Reply To: Let’s all talk about When the Levee Breaks (S4 E21)
AYAYAY – this one is SO HARD to watch. BUT also one of the best episodes that season, I think.
GREAT first scene with Sam and Dean speaking through the Safe Room’s tiny window. Very interesting lighting (Sam red and Dean pale white, like hot and cold) and camera angles.
Jared does a great job at playing the different stages of the detox, from physical pain to shame to despair etc. The writing is very good but he really brings it all to such vivid life I can almost FEEL what he’s going through.
And Jensen, too, manages to make me feel Dean being physically queasy having to listen to Sam screaming below.
They are both SO good here.
Alastair standing in for pure PAIN is interesting as Sam never had to deal with that from him. Basically, Sam is taking on Dean’s pain here or what he imagines Dean went through in hell. Probably in an expression of guilt on his part for being too weak to save Dean from it.
LOVE the interaction between Colin and Jared! Young Sam’s hopes and dreams clashing with older Sam’s bleak view of reality. It feels like this is Sam’s shame over having his childhood ideals die.
Mary bringing the encouragement and backing his own delusions. First time we see a slightly tougher version of her, I think. Having her side with Sam in Sam’s mind is fascinating as he clearly looks for parental absolution and really can’t know how she WOULD react to his predicament while he does know that John would be appalled at best, which is most likely why he doesn’t show up.
I wonder how they had Jared fly about the room and roll on the walls??
WORST part of the detox is Dean talking to Sam in his head as Sam’s DOUBT! That bit is so hard to watch. But it goes straight with all we know of Sam’s fears of disappointing Dean to a point that Dean would turn away from him completely. UGH! And then it comes true at the very last scene.
Interesting that Cas seems to confirm that the demon blood DOES make Sam stronger but that it also changes him.
I wonder if the writers just didn’t know what to do about Sam’s powers and how to connect them or not to the demon blood? Or why the message about the effects so convoluted? Sam does say to Ruby in the next episode that he feels forever changed inside from the demon blood and then he has black eyes when he kills Lilith. Maybe there were plans to continue on that path at some point? Or maybe we were just supposed to keep guessing. That’s fine. It did make for interesting storypoints.
I also thought, Sam could have killed himself another demon to drink its blood, if he was that desperate for blood. He didn’t have to wait for Ruby. It might have helped to make a point that Ruby’s blood is extra powerful or tasty to him.
Dean is heartbreakingly strong when he tells Bobby that he found his line and he will not let Sam turn into a monster, he rather lets him die. UGH!
Cas opening the door and letting Sam free is one of two things I cannot forgive Cas for (the other is crumpling Sam’s wall). I know he just had a “attitude adjustment” after the Rupture telling Dean he is serving Heaven and not mankind….but, come on, he also has had serious doubts of what’s going on upstairs!
(Of course, it makes the character super interesting because we keep having to doubt if we CAN trust him)
The verbal and physical fight at the end is AWFUL to watch! EVERY SINGLE TIME!! Both so desperate for the other to listen until their frustration takes over and they beat each other senseless. I don’t think either really wants to kill the other but MAN, it’s a close thing. Dean’s last words, echoing John, are probably the worst blow he can dish out, for both of them.
Amazing episodes full of tough plotpoints but excellently acted and super engaging.