Let’s all talk about Faith (S1 E12)

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    • journalbookbinder
        February 11, 2021 at 11:16 am #4945

        Wow; I had forgotten that Faith came right after Scarecrow and both are two of my all-time favorite episodes of the entire series!

        I’ll watch for Kate’s aforementioned moment of Jensen’s gorgeous physical perfection in this one. T

        his one is just so good and so touching and Jensen blows all other actors completely out of the water in it. I love this one so much. I’m skeevy on religion, personally, so this one is very interesting to me where you are left hanging between faith healing fraud and something really going on there; though it’s not from God! It’s super-interesting to me and the terminally ill woman is so compelling…so touching with Dean at the end. I love it. Can’t wait to watch it again!!!!

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      • PigNaPoke
          February 11, 2021 at 11:16 am #5079

          AGREED, JBB! One of my all time favorites too.

          Julie Benz as the terminally ill woman was very touching and compelling. I loved her every since Buffy and Angel as an actress and think she was often underrated.

          The episode is such bold shift into something more “real” to me. Calling it “Faith” and then exploring the different ways that word can be interpreted or practiced with very different outcomes was really interesting to me. It’s the first time they really dip their toe into Judeo-Christian religion and the boys own views on the subject.

          They also open a window into a whole new level of religious lore in this episode with the introduction of reapers! And I love the twist how faith in a different belief system can bind a powerful creature like this and bend them to your will….but how that is not without consequences.

          The reaper is very effective in that he’s so implacable and calm which makes him all the more scary to me.

          Interesting and appreciated social commentary on how evil cloaked in religious righteousness is even more evil! Like Dean says: “God save us from half the people who think they’re doing God’s work.”

          The beginning always is a SHOCKER to me – CREEPY monster, dingy basement (never a good sign!) and Dean practically dying. AAAHHH, nooo!

          Dean’s acceptance that this is probably it for him when he talks to Sam in the hospital still makes me tear up every time. Dean’s faith in Sam to carry on alone….argh….heart wrenching. Sam’s refusal to accept that and his passionate plea to hang on is, I believe, what makes Dean crawl out of bed and drag his ass over to the motel.

          LOVE THE LINE : “Well, I’m not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren’t even hot.”

          The whole discussion about “having to have a little faith” between Sam and Dean is brilliant!! Sam hanging on to faith BECAUSE of the evil in the world and Dean having a lack of faith for the same reason is a really interesting contrast in their world view to me. And I love how from this episode forward it shifts and evolves for both of them. Dean’s slight change of mind at the end of this episode where he tells Layla that he’ll pray for her is very touching.

          I love Sam’s determination to go to whatever length necessary to save Dean. Even if it’s unorthodox faith healing. I feel bad for both of them when they find out that it indeed was to good to be true and someone else died to Dean could live. And Dean’s inner conflict over saving Layla’s life over some stranger’s is visceral in Jensen’s performance. SO tough to do the right thing!!

          I also really appreciate how the brothers work together in this one after they figure out that there’s a case!

          Great episode with serious themes.

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          • kate38
              February 11, 2021 at 11:16 am #5503

              “I love Sam’s determination to go to whatever length necessary to save Dean. Even if it’s unorthodox faith healing. I feel bad for both of them when they find out that it indeed was to good to be true and someone else died to Dean could live. And Dean’s inner conflict over saving Layla’s life over some stranger’s is visceral in Jensen’s performance. SO tough to do the right thing!!

              Yes, I loved that about this episode, too. Dean knew Layla wouldn’t understand why he stopped her from being healed. And he took the chance that Layla and her mother would probably hate him for it. However tough it was, I love that Dean unflinchingly did the right thing.

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          • journalbookbinder
              February 11, 2021 at 11:16 am #5138

              It really is one of Supernaturals’ best episodes. I LOVE all the gray areas! There is SO MUCH internal stuff about Dean here too; how we really start to see that he does not want special treatment; that he does not seem himself as special at all. If anything, it’s the opposite and he believes he should die instead of someone, anyone else. It’s so touching. Sam’s just excited that Dean is better; willing to take it and not question it much, then kind of begrudgingly admits that Dean is right; something bad is going on here.

              I love that Roy got to be innocent. He seemed like a sweet person who really wanted to do good and I was glad that it was not him with the agenda that his wife had; to punish those she saw as immoral by taking their lives to heal the people coming to see Roy.

              Leila was so very compelling. The ending of this one is amazing. How she basically accepts her fate; has truth faith; and is not mad at Dean in the end of surviving when she will not. It’s like Dean can barely comprehend that kind of forgiveness and it’s SUCH a great scene.

              I have always wished they kept this reaper model. Old man with all the makeup and creepy grin. I guess non one ever wanted to go through the makeup in future years…they pretty quickly made reapers human-looking (Tessa) at least to other humans like Dean when he died; Tessa chose to appear that way. But she was more like a ghost in her real form. I kinda wish they’d chosen a type of reaper and stuck with it. By the end of the series they were just all regular-human-looking people!

              PigNaPoke: Implacable; good word!

              Amen, Dean, on his quote about half the people who think they’re doing God’s work! I’d up the percentage a bit, personally.

              Yes; their contrasting views of faith are great. Sam reasoning that good exists if the bad does, Dean wondering why bother when there’s so much bad.

              Jensen was just so damn good in this one! That scene where Leila is about to be healed and he has to stop it; he even has some misgivings in the car with Sam right before…I know that NOW they know that it’s not a good thing; that some innocent person will die so another can live, but it’s a bit hard-assed of Sam to make Dean go through with stopping Leila’s healing (acting like there is no moral question there; they have to stop it) when he would have done anything to save Dean, including, I believe, going through with Dean’s healing even if he knew it was killing someone else. Then Dean has to stand there in the tent and it’s just such a good scene of him being tortured over having to do this.

