical equipment – but I’m not catching any intended reference here. I always flash to something to do with a camera when I’m playing and that name comes up – so apparently it’s a name that makes you think of things its not.
Dean’s first choice when confronted with a problem is to become tougher, harder. He began to address ambiguity about what they kill with the last episode – but when back to dealing with grief he’s going to be at least as hard on himself as he is on the people around him who are dealing with grief. And in this episode, that’s being pretty harsh (with Dr. Mason) or dismissive (with Neil). And then the dam breaks at the end. Dean’s essential decency makes him want to ‘fess up – and his essential practicality makes him admit that being tough isn’t killing the grief and guilt. Just a great show, that we can get such a Big Swinging Pendulum of tone and emotions.
Helena – it’s impressive (and often under appreciated) how much display technology keeps improving. Have fun with your new laptop.
Sheila, I hope you don’t get tired of hearing this, but I’m so grateful that you keep doing these wonderful write-ups. Thanks!
// They know it’s there because it’s already been established.” //
hahahahahahahahaha I hadn’t heard that before!! I love her!
// Dean’s essential decency makes him want to ‘fess up – and his essential practicality makes him admit that being tough isn’t killing the grief and guilt. //
Lovely. And while we get more of a catharsis here than we have thus far – it’s still not complete. The show ALWAYS “holds something back”. I mean, that’s just good episodic TV writing. You don’t wrap things up in an episode – things carry over – keep going – morphing. The last scene is the tip of the iceberg for Dean – which is awesome.
and thank you so much for your kind words, mutecypher – the re-caps are SO fun for me to do and our group discussions are a HUGE part of why.
//As Jessie has mentioned in the comments sections: what is so attractive about this stuff is their competence, and I thank her for continuing to clarify that. Competence is sexy. They may be a mess, they may want to watch porn and can’t deal with it yet, they may punch each other out, but they still are competent at their jobs. Equal in competence. //
Isn’t it fantastic when Sam and Dean are so competent? I LOVE how good they are at their jobs. I LOVE when their solution to a problem is something really clever (like in “Jus in Bello”). So many stories rely on the protagonists making stupid mistakes to keep the drama going. SPN was always such a relief in that respect. Yes, they are dumb in their personal life, but professionally they literally kick ass.
And Dean has amazing instincts for the job. You’d think he was the psychic.
RE: The Nice Guy & his trophy. This is somewhat related to Neil, but I stumbled across an article that calls back to something we were talking about in an earlier comment section, regarding Dean’s treatment of women and accusations of sexism vs actual sexism: “What (Else) Can Men D0?”
The author talks about guys and entitlement, basically arguing that nerdy men who were bullied in their childhood were promised positive attention from women as adults. And when that doesn’t happen they lash out. What particularly reminded me of our Dean discussion was when he pointed out, “why are many of the actual jocks I know way more patient and welcoming than self-professed ‘nerds’ when it comes to describing their hobbies and interests?”
Dean, the “jock” brother, senses this dynamic pretty quickly.
May –
// Yes, they are dumb in their personal life, but professionally they literally kick ass. //
I LOVE that aspect of the show. I mean, who all can’t relate to that somewhat? It humanizes them AND humanizes their supernatural job. I also love when they are forced to improvise, like here.
In re: Nice Guys: // nerdy men who were bullied in their childhood were promised positive attention from women as adults. And when that doesn’t happen they lash out. // Ugh. That makes a lot of sense. So in a way, to the Nice Guys, women are even LESS real than to the supposed jock jerks who get more action. They are a prize, a candy, a carrot held out to them. That sense of raging entitlement is terrifying – anyone who writes about film knows that it’s the comics-book boys who are the most vicious misogynists in the world. Stephanie Zachariek was just harassed so viciously for her review of Guardians of the Galaxy (in the village Voice) that the editor had to make a freakin’ statement to the readership. Yes, misogynists come in all shapes and sizes – but they are the worst, seething with resentment that the prize (of women loving them) has not come to pass. Well, maybe stop being such an asshole and women might like you. Sheesh.
And back to Dean: I agree that he senses instantly what’s going on with Neil.
Also interesting in re: Dean and Angela: Sam is the one who looks at the photo album and says “She was beautiful.” He says it in a nice way, because what else are you gonna say to a grieving father – but it’s very difficult for me to imagine Dean saying that in a similar situation. I am not sure why. It has to do with his own Beauty – that he knows exists? I don’t know. I could see him saying, “I’m sorry she’s dead” or “Tell me more about her” – (that is, if he weren’t in the rage he was in in this episode) – but I can’t picture him commenting on what she looks like for some reason.
As I’ve re-watched this episode, the artificiality still stands out. You can feel the machinations in the writer’s room, the larger arc needing to be addressed, so they can move on to the next thing.
It’s funny, because now that you mention that, it’s like a veil has been taken off my head and I’m like “Yeah, Sheila’s right, why didn’t I see that before?” I think I must’ve been blinded by all the Beauty.
So much good stuff in your review, as always. I especially enjoyed your thoughts on Sam and his separate-ness (I really admire that trait in people), and the part about the poor Professor and the two lunatics who undoubtedly caused him lifelong trauma made me laugh out loud… although it’s not actually funny, I know. (But, come on! It is a little funny.)
// I think I must’ve been blinded by all the Beauty. //
hahahahaha
That’s another good reason for prioritizing Beauty: it covers up the flaws in the script! I mean, the Beauty here is just over the TOP and I love it!
// the two lunatics who undoubtedly caused him lifelong trauma //
hahahaha I know, right? Poor guy. He’d be like, “Who WERE those guys? My GOD, why has this happened to me????”
mutecypher, that’s such a funny way to describe his work. All those poses and justificatory titles — it’s all so carefully tasteful. But by god, he’ll light it well! He’ll put it in the sun! Nothing illegitimate here! My eye catches more on his portraiture and pictures of children, which are also kind of pornographic in the way they so unconcernedly pretend to expose their symmetrical and porcelain subjects.
May– the Nice Guy/Jock thing is one of the reasons I love Bitten so much. A lot of people seem to hate that episode but I really enjoyed the way the relationships played out.
Jessie –
Okay. I need to re-watch Bitten. I honestly feel like I totally missed the boat with that one.
May –
I read the “What (Else) Can Men D0?” essay, and followed the link to the Julie Ann Horvath story at GitHub. I recalled her name, but hadn’t associated it with a particular company until reading the article – we use GitHub in a programming class I’m taking. An extremely weird situation with a founder’s wife getting in an employee’s face. Yuck all around.
To the illustrate your point, I remember one of the dating shows – “The Bachelorette” I think – where the last two contestants for the young woman were a studly, good-looking guy, and a tech/entrepreneur millionaire. The bachelorette chose the studly good-looking guy and the Silicon Valley commenters who followed the show were up in arms about how this would be so depressing for all the young computer nerds in the world. I had never heard before that computer nerds and the generally down-trodden could rely upon getting hot babes if they just fought through the pimples and got rich with C++ or Machine Learning. A sad view of relationships and women.
Hello All,
Sheila, it is so nice to come home to all of these excellent recaps. And this one, with my favourite line from the show in it… awesome. And you nailed the yes/no good/bad/ is/isn’t two things at once, greyness of the episode. That is what I love about it. I love that our heroes are so scary and thuggish, breaking and entering, traumatizing the poor Father, all while saving our collective, (what is that word Jessie…) complicit, asses. And Neil, the ‘Nice-Guy’ who is got to be up there with the CREEPIEST humans. I keep thinking, when did he put the lock on the basement door? Was he that confident in his bring her back to life ritual that he put the lock on first, when he thought she would be her (not scary zombie)? In which case, he wanted to lock her in his basement. Or was it after, when he realized she was a monster, but then he still had lots of sex with her… Or was the lock already there?! So creepy.
I have a friend who bought an older house which had been renovated and a set of sliding patio doors put in, and the original backdoor/side door left and turned into a closet. But the original door still has the original lock on it. So now he has a fairly large closet with a bolt you turn from the outside in the middle of his living room. I keep trying to tell him that he must change the door handle if he ever expects a woman to stay longer than twenty minutes in his place. Oh well…
I just got back from my own 25 day, road trip of America’s West. Beautiful country! That much time in the car is physically punishing, and even though I was with my spouse, still fairly isolating. Made me stop and think of the boys, and how demanding the structure of the characters’ lives are. Also, how do they have such good cell reception?
Sorry so long, just excited. I have lots to catch up on now.
Oh and, “the Beauty, the Beauty!” lament.
Heather – not to be codependent with the commenters here, but it’s good to have you back! :)
// And this one, with my favourite line from the show in it //
Hmmm, I am trying to guess which line!!
Ooh, I love your observation about Neil and the lock.
// I keep trying to tell him that he must change the door handle if he ever expects a woman to stay longer than twenty minutes in his place. //
hahahahaha I know I shouldn’t laugh but that is pretty hilarious! “Uhm … is that a dungeon in there or what? I’m outta here.”
I, too, lament the Beauty. There are certainly some beautiful things that still happen – but it’s just not the same. This stuff is beautiful on a whole other weirdo fantasy level.
Welcome back from your trip. The American West is so stunning – as a New England girl, I was positively blown away the first time I was in Montana and Wyoming and Utah – like: horizon? You can see all the way to the horizon? What??
Where did you go on your trip? Hope it was awesome!
The cell reception question is a good one. Also how their phones are ALWAYS charged. Even with routine 8 hour car rides.
Don’t even start Sheila nothing’s gonna make me watch Smallville again, not you, not Jensen, NOTHING! I did my time!
What, in your opinion, is missing here?
It's a good question that I don't know if I can answer well! Maybe Helena can give us some insight. There is the artificiality of the set-up — I forgive similar forced coincidence in other episodes but that is usually once the investigation is underway. There is nothing glaringly WRONG with it — the only other thing I could point to is that Dean says "what's dead/gone should stay dead/gone" three times, which is at least twice too many.
I think mostly the episode just calls flat in memory. You point out a lot of great behaviour moments and beautiful shots but ultimately it's all set-up for the clarion call of the final scene. The mystery isn't particularly mysterious. No big reversals. It has no outstanding or classic moments of horror or novelty or humour (although Heather is your favourite line "We've come to hug!"? Yes that is perfection!). No musical montages. No costumes. No great guest roles. No high concept ("it's not a "Sam and Dean go to jail/enter a wishverse/meet their little brother" episode). No major threat to the guys — they are never in peril. Not that there should be. The episode's about something else. I would never wanna say that emotional stakes can’t carry an episode but despite the parallels drawn there’s some kind of mismatch there. Not a Racist Truck Who Gives a Fuck level mismatch, but something doesn’t work.
In contrast an episode like Playthings is probably less consequential to the mythos/emotional throughline, and also doesn’t have a lot of the stuff I list above, but I count it a favourite because of its outstanding and creepy cinematography, its mystery and the twist, its humour, the Shining references, drunk Sam, and handsy brothers. You know, Hawks and his three great scenes. The internal stuff — which hits a pretty high pitch — is in balance with the rest of the episode. The rest of the episode is strong enough to carry it, is maybe what I mean.
And the V-neck T-shirt (which I don’t like on him)
Round necks on Dean, V-necks on Sam. IT AIN’T ROCKET SCIENCE PEOPLE
which is where we are allowed to pour into that space and fill it with our own projections.
YES this is what Supernatural is. The key to its longevity. The refusal of closure, the endless deferment of certainty and access. And the way it plays with binaries I think is a big part of that. After nine years those strange alignments and alliances that make up Sam and Dean in the unexpected ways — masculine/feminine, tough/weak, parent/child, straight/queer, subject/object, penetrability/impenetrability, real/unreal, brawn/brain, healthy/unhealthy, opaque/transparent, good/evil, pure/impure, blah blah blah ad infinitum — are still bearing fruit. There is no straight mapping. Gaps all over the place. Encourages a shitton of projection and investment.
Incidentally for my part I think one of the reasons Castiel doesn’t work in his expanded role is that the persons of Sam and Dean (John and Mary, Hunter and Man of Letters, Lucifer and Michael blah blah blah ad infinitum) is where all that fascinating binary stuff plays out and a third seems essentially pointless.
the other thing about burlesque is so important: it’s entertaining as hell
Ha ha, yes!! So entertaining! So much fun!
// Dean says “what’s dead/gone should stay dead/gone” three times, which is at least twice too many. //
Totally. Way to hammer that point home. Enough.
And in thinking about it what ends up happening is that that last scene – so good – ends up making the entire episode feel like just an “excuse” for Dean to have that moment. You know? So like I said, I feel the machinations in the writer’s room. “We need a big confessional moment for Dean. I know. Let’s have Sam take him to his mother’s grave!” Similar to the Racist Truck being the “excuse” to see Dean in love, although a little less silly.
Oh, and I love Playthings too! Great stylish episode, beautiful, creepy – cinematic – I should re-watch The Shining so I can count even more references – there’s probably one reference per scene!
// Round necks on Dean, V-necks on Sam. IT AIN’T ROCKET SCIENCE PEOPLE //
Totally. Yet another reason I am pulled out of the episode. “Why is Dean wearing a V-neck? I don’t like that.” hahahaha
// There is no straight mapping. //
I love how they kind of just went with that – it feels pretty organic and like a departure from the pilot and the original idea, you know? They, as a group of writers, went where the SHOW took them – as opposed to the other way around. It’s why it can be uneven – but it’s also why it is such a deeply satisfying experience. The lemons are few and far between and stand out.
// a third seems essentially pointless. //
I totally agree. He provides a lot in the supernatural context – as a strange being who flies in and out – but making him part of the warp and weft of the relationship … It doesn’t add anything. Or – it adds some things, like humor on occasion – but it doesn’t REVEAL anything.
Oh, and Jessie – I re-watched Bitten yesterday afternoon. I opened my heart to it a little bit more. I watched the featurette about the making-of. I’m seeing more in it. First impressions are not always right. I also love the voyeuristic aspect of Sam and Dean – cameras peeking at them through the trees – kind of making explicit our own voyeuristic feelings about them. Removing us from them a little bit, seeing them stroll in and out of that world.
Anyway, I’ll watch it again. There’s more there than I realized.
Morning.
Favourite line- yup “Neil, it is your grief counsellors. We’ve come to hug.” love it so much. Because it sits right in the grey between those binaries Sheila and Jessie are mentioning. And it is so bizarre, how he throws that out there while they just broke into his house and are walking through with guns drawn. And yet, in a way it is true if you replace hug with help. Love the levels. I have more thoughts on this and how it highlights the outsider nature of their lives, but I’m not sure it is worth a longer post as you all probably get it.
I think this episode has a different tone than many, in that the tension in Dean is mostly directed at the poor father, and that doesn’t sit well. It doesn’t go anywhere and we just feel bad. Also, he is kind of like a cat throwing up a fur ball. You know what is coming and just have to watch the spasms.
I suppose I also miss the humour which is so present in Playthings but not here. Some missed opportunities too. When they show up to talk to the professor/father the first time and we get the shot of the two of them at the door, my brain can’t help but process the fact that these two incredibly gorgeous hunks show up and say they are friends of his daughter…but what kind of friends? Not that men and women can’t just be friends…but come on. It is hard not to wonder at the possible romantic dynamic, which just brings up more questions: did either of them date her? Both? Did they want to? And that never registers. Which is understandable considering the father’s grief, but why would the scene be shot from his point-of-view?