              I also thought that Leila’s mom; though harsh, was very realistic.

              I said last week that Scarecrow was my favorite season 1. I can’t choose between that one and this one. This one is just so good too. One of the best.

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              • kate38
                  February 11, 2021 at 11:16 am #5504

                  “There is SO MUCH internal stuff about Dean here too; how we really start to see that he does not want special treatment; that he does not seem himself as special at all. If anything, it’s the opposite and he believes he should die instead of someone, anyone else. It’s so touching. Sam’s just excited that Dean is better; willing to take it and not question it much, then kind of begrudgingly admits that Dean is right; something bad is going on here.

                  I love that Roy got to be innocent. He seemed like a sweet person who really wanted to do good and I was glad that it was not him with the agenda that his wife had; to punish those she saw as immoral by taking their lives to heal the people coming to see Roy.

                  Leila was so very compelling. The ending of this one is amazing. How she basically accepts her fate; has truth faith; and is not mad at Dean in the end of surviving when she will not. It’s like Dean can barely comprehend that kind of forgiveness and it’s SUCH a great scene.

                  I have always wished they kept this reaper model. Old man with all the makeup and creepy grin. I guess non one ever wanted to go through the makeup in future years…they pretty quickly made reapers human-looking (Tessa) at least to other humans like Dean when he died; Tessa chose to appear that way. But she was more like a ghost in her real form. I kinda wish they’d chosen a type of reaper and stuck with it. By the end of the series they were just all regular-human-looking people!”

                  These are all excellent points!

                  Yes, Dean’s self loathing became truly apparent after Sam died and he made the deal, but we see a big glimpse of it here. Poor guy.

                  I also found myself pitying Reverend LeGrange a the end of this one. Will he ever understand why his wife died suddenly? Will he be demoralized when he realizes that suddenly he can’t heal people anymore? He’ll probably never understand why. And if the brothers did explain everything to him and he believed them, I’m sure he’d feel terrible because he’d realize that every person he’d cured had resulted in someone else’s death. I can’t imaging having to deal with that much guilt.

                  Yes about Layla’s ability to forgive and maintain her faith. I still remind myself that sometimes I have to believe when things are really bad and the miracles aren’t happening.

                  Does anyone else ever wonder if this was the moment when Dean actually did start to pray? I’m sure he prayed for Layla, because I take him at his word.

                  And definitely yes about reapers! I wish they had remained creepier.

                  • This reply was modified 3 years ago by kate38kate38.
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              • kate38
                  February 11, 2021 at 11:16 am #5501

                  Faith is one of my favorite season 1 episodes. I love the story, the gritty feeling, and Sam to the rescue. I know some fans didn’t like Sera Gamble, but I thought she did a decent job as show runner (still a few years down the road at this point), and I love what she and Raelle Tucker did when writing this episode.

                  Hannah! Yay!!

                  Loved Julie Benz in this episode! Love Layla, but hate her mother. Just sayin’. It’s “interesting” that the people who consider themselves the most “religious” can be the most cruel and uncaring.

                  I love the dark, damp atmosphere of this episode! The rain, the mud, and the desperation are all palpable and feel real. In the early seasons, “The Benders” and “Something Wicked” do the BEST job of creating atmosphere, but this one is excellent, too.

                  I kinda wish they’d left reapers alone. I liked the idea of an invisible creature that could stop time, change reality, and literally find anybody anywhere. I love the scene in “Abandon All Hope” when Castiel sees all those reapers just standing watch and waiting for oceans of people to die. Making them angels and making them approachable made them less frightening.

                  That said, when Reverend LeGrange said he looked into Dean’s soul and saw a young man with an unfinished mission, I wonder if the reaper was already working towards the events surrounding Armageddon. I also wonder why the reaper would heal Roy of his cancer, but leave him blind. Theories?

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                • kate38
                    February 11, 2021 at 11:16 am #5502

                    “I’ll watch for Kate’s aforementioned moment of Jensen’s gorgeous physical perfection in this one.”
                    Ah yes! Adonis in all his glory would be put to shame. It’s likely a combination of things — the lighting, the red shirt, the hair, the perfect amount of scruff, and those eyes. I always rewind and rewatch this scene multiple times because he is just breathtakingly gorgeous here: https://www.homeofthenutty.com/supernatural/screencaps/displayimage.php?album=12&pid=134519#top_display_media

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                  • PigNaPoke
                      February 11, 2021 at 11:16 am #6120

                      I often thought the same thing about Roy’s future, kate38.

                      Everyone else in this one packs up, moves on accepts what is….I would love to know that he will be ok with his fate as well. He is in many ways the victim here.

                      HIS world gets completely ripped apart for a second time in is life. That’s a lot to process and find peace with.

                      That said, when Reverend LeGrange said he looked into Dean’s soul and saw a young man with an unfinished mission, I wonder if the reaper was already working towards the events surrounding Armageddon. I also wonder why the reaper would heal Roy of his cancer, but leave him blind. Theories?

                      I, honestly, always thought that part of Roy’s speech about how he choses people was part of the “tent-revival-circus”. I didn’t take it as truth. Roy seems to genuinely believe what he says, so I give him points for sincerity. I do not think that the REAPER had anything to do with who was being chosen, though. To me it looked like the reaper only got involved when Roy lifted his hands and made the connection like a conduit. Imo it was Dean’s wiseass comment that got him noted and picked that time.

                      And regarding why the reaper didn’t heal Roy totally I have to say I never thought about it but now that you bring it up I’d say maybe Sue Ann hadn’t perfected her hold over the reaper yet? Maybe something was missing from the ritual? Could have been a misfire.

                      PNP

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                  Let’s all talk about Faith (S1 E12)

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