Lastly, it is hard to care about the victims in this one. (Jock, Roommate, Neil?) Sheila, you pointed out that zombie-girl’s lack of dimension was probably purposeful, which is there, but it doesn’t really land and I think you made it more clear than the episode. (Which is one of the reasons reading your re-caps is such an enhancement to the show.) All of this being said, I still like this episode and laugh at moments; I just feel I am laughing by myself.
re road trip: flew into Phoenix, drove through Arizona, Utah, some Colorado, Idaho (why does everyone keep asking me why?) Oregon, California and then back to Phoenix. Mostly camping. Lots of gorgeous land, lots of thoughts on ‘places where people drive trucks’, lots of thoughts on relationships surviving road trips, and now lots of thoughts on paying off a vacation. Good times!
We ate in a restaurant completely decorated in teapots and I took pictures and thought of all of you.
mutecypher: I know it was from the previous re-cap, but I have to say comparing BTVS season 6 with SPN season 9 makes a lot of sense to me.
re Castiel: I want to check “all of the above” regarding all of your thoughts on this.
// Also, he is kind of like a cat throwing up a fur ball. You know what is coming and just have to watch the spasms. //
hahaha good analogy.
I agree that there is a missed opportunity for at least some HUMOR when the Professor sees those two guys at the door. Usually the show is more adept at milking any moment for potential comedy. “Really? You two male models were … FRIENDS of Angela’s?” They’re also clearly older than Angela. The whole thing would seem weird, grief or no grief.
// We ate in a restaurant completely decorated in teapots and I took pictures and thought of all of you. //
hahahahahahahaha Ah, Route 666 will live on forever in our collective memories.
Complicated feelings …
Actually, Jessie and Heather have described lot of the things that jar for me about this episode. For me the complications revolve particularly around Angela, both dead and alive, and her father.
But first off, the very first scene. For me it contains one of those teapot moments – anyone who thinks M and Ms and beer is a good combination is clearly the kind of guy who is going to end up reviving a dead girl with Greek necromantic spells he has photocopied out of her father’s book of ‘DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME,’ and then shagging her in his dingy basement. The guy clearly has NO FRIGGIN’ CONCEPT of right and wrong.
I’m also intrigued by a college that teaches necromancy as part of a Greek course. The first thing I want to know is – ancient Greek necromancy? Christian era necromancy? I’m sure someone on Wikinatural has identified that very spell, not to mention tried it out at home, but the vagueness of the whole ‘Archaeology and Greek Studies’ bothers me. It’s not pure pedantry, rather it seems of a piece with the Cranking Gears of Coincidence required to get the episode’s plot in motion.
Oh, and where, by the way, does this episode take place? Any ideas?
Games of Thrones is complicated, shower sex is complicated, Angela is complicated. What she actually is once she is brought back from the dead? The language of the show seems to insist on ‘zombie’; her body is clearly dead, her personality monstrous, but she’s not the classic zombie, neither magically manipulated by an evil master nor the brain chomping sort produced by sci-fi viruses. In some ways she’s more like the vampire, partly because she is undead and propelled by murderous impulses, but particularly in that she has not chosen to be like this. Plus, she is now an outcast as a result of someone else’s actions, which she never was in life. In other ways she’s a Frankenstein’s monster, another dead thing which should have stayed dead, but which once brought to life also becomes an outcast and vengeful murderer. Her monstrosity is played out as the film noir Vamp, a character who is all about self-control and controlling – so much of Barbara Stanwyck or Lana Turner in her ‘Let’s run away together, just as soon as I have bought you off with sex and killed everyone on my todo list’ – who turns into boundary-less killing machine if crossed. This must have been fun to play but leaves a slight sense of dissatisfaction, that the episode has resorted to genre cliches to serve its plot rather than explore a state or a situation in the imaginative, surprising and destabilising ways that, say, the previous episode did.
Why or how is her character and situation is not served quite as well as it could be? How come, despite all that apparent liberation from her good girl self after death, as Sheila described so well, she is still confined and shunted aside? Why is it, when’s all is said and done, and as Jessie I think pointed out, you don’t particularly care for her, never mind the whole hard-core sex quadrangle in this episode. I can’t quite pinpoint why, but maybe it’s in that moment at the end where she says explicitly ‘Don’t kill me, I didn’t ask for any of this.’ It’s aiming for pathos, but it comes too late, it’s too tacked on, it’s too literal. The pathos should/could have been there throughout, but it’s been held in check by other things, two of which are the script (which tends to sensationalise her or go for black humour) and the performance (not a criticism, just noticing a choice). She’s never given a moment on her own or a moment of reflection, beyond the one right at the end, where she literally has to say, ‘I’m a monster but take pity on me’ (And notice it’s to Sam, not Dean.) Another thing keeping it in check is that the episode is all about Dean and Sam feelings, not Angela’s – the huge Kleeg light of emotion in this very emotional episode is coming from them, not this girl. Her story, as Jessie pointed out, is designed to get us to the point where Dean and Sam are talking on the hood of the car. Maybe that’s why, despite the episode’s many, many individual virtues, it isn’t in the top rank of episodes, which tend to have a more perfect meshing of plot, character and Arc, or which just sidestep all that to goof around in sublime fashion.
Anyway, Angela. Oh, and I have to disagree about the v-neck thing. I like them on Dean (though not as much as the long-sleeved singlet type thing with the buttons near the neck, which I believe is called a henley) and I’m sorry you don’t see him in them more often, but as I also regret the absence of arran sweaters, bobble hats and pipes in the show’s wardrobe choices, you may take that with a pinch of salt.
// It’s not pure pedantry, rather it seems of a piece with the Cranking Gears of Coincidence required to get the episode’s plot in motion. //
Yup. Totally agree. That’s what I sense overall. Creaky.
The Wiki says Greenville Illinois – but it’s not supported in the text of the episode that I can find so I left it out. I only care about what’s on the screen. I may be missing something and looked for a reference to Greenville, but couldn’t find it.
// not as much as the long-sleeved singlet type thing with the buttons near the neck, which I believe is called a henley //
Ha. I agree, it’s my favorite Dean look.
I love your breakdown of Angela in terms of genre! There’s a lot there! Yes, it’s not really zombie although Dean classifies it as such – it’s “undead”, which – I guess – is a difference.
I see hints of her rage – in the phone call to her boyfriend in the car in the teaser – and then her conscious manipulation of Neil, who was a creepster during her life, too. Every time she turned around, there would be Neil, offering to be a “good friend” and give her a back rub. But yes, it’s not developed. And yes, her “pity me” moment is too little too late – and also another example of how the Plot keeps insisting on creaking. It’s sort of a companion piece to Lenore, the vampire in Bloodlust – and Sam’s empathy for her. Sam is about to rise in the narrative – Sam’s other-ness – so they’re trying to “get that in there”, even though it’s Dean’s drama running the show here.
All in all, it feels like what everyone was interested in was that last scene at the Impala. Normally, they do a better job of getting us there. Like in “Everybody Loves a Clown.” The case is SUPER silly in that one – and yet there’s no denying all along that the case is secondary. They do it to kill time. THEY barely take it seriously. And so the focus rights itself: the real deal here is grief’s aftermath, and the conflict between the brothers. So when Dean goes to town on that Impala, we’ve been aching for it the whole episode. For a couple of episodes, actually – maybe even for the entirety of Season 1.
Dean’s catharsis here doesn’t have the same weight.
Helena –
With respect to the wardrobe, I think you just want to be Ezra Moore and dress the Winchester boys up in scratchy fabrics and … what else did she do? ; – )
I agree that Angela’s thingness is not well described. The writers give themselves an out with the “there’s TOO much zombie lore.” She’s whatever it ends up that she needs to be. Clearly a different kind of thing than the Croatoans. Isn’t that such a fraught word?
“Croatoans! Run for the hills!”
“As God is my witness, I’ll never be Croatoan again!”
“Forget it Jake, she’s Croatoan.”
“The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, Croatoan?”
Okay, back on track. Having just finished watching season 7 and starting season 8, I have Bobby’s arc in mind. He decides to be a ghost, knowing that the consequences are almost certainly going to be bad, but hoping to resist. And they do end up being bad. So there seems to be some “natural” force in the Supernatural-verse that makes people who die but don’t move on, go bad. Unless they stay a ghost to stop other ghosts/vengeful spirits from doing bad. Maybe an example of “pick on someone your own size” morality? Angela didn’t seem to have a choice in returning. So, now I’m on the same page as everyone else. Why did she go bad, when Dean doesn’t? Because she was brought back by someone who wasn’t an angel, in either the literal or the figurative sense? Neil’s non-angelic nature (I’m with you on the beer and M&M’s, and the lock on the basement, and keeping her in the basement, and….) is the infection that makes her murderous, possessive, and needy? She doesn’t even get her own agency in the undead life.
Maybe she doesn’t get a unique supernatural type-name because there aren’t many people who would summon something back from the dead if the undead acted as she does. It’s not common enough to warrant a name. Only a serious loser like Neil would do it. And he would only be capable of it if he were also a TA in a Greek/Archeology class. I wonder if the spell had Michael Dukakis’ favorite Greek proverb as a warning, “the fish rots from the head first.”
To some extent, the episode is like a decent song with a great guitar solo at the end.
// because there aren’t many people who would summon something back from the dead if the undead acted as she does. //
hahaha I love that.
// Only a serious loser like Neil would do it. //
Ha. Nice.
I am loving that you are catching up and hearing where you are at. There’s some great stuff in Season 8, although for whatever reason I have a hard time keeping that season straight in my mind – I do love Dean in full-on PTSD mode.
And the LARP-ing episode is a thing of beauty and a joy forEVER.
Helena, henleys are another thing entirely. They are the work of god and not to be confused with mere t-shirts.
But great breakdown of how the episode underserves Angela. You guys have pulled a lot of cool stuff out of her story that I didn’t grab the first time around.
Yes, me too.
//They are the work of god //
Phew. I’m glad we agree ENTIRELY on the matter of henleys. And they could never be confused with mere tshirts. I’m very happy when they start appearing on Supernatural.
mutecypher – //I think you just want to be Ezra Moore and dress the Winchester boys up in scratchy fabrics//
See the above note on henleys. Definitely not scratchy.
Henleys are damn near cuddly.
mutecypher
//To some extent, the episode is like a decent song with a great guitar solo at the end.//
This is a great way of putting it. However, I can’t think offhand of any examples. (Though for some reason I’m thinking of Wuthering Heights which is a great song with a great guitar solo at the end, and which happens to be about someone coming back from the dead.) Maybe you could supply some?
Sheila, I recently discovered your recaps and I just wanted to tell you they’re wonderful and I’m enjoying them immensely. Thank you for putting so much effort into them!
Also, I have a question…
Look at how vulnerable he is. All as he’s shooting zombies with a freakin’ crossbow. That is all just Ackles’ special genius relationship with the camera. You cannot write a character that way. It’s totally organic to Ackles – I saw it in his performance in Smallville too – and that wasn’t nearly as well written a character.
Could you elaborate on that? Do you see that in all of the roles Jensen’s played?
I don’t know how much of his work you’ve seen, but I think he does that a lot, makes us worry for him, sometimes in spite of what the original script probably aimed for. Alec in “Dark Angel” is a great example – he was originally supposed to be there for comic relief mostly but soon became much more, kind of like Dean on “Supernatural”. And I worried for him in “My Bloody Valentine” and in “Devour” too (and not just in the scenes where something was actually threatening him), and then there’s Ben in that one “Dark Angel” episode, the perfect mix of dangerousness and vulnerability that Jensen does so well…
What I find fascinating about this is that Jensen himself doesn’t give off that vulnerable vibe at all (at least from what we can tell). Sure, he may seem reserved sometimes, or uneasy because of all the attention he gets for his looks (the ‘Do you curl your eyelashes?’ incident on Jimmy Kimmel, or Megan Mullally being all over him) or when the fans’ questions get too personal. But he’s always perfectly capable of standing up for himself or saying what he thinks. He doesn’t have any problem setting up boundaries. And you never get the feeling that there’s a hole inside him that he doesn’t quite manage to cover up no matter how hard he tries… which is the case with many of his characters, who often build entire Potemkin villages around themselves for protection but still it never is quite enough.
So why does he get to play these tortured, vulnerable, penetrable characters so often? Thoughts, anyone?
pixie
Pixie – thank you so much for reading and commenting!
To address your question – I think Ackles is a very vulnerable actor and he has a certain relationship with the camera that brings that vulnerability out. Vulnerability is the currency of the realm in entertainment – but it’s rare, people who can do it that well – and it’s also rare, his relationship to the camera. Some people just have that magic. Marilyn Monroe had it. Directors would talk about how … dull she was in person, almost hidden from view, believe it or not, and then the camera would start clicking or rolling – and WHOOSH. MAGIC.
Seen in that respect, her only important relationship was with the camera itself. What she had cannot be replicated, although many try.
Ackles is vulnerable and sensitive. He is a world-class listener. All of these things a camera picks up on. What he does does not look like “acting”. I can’t clock him “acting” at all. It’s just listening, talking, behaving – he appears to be actually alive in an imaginary circumstance. We can talk about how he does that – although there isn’t much information out there since interviews with him are mainly pretty silly shallow affairs.
Kripke has said that Ackles approaches every scene from the standpoint of vulnerability – which is why his fight scenes feel so real, and why he never appears to be “one thing”. By that I mean: even very talented actors sometimes “play” scenes by saying, “This is an angry scene.” “This is a sad scene.” “This is a sexy scene.” And so they play those emotions – and sometimes very well.
But Ackles doesn’t do that. Every scene is a vulnerable scene to him – and so every scene has everything in it. He has done sex scenes that are very sad. He has had fight scenes that are tragic. Or practically slapstick. He has enormously comedic reactions in the middle of stressful terrible scenes. He does double takes. Spit-takes. He cries. And then seethes. And then laughs. It’s dazzling. In other words: he is ALIVE.
Regular people who are not actors do not say “Okay. I am going to have sex and therefore I will ‘be sexy’ right now.” No. Regular people who are not actors have sad moments during sexytimes, have hilarious moments, moments when they get down to business, moments when they split off and think about something, whatever. Ackles is able to give Dean Winchester that flexibility – and yes, I agree – all of his characters. I see it in all of them. You could call it talent but lots of people have talent and their work doesn’t look like his. You could call it a gift – and I think that’s partially true – he seems to have an instinct for it.
But I like to think of it as something conscious on his part. No one is this consistently good without some serious fucking thought behind what they are doing. He knows that when the camera is on him, all that matters is his inner life. And so he, brave as hell, shows it to us.
People go to acting classes to learn how to do that. And some people just understand that that’s the gig, that is what is required.
I also think that the character of Dean Winchester has unleashed something in him as an actor – which shouldn’t be a surprise since he has stayed with the show for so long. In what other role would he be allowed to be as funny as he is? Yes, Dean is “tortured” and Ackles plays that magnificently – I mean, look at the fan reaction to this character!! – but my “way in” to the show and to the character was through Dean’s humor, and how HILARIOUS Ackles is. Dark Angel allowed him to start to show that part of himself – something no one would have been interested in from him. He was a Pretty Boy and Pretty Boys aren’t funny. (Don’t tell that to Cary Grant though.)
Ackles is naturally funny. And THAT talent is as rare as they come.
I think whatever he does he will bring that vulnerability to it. You know, when I saw Wolf of Wall Street I thought how much fun it would be to see him in that kind of environment – sociopathic white-boy Wall Street con men – entitled and voracious. I think he would kick ass in material like that too. He’d be funny as hell. One of the things he does not do is protect himself. He does not shy away from showing a mean side, a stupid side, a judgmental side … He would be amazing in material that let him rage like a total Id. (And that is my hope for Demon Dean too, but time will tell.)
In my opinion, he can do anything. With vulnerability like that, he could fit into any world, any imaginary circumstance he wanted to.
// And you never get the feeling that there’s a hole inside him that he doesn’t quite manage to cover up no matter how hard he tries //
Totally agree.
He’s super talented. Super empathetic. He can enter into many worlds via his imagination, and then go home to his wife, close the door, and have a nice private life. He’s remarkably stable. And he goes to crazy dark places in his work. He makes it look like so much fun – another thing I admire about him. (Padalecki, too. He makes the job look like so much fun.)
“So, son, how are you enjoying college?”
“God, it’s great so far, Dad!”
“Are you taking mostly required courses this first semester?”
“Yup. Psych 103, Art History 101, Biology 102 … ”
“Any electives?”
“Yes. I’m taking a course in Necromancy.”
Sheila, thank you for such a detailed answer! I love hearing your thoughts on acting, and Jensen’s acting in particular :) I especially appreciate you pointing out Jensen’s ability to sort of play “everything at once” – I’ve never thought of it that way, but you’re absolutely right, that’s exactly what he’s doing, and it’s amazing.
I really wish we could see him play an Id character too, and I share your tentative hope that we might get that with Demon Dean in season 10.
On a different note, I think I should probably watch some Marylin Monroe movies – the only one I’ve seen is “Some Like It Hot”, and you keep mentioning her so often in your recaps that I feel like I should rectify that. Any suggestions where to start?
pixie
Pixie – let’s hear it for Demon Dean!!
We’ve talked, too, about how impossible it is to “capture” Dean’s moments via individual screengrab – basically because his expression is always changing, thoughts flying across it, double-takes to himself, going inward – whatever. A moment is never just one thing – and I just love that about him!!
Hmmm. Marilyn. Well, if you want to see her in a role that is not a typical Marilyn Monroe role – see Don’t Bother to Knock. She plays a troubled woman hired to be a babysitter in a hotel (different times, I suppose) – and her babysitting job opens up an abyss in her psyche. It is a great performance – and shows how she could really ACT!
Bus Stop is also great!!
Have fun with it! :)
and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes! She’s such a dish. I love to watch her shimmy. :)
Helena –
We should all think of Kate Bush a little more often. The order is reversed, but Steely Dan’s “Don’t Take Me Alive” is a great guitar solo followed by a decent song. The Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart version of “People Get Ready” – good song, great solo, even a key change. The Carpenter’s “Say Goodbye to Love” is a good song that goes somewhere completely different when the guitar kicks in at the end. Pretty much everything by The Allman Brothers is a good song with great guitar. I was going to put Clapton’s “Bad Love” on the list, but just listening to it again I’d call it an excellent song with an awesome (Dean word) guitar solo. His “Forever Man” is more ‘decent song, great ending solo.’ A whole lotta Dire Straits fits the bill, with “Brothers in Arms” being maybe the best example. Guns-n-Roses’ “Paradise City” just goes “take me with you” sideways with the guitar at the end. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”
Sheila –
I expected to like Charlie Bradbury, ’cause, Felicia Day, but DJ Qualls and Garth were my surprise pleasure in season 7 and 8. “You’ve been Garth’d.” He’s got Ash’s (and Dean’s) vibe of just owning everything he does and knowing that he’s cool. He sussed that Bobby was haunting them through the flask. And he stands up to Dean (season 8) and busts him about how bad things are between Dean and Sam. You gotta love a hunter that gets a hotel room with a giant jacuzzi. He may be the one and only Happy, Angst-Free Hunter throughout his entire life.
God, the yellow/green in Sam’s flashbacks to Amelia (I’m only up to “Southern Comfort”). It’s like the color scheme on every container of lemon scented cleaning product in the grocery store.
And Benny is beyond awesome. I like his Classic Old Spice look. Having to kill (well, watch Dean kill) his love – wow. I don’t want anything (more) bad to happen to the guy, but I’m guessing that I won’t get that wish.
//”Yes, I’m taking a course in Necromancy.”//
“Is there a lab?”
“Well, we do work with cadavers. Kinda like med students, although our mistakes don’t kill the patients.”
//“Well, we do work with cadavers. Kinda like med students, although our mistakes don’t kill the patients.”//
Dad: I’m guessing it’s mainly guys on this course?
Son: Um, yes. By the way, can I use the basement? Got a homework project to finish.
//Dad: I’m guessing it’s mainly guys on this course?//
touché
Sheila, thanks for the recs! I’ll get to fix some of the holes in my education :)
pixie
You’re welcome! You’re in for a real treat!
//I like his Classic Old Spice look.//
This Old Spice?
or this Old Spice
I was thinking more like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHbbV5x3YZc
But both of your examples have that “in your face” thing going.
Sheila — RE: Dean & Angela //I can’t picture him commenting on what she looks like for some reason.//
I can’t picture it, either. I agree that it must have something to do with his Beauty…I don’t think looks matter to him in the same way they do to others. I mean, yeah, Dean appreciates a beautiful woman, but I’ve never gotten the impression that looks are a factor in how he judges them. Like, it isn’t an achievement you congratulate someone for.
mutecypher — //A sad view of relationships and women.//
Indeed. It’s funny. I’m a “geek girl.” I love comic books, anime, sci-fi/fantasy—I’ve even been to the San Diego Comic Con—and a lot of the blogs/sites I frequent have been talking about geek culture sexism lately. I’ve not experienced much of it myself. At least not directly. But I have seen the attitude (like a friend who dismissed my love of SPN as just being about the “hot actors”—which, even if it were true, shouldn’t matter). Geek culture is not always a welcoming place, though it may claim to be. Some people are bullied and later vow to treat people kindly; others think “my turn.” Geek culture often feels like that.
RE: Resurrected Angela vs Resurrected Dean //Why did she go bad, when Dean doesn’t?//
I wonder if Angela was soulless? Maybe her form of zombie is just the reanimated body, with no soul attached. It seems like, in SPN, fully bringing someone back from the dead requires a lot of power and is difficult for non-angelic or demonic beings to do alone.
// It seems like, in SPN, fully bringing someone back from the dead requires a lot of power and is difficult for non-angelic or demonic beings to do alone. //
That’s a good point.
// like a friend who dismissed my love of SPN as just being about the “hot actors”—which, even if it were true, shouldn’t matter //
Ugh.
Mutecypher – Oh, Garth. Isn’t he the best? Yes, he just IS cool. And the bad Confederate penny doesn’t work on him because he doesn’t have a beef with anyone. Also, I love how he didn’t “get into hunting” in some tragic personal way – it came to him through his job as a dentist and he had to take the tooth fairy down. hahahaha But he doesn’t have that traumatic backstory. So he is just awesome. I have no doubt the ladies love him, too. Confidence like that is disarming – and he does it in a way that isn’t manipulative.
His face when Dean says “You’re not Bobby and you’re never gonna be Bobby.” First of all, Dean in that episode … just sooooo annoying and not dealing with stuff and acting out – I LOVE IT when Dean loses the plot like that and loses control of himself. But Garth’s hurt when Dean says that – it’s just so connected, no bull shit. He is not afraid of Dean or intimidated. I love that character so much.
And “Marmaduke, you crazy” is one of my favorite lines in the whole damn series and I say it to myself all the time now.
// It’s like the color scheme on every container of lemon scented cleaning product in the grocery store. //
I know. And that’s SUCH a good color scheme for a romantic flashback. /sarcasm
Benny is the best. “He’s my friend,” says Dean to Sam – and you realize he’s never said that word before. That whole relationship is so great.
LMAO. mutecypher, Helena, I want to thank you both. I will now forever associate Benny with Old Spice.
“Dean, look at your brother.”
“Now back to me.”
“Now back at your brother.”
“Now back to me.”
“Sadly, he isn’t me…”
//“Sadly he isn’t me.”//
Hahaha!
I mean, wouldn’t you want to be on a boat with the man your man could smell like? Or at least on a horse?
I think they did about 57-8 takes of that ad so they could get a perfect version all-in-one take. And yes, they invented something to lever the actor onto the horse in real time.
“Two tickets to that thing you love” is my favorite part of the newer Old Spice commercial. It’s so “I’ve got you and I’m just going to keep piling it on.”
//His face when Dean says “You’re not Bobby and you’re never gonna be Bobby.” //
Dean is a dick in that exchange. And Garth is really hurt. But unlike every other hunter on the planet (except maybe Sam, who’s used to it) he doesn’t get angry and go for the sharp-and-pointies. That’s something else that sets him apart. He does’t hide the hurt, but he does push back in a heartfelt way. The guy was clearly listening when they said “use your words” back in pre-school.
And the exchange in the restaurant/bar when you can see the food in Garth’s mouth when he’s talking to Sam and Dean – he wasn’t listening so much when they said to chew with your mouth closed. He’s just too into enjoying whatever the heck it is he’s eating. Very Dean-like.
“That’s not how you say balls.”
Dying…
Yes!
“No one makes a sandwich like Mom, she cuts of the crusts and she smooths the peanut butter just right. And no one says ‘balls!” like Bobby.”
Po’ widdle Dean.
I mean, it’s just so obvious, right?? Dean’s being such a brat! And Garth is just so upfront. I love that character so much. He’s whole and complete. I also love how they use slo-mo when he appears – it’s so funny – it’s how Garth sees himself!!
Sheila my computer blew up and I have a bright new shiny one. Yippee.
I read your lead in here, and I think that part of why Dean NEEDS to be with Sam is that all his life it was “watch after Sammy” and he can’t get around that. He KNOWS it’s not healthy but he CAN’T (and be “good”). And the last words we know that John said to him “Watch Out for Sammy” and then the lean down…he is furious with his father because he left HIM to task to kill Sam if he turned.
It leads me to question if John would’ve traded his life/the Colt for Sam, same set of circumstances. Did he know that only Dean would be able to get close enough to Sam to kill him if it turned out that way? I just don’t know. I believe that John loved Dean and I believe John loved Sam. But I also believe that John was afraid what Sam could become.
There was so much anger in practically every interaction between John and Sam, just out of range. I was watching parts of Season 8 and when they are doing the Purgatory scenes of Dean/Benny/Castiel it felt SO MUCH like Dean keeping the peace between John and Sam, it just floored me.
I think Dean feels “unworthy” of being alive while his father is in hell, and so damn angry that he is alive to finish up another one of Dad’s messes. I canNOT think of a circumstance in which Dean would kill Sam. And that is why I’d love to see writers’ notes or whatever about the aborted Season 3, in which Sam saved Dean from Hell AND gave fealty to Lucifer’s plans (became the Boy King we never got to see). I would love to see Dean struggle with trying to get to Sam and kill him, maybe get him vulnerable and STILL not be able to do it. Or something.
Anyway, I live in New Mexico and was interested in the story of the “western trip” but noted Helena (?) did not go to New Mexico. WE are the best. I would speak ill of my westerns neighbors (and I lived in Idaho, and I much prefer New Mexico).
Yellowstone is just awesome, so many terrific spots. We are planning a Route 66 road trip thru a lot of New Mexico and the romance of Route 66 just slays me (unlike Route 666 which was the crappiest episode of Season 1 and STILL makes my bottom 10 list).
// and I think that part of why Dean NEEDS to be with Sam is that all his life it was “watch after Sammy” and he can’t get around that. //
Sure. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t result in annoying behavior that I will point out and analyze within an inch of its life. :) I love it when Dean’s annoying. I love it when he has obstacles. I especially love when he behaves badly and acts out. I don’t try to justify it for him, or make excuses for him – because that leads to a dead end in terms of analysis (at least for what I am trying to do here.) I know lots of fans approach the show that way – and it’s very enjoyable and there’s a Team Dean or Team Sam thing going on, that I talked about here – but it’s not my way. It’s just so obvious what the hell is going on with him, he’s such an open book, and he tries to cover it up, and blah blah blah it’s a beautiful thing. Great behavior. Let it live in all its complexity and weirdness. I never get sick of watching it.
I love New Mexico! Yesterday I went to a press screening of The Guest – a new thriller starring Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey – it’s really good! Super fun – and it was filmed entirely in New Mexico. Beautiful sky and landscape. I’ve been to New Mexico a couple times and loved it a lot! An old boyfriend and I drove across the country via Route 66 – or the majority of it – and it was an unforgettable experience.
Congrats on the new computer!
evave2
Hey, I’m the one who went on the Western Road Trip, don’t deny me my road stories ;). I don’t blame you though, I knew I should have gone with a cooler name for this site. Heather is just one of those too common to stick in someone’s brain, names. I make up for it in person with a full face tattoo- so people remember. Even the government forgets half my name, when we get the property tax bill, they have my spouses full name first, (and he has a long name) and then there isn’t room for all of my name so it gets shortened to Heat. Maybe I should use that as my name The Heat.
As for New Mexico, we had planned on finishing the trip with New Mexico, a nice strong finish, but we got some news and had to go home early. (everything is good.) When I was young my parents took us on a trip to the four corners area and we all fell in love with New Mexico: the food, the beauty, the people. At least this way there is a good reason to go back to the West on another trip.
Have you ever seen “White Sands”, with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Willem Dafoe? Because there are some beautiful New Mexico shots.
// so it gets shortened to Heat. //
hahahaha That is absurd!!
The government (and basically everyone else) cannot deal with my apostrophe – and so I am forced to betray my ancestors, who worked hard to maintain that apostrophe – every time I buy an airline ticket or fill out a form. I have to say my name is Sheila Omalley. Or Sheila O Malley. I mean, there are so many Irish people in the world, and so many of us have apostrophes – come ON. It bugs me every time I am forced to re-enter my name removing the apostrophe.
Ooh – White Sands!! Yes!
I took a road trip from Albuquerque to Taos – via Santa Fe – when I was tracking down Dean Stockwell (it was less ominous and stalker-y than it sounds – he had an art opening in Taos and I attended) – and I was just blown away by the beauty of the sky and the mountains rising and the gigantic gorge of the Rio Grande – right there out my window as we whizzed along the highway. Beautiful!
Yeah Heather, bring The Heat!
Is camping a common activity for you, or was that part of the novelty of the trip? Flying somewhere with camping equipment as baggage can be a serious logistics challenge. Heck, getting it all into the car can be a challenge.
//Dean’s being such a brat! //
Sheila – I just watched “Freaks and Geeks” last night, I liked that they brought back Krissy. But back to Dean – for the whole season here he’s being, to use Gabriel’s description of Lucifer, ” a great big bag of dicks.” And not in a fun “hey let’s put on our bowling shirts” way. Faking Amelia’s call to Sam, wow. Being put out about helping James Frampton because he had “only” saved their lives once. Sam’s not emotionally available to help with Dean’s PTSD, and Bobby gone. I gather he gets even worse off in season 9. Wow.
Also, I’ve gotten to like Rachel Miner’s Meg more and more. I’m not adept enough to know whether it’s the acting or the character, but once she started caring for Castiel and then came back (blonde) after being rescued, I really liked her and I’m not sure I would have had quite the tragic shock of her death with Nicki Aycox. Well, I bet NA could have pulled that off, but I didn’t get to see her do it – and I did get to fall into sympathy with the Rachel Miner version. She had that Janis Joplin thing going on.
I’m hoping that we see more Garth, I haven’t checked the Wikis to learn.
// Faking Amelia’s call to Sam, wow. //
I know. It’s unforgivable, really. Shows how lost he is. And Season 9 – his actions aren’t as blatantly sketchy, although there is another betrayal which is the breaking-point for Sam – it’s that he becomes unreachable. It’s certainly not a fun Arc, and there are only one or two Dean Being Goofy episodes – I’m actually kind of amazed and impressed that they pushed Dean to that degree, because it is really unsympathetic – counter-weighted by Ackles’ inherent sympathetic qualities – But to make their lead guy, their hero, be a gloomy-gus for 3/4s of a whole season – I mean, I was in heaven – but that was really pushing the envelope!! It felt like accumulation of all the other Arcs. Like, Dean is finally tapped OUT. It’s pretty grim. But he plays the hell out of it.
Rachel Miner is excellent. I love her sort of boozy-burlesque-Mae-West line delivery. And she does manage to make you care about her despite her horrifying and evil actions (Ellen and Jo, for one). She’s Crowley’s punching bag. I love her dynamic with the brothers, nasty as it sometimes is. She’s a very good actress I think!
So was Aycox – but Miner brings a sort of kicked-around-puppy-dog vibe to the role (at least in the later seasons) – that feels very much her own thing.
And I won’t give any spoilers about Garth!!
As with all characters on SPN, you never know when/if they will come back. I still hope that Rufus will return.
Or, my favorite: the psychic woman in “The Mentalists,” which is just me being delusional about a one-off character. I still think she’s Dean’s potential mate. If anyone could deal with him, it’s her. She’s intuitive. She’s not judgmental. She’s practical. She’s not “woo woo.” She’s a bit of a con man, but it’s based on her own intuitive powers. And you also get the sense she’s FUN in a similar way.
Her: “I need a drink.”
Dean: “I support that.”
A super silly episode but I love it a lot.
//it was less ominous and stalker-y than it sounds //
ha ha ha ha ha ah…..
//It bugs me every time I am forced to re-enter my name removing the apostrophe.//
Of course, it would bug me too. So ridiculous. So Legoland.
I liked the woman from “The Mentalists”. She had a lot to offer.
Poor Dean, being such a jerk. I think that Sam not looking for Dean in Purgatory was a breaking point for Dean. It is the proof that his worst fear needed, that Sam would rather live in lemon-scented-vaseline-land and not with Dean. The PTSD and shame from that seems to have left him lost.
mutecypher: I have been a camper since childhood and you are right, bringing all the gear in luggage was tough. We had to be ruthless with ‘extras’. We bought some stuff when we landed and donated it when we were done. And yes, the constant tetris game that was packing the car was… fun. Especially since we ended up in a Mini Cooper, so not Impala sexy, but good on gas.
// I think that Sam not looking for Dean in Purgatory was a breaking point for Dean. //
Yeah, that was BAD. Kind of the beginning of Sam’s Season 9 arc – all the way back in Season 8. Sam separating himself from his brother – it’s healthy in a way, but unforgivable in another.
Dean doesn’t forgive it. So he fakes that text. Mayhem ensues.
// lemon-scented-vaseline-land //
hahahaha Chowing down on warmed-up spaghetti and bright pink hotdogs, all while shoving slices of lime down the kitchen sink. I mean, how could you choose that over your own brother??
I kid.
//Chowing down on warmed-up spaghetti and bright pink hotdogs//
Good god, I’d rather see Castiel pull the Angel Tablet out of his abdomen than watch anyone eat that.
Sam’s taste in women…
I would be like, “Okay, cute story about the history behind this tradition – but can I please eat something else??”
I like Amelia and do like that weird-o Arc – because – when Sam chooses to have a normal life he chooses a wreck of a woman to do it with, and I think that was a fabulous choice, story-wise.
But the color scheme. The golden sickly haze. The hot dogs. The empty alcohol bottles. The clogged-sink. Oy.
Yes, it’s the “supremely competent at their professions, not so much at the rest of life” tension that we all love.
From an alcoholic brother to an alcoholic girlfriend. At least there’s sex. With his t-shirt on.
Also: Amelia makes him take the dog! He hits the dog – she makes him take it. How unethical is that!! Imagine if all veterinary hospitals ran with that set of rules. “Hi, I found an injured moose in the road.” “Well, it’s your responsibility now.”
Oh man, and then him lolling in the bed, with his naked chest exposed, like a bodybuilding pasha. I don’t feel the same “Please put your clothes on” thing with Sam that I have with Dean – but honestly, him lying there, staring at her all concerned, with these freakin’ breast plates and biceps – it’s just ridiculous.
where are you at in Season 8 now? These later seasons confuse me sometimes.
I watched “The Great Escapist” last night – Metatron was introduced. So I’m at the last 3 episodes of Season 8. Sam has completed the first 2 trials. Benny has done his sacrifice to save Sam. Sad. I’m keeping your //As with all characters on SPN, you never know when/if they will come back.// in mind.
Bobby had his “well, you never know if you might see me again” sendoff before going to heaven. I wonder if he’ll show up for the musical episode.
I’m hoping Crowley was lying about Kevin’s mom. She rocked. I’d like her back, too. Even if she doesn’t quite get the meaning of “no strings attached” in Craigslist ads.
Metatron is awesome. I forget – have you come to the Men of Letters yet?
The look on Dean’s face during that final scene with Benny in the alley- the sacrifice he is asking him to make – Such a good scene, so well played by both men. Warriors! That relationship … it really stands apart in the entire series. It’s a real friendship. Which, of course, means it can’t last. :) Ty Olsson is just great. He came in so strong, that character fully established – loved him.
Oh and yeah, Kevin Tran’s mom. Ha. “I hired a witch on Craigslist.” “You did what?”
Yeah, the dog. Maybe that sort of decision is part of why she has to goes from town to town as a vet.
“Don’t take any injured animals to the vet. She’ll make you keep ’em”
hahahaha
Yes, they’re in the Men of Letters lair. Charlie busted the MoL for sexism, “maybe that’s why they died out.” Or words to that effect. Dean discovered the first issue of “Voluptuous Asian Lovelies” stored away and remarked on how much it would go for on eBay. And he’s nesting, cooking for Sam. I don’t think he’s done any decorating, though I think he’s very happy to have his own room.
Dean nesting is one of the best things I’ve ever seen. So perfect. Setting up his room. Lining up his guns and his porn. Cooking. It’s beautiful!
Of course it means no more library visits really – they now basically live in a library!
Speaking of libraries – it’s been a while since they’ve visited one at this point in the re-caps that I’m doing. I am trying to think of the last library visit and am coming up blank.
And Pac Man Fever. That is one of the most sheerly emotional episodes the show has ever done – and it WORKS. I mean, it’s practically Lifetime Television – with the sick mother. But it KILLS ME every time I see it. Charlie reading the Hobbit to her mother – you have to wipe me up off the floor.
Felicia Day is a wonderful actress, and I love the relationship Charlie has with Dean. As you will see in Season 9 – Charlie exits (but not in a bad way) – she is just “elsewhere” – and I think that was deliberate. If Charlie were in any way present, she would have seen immediately that something was wrong and could possibly have snapped Dean out of it.
No more spoilers. I just love that relationship.
…And Benny. What a blessing it is to have a friend who gets you. Just a great character. When he had to leave his great-granddaughter because of that crazy-assed Marvin… Thanks Sam for putting that mad dog into the mix.
Oh God, Marvin. Step off. Marvin.
And how about the moment when Dean realized he had hit on Benny’s relative? Ha.
Did you recognize her, by the way? She was the traumatized mother in The Kids Are All Right, the one where Lisa and Ben are introduced.
There was a library visit in season 8, in the “Everybody Hates Hitler” episode with the rabbi and golem. But they’ve certainly become less frequent.
I love that episode. “These guys are psychopaths …” and I fall off my chair laughing.
and how about freakin’ Hal Linden in that episode??
//Did you recognize her, by the way?//
Yes, I recognized her, but had to google to recall which episode the actress was from.
//If Charlie were in any way present, she would have seen immediately that something was wrong // That also suggests Garth’s absence to me.
Don’t worry about the spoilers. I’m wondering how to watch season 9 prior to season 10. It’s not available on my usual source – Netflix. I’ll take a short break when I finish season 8 and then start the search.
I went the Amazon Instant Video route, which unfortunately means I had to pay.
Season 9 should be coming out on DVD in the next month or so – don’t know the date – but definitely before Season 10 starts.
Or – no, not “unfortunately”. I was happy to pay. I love this show and want to support them and I don’t have television hook-up at all – it was 1.99 an episode or something like that.
//And how about the moment when Dean realized he had hit on Benny’s relative? Ha//
Everything associated with Benny was just caramel: completely sweet and perfect.
Totally. Those two guys almost have as much chemistry as Jared and Jensen and that is no small feat!
It’s good to know about it being on Amazon Instant Video. I don’t mind paying for the episodes. I loved the “Hannibal” images and write-up you did and purchased both seasons from iTunes. Speaking of being extremely competent… Hannibal.
I watched Mads Mikkelson in “The Hunt” last week. We truly live in a golden age of television when there are so many “movie star” class actors in television series.
And Hal Linden, it was great to see him.
// We truly live in a golden age of television when there are so many “movie star” class actors in television series. //
Amen! I have to catch up to Hannibal – I’m still working my way through it. July/August have been just nuts for me. It’s so good, isn’t it? So enjoyable and sick.
I’m going to have to own up: I didn’t find anything offensive about the “Man’s Best Friend With Benefits” episode. I recall that was a topic in earlier discussions. Not looking for a fight with anyone, just curious about the other reactions.
Basically: woman of color playing a dog chained up – literally – wearing a dog collar – by a white man. Just not good associations with the history of racism and slavery and all that. I loved her performance – she was sweet and funny – and I loved the “That was really hot” moment between Sam and Dean – it makes me laugh – also – sorry, you know my attention to detail: Jensen Ackles sneezing? So convincing. They felt like real sneezes and I appreciate how much specificity he puts into EVERYTHING – but the associations, for me, were really bad. The show isn’t usually ignorant like that. I do think it was innocent on their part – which may be worse or better, I don’t know. Nobody along the way said, “umm … should we re-think this??”
Fair enough. I was looking for something within the episode itself, in terms of the treatment of the character. But, yes, I can understand the bad associations. As a white guy my “hey, anyone can play anything” setting is probably too low. I see that episode was written by Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming. They’ve written a number of episodes, and Eugenie is married to Robert Singer. So, maybe not enough outside influence to get an “umm … should we re-think this??” Maybe they were in a Harry Potter mindset: weak, sleazy Peter Pettigrew was a rat, Professor McGonagall was a spectacled cat, Sirius Black was a big dog. Let’s have a familiar who’s sleek, black, smart, fierce, loyal, sexy – and we’ll have a black woman play her. We’ll give her the name Portia and she’ll have chosen a master – it’ll almost be post “The Merchant of Venice,” but we won’t develop that any further.
Dean sneezing. I’m trained enough to start thinking, “there’s a cat around. Hey, maybe that guy’s a cat familiar.” I was proud. And then missed the black woman in a dog collar part.
Your comments about July and August being nuts, I was noticing that you had 3 reviews go up at Ebert last week. And one the week before. Plus “Love Streams.” And a vacation. And I imagine other things as well. I hope it’s a good busy.
// So, maybe not enough outside influence to get an “umm … should we re-think this??” //
I think that is a distinct possibility. In general, I find the show pretty good with diversity although everyone can always do better – but that thing with Portia was so tone-deaf it really stands out. I so wonder what that actress was saying to her family/friends about what she was being asked to do. I can imagine her making fun of it to beat the band to her girlfriends who were all like, “They’re asking you to do WHAT??”
I still think she did a lovely and respectable job, humanizing her as much as she could – and her dynamic with Dean was funny. But still. Oy!!
And yeah, things have been heating up career-wise. I am trying to juggle it. I depend on my whiteboard. And afternoons at the beach. Have so many irons in the fire right now that it’s a bit daunting. But all in all, things are good. I get to see all these movies for free, and some of them are EXCELLENT (like Love is Strange) – so I’m not complaining!
Oh, and I’m working on the re-cap for Simon Said as we speak. Moby Dick’s bong. And etc.
Moby Dick’s bong.The paint job on that van. Ash being Ash.
Hey, thanks for the Amazon Instant Video tip. I see season 9 is $25 from Amazon and $50 from iTunes. I know who’s getting my biz.
You know, if you put up a link … (I’m assuming you can do that the same as books)
Oh you’re nice! Sure, throw a few shekels my way.
I’m not sure if this link will work – let me know if it leads to a dead-end. I can see a “Buy whole season for 24.99” button there, but I’m kind of a Luddite.
Ash without pants.
Worked like a charm. Thanks!
You know, Marmaduke and Bud: The Garth and Ash Chronicles is the Supernatural spinoff I want to see. If anyone was asking…
Sorry to be entering the conversation so late with so little to say–but I can’t help remarking on this coincidence:
Heather–glad you had a great road trip through the West! I’m an inhabitant of the West (Montana) who just got back from a road trip with my family through Ireland–considerably more criss-crossing of countryside on my part, I reckon. Sorry about Idaho. (kidding. I’m kidding.)
mutecypher–I’m envious that you’re undertaking the Supernatural journey for the first time! I’m eager to hear what you think about season 9, too. The last two years are a bit uneven, I think, but there’s still so much good to be savored. To me it feels like seasons 8 and 9 are Acts 1 and 2 of a 3-part epic–the seeds for 9’s storylines are sown in 8, and now are leading to what I hope will be a “crescendo” (my husband’s word) in 10.
shelia–on the library question and the beauty–and season 9–I immediately jumped to the image of Sam in the MoL library at the end of the finale. We still get glimmers here and there–
Barb – hello! I am envious that you just went to Ireland! I’ve been there many times but it’s been way too long – 2006 was my last time going. Such a beautiful fun place – hope you had fun!
And I love that Sam and Dean have basically moved INTO a library. I’m a librarian’s daughter. That bunker is HEAVEN. I want to go there for a writer’s retreat. There should be grants made available for such a thing.
// To me it feels like seasons 8 and 9 are Acts 1 and 2 of a 3-part epic–the seeds for 9′s storylines are sown in 8, and now are leading to what I hope will be a “crescendo” (my husband’s word) in 10. //
I totally feel that way too. There hasn’t been this strong a crescendo since the first three seasons, culminating in Dean going to Hell. Those middle seasons feel somewhat self-contained, although there is some carry-over going on – but Season 8 and 9 felt like they were building towards something and I think that may be why they feel a bit uneven. You know? They knew where they were going, but they wanted to hide their cards, so it’s a bit herky-jerky.
But I agree. I was re-watching some of Season 7 – when Dean kills Amy and then hides it from Sam … those seeds then exploded in Season 8 and Season 9 – and will obviously be explored further in Season 10. It’s not the fact that Dean killed her, it’s the LIE, and that thing in Dean that will lie in order to “protect” and all that.
By Season 9, Sam is pretty much done with Dean. As painful as that was to witness, it really felt like such a long time coming – the culmination of that emotional crescendo. I like it the more I think about it.
So, I didn’t really have much to say about this episode (although all the stuff about how Angela was reduced to one dimension by the people who supposedly loved her was enlightening and made this episode gel for me a little bit more, so thanks for that, Sheila), and things have gone completely batshit in my life in the last month or so (in what will hopefully end up being a good way, but in the meantime, good stress is still stress), but I felt like I had to respond to this:
//Jensen Ackles sneezing? So convincing.//
Possibly because that was the only thing that stood out to me in a good way from that episode, I could actually write an embarrassingly long analysis of those – what, two minutes? I have this fascination with the fact that usually no one in TV or movies ever has any involuntary bodily functions unless it is somehow directly relevant to the plot. As such, I’ve become something of a connoisseur of sneeze acting (only because it’s the most common example – I’d pay attention to, say, hiccup acting, too, lol), and Jensen Ackles might actually have the most convincing fake sneezes I’ve ever heard. They weren’t even just generic fakes – they totally fit with Dean’s character, too. (Like I said, it’s embarrassing how much thought I’ve put into this.)
Also, I can’t wait for the Simon Said recap! It’s one of my favorites.
// (Like I said, it’s embarrassing how much thought I’ve put into this.) //
hahahahaha We are cut from the same cloth then. Yes, they totally fit with his character. They were almost … delicate? Like he was one of those people who tried to repress the sneeze as it happened. I’m thinking Sam would just blow the roof off with his sneezes.
And I would say you’re right – having to “perform” an involuntary bodily function has to be one of the most challenging things out there. I’m trying to think of a good hiccup scene. I know they exist.
Simon Said will probably go up end of the week. I’ve been having so much fun re-watching it.
also how funny is it that they use that ridiculous Spinal Tap song when we get the first view of Andrew’s van …
I also think that the #1 hardest thing to portray is helpless laughter. Crying is a breeze compared to that. Because fake laughing is … you just know it when you see it.
There’s a great scene in Crimes of the Heart when the three sisters are all sitting in the kitchen, talking about a very very serious topic, and everyone is tense and stressed, and someone says something that strikes them all funny – and one by one, they start laughing – and then they can’t stop – until they are all literally whooping and weeping. I’ve seen the play many times and often it’s AGONY because they are so clearly faking it. The movie, though – that scene is really good. All three actresses appear to be literally lost in uproarious laughter – and it makes ME laugh to see it.
Oh and Natalie – good luck with handling the stress. It’s hard! Hopefully the good things will come – good luck!!
reply to Sheila 8/23/14
I remember being impressed by No Country for Old Men. I turned to husband and said, this movie deserved an Oscar: it made Texas pretty.
Then I recognized that it was filmed mostly in Las Vegas NM.
I thought, oh you sly Cohen devils.
Re Dean not letting Sam leave or whatever: I would love to see an episode in which Dean has amnesia. Doesn’t remember anything and is leading a good fulfilling life. That was the problem with What Is and What Should Never Be, Dean’s paradise or heaven would always include Sam. Should always include Sam. The fact that it didn’t gave him impetus to look for a way out. And I would want Sam trying to break thru to him to bring him back. I would just like to see Dean whole without Sam for once.
Ha!! in re: your comment to your husband about No Country For Old Men – that’s funny!
// I would just like to see Dean whole without Sam for once. //
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, Demon Dean!
And of course it’s great to want that – it’s part of the tension of the show – but the second they provide it, the show will end. The show would be nothing without that tension – it’s amazing they’ve plumbed the depths of it for as long as they have – I am totally admiring of that.
Maybe something showing wholeness-without-each-other will be included in the final shot of the final episode.
And tears will be shed across the land. And margaritas will be consumed as fans sob. And catharsis will finally be achieved.
The End.
And I respectfully disagree about What Is and What Should Never Be! His wish was only that Mary was alive. And if Dean and Sam hadn’t had hunting, they might not have formed such a strong bond. That’s one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, and Ackles outdoes himself. Actually, they all do. Sam wearing a yellow tie? NO, THAT’S NOT SAM!!!
Mutecypher 8/23/14 4:38 pm
Who is James Frampton who only saved their lives once? I can’t remember him at ALL.
Now I for one think Sam comes off pretty bad in the exchange (I agree using Amelia was bad) because he was going to kill Benny! The whole business with Benny was Sam being bitchy about Dean having a friend. To me Bloodlust had the huge feature of Sam being jealous of Dean and Gordon having a connection. That just surprised the daylights out of me. Because the usual vibe is Dean being Just Us, but here it was Sam being Just Us.
I think Dean has given Sam multiple arcs to take off. I don’t know why Sam was still there in Season 9. Dean DID do something BAD. And if Sam took off it would’ve been better than him staying around to be such a bitch.
Everybody views things differently, I know. And I don’t know how much we are discussing Season 9 here. But I found Sam’s behavior much more upsetting than Dean’s. And I am NOT saying Sam just should’ve let it go.
I am saying that the way HE handled his righteous anger was more harmful than what Dean did.
Sometimes I feel the show has more sympathy for Sam’s issues than Dean’s issues. I think that Dean was irrevocably changed by Hell. But Sam’s Halluciferations was just supposed to be so much worse it was worse than anybody ever had before. I thought Bobby was in hell for longer than either of them but HIS hell just seemed like a jail cell.
I guess I have little sympathy for anything to do with Amelia. I have a question: did one director direct all of Amelia/Sam at one time and then they were given places to insert the flashbacs? Because the high colors put into some of the warehouse-type scenes were so jarring.
// Sometimes I feel the show has more sympathy for Sam’s issues than Dean’s issues. //
Maybe, but “sympathy” is not what makes up drama or dramatic tension.
CONFLICT is what makes up drama. It can’t be tilted too much to one side since there are TWO of them.
There’s a lot of “I dislike such-and-such a moment because it upset Dean” kind of thing in the fandom – and there is NOTHING wrong with that, I want to make that clear – it’s totally understandable and enjoyable. You know you’ve “hit” on something when fans start talking like that about fictional characters.
But for me, it provides nothing in terms of analysis (and this is true in my other writing as well). Having Dean be upset (or Sam be upset) is what the show is all about – it’s what gives it DRAMA. It’s the motor running underneath it all. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it needs to be there. I do not feel “protective” of either character. I identify with both of them in many ways, but I do not feel like I need to protect them. I just like to WATCH them, in the middle of their various messes, try to clean that shit up.
I will add this: Dean is potentially such a powerhouse, and Ackles is such a dazzling actor, that the whole thing could become The Dean Show if they weren’t careful. Thank goodness they allow Dean to be nasty, petty, a jerk, make mistakes, not deal with shit … It’s an important balancing act, and both Padalecki and Ackles seem aware of it and very game to dip into those dark not-so-sympathetic waters.
They’re a great duo onscreen and the chemistry is what matters and why we are now going into 10 seasons. You don’t get to 10 seasons with everyone being lovely and supportive of one another’s issues.
And yeah, the flashbacks are really sloppily done with Amelia, in addition to not looking very good. It was a bit of a mess, structure-wise, with Sam going into periodic small-strokes or fugue-states – standing in the middle of the sidewalk, zoning out – ugh – just not really elegantly done (compared to the flashbacks in “Something Wicked,” for example – which were great.) And who knows why everything was yellow and green. It’s the worst the show has ever looked.
// I guess I have little sympathy for anything to do with Amelia. //
And I guess that’s the difference in our outlook right there (which is totally fine, just pointing it out). I don’t “like” her because I “sympathize” with her or even find her a “sympathetic” person. I actually don’t. But that is not how I gauge whether or not someone is a good character. I liked the portrayal/representation because it revealed a lot about who Sam was. It brought up conflict. It was not a happy-homemaker-domestic-scene, a perfect vision of all he had missed. It was a MESS.
Who Sam chose when he got a chance to be normal speaks VOLUMES about who he is and how far HE had come down his own path.
// I am saying that the way HE handled his righteous anger was more harmful than what Dean did. //
Well, sure, that’s one way to look at it. It was a fight. It was a big fight.
Either way, it’s a fight that needed to happen – it had been building up for seasons. Nobody’s gonna be graceful and awesome in a fight that’s been building for that long. The fight was deeply destabilizing to how their whole “dance step” is set up. It was a long-term break-up, what was going on there. And it’s a mess.
Which is why I loved it. Drama Drama Drama Conflict Conflict Conflict.
Sheila, thanks for a great review again! I got a lot more out of an episode I that was one of my least favorite via your review and the commentary. A few days ago I wrote this nice long post then accidentally closed out the tab before posting (I used very bad words because it was late at night) At this point I think everyone has covered a lot of what I thought about the episode so I’ll just add a couple of thoughts – 1) I had very strong reaction to that v-neck t-shirt, it totally took me out of the episode, I was so relieved when he finally put on a crew neck. I wonder if the v-neck was used to intentionally destabilize us, the audience. I hated it because it made Dean appear soft, vulnerable, almost feminine. 2) Did any of you guys noticed Sam’s drawers peeking from the top of his jeans when he tucked the pistol into the waist band of his jeans? I don’t know why I noticed that detail. Do you think that was deliberate? Does wardrobe also dress their drawers? :-) I know that’s a silly detail…..
Heather, welcome back from your road trip, I hope you got to listen to good music during your road trip. I had a road trip mix tape that I took on long trips lo so many years ago…. I took my own trip out west with my daughter after I returned from deployment, we camped or stayed in hotels as the mood struck us. I picked her up in Ca. from my folks, (I drove from Virginia to Cal.) we drove to Lake Meade, Bryce Canyon, Jackson Hole Wy, Yellowstone, Badlands, Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Niagara Falls then home to Mass. took lots of great pics and made great memories. I would do it again! We spent a month on the road, saw some incredible places. I’m from out west but had never before been to any of the parks we visited. I live on the east coast now and miss the open spaces, the mountains, the stars at night in the desert… I can see the Blue Ridge Mountains sometimes but it isn’t the same.
Kim – haha I love how we all had a reaction to the V-neck. It’s cracking me up. It makes me think it HAS to be deliberate – right? Although it may have just been a regular wardrobe choice and we’re all reading into it. Either way, yes, I do not like seeing his chest exposed like that. It’s not right. And now I am making myself laugh.
There’s a jacket Dean wears in … season 6 maybe? A tight reddish leather jacket that is AWFUL. I know it’s notorious among fans but I can’t remember which season it’s from. It was too dude-ish, too flashy, too fitted. It made Dean seem fashion-conscious which just doesn’t work. I’m sure you know the one I mean. It died a pretty quick death as I recall. The color wasn’t good either which I think was the primary reason they got rid of it. But still. Error! Abort Abort!!
I loved Sam’s drawers. He seems like a briefs guy to me – while Dean is definitely a boxer kind of guy – but clearly I’m wrong!!
Kim – sounds like you and your daughter took the same route me and my ex-boyfriend took! We went from East to West, up through Niagara Falls, back down, through the Dakotas (which I fell in love with) and then the big ol’ Western states – Montana, Wyoming – coming down into Arizona, New Mexico, Utah. We lived in our van (which did not, unfortunately, have a Barbarian Queen Riding a Polar Bear on the side). We took months doing it. We also broke up AS we took the trip. That part of it was super awful but I don’t regret the trip at all.
Since I grew up in New England, my experience of mountain ranges were pretty limited. I will never EVER forget my first glimpse of the Rockies. Truly majestic. Scary, too. Fearsome and beautiful!
//There’s a jacket Dean wears in … season 6 maybe? A tight reddish leather jacket that is AWFUL.//
I rationalise that jacket as one of Dean’s attempts to fit in with normal society and life with Lisa. A form of disguise. Somehow I can’t quite imagine his character actually going to a shop and picking it out for himself, but hey, you never know. It’s not even that tight fitting, it’s just a bit too ornate and …. male model. Anyway, clearly the jacket is a sign that the attempt at normality is doomed. Although I’m glad the Season 6 haircut stayed.
And Kim, though I liked the v-neck, maybe for the same reasons some didn’t like it, it’s trumped by henleys, which look just awesome on Dean, and which also appear in Season 6 so the season is not a complete washout on that front. And yes, I’m not ashamed to admit, I notice every glimpse of underpants. Every one. You are not alone.
Season 8 and 9 seem to feature an overabundance of plaid. Plaid, plaid, plaid. Not a good look with orange tans.
Anyway, that’s this week’s Fashion Digest over and done.
// I notice every glimpse of underpants. //
You and me both, sister. I’m glad we actually never see them walking around in their drawers. I might die of embarrassment.
Maybe that red jacket just seems so tight because the other jacket is so roomy and huge. Whatever the case may be, it’s too neat-ish and self-aware “See me trying to look cool?” and I don’t like it! Definitely a form of disguise – I mean, he stops driving the Impala too. His whole hunter world had to go into hiding in order to submit to that. Imagine what the other construction guys must think, with red-leather-jacket strolling into work on his first day. You can see why that guy in the Season 6 premiere is all, “Tell me everything about yourself! I’m desperately in love with you!! Stop being a tease!”
And yes: Dean starts wearing plaid shirts – and I’m not crazy about it. Especially without a jacket over it. Season 9, yes – I think in the golem episode too. Red and blue plaid. And on Sam those plaid shirts are huge, like he buys them in bulk from Army-Navy, and they don’t really fit him – but Dean’s are more fitted. I don’t like the fitted plaid look on him.
:(
I can’t believe how much I am talking about this.
Graah, italics.
Fixed!!
//I can’t believe how much I am talking about this.//
I know. And yet I could go on and on. And on.
Sheila, what about Abu Ghraib?
… shaking with laughter. It is the joke that will never die.
No, seriously, you know my main wish for Season 10? The complete eradication of plaid and the return of henleys. After that, they can all do whatever they like and we can all cry into our margaritas.
I’m Sheila O’Malley and I approve of this message.
It could be the basis of a political campaign. I can see the signs now: NO MORE PLAID. BRING BACK HENLEYS.
Or, shouted en masse:
What do we want?
HENLEYS.
When do we want it?
NOW.
//Imagine what the other construction guys must think, with red-leather-jacket strolling into work on his first day. //
Oh, and you know when Supernatural has completely invaded every braintangle? When you watch the goddam Lego movie and think, hmmm, that construction worker reminds me of the opening montage of Season 6.
I really have to go and do something in the real world now. I am so late.
// When you watch the goddam Lego movie and think, hmmm, that construction worker reminds me of the opening montage of Season 6. //
Roaring!!
I honestly have to hold back from referencing SUPERNATURAL in almost every review I write. There’s always a connection. I’ve already done it twice. I am sure I will do it again but I have to kind of keep it under control. It’d get ridiculous otherwise.
Speaking of which – watched the LEGO movie with my teenage nephew on vacation and we fell in love with it!!
It’s awesome. But seriously, the scenes in Lego Frontierland really reminded me of … GAHH, HERE I GO AGAIN!
hahaha and I love Chris Pratt – who is connected to Zero Dark Thirty and the Team 6 Navy SEAL guys – him listening to a Tony Robbins motivational tape as they flew into Pakistan – and those guys connect me to Sam and Dean – that whole Special Forces world – and oh forget it it’s endless!
evave2 –
James Frampton is the witch/detective with the familiar Portia in “Man’s Best Friend With Benefits.”
//I honestly have to hold back from referencing SUPERNATURAL in almost every review I write. There’s always a connection.//
I hear you there! I think there might be a professional diagnosis for this condition–the SPN factor, maybe? The first name I came up with was Supernatural Creep–but that’s just a little bit too pejorative. My family and friends have no idea how much I literally hold myself back from interjecting Supernatural into everyday conversations! It’s either a sign of fandom, or a syndrome in itself.
Back on the library/Ireland connection–one of the highlights of my trip was standing in the Long Library at Trinity College. The wood, the busts of authors–the sheer scope of the room. It was like librarian Mecca, and even with a summertime crowd of people, I was awed and humbled. I work in an ultra-modern library, which I actually love for its space and convenience, but just for a moment, I wanted those shelves from another world. The Men of Letters set inspires me in the same way–though in that season 8 episode when Dean was digging through the boxes, I couldn’t help but feel some dismay–he was messing with the archive!
It’s interesting to me to hear about road trips out to the West, since most of my family car trips as a child were in the other direction. Like many people out here, we are transplants from back East. While I do not take the landscape for granted, I don’t think I really appreciate how much it’s ingrained in me until I go elsewhere–New England, Ireland. The clear views and sense of space in particular are part of what I almost physically NEED as a Westerner, though I am in love with the rolling hills and feeling of History that you only get in other places. The West doesn’t care about History–it will be literally blown away if not preserved by the people who live here.
Barb – Supernatural Creep. Hahahahaha.
Oh man, that library at Trinity!!! It’s like walking into a gigantic barrel, isn’t it? unbelievable space. Like a cathedral.
// The clear views and sense of space in particular are part of what I almost physically NEED as a Westerner //
Fascinating – I have a friend here who hails from Montana and she misses mountain ranges so much that I know it’s just a matter of time before she moves back there. I don’t know if I could live in a land-locked state, for example – one of those middle states – as beautiful as the plains are – I need WATER.
Funny, yes, how landscapes form us and shape us.
//just for a moment, I wanted those shelves from another world. //
Barb, not to rub it in, or anything but when I went to university, this was our library. They’ve gussied up the website since I was there, and have exhibitions, and whatnot. Google the library you’ll see more pictures.
Oh good Lord that is a beautiful library. I’ve never been there – absolutely stunning!!
Sheila 8/26/14 10:34 am and 11:14 am
Where did Jensen Ackles study acting? I for one figured my question if I ever went to a convention would be to ask WHERE did he learn to die so believably? You said there are classes in television acting because they have to do the scene multiple times and sometimes with cameras THIS CLOSE. I looked him up on IMDB and Wikipedia and it does not mention any acting schools/classes. Just that he graduated from High School, moved to California, got a job on Days of Our Lives and went on from there. I just wondered if they teach DYING which sounds like a stupid thing. It wasn’t the make-up (I think you mentioned that in No Rest for the Wicked his eyes would’ve already glazed over before Sam got to him but THAT’S make-up) it was the way he was absolutely boneless. I saw an set-scene from that day and he was kneeling in a corner with his head to the wall preparing for his death scene while a guy was carrying cable or something like 5′ away. The concentration it took to get THERE and then act out being torn to shreds and dying — whew.
Mutecypher: thank you for responding, but I actually went to superwiki or whatever it is called to look him up (first time I ever went there). But I gotta say that episode just makes me feel so creepy I don’t let it rise to my consciousness that often. And I just did. Ick. Another thing that pisses me off about that episode was that Portia (all- knowing, all-wise Portia) did not think it was a reasonable question, which came first the dog or the girl. And because Dean had a dog-fear (I mean, torn apart by a hell hound, hello.) she was just plain rude to him. SHE called HIM and Sam. She needed their help. And she was so “slavish” in her devotion to her “master” it just made me feel ill. Actor was ok, actress was ok. The conception of the whole plot just bugged. Most of the time the episodes that appear to be about somebody else, which have Sam and Dean kind of show up (like Bloodlines the backdoor pilot) don’t work for me.
Sheila, did you think “I lied” in the Season 9 finale cleared up EVERYTHING that went on Season 9? Because I didn’t.
// did you think “I lied” in the Season 9 finale cleared up EVERYTHING that went on Season 9? //
Of course not. Because we need a Season 10! Nothing is ever ever ever “cleared” up. This is Supernatural!!! :)
Ackles started getting work right away as an actor. I think he booked the first audition he went on. Same with Padalecki. They both clearly “have it.” Padalecki’s audition tape for Sam is a great audition. It doesn’t feel like an audition. It feels like an opening night performance. Both of these guys are complete and whole and both are extremely sensitive – the business can make people hard and slick – that has not happened to either of them. They trust their talent and imagination. If they second-guess themselves, they don’t show it. I know Ackles does a ton of preparation for every episode. He learned on the job. He has worked constantly since he started out – learning by doing is the best way to get good technique. Some stuff can’t be learned in schools. And neither can talent. Ackles understands what is required and is able to relax himself enough to do what has to be done. Relaxation and vulnerability is key – lots of actors struggle with that. He doesn’t seem to.
Another place to add to my tour of the world’s great libraries! Thanks, Helena-I’m only drooling a little bit.
You know, though, working in a place like that would turn me into a shushing librarian for sure–“you want to touch the books? Are you mad?”
//Thanks, Helena-I’m only drooling a little bit.//
It was incredible to be able to study in that space. But to be honest, it was a bit wasted on students ;-) I seem to remember a lot of snoring.
Helena–cause for another round of shushing–“you want to sleep on the tables?? OUT!” In contrast, our library was designed by Will Bruder Architects.
But people still manage to sleep in it, on occasion.
k–I’m an idiot–thought I knew how to make something clicky :-) Ah well–how do I fix that?
You put this tag around the url, and ta da! Oh, and put on the other end.
… Burton Barr, Phoenix Central Library, Phoenix? That your library, or could you not possibly comment?
Darn it. The tag disappeared. Thought that might happen.
Look at the tags below the comment box. It’s the one with a href.
I wasn’t sure how much sharing was oversharing–though I imagine my secret identity wouldn’t be too hard to piece together if people really want to (I’m Barbara Gordon, of course –). It’s the Billings Public Library. I’ll try again:
Will Bruder architects
o, bother–It looks right, but it just linked back to Shelia’s home page! Sorry, Shelia for clogging up your comments section! I’m going to try once more–but if this doesn’t work, you can Google Will Bruder or the library name.
Barb, do you drive the Bookmobile?
Sorry, can’t imagine there’s one you haven’t heard.
grr-argh! Not feeling so super these days! Live and learn, right? Aggh!
mutecypher–only on the days that I’m not driving the Bat one!
Will freakin Bruder
hahaha Wait – let me see if I can fix the links.
Hm. For some reason it is not allowing me to link to that FB page. I don’t understand it.
Anyway – Will Freakin’ Bruder Architects, got it!
Checked out the page – those are some nice-looking buildings.
lol, I’m hopeless, and going home to my books now! *sigh–
My first job as a teenager was in a library in my home town and the building has been standing since the Revolutionary War days – it was originally a court house. There’s a little stone building where archives are kept now and back in the day George Washington used to hold little meetings there with patriot-types on his circulation throughout the colonies before war broke out. It was a very wonderful library – still is – still standing and still in operation.
Here it is.
You all are so awesome, the costume details you notice. I miss a lot. Not the plaid, that is impossible to miss, unfortunately. So I went back and looked for the v-neck t-shirt and now all I can see is his exposed throat. Sam is wearing the same cut, but man is it ever different. And the henleys I didn’t know the name so I had to google, but as soon as I saw them, I felt full body agreement. “oooh, yes, those are verrrrry good.”
I probably notice the underwear as much as anyone though.
Kim
//Heather, welcome back from your road trip, I hope you got to listen to good music during your road trip.//
Thank you. We had a very specially packed iPod and then we bought two audio books on the trip, a Sherlock Holmes read by Sir John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Orson Welles, and John Waters reading his hitchhiking book Carsick. I like to try local radio every once in a while, but got tired of the same 9 songs.
It is interesting, I would say 70% or more of the folks that we talked to camping were military or former military. Maybe a larger percentage actually.
The open space of out West is something I feel I need as a person every few years or so. Amazing.
Helena: that library…. wow!
Heather –
// And the henleys I didn’t know the name so I had to google, but as soon as I saw them, I felt full body agreement. “oooh, yes, those are verrrrry good.” //
full body agreement. hahahaha I know!! The. Best. Look for Dean.
Those audio tapes sound great, especially the Sherlock Holmes one!!
So you are saying that he never actually went to any acting school or took classes? Holy moley. I always thought there was “technique” in being able to cry like he does. That is amazing.
Well, yes, technique is important – and his technique is meticulous. He has talked about crying scenes and how he does it, how he relaxes, how he lets it happen. That’s technique.
I love the quote from Stella Adler, who had a young un-famous Marlon Brando in her acting class:
“Sending Marlon Brando to acting class was like sending a tiger to jungle school.”
Sheila –
The note about the Kingston Free Library that said “Materials used in the post and beam construction came from local forests within a mile radius” reminded me of this story about the dining hall at the New College, Oxford:
Not quite a true story, as indicated here. But libraries, Oxford, SPN, and long term planning all seem to go together.
Oh God, I love that story.
Barb –
I think most email programs have an “Add Link” selection in the edit menu. So if you wanted to write your post with the email program and then copy the link that you want to use with the “Add Link” command – and then copy/paste the email here – it should work. Or if you have a blog, you can write your comment as a post and use the editing tools to turn something into a link. Then copy-and-paste. Also, Pages on the Mac has a “Link” command under the Format menu and MS Word as a hyperlink command under the Insert menu if you’d prefer to use those – or they just happen to be open.
I remember completely hosing up all the links in a long comment about sigils and magic books, and deciding to just let the tools do the work for me from then on. Kind of a drag to have to use another editor then post, but it gets the job done if you’re doing anything more than plain text.
//He has talked about crying scenes and how he does it, how he relaxes, how he lets it happen. That’s technique.//
I’m looking forward (ahem, cough, no pressure, no, really) to a O’Malley digression TM on crying in Supernatural.
Crying onscreen is fascinating. Men crying is just …
It’s always interesting to compare how the two leads manifest tears, and in what circumstances – Dean’s eyes oozing out single, perfect tears in the first ep of Season 2, his almost unconscious leaking of tears in confessions of failure or deeply felt shame and guilt, Sam’s particularly, much rarer brand of pained, wracking sobs. There’s a whole taxonomy there.
There really is! Those trembling glimmering Ackles tears … I mean, it’s Joan Crawford time with those.
Ackles has said that the magic of it for him is – that once he gets the tears going (by whatever means – emotional substitution – meaning: thinking about something that makes HIM sad – or just from the imaginary circumstances of the character – it doesn’t matter) – but once the tears start coming, his body doesn’t know anymore that he is in an imaginary situation. His body thinks the sadness is real and so the sadness/tears starts to flow on its own. He’s said his whole face gets hot, his breathing heats up, his heart is pounding. That’s the magic of it.
His description of that transformation is very very good!!
When I was acting, I knew that sensation. It’s familiar to all actors because everyone has to do crying scenes from time to time. Crying scenes are a bitch and intimidating. It feels horrible to fake it, although sometimes you have to, and there are ways to fake it so that no one knows. But to do it for real – You’re crying, and it may be about your dead dog from when you were 4, or it might be about the situation in the play, whatever, but once the tears come, real sadness follows – it’s a weird thing – you think it would be the other way around – but that’s the magic of sensory work and how Pavlovian gesture can be. Make an angry gesture, punch the air, even if you feel no anger – if you punch the air enough, you’re going to start to feel angry. Same with tears. It’s strange. And Ackles knows how to get himself there. And not “spend himself” in one take.
Ackles has been pretty eloquent about it all – when he gets a good question, that is. Most of the questions asked of him are silly. But when he is asked HOW do you do that – it’s usually really fascinating.
It’s a really really grown-up version of playing Make Believe games.
But you’re right, that there’s a whole THING with crying, and how it manifests, especially with these Tough Guys. It’s kind of delicious and rich territory.
Or you could just do what Marlon Brando did during the long run of Streetcar on Broadway: place cut-up onions all up and down the stairs on the set and rub them in your eyes right before you have to cry.
You know. Whatever works. Brando didn’t care. But then, he was a genius.
//place cut-up onions all up and down the stairs on the set and rub them in your eyes right before you have to cry.//
Hahahaha! That stage must have ponged to high heaven.
//But you’re right, that there’s a whole THING with crying, and how it manifests, especially with these Tough Guys. It’s kind of delicious and rich territory.//
Indeed. There’s the whole technical thing of how the actor ‘gets there’, which is an art in itself, and then there’s what we as viewers read, the point we feel the characters have reached when they cry and what their tears provoke in us. And why do we want to see Tough Guys cry, that is the question.
// And why do we want to see Tough Guys cry, that is the question. //
I know. I mean, Bogart crying in Casablanca? It makes it seem like the whole world is falling apart – as indeed it is in that movie!! But when he breaks down? You know things are serious. Screw the Vichy government – Bogie’s crying, now I’m REALLY scared. Or John Wayne tear-ing up in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon – I can’t even deal with it. It’s almost uncomfortable.
I feel that way when Sam and Dean cry sometimes too. I almost hope it will stop soon. Or I think to myself, “They should probably cry for about 3 more hours. That should do the trick.” It’s a weird thing.
Have you heard about the whole “women in refrigerators” thing? There’s been a super cut made that has been getting a lot of play recently and it’s pretty great. Basically: the “women in refrigerators” trope is: women are raped/killed/mutilated in order to give the male emotional catharsis or motivation to do what he needs to do. you know, some Tough Guy is on the fence about getting involved in whatever it is – but then his lady friend is raped/killed/abducted – and NOW he’s on fire, NOW he gets to have emotions. Up until then, nothing, he is cool as a cuke.
It’s kind of a disgusting cliche – although sometimes it’s been used artfully and well – and obviously has been in rotation forever, the whole “damsel in distress” thing. So it’s nothing new. But in those situations, tears from Tough Guys can be seen as TOTALLY manipulative and cheaply gotten, if you know what I mean. They (meaning the writers, or whoever) haven’t figured out a way to create a three-dimensional complex male figure who, you know, has emotions – because hE’S A HUMAN BEING – so they throw a woman under the bus in order to let him feel something. Gross.
Supernatural does not truck in the “women in refrigerators” trope all that much, mainly because – well – these guys don’t have women in their lives. It has come up, of course – Lisa and Ben being abducted – but when it’s used as sparingly as Supernatural uses it, it doesn’t feel AS manipulative. It just looks like the demons being manipulative, not the SHOW trying to manipulate Dean into having emotions. Because over the course of the series we have seen both male characters have PLENTY of emotions – all on their own – without having to kill their girlfriends to show it.
Here’s an AV Club piece about women in refrigerators with the super-cut video included, in case you haven’t seen it:
http://www.avclub.com/article/women-refrigerators-supercut-downright-chilling-208150
I guess it freaks me out that he just wills himself into that place. I could’ve spent YEARS staying home from school.
I wonder if that is why the show has lasted this long. People know for him it’s all for real. But that makes me wonder, how does he decombust? I remember reading a behind the scenes story that after the ‘hell reveal’ he couldn’t stop crying and they had to cut for the day or something. Is that true?
// after the ‘hell reveal’ he couldn’t stop crying and they had to cut for the day or something. Is that true? //
No idea. It sounds pretty unprofessional on his part, so I’m guessing something’s off in the re-telling. He’s extremely professional. No-nonsense about his work. I know he had to modulate his tears – and hold them back – so that he could make it through the takes, and not waste the tears and have the tears be the kind of tears he wanted to show – and he had to take a little walk to get himself together in between takes. THAT’S technique, by the way.
now friends the leather jacket of Wrong you will remember happened to us at the end of season 7 and got lost in Purgatory.
What’s strange about the V-necks is that Jensen looks great in them. Super great. It’s just goddamn Dean Winchester who gives me the willies.
Jensen also often mentions learning a lot on the set of Days of Our Lives — he has mentioned being mentored by one woman in particular who advised him not to sign a second round of contracts because he was gonna go far, which warms my heart.
Love this digression on libraries. I have just finished rereading Name of the Rose, and now I would like to read and/or write one thousand fanfics about the Men of Letters’ books whispering to each other.
The Leather Jacket of Wrong.
Jessie, you have a way with words. Right – I lost track of the jackets. And at one point did Dean lose his dad’s jacket? When did that one bite the dust?
It is incredibly important that I track the guys’ wardrobe for some weird reason.
// It’s just goddamn Dean Winchester who gives me the willies. //
hahaha I know, right?? How is that possible? I love that it is possible. That something looks good on someone, but there’s some cellular rejection of what it looks like on the character. Poor Dean. I’d prefer him to be in a gigantic puffy snow-suit at all times. Or a suit of armor. It’d help me rest easy at night.
I had heard that as well about the soap opera actress, which is so touching and sweet. Almost immediately random people were invested in him – casting directors, fellow actors – they recognized something in him, merely from how he auditioned. You know, the “It” factor.
Also, soap operas are notoriously excellent training grounds for young actors who want to get better, do well. You have to learn lines fast. You have to learn how to hit your marks fast. You have zero time for angst or anything like that. If you can cry on cue, you will never be out of work. it’s the closest thing to a 9 to 5 that an actor will ever have. And so you tend to learn very good working habits on soap operas.
// I would like to read and/or write one thousand fanfics about the Men of Letters’ books whispering to each other. //
Get cracking!!
Well yes but Sheila the first and last scenes of the pilot are about women being fridged!
Have you ever seen Women’s Work?
Yes, one could say that Mary Winchester is the ultimate Woman in a Refrigerator! It is an irresistible trope and even Kripke joked about it in the commentary track to What Is and Never Shall Be, whatever it’s called. “We kill all these beautiful women. What is our problem.”
But it’s not used as “shorthand” as it is in some of those examples in the super-cut. It is connected deeply to the structure of the plot. And we do get to know Mary, for example, on a deeper level than just a martyr burning in her nightgown. Also, Dean and Sam are emotional mush-balls. They have emotions about all kinds of things and don’t need a woman to be in a refrigerator in order to show their emotions. I think that’s the difference, for me anyway.
No! I hadn’t seen that! Really well done – and love the music choice too.
It’s a little different, though, than “women in refrigerators,” I think. There are just as many men killed in those teasers as women (I am sure someone has tallied it up) – although of course women being bound and gagged and cut up have stronger cultural associations and baggage attached to it.
In the context of Supernatural – any person who gets close to Sam and Dean is going to be vulnerable. Therefore, we get Charlie abducted by djinn – but it’s not like we don’t know that Dean cares about Charlie before that moment. It’s clear he does. He has emotions for her – that are not SOLELY activated by her being in danger, if that makes sense.
// the leather jacket of Wrong //
Yesterday I was trying to think of what that jacket reminded me of, and it is a friggin’ doublet, is what it is.
Yes. It’s damn near Ren-Faire inspired, with a dude-ish flare.
I agree, I wouldn’t say Supernatural is fridge-y in the same way as, geez, even just the last movie I saw, Guardians of the Galaxy. I think I’ve said it before that the show kind of gets around it by dedicating itself to the proposition of Men Without Women. And the show is much richer for developing Mary, at least, beyond what we originally saw — it’s so interesting how she vacillates between all these roles: pawn, projection, daughter, wife, mother, Ideal, etc.
The last time I saw someone tally it up (season four?) I think, numerically, more men died — although I would argue that it’s not really a numbers game, the problem being, as you say, that typically the field of ways of being for men is a lot wider in pop culture than it is for women, and that sexualised death and abuse is pretty rare for men, unless your name is Dean Winchester. The video’s a great and provocative piece of commentary though! And yeah I don’t really like Hole (or a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6epnDpt0Qg&feature=youtu.be&t=1m42s”>do I? ha ha sorry) but I love that song.
// And the show is much richer for developing Mary, at least, beyond what we originally saw — it’s so interesting how she vacillates between all these roles: pawn, projection, daughter, wife, mother, Ideal, etc. //
Totally agree! And I love that Kripke knew that going in, that Mary was always going to be a hunter. So there was some planning behind it – it doesn’t feel condescending, like, “Okay, okay, here’s a developed female character, shut up about it.” Which – ew – so many comic book movies have that attitude and it’s such a turn-off.
I haven’t seen Guardians of the Galaxy yet.
// typically the field of ways of being for men is a lot wider in pop culture than it is for women, //
Absolutely.
// sexualised death and abuse is pretty rare for men, unless your name is Dean Winchester. //
I shouldn’t laugh, but I am. So true.
I am implicated. Damn you, Supernatural!
//one thousand fanfics about the Men of Letters’ books whispering to each other.//
Some whisper in Latin, some whisper in Ancient Greek, some whisper in Japanese, or Enochian. Sometimes chapters from one book hop between the covers of other books, and rustle their pages together, like in Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius. The Busty Asian Babes vol 1 No 1 gets a lot of attention.
Ahem. I’ve not heard of the ‘women in fridges’ per se but I guess the ‘revenge our conveniently slaughtered women while I have a good cry here’ trope is almost as old as Troy. Someone on the radio was talking about Liam Neeson in Taken and saying, why can’t we have a movie where it’s the woman who rescues her husband for a change. I would watch that. I guess Salt, with Angelina Jolie, was a Man in the fridge movie. But it’s rare.
//“We kill all these beautiful women. What is our problem.”//
Well, Kripke, you said it. Stop killing all those women, for heaven’s sake. I think what lifts SPN out of pure WITF territory for me is that clash of motivations and gradually seeing what is driving the characters. I guess Mary is John’s Woman in the Fridge, and we see pretty soon what kind of price he has paid for that. Sam also really wants revenge. But it’s not what drives Dean – his life’s work is not motivated by revenge for his mother’s death. Or at least he doesn’t want revenge at any price, although that takes a while to reveal itself and it truly is a revelation.
Going back to this episode, you could say that it is almost Post-Woman-in-the-Fridge. The wronged Angela emerges (albeit involuntarily) from her grave and wreaks her revenge. And alas, she must be destroyed for it. To be truly post-WITF she should be able to run free after all the carnage, maybe head out West, set up a vintage clothes store (all white), live her life (after death).
// clash of motivations and gradually seeing what is driving the characters. //
Yes. I think that is totally key. Lisa, for example, was allowed to develop into her own person, and their relationship seen in some degree of complexity – before she was thrown in the monster’s path. It wasnt all perfect, and Dean, in general, is a mush-ball of heart-on-sleeve emotions, tough guy notwithstanding. We don’t need the monster to give Dean an “excuse” to show that he has feelings for this woman or for the life they have together.
It’s certainly a fine line.
But also, as you mention – this is a World Without Women. So that whole “OMG my SweetHeart Is In Danger” thing doesn’t really apply. And when it does come into play, there has already been so much set-up (demons are dicks, angels are dicks, monsters are dicks) – and we have already spent so much time with Sam and Dean and seen them in all kinds of emotional weather – that it doesn’t feel as manipulative to me.
The “revenge film” starring women is an interesting thing – there was that Jodie Foster movie – the title escapes me – and yes, Salt. Ms. 45 is a great campy inversion of the revenge film where a mousy young thing goes on a killing spree, targeting only males. Good times.
But yeah – the cultural weight about bloodied-up damsel-in-distress women just flat out runs deeper. We may very well be stuck with it – but as long as people are aware of it (and that super-cut has actually started a really interesting conversation), maybe it could be used in less douche-baggy ways.
vintage clothes store (all white) – hahahahahahaha
Jessie, for amoment I thought you were linking to This Particular Woman’s Work.
Couldn’t help it, Kate Bush, the Original Woman in White, is over all the place what with doing 200 concerts after a 1000 year vow of silence.
Ha ha I just did the Wuthering Heights dance for my friend in the office today! He doesn’t get it. My Kate Bush songs “for” Supernatural are Be Kind to My Mistakes and Get Out of My House.
The cute thing about Salt, of course, is that it
banishes ghostswould have been a WITF movie if not for the gender reversal that brought Jolie on board.Some whisper in Latin, some whisper in Ancient Greek, some whisper in Japanese, or Enochian. Sometimes chapters from one book hop between the covers of other books, and rustle their pages together, like in Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius. The Busty Asian Babes vol 1 No 1 gets a lot of attention.
And those whispers reflect and build into a Ligetian polyphony of signs and spells and etchings. If you were an angel you could probably hear it all.
// Ha ha I just did the Wuthering Heights dance for my friend in the office today! He doesn’t get it. //
hahaha!! Is Kate Bush touring again or did I make that up?
Angelina Jolie is androgynous like all of the great movie stars used to be in the Golden Age. I know we’ve talked about that before! Joan Crawford with her huge shoulders, which basically causes big strapping men like Clark Gable to run around trying to win her favor. But you would never call her “masculine” – ever. She exuded femininity. Or Humphrey Bogart being more sensitive than any of the tough dames who share the screen with him. We’ve gotten a little bit away from that now – although it still exists, more so in male actors than female actors, not sure why. We have a lot of girlie-girlie starlets swooping around and they don’t really work as “sexual personae” (to quote Camille Paglia) – you need that blend to really hold the screen and I’m not sure why that is. I think Jeremy Renner has an almost feminine (stereotypically) sensitivity – especially in Hurt Locker – where it existed on an almost animalistic level. And in Maleficent – where Jolie is, for one horrifying moment, a “damsel in distress” – she then channels it all into rage and payback.
and Jensen Ackles is the most stereotypically feminine action hero I think I have ever seen. As we’ve discussed before, comparisons with other characters start to fall apart with him when you attempt it. That’s why I resort to comparing him to Bardot or Monroe. That’s the closest we get. Goddesses of the screen, erotic muses, nobody could tell those broads they weren’t totally in charge. While onscreen, they were.
I don’t know, it’s a fascinating thing.
//Ha ha I just did the Wuthering Heights dance for my friend in the office today! He doesn’t get it.//
Yes, Kate Bush is doing 22 concerts – an actual tour, and the reviews have been beyond ecstatic. It’s like the Second Coming at the Hammersmith Apollo. Weeping, laughing, babies being born, the whole nine yards.
I remember seeing her singing WH for the first time on Top of the Pops (classic BBC tv chart show – weird how many of the presenters have been charged with molesting young girls.) It was a Teresa of Avila arrow through the heart type moment – the world basically juddered to a stop and I was transfixed – and I did a lot of dancing around my bedroom in the following weeks. After the first two albums I basically stopped following her, but she has always loomed very large in my consciousness because of those first albums.
A while ago now, during one of her long periods of silence, I remember going into a record shop (that must date this story – hardly any of those left now). While I was at the counter a female assistant about my age staggered out from the back office and kind of groaned to her colleagues in genuine shock, ”John has never heard of Kate Bush.” Our eyes met in sheer disbelief.
//And those whispers reflect and build into a Ligetian polyphony of signs and spells and etchings. //
I think Ms Bush is one person who might do this sound some justice.
I had the same stop-everything response to Wuthering Heights – which was the first KB I ever heard.
Hmm. I fear Wuthering Heights meets the Winchesters would not end well for Kathy’s ghost.
“… and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the salted and charred bones in that quiet earth.”
NICE.
Emily Bronte would have made a good hunter. Or Men of Letters. Either one.
//salted and charred bones//
hahahaha!
mutecypher-Thanks for the advice on the links. I was using “inspect element” and trying to copy out how it was done on some successful links, which obviously didn’t work. Much prefer to let the computer do as much of the formatting for me as possible.
I love the story about the Oxford library, even if it is apocryphal!
Shelia-Thanks for the link to your old library–it looks like a beautiful building, and rich with its own history. I think seeing the contrast between this building and our new one drives home what I’ve thought about the differences between the East Coast and the Great Plains, where I live. Almost everything is transitory here, and I often get the feeling that the land prefers it that way, sweeping away the past.
Our city’s library has a long and checkered history of movement from one building to another. The first library in town was donated by the family that gave the town its name–they were among the Masters of Industry that financed western expansion in the first place. That building still exists, but is now a history museum. In the 60’s the library moved to a brick box down the street that had originally been constructed as a furniture store and warehouse, and did not stand up to time very well. Now we’re in this post mid-century modern wonderland, going on our 9th month of occupation. As I said, I love its space, views, and technological convenience–but sometimes I wonder how long it will last, if it will stand time’s test as well as the Kingston Free, or Trinity College, or the reading room at Oxford.
Digressing a bit–as this whole post is a digression from the discussion you’ve been having about women’s roles and Sam and Dean’s emotional lives–I wanted to say that I can sympathize with your Montana friend. When I was 19, I lived for a while in Massachusetts, thinking that I wanted to be an Easterner. While I enjoyed the city, and appreciated the Berkshire Mtns. near us, I didn’t realize how much I missed the West until I came home for a Christmas visit. Driving from the airport to my hometown, I suddenly felt an enormous relief, as if a cool stream of water had been run over my forehead and doused a fever I didn’t even know I had. I COULD SEE again. I knew then that I’d be back eventually.
Barb – “I COULD SEE again.”
Wow!! It’s so primal, I know just what you’re talking about – although for me it’s the ocean. When I lived in Chicago, people would say “well the Lake is like the ocean …” and I’d be like, “Please. Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.” hahaha
I love the lake, and it is a beautiful body of water, but it is not the ocean!!
Helena and Jessie- I would love to hear Kate Bush’s interpretation of book leaves whispering to each other! In a modern library, the beat line would be formed by the clicking of computer keys and the opening and closing of dvd cases.
Semi-relevant to the discussion at hand: Just this morning I finished reading “American Sniper” by Chris Kyle (for a book discussion I’m leading tonight, natch). I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the book, but I do think that some of what he talks about could contribute to what you’ve been saying about how men cope with their emotions. I’ll have to think about it some more. And, yes, Supernatural Creep confession: towards the end, Kyle talks about experiencing PTSD, and I started thinking–I’ve heard similar things before! Also, some of the distancing language and black and white thinking that Kyle demonstrates have also been dealt with in the show.
Wow, I have not read that book. I am pretty buried in a pile of books right now – but I will put that one on my list. It sounds fascinating.
RE: the two leather jackets. The story is that the original jacket was actually stolen while it was in transit along with some other show props. The last time we see it onscreen, I think, was in a scene in Lisa’s garage–I remember Dean taking it out of a box before setting it aside for something else. I like to think he left it behind at her place–leaving a little piece of himself?
The Purgatory jacket was custom designed for Jensen, but the producers didn’t like the way it looked on him, so they ditched it in season 8. I can imagine after wearing it every day for a year in Purgatory that Dean had no trouble getting rid of it. Maybe he ritually burned it before donning one of the many flannel shirts he stole from that hiker in Maine!
Yes, that moment in the garage with the old jacket! It’s a nice moment of closure for that familiar article of clothing. If that’s the last time we’re gonna see it, it’s a good one.
I watched the super cut and the scene from “Starship Troopers” got me to thinking of the analogous scene in “Aliens” where Drake (the tall blonde guy) is burned by alien acid and Vasquez wants to get all revenge-y. And I was primed to think of Zoe Saldana from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” reference. My question is, does James Cameron get credit for being a “woman’s writer/director?” I think of Neytiri teaching Jake Sully how to live in “Avatar”, Sarah Connor, Lindsay Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s character in “The Abyss”), Rose surviving in “Titanic.” The guy works in the SciFi and Action Movie genres and writes these great characters.
Of course, Jamie Lee Curtis’ character in “True Lies” could be considered the counter-example that wipes out all of the above.
Also, I’m making a note to myself when I next update the wardrobe: chicks dig henleys.
Mutecypher –
Henleys. Ha. Yup. Go for it.
I think James Cameron has given women a lot of space to operate in his films – iconic space, not support-staff space. Space normally occupied by men.
Aliens has one of the best female roles of all time. Yes, there was Alien before it – a film I also love – but Aliens went to a next level. And it is so much because of Weaver’s performance. I can’t imagine that film being made now in that same way, with that actress. It’d be Jessica Alba or something. (Nothing against Alba. ) Maybe I’m just cynical. I’m just so happy Ripley has been created and she exists – it HAPPENED. Nobody can remove it from the culture, even if we’ve back-slid since the example it set.
Granted, Cameron didn’t “create” Ripley. But I think his contribution to that franchise with the sequel goes far beyond the original!
And yes. Rose in Titanic. Great role. Written in broad strokes, not that much subtlety – but it’s iconic, nonetheless.
I think he does a pretty good job and is really interested in women in all different kinds of situations. (I honestly think a lot of male directors have no interest in women at all. It’s very weird. Haven’t they learned anything from Howard Hawks movies??? Get yourself a strong sassy woman, get a great actress to play it, and half your work is done for you.)
Barb 8/27/14 1:14 pm
Is this the jacket that didn’t show enough “fear” that I heard about when people were talking about emails from the show’s corporate bosses?
That jacket does not show enough “fear” get rid of it.
I thought the red stood out well in the Purgatory scenes but it was barftastic in regular shots.
Sheila –
Okay, way off topic but I came across this memory from the Jewish family that lived above Elvis in the early 50’s. The young son recalls stories of Elvis as their Shabbos Goy. Pretty cool. Apparently the rabbi father was interviewed about the Presleys for a book – so you may have come across this already.
Elvis is never off-topic!!
Yes, I love the anecdotes from that family! Elvis turning off the lights. Incredibly sweet.
I was having a little think about what might be in the Men of Letters Archives and the Warburg Institute came to mind. I’ve never had cause to go there but reading the description of the collection (huge, just friggin’ huge and get those categories: Image, Word, Orientation and Action, aay) I’m planning a visit there asap.
Jessie, just imagine those pages whispering to each other after they close up for the night. The noise must be deafening, like the Amazonian rainforest at night.
Luckily there seems to be an ample digital archive (no rustling pages, though) and ooh look, just as I hoped, a section devoted to magic. If you would like a little bedtime reading how about this: Anthroposophia Theomagica or a Discourse of the Nature of
Man and his State after Death.
What I love about the Warburg is that it started as one man’s obsession and grew from there (it also helped his family was amazingly rich, but hey). It’s a reminder that knowledge and culture isn’t created by committee or institutions. It’s also a treasure because it could all have been lost – it was moved from Germany to London in 1933, to protect it from the Nazis, who would have plundered and scattered it, and who knows, a few books might have ended up in the collection of those pesky Nazi necromancers.
Helena – wow, I just got lost in that website. I love how it’s set up – it makes me so curious how people find things. I love the categorization, it feels very intuitive to me. 350,000 volumes??
I had wondered, too, how the Men of Letters categorize things. I love how the bunker continues to reveal secrets, with rooms of cold cases, and old film, all clearly labeled. I am an archivist’s daughter and the organization just fills my heart with happiness. But you do wonder: is there a “key”? A floor-map? A bookshelf-map? Those early bunker scenes are so fun, with the guys exploring – Dean printing out recipes from the Internet, and Sam combing through the shelves.
But I do wonder about categorization!
Section for Ghosts? Vamps? Or is it done by year? There’s got to be a lot of cross-referencing – since everything connects.
“The history of religion, including rituals and onomastics; the survival and later influence of ancient religious beliefs and cults such as Manichaeism and Hermeticism, and their connections to Christianity and Judaism; the interrelations between Christianity, Judaism and Islam; Christian religion; Jewish mysticism, history and art; Western attitudes towards, and perception of, the Islamic world.
The history of magic and science, especially astrology and astrological iconography; alchemy; prophecy and divinatory practices.”
Wow.
And what is “Orientation”?
Oh – I see now. Third floor collection: “the gradual transition, in Western thought, from magical beliefs to religion, science and philosophy.”
Incredible, Helena!
// (I honestly think a lot of male directors have no interest in women at all. It’s very weird.//
*unhappy sigh*
I think you’re right.
It’s totally bizarre. They’re still in grade school thinking girls are yukky. Grown-up men love/fear/hate women, but they certainly want them around. Grown-up men can be messed up about women (phone call for Lars von Trier) but they admit their existence in any adult landscape. Which is why I think Lars von Trier is a great, albeit controversial, film-maker. It’s not right to paint him with the misogynist brush at all. I would say Apatow is more of a misogynist (a soft-core one, but still – he thinks girls are no fun and he prefers bro-time – at least that’s the world set up in his movies). Lars von Trier is OBSESSED with women. All of his films are about them in a lot of ways. It’s gynecological, it’s childish, it’s gross, it’s not pretty – but it’s HONEST. I love that. And frankly, Melancholia “gets” women in a way that most other films don’t.
It’s a strange landscape right now. There are definitely exceptions. In general, I like personal film-makers who wrestle with stuff in their films. Who “tell on themselves”. You know? “Here is how I see things.” And then people scream “THAT’S HORRIBLE YOU’RE HORRIBLE” – but that’s what artists do. They ‘tell on themselves’ – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
This “girls are yukky and they ruin my play-time with the boys” thing is very new. At least in its current incarnation. The triumph of geek culture, maybe? I don’t know. It’s a trend and it, too, will pass.
You watch a film from the 1930s and women are not sneered at at all. They are ogled, yes, but their power is undeniable. Even in Howard Hawks films which are macho bro-time type movies – women are essential – it has to be a certain KIND of woman who can deal with that mainly-male dynamic – but broads like Rosalind Russell or Katharine Hepburn or Lauren Bacall were perfect for it. They gave as good as they got. They were as “good” as the men in whatever they were trying to do – and in most cases, they were better.
And sex was always a possibility in those films, electric, exciting, a cease-fire between the sexes. Sex is the whole point, the “reward”.
These “girls are yukky” types of films are oddly sex-less. I don’t know. It’s very strange to me. Pre-pubescent.
and I love Aliens because of the almost 1930s-type romantic dynamic between Ripley and Dwayne Hicks. I keep meaning to write a post about it – I have the screen grabs all ready.
That’s some old-school Hollywood shit right there, placed on a spaceship in some other galaxy. Love it.
“You’re here to provide the T&A, honey, not to complicate the hero’s story by being a real person” I hope you’re right about it being a trend that will pass. Or at least return to being a B-movie cliche and not a movie staple.
In a twisty-bizarre kind of counterpoint, I’m two episodes into season 9. I almost died when Crowley compared himself to Hannah and Sam to Marnie from “Girls.” How does the King of Hell have time to watch HBO and angels ( with the exception of Zachariah) seem to barely be aware of the existence of TV? “Girls” is certainly in the personal film making camp.
//I love how the bunker continues to reveal secrets, with rooms of cold cases, and old film, all clearly labeled. I am an archivist’s daughter and the organization just fills my heart with happiness. But you do wonder: is there a “key”? A floor-map? A bookshelf-map? //
The Key to the Men of Letters Archive would be the key to all knowledge indeed, but up til now I haven’t seen so much as a card catalogue, let alone floor map. So if that’s Sam’s life’s work, he’s in it for several lifetimes. And as for cross-referencing … sheesh. Plus it’s not just book and papers, there are objects too – dragon claws, spears of destiny, Paracelsus’s crucible, maybe a pair of John Dee’s old slippers, – and multi media. Anyway, I do hope that the archive rooms in the Bunker are climate controlled because a lot of that stuff would be very fragile. And I haven’t spotted any white archivists gloves in use.
St Jerome is the patron saint of librarians – maybe a few prayers could be offered to him for help with organisation. Maybe to the scholar saint Catherine too. Borges and Umberto Eco could draw up the floor plan. As for what its taxonomic structure – who knows. In the spirit of Warburg, I’ll go for four main categories: Things That Will kill You, Things That Will Resurrect You, Things You Can Use to Kill Bad Things, and Miscellaneous. Plus there is still Bobby’s entire collection to rehouse, and some of that is still alive, so that would have to go in a side room for Wild Things.
The MoL archive is just the gift that keeps on giving – it would be wonderful if there were progressively fewer shots of tapping computer keys and more of rooting around in endless archive boxes and files, with rooms after room still to discover. In the meantime I’ll be re-watching episodes and frantically scribbling down any books used or referenced.
Helena – Wow. I love the “The Author To The Reader” note in Anthroposophia Theomagica, “Look on this life as the progress of an Essence Royall: the soul but quits her Court to see the Countrey.”
A propos of, um, pilots? the lovely and talented Alona Tal aka Jo is in an Amazon pilot for a show called Hand of God, which looks interesting and which you can see on, um, Amazon TV, or whatever it is.
On the Men of Letters archive–there HAS to be a key somewhere, maybe it’s taking up some extra-dimensional space somewhere, or they have a hanger-sized card catalog, like the old computer rooms you see from the 60’s. Sam was able to find all of the MoL volumes of dead languages, after all! But looking at their books, they don’t even have spine labels. Hmmm– There was probably a group of curators/librarians in the society who knew where everything was, and would locate it for the rank and file if asked politely (we once had a librarian who presided over our historical maps in just such a way).
And YES–At some point it would be wonderful to see a Robert Singer Memorial wing! They could collect other hunter’s diaries, too–and of course, John’s journal would probably get a stand of its own. If Sam could get Dean to take it out of his coat pocket, that is.
I love when it’s suddenly revealed that there’s a gigantic GARAGE in the bunker.
It’s a much smaller scale but I love the Campbell “library” too – in that makeshift survivalist bomb-shelter type space – typical for them – where they eventually find Samuel Colt’s journal in Frontierland. I love that scene and the glimpses of all of those books. I also like how that scene is put together because you really get the sense that they are there for HOURS – sometimes with reading-research-montage scenes you never ever feel like the people are actually doing all that work. But for some reason, that one works. You get the sense of time passing. Of dead ends followed. Until Dean comes across Colt’s journal.
The props team must buy up every random leather-bound book at local antique shops just to make sure they have enough.
The old Chicago Public Library downtown was one of my favorite buildings ever. It was over the train station and I would come up into downtown Chicago and go into the library. It has a marvelous glass dome dedicated to the Grand Army of the Republic (Union army) and standing underneath it is magical.
I think the building is now used for exhibitions and things and all the book have been moved to another HUGE block-sized library about two blocks away. Multiple stories.
I would love to see the Grand Army of the Republic done again.
I can’t find anything to add to the discussion. I will second the Henley’s for Dean consensus and that some of the scenes were outstanding in their beauty.
Dean crying just guts me every time. Jensen does emotions so honestly, fearlessly.
I know their is a huge part of the fandom that spends an awful lot of time finding fault with one of the brothers. It doesn’t matter which it is all just so silly and pointless. I feel safe reading your reviews, you analyze you don’t pick sides. You are a breath of fresh air.
You also make me laugh. I love reading all the comments, some are so insightful.
Just wanted to let you know that you are enjoyed and appreciated.
Grean –
// I feel safe reading your reviews, you analyze you don’t pick sides. //
What a really nice thing to say. I’m so glad to hear it.
I’m wondering, where do you get your screencaps? Do you make them, or are you gleaning from a source?
The reason I ask is – I would very much like to iconize the Dean ‘thinks a bit’ image (you compared it to Rembrandt) but I like to give credit where it’s due.
Thanks.
Yes, I grab them with a screen-capture thingamajig!
If Elvis is always on topic, I’m assuming the same is true of James Joyce.
Awesome, okay. Thank you! That ‘Rembrandt’ picture has been on my desktop for two weeks or something, and I’ve made passes at it with Photosheep and it’s just…. So damn pretty. I can’t *not* do *something* with it.
If you feel like sharing, I’d love to see what you come up with.
It really is such a gorgeous shot. All greeny-black and dark – good stuff!
I might be late to the discussion, but if you are interested in the wardrobe used, this blog has made a list, I think she’s up to season 8 :)
http://hells-half-acre.livejournal.com/105589.html
And by the way, I kind of liked the season 7 leather jacket :)
On the topic of men crying on Supernatural (and someone could write a dissertation on that) – personally, what gets me even more than the scenes when the brothers are actually crying are the ones where they’re trying not to.
Sam during Dean’s “remember what I taught you” speech in 3×16 and during the “it means your’re a monster” exchange in 4×21. Dean talking to Lisa and Ben at the end of 6×21, then walking away. Dean being around crazy!Cas in that mental institution in 7×21. Or, more recently, Dean talking to Cas in 9×10 when Crowley’s torturing Gadreel!Sam. What Jensen especially is doing in those scenes is so incredibly powerful – how he’s barely holding it together, the sheer effort it takes him, it looks so real, so painful. Those are the moments that make me cry